Chapter 3

Abigail appraised my movements and told me to take shorter steps with my feet trying to follow a straight line. Then I had to lose my slouch that the weight of the breasts were forcing on me. We worked on all of these until I walked correctly, with my head high and my shoulders back. That was a whole new feeling.

I had been wearing the underwear for an hour by now, and she then added a layer with a slip, that seemed to slither over my body. The dress came out of the bag now. It was a slippery fabric, and I had to step into it for her to pull it up and zip it up. I was now trapped in it, as there was no way I could reach behind me.

I had to walk the walk once more, to feel the skirt brushing against my legs. She took pity on me then, and we went down to the kitchen for a cup of tea. That was something new as I had to negotiate the stairs in heels. After the tea, she kept me sitting in the kitchen while she went to fetch her cosmetics. I had to sit and hold my head still while she put a cloth over my top and did things to my face, and then fitted the wig. That was when I really wanted to see what I looked like. Was I a clown or a possible woman?

I still wasn’t allowed to know, as she had a small box of false nails and a bottle of glue. She attached the nails and then painted them red to match the dress, ‘and the lipstick’ which I could taste.

“There’s one thing we didn’t get. You need a bit of bling; we’ll have to get you some jewellery.”

“There’s a box with my mothers’ gems in my wardrobe.”

We went upstairs, with it being very odd to climb stairs on tiptoe. I pulled out the box and opened it, she gasped.

“These are beautiful, they must be worth a fortune.”

“They’re insured for forty thousand. My mother was a very elegant lady when she dressed up.”

I had my studs replaced by a pair of gold drops, and a gold necklace added to my throat. Her rings didn’t fit my fingers, but there was a shop in the Village that sold cheap look-alikes. It was only then that I saw myself in the mirror.

“You know. I do think we’ve made a start. Can I get properly dressed now?”

“We’re not wasting all that time. I’ve got a red bag, so we’re going out.”

“I can’t go out like this!”

“In another few weeks, you’ll be at Santas’ Grotto, looking even sexier than this. No, you have to take a big breath and face the great outdoors. I have a coat that you can wear while we travel, but I think it’s time to show the Village what we have created. We can get you the rings while we’re there.”

I really needed a pee, I was getting so scared, but she told me that it was good for me to do it here, as the first time like a woman. With the gaffe, I had to prise the panties down as far as the stocking tops and sit down, using toilet paper to dry, then pull the panties up again. It was very difficult with my long nails but made me be extra careful and slowed my movements.

In the garage, she opened up her car and made me get in, and out several times before I was proficient in sitting, then swivelling with my knees together and pulling the skirt with me. There was an old mirror that had come with her things, and she set it so I could see myself getting out, giving me a very nice view of my panties for the first few times.

She drove us to the Village, and I was getting more worried about this, the closer we got. She made me talk to her as we went, getting me to alter my voice. She parked and I was very slow getting out of the car. Abigail was patient with me and locked the car when I was standing up, so that I couldn’t dive back in. This was it; I was committed.

As we walked towards the entrance, I saw our reflection in the glass doors. Abigail was in slacks, and I was in a dress. We looked like a couple, with her the man. Inside, nobody burst out laughing as we made our way to the food area. I found a seat while she got a couple of drinks to give me time to calm my racing heart. We were sitting there when Jonas, our prospective Santa, came by on his rounds. Abigail spoke to him.

“Hi Jonas, how are you today?”

“All right, Abby. You’re a glutton for punishment, being here on your day off. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“Jonas, meet Medley, the other one of your pair of helpers this Christmas.”

“Medley? Hedley? Bloody hell girl, if the two of you are in the helpers outfits, the Grotto is going to be the place where the blokes gather this year.”

He laughed.

“Marty, on the screens, just asked me to ask you if you’re single.”

“Marty is a nice boy, but I know he’s married, so tell him that he doesn’t stand a chance.”

Jonas went off, chuckling, and Abigail stared at me.

“What’s wrong, has the wig slipped?”

“It’s not the wig that slipped, darling, it’s the mind under it. Do you realise how that conversation sounded. You were in the zone, and it was scary to watch. Your voice was a natural and you said what any girl would say. If you’ve finished your drink, we’ll go and check our lipstick before we wander.”

She was holding my hand when we entered the toilets. It was a good thing that these were just walk-ins, if there had been a door, I would have baulked. We both used the cubicles and washed our hands before checking our lips. I found that the bag she had given me had all sorts of things I never thought I would be carrying around. There was, though, my wallet in there, open so I could just reach in to extract money or my cards.

We strolled, arm in arm, looking at the shop displays, until we reached the jewellery man. He didn’t bat an eyelid as I tried several rings, finding at least one for every finger. They weren’t expensive so I paid him cash, keeping the rings on. He gave me my change and told me that I deserved a good man to buy me the real thing.

We were walking along, our coats open in the warmer interior, when we came to my usual beat, the boutique section. When we arrived at one of the more affordable shops, the manager was standing outside.

“Hello, Abigail. I see that your friend is wearing that dress you bought. I didn’t say anything at the time, but I wondered if it was for someone else, seeing that it wasn’t your usual style.”

“Monique, this is Medley, and today is her first time out in the Village.”

“Hello, Medley, welcome to the Village. Wait a moment.”

She dashed to her counter and scribbled something on a notepad, then came back.

“Sorry about that. We’re having a fashion display in the spring, and the printers wanted me to tell them what to call it. You just gave it to me. It will be called the ‘Medley of First Times’ as everything will be new and girly. Would you strut the catwalk for me, Medley?”

“I don’t think that would be appropriate, Monique.”

“Why not? You would look good in anything I put on your back.”

“Because I will have to be regulating the crowd, like I was doing last Saturday with your winter sale.”

“Hedley was doing that.”

She looked at me more closely as Abigail was trying hard to suppress a giggle.

“Is that you, Hedley? I heard that the two of you were going to be Santas’ Helpers, but it never crossed my mind that you would do it so completely feminine. You had me totally fooled. I tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll talk to the admin and see if we can’t deck you out in one of our best dresses and be the hostess and describe the clothing. This is a Hedley, or should I say, Medley, that will be a hit with the public. Look, come on in and we’ll try on a few things while I take some pictures.”

So, we went into the store where I had to remove the coat and pose for a few pictures. Abigail helped me change as I was outfitted in several different dresses, and a few skirt and blouse outfits, with pictures being taken. I had never been the subject of such attention since my mother had gone, but it was a different attention. It was me, being appreciated for how I looked, not as the subject of a mothers’ love.

There was one skirt and blouse outfit that everyone ‘oohed’ over, and I was wearing it when we left, the dress in one of the shop bags. The skirt was tight and red, so the shoes remained, and the blouse was black satin. Monique had given them to me as my fee for providing her with the name of the fashion show and the prospect of being her announcer if the management allowed it.

By the time we had walked past the shops, looking at more displays and commenting on the styles, I was fluid in my movements and had totally forgotten that I was a man under all these clothes. We spoke to a number of sales staff who knew Abigail and accepted that I was her friend Medley, though most were calling me Melody. In fact, it got so that she was introducing me as Melody as we walked on.

“How are you going, Melody. No more fears?”

“Not anymore, my love. I think that we’ll slay them in the aisles come Grotto time.”

We were near the eating area again, ready to get some lunch, when the Village Manager came up to us and offered to buy us lunch if we would sit and listen to a proposal that he had. We sat down, told him what we wanted, and he went off to get it.

“I wonder what he wants, Melody?”

“So, do I. Maybe he has another crazy scheme with me dressed as the Loch Ness Monster, for the New Year Monster Sales.”

“I doubt it. He would have you as Dracula, or a bug-eyed green thing from space. He does have a vivid imagination. I suppose you need that to be successful in his job.”

When he came back with a tray, we ate our meal with just the occasional questions about how we were getting on. We did confirm that we were living together and that my appearance as Melody was in training for the Grotto gig.

“Monique gave me the heads up after you left her shop. She told me that she wants you to be the announcer for her fashion show in the spring. I’m happy to let that happen, and I had a word with your manager, Abigail, to release you to help out as well. When you had that black wig on for Halloween, you look so alike that I want to pair you for other events. I’ve already spoken to the costume supplier for the Grotto and asked them for the two costumes to be in the sizes that Monique gave me. I thought that shorter wigs would work better with kiddies, some do like to hang on to long hair. I’ll organise human hair wigs if you’re happy with that.”

We both nodded.

“For Easter, I’m going to get a couple of professionals in to do fluffy bunnies, but I’d like the two of you to dress like Alice in Wonderland and act as their helpers. You know the sort of thing – a child talks to the bunny, who whispers in your ear, then you tell the child the answer. We’ll have an Easter Egg hunt as well. Your manager is happy to release you for these events, and we’ll pay you as Village staff for those periods, Abigail.”

“What about me, sir?”

“Melody. I can hardly call you Hedley dressed like that. Melody, I want you both to attend a drama school for a while. It will just be a few hours a week until Christmas, to give you more skills in acting out your parts for the public. You’ll have to attend them as Melody, so I’m going to organise a uniform for you so that you can do your normal job as Melody Pearson. When you both are doing these special things, you’ll be paid at the same rate that we pay other actors for shows. Things like the Halloween are internal things, but if we do Easter, for example, as a sponsored event by a chocolate company, you’ll be on a higher rate. What do you say?”

What could I say after Abigail smiled, and agreed, wholeheartedly. When he left us to go and organise things, we sat in silence for a little while until Abigail spoke.

“What I like about this place is the steam locomotive on display. When I was younger, I was a real tomboy and loved the old pictures of steam trains. My father took me on a few heritage lines, and I would lean out the window smelling the engine and the steam. I wanted a train set but only got dolls. I used to dream of tying my dolls to a train track, so they got squashed. I suppose you had a train set?”

“I did. It’s hard to talk about but I guess that you should know.”

I sat and gathered my thoughts. I had never had anyone to talk to about the hardest time of my life.

“I was raised in a big house on Westlecot Road. My father was, supposedly, a big cheese with the council, and my mother was a teacher at Commonweal School, where I went from primary to the exams. I was home, alone, while they were in France on a motoring holiday. They never came home, except in a box. They were killed in a head on with a truck.”

Abigail reached over and put her hand over mine.

“I was a spoilt brat who never even thought about work, happy with a computer and a game station. After the police advised me of my parents deaths, things just unravelled. My father had lived beyond his means, and I had to watch as the cars were repossessed, including the MGB that he said he had bought for me when I was old enough. Then it was the bank giving me a few weeks until they changed the locks, and then the furniture all went, including my bed. I was in a house with a sleeping bag and my train set when the cleaning service wanted paying. When they left, I still had the sleeping bag. I cried so much during those weeks.”

“Oh! You poor thing. That would break most people.”

“I was totally broken. That’s when Uncle Don stepped in. He is my mothers’ brother, and the manager of the Krispy Kreme here. He gave me somewhere to live and the job in his shop. Before that, he called me a layabout. I don’t think that he thought that I would last a week, let alone a couple of years. So, I was determined to make something of myself and be a man. Now I’m sitting here in a skirt and heels thinking about what I’ll need to wear to be Alice.”

“You’re man enough for me, Hedley, and as Melody, you’re my Best Friend Forever. We’re going to have a different future to many, but I can see us making good.”

“I want to kiss you, but it wouldn’t look right. Maybe, we can stand up and hug like women. That will hold me until we get home.”

We stood and hugged.

“I still like steam trains, though.”

“So, do I. I’ve got a yearly ticket to the museum, next door. Fancy a stroll in the past?”

We took our shopping hags to the car, then walked to the museum and spent a couple of hours looking at the exhibits. We were approached, several times, by volunteers asking us if there was anything we wanted to know, something I hadn’t experienced when I was there before. We went back through the Village to her car and drove home. There, we carefully took off our clothes, mine taking a lot longer than it used to, and kissed properly, lipstick to lipstick, before we spent most of the evening in bed, exploring each other in an entirely new way.

We were side by side, holding hands, when she whispered.

“When we first met, I told you that I wasn’t a virgin. Physically I wasn’t, as I had sex toys, some used by girlfriends when I was at school. Mentally, all I wanted was to have a man inside me and you were to be that man. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much, nor did I expect to fall in love so quickly and deeply. I know I’m not a lesbian, but with you as Melody, it is like you are everything rolled into one. You’re my man, yet you’re also my girlfriend. Is that crazy?”

“Not crazy at all. While we’re being serious; will you marry me? I promise to be a good husband, and father if we’re lucky enough. If we have triplets, we can work them into the act as we juggle them.”

“Yes. And no, you can’t use my babies as props. Get some balls if you want to juggle.”

We cuddled and giggled so hard we had to take turns at the toilet. Then we had a sandwich for tea, and I cleansed my face before we went back to bed to see if we could make triplets. I’ll show her who has the balls!

On Thursday, we went into work as usual. We were given an address to go to for our drama classes. We were both allowed to leave at six, every weeknight until the Grotto started, to be taught how to be good with kids, and to exaggerate when we were going to do things like the Easter event. We had lessons on how to act when you’re working with another who isn’t supposed to talk, like Santa, or the Easter Bunny. At the beginning of December, I was given my new uniform.

It was a royal blue pencil skirt, with a black blouse and a royal blue jacket with my new badge as Melody Pearson. The shoes were low heels and cushioned for standing most of the day. I had a supply of stockings and tights, and the kit included cosmetics and a shoulder length black wig. By this time, word had gone around that Hedley was now Melody for the Grotto season, and a lot of the shopkeepers were very supportive. From then on, until Christmas Day, I was expected to work as Melody, both as a concierge, and then in the Grotto. We bought me some nighties, so that I was Melody all the time, spending my days off in character.

In the middle of December, we were in the Village salon, for a make-over and to try on our costumes. I was waxed, again, and they used some semi-permanent make-up so that I would get through the Grotto experience without too much trouble. The costume wasn’t too sexy; the kiddies wouldn’t appreciate that, but the very short skirt on the outfit, combined with the sheer black tights and three-inch heels made sure that the fathers enjoyed their day at the Grotto. We were made up to look like sisters, along with the same wigs, glued on so that little fingers wouldn’t pull them off.

We did three sessions a day. Ten to twelve, two to four, and six to eight. The last was specifically for the bigger children. It was a lot of fun, but tiring, and we were certainly Santas’ Helpers when Jonas got a bit over it. Our last session, on Christmas Eve, was a hoot, as many teenage lads wanted a present and a Christmas kiss from the helpers. We stayed in character on Christmas Day, when we had a lunch party for all those workers who had nowhere else to go, along with a group from the local homeless refuge. I got my bum pinched, more than once, on that occasion.

At home, we gave each other presents that afternoon. My uncle and aunt had been at the lunch, and I had given them something then. It was the first time they had properly seen me in character. Uncle Don had seen me in the Village in my uniform but hadn’t twigged that it was me. Abigail and I had the whole time until New Years Day to rest.

On that day, we were in early, giving back the Helpers outfits, and being fitted out with good dresses to work the crowds with the sales. Abigail had a quick lesson on working the comms, and then she was outside Moniques boutique, regulating entry, while I was further along at an up-market boutique, doing the same. The boutiques had supplied the dresses and shoes. During that time, we were told that our drama teacher had been in to see our Helper performance and wanted us for the local drama society summer season.

By the end of January, we were both so in demand that our normal jobs were taken over by someone else and Abigail was now on the Village payroll. We worked on doors for sales, we escorted groups around the fashion shops, we entertained children in the playground. We were having fun and earning good money. When spring came around, the fashion show and the Easter Egg Hunt were only a few weeks apart.

With the fashion show, we alternated the commentary as there were ten shows a day, almost continuous. We were dressed identically, so that the casual observer would think it was the same person. Monique was over the moon with the sales volume, and we were allowed to keep the outfits as well as getting a bonus. When we did these events, I stayed as Melody for the duration, but went back to Hedley on normal days, having given back the concierge outfit.

For the Easter event, we had a couple from the drama school as bunnies, while we were outfitted as a sort of Alice in Wonderland but dressed a little more sexily for the fathers. It was sponsored by a chocolate company, and we had more easter eggs than you could count. We worked up a show for the little ones, to send them off searching for hidden eggs. It was a laugh, with one of us asking if there was anything the children wanted, and then doing the ‘What was that you said, Mister Bunny?’ I expect that half of our audience would be chucking up or sprouting pimples after we had done with them and sent them home with their booty.

We did take a day off to have a Spring Wedding at the Registry Office with a small group at a local pub afterwards. We had no time for a proper honeymoon, though, as we were needed in rehearsals for the drama season, as well as our continuing Village work. When Uncle Don told me to slow down one day, I told him that I would when the bubble burst, and not before.

Marianne Gregory © 2024