Slime Evolution

Chapter 441 - Preparations

Hot steam filled Isabella’s massive bathroom, jets of water streaming through her red hair as she finally relaxed after a long day inside Elysium.

Her hands were already moving automatically toward the glass shelf where the most expensive products in her collection were kept, imported bottles of moisturizing creams extracted from extremely rare plants of the human federation, essential oils brought from private greenhouses, and a specific line of soap that cost more than the six month salary of a lot of people in the Low Zone.

’I’m going all out today,’ she thought, picking up the most luxurious facial cream bottle on the shelf. ’Since I’m going all the way to his place, it doesn’t hurt to have flawless skin.’

Despite having a lot of money, money alone didn’t matter for buying this kind of product, which was extremely rare to get and only a tiny amount of it was manufactured every year.

That’s why, even though she had plenty of money to buy several of these products, she still saved them to use only on special occasions, or on specific days of the week to keep her skin care routine on track.

But as soon as she opened the lid, feeling the soft fragrance rise up her nose, a thought made her freeze completely mid gesture.

’Wait. If I put all these products on my skin, would that mess with Halon’s biomass injection into me?’

The reasoning seemed perfectly logical at first, something practical and sensible to consider before any procedure that involved her skin directly. Except, the very next second, the echo of that phrase came back to ring in her mind, and Isabella realized, with growing horror, just how terribly wrong that sounded out of context.

’Oh my God,’ she thought, her face heating up under the hot water jet. ’If someone heard that without knowing what we’re actually talking about...’

She stood there frozen for a second, the bottle still in her hand, before she started laughing to herself, a muffled, nervous laugh that echoed off the bathroom’s marble walls.

"Okay," she muttered to herself, still laughing, "I definitely need to stop thinking about this stuff the wrong way."

Determined not to take any risks, even if it was ridiculous, she put the expensive bottle back on the shelf and chose to leave the shower with just clean skin, with no extra products beyond the basic soap. If there really was any chance of that interfering with the process with Lohan, she’d rather not risk it.

The real problem, however, came up only a few minutes later, when she found herself standing in front of her giant closet, staring at row after row of hanging clothes with an expression of pure indecision.

’Okay, it’s nighttime, so I’d normally wear something more elegant, maybe a longer dress, or something more structured,’ she thought, running her fingers over a few pieces. ’But if I’m going to let him inject biomass into me again, I need something light, with enough skin exposed for him to have easy access.’

She pulled out a long gala dress, looked at it for a second, and shook her head, putting it back on the hanger.

’That’s too fancy, and it covers practically everything.’

She then grabbed a more casual outfit next, a long sleeved blouse paired with dress pants.

’That won’t work either, the sleeves cover my whole arms.’

She repeated that process dozens of times, each piece being evaluated and rejected for some specific reason, whether too formal, not enough skin exposed, or simply not fitting the occasion of an informal barbecue at night. The minutes kept passing, the clock on the wall already well past the thirty minutes she had originally planned to spend on that choice.

It was at that exact moment of growing indecision that a soft knock came at her bedroom door.

"Miss Isabella?" one of the maids’ voices sounded from the other side. "Dinner is ready in the main dining room."

Isabella stopped completely, looking down at her bath robe still wrapped around her already dry body, and only then remembered a crucial detail that had slipped her mind amid so much indecision over clothes.

’Ugh, I completely forgot to let them know I wasn’t having dinner here tonight.’

"Oh, sorry for the trouble," Isabella replied, walking toward the door without opening it all the way. "Something came up last minute, I’ll end up having dinner out tonight with a business partner."

On the other side of the door, the maid fell momentarily silent, a pause that lasted maybe half a second longer than normal, before replying in a polite, but visibly surprised voice.

"Oh, of course, miss. I’ll let the kitchen know to put everything away then."

Isabella, still completely absorbed in her own indecision over clothes, didn’t even notice the small detail that had slipped out of her own mouth, but the maid, on the other side of the door, seemed to have caught exactly that. Isabella rarely, almost never, canceled a dinner at home over any engagement, let alone one described in such a specific way.

Thinking about what time it was, and that even though her shower had ended several minutes earlier the voice seemed to have come from the closet, a small discreet smile formed on the maid’s lips before she turned and walked off down the hallway without saying anything else, keeping her curiosity to her own thoughts.

Back in the closet, Isabella finally, after more than a full thirty minutes of indecision, found the perfect combination.

A delicate white lace dress, with a light fit that left the shoulders and much of the arms bare, paired with thin white socks that came up to just above the knee, and a comfortable, elegant flat. To keep the outfit from looking too delicate for an informal nighttime barbecue, she added a structured black jacket over it, along with a few discreet silver accessories that gave the whole outfit a more modern contrast.

Satisfied with the final result reflected in the mirror, she gave her hair one last adjustment and headed down to the mansion’s private garage.