Lucy let out a startled, "You can't be serious? Do mean to say that you put me through all that for a joke?"

"Lucy, everything I've said today has been deadly serious. Come back into the lounge and think about what I said while dish up dessert. Ok?"

Lucy followed Andrea out of the bedroom and still somewhat in a daze, she sat down at the table.

Andrea disappeared into the kitchen and returned with desert.

"Here you go, Crème Brulee de la Maison," said Andrea as she placed a dish down in front of Lucy.

Lucy didn't start eating but looked at Andrea earnestly.

"You were serious, weren't you? All that stuff about role playing and acting?"

"Yes I was. Perfectly serious about what it is going to take for us to be successful."

"If I go with… all what you are saying, how much is it going to cost me?"

"Does it really matter if you are successful?" Rumour has it that your daddy bought your house for you so that you didn't get involved with University Halls and all that entails. We all know that you are not short of a few quid."

"Get on with it."

Andrea smiled.

"Lets' say all my expenses for clothes and yours naturally, plus the change to your lifestyle…."

"Out with it… what else?"

Andrea smiled.

"A girl can't be expected to go to Cowes Week and not show off her assets now can one?"

"No…. There is no way I'm paying for you to have a boob job."

Andrea grinned.

"I was thinking more of both of us actually."

Lucy was speechless. While she was a little flat in the boob world and yes, she normally wore a padded bra but… this was silly. She wasn't having some man dressed as a woman telling her that she needed a boob job. That was not on. No way, nowhere never in hell.

Then….

Then she realised that Andrea was talking a lot of sense… An awful lot of sense and that scared her. Not for first time that day she wondered who was the psychologist? Andrea seemed to have a better grasp of the world than she had.

"I need to think about it."

"That's fine. I knew that it would be difficult for you to make a decision right now. Take your time", said a smiling Andrea.

They ate the rest of the mean in virtual silence. Andrea tell that Lucy did enjoy the desert.

As Lucy was leaving Andrea said,
"If you think that you are going to have a problem kissing me then back out now. It would be better on both of us if you decide to go ahead, we get all the possible hang-ups out the way right at the beginning."

"I get that," replied Lucy as she put on her shoes.

Then on the spur of the moment, she stepped up to Andrea and kissed her full on the lips.

"That's got that one out the way then!" said Lucy as she left a speechless Andrea standing there in her doorway.

---

Lucy didn't contact Andrea for several days. In that time, she spent a lot of time thinking about life the universe and everything including her own appearance. Slowly it dawned upon her that Andrea was talking a lot of sense. She needed to grow up. It would not be that long before her student days would be behind her for good.

She spent a good deal of time at home trying to imagine her 'new' and improved self with larger breasts and a different hairstyle and wearing makeup. She realised that she'd let herself go during her years as a student. She remembered her school days and the fun times her and her friends had experimenting with all sorts of different styles of hair and makeup. That was all forgotten when she became a student. Some of the words that Andrea had said about growing up and responsibility started to make some form of sense.

Her mind wasn't on her classes and writing reports was just impossible with all that going on in her mind. In the end, she gave up on University and headed into town. Her destination was the main department store where she had a makeover. This was a new experience for her but she wanted to see what she'd look like if she wore make up in the style of Andrea.

"What sort of thing would you be thinking of?" asked Sara, who was going to do the 'dirty deed' to Lucy.

"Retro, very retro, 1950's glam."

Sara laughed, "We don't get much call for that."

"I want to see how I'd have looked in the 1950's."

"Your hair is all wrong. You need a perm and probably have it dyed a straw blonde."

"Yeah, I know.

"Great. Just sit back and relax and let Sara do her magic on you."

For more than forty minutes, Lucy did just that while Sara cleansed and scrubbed and applied until she heard the words,

"There, I'm done," announced Sara.

Sara turned the chair that Lucy was sitting in to face the mirror.

"Ta-da."

Lucy opened her eyes and gasped.

"Oh my god!"

"You look really good," said Sara, "I had my doubts about it to begin with but really, if you took more care of your skin, say on a daily basis, looking like this would be easy with a bit of practice."

After ignoring the rather pointed question, Lucy just stared at herself in the mirror. She tried to imagine herself with a 50's hair-do. She held her long hair up and realised that she really had let things go as she quickly dropped it down again when she realised that she sported what looked like sideburns.

---

As Lucy travelled home from the City-centre, she made her decision about Andrea and everything. She hadn't felt this good about anything since her first orgasm and that was a distant memory.

Her only worry was about becoming attached to Andrea. She wasn't sure of how her feelings towards her would be in six months' time. She guessed that she'd either love her or hate the very sight of her. What she did know that this was a time of big changes for her, changes that would dictate what happens to her for a long time to come. This prospect excited her but quite how long this would last, was another thing entirely.

Lucy was determined to keep riding this wave of enthusiasm as long as possible so as soon as she arrived home, she got hold of her two house-mates, Jeff and Dave to give them the bad news.

"Guys', I'm afraid that the time has come for you two dropouts to find somewhere else to live. I'm moving on to different things and… well It has been nice but I'm changing direction in my life and I can't do that with you two misfits here as a reminder of the past."

"Luce, does this have anything to do with that tranny Andrea?" asked Dave, the more lucid of the two males.

"In a way it does. She has made me accept a few home truths about me and my lifestyle and where I go in the future."

"Dude, are you selling out to the man?" asked Jeff who'd just realised that the conversation involved him.

"No Jeff, I'm not. Actually, I'm far more confident about standing up to the 'man' as you put it. Especially if that man is my father," she sighed, "Look guys, it has been fun. Especially for you two, living here rent free these past three and a bit years but all good things have to come to an end. I'd like you to be out of here by the end of the month. That gives you three weeks to find somewhere else to live. Is this ok?"

"It's fine by me," said Dave, "I have a friend on the other side of town who has a spare room I can crash in."

Lucy looked at Jeff.

"What about you Jeff? Can you find somewhere to live?"

"No problem with that man but what about my plants?"

"Plants? What plants?"

"The ones in the garden. Good weed man!"

Lucy wanted to kill him there and then.

"No plants Jeff. I'll get rid of them. Understand?"

"Whatever man," he replied as he rolled another joint.

The next day, Lucy discovered more than a dozen 'weed' plants in the back garden. She bagged them up and got rid of them in a nearby skip with a huge feeling of relief. She made a mental note to try to get a gardener in to look after it in the future. She had to admit that the garden, was a bit of a mess.

Then she gave a shudder. Was this a sign that she was growing up? She wasn't sure if she liked it or not even wanted it but she shrugged her shoulders and put her best foot forward and decided that whatever it was, fate was going to take a big part in her future.

---

Two days later Lucy and Andrea met to discuss how to proceed.

"I've told my two housemates to find somewhere else to live," explained Lucy.

"Do I sense a change in your outlook?" asked Andrea.

Lucy smiled back,

"I think so. Part of me is a bit scared and part of me says go do it."

"Which bit is winning?" asked Andrea hoping that it was the latter.

"Which do you think?" replied Lucy with a huge grin on her face.

"So what happens next?" asked Lucy.

"I'll give notice to my landlord. He won't be sad to see the back of me. According to him, I'm nothing but trouble. I'll move at the end of the month if that's ok with you?"

"That's fine," replied Lucy.

"You don't sound convinced?"
"It's not that… I was wondering if I should drop out for the rest of the year and retake the whole thing next year that's all."

Lucy didn't answer immediately.

"What's your gut feel say?"

"Carry on. It says carry on."

"Well then there is your answer. I thought about this as well. There is plenty of time to do this and still get your Masters."

"I know but all the rethinking of what I'm going to do after Uni that I've done in the past few days frankly scares me shitless."

"What do you want to do?"

"That's the problem. Up to know, it has been 'A' Levels, Uni for my Batchelor's and now Uni for my Masters. I've never given any thought to what is beyond that."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No Andrea, I ought to be thanking you. I have been putting off thinking about my future for far too long."

Lucy sat back in her chair and looked at Andrea.

"Andrea, how do you come to have such a grown-up outlook on the world?"

"By necessity I suppose. I left school at sixteen and went out to work. I only got a few decent grades at GCSE. Then with me being a 'T' girl, you have to grow up pretty quickly when you are thrown out of your family home the day after you come out to your parents. That was when I was nineteen. That meant that it was a case of survive or die. Luckily I met a priest who was helping the homeless in Manchester and he put me on the right track. Eventually, I had enough money to get my place and get job. I've been there three years now and despite a few setbacks with some Neanderthals, I'm surviving ok. Yes, I graduated but from the school of hard knocks but even so, it is hard enough for normal people to find jobs let alone someone like me."

Lucy looked at Andrea in a new light. She'd obviously had it hard at times in the past and had to grow up pretty quickly. That was totally the opposite to her and her quite privileged background.

---

A few days later, Lucy had a huge shock when she looked at the state of her finances. Until now, there had not been a problem with cash in the bank as her grandmother's legacy had pretty well paid for everything. Until now that was. Her funds were nearly exhausted. She sat looking at the computer screen for several minutes in disbelief. Where had all the money gone? At that point in time, she hadn't a clue. Money had never been a problem in the past. That is par for the course when you have rich or pretty well-off parents. The reality of the situation hit home when her session timed out. She was more or less broke and it was not a nice feeling at all.

Then she thought of Andrea. Then she panicked.

"Oh shit…" she said as she hurriedly dialled Andrea's phone.

"Hi Andrea."

"Yeah. I'm not too bad."

"Andrea…"

She paused. There was nothing to do but tell her.

"Look Andrea. I've got a little problem. It's a problem with our agreement. Look, I can't do this on the phone. Can I come around to see you?"

"Yes. Right now, if that is possible."

"Ok. I'll be there in ten minutes."

For Andrea, the next ten minutes were the longest of her life. All sorts of gloom and doom thoughts went through her mind at a million miles an hour.

As soon as the door rang, she literally ran to the door and heaved it open. She smiled at Lucy and said,
"Please come on in."

"Thanks," replied Lucy as she came inside.

Both were slightly nervous as Andrea took Lucy's coat and hung it up.

They sat down in her sitting room both looking a bit uncomfortable.

Lucy broke the uneasy silence.

"I have some bad news. I'm not going to be able to pay for either of us to…", said Lucy as she cupped her breasts.

Andrea saw the funny side of things.

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you… well unhappy with me?"

Andrea shrugged her shoulders.

"If I let something as little as that get me down, I'd probably be pushing up the daisies by now."

Lucy breathed a big sigh of relief.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am, it was a nice idea while it lasted. Why the change of mind?"

"Money. I'm just about broke. I'm useless with money and I thought I had more than enough but I have just found out that I don't. I'm sorry."

Andrea got up and moved to sit next to Lucy. Then she put her arm around Lucy.

She held Lucy for more than a minute.

"I thought you'd be angry?" whispered Lucy.

"How can I be? What I've never had, I'll never miss," she replied in a matter of fact way.

"You are quite unlike anyone I've ever met," replied Lucy.
"You seem to have a calm view of the world and events just unlike anyone I know."

"I'm afraid that if I didn't I would be in a far worse place that this. Life is not easy for someone like me. What little I have I've worked hard for. I get fired from my job on a regular basis just because of who I am. Straight people seem to feel a bit on edge around people like me because they don't know what side of the fence I am on. Do I like men or do I like women? Am I going to come on to them?"

Andrea sighed.

"People are afraid of things they don't understand. Then I make a mistake with you. I thought that you understood. Well, maybe you did and maybe you didn't but I was willing to go along with it… well for reasons you know. I've given notice for my flat so I'm homeless unless I can stay with you until I get somewhere else to live? Don't get me wrong, I'll pay rent for my room."

Lucy was shocked by what she'd just heard.

"Andrea… I'm sorry. I still need you to help me out in the summer, it's just that we don't have any money to do it in style. You can stay at my place as long as you like and help me."

"What do you mean help you?"

Lucy looked down at her feet for several seconds before replying.

"What you said the other day about changing me. It hurt at the time but after a while I realised that what you said was perfectly correct. I have just been through the education tread-mill. Public School, Undergrad Degree, and now a Masters. But what then? What are the employment opportunities for a Sociologist? Apart from a research institute or a 'Think Tank' it looks like I'm up shit creek without a paddle."

"So?"

"As I said before, their plan would be for me to meet some chinless wonder who can help my bastard father in his empire building and get married, have kids and generally never do a day of employed work in my life. That's what my mother did and to hers before her. I'm not going to be the 3rd generation of my family to get hitched that way. If I went that way, then I would probably never have to work other than at being a Mother in my life. I don't want that."

Andrea could see a steely determination in her voice.

"I'm not going to let the financial mess I'm in, make me give up and do what my parents want, well, my father at any rate. I want to make something of my life and not have it organised for me."

Andrea thought for a while.

"What made you change? You know decide to rebel like this?"

"Several things but my Mother sowed the seeds of the rebellion. We were talking over Christmas and she told me how she never regretted not having a career of her own and that being a Mother was the most important job in the world. I never believed her and besides, she was half cut at the time."

There was a silence between them that lasted quite a while.

"Well then you will have to get a job."

Lucy nodded slowly.

"I'm was afraid of that. I've only ever worked at my Uncles Stables. I did a bit of mucking out in return for free use of a horse."

"There aren't a lot of stables around here. You'd have to go out of the city to find any and from what I know none are not going to pay very much? They'd prefer keen young horsey girls to do the mucking out for free."

"You might be right."

"So what then?"

"I don't know, I really don't know."

---

A few days later Lucy persuaded a friend to help them move Andrea's things into the newly vacated bedrooms at Lucy's. Her two old housemates had moved out to pastures anew.

"I'll take this room," said Andrea as they inspected the empty rooms.
"Is it all right for me to decorate it? I'll make some curtains."

"Won't that cost a lot of money we don't have to get someone in to do it?"

Andrea laughed.

"I'll do it all myself. I did my old place. I have all the tools and things I need for the job. All I'll need to buy will be some paint and some material for the curtains."

Lucy looked as Andrea aghast.

"How did you learn to do that, you know, painting and all that?"

Andrea laughed.

"One of my many jobs I've had was working for a Painter and Decorator. It was a good job and the money was good while it lasted."

"It didn't last?"

"It did for about 6 months, until some stuck up rich bitch took offence to my rejecting the advances of her son who was a real creep."

Lucy's admiration of Andrea went up considerably every time she got to know a little more about this normally very private person she was with now.

Once Andrea was settled in, they headed for the DIY store and bought the paint and other items that Lucy would need to decorate her bedroom.

As they walked around the store, Lucy made a decision.

"Why don't we do my room as well?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's decorate my room at the same time we are doing yours?"

"When did you decide to help me?"

Lucy smiled back, "just now. It is obvious that you know what you are doing. Perhaps you can teach me a little while I help you?"

Andrea thought for a few seconds and then asked, "is this some delaying tactic so that you don't have to get a job?"

Lucy didn't answer.

"I guessed as much."

Then she smiled, "Oh very well but only until you get a job."

Without thinking, Lucy hugged Andrea, right there and then, in the middle of the DIY store.

Andrea showed Lucy how to rub down the paintwork so that it could be re-painted. Lucy's enthusiasm for the decorating didn't last very long and she soon found an excuse to 'go job hunting' leaving Andrea alone to get on with the work uninterrupted.

Lucy was true to her promise and found a part time job in a Dry-Cleaners a couple of days later. She almost ran home to tell Andrea the good news.

"Andrea!" she called out as she came through the front door.

There was no answer.

She listened for any sounds coming from inside the house. There was nothing.

Lucy felt so deflated that she just dumped her coat on the floor like she used to 'BA', Before Andrea, got her to hang it up properly. Then she ran upstairs and looked for Andrea. She wasn't there.

Lucy was now acting like the spoilt child that she really was and stomped downstairs in a huff.

She burst into the kitchen only to find Andrea sitting at the kitchen table crying.

"Andrea… What's wrong?"

Andrea just pointed upwards before saying in a croaky voice,
"In my room."

"What's in your room?" asked Lucy.

Andrea didn't answer but just pointed up again.

Lucy tried and tried to get her to say something else but Andrea just was not talking.

In the end, Lucy decided to go upstairs and look for herself.

She went into the room that was being decorated and looked around. At first, all she saw was all the paint and decorating tools. Then she saw that the floorboards dear the window had been removed. Being an inquisitive sort, she walked over towards it to examine the hole in the floor.

What she saw shocked her rigid.

The hole was filled with what was clearly a number of bundles of money wrapped in plastic.

She stood stock still for quite a while. Now she knew why Andrea was in a state of shock.

When she'd recovered her senses enough to start to understand what was sitting staring at her she realised that this money was the solution to all her problems.

Lucy grabbed as many plastic bags as she could carry and literally ran downstairs.

"Andrea, this is wonderful," she cried as she dumped them all onto the kitchen table.

Andrea was still sobbing and shaking her head.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you happy for us?"

"We can't… can't take it. It isn't yours. It isn't mine. It all belongs to someone else. What if that someone comes back and wants it? What if it is drug money? Or worse, it is all forged?"

Lucy sat down and tried to understand what Andrea was saying.

Without thinking, she reached over and took hold of Andrea's hands.

"Please stop crying. I've lived here for nearly four years. Don't you think that if someone was going to come back for it, they'd have done so by now?"

Andrea didn't say anything for a while.

"It is still not ours. It has to belong to someone and that someone is not you or me it is?"

Lucy could tell that Andrea was showing get stubborn side.

"Let's count it all so we know how much there is here?"

Reluctantly Andrea agreed to her request.

"You start counting this lot while I go and get the rest of it?"

"Ok. I'll put the kettle on first though."

Lucy smiled back before heading back upstairs to get the rest of the money. She smiled because of Andrea's habit of not doing anything important without the kettle on first.

"How much is there?" asked Andrea about half an hour later.

"Just a moment," replied Lucy as she totted up the figures.

"That's it," she said a few seconds later.

"Three hundred and Seventy-Six Thousand Pounds give or take a few fivers," announced Lucy slightly triumphantly.

They both sat in silence for a while.

"That's an awful lot of money for someone to have misplaced," remarked Lucy candidly.

[to be continued in Part 4]