One of the Girls - Chapter 10
By Julie D Cole


Whilst I was chatting to mum Bo had been selecting an array of cosmetics that she got at discount price. She jokingly said she would send me the bill later. She had quite a stack in the free bag she’d been given that she handed to me to carry. It was a bit obvious to passers bye and I felt she did it on purpose to emasculate me. Still better than castration at this stage of my relatively early life. The thought made me shudder for a moment but then again this morning wasn’t so bad so something inside me accepted the situation.

Her friends on the make-up counter were looking at me as if Bo might have told them something and I expected they knew her preferences anyway since they seemed close. I never realised before how close the relationships are between girls as against us guys. I never had any crush on my mates. Well not as I can recall anyway.

Perhaps they saw me as a girlfriend rather than an acquaintance but that made me a bit nervous. I hoped she hadn’t told them about her bareback ride. The memory was nice but I didn’t want to be the subject of ridicule or even any discussion about the merits over riding side saddle. Anyway I wasn’t exactly embarrassed about it since it was my first venture into the more intimate side of life.

It made me feel kinda nice that I might be mistaken for a girlfriend who’d succumbed rather than a boyfriend who’d been lucky. Maybe there was more to be had out of this friendship if I played my cards right. What if I did play along as Bobbie girl? The exercise will surely do me good.

I looked at my watch. Oh my God I should hide it since it’s a man’s watch. Stupid Boy, I should have put it in my bag.

This was getting ridiculous. I didn’t want to hang around to be scrutinised or even undressed by inquisitive eyes of Bo’s friends who might prefer the girl they saw so I tugged on Bo’s arm until she got the message. I wasn’t sure at this stage if I should feel guilty about the nice experience I was having or if I should be feeling regret at being persuaded to carry on the show from yesterday. Part of me was enjoying the experience but in truth I was feeling like a fish out of water.

It was seemingly awkward now to be classed as one of these girls rather than fun I’d had yesterday when playing hockey alongside them. But it was such a nice feeling at the same time. On reflection I guess I didn’t make a bad looking girl and at least nobody was laughing at me. What the heck? I decided to go with the flow and just watch out for people I knew and the main thing was not do anything to attract attention.

The trouble with not attracting attention is that often this means you attract even more attention. Especially when your sister shouts your name out in the street as Rach then did and waves to get your attention when you are trying to look the other way. A woman tapped me on the shoulder and said someone was waving to me. So as much as I had tried the chameleon approach I thought I might as well have been standing naked on a drum after I saw the amount of attention she attracted.

It was nice to be outside into the sunshine and the street was filled with shoppers. At least there was no traffic since this part of Leeds had been pedestrianized several years ago. The downside was that this meant there were street vendors and even buskers dotted around all over the place. It was just a normal weekend yet it was noisy and I never saw so many vendors selling silk scarves and i-phone covers. There must be a world shortage.

After the usual girly hugs and kisses Rach told us to follow her as she pushed her way through the crowd towards a coffee shop. Apparently we had no choice in the matter since she’d been talking to some guys who were related to one of ‘our’ friends and they wanted to buy us some cakes and coffee even though none of us were hungry. With reluctance we agreed but I was shocked as we approached the coffee shop since it was the 3 guys from work that Bo and I passed earlier.

I had tried my best to say no but Rach was tugging me and Bo wasn’t pulling me back as I’d hoped. I would have happily been the rope in a tug of war as long as Bo was stronger but it wasn’t to be. Oh my God I was sure one of them had clocked me as they stepped forward. He was staring at me as if he knew me and whilst I didn’t know his name I’d passed him a lot of times in the corridor. He was in the HR department and a bit younger than me so I hoped he was as nervous as I was and that he’d keep his distance. Bo didn’t look too happy about the way he was ogling me and stepped between us so he had to reach around her to shake hands. His name was Tom. God how had I fallen for this malarkeys. Beam me up somebody please before I am dead meat.

So for Rachel’s sake we went into the coffee shop where Tom’s mates had already commandeered the sofas and two big leather chairs. Not exactly like in Friends but then this was reality rather than make believe. Who can walk into a coffee shop like The Central Perk and get the best seats in the house without some sort of wrestling match. I couldn’t see anybody except Joey having the capability to push others aside. Well maybe Phoebe would. I always liked hers and Rachel’s characters but never expected to enjoy the chance. I sat on one end of the sofa and Bo was quick to jump alongside before Tom did. So he sat on the arm that made her growl a bit. She elbowed me in the ribs and said quite loudly ‘Watch him or he’ll be trying to get into your knickers.’ He blushed and looked away.

Things settled down a bit after that and Tom moved to a chair. But then I had to take care how I was sitting since his eyes seemed to be fixed at some point on my anatomy that I didn’t want him to inspect too closely. I tried to speak in a quiet voice and behave as naturally as possible but it was really difficult. When I wanted the bathroom Bo stuck closely to me and I had to check to see that she wasn’t inside the cubicle before I took a leek. It seemed strange trying to relieve myself in a standing position so I turned and sat down. I started smiling to myself because I was pretty sure now that Bo was into me if you know what I mean. Pity I had to be her Bobbie Girl to turn her on but I wasn’t complaining and if anything I was itching for the chance of another session together in case it was real and not just a dream.

We tidied up together and she reached across and planted a kiss squarely on my lips. “there just in case you think of responding to that shaggy dog Tom. It looks like he thinks you are fair game and a bitch in season so keep your distance.’

I took Bo’s advice and when we re-joined the group I made an excuse that it was time to go get my things from Bo’s apartment since I needed to go home to change to meet my boyfriend.

‘What did you say that for?’ It was all I could think of to try to put him off but anyway it worked and Bo and I excused us. We were laughing as we walked down The Headrow towards the bus station. We had to make it look like we were catching a bus before we doubled back.

“Bobbie Girl, you are getting right into full stride now. I think you quite like this girl side of you. How about we pop back to my place in a taxi and relax a bit. Maybe we could try some of the make-up before you have to go home and then you’ll have time to wash it all off if that’s what you want.’

‘Bo I would like that but do you think Tom has realised who I am. I’m worried now in case he says something at work tomorrow or comes looking for me.’

Bobbie I think he could only see a girl and if he was viewing you as anything else then why the large bulge in his trousers?’

‘What do you mean? What bulge?’

‘Come on Bobbie he was as stiff as a poker and embarrassed as hell about it. If I’d have worn my big hooped earrings today I’d have shown you and won a prize.’