“Have you ever talked to someone who really understands what it is like to be the real you?” asked Maxine when I had recovered at least a bit of my composure.

I shook my head.

[10th May 2020]
“There… that is the last of the alterations done,” said Emma as she put her scissors down.

In the workroom, there were four very similar but different coloured dresses hanging up. There were also four bolero style jackets on separate hangers. None of these dresses would look out of place on the stage of the Follies Bergère in Paris until you looked very closely at them.

Serena’s broadside at me had hit home hard. I tried hard but failed to stop myself from bursting into tears. I screwed my eyes shut. I could not face seeing her face with the inevitable ‘I told you so smirk’ on it.

The throbbing in my head told me that something wasn't quite right when I regained consciousness. I felt something soft under me. That said 'you are in a bed'. The bleeping of a monitor told me that I was in a hospital. That in turn meant official records which leads to questions and possibly awkward ones at that.

I wandered downstairs to find Yasmine and Jennifer looking at a road map.

“What’s up?”

“Look at this,” said Jennifer passing me her phone. A text message was there for everyone to read.

“Urgent. Position compromised as of 13.45. Evacuate. Urgent.”

“Do you have any idea as to what happened?”

Jennifer shook her head.
“None at all. All I know is there in the text which comes from my Commander. By my estimate, we have to leave inside the next twenty minutes.”

Don’t-05

The next few hours were very much a blur. I was searched several times before I was taken to Shrewsbury Police Station for questioning. My requests for something to eat were ignored.

"These could be evidence," said the detective who was assigned to question me as he held up an unopened pack of six energy bars. From the look of him, Detective Sergeant Saunders was a rookie in the Plain Clothes world. He had no dress sense at all and trying to wear shirts that were at least one if not two sizes too small for him, did not present an air of confidence or authority

The luxury of a bed with sheets and pillows was now a foreign experience to me. Hard pavements and doorways had become the norm for me in recent months. After a few hours of tossing and turning, I ended up sleeping on the floor. It might have been hard but after wrapping myself in the luxurious duvet, I managed to get some sleep. The underfloor heating was a new experience for me. It helped me relax and get some shuteye.

"We had a great time. Silly me, I thought that he was going to take our relationship to another level. Then I get this huge bunch of flowers and a card telling me that it was all over," said Michelle.

Lee sent over what the FBI had on the cases that could be released to Donald's department without all sorts of very lengthy approvals. Even with huge amounts of redaction, it took Donald two days to go through the files. They didn’t make pretty reading because it was as if he was reading a report from West Midlands rather than one from West Virginia. The similarity between all the cases was uncanny and slightly unnerving.

[May 2015. At an office in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne]
“Flowers for a J Parsons?” came the cry from the deliveryman who’d just entered the busy office.

Almost everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look towards a small man whose desk was right at the far end of the office and almost hidden by six grey filing cabinets.

[Early September]
"Well, love it is your first day at a new school and in a new country and… as the new you. I know that it will all be rather strange at first and very different from Park View High, but the new girl will be the centre of attention at first, so just be careful, eh?"

Authors note:
This is not a TG story even though there is a scene where it is suggested that the main character does pose as a woman. I wrote it as a backstory to the Vivienne/Delphine character in ‘Sixty is not that old’ story. Vivienne changes her name to Delphine. This is the story of how Vivienne’s grandmother met her future husband.

My small workshop was quiet for once. I’d just finished a large job and was cleaning up when I noticed someone standing in the doorway.

I looked up and saw silhouetted against the later afternoon sun, a very shapely young woman. As I looked at her, she flicked her long hair. For half a second, I wondered if I was going to have a heart attack.

[2nd January 2020]

“It is good to be back,” exclaimed Maxine as she unloaded the last of Hayley’s belongings from the back of the van that they’d rented.

“Yeah. Yesterday was hard going. My dumbass brother was out to cause trouble right from the start of the day. Mum texted earlier. She says thanks for not rising to his baiting.”

[Birmingham International Airport Railway Station]
"Sorry, I'm a bit late. My mother called while I was getting ready to leave and… well, she just would not stop talking,” said Maxine.

Michel laughed as he got into her car.
“I’m glad mine is several thousand miles away.”

[this part is written from the Kelly POV]

I was having a break with Tom at the truck stop on the Interstate when Matt arrived out of the blue.

“Hello darling, what are you doing here?”

[Hayley and Maxine had been talking about who would take over from Maxine should she get run over by the proverbial bus]

"Yes, I am serious. You asked me what would happen if I was run over by a bus… Well with some training, the answer could be you."

“You make it sound like an old advert for the National Lottery?”

"It is like this, Ronnie… I'm trans."

Ronnie cursed under her breath.

“I wondered what it was that you were hiding.”

"I'm sorry, but when you told me about your dogs, I sort of freaked out."

"That's understandable, but they won't touch you."

Saskia could not believe what she was seeing. She'd gasped with amazement and horror at the man in the hoodie that was looking right at her.

“How! How had he found her!” she muttered under her breath. The anger in her eyes showed that she was not pleased with this development.

[Authors note]
The story picks up again (if you forget my foopah of a posting from last week) when Matt and Kelly are on their Honeymoon. They have been travelling south down the Oregon and California coast and are in need of some refreshment.

“Maybe we could get something for later at the same time?”

[This part is written from Kelly’s POV]

"You look, fine Darling," Matt said to me for what seemed about the twentieth time.

“I agree,” said Nancy.

I was feeling far from fine. It felt like my first day at the NYPD Academy all over again. That didn’t go down very well as the chief instructor and my father were not the best of friends.

“Cliff, you were right,” said Maxine as she arrived for work the next day.

“I’m generally right about most things. That’s my job. What was it this time?”

“Don’t go being smart with me. Cliff.”

The advent of the Internet was a godsend for me and the myriad of Cross-dressers out there. At last, we could buy clothes and all the trappings we needed for our desires without the embarrassment of having to be seen to be buying 'stuff' in shops full of real women.