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Respect
By Morpheus

Mimi glanced at the old fashioned clock that hung on the distant wall, trying to appear as though she wasn't. She still had over an hour before her shift was over and she'd be able to go home, though it felt like it would be much longer than that. Then with a sigh, she turned her attention to the next customer at her register and began to ring up her groceries.

"You got the wrong price," the old woman exclaimed angrily. "Do it right…"

"Let me double check the price," Mimi responded with a forced smile.

"You double scanned that one," the old woman complained.

Mimi looked at the scan and saw that the woman had two of the item mentioned and each had been scanned just once. Unfortunately, she'd been forced to deal with customers like her before, ones who would lie to her and try tricking her in order to get some kind of discount. They were always difficult to deal with since Mimi could only remain polite and pretend that she didn't know they were actually trying to scam her and the store.

Mimi had to double check and rescan another half dozen items for the old woman before she was finally done. Once the old woman had finally left, Mimi shook her head and then forced a pleasant smile before dealing with the next customer.

The next customer stepped up with a small basket of groceries, but Mimi barely noticed the groceries and had to resist from gasping aloud. This was a gorgeous blonde woman in her twenties, about the same age as Mimi, but there the similarities ended. This woman had to be six feet tall…not including her heels while Mimi was barely five foot three. She was also very sexy with large breasts while Mimi barely filled an A cup. Mimi couldn't help but instantly feeling depressed, or at least more depressed than she already felt.

"Would you like paper or plastic?" Mimi asked with a forced smile, trying not to let this woman see how jealous she felt.

"Plastic," the woman responded, then paused to stare down at Mom and exclaim, "Mimi? Mimi Dawson?"

"What?" Mimi gasped in surprise and confusion. She was pretty sure that she'd never seen this woman in her life, but there was definitely a look of recognition on her face.

"It's me," the woman blurted out excitedly. "Allison. Allison Keller…"

"Allison?" Mimi exclaimed, her mouth dropping open as she stared up at this woman.

Allison Keller had been Mimi's roommate and best friend back in college, though she certainly hadn't looked like this. Allison had been only two inches taller than Mimi and one cup size larger. Mimi hadn't seen her old friend since they both graduated five years earlier, but there was no way Allison could have changed this much in that time. But at the same time, now that Mimi knew what to look for, this woman did resemble the old Allison bit...almost as though this was Allison's sexier and more developed sister.

"I know," the woman…Allison said with a light laugh. "I've changed a bit."

"A bit?" Mimi responded, still in shock that this woman could possibly the Allison she used to know.

"So you work here?" Allison asked, abruptly changing the subject. She gestured around and then chuckled slightly. "I mean, of course you do. But I thought you were going to become an editor or publisher…"

"No one was hiring," Mimi admitted, feeling even more self-conscious than before. Not only had Allison somehow become tall and gorgeous, but from her expensive looking clothing, she was obviously doing well for herself. Mimi felt embarrassed to have her old friend see her working at a cash register. She forced a smile and said, "I needed to play the bills…"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Allison said, giving Mimi a sympathetic look. Then she paused with a thoughtful expression before cautiously asking, "Can you meet up with me tomorrow? We can catch up over some coffee…and I might be able to help you out."

"Um…sure," Mimi replied, though she was already regretting it. After all, Allison would probably brag about how great everything was with her the entire time while Mimi would be left to feel worse and worse. Then she mentally chided herself for those thoughts. After all, Allison had never been the type to rub other people's noses in their own misfortune. Then Mimi looked at the other customers getting in line and quickly finishing ringing Allison up. "I'll look forward to it. Unfortunately, I don't really have time to talk now…"

Allison paid for her groceries and told Mimi, "I'm looking forward to catching up too," before leaving.

Mimi watched her old friend leave, feeling jealous but also curious as to how Allison had changed so much. Then she shook her head, knowing that she'd be able to ask her that tomorrow. For the moment, she still had a bunch of customers to take care of and an hour left to work.

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Mimi sipped at her hazelnut mocha, using the opportunity to stare at Allison. Allison looked just as sexy and impressive as she had yesterday which only served to make Mimi feel frumpy and insignificant in comparison. Still, Allison had been friendly and seemed genuinely happy that Mimi had shown up.

At the moment, they were sitting at a table just outside the coffee shop, both sipping their drinks and considering where they should start. Then Allison reached into her purse, and to Mimi's surprise, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Without a word, she put one between her lips and lit it, taking a deep drag and blowing the smoke out overhead as she put her lighter back into the purse.

"You smoke now?" Mimi asked in surprise. The old Allison had always been against smoking and frequently said that it was a gross habit.

"I started about two years ago," Allison responded carefully, taking another drag from her cigarette. "I've changed a lot since then…and not just physically." Then she gave Mimi a curious look and said, "Tell me about what you've been up to since college."

Mimi was a little surprised at that and once again felt self-conscious. "Not much to tell. After graduation, I couldn't get a job in the publishing industry. No one would hire me without experience but I couldn't get the experience unless I got hired. The closest I got was a possibility for an unpaid internship in New York." Mimi shook her head. "I couldn't find anything and was unemployed for two years before I got a job running a cash register." Mimi stared at her mocha with a sigh, feeling depressed at how nothing had worked out like she'd once wanted.

"A husband?" Allison asked curiously. "Kids?"

Mimi shook her head. "No. I've had even less dates than I did in college." She gave Allison a quick look, envying her body. "Guys just don't notice me." Then she gave a wry smile and said, "I'm guessing you don't have that problem anymore."

"Not really," Allison admitted with a faint smile.

"What about you?" Mimi asked, burning with curiosity. "What have you been up to…and what happened to you?"

"Well," Allison started with a look of amusement. "After graduation, I got a data entry job at a company and worked there for a few years. Then I found a guy I absolutely fell for…"

"And what happened with that?" Mimi asked eagerly, remembering the days when they shared all the details of their love lives…or bemoaning their lack of love lives.

"We got married," Allison responded, holding out her perfectly manicured hands and showing off an expensive looking ring which adorned the ring finger. Then she bragged, "He's tall, athletic, handsome…and was just made vice president of his company."

"Wow," Mimi responded, feeling a mixture of envy for her friend as well as happiness. At least one of them had made good after graduation. "Congratulations."

"I'm sorry I didn't invite you to the wedding," Allison apologized. "I didn't know how to reach you."

"It's all right," Mimi said, though she couldn't help but feeling a little hurt at never having received an invitation. She'd always regretted that they hadn't kept in contact after graduation.

Allison took a sip of her coffee and watched Mimi with a strange expression. Then she carefully said, "Getting Paul's attention wasn't easy. I was in love with him but he barely noticed me…especially when there two other women who were interested in him as well. Women who were far more attractive than I was."

"What happened?" Mimi asked quietly, realizing that Allison was getting to the thing that she was most curious about.

Allison took a drag from her cigarette and then snubbed it out. Then she abruptly asked, "Do you believe in magic?"

Mimi blinked at that. "If I remember right," she responded with a wry smile, remembering the times they'd tried reading tarot cards and even played with a Ouija board. "You were always the skeptical one. I was always the one with an open mind."

"Well, I found magic," Allison said, reaching into her purse and pulling something out. She set it on the table in front of Mimi. "Real magic."

Mimi looked at what Allison had placed on the table and saw that it was a pendant with a green stone and a thin gold chain. It didn't look like much and didn't even look expensive, unless of course the green stone was actually an emerald.

"A family friend gave this to me," Allison explained. "He told me that it could help me get what I wanted most."

"So, does it grant wishes or something?" Mimi asked, half joking. One look at how much Allison had changed was enough to make her believe that magic was involved somehow.

"Or something," Allison responded with a smile. "It helps you achieve your goals."

Mimi blinked at that. "I don't understand."

"The man who gave it to me had been nearly four hundred pounds," Allison told me. "After he used this, he lost two hundred pounds in less than a month and then started running marathons."

For a moment, Mimi thought that Allison might be joking, but she didn't look like she was joking. And of course, looking at Allison's body was a clear reminder that something had changed her as well. If she could change this drastically, why not someone else?

"When he gave this to me," Allison told Mimi with a smile, "he told me that it was guaranteed success…that for one time in your life you could guarantee the achievement of a goal…no matter how outlandish it might seem." She leaned back with a thoughtful expression. "My goal was to marry Paul…but unfortunately…I wasn't his type." Then she gestured down at herself and added, "This made me into his type…made it so I could beat the competition and get his full attention."

"That's…incredible," Mimi said, staring down at the pendant with new respect.

"I want you to have it," Allison told with a sigh. "It doesn't seem that you've had much success lately and could use some. I want you to achieve your goal…whatever it is."

Mimi gasped at that. "I don't know what to say… But how could you give up something like this? I mean, couldn't this make you successful with everything you tried?"

"I've already used it," Allison explained with a shrug. "I've already achieved success with my goal so it won't work for me anymore. It only works once per person."

"How…how does it work?" Mimi asked quietly, carefully picking the pendant up for a better look.

"You just put it on and state your goal," Allison answered, looking excited. "If it accepts your goal…it will glow for a few seconds."

"If it accepts it?" Mimi asked in confusion.

"It doesn't work for everyone," Allison admitted. "You have to choose a goal that's actually important to you…that you care about. I'm not sure why. And I think it will only work if you pick a goal that it has the power to help you achieve. And once you chose a goal, you can't change it."

"Then what happens?" Mimi asked.

"You have to wear the pendant until you achieve your goal," Allison told her. "As long as you wear it, it will help you achieve success. But if you take it off before then, the pendant takes away everything it gave you and it won't work for you again."

Mimi held the pendant up and mused, "So once I put it on, I have to keep it on until it's done."

Allison nodded at that and took a sip of her coffee. "But just as a heads up… It will help you succeed in whatever your goal is, but you don't have any real say in how it does it." She gave Mimi a wry smile and admitted, "A lot of my likes and dislikes have changed in ways that I never would have guessed, just so I'd be the perfect match for Paul. I never would have asked it to change my personality but this is who I am now." She shrugged at that.

"I guess I'll have to be careful," Mimi said, her heart racing as she considered the possibilities.

Then Allison held her coffee cup up as if to toast and said, "To at least one guaranteed success in life."

"To success," Mimi agreed, toasting with her own coffee. "Now tell me more about your new life…"