This story is meant to be fairly wholesome and for most viewers. However…
*Numerous LGBTQ characters are in this story, including a transgender main character.
*There are themes of magical transgender transformation (by both “dark” and “light” forces) in this story.
*Mild profane language is used. 

A Sweeter Life (Part 2)

=== Two weeks later. === 

Scarlet was tucked in tight into the driver’s seat. The skies had opened up, and it was a deluge outside.

“Come on… Why couldn’t this happen tomorrow? I’ll be working from home tomorrow, Mother Nature…” she groaned. She could barely see her place of work, a mere twenty feet away through the downpour. She had arrived a few minutes early, but it didn’t matter if this rain wasn’t going to let up. Checking her phone, this system was going to last for hours. It had blossomed without warning, and it was going to stick around for a while.

She gulped. This could be it. This could be how she loses her job today. Either she comes in late, or as a man wearing a dress. She really couldn’t stomach either option.

But she had to do something. She unbuckled herself and grabbed her umbrella from her purse. She reworked her umbrellas for a trigger-activated quick deployment, so hopefully, if she activated it quickly, she could keep herself from getting wet.

She inched herself away from the door. She reached out for the button to lower the window just enough that she could “fire” the umbrella through it and protect herself from being soaked. She pressed the button down. As soon as the window cracked, water dripped through and onto her arm.

“EEEEEEEK!” she screamed. Was this enough to trigger the countercurse? No, but large volumes of water always caused her severe anxiety. This was a woman who avoided pool parties and never learned to swim, all in an effort to avoid triggering her unusual “quirk.”

Scarlet quickly fired the umbrella out as soon as the opening was wide enough. It opened wide, protecting her from the torrent that threatened to soak her in misery.

She kept her wet arm outstretched as she dug into her purse. She dug out some dry towelettes and a few pieces of candy. She quickly dried her arm off and tossed the towelette aside. And for good measure, she stuck the fruit chew in her mouth. She didn’t swallow, hoping that the constant contact of sucking on it would give her a means of preventing her countercurse from activating if she made a mistake.

She carefully reached for the door handle. She leaned under the protection of her umbrella, still threaded through the window, as she pushed it open with great care. She took each step with slow precision, making every effort to keep dry. Once standing, she threaded the handle of the umbrella through the window and closed the door. She walked to the door of the office, knowing running could expose her to too much of the elements. It was a long, terrifying walk for her.

Once through the door, she took a moment and braced herself against a wall, breathing heavily. She concentrated on her breathing, calming herself down before pulling out her phone and closing the car door window remotely. That fancy option cost her some money, but in situations like this, it was a godsend.

Scarlet patted herself down with another towelette as a co-worker stepped through the door. “Yeesh, that’s some rain,“ she replied, soaked. She noticed Scarlet patting herself down. “You don’t seem that bad off. Got in here just before it started pouring?”

“I wish…” Scarlet muttered under her breath.

“You got to tell me your secrets one of these days! Anyway, I should get myself dried off before I head up.”

Scarlet nodded, balling up her used towelettes. She followed her co-worker in and tossed the ball into a trash can on the way to an elevator. Alone in the elevator, she let out a sigh of relief that she managed to make it through that mess.

Scarlet arrived at her desk. She was still setting things up when her boss approached. “Good to see you this morning, Scarlet!” He looked around at the empty desks. Scarlet was one of the only people here. “I guess that freak storm caught everyone off guard. It looks like you’re going to be one of a handful that made it anywhere near on time today.”

“N-no kidding,” Scarlet agreed, stuttering briefly from her still-raw nerves.

“Hey, Scarlet, are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Scarlet feigned.

“Oh, I don’t know… Maybe you have this weird thing about too much water?” He asked knowingly.

Scarlet stared blankly at him for a moment, processing the revelation. When it hit her, she planted her face into the desk and grabbed her head with both hands. “Uhg, are you kidding me!? Okay, Brandon, what do you know, and how long have you known it?”

He looked around. No one was in sight. “I know it’s something about some crazy transformation when you’re exposed to too much water. Your last couple of employers mentioned it when I called them up as I was hiring you two years ago, and I put it together with a video online of you going through that at one of them … I just didn’t know how to bring it up. How do you even approach someone with that information?” he admitted.

“Fair,” Scarlet sighed. “Is it a problem?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. I would like to discuss it with you more later today, in my office, so I know what you’re dealing with. But you’re okay. I can tell this is who you are. You’ve been a stellar employee, and we’d be worse off without you. And I don’t blame you for hiding it. I mean, how do you tell someone about it without being called crazy… Or freaking them out?”

“Thank you.”

“I’m glad that you managed to get through that waterfall outside okay. But even if something had happened, I’m sure we could have figured it out.”

Scarlet was now tearing up. “Thanks.”

“Just, whenever you have time later today, come by the office, okay? You may do it on paid time, seeing as I should have said something sooner.”

Scarlet nodded. “You’re too nice for your own good, you know that?”

Brandon grinned slyly. “Happy employees, happy employers.”

“Very true!” Scarlet agreed, chuckling.

They waved to each other. Brandon departed for his office, and Scarlet finished her setup process and quickly got to work. With renewed confidence and assurance her curse wouldn’t end yet another promising job, she plowed through her work, enough that she was left without much to do with an hour before her lunch break. She decided this was the perfect time to see Brandon and explain the curse.

She didn’t leave anything out. She explained who she was, how it happened, and her struggles with a lifetime of having to be careful around liquids. Brandon nodded and asked questions when he needed to, giving Scarlet the confidence that he was there to understand her ordeal.

“Wow… You have been through a LOT, Scarlet. And shame on your previous employers for trapping you in situations where you could have that triggered – then firing you afterwards when it was. It reeks of discrimination,” Brandon suggested.

“Th-thank you, sir.”

“Now, let me assure you that I will vouch for you if that ever happens to you here. You’re not going to lose your job just because someone poured a cup of water on your head.”

Scarlet nodded. She couldn’t speak at this point, she was so filled with emotion and validation.

“Now, can I make a suggestion?”

“W-what?” Scarlet asked, nervous.

“I’d suggest a vacation. Something to get your mind off the stress you’ve been under. I can’t imagine that dealing with the worry over this day in and day out is doing you any good. You’ve built up some vacation time. I know you regularly used that on days where you thought there was a high risk of that countercurse triggering, but I really think it’d do you some good to spend some time with people you’re close with far from anywhere you know.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to wind up front page news somewhere…”

“I know just the place…” He turned to his computer, typing in a quick message.

Before long, his secretary came in, handing Scarlet a couple of brochures. She took it from the secretary’s gloved hands. Scarlet thumbed through them, finding they were for a little-known coastal city called Citadel Harbor.

“Citadel Harbor?” Scarlet asked.

“Madaline comes from there,” Brandon explained, gesturing to his nodding secretary. “She recommended it to me for a trip of my own a couple of years ago, and I swear by it as a fantastic vacation destination when you need an escape from your worries! The people there are usually exceptionally nice, never mind the beautiful vistas and fantastic eateries. I would have also said the beach too, but of course…”

“Yeah, the water thing,” Scarlet muttered.

“Exactly. Give it some thought, and I’ll even pay for the tickets for whomever joins you! How does that sound?” Brandon asked.

“Wow… That’s generous… I’ll think about it!” Scarlet suggested, hinting at some excitement.

“Wonderful! That’s all I needed, unless you have something else?” Brandon asked.

“No, sir!” Scarlet replied.

Brandon smiled and gestured that she could leave. She nodded and stepped out.

Madaline turned to him. “Got something in mind for her?”