Tom's Trial Ch. 07

"You should learn to play golf," Tricia said from out of nowhere as we laid in bed. She had jumped in just as fast as Lily had, and was now staying with me at the hotel, despite owning a very nice house only a few blocks away.

"Why?" I asked. I had nothing against golf, or any sport for that matter, but I'd never been an athletic person, so I'd never gotten into any of those types of activities. I had always been what you might call 'indoorsy'.

"Because, you want to start a charity, right?" she explained. "Playing golf is where the rich schmooze and make deals. All my top clients are golfers to some extent."

"Okay, but Tom doesn't have to schmooze?" Lily remarked. "He can just tell them to give him the money."

"I think this is a great idea," Tricia sat up. She pulled the sheet up to cover herself so I could focus. She already knew me well. "You'll eventually be asked where you've met all these people. The most believable lies are close to the truth, so that will be helpful. Also, you will probably learn all the ins and outs of doing this kind of thing by being around people like that."

"He can learn about that from the internet and my dad," Lily argued. "Also, it's November, isn't it getting a bit chilly for running around a golf course?"

"Yes, I'm not saying not to use every available resource," Tricia agreed. "And this time of year will be great to learn the basics, that way you won't embarrass yourself when you're out there with your new friends. Go to the driving range, practice putting here, or we'll go play mini golf. Hell, buy a simulator for your new house, you've got the room."

"I didn't realize mini golf was good practice for real golf," I grinned. "I'm actually okay at that."

"It's just putting in different conditions. Forget all the windmills and shit," she said. "You should do it. Plus you'll grow your network that way, friends of friends, you know?"

"I could give it a shot," I shrugged. "Can't hurt."

"Our man, golfer, founder of charities, lover of ladies," Lily kissed my cheek. "President?"

"No fucking way," I grinned. "I definitely don't want that kind of pressure and scrutiny on me."

"So, a life of leisure then?" Tricia asked.

"Pretty much," I nodded. "We can do whatever we want. You want to work, go for it. Want to go to Hawaii, let's go. I just know I'm not going to spend the rest of my life in an office now."

"France," Lily chimed in. "I want to go to France."

"We'll go everywhere, Lils," I promised. "What else? What do you guys want to do?"

"I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights," Tricia nodded. "You know, like in Sweden or Norway."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That's a good idea. There's actually a ton of things out there I'd like to see if we're making a list. Are you interested in that?" I asked Lily.

She was already on her phone. "It says here that this is a good time of year to see the auroras, in the northern parts of several Scandinavian countries. Or from the northern US, like in Alaska."

"If we're going to go, let's go," I said. "We can go to Norway if you guys want to. I'd like to get the house locked in first, but after that?"

Tricia smiled at me. "You know, I've been able to swing that financially for a while, but I've never been with someone who was just like, 'Okay, let's go to Norway because you mentioned it in passing."

"Shit," I laughed. "I don't have a passport though. And I'll bet you don't either?" I said to Lily, who instantly went back on her phone.

"Two to three weeks at minimum," she sulked.

"But then we're good for a long time," I slid my arm around her. "And we could always go somewhere else in the meantime. No worries, whatever you want."

"You know what we should do?" Lily asked. "Start a nightclub."

"Here or in the city?" Tricia instantly seemed interested in the idea.

"Well, we only have 'Mingle' here, which sucks," Lily snorted. "And it's on the other side of town away from the city. We could put it somewhere on the north side of town, that way we might even draw people from the outskirts of the city."

"That could be another good way to cover your revenue stream," Tricia agreed. "And 'Mingle' is terrible, I agree with that."

"You could be the greatest club promotor to have ever lived," Lily laughed. "One sentence and people would come every week for the rest of their lives."

"But we would make it a place people would actually want to go to, right?" I asked. "You have some good ideas I hope?"

"Totally," Lily smiled. "I've been to a few good clubs before. We can take what works from them and make it our own. Plus just look up ideas other people have posted on the internet. This is a good idea."

"I could put the word out for a space if you want?" Tricia offered. "I don't really deal in commercial, but I know people who do."

"Might as well see what's out there," I nodded. "Plus it will give us something to do."

"It will be a magnet for girls too," Lily grinned. "We'll need a big comfy couch in the office."

"You are such a slut," Tricia laughed.

"Whatever," Lily shrugged. "My boyfriend can pull any chick I point out, so I'm definitely abusing this privilege. I dare you to say you're not into the idea," she jiggled her boobs at her.

"No, I'm a total hypocrite," the blonde chuckled. "I'll be right there with you."

"So, learn to play golf to make friends with rich people, start a nightclub and travel the world. That's our plan?" Lily asked.

"And start a charity to actually help people," I added. "Yes, I'll be skimming for a while, but if we can create a successful business, then more of the money I get people to donate will actually go to good causes."

"I have to admit to being quite pleased with how moral you're remaining despite your frankly ludicrous ability," Tricia snuggled up against me. "It really makes it much easier for me to agree to go along with your plans."

"I'm trying to treat it like a get out of jail free card," I explained. "Not my go to first option in every situation. But I will admit that I haven't really come up against anything yet that would test me. And I hope I never will, but it's nice to know I can avert a lot of problems before they even become problems."

"So, I have a question," Lily said. "I feel like I know what you're going to say, but I still need to ask you."

"Shoot," I nodded.

"Today was my last vacation day from the store..."

"You absolutely don't have to go back there if you don't want to," I smiled. "And you can eventually help to run our club and charity if you want. Or not, your decision. Same for you," I looked at Tricia. "I would never tell you to keep or quit your job, I want you both to have happy lives with me. So do what would make you happiest."

"I've worked hard to get where I am professionally," she replied. "So I will continue working for the time being. But I would like to take an active role in your charity when it gets established. I think I could do some good that way."

"Me too," Lily nodded. "I do want that. Thank you, Tom."

I pulled both girls partially on top of me and we had a pretty intense three way make out session for a while before we had to get ready to go. We were having lunch with Ben and Eric today to introduce them all and I didn't want us to be late. I'd already learned well how long it would really take them to get ready. Lily consistently denied it, but she would take ages to do what took me minutes. I knew she took longer because of her hair and the little makeup she usually wore, but still.

We had to take Tricia's car to lunch since my backseat was so tiny. I hadn't even considered that when I'd picked it. Of course having two girlfriends wasn't on my mind at the time, but I would need a bigger vehicle eventually.

"Tom, I have one more favor to ask today," Lily fiddled with her fingers like she did when she was nervous. "This one is important to me."

"Okay," I nodded as I drove. "Let's hear it."

"I mentioned that I might invite my friend, Emma," she said. "To meet you and your friends."

"Right?"

"Well she's coming," my increasingly nervous girlfriend explained. "And she's very beautiful..."

"I'm not going to fuck your friends, babe," I grinned. "You don't even have to ask me that."

She let out a massive sigh of relief and leaned back in her seat. "It's just that she was always the pretty one, so every single guy I was ever into always went for her as soon as they saw her. Even if we'd already started dating." If she was better looking than Lily, she must have been a fucking knockout.

"I had a friend like that too," Tricia smiled. "She was a bitch about it though, so we're not friends anymore."

"That's the thing, Emma's not like that at all," Lily said. "She's such a sweetheart, she's never once tried to do me dirty, but she does get the attention when we're together." Now I was really interested in seeing this girl. I wouldn't do anything, but she had me curious.

We pulled into the restaurant of the parking lot to see Eric and Ben standing out front talking. They weren't as close with each other as they were with me, but they still got along fine. I got out of the car and opened the back door for one of my dates, while my friends just stared at me. "Hey, guys," I tried to keep the shittiness out of my smile as I approached them with Tricia and Lily.

"Tom?" Eric asked. He hadn't seen me since my little transformation. "What the fuck, man?"

"We've got a lot to talk about," I nodded. "But first," I introduced everyone. Ben couldn't stop smiling at me while Eric just looked at me unbelievingly.

I could see that Eric was on edge, so I had to give him a command. "Don't make a big deal about this. Just a normal day."

"Okay, Tom," he nodded. Everyone else smiled at me. "But aren't you the realtor I've seen on those ads around town?"

"That's right," Tricia smiled beautifully. "Patricia Milton, Tricia," she nodded.

"Tom's girlfriend?" Ben asked.

"One of them," Lily grinned. "The second one."

"By like five days," Tricia laughed. "But I defer to you, Queen Lil."

"That's right," Lily smirked playfully. "I'm the boss. Well, second in command," she looked at me.

"What the fuck?" Ben chuckled. "Dude, you've gotta write a book. I mean, I love you, bro. But also, fuck you."

"Seriously," Eric laughed.

"Lils!" a voice called out from behind us. We all turned around to see a gorgeous blonde strutting up to us with enough confidence to ignite a thousand suns. There was zero chance this wasn't Emma. She looked like the template they used to create the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Even though I found Lily to be beautiful, I could understand why she wouldn't want to be measured against Emma.

"Hey, Bitch," Lily hugged her friend. "No hangers on this time?"

"Thankfully not, Kiley got a boyfriend, so she's been giving me some much-needed space," Emma replied. "My little sister," she explained to the rest of us.

We did another quick round of introductions before heading inside the restaurant. "So, this is Tom. The Tom," Emma smiled at me.

"One of only a few hundred thousand at the most," I smiled back.

"Please, you locked down this girlie," Emma took Lily's arm. "You must be pretty special."

"Understatement," Ben added under his breath.

"So, you guys ready to eat?" I gestured to the door. "I want some of that chicken they have here."

"And we're going to need answers to like, so many questions," Eric added as we followed the girls inside.

"Certain things will have to wait," I nodded. "But I'll answer any questions I can in mixed company."

"Right," Eric looked at Emma. "Who's the ultra-babe?" he asked quietly. "You're next acquisition?"

"No, she's Lily's best friend," I explained. "I've promise to keep my hands off, so shoot your shot." Like I said, I'd gotten a handle on not accidently giving orders, but this was a good time to give one. "Eric, be confident. And be yourself, act like you would around us with them," I commanded my friend.

I didn't really know Emma beyond what little Lily had told me, but from what I did know, she was one of those people who didn't care that she was so beautiful. And Eric was the kind of guy who didn't realize how handsome he was. He was a great person though, so if I could nudge his confidence out of the gutter, all the better for him.

I'd had to do the same with Ben, I found it funny that out of the three of us, I would be the one who had the easiest time talking to women. Not that I was all that successful, but I did try. Maybe my background in marketing had something to do with it, I just found it easy to speak with strangers.

And that was before the unfathomable confidence boost that came with a total body overhaul and the ability to literally make people agree with me. And while I couldn't share the physical gains with those around me, I could make them more self-confident.

Which is exactly what happened over the course of that lunch. Eric figuratively charmed Emma's pants off. He was his usual easy-going self, not the handsome shell he often became around new people. Lily couldn't have been happier about the situation and she smiled at me the whole time. He didn't put off asking her out until it was over either, after she'd laughed at his comments for the fifth straight time, he asked, and she instantly accepted.

Ben gave me a little shit later for not bringing a girl for him, but I promised to help him out if he was still single in a month. But he wasn't a conversational slouch like Eric had been, I was confident he'd do fine on his own. A week of not smoking and working out had already had a slight effect on him and he looked better than he had in a while.

We all parted ways after a long lunch where everyone got to know each other better. Eric was so caught up with Emma that he didn't have time to ask me the hundred questions I knew he wanted to. I made plans to have a drink with him in a few days to properly explain things.

"That went really well," Lily commented with a smile when we were back in the car. "Not that I'm surprised, but I can't believe they got along so well."

"Did you have anything to do with that?" Tricia asked in a playfully accusing manner.

"I just told Eric to be himself," I nodded. "He's a good guy, just with no confidence for some reason."

"Emma was almost giddy about it when we went to the bathroom," Lily reported, happy for her friend. "So thanks for that."

"I barely did anything," I said honestly. "Just gave my friend some advice. I'm glad it worked out for the both of them."

"Didn't you say you did the same for your other friend?" Tricia asked. "You could be the world's greatest motivational speaker, Tom. Or life coach maybe, that would be a good way to make money too."

"Hypnotherapist?" Lily grinned. "No more smoking!" she snapped her fingers. "Work out more!" she snapped again.

"Unlicensed, of course," Tricia laughed.

"I think I'd like to help in a more indirect way most of the time," I explained. "Like, 'here, buy some groceries'. Or, 'live in this apartment at reduced rent for a while', that kind of thing. Also kids, I want to help children in some way."

"Making sure they're fed and housed is a good start," Tricia smiled. "Did you have a hard childhood, is that why you want to focus on helping children?"

"I'd rather not get too into it, but yeah," I nodded. "My mom was great but my dad was an asshole who made things tough on us. I'm not really sure how to help people in that kind of situation, but taking some of the burden off the parents who actually give a shit is high on my list of priorities."

Tricia didn't miss the fact that I was speaking in the past tense like Lily had, but to her credit, she didn't push me on it. "We'll make sure we do," she smiled reassuringly. "So, you two need passports, right? We should start working on that now since it will take time to process."

"Too bad we can't just go into the courthouse or wherever and," Lily snapped her fingers again. "Passport, now."

"It's the Post Office," Tricia said. "Not the courthouse, but yes, that would be nice. Unfortunately, this isn't one of the situations Tom can just snap away."

"What the fuck does the Post Office have to do with our ability to travel internationally?" Lily asked.

"Don't fucking ask me," I laughed.

"Yeah, I'm also not the best person to explain why our government works the way it does," Tricia grinned.

So we ran around for the next hour collecting the documents we needed and ended up being lucky that there was a location near us that didn't require an appointment. We got that taken care of and I paid the extra fees to expedite the process. The extra fees were so cheap that I almost could have paid them in change and I wondered why anyone would opt not to do it to cut the processing time in half.

With that taken care of, we stopped by the office of one of Tricia's colleagues, a man who dealt exclusively in commercial properties. He knew about nearly every suitable listing in the area, and was more than happy to help us search for a good place for our nightclub idea.

It didn't take long for us to narrow it down to three choices, two warehouses and a former library. One of the warehouses I wasn't sold on from the start, but agreed to take a look anyway. The reason I was less interested in that one was because it was much bigger than we needed and therefore, more expensive than the other two places.

Roger, the agent helping us, tried to suggest that we could use the other part of the building for a restaurant or as lofts, but I hated both of those ideas. Aside from the fact that I had no experience or desire, restaurants were a notoriously tough business to make work, and I would've hated to live right next door to a nightclub, so I couldn't picture anyone else being super interested in that idea either.

Tricia was a huge help in determining which locations would be the best, she knew to look at interstate access and zoning restrictions, things Lily and I wouldn't have thought of. I did realize that we wanted a big parking lot and to not be super close to any other bars that we would have to compete with, but Tricia was definitely leading the charge here.

"Look at all this space!" Roger smiled as he gestured to the open space in the warehouse. It looked even bigger in person, cementing the fact that this wasn't a good choice. Luckily Tricia knew this guy and he respected her enough not to push her when I shook my head at the idea.

The next warehouse was way closer to what we had in mind. And it was half the cost of the last place. Not that it was a huge deal, but if I could get by without having to get more money together, that's what I wanted to do. I'd really been kicking myself over my banking idea, even going so far as to speak with Mr. Jenkins about it to ensure the IRS or FBI wouldn't be chasing me down.

He'd assured me that he'd routed the money around enough to ensure it wouldn't be traced to me, but I still didn't like the thought of armed Feds bursting through the door in the middle of the night.

We marked that place down as a 'maybe' and moved on to the library. I was in love with it the moment we pulled into the expansive parking lot. The brick façade and windows gave the place a timeless look that I thought would juxtapose perfectly with our idea for the space. It was a little over ten-thousand square feet, and had a private area upstairs that would work great as an office and apartment for us.

"So, The Bookshelf, The Late Fee?" Lily grinned as we explored the place.

"The Stacks," I nodded. "Or just Stacks?"

"Oh, that's good," Tricia smiled. "The Stacks," she repeated. "Yeah, I like that a lot."

"Lils?"

"I'm good with it," she agreed. "Plus it's your-"

"Nope," I cut her off. "This was your idea, your opinion matters here."

She smiled and hugged me. "I like the name," she nodded. "It's suitable."

The building was in pretty good shape overall, and we only found a few minor things that would need to be addressed during the renovation. I agreed to a price of 900k upon completion of Tricia's due diligence. And then it would cost another 250 to turn the place from what it was into what Lily dreamed it could be. I would be left with just over a mil when it was all said and done.

Tricia said it would take between one and three months to finalize the whole thing. And then there was the reno time, so we were looking at opening no earlier than next spring. Not ideal, but not terrible either. If there had been a good club in the area, I would have just bought that, but we were trying to fill a need, so we'd have to do it ourselves.

I took the girls out for dinner at a seafood place that Tricia loved and we returned to the hotel in a great mood, feeling like we'd really accomplished something that day. After a luxurious shower and one of the greatest double blowjobs a man has ever gotten, I fell asleep with a smile, holding the two women who'd changed my life.

Of course that wasn't really true, the woman who'd changed my life had drugged me and injected me a dozen times with some unknown substance, but I couldn't argue with the results. I would honestly wish the same on nearly everyone. The physical change, that is. I mostly tried to be responsible with the other aspect of myself that had changed, but I knew that not everyone would.

Yeah, Mr. Responsible, that's me.

Not much happened over the next couple days, mostly just spending time with the girls or working out in the hotel's gym. I decided I'd start putting in more of an effort on that front because I didn't want to waste the insane transformation I'd gone through. Letting myself get chubby again seemed like a terrible idea. I was very happy to truly verify that I actually was as strong as I looked like I was.

That Thursday, I met Eric in the hotel bar for a drink and to lay it on the line for him. He looked like a new man when he walked in. His good mood was infectious, and if I didn't already have so much to be happy about I'm sure it would have pulled me in too. "So I take it things are going okay with Emma?"

"Way better than okay, bud," he grinned in a way that let me know exactly what he meant.

"I'm glad to hear it," I nodded. "You guys been out a few times then?"

"Almost every night since we met," he replied. "She's great, Tom. I really owe you for introducing us."

"I was just there, man. You did the hard part."

"I gotta know," he said simply.

I'd already made sure we were seated away from everyone else where we'd have a bit of privacy, so I laid it out. "First of all, you can't tell anyone about anything I'm going to tell you," he had no idea I'd just messed with his mind. "Only Ben and my girls know."

"Okay. I knew Ben knew something," he shook his head. "But I'll keep my mouth shut about anything you say. Just tell me what's going on."

So I did. I told him everything I'd told Ben the other day. Eric couldn't believe it, and I didn't blame him, it was an unbelievable story. "You're being serious?"

"I am," I nodded. "When we were at the restaurant, I told you not to make a big deal of my looks, but it is a big deal. I'm five inches taller and pretty much have a completely new body. I'll probably have to use my ability at the DMV because my face is so different now. I'm dating two of the hottest women I've ever laid eyes on, and I convinced you, Mr. Clamshell himself to actually talk to Emma instead of just telling me about how much you wished you'd talked to her later."

"You did that?" he asked.

"I've gotten much better at using the ability," I explained. "The first day or two, it was like a shotgun blast. And now it's more of a sniper rifle. I couldn't not use it at first."

"But? You just told me to be myself?" he asked.

"And look how well that worked out for you, dude," I grinned. "I didn't want to do it without your permission, so I'm sorry for that, but when Emma showed up and you started asking about her, I figured I'd just nudge you in the right direction."

"So you didn't tell her to go out with me?" he wanted to know. "She's really into me?"

"I didn't do anything to her, or you for that matter," I assured him. "I only told you to be how you are when you're comfortable with people. A good guy."

"Not that I don't believe you, but can you show me some real, concrete proof of this?" he asked. "Don't make me do anything crazy though."

"Sure, put your hands on the table," I gestured. He did and I continued. "Eric, for the next thirty seconds, you can't lift your hands off the table. Okay, now go ahead, try."

By the time the thirty seconds were up, my friend looked like he might burst a blood vessel trying to pick up his hands. I warned him to stop just before the time ran out so he wouldn't smack himself in the face. "Holy shit," he just looked at me. "How the hell did you do that?"

"I honestly have no idea how it works," I shrugged.

"How can you be okay with that?" he asked. "It's your mind, Tom."

"I have no choice but to accept it," I replied. "It's like a lot of things, I don't understand how many things actually work, I just know that they do."

"Someone did this to you," he said. "So someone knows."

I felt like a total moron when he said that. Of course someone knows. I'm probably being watched right now, but I've been too busy fucking and looking up flights to Europe to notice. "Fuck."

"Yeah," he nodded. "This sounds like some kind of experiment to me. Big Pharma, or maybe even the government."

"Either way, not good news," I downed my drink.

"I wouldn't do anything stupid for a while," he cautioned. "Don't make any big moves until you know what's going on."

"Or do the total opposite," I looked at him. "Get the fuck out of Dodge."

"And go where?" he asked. "You just bought a house, right? And Lily and Tricia?"

"Well I would've taken them with me," I admitted. "But you're right. Damn it." This wasn't good.

"You gotta stay the course," he said quietly. "Keep up appearances. Just live your life as normal until you have some real information."

I ran my hands through my hair for a minute while I thought. "I wish I was a genius or something, someone who could easily figure out this kind of thing."

"Then it wouldn't have happened to you," he pointed out. "You were probably picked because of how not exceptional you were."

"Thanks, bud. But I see your point," I nodded. "Okay, so business as usual then."

"I think that's the move to buy yourself time," he agreed. "Acting out of character might force their hand, you know. Just do what you've been doing for now."

We put a lid on it as our waiter approached us with a fresh round of drinks. "I'm fucking suspicious of everyone now," I admitted. "I'm going to become paranoid."

"Don't show it," Eric advised. "Will your ability work on yourself? Tell yourself to remain calm."

I really was a moron. I'd never even considered mind controlling myself. Of all the minds to have power over, of course I'd want to control my own thoughts. It took me a few attempts, I eventually realized I'd need to be looking at myself in a mirror to make it work. But it did work, I now had very good control over myself. Eric was clearly the smarter one between us, but at least now I wouldn't have a panic attack from paranoia.

Interestingly, I didn't need eye contact with others to influence them, just hearing me was enough. I would think about this more later. For now, I would watch everything around me and try to determine if I was being watched.

And by whom.