Chapter 8 The End of an Era

Back in Perranporth for the summer I soon settled into the routine, but was now based in our admin office rather than the Piran Hotel, working alongside Mum on the running of the business rather than the operational side in the hotels. Although the Abba act had been very successful and a bit of fun, they were not going to continue this year. One of the barmen had left for a new job, and Maria wanted to concentrate on expanding her hair and beauty business, so there were to be no distractions as Maria.

As I was now expected to show a more professional image, my hair was cut a lot shorter, although still a youthful surfer-boy look, I worked in a suit and shirt and tie, and presented myself as totally masculine. When any feminine traits re-appeared I was quickly corrected by Mum or Gina.

Mum gave me more responsibility for decision making as she said that when I joined full-time next year that she wanted to take a long holiday and not have to be constantly on the phone to agree things.

Back at Uni for my final year, I soon settled into the new flat with Megan. Predictably as it was just the two of us, we became quite close, changing from flatmates to best friends, to boyfriend and girlfriend, and finally to lovers. Megan was delighted that my time as Maria hadn’t affected my libido and demands, and that I was still very much a man, even if I did have a few peculiarities.

I had brought Maria’s things with me, but they remained in the suitcase most of the time, but they did come in useful for the occasional bit of sexual game-playing foreplay.

Reading the ‘What’s-on’ page of the local newspaper Maria noticed that The Rocky Horror Show was coming up at the local theatre, not with the West-End cast but by a local drama group. We agreed that it was supposed to be good fun and that we would give it a go, and next time she was in town she went to get some tickets.

“I was talking to the girl at the booking office and she said that they were hoping to get some of the audience to come dressed as characters from the show to build up the atmosphere, like they had at the original London show, and that they were reserving the front rows of the stalls for those making the effort, do you fancy it?”

“I don’t know , the only character I can really picture is Frank N. Furter.”

“Precisely ! It won’t take much, a basque, stockings and suspenders, high heels and lots of Goth make-up, come on it should be a laugh, and it’s not as if you haven’t been out in public before dressed up”

Megan really enjoyed the next couple of weeks finding the costumes, and then getting us ready, she seemed to take a particular delight in lacing me tightly into the basque over a sheer skin-tone body stocking for a bit of warmth. So we turned up at the theatre as a pair of ‘Franks’, and I must admit she had made a good job of it, we looked amazing. I didn’t bother this time with close shaving as I was supposed to be a transvestite not a woman, wore a short curly black wig and had enough eye make-up on to make me look like a Panda. I had borrowed a coat from Megan as I didn’t fancy walking the streets in just a black lace-up basque, body-stocking, suspenders, stockings and heels, it was far too cold, apart from anything else.

On arrival at the theatre we handed in out coats and were told to go down to the reserved front seats. We were soon surrounded by others dressed the same or as some of the other characters, even one as the compere in a formal shirt, bow tie, dinner jacket, and stockings suspenders and heels. The show was amazing, a mixture of mock horror, musical, comedy and audience participation. In fact those of us in the front rows in costume were invited onto the stage for the “Time Warp” finale song and dance. Having been on stage with the cast and amongst the others in costume, we were less embarrassed going home than we were on the way to the theatre, but still got a lot of funny looks from passers-by.

Back at the flat I was going to get changed into something a bit more comfortable when Megan suggested that it would be a shame to waste the costumes and that we should retire to the bedroom for some fun. Whether it was still the buzz of excitement from the show, or the costumes we were in, it was one of the most energetic but long-lasting and enjoyable sessions we had had together, eventually falling asleep in each others arms.

“That was so much fun last night,” said Megan when we awoke “we must do it again sometime. I know that you don’t want to get used to Maria again, but an occasional dress-up will help to keep thing spiced up, please say yes.”

University life continued, and as it was our final year it was quite intense, and there was not much time for dressing up and going out, although around the flat was a different matter. Wearing a skirt or dress helped to de-stress me from the pressures of my academic life and I’m sure kept me more relaxed and improved my grades.

The finals went very well we both seemed to go through our exams without any problems and didn’t have any real doubts about achieving our degrees.

We were soon due to be leaving university and the flat, and leaving behind a challenging and exciting part of our lives and beginning to pack our things, when we were surprised one night by a knock on the door, and there was Linda.

“I’ve had a super time working in Florence, learned an amazing amount about historical architecture, and had quite a hectic social life. I have had to come back to submit a report on my placement, was in the area, and thought it would be a great idea to meet up with my best friends again.”

“That’s brilliant,” said Megan, “where are you staying, stop with us for a few days and we can really have a good catch up. There’s a spare bed, as Gino and I have got a lot closer and are now sharing.”

“ That would be great, I was planning to go back home to my folks but a few more days won’t make any difference. I’m so happy that you two are now together, I was worried that we had all deserted you, but it has worked out for you, you always were very well suited.”

We stayed up until the early hours drinking wine and talking about the events since we were last together, before eventually going off to our beds.

A few days turned into a week, and Megan suggested that we all went out for a final meal together before we all left, when Linda suggested that Maria make a re-appearance ‘for old times sake’. One part of me was reluctant as Maria had not really been out in public for a year, but the other part of me was welcoming the opportunity. After a cat-and-mouse game of me refusing, and then pretending to reluctantly agree, the next day was spent with me getting ready. My hair was now a lot shorter, but still long enough to be styled in a feminine manner, so after my body was covered in hair removal cream, I showered and shampooed and soon had a head full of rollers waiting for Megan to finish me off. I was so out of practice that she suggested it would be better if she did my make-up up so I happily sat there whilst she recreated Maria.

I was beginning to beef out a little bit and not quite as svelte as I used to be so I even had the discomfort of wearing a tight control pantie. Luckily I still had my false breasts, but as it was going to be a one-off calm graceful night, they were just placed in my bra rather than being stuck on. My LBD had been taken out the day before and freshened up and was fit to wear, again matched with my bolero and matching belt shoes and bag. The girls had really gone to town too, Megan had loaned Linda one of her dresses and a pair of shoes, as she had only come with casual stuff. The pair of them looked so gorgeous that I thought that Gino would be proud to escort them out for the night and get lots of jealous looks, but then Gino was not around, Maria was.

We arrived at a local Italian restaurant and ‘the three beautiful Ladies’ got a lot of attention from the typical smiling slim-hipped Italian waiters. What they didn’t know was that I had been brought up speaking Italian as well as English, and although I was a bit rusty with the language, I still knew enough to let the girls know all the compliments and suggestive comments that were being made about us.

We had a wonderful meal and a really enjoyable night, and when we left I waved at the waiters and smiled. “ Buona notte, ragazzi, grazie mille per l'ottimo pasto. Tutti abbiamo adorato le cose gentili e sfacciate che hai detto di noi. Divertiti.” ( Good night, guys, thank you so much for the great meal. We all loved the kind and cheeky things you said about us. Have fun ). We left them surprised tongue-tied, and embarrassed, but smiling, and we all had a good giggle about it as we walked back to the flat.

Linda left the next day with us all promising to keep in touch and meet up regularly. Linda had kept in touch with Julie, Carol and Sue and promised that when we next got together it would be all six of us again.

I was soon headed back to Perranporth, Megan had a few things to sort out at home and getting a job and would join me as soon as she could. As she now had qualifications as an accountant, although subject to getting field experience prior to becoming fully professionally qualified, she was able to get a job anywhere and ended up in a medium sized partnership in Truro, and moved in with us at home.

Whilst I was away, the business had continued to grow and be very profitable and Mum had been able to buy back the family home that we had left many years ago. The people she had sold it to, and had lived there since, had died, their family was not interested in keeping it as they worked in other parts of the country and it was too big to keep as a holiday home, so she had got it at a very good price, even allowing for spending a bit of money on essential maintenance and refurbishment and freshening it up. Like many farmhouses it had been extended many times over the years as traditionally farmers had big families, with all generations living together. We all effectively had our own apartments as well as all the family areas, so Gina and her fiancé Bob, Mum, and Megan and I all had our own space but still had most of our meals together as a family.

Things were changing in the business, Mum’s partner, who had worked with her to build it up, was retiring and it was agreed that his shares would gradually be bought back and transferred to me, so at the age of 22 I was registered as a director of ‘The Piran Hotel Group’, which now comprised another two hotels in Ilfracombe and Barnstaple in North Devon in addition to the Piran Country House Hotel, and I was gradually taking on more roles and responsibility. Mum had been very shrewd buying into hotels was beginning to take a back seat, whilst retaining control of policy and general direction, she left the day-to-day executive running of the business to me, although she wasn’t shy to tell me when she thought I had not done the best thing.

Over the next couple of years, both Megan and I became very busy and absorbed in our jobs, but we still found a lot of time to develop our personal relationship and to Mum’s delight we decided to formalise things and got engaged. Although we were both developing our careers, and didn’t want to “upset the apple cart” by any public appearances of me as Maria, both of us continued to enjoy our dress-up sessions in the privacy of our own apartment and, when Bob was away visiting his folks, at occasional family dinners and get-togethers with Gina and Mum. I still found it very relaxing and enjoyable to feel the softness and comfort of women’s clothes and Megan seemed to enjoy Maria’s occasional outings too.

To be continued