A beautiful Sunday early in the summer I finally decided that I’d had enough. This had to end!

I had reviewed my life and decided I really had nothing to lose. Well, I liked the small town I lived in. The sea and the countryside were lovely and I liked the people in town but if the worst came to the worst I could very well live somewhere else. The place IS a bit isolated and backwards. For example the owner/CEO of the only major employer here, where I worked as the CTO, was the opposite of progressive. He even insisted on a strict dress code. Suits for EVERYONE in the office. No matter if you had no customer contact or the temperature went over 30 C. Of course the ladies had to wear skirt suits. Perhaps that was better in the heat but they weren’t too happy about the high heels.

Anyway, I had had enough. Going through my finances I realised I had enough to retire, even if I was only in my early 40s, (well, if I lived modestly) so why should I go on living a lie? No family, no responsibilities. Why had I not realised this earlier? I decided that if I was going to break with the past I should do it with a bang.

Monday morning I got up early and spent several hours making myself as beautiful as I could. Without being immodest I have to say that actually is not bad at all. The luscious hair that I keep longer than my boss liked is really beautiful in the proper feminine form. My features have always been considered “pretty” and with some expert application of make-up … My body is firm and strong and with the right enhancements any lady above 25 would envy me. As for the legs… Well, in my not so humble opinion they are the most stunning in town, especially newly depilated and in thin black slighly shiny pantyhose. Good thing too since during my vacation in France last year I had found this gorgeous silk suit, very strict and proper apart from the outrageously short skirt. As for the shoes: if they erred regarding the dress code it wasn’t because they were too low. A pain to wear but I loved them since they added that little extra to my legs. Not that I expected to wear them for long. I firmly expected to be terminated within five minutes from clocking in.

I can’t say that I was disappointed by the reaction at the office, at first. Everyone stopped working and just gaped. Then Anne, one of the mid-level managers in Finance, started applauding and said:

“Mike, that’s great! I hadn’t expected you to take this stand against the dress code. This gender-bending assault on it is fantastic. If anything will get through Mr Wainwright’s thick skull this is it. You look lovely by the way.”

That set the pattern. Everyone assumed that I did this as protest against the stupid dress code. Oh, so be it. I might just as well get fired for that as for the real reason.

I had reason to talk to Mr Wainwright just before lunch. Strangely enough he made no comment. No comment at all! What was going on? This wasn’t the opinionated retrograde I was used to. Usually he wouldn’t lose a minute before berating me.

Late afternoon there was a management meeting. After the meeting Mr Wainwright asked me and the head of HR to stay and come into his office. OK here it comes. He was just waiting for the right support to avoid making any expensive mistakes when firing me.

“Jeff, Mike here has made me realise that the dress code is a bit out of date. Please prepare a memo rescinding the dress code and just replace it with a text about being appropriately dressed for the function and weather. I’ll sign it first thing in the morning. You can leave now”

Jeff left.

Right. That just left me and Mr Wainwright alone. What was going to happen now?

“Nice suit. Where did you get it?"

“There was this lovely small boutique in the 7th arrondissement …” Ooops I just outed myself after having unwittingly established a great cover. Oh so what? That’s what I had tried to do all day long. I could see that what I just had said really penetrated his mind. There was something that shifted in his eyes. I could see understanding there. For the first time ever I had the feeling of really being seen as the woman I am.

“If you wear a skirt tomorrow please don’t wear that one. You can go now.”

He started reading a production report.

“Why not?”

Without taking his eyes from the report:

“Because those legs of yours distract me too much. By the way … if you have nothing planned for tonight … would you mind having dinner with me?”