Summer with Em — Part 7
By
Julie D Cole

‘There you see. You certainly got a reaction there. Did you enjoy the attention?’

‘Well I must admit he did seem to react normally but he was staring a bit. I didn’t really know what to do.’

‘Well you could have fooled me. As far as I could see you reacted as any girl would do and it just shows that the sexes are coming together and boys are a lot more feminine than they like to believe they are and who knows what will happen in another twenty years.’

‘But I didn’t do anything. I tried to be inconspicuous.’

‘Exactly you acted normally as we girls do and tried to be polite. You were careful not to send out any signals and you smiled coyly rather than enter into conversation. I wish I’d taken a photo, you looked so cute and you seemed completely at ease. You had him mesmerised and I might as well have been a vase on the table. Even though he normally chats me up he was eyeing you up and down from the moment he came through the door. I think he fancied you.’

‘No way. I didn’t do anything and he’s not my type. Err I mean I didn’t do anything to encourage him. Well I didn’t did I?’ I did feel a bit strange and I certainly wasn’t trying to attract him.’

‘I’m not saying you were but it’s natural to flirt a bit when you have gone to the trouble of applying make up and dressing nicely. It’s only natural that you’d want someone to take notice or we wouldn’t bother. It’s a good introduction for you and it shows that you have the looks to be who you want to be. I reckon with a little more coaching you will be able to go anywhere you like dressed as boy or girl and you might find you can have a lot of fun. In fact we can both have fun if you make use of those assets and your pretty face. I think you can be boy or girl but it might be easier if you try the other side for a while. It doesn’t have to be permanent.’

‘Well it is OK for a bit of fun but I’m not sure that I could get used to it and I do feel that it’s wrong.’

‘Come on Kim don’t be so concerned. I think you are lucky. I wish I’d had chance to see what life is like as a boy sometimes. Not many of us get the opportunities you can get so we never know what we missed. Aren’t you feeling pleased? Don’t you feel blessed rather than guilty?’

‘I don’t know really because it depends what people think when they realise.’

‘Come on be positive since it’s half the battle. Lets eat and then try a few other things on. I even have some clothes that are almost new. I was going to give them to charity that aren’t so comfortable these days and some training and gym wear that I don’t use nowadays. I’m sure you could make better use of it than me with your new job. I could have a word with Bec to let your feminine side come out. She is a great believer in the idea that men should learn what it’s like to live as a woman and she could see that you were hiding your bust during the interview.’

‘Em I feel embarrassed. Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘So what? There’s nothing to tell or to be ashamed of. Boy or girl is all the same to us. If anything we tend to reach out to protect you rather than make fun or ridicule you. These days it’s not unusual for girls to be more masculine and boys to be more feminine. It’s not a sin and it’s quite common. There aren’t so many bigoted people around these days. Maybe boys can just be boys or girls depending on their mood. Girls have been able to do as they like for a long time. I guess you are just catching up. I think if you go through with it I might even give it a try for myself. Do you think I could pass if I had a mostache?’

We laughed as she put some of her hair across her upper lip. She was pretty but she might just get away with it with a bit of padding and if she hid her boobs. We had a nice banquet together and then tidied up sharing the chores and chatting. It was nice to relax like this together and not have to worry about hiding my boobs. Em made me realise that these were assets rather than problems and I guess by the time we moved to her bedroom to try on the other new clothes I found myself trying to enhance my bust. I was grateful for the uplift bra that Em had bought based on her assessment of my size and she got it just about right. It was a snug fit and it felt like someone was hugging me and with a low cut vest we laughed because I had a cleavage to match Ems.

So that was it. I was hooked so to speak and not just with the bra. It was past midnight before we finally decided it was time for bed so we packed everything into spare drawers in my room and allocated one part of my wardrobe for future purchases. Next time I was to join Em so she didn’t have to guess sizes.

The next day it was back to boy clothes and I tried to comb my hair into as masculine a style as I could but it wasn’t easy after Em’s handiwork. I could do anything about the trimmed eyebrows that she’d shaped and if I tried to darken them with eyeliner they looked even more feminine. So I roughed them up as much as I could and ensured there was no trace of mascara on my eyelashes.

When Sarah met me it was obvious from her reaction that she liked the way I’d adjusted my appearance and she whispered that I looked beautiful and I should take care not to go into the mens locker room when two or three of the more sexually desperate men were changing. She showed me who they were on the computer. I was a bit taken aback when she asked me if I ever presented myself as a girl or dressed in womens clothes. I must have turned crimson so my stuttered response denying it fell on deaf ears. From that time Sarah said she’d accept me as her girlfriend and treat me as a female colleague rather than a male one.

How could I refuse? She is such a persuasive person and anyway nobody knew me so I could be as gay or as feminine as I liked according to Em since Becs had a policy of no prejudices.

So as the week progressed I left Em’s dressed as butch as possible ,as she put it, wearing my boy clothes but returned looking more like a girl dressed as a boy after Sarah had added a few things or made me change into one of her spare blouses. At work we spent most of our time in black trousers or slacks as Sarah started to call them. She brought me a pair from home to wear on the Thursday and they fitted OK and I preferred the softer material and the permanent creases. Three buttons at the waist and a left handed zipper gave them away but by that time most visitors were accepting me as a femboy and even as one of the girls in some cases. My badge just said Kim but also Sarah had used the style adopted by female staff rather than those for male staff members. It seemed she wanted me to enjoy myself and flaunt my bust since she was monitoring the expression on the faces of male guests. At the end of the week I was sure that I’d developed even more and might need to invest in a set of new bras two sizes bigger.

Since it was still late spring I had some low heeled black ankle boots that Em had ‘found’ to give me practice in walking in a more feminine way. I soon mastered the short steps and would walk across reception wiggling my butt to try to make Sarah laugh whilst she was tending customers.

When I got back to the apartment each evening that week Em would insist that I re-style my hair as she had cut it that meant damping it to get rid of the excess hairspray and gel. She must have had some training since it dried back to the shape as she’d styled it. She’d encourage me to change into casual slacks or cropped trousers with a top and she did like me to apply some lip gloss at least even if I’d resisted the full make-up. As the days passed I felt that I was becoming more comfortable as Kim the niece rather than Kim the nephew. It wasn’t so bad to be able to choose depending on my mood or how tired I was. Most nights my feet were aching because I wasn’t used to standing around so much and maybe the low heel was also a factor. On Thursday evening Em had booked a foot massage at the clubhouse attached to the apartment buildings. She was keen for me to try and so since she’d already paid the twenty pounds fee I had to accept.

Em insisted I wore a little more make-up and when we checked in it was obvious why. She’d registered me as her niece and introduced me as such to her friends at the reception. I was whisked away to a darkened room lit by candles and stumbled my way towards the large reclining chair and sank gratefully into it to let my eyes adjust. The girl who was doing the massage was from Malaysia and had lived in Manchester since she was in her early teens. She was beautiful and she knelt in front of me and filled the basin with warm softened water adding some oils and rose petals. Now I sat back as she gently lowered each of my feet into the water. It was bliss and she lifted each one in turn and pressed her knuckles to the underside of my feet and then seemed to push the built up stresses towards my toes before seemingly releasing them with a flick of her fingers. I wanted to cry out but I daren’t. It was wonderful and I closed my eyes and obviously fell into a sleep because she had to nudge me to bring me back to consciousness. She then tried to persuade me to have a pedicure but I felt that was just a bit too much for this visit and I didn’t feel comfortable spending Ems money without permission. We met in the reception and I hugged her to show my appreciation. She’d had a pedicure whilst I was having my treatment and proudly showed me the softness of her feet and the neat toenails. She asked if I wanted to come again the following week and offered the pedicure. I nodded enthusiastically. This new world was something else.

For work I started to use a shoulder bag that Em had offered me since she had so many. It had plenty of space to carry my i-phone and i-pad as well as the chargers that go with them so it was much more convenient than using a plastic carry bag from the local supermarket. The first time I used it Em teased me by putting a small make-up bag and some facial wipes in the inside pocket. As she said this was an essential kit ‘just for emergencies’ so no need to panic.

On Friday morning I had a message waiting for me when I signed in. I’d got a new locker key because I’d been transferred to the female staff locker room under instruction from Becs since she felt it more appropriate in the circumstances. What on earth was ‘more appropriate in the circumstances’ supposed to mean? It was like I’d been banished from the mens locker room and later I found out it was one of the contract personal trainers who’d complained and said it was embarrassing for me to be in with the men. What about me? I almost quit until Sarah calmed me down and said that Bec had asked all the female staff if they minded and 100% were in favour. I never saw any of the voting that had taken place on the day before. At least I was made welcome by most of the staff and Bec’s was supportive. I didn’t know what mum might think if she knew what was going on and I certainly wasn’t going to tell her. I had to prepare for the Skype calls to remove any make-up but she quickly spotted the new hairstyle. That’s the trouble with mums they don’t miss a trick.

At least the womens locker room was more spacious and it didn’t smell of sweaty training shoes and old jock straps. Not that all the ladies were perfect but at least they knew the importance of personal hygiene and how to operate a can of deodorant. At least I didn’t get stared at and there were no cutting remarks or lude comments. Whilst I could use the locker room I wasn’t allowed to use the toilet facilities that were out of bounds to me. Same applied to the mens bathroom so the solution was the disabled toilet in reception. Surprisingly the shower room was not out of bounds and it was connected to the main female shower room by a door which locked on our side. That gave an idea to Sarah who opened it to show me around the ladies changing area and showers at the end of our shift. We heard some voices coming through from the swimming pool and two massive girls walked in stripping as they did so. I was completely gob-smacked and frozen to the spot. They had been weight training upstairs and for a moment it looked as if two men had walked in. They were obviously very used to showing off their bodies because they acted as if we weren’t there. Then they started pushing each other and laughing as they flexed their muscles to boast about who was stronger. Sarah pulled my arm to uproot me and dragged me back through the door locking it behind us.

‘Wow. Who were they? Did you see their muscles. It’s just not fair and I’ve got bigger boobs than both of them. How do they do it? It must be the weight-lifting.

‘Com on Kim you don’t want to look like that do you. They must leave strange lives and I don’t get it. They are both quite beautiful in the face but they look ugly with all those muscles. They do tend to shower at the end of the day when the changing rooms are quiet and I’m not surprised. It’s like two men have come in sometimes. They train with Becs husband so not much chance that they’ll leave or move on to another gym.’

That experience apart I can’t say I disliked the arrangements and whilst I wasn’t comfortable on my first visit I found I had more in common with the female staff who at least could chat about most subjects and not just football or golf or which tattoo they were going to have on their body. There was some talk about the two bodybuilders who were nicknamed Bill & Ben and I couldn’t get them out of my mind. I wanted to take another look if I could since I needed to check out their chests to see what happened to their boobs. But I couldn’t just walk in so I decided the best way was to use the female dressing rooms and maybe I could pretend to be changing after going in the pool. I had to plan it so that was something to think about over the weekend. Maybe I’d do it on Sarahs day off.

By the Saturday I was ready for my own day off and I’d decided to sleep till noon. But Em had other ideas. We were going to have a shopping trip to the Trafford Centre and she’d arranged to meet some friends for lunch. She insisted I went with her and selected my outfit so it was easy to change whilst looking reasonably smart. It was the least I could do really but this was supposed to be a girly day and so it took us at least an hour to decide on outfits. Lucky we weren’t going anywhere special but then as I learned this was all part of the build-up.
To be continued…..
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