John continues his job search to complete his college education and the girls make a novel suggestion which he completely rejects–that is until he has no other choice.

Authors Note: All Credit to Gabi for her fantastic editing, she is truly a woman of great talent.

Chapter 2
“Hi, Girls,” said John with a smile on his face, even though he felt down about his prospects of finding work he still could not help but smile at the visions of beauty sitting there at his kitchen table.

“Hi, John,” the three replied practically in unison.

“Want to join us for some dinner?” said Cindy, who was the leader of the pack and also the prettiest, and being the prettiest of these three was no mean feat.

“Sure, if you have some to spare,” replied John, who at this stage was only remembering that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. His stomach began to rumble at the thoughts of getting some food into it and hunger began to overtake his thoughts.

“We have tons,” said Susan the shy one of the group. “Spaghetti Bolognese, and as usual Pamela put on too much of everything, I swear if we get fat it’s going to be all her fault” she smiled.

At this Pamela gave Susan a playful dig in the shoulder and retorted with, “What about the chocolate éclairs at lunch time, miss?”

The three girls laughed at this and John pulled up a chair at the table. Just as he was doing this Cindy smiled at him and said, “Men! It’s not going to serve itself.” She then let out a long exaggerated sigh that could have won her an Oscar.

John smiled back and said, “Sorry, I forgot all of you are posh girls with jobs at Et du Fem and not the usual waitresses I am used to!” At this the three girls all burst out laughing. John who was still smiling got up and found himself a plate from the press and helped himself to a generous portion of the fare from the pot. Looking over at Pamela he said, “I think you were expecting the 7th Cavalry for dinner, there is enough here to feed them all and then some.”

Pamela smiled back and said, “Well it looks like you’re not going to object anyway judging by your plate.”

John sat back down at the table and began to tuck into the food. “Hummmm, very nice, Pamela, I have to complement your cooking, it’s as good as ever.”

“Thanks,” she replied.

“So how are things with you, John,” enquired Cindy.

“Not very good to be honest,” he replied. “My benefactor has passed away intestate and all his tight-assed evil relations who never visited him once in the nursing home, have come into all his property and money. Needless to say they are cutting off my bursary at once.”

“Oh my God, John, that sounds terrible,” Susan said, and all the other girls nodded in agreement.

“Well it’s not as bad as it sounds but it's bad enough,” continued John. “I had a meeting with the dean, and the college will wave my fees but I have to find a job so I can feed myself and pay the rent as well. I don’t think I will be able to afford to stay here past the end of the month as I will have to find somewhere much cheaper to match my much reduced income.”

At this the three girls all seemed to be very down, they all really liked John and enjoyed his sense of humour. Having a man about the place was nice as well when it came to the various DIY bits and pieces that boys have a natural ability for, but that most girls never bother to learn growing up. Also he always treated them with respect. Another guy living with three beauties like these would be constantly hitting on them or trying to take advantage of them if they came home drunk where as John would never dream of being so forward.

“So,” said Susan who got the courage to break the awkward silence that had developed, “are there any prospects of your getting a really good part-time job that would let you afford to keep this place?”

“What kind of job would pay the $2000 a month I have been spending? I had $3000 a month in upkeep payments from my benefactor. That leaves $4000 that I have saved this semester so I could survive for two months. While I know this house is the lap of luxury as regards rental living where am I going to find $1200 to spare for my share of the rent every month. Not being rude I don’t have rich parents like you guys.”

“None of us have rich parents,” interjected Pamela. “We have really good part-time jobs, the girls and I make about $3400 a month after taxes at Et du Fem. What you need to do is find something similar”

John looked at her incredulously; “Pamela,” he said and, looking at Cindy and Susan as well, he continued, “Girls, you all know I am not one to comment on your looks and I never make sexist remarks but, Et du Fem is well-known for hiring only the most beautiful girls in the country let alone the state. And let’s face it, the three of you are good looking enough to be in any Hollywood movie”.

“I resent being accused of making my living from my looks,” said Pamela.

Susan quickly interrupted before Pamela could say anymore; “He's right Pam, we are hot.”

“And we know it,” said Cindy, at which all four of them laughed, breaking the atmosphere of gloom that had descended on the room.

“You know they do employ some guys as well,” said Susan, “I could enquire later when I’m in there if you like, and if they have any openings you could get me a copy of your CV.”

Immediately, John’s ears pricked up on hearing this. “You mean there might be a possibility of me getting a job there?” he said.

“Yes, but only a slim one. I’m not making any promises but Et du Fem take recommendations from their staff before looking at any other CV’s they might be receiving,” replied Susan.

“Okay we'll enquire,” said Cindy, looking at her watch she saw the time. “It’s a quarter to five and we have to start work at five, we better run, girls, if we are to catch that bus.”

“Don’t worry, John, it will be alright” said Pamela.

“Yeah, said John. Maybe I'll wake up as a hot chick tomorrow and have no more money problems,” he joked.

The girls all laughed at this as they headed out the door to work.

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After the girls had left, John sat back on the sofa watching television. He didn’t really concentrate on it, but instead drifted off into his own thoughts. His mood was very melancholy; he knew he had worked hard to get to where he was. He had taken a lot of hard knocks in life and had to overcome many adversities.

He knew there had to be a way to overcome the challenge he was now facing, it couldn’t end like this he would find the money somewhere.

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Later that night Cindy, Pamela and Susan were on the bus coming back home from work.

“While he is cute in a feminine kind of way, I still think this your most hair-brained idea to date, Pamela,” said Cindy.

"Well maybe it is, CINDY,” Pamela snapped back, “but can you think of any other way to help him out?”

“I guess not,” she conceded, “but if we get caught out on this one John won’t be the only one with money troubles and, besides, do you think you can get him to go along with it?”

“Well there's only one way to find out,” said Susan, “None of us have classes or work tomorrow, so if he agrees we can see how it works out then.”

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John was awoken by the sound of the key in the latch as the girls came home from work. He had dozed off on the sofa and was still quite groggy as he acknowledged their entry into the house with a half-hearted “hello.” He was still very down in himself and had no idea what he was going to do.

The girls came in and started making coffee, John noticed the Pamela had four mugs out on the table so he took the opportunity to tell her he didn’t want any, however she insisted and said, “We all need to talk about something.”

“What?” asked John.

“About the possibility of your new job at Et du Fem,” replied Pamela. At this John perked up with a smile on his face and sat at the table where Pamela was pouring the coffee from the freshly brewed pot.

“So tell me about the good news.” John smiled like an enthusiastic little puppy just about to get some fresh mince meat for its dinner.

“Firstly, do you like my uniform, does it look good on me?” asked Susan.

John seemed a bit puzzled by this unusual question but looking at Susan with her lightly curled flowing blond hair, blue eyes, tanned skin, and fully made up face in her white satin low cut blouse, satin-lined blue pencil skirt, low denier tan pantyhose and blue stilettos, the uniform clinging to every inch of her perfect womanly curves he came to the conclusion that she looked dam good.

“Yes,” he replied, “you look very fetching in it–quite beautiful in fact.”

Susan smiled at him. By this stage all four were now sitting at the table drinking their coffee and dunking some biscuits. Then Pamela opened her mouth and said, “How would you feel about wearing a uniform exactly like Susan’s, skirt and high heels included, to work?”

John’s breath left him as he nearly choked on his biscuits laughing “Are Et du Fem looking for a bearded lady?” he smiled, when eventually he recovered his composure.

“Not exactly,” said Cindy, “they have three openings for new staff because three girls who worked there are doing their medical finals this semester and are leaving due to the pressure of their work load. The problem is that they will only be replaced by three pretty girls.”

“Are ye crazy?” said John, “surely ye are not suggesting what I think ye are suggesting?”

“Well it’s like this,” said Pamela. “We had a discussion over break today, the three of us–and we all agreed–that if you were to remove that silly student beard you keep growing, you have pretty effeminate features, small nose and mouth, large eyes, not a very pronounced chin, you have lovely long hair if you cleaned it properly, and you also have a perfect figure even if it’s missing the necessary curves.”

John seemed a bit taken aback but none the less he knew what she meant. His main reason for sporting the dirty blond student beard had been to compensate for these very features, which when he was somewhat younger had gotten him bullied because he looked so girly. But he was also a staunchly heterosexual male and he was now feeling hurt at this affront to his manhood.

John’s demeanour said it all; the euphoria that had been on him had suddenly disappeared and the despondency had returned to his face.

None the less Pamela continued; “We did some shopping this evening and got some items that we feel would help transform your look completely into that of a very attractive female.”

“How would I explain changing my look so drastically to the other people in my class, it would be pretty clear that my hair was different and my beard gone, and I assume you would be doing something with my bushy eyebrows. Besides I have a deep voice and I haven’t the faintest idea of how to interact with people as a girl. Even if all of you managed to get me to nail the look, it would be Chuck Norris doing the voiceover in a badly dubbed Japanese film.”

“I’m sorry, John,” said Pamela, “but it’s the only way we can get you a job there and we will all be here to coach and help you. As for people in your class noticing changes in you, in all honesty did you bother to get to know any of them over this first semester?”

“I guess I didn’t exactly get to know people, we had no group work and there are over 400 different people between all my subjects, so you would be sitting beside someone different every day,” said John rather sheepishly.

“That settles it then” said Cindy “Tomorrow we are going to see what we can do with you, I will call you at 9am to begin preparations”.

“You will do no such thing,” said John, “Listen, thanks for the offer but I’ll be up tomorrow at nine am to call recruitment agencies and get a proper job, not one where I’ll be prancing around like some freak of a drag queen. Besides have any of you thought of how embarrassing this would be for me if we got caught? All of you would probably lose your good jobs for a start. I’m off to bed, I will see you in the morning for breakfast and I will start my recruitment agency search.”

The girls looked a little disappointed that they couldn’t put their theory to the test, however they couldn’t force this on John and he had made his decision.

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The next morning John was up early, as he had stated he would be the night before. He gave from eight am until eleven on the internet and on the phone, e-mailing and ringing various recruitment agencies. Time and time again it was the same response, “We would like to thank you for your interest in X&Y Limited Mr. Philips but unfortunately we have no positions available at this time.”

As the clock turned eleven, John became more and more depressed. The girls had all had good lie in for themselves as they had no urgent requirement to rise early. Eventually Pamela rose about eleven-fifteen. She appeared out into the kitchen in her dressing gown and slippers and although wearing no makeup and with her hair a complete mess she was still very attractive and her natural beauty still shone through.

“Hi, John, how’s your job search going?” she enquired. That was all it took to bring it home to John that the job search was a futile effort. He tried to answer her but couldn’t, he found his voice choking in his oesophagus and tears welling up in his eyes. To Pamela’s surprise he ran upstairs to his room closing the door quickly behind him before she could see him cry.

Pamela went and roused the other two girls who were still soundly sleeping. She had passed John’s room on the way and could hear the sobs coming from within. “Quickly,” she said to them, “it's best we confront him now, all together, he needs our help but he won’t admit it.” The other two, with a little reluctance, agreed and followed her.

Pamela knocked on John’s door and the sorrowful voice came from within; “I’m sorry, but I need some time alone.”

“Either you are coming out here now, John, or I–I mean we are all coming in.” When there was no reply Pamela placed her hand on the door knob and began to turn it.

Click! The latch opened and Pamela slowly opened the door to see John looking a sorry sight lying face down on his bed crying.

Pamela stepped into John’s neatly kept room and sat beside him on the bed laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Listen, John, I know things are really bad for you right now, but we just want to help, and in years to come when you are telling your wife and kids about how you got through college working as a girl they will all have a good laugh at it. No one will ever know except us four, isn’t that right, girls?” she said.

“Yes of course,” replied the other two in unison.

“It won’t work,” sobbed John as he turned on his back to look up at them from two big red tearful eyes.

“We won’t know unless you give it a try,” said Cindy.

“Yeah, you have to let us try first,” added Susan.

John looked pensive for a minute, almost lost in deep thought as his mind tried to work out the pros and cons of what the girls wanted him to do. It was a big ask for a heterosexual male, but was it just his male ego he was letting get in the way of his entire career.

Who cared that his hairstyle might look a little girly or that his eyebrows would be a bit on the tight side for the average boy except him. It wasn’t as though he would have to build close friendships with his class mates to get on in life. He knew that if he kept up his current results he would be straight into Harvard medical school for his post grad, even if he was more reclusive than Howard Hughes and less well-liked than your average mugger. After weighing the pros and cons he could only come to one decision.

“Okay,” said John, “Let’s give it a try.”