A man is feminized by his wife and his business partner and framed for embezzlement. Can he survive the humiliations his wife intends to subject him to and start a new life?

Thanks go out to Marina Kelly for her very valuable editorial assistance in improving the quality of this story.

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Chapter 17

Rob looked up at Jim and said, "Officer, thank you for getting us out of there. I don't want to seem rude or ungrateful, but who are these friends? More police?"

The first thing that occurred to Rob was that they might be trading one set of captors for another. He glanced around looking for possible escape routes and to see whether they were being hemmed in by other police of mobsters. So far, Rob could only see that they were outside of the club, not necessarily out of captivity. He had taken his heels off to let his feet rest, trying to dodge the fire hoses that had been stretched out on street was a strain on the ankles. Now he tried to put them back on without seeming to hurry.

Jim had become good at reading expressions and body language, something that made him a successful detective.

"No…No, Mr. Tanner," he said as he smiled and held up a hand as if to stop an argument. "It's Sally Olsen and her brother Pete. I think that it's safe to say that they are the one responsible for your rescue. I'll explain, but the two of you are rather under-dressed for the weather and I would like to get you into the van."

He offered each of them a hand and pulled them to their feet. Leading them over to an idling police van, he opened the side door to let them climb in. He followed them in and closed the door. The interior was roasty-toasty and the heat was enough to make Rob and Sophie relax back into the seats. Even though it was a government vehicle, Rob found the hard upholstery to be perfectly comfortable. The old saying that freedom makes everything sweeter was definitely true.

Jim moved up to the front and handed each them a blanket from the passenger seat. Pulling it around him, Rob was glad that it wasn't a cheap wool thing as he would have felt it on every part of his exposed skin. The fleece inside increased the delicious warmth that Rob seemed to wallow in.

Jim turned to face them and said, "The others that were rescued with you are being taken to the hospital to be checked out before they are put into protective custody." He paused and looked them. "Do either of you need to be seen by a doctor? Any burns, bruises, or cuts?"

At their negative responses, he continued, "Technically, the two of you should be in custody as well. You may very well be our star witnesses on this case. The main reason we are keeping the others under protection is so that we can check for other crimes or warrants."

He held his hand up to forestall the protests that he saw the two them about to put forth.

"However, I've seen enough regarding you Mr. Tanner, to be quite sure that you've been a victim all of the way through this. And you sir," he said as he looked at Sophie, "I suspect that you are very much in the same boat. So I am exercising a great deal of leeway to release you on your own recognizance until we can make some sense of what happened here today."

Bob felt a stab of panic in his gut and interrupted, "Where would we go? The way we are now, we have no way of way of living on our own."

"That's taken care of by Sally and Pete," Jim answered, "they've agreed to have a couple of house guests. In fact, they rather insisted on it." He grinned at that revelation.

Sophie looked at Jim and asked, "Officer, who are Sally and Pete?"

It was Jim's turn to look confused as he answered, "Please, call me Jim. I'm sorry; I was under the impression that you knew who the Olsen's were."

He looked at Rob, who spoke up. "Sally was my executive assistant before all of this happened to me. Her brother works at the university in computer security." Rob's expression darkened as he contemplated how Evan had used the company's computers to destroy it.

"Yes, and Pete was the one responsible for blocking the plan your partner apparently had for your company," Jim said as if he were picking up what Rob was thinking. "The Feds are looking for him right now. According to my sources, your partner and your wife are two of the most sought-after individuals in the country right now. By both us and the Mob."

"So Evan and Geri weren't able to steal everything from the company?" He was practically shouting with joy.

"They didn't get a thing," Jim said. "All of his computer commands and programs were blocked by whatever Pete did. If the Feds get them, they'll end up in prison. If the mob does, they'll wish that all that happens to them is prison."

Rob's expression was a combination of surprise and delight. He was so happy that he dropped his blanket and lunged at Jim and jumped into his lap. He hugged him enthusiastically, maybe a bit too enthusiastically. It was apparent that Diana was in charge. His breasts had come out of his stripper's gown and were rubbing against Jim's arm and Jim was looking a bit uncomfortable about the situation.

Sophie poked Rob in the ribs and said, "Knock it off Diana, now's not the time for that."

Rob was startled by Sophie's jab, pulled back from Jim, and reluctantly returned to his seat.

"Sorry about that," Rob said. He made an attempt to look embarrassed at his actions and almost succeeded.

Jim, who had obviously enjoyed the impromptu lap dance, tried to nonchalantly adjust his underwear to relieve the strain his erection was causing and waved his hand in dismissal. "If you two will fasten yourselves in, I'll take you to your new home."

Before he could even put the van in gear, Rob spoke up nervously. "I'm really not comfortable seeing Sally right now."

Jim faced him with a frown, "What do you mean?"

"The last time Sally saw me, I didn't look like this. I looked and sounded like a regular guy, not an overdeveloped bimbo."

Rob was practically in tears at the thought of the humiliation and possible rejection he would face when Sally got a look at him. Dreaming about her acceptance was just that: a fantasy. It looked like Evan and Geri had succeeded at least to a certain point: they had turned him into an object of ridicule.

He was only a sexy stripper now. If Sally could even look at him now, it would with pity in her eyes. All he saw in the mirror was the slut they had created. It didn't matter how much he wanted someone to love him, because he was an impotent she-male, caught between sexes.

Everyone loved him when he was dancing, but they were cheering for the stripper, not him. He liked the feeling he got where he was dancing though and that made him wonder if it was it the stripper or the person behind the pasties who was enjoying it. Maybe he didn't deserve to be loved any more. He had come to identify with the stripper side of himself too much. He was becoming more of the new Diana and losing the old Rob.

He came back to his senses with a start. Jim was suddenly looking into his eyes. When had he moved from the front of the van? Jim had his hand on Rob's shoulder, shaking it gently, and both Jim and Sophie were looking at him as if they were afraid of something.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

Jim kept his hand on his shoulder as he said, "That's what we were asking you. One minute, you were talking and then you were staring straight ahead and you weren't there."

Rob blinked and shook his head a couple of times to clear his thoughts. "I don't know what happened. I guess I just I just had a vision of what my life will be from now on and what people will think of me."

"Are you worried about what Sally is going to say or think?" Jim asked. At Rob's tearful nod, he said, "You don't have to worry about that. She already knows. She's had me checking on you when she thought that Evan might be up to something. Then you disappeared. It was pictures I took of you that Pete saw and helped us to find you."

Rob shrugged. "She may have seen pictures of me, but you have to understand that they played with my mind too. I'm not sure that I'm the same person anymore. You saw how I was acting just now. It would kill me to have Sally hate me."

Sophie put his arm around Rob's shoulder and hugged him.

"Rob…It was your strength that kept us both going these past weeks in the club. I was ready to give up when I first got here and you pulled me back from the edge. Look at how everyone felt about you and treated you here. How would they normally treat a slut and a stripper? Everybody likes you and respects you. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they know what they're doing. Do you remember what the Wizard of Oz told the Tin Man?"

At Rob's shake of his head, Sophie continued, "'The measure of a person is not by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others'. Everyone who meets you loves you. Don't you think Sally deserves a chance to decide that rather than you choosing to believe that she will reject you?"

Rob was silent as he let himself hope that a reunion with Sally would not be as painful as he feared. He was frozen for so long that Sophie had to prompt him for an answer.

Jim was actually becoming concerned that whatever had been done to Rob might make him a problem for Sally. It might be wiser to take these two down to the hospital for evaluation; regardless of what he had promised Sally.

Before Jim came to a final decision though, Rob finally spoke up, "You're right. All I can do is try. If she doesn't want me there or if I make her uncomfortable, we will have to go somewhere else."

Jim gave a short nod in agreement. "I don't think that you'll have anything to worry about, she's a good person. I'll explain the situation and make sure that there won't be any problems."

Rob and Sophie kept their silence as Jim put the van in gear and headed away from the club area. That didn't mean that there wasn't a good deal of anxiety on their part. The club, even though it had been a prison, was a known quantity with its dangers predictable. They were leaving that haven for what might be an infinitely happier and safer home or for what could end up being a waypoint on a trail of tears.

Even with that fear, the stress and activity of the past day had exhausted them. Coupled with the warmth of the van, Rob nodded off in less than ten minutes. Sophie let his head cuddle up on her shoulder. She slid an arm around Rob and lovingly ran her fingers through her friend's silky hair. She was slowly going to sleep herself.

* * * * *

The lack of movement of the van woke Rob. Looking around, he noticed that they were parked outside of a row of apartments. Jim was missing from his seat. Rob could see the door of the unit in front of them was open a bit and he guessed that was where the police detective had gone. He reached over to Sophie and shook him awake while he was undoing his seat belt.

"We're here," he said. Sophie looked around a bit bleary-eyed, not saying anything. Rob waited for him to finish waking up and said, "I guess we should go in."

Leaving the warmth of the van, they wrapped their blankets around them. They weren't that far from the building and they stepped quickly before the cold started chilling them down. They both wore the heels that they had performed in and Rob was glad they didn't have to contend with ice underfoot.

Despite his trepidation at the reception he might get from Sally, he knew that he had to give her the benefit of the doubt and allow her to either accept or reject him. Still, the butterflies in his stomach could have carried him up to the door.

At the door, he and Sophie paused. Rob was sure that it would be bad manners to just walk in through the partially open door without an invitation, so he knocked tentatively on the door and stood back.

In the living room, Jim had finished giving the Olsen siblings a short briefing on the two men he had rescued. Sally knew that they were outside in the police van and she almost missed the knocking at the door. It was almost like they didn't want to be heard. Without a moment's thought, she left the living room and went to the door. It had been left open just a bit and she could feel the winter air chilling legs and feet.

Outside, the length of time that they waited made Rob think that they hadn't been heard and he was getting up the nerve to just walk in. Suddenly, the door opened wide and Sally was there, looking at them.

Sally saw two women huddled in blue blankets and looking a bit worse for wear. She was sure that he cold air was not helping them much either.

Because she was already familiar with Rob's new appearance from pictures, it was no stretch for Sally to know that the mannish-looking woman was Sophie. Sophie really was not unattractive, it was easy to see that she could have been or had been masculine in the very recent past.

Sophie was a couple of inches taller than Rob's five-seven with a black page boy style cut that framed her squarish face. Her light green eyes and short straight nose went well with her light olive complexion, making her look as if she were Italian or Greek. Her build fit in with that as well. Sophie was a relatively attractive person who had the potential to be pretty with the right makeup and a visit to a salon.

That was everything that she absorbed in her first assessment. But it was Rob who really caught her attention and held it.

He was taller than she remembered and then she noticed the high heels he was wearing. Even though the blanket he had wrapped around him cloaked most of his body, Sally could see that some changes had taken place. The legs sticking out from beneath the blanket were absolutely beautiful and were nothing like the legs Rob had sported in golf shorts this past spring.

The face sticking out of the blanket had some of Rob in it; she could see that it was more oval now. Almost the only thing that was unmistakably Rob were the dark blue eyes that framed an adorable short round nose. It was obvious that Rob's nose had been bobbed. The blanket had pulled his hair down somewhat and Sally could see that Rob's normally blond hair was now streaked with soft reds and oranges, almost as if he had a campfire on his head.

But those eyes! Rob's face had always been rounded and there was something about how Rob looked now that made his big blue eyes lock on hers and she didn't want to look away.

Sally felt a familiar sensation go through her belly. She didn't understand what was happening...she had never before been aroused by a woman in the past. Intellectually she knew what stood in her doorway wasn't a woman, it was a man, her boss. She had fancied him for months, which would explain her excitement, but not the sexually aroused feelings that coursed through her body. The creature before her possessed a sexual aurora and looked like someone who had stepped off the cover of a girlie magazine. Sally's nipples suddenly tingled and her belly fluttered. She could have also sworn her pussy reacted as well. Something was wrong here. For the moment, Sally set aside her feelings, attributing them to the release of endorphins, at seeing Rob safe.

Rob and Sophie just waited for Sally to let them in as she looked at them. Sally scanned over Sophie quickly enough, but then she just stared at Rob. He stood there, caught in her stare. He knew from the way she was acting that she was repulsed by his appearance. He wanted to turn around and go back to the police van until Jim came back out.

Just as he was about to tuck his tail between his legs and crawl away, Sally blinked and smiled at them. Standing back, she practically pulled them inside. Rob was still frozen in place for a moment or two, like a deer in the headlights of a car. He had thought about Sally so much in the past months and it had kept him from breaking down more than once. Was she really inviting them in? "Rob…Sophie, please get in here, it's cold out there."

Sophie smiled and nodded politely to Sally and passed on into the apartment. As they filed in the door, Sally wondered at her reaction to Rob. She had always been attracted to him. Not so much for his appearance though. He was a kind, good-hearted person and she had always enjoyed working with him. He had been engaged and then married, so she had never considered enticing him to cheat on Geri. Some of the thoughts and desires she had just felt bordered on the way the romance novels she had been reading lately made her feel. Sally had always had a vision of Rob sweeping her off her feet and riding away with her on a white stallion.

In her fantasy life she had often envisioned being called Mrs. Tanner. Looking at the sexpot standing before her now, she realized that dream was unlikely. Sally just couldn't picture that body stuffed into a tuxedo and standing with her at the altar. If they were to be together obviously there were have to be some compromises. Ever since she had found out about Geri's deception of Rob, Sally knew that his marriage was doomed. She had allowed herself to play the mental game where she envisioned herself being call Mrs. Tanner. Now, seeing the lovely creature before her, she wondered if Sally and Mrs. Olsen might be more appropriate, she could definitely see him in a tight fitting wedding gown.

She blinked to snap herself out of her trance again and snagged Rob's arm as he passed by and before he was out of range. Standing in his high heels, Sally was able to easily pull him off-balance and Rob stumbled into her arms. Rob never had a chance to even think before Sally was hugging him tightly enough to squeeze the air out of his lungs.

"I've been so worried about you," she whispered in his ear. In that moment, those words were enough to cause all of the tension that held Rob rigid to drain out of him.

He sagged into Sally with a sob. "I was so afraid you would hate me. Or worse feel sorry for me."

Sally continued to hug him as she said, "Rob, I could never hate you. I know none of this was your choice." She stroked his head to relax him.

Sally was becoming seriously confused. She knew that this was Rob, but the long silky hair and sexy voice said that this was a woman. As she hugged him she could feel the warmth of his breasts as the mashed against her, she felt his nipples respond and realized with shock that they were not breast forms. This wasn't right. She was attracted to Rob...really attracted. The problem was that he looked like a woman. She shouldn't be feeling this way. She wasn't supposed to like women that way. She forced all of her warring emotions down into a small compartment in her thoughts and just concentrated on reassuring her friend.

Rob stood wrapped in Sally's arms, listening to her reassuring words. The knowledge of not being rejected and the feeling of safety caused the remnants of his tension to melt and Rob collapsed against Sally with a sob. Even in his heels, Rob was still slightly shorter than Sally, so his head rested against her shoulder. She was wearing a comfortable-looking terry cloth robe over what Rob assumed what her night clothes.

When Rob felt his breasts against what he was sure were Sally's he felt Diana stirring inside. He was almost overcome with the desire to crush his lips against hers and to slip his hand into her robe. More than anything, he wanted Sally to fondle him. These were the impulses that he fought so hard to overcome. Sally was probably the last person he ever wanted to offend like this.

Sally continued to brush her hand through his hair and whisper to him that he was safe now and that everything would be fine, she would take care of him and protect him He was holding her almost as tightly as she was holding him. It was as if they were afraid that the other might suddenly disappear. Feeling safe in Sally's arms, Rob let his mind go almost completely blank. All that mattered right now was that he was free from the treatment he had received at the hands of Vargas and, before him, Geri. The blankness helped him to control his Diana side.

Knowing now that Sally was different from Evan and Geri just made him feel warm inside. At some point during the trials he had endured, Rob had given himself to Sally in his mind. It was an idealized image of Sally who existed in his imagination, a tall, beautiful woman with a disposition of an angel. She would never hurt him and Rob just wanted to make her happy.

Finally, Sally thought that they had better join the meeting with the others and led Rob into the living room where some snacks and drinks had been set out. Knowing that he was covered with soot and smoke from the fire, Rob went to sit on one of the wooden chairs in the room. As he passed Sally she pulled him down on to the sofa beside her and held his hand. In response, Rob sat closer to her and snuggled a bit. If he had been a cat, he would have been purring while he rubbed up against her.

Sally saw the outrageous heels on Rob's feet and reached down to take them off. Rob put his hand out to stop her, and said, "Please don't…I have to wear heels all of the time. A present from my ex-wife." He thought of how the six foot Evan would look perpetually wearing five inch stilettos and smiled to himself. He didn't know how or when it would happen, he just knew payback was coming, wearing high heels was just the beginning of the things he had planned for Gerri and Evan.

Sally just looked at him to see if he was joking. The expression on his feminine face told her that he was totally serious and she looked at Sophie who was nodding in confirmation. Sally realized that something sinister had been done to someone she cared for. She felt a sinking sensation in her middle that transmuted itself into anger toward that evil witch.

Jim waited for the two of them to grab a soft drink and began his briefing. He had to stop and watch while Sally put two straws into one of the bottles and shared it with Rob. It was like watching a couple of teenagers at a malt shop. Despite his previous infatuation for Sally he was happy for her now. He had to smile as he watched the two of them cuddling.

"Sally, this is Sophie." Sophie nodded to her and Sally responded with a smile and a small wave. Pete had taken a seat near Sophie, trying not to crowd him. Sophie had already recognized him as the man who had decked his father-in-law.

"Sophie has found himself in the same situation as Rob appears to be in."

Sophie chimed in with his explanation, "I didn't choose to look like this. My family forced this on me. Before this, I was Steven. I am a lifelong transvestite — a fact I kept hidden from my wife when we were married. My wife and her family went ballistic when they discovered my need to occasionally dress up like Sophie and they had me kidnapped and transformed into the freak you see before you. I've been called Sophie for months now and I've become comfortable with looking and acting like Sophie. I don't think that I would even want to go back to being Steven, even if it were possible. I hope that isn't a problem."

He had the same kind of fear of how he would be treated by others and was a bit apprehensive about what Sally might say, but she just smiled back and shook her head. Sophie visibly relaxed at her acceptance. Pete reached out and gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder and said, "If you want to be Sophie its fine with us. In this household we don't judge a book by its cover."

Jim took control of the conversation again and continued. "Rob and Sophie were prisoners at the nightclub like we thought and were unable to leave. Sophie tells me that they wore some kind of bracelet that kept them from escaping."

He looked at Rob and Sophie, "Under normal circumstances, we would keep you in protective custody and hidden away until we could bring Anders and Vargas to trial. Fortunately, we are pretty sure that we broke the back of the mob's manpower last night and you should be safe here. Also, Pete and Sally expressed the willingness and desire to have you stay here as their guests. You are free to leave at any time. If you do, please coordinate that with me first, for your own safety. The department and the courts are fine with saving some money and allowing you to be comfortable, rather than sitting in a motel somewhere under guard. So here you are."

He looked at Rob and Sophie. "I'm going to need statements from the two of you after you have had a night's sleep. You should see some specialists at the hospital also. They help people who have been through traumatic experiences like hostage ordeals. Your mental health is just as important to us as it is to keep you physically safe.

"That's it in a nutshell. Any questions?" Jim looked at each of the other four, who all shook their heads.

"Okay. It's the early hours of the morning, so we all need to get some sleep. I'll be back here in the late morning to take care of things. To be safe, only let myself or my boss in. Sally, you know who John Moritz is. If you have any concerns at all, call me. We will have a car that will be doing nothing other than patrolling the area." He had briefed Sally and Pete before Rob and Sophie had come in on what to expect so that there would be no surprises or concerns. He bid his goodbyes and headed out to the van.

Jim left to take care of the mountains of paperwork the night had generated. On the way, he stopped to pick up the early addition on the local paper.

The headlines trumpeted the latest actions of the police department to crush organized crime after acting on an anonymous tip. He found himself mesmerized by the picture on the front page which portrayed Rob as somehow rising out of the ashes of the club. The narrative in the article was just as eloquent: 'emerging from the soot and flames after saving a group of strangers to immediately disappear into the smoke with vengeance in her eyes…like the proverbial Phoenix bird.' Jim noted that the picture had caught part of the Phoenix tattoo on Rob / Diana's upper thigh. He tucked the paper under his arm and headed up to his office, grinning.

Sally and Pete set to work getting their guests settled. While each was sent to one of the bathrooms for a shower, the brother and sister dug out night clothes for Rob and Sophie to choose from. A choice was laid out in each bedroom adjoining the bathrooms.

In due time, Rob and Sophie made their appearances. Rob and opted for the pink baby doll nightie where Sophie had selected khaki-colored men's pajamas. At Sally's invitation, they all reseated themselves in the living room.

"We have three bedrooms," Sally said. "Pete has been spending quite a bit of time here these past few months, but we've decided that he will be heading back to his own apartment tomorrow. So he will be taking the couch for tonight. I'll put you each into one of the guest bedrooms. The master bedroom is mine." She made the last comment with a faint smile.

With everyone assigned a bed, Rob and Sophie trooped off to bed while Sally and Pete organized a makeshift bed on the couch. Lights were soon turned out and silence settled.

But not for long.

Rob sat on the edge of the bed and he finally had the chance to assess himself and take inventory by the light of the reading lamp. This was probably the first time in many months that he could actually relax and not have to worry about someone else.

Yes, there was a very real possibility that the Mob might want to actually hurt him this time. Funny how that lie had now become something bordering on the truth.

Here he sat in the home of the woman he had come to think of as his best friend over the years. Whether Sally thought of herself in that way, Rob didn't know. He had never given any thought to why Geri had discouraged any of his social contacts, until now. As a result, Sally had been the only one he had really been close to. She had watched over him pretty much like a big sister.

He thought about their arrival and subsequent conversations. She hadn't looked horrified at their appearance and she didn't throw them out, which was all good. He had noticed that she had looked at him a lot though. Weeks ago, he had come to terms with the fact that his marriage to Geri had been a sham and that they were probably not legally married at all. More importantly, a marriage was a state of mind. Geri had shown that she had never thought of herself as his wife and everything he had been through in the past months had done its job to destroy that feeling in himself as well.

He looked up at the knock at the door. Sally opened the door slightly to look in.

"Hi…Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure that you didn't need anything."

Rob felt his body responding to Sally as she entered the room. His nipples hardened and there was a tingle in his gut that spread to his cock. Even though he'd found that erections were becoming less intense; he found that he still got turned on regardless.

"I'm fine. I could use a little company though." Rob answered as he curled his legs under him.

She sat quietly at the end of the bed for a few moments, not sure of what to say or how to start.

"I'm glad that we found you," she began. "I've been in charge at work since Evan disappeared and it felt like you might never come back." Her smile trembled a little and tears threatened at the corners of her eyes.

Rob smiled back and said, "I'm glad that you're in charge Sally. You care about the company and everyone down there. It couldn't be in better hands."

"But it's your company Rob!" Sally cried out. "I've spent the past couple of months feeling like I stole your job."

Rob felt the loss of his job like a vice squeezing his heart. He had enjoyed some of the things that position had required of him. Then fatalism struck him as he thought of his condition.

"Sally, look at me. I look and sound like a twenty-something stripper. I can't walk in anything less than a four inch heel anymore." He paused for a moment to prepare for what he had to say next. "To top it off, I've changed inside too. Most of the time, I can be Rob and I'm like I always was. Then, something can knock me out of whack and I'm suddenly acting like a slut called Diana. Do you really think that anyone will take me seriously?"

Sally smiled and said "Diana…That's a pretty name, I like that. For some reason, it really seems to suit you Rob." She looked embarrassed for a moment and continued, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that, but it's the truth."

She wasn't sure how to bring up the subject of brainwashing or mental illness, so she asked, "Jim said that you had mentioned something about having been hypnotized."

He couldn't meet her eyes as he nodded and said, "I guess that Geri and Evan intended to frame me for stealing all of the money in the company. They were going to leave me looking like this with the mind of a bimbo slut. I wouldn't have been able to concentrate enough to tell anyone the truth."

"That bitch!" Sally practically shouted before she got herself under control again. "If I ever get my hands on her, I'll rip her hair out!"

Rob giggled, which sounded appropriate coming from him. And thought 'I'd pay to see that.'

He looked up at her with fire in his eyes. "Believe me; I've spent hours thinking about what I would do to them for the changes they have made in me. Sometimes, I've found that being this way isn't so bad. In fact, I've become comfortable with it."

"You mean that you like looking like a cute secretary with a sweet voice?" Sally said, surprised. She caught herself again, "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to embarrass you with that."

Rob smiled and said, "I'm not embarrassed Sally. Modesty is one of the things that became a casualty for Sophie and myself early on. In fact, we were forced to sleep in the same bed in just our underwear. It's been quite a while since I even had night clothes."

Now Sally responded with a blush when she thought of Rob and Sophie in bed together. She knew that Rob and Sophie were guys, contrary to the visual evidence. Whether they were guys or dolls, they were officially still the same sex. She wondered if the two of them had just slept together or if they had indulged in some kind of hanky-panky. Then she realized that it didn't matter to her. They were both adults and whether they had engaged in some kind of sex with each other was their business.

According to the stereotypes, that meant that Rob and Sophie were gay. But she had seen that both of the feminized men behaved more like women than men and Sophie had said that he was more woman than man now. What did all of that mean? Were the physical forms important at all? After all gender identity comes from the head and heart not the physical body.

Then, there was her own situation. She had found herself attracted to Rob, when he had been Rob. Now, he was a combination of Rob and Diana and she was still attracted. Maybe even more now. She felt like she was paralyzed somehow. On one hand, she could say that she was attracted to Rob and that was okay. On the other, she wondered if she wasn't attracted to Rob's new appearance. If that was the case, did that mean that she wasn't hetero? She remembered something her grandfather had told her once: 'Sexual attraction was supposed to be like magnets, opposite sexes were supposed to attract and same sexes were supposed to repel'.

So…Was Rob male or female? Was she a lesbian or not? Should she or could she love Rob now that he had been feminized so radically? Did it or should it matter to her as what Rob's physical situation was? He/she was the same person on the inside.

Sitting here talking to Rob and thinking about him had gotten her aroused. She found herself sitting on the end of his bed, becoming increasingly turned on and confused about whether she should be and whether it was okay to be so horny for the woman-man before her.

All Sally knew was that she didn't know what was right. That meant that she needed to get out before she made some kind of mistake that they would both regret or she might hurt her friend's feelings in some way.

She stood, making sure that her robe was pulled closed. She certainly did not want Rob to see any kind of arousal on her part. At this point, she didn't want to encourage him or insult him.

"We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. We need to get you and Sophie clothes, Jim wants to interview you, and I'd like to get you into a salon to have your hair taken care of."

As she stepped toward the door, Rob asked, "Do you have to go back to your room?"

This had been what Sally was afraid of. She sat back down on the bed and said gently, "Rob, I really like you. I think that I always have, but you were with Geri. Now, Geri is out of the picture. The problem is that you've changed and I'm trying to come to terms with that. Can you give me some time to think all of this through?"

She was doing her best to keep tears from forming, there were be plenty of time to cry once she was in bed. She didn't want to break down in front of Rob, even though that probably would have been the better choice.

* * * * *

All Rob heard was that he was being rejected. This was what he had been afraid of from the moment they had left the club. There was a cold feeling in his middle and his heart seemed to be pounding like a drum as he felt tears filling his eyes. He shook his head sharply and blinked to clear his eyes.

"I understand Sally." He fought to keep his voice even, the last thing he wanted to do is show Sally just how girlie he had become in the past few months. Any arousal that he had felt a few minutes ago was long gone, as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

"I know that it has to be hard to see someone you used to know turned into something like me." He wished that she would go now, before his mood got any more bitter than it was.

Sally felt ashamed of herself, knowing that she had hurt Rob's feelings. "Rob, I'm really sorry. Please, let me get used to this. Okay?" The pleading tone in her voice was a perfect match to his self-pity.

All Rob could do was respond with a couple of nods of his head, unable to speak. He was too lost in feeling sorry for himself to return her hug before she left for her own bed.

Once the door was closed and he had turned out the light, Rob lay there thinking. It was obvious that Sally couldn't see herself loving him, now that he was image of a pinup girl. He wasn't going to give up though. Sally was important to him and he was going to do whatever he had to make her see it. As he gave in to overdue sleep, he told himself that he would win her over, even if it meant unleashing Diana.

* * * * *

It took Sally much longer to fall asleep than Rob, which made sense. Rob had been up early, performed a strip tease routine, and had escaped from a burning building. All she had done was sit and worry about Jim rescuing him and whether or not Rob would be okay.

Things kept going through her mind on a continuous loop, asking her questions. How did she feel about Rob? How should she feel? What did it say about her when she found herself attracted to someone who looked so much like a woman? Could they continue to have a working relationship with him looking like that? Did she want to? What kind of relationship did she want?

That last question sent her off on another track. While she had had a few relationships over the years, none of them had been long-lasting. Now, she began to wonder why. To be honest, she had probably been responsible for each of them ending. It was almost as if she intentionally did it. Had she somehow caused her relationship with Jim to blow up too?

The reasons for why she was still alone eluded her as she finally drifted towards sleep. She found herself confused about her love life. Like everyone else, she had experimented in college. It was something that she and her sorority sister had sworn to never talk about. Maybe that was part of her problem…Even though she and Constance had enjoyed each other; they never did anything like that again. Sally refused to believe that she was sexually attracted to a man who looked like a woman.

At least that is what she told herself. Instead, her dreams were filled with images of Rob's face up close to hers. Other times, the two of them were taking turns nursing babies, changing diapers or taking them for walks. She woke in the morning remembering that she had felt warm and loved.

* * * * *

While Rob and Sally were discovering the pain of starting up a close relationship, Sophie had had problems trying to get to sleep. Of the two of them, he had more reason to worry about the effects of PTSD, caused by the abuse he had suffered before coming to the club and while he had been there. While Rob had the brainwashing treatment that served as a filter for of the pain and humiliation that they had been put through, Sophie had to face it all. He saw it every time he looked in the mirror, heard it when he spoke, and felt it when he walked. He could not even escape it in his sleep.

Sophie had come to depend upon Rob. He was someone who could understand what he felt and was going through. He'd actually been glad that they had been forced to sleep in the same bed. If he had been kept in solitary, he would probably have lost his mind.

Right now, Sophie was in a bad way. He had heard Rob and Sally talking and it was obvious that Sally would not be returning to her own bed. The dreams that he would be visited with always made him wake up on a cold sweat, if not screams. Having Rob hold him helped him to deal with those demons. Sophie

Pete had apparently heard him tossing and turning. Then he heard something moving in the dark. He got off the couch, grabbing the bat Sally kept by the front door for protection and went to investigate.

Considering how on edge everyone was at the moment, it might not have been wise for Sophie to be up and around. His stomach got the better of him and he had decided to utilize his new found freedom to raid the refrigerator. He realized his mistake when he saw the baseball bat Pete was holding as the lights came on.

When Pete saw that it was Sophie in the hallway, he grinned and the both relaxed. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Sophie answered with a sharp nod. "I just can't sleep."
Pete was silent, trying to figure out what to say next. He had been initially captivated by Sophie's exotic looks and then his stage act. He really wanted to get to know Sophie, he wasn't sure how, considering the circumstances and Sophie's situation.

"Can I do anything to help?

"I'm not sure that you can," Sophie answered, not meeting his eyes. "It's a bit embarrassing."

Pete tried to look encouraging as he answered, "Okay. We can sit and just talk if that will help. I'll be a good boy I promise."

"You see, Rob and I were kept locked up at that club for weeks. The guy in charge thought that it was funny to lock us in together. All we had to sleep on was a cot almost the size of a twin bed or the concrete floor."

"Ah…I see," Pete responded, not really getting the point.

Sophie looked away again as he said, "I got used to having Rob there with me. Nothing ever happened, but I've gotten to the point where I need to have him there so that I know that everything is going to be alright."

Pete just nodded. He himself had needed a teddy bear to help him sleep up until he had reached third grade.

Sophie continued, "I was going to see if I could sleep with Rob. It sounds like your sister is talking with him right now."

Pete nodded knowingly and smiled. "Yeah, Sally has had a thing for Rob for a long time. In fact, she was ready to storm that nightclub all by herself. Jim had to make her see reason on that. We probably won't see either of them until tomorrow."

Pete looked at Sophie and said, "Is there anything I can get you? A glass of warm milk might help."

He was really at sea here. Sophie looked upset, maybe even ready to cry, and he had no idea how to help.

"I could get you a couple of extra pillows, if that would help." He really wanted to offer himself, but that was way beyond the line he had drawn for himself.

"No, that won't help," Sophie said, feeling a bit alone and abandoned. He looked completely embarrassed as he looked up at Pete and said, "Could I ask you to be on the other side of the bed? You know that I'm a guy, right?" Sophie obviously didn't want Pete to think that he was offering himself for anything.

Pete kept a straight face as he acknowledged Sophie's statement. Pete could see that she obviously did not realize that he was gay, and acknowledging Sophie was a man, was only a turn on for Pete; not a turnoff as he clearly intended. Showing any kind of amusement at this point would probably hurt Sophie's feelings and damage any hope of friendship that might develop.

Pete gestured back into the living room and said, "Why don't we sit down out here for a few minutes? There are some things that you should know."

Pete led them back out to the sofa and armchairs where they made themselves comfortable. Pete thought about how he was going to get this all out and he decided to just jump in.

"You do know that nightclub caters to the LGBT community?" he asked.

"That makes sense," Sophie said. "That's why there were so many people with different lifestyles working there. I just never gave the clientele any thought."

Pete sat there for a couple of moments. It was obvious that Sophie had missed his point. When Sophie didn't continue, Pete plunged ahead, "Sophie, I'm gay. You're the reason I stuck around in the club that night that Rob was dancing. Because of that, I was able to tell the police where you were. All I knew about you was that you worked there and that you were a guy."

Sophie sat there feeling somewhat like Rob had earlier. Instead of worrying about rejection from someone he cared about like Rob had, Sophie was faced with someone telling him that they had feelings for him. The problem was that Sophie didn't know how to respond. He pulled his PJs tightly around himself and thought, 'Oh this could get interesting.'

Again, Sophie was slow to respond, so Pete said, "Actually, I don't even know if you want to be called by Sophie or Steven."

That finally got Sophie going.

His voice as bitter as he said, "You're right. Before all of this was done to me, my name was Steven. After the surgeries, they put me through weeks of hell. They hurt me if I didn't answer to the name Sophie. Steven has been pretty much trained out of me."

He stopped as he looked off into the distance. "Considering how I look now, I can never be Steven again. If I tried, everyone would laugh at me."

As he considered the prospect of life ahead of him, tears built up. "I'm still pretty much of a guy inside, regardless of how I look and my voice sounds. My wife stopped seeing me as a man the night she caught me wearing a dress. She intended to treat me like a slave if she had gotten me away from that club."

"No woman is going to want me when I look as good as she does in a dress. I'm not a man or a woman now. They turned me into a joke because I offended their precious sensibilities. I'm just a freak."

"Sophie I don't think you’re a freak. In fact I think you’re a really nice guy or gal. Either way I like you. Can we just be friends and see what happens?"

By now, months-worth of tears caused by the pain and humiliation he had been subjected to were running down his face. Pete could see that Sophie _needed_ human contact and he slid over to hug him. There was no sexual thought involved, just the desire to help somebody who was hurting and feeling very alone in the world.'

There is nothing in the world that feels better than to just be held by another person and to know in your heart that everything will be alright. Sophie just seemed to melt into Pete's embrace, loving the sensation of being held.

Once Pete could feel that Sophie had gotten the worst of it out of his system, he decided that he needed to put Sophie back to bed.

"Come on. It's too chilly out here for you. Let me get you back into the bed and blankets."

They headed into the bedroom and Sophie was happy to get back into the warmth of the bed again. Shyly, he looked up at Pete and said, "Would you mind just holding me some more? At least as long as it takes to get to sleep?"

Pete smiled gently and answered, "I don't mind. I'll stay here with you. You'll be able to sleep."

To reassure Sophie as to his intentions, Pete only removed his footwear and swapped out his shirt for something looser. He got under the blankets with Sophie and put his arms around him. Sophie was happy to move back so that he was held securely in Pete's embrace.

As Sophie relaxed into sleep, he felt safe and warm for the first time in a long time. Being with Rob had been like this, but Pete just seemed to radiate security. It didn't feel as if he had anything to fear from Pete and he just knew that he could trust Pete with his life. Though he wasn't so sure he could trust him with his virtue. Oh, well that's a problem for another night. Now all he wanted to do was sleep.

Pete was a little longer in going to sleep, holding Sophie in his arms felt nice. He didn't know if Sophie would reciprocate the interest he had in him or if either of them would actually love the other. That didn't matter right now. Sophie was someone he wanted to be friends with and that friend needed his help right now. Tomorrow, he would set about helping Sophie get some mental health counseling. It sounded like he really needed it. Hell, Pete might need help when this was all over. He had known forever he was gay. He had always gone for the he-man types. Why was he now finding that was he attracted to a beautiful shemale?

* * * * *

Rob had been the last one to get out of bed and join them in the condo's dining room. He wore one of Sally's sexy little robes over his underclothes. Unfortunately, the robe was intended to cover Sally and her endowments, not Rob's. As a result, a robe that was intended to fit on someone a size larger than Rob draped to down his knees and was still tight across Rob's bust. Obviously, the breast fairy had been good to Rob over the past few months. And…while the robe was larger on Rob than Sally, it did nothing to conceal Rob's lower half either…or was that how Rob intended to wear it. An old joke ran through Sally's thoughts about the girl who, when asked by God asked who wanted boobs, thought God said brains so she asked for a double helping.

Pete and Sophie were doing their best to hide their amusement and were failing horribly. Sally had been in the kitchen with her back to them when Rob had first appeared for breakfast. Sophie nudged Pete and pointed out Rob's attire. Pete and Sophie weren't offended or aroused by Rob's appearance. After all, Sophie had been exposed to it for weeks now and Pete just wasn't interested in Rob. While Sally was not a prude, they knew that watching her response to Rob's appearance would be fun to watch. As a result, they were waiting for Sally to come to the table with coffee and juice.

Sally took one look at Rob and smiled. She refused to be embarrassed by someone walking around half-dressed who looked better than she did in the morning. Especially when that someone was a guy, admittedly a cute girly-guy, but a guy nonetheless. Rob's whole demeanor indicated that he was not embarrassed or being intentionally provocative with his appearance, which told Sally that this might be part of the conditioning that they had heard about.

"Good morning sunshine!" She could see that Rob was wearing lipstick and mascara. His hair was neatly brushed and pulled back into a pony tail. He must have seen her cosmetics in the bathroom and used them. She made a mental note to make sure that they picked up makeup supplies for both Rob and Sophie while they were out today.

Rob looked up at her through his eyelashes, coming across like a sex kitten. Sally corrected her original thought. Rob was trying to be provocative, the little minx. Even just sitting there, he looked so damned sexy. She had a brief image of grabbing Rob and having her way with him. The little voice somewhere inside that was yelling at her that she should not think that way was getting thinner and harder to hear.

"Good morning," Rob answered in his cute, sexy voice. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed one of your robes, the airline appears to have lost my luggage."

That got a laugh out of all of them and Sally acknowledged that Rob and Sophie were going to need clothes, even if they did not buy an entire wardrobe today. Sally and Rob adjourned to their rooms to find clothes for their shopping expedition.

Pete bid them goodbye, explaining that he needed to be at work. "After all, not all of us are the bosses of a big company and can take the day off at a moment's notice." Sophie had managed to find some articles of clothing in Pete's wardrobe that she was able to make work in a unisex fashion. She lounged in the living room, waiting for the other two.

In his room, Rob looked through the pile of clothes Sally had left for him. He discarded the various blouses because they would not fit and skirts to settle on a sweatshirt and pants. Obviously, these had been provided by Pete as they were even larger on him than Sally's robe had been. While they covered him properly, he was dismayed to discover that he had forgotten what it was like to wear clothes that had been made for a man. Even the soft fabric of the fleece felt harsh against his skin.

Rob had come to realize that he was probably permanently hairless as he hadn't noticed any hair growth anywhere on his body. It was just another passing fact of his new life and he had stopped allowing these things to get him down. He looked regretfully at the pile of women's clothes that he had had to discard, wishing that some of it might fit.

Opening the bedroom door, he could see that Sally must have finished dressing and had rejoined Sophie. Quietly, he stepped out his room and into Sally's and pushed the door closed. He felt a little bit like a burglar as he opened drawers in her bureau, looking for clothes that might fit. He was very careful to avoid making a mess of things, mainly because he didn't want to have to straighten it when Sally demanded it.

When that particular thought flashed through his mind, all he could think of was Geri's treatment of Diana the Maid and the work that Diana had been made to do. On one hand, Rob fantasized about being Sally's maid and just knew that it would be better. Working for someone who cares about you would be better than to do a chore because you were ordered to do it. On the other, there was anger as Rob remembered that he was this way because of Geri and her manipulations.

He was still lost in his thoughts when Sally opened the door to see Rob standing at her bureau, underwear in hand and seeming to stare off through the wall. When Rob didn't look around at the slight noise of the door opening, Sally coughed slightly to get his attention. Rob looked around quickly and had the grace to look embarrassed.

"I…I'm sorry," he stammered. "I couldn't find anything that fit properly in the clothes that you left for me. The only things that did fit were some workout clothes and they were uncomfortable."

Sally smiled reassuringly. The last thing she wanted to do was get Rob upset or accuse him of snooping in her underwear drawer. "That's alright; I didn't know what would really fit you when I pulled that pile together for you. What are you looking for?"

She stepped over to him. The nice thing was that the heels he was forced to wear raised him up to almost her height. Sally made a mental note to try to always be in flats or be barefoot when she stood close to Rob. It would keep her from being too intimidating. The errant thought went by that wearing heels around Rob would also accentuate his smallness to her control…'Where did that come from?' she thought.

Rob looked down, not wanting to meet her eyes. "I was looking for some underwear. What there was is too big and uncomfortable. I'm sorry; I know that you think that I shouldn't be wearing something silky or revealing." Rob looked like her wanted to break down and cry from frustration.

Sally gathered her scantily clad friend and boss into her arms and held him tightly. She ignored his breasts pushing against hers.

"Rob…It's okay," she said. Her voice was soft and reassuring. She would probably have used the same kind of tone with an upset child. She pushed him back from her so that they could look at each other.

"We really need to sit down and talk tonight. I said this last night, but I'll say it again. I won't lie to you and tell you that everything is normal, because you're different now and I'm trying to deal with it. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that it's your soul that I love and I just need time to get used to having someone that I care for to have been changed from looking like a man to looking and sounding like a woman. Can you understand that?"

The hope of acceptance was better than outright condemnation and Rob was willing to take anything he could get. Not having any clothes of his own was a scary situation. It was one thing to be in that position when they were slave labor at the club, but he was on his own now. All he had were the clothes he had escaped in.

He blinked tears out of his eyes and nodded at Sally. He smiled for a moment before he fell against her crying. Sally guided him over to the bed and they sat down together. She held Rob while he cried himself, just rubbing his back to relax him. The crying attack only lasted a few minutes and Rob regained control over himself.

He pulled back from Sally and said, "Sorry, everything caught up with me."

"Are you going to be okay now?" Sally asked, trying to gauge how Rob was really feeling.

"I'll be fine. I guess I was just feeling sorry for myself. I mean, I have no clothes, no money, I don't even have a house any more."

Rob's pity party threw Sally for a loop. He had never been like this. After a couple of moments she said, "Yes, you need clothes. But your trust fund is still yours and I know that Geri wasn't able to sell your house. Of course, I can't imagine that you would want to live there again."

Rob looked at Sally in confusion. "Geri told me that it was burned down."

"No, it's fine," Sally replied. "There was break-in though. Probably people looking for Evan and Geri."

He visibly brightened. "I guess things aren't as bad as I thought they were."

"Of course they aren't, you silly goose." Sally caught herself in time to keep herself from calling Rob a girl. "Look…Find something here that you are comfortable with, anything I own you are free to borrow — and I do mean anything! In fact, I've got this really cute miniskirt and sweater combo that would look darling on you." She caught herself when she realized what she had said, "I'm sorry I don't want to embarrass you. Dress however you feel comfortable. We'll go out and get you both some new clothes."

She reached out to finger Rob's hair and said, "Maybe we'll stop by the salon too. I think that you would stand out a bit less if we have your hair done."

Rob had nothing to say in response. After all, how was a guy supposed to react to having his hair done? Yes, his hair had started to become more unruly in the past weeks. He suspected that it was partly due to growth of his own hair and some loosening of the weave. As a result, it was starting to look like an animal's nest and it took a lot of work to make it presentable.

It was bad enough that he had to shop for women's clothes. The one thing that made him feel a bit better was that no one would know that he didn't belong. Then he was saddened that his appearance _was_ completely female. If he ever got the chance, he would have Geri lifting weights, her arms covered in prison tattoos. Evan would be prancing around in a French maid's costume, complete with the high heels and his own set of gigantic tits and of course Rob would enjoy having him outfitted with his own nipple rings.

Rob had a truly vicious thought as he pictured hanging little bells on Evan's nipple rings. He had a vision of the bell ringers at Christmas and was determined he would get Evan to play songs with his tits.

Once he was finished indulging his fantasy of revenge, Rob turned to finding something to wear. Everything Pete owned was far too big on him. Even most of Sally's clothes were either too large or not large enough.

With a sigh, Rob resigned himself to opening a package of panties he found in Sally's drawer. He found it interesting that Sally had a package of new underclothes available. He had noticed that Geri did the same thing. It must be part of the lady's code that dictated that they keep some in reserve. He had never done that and hadn't heard of any other guy keeping brand new underwear on hand. He made a mental note to replace this package while they were out and about today.

He returned to his room and stripped down. Sliding the silky panties up his legs and around his bottom, he could feel that they were almost a fit. He thought that being a bit shorter than Sally didn't necessarily mean that he was also smaller than she was. Tucking his genitals and penis had gotten much easier these past weeks and he know what that meant. Doctor Winters had warned him of the possibility. He was pretty much prepared for the possibility though and he knew that he would still grieve for his masculinity at some point. He noted the size of the panties so that he would know what he would need to buy while they were out and about.

He looked at the dress that he had arrived in last night and made the decision that he could wear the damned thing one last time. At least it would go with his shoes.

* * * * *

The street was empty at this time of the day. Actually, the streets in this part of town stayed empty most of the time. People only went out during the day so that they didn't have to worry about the possibility of some punk trying to steal the few dollars that they might have in their pockets. In Evan's case, he left their apartment only very early in the morning or just before it got dark. It was the best time to get supplies and to avoid being seen by both the cops and the mob that were hunting for them. He and Geri had made the mistake of stopping here to pick up their 'bug-out' equipment and then had found themselves trapped in the city. They still had a couple of thousand in cash, but the rent and supplies would eat that up in only a couple of more months.

As it was, they were surviving on what groceries Evan was able to pick up at the small store in the next block. Geri stayed behind because she said that she would draw attention to them and that she couldn't defend herself in case they got mugged. It hadn't been their intention to hideout in the apartment, it was only supposed to be an emergency stopping point to let them grab their things and get out of town. Their hope that they might escape had vanished almost as soon as the two of them had dropped out of sight. Evan now found himself reduced to skulking in shadows to avoid being seen too clearly.

His size was enough to keep the riff-raff from bothering him these days. In the first week that they had been here, he had broken the arms of two different muggers and the nose of a third, at the cost of a black eye. A small price to pay to help ensure his safety. There had been enough talk among the street rats that they knew not to go after him these days. True, Evan was just as susceptible to a bullet as anyone else, but gunfire in these neighborhoods would attract attention that everyone would be happy to do without. No one had gotten that desperate as yet.

After those encounters, Evan had realized that getting too big a reputation as a tough guy might bring him the attention he was trying to avoid. That was why he elected to go out at just the right time of day when the citizens were going in for the night and before the undesirable element was out in force.

At the market, Evan always made sure to show nothing larger than a twenty when he bought food. He knew that he would have to start using some of the fifties, but they had been wise enough to make sure that they had nothing larger. It might make for a bulky bankroll, but it wouldn't attract attention when they spent it. Of course, that bankroll had shrunk quite a bit in the past weeks.

It was almost completely dark when Evan got back to the apartment and Geri let him in response to his knock. By keeping a low profile and not letting anyone know that they had cash, they expected to be able to last a couple of more weeks before they would have to try to get out of the city and risk being caught.

Geri took the discarded newspaper that he had picked up and went into the other room while he carried the two bags of food into the kitchenette. They were eating a lot of canned food these days, which was all you really could prepare on a hot plate. They hadn't been in this kind of situation in a long time. If only Rob hadn't started to resist the programming…they would be filthy rich now. Not for the first time, Evan wished that he could take some of his frustrations out on Rob. He would make a good punching bag.

Once he was finished putting everything away, Evan began the process of getting a meal ready. Geri insisted that he do the cooking, pointing out that since he was the one who bought it, he would also have an idea of how he thought it should be prepared. Evan just agreed, not bothering to argue that there weren't too many ways to fix canned ravioli or stew. What really rankled was that she also insisted that he be the one to take their clothes to the laundro-mat for washing. She claimed that she didn't feel safe going out by herself.

She claimed that she would stand out too much in this neighborhood. If he didn't want to do things her way, she was perfectly willing to walk out and leave him here. After all, the cops were looking for just him, even though the mob was looking for them both. Evan was under no illusions that his wife would not hesitate to leave if she was unhappy. She would be perfectly willing to tell Anders' thugs where he was if it would save her own neck. It was during times like these that made Evan wonder why he didn't break up with her and find a different partner. Maybe he would explore that option once he was out of this particular mess.

Evan had just decided that cold soup and cheese sandwiches would be on the night's menu when Geri let out a screech. He dropped what he was doing and rushed into the bedroom, afraid that his wife was fighting off an intruder that had tracked them down. He found her looking at the front of the city section, her eyes wide and teeth drawn back in a snarl. He had never seen his wife like this before and she was actually rather unattractive.

As he stepped in, she wordlessly thrust the paper at him, shaking it in anger. A large color picture of a blond woman graced the top half of the section. She wore a short, strapless dress that looked like it had been pulled halfway off her body. The woman appeared to be fairly young and attractive. There was also something very familiar about her.

Evan looked at the picture, but couldn't place the face. When he looked up into Geri's expectant face, she registered surprise that he did not recognize woman.

"It's Rob, you idiot!" she exclaimed.

Evan looked at the picture and things snapped into place. "You're right! He was supposed to be a mindless slut by now. What is he doing at a bar? And looking like that?"

Geri was almost vibrating with anger as she grabbed the paper back and pointed to the narrative that described a raid on a reputed gang headquarters. It went on to say that the picture was of one of the night's heroes who had led a group of restaurant attendees to safety from a building fire. It gave her name as Diana Phoenix. When they looked at the picture again, the edge of a red-and-orange tattoo could be seen at the edge of the girl's dress. Evan was surprised that the picture had gotten past the newspaper's censors.

"That son-of-a-bitch doesn't look like he is acting like a bimbo!" Geri snapped. "He might look like a showgirl, but a sex crazy bimbo wouldn't have done what they say he did!" She looked up at Evan and said, "It says that it was a raid on a gang headquarters. Do you think that Anders grabbed Rob and put him to work somewhere?"

"Maybe," Evan said thoughtfully. "If the police grabbed him, they'll have in some kind of protective custody and he'll have contacted Sally by now. We might be able to use that to make her help us get out of the city and get some cash to help us on our way at the same time." He looked blankly at the wall as he began to plan.

They might not be able to steal the money they had planned on, but they might be able to get something out of this fiasco. Making the people who had stopped them suffer would just be icing on the cake. Evan wondered how much Sally would pay to keep the news that her friend had been turned into a sex-crazed bimbo out of the news. Breaking that kind of secret would destroy the credibility of the investment firm and put everyone out of work. The humiliation that Rob would go through almost made is mouth water.

* * * * *

It had been an interesting day of shopping, to say the least. At the moment, Rob just stood before the full-length mirror and stood in various poses to admire the new him. Or to be honest with himself, the new her. It was obvious that the person in the mirror was not a guy and would never be one. This morning, he was totally depressed about it. Here he was a guy who had been changed around to look like a contestant for a spot in a centerfold. Things had happened today that had changed all of that.

* * * * *

The three of them had hurried off to the mall right after breakfast. The first store on Sally's itinerary had been Victoria's. As Sally had put it, ' The clothes that go against your skin are the most important. A lady designs her 'look' from the inside out. If you wear something sexy and feel sexy, you will be sexy. If you wear something thick and stiff, you will act the same way.' Sally only intended to buy what Rob and Sophie actually needed to get started. A more thorough shopping expedition would be planned later.

Rob and Sophie had felt a bit awkward standing in the middle of the store while Sally looked around for styles that Rob might like. The intimate bits of clothing on the racks around them intimidated them. It had already been agreed that Sophie preferred a more androgynous appearance, so Sophie would only be getting brassieres. It was acknowledged at the same time that Rob could only go girly. There was no way in the world that he would be able to look like anything but an attractive woman. If he had thought about it, this was at least a blessing. He was still coming to terms with the knowledge of the power he might wield over the men who would fight to please a good-looking woman.

Rob had finally gotten the courage to step over to a clerk to ask for help, which is where he experienced his first emotional downer of the day. The sales girl had apparently gotten the impression that Rob and Sophie must be street people who might cause a problem in the store. On reflection, Rob could understand that an unmade-up, woman in a wrinkled, unkempt dress with a rather plain appearing woman, smelling faintly of smoke could cause someone to form the wrong impression.

The girl had talked to them and reluctantly, almost rudely, agreed to help them, but her attitude made it clear that she thought that they were some kind of street trash. When Rob asked if she would measure her for a bra, the girl replied that she couldn't believe a full grown woman wouldn't know her bra size. She just told Rob to find something she liked and then she would be willing to help see if it was the correct size. She wasn't her personal shopper.

Rob was about ready to leave the store in tears when Sally joined the party. She had wrapped Rob in a tight hug and made him understand that the bitch of a sales girl didn't know who she was dealing with and that he deserved better than that. The manager had been called, at Sally's insistence, and Sally allowed the manager to do a credit check on the corporate credit card.

When they came back, the manager took the sales girl to one side and they exchanged a few words. Actually, the girl didn't say much, but the manager had plenty to say. Sally's use of the credit card had not caused any kind of change in the manager's attitude; she had already been prepared to treat them with respect. It was the fact that the girl had hurt the store's image that had angered her.

After that, the sales girl had come back to Rob and had tendered a very sincere apology. She had said that she knew she was out of line and that she would like to show him just how good she was at her job. Rob hadn't wanted to cause the girl any problems and agreed.

After getting both Rob's and Sophie's measurements, the sales girl, named Tracy, led them both around the store and picked out styles that flattered Rob's body to no end. She found styles that made Rob's eyes, driven by Diana's stripper mind, light up. In the end, they had left the store with substantially more than Sally had contemplated. Rob had felt like it was Christmas morning as the three of them staggered out of the store carrying all of their purchases.

The next stop had been just down the mall where Sally proceeded to go all out in buying Rob dresses, skirts, blouses, and business attire. Sally bought so much that she had to arrange for the bulk of the sale to be delivered later in the afternoon, for an additional charge of course. Sally had Rob carry a garment bag containing a skirt and blouse that had really attracted him.

Their final stop had been the salon. Rob found this experience to be totally different from what he had been through when he had gotten the bad weave job and claws for nails. That seemed like months and months ago now.

This time, he was treated like royalty as they did his nails and a pedicure. What felt like heaven is when they took the time to carefully remove the extensions that he had been given weeks ago. His hair was just long enough now that he ended up with a cute style that looked longer than it really was. The absence of the heavy extensions in his hair made his head feel pounds lighter.

It had been while Rob had been moving over to the chair that he had accidentally stepped on the hairdresser's foot. While it normally wouldn't have been a serious incident, it was made worse because Rob's stiletto heel had practically pierced the man's shoe. His bellow of pain attracted the attention of everyone in the place and Rob had tried to apologize for slipping and losing his balance.

The technician wasn't in the mood for apologies though and had cut loose with an angry tirade. It was the wrong thing to do with an emotionally fragile Rob and he found himself practically standing toe-to-toe with an angry woman. As Rob yelled right back that he was sorry and the hairdresser was calling him a dumb bimbo who couldn't even walk straight, Rob could feel himself losing control. It would have probably turned out differently, but Sally stepped into the fight to defend Rob.

That was the last straw for Rob. He didn't need Sally fighting his battles for him damn it! He turned and ran back to the bathroom crying. He cursed the hormones that were coursing through his system. The doctor had told him most of what had been done to him and he knew that these tears were a part of it.

He hadn't bothered to lock the door when he ran in and he sat on the throne, crying into his hands. That was how Sally found him when she came in a few minutes later. She knelt in front of Rob and took him into her arms and just held him. After a few minutes, Robs' arms were wrapped around her and he continued to cry.

"I'm sorry Sally. I've been fighting to stay in control and not lose myself. The doctor told me that I had to work at it and I guess that today was a bit of an overload for me."

"It's okay Rob. I didn't realize what it might be like for you. I mean, you've been acting so natural and comfortable with yourself."

"That's not it...really," Rob said. "I was all set to take that jerk on out there, but you got into the middle of it. Of course, all I could have done was hit him with my purse or try to scratch his eyes out." He giggled girlishly at the image that conjured. Then another sob hit him.

"But that's not the problem," he choked when he got some breath back. "Everyone only sees a woman. But I'm a man!"

Sally hugged him tightly again, her tears flowing almost as freely as his were. The pain she felt at his frustration with his situation was like a fist in her stomach. She rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him and get him to relax. She heard the entry door open and the woman at the door came to a dead stop. When she saw the two women hugging, she muttered an apology and beat a hasty retreat.

"Rob, it's going to be okay. I don't care what you look like. I wish that I'd stayed with you last night; maybe you would feel better today. In a way though, I'm glad I didn't...it let me think. I must have spent half the night wondering about you and about me."

At her words, Rob had gone still and tense in her arms. He tried to prepare himself for the letdown he knew was coming. Here it came...she was going to push him away and say that it wasn't him, it was her. How could it be her, he was the one who wasn't a man anymore. As much as he felt like a man in his head, he knew that he would never be seen as a man again. Expecting it didn't make it any easier to take though.

Oblivious to the pain building up in Rob, Sally plowed on to bare her soul, "We've worked together for years, but you were mostly off at college. Later, you were already with Geri and I wouldn't have done anything to come between you."

Rob pushed back to see into Sally's face. "And now?"

"Now there is another problem," Sally replied.

"I see. It's because I've been turned into this," Rob said with self-disgust. Once again, Geri had managed to hurt him. It was almost as if she had scripted this whole scene.

"Well...yes, it is," Sally said. She maintained a lock between Rob's eyes and her own.

Rob frowned, but said nothing.

"Rob..." she hesitated to continue, not sure how to say what needed to be said and what Rob had to hear.

"I've learned something about myself over the past few years and I'm not sure how you will like it." Sally didn't wait for a response as she swept on. "Since then, I've been on a few dates and only had one long-term relationship. Nothing lasted very long and I have never understood why."

Sally paused and prepared from what had to come next. "Rob...when you stepped through the door last night, my heart almost stopped." She swallowed and said, "I think that I found out what I was missing in my life. I think that I might be attracted more to women than to men."

She trailed off, not sure where to go next.

"Where does that mean?" Rob asked. "What's going to happen to me?" He felt dizzy and his vision seemed to be going gray. His fears had come true and Sally was rejecting him. "What will I do now?"

He was cut off as Sally took the simple expedient of plastering her lips over his. His eyes went wide for a moment and then crinkled with happiness as he finally understood what she had been trying to tell him. Once Sally could tell that Rob had pulled back from the brink of hysteria, she pulled back to look at him again.

"I know that you are a man, but can you accept that I think that I might be in love with the woman in you - rather than the woman you appear to be"

Now Sally was the one who was afraid of rejection. She had no idea where all of this might take them but she hoped that he would be willing to give it a try.

Just hearing Sally say this made him almost giddy. Trying to be cute, Rob asked, "Are you saying you want to go steady?"

Sally smiled and said, "I would like to leave Rob out of this, so…Diana will you be my girlfriend? I promise I won't date any men, if you will too." She hoped that Rob would see her attempt at humor and not think that she was somehow attacking his masculinity. Not that Geri had left him much to hold on to.

Rob proceeded to nod his head so vigorously that he scattered salty tears everywhere. "I don't care! I was just so scared that you didn't want me and you do! I feel so good!"

Rob was babbling away like a happy child and his heart was racing like crazy. After everything he had been through, he had finally found someone who could accept him for what he was and not be revolted at what had been done to him. He wished that he had been smart enough to see Sally for who she was before he had made his incredible mistake with Geri and Evan.

Sally kissed him again to shut him up and they held each for a few more minutes before she helped him make himself presentable again. Then she led him back out to the hairdresser who had mellowed and apologized profusely for having lost his temper so badly. He and Sally made sure that Rob got the pampering that she had wanted for him in the first place.

It had taken the hairdresser a while to remove the extensions that had been woven in, but the original work was becoming unraveled and that had made his job easier. Once that task was complete, his natural hair had been subjected to a shampooing that relaxed it to restore its original straightness. Not that it had been allowed to stay straight though. By the time the three of them left the salon, Rob's blond hair had been darkened to a rich auburn and his head was crowned by a mass of tight curls that called attention to his cute face.

Rob had spent weeks cursing the natural beauty that resulted from the treatments at that clinic, but he saw himself in a different light now. He wore the skirt and blouse that he had carried in with him and he thought that it displayed just the right amount of cleavage and curves. He had found that he looked good in heels; they made his legs look sooo sexy.

* * * * *

Rob brought his thoughts back to the present. He twirled in the mirror again, watching as the gown flared around him somewhat. They had been home for a couple of hours now and the four of them were going to dinner in a while. Just two happy couples: Sally and Diana, Pete and Sophie. All of the day's work had been done, i.e. shopping and meeting with Jim to give statements on everything that he could. There would probably have to be more meetings, but time would tell. Rob was still feeling good about himself and about the fact that Sally wanted him.

He had already decided that letting a little bit of Diana back into his life might actually help him. After all, if he was to be more womanly that might make Sally happy, then being Diana might actually be fun. He wondered if Sally would be willing to buy him a French maid's uniform.

It was funny that his wife's Machiavellian plot had actually made him more desirable to Sally. He wondered what she would have to say to that, if he were ever to see her again. Maybe he would invite Geri to be his bridesmaid when he married Sally. Evan would be the maid of honor. Rob was sure he could find out the world's most hideous dress for him to wear.