In the early I morning was awoken from a deep sleep by Megan, bringing me a cup of coffee and some buttered toast.

“Good morning, sleepyhead, I am off to work to try to get something organised about doing a deal with you. As I said last night, I am trusting you, don’t let me down. Keep a low profile, stay away from the windows and do not, under any circumstances, go out or answer the door. If it is discovered that you are here it will be obvious that you have been talking to me and not only will your life be in danger, but mine will be too. I suggest that, after washing your hair last night, that you give it a good brush, it looks a bit tangled, and that shampoo you used last night was conditioning and has given it a lot of body, you need to tidy it up. Since you have been living rough your clothes have got dirty and smelly so I’ve put them in the washer. There are some of my brother’s clothes in the wardrobe in your room, he sometimes stays here overnight if he is in town, feel free to see if anything fits, if you fancy a change from your t-shirt and boxers.”

I drank the coffee to wake me up properly, put on the dressing gown over my t-shirt and pants, and mooched around the house for an hour or so, trying to get my thoughts together. Megan was right my hair was a mess and needed a good brush, but no matter how hard I tried it still looked really full and hung down to my shoulder falling onto my face. I had a search around in her bathroom and found an elasticated hair band and brushed my hair back and tied it in a ponytail. Being so full it almost looked like a woman’s hairstyle, but at least it was practical and off my face.

I had a look at her brother’s stuff but he was at least a couple of sizes too big, he must be at least well over 6ft, and obviously quite stocky too, everything was floppy on me and was uncomfortable. Megan was right, my own clothes were filthy and well overdue to be cleaned, but I needed something, I couldn’t walk around in the dressing gown all day, so I had a look in her wardrobe and drawers to see if there was anything suitable. I ended up wearing a pair of stretch leggings and a heavy wool jumper which were reasonably unisex, fair enough they were women’s styles but they fitted and were comfortable.

I spent the rest of the day just mooching around thinking about the situation I had got myself into while I tidied the house and washed the dishes from last night’s meal

When Megan returned in the evening, she did a double-take at how I looked. “Wow I never expected that, with those clothes and you hair tied back like that I can understand why they dressed you as a girl for some of the drugs runs, you look quite feminine. Actually, thinking about it, while you are here, that will be a good disguise for you. If I tidy your hair up a bit, and with a bit of makeup you will be quite convincing and unrecognisable, and if anyone sees you all they will see is a woman. What do you think, could you live with that or will it be too much for you to handle?”

“I think that it is a silly idea, it’s one thing wearing these clothes but anything further sounds a bit weird. I might have got away with it when I was a bit younger, but I’ve changed a bit since then. I’ll be ok as I am until you can get something sorted. How did things go at work, how long before something happens?”

“As you suggested I went a few rungs up the letter and spoke to the head of the Major Crimes team at county headquarters. It will be a few days before I get a decision, as once they decide to go along with it they will have to get agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service before they can guarantee you immunity from any charges and provide a change of identity. So it will be best if you stay here until then, word on the street is that the gang are desperate to find you to make sure you do not talk. Think seriously about what I said about disguising yourself as a woman, I know you reacted strongly when I suggested it but it could be for the best, you wouldn’t have to sit with the curtains closed all day.”

At bedtime, Megan told me that she had left some pyjamas on the bed for me, as a change from my dirty t-shirt and pants. They were pyjamas alright and looked about my size but were definitely some of hers, light cotton top with short puffed sleeves and a scooped neck, along with knee-length pants, all in a flowered forget-me-not motive, but they were clean and fresh and would be better than sleeping nude.

Maybe it was sleeping in her pyjama set, maybe it was a dream I had about seeing myself years earlier helping mum dressed as Andrea, maybe it was wearing some of Megan’s clothes the day before, but when I woke the following morning I had calmed down about her suggestion that I looked quite feminine and that dressing as a woman could actually work as a disguise.

I heard Megan moving about getting ready to go to work in the morning and went out to the kitchen, brewed up coffee and toast and put out a bowl of cereal for her to save her time.

“Hey you look dead cute Andy, those pyjamas sit well on you, keep them while you are here.” she said with a cheeky grin before finishing her breakfast and leaving for work.

I had a good look at myself in her full-length mirror and saw that she was right, with a little bit of work, I could convincingly pass as a woman. I decided that if this was going to be a success that I would have to put in a lot of effort, just putting on a dress would not be enough. First I went to the bathroom and had a close shave everywhere, and I mean everywhere, arms, legs, armpits, and chest, everywhere I could reach, and was soon totally hairless on my body, as far as I could make out. To give some relief as I felt a bit tingly from shaving areas that had never in my life felt a razor, I followed up by smoothing moisturiser all over. Unfortunately everything I could find was floral scented, but it would all help with the illusion that I was a woman.

I had another rummage in her wardrobe and drawers deciding that while I was in the house by myself that I would try the full look and ended up in a skirt and top along with a bra, suitably padded with socks, panties and tights, but shoes were a bit of a problem. Although my body was roughly the same size as hers, her feet were at least two shoe sizes smaller, but a pair of open-toed sling-back sandals were flexible enough to fit me, and the tights I was wearing helped my feet slide into them a lot easier. I had no experience with makeup, but at least put on a bit of lipstick to finish the look. Looking in the mirror, with my hair brushed out hanging loose down to my collar, I saw a young woman staring back at me, not too good-looking but at least female.

I was just sitting down for an hour of daytime TV, actually listening to the makeup tips in one of the programmes trying to pick up some ideas to try later, when the doorbell rang. I looked out of the window and saw an Amazon van, and despite what Megan had said, I answered the door to the courier.

“Good morning darling, parcel for Megan Jones, is that you?”

“No, but I am her cousin Rhiannon, I’ll take it for her.” I managed to squeak out the first Welsh name that came into my head, in a bit breathy and husky-voiced reply, which he seemed to accept.

“Great, have a good day darling.” he chirped as he left.

I was quite pleased that I had passed the first small test of my new identity and could hardly wait for Megan to return to see what she thought of my new look. Trying to remember what I had seen on the TV, I had a go at putting on makeup. I looked ghastly, it was all too heavy, patchy and the colours did not really suit me, so I wiped it all off and started again, toning it all down. At the fourth attempt it looked quite acceptable, even if not as good as it should have been. Despite a slightly shaky nervous hand I even managed to apply liner and mascara without putting my eyes out with the wands.

I had a good look at myself in the full-length mirror in the wardrobe, and decided that this was going to work. With a bit more practice and getting used to the feel of the clothes and the makeup, I felt that I could be comfortable adjusting to life as a woman for a while. It may not have been my choice of lifestyle, but at least it was keeping me alive.

To pass the rest of the day, I raided the freezer and kitchen cupboards, found some chicken breasts, carrots, parsnip, onions and a leek , mixed them all in a casserole dish, added a stock cube and some herbs and put it in the oven to slow-cook, throwing some pearl potatoes in about half an hour before Megan was due home. It make me think sadly about my poor mother and how I had helped her in the kitchen, often dressed as Andrea.

When Megan arrived home she just stood and gazed at me for a while before snapping back into her normal manner. “Won’t you just look at you, you’ve obviously been busy today. That’s a good choice of outfit, it sits well on you, and it means that you don’t have to hide away. You’ve done a fairly good job with the makeup too, I wasn’t expecting you to go so far, and for it to turn out so well, but it works, you are quite believable. That’s a welcoming smell coming from the kitchen, I hope that it tastes just as good.”

The casserole was warming and delicious, and when we had finished and cleared up we decided to have another a glass off wine to relax.

“Before you sit down Andy, let me have a good look at you. Anyone would easily take you for a woman, there’s not much that I would’ve done differently if you had asked me to help, although a little bit less eye-liner and mascara would make you even more natural looking.”

“Even before I put on the makeup, just wearing these clothes and with my hair loose, I had no problem when a courier called either, he was a bit flirty and kept calling me darling.”

“I told you not to answer the door, it could have been anyone.”

“I'm not daft, I did check who it was beforehand. By the way, he asked who I was and I told him that I was your cousin Rhiannon, does that sound ok.”

“Actually I do have a cousin Rhiannon, so that will be easy to remember and from now I will have to get used to calling you that. There is still no progress on taking the case forward, so you will be here with me for a few more days Rhiannon. If you are happy with your new identity, we better have a session teaching you how to make yourself up a bit better, you’ll be even more believable.”

For the rest of the evening until bedtime she introduced me to what makeup I should use, which colours worked best for me and how to apply it, making me do it several times, cleaning it off and reapplying it until I got it almost perfect. Later I got changed into my pyjamas, cleaned off the makeup and went to say goodnight.

‘Oh Rhiannon, I see that you have done your legs and arms too, I was going to suggest it but you are ahead of me, you really have a decent pair of legs, a lot of girls would be jealous.”

“You have nothing to worry about though Megan, You outshine me every way.”

“That’s mainly because I have had the right genes to start with, but I’ve also had a lot more practice making the best of myself.”

In the morning after Megan had left I sat at her dresser and made myself up, just lightly, she had said that as I had quite a smooth complexion and no whiskers to speak of I didn’t need too much, added a bit of eye liner, mascara, blusher and lipstick and I thought that I looked quite presentable. I just dressed in the clothes I had found yesterday, it didn’t seem right to keep taking stuff out of her wardrobe, particularly her underclothes. I suddenly had the thought that as I would be staying as Rhiannon for a few days that I it would be sensible to get some stuff of my own and decided to brave a trip to the shops. Besides, I had used up all the vegetables in yesterday’s casserole and needed to replace them, as well as getting a few more groceries to keep us going.

I found a casual coat that fitted me, borrowed a small shoulder bag for my wallet, keys and stuff and taking a deep breath closed the door behind me and took my first steps in the world as Rhiannon.

I was just leaving the house when I was approached by a late-middle-aged woman, who turned out to be Megan’s neighbour. The last thing I wanted was getting into a deep conversation with a nosey neighbour asking me questions, I was trying to keep as low a profile as possible.

“Hello, I’m Lucy I live next door, are you staying with Megan?”

Not wanting to get too deep into a conversation, I quickly replied. “Yes I’m staying for a few days, I’m Rhiannon her cousin. I’m just off to the shops to get a few things.”

“That’s good I’m off there myself, I’ll walk down with you. Where do you want to go?”

“I came here to stay with Megan in a bit of a hurry and didn’t bring much with me, so I need to top up with some underwear, and a couple of skirts and tops for around the house, nothing fancy or special, and then I’m off to the supermarket for a few groceries.”

“If you’re not looking for anything special you may as well just get everything at the supermarket, they have a decent selection of styles and are not too pricey, I’ll look with you and let you know what I think.”

With Lucy helping me choose things, I ended up with a couple of bras, some packs of panties and tights, two skirts and a pack of tops, and even a pair of shoes, spending a lot more than I had expected, but Lucy’s enthusiasm carried me along. I got the groceries I wanted and quite heavily laden with all the bags we made our way home.

“That was a change, shopping is always pleasanter when you are with somebody to chat to as you walk around. Would you like to come in for a coffee or tea and have a natter?”

“I’d love to Lucy, but another time if you don’t mind, I need to get all this stuff put away and I have a few things that I need to do.”

“Ok dear, I understand, but call round anytime, I’m usually in.”

Although Lucy was nice enough and was obviously lonely and wanting someone to chat to, I didn’t want to get drawn into long conversations and questions from her about my life.

I changed into some of my new clothes, washed out those I had borrowed from Megan, and thought that there had been no problems facing the world. Lucy had just accepted me as Rhiannon and it did make me more comfortable being with someone when I was picking the underwear. Men are never at ease picking women’s clothes, and athough I looked like any other young woman, my years of living as a boy and man had imprinted my attitudes deep in my mind. I thought that once I got my brain in gear and my story straight that I would pop round see her as she was obviously looking for company.

The rest of the day soon passed, putting the clothes away, tidying up the house, and preparing dinner, until it was soon time for Megan to return home.

“Have you been out shopping Rhiannon, I don’t recognise that outfit as any of mine?”

“Yes, it isn’t fair to keep using your stuff so I got a few things my own to keep me going and have washed all the stuff you loaned me. I had hoped to just go quietly down to the shops to get a few things, but I got hijacked by your neighbour Lucy, and she helped me pick out some things.”

“Good choice, I quite like that skirt, and the whole outfit goes well together, maybe we’ll have to do a shop together on my days off.”

‘To be honest, Lucy was a big help telling me what would go together and what would suit me.”

“She can be a bit over keen like that sometimes. Her husband died last year and she is a bit lonely, but she is kindhearted. I sometimes go over and have a coffee with her, why not invite her round one night to join us for a meal, apart from being a friendly thing to do, it will help build up your story if anyone comes around asking if they have seen any strangers recently. Talking about meals, something smells nice.”

“Just a simple fish pie, cod and haddock in a cream cheese sauce, topped with buttered mashed potatoes.”

“This is absolutely delicious, I could get used to this, usually it’s a microwave meal when I get in after a hard day’s work. Where did you learn to cook, where you were brought up it is very much women’s work and men keep well out of the kitchen.”

“When I was growing up, my Dad was already disabled and couldn’t do much to help and my brothers were too young to do anything useful, so I was often roped in to help Mam when things got a bit hectic. I actually found that cooking and baking, all the while chatting away with her, were soothing after the pressure and worries of working for the drugs gang. It never really entered my head that this should be women’s work, it was something I enjoyed and it took from her some of the stress off her looking after everyone.”

“All I can say is that she did good job teaching you to cook even if she could not stop you drifting into a life of crime, she must have been a really strong woman, coping with all the pressures and worries in her life.”

“She was, she didn’t deserve to die like that.” I replied brushing away tears from my eyes.

“Lets get this all tidied away, then you and I need to have a serious talk.” Megan wrapped her arm around my shoulder and pulled me close realising that I was upset.

To be continued.