Continuing the story of Charles/Charlie, we find out more about him as he prepares for Jennifer's visit.

After a while Charles got himself together. He thought ‘She wants to come over, what’s the worst that can happen? She didn’t laugh at me, she encouraged me.’

At Jennifer’s house: She had dropped Edith back at her flat after they’d shared a taxi to collect the car. She loved her Nanny’s company and treasured the moments with her. What to do about Charles (Charlie)? He was a very pleasant chap, they had had interaction before as she had looked after the rabbits when he was away. Obviously even though she was aware his dressing this was the first time she had seen his guard down in his Charlie persona.

She didn’t even know if he identified as ‘Charlie’ it was just a knee jerk reaction on her part to the unexpected situation.

Back at Charles’: He considered the situation. ‘She said wear something nice. Did she mean male nice or female nice? It was highly probable she meant female.’

The decision to go with the female would take Charles back to where his crossdressing had started.

He had never ever considered wearing any of his sister’s or mother’s clothes, never cross-dressed at a fancy dress party or charity do. What led him to his current situation was tragedy.

At Uni while he studied computer science he met and fell head over heels in love with Kate who was doing modern languages and tourism. Despite his, and others, jokes about a made up Mickey Mouse degree she took the ribbing in good part and they became a very happy couple.

They decided to park any thoughts of marriage until they had finished studying and found suitable careers. Kate graduated with a 2:1 overshadowing Charles’ Desmond, however he got a job first and with his very decent wages they set up home together, first in a rented flat and then at his current address.

The job she did end up getting was unexpected but used her skills perfectly. She gained a place on Europa United Airlines graduate scheme, initially she would train and become an air stewardess then move into a management position.

Between the two jobs there was a high degree of travel and separation but that did not affect them as they utilised Social Media to keep in touch regularly. Both employers encouraged social gatherings so each knew the other’s workmates, life was good, they decided to get engaged, rings were exchanged, parties held, families very happy.

Then.

The phonecall.

The phonecall that changed everything.

The phonecall that came in the afternoon from one of her colleagues.
There’d been a problem on a flight she was on. Engine fire on take-off. All passengers and most of the crew successfully evacuated.

Then the engine blew up. Took out the fuselage where she was about to jump down the slide. Kate. No more. Suddenly.

For Charles. Darkness. Silence. Loss. Despair. Pain. Sadness.

EUA were great, her colleagues came to see him for quite a while after the funeral. His own company offered counselling and flexible work patterns. He couldn’t complain about the care.

Eventually EUA staff stopped coming, he settled back into a conventional work pattern and life went on.

One day, working at home, he opened her wardrobe. For no good reason. Her clothes still retained the mix of fragrances he remembered, that reminded him of her, that brought her memory crashing back.

He woke on the bed, eyes crusted with the after effect of many tears to find himself wrapped in one of her dresses and jumpers. Not dressed in but wrapped in. He felt close to her. Closer than he had for months, it made life a little easier.

At Jennifer’s : She thought, ‘I like the Charles/Charlie I met this afternoon. He seemed to be comfortable with me. It was an unusual introduction but he didn’t reject my suggestion of meeting up tonight. How will he take that suggestion of wear something nice? Will he be in a suit or a dress?’

It was about 5pm, the inanities of daytime tele were driving her mad so she resolved to shower and get herself suitable glammed up, she had a case of decent Prosecco, maybe they could order in a ‘Just Eat’ or ‘Deliveroo’? This could be a fun night, however she’d need to be cautious and kind, there was something about this man she had yet to discover.

Her Nanny had liked Charlie. She had also discovered a hurt, something in her/his past that had left deep scars. What drove him cross-dress? She knew of other men who did it but had not ever wondered why or what her attitude to it was. One thought was that you got a boyfriend and girlfriend in one, probably not a macho sexist pig either. She’d had her fill of those.
Go carefully and see where it goes. Would she mind if people knew about her boyfriend? Probably couldn’t care less, ‘live as you want to live as long as you don’t hurt others’ was her mantra.

Her mind settled she went for her shower.

Charles looked at himself in the mirror. He’d wiped away the tear streaks from his eyes and cheeks. The lipstick Jennifer had applied was mainly intact as were the earrings she had added, he could still detect the fragrance, it wasn’t his favourite but he appreciated the joke. He removed the earrings

He decided to go for it and put on a nice dress. Jennifer had already seen him dressed and did not appear bothered. She had said don’t disappoint. OK it’s on.

He went to left side of the wardrobe, he rarely ventured to this area so had to work his way through to find something that would be suitable. In Charles’ case having a boy’s body it couldn’t be too low cut. He found a green jersey with lace arms and top above the bodice, yes this would do nicely. Matched with suitable undergarments this would look very good.
Fortunately he had recently tidied up his body hair using Nair so he just needed a wash and brush. He normally just wore a tight knickers in the day to keep matters tidy but tonight he thought he would use a more substantial garment. The girdle was very firm and allowed him to tuck carefully leaving no telltale bulge. The dress would show a bra’s strap so he picked a pretty black one with a lace fringed strap that would complement the dress. It allowed him to use his best forms to create the feminine shape that would fill the dress perfectly.

The girdle had suspender straps and he used some light grey stockings that had a nice sheen to them. Next the dress, it was easy to slip on once he had his arms in the sleeves, he struggled with the zip but once up the material closed as high as his neck which covered his Adam’s apple. A couple of tugs to adjust and he decided he was satisfied.

He decided to pass on makeup, in the short time he did not feel he could do a good job. He was secretly hopeful that Jennifer would help him later. He did put her earrings back on.

Finally, he stepped into a pair of gold strappy shoes with a 4 inch heel. After combing his hair into it’s androgynous bob he looked in the full length mirror. He was pleased to see the image before him. Again the pleasure came with the pain of memory and he needed to dab away a tear. Then he smiled and the image smiled back, life must go on.

Charles thought about the name Jennifer had conveyed on him, he didn’t immediately like it as it was too close to his own. To be honest he hadn’t named the girl he created. Now Jennifer’s Nana knew the girl’s name so he decided to go with it.

Over at Jennifer’s she was in the bedroom at the rear of the property. She was ‘making an effort’ as well and was pleased with the look she had created. Unknown to her she had picked a very similar outfit, but in a pastel blue..

Charlie had now settled in her lounge to await Jennifer, she had poured herself a small glass of white to settle her nerves. She had decided to allow Jennifer to come in herself as she was afraid of being seen at the front door. Her plan was to call her in when the bell rang.

Charlie jumped when the bell did ring. Nervous energy coursed through her. “Come in, the door is unlocked!” she called. She had left the window ajar so she could be heard.

There was the sound of the front door being opened and the clatter of heels in the entrance hall. Charlie smiled in anticipation awaiting her neighbour’s arrival.

Except.

It wasn’t Jennifer.

To be continued