Synopsis: Lydia has encouraged her partner to cross dress at home when she was absent, with the intention of using hidden camera footage to blackmail him into obeying her desires. However, Peter had suspected she was up to something, and had made plans of his own...

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Peter entered the living room, and was immediately ordered by his partner: "Sit down and watch this."

Lydia turned on the TV, pressed Play on the DVD's remote control.

Peter cringed as images of him cleaning the house in a pink maid's dress flashed by.

A few minutes later, Lydia pressed Stop on the remote control, then with a malicious grin turned to her partner.

"Now, you will obey me, and complete without hesitation every task I set you, otherwise copies of this DVD will be sent to your workmates. Do you understand? Now, go upstairs and get changed. I'm expecting visitors in half an hour and you're going to be serving them."

Exactly half an hour later, the doorbell went, and Peter, now looking every inch a natural female, dressed in a long skirt, top and mid-length wig, opened the door and let in three of Lydia's workmates, while putting his finger to his mouth and whispering "Don't say anything - all will be revealed later."

He then went into the kitchen and prepared five mugs of tea, before carrying them into the lounge. He avoided the stares of his partner, who was expecting him to be dressed quite differently and serving cups of tea from their bone china set.

Lydia was seething, but before she could open her mouth, Peter looked at her, and calmly stated: "Lydia - no. Let me explain. Just because I'm an introvert and crossdress, it does NOT mean I'm a pushover, a willing slave to your desires, or too stupid to suspect when someone's playing games with me."

"Bu.."

"No buts - hear me out." He then retreived a small memo pad covered in scribbles from the tray, and studied it while continuing.
"You've known I was a crossdresser since before we moved in together, but as you had problems with the concept, I reluctantly agreed to stop to allow what I thought was our love to grow. So when, three months ago, you announced out of the blue that you were happy for me to resume, as long as you weren't around, I was suspicious. My curiosity as to your motives was only enhanced when I saw some of the outfits you were ordering for me.

"At first, I did dress up in those parody maid costumes while I did the housework, but they neither reflected the type of clothes I prefer to wear, nor the image I wish to project when dressed up. I was anxious to know what your intentions were, but knew I wouldn't be able to extract it from you directly. If you were planning anything for me resembling the stories that abound on the internet, I would need to find out quickly, before your plan could come to fruition."

"Bu..."

"But how? I could have placed my own cameras around the house, but they wouldn't reveal your thoughts, or your actions outside these four walls. Considering how little time you've spent here recently, supposedly on late night meetings or weekend conferences, they wouldn't have revealed much at all!

"Knowing how chatty you are, I figured you'd probably share your tales with your colleagues at work. But they'd be very unlikely to share them with the male side of me, so my only chance was to ramp up enough courage to take my female side into public and ask them as a female friend of a friend.

"So after using size guides on the 'net to help measure myself, I very nervously bought a basic outfit from the supermarket, and a wig from an online store; before taking the courage to go out in public - first around the block, then to the corner shop, and eventually into town.

"So for the past month, on Friday nights when you thought I was at The Rose & Crown with my workmates, I, or rather Petra, the name I prefer to call myself when dressed, was at The Old Bank."

Author's note: Rose & Crown - traditional type pub, popular haunt of "The lads"; Old Bank - trendy wine bar, more popular with females.

"Lydia, as I suspected, you really couldn't resist bragging about your plans for me when at the office, and it was the hot gossip amongst Julie, Claire and Kim here - even if they didn't quite believe your tales. After the third Friday, I took the precaution of taking a small voice recorder. See, although I'm naturally an introvert, I'm not stupid. I found out you were playing games with me, and I could be just as capable of playing games with you.

"I think Julie, Claire and Kim can confirm that I am quite presentable in public, and that until about 10 minutes ago, they never connected the shy, demure Petra with your supposed 'plaything' Peter. That DVD must have been compiled in the first week of your games, because I notice there's no footage from when I stopped wearing that ridiculous costume. Releasing it would be of little consequence to me - it is always Peter that turns up to work, and Petra who comes out to play at night. My job isn't public facing, I'm not committing adultery, I'm not breaking any laws, and Petra isn't doing anything which in the slightest way impacts upon my job.

"Relationships should be built on trust, respect and understanding. You have demonstrated none of that. Tomorrow I intend to give our landlord his one month's notice, and start moving out."

Turning away from Lydia and to the three girls, he said:

"Girls, I don't know what Lydia was planning to show you tonight - definitely not this! I'm sorry if you feel I've abused your trust over the past few weeks, but I hope you'll still allow Petra to join your social group on Fridays. I might not be able to make next week though, as I'll still be sorting myself out."

Kim seemed to recover faster than the others, then tenatively replied "I've got a spare room..."

"Are you sure, Kim, after what I've just told you? Under these clothes, I am still a man, and don't wish to either stop dressing, or dress full time."

"Yeah, I mean I don't have much money left after paying the bills, and I've got the extra room, so if you don't mind helping out..."

"If you're absolutely sure - you don't have to - and as you know, I am a little different to most people!"

"Yes, I'm sure. I take it you won't mind the others popping in from time to time?"

"No - you've got your life to live and I've got mine. Just make sure if you invite anyone else around while I'm in, that they're aware of both Peter and Petra - I don't want you losing any friendships over me."

"OK", then as a wide grin appeared on her face, "now get over here and sit down before you keel over!"

"Yes miss! Now," looking over towards Julie and Claire, "Can you come across first thing tomorrow morning and help us hash out some form of contract - make it all legal and above board."

Julie looked at Claire, then Kim, then Petra, before replying "Err...OK. Do you need a hand with moving your stuff?"

He thought for a minute, then nodded. "We'll take my clothes over tonight, but sort the rest out later. I'd prefer to have company when visiting here again, just in case SHE," casting a glance over towards Lydia, "plans any more surprises. But let's take our drinks upstairs and finish them there, so SHE can ponder her mistakes in private."

As they left the room, he said quietly to them, "Thanks again for all your support tonight - I didn't know what to expect, and you've made it a lot easier for me."

-oOo-

This is my first effort at writing fiction for 15+ years, so please be gentle with your criticisms :)
I've added a Creative Commons license to it, which gives you permission to post it elsewhere, rehash it into something that makes more sense, extend it (in either direction), write a prequel (the events leading up to this vignette) or even a sequel (moving into Kim's and beyond). Just remember to credit me with writing the original. If you do feel the need to extend it, bear in mind Peter/Petra will probably take a while to further his (platonic!) relationship with the girls before even thinking about more intimate relationships - especially given his experience with Lyria...