DISCLAIMER: Jon's mom name has been changed to Linda to be more in line with most other branches.
Meanwhile across town, Linda was stuck in traffic on her way to work, and this time she was surely going to be late. Leaning back in the driver's seat, Linda relaxed her body. She was going to be stuck here for a while.
Having some time to ponder alone, she looked down at "her" shoes. Although she had worn mostly heeled shoes ever since she was a teen, these new shoes that she supposedly wore all the time now were actually quite comfortable, even if a bit too masculine for her taste. They let her feet breathe well and were much better for driving. Before, she either had to drive using her stiletto heels or take them off every time she got in the car. More than once, she had almost had accidents due to her heels getting stuck on the pedals or missing them entirely. Not to mention the blisters and pain of wearing them all day. "The pains of beauty," she thought to herself, warming to the idea of her new footwear, especially if people thought nothing of it.
Linda had always felt overlooked as a teenager. To compensate for feeling invisible, she had started dressing in flashier, more revealing clothes, hoping to attract attention in ways other than through her personality. It had become a habit that lingered into adulthood, even as she questioned its necessity. Now, the comfort of these sneakers, while not exactly fashionable, was a welcome change. Having more comfortable shoes while not losing her presence was surely a welcome change.
After being stuck for what felt like ages, traffic finally began to clear, and Linda made it to work just in time, her new footwear allowing her to drive with much more comfort than heels.
Upon arriving at the office, she was surprised to find it unusually empty. Had she come to the wrong floor? No, Carla, her only female coworker, was at her desk—though, as usual, she seemed more focused on painting her nails than on work. "She’s going to get in trouble with Harry if she keeps this up" Linda thought, heading over to Carla to figure out what was going on.
"Hey Carla, how was your weekend?" Linda started, with a friendly tone in her voice.
Startled, Carla smudged her nails slightly. She looked up, surprised to see Linda. Hadn't they all gone to the event today? She was the one chosen to hold the fort while everyone was away. Not that she minded much. A bunch of middle-aged men playing sports? Besides, she had never been into sports and always came up with an excuse to not go to the yearly team-building events. "Linda" She responded looking a bit confused "Did you forget about today? They're probably all wondering where you are!"
Linda shook her head, disappointed with herself. She had just talked with her boss yesterday about this event, the company has a yearly team-building event but they usually were just boring fishing trips or a simple movie day. This year, upper management had let her boss, the branch manager, pick this year's event. Being a big tennis fan, he of course wanted to rent out a tennis court for the day, and surprisingly the company accepted it. Ever since then, Harry had been talking about it almost every single day, excited to see everyone there. Having to pick Carla to stay in the office for the day had been a difficult choice for him. He had almost fought his own boss to bring her along but was thankfully talked down from it. The whole shoe situation with Jon had made Linda completely forget about it.
Wasting no time, Linda bolted out of the room without even talking to Carla further. She considered taking the elevator, but it was already on an upper floor, so the stairs were the quickest way down. "I'm starting to wonder why I ever wore heels in the first place. These shoes make me much more agile!" she remarked, finding it much easier to go down the stairs in her new footwear, something she would have loathed to do in her (Jon's?) heels.
Closing her car door, Linda takes a moment to assess her situation. Her white blouse, while not appropriate for sports, would do for now since she wasn't willing to go back home to change. Looking down, a tiny smirk formed in her face, the sneakers have been a blessing in disguise all day; they weren't the best for a tennis match, but given the situation, they would have to do. However, one thing she couldn't ignore was her skirt and tights. The tights could simply be taken off, but the high-waisted black skirt, which hugged her all the way down to the middle of her thighs, was a different story. There was no way she could play tennis in it.
"Maybe Carla has some spare clothes I could use?" she thought but immediately refuted the idea. "She's staying in the office all day—no way she has anything."
While pondering her options, Linda decided to call Harry to warn him she'd be a bit late. Still thinking about what to do, she reached for her phone in her purse. Glancing down at her shoes, a thought crossed her mind. If she had swapped more than just shoes with her son, she wouldn't be having this problem. With one hand inside her purse, looking for her phone, she exclaimed:
"I wish..." A small burning sensation is felt in her hand.
