The soft laughter of people paid very little to do a lot can sometimes be a heart-warming thing. Of course, that laughter was often derived from impolite statements and gestures. However, when the object of that laughter was capable of hearing them despite the distance, it might prove problematic.

“Yeah, Tits has been hiding in her office a lot of late,” said Eric Greene; a hardlines associate team member whose sole position in the store was to straighten items on the shelves. It was a simple and repetitive task that required a lot of time, but it was a duty often performed at a sub-optimal pace due to his tendency toward idle gossip.

“Heh, Tits McPouts. Perfect name for her,” said another team member.

Ashton sighed softly then hugged her clipboard to her chest. She was one of the youngest store team managers in the company, and she received about as much respect as that fact would allow. She knew who crafted that nickname, but she secretly thought it hilarious when she had heard it for the first time. Now though, it just reminded her that the one person in the store who actually made her day pleasant had not been to work in a while.

Her hair twitched slightly and she winced. Ashton placed her hands atop her head then headed for her office once more. The situation was becoming ridiculous. Why had she accepted that offer? It should have been obvious that the warning offered regarding consequences would prove to be true.

Once she was locked inside her office, she allowed herself to relax slightly. A slight shimmer rippled through her body. Triangular ears rose up atop her head. Her canine teeth became sharper, more like fangs. Her finger nails narrowed and hardened slightly until became delicate claws, and a bushy tail lifted up and out of a hidden hole in her khaki pants.

Her body also took on a noticeable change as well. Before she would garner the attention of many due to her aesthetics. She was a moderately well-toned young lady in possession of ample feminine architecture. However, upon releasing her glamor her waistline drew inward slightly. She grew slightly in height and acquired a taut body with excellent muscle-tone which maintained her femininity. Her breasts grew, as well as her backside. However, this growth did not take away from her overall feminine buoyancy, they enhanced it. She might very well be the definition of impossibly perky in that regard.

Ashton sighed in relief then shook her head. "Can't stay this way for long, but I need to get rid of this tension."

She sat at her desk then propped up her arms with her elbows. She leaned forward and held up her head in her hands and tried not to cry. It had seemed like a great thing. She loved things like anime, despite the fact that she would claim otherwise to people like her cheating former fiancé. She had always had an infatuation with the so-called Kitsune, the fox girl. They were sexy, mischievous, and powerful. What wasn't to like about them?

It made perfect sense to her to accept the offer to become a fox girl when the dream world presented the chance. It was just a dream, why not live it? She could become taller, sexier, physically strong and agile. The addition of cool powers was also nothing to sneeze at, in her opinion.

Since that fateful decision, everything had gone to hell. The change carried over to real life! Her heightened senses allowed her to smell things, to hear things, that she could not smell or hear before. Her fiancé reeked of the scent of another woman, and the obvious sex that happened between them. She was not the jealous type, and typically stayed busy with her work. She had not noticed that sort around him before, though he did recently become inordinately fond of showering right before she got off from work. However, it became impossible not to notice it once her senses were enhanced. The Old Spice that he wore no longer covered the scent completely.

For a time she thought that she would go mad. She needed to hide herself from her cheating fiancé since she obviously could not trust him with a secret of such monumental proportions, but that also meant that she could not out him as the scum-bag that he had become. The few times that she tried to mention things in a more believable manner, without outing herself, ended badly. Somehow he always turned it around on her and accused her of cheating.

Only the intervention of a truly unlikely hero allowed her to be free of the jerk. Ashton sighed softly to herself as the tension continued to drain from her body. The strain of using her illusion power to maintain her original appearance was not particularly difficult to overcome. The problem was the fact that she needed to maintain that illusion for the better part of the day, or use it at a moment's notice.

"Scott," she whispered softly.

Ashton slowly shook her head. "What is it with you?" The idea that the chubby weirdo who made up ridiculous names for people would become something akin to her rock at work was ridiculous. Yet, there he was most days toiling away in the retail mines. He was practically an eternal fixture akin to a monument to good work ethics. It was clear that he was unhappy with his job, but he always did his best to help the guests and to keep the front-end running smoothly.

His perky disposition and general goofiness proved to be a lie. Underneath that smiling exterior was something else entirely, something even her enhanced senses failed to detect outside of a certain flavor inherent in his scent.

Ashton tasted his scent on her lips even as she remembered its qualities. In her mind, he became the quintessential scent associated with responsibility. He did not like to take on more work than he needed to take on, but if it was truly necessary he would do so.

Without him at the store nothing smelled right. A few days off combined with a no-call, no-show, day away from his work responsibilities was a problem. There was also the fact that Shara called in on his behalf recently to get him a work day off. Something was clearly going on. Deep in her foxy heart she dreaded the most likely possibility. Scott had found another job.

An image rose unbidden in her mind. Scott stood at a customer service desk at another store, his ridiculous smile plastered across his face. He waved happily to other customers and even greeted a new boss. "No, he wouldn't do that to m— the store. He wouldn't just quit like that..."

Ashton's heart began to flutter. Her skin began to burn as she envisioned him coming in for an extra shift at his illicit new job. He would spend the day lovingly stocking the shelves of some other store, his eyes would rove confidently along the words and numbers of foreign item inventory labels. The loving way that he silently read off the numbers would soon bring a soft masculine smile to his lips. She saw him gently whisper, "Your inventory system is so much better than Archers..." A feral light came to his eyes followed by an orgasmic smile, "Oh, it makes me want to work more, and more!"

She released a strangled cry then gasped loudly and threw her hands into the air. "Ah! I can't stand it! Scott where are you!"

Her bizarre little reverie was cut short when the phone rang. A soft sigh on her lips, she left it ring a few more times before she slowly reached over and picked it up. The voice that came across the line caused her eyes to widen. “Scott!”

“Hey, Ashton. I’m sorry that I’ve been absent of late,” said Scott.

She shook her head. “No, you’ve had a health issue, right? An illness, or injury, right? Did you go to see the doctor?”

“It... Well, that’s not really something I would be comfortable speaking to a doctor about,” said Scott.

Ashton immediately wondered if he’d picked up some sort of sexual disease. She bet that some girl had taken advantage of his work ethic, probably that Shara. She could smell her scent all over him the other day. Served him right. He was her employee, after all. Though, it saddened her to know that she was clearly a disease ridden skank who should have known enough to keep her hands to herself in her condition.

She blinked as that line of reasoning invaded her thoughts. Why would she even care about that? More to the point why did she think about Scott so often of late? She always enjoyed their shared work shift, but since her change she had grown strangely attached to his presence. The fact she had certain hormonal issues at the moment as well, did not help.

“Anyway, do I still have a job?” asked Scott.

“Hmm? Oh, sure. We’ve had a lot of absences of late. The changes in the world are causing a lot of people to sort of space out. We could use anyone we can get to actually come in,” she said.

A soft string of curses that would normally be too soft for her to hear came through loud and clear. She smiled gently. The idiot always made a big production about not wanting to work here, but he still came to work most of the time. His recalcitrant nature was quite endearing, provided he did actually come to work.

“When do I come in?” asked Scott, his voice carrying the tone of a man defeated.

“You can come now if you want,” she said. A slight blush crossed her cheeks as she realized the nature of her words. Seriously, what was wrong with her? Every time she thought about him since her change, even more so after the altercation with Bradly, she had the strangest feeling well up inside.

“Oh. Ok, I’ll come. How long?” he asked.

“H-how long?” she asked; her eyes wide in surprise. She had heard his simple answer in a decidedly odd way.

“Huh? Yeah, how long do you want me to come for?” ask Scott. Why did every phone conversation with her of late turn weird?

Ashton’s face reddened considerably and a small, but excited, growl rumbled from her soft pink lips. Her fluffy tail began to swish gently back and forth. She did manage to get herself together long enough to continue the conversation, but it was quite difficult.

Scott’s innocent statement caused all manner of hormones to start surging inside of her. “How long do you want to come for me, Scott?” she asked softly.

There was a brief awkward pause on the other end of the line. When Scott finally answered, he said. “How does four hours sound?”

Ashton giggled softly then curled the cord of the old-style phone around her finger. “Mmmm, that sounds Perfect....”

“Right...” said Scott, a strange tone in his voice.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked, after the odd moment passed.

Ashton’s breath caught in her chest and she bit her lower lip, such a question to ask... How bold of him. She responded with a soft, throaty, chuckle. “I think you should work with me directly, today. I already have the front-end covered.”

"Really? Who covered it?" he asked her curiously. There were few people in the store with the experience needed to do the job properly, at least for an entire shift.

Ashton swiveled her chair from side-to-side cutely and said, "Now, now... Don't be jealous."

"I'm not," he replied flatly.

"Mhmm," she said in a warm sweet tone. Her nostrils flared softly even as her chest rose and fell with a bit more emphasis.

“You sure you won’t want me to do stuff in the back?” asked Scott. There was always something to do in the backroom. The place was a mess half of the time, especially at this time of day.

She blinked then her tail swished once before it hiked up gently into the air. “That... Ah, we can discuss that later.”

“Sure... Alright, I’ll be there soon,” he said, his tone one of mild concern and confusion.

“Hurry,” she said sweetly. "I'll be waiting."

"Right..." said Scott slowly.

After Scott hung up, Ashton laughed a little then flicked her ears. Her face still reddened by the tone of the conversation, she leaned forward and turned on her little desk fan. It was warm in her office at the moment.

She did not know why she was so excited at the moment, but that conversation perked her up considerably. Maybe working alongside him today would let her discover why she felt warm and fuzzy when he was around.

Before her change, she liked his work ethic, even if he held a tendency toward dramatic complaints and oddity. After her change, she found it hard not to be around him when possible. He made her day better, and despite his dislike for his job he still performed it with skill.

Did he have a special cologne or something? It was quite intoxicating. She could stand around him and smell that scent all day if she did not have other business to attend to most of the time.

Ashton truly adored his work ethic and the scent that he now represented. He made the workplace fun and still did his job. He was not like those gossiping guys in hardlines who could not even be trusted to straighten a box of crackers properly, and smelled uninteresting in general.