What started out as a simple trick to help a friend to get a raise and a promotion, leads the duckling to become a very reluctant swan.

“It’s simple,” declared Lisa. She sat on the edge of the chair, pointing at him with the same hand that held her can of beer. “Bonnie will fall for it, easy.”

A young man with shoulder length reddish brown hair sank further into the couch, “Yah, simple for you, but I’m the one who is going to feel like a fool doing all this.”

“Look,” Lisa continued, overriding his concerns, “Bonnie is a pretty good boss, but I need her to take me seriously when I make suggestions. I mean, she’s old, around 40 or so, and she doesn’t understand current trends for 84 like me and Kimberly. She looks down on us since we’ve only held our licenses for less than a year, a short time compared to her. Don’t get me wrong, Bonnie is good at running a salon. Only she doesn’t really understand what’s good for hair and young people. She’s stuck in 1980 for her hair style choices. She gets all these older ladies all the time so she isn’t that up on what makes a girl look good for those around my age.”

“Yah, but why me?”

Lisa looked at him again, “Because you are incredibly good at acting. Look, you were one of the best actors in school, right?”

“In my old school, yah, but no one really knows me here. They never had a theater department here.” Terry’s beer sloshed in its can as he waved his arms dismissively.

“Another damn good reason. Look Terry, you came in late last fall and no one really knows ya. You even go by a different name than your given name. We’ve been together most of that time and I’ve taken good care of you so far, right?”

“Yah, you have, but don’t bring up my old name. It’s stupid and I hate it,” Terry groaned. It was true, soon after arriving here his parents got into a very ugly divorce leaving him without either of them. It was Lisa who took him in and gave him a place to stay while he finished high school. When he insisted on being called Terry, she’s the only one who wanted to back him up on it.

“You are damn right I’ve taken care of you. Look babe, I love ya and I want the best for you, right? So we do this thing here and I’ll be able to get more money out of Bonnie because she’ll see me as a star in her salon. We can bring Kimberly in on this too and she can run cover for both of us if Bonnie gets too suspicious. We do your hair up real nice and you act like I’ve read your mind with the whole psychic thing I’ll do and then you’ll split. You get into your car, zoom off and stick that head of yours under a hat until I get home and then I’ll give you a proper haircut so that you will look good for your new job. You can’t leave your hair long for that job you know.”

“Yah, I know.” Leaning back, he closed his eyes and tried to find a way out. He owed a lot to Lisa, that was for sure. With the economy the way it was here in this shit hole of a town, he was lucky to be getting a job in the first place, even if it was a typing job. His skill at typing would only improve from his already fast 90 words per minute that he tested on. And during that time he could save up enough money to get into college nearby and if he got his grades up well enough, maybe he’d get into a scholarship at a bigger university and that would lead to a much better life.

Lisa returned from the kitchen and dropped a fresh beer on the table in front of him, he finished off his current can and hit the second one in a long drawl, finally coming up for air.

He looked at her and sighed, “Okay, I’ll do it.” Next thing he knew he was being tackled and kissed, which isn’t a bad way to spend the time.

Kimberly handed the mug of coffee to Lisa and asked, “How late did you stay up last night getting everything together for today?”

“Too late, I tell ya. It took forever to get all the final stuff together, but we’re ready to go. You know me, I got so excited about doing a makeover and all that it took a long time to get to sleep afterwards.” Lisa looked into the mirror and set her coffee down to pull out some concealer. “My eyes look terrible.”

A blond with a full head of curls came in as she finished touching up her makeup. She was fit, trim, and even though she was near forty, she felt like she looked better than most folks her age. “Late night Lisa?”

“Hey Bonnie. Yes, I had a hard time getting to sleep. And even though I know it isn’t a good thing to ask for, I’m hoping that this remains a typical slow Thursday.”

“Well, if you aren’t up to it,” Bonnie stated as she thought. “How about Kimberly taking over the station.”

“No can do Bonnie. I’ve finished up a customer a few moments ago and I need to clean things up. And I’ve another scheduled in about thirty and then I was planning on heading out as scheduled. I’ve got to be at my apartment when the cable guy comes in.”

“Thanks anyway Kimberly, Bonnie,” she nodded to both of them. “I’ll be okay. I will clean up things and then check out that new style books that came in.”

Bonnie nodded, pleased with the answer. “Should be good too. I thumbed through them. Looks like 1984 will be known for larger and bigger hair and that means money for us.”

Lisa nodded as Kimberly said, “That’s exactly what Lisa said the other day. You know how she gets these premonitions. She’s like really good at reading things.”

Bonnie took a look at them both, “Seriously?”

“Absolutely!” Kimberly gushed, “When she gets that look, you know she’s picked up something and it’s always right.”

“I wouldn’t go that far Kimmie,” Lisa cautioned. “I mean, yah, there are times that I get this feeling, you know? But that doesn’t always make it right. But I know if I get the feeling for a customer or I can see how they look with new style or something, I’m going in the right direction. Sometimes though, I have to tone it down a bit to bring them along. It’s like you get the grand vision, but you have to bring the client to it in smaller steps. Make them happy with each step so that they trust what you are doing and are comfortable with where it is all going. If you go with it all the way at once, they might put the brakes on and then you’ll never get them there.”

“That’s true. But you girls don’t understand that sometimes you have to force them there in the first place. Guide them into the decision first, then spring a big reveal upon them. That’s when they realize that whatever worry they might have had during their time in the chair is suddenly melted away.” Bonnie glanced over at each of them, seeing how Kimberly was coming on board with this way of thinking but Lisa wasn’t buying into it. “Think about how you have reacted to someone who tells you something you aren’t quite in agreement with, then when you realize how right they were and how all those doubts fade away quickly. Anyway, let’s tidy up and hope for a bit of business soon. I’m going to my office and make a few calls if you need anything.”

The girls both agreed and started on their stations, but Lisa kept looking up now and then towards Bonnie’s office. If there was someone that needed to be brought down a few pegs, that Bonnie woman was definitely it. A smile blossomed on her face as Terry showed up at the door.

“Hello. Welcome to Bonnie’s. My name is Lisa, how can I help you today?”

“Oh, um. Hi. Um, I need to get my hair trim.” Terry was playing his role well, looking nervous and a little shy.

“We can certainly take care of you. Come on back and let’s look at what we can do.” As Terry sat down at Lisa’s station, he gave Lisa a nervous smile and a quick wink.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to ask what your name is?”

“Oh, um. Jeff. My name is Jeff.” Terry stated.

“Okay Jeff, let’s see what we have here. My, your hair is certainly long and thick. Very nicely taken care of too. You’ve really looked after it well which is always a joy to see.” Lisa stood back a few feet and glanced in the mirrors hoping Bonnie had come out, but she only saw Kimberly at the nail station watching them. She caught Kim’s eyes and snapped her head towards Bonnie’s office, filling the time with a little small talk about the weather while Kim collected Bonnie. When Bonnie’s office door was finally open enough, she started her shtick.

“Jeff, I know you might think that this is too much, but I think we can give you a style that you would really like. I’m not sure though how well you might want admit it, but I feel you aren’t here for a regular cut. Am I right?”

Terry looked up into her eyes in the mirror, “Wha…. What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t think Jeff really suits you. When I look at you I see someone trapped within that needs help in coming forward, someone whom you want to be. I think I can help you bring that someone out a bit, so that they aren’t so lonely in the world. Is this something you feel too?”

Terry swallowed hard and opened his eyes. He could hear Kimberly explain to Bonnie about how Lisa was having one of her insights. In a small voice he answered, “Um, yes. But I can’t do that.”

“I know it can be scary. You are among friends though. I am certain we can provide you a look that makes you feel better about yourself and still allows you to pretend to be what people expect you to be. With this look, we can give you a private way of being who you want to be when the time is right. What do you say to that?”

Bonnie had come out of her office and was watching from the doorway. He glanced her way and back to Lisa, “I… I’m not sure what you mean.”

Lisa pulled his hair back from his face as if she was putting it into a pony tail. “Look at yourself. You and I know exactly what you’d like to do if you could do it. You’ve step in here like an ugly duckling who could leave like a swan. I believe we can make this happen if you’d like. And if you need some time, we can at least take some of that duckling and give it a little swan attention so that you could be happier with yourself. Would you like that?”

Terry blinked a few times. It was easier to play this role what with Lisa being so convincing on her end of things. He looked into the mirror longingly before answering, “I really would like that. Is it okay? I mean, what would they say?”

Before Lisa could say anything, Bonnie stepped forward, “They would say let’s make a swan. I think it is beautiful to be who you want to be. We all do. We would love to assist you in that, if you’d let us?”

“I guess.”

“Come dear, let’s not hide anymore. You are a stronger girl than most. Aren’t you?” Bonnie came to Terry’s side and held her hand and looked deep into his eyes.

He fought to hold her gaze. If he looked away, she would see he was lying. He needed to sell this. “Yes. I want to be a swan.” He pulled some tears to his eyes and breathed a few short breaths. “I really want to be a swan.”

Bonnie beamed at Kimberly and Lisa, before settling back to Terry. “Then we will make you a swan. I think we can make this a bit more private too. Kim, can you please call and cancel your next appointment? We’ll close the doors for a little privacy. Lisa, you have discovered our diamond. What do you think we should do?”

Lisa felt her heart swell at Bonnie’s recognition. This was her big moment. “I think,” she said as she looked at his hair again pulling it, “I think we can do a beautiful start to making our swan by doing a little crop cut on the sides, longer on the top that can be swept in a very pretty style for those moments where it counts. This will give us the ability to also make it more conservative for the times Jeff needs to tone it down for public appearances. I think I have a picture of it over here if you’d like to see it?”

Terry looked at both of them, knowing that Lisa would want him to follow along with what she had in mind. It was something he could get fixed later tonight if it was too girly. “That sounds really nice. What sort of cut is it? Is it pretty?”

Lisa brought the book over and flipped a few pages to the style she had in mind. “See how the sides and the backs are short and the top is long? It can be styled with some mouse to something more conservative when you need it or you can fluff it out so it looks cute. The wedge cut in the back can be held down or up with the mouse as well. We could do highlights if you want to now or we can do them on your next visit. You would really look cute in that with your features.”

Terry made sure to stare at the picture in the book for a moment as if he was lost in his own world. “Do you think I could be that cute?”

Bonnie cut in, “Absolutely. You want to be a swan, right?” At his nod she continued, “Then I think we should take a look at a few other pictures too so that you feel what the best look is for you.”

Lisa glanced up at Bonnie and wondered what she was thinking. Bonnie suggested, “Let’s pull out the new books and look at them together. A new look would definitely help the new you come out.”

Together the three of them sat on one of the couches and looked through the book. Terry sat between Bonnie and Lisa, and he could feel Lisa be frustrated at times as Bonnie guided them along. He also felt her swell with pride as Bonnie praised her abilities and her ability to see what could be best for her customer. He looked up at Kimberly at one moment and noticed that she was amused by the tug of war going on with him as the rope. She mouthed the words at him, “It will be okay. Go with what they say.”

Both ladies let out soft sounds of appreciation at one of the pictures, so he did too. They were pointing at things in the picture making a few comments before they finally turned the page. He wasn’t really paying attention to it all as he was worried where all this was heading. Each new page flip brought more girlish looks than he was able to wrap his head around. A few looked really nice and quite a few were well outside of what they could do with his hair, thankfully.

Lisa had to get up and excuse herself, “Sorry, I had little bit too much coffee this morning. I’ll be right back.” Bonnie and Terry watched her retreat to the back.

“Jeff, I think I know what would be best for you if you’d trust Lisa and me.”

“I trust you. I really do!”

“Good. I have to ask you a few questions first. What sort of job do you have right now?”

“Oh, I’m a typist. At least,” he corrected himself since Jeff should be unemployed and Terry was the one who was starting a job next week, “I want to work in an office as one.”

“Well, I’m sure we can help find you something if you don’t have anything yet. We can’t let our swan be without a job. I already know this answer I think. Are your legs shaved? I’ve seen some of your ankle and it looks like they are.”

Terry nodded. Lisa had insisted they shave his legs and underarms in case it was needed to convince everyone that Lisa was on the right track. Looks like she was right. Bonnie needed that assurance that what they were considering was the right thing to think.

“That’s wonderful.” Bonnie gave him a smile and a patted his arm. She hadn’t doubted this boy’s interest in being a swan at all, but she didn’t know how far down the swan path he had gone already. If he was still wavering, than it would be prudent to give him something he could go both ways with since he obviously wasn’t committed to this choice. It would not be the first time she had a man or boy in her salon or in her care who was more into dressing up or thinking about dressing up than actually going further than that. With his smooth legs, it was obvious that Jeff wasn’t someone testing the waters. This was someone who was already in deep and wanted to go much, much further. She checked his nails and saw that they were very neat as if he had a manicure at some point in the last week. “Do you do your own nails?” she asked.

“Yes, I do,” he lied. Actually it was Lisa who did his nails, before his typing test and interview. It felt good the way she massaged his hands and he didn’t mind having clean nails. They probably helped him get the job in the first place.

“Then I’ve got the style for you. Do you trust me?”

Terry looked around for Lisa, but she wasn’t back yet. He wasn’t sure if this is what Lisa wanted or not. “I do trust you, but I was worried about what Lisa might think. She should be able to do what you are wanting, but …” he trailed off. He didn’t want to make Lisa sound like he didn’t have confidence in her, but at the same time he needed Bonnie on board with Lisa’s whole plan.

“Lisa is certainly one of my best stylists and I know she’ll agree with what I have in mind. Come on, we’ll all work on your new look. I know you’ll be very happy with the results.”

Reluctantly, Terry got up and was seated at Bonnie’s station and not Lisa’s. Bonnie fingered his hair some and checked it for the things she felt would make her choice the best one. “I felt your eyes light up when you looked at this one style. I think it would be perfect on you and I know Lisa felt the same way. It’s a very wonderful look and it is new too. Do you remember the one?”

“There’ve been so many. Most of the styles though needed more hair than I have.” He was safe making that statement. He should have paid better attention to all of what they were showing him, now if he didn’t know what it was she might doubt how in to this he was. He was expecting Lisa to make the choice. Still, if Lisa thought it was a great style than it must mean that it was something she could correct afterwards back into the more manly style he needed. “But if it is the one you and Lisa both like as well, then let’s do it.” Looking at her, he decided to use her phrase to erase any doubts he might have brought back up. “Make me a swan Bonnie!”

He must have said the right thing as she beamed at him. “Your wish is my command. Let’s bring your dream to life! Wait right here and let me get a few things ready.

Bonnie disappeared into the back and Terry looked around for Kimberly or Lisa, but they weren’t there so they must both in the back as well. Maybe he should duck out the front door right now. He belly was telling him that this wasn’t what he was expecting. It was like he was on an out of control cart and unable to steer. He needed some assurance from Lisa that things were going to be alright.

Bonnie returned a few moments later and saw his worried expression. ‘I shouldn’t have left him alone,’ she thought. ‘He is doubting himself now.’ Out loud she said, “Don’t worry Jeff. Lisa is fine. I sent her off for some lunch for all of us. Come with me and we’ll get you started.”

Reluctantly I was made to lead the way to the back where she had me take off my shirt. “We don’t want to get it messed up while we’re working. Don’t worry, we’ll have you wear a smock to cover up. Let’s see. Kimberly,” she called, “Could you come here and write some things down? Thank you. Okay, let’s start off with some measurements.”

“Measurements?”

“Yes, we need to make sure that what we want to do will work, okay?”

Terry thought that measuring to make sure a hair style was going to work sounded crazy, but he wasn’t an expert on anything in this. Maybe there was some ratio or something they used to decide hair length or something. So he stood there and she measure his arm length, his torso and waist and even his hips and feet. By that time he knew this wasn’t part of the normal part of what should be happening. They were definitely sizing him up for something else, but he couldn’t figure it all out. Maybe a smock? But why measure his feet? In short order she brought out a smock that was a deep pink and he put it on. It was far too baggy to be something they would have had to measure him for. It didn’t make any sense what so ever.

He was led over to the sink and his hair was washed and Bonnie worked on relaxing him by giving him a nice scalp massage. It certainly felt nice. She soon had him back at her station and she brought out the scissors and started to section off his hair from the top and sides, trimming the hair on the sides to eliminate some of the excess. He looked around some more and still wondered where Lisa could be. Bonnie began rolling his hair on the top part of his head and crown in small rods, “You know, something that might make you fill better is if we used your real name.”

His eyes shot open and his body locked up. “Uh, real name? What do you mean?”

“Meaning that you said your name was Jeff, but you must have another name.”

He sighed. The gig was up. “Terry. My name is Terry Crowe.”

“Oh,” Bonnie smiled. “That’s a wonderful girl’s name. Terri. I think that fits you.”

“What? I mean, really?”

“Yes I do. It’s nice, but…”

“Yes?”

“Well, it’s something that could be used as a boy’s name too. Is your heart set on it?”

“I guess? Now that you say that, I’m not sure.” Terry quietly gave thanks. He had a way out. Using his real name wasn’t something that he expected to do, it had slipped out because he thought she knew he was lying about his real name, which he was, but that’s not the point.

“Well, we can think on it further. We can see how things work as we go. In the meantime, I’ll call you Terri.”

Inwardly wincing, he came up with a girlish name, one that his mother had told him they had planned to use for him had he been born a girl in the first place. It was the first one that popped into mind. “The other one I was thinking of is Tammy.” He checked Bonnie’s reaction in the mirror, seeing how she might respond.

“Oh? That’s nice too. A little more old fashion I think. Still a nice name. I think Terri might be your best bet, but let’s talk about that later.”

A while later, she finally had finished rolling up his hair in all these little rods and pieces of paper. Kimberly came over had a quiet conversation with Bonnie before the three of them headed to the back.

Kimberly came out of the back room with a small bag. “Here, put on the shorts in this bag.”

“Why?” He really didn’t want people to see his smoothly shaven legs.

“Because we need you to blend in a bit. Your shoes will work, they are simple K-Swiss like I wear, but your jeans won’t work at all.”

Bonnie spoke up, “With the shorts on under the smock, it will make it look to anyone looking that you are all girl.”

Reluctantly he went into the bathroom and changed, rolling up my jeans and putting them into a paper sack that also had his shirt. Kimberly came in after that and sat him down and changed his socks for a pair in her bag that had these little red pompom balls at the back before putting his shoes back on him.

Then Bonnie led him to the sink and with a towel over his eyes and a cotton wrap thing around his head close to his hairline, she started pouring and squirting this cool liquid in and around the rods. After awhile she brought him out and him sit down under a drier.

“Here, read this while your hair gets ready. I need to make a few phone calls.” She handed him a girl’s fashion magazine and lowered this clear hood device that was hooked to the chair over his head. Hot air began to circulate around his hair, making it impossible for him to hear anything.

Bonnie walked away to the back of the store, giving him a chance to look around. Kimberly was working on the nails of a lady who had come in while his head was in the sink. He thought that they had said they were going to close the shop, but it looked like they hadn’t after all. He wanted to sink into nothingness, but there wasn’t anything for it. He stayed still and pretended to read the magazine.

He looked up and saw Lisa as she brought over a burger to him. She mouthed, “I’m sorry.” That was all she could do what with the woman getting her nails done in the same area.

Lisa continued to loiter about, looking for some way that could pull Terry from Bonnie, but nothing was presenting itself. She couldn’t break it off now, to do so would mean she had to admit that she had set everything up before hand, and that would mean Bonnie would fire her. She couldn’t find another job fast enough if that happened, especially if Bonnie told everyone what happened.

Terry jumped when the bell went off. He had gotten lost in looking in the magazine, trying not to make eye contact with the lady getting her nails done. He blushed thinking he had actually been skimming a few articles and looking at pictures in the ads and such.

Bonnie came around again and check a few rods before leading him back to the sink. She wasn’t sure what to think about what she’d found out from her phone calls, but she had an idea or two. It seemed so implausible though. Yet everything she had ever heard on the talk shows about boys like Jeff seemed that it was possible that he was setting himself up for something latter on. Still, was this a fantasy of his or was it really where he wanted it to go.

Kimberly finished up with her customer as Terry was led back to Bonnie’s chair. She sat him down and began by having him close his eyes and keep them closed until she could show him the finished product.

“If you could leave the shorts with Bonnie when you’re done, I’ll pick them up later. I’ve got to go. Lisa, could you finish cleaning my station? I’m running late.” The girls, including the increasingly girlified Terry, responded to her goodbyes and soon the shop grew quiet with only the snip snip of the scissors as Bonnie worked her way around Terry’s hair.

“Oh, this is coming along very nicely. You’re going to love it. Lisa, could you bring me that tray I set up over there? Thanks dear.”

“Are you sure?” Lisa asked, as she presented it.

“Absolutely. Terri dear, this is going to hurt slightly, but it will be over in a moment. Lisa, could you get the left side here? Thank you.” Terry felt them both messing with his ears when suddenly two pops happened at the same time.

“OW! What did you do to me!” His eyes popped open and his protests died as fast as they came about.

Bonnie worked the back of his ears as he sat there stunned. His hair was now curled, he figured would be the case what with the rods they had put in there, but it had also been trimmed up and shaped in a definite girl’s style. His curly hair fell from his top of his head to expand outwards as rested about mid ear all away around, with some sort of bulge that help shaped the back. The curls definitely added volume. On each of his ears was a stud shinning and sparkling back at him.

“We’ll show you how to take care of your ears later, but first we need to finish up our swan project. What do you think?”

“I… I can’t….” Terry looked at himself as he turned his head slightly to the left and right. “Is that really me?”

Lisa put her hand on his shoulder, “Yes Terry, that’s you. You look very cute. Absolutely beautiful.”

Bonnie beamed at the two of them. “Terri, you are a very beautiful girl. Oh I’m so excited for you!” She seemed to be holding herself in and finally she squealed in delight and did a small victory dance. “This is fantastic! Okay, Lisa, I want you to give her a pedicure and manicure. Use…” Bonnie worked through the colors at the nail station before selecting one out. “Use this color here. I need to run a quick errand. I’ll lock up after myself and you two get cracking. I want to get this all done before three. Lisa, you are a genius! I’m going to have to listen to you more often. In fact, I think you’re going to become one of my top stylists!”

Lisa watched as Bonnie grabbed her purse from her office and dashed out the back door, locking it behind her.

“Oh god. I’m so sorry Terry. I didn’t mean for this to happen at all.”

Terry sat there and look at himself in the mirror. Shaking his head back and forth he started to chuckle, “Oh! My! Hell! How in the world did I let you talk me into this.” He continued to laugh as he shook his head.

“You aren’t mad?”

“Oh, I’m furious! But you have to admit, this is hilarious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, she bought this whole hog, right? Look at me.” He gestured to his feet up to his head. “Everything you did to convince her worked out perfectly. She’s completely in your hands now. Did you hear her? She’s thinking the world of you and she’s already said you are her top girl! Your plan worked.”

Lisa slowly realized what Terry said, “You’re right. She did, didn’t she. Oh My GOD! I made it!” Terry got up and jumped around with her, holding each other by their arms as they danced around in the circle.

“So all we have to do now is slip my clothes back on and I’m out the door and home free. Tonight you bring home your scissors and we’ll be done.”

“But your ears?”

“What, the piercing? They heal don’t they? It’s not like they are permanent.”

“Well, the holes will have to heal. And actually, the curls are. Your hair. It’s what we call a permanent.”

Terry stopped and the smile drained off his face. “How permanent?”

“Well, we could relax the curls in a few weeks to where they are more naturally straight, but until we do the curls are going to be there no matter what. And the way Bonnie did the set means it is going to have all this volume.”

“Okay, so. Slight change in plans. I’ll get a shorter hair cut than I had planned.”

“It’s going to have to be awfully short, and even then it might not be short enough.”

“How short are you saying it will have to be?”

“Well, we’ll have to take it down to the scalp. Otherwise the curl is still there. We might be able to trim it down to where it looks more like a male haircut, but even then you’ll have curls unless we go down to the scalp.”

Terry looked back in the mirror, trying to imagine it. “I have no idea how that will look. Still, I trust you. It’s a setback, yes, but not too terrible. Let’s change out of this smock and I’ll get out of here.”

“Terry, you can’t go.”

“Huh? What? Why?” It sort of all blurted out at once in the same utterance.

“Because she expects you here when she gets back.”

“Okay, so make an excuse. I got cold feet or maybe some producer came by and saw her beautiful swan and swept her away to be a princess in some movie.”

“Terry. Stop it! No, you’ve got to stay.”

“Why?”

“Because, if you aren’t here, she’ll get worried, concerned, suspicious. She’s going to be looking for Jeff Crowe or Terri Crowe or whatever else she can think of, and she won’t give up until she finds you again. If you stay here, we can finish out her little project and then you can disappear afterwards. Miss Crowe can then go off and be a princess in a movie somewhere. But before that happens, Miss Crowe has to be here for all this to finish to Bonnie’s satisfaction.”

Terry looked at her for a bit, staring into her resolute eyes and finally swore a stream of words best forgotten and most unladylike. “Fine!” he stamped his foot. “Damn it. Okay, you owe me more than ever for staying here. You’re going to have to really make up for this.”

“I will, I promise. Come on, sit down. I need to get going on your nails before she gets back.”

Terry watched as Lisa went at it. She didn’t want him to talk to her while she worked, not wanting any distractions, so it was when Bonnie came back in and through the back door, Lisa had Terry spread out and drying as fast as she could get the polish to dry.

“Hey Bonnie,” Terry called out. “Look how pretty she made them!” He figured anything he could do to help the charade along would be a good thing.

“Oh my, they certainly do look nice. Short nails Lisa?”

“She says she’s a typist. So longer nails won’t work too well, especially since she isn’t used to them.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. Good call. Okay, while she’s drying lets work some additional magic.”

“What sort of magic?” Both of them laughed when they realized they had asked the same thing.

Bonnie smiled, glad to see how relaxed and happy Terri seemed to be now that the swan was finally coming into view. “We’re going to keep this makeover going. Time to make that face unforgettable!”

Sitting there, all Terry could do was to do as he was told as each of the ladies worked on some aspect of his face. They laid down some sort of base coat here and there, apply color to his eyes, smoothing out and blending in as they went along, drawing around his eye lids and then the rest in some sort of order that seemed to work its way to the end based upon what needed to be done before the other. His lips seemed smoother than before as they helped him up from the chair. He felt like his face had some added weight, but not terribly bad. “It’s not as thin as I’d like for it to be, but you need a little more than most girls,” Bonnie apologized.

“Now what.” Terry winced a little at Lisa’s excitement over it all. As they went along and she realized he was okay with going along for the ride, she had gotten much more involved and excited about the whole thing. Doing a full makeover was something that beauticians like her really enjoyed. If she could get him to take some pictures of the after photos, she might be able to fake his gender enough in the before photos so that she could use him in her portfolio. It would be a hard sale, but given how far he’d gone so far, it shouldn’t be that difficult to get him to do the next step.

Bonnie gestured towards the back, “Next is something really wonderful. We don’t have time for everything I’d like to do, but we’ll do the best we can. Okay Terri, to the back room with you. You’re going to need a little help to get it perfect, because it needs to be perfect the first time, so we’re going to assist you getting ready.”

“Getting ready?” Lisa asked.

“Yes. Come on. Off with the smock. Let’s not ruin your hair. We need to keep it and your face looking really nice. I know it isn’t the right order in things, but we had to let your nails dry first and we were running out of time. In the future Terri, when you get ready you’ll learn that you do your makeup after you get dressed. Come on, let’s go!”

Terry and Lisa looked at each other as what Bonnie said became clearer to them. Lisa smile and pulled Terry by the hand, eager for this next bit, “Come on. I don’t know what she’s got planned, but it should be a lot of fun.”

Fun is a relative word, depending on the person experiencing it. For Bonnie and Lisa, their joy and fun were similar. Bonnie felt good at helping someone achieve their lifelong dream. Lisa was excited about the whole process, in part because she was really getting into this woman that Terry was becoming and partly because it was like a big dress up game.

Terry though. Fun for them wasn’t fun for him. The first thing he had to do was strip down to nothing. Then they presented the first article of clothing that didn’t fit any sort of definition of fun for him. It was white, it was shiny, it was smooth and felt amazing in his hands. It certainly made him want to break out of the bathroom and run out the back door. He thought about it for a moment too, then decided that it would be far worse to be outside wearing nothing but makeup and polish with girly earrings and hairstyle than to put on this offending set of underwear.

With every inch they slid the panties up his legs, he felt further and further removed from himself as he gave in to the events he had to endure for his friend. She was definitely going to owe him though. It wasn’t the last time he thought that either. With each new piece of fabric, with each new part of his new outfit, that line echoed again and again. He had to put on hose and some sort of tight underwear garment over his new underwear. That seemed to smooth out his front. The bra came next and with some help he got it on and settled on his chest. They pulled his flesh up as much as they could and then added some stuffing underneath to keep it up and in place, giving him two breasts that weren’t huge, but were certainly breasts and breast like in appearance. Around his belly he was fitted with a tighter garment that pulled him inwards, making his posture more straight and his breasts more prominent. Over all this went a full slip that hung down towards his knees. Next Bonnie pulled out of her office the final piece, a navy polka dotted dress. He had to step into it, it wasn’t going to fit over his head. Once the puffy sleeves were settled on his arms and shoulders, Lisa did the honors with the zipper. Terry closed his eyes and felt it slowly pull tighter around him until the zipper finally got to the top. He visibly shuddered as she fastened the final clasp above the zipper.

Bonnie reacted quickly, “Let’s get her over to the chair. I think this might be a little much for her.”

Terry sat there and kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see the final result. A pair of strappy sandals with low heals were buckled on his feet at the ankles. Then some large plastic bracelets went over his hand to his wrist, along with some rings offered up by Lisa for his fingers.

He allowed himself to be brought up to the front area again, and after Bonnie and Lisa made some last minute adjustments, he opened his eyes.

Bonnie quickly admonished him, “Don’t start crying honey. You’ll ruin your makeup. And we’ll start crying too.”

He felt faint as he looked at himself. Reflected back to him was a young girl in a pretty summer type dress that fit the slight curves that she had available. Everything about her radiated beautiful swan. Well, most everything about her. Inside she was really a terrified boy who wanted to run quickly out the door. A door that someone was knocking at right that moment. He glanced over to it and saw someone out there, not sure who it was though. Lisa was directed by Bonnie to hold Terri still as Bonnie went to answer it.

“Come in, come in. Jack, I want you to meet the young lady I was telling you about. Terri Crowe, this is Jack Corwin. He owns several businesses here in town and I think he could use a typist who can type as fast as you can.”

Jack came in followed by a much younger woman who was dressed very nicely and sporting a very large and pregnant belly. He stared hard at Terri as he stood there, frozen to the ground, his very life flashing before his eyes as he waited for the earth to open up below him and swallow him whole.

“Miss Crowe. I believe we already have the pleasure, but under different circumstances.”

Bonnie looked confused, “I’m sorry?” She looked at Terri and then back at Jack and the lady beside him.

Terry choked out, “Hello Mr. Corwin. I’m sorry about this, I didn’t mean it to go this far.”

The lady behind Jack smiled, “Oh, so this is the young lady who was coming in on Monday? From your earlier descriptions, I was expecting someone a bit more… different,” she concluded.

Terry’s face went bright red and he held his hands in front of him, casting his eyes to the ground.

“Indeed, this young lady is certain quite different from the young boy who I offered the job to. I think some explanations are in order here.”

Bonnie stepped in, “Can you tell me what is going on here?” She looked at back and forth to Jack and Terry.

“Earlier this week I interviewed and accepted Terry Crowe as a replacement secretary for the maternal leave of my head secretary here. Terry came to me with a bit more hair than she has now and in a suit and tie. So I’m a bit perplexed as to how Terry was planning to work for me. Or to be more specific, seeing her now I’m wondering if she was intending to come as she presented herself for the interview or if this is now how she planned to surprise me on her first day.”

Bonnie stood gapping at me, “Is this true? What is going on here? You applied for work as Terri Crowe?”

“Yes Ma’m. I did. I wasn’t planning on becoming a swan today. I was planning on getting a simple haircut so that I could fit in with Mr. Corwin’s staff.”

“Why didn’t you apply under your real name, Jeff?”

“That’s, um, sorry, but that’s not my real name either. I was sort of embarrassed coming in here, so I used a fake name.”

“So why,” Mr. Corwin asked, “did you apply with the name of Terry?”

“That’s because I like that name better.”

Bonnie came forward and placed her hand on Jack’s arm. “Is it because Terri is more your name than your real one?”

“Absolutely. I hate my other name. It’s not me at all. I feel out of place when people try to call me that.”

Bonnie looked over to Mr. Corwin and his secretary. “I think I understand why she did it. By using the name Terri, she’s able to establish herself once she starts to dress like a woman. That way she can say she worked before as Terri and any references that are called in would say that Terri did work at your company.”

Jack nodded for a moment and took a step backwards. Turning slightly as he paced a little to clear his mind. He took a few turns and then looked back at Terry. “Is all this true?”

“Ah, yes sir. Mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Well, I was trying to establish myself as Terry, that’s true. As far as living my life dressed as a woman? Well, I hadn’t decided to make that sort of step yet.” Terry looked apologetically to Jack and Bonnie.

“I see. Well, this does change things quite a bit. Let me lay it straight for you. When Bonnie called and said she had a typist who was available and who would be really good, I was very hopeful. You see, I didn’t really want to use that boy I hired. I only hired him because he was the best of those who applied. Anyone who types that fast was impressive to me. I figured I’d use you until Mrs. Rogers here,” he indicated his secretary, “came back from maternity leave. What I really wanted was a nice girl who could stay on after that as I do need to expand my staff. And I was ready to fire you as soon as you did anything that I didn’t like, simply on principle.”

“Oh,” Terri deflated a bit. “I see.”

“I couldn’t fathom why any man would want to work as a secretary, even if it was a temporary job to make ends meet. But it does make it much easier if you are a woman. And if that’s how you’d really like to live your life, we can do that.”

Terry fumbled backwards and found the chair, sitting down in the dress felt very awkward and he used his hands to smooth his way into the seat, but it looked a lot like a woman smoothing her skirt out as she sat down. He wanted to slouch, but the stiff boned item around his waist kept him sitting up and his dress felt like it was pulling his shoulders back. His legs went to cross themselves and because the skirt was narrow, they ended up crossed at the knees.

Lisa looked on in awe at Terry. The way he sat down, the way he kept his shoulders back as if he was proud of how he looked in his dress, how proud he was to be a woman before them, and then crossing his knees so daintily… If she didn’t know him so well, she would have sworn that this was a woman who really liked the way she appeared. A woman who felt comfortable being a woman in every way.

Terry sat there for a moment, feeling himself starting to cry. If he spoke up and told the truth, he would be out of a job and so would Lisa. Yet if he pretended that this was really what he wanted, then they both would be able to keep their jobs. But he didn’t want to go to work as a woman. He was a man and that was that.

Bonnie came over and was patting his shoulders. He could feel the material of his dress spring back to its puffy form with each pat. Then an idea occurred to him. He could pretend now and then disappear off the radar afterwards. It is true, he’d be out of a job, but at least Lisa would keep hers.

A tissue appeared in Bonnie’s hand in front of him, “She’s so choked up. I don’t think she knows how to accept.”

Another thought came to him. There’s no way he could do this dress up thing. He didn’t own any clothes and he certainly couldn’t afford to buy everything he’d need. Looking over at the other women, he saw that there was a lot more than wearing a dress to be a woman. You needed makeup for one, and all the clothes underneath as well as the dresses, skirts, and blouses. You’d need shoes too. And jewelry. Plus purses and rain coats and … there was a ton of things you had to have that he didn’t have.

“I don’t think I can take your offer Mr. Corwin. Don’t get me wrong, it is a lovely offer and I really do appreciate it, but I wasn’t ready to be a woman full time. I don’t have anything to wear. This outfit is probably the only thing I could use that would be presentable for the office.” Terry was confident now. There’s no way he could do it even if he wanted to do it, which he most certainly did not want.

Jack frowned, “You are telling me that as good as you look right now, this is all you have? Are there any girl clothes in your closet right now?”

Terry resisted the urge to look at Lisa. “Yes sir, there are girl clothes in my closet right now. Only they aren’t the kind of clothes that you would allow anyone to wear to your office. I certainly wouldn’t’ wear them to your office. They aren’t dress code appropriate I am sure.”

Lisa picked up on what Terry was saying and it was true. He did have girl’s clothes in his closet. They were her clothes, not his. And he was right, they wouldn’t be appropriate for the office. They were her older clothes from proms, weddings, and a few very inappropriate sexy type clothes that she wasn’t using anymore. That’s why she stored them in his closet. He wasn’t using but a small amount of space in there in the first place.

“I see. What about your parents?”

“Ah, they split up and aren’t living here. When I turned eighteen they sort of both decided I could live on my own.”

“Other family? Cousins and the like?”

“No sir. No one around here and honestly, no one I’d want to be with. I recently graduated high school and was going to use what I earned to build up enough to make sure I had a nice enough place to live, and enough clothes to wear and such. I was hoping I could go to college as well.”

“This won’t do.” Jack paced back and forth a few more times as everyone looked on. “No, this won’t do at all. I must say, I admire someone who has the balls… I mean Guts! Yes, guts to do what you are trying to do. You’re alone with no one to help you and you aren’t even asking for help. You’re willing to meet it all head on and still make it in this world. I admire that. I respect that.”

“Mr. Corwin? I think I have a solution. What size dress are you wearing right now, honey?”

Bonnie supplied, “It’s a 10, but I bet if he worked it or if his body was more feminine, we could make due with a smaller size.”

“I thought so. That was my size before, well you know. I think we also wear the same size shoe, or close to it. I’ve a good size wardrobe I’m not using right now and even after I come back off of maternity leave, I have the feeling I won’t fit into my clothes like I once did,” she blushed a little. “And even though we probably don’t wear the same size shoe, I think I could find a few I could give up that she’d be able to wear until she bought her own. This means that she’d only have to get a few items to begin with, like hose and the like if she doesn’t have them now, and she could build on it later as she receives her paychecks. As for a place to stay, I guess we could ask around. I don’t know how the other girls would feel about living with someone who wasn’t fully a girl in the body department, but we could try that out.”

Stepping forward, Lisa held up her hand and announced, “I could take her in. I’ve a spare room in my apartment. I could also help her out with what to wear and teach her the things she needs to know about being a lady. That way no one outside of us would know anything about her not being fully a girl.”

“You would?” No one was really sure which spoke first, if it was Bonnie or Terry. Because everyone was focused on Lisa, no one noticed Terry’s face fall in defeat.

“Yes. I’d be proud to do so.”

“Well then,” Bonnie announced, “At least for the summer I can chip in to help out as well. Free salon treatments as she learns to do things for herself. And if you could tell everyone who asked who did your hair and nails, that would be a wonderful way to show some appreciation. A good word of mouth does wonders for business.”

“So it is settled then,” Mrs. Rogers looked around for everyone but Terry’s take. “She’s got a place to stay. She’ll have clothes from me until she can start to build up her wardrobe of her own, that will take care of that. She’s got two coaches,” she motioned to Bonnie and Lisa, “to help her in her appearance and in how to be a lady. And she’ll have a good job from Mr. Corwin.”

“There’s so much to get though, I don’t know how long it will take before I really look presentable.” Terry was holding out hope that everyone would recognize what a fool’s errand this was turning into.

Jack chimed in, “That is exactly right. There probably is a lot she doesn’t have now that she needs before she starts. Tell you what, she’ll come to work for me like we planned and I’ll even cut her an advance to get some things now. She can pay me off as the summer goes on. Of course, if you leave my employment you’d have to pay it back immediately.”

Mrs. Rogers remembered something quite suddenly. “Oh no! We’ve got another problem. Everyone knows that Terry is coming to work on Monday, but they only know him as boy Terry, not girl Terry.”

Bonnie smiled with the solution, “We already have that figured out. When Terri told me her name, and it is a pretty name, one of the things we both decided was that it was too unspecific in the boy/girl territory. That people might confuse the name Terri with a boy’s name. It could go either way, even if you’d spell well as tee-eee-are-are-why and the other as tee-eee-are-are-eye. No, she told me her other choice was Tammy, which might be more appropriate.”

Jack smiled. “That works out fine. So we have Tammy report for duty come Monday. And if things work out well, I can work on getting her name official in a very quiet way. Plus I’m sure she’ll need a doctor to help her along with the changes she’s going to need. I can arrange that as well.”

Mrs. Rogers nodded, “And I can get my stuff together for you to pick up tonight. You all can come with me if you’d like.”

“Unless she has an objection, I’ll have someone cover for Lisa today and tomorrow. Plus she’s already earned a raise for her part in all of this. My way of saying thank you for a wonderful job as a great stylist.”

Lisa helped me up from the chair and said, “Sounds like we’ve got a lot to do to get ready.”

“Let me write out that check now. That way you two have time to get what you’ll need tomorrow. And unless anyone here objects, I’ll take everyone out to dinner tomorrow night as a celebration. Do you have something in fancy dinning wear? We will be going to the best place in town for a night of dining and dancing.”

Mrs. Rogers shook her head, “I’ll have to pass, doctor’s orders, but I have the perfect outfit for you to wear, Tammy.”

Terry put on his best smile and tried very hard to make it believable. “That sound lovely. I can’t wait!”