James took the nail polish and set it on the coffee table in the living room. He went to the bathroom and grabbed a roll of toilet paper. He had never put nail polish on before, but he had watched various women do so over the years. He thought he could figure how to do it easily enough. It was basically paint. You applied it evenly to the surface in question and then let it dry. As he walked back into the living room, he was acutely aware of his body. For the past few days, he had done his best to ignore his new shape. Like a fat person who avoids mirrors, but now especially with this dress that hugged his body in different ways emphasizing those new curves he worked to ignore, and his boredom driving him to try something anything different. He couldn't help but be aware of himself.
His hips swayed as he walked and no matter how careful he was his breasts bounced sometimes painfully. He found himself wishing that Erin had included a bra in her little care package, but then again none of hers would be big enough to fit James. That thought carried mixed emotions for James. The thought of his breasts filled him with pride. This wasn't the first time that he had wished for one over the past few days, but it was the first time he didn't get mad at himself for it.
James sat down on the couch and put his feet up. He wadded up small pieces of toilet paper between the toes of his right foot and then he opened the nail polish. He wrinkled his nose at the smell. It wasn't that strong, but it was astringent and it tickled his nose. He pulled the wand out of the top. Several drops of polish promptly dripped on the carpet. He had missed his thigh though so that was something. He slid the wand partway back into the bottle and spun it in his fingers. The pressure pushed most of the liquid out of the brush and this time it didn't drip when he withdrew it.
He had a lot more trouble than he figured bringing brush and toenail together. Hand and foot coordination wasn't something he had worked on. After three failed attempts that left strips of color on his skin, he gave up and crossed his right leg over his left and used his left hand to hold his toes in place as he painted.
It was an awkward position, but it worked. It was a lot slower going than he had thought it would be. He had thought a couple of minutes and he would be done, but the time stretched on and his back began to hurt from the odd angle he was sitting in. After what seemed like hours he was done, with his right foot. He would have stopped there, but it looked silly. So after stretching to try and unclench his back, he repositioned. This time he put his left foot on the table and his right leg was straight out in front of him with his calf resting on the edge of the table. He leaned forward and braced himself against his left thigh. It was a mixed bag, he was thinner now than he had been as James so bending forward was more comfortable, but his breasts got in the way, which made him less comfortable.
He rested the heel of his hand on the top of his foot and then slowly began to stroke the brush across his nails. It went much faster this way. This time he managed not to spill any. He sat up straight and propped his right foot next to his left. He wasn't sure how long he had to wait for the nail polish to dry, but he figured he would give it an hour just to be on the safe side.
While he waited, he reached for Tom's landline phone. He turned it on and was bemused to hear a dial tone for the first time in god knows how long. He dialed Erin's number and listened. The phone rang four times and then went to voice mail, "hi," his voice still surprised him, "this is "“ Jill," his throat was suddenly dry and he coughed to clear it. "I am still in limbo over hear and I am going stir crazy. I got your care package-thanks by the way- and I was wondering if it was too soon to take you up on your offer. I have to get out of the house or I am going to go nuts." He left tom's number and hung up.
He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall while he waited. He didn't fall asleep, but he quickly dosed off into a half dream state. He pictured him and Erin going out again, but the fantasy spread from that to dancing with men and tom kept appearing. He didn't want to worry, but he wasn't sure what it meant.
His nails were dry and he was practicing walking in the wedges when the phone rang. He ran over, not noticing that his awkwardness disappeared when he stopped paying attention to his feet. He picked up the phone and looked at the display it was Erin's number on the caller id. He pressed the on button and put the phone to his ear, "hello." He said.
