Aaron's suspicions that Lacy was planning to announce their "engagement" at her birthday party intensified when Keeley texted him to back off, mentioning his fiancée. He was baffled by how she'd learned the news, but it solidified his resolve to stop Lacy.
Aiden would hate it, but Aaron modified his plan to include a diamond ring and a fake proposal. It was the only way to permanently deter the delusional man.
How dare they try to control him by making a public announcement that would be difficult to refute? He'd beat them to the punch and see who laughed last.
He glanced at the clock. It was about 2:00 PM where Keeley was. What was she doing? He wanted to ask but felt he lacked the right.
With a sigh, he stood and walked away from his desk. Time to go home and let the stylist into his apartment. This was going to be a nightmare.
When Aiden arrived, he looked as enthusiastic as someone attending a funeral.
"If you take a single picture of me like this, I'll leak every bit of private information you've ever wanted hidden onto the internet," he threatened as the stylist began.
"I won't," the stylist replied.
Cameron wouldn't hesitate to betray him, but Aaron had no desire to hold this over his subordinate's head. He was doing Aiden a favor; why make things difficult?
Even if he wanted to laugh about it later, the threat of exposure wasn't idle. Aiden could destroy him with a few keystrokes. It wasn't worth the risk.
The stylist first created a false feminine figure for Aiden using silicone breast, hip, and buttock pads, and a waist-training corset. For believability, Aiden needed socially acceptable proportions.
He protested at every step. "This is horrible! You're dead to me, Aaron! Absolutely dead to me! This is the worst day of my life! How could you do this to your best friend?"
"You aren't my best friend," Aaron corrected. He was, unfortunately, one of his only friends, but Keeley held the top spot, even though she was currently avoiding him.
"I better be after this! I've done more for you than Cameron ever has!"
"Cameron isn't my best friend either. But if it makes you feel better, you're number two." Aaron literally only considered three people friends. Demoting one wasn't a big deal.
Aiden's eyes lit up. "Really? I'm before Cameron? Ha! I knew you loved me!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Aaron said flatly. "Tolerated" was a more accurate description of their relationship.
"Aaron loves me most, Aaron loves me most," Aiden chanted.
Aaron wanted to strangle him, but he still needed his help. Obnoxious twerp. He supposed he deserved it for making the poor kid dress up as a girl to avoid the Knightons' schemes.
The dress had to conceal most features to maintain the illusion. Aiden wore a long-sleeved, dark green lace dress with a flared skirt and thick black tights to hide his leg hair. His loyalty had limits; he refused to shave his legs.
He wasn't exceptionally tall for a man, only 5'10", but since Aaron was 6'1", and he couldn't have his fake fiancée taller, he provided Aiden with flat black ankle boots.
The stylist applied fake nails with a French manicure before starting on Aiden's makeup. Transforming a baby-faced boy into a beautiful woman wasn't easy.
Aiden's eyebrows needed shaping. He couldn't grow facial hair, so that wasn't a problem. Next came foundation and blending to even out his skin tone and give him a glow.
The stylist opted for a smoky eye look, using eyeliner, eyeshadow, and false eyelashes. He contoured Aiden's face to create the illusion of cheekbones. Deep burgundy lipstick completed the look.
They kept Aiden's hair color the same, as it complemented his skin tone. Redheads were considered rare beauties. The long copper wig was twisted into an elegant knot at the back of his head, with ringlets framing his face.
He stared blankly into the mirror at the finished product.
"What do you think?" the stylist asked proudly.
"…I look exactly like my sister."
"Really? Show me a picture."
Wordlessly, Aiden showed a picture on his phone. He was nearly identical to the pretty redhead beside him.
The stylist was satisfied. "My work here is done. You'll receive my bill, Mr. Hale."
"Thank you for your hard work," Aaron said coolly as he escorted the man out.
Aiden couldn't stop staring at himself. "I can't believe I actually look like a girl. This is insane."
"Unfortunately, you don't sound like one."
He grinned. "People used to say I sounded like my mom on the phone. I pretended to be her all the time. I think I can pull it off." He changed his pitch to sound more feminine. "What do you think? Girly enough?"
Aaron frowned. It sounded like a man imitating a woman. "You really can't do any better than that?"
"No…but I have something that might help. I bought a pitch changer on the dark web—you stick it to the inside of your cheek. I just need to program it to sound like a natural feminine voice."
"Why on earth would you buy something like that?"
"I may or may not be a gameplay YouTuber. I always wear a different video game character mask, so they can't see my face, but I don't want my real voice out there either," he admitted sheepishly.
Aaron knew Aiden loved video games, but this was new. "Interesting. Let's go to your apartment and get it."
"No way! What if someone I know sees me?"
Was he an idiot?
"Pretend to be your sister and say you gave her a key for emergencies. Simple."
He was immediately appeased and agreed. His worries were unfounded; nobody saw him enter the apartment. He programmed the device while Aaron drove them to the party.
Aiden tested it several times before adjusting the frequency. It worked with less than ten minutes to spare. They were actually going to pull this off!