STACEY’S REBOOT

I woke up with a bit of a throbbing head, I had been out last night for a farewell drink with Billy who lived across the hall in our apartment block and a few friends of his. He was moving to the other end of the country for work and had re-let his apartment. A quick coffee and I was ready to face the day, even if I was not feeling as bright and on-the-ball as usual.

Luckily, I had no need to hurry, I worked as technical support on computer systems for one of the finance houses, when the helpline call-handlers were out of their depth with client problems they passed them over to me or others like me to help to sort it out. I generally worked from home, apart from going in for update seminars roughly twice a year and was able to manage my time to suit myself.

As I am reasonably good at what I do, I get well paid, and also get a decent expenses allowance for working from home with my own computer and ancillaries, saving the company the costs of office space and equipment. This allowed me to get a decent sized 3-bedroom apartment, one for me, one as my study/workspace and a spare for any stopover guests. It was oversized really but I could easily afford it and there was no need to live in a shoe-box.

At lunchtime Billy knocked on the door to say a final goodbye, and told me that the new tenants would be arriving late afternoon. A quick man-hug and promise to keep in touch, which both of us knew would not really happen, and he was off, leaving me wondering who would be moving in next door.

At about 5 O’clock I heard a lot of noise across the hall, obviously the new people had arrived. Later I heard a rap on the door and opened it to find a quite pretty 20-something girl smiling at me.

“ Hi, I’m Moira and I have just moved in next door with a couple of my friends and we are still trying to get our stuff sorted out, is there anywhere cheap and cheerful around here where we can get a decent meal?”

“There is a pub just around the corner that does basic bar meals but nothing exciting, a bistro about half a mile up the road selling overpriced small portions, and a fish&chip shop a couple of doors down from the pub. I am sure that you have a lot to do, I was just going to make up a spag bol for myself, why don’t you all just join me in here and you can continue unpacking and sorting yourselves out while I prepare it.”

“ That’s very kind of you and sounds a great idea, it will let us all get to know each other. we’ll be round in about a couple of hour if that is ok.”

I prepared the sauce, put it in the oven, and went around tidying up my place while it was all cooking away. A quarter of an hour before the girls were due to arrive, I put the pasta on to simmer, set the table and opened a bottle of Prosecco and a couple of Italian dry white wine.

The girls soon arrived, and as they came in I was glad that they were casually dressed, just jeans and tops and trainers, and only light makeup. They had obviously changed their clothes as there was no sign of the normal marks and dust that shifting and unpacking a load of boxes and cases would introduce, but at least they had made the effort to make themselves clean and tidy

“ As I said before, I’m Moira, this is Kirsty and Morag. We have just qualified and have moved down together from Dundee in Scotland to work as nurses at the big hospital in town. Having recently qualified, starting new jobs and living in a new home, it is all a bit hectic at the moment, we really appreciate you helping us to settle in.”

“ That’s fine, no problem. I’m Stacey I work in computer technical support, and have been living here for a few years now. Anyway, that’s the introductions over, grab a glass and we’ll have a toast to welcome you here. ‘To changes in life’, Cheers”.

“ Cheers ! Oh, that’s different, I’ve only ever known girls called Stacey, i have never heard it as a boy’s name, but why not, girls are being called Robin and Rowan, which are traditionally boys’ names.“

“ You’re right, but it was often not a lot of fun at school, it led to a lot of name-calling and jokes, but it is listed as a name for either boys or girls. I don’t worry about it now, although it can cause confusion sometimes.”

I served up the meal, topped with Parmigiana with a side portion of home-made Focaccia, which the girls ate ravenously, apparently they hadn’t managed time to eat at all during the day. They seemed a pleasant friendly group and were all not bad-looking either, I was looking forward to more time with my new neighbours.

“That was delicious and just what we needed, you are an excellent cook, a lot better than any of us, but you must come over soon for us to make something for you.

We said our goodbyes and they went back to do some more unpacking and to get their beds made up.

The following morning I heard them leaving for their work and went in for a shower and to wash my hair. Like a lot of techies I was a bit of a bohemian and wore my hair shoulder length and tied back in a low ponytail when I was working, and without regular washing and attention it was soon greasy and lank. I had just dried off, brushed and tied my hair back and put on a towelling dressing gown when I heard the doorbell.

“Good morning Miss, I have a parcel for the people across the hall, would you mind signing for it and passing it on to them.”

I ignored the ‘Miss ‘, signed for it and took it in. It always annoyed me when I was mistaken for a girl, I was skinny, and relatively short at 5’6” and wore my hair tied back or loose over my shoulders, and did not consider myself to be female-looking at all, but I was often mistaken for a girl and called ‘Miss’. I had tried to overcome this by growing a moustache but after a few months it was still just a bit of bum-fluff, so I just kept myself clean-shaven.

It was quite a busy day for me, the bank that I worked for had changed their online website account format recently, causing a bit of confusion with their customers, who all wanted to learn how to get round the new system, and the day soon passed.

When I heard the girls arrive home, I collected their parcel and went over to pass it on. The door was answered by Kirsty who just popped her head around the open edge.

“ Oh hi Stacey, I can’t invite you in, we are all just getting changed to go down to the pub and are not fully dressed. Is that parcel for me, I was expecting a few things from home? Just pop it on the floor inside the door and I’ll deal with it, thanks for taking it in. Why don’t you come down to the pub with us, just for a bit of a relaxing social drink, not a heavy session, we all have to work tomorrow?”

It was pleasant change going down to the pub with the girls. When I had gone there with Billy it often became a bit of a macho beer-swilling session, but a couple of glasses of wine each for the girls and small ciders for me lasted all night. The girls tried to include me in their never ending chat, but a lot of it was about the people at work or about clothes and other girly things, during which times I just blanked out and listened to the background music. They told me a bit more about themselves, where they had been raised and their times at college and I did the same. I soon realised that I knew more about them after one night of dinner and a couple of drinks in the pub, than I knew about Billy who I had known for a few years.

Over the next few days, we were regular visitors to each others apartments, them coming to mine to borrow stuff that they couldn’t find or hadn’t unpacked yet, and me becoming a sort of tame handyman fixing shelves for their stuff or fixing and adjusting things for them. We were relaxed and comfortable in each others company as good friends but no romantic spark had triggered in any of us yet.

As a change from going to the local pub, on Friday night the girls wanted to go into town to some of the livelier bars and a club and invited me along. Clubbing had never been my scene, despite the way I was with the three girls, I was quite shy in the meat-market disco environments, and had never been particularly successful with meeting girls there, but they talked me into going along with them for a bit of a change.

The girls really dressed up and glammed up for their night out, wearing short tight dresses, heels, and full party makeup and I felt that I did not fit in with them in my smart-casual slacks and sweater. Although they got me on the dance floor a couple of times, I felt a bit out of place and that I was cramping their style and keeping the boys away from them, I think that I looked like I was there as minder. I kept in the background at the bar for most of the night, but the girls let themselves go and really enjoyed themselves. They suggested that we did it again next week.

“You three go, I’ll not bother, I think I cramped your style a little bit. The lads you were flirting with were put off a bit with me lurking in the background, and you’ll enjoy yourselves more not having to worry about me being on my own.”

Over the next few days we were all too busy to socialise much, just exchanging pleasantries when we saw each other. There were a steady stream of parcel deliveries for them which the couriers usually left with me, and no matter what I was wearing it was always a case of “Will you sign for these please Miss.” It was really getting to me now and I was beginning to wonder whether to get my hair all cut short.

Over drinks at the pub one night I told the girls about often being mistaken for female and that I was going to get my hair cut short to put a stop to it. They all looked at each other and smiled, and Kirsty came and sat next to me.

“ You are right, you do need to do something with your hair it all looks a bit bland and lifeless. How about this as an alternative, If you are going to be told that you look like a girl, why not let us do something with you hair to take away any doubts. Between us we can easily re-style it for you. Let’s go back home and we will see what we can do.

Back at their place I shampooed and conditioned my hair, and Morag sat me down , brushed out the tats, and trimmed a few bits off ,and before I realised what she was doing she was combing out sections of my hair and putting it up in rollers.

What on earth are you doing Morag? I thought you were just going to give it a bit of a trim and a tidy up, I’ve never had my hair put up in rollers like this.”

“ Just let me finish, I am just going to give it a bit more body and make it more stylish, relax and enjoy it. When it was all rolled up she gave it a spray with something she said would help to keep the style in place, and blow-dried it still in the rollers. When she felt it was all dry, she took out the rollers and brushed it all out.

Go and have a look in the mirror and see what you think.”

I was shocked when I saw the result, my hair was now a mass of curls and waves, sitting on my shoulders and over my cheeks with a wavy fringe hanging just above my eyes. there was no mistaking that instead of making me look less female, there was no longer any doubt that I would be taken by everyone as a girl.

“ What have you done to me, how can I go anywhere looking like this, can you put it back the way It was.”

“ Firstly, the only way to undo it is to cut it all off, I sprayed it with a soft perm that will grow out eventually, but don’t hold your breath. Secondly who do you think will see you, except when you are with us down at the pub, and the couriers who think you are a girl anyway. Thirdly you never meet anyone professionally. working from home it is all online and nobody sees you. Fourthly you’ve had the free benefit of my experience working weekends in the hairdressers while I was studying at college. Fifthly you look really cute, you should keep it like that.”

“ Sorry, it has all been a bit of shock, I don’t want have a big row, let me sleep on it and we’ll talk about it again tomorrow.”

The next morning I gave the hair a good brush but no matter what I did it kept the style, even when I tried it tied back it was still very full bodied and wavy and looked even more feminine if that was possible. I was extremely annoyed with the girls, they were no doubt having a laugh all about it this morning.

The usual morning delivery for the girls came and the courier, instead of the normal “Good morning Miss”, changed it to “ You are looking lovely this morning, I like what you have done with your hair.” That was the final straw , I decided if the girls wanted to humiliate me that I would throw it back at them with interest.

I put on a pair of my skinny jeans and a long sloppy jumper, brushed my hair out again and went shopping, looking at least androgynous if not feminine, and returned home from the stores with a skirt, top, and sandals, along with underwear and tights. I thought that if they If I was going to be treated as a girl I may as well really look like one for them. Hopefully it would shock and shame them for what they had done to me.

So that I would at least be comfortable with the clothes when I went over to the girls later with the parcel, I changed into my new things straight away along with false breast padding of bags of birdseed in my bra, and my penis tucked between my legs, courtesy of suggestions I found online, and spent the day working dressed as a woman, as the girls had reminded me, nobody could see me. After the initial rush of ‘What on earth am I doing’, I soon forgot about how I was dressed and just got on with my work as normal.

When i heard the girls get home later, picking up the parcel that had arrived in the morning, I took a deep breath and knocked on their door. It was answered by Moira who looked at me puzzled before suddenly realising who it was, shrieked and dragged me inside.

“Hey you look amazing. It was only a bit of fun with your hair, we never expected that you would take it this seriously.”

Hearing the shriek the others came in see what the ruction was and Moira introduced me as their new neighbour Stacey.

“ You girls shocked and humiliated me last night, and much to my embarrassment the courier this morning told me that I looked lovely and that he liked my new hairstyle. I decided that two, or should that be four, can play at the shocking game. I quickly measured myself this morning and checked what it meant in women’s sizes before visiting the shops and I am giving you what you wanted. Have a good laugh at my expense ! ”

I turned and made for the door but was pulled back by Moira.

“Stacey, come in and sit down and let’s talk about this, I’m sorry that we have upset you, but we have become good friends, let’s not fall out over this.”

I couldn’t resist her pleading eyes with tears forming so decided to stay for a while to talk to them.

“ The hair thing was meant as a joke, we thought you might see the funny side of it, but obviously we were wrong went too far and have to apologise.. You have the last laugh on us though, taking it the whole way and dressing as girl,. If it will not upset you again I’ve got to say that the clothes suit you and fit you well, you have a good eye. Were you not worried going into the shops and buying the outfit, and obviously that included buying a bra by the look of you?”

“The bra, panties and tights were easy, they were just off the supermarket shelves, and paid for at the self-service checkout, the skirt, top and shoes came from a charity shop where they didn’t even blink an eyelid and let me try things on for size. You did such a professional job with my hair last night that I just passed as a girl without question. I tried the whole ensemble on again when I got home, and felt quite comfortable, so I have been working like this all day to get used to it for when I came over here.”

Kirsty came over and gave me a hug. “ If you answer the door like that to any delivery drivers, you are just going to confirm what they thought about you anyway, you really look the part.”

Not to be left out, Morag joined in. “ Look Stacey we were planning on going out for a drink, why not come with us. the drinks are on us as a peace offering.”

“OK let me go back and get changed, while you are getting ready.”

“ Why not just come as you are, a bit of foundation, lippy, and mascara and you will be totally unrecognisable, it will be a bit of fun after what must have been a stressful day. Please, please, please.”

“ Fine, but not down to the local, I might get recognised, let’s go to the bistro up the road.”

Morag was already ready to go, so while the other two quickly changed, she made up my face eyes and lips and I was astonished at the way it changed my appearance, I hardly even recognised myself in the mirror. She fetched a small shoulder bag for me put in the lipstick and mascara and told to go back to my apartment and get what I needed, keys, money, tissues and a hair brush, and anything else I might need. “ Don’t forget you haven’t got any pockets, anything you need will have to go in the bag.”

The four of us walked down to the bistro with linked arms, with me in the middle so I could not back out, found a table and ordered drinks. This time I ordered wine with them, I didn’t want to stand out.

We had a pleasant evening chatting away, and I found that they included me more in their conversation. Looking like them, it was lost at the back of their minds that this was my first time out with them dressed as a girl. They asked about where I had got my clothes and why I chose the ones I did, and what my sizes were and seemed interested and pleased that I had sorted myself out without any bother and embarrassment. We were giggling away at a story I was telling of the woman in the charity shop advising what would suit me when we were approached by a very handsome young man.

“ Excuse me ladies, my friends and I would like to buy you a drink, if that’s ok, what would you like?”

To my horror I recognised him as one of Billy’s friends who had been at the leaving do, and did not want to get into their company. The girls were looking at each other deciding what to do so I just smiled sweetly and answered for them in as feminine a voice as I could manage.

“Thank you so much, another time maybe, but we are out on a girlie catch-up night and still have a lot to get through. Thank you though, it is appreciated.”

“ That’s one of the best turn-downs I have ever had from a pretty girl, enjoy your evening girls.”

“ Wow , where did that come from, and the voice was great, you haven’t been practising that today as well, have you?”

“ Just sitting chatting with you three it’s easy to pick up on how you express yourself, and my voice just seemed to change to blend in with yours.”

Having accepted their apologies, and being best friends again, we made our way home and said our goodnights, but this time with a hug for me from each of them.”

In the morning I looked at myself in the mirror and realised that I hadn’t removed my make up before going to bed. I didn’t have any cleanser, and it didn’t look too bad so I just freshened it up with the stuff that Morag had put in the bag, put on my skirt and top again and worked through the day as I was. Partly following on from last night with the girls, and partly because of the way I was dressed, i found myself answering calls using my feminine voice and was just accepted as a girl, by most of the callers and seemed to got a much friendlier reaction particularly from female callers.

I decided that I was surprisingly quite comfortable and relaxed working dressed as a girl and popped out at teatime, went back to the charity shop and found myself a lovely red shift dress another couple of tops and another pair of shoes, this time with a small heel, I felt that I couldn’t just wear the same clothes every day.

As I was opening the door of my flat, I heard the girls’ door opening and Moira gave me a cheery hello and asked me in for a coffee.“ Sorry if I caught you unawares, we were not too busy this afternoon so they let me leave early.you obviously got in the mood yesterday and must like working in a skirt. What have you got from the shops then, let me have a look.”

“ I had no make-up remover so I just freshened up yesterday’s and it just felt right to be in women’s clothes to match. I went back to the charity shop and got a couple more tops to change into and picked up a discounted dress that the assistant said would suit me. Those places are goldmines, some of the stuff is quite good that people have just grown out of or got fed up with.”

“ While I make the coffees go and put the dress on, let me have a look to see if it suits you, just use the first room along there to change in, that one is mine.”

“ That is gorgeous and fits you well. The boat neckline and thin straps really show of your shoulders which are quite narrow for a man, and the fitted waistline and flared skirt give you quite a shapely figure, I am jealous.”

We were enjoying our coffee and chatting about my shopping trip when Morag and Kirsty returned home. They gave querying looks then double takes before gasping “ My god we’ve created a monster with you Stacey, you’ve gone from being disgusted with us to outshining us in a couple of days, stand up and let us have a proper look at you. Smoothing my skirt as I got up, I walked around posing for them.

“ Welcome to the world of girl Stacey. You are a natural, are you sure you haven’t got a secret past you haven’t told us about?”

“ Calm down girls this is all just a bit of fun, it’s not something that I have done before, it was really just because I couldn’t clean the makeup off last night so I just went with the flow.”

“Give us a few minutes to get cleaned up and changed then you are coming shopping with us girl.”

After an hour traipsing around the shops I returned home, not just with the moisturiser and make up remover pads, but with a full eye colour palette, foundation and blusher, another mascara, two lipsticks and a spray cologne, along with another couple of shapelier bras and another pack of panties. It was going to be the girls treat but I insisted on paying myself, I was paid an awful lot more than the nurses. We stopped off at Pizza Hut and ordered a takeaway tuna and seafood to share, and finished off the evening back at my place with a bottle of wine.

This time I cleaned my face properly, gave it a wash and felt much better for it. Another day had passed and I realised that I hadn’t worn any of my man clothes for three days.

In the morning, I didn’t bother with the foundation, but did my eyes and lips and used a bit of blusher, put on a new bra and panties and my skirt and a new top, It was another busy day, and apart from an hour at the supermarket getting stocked up with groceries was on the phone or computer all day. I was ready for a relaxing evening in front of the TV, when there was knock at the door and Kirsty stood there with a large box which she quickly passed to me before following me in.

“ We’ve all been having a sort out of stuff we don’t use anymore and rather than give it to the charity shops, we’ve picked out stuff in your sizes that you might like. if you are going to keep dressing as a girl, and it looks like you will seeing how you are dressed and made up at the moment, you need a bigger wardrobe than you have now, a girl never has enough clothes.”

“ Thanks Kirsty and thank the others for me, I will go through it and if there is any stuff that doesn’t fit or is not suitable, I will give it to the charity shop if that is ok. As a thank you why don’t you all come over tomorrow night for dinner, I’ll make something special, it should be ready for about seven if that suits you, and dress up nice.”

She gave me a cheek-kiss and hug and left me to sort out what I had been given.

As well as as the expected tops, blouses and skirts there were several pairs of trousers leggings and shorts, shoes from sandals and flats to 4” heels, a couple of jackets and jumpers, and four handbags of various sizes and styles. Nothing would be going to charity, so I cleared all my man clothes from my wardrobe and drawers, moved it all into the spare room and replaced it with all my new stuff and what I had already bought.

For working until lunchtime and preparing the meal and cleaning my apartment I dressed casually in leggings, a tunic top and flats, with just a lick of mascara and lippy but then gave myself a couple of hours to get ready before the girls came for dinner. Although I did not grow much face or body hair, I gave myself a very close shave all over including my arms and legs, washed and conditioned my hair and blow dried it almost into the same style that Morag had originally put it. I went for the full evening make up, a little bit heavier than she had done it. With everything under control in the kitchen not long before they were due to arrive, I put on my new underwear and tights, my red dress and the 4’ heels, a quick shot of hair spay and cologne, a primp of my hair and I was ready for my first hostess night.

The girls had all made an effort too, wearing cocktail dresses and heels, beautifully styled hair and fully made up, it was all probably a bit over the top for a little dinner party with friends, but we all felt that the effort was worth it, and photos were taken all round as a memento of us all glammed up.Compliments flew thick and fast, particularly in my direction, they were astonished at how I looked and how natural I was acting with them.

They were delighted with the meal, small smoked salmon salad with fresh home-made wholemeal soda-bread as a starter, Beef Wellington and vegetables as a main course and a lovely freshening Cranachan to finish. I had served Cranachan before to guests, and had to explain what it all was, but being Scottish they all knew and loved it as a special treat, particularly with the large tot of whisky I had added to the raspberries, cream and oatmeal. I had put out some white wine and the girls brought some too, so we had a really pleasant evening, sitting for a while afterwards having a relaxed chat after they had helped me clear up.

“That was all gorgeous Stacey. I feel full, but not over-full, they were very good choices, thank you so much. you must come to us next time, but we can’t promise the same quality of cooking.” Moira thanked me with a big hug and kiss as they all left.

Morag cheekily suggested that “normally with my girl friends, after a meal like that I would say that you will make a happy man a wonderful wife one day, but please don’t get upset, it is meant to be a compliment.” and squeezed me tight.

“ That all goes for me too, “ said Kirsty, “the meal was lovely, the place is just so tasteful and you were the most gorgeous and best hostess, thank you so much. We are all glad that we met you and have become close friends, and with us girls that normally means friends for life that you can rely on, goodnight darling,”

I sat for a while considering how my life was changing. Rather than the shallow pub drinking mates I had previously known I now had real friends who genuinely cared about me. I was now living virtually full-time as a female and actually enjoying myself more, I was less engrossed with work and starting to consider more about my quality of life, my life had been turned upside down by the arrival of my new neighbours. As I got up to prepare for bed I noticed a small parcel that the girls had left for me, all tied up with a lovely ribbon, and a label.’Love from the girls, hope you like it.”

Carefully untying and unwrapping it, rather than just ripping it apart, I opened the box inside to find a beautiful cream satin full length nightdress. I almost burst into tears at their kindness. After hanging up my clothes, cleaning off my makeup, and giving my hair its nightly brush iI could hardly wait to try it on and the sensation I felt as it dropped over me was indescribable. To do it justice, I slept in it wearing my bra and falsies it just wouldn’t look right without them. I had the deepest undisturbed sleep for a long time dreaming, as Morag had said, of being a wonderful wife to a lucky man.

My stock of feminine clothes and accessories continued to grow and I was now permanently dressed as a woman and living as a woman, going out with the girls shopping and on days out, ad even going clubbing occasionally, and enjoying it for the first time ever, dancing mainly with them but often with men who asked me nicely.

Opening my emails one day, I found a reminder that I was due to go to a six-monthly update seminar that the bank was holding at head office in London at the end of the month. I was in a dilemma as to what to do and needed to clear my mind by talking with the girls. Morag, being the most practical of the three led the discussion with me.

“ What’s your problem?”

“I have two choices, go as I’m now and hope nobody recognises me, or cut off my lovely hair that I have grown to like and turn up as my old male self and hope that too many of my new feminine traits don’t show.”

“ How many people attend these sessions?”

“About 60 to70”

“How many would you say you are good friends with?”

“ None really, we all work from home and only get together twice a year and it’s all business, other than coffee and lunch there is no real social interaction.”

“Is it just one day or do you stay overnight in a hotel ?”

“The seminar is one day only, but I normally stay overnight in a hotel and travel back the next day.”

‘Is anyone likely to be searching you out?”

“Not really, there are only two or three of us who have been there a while, most come and go.”

“ What on earth are you worried about, nobody will ever recognise you, you look nothing like your old self? We will help you to be even more convincing.”

For the next two weeks i spent almost all the time with the girls except when they were working or sleeping. They watched closely every move and gesture I made, listened to everything I said and the way I expressed myself and picked up on everything that wasn’t quite right. Morag came into her own, restyling my hair, thinning my eyebrows, shaping and painting my nails. The others were delighted to join in waxing every part of my body to get rid of the light hair I had and Kirsty, who worked in the oncology department at the hospital topped it all off by bringing me a set of false breasts that they gave to mastectomy patients, which she glued to my chest with assurances that they would be fine until well after my meeting. They couldn’t have done much more to me without surgery.

The girls had selected an outfit for me to wear at the seminar. Most of the men would be in suits, shirt and tie, so I packed a dark blue flared skirt , a cream bolero top, a sky blue short sleeved blouse and my 4” heels which they thought looked equally business-like, along with fresh underwear, and all my necessary beauty products. For the train journey, I dressed much more casually in a loose cotton skirt, sleeveless top and kitten heel pumps. I arrived at my hotel and booked in without getting a second glance on the way and settled down for the night, preparing myself for an early start in the morning.

Showered, hair and makeup done, I dressed and went down for a light breakfast before setting off for my meeting. I arrived at head office, signed in, was given an ID badge, for the first time being glad that my name was unisex, left my overnight case with reception and taking a deep breath made my way into the conference room. I did not recognise anyone in the room, so went over to the only other woman there amongst the 70 or so men.

“ Hi, I’m Stacey Stansfield, I always feel a bit overawed amongst all these men, do you mind if I join you.”

“ I was feeling like that myself. I’m Louise Campbell, nice to meet you, you are the first person that has spoken to be since I came in.”

Take that as a compliment. it is a lot harder for a woman be successful in this industry, which must mean you are very good at what you do, which tends to frighten them a little bit.”

Louise and I chatted about where we were from and how long we had been with the bank before sitting down for the first session of the day. One of the senior HR staff welcomed us all, before she handed over to the main speaker, who took us through all the changes being introduced, the likely problems from our clients and how to deal with them, and other corporate changes.

Even during the breaks for coffee and lunch Louise and I were left alone, we were obviously seen to be intruders in the boys’ club gathering of techies. The final session was an analysis of the customer feedback forms on how we had dealt with their problems and our level of performance.

“We have assessed all your ratings and the clear leader in customer satisfaction is….Stacey Stansfield, please stand up and be recognised. “

So much for keeping a low profile. I stood up to a ripple of polite applause and a lot of unbelieving looks from the men and even a jealous comment “ How did she manage that, it must be part of the bank’s diversity policy.”

As we were all preparing to leave, the HR representative came over to me and she asked me to stay behind for a few minutes. I said my goodbye to Louise, gave her a quick hug and said that I hoped to see her again.

“Nice to meet you Stacey, I’m Carol Masters, Director of HR, it makes a nice change to see a friendly female face instead of all the patronising looks I get from the men, most of them treat me as a secretary or as a PA to one of the speakers. You have been with us a while, I believe, and your satisfaction ratings, and comments left, show that you are good at your job, particularly with female clients who sometimes feel as if your male colleagues are talking down to them. What do you feel about passing on your techniques to others? Initially it would be at introductory sessions with new call handlers, as we have a regular staff turnaround there, but if it works out, it would be at sessions like this.”

“ I don’t know what to say, I try to do my job as well as I can and seem to leave people feeling happy, but if the sessions are irregular, I would also like to keep doing what I am doing now, working from home.”

“ Initially the sessions you lead will be at our call-centres around the country, usually one a week, but occasionally two, so that should not be a problem, but you will have to come into head office for about a day a month as well. Obviously the salary and bonus package will be better than what you are currently on. If you are happy, I will write to you formally with a new contract.”

“Thank you Carol, I will be pleased to take on this new role, it sounds exciting, I look forward to hearing from you.”

I could hardly wait to get back home and tell the girls what had happened. They were so pleased
and over a glass or two of celebratory bubbly wanted to know all the details of my new job, where I would have to travel to, who I would be working with, and everything that had happened at the seminar and who I had met. It was a great opportunity for me to sort out my own thoughts and questions.

Two days later I received two letters from HR at head office addressed to Ms S Stansfield. The first was a formal letter of appointment, but the second was a more personal letter from Carol Masters

Dear Stacey,

It was good to meet you and I welcome you to our HR training team.

However when checking your personnel records to draw up the contract we found that you had accidentally been listed as being male when you joined us. I apologise for that and hope that it has not caused any problems over the years.

I confirm that we have now changed all your staff records and that there should be no problems from now on.

I look forward to working with you in the future.

Yours Sincerely,
Carol Masters
Director of Human Resources

As far as the company was concerned I was now, and always had been, female, and without a deeply embarrassing conversation which would probably cost me my job, I always would be, unless I decided to move on.

When I told the girls they had a bit of a giggle “Looks like you are stuck as one of us now Stacey, but we need to get you sorted out with all the other stuff, bank, credit cards, driving licence - you can’t show the police your licence when the photo is so out of date and you are listed as male- passport, railcard, and anything else that identifies you.” Why is it always Morag that comes out with all the practical stuff.

“The bank and finance stuff is no problem everything is just identified as Stacey Stansfield, no ‘Mr’ title. I’ll have to look into the driving licence and passport but I believe that they can be changed quite easily now, the rest of the stuff is not important.

After a visit to my doctor, who I had never visited since I initially registered and who didn’t know me, I had a letter confirming that I was living as a woman and proposed to remain so, and with that as confirmation I soon had my new driving licence and passport. This allowed me to change my tax and national insurance records, and I was now officially female, even if not physically.

The girls had booked a holiday cottage by the coast in Devon and asked if I would like to join them, which delighted me as I needed a break to clear my head before starting my first seminar at the bank. The first day the girls decided that I needed a bit more ‘glue surgery’ if I was going to look right in a swimsuit. After an uncomfortable and embarrassing session my groin area had now been pushed and probed and glued to form a realistic looking vagina. The girls said it was not perfect but only a surgeon could do better They were right though, in a swimsuit- I didn’t have the nerve to wear a bikini- I easily passed as just one of the four girls lying on the beach enjoying the sun, and when I was dressed my panties were a lot more comfortable and sat better, I thought that this would last long after the holiday.

I soon settled into my new work role and enjoyed introducing the new staff to the joys and problems of the IT system telling them how far they could go with advice before passing things over to the technical back-up staff. My easy-going relaxed manner reassured those who were a bit nervous of technology, particularly the women who were generally not as confident and full of bravado as the men, and I was highly valued and was soon upgraded to giving presentations to the techies too.

With my false boobs and my artificial vagina, I grew more confidently into my life as a woman and decided that it was time that I needed to make the situation complete and permanent.

After physical and mental assessments by specialist doctors, I was injected with a starter dose of female hormones and started taking daily tablets all of which would lead to changes in my body and emotions

‘Girls, you have been really good friends to me and need to be the first to know. Today, I have had my first booster dose of hormones and have started on the path to full womanhood and in about a year I hope it will all be completed.”

That’s wonderful Stacey, we have been expecting this for some time, you have kept us waiting so long.” Kirsty pulled Morag and Moira in a group hug and we all ended up in tears. Being nurses they obviously knew about the physical changes I would be going through but asked a lot of questions about the emotional side and how I felt and what my family would think.

“ I have no close family left, I was an only child, my parents were killed in a boating accident a few years go, my grandparents have died, there are a few aunts and cousins around but I haven’t seen or heard from them for years, you three are like sisters to me and are the closest to family that I have’”

That brought another round of tears and another hug. Moira was the first to calm down and get herself together.

“ Stacey, we were really sorry that our joke with your hair got out of hand and upset you so much, but we have watched you overcome that and grow into a beautiful confident woman and the longer it has gone on the more we have realised that we did not do a bad thing. You fell onto the path so easily and without much resistance that we obviously unleashed something that was in you anyway. I hope that not only will you forgive us, but that you will look back on this year and thank us for bringing out the real you.”

“Come here Sis and I will show you how much I want to thank you.”

Another group hug and I became so emotional and I burst into tears of happiness, not just a little sob, but a real cry.

Over the following months the girls were a great support and source of comfort to me, following all my body changes, the breast growth, the redistribution of body fat, the muscle wastage, and the emotional highs and lows. We had a ceremonial removal of the breast forms after a few months to reveal my slowly developing natural ones, and disposed of the forms.

Time soon came around for the final stage in my transition, my breasts were already fully developed, my waist and hips had become a lot more curvy and feminine, it now just needed the operation to transform my male genitalia into a normal-looking and fully functional vulva and vagina. The girls came to the hospital with me and kept me company taking turns to hold my hands until I became sleepy from the anaesthetic.

I woke up feeling drowsy from the drugs and with a dull ache between my legs, to see three happy smiling faces at my bedside.

“ Welcome back to the world Sis, you are now perfect, or at least will be when you are all healed up and the pain has gone.” Kirsty said for them all. “ The surgeon says that it all went like a dream, one of the better ops he has done. You will be very uncomfortable for a while and will have to rest and take it easy when you get home, but otherwise that is it all over now, you are physically and legally the beautiful woman you always should have been.

Over the years our lives changed and we went off in different directions but we all kept in close touch like all sisters do, sharing the good times and bad times. Kirsty and Moira met boyfriends
and moved out, leaving Morag who moved in with me. Eventually we were Maids of Honour at their weddings and Godparents and honorary Aunties to their children. Neither Morag or I have felt a great need to get married, we both have quite demanding careers and enjoy each others company and are content and happy as we are.

My whole life had been reprogrammed and rebooted by chance when my new neighbours moved in, and I always feel very grateful for the wonderful changes they have made to my life.

The end