Kaitlyn swatted with irritation at the buzzing intercom on her desk as if it were some intruding insect. It had been a long day for the hypnotherapist and now her 5 o'clock was late. Not that she was in any rush to spend another hour with that insufferable man and his futile attempt to quit smoking. The moron didn't seem to understand that she wasn't some kind of magician. To make progress you actually had to make a commitment towards improvement – not just lie there lazily on her couch, farting into the expensive red leather and ignoring her. The intercom buzzed again furiously.
“For God's sake, what?!” Kaitlyn yelled down the line at her secretary, who no doubt heard her from the adjoining office through the wall anyway. “Sorry...what it is Cathy?”
“It's your 5 o'clock, Doctor – Mr. Kent, the smoker,” her voice sounded feeble and tinny through the speaker, “he's cancelled his session. He says the therapy isn't working. He called it a waste of time.” Cathy paused knowing her boss would need a moment to seethe before she piled on the bad news. “That's not all, Doctor. His son is here, at the front desk I mean. It seems Mr. Kent wants his money back and he sent the boy to collect it.”
“Right...” Kaitlyn sighed angrily. As nice as it was not to have to spend any more time with the flatulent Mr. Kent, she couldn't believe the nerve of the man demanding a refund on an entire course of therapy. She smiled thinly as an idea started to form. “Oh Cathy,” she said pushing down the button on the intercom, “send him through won't you? I'm sure we can work something out...”
An hour passed and Cathy was getting a little impatient. It was past six and she wanted to go home but her boss was still in with Mr. Kent's son. What was she doing? He wasn't even a patient. She knocked on the door gently and pushed into the doctor's office expecting to see her with the boy in his late teens she had led through earlier. What she got instead almost made her fall down in shock.
“Ah Cathy,” Kaitlyn waved her in, “we were just finishing up.” The doctor gestured to what appeared to be a young woman in a short dress and heels sprawled on the leather couch. “I told Billy here that we couldn't refund his dad's payment but since the last session was already paid for we could use it to give young Billy some help understanding girls. Some hypnosis and a little help from my prop cupboard and I would say he is more than in touch with his feminine side. It's just a shame the hour is up so quickly.”
“Huh?” Cathy's eyes were popping out of her head at the sight of the boy with the blank stare piercing through layers of makeup. “You're sending him home like that?”
“Oh, don't worry,” Kaitlyn grinned, “he will snap out of it before he gets home. It's best he keeps the outfit anyway since I have programmed his femme alter-ego to re-emerge every time he sees his dad smoking a cigarette.”