A Mixed-Up Delivery

 Despite their recent wedding, many things stayed roughly the same for the happy couple. They worked the same 9-5 jobs, they still spent their weekends letting “Carly” out to play, and most importantly, they still lived in the same apartment building. The biggest benefit to Carl’s time as “Carly” was that, since he was living with Felicia, no one batted an eye to see Carl walk into the laundry room with a basket filled primarily with women’s clothing, never suspecting that the clothes didn’t belong to Felicia.

Carl tended to get very focused on the laundry, especially considering that most of the more delicate and wrinkle-prone items were his own, so he hadn’t noticed that another tenant, a young woman, had entered the laundry room and had begun to fill up one of the empty washing machines. In fact, he didn’t notice her presence until she slammed down her hand on top of the machine.

“Oh, shoot!” she exclaimed.

Carl jumped and looked up to see a raven-haired young woman, probably the same age as Felicia, on the other side of the laundry room frantically checking around the tops of the other machines. Carl didn’t recognize her, but then again, he probably wouldn’t recognize a good chunk of the tenants who live on the other floors.

“Need help?” Carl asked, putting down the shirt he was folding.

The young woman looked over at Carl and then down to her open hand, which held a pile of quarters.

“You wouldn’t happen to have an extra quarter on you, would you?” she asked.

“I might…” Carl dug his hands into his pockets, searching until he came across a single quarter, pulling it out of his pocket. “Aha! I’ve got just enough!”

“Thank you so much!” the young woman ran over to Carl and he handed her the quarter.

Carl noticed her gaze lingering on his well-kept nails, but didn’t think much of it. He kept them short enough that nobody could possibly know from just a glance.

“You’re a lifesaver. I thought I had enough for the machine, and I’ve gotta run some errands, so I really didn’t feel like heading all the way back up to the 8th floor before I left.” the woman explained.

“No problem, it’s always nice to be neighborly.” Carl said. “I’m Carl by the way.”

“Carly.” the woman responded.

Carl’s heart dropped and he felt his mouth go dry. How could she possibly know? Could he play it off? How would that even work? Carl’s mind was abuzz with the possibilities.

“Huh?” Carl asked.

“That’s my name, Carly. I’m up in 8C.” the young woman, Carly, smiled.

“Oh… That’s funny, Carl, Carly.” Carl’s face flushed as he realized who the young woman was.

His mind flashed back to Valentine’s Day and the incredible coincidence that had occurred, the tenant in 8C having a nearly identical name to his and the utter incompetence of those stylists, which had led him and Felicia down their current path. Technically, given how much it had strengthened their relationship, Carl and Felicia owed both the tenants of 8C and those stylists a great debt, but that was with the benefit of hindsight. Carl had long wondered what he would do if he was face to face with the fabled Carly of 8C, and now that he was, he was paralyzed. Carl must have zoned out, because he was suddenly snapped back to reality when Carly spoke again.

“Anyway, thanks for the quarter. What’s your apartment? I’d really like to pay you back.” Carly said.

“It’s just a quarter, I wasn’t even going to use it this week anyway.” Carl said.

“Still,” Carly insisted. “I’m weird about debts, I always have to pay them back.”

“I’m in 3C.” Carl said. “Though I wouldn’t call twenty-five cents a debt.”

“Oh, that’s funny, we’ve got a similar name and even our apartment numbers are similar.” Carly giggled.

“Just don’t tell me that your husband’s name is Felix.” Carl muttered.

“Oh, I’m not married, but don’t worry, my boyfriend’s name is Jonathan. That would really be spooky.” Carly smiled. “Thanks again, see you around, I guess.”

“Right, see you around…” Carl trailed off as he returned to his folding, entirely emotionally exhausted by the encounter.

Back up at the apartment, Carl regaled Felicia of his encounter, which ended with Felicia cracking up so much, she nearly fell off the couch.

“It’s not funny!” Carl insisted.

“It kinda is, babe.” Felicia put her hand on Carl’s shoulder. “But I can’t even imagine how it must have felt to hear ‘Carly’ out in the open like that.”

“It felt scary.” Carl admitted.

“To have been a fly on the wall for that, just to see your face!” Felicia said, cackling once more.

The following Saturday, Carl, fully made up as Carly with painted nails, a shaved body and his hair slightly curled, emerged from the bathroom wearing the red sundress that he’d worn during Felicia’s birthday trip, and again on their more recent honeymoon following their actual wedding. They didn’t typically go out during their weekends, but Carl had found over time that it was very fun to just dress up for a quiet evening in. He’d expected to find Felicia sitting on the bed, but he didn’t expect to find her talking on her cell phone.

“Uh huh…” Felicia nodded, rolling her eyes as she listened to the person on the other end of the call she was in. “And there’s no one else who can come in to handle that? What about Roger?”

“What’s up?” Carl mouthed.

Felicia put a finger up, asking Carl to wait.

“Of course he is…” Felicia grumbled. “All right, but you owe me!”

Felicia angrily hung up her phone and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Carl asked.

“Work emergency. Apparently I’m the only one who can fix it, so I have to go into the office for a bit.” Felicia replied, quickly changing out of her casual, lounge around the house outfit, and into something more appropriate for work.

“Guess I should have waited to bring Carly out then…” Carl remarked.

“Nah, because this way, I’ll be encouraged to get all this over with quickly because I know exactly what’s waiting for me at home.” Felicia gave Carl a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Have fun!” Carl joked as Felicia grabbed her purse and headed out of the bedroom.

Carl glanced at himself in the mirror and chuckled.

“Well Carly, it’s just you and me.” Carl said.

After several minutes of boredom gave way to Carl deciding to surf the web on his laptop and check some work files, there was a knock on the door that made Carl naturally apprehensive. After all, the last time he answered an unsolicited knock on the door, he ended up getting the makeover that first introduced him to “Carly”, and while he hadn’t regretted the results, the initial situation wasn’t something he was eager to repeat, especially with the recent encounter with the real Carly still fresh in his mind.

After a moment of careful contemplation, Carl got up and headed towards the door, looking out the peephole. After not seeing anything, or anyone, out there, Carl unlocked the door and poked his head outside.

“Huh… nobody there.” Carl said. “Maybe it was a prank…”

Carl glanced down and saw a large package leaning against the wall next to the door.

“Odd, I didn’t order anything and neither did Felicia, as far as I know…” Carl stepped out of the apartment and picked up the package.

Carl read the label, looking at the name carefully. The package was addressed to “Carly Warren”, which before even looking at the address, Carl knew which apartment the box was meant to be at.

“Guess I’ll have to send Felicia up with it later…” Carl sighed, as he stepped further out to better his grip on the package.

Unfortunately, Carl stepped out a bit too far, and he heard the door swing shut. Carl quickly rushed towards the doorknob, but discovered what he’d already feared was the case.

“Locked…” Carl muttered. “Of course…”

Carl glanced down the hallway, and then down at himself. Seeing as the sundress didn’t have pockets, Carl didn’t have his keys or his phone, and even lacked a pair of shoes, leaving his painted toes sinking in the hall carpeting.

“I guess I really don’t have an excuse not to bring this up myself…” Carl sighed. “I just hope Felicia gets home quickly…”

Thankfully, Carl didn’t have to share the elevator with any of the other tenants on the way up to the eighth floor, and soon found himself standing in front of 8C. Carl took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping that perhaps Carly’s boyfriend would answer, saving Carl from having to once again stand face to face with Carly.

There was no such luck, as Carl heard Carly shout something, presumably a variation of “I’ll be right there!” that was muffled by the door, before quickly opening the door.

“...Hello?” Carly asked, looking Carl up and down.

Carl inwardly cheered, since the confused expression meant she didn’t recognize him.

“Um, this package was delivered to the wrong apartment. I think it belongs to you?” Carl held out the package to Carly.

Carly took the package and examined the label, smiling when she spotted the return address.

“Thanks so much!” Carly exclaimed. “Those mail carriers are getting sloppy, eh?”

“Yeah, I know how much I hate it when it says it was delivered when it wasn’t.” Carl replied, nervously smiling.

“I really appreciate it… Say, you look familiar, have we met?” Carly asked, squinting her eyes as she looked at Carl’s face.

Carl froze, eyeing the other side of the hallway and wondering how fast he could possibly run to make it to the stairs before Carly reacted.

“I don’t… think so, I don’t even live in this building!” Carl nervously replied. Before Carly could rightfully ask what he was doing in the building if he didn’t live in it, Carl quickly covered. “I’m house-sitting for my brother!”

“Brother? Oh yeah! Carl from 3C! Of course, I knew your face looked familiar, let me guess, twin brother? The resemblance is uncanny.” Carly said.

“We get that a lot…” Carl smiled. “Anyway, I should get back, plants to water, you know.”

“Thanks again, by the way, let me grab a quarter.” Carly said, turning back towards her apartment.

“I already said don’t worry about it!” Carl said, then clamped his manicured hands over his mouth.

Carly grinned.

“I had a feeling it was you, and word to the wise? The identical twin schtick is a lame excuse. Lemme guess, if I’d pressed for your name would you have said Carly?” Carly said. “So what is it, a lost bet?”

“Not quite…” Carl started. “It actually started because of you.”

“Because of me? You’re not going to tell me that some of my clothes ended up in your laundry basket, right?” Carly asked. “Cause that’s a boundary breaker for sure.”

“Oh, no, nothing like that.” Carl replied. “You were supposed to get a makeover for Valentine’s Day, right?”

Carly’s eyes widened and she started to stifle a laugh.

“Come inside, you’ve got to tell me the story.” Carly insisted.

Given that his only other option was to wait in the hallway for Felicia to return, and knowing that her usual emergency trips to the office usually took at least a half hour, Carl knew he had time to burn and he’d rather not get caught out in the hall by one of their neighbors on their floor, since Carl had no desire to allow them to put what Carly had put together fairly easily. Carl complied and followed Carly into Apartment 8C.

“So, they’d told my boyfriend that they’d accidentally went to 3C, and while I didn’t know who lived there then, I made it a point to walk past a few times, just to see who got my makeover… I always figured it was your girlfriend.” Carly said.

“Wife, actually.” Carl corrected.

“Good for you!” Carly replied. “You can tell she’s special because of well… all this.”

“She’s the best.” Carl smiled.

“So, how the hell did that happen anyway?” Carly asked as she sat down on the couch, motioning for Carl to join her.

Carl sat down and tucked his legs underneath him as he leaned on the armrest.

“I had gotten a mild case of laryngitis, and while I was wrapping Felicia’s gift, there was a knock on the door.” Carl started. “I tried to explain, but let’s just say those stylists weren’t the brightest bulbs on the tree.”

“That’s an understatement, Jonathan gave them the reaming of a lifetime when they finally got up here.” Carly said. “And were you…?”

“Dressed in women’s clothing? Absolutely not! I’d never done anything like that until that day, and well… Felicia liked it, and I didn’t totally hate it.” Carl admitted. “I looked like a normal guy and they still just went ahead with it. I struggled, but…”

Carly sat in rapturous silence as Carl told the story of not only the initial makeover, but of his later exploits as “Carly”, during Felicia’s birthday trip and Felicia’s pre-wedding gift as well, before explaining the circumstances that led him to being in her apartment now. Once Carl finished, Carly clearly had questions.

“So are you like trans or gender fluid? No judgement, I’m just curious, since you said that it was your first experience and now...” Carly asked.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t think I am, I just like wearing dresses and looking pretty sometimes. It started out solely for Felicia, since she liked seeing me like that, but I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in it. It’s fun to have a double life and to escape being myself for a few days.” Carl said.

“I bet. It’s a bit like being a secret agent, except you get to wear colors other than black.” Carly giggled.

“That’s very true.” Carl smiled. “God, I was so terrified when we met in the laundry room, but I’m glad that I was finally able to get that off my chest. I’ve never talked about it with someone other than Felicia.”

“And I’m happy to finally know the real story of what happened to my makeover. I’m really glad that my misfortune ended up improving your life.”

“It did, didn’t it?” Carl said. “Anyway, I should probably get going. Thanks for letting me hang out for a bit, Felicia’s probably on her way or already home and if she’s back, she’d probably worried.”

“I hope we get to run into each other again, although it might get confusing with two Carlys around.” Carly said.

“Don’t worry, I’m only around on the weekends, you get the weekdays.” Carl chuckled as Carly showed him to the door. “And if you wouldn’t mind… don’t tell anyone what I told you.”

“My lips are sealed. But I will tell Jonathan that I met the recipient of my makeover and that she’s a lovely woman.” Carly said.

“Thank you.” Carl said.

“No problem, us Carlys have to stick together, right?” Carly said.

“Exactly.” Carl smiled as he walked back into the hallway and headed for the elevator.

Arriving back at his apartment, Carl rapped on the door, not expecting Felicia to be back, but the door immediately flew open.

“Carly! There you are! I was worried sick!” Felicia playfully pulled Carl into the apartment. “Where the heck were you?”

“It’s a long story…” Carl sighed.

“It always is with you, isn’t it?” Felicia giggled. “How does it start?”

“It started when there was a knock on the door…” Carl started.

“Oh no, not again!” Felicia sighed.

The End?