"Uh, sure, sure," said Jon. He went into his dresser and grabbed some socks and underwear -- hmm, he saw nothing but black socks and plain white boxer shorts. As Sarah sat down at a makeup table in the bedroom, Jon went into the bathroom to shave.
He came back out in only his socks and boxers, just in time to see Sarah take the long blonde wig off her head, revealing a buzz cut underneath. She put it on the styrofoam head form that Jon just now noticed, and turned around in her chair. She had also removed her makeup.
Jon was standing there, stunned. "What, did I miss a spot?" Sarah asked. She turned back to the mirror. "Nope, doesn't look like it. Will you bring me a dress?"
"Uh, sure," said Jon. He backed over to the closet, went in, and picked out the first dress he saw, removing its hanger from the rod and carrying it back to Sarah.
She was wrapping white cloth around her chest. She glanced at the blue minidress Jon was holding and said, "Come on, we're going out."
Jon went back into the closet, confused. He soon found a red dress that was definitely more conservative, with short sleeves and what appeared to be a medium-length skirt. He brought it out for Sarah's approval; she was tying the cloth tight against her torso. This time, she said, "Quit fooling around or we're going to be late."
She stood up, and Jon could now see that she was wearing white granny panties and thick black knee-high socks. "You just get dressed," she said. "I'll worry about myself."
They both headed for the closet. Sarah flipped the light switch that Jon hadn't known was there. Now he could see his side of the closet, which consisted of nothing but dark-colored shirts and pants.
The black pants Jon picked, he realized as he pulled them up, were baggy with an elastic waistband, which seemed to need to go above his navel, as if he were an old man. The shirt, meanwhile, was also baggy, and was long enough that it hung down to just past his butt. It was a completely unflattering look, Jon realized.
Speaking of which -- he turned around and saw Sarah stepping into a pair of black flats, wearing a shapeless black dress, of a type she seemed to have a bunch of on hangers at the front of the closet. It had a high collar, long sleeves, and the skirt hung all the way down to her ankles. It wasn't quite a burka, especially since her head was visible, but it was close enough. There was no other way to describe it but plain. In fact, that was a good description for Sarah with no makeup, very short hair, her breasts bound so that there was no evidence of their existence...
Jon put on his own pair of nondescript black shoes, and the two of them headed downstairs and out the front door. Jon automatically reached for his keys, but then realized he didn't have them, but as he turned around, he saw there was nothing to lock anyway -- there was no apparent lock, just a doorknob.
"What's the matter?" asked Sarah, halfway down the sidewalk.
"Nothing," said Jon, walking fast to catch up. "Uh, do you mind driving?"
"Sure, no problem," she replied, heading for the boxy dark gray car parked at the curb.
It wasn't the car Jon would have expected Sarah to drive, but he looked down the street and saw that all the cars parked there were of a similar design, all in dark colors -- mostly gray and black, but he saw a couple that might have been navy blue, or maybe hunter green.
He looked around and saw that most of the houses had blackout curtains drawn on their windows. On the other side of the street, an older man was walking a dog down the sidewalk, dressed in dark, baggy pants and a shirt similar to Jon's outfit. Jon saw the man glance briefly at Sarah, then quickly turn his head directly forward and pick up his speed considerably.
Jon got into the car and buckled his seat belt. Sarah pulled out onto the suburban residential street.
After about a block, Jon asked, "How about some music?"
"Jon, what is up with you?" Sarah asked back. "We're in public. Besides, I didn't bring any, for obvious reasons."
Jon suddenly noticed that there wasn't even a radio in the car; there were cup holders attached to the spot where the radio might be.
He contemplated all of this as they drove in silence, and soon concluded that, in this world where marriage happened early and fidelity was strictly enforced, not only was there no need for public sexuality, it was actively being suppressed. No reason to be enticing when the results of such enticement were highly illegal.
Jon's observations continued to bear this out. Everything seemed to be strictly functional: the architecture had no ornamentation, the houses had no flower beds, the billboards were nothing but black text on a white background (and the first one Jon saw read, in its entirety, "BIRDSEYE CANNED PEAS").
Sarah pulled into the restaurant parking lot, and Jon looked around for Karyn, realizing after a few seconds that he wouldn't be able to recognize her by either her hair or her clothes.
With a sigh, Jon got out of the car and followed Sarah toward the drab concrete building that was, apparently, their destination. It occurred to him that the act of eating a meal, in some ways, could be considered a bit sexual, so he couldn't help wondering if the restaurant experience was any different in this world.
