Caspian really considered just giving up and turning himself in, but he really didn't want to piss Asher off. And even though he was already off to a bad start in that regard, anything was clearly better than revealing that he was a guy in a dress.
He shot to his feet, painfully aware of the ticking clock, he didn't have a lot of time to pull this off, he needed to find another way to get what he wanted.
And that was why he found himself on the phone a few minutes later, talking to a concerned maid, trying to ask for a computer.
If he still had his phone, he wouldn't have to go through this trouble. He was just relieved that he had managed to fool her with his voice, and she hadn't immediately started screaming her head off when he spoke.
Caspian paced after the call dropped, wondering how his request was going to be fulfilled. The maid had told him to wait for a bit so that she'd get what he wanted but she couldn't exactly lift an entire computer to him.
It would be better if he went to the computer... Caspian glanced down at himself, he was wearing just the bathrobe and the trusty silk shorts underneath, there was no way he could leave the room dressed .
There had been no need to worry, because the lady showed up with a brand new laptop, graciously letting him know that it was already connected to the internet.
She quickly made herself scarce and Caspian got busy researching, he was horrified to find that he would have to wear the lacy underwear that had been brought with the outfits.
He had immediately tossed them to the side, holding the same aversion for them as he did with the raunchy lingerie.
After several more hours of trial and error, Caspian sat in front of the dresser, staring at an unfamiliar person in the mirror.
He had spent the entire afternoon inside the walk-in closet, too busy to even eat lunch, and as the sky darkened outside, he could finally declare himself ready.
He had curled his hair to make the length look more deliberate, his eyes were red and watery, and his face was scrubbed red from his attempts at makeup but he managed it somehow.
He had to say, for someone who had never done this before, it wasn't a bad first try. Maybe he should go into the beauty industry...
His efforts to be optimistic crumbled just as quickly as they came, who was he kidding? What was he even doing?
How did he end up here? Sitting in a dress and lying about his gender, was getting a bullet through his head really worse than thi... It absolutely was!
It was why he was currently putting on one of the dainty heels provided for him, he went for one with short blocky heels.
He stood up and gingerly walked over to one of the several full-length mirrors available, carefully picking his steps so that he wouldn't fall.
That would be a catastrophe because the corset embedded in the black dress he wore would definitely break a couple of his ribs.
Caspian stood in front of the mirror, proud of his work. He completely ignored the mess he had made that he would have to clean up, basking in the disguise he had pulled off.
He went for a dress that cinched his waist in to give an illusion of hips, and he didn't bother about accentuating a chest that never existed. Reassured by how normal it was to have a flatter chest than most.
It was something he never paid attention to before, and now he knew more about women than he really wanted to.
He absently lifted the skirt of the dress so that he could get started on picking up the clothes he littered around, still unused to the unfamiliar feeling of wearing panties.
The door opened then and the person to walk in was the maid that he had woken up to see that morning. He froze with a beaded dress in his hand, staring at her with wide-eyed panic.
"Sorry to startle you," She smiled tentatively, "I wanted to come to help you get ready but you seem to have everything under control."
"I'm really sorry about the mess," Caspian said quietly, he quickly learned that the quieter he spoke, the easier it was to fake it.
"Well, maybe you don't have everything under control," The maid chuckled, walking closer. "And don't worry one bit about the mess, I'll clean it up, it's my job after all."
"It's Hannah," The lady supplied, walking over to a shelf. "And what's yours?"
"That's such a pretty name," Hannah beamed, walking over with a silver teardrop necklace and matching earrings.
"Oh, you don't have your ears pierced," She noted without judgment, helping him put on the necklace. "That's fine, a bracelet and ring should suffice."
When Hannah was done touching up the little things, she gently nudged him outside the closet, closing the sliding doors.
Standing in the bedroom fully dressed made reality hit hard and he had to fight the urge to pound on the door and beg Hannah to let him back in so he could hide in there.
A knock on the door startled him badly, no one who had come in had ever knocked so he didn't know what to do or say.
Fortunately, his input wasn't required because the visitor pushed open the door to reveal a familiar face.
"You clean up good for a druggie," Jael quipped, beckoning him over.
Caspian was too tense to respond to that, carefully picking his way over to the Beta who was once again dressed like a tired middle-aged businessman.
He gave him a once-over, Caspian shivering beneath his dead-eyed stare, certain that he would see right through his pretentious clothes.
"The boss will be here soon," He said shortly, leading them down the hallway.
Caspian had to struggle to keep up with the tall Beta in the shoes he wore. He tried to pick the most comfortable ones he could find but they were still difficult to walk in.