Dressed for Disaster: The Sequel

When Pat returned to the café a half hour later, and logged on again with his dwindling supply of cash, he retrieved her message, and jotted down the address. He had been careful to use an Internet address, which he had set up for transgendered chat rooms, and thus unknown to his family or employers. He thought briefly of his wife and daughter, and of the rest of his family, who must be worried sick about him, and assuming the worst. They would be better off financially with the insurance money, he assured himself. Soon there would be no turning back.

At precisely six o'clock, Pat was buzzed into a narrow brownstone building, and he walked up four flights of stairs to apartment 4C. The hallway outside the apartment was dark and musty, and he hesitated for a moment at the door. Before he could knock, he heard the deadbolts sliding back, three in all, and the door opened to reveal a woman in her mid thirties, dressed in a long white coat. She was attractive, with curly black hair and piercing brown eyes, and she waved him into the apartment without a word. After closing the door behind him, she carefully engaged the deadbolts, locking them with a key, which she replaced in her coat pocket.

Pat stood awkwardly in her small apartment. It was modestly furnished, with an oriental rug over a worn oak floor, a sofa with two unmatched chairs, and a few antique pieces.

"Please, sit down," she told him, gesturing to the sofa as she sat herself in one of the chairs. She was wearing a short skirt under her laboratory coat, and as she crossed her legs, she noticed with approval Pat's interest.

"I came about the experiment," Pat said finally.

"Yes, you are fortunate that I received your message and was able to respond before your deadline. Tell me, why the urgency?"

Pat had rehearsed the answer to this question. "I was concerned about your deadline of September 15th. If it weren't for them closing all the airports, I wouldn't even be in New York right now. Since I'm stuck here, I thought I'd try to learn more about your experiment, before deciding whether to leave. Are you a doctor?"