New Year’s Expectations (Part 2)

I'm very sorry about the long time it took me to update this (or anything else, really). New Year brought new responsibilities and I've been really busy.

Anyway, here it is. Please comment. Remember you're feeding three authors this time ;)



Prologue and Part 1

New Year's Expectations
(Part 2)

by Ageiss, BLZBub and Planet

Carrie (Part 2)

by Ageiss

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh! What the…?”

Carrie awoke with a start, after rolling in bed and accidentally squeezing one of her large breasts. Still disoriented and sleepy, she wasn’t prepared to see the figure of a woman in her mid-thirties attached to her. Had she lived in an apartment building, her yell would surely have alarmed the neighbors.

Slowly, the memory of what had happened to her during the previous night came back to her. It was true. She had been transported 20 years into the future and was now a 34-year-old woman.

“Okay, relax,” she thought, regaining her composure bit by bit. “So that wasn’t a dream. I just have to figure out what happened.”

She looked at the clock. 10:59 am. She had seldom slept so late, but then again, last night she had gone to bed later than ever.

Carrie remembered she had to go to her parents’. She wondered if she should call her driver Ferdinand, but the notion of someone having to respond to her summons was too foreign and even kind of discourteous to her. It was New Year, after all. She would get a taxi.

She supposed it was still too early for the visit, since her parents had also gone to bed quite late at night, so she killed time by looking through the house, trying to find clues to the identity of the grown woman she was now.

Still, most of the things she found at the place weren’t familiar to her at all. There were lots of photographs, though, but she couldn’t deduce much from them either, except the fact that she had turned into a much uninhibited woman: most of those pictures were downright sexy, and she exposed a lot of skin in them, especially those where she seemed to be modelling for some brand or another.

She blushed when she saw them. How could this person be possibly her? How had she gone from the shy little girl into this daring woman?

Carrie suddenly felt a piercing pain on her temples. She concentrated and understood exactly what was happening. Memories were suddenly flowing through her mind. They were memories of things she had never lived. Remembrances of those 20 lost years.

It seemed everything had started a few months after her perceived present, just before turning 15. Until then a cute but underdeveloped girl, she had suddenly blossomed into a gorgeous teenager. Carrie could now “remember” how her angst had turned into comfortable overconfidence like the flick of a switch. Her sudden popularity had increased her self-assurance and her timidity started to shred.

She could recall how her young body kept developing for a while, how she had joined the cheer-leading squad and eventually progressed into small modelling gigs to pay for her college, where she had majored in administration.

She kept looking at the pictures, since they had clearly stimulated the memories. One of them caught her attention, for she was wearing a white bridal dress.

“Am I married? Hell…”

But the lack of a man in any of the pictures was inconspicuous. Maybe she was just modelling the dress?

Then she remembered. Shortly after turning 21, she had gotten a modest modelling gig in a sports-related campaign. That’s when she had met Johnny Palmer, an internationally famous professional football player.

Media had followed their well-publicized relation from the start to their marriage, which had only lasted two years, until their eventual divorce.

That had let to her second husband, an even more wealthy media mogul. That had only been marginally longer: they separated in three years.

“I’ve had two weddings and two divorces and I’ve missed them! Jesus, I’ve been around…” Of course, she now remembered a good part of all four events, along with most of the two relationships in within, from the most intimate moments to their fights. It was enough to make any girl’s head spin.

Her two celebrity marriages had left Carrie with both a good bit of fame and money, and she had soon left her modelling days mostly behind, and had gone to found and manage a firm of her own, which fabricated swimsuits and was doing pretty good.

As soon as she remembered her company, she felt the weight of responsibility falling over her shoulders. She had so many things to do… But today was New Year’s Day, and she was free…ish. So she would use it to learn even more about this mess.

By now, she judged she could visit her parents, so she went up to her room to get ready. What to wear in front of them? Most of her clothes were borderline sexy, but she didn’t want to flaunt her new curves in front of her parents, though probably they were used to it in this future.

Thought still tight, she thought the simple jeans and red blouse she picked were decent enough. She still looked great, she thought, and couldn’t help but smile, despite the difficult situation she was in.

She called for a taxi and it was soon at her doorstep. She gave her former address to the driver and tried to calm herself on the way, not wanting to appear too nervous before her parents.

They arrived quicker than she wanted, and she got out and paid the driver, and she had the impression his eyes were fixed on her all her way to the building. She felt creeped out by the thought.

She was not prepared to the sight of how much aged her young parents looked, but tried to conceal her shock. What had she expected? She was in her mid-thirties now, for God’s sake.

Well, on further study, she guessed they looked as well as could be expected. Her father was balding quite a lot and was a bit thicker in gut, while her mother had cut her hair shorter and had dyed it in a reddish color, probably to hide its whitening. What shocked Carrie the most was how small she looked to her now.

The conversation flowed naturally, because whenever there were gaps in Carrie’s memory, they would suddenly adjust and she would remember what was needed. That’s how she learned the details of other aspects of her life, like the fact that her little sister Marianne had a bit of a falling out with the rest of the family and had started living by herself out of the country.

She cut her visit short after inquiring what she really wanted to know. Had she a brain injury years ago? New Year’s Eve when she was 14, perhaps? Something that could explain a long term memory loss? Of course, she asked everyone casually. She didn’t want her parents to worry.

Maybe she ought to have gone to her doctor, though she doubted he would be working on that day. So, when she kissed her parents goodbye and started walking aimlessly around the neighborhood, she received a written message in the telephonic device she had with her.

It was from her middle sister, Genevieve, and it said simply:

“I don’t know if you’re at your home, but I’m going there. There’s something important I need to tell you.”

Well, that gave her something to do, and a good conversation with her might help Carrie fill more gaps. At the moment, she couldn’t even place what Genevieve’s current appearance was, just as she hadn’t remembered her parents until she saw them.

Carrie found a new taxi and went immediately back home –it was curious how that new house already felt like home to her. She arrived before Genevieve, which gave her time to prepare herself a bit. She wasn’t sure what kind of relationship they had in this future, but when they had been kids, they were very close, if marginally competitive. If that had carried up with adult Genevieve’s personality, Carrie decided she would try to portray herself in the best light she could.

She tidied the living room, wondering if Genevieve’s house was as large as hers, and suddenly her thoughts deviated to her looks. Had her little sister grown as much as she had?

In any case… why shouldn’t she up the stakes a bit? She wasn’t in front of her parents any more. Couldn’t she flaunt her appearance in front of a younger sister? She peeled off her tight jeans and swapped them for a white miniskirt. She liked the look of red on herself, but this time she choose a simple t-shirt that highlighted the curve of her bust.

She was putting on her new favorite perfume when she heard the ringing of the doorbell.

The pretty and blonde young woman at the door was on her late twenties. Carrie had no doubts about her identity, for she still had some resemblance to the 11 years old she had known just yesterday, but that didn’t make it less surprising.

What was weirder was that Genevieve was also looking at her up and down, with a hanging mouth and as much of a surprised expression, if not more.

“Carrie?” asked the blonde.

“Yeah, why are you…? Wait, you too?” asked the eldest sister in sudden realization.

“Yes! Oh, my God, Carrie, how did this happen to us?”

“I don’t know! I was with you guys at the party and suddenly I became… this!”

“Me too! I have an adult life now. I have a husband!”

“I know! And I have two! Well, ex-husbands, but still… this is too much for me. I’m only 14!”

“And I’m 10. And yet Lance… that’s who I’m married to, by the way… is saying we should think about having children soon!”

“Oh, my God, poor Marianne! She’s too young, and if this happened to us, she’s probably on it too. She must be terrified in a… 27-years-old body! And she’s all by herself on Australia.”

“We should call her.”

“For what I understand, we’ve kind of lost contact with her. I was at our parents this morning” explained Carrie. “But I should have her number around, I guess.”

Carrie wasn’t completely familiar with her house just yet, so she looked through some papers on her desk. She felt her sister’s eyes over her body as she did so.

“You got really lucky, Carrie. You look great.”

Carrie blushed but stuck out her chest proudly.

“Well, I’m on my way to forty now! I guess I’m indeed lucky I still look like this. And you didn’t do badly yourself. So maybe it’s Lance who is the lucky one.”

Genevieve blushed this time, but she also smiled impishly.

“I’m really lucky too. He’s a very handsome boy… man, I mean.”

Carrie looked at her intently.

“Yeah, we did it,” admitted Genevieve. “It felt perfectly natural to do so since we’re this age now, and it was great. He really wants to get me pregnant soon.”

“Be careful, sis. We don’t know the implications of this yet. What if you have a child and then you go back to 10 suddenly?”

“Yeah, but what if we never go back? You said it yourself, you’re already pushing forty. We’ve already skipped the better part of our lives, so maybe we should make the most of the time we have.”

It was a very good point, thought Carrie. She finally declined searching through her papers. Nothing looked like information to contact Marianne.

“Hey, have you seen these new phones we have now?” asked Genevieve. “They store information and everything. I don’t know how to use them yet, but I bet… yes! Here it is, Marianne’s number!”

Both sisters squealed delighted as they dialed the Australian phone number and waited.

“Hello?” the woman who answered had a thick accent.

“Marianne, is that you?”

“Uhm, no, she isn’t here right now. I’m her roommate.”

“Oh! Well, I’m her sister, can you please tell her to call us back when you see her again?”

The roommate promised to do so. Carrie and Genevieve were a bit disappointed, but after a while, they simply sat down in front of each other and starting exchanging information about what they had discovered so far about their new existences.

Genevieve (Part 2)

by BLZBub

Genevieve slowly woke up from a very deep sleep. She got the feeling that she had slept in pretty late. What exactly had she been doing last night? She remembered being with Lance, but that was too good to have been true. It had to have been a dream. But as she grew more awake, she became aware of more things around her. First, she could feel the sheet moving across her naked body. Second, she was becoming aware that the sheet felt different going across her chest, which was not as flat as it should be. Genevieve stretched and her arm came in contact with a naked body beside her.

That helped Genevieve wake up a lot faster. She looked beside her to see the young man from her dream. But that was definitely not a dream. She was quite awake now and details about the night before came racing back into her memory. Somehow, she had skipped ahead 20 years. She was a 30 year old adult woman and this man was her husband Lance.

Genevieve’s movements caused Lance to wake up as well. He gave her a dreamy smile and said, “Morning, V.V. You up for a little more loving?”

Genevieve flushed as her memory resurfaced of what she did before bed. Lance had pleasured her in a way she had never known before. She hadn’t a name for it until the word ‘sex’ popped into her head. From that single word, more knowledge expanded out, explaining what the word meant, what body parts were involved, and how it was supposed to work. The thought of feeling it again definitely appealed to her now that she knew what it was about.

“I think I can stay in bed a little longer,” said Genevieve as she snuggled up to Lance. Lance was quick to respond to her with tender kisses and gentle touches.

**

Some time later, Genevieve climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. She wanted to a shower both to freshen up and get to know her body better. She rubbed her hands over her body, marveling in the curves that were so new to her. The water felt so good against her skin that Genevieve spent quite a bit of time under the showerhead.

Of course, she didn’t spend all of that time feeling her new body. She was searching through her own memories, particularly for memories she hadn’t had before. Twenty years had passed last night and by all appearances, she had been living a life between then and now. Surely there had to be something buried in her head. However, despite the scrubbing she gave her scalp (her hair was so silky now), no new information sprang out. But it was in there somewhere. She picked up a lot of information about sex and there had to be more where that came from.

Eventually, Genevieve got out of the shower and wrapped a towel about herself. She walked out of the bathroom to find Lance waiting for her, fully dressed. “You smell so great when you get out of the shower,” said Lance as he walked up to her. Genevieve blushed. She was becoming increasingly familiar with this adult Lance, but he still caused her heart to flutter when he got near her. “I need to do a bit of shopping now. When I get back, we can starting working on making our child,” he said.

The fluttering in Genevieve’s heart stilled as a cold feeling went through her stomach. She also felt a piercing pain through her temples. As the sensations ebbed, Genevieve became aware that her mind was opening up. New knowledge was pouring in about adulthood as well as two decades’ worth of memories that had been hidden from her until just then.

The most prominent memories were the ones involving Lance. She could recall a very long relationship between the two of them. The two of them had started dating as early as junior high. She could recall him taking her to all the dances, including her proms. She could them dating over the years, going to several places. They only moved into their apartment five years ago when they had scrounged up enough for them to move out. Her parent’s place wasn’t too small and unwelcome, but it seemed like she and Lance had never been able to get enough time alone together.

While living together had given them all the time they wanted, it was still a bit of bother in terms of paying rents and buying food. Their parents were willing to provide a bit, but it was a challenge to make ends meet. It took Lance three more years to scrounge up enough money to buy her engagement ring. They’ve been married for a year, their wedding being smaller than Genevieve had fantasized and the honeymoon was not extensive. But their love was still very strong and Lance had been very persistent in expanding their family.

“Lance, don’t you think we’re going at this a little too fast?” asked Genevieve.

“What do you mean?” asked Lance.

“Well, we’re still youngish,” said Genevieve, “We’ve only been married a year. We’ve got time to start a family later.”

Lance frowned and said, “I thought you really wanted kids.”

Genevieve couldn’t deny she’s fantasized about her and Lance’s babies for a long time, but now she knew about the process of making a baby. Having to carry another life inside her for 9 months was a little scary. She wasn’t sure if she could commit to that right now, not when she’s so recently arrived into this future.

“I know, but it’s a new year and I’ve been thinking about what I’ll be doing for the next year. I think we need to make sure we’re ready for a baby,” said Genevieve, “But that shouldn’t take long, I think. Maybe a month.”

Lance seemed a little disappointed but then he said, “Well, it won’t hurt to practice, would it?”

Genevieve kissed him and said, “Who said we aren’t going to?”

Lance smiled and said, “Ok, I better get going now. I’ll see you later.”

“I think I’ll be visiting family today,” said Genevieve. She hoped her family would be able to fill in some of the lingering gaps in her memory or maybe have an explanation about why she was in the future.

“Ok, don’t take all day,” said Lance before he walked out.

Genevieve sighed before looking around the apartment. While she had access to her memories, most of it was a tangled jumble that she had trouble piecing together. She had a feeling that looking at her new belongings will help straighten out her memories and better recall them.

There were quite enough photos, newspaper clippings, and awards to trigger her memories about her career. Genevieve was an actress of considerable skill. However, her performances were confined to simple theatre, though she had been part of some grand plays. However, theatre work didn’t bring in a constant flow of big money so Genevieve has experienced highs and lows in finances.

She also found several photos of her family as well. The pictures she found of her sisters were mostly from their high school days which were quite a few years ago (and yet still so far in the future from ‘last night’). The pictures she found of her parents were more recent and Genevieve was surprised about how old they looked now. 20 years is a long time, but she had the mental image of them staying the way they were while she grew out. A childish idea, but she had stopped being a child relatively recently.

Genevieve wasn’t sure if she could face her parents in their current state, not just yet. She still needed to adjust to this new time. But perhaps she could catch up on her sisters. Where did they live now? Her new memories soon told her. Marianne was very, very far away now, all the way in Australia. She hadn’t expect her sister would move that far. But Carrie was much closer, still in the same city. She could head over right away.

But Genevieve couldn’t just walk into her sister’s house unannounced. Fortunately, these new mobile telephones were capable of a lot of things. She didn’t even have to talk to Carrie, she can just send her a message. This ‘texting’ took a while for her to work out, with her unfamiliarity with touchscreens and her elongated fingertips. But she was able to send the message soon enough. After that, it was time to pick out something to wear.

Genevieve decided for a nicer white sundress with blue embroidery. It wasn’t as fancy as the black dress she was wearing last night, but she thought it made her look more grown up. She added a simple silver necklace to go with it. She wondered if the neckline went too low and showed too much cleavage, but then again, she did want to show her sister she was all grown up and to be taken seriously. She grabbed her purse and walked out of the apartment. Carrie’s house shouldn’t be too far and she could use a walk to get accustomed to her longer legs.

**

When Genevieve got to Carrie’s house, she started to feel an increasing level of envy. Carrie had such a big fancy house that she was able to afford with her swimsuit manufacturing company. Seeing Carrie made Genevieve’s envy rise more as Carrie could easily be modelling her own swimsuits. Suddenly, Genevieve was went from worrying about showing off too much to being embarrassed about not showing off enough. She had a nice body of course, but Carrie looked even better with her tight clothes. Genevieve was pretty sure Carrie’s breasts were bigger than her own. She certainly had enough pictures showing them off.

But Genevieve was able to fight down her envy, reminding herself that she had a lasting marriage with her one true love while Carrie had two divorces, divorces that she profited from… But there were bigger concerns, like the fact that they were both adults and their little sister was on the other side of the world. Fortunately, Genevieve was more adept at using their new phones than Carrie was and soon had Marianne’s number. While Marianne wasn’t available just yet, the two sister still talk with each other about their respective new lives.

Marianne (Part 2)

by Planet

Marianne couldn’t sleep as well as her tiredness required, so she resolved to stay up and try to figure out what had happened. She had to admit she was enjoying it so far, but nevertheless she wanted to know the extent of her situation.

She if she really was in 2016, it stood to reason that future versions of her family and friends also existed. Could it be that Genevieve and Carrie, who had been with her when she was transported in time, were also inhabiting their older bodies?

She had figured she would have a way to contact her sisters more handily, but she actually struggled to find a number. She finally found a visibly unused notepad containing Carrie’s telephone, and she realized the number didn’t belong to Australia, but rather to their old city. Maybe she had been the only one who had moved there.

The conversation didn’t go at all as Marianne expected. Carrie did pick up the phone (or at least, an adult woman’s voice who said she was her older sister), but she didn’t sound anything like the Carrie she knew. Besides the lower voice, which was to be expected, she sounded distant, superior and dismissive. She was apparently surprised that Marianne had called at all, and the girl had the feeling they had some sort of fall-out in this future. And, what was most important, it didn’t seem like she was aware of any kind of time-shift.

“So nothing unusual happened to you today?” insisted Marianne.

“Other than you calling after so long? Not really?”

After that, it was obvious the sisters hadn’t anything more to say to each other.

“Well, I’ll leave you. I’m having a party tonight,” said Carrie as a farewell.

Of course, New Year had hit Australia first but was still away from Carrie, reasoned Marianne who at first didn’t understood.

Marianne reflected on the conversation. Somehow, her family thought this timeline was perfectly normal. She could try and call Genevieve to be sure, but she didn’t want to be hurt by her other sister’s indifference. Whatever had happened between her and her family had obviously stranded them.

It was Marianne’s first real blow, and it made her realize she had missed too much with the skip. She cried a bit until she finally was able to fall asleep. She woke up late, after midday, when she heard the door.

“My roommate,” she thought. She had finally returned from wherever she had spent the night.

She slowly got up. She was wearing a white blouse and panties, so she pulled up some pants before going out of the room.

“Uhm, hi”, said Marianne trying to smile to the girl who was pouring juice in front of the refrigerator.

“Hello, Marianne. Good party last night?”

“Very interesting, to say the least.”

The girl was about her same -new- age, but Marianne noticed with pride she was taller, fitter and definitely more attractive.

“Are you going to eat now? I’ll join you,” said Marianne.

Her roommate looked at her with some surprise.

“So are we all right, then?” she asked with some hesitation.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… I’ve noticed you’ve been angry at me ever since you found out I’m going to get married. I know you can’t pay the flat for yourself and that you don’t have anywhere to go, but…”

“Don’t worry. I don’t blame you for that,” cut her Marianne, again trying to smile and this time failing spectacularly. Great. Just what she needed. Grown up problems.

The only advantage about finding out about her housing troubles was that they got her memory working. She suddenly started “remembering” things about this future, which she had never really lived.

She had arrived to Australia as an exchange student at 17. Before that, as a teenager, she had fell in with a bad crowd, and had started feeling alienated from her family. So she had used the exchange program as an escape, and as soon as she turned 18 and finished school, she found her means to staying in Australia legally and away from home. That was the reason of their resentment towards her.

She had been living since then at this rented flat, along with her roommate, whose name Marianne suddenly remembered was Paula. No wonder it had been such a blow for her when Paula had announced her intentions of marrying and leaving, which would happen in just over two weeks.

The really difficult thing was that Marianne wasn’t doing greatly economically. At first, she had used a bit of money her parents had sent her for her studies, but afterwards she didn’t want to accept more of it, so she realized she had to start working immediately.

Luckily, since puberty, she had developed an athletically body which she had further improved with a careful routine. She had a natural talent for it, and she had put it to use, working as fitness instructor and personal trainer at a gym.

The problem was that it didn’t pay much. To complicate matters even more, she and her ex-boyfriend had spent pretty much all their money in buying a small place to open a gym of their own. They still needed more equipment, not to mention a lot of paperwork in order to be able to do it, but Marianne had dreamed to be able to open it before June. A possibility which was farther than ever now.

Once they finished their meal, Paula excused herself and went into her room to make some calls. She was very busy nowadays because of the wedding.

Marianne had no intention of spending the second half of her first day as an adult locked up in an apartment, so she left Paula to herself.

Unlike the night before, once outside the flat, she was able to recognize her surroundings. She now had memories of living there for almost ten years, after all. She knew where the closest supermarket was, and what bus she needed to go to work.

But now she wanted to walk, so she let her feet wander without a clear address in mind. She was surprised when she realized she had arrived to the small gym she had purchased. Looking at it, she realized the real extent of the work she still had before her. The place wasn’t ready at all.

She had the key to the place within her purse, so she decided to enter and check it. The machines she had worked so hard to purchase were very few, and not particularly new, she realized, but they were hers, and that filled her with pride. Disappointment came just after that, when she thought the gym could never open after all. She was deeply indebted with her bank and unless her partner Geoff paid a big chunk he still was due… she would need to start thinking about selling the place back.

Well, she was there now, why not test it? She was also very curious about putting her gymnastic abilities to use. She changed into a proper sports bra and jogging pants, admiring her own physique in the process.

The night before, when she had checked herself, she had realized she was very attractive, but hadn’t been aware of the extent of her prowess. Now she could plainly see how bulky some of her muscles were, and since she was finally rested, she could feel their inherent strength.

Marianne wasn’t sure how to start, but a routine quickly came to her mind. She was a bit scared she would fail, but she went for about three hours flawlessly.

Before doing it, Marianne didn’t understand the appeal of exercising, but the fact was that her routine had been able to wipe all of her worries, and she had become so transfixed by it, that she even forgot for a while she was actually a little girl in an impossible situation.

Luckily, the showers were among the things that were ready in the gym, so she took a long one. After that, she left the place and resumed her walk around the city. She was tempted to go and watch a movie (2016’s posters looked very unlikely the ones she remembered, and the films so flashy), but she realized she probably should save as much money as she could, so she strolled in a mall instead.

It was dark already when she came back home, and Paula was apparently gone again.

“Okay, dinner,” she thought when she noticed her flat stomach was rumbling in hunger.

Marianne’s new fitness passion also extended to her eating habits, so she peeled some fruit and prepared herself a protein mix drink.

She half-feared her old appetite would resurface and that she would find the beverage disgusting, but she found herself enjoying it.

“Oh, crumbs!”

A good deal of the smoothie had accidentally spilled over the table. Luckily she was able to contain the liquid before it hit the floor, but a few papers were completely ruined. They didn’t seem too important, or so she hoped, so she simply threw them onto the basket.

She didn’t see that among them was a ruined note left by Paula:

I have to go up north to my parents’ for a few final arrangements. Won’t be back this week.

PS: Your sisters called. I know things are tense, but you should ring them back :)



Part 3
Epilogue