5 Deeper into Danielle

It was only my second morning as Danielle, but it already just seemed normal to brush out and style my hair , and put on my makeup. I wasn’t sure how casually to be dressed today, so I just went out to the kitchen in my nightie and started preparing breakfast.

“ Good morning sleepyhead, good of you to get up at last.” I joked with Carol when she eventually came through from her room, wearing her pyjama set, “I see you couldn’t be bothered to get properly dressed either.”

“I often just get breakfast like this at the weekend, and it looks like you have no inhibitions about wondering around in front of me in your nightwear either. Give me a coffee, let me wake up properly please, why are you so bright and full of life in the mornings?”

“ Did Helen say anything to you about what we would be up to today, she just said ‘work on my role as a PA.’”

“ She did say to me that she wanted to see the outfit you will be wearing to the office next week, and how will present yourself, but that is all.”

“ Do I need to re-do my makeup and hair in a more business-like style or should I just go as I am.”

“ Spoken like a true girl, you are really adjusting to the role aren’t you. You should be fine as you are, but put some clothes on first. Just dress casual and take your work outfit and make up and hair stuff with us, we will see what Helen has to say before you get changed.” At Carols insistence I again put on a skirt, my mid-thigh denim one, she said that the more I wore one, the more normal it would be to me, and i wouldn’t worry so much about what I was wearing.

Round at Helen’s she took charge again.

“As I said yesterday, we need to get you looking and acting right for work as a PA to a senior executive. Your make up is fine for going out with your friends, but it needs to be a lot more subtle for work. I know that there is an age difference between us, but look at how I have done mine, paler eye shadow, no eyeliner on the lower lids, just a hint of blusher, all much more discreet. Go into the bedroom, clean it all off and start again.

When I came out again she was much happier. “ That’s an awful lot better, much more sophisticated and professional, and you seem to have got the hang of all the necessary techniques.

Let’s see what we can do with your hair, it is long for you as Danny, but there is a limited amount we can do for you as Danielle. After playing about with it or a while she had my hair fixed in what she called a chignon, and Carol called a low bun, gathered at the back just above the top of the neck, coiled into a loose bun. “That’s about right it suits you. You need to be able to do that yourself though, brush it out, I will go through it again, listen to what I am telling you and then you can have a go. You need to learn how to do this yourself, I’m sure that Carol will not want to fix it for you every morning.”

Gathering the hair into a pony tail as a start was easy, but I found it difficult working with my hands behind my head to coil it into a bun, the first few times, when she held a mirror for me to let me see, it looked an absolute mess, with loose strands sticking out all over the place, it looked even worse than the ‘messy bun’ that I normally tied my hair up into. After the fifth attempt Helen was satisfied that I could make myself presentable, at least from the neck up.

“ Show me the outfit that you intend to wear, if I don’t think it appropriate we will have to go out and get you something else.”

I took the suit and blouse out of the hanging carrier bag and held it up against me for her to see.

“ That actually looks fine, you have good taste, or at least Carol has, no need to go shopping, go and put it on and we will see how it fits and hangs on you.

I quickly changed into my two-piece navy skirt suit and azure blouse with matching tie bow, took out my ear studs and put in some small gold hoops, put on my 4” stilettos, checked my hair and makeup and confidently walked back out for inspection.”

“ Dani, you are in your twenties, not your forties, ditch the tie, just go for the blouse with a couple of buttons undone, just to give a hint of cleavage, nothing too showy, but enough to leave no doubt as to your femininity. I would suggest you also change the heels, they are uncomfortable to wear all day at the best of times, particularly if you are not used to them, the chunky heels you had on before are fine. Just change your shoes but keep the rest of the outfit on, you need to get used to how those clothes feel and move when you sit down or stand up and how comfortable you are when you are working.”

For the next hour or so, she had me working at the desk on the computer, drafting emails and letters, correcting my posture and the way I arched my hands when typing. “ Straighten your back, do not lean over the keyboard too much, and Carol hasn’t given you too long nails so you need to let them grow out a bit, but it means that you have to use the flat of your fingers rather than the tips when typing.”

Eventually she was satisfied and told me to change back to the clothes I came in, and brush out my hair loose as it was when I arrived, and we went out for a light lunch.

“ Helen, I haven’t told you what a wonderful cook Dani is, she has been treating me the last two nights, as a thank you why not let her make you your evening meal, I’ll help her with the preparation. The supermarket is just down the road, we’ll get some stuff in. Have you got any particular likes or dislikes.”

“ That’s very kind of you, If you two are cooking I do like a traditional Sunday roast and veg, no particular preferences, surprise me, it will be a nice change to have someone to make it for me and to dine with.”

Before we started on the meal, Helen wanted to see how well I remembered my lessons and had me redo my makeup and hair as if I was going into the office and was pleased that I got it all right first time.

She then gave me an induction as to what my duties would be and how I would be expected to behave. “Just be relaxed and confident. Sir Charles will tell you what he expects of you and what your workload is for the day, he is fairly easy to get on with, you could have a lot worse boss. you shouldn’t have any trouble with him, but be careful around some of the other staff. Some of the senior secretaries will have fancied themselves as his PA and may be a bit put out. Don’t react to them, try and win them over by doing your job correctly and efficiently, but definitely don’t put a lot of trust in them, if they do some work for you check it thoroughly, they will want to see you fail.”

After that Carol and I prepared dinner and we all sat down to enjoy a Tarragon chicken with roast vegetables, followed by a raspberry Eton Mess, using shop bought meringue I had to confess.

After the stresses of learning how to present myself and act, the rest of the evening was very relaxed. For someone in a senior management position, Helen was very outgoing and a lot of fun once she switched off from her work mode, and she changed from being the boss making sure that I didn’t let her down, to being a friend. She even suggested that she was very appreciative of all that Carol had done for me and that she would try to find a more challenging job for her when one came up.

Back at the flat, Carol and I settled down and chatted for an hour before it was time for bed.

“ You have done amazingly well, it has only been a couple of days since you started out as a girl, and you already seem quite content, relaxed and confident in it, you are a natural, you should have been a girl all your life. I would like to think that after all this is over, that you seriously think about how you would like to spend the rest of your life and that Danielle does not just fade away.

“ Don’t get carried away Carol, I am doing this as a great career opportunity, it is not something that I would have chosen, I have never dressed or acted as a girl before, other than in the plays, and have never had any desire to do so either. Yes, I am comfortable, and I seem to be able to carry it all off, but I don’t see it as a long-term change in my lifestyle. you and Helen have really helped me through this and if it all works out I will be forever grateful, but please don’t push me too hard to take it any further. And please, please, please Carol, do not mention anything about this to the women in the office, most of them already treat me as another one of the girls anyway, and knowing about all this would just make my life unbearable. If anyone asks just tell them that I have been sent away on a training course for a couple of weeks, and that you were just asked to help me get packed and get my flat sorted out for when I was away.”

“Ok. anything you say.” she replied with a knowing look on her face.”

Monday and Tuesday was very much more of the same, Carol made a point of getting me out in public in full view, chatting to other girls and women in the shops and cafés, and generally getting me more and more accustomed to just being accepted as the woman i now appeared to be.

After a relaxing evening watching TV, and both of us cleaning shaping and painting our nails and putting my hair in rollers, it was soon time to get ready for bed.

‘You should get ready and have an early night, it is a big day for you tomorrow. To keep you in the mood and set you up for spending the day as a woman, working with women, I suggest that you immerse yourself in femininity and wear your full-length lacy satin nightie, sleep tight.”

To be continued.