Diva Dismayed: Chapter 5 – Into the fire
Della stood up and I tried not to gape as with her skirt hoisted around her waist she unhurriedly retrieved her panties. She didn’t seem concerned that nothing, but nothing, was hidden from my gaze. Rearranging her underwear to her satisfaction seemed to take her an inordinate amount of time. Throughout this operation she showed not the slightest embarrassment while I was experiencing enough for both of us! I was rooted to the spot and very conscious that I was staring, despite my efforts not to. There was an unwelcome tingling in my own panties which wasn’t helping me retain my self-possession and random thoughts kept popping into my head. For one thing I couldn’t help but notice how hairy my new acquaintance was! Unsurprisingly I found that circumstance very erotic. I needed to get out of there!

However Della’s next action was to join me at the sink. I stepped aside to allow her some space but now my line of exit was blocked. The girl calmly washed her hands. Then she turned to face me and smiled serenely, showing no inclination to let me pass.

“You’re new around here.” was her opening remark.

I merely nodded, unsure how much I should tell this confident young woman. Although she was smiling, the eyes behind the lenses appraised me shrewdly. I didn’t want to encourage any in-depth conversation, wary of how much I might give away.

“Me too!” Della went on to give me a thumbnail outline of her life in a bigger city some distance away.
She clearly expected that I would reciprocate but I was keen to avoid my back story becoming common knowledge. Where I was from and why I was there would remain shrouded in mystery if I had my way. Most immediately I knew I needed to hide the fact that I would be sleeping tonight in my friend’s apartment.

“Oh, fancy! You’re from out of town as well” I said airily. “I’m visiting Rachel this weekend, staying nearby.” Then wanting to change the subject, “You must be a nurse, too?”

She proceeded to tell me how she had recently qualified and succeeded in getting a post here. This was safer ground and I pretended to be fascinated, although there was little remarkable in her tale. Eventually the topic of our conversation inevitably worked its way around to myself again.

“You look awfully young. How old are you? You can’t be more than eighteen.” I merely smiled at this. When my face was fully made up my age had often been mistaken for that of an older teen. I had no desire to disabuse this inquisitive person of that notion.

While we talked I found myself assessing my new acquaintance. To summarise her appearance I would have said she was plain and her figure was undefined. Bra-less, her bust was small. Also her waist was thick and her hips narrow. Her hair appeared uncared-for to my critical eye and her voice seemed almost mannish, though moments ago she had removed any doubts that anyone could have entertained about her gender, quite graphically!

It occurred to me that outwardly my own body boasted more in the way of feminine attributes than hers, though not all ascribable to nature. My facial features, which were naturally delicate, had benefitted from the careful application of cosmetics and my hair was stylishly arranged. My nails were elegantly manicured. Even the pitch of my voice, yet to break, was as high as that of any teenage miss. Of course these superficial perceptions would have been completely contradicted by a glance at my birth certificate, which proclaimed that I was male, or at least had been born as such! There was physical evidence too, but that was well hidden underneath my frock and borrowed panties; something I was most anxious to keep concealed from Della.

“You’re very pretty, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

At this compliment I tried to pass off my embarrassment with a smile and a mock curtsy. I was tempted to push past her and hurry on out, no matter how ill-mannered I might appear, but something in her manner stopped me. I thought I could detect a tinge of wistfulness in her voice, despite an endeavour to conceal it. She had rested her hand on my arm as she spoke, in a way that was over-familiar in a complete stranger. Did her words express something more than approval of my looks? My desire to escape was growing more insistent but Della’s grip on my arm deterred me.

She continued rather tartly “Quite the girlie-girl, in fact! Who are you trying to impress, I wonder?”

This was too much. I pulled my arm from her grasp and drew myself up with as much haughtiness as I could muster, meaning to go, but before I could turn away, she smiled disarmingly and laid a hand on my shoulder in a conciliatory fashion.

“There, there, sweetness. You ought to be used to admiration, with your looks.”

I smiled again, thinking it best to defuse the increasing awkwardness of our situation. “That’s a lovely skirt. I was wondering where you got it.”

Having successfully turned the conversation, I began to edge toward the door. After what seemed an age, we finally left the bathroom. Although I was itching to take my leave of her as soon as might be, I strove to appear as calm as I could, casually remarking “Well, see you!”
Unfortunately this parting remark triggered another random thought in my head. I already had seen just about all there was to see of her. As if she read my mind, Della grinned at me somewhat conspiratorially. Self-consciously I found myself colouring deeply. Unknown to my new companion there was a tingling sensation in the front of my panties that I was trying to ignore, no doubt a result of the intimacy I’d just been treated to.

At last she turned and went into the room next door to Rachel’s. Thanking the stars that the woman hadn’t interrupted my ablutions a moment sooner, I hesitated for a moment to regain my composure before re-entering the apartment. I could congratulate myself that everything down below had been well hidden. The fullness of my borrowed dress covered any trace of my boyhood, or what there was of it. In any case I’d taken care that my panties would present an entirely flat front, as always. There would have been no unsightly bulges thanks to my judicious application of surgical tape.

After I closed the door behind me I flopped down into a vacant chair and breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief. My friend’s eyes were like saucers when she saw the look on my face, despite my vain attempt to appear as if nothing had happened. Seeing that she had guessed something was wrong I recounted how I’d just had the experience of sharing the bathroom with one of her neighbours.

“Did you get her name?”

“She said her name was Della. It was so embarrassing. She didn’t seem to be bothered that I could see… well… everything!”

Rachel gave an involuntary glance at my lap before looking quickly away. Her face was expressionless as she asked, “Do you think she can have noticed er… anything about you?”

“I don’t think so. I had finished… you know… so I was over at the sink when she rushed in. Fortunately this dress is full enough to hide anything that might give me away.”

“That’s a mercy.”

“She was very friendly.”

“I can guess!” Rachel pulled a wry face. “Was she at all inquisitive about you?”

“Very much so. She wanted to know every little detail” I complained. To calm myself I smoothed the folds of my dress beneath me.
“Anyway though she certainly asked a lot of questions, I think I managed to skirt most of them.” I couldn’t help a giggle. “Oh sorry. No pun intended. When she was curious about where I was staying, I did my best to be vague and only said ‘nearby’.”

“Clever you! That was good thinking.” However Rachel looked worried and clearly was unconvinced. “I wouldn’t want to trust her with a secret. The things she’s told me about some of the other girls makes me wonder what she’s been saying about me. A busy-body like her could make things very awkward, if she knew you were sleeping here. It’s such a pity that it’s against the house rules, and even more that you had to meet someone like her.”

Rachel’s delicacy had let her make no reference to my other secret, though, of course, she was familiar with every aspect of it. She had babysat me back when I was small and when my persona was totally male. My mom was her mother’s best friend and Mom had taken no measures to hide what had been going on with my feminisation, so she knew everything about me there was to know, more or less.

My friend was silent for a moment then declared. “However… Tonight it can’t be helped. It’s far too late to go room hunting right now.” Though her manner was quite decided, it felt all wrong that I might be involving my guardian angel in a heap of trouble.

To deal with this latest twist in my fortunes we turned our attention to the matter of how best to ensure my presence in her room could be hidden. My friend’s brow was furrowed with concentration while she enumerated the options. “Well, there are a number of choices. Finding you a room somewhere is out for the moment. I could go and ask permission of the warden that you stay with me for a few days, but I have to admit that I don’t rate the chances of success very highly. Mrs King comes across as a stickler for the rules! If she said no, as seems likely, we would be sunk.”

She looked pensive for a moment, then. “There might be another way. You could stay here secretly for as long as we can deflect Della’s curiosity and anyone else’s. Most of the rooms on this floor are empty right now with it being summer vacation and some girls are away for the weekend, so I’m sure she is the only neighbour around. Perhaps we could act out a little scenario for her benefit… Well, it’s worth a shot. Want to try?”

Ten minutes later we stepped out of the apartment onto the landing. Though the charade we had embarked on seemed transparent enough, I was happy to give anything a go in an attempt to remove any suspicion that I was staying. To convince Della of my apparent departure, I gave my friend what purported to be a farewell hug and called out “See you soon!”

Then I marched as noisily as I could across to the elevator. When I’d gone, Rachel would enter the other girl’s apartment and engage her in conversation. The plan was that while she kept her talking, I would come back surreptitiously and seize any opportunity that presented to slip back into our room unobserved.
I found enacting this little pantomime quite exciting but its success would call for steady nerve. To try and maintain my cool, I hummed to myself as I waited for the elevator to reach my floor.

When it finally arrived, “Bye, Rachel!” I called and stepped directly in. I gave the instruction “Ground floor please!” as clearly as I could, without actually shouting.

The attendant was an old black guy who regarded me dispassionately. “I ain’t deaf, honey” he grumbled as the door closed on us. “I surely soon will be though, if folks holler at me like that!”

I smiled my apology, but he remained unappeased and continued mumbling his complaints all the way down. I was glad when our short journey together was over. I exited as smartly as possible when we reached the bottom, but then it occurred to me that this was someone it might be impolitic to alienate. Doubtless I would be seeing more of the guy. I hastily turned back to thank him, but too late! The doors were already closing, so I was prevented from expressing my gratitude, but worse followed. As I spun around and back again, the fullness of my dress took charge. The skirts flared out dramatically so that the hem fluttered between the closing doors of the elevator and got caught there. I made to step forward but became aware that my freedom of motion was completely restricted. I was unable to move, held fast against the elevator doors!

Glancing over my shoulder it was easy to see the cause. Imagine my mounting horror as the machine began to ascend. I remained transfixed and the edge of my skirt began to be lifted. Higher and higher it went. Visions of being suspended against the ceiling of the lobby filled my mind but fortunately these were not to be realised. As the tension on my garment increased, something gave way and the dress’s upward motion was halted. Its hem remained firmly lodged high up in the crack between the doors. Left in the most compromising position with my skirts lifted up revealingly, I was trapped! Anyone who happened along would certainly see far more of what was underneath my dress than was good for my peace of mind!

I didn’t relish encountering the grumpy attendant again but what else was there for me to do? With some reluctance I rang for the elevator to return hoping that the reopening of the doors might set me free and restore my dignity. At the moment the lobby was empty, but I didn’t know for how long. I waited and waited and pressed the button again. The illuminated arrow above the elevator which indicated the floor it was on showed no sign of motion. I could have wept. How was a girl to cope?

In the end, I decided that only desperate measures would serve. With one hand I could reach far enough behind me to pull down the zipper of my frock. Once the garment was undone I wriggled out of it completely. With both hands I tried to pull the dress free, but try as I might, I was unable to retrieve it from where it was caught without tearing the material. That was unthinkable. The garment looked to be newly bought. It was probably quite an expensive item and moreover belonged to my friend.

Though the eventual reopening of the elevator doors would probably release the dress, I didn’t dare continue waiting for that to happen, clad only in my scanty underwear. There was only one course of action available to me. That was to leave my wayward clothing hanging there and try to get back into Rachel’s apartment unseen. It could be recovered later.

I slipped off my shoes and began to climb the stair as quietly as I could. Success or otherwise would be entirely a matter of chance. Fortune favoured me at first and I managed to ascend the first couple of flights without incident. In mounting the next one my luck ran out, however. Who should I meet coming down but… the young man whom Rachel had called Harvey!

Oh my gosh!

At first I thought that my attire, or the lack of it, had escaped his notice, unaccountably. Laden with a huge bundle, he gave me a friendly grin of recognition. In passing, however, he performed the classic double-take as we crossed on the stairs. There followed a series of thumps as the laundry he had been carrying tumbled down the rest of the flight.

“What?!”

Attempting to preserve what little of my modesty remained under such fraught circumstances I covered my pantied crotch with my purse and my overexposed bust with my shoes and turned to face my new companion. My only hope was to try and enlist him as a potential ally.

“It’s Harvey, isn’t it?”

He nodded, gazing at me dumbly, eyes staring into mine. He was endeavouring manfully to keep them from dropping to rove over my déshabillé. That called for a superhuman effort to be sustained and was not proving altogether successful. Perhaps understandably so! I took a deep breath. Unfortunately that made me aware that doing so thrust out my padded bosom as if it was seeking even more of his attention.

Desperately I ploughed on. “I’m Jennifer. If you’re wondering, well… the hem of my dress got stuck in the doors of the elevator down in the lobby. There was nothing I could do to free it without ripping it. I wonder… Would you… could you… see if you can get it loose for me? Please!!”

I opened my eyes to their widest in an attempt to look as helpless as I could. I accompanied this mute appeal with my best smile, although to be truthful I felt more like crying. He stood staring. It took him about a minute to comprehend my request, but when finally he did, he showed no further hesitation.

“My, my! Don’t you just get into some fixes?” he chortled. Then with a “Sure thing, sugar” he was gone.

Although it can’t have been more than five minutes before he returned, it seemed like an age as I waited, cowering in a corner of the stair. I prayed silently that no-one else might be treated to the sight of me in my exposed condition.
Then there, of a sudden, was my faithful assistant before me again. Harvey was grinning from ear to ear but more importantly he was holding out my dress to me.

“Here you are, sweetie!” He lifted it for me to slip over my head.

I needed no second invitation, but instinctively turned my back on this knight in shining armour, before dropping my protective shoes and purse. I certainly didn’t want him to get any closer a view of what they had been hiding! I lost no time in putting my head and arms through. When, at last, I could cover myself with my discarded garment again the relief was palpable. Feeling a little more myself now I was decent, I thanked him over again.

Harvey grinned and shrugged off my gratitude bashfully. Seeing he was ill at ease boosted my courage. My sense of the comedy of my position returned and flirtatiously I yielded to a fleeting temptation. In as nonchalant a manner as I could assume I asked him “Would you zip me, please?” I turned my back and waited.

Harvey seemed a little taken aback but then “Sure thing, sweetie! My pleasure!” Conscious of the gentle touch of his hands against my back while he fastened me, I experienced a thrill which went right through me. I even shivered. How weird! Why did this feel nice? After all he was only a guy?
Now more or less decent I became even bolder. “I’m hoping it isn’t torn. Can you see?”

My helper knelt and lifted the hem of the garment. He ran it through his hands, to examine it for damage. I turned right around as he did so, so he could check the entire circumference. My skirts brushed against him intimately as I did so.

“No. Looks fine to me!” was the result of his scrutiny. He stood up and I could see he had coloured deeply.

“Er… Thanks” I stammered. We’d ended up standing very close and an awkward silence ensued between us. After a few moments of mutely gazing into each other’s eyes Harvey broke the tension by explaining his dress retrieval technique.

“Want to know how I got it free. It was easy as pie! I rang for the elevator to come. I used the special ring I have so old Noah knows it’s me, otherwise he can take an age. While it was on its way down I held on to your dress with just the slightest tension and as soon as the doors started to open, it came free in my hand. I was up the first flight with it before the old guy realised what was happening. All the rest of the way back up the stairs I could hear him complaining! Not to worry. I’ll square him with a candy bar next time I see him.” My rescuer looked childishly pleased with himself.

“You are so clever… and so kind. I don’t know how I can thank you!” I murmured inadequately.

He picked up my discarded possessions and handed them to me. Wanting to express my gratitude more adequately, I may have rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek. Well I had to, really, didn’t I? I mean, it wasn’t that I wanted to kiss him. He was a boy, after all, but what else could I do? Somehow the embrace became more prolonged than I expected or intended and I was aware that my breasts, made more prominent by the unaccustomed padding in my borrowed bra, had pressed provocatively against his chest. It couldn’t be helped the way things were, but I could see he didn’t know where to look. Neither did I and an involuntary glance at the front of his pants (what was I thinking?) told me there was something else going on.

Curiously enough, a similar reaction was taking place in me. There was a pronounced tingling down below which I really wasn’t expecting. How strange! While I could be confident that everything would have been discreetly hidden, I was surprised how my body was reacting. It seemed entirely to have a mind of its own. In confusion I drew back and ran upstairs, waving a hurried farewell to my new friend He waved back before turning to retrieve his bundle from where it had fallen.

In contrast to the drama of the last ten minutes my clandestine return to Rachel’s room was uneventful and went entirely without a hitch. As I approached our landing I could hear my friend in conversation with her neighbour. She was standing just inside Della’s doorway with the door was almost closed behind her so that any view out of it would be effectively blocked. Taking advantage of her precaution I was able to slide silently past and into our apartment.

Safe at last!

Securely concealed in Rachel’s room I reflected on the embarrassing contretemps I had just experienced. One good result was that I seemed to have made a friend. Harvey had been kind and discreet and appeared to be someone I could safely trust if I had occasion to. With all the scrapes I was getting into I seemed to need every friend I could get! The down side was that here was yet another person who had come to know me as Jennifer, and provided another obstacle to overcome when I made my eventual transition back to masculinity. It couldn’t be helped and I tried to dismiss the attendant worry from my mind.
While I waited for Rachel to return I reflected on my recent encounter. As my thoughts dwelt on Harvey I felt that unexpected twitch in my nether regions again. He was good-looking, of course, but that didn’t matter to me, did it? I hoped I didn’t but the involuntary effect that another male was having on my body was now really starting to bother me.

How could that be happening?!
After another few minutes my friend reappeared in the room and with her finger to her lips she closed the door behind her. For further security she turned the key.

“You’re not here, remember!” she whispered.

Walking across to the radio she turned the set on and tuned the dial to a station which was playing country music, punctuated by the inevitable commercials. “There. That should cover us, provided that we keep our voices down.”

This precaution taken, I was able to relate my adventure of the elevator to my listener. While she was full of sympathy for my plight, there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye which she struggled to hide. By the end of my account she could contain herself no longer, and burst into muffled laughter.

“You’re unbelievable! You can’t manage an elevator ride without coming to grief.” Rachel stifled further merriment at my expense, before “My, but you’re a fast mover. It looks as if you have made a complete conquest of Harvey in just a single day. I don’t know how you do it” she giggled. “It’s just as well that I’m not interested in him myself. I couldn’t begin to compete!”

I was appalled. Surely that couldn’t be right! I could only stare at her in astonishment. Why would a boy be interested in me?

“And” pointing to my blushing countenance “by any chance might he be a hit with you too? Oh, Jennifer! Where will it all end?”

Where indeed?!