Just like every day for the past seven years, in the master bedroom of a cozy apartment in a cosmopolitan Italian city, the alarm clock rang punctually at five in the morning. As if in a well-timed routine, a man in his thirties, with black hair, a slim build, and slightly below average height, and a woman in her late twenties with dark hair, a voluptuous figure, and a spirited personality, got out of bed, and each did what they were supposed to.

  He headed to the bathroom to wash his face, wake up, and apply shaving cream, glancing at the watch on his wrist, methodically measuring the time. Meanwhile, she opened the refrigerator door to take out a can of juice, taking a deep gulp straight from the carton. Shortly after, she placed two slices of bread in the toaster and turned on the stove to cook a couple of fried eggs with a few strips of bacon. She let the water in the coffee maker heat up to make him some sugar-free Americano coffee, while she placed two slices of sugar in his cup.

  The aroma of ground grain permeated the air all the way to the bathroom door, from which the man raised his face slightly, sniffing, trying to relax as always before taking a cold bath to improve his circulation.

  Mario and Inés were a relatively happy couple with no major worries. On the one hand, Mario worked as a sales agent for a medical supplies company, a subsidiary of an international corporation with operations in five countries. His salary and commissions allowed the couple an ideal standard of living, with his wife having enough freedom to manage household chores and running a small coffee shop as a hobby.

  - “Mario, do you want me to put a little cinnamon in your coffee?” – Raising her voice a little so she could be heard over the stream of water from the shower, Inés held her coffee cup, taking a light sip, burning her tongue a little.

  Firmly rubbing his scalp to remove the shampoo, Mario answered his wife while feeling a slight discomfort in his throat that forced him to clear his throat loudly.

  "Mario, I've told you it's crazy to shower with cold water in the morning. Don't you see it's starting to affect you?" Approaching the bathroom door, Inés leaned against the doorframe, contemplating her husband's naked silhouette behind the shower curtain.

  - “I don’t think it’s because of the water, honey. I’ve been fine these past few days, but recently yesterday I got a severe headache while I was giving a presentation to a client. When I drank some of the water they offered me, I felt this discomfort in my throat.”

  "Do you think someone put something in it?" A little worried about her husband, Inés was aware that in sales matters, there's often a lot of jealousy among commission agents. So she didn't think it was strange that someone wanted to play a trick on Mario.

  - “Inés, honestly, I’m not a CEO or someone of any great weight that someone would want to do something like that to me. Maybe I just drank the ice water too fast and hurt my throat from talking for so long.” Coming out of the shower covered in a towel, Mario approached his wife and kissed her on the forehead while taking the cup she was holding.

  - “It tastes a little spicy. Did you put cinnamon in it?”

  - “I asked you if you wanted cinnamon with your coffee, but since you didn’t answer, I only added the tip of a spoonful.”

  - “Okay, honey, you made it for me, and I’m going to drink it. Besides, we can’t upset the expectant mother.” Getting down on his knees, placing his face against his wife’s belly, Mario lifted her blouse slightly and placed a kiss on the soft skin of Inés’s abdomen.

  After three long years of trying to conceive a baby, the couple had gone through difficult times in their relationship due to Mario's low sperm count. After several nights of comforting his wife, who was crying from sadness, he decided to pay for in vitro fertilization to ensure that Inés's dream would finally come true.

  - "Come on, Mario, it's only been two weeks since the fertilized egg was placed in my womb. The doctor said we needed to wait to see that implantation was successful before we could assume there was a baby there."

  - “Shhh, don’t say things like that, Mom. It’s a fact that our little offspring is starting to grow inside your belly. Something tells me, think of it as the instinct of a veteran salesman.” Smiling warmly into his wife’s eyes, Mario got up from the floor and gently hugged her by the waist while giving her a delicate kiss on the lips.

  - "Mario, you're going to be late for work. Also, we can't have sex right now until the doctor tells us it's safe."

  - “Inés, it’s just a kiss for the woman I love. Believe me, I’m the first to think carefully about our baby’s well-being.” Feeling a warm sensation in her chest, the woman hugged her husband a little tighter, bringing her lips close to his ear to whisper soft words of affection.

  - "I'm going to get ready, Inés. Please have my lunch ready for me to take to the office. Today is going to be a long day, and I don't think I'll be able to get away from work."

  - “That’s fine. I also have some carpentry issues to address for the improvements I want to install in the cafeteria.”

  “Okay, just wait a few minutes after I’m ready to take you in the car.” Diligently getting ready, the couple packed all their things and left the apartment together. As Inés locked the door, the door of the apartment next door opened and a burly man appeared inside before Mario, who, no matter how hard he tried to remember his face, couldn’t identify who it was.

  - “Good morning, neighbors. I just moved in last night. I apologize if the noise the movers made may have bothered you.” Contrary to his rough appearance, the man’s demeanor was overly friendly, as reflected in his facial expression.

  “Oh, don’t worry, neighbor. Our apartment has noise-reducing treatment on the walls. Because of my job, I often have video calls outside of office hours, and clients can be very noisy.” Trying to relax his posture a little, Mario smiled and extended his hand to shake the man in front of him. Mario responded with a handshake that made him feel uncomfortable for a moment.

  - “I apologize, since I work a lot with my hands, it’s hard for me to be delicate in my touch with other people.” – Maintaining his friendly expression, the man’s lips had a fake smile on their lips as if he were trying to belittle Mario, while he raised his gaze slightly in Inés’s direction.

  - "I apologize for my rudeness. Please allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Antonio Ferrer, and I work in the interior design business."

  - “Ferrer? Just out of curiosity. Are you related to Giacomo Ferrer?”

  - "Oh, you know my brother? What a wonderful coincidence! I didn't think I'd run into a friend of my brother's as soon as I moved in." Dropping his hand onto Mario's left shoulder, Antonio was overly effusive, causing a slight pain in Mario's collarbone. He tried to maintain his practiced salesman-like smile in front of an annoyed customer.

  - “Excuse me, do you happen to work for Fantoni Remodeling?” – Approaching from behind Mario, Inés had an annoyed expression that she couldn’t hide, unlike her husband.

  - “Of course, I'm the owner. Miss…”

  - “Andretti, Mrs. Andretti, if you would do me a favor.” – While making this statement, Inés made a very visible gesture with her left hand so that the rude man would notice that she was wearing a wedding ring and that she was the wife of the man in front of him.

  - “I’m very sorry, pardon my manners. Mrs. Andretti, please tell me how I can help you?”

  - "Yesterday, your secretary formally agreed to send the staff who would be in charge of the renovations to my cafeteria. But I waited for them until after 7 p.m., and they never arrived."

  - "Please excuse me, ma'am. Since we're a small company, we have a lot of orders, and I think my secretary made a mistake when scheduling the visit. But don't worry, I'll take care of this personally." Putting his hand to the back of his neck in annoyance, Antonio discreetly clicked his tongue at the woman's firm posture.

  - "Then I'll be on the lookout for your arrival. If you'll excuse us, we're in a bit of a hurry. So, with your permission," Inés took her husband's arm and began walking down the building's hallway toward the elevator.

  "Mario, why didn't you stand up to that jerk? You could tell he was trying to intimidate you the moment he saw you." Inside the elevator, the married couple were having a brief discussion about Mario's soft attitude toward the man. Inés's expression was clearly one of discontent bordering on anger.

  She knew her husband was a man who tried to avoid conflict as much as possible and favored diplomacy due to his work as a salesman. However, while she liked his personality, he sometimes irritated her, as in the incident in the hallway outside her apartment.

  “Honey, I’m sorry. For a moment I thought I was going to explode, but the moment he mentioned the name Ferrer, I had to hold back as much as I could. That guy is apparently the brother of my department head, and lately, that man has been giving me a hard time at work.” Feeling a little warm, Mario took the handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped it across his forehead. The slight discomfort he had felt when he woke up that morning had intensified due to the altercation with Antonio, to the point where he felt as if his insides were starting to hurt, as if he had knives inside him.

  "Mario, are you really okay? Don't you want to go to the hospital?" Her expression changed, and Inés noticed her husband's physical discomfort and placed her hand on his cheek while looking at him with concern.

  "Don't worry, Inés. It's just because of the anger I felt a few moments ago. It's nothing serious. As soon as I get to the office, I'll take some antacids and I'll be as good as new." Smiling at his wife, Mario hid his pain with his star salesmanship, while firmly gripping the handle of his briefcase.

  Once inside the car, Mario tuned into the radio news to distract himself while glancing at his wife, who was staring at her cell phone screen a lot.

  - “Is something wrong, honey?”

  - “I was reading Anette’s messages, my cashier. She said she had to go to the hospital in an emergency because the daycare center called her to pick up her son, who suddenly had a seizure.” The worried expression on Inés’s face was so obvious she had trouble hiding it in front of her husband.

  "Did something happen to Daniel? Do you want to take a detour and I'll take you to the hospital to see her?" During the three years they struggled to conceive a child, the couple had grown very attached to the cafeteria employee's son. Mario grew more attached to the child due to his guilt over his low fertility.

  - “It’s not necessary. She told me she’d keep me informed via text messages of everything that happened with little Daniel. You already have a lot on your mind, honey. Try to relax so you can continue being my strong man, future dad.” Holding her husband’s right hand firmly, Inés kept her gaze straight ahead with a slightly melancholic expression as she brought her hand to her belly to caress it.

  Seeing that gesture, Mario let out a slight sigh as he smiled contentedly, keeping his eyes straight ahead while driving the car.

  - "In other news, the Palermo Ministry of Health has confirmed fifty-five new cases of GCT so far this month. This brings the total to one hundred and thirty-eight so far this year. Interviewed on the matter, Minister Valentino reported that the cases have been treated following proper medical protocol, and regarding social care, those affected have been supported by social workers who guide them through the process of changing their identity and regularizing their civil status." - For a little over ten years, there has been an outbreak of a mysterious disorder around the world in which those affected suffered alterations in their chromosomes and manifested mutations relative to their birth gender.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  These cases came to be known as gender reassignment disorder, or GCD for short. Various governments around the world have taken specific stances on this situation, with the Italian government being one of the most flexible in addressing the affected population.

  - “It’s incredible how frequently these cases have been occurring lately. Don’t you think so, Mario? In the early years, there were only a few cases, and then suddenly, like a bomb, the numbers skyrocketed.” Putting her hand to her chin, Inés seemed deeply absorbed in the radio news anchor’s words, occasionally raising her eyebrows in surprise.

  - “Hehehehe, if you could see your face right now, darling, you look like a kitten being shown a rubber toy tied to a twig.” - With a mocking smile, Mario stroked his wife’s hair, ruffling it a little.

  - “Mario, take this seriously. Many people have experienced this disorder, and it doesn't seem to be going away. Can you imagine someone you know experiencing something like this?”

  - "Honestly, it hasn't crossed my mind that this could happen to an acquaintance. Maybe you're right, and I should take it more seriously." Until a couple of months ago, a rumor had been spreading around the office about an accounting employee who had fallen ill and had to be taken to the hospital. Although HR handled the matter discreetly, rumors circulated in some departments that the employee had an episode of GCG and the company was trying to address it.

  From the moment that rumor reached Mario's ears, the constant gossip and malicious speculation regarding those affected by TCG caused him a certain aversion.

  - “If I were to go through that situation, would you still be by my side, Mario?” – Inés’s voice sounded a little muffled when she said that phrase, full of fear at her husband’s possible response. Upon seeing his wife’s reaction, he pulled over and stopped to pay attention to her.

  - “Inés, you are my wife. Seven years ago in the spring, we swore eternal love to each other at the altar of the church. Do you remember?”

  - “Yes, how could I forget?”

  - “The marriage vow says something very powerful, my love, something you must keep in mind: In health and adversity, until death do us part. That vow is non-negotiable; it is a solemn oath I made to you before the priest. Trust me, I could never abandon you no matter what happens.” Firmly taking both of Inés’s hands, the expression in Mario’s eyes demonstrated a firm conviction in the words that came from his lips. Seeing the sincerity of her husband’s heart, the young woman lowered her face slightly and sighed in relief.

  - "You're right, how could I have been so stupid? Excuse me, honey, I don't know if it's because of the hormonal changes caused by implantation, but I've been very sensitive these last three days."

  - “Don’t worry, Inés, everything will be fine. If that were to happen, the only doubt that would cross my mind would be whether I would be the active one or the passive one.” Trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, Mario made Inés blush due to the lascivious tone with which he said those words.

  "Mario Andretti, you're a fool!" With a knowing laugh, Inés patted her husband on the shoulder as they put the car back in gear and headed toward the coffee shop. After dropping his wife off at her place, Mario continued his journey to the corporate headquarters of the company he worked for.

  Passing through the security booth, Mario showed his ID and walked to the elevators, where he was grabbed by the shoulder by a familiar hand.

  - “Our brand-new sales leader almost didn't arrive on time. Did something unexpected happen?” – With curly blond hair, blue eyes, and skin as light as the sand on the beaches of Corsica. A young man of about 29 years old, dressed in a dark gray Armani suit, a Rolex watch on his right wrist, and a subtle scent of lavender cologne. Raymundo Russo, a close friend of Mario's since their university days, had a playful and irreverent expression that contrasted with his businessman-like appearance.

  The son of one of the company's board members, he served as head of the building's IT department thanks to the support of his relative within the company.

  - “Don’t mess around, Ray. I haven’t felt quite right since this morning, and I don’t want to have to put up with your stupid games.”

  - “Wait, haven’t you been feeling well since yesterday? Let me check you.” – Bringing his forehead against Mario’s, Raymundo checked his temperature in such a direct manner that it made the always scrupulous Mario jump back slightly.

  - “Oh come on, don’t tell me that makes you uncomfortable.”

  - “Damn Raymundo! Don’t you have any idea what it means to respect someone’s personal space?” – With a flushed face and a furrowed brow, Mario vigorously reprimanded Raymundo, who only managed to smile subtly while extending his hands as a signal for his friend to calm down.

  "It's good to see two wonderful employees showing so much energy so early in the morning." As Giacomo Ferrer exited one of the elevators, he was accompanied by a woman dressed in a manager's secretary uniform. Despite her neat appearance and near-perfect posture, the young woman wore a disgruntled expression as she stood in front of Raymundo and Mario.

  - “Good morning, Mr. Ferrer. Are you going out to meet with an executive from one of our corporate clients?”

  - "Indeed, Mr. Andretti, I'm actually on my way with the regional representative of the Montecasino medical consortium. Does that sound familiar?" Giacomo's words pointedly pointed to a recent lapse Mario had made while negotiating a service contract with the Montecasino group's representatives. Originally, that client wasn't within Mario's service portfolio; instead, it was assigned to a direct nephew of Giacomo's who had just joined the sales department less than two months earlier.

  With no experience in corporate customer service, the young man left a portfolio full of inaccuracies and omissions that took Mario at least a week to correct. However, because the client was already more than two weeks behind, he was reluctant to deal with Mario. And yet, despite the overwhelming odds, the brilliant sales agent managed to close the contract; but at the same time, Giacomo burdened Mario's administrative file with his nephew's errors.

  - “I sincerely hope you have a pleasant meeting, Mr. Ferrer.”

  - “Mmmm, thank you Mr. Andretti. Mr. Russo, have a nice day too.” Frowning at having failed to provoke Mario, Giacomo left accompanied by the secretary, who ducked her head as she passed by Raymundo.

  - “Of course, how could I not have noticed when I saw him!” – With a stupefied face hitting his right fist on the palm of his left hand, Raymundo shook his head a little and let out a light laugh.

  - "What are you laughing at? It's okay that he has the face of a pig in a slaughterhouse, but he's still a department head."

  - “No, no. Don’t get me wrong, Mario. My laughter isn’t because of that. It’s because of what I just realized at this very moment.”

  - “Now speak up, man, don’t leave me hanging and tell me that you found out that I didn’t even notice.”

  - “The secretary who was accompanying that pig in a suit. Doesn’t her face look a little familiar to you?” – With a mischievous expression on his face, Raymundo wrapped his arm around Mario’s neck and held him lightly, trying to hug him.

  "Her face? What do you mean?" As he swiped through the staff directory, Raymundo kept a mocking gleam on his face until he landed on a specific entry.

  - “Look closely at this person.” Adjusting his glasses to better appreciate the screen, Mario focused his gaze on the photo and carefully examined the eyes and lips of the person in question.

  - "Isn't that Bruno Rosetti from accounting? What does he have to do with the secretary? Oh..." - Just then, Mario realized that the secretary was none other than the employee rumored to have fainted at the company a month ago.

  - “It was definitely a surprise. We knew each other a little because I occasionally have to support users with data systems and accounting software license management. But I didn't expect him to feel uncomfortable seeing me.”

  - “Raymundo, what did you expect that poor man to say to you? His life just took a complete turn, and I don’t think he’d be in the best frame of mind to come and tell you he’s changing genders, as if they were talking about the scoreboard in a soccer game.” Mario, raising his hand to his face in a sign of embarrassment, refused to even look his friend in the eye as they boarded the elevator to head to their respective offices.

  With the sound of light, tonal music playing in the background from the elevator control, the two friends continued chatting about work and other matters in their private lives when, suddenly, an immense pain struck Mario's head.

  - “Grrrrr, this is unbearable” – With both hands on his head, fallen on his knees and the arteries in his eyes visibly altered, Mario screamed in agony at the immense pain that frightened him as if it were a constant hammering.

  "Mario! What's wrong with you? Oh my God, your nose is bleeding!" Taking out his tulip-embroidered handkerchief, Raymundo gently placed his friend's head on his lap while trying to stop the bleeding and dialing the emergency number.

  - “Hang on, man! Help is on the way. Just stay with me, Mario, please. After all this time, I don’t want to…” – Unable to hear the last words of Raymundo’s sentence, Mario fell into a deep sleep.

  Meanwhile, at a café on Corso Como, Inés was at the counter, taking orders while distributing them to the kitchen and organizing the two waitresses on duty. Despite being a modest café called Mont LeBlanc, the cozy place was frequented by many regulars who, captivated by the service and the flavor of the food, returned and attracted recommendations.

  - “It’s weird”

  - "What's going on, boss?" - Marta, the cook at the establishment, looked out the window that connected the counter to the kitchen, seeing that her boss's expression was clearly dismayed.

  - “My husband hasn’t sent me any messages that he’s arrived at the office.”

  - “Oh, it’s good to see the lovebirds still have the same flame of passion as if they were newlyweds.”

  - “Pfff, no, Marta. My husband is an overly methodical man, attached to routines. Ever since we got married, he's told me every detail as if he were keeping a log.”

  - “Boss, isn’t that a bit excessive?”

  - “It might seem excessive, but he has his circumstances. There are things that have to do with his past, and despite that, I love him just the way he is. Meticulous, thoughtful, and romantic; if I had to define him, those would be the words I would use. On our anniversary about two years ago, he didn't pick me up from the coffee shop. He texted me saying he'd be very busy at the office and that he'd send a taxi to pick me up. I was a little angry and went to a bar to get a drink to calm down, and I didn't answer his calls.”

  When I arrived at the apartment and opened the door, everything was dark, but lit with lavender-scented scented candles, the floor covered with rose petals, and the table set with a dinner he had made.

  When I turned on the living room light, I saw him sitting on the couch, completely asleep, still wearing his apron.” Smiling with satisfaction, Inés remembered that moment with sweetness as she recalled her husband’s relaxed expression on the living room couch, holding in his hand a small jewelry box containing a pair of half-moon earrings that she had bought him for their anniversary.

  - "Wow, boss, that's a real surprise. I'm honestly jealous of you. My husband wouldn't do any of those things for me. You're very lucky."

  - “Yes, I certainly am.”

  - "Nobody move, everyone, hands up, and take out your valuables!" - Breaking the calm of the place, a pair of hooded criminals burst in at gunpoint, throwing themselves at the diners, who were terrified by the situation.

  - “Martha, hide and call 911.”

  "Boss, you too..." Without saying a word, one of the hooded men opened fire on the cook, wounding her in the shoulder. At the same time, he lunged at Inés, grabbing her by the collar of her blouse and aiming under her chin.

  - "Do you think you're so clever, bitch? If you don't want a bullet in the head, give us all the money in the register and everything you have on you." The thief appeared to be a young man in his early twenties, judging by his voice, and he didn't seem to have much experience, since his hand was shaking slightly nervously.

  Inés knew that she was likely to be shot if she didn't do what she was told, so she opened the cash register and began putting all the money into a paper bag.

  - “I want the earrings too!”

  "No, not that, please." The same half-moon earrings Mario had given her on their anniversary, Inés refused to give them up even at the threat of being shot. The object was so precious to her that her judgment clouded at that moment.

  - “You damn bitch!” – Just as the robber was about to hit him in the face with the butt of his pistol, a burly man stood behind him and, as if he were a bear, hit him with both hands on the shoulders, knocking him to the floor, unconscious from the shock of the impact.

  Similarly, another man who was accompanying him went straight for the other thief and knocked him down with a frontal kick to the solar plexus.

  - “Geez, this street is supposed to be the quietest. But even here, rats sneak in from the sewers.” Running his right hand through his hair, Antonio exhaled heavily as he reached for the counter to lean against it.

  "I promised you, Mrs. Andretti, that I would come for you personally." Who knows if it was the effect of the adrenaline-induced euphoria, or if the so-called suspension bridge effect was playing tricks on her. But in that instant when Inés saw Antonio's face and his strong attitude, she felt a slight jump in her heartbeat that made her hesitate.

  - “Yes, it seems he kept his word. Thank you, Mr. Antonio.”

  "Nah, don't be so formal with me. We're neighbors after all. Just call me Antonio like the rest of my friends." Until just a few hours ago, the man in front of her had seemed unpleasant and tactless, but strangely, at that moment, Inés's rational judgment shifted her perspective on Mr. Ferrer. She felt a strange mixture of fear and curiosity.

  - “Mrs. Andretti, hey. Inés! Your phone is ringing.” Snapped out of her trance by Antonio’s deep voice, the woman shook her head slightly and checked her cell phone. A call came from a number she hadn’t added.

  - “Hello, are you Mario’s wife? I’m Raymundo, a colleague from work. Can you hear me?” – Still stunned by the situation, Inés stammered a little and answered the man on the other end of the line.

  - “Yes, I’m his wife. What’s going on with Mario?”

  "Please, listen calmly. Mario had to be rushed to the hospital, and they need a family member's signature to perform the operation. I'll text you the location." After the call ended, Inés sat down in a chair and began to thrash with nerves due to the impact of what had happened at the store and with her husband. Unable to control her tears, the woman kept repeating in a low voice that she shouldn't have let her husband go to work.

  - “Listen, calm down and let me take you to the hospital. I'm here, you don't have to worry.” Taking advantage of the situation, Antonio put his arm around Inés, placing his hand on her shoulder and bringing her head against his chest.

  Feeling so psychologically vulnerable, Inés clung to Ferrer's shirt, sobbing profusely in an attempt to calm herself. After a few minutes, both Antonio and Inés left in a van headed for the hospital.