4 Helen’s Turn

I woke up in the morning and in a still-half-asleep state couldn’t remember where I was, and I suddenly realised that I was wearing a nightdress and had breasts and began to panic and get confused before it all came back to me. When I had got my mind in gear I decided that I had better get up and dressed, but realised that it was no longer that simple and quick. I thought that I would need to get used to starting the day with a much longer regime.

i put on the makeup, in as far as I remembered a similar fashion to what Carol had done yesterday, brushed out my hair just letting it hang loose around my shoulders, put on fresh underwear, my leggings and a clean top and went out to the kitchen. There was no sign yet of Carol so I put on the coffee machine and started preparing breakfast. Carol had said that she believed in healthy eating so I toasted some oats and almonds, mixed in some raisins, grapes, and banana to make my own version of muesli, and just in case she was hungry made some toast and put out the honey to go with it.

“ Oh, that coffee smells wonderful, just what I need this morning after all that wine last night, and that muesli is just the right thing.” Carol said when she eventually wandered into the kitchen rubbing her eyes.

Breakfast over she gave me a quick look over. “Not too bad with your makeup for a first attempt, but you can’t possible go out like that, the foundation is a bit patchy and needs smoothing in more evenly, far too much blusher it needs to more subtle, your eyeliner is crooked and not even, too much eye-shadow, the lips aren’t too bad though, go and clean it all off and do it again while I tidy up.” She made me do this three times before she was eventually satisfied with my look.

“ Now go and get dressed to go to Helen’s. At the weekend I would normally go casual and just wear slacks and a top, but you need to get used to wearing a skirt so we will go a bit more girly today. Put on that new lemon top and white skirt , plain tights and the white shoes with the kitten heels, they should all go together.” I thought to myself that life is now so complicated, everything needed to coordinate and match, no more just throwing on a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, a sweater and my trainers.

Carol drove us round to Helen’s. I didn’t want to risk having an accident driving my car and having to explain why I looked as I did.

When Helen let us in, she had a long look over me and turned on a big grin. “Oh, my, you certainly look the part Danielle, a lot better than I was expecting, Carol has done an amazing job with you, come and sit down, I’ll get some coffees and you can tell me all about what you got up to yesterday.”

I quickly ran through what we had done from getting prepared and dressed, going to the supermarket and the mall, the meal and getting ready for bed, and when I had finished Helen frowned at me.

“ That was all well and good, but it was just like notes from a memo pad, there was no feeling, no emotion, no expressing what you thought. When women are chatting they are much more expressive and tend to digress onto minor things, you need to be much more personal not like a travel itinerary. Another thing is that women do not just communicate with their mouths, we use facial expressions, hand movements and eye contact, much more than men. Have another go, start again at the beginning.”

I went through it all again trying to include everything she had said, telling her about my worries and concerns of getting discovered as a man, how the shop assistants had related to me, how I felt about Carol pushing and pushing until things were done her way, and how worried I was that working in the office all day in close contact with people would leave me much more exposed than casual chats in the shops.

“ That was ten times better, you put much more of your inner self into describing things. A bit more practice over this weekend with Carol and I and I think you should be ok. Your voice is good, keep the pitch as it is, do not try too hard to go higher, but you need to change some of the intonation a bit, try to sound a bit more sing-song, and soften your accent a little bit, it will all come across as a lot more feminine. You are doing very well, considering that it is only one day since we started this, you are a quick learner and you are almost a natural. are you sure that you have not done anything like this before?”

“ Apart from a couple of times in school plays this is all my first time in skirts. I went to a boys-only school and always got picked for the female roles because I have always been a bit smaller and slimmer than the others, but leaving that aside I have never dressed as a girl.”

“Let’s go out to lunch, I would like to see how you interact with strangers, there is a nice hotel just down the road and they do a decent meal at a reasonable price.”

I put on my coat, picked up my bag and was ready to leave when Helen called me back.

“ Don’t you think that you should check your makeup, particularly your lipstick, it is not just a matter of putting it on the morning and forgetting about it, you need to check it and refresh it regularly, if needed.”

We just walked the short distance to the hotel, and at first I was conscious of the clicking of my heels on the pavement, thinking it was drawing attention to me, but I soon seemed to forget about it, it just blended in with the others, and I was just another girl out with friends and colleagues.

We found quiet table in a window bay, ordered drinks while considering the menu, and when we had all decided on our meals, Helen insisted that it had to be me placing the order and interacting with the waiter. When he had gone I received another lecture. “ I told you earlier, when you are talking to someone, look at them, speak with your eyes and hands as much as with your tongue, and smile. Nobody is going to see through the makeup and hair and look on you as anything other than an attractive young woman. You need to learn to chat, you could have commented on what a lovely place this is, or asked when it was busy and what is the best time to come, anything like that, just make conversation. Besides, that waiter had his eye on you, you could have been a bit friendlier and flirted with him a bit.”

“ Why would I want to do that? Just because I look like this doesn’t mean that I am interested in men.”

“ A bit of a smile and some compliments never does any harm. Just because you are being nice to someone does not necessarily mean that you want to jump into bed with them. It is all part of the role you are playing, not just the obvious clothes, hair and things, but the nuances of interaction between women and men, you don’t want to come across as cold and distant.”

After the meal, instead of going back to Helen’s she drove us to the Mall we had visited yesterday and we walked around window shopping. Don’t just follow us around, if you see something in a window display, stop and have a closer look.”

“But I don’t need anything else, I have more than enough to last me for the time I will be working with Sir Charles.”

“ That doesn’t stop you looking and thinking about maybe getting something similar in the future, as Carol has told you, change your mindset, start thinking and acting as a woman. I know that you have 22 years of memories and programmed reactions to things as a boy and man, but for the next few weeks put them to the back of your mind and become one of us.”

“ It is not as easy as that, if it was the other way round could you simply stop having womanly thoughts and attitudes.”

“ You said before that you were in some plays at school, just think of this as acting, immerse yourself in the character and perform on the stage of real life. Lecture over for now, just enjoy the shopping experience.“

Back at Helen’s we went over what we had done and what I had learned today.

“ You are doing really well Dani, I think that if you keep up with everything you have been doing today, that you will be perfectly acceptable and believable as the woman you now appear to be. Tomorrow I want to work on your role as a PA, what you will be expected to do, how you should react to your colleagues and business situations. It is not easy stepping into someone else’s shoes at any time, and your personal situation will make it even more difficult. Get yourselves back to Carol’s, think about everything I have said today, talk it through with each other and then just relax, and become accustomed to your new life.”

Back at Carols, we changed into casual clothes, leggings and tops, I was glad to get out of the tights and heels, although I had found wearing a skirt quite comfortable. I pulled my hair back out of the way and fixed it in place with one of the hair claws and grips that I had bought when we were out.

“ Are you sure that you are ok with all this Carol, it is taking up all your weekend and it is all a bit weird.”

“ When Helen first mentioned it to me yesterday, I thought it was all a bit far-fetched and impossible, but, despite what Helen picked you up on today, I am starting to just see you as another of my girl friends that I can relax with, you really are becoming natural as Danielle. Gemma is away for a while, let’s just get on with life, and stop constantly reminding me that you are Danny, not Danielle. Besides you are good company and it is a lot better than being stuck here by myself. Are you cooking again Dani, I really enjoyed that meal last night and you are much better at it than I am?”

“ Fine by me, I’ll just pop down to the shops to get some stuff.”

“ Are you just going as you are, will you be all right on your own?”

“As you both keep telling me I look and act the part so I might just as well get used to being just another girl out in the shops, I’ll be fine.” A quick swipe of the lipstick and a brush of my hair, I picked up my bag and left her with a smile on her face.

I was soon back without having had any problems, other than getting chatted up by one of the store assistants on the butcher’s counter and was straight into the kitchen, preparing the rump steak and tossed salad, complete with home-made coleslaw and salad dressing.

“ That was delicious again Dani, where did you learn to cook and prepare stuff like that.”

“ When I moved away from home to go to uni, my Mum insisted that she wasn’t going to have me living for three years on pizza, pot noodle, and takeaway curries like most students, and gave me an intensive course on preparing some delicious healthy options. After my first year, I left the Halls and moved into a flat and I found that enjoyed doing the cooking as well as eating the meals. Between the TV chefs and online recipe sites I soon built up a collection of things that I liked and were not too much bother, and you are now getting the benefit. The little extras like the coleslaw and salad dressing are easy to make, are a lot cheaper than the commercial stuff, and you know what is in them, no additives and e-numbers, and I think that they taste better.”

“ That was really good, you just sit and relax with a glass of wine and I will clear up and wash the dishes. There is nothing decent on TV tonight, have a look at Prime and see if there are any films you fancy.”

After last nights weepy, I chose something a lot lighter, 'Nine to Five’. We both enjoyed the lighter moments but Carol insisted on pointing out the strong character traits of the female leads, she was determined to gently carry on with my brainwashing. It was soon time for bed and without thinking too much about it I changed into my nightie and went through the nightly cleansing routine, before climbing into bed where I quickly went into a deep undisturbed sleep.

to be continued