February Fantasy Fridays: 4

 

The second Friday of the month rolls around, so William is dressed accordingly
for the team building events and, of course, things get complicated...

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Author's Note:
FIRST - Thank you to everyone for your comments, pro and con. I really do learn a lot from them!
SECOND - My apologies for the delay between chapters. Sometime real life is a real pain in the butt!
THIRD - If you do observe it, Happy Easter! ~Clara.
 
This version of February Fantasy Fridays: 4 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

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Chapter 4
 

She stopped the vibrator's motor and let William collapse in exhaustion onto the mattress.

"See," she whispered as she kissed the slender bra and slip straps on his narrow, bare shoulders, "I told you you'd like it. You're my girl... now and forever. I love you, Billie. I love you so much."

"I love you, too." He turned so that he could kiss her. His dark red lipstick leaving traces of color on her soft pink. "Can we...?"

His eyes were desperate with lust.

"Can we... do it together, now?" He asked in a nearly childlike tone.

"Oh, my goodness," Kateri laughed and kissed him again. "You're like a little rabbit, aren't you?"

She removed the dildo from his rear and pushed him onto his back. "Which reminds me," she giggled, "Frank has a little rabbit friend, too, and if you're a good girl, maybe, someday, I'll show you how it works as well."
 

 

The leotard, tights and harem girl outfit felt very different on William's soft, hairless skin than it had just thirty six hours earlier. It was even more elegant feeling than he could imagine.

"What if I need to go to the bathroom?" William asked, considering the amount of effort such an undertaking would require.

"You go to the ladies' room and take a seat, baby. Why?" Kateri thought the question was a bit silly.

"No, I mean... with all of this stuff on, I was just thinking, I'd have to take off everything except my bra just to pee."

"Welcome to womanhood, my dear," Kateri chuckled as she pulled a piece of paper with the image of the actress Barbara Eden in her 'I Dream Of Jeannie' costume from the printer. "Women have to deal with one impractical layer of clothing after another all the time. If you need help, either Angie or I can help you. Believe me, there is nothing unusual about a couple of women being in the same bathroom stall with one helping the other with her clothes so that she can use the lav. Last year, a friend of mine got married and it took three of us to hold up all of her skirts so that she could pee. You should have seen us. It was pretty hilarious."

William shook his head. "That's crazy."

"That's fashion, babydoll. Now, come take a seat and let me get your makeup done. Then I'll pin your wig on and I can get get dressed. Then we can grab a cup of coffee or something on the way to work."

William sat.

Kateri began by putting a small piece of scotch tape near the outside of each of his eyes.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"Here. Look at the picture of Jeannie. See how she has that shadow next to her eyes. That's called a 'cat's eye.' Her's is pretty subtle, but it is there. The tape will give me a nice, sharp edge. It's just a little trick I learned taking theater classes in college."

Kateri continued working for the next few minutes with only a few words passing between them, and those were all instructions. "Close your eyes." "Look up." "Open your mouth." "Rub your lips together." "Pucker up."

Finally, she put the brushes down and picked up a very small case. "Ok, this is a little tricky because I never put these onto someone else before." She opened the case, reveling a selection of false eye lashes. Kateri thought for a moment, then took a tweezer and lifted one false lash and applied some eye lash adhesive to it. She then shook the eye lash for a few moments. "It's best to let the glue set up before applying it."

After about half a minute, she said, "Ok. Look down, but don't completely close your eyes."

William followed her instruction and felt the lash being placed very gently on his left eye. "Well, that was actually fairly easy," Kateri smiled and admired her handy work. "One more to go." She repeated the process. "Blink a few times. Feel ok?"

"They feel fine," William said. "I can hardly tell that they're there."

"Great. Let me grab the wig and some hairpins and you'll be done."

Fifteen minutes later, William and Kateri were standing before a mirror looking at their reflections. What they saw was a rather too girlish looking Air Force officer with a name tag that read 'Maj. Nelson,' and very convincing version of Jeannie in her sheer pink outfit.

"Well? What do you think?" Kateri bubbled. "Does the sight of a handsome man in uniform make your heart beat faster?"

William smiled and his face seemed to glow with feminine beauty. "Well, the sight of this particular man does. He's awfully pretty."

"Pretty, huh?" Kateri smirked. "I wasn't really going for 'pretty,' but I'll take it for now. You know what's funny? Your voice is actually pretty high for a guy. I never really noticed it before, but I guess I kind of expected your voice to be a give away and it's not. It's actually in a similar range to a lot of women that I know."

"Thanks, I guess," William said, as he looked at the reflection of the two of them in the mirror. It was really amazing how little he resembled himself like this - in fact, he really didn't resemble a man in any way. The fake breasts still attached to his chest gave him curves above and the blousy design of the harem pants implied curves down below.

"Oh, boy. It's getting late." Kateri suddenly took note of the time. "We'd better get moving if we're going to grab some coffee on the way."
 

 

When they arrived at the office, there was a feeling of celebration amongst the staff. The new game was hitting the market in less than a week, the prerelease buzz was very positive and, since yesterday's meeting, the company was confident about its financial foundations.

"Oh, my God, look at you two!" Raquel clapped as they entered reception. "Who are you, though? A soldier and a her girl?" Raquel was dressed in a generic medieval princess' dress.

'No," Kateri laughed as she explained the characters. "You must have seen 'I Dream of Jeannie,' right?"

Raquel smiled a friendly smile and shook her head. "Nope. Must be before my time."

"Well, yeah, of course it is, but it's iconic. Seriously, you've never seen it?"

"Sorry," Raquel shrugged.

"Oh, look, it's Jeannie and Major Nelson," Tess said as she entered in an amazing costume, looking just like Glinda the Good Witch of the North from 'The Wizard of Oz.'

"See," Kateri said to Raquel, "everyone knows the show."

The receptionist smiled at Tess. "I never heard of it."

Tess patted them girl's back. "Don't feel bad. They told me about their costumes yesterday. You all look great, though!"

"You too," William smiled. "I've never seen such a pretty Glinda."

"Oh, aren't you the sweetest thing?" Tess laughed. "Good God, Billie, you're almost spilling out of that top." She smiled and looked at Kateri. "You are very lucky fellow, Major Nelson. A very, very lucky fellow."

"Wait," William looked at Kateri with a serious expression on his face, "is that sexual harassment? Have I just been harassed?"

The reception area got very quiet for a few seconds until William started to laugh. "Kidding. I'm just kidding."

They all relaxed and let out little, nervous laughs. "Well, alright, then," Tess smiled. "The quiet accountant has developed a sense of humor."

"Hey, guys!" They were greeted by Bruce in his Shakira costume. He looked pretty silly with his broader shoulders and hard jawline, but he was having a good time. "Geez, Bill, you look great! Are you comfortable dressed that way?"

William shrugged. "Sure, I guess. It kind of feels like I'm wearing pajamas."

Bruce laughed. "No. I mean, after our conversation on Wednesday, I thought you were a little nervous about dressing like a girl. I meant, are you comfortable dressing like a woman for costume day."

"Well, after yesterday, what difference could it possibly make today?" William seemed surprised by the question.

"Yeah, but yesterday was a..." Bruce began to explain his question further, but decided it wasn't worth it. "Never mind. You look awesome. Oh, and look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... Supergirl!" Bruce said as he looked past William to the entrance. Then, almost as if he was speaking to himself, Bruce whispered, "Wow. Looking good, Supergirl."

When he turned to see what Bruce meant, William saw his younger sister enter in her Supergirl costume - but she didn't look like his kid sister. She didn't look like a kid at all. She looked like a woman. A strong, beautiful, intelligent woman, and William realized for the first time, just how womanly she had become. He knew that she wasn't a child any more, but a part of him still viewed Angela as a high school girl. A 'woman to be,' in a way. He just never really thought of her as a fully formed woman - but there was no denying it now. The form fitting top and skater skirt bottom of the costume's dress combined with the knee high, high heeled boots left very little doubt that his younger sister had fully grown up.

That was when he truly realized that this internship of hers wasn't a joke. It was the start of a new phase of her adulthood and it was time that he stopped thinking of her presence in his office as a bit of an annoyance and started to help her to actually learn the ins and outs of his profession. Suddenly, this realization created a strange, new sorority within him - sorority in the truest sense. He and Angie were now sisters and he needed to be there for her to help in any way he could.

"Well, well, well," Bruce said, a bit too brightly for a married man, "if it isn't Kara Danvers arriving to work at KatCo Magazine. Good morning, Ms Danvers."

Angela stopped and spread her legs to shoulder width and placed a fist on each of her hips. "No, citizen, I believe you are mistaken. My friend Kara Danvers wears glasses and sometimes has bangs. I am Supergirl, younger - and far sexier - cousin of Superman."

Everyone in the group laughed at that.

"Billie, do you have a minute?" An out of breath Lorraine was moving swiftly towards her office, taking off her coat as she hustled past.

"Sure." William fell into step beside her. "You're not in costume. Is there a problem."

They entered her office and Lorraine dropped her coat and pocketbook onto a chair, then hurried behind her desk. "No, nothing's wrong. I just have a couple of unexpected meetings this morning, so I have to dress like a grown up lady for a few hours before I can join in the fun. The reason I called you in though is because of the impromptu report you gave the investors yesterday. You said that you'd email a copy of it to everyone. Have you done that?"

"Yes. When I returned from lunch yesterday. I CCed you on it, too."

"I thought you had." She opened her MacBook and stared at the screen for a few moments. "Here it is. Good, I didn't delete it. Ok... what I need you to do right now is just very quickly walk me through the highlights of this report. And Billie... keep it simple. Remember - I'm a gamer, not an accountant."

William smiled at that. "Ok. Why don't you print it out and I can highlight the important parts."

When the report was printed out, William pulled up a chair and went to work, explaining the important parts of the report and highlighting the numbers Lorraine would need to reference in a discussion of the games projected profits. It took about fifteen minutes to go through it once, then have Lorraine explain everything back to him so that he was sure that she could handle the numbers.

When they had completed their work, Lorraine shook her head. "You are a miracle, Billie. Thank God I found you."

William blushed at the complement. "I'm glad you feel that way," he smiled. "I really have grown to like it here."

That made his boss smile, too. "Two more things, Billie. I know you haven't gotten in touch with any of those companies who have the adhesive solvent, yet, but something occurred to me." She grabbed her phone, scrolled through it for a moment, then wrote on a Post-It Note, handing it to William. "This is a friend of mine. She's a plastic surgeon here in town. I happened to run into her last night and I mentioned your predicament. She said to give her a call. She's concerned that the solvent may burn your skin. She thinks she may be able to help you."

William looked at the name and number and felt a little pang of sadness at the thought of going back to his old self, but he knew that having these things adhered to him couldn't be healthy in the long term.

"Thank you, Lorraine. I'll give her a call." He had no where to put the note, so he just held it and waited for Lorraine to move on to the second thing she wanted to talk about.

"Billie... I'm not sure how you feel about the situation you're currently in, but... I've seen a change in you that is... remarkable... and, to tell you the truth, very impressive. I hope that it continues when you go back to being plain old Bill."

There is was - Plain Old Bill. Was that really who he was? Plain Old Bill? He'd been that for too long.

"I hope so, too," he whispered in a voice far sadder than Lorraine had expected.

"Bill... I... I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You know that I admire the work you do for us. You really are invaluable here. I was just saying that... well... you seem to be more outgoing as Billie. That's all. I truly meant it as a compliment."

William nodded. "I know. Let me know if you need anything else."
 

 

"You're doing great, Angie," William complimented his sister as he reviewed an accounting task he'd given her. It wasn't a huge task and not overly complicated, but it was intricate enough that William expected it to have been a bigger challenge for her than it was. "Your methodology is correct, you've laid out your spreadsheet in a logical and decipherable manner and, most importantly, your numbers are all correct. I am impressed. You've only been here a week and you've caught on to the process like an old pro. Good work."

"Whoa," Angela made a show of being amazed. "Are you complimenting me? What's going on? A week ago, you were furious that I was here, now you're being supportive? Why are you being nice to me?"

He stood and hugged his sister. She was naturally three inches taller than him, but with her in heels and him in flats, he only reached her shoulder. "I am. I'm sorry about last week. I was a territorial, petty ass and I should have been nicer. You're doing great, though, Angie, and I want to help you in any way that I can."

"Cool," said a slightly confused, but very happy Angela as she returned his hug.

"Excuse me," Raquel said from the doorway, "I don't mean to interrupt, but Lorraine asked me to tell everyone that she's reserved the Walnut Room at the country club for this afternoon and, Billie, she told me to ask you to join her for lunch across the street at Montrose."

William looked up, more than surprised. "Now!? But I'm dressed like this."

"That's what she said," Raquel confirmed. "She went over about twenty minutes ago. She just called and told me to have you come right over for lunch."

William looked at his fairly short, men's (actually boys') jacket. It wouldn't cover the costume at all. "I... I can't go to Montrose. I'll look crazy dressed like this."

"No you won't," Raquel brushed his concerns aside with the wave of a hand. "You look great as a woman."

"Thanks," William shook his head at her, "but I was referring to the harem girl outfit. I'll look insane, going into a business-person's restaurant dressed like this. It's not like anyone else will be wearing a costume. It'll just be me."

"Here. Wear my coat," Angela grabbed her knee length, wool coat and held it open for him. This will cover you to your shins."

"Yeah, but the wig! The veil! The fez! That will all be showing!"

"I can see that you're upset about this, Billie," Raquel shrugged, "but Lorraine wants you over there ASAP, so I'd get moving if I were you."

"I've got to see Kateri before I go," William said, settling the oversized coat onto his little shoulders. "She has my wallet. I may need money."

"Here," His sister fished in her wallet for a second and produced a plastic card, "take my debit card. If you need money, just use it. Don't go crazy, though. There's only eighty two dollars and seventy one cents in my account right now." She tucked the card into one of the coat pockets and took William's hand, leading him towards the elevator.

"This stupid," William muttered. "Absolutely stupid."

"Agreed," Angela acknowledged, "but necessary. For some reason, Lorraine wants you there. She knows how you're dressed, so she must need you pretty badly." The elevator door opened. Angela kissed William's cheek and said, "Ok, Willy, you look fine. Some people may notice, but I'm sure that they'll understand that it's just a costume. Now, go on. Hold your head up and be Billie. I'll be right here cheering you on."

"Great," William rolled his eyes as the doors began to close. "How about I stay here and you go over there dressed as Supergirl."

The doors closed before he heard her reply.

The restaurant was crowded with local business people as William entered. The hostess was a very well dressed woman in her early sixties who was looking down at a table plan. When she finally looked up and saw William, a huge smiled spread across her face. "Oh, my goodness. It's Jeannie! What's the occasion, dear?"

William was a bit embarrassed just to be acknowledged as being in a costume, but relieved that she at least knew who he was dressed as. "It's a team building thing. I'm sorry. I didn't expect to have to come over here today and I don't have anything else to wear."

The woman reached out and patted William's upper arm. "No problem, my love. How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for my boss - Lorraine - from Firefly - across the street. She called the office and called me over."

The woman's smile had not subsided one bit. "Of course, my dear. Follow me."

She led William through the crowded dinning room. Gratefully, most people barely noticed him and those who did seemed pleasantly amused. As they approached a round bench with a round table in the rear corner, the hostess announce, "Excuse me, Lorraine, but this lovely little girl is looking for her master. I told her to just 'blink' herself back here to your table, but she insisted on coming in as if she was a mere mortal."

Lorraine looked up, a bit confused, but then saw William. "Oh, Billie, good, come sit. Thanks, Ellen."

William sat next to Lorraine and looked across the table at another woman, approximately the same age as Lorraine, dressed extremely professionally. "Billie, this is Dr. Joan Davis, the plastic surgeon I told you about this morning. I didn't expect to run into her again so quickly, but she was here and I don't expect my business guests to be here for a bit, yet, so I thought this was the perfect time to get you two together - Joan, this is Billie. Billie, Joan."

"Hi," William nodded, feeling very on the spot.

The doctor spoke as if she was already well onto a conversation with William. "So, you're breasts are not actually 'permanently' attached to your chest. Your skin is constantly shedding, so eventually the skin will shed enough and the breasts will loosen. That could take a year or more, though, and I believe that the surgical glue solvent we use will allow us to remove those from your chest without burning your skin the way the industrial solvent may. I would suggest that we don't do anything for a couple of weeks, though - give the glue a bit of time to loosen up on the edges. My estimate is that, once a nurse starts working, she could have those off of you within four to six hours. It'd be a long day, but it's probably the safest course of action."

"Oh," William nodded, a bit shocked that this was actually the topic of conversation in such a public place.

"Call my office and my girl will set up an appointment for you."

"Ok," William nodded, again.

"Would you mind opening your coat so I can see the problem?"

William looked around, not wanting to really expose his costume in this room.

"Here, let me help you," Lorraine said as she began unbuttoning the oversized buttons on Angela's coat, then began pulling the front open.

The doctor nodded. "Impressive size on your body. Now, we need to discuss the implant size. We could do those within a day or so of removing the fake ones if it's important to maintain this look for you."

"W...What?" William couldn't get his head around the doctor's words.

The doctor remained cold and calculating as she looked at William's overall appearance. "Obviously, this is a cultivated appearance, Billie. If you want to move forward with implants, I can accommodate that. Hormones, etc, will require some work with a psychiatrist, of course, but it's not unusual for a patient who is living as a woman to begin with implants. Since Lorraine and I have a close friendship and it appears that you are an important part of her business, then I can certainly help you out with that."

William felt a wave of hot fear and nervousness pass over him. Implants? As in living as a woman for the rest of his life? Did he want that? Was that even a possibility? What would Kateri think? Was this something he should even be considering? He was really fascinated with this new experience, but all of this had been an accident. Did he really want to be Billie for the rest of his life?

When he didn't respond, Lorraine spoke, "Of course that is a decision you will have to make for yourself, Billie, but I think you know where I stand on the matter - From my point of view, you're just a little better at being Billie than you are at being Bill. You're a great accountant either way, but you are more of a force to be reckoned with as Billie. I think your new persona gives you a real edge. But that's just my two cents. You'll need to talk to your girlfriend and family about this."

'Girlfriend?" The doctor shifted her attention from William to Lorraine. She gave her friend a questioning look, then returned her attention to William. "Now, that is surprising. It's not unusual for a trans-woman to have lesbian desires, but looking at the effort I'm seeing in the perfect eyebrows and skin tone, not to mention the sound of your voice and your basic demeanor, and I would have guessed that you would have a boyfriend. That's not a judgement, mind you, just an observation."

"To tell you the truth," Lorraine took over as if William wasn't even there, "when Bill and Kateri started dating, I think everyone in the office was shocked. He was not dressing like this at the time, but I kind of assumed that he was into guys, just based on his general demeanor. Let me assure you, though, Kateri is no guy. She is a very nicely put together woman and nearly every guy at Firefly had hit on her before she chose Billie, here."

The doctor nodded. "So, is this Kateri the dominant personality in your relationship?"

William was rendered speechless by the conversation going on about him. He tried to speak, but he just could not muster the intellect to form a sentence.

"Well," Lorraine laughed, "Kat is dressed as an Air Force pilot and Billie is dressed as her genie who lives in a bottle and has to refer to the pilot as 'master,' so you draw your own conclusions." Both women chuckled at that.

William wanted to say that his relationship with Kateri was no one else's business. He wanted to say that there was no dominant personality, that they were equals. He wanted to say that they had a partnership. He wanted to say that they loved each other and that no one could come between them.

But instead, someone else approached the table and spoke.

"Well, I only expected one beautiful female companion for lunch, but it appears that I have three. Oh, and look at my little Vanilla Bean is dressed as my own little harem girl! I do like that look for you, Billie."

William was horrified as the ground continued to open up underneath him. He could barely breathe and the sound of Lorraine introducing Dr Davis to Shane Harris was dim and distant. Then, through a haze, he watched as Harris shook hands with the doctor, then with Lorraine. He heard Harris' lecherous tone as he flattered the women with one sexist compliment after another and these successful business women blushed and smiled back at his little remarks about their dresses, their breasts, their makeup. Cute little double entendres about their need for his companionship that just poured from him as naturally as breathing.

Then, William watched as Harris, seemingly in slow motion, bent low towards him and kissed his cheek.

That was enough to bring William back to his senses.

He pushed Harris away from him with as much force as he could muster. "GET OFF OF ME!" William shouted much louder than he meant to, but that didn't matter. The idea of this pig of a man kissing him was too much. "DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN, MR HARRIS. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Harris continued to smile, but looked nervously around the dinning room. "Sor-ree, baby."

Oblivious to the attention he was drawing, William's voice remained loud. "I am not your 'baby,' Mr Harris. As far as you are concerned, I am just the accountant at Firefly - nothing else." Then he stood and pushed past Harris. He stopped and turned to the women. "Lorraine, I would appreciate it if we could have a few words in your office this afternoon. Doctor, thank you, I will call your office and make an appointment." Then he looked at Shane Harris. "Mr Harris, I hope that the next time we meet, you are better behaved."

He turned to leave, but Harris grabbed the arm of his coat. "Oh, come on now, honey. I was just flirting a little. I didn't mean anything by the 'baby' or 'Vanilla Bean' stuff. Come on, now, sit down and let's have lunch."

"Let go of me!" William shouted, but Harris' grip didn't lessen, so William pulled his arm free of the coat, did the same with the other arm, then headed to the exit with as much dignity as a beautiful man in an 'I Dream of Jeannie' costume could muster.

"Oh, come on, sweetheart. Stop being that way and come back," Harris called after him, Angela's coat hanging limply in his hand. Harris looked at the two men sitting at the table next to him and shook his head. "Must be her time of the month, I guess," he said, causing both men to nod and let out commiserating chuckles.

William didn't look back, though, nor did he look to the right or to the left. His tunnel vision was so focused on the exit door that he barely noticed when a large, red headed man stepped in front of him, completely blocking his exit.

"Now, just hold up, lass, hold up. What's going on here?" The hefty man said, as he gently but firmly stopped William's exit.

"Nothing. Please, just let me leave."

"Not without your coat, lass. Wait here." The man's Scottish burr had been somewhat tempered from years of living in The States, but was still a very noticeable part of his speech. "Jaimie," the man said to a younger employee, "stay with her whist I sort this out."

"Yes, Uncle Mal," the man in his mid twenties replied as he took his place beside William.

The big, red headed man headed to the rear of the dinning room with a swagger that made it clear that he did not appreciate having to be a part of the current happenings in his restaurant. As he approached Harris, Harris just shook his head in disgust at the behavior that had just been exhibited by the girl in the harem costume.

"What are you gonna do with a girl like that?" Harris half laughed as he spoke. "Impetuous little thing, isn't she..." he tried to continue, but the big man's glare stopped him. There was anger and foreboding in those eyes and it shut Harris up immediately.

"This isn't a barroom, laddie, this is a respectable restaurant for the business people in this area. If you want to harass and upset women far too young for you to be approaching in this crass manner, than I suggest that you try the bar at Applebee's or TGI Fridays. I understand that's where these kinds of things go on, but when you're in MY restaurant, you shall show everyone the respect they deserve. Am I making myself abundantly clear, laddie?" The big man seemed to grow as he spoke and there was no question that his face grew ruddier and his jaw set more firmly as he finished.

"Now, just a minute," Harris could not help but try to stand up for himself, but Lorraine cut him off.

"I do apologize for my business associate here, Mr Montrose, and for the hysterics of my employee. I assure you that Mr Harris will abide by your restaurant's code of behavior and that I shall be dealing with my employee when I get back to the office."

"Your employee," the restaurant owner continued, "is blameless in this matter, Miss. I saw the entire event. Your associate here is entirely at fault. And further more, he's standing here holding the lass' coat, expecting her to walk back to your office in the cold in just that wee costume of hers. You're not much of gentleman, are you, Mr Associate? It's not my place to say so, of course, Lorraine, but I would be much more selective of my associates, if I were you. A man who'd treat a young lass like that isn't someone you can trust." The restauranteur's eyes narrowed as he leaned a bit closer to Harris. "In fact, a man who'd treat a woman like that isn't much of a man at all."

"Alright, now, just hold on a minute..." Harris began, but Mr Montrose cut him off.

"I am afraid, Miss, that if your associate would care to continue to remain in my establishment, then he will need to gather up that coat in his hand, fold it neatly over his arm, walk it to the front of the dinning room, return it to the lass and apologize to her."

"What!?" Harris had never been spoken to in this manner in his entire life - not in his private elementary school, in his private prep school, in his private Ivy League college or in his job with his uncle's company. Never had anyone spoken to him with anything close to the contempt that this man was exhibiting.

"Mr Montrose..." Lorraine began.

"I'm afraid this is not something that is up for discussion, Miss. Either he does or he leaves."

Harris looked about him at every face in the dining room and each one was looking back at him, waiting for him to do something. Even his two compatriots who had laughed at his joke a few moments earlier, looked ashamed and expectant. "Oh, for Christ's sake," Harris muttered as he gathered up Angela's coat and folded it over his arm.

He began to storm towards William, but the owner stopped him. "Politely."

Harris huffed and straightened up before walking to the exit where William waited.

"Here, you forgot your coat," he grumbled. "I'm sorry if I upset you." His eyes betrayed the sentiment, though. They were filled with anger. "Please accept my apologies."

William went to take the coat from Harris, but the twenty-something man who'd been charged with watching over William took the coat from the offending man and shook it open, holding it so William could slide his arms into it.

William kept his lips pursed through the whole process, which frustrated Harris to no end.

'Well, I tried," Harris shrugged and turned to find Malcom Montrose standing just behind him. "You saw. I tried. Happy?"

Montrose shook his head and turned to the hostess. "Wanda, I'm going to walk this young lady back to her office. Keep your eye on this gentleman's party. If he so much as coughs too loud, have the waiters escort him from the premises. Are you all set, Miss?"

William finished buttoning Angela's coat. "Yes, I am, but there is no need to walk me back, Mr Montrose. I'll be fine. Thank you."

"Nonsense," the big Scotsman was not to be deterred. "I'll make sure that you get back safely."

Unable to dissuade the man, William turned and walked out the door with the restauranteur walking closely behind. Mr Montrose stepped forward to offer William a hand as he stepped over a small river of slush in the gutter. Then he stepped into traffic, holding up his hands to stop the oncoming cars and escorted William across the road.

They had not said a word to each other as they entered the lobby and crossed to the elevators. When the doors opened, Mr Montrose put his hand into the opening to keep the doors open. "After you."

William stepped into the elevator, then smiled as politely as he could. "Thank you, very much, Mr Montrose. I do appreciate your help, but I can make it from here."

Montrose stepped into the elevator car and shook his head. "That's quite alright, young lady. I don't mind. You've been through a lot. I just want to be sure you make it back to your office safely."

As the elevator rose, Malcom asked, "Are you going to be ok, lass?"

"I'll be fine," William smiled. "Thank you, very much, for walking me back. That's very... chivalrous of you."

Montrose snickered at that. "Just good business." Then, as if something had just occurred to him, the man asked, "Did you have a chance to eat your lunch?"

"No, sir, but I don't think I was really there to eat lunch. My boss called me over. I was just there to see her."

The doors opened and they stepped out into the foyer. "Would you like something? I can have Jaimie bring over something for you."

William smiled and laid his little hand on the man's forearm. "That's very nice of you, but I'm fine. Thank you for all of the kindness you've shown me. I truly appreciate it."

Mr Montrose took that hand in his, raised it to his lips and kissed it. "My pleasure, Lass. Don't be a stranger." Then he turned and returned to the elevator, smiling once more before the doors closed. "Have faith, lassie. Not all men are pigs." The doors closed.

'No kidding,' William thought. 'I was never that way to a woman.'

"Hey, how did it go?" Angela asked as William hung her coat back up on a hanger.

William shook his head as he sat behind his desk. "Not well, Angie. Not well. First, Lorraine introduced me to a doctor who wants to give me breast implants, then that guy Harris showed up and it got really ugly. The owner of the restaurant was so upset by Harris' behavior that he walked me back here to be sure I was alright."

Angela was suddenly very concerned and hit him with a battery of questions. "What did Harris do? Did he touch you? What did Lorraine do? Did you hit Harris? Why was the owner upset? Did you cry? Are you ok? Have you told Kateri about this? Was Lorraine mad at you when you left?"

He assured his sister that he was fine and that he hadn't cried, nor hit Harris, but was leaving when the owner intervened. He also told her that he thought that Lorraine was pretty mad at him when he left, so he didn't know what she would say when she returned.

"It's twelve thirty, ladies," Tess smiled as she looked into his office. "Time to relax and do some team building games." Then she looked at the faces of the two siblings and asked, "What happened in here?"
 

 

It was nearly 2:00 before Loraine returned from lunch. There was a Lego assembling competition going on at the office at that time as part of the team building games. Kateri and William were on a team with Angela and all the girls from advertising, while Tess was running the event. At William's request, no one had told Kateri about what had happened. William wanted her to enjoy as much of the day as she could. He wasn't at all sure how the afternoon would end. He'd kept one eye on the entrance throughout the afternoon, though, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Lorraine went straight to her office, looking not at all pleased. William saw her disappear, then, almost immediately, Raquel glanced at her cell phone, then looked at William, then at the boss' office. William didn't wait to be told. He nodded at Raquel, then said to his team, "I'll be right back," and headed off to face the music.

"Where's he going?" Kateri asked.

Angela just shrugged in response.

"You wanted to see me?" William asked as he entered the office.

"Close the door." Loraine didn't even glance in his direction, but instead fussed with hanging up her coat. This wasn't good.

"Take a seat," she said, again without looking at him, but instead pouring herself a finger of scotch from a bottle in a cupboard behind her desk.

Finally, she sat, took a sip of her drink, placed her glass on a coaster on her desk, crossed her legs, folded her arms across herself, leaned back just a little in her desk chair and stared at him for at least twenty seconds before saying, "Well?"

"Well, what?" William refused to just be apologetic.

"I'm not playing games, right now, Bill. You are important to this company, but without Bunker Hill's backing, we are out of business. Because of your behavior, we almost lost that backing. Just because you're important doesn't mean you can't be replaced, so... What do you have to say for yourself?"

William thought for a moment and then said, "If you're expecting me to apologize and ask for forgiveness, Loraine, then you might just as well go right ahead and fire me, because I am not going to kowtow to you in this instance. I did nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong?" Loraine was losing her cool. She'd had a tough couple of hours at Montrose and she was looking more for an opportunity to take out her frustration on someone than to be rational. "You nearly destroyed my company, Bill!"

"Why did you call me over there?" William asked, as cool as a cucumber.

Loraine wasn't pleased that he remained unfazed by her anger. "I called you over as a favor to you, Bill. I introduced you to a friend of mine who can help you. I was being a good friend."

William nodded. "You invited me into a very public place to discuss a very private matter with a total stranger while you sat there and listened. Is that how good friends behave?"

His boss scoffed at that. "Oh, please. You've got silicon tits stuck to your chest. Is that really a private matter?"

"Where did the discussion about implants come from, Loraine?" William knew he held the moral high ground here, and he chose to take advantage of it. "That's a pretty personal decision for anyone, especially for a guy, and here I was in a restaurant, surrounded by strangers, a doctor I didn't know and my boss, feeling a lot of pressure to make what could be the most important decision of my life! How do you think that made me feel?"

"Alright, that's on me," Loraine admitted, but her attitude didn't change. "I should have handled that differently, but the real issue is the scene you made with Shane Harris. Within thirty seconds of his arrival, you turned into a spoilt little girl. Screaming and ranting at a man YOU KNEW was important to this company. How could you have been so... so... reckless... so careless... so... so selfish?"

"Selfish!?" Now William crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, imitating his boss' posture. "I was being selfish? You KNEW how uncomfortable that man made me yesterday, you KNEW how he approached me and the girls at lunch after our meeting, you KNEW how I was dressed today, and yet you dragged me over there, in this very exposed costume, to use me as bait for that shark. How dare you call me selfish."

He knew he was in a dangerous position, now, but he was too invested in maintaining his high ground to care about being fired.

"'How dare I...?'" Loraine smirked at his bravery. "Before you say anything that may get you fired without a letter of reference, Billie, you should remember that I am your boss. Watch your tongue, little girl, or you may find yourself pounding the pavement before the day's over."

She sat forward and leaned her elbows on her desk. "Also, my dear, you need to take a good look at yourself before attacking me for using you as bait. Two days ago, you were a nondescript little pleb who kept his nose in his laptop all day. Since yesterday, you have been a sexy, little piece of ass that happens to be attracting the attention of not just the representative of my biggest investor, but of most of the men and probably half of the women in this office. As an accountant, Billie, you are an asset to this company, but as a sexy little piece of meat, you are almost invaluable."

William was almost too shocked to breathe, let alone speak.

"I know that you're new to womanhood, sweetie, but if this is where you plan on staying, then get used to being treated like a piece of tail. Every woman does it and every man behaves just like Shane did today when he's attracted to a woman. I've been the bait a million times, Billie, and I will be again, I'm sure, but a woman uses that situation to use her advantage. I thought you understood that."

He shook his head slowly and took a deep breath. "Wow. I had no idea how much you hated yourself."

"What?"

William spoke quietly, with pity in his voice. "I've been a man my whole life. I've been in locker rooms and hung out with guys and, yeah, some are pigs, but most aren't. Most respect women and themselves enough to display manners to each other, even if they're feeling an attraction. Sure, they might say things in private that aren't as polite as they maybe should be, but most men are pretty decent. Shane Harris is crude, obnoxious, privileged piece of crap who has no respect for women. You knew that and you knew that I had almost no experience and you ASSUMED that I would just go along with it. Well... surprise. I am not a big fan of William, Loraine, but he's a pretty good guy, all in all. I really like, Billie, though and I respect her way too much to sacrifice her for any reason - and I certainly would never sacrifice her - me - to a worthless jackass like that."

Loraine looked at her accountant, shocked by his words.

"You know," he continued, "I never understood how a man could be recorded saying 'They love it when you grab them by the pussy' and then go on to be supported by women, but now I'm beginning to understand. Loraine - you are a beautiful, successful, intelligent, wealthy woman and you are willing to sacrifice all of that - to let a rich asshole like that treat you like a piece of garbage - just to get ahead. I know that it's an uneven playing field and that men have it easier than women in a business like this, but come on... are you truly proud of how you behave when you're dealing with people like Harris? Are you proud of using me to entice him? Did you expect me to flirt with him? To be his date? To service him?"

Loraine just stared.

William stood and indicated his body, clad in a diaphanous pink harem costume. "This is all new to me, yes, but I worship women, Loraine. I don't put women on a pedestal - I envy them. I envy everything about them. Everything. Now, I'm just confused. I used to respect you, but now I've seen a side of you that I can't understand. That I will never understand. You are smarter, more successful, and a thousand times more respected by your community than him, but that isn't enough. You had to debase yourself and make him feel like a big man in order to get what you wanted. That's just wrong. I don't know how I'm going to live the rest of my life, but I know for sure that I will never debase this body just to get ahead."

Loraine remained quite.

William nodded and read the situation. "Ok. I'll... I'll go clean out my desk. I really did enjoy working here. Thank you for the opportunity and I hope that your anger with me doesn't influence how you'll treat Angela or Kat in the future." He headed for the office door.

"Wait," Loraine finally spoke in a quiet voice. She waited for a moment or two as she thought. "Billie... sit... please."

William sat and looked at Loraine, who appeared to be considering her next move. Not a word was spoken for nearly a minute. Then a cheer arose from out in the pit. Someone had won the Lego challenge. Loraine looked towards the sound and thought some more.

Finally, still looking to the sounds of excitement, she said, "Do you know how many people work here?"

"One hundred and sixty seven," William replied. Of course he knew. He did the payroll every week.

"Do you know how many are male?"

He thought for a moment. "Sixteen," he said.

"That's one hundred and fifty one women." She thought for a moment. "Do you have any idea how many times Tess and I have dressed a certain way, or unbuttoned a few extra buttons, or laughed at insulting, sexist remarks just to be sure that we had the attention of a male client or investor? Do you know how many of times I've walked male clients through the pit when I knew that it was filled with pretty young women?"

William assumed that the question was rhetorical, but he shook his head anyway.

Loraine continued to stare off towards the sound. Finally, she snapped back to reality. "Aw, fuck it," she mumbled as she grabbed her cell phone and pressed a contact. Then she put the phone on speaker and set it on her desk.

"Bunker Hill Investments," the voice on the phone said, cheerily.

"Good afternoon," Loraine said, still not looking at William. "This is Loraine Brewer over at Firefly Games. We do a good deal of business with you. Tell me, who is the highest ranking female employee at Bunker Hill?"

"Well, as far as employees go, our HR director is a woman, but we do have one female partner - Ms Cramer."

"Is Ms Cramer in?"

"Yes, ma'm."

"Then, can I please speak to Ms Cramer?"

"Of course. Please hold while I transfer you."

Some of Pachelbel's chamber music played as she waited.

"This is Renee Cramer. How may I help you?" A new voice asked.

Loraine sighed. "Good afternoon, Ms Cramer. Loraine Brewer from Firefly Games here."

"Oh, yes, Loraine. I know of Firefly. How can I help you?"

Loraine shook her head as if she couldn't believe that she was about to do what she was about to do. "Well, I do hate to bother you, but I really felt like I needed to talk to a woman about this issue. It involves one of your representatives. A Mr Shane Harris. Are you familiar with Mr Harris?"

The woman on the phone let out a long, frustrated sigh. "I am, yes, and I am really hoping that this call does not involve any misconduct on his part."

"In fact it does," Loraine nodded to the phone. "I have met with Mr Harris twice over the last two days and on both occasions he has made inappropriate remarks to one of my employees and to me. In fact, he was so inappropriate today that he was nearly removed from the restaurant in which we were meeting."

"I see..."

"Now, I hate to say this, Ms Cramer, because Firefly really does need Bunker Hill's backing, but there comes a point where this kind of behavior becomes intolerable. I'm afraid that we have gone well past that point, now, and I am afraid that, if our further relationship with BHI is going to require that we continue to interact with Mr Harris, then I am afraid that we will have no choice but to look elsewhere for a business partner. I know that we're small potatoes for your company, but I will not end another work day feeling cheap and dirty because I allowed a man like that to make me and my girls feel 'less than.'"

There was another sigh on the other end of the phone. "Ms Brewer... Loraine... Yes, Firefly is a very small investment for BHI, but it is one that we want to maintain and, to be very honest, yours is one of the few woman-owned companies in our portfolios and, as such, is worth a bit more in public relations than you might think. Now, regarding Mr Harris - Shane has been warned about this kind of behavior before. I apologize that you had to deal with his nonsense, but I promise, he will no longer be representing BHI."

"I do appreciate that, Ms Cramer, but I would hesitate to call this kind of behavior nonsense. My employee was very upset by him and even had to be accompanied back to our offices by the restaurant's owner."

"I understand, Loraine. A poor choice of words on my part. Thank you for contacting me. I assure you, I will deal with this immediately."

They said their goodbyes, ended the call and Loraine looked back towards the pit. She thought for a few more moments before saying, "You were a good guy, Billie, but you're an even better woman. An even better woman than I." She sniffled in a way that made William think that she might have actually been close to crying. "You are right... I was wrong... and I am sorry."

She finally looked him in the eye. "Are we good?"

William stood. "We're good. Thank you."

He turned to leave, but Loraine stopped him once more. "Billie... If you had been with me, at Montrose, as Bill, and Harris had shown up and behaved that way towards another female employee... would you have confronted me this way about it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe if it was Kateri or Angie, but..." He shrugged again. "I guess I didn't really know how it felt until it happened to me and... I didn't like it."

Loraine nodded. "No. I never did, either, but I just put up with it. No more, though." She stood and came around her desk, surprising William with a hug. "Like I said, Billie... you were a good guy, but you are a really amazing woman." She released him from her hug and stepped back. "Get in touch with Joan about getting those fake breasts off. If you decide that you want to remain a woman, though, just know that I'll support you one hundred percent. Well, I'll support you either way, but I'd hate to say goodbye to the amazing girl in front of me."

He smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Loraine." He couldn't think of anything else to say, though, so he just turned and walked back towards the pit.

Once he'd left, Loraine let out a huge breath. "Good God, almighty," she muttered to the walls, "I must be out of my mind." She returned to her desk and picked up her glass, held it up in a toast in the direction of the pit. "To you, girls," she said, quietly, then sipped the liquor. She closed her eyes as she enjoyed the burn on her throat. Then, a round of applause from the pit caused her to open her eyes and smile. She held up her glass once more. "Sisterhood."
 

 

"Wow... that's a big decision, Billy. Is this something you want to do?" Kateri asked as they drove home from the country club. The evening events had mostly consisted of dinner and dancing. William had spent most of it either with Kateri or the girls from Marketing. He was finding that he really enjoyed being with them. Kateri tended to talk to the artists and game designers that she worked with. Many of the artists were women, but most of the game designers were men. They all seemed solely focused on the games. William preferred to talk about anything other than work and the girls from marketing tended to talk about relationships, clothes, family, dating, etc.

"I don't know, Kat. I mean, I never really thought about it until that doctor mentioned it. Now, I can't stop thinking about it. There's an awful lot I like about presenting as a woman. I feel... confident in a way I never did before. It's kind of like I accidentally found the real me." William tried to be as open with his feelings as he could, but he was concerned that Kateri might think he was weird. Still, he had to be honest. "How would you feel if I did get implants. Is that something that you'd like? Or even something you could live with?"

Kateri let out a long breath. "Whew, Billy, that's a lot to think about. I mean, I love playing this game, but doing it full time... for real, I mean... that's... that's not a game anymore, you know?"

He nodded. "So you wouldn't like it, then?"

"I didn't say that. I just haven't had the time to think about it, yet. Regardless, though, it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is what you want. Is this what you want? To be a woman?"

"No, no, no, no, no. I don't want to BE a woman, Kat. I can't imagine not having my... you know. Besides, I want to be with you. The way we've been the last couple of weeks. As a man and woman."

"So... is it just the soft clothes that you like?"

William shook his head. "I'll admit that I really do like the clothes, sure. I mean, who wouldn't? Compared to my usual clothes, women's clothes are amazing! I've worn a suit nearly every day of my life as an adult, but the suit I wore yesterday was heavenly compared to every other one that I ever wore before. I do like that, but... it's like I'm a whole different person when I'm dressed as a women. Kat, you should have heard me with Loraine before. Honestly, it wasn't even me speaking. I never could have said those things as 'plain old Bill,' but as Billie, I couldn't stop myself. Heck, Kat, even just talking about this with you wouldn't be possible for Bill. I can't explain it, but it... they... these clothes... even this silly costume... it's freeing for me. I feel free... like I'm in my real skin, for the first time in my life. I'm afraid to say that this is how I want to live, but I'm afraid to give it up, too."

Kateri reached over and patted his thigh. "I think I get it, babe. Look... think about it over the weekend. We'll talk about it and you can talk to Angie and your mom, too. Then, on Monday, go see that doctor and talk to her. I'll go with you if you want me too. Then... then you can make up your mind. Ok?"

He nodded.

"I do have to admit, though," Kateri squeezed his thigh, "you are a sexy, little thing when your dressed up like this. I could get used to having a girlfriend like you around." Her hand slid up his silky thigh to where his legs met and his manhood was tucked safely away. "I could definitely get used to it."
 

 

"This girl, Kateri," Angela's mother stirred her coffee as she sat at the breakfast table with her daughter, "Willy must be very smitten with her. She seems nice enough, I guess, but this business of staying at her place night after night... that's not at all like my Willy."

Angela chuckled at that. "I think little Willy is having a hard time thinking straight, lately. He's pretty smitten with Kat, and he should be. She's beautiful, talented, has a good job... what's not to like, right?"

Her mother nodded. "Maybe. I just hope that my little Willy isn't only thinking with his little Willy, if you know what I mean."

Angela smiled. "Mom... I know it's hard to believe, but Willy is a really important guy at Firefly. He's smarter than almost anyone there. You know... you know how irritated you used to get with him when we'd play board games and he'd never count the spaces when he moved his pieces? He just knew where six or eight spaces away always was. Or how, when he's playing Solitaire, you can ask him how he's doing and he can tell you his odds of winning after each time he deals out the next three cards? All that kind of behavior that can be really annoying to us - that's what makes him great at his job. He doesn't just think about numbers, he sees them. They come alive for him. I'll never be as good at his job as he is, but I'm learning a lot from him. You'd be proud if you could see him in action."

Just then, Angela's text alert on her phone sounded. She looked at it. "Willy's on his way home. He says that he and Kat are going shopping for clothes for him to wear to work this week and I'm invited to go with them if I want."

"That's nice," her mother nodded and sipped from her coffee mug. "Are you going?"

Angela shrugged. "I'd like to, but I don't want to be a third wheel."

"Angie, he wouldn't have invited you if he didn't want you to go with them. My guess is that he wants you to come along to make sure that he doesn't end up dressed up like some Dresden doll by that girl."

"That's enough, mom," Angela could sense her mother's self righteousness rising. She'd never understood how a woman who had struggled so hard to get through life could be so sanctimonious and judgmental of everyone else. Even after the huge blowout she'd had that week with William, she was still sitting in judgement of his relationship with Kateri. "Now, you've met Kat. You know she's a nice person. You know that she loves Willy and he loves her, so there is nothing else to be said about it. If you do have anything else to say about it, then please... keep it to yourself."

Her mother was about to respond when they heard the front door open.

"We're in the kitchen!" Angela called, then more quietly to her mother, she said, "Keep it to yourself."

Her mother rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her coffee.

When William entered the kitchen with Kateri a few steps behind, both mother and daughter could not stifle their giggles at his apparel. His hair looked lovely and he was wearing very attractive, well executed, daytime makeup, but he was wearing an oversized, baby blue, woolen pea-coat with his tights-clad legs protruding below and his pink, Jeannie costume slippers on his feet.

"You look like you're wearing your big sister's coat," his mother giggled. "It's miles too big."

"I'm his big sister, mom, and that coat would be miles too big on me, too," Angela laughed. "Why didn't you wear your own coat?"

William opened the coat to reveal his attire beneath, which consisted of just his flesh toned leotard and tights. "Because I don't have anything else to wear. I tried some of Kat's clothes, but they're all way too big. I thought that, maybe, you might have something that is closer to my size. I need something to wear out shopping."

Angela smiled sweetly. "Aww, how sweet. I always wanted a little sister to share my clothes with." She stood and headed to the hallway, grabbing William's hand on the way. "Come on, sis. We'll find something."

"I'll wait down here, babe," Kateri giggled at Angela's enthusiasm. She went to the table and took the seat that Angela had just vacated. "So, how are you doing, today?"

William's mother smiled. "Kateri... you seem like a real nice girl and I'm very happy that Willy found someone to be with, but I am curious... how far do you intend to push my son into femininity? I mean the costume stuff was cute, but that person I just saw come in with you... that wasn't my son. That was a woman."

Kateri sensed a pending attack and decided that, when dealing with a woman that William described as a good person, but a bit unstable, the best defense was a strong offense, so she smiled and said, "Yes, well, there would have been no need for Billy to look like that if you hadn't adhered those breasts to his chest the way that you did. He is awfully attractive, though, don't you think?"

"An attractive woman, yes, but... well, this may be a bit coarse, but... are you a lesbian?"

Kateri laughed at the question, partially out of surprise and partially at the absurdity of her boyfriend's mother asking her if she was a lesbian. "I beg your pardon? I'm dating your SON, for crying out loud! Why would you ask if I am a lesbian?"

"Well... Last week, when you were dressed as Sonny and Cher, Willy looked more like he was wearing Hillary Clinton's suit than Sonny Bono's. This week, you have him dressed like a teenaged boy's wet dream straight out of 'The Arabian Nights.' I seem to sense a pattern here."

Kateri crossed her arms and looked across the table. "Look... if you hadn't saddled him with those breasts, Billy would be dressed in his usual, Saturday morning tan slacks and loafers. I had absolutely nothing to do with the makeover and his need to look female until this can all be sorted out. The responsibility for that lays partially at your feet and partially at our boss', but I will admit that I do like him this way. When I touch him and he's wearing something soft and silky, smells like flowers and vanilla and his kisses taste like lipstick, yeah, that's pretty exciting, but I wouldn't be attracted to it unless I knew that it was Billy that I was kissing. He's a smart, cute guy who happens to also be a smart, sexy, really attractive girl and I find that very exciting. Now, as far as frank conversations go, I hope that you've enjoyed this one because, I have to tell you, this kind of conversation will never, ever, ever happen between us again. Your relationship with your son is your business and my relationship with my boyfriend is mine. Ok? I think that, if we can respect each other's boundaries, then we can be friends. How does that sound?"

William's mother looked at the younger woman, wide eyed. "I don't think that you realize that your relationship with my son is, in fact, interfering with my relationship with him."

"How so?"

"Well, I don't think Willy has slept away from home more than five times in his whole life until this week. He comes in here today, after two nights at your house, and he's unrecognizable."

"And the blame for that lays on two people - as I have said. I wanted to play a few games. You and Loraine Brewer made this a full time thing."

"A full time thing!?" This surprised his mother. "What exactly do you mean by 'a full time thing?'"

Before Kateri could answer, Angela's voice spoke in an angry, somewhat loud whisper. "What the Hell is going on down here!? We can hear you fighting upstairs. Do you think this is easy for Willy? For crying out loud, mom, what did you say?"

"Me!?" Her mother acted shocked. "Why would you assume that I said something to set this all off?"

"Because I know you, mom, and I know that you can make any situation about you in a heartbeat. Before they even got here, I told you to keep your opinions to yourself. Willy has to figure all of this out for himself and the last thing he needs is two of the people he loves the most fighting over him and making him feel self conscious. So, stop it, right now."

Her mother's expression was one of pretend shock. "Well, I never would have expected you to turn on me..."

"Enough." Angela's stage whisper was very firm, and oddly, much more protective and maternal than her mother's tone. "Now, look - Willy is in a bind and until those things come off of him, it's up to us to help him. I found him a nice dress hanging in the back of my closet. It's not new, but it's pretty and will fit him. I can't find any nice shoes for him, but I found some of those jelly ballet flats that I used to wear all the time that will be fine to get to the mall, as long as he doesn't have to walk through any snow or slush."

"Oh, lord," her mother shook her head. "What clothes could you possible own that would fit Willy. You're at least two sizes bigger than him. Maybe three."

"Like I said, it's not new." Angela checked to be sure that William was out of earshot. "It's that nice yellow dress I got in sophomore year of high school. The one with the square neckline, three quarter sleeves and the tiered skirt. Remember it?"

"You're dressing your older brother in a dress you wore when you were fifteen and taking him out in public like that!?" Her mother said with a lot of indignation.

"Yes, mom, because that's the only dress I have that will fit him. Actually, it's a little long on him. It's supposed to come to mid thigh, but it reaches all the way to his knees - but who cares? It's a cute dress that looks nice on him, so there's no need to tell him that I was so young when I wore it."

"Isn't it awfully tight in the bust?" Her mother asked. "You were pretty flat back then."

She just would not stop, would she? Always finding a way to dig a little deeper into her children. "It's a fit and flare style, mom. The top is stretchy. Now, just be supportive. Here he comes."

When Angela saw her older brother with his pixie-ish hairstyle, plucked brows, his dyed hair, his ample bust and the youthful dress, her heart skipped a beat at how cute her new little sister looked.

When his mother saw William, she was struck by how much he looked like Angela did at the age she'd worn that dress. Bigger breasts, of course, and the makeup was too grownup, which had been a constant battle with Angela at that age, anyway, but the similarities were remarkable.

When Kateri saw him, her heart nearly burst with love and affection. The previous day, William had asked if she could live with him having breasts permanently implanted in his chest. At the time, it had all seemed too abstract to really imagine. After all, he had been dressed in a fantasy costume. The illusion of him as Jeannie was too playful for her to her even consider that it could be real. But now... now it was very real. William didn't look at all mannish or even boyish. He looked girlish and womanly all at once, but she still knew that he was a man underneath all that girlish exterior. A man she wanted to be with. To take him as her... what?... As her husband?... No... as her wife? Yes. Her wife. Her beautiful, soft, sweet smelling, little wife who's hair would always smell of vanilla and who's kisses would always taste like lipstick.

Could she live with him this way?

The real question had become: Could she live with him any other way?
 
 
To Be Continued...