The Reluctant Birthday Princess

Edward Mathews sighed as soon as the alarm went off.

He considered calling in sick, but knew that would only delay the inevitable, so he got up, got dressed, and trudged to work.

"What a crappy way to spend my birthday" He thought, as he entered the building that held the company he worked for.

Upon arriving, he saw a number of "the boys", the group who were responsible for what he was going to endure today. He sighed, and thought that "the boys" hadn't grown up at all since high school. They may not have been pushing Edward's head into a toilet, but they couldn't resist an opportunity to humiliate him. And talking their boss into having Edward celebrate his birthday as the birthday princess as a "morale boost" certainly qualified.

Fortunately, before they could tease him too much, Katy Paddock came over, and said, "Come on, I have everything ready in the ladies' change room."

She took his hand, and went toward the one place Edward had never been, the change area. Long ago, the company in a fit of generosity decided the drones needed a little something, and so built a small gym for working out, and attached to it were change rooms including showers, and because they hadn't wanted to get sued, they made sure both sexes had a place to clean up after working out, even if there were three women working in the office, none of whom felt like working out in front of their male co-workers.

Once Edward got into a stall, he removed his clothes, including his underwear, and handed them over the door to Katy, and she passed back the outfit he would be wearing today, the fluffy pink dress with a sash that said "birthday Princess".

The panties and stockings didnt pose too many problems, but he unlocked the door, and said, "Katy, I'm ... I'm going to need a little help."

When she opened the door, he wordlessly handed her the bra, and soon, with her assistance, it was in its proper place. The bra was padded, to give him some shape where he didn't have any, but Edward was only grateful none of "the boys" had sprung for artificial breasts.

Soon, he was fully dressed, and with Katy's help, made up as well, and Katy asked, "you wanna see?'

Edward sighed, and replied, "might as well", and stepped out of the stall and approached a large mirror ...

And froze with shock.

Instead of the image of a guy looking ridiculous in a dress, what Edward saw was a young woman, pretty in pink, and he said, "Whoa ..."

Katy giggled, and said, "I know, right? You look amazing. I'm actually jealous."

Edward just stood there, unable to move, until Katy said, "Come on, Princess Emma, we dont want to disappoint your subjects."

"Emma. Okay, I'm Emma." he finally replied, and the two of them left the change room.

"The boys" who had been looking forward to the sight of Edward in a dress, were stunned into silence.

Finally, Katy said, "I believe we all have jobs to get back to?"

Emma nodded, and went to the mail room.

It wasn't Emma's regular job, but as part of the duties assigned to "the birthday princess", mostly as a way to prevent Emma from just hiding in a cubicle all day.

Emma made the rounds, and with each letter and package dropped off became more and more confident.

With only a few minutes in the workday, there was a message for Emma saying to report to the office manager.

Emma had always been intimidated by the man. He reminded Emma of the comic book character J. Jonah Jameson, an impression not lessened by the fact his last name was actually Jameson.

Emma entered the office, and asked Mr Jameson "Am I in trouble, sir?"

"Nope, in fact I got an offer for you." He replied, "Corporate has been on my case for a while about expanding the 'diversity' of the office, and I think this situation could be the solution. You seemed to be quite ...comfortable dressed like that, so I've been authorized to give you an offer. If you're willing, you could make a skirt your normal attire here."

"Am I being asked, or told?" Emma inquired.

"Asked. No pressure. You want to come in Monday as Edward there will be no more said. But if you're not ready to give up being Emma, the company will support you."

They talked for a little longer, and then Emma left the office and went looking for Katy. Once the two were alone in the women's change room, Emma shared what Mr. Jameson had said, and Katy asked, "So, you gonna go for it?"

Emma smiled, and said, "Yes. I think I will."

"You're going to need some office-appropriate clothes, assuming you dont want to be the birthday princess every day." Katy said with a giggle.

"Already covered. Mr. Jameson was kind enough to supply me with a company credit card. So I'm going to go shopping on the company's dime"

"Can I come?" asked Katy

"Absolutely. It was your assistance that turned Edward the caterpillar into Emma the butterfly, so I would be honored if you would join me."

"Sounds like fun." Katy replied, and the two of them left the building ...

And walked, hand in hand, into the future.

End.