At 2 a.m. I was just returning from my walk on a balmy, early summer night. I liked to walk after everyone else was in bed, a time when I was unlikely to encounter another soul, since I was dressed in an unconventional manner for a guy. That is, in a blouse, skirt and jacket, and looking as much like a woman as I could manage. I wasn’t very convincing, but still felt compelled to dress. I used to just dress up at home, but it got old after a while, just walking around my one room, so I convinced myself to walk outside late at night, so no one would see me. And so far that had been the case.

I let myself into my building, an older eight-suite apartment, and started quietly up the stairs. On the second floor there was some sort of commotion coming from one door, and a faint cry for help. Then I noticed wisps of smoke coming from under the door of 2A. Uh oh. I’m no hero, but I knew I had to do something to help.

The door was locked, but fortunately it wasn’t all that beefy. Neither was I, but I tried the old shoulder-ram technique, and only succeeded in hurting my shoulder. But a good kick with my block heel right at the lock broke the door open.

It was fairly smoky inside, but I could see if I bent low. Coughing, I followed the cries of help into the bedroom, where I found a woman trapped under a tall piece of furniture. The fire had evidently started in this room and the flames were way hotter than I could have imagined. I was able to heave the shelf or dresser or whatever it was off of her, at which point she looked at me, said, “Help” again, and seemed to lose consciousness. I guess I’m just as hideous as a woman as I always believed.

I grabbed her under the arms and dragged her out of the room. She had only a nightgown on. I saw an afghan thrown across a chair in her living room, snagged that and threw it over my shoulder, and with great difficulty got her over my other shoulder in a fireman’s carry. I’m not that strong, but I guess the adrenaline must have kicked in while I carried her down the stairs and outside. I lay her down on the grass and draped the afghan over her. Then I stood there panting, coughing, and trying to straighten my back.

By now other people in the building were stirring, and I heard a siren in the distance. It was becoming a Scene, as in “the scene of the fire.” People started coming out the front door, and one woman came toward us.

“I’m a nurse. Let me look at her,” she told me.

That was fine with me. I was pretty new to the building and didn’t know my neighbors yet, and I really didn’t want them to meet me looking like this, so I slowly backed up and then walked quickly away.

-o0o-

What was I going to do now? Her apartment was directly below mine, which meant that the fire was probably going to spread to my place. I’d be homeless, and with no clothes other than what I had on! At least I had my purse, not that that was a huge help. There was very little money in it; my one credit card, which I was in the process of paying down, and a phone.

I did have a crappy job, but I wasn’t going to show up there in these clothes! I really didn’t know what to do. I had no idea where the nearest shelter was, and if I walked toward the business district, dressed as a woman I might become a target at this late hour.

There’s a park not too far from the apartment, and I headed there, thinking I could find someplace hidden to sleep. It was too hard to think of what I should do in the morning.

-o0o-

After a very uncomfortable, cold, and somewhat dewy night, hidden under a bench, I awoke in the park. The evening’s events flooded back into my head. There I was, still stuck, all the problems I had tried not to think about were still there.

I picked myself up and headed for the park’s restrooms to take care of business and get a look at myself. At this early hour it was deserted. The mirror showed me a bad-looking woman with stains on her clothing and smeared makeup. At least I could take care of my face a bit.

Was there any possibility the apartment had survived? If I took a walk over there would cops or firemen still be there? I decided to go find out…from a distance. Once I arrived at the end of the block, I could see yellow tape in front of the building entrance. The side of the structure where my apartment is looked pretty bad, with windows broken out, so I guessed I was really and truly homeless. Despairingly I turned and walked away, towards the business district.

-o0o-

There was a small and almost empty diner, which I entered. I plopped into a booth and sighed.

“What can I get for you, dear?” asked the older waitress. “Oh my goodness! What happened to you?” she said after she got a good look at me.

“My apartment burned up last night.”

“That’s awful! Oh, I heard about that on the news this morning. The building wasn’t totally destroyed, they said.”

“Yeah, but I just walked past it and I could tell my apartment took a real hit. I don’t really know what to do with myself.”

“You poor thing. The Red Cross would help. And there’s the Women’s Shelter not too far from here.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I’m…just…” I didn’t know what I was.

She put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“What can I get for you, dear?”

“Um. Coffee, one egg and toast?”

As she walked towards the kitchen it occurred to me that she hadn’t screamed in horror at the picture I was presenting, i.e. a dirty guy in a dirty dress. She must not have looked at me very closely. I felt my chin. No, no whiskers so far, not that they grew that fast.

She served my food and I really enjoyed it. She said she wasn’t charging me. I protested. She insisted. So I left her a nice tip, and headed out towards the women’s shelter.

-o0o-

This didn’t seem like the smartest idea, to throw myself on the mercy of a place for women, but the Red Cross didn’t seem like a much better idea, and besides, it was far away. So I kept walking.

.

---

.
Meanwhile, at City Hospital, Nancy Clement, aged twenty-nine, Avalon Apartments, number 2A, was resting in a bed. She had suffered just a bit of smoke inhalation, and bruising from the tall bookshelf falling on her. She would be released later that day.

She had a strange, dreamlike memory of a woman rescuing her from her apartment. She had no idea who it had been, or how she had gotten in. The firemen told her that her door had been kicked in, so that explained that. Why the woman was in the building at all, especially at that hour, was a mystery. The nurse who tended her last night was someone she did know, her neighbor, Jenny, who was right across the hall in 2B. She had paid her a visit in the hospital room.

“I’m glad to see you looking better, Nancy.”

“Thanks, Jenny. I’m happy to be alive. Tell me, do you know who carried me outside?”

“I’m afraid not. I’ve never seen her before. I took a look at you, and when I looked up she had vanished.”

“She’s a real mystery. Where did she come from? Why didn’t she stick around? I’d love to find her and thank her.”

“I understand. You probably owe your life to her.”

“I’m sure I do. There was no way I could have pushed that dresser off and gotten out. Oh, what about our building?”

“Oh, the damage wasn’t too bad. Your suite and the one above you are the only places that really suffered. The rest of us are mostly in motels until they clean up and try and get that stink out.”

-o0o-

Once Nancy was released she asked others who had been at the scene about the mystery woman. Hardly anyone had seen her and no one knew who she was.

Nancy’s apartment was not quite a total loss, but it needed a lot of work and she couldn’t live there. She learned that 3A, the apartment above her, had suffered a lot of smoke damage as well, but no one knew what had happened to the young man who had just moved in. His mailbox indicated his name was Ricky Hessler. His apartment had been entered and there was no body, and almost no furniture. Some speculated he was out of town. She felt pretty bad that the fire had spread to his apartment too, because it had started with a candle in her bedroom, so she felt responsible. Since no one had any idea what had happened to Ricky, she arranged to have his possessions boxed up and put into storage until he reappeared.

Nancy found a new place to live, and moved what had survived the fire. At about the same time she was promoted to an executive position at her job, which came with quite a large rise in pay. Since she couldn’t get the mystery woman out of her mind, she decided to use some of her new wealth to try and locate this person. She asked Jenny, the nurse, to come with her to a police sketch artist, and together they guided the artist to a sketch they were satisfied with.

Nancy contacted the local television news and asked them to air the sketch with the information that there was a reward for this person if she would come forward. The picture was also run in the local paper for a few weeks, but there were no bites.

-o0o-

It was now four weeks since the fire. Our hero(ine), Ricky, was not doing well at all. He had tried living at the women’s shelter, but felt too self-conscious, and was constantly afraid of them finding out he was not a woman. The stress from that was eating him up, and he left after a week. They had at least provided new clothing. Since Ricky knew he had no curves at all he opted for another skirt, thinking that pants would really make it obvious he was not female. Either way he couldn’t go into work dressed that way. Anyhow, several days of not showing up after the fire meant he had probably been fired. He didn’t know how to get out of this hole he was in, and he was afraid to ask anyone for help.

So Ricky became homeless, and he’d been living mostly in a cardboard box, and going to the city mission for food once a day. He’d clean up and shave wherever he could, but he was sliding down into a dark pit of despair, and his health was starting to suffer.

At the beginning of the fifth week after the fire he woke up not feeling very well. He made himself get up, because while the homeless were tolerated at night in this area, that was not true during the day. So he got up and staggered along the street, almost in a daze, not really caring where he was going. At the next intersection, while waiting to cross the street, he collapsed. Although no one stopped to help, one concerned party did call nine-one-one, and he was taken to the hospital.

-o0o-

Of course he wasn’t the first homeless person to end up in the hospital. He had a fever, was dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition. It was also clear he was suffering from exhaustion. While he was still comatose he was bathed and his hair was washed.

It happened that one of the nurses on duty somehow recognized him from the sketch that had been in the paper. It seemed like a close enough resemblance to her to warrant calling it in, and she did.

Nancy was alerted and rushed to the hospital. She was shown into the room. This woman, who was asleep, looked pretty unhealthy and really, really thin. Nancy wasn’t sure at all if it was the same person she was seeking. The hospital had, of course, discovered Ricky’s physical sex when he was cleaned up, but they put him in a woman’s hospital gown, since he arrived presenting as a female. Thus far he was a Jane Doe, as his purse had been lost or stolen two weeks earlier. Nancy stood there, trying to decide if this was a man or woman, just looking at this person, who looked like she (or maybe he) had really suffered. Her face was so drawn, and looked like she was under a strain, even asleep. She sure looked different than Nancy’s rescuer, from what she could remember. She pulled up a chair to wait until They woke up.

After about thirty minutes, Ricky opened his eyes. It looked like he was in a hospital, but he didn’t remember getting there. He saw he had an IV in his arm. Then he became aware that there was someone in the room with him, and he looked over at her.

“Am I in the hospital?” he asked.

“Yes. Apparently you collapsed on the street. How are you feeling?”

“Not that great,” he said, and yawned.

“Do you recognize me?”

“You almost look familiar, but maybe not.” He still felt some of that despair about his situation, and not much seemed to matter.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“It’s Ricky Hessler.”

Nancy recognized this to be the name of the missing tenant in her old building. The pieces started to come together.

“I’m Nancy Clement. Ricky, did you come in and save me from a fire last month at the Avalon Apartments?”

“I might have,” he said, still feeling pretty hazy. The fire seemed like it was centuries ago.

To Nancy it seemed as if he was uneasy about admitting it.

“You saved my life, Ricky. I’ve been looking for you ever since then.”

He looked confused.

“Why?”

“It’s just a natural impulse to want to thank someone who saves your life.”

She looked him over.

“It looks like you’ve been going through some pretty hard times.”

“I’ve had a few setbacks.”

She thought for a minute.

“Ricky, why didn’t you come back to the apartment after the fire?”

“I went to see it, but from the street it looked like my apartment was burned out.”

“But actually, your place mainly suffered smoke damage.”

“Really? You mean I could… oh, no, I can’t. I’m sure my stuff is all gone by now. I didn’t pay rent the last month.”

“I had your things packed up and they’re in storage.”

“But… why? You don’t even know me. And… I don’t have a job anymore. I can’t pay you back.”

She looked at him again and took a deep breath.

“Ricky, why don’t you tell me your whole story. I won’t judge you, I promise.”

-o0o-

What emerged was a sad tale of a misfit boy who felt more comfortable in girls’ clothes, whose parents disapproved of him even without them knowing about that part of him.

“I was bullied in school. My parents thought I was a real loser, and made it clear they didn’t want to support me after I finished high school a year and a half ago. So I got a crappy little job, and a room to live in. I stayed there until I decided to try and find somewhere a little better to live. I had just moved into your building, and I was taking a walk, all dressed up. I like to walk at night so no one will see me. When I got back I saw the smoke under your door, and heard you cry for help. I broke in and dragged you out. I wasn’t surprised when you fainted after you looked at me; I know I don’t make a very good-looking woman.

“After that nurse came to take care of you I realized I couldn’t really go back in with all those people there. Then I figured I couldn’t go in to work either, in those clothes, so I ended up homeless. Now I really don’t know what to do with myself to get out of this situation.”

He told Nancy all this in a monotone, looking down, expecting her to get up and leave, out of disgust. Instead, she gently put her hand on his. Under his emaciated appearance she could see a young, hurting person, and her heart went out to him. She made an instant decision.

“Ricky, I’m sorry things have gone so hard for you, but I think they’re about to get better.”

“Huh?”

“I’m going to take care of you until you can get back on your feet. It’ll be my thank you for saving me.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“Nevertheless, I want to help you. Just think of it as me returning a favor.”

This ray of hope was almost more than Ricky could take in. Tears started rolling down his cheeks.

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” she smiled. “Now let’s find out when you can be released.”

-o0o-

Two days later Ricky was released and Nancy took him to her home. The day before she had gone out and bought some new underwear for him, and a yellow sundress. The old clothes were just too worn, stinky and awful for him to wear again. He didn’t object to the new ones, and she helped him out with some makeup.

She put her arm around him and led him to the car, as he was still a bit shaky, and then again into her new apartment.

“We’re going to have to build up your strength again, Ricky. So I’m going to be feeding you nutritious meals and we’ll start some sort of workout program.”

He was still finding this change in his fortunes hard to believe, and was trying to think ahead. So he got healthy again. Then what?

“And Ricky, there’s one more thing we should really discuss.”

“What’s that?”

“How do you want to present yourself? I know you’ve been living as a woman since the fire, but you didn’t exactly sound as if that’s what you really wanted.”

That’s true. I like to dress up once in a while, but I don’t—or didn’t like to be seen. But I have to admit I didn’t see too many people staring at me in the last month or so. Maybe I don’t look too terrible.”

“Ricky, you just look like an attractive young woman, who happens to be painfully thin.”

“That’s nice of you to say, Nancy. The truth is that I don’t know how I want to present myself. To me it’s obvious I’m a guy in a dress, but I don’t think I got one comment since this happened, which really confuses me.”

“Well, you don’t need to make up your mind right now, but you should consider how you want to dress while you’re living here. I can get you more clothes, or I could bring your things out of storage and you could wear those.”

“Nancy, I have no idea how I will be able to pay you back for everything. Six weeks ago I was trying to pay off my credit card bill, and had very little money with me,” he told her, getting a little upset.

“Calm down, Ricky. There’s something you don’t know, and that is that I offered a five thousand dollar reward to the person who saved me. You probably don’t even know that I had an artist make a composite sketch of you to try and find you. In fact, that’s how I did find you! One of your nurses thought you looked like the person in the sketch! So you aren’t penniless at the moment.”

“Five thousand dollars… ?”

“That’s right. It’s all yours.”

Maybe his luck really was changing!

-o0o-

Ricky allowed himself to let hope back into his heart, hope that his life would straighten out so at least he’d be back where he was before the fire. Nancy was being so nice to him, which he found very hard to get used to.

She did bring in healthy meals for him, and put him on an exercise regimen. He was as weak as a kitten at first, but he was gradually getting stronger.

He still hadn’t told her how he wanted to dress, so she made more women’s clothing available to him, including lingerie and prosthetic breasts, and he said nothing about it; he just wore it.

Once he was feeling strong enough, he started to clean her apartment while she was at work, as a way to thank her. She noticed right away, but said nothing, thinking it was a good sign he was feeling better and taking some positive steps.

His skin was looking better, and he started to look healthy again, although he was still painfully underweight.

One day after Nancy got home she asked, “Ricky, would you like to learn more about makeup? I think you’d look really attractive with just a little enhancement.”

He froze, not knowing how to answer.

“You’ve been here three weeks now, and you are always in skirts or dresses. It seems like you’ve made your choice of how you want to present yourself.”

“I… uh. I really am not sure, Nancy. I find these clothes more comfortable, but I don’t want to be a woman.”

“Ricky, I’m not trying to push you. Just because you wear these clothes does not necessarily mean you want to be a woman. That said, my observations tell me you seem comfortable living as a woman, and you seem natural enough to me. Tell me to bring back your old clothes and I will.”

He looked like he wanted to say something, but it seemed to be hard for him to let it come out.

“I… don’t fit anywhere, Nancy. I’m a guy, but I like dresses.”

He sat down and tears started down his cheeks.

Nancy sat down next to him and put an arm around him.

“Ricky, these days that isn’t so unusual as it once was. There are people out there who can help you figure out what you want to do. And you know? In the short time I have known you, I tend to think of you more as a woman than a man.”

“Do you really?”

“I do,” she smiled. “But to bring us back to the original subject, I want to ask you–you’ve been living as a woman since the fire, and here as well. Why not just live as a woman?”

“I’ve never really considered it seriously, because of my looks. I just like the clothes, and, well, since the fire, I like being regarded as a woman. But that seems like a big deal somehow.”

“But Ricky, you’re already doing it! What you’re telling me is the same as that old saying about, ‘if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck; it’s a duck.’ You had the option of wearing your male clothes and you didn’t take it.”

“I don’t know, Nancy. This doesn’t feel like real life, exactly, living here with you. You’re the only person I see.”

“You have a good point. I should take you out more, especially now that you’re a lot stronger.”

“Oooh, I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“Ricky, you really are. You were out on the streets as a woman for six weeks, and if you would learn more about the womanly arts, I don’t think you’d have any problems at all. We could start by going out for a meal.”

He looked scared, but said, “If you really think I could do it, okay.”

She found it interesting how he was deferring to her, like a little sister, and realized she had probably turned into a mentor for him.

“Good! We’ll go out for dinner tonight!”

He paled but then nodded okay.

-o0o-

On another occasion she tried to find out what sort of work he’d like to do.

“Is there something you wish you were doing? Some kind of job?”

“I feel like I was always so busy trying to survive that I never thought ahead to that. And I knew my parents weren’t going to send me to college. Probably I didn’t tell you, but I have an older sister, Tricia, and she’s everything they ever hoped for: smart, good-looking, ambitious. Once they figured out I wasn’t anything like her they kind of gave up on me. I guess I just figured I’d end up doing manual labor.”

“So what if you could do anything at all? Is there some kind of job you’ve always admired, or something you have found you’re good at?”

“Good at? Me? Why do you think my parents thought I was a loser?”

Nancy just looked at him. He was so broken. Did she have enough skill to help put him back together? She really found him easy to live with, but he was so extremely meek, with terrible self-esteem. Still, there was something very likable about him.

“Ricky, I think you probably just haven’t found your niche. I know there’s something out there you’d be good at, even if it’s cleaning. You do a wonderful job here. But maybe you just weren’t exposed to enough to find that special ability. I wish I could help you have faith in yourself, but that’s something that has to come from within you.”

He suddenly laughed.

“What’s funny?”

“I was trying to imagine the look on my parents’ faces if I told them I had a job as a cleaning lady!”

She smiled along with him. This was the first time she’d seen him laugh.

-o0o-

Nancy cogitated about Ricky, trying to think of things for him to try. Maybe one thing she could do was to actually give him various tasks and see how he did with them. So the next day she brought a stack of papers home from work, and put them in front of him.

“Ricky, I was wondering if you could help me out with these. They need to be alphabetized.”

“Sure, I’d be glad to help.”

She left him alone with them, and checked on his progress in a half hour.

“How’s it coming?”

“Uhh, I think I have about half of them done.”

“That’s excellent! Good progress.”

He glowed at the praise, and she realized he was almost certainly not used to any positive reinforcement. She’d check the papers over tonight, and if they were done correctly, maybe he’d be good at other office tasks.

She already knew he wasn’t the sort of guy who could fix things. He could cook very simple things, like eggs and spaghetti, but he did it well, so maybe cooking could be added to the list of possibles.

From then on she’d try him out on different tasks, some were office tasks, some were upkeep on both body and home, and she tried to teach him more about cooking. He was an apt pupil.

-o0o-

“Ricky, do you ever think about falling in love with someone?”

“I really don’t think anyone would want to have a relationship with me.”

“Oh Ricky… you’re so wrong. You’re a very decent and wonderful human being. I find you very easy to live with. You’re helpful, kind, and I really like you. I think you’d be surprised. That reminds me, do you mind if I ask your sexual preference?”

He blushed and said, “I’ve always liked women. I mean, why else would I make myself look like one?”

-o0o-

A friend of Nancy’s, Jeanette Travis, was a tall, take-charge kind of woman, but still a very amiable person. Like Nancy, she was an executive at her place of business. The two met in college while taking business classes, and still saw each other every so often for coffee or a meal. Nancy began to get a sense that Jeanette might be good for Ricky. She didn’t know why she thought so, but the feeling persisted. She could introduce them easily enough, but how was she to handle Ricky’s secret? She was pretty sure Jeanette wouldn’t flip out, since she had many friends in the LGBT club at college. But she also didn’t want to put Ricky in any position where, if for some reason Jeanette flew off the handle, he would suffer. So she decided to tell Jeanette the story.

“Jeanette, there’s something I want to talk to you about, but before I do, how do you feel about trans people?”

“Well, that’s some opening for a conversation, Nancy!” she laughed a little. “I have no problem with them at all. Why are you asking?”

“It’s like this…a few months ago there was a fire in my apartment, and I was trapped. A woman broke down my door and rescued me. Then she just disappeared. I went to a lot of trouble to find her, and when I did she was being hospitalized. She had been homeless since the fire, and had gotten sick. I took her home and helped her get healthy again, and I’m trying to help her get her life together and figure out what she wants to do.”

“Okay. Interesting.”

“The thing is, she’s trans, whether she realizes it or not.”

“She wants to be a man?”

“No, she is a man, physically, but I think she really is a woman. She was treated terribly by her family and has extremely low self-esteem, but she’s a good and kind person, and is like a little sister to me. I’ve been trying to help her build up her confidence, because she’s so meek. I don’t know why I feel this, but in some way I think you might be good for each other.”

Jeanette was silent, chewing this over. It seemed kind of out of left field, but she trusted Nancy.

“Okay, what do want to do about this?”

“I was thinking about asking you over to dinner, so you two could meet. Somehow, if you hit it off, I think you might be exactly what she needs, and I really think you’d like her.”

“Well, I never turn down a free dinner!” said Jeanette. “And I have nothing to lose, so let’s make the date!”

Nancy smiled. “That’s wonderful. I’ll have to prepare her mentally about having a guest over. She always thinks someone will clock her, but she just comes across as a woman. It’s the same way an anorexic looks in the mirror and only sees a fat person.”

“This is getting intriguing, Nancy!”

-o0o-

Nancy had been teaching Ricky a little about cooking. She wasn’t the world’s best cook, but she knew her way around a kitchen, and taught Ricky some of what she knew.

Nancy decided not to inform him in advance of the dinner, so he wouldn’t spend the time dreading it. When she told him they’d be having a guest tonight, he said was willing to go out, or stay in his room.

“Nonsense, Ricky! She’s really nice. I think you’d like her. You can help me prepare dinner, okay?”

“Okay.”

She had him chop vegetables for the salad, and mash potatoes while she prepared a chicken. She always remembered to praise him and thank him, since he needed all the encouragement he could get.

She also picked out a very nice dress for him for the dinner, and watched while he did his makeup. He looked very elegant, and when Nancy was finished with herself, so did she.

-o0o-

Jeanette arrived promptly at seven. Nancy had Ricky get the door. He opened it and looked up into her eyes and was struck by her beauty. He just stood there.

“Hello there,” Jeanette said, smiling down at him. “May I come in?”

“Oh!! Oh. Sorry. Yes, please come in. Are you Jeanette?”

“Yes I am. You must be Rickie.”

“Um, yes. You look really beautiful.” He couldn’t believe he’d said that out loud; it was very unlike him.

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Rickie. You look very nice also.”

He turned red. “Thank you.”

Jeanette felt there was no way she could have guessed there was a boy in there. He was very cute, several inches shorter than her, and looked very young, but was obviously underweight. She hadn’t been prepared for anyone looking like this.

Ricky was smitten the moment he saw her, which made him sad, since she would never be interested in him. For the moment, though, he put those feelings aside for the mere pleasure of gazing at her.

“Come right in and sit at the table, Jeanette,” called out Nancy. “I’m just about ready to bring the food out. Ricky, will you help me?”

He hurried into the kitchen to help, and the two of them served the food.

The meal began, and there was pleasant chitchat between Nancy and Jeanette. They tried to include Ricky in the conversation, and he tried to answer and not sound dumb. Jeanette wanted to get him more involved in talking, but it wasn’t easy. He’d say a few words and then clam up.

“Rickie, Nancy told me you’re between jobs right now, but what sort of work do you do?”

“Oh, my last job was just menial labor, really.”

“There might be an opening at my company soon, for secretarial work. Could you do that?”

“Gee, I don’t know. I’ve never done that kind of thing.”

“You alphabetized those papers for me, Ricky, and I had you type up those addresses too.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess I really don’t know what all a secretary does.”

“Oh, all sorts of things: filing, making appointments, keeping the boss on schedule, typing things up. Do you think those are things you could do?”

“I really don’t know; I’ve never tried before.”

“Jeanette, Ricky is a quick learner. I’m sure she could do it if she was shown how.”

Strangely enough, even though Ricky had been living as a woman for months now, he wasn’t used to being referred to with female pronouns. He liked it.

-o0o-

The meal over, Ricky quickly got up and cleared the table while the two women talked. He was about to start on the dishes when Nancy called out to ask him to please make a pot of coffee. While he was occupied, the two spoke in low tones about him.

“She’s adorable, Nancy. I see what you mean about her. How old is she?”

“She’s twenty. Yes, she’s a gem, but still has a lot of polishing left to go.”

“So young. If she’s willing, I think I could get someone to show her the ropes at my company.”

“She’s a hard worker, Jeanette.”

Ricky brought out the coffee things, and went back in to do the dishes. When they were done with their coffee Nancy and Jeanette followed him in. Jeanette dried and handed the dishes to Nancy to put away. Jeanette really wanted to get Rickie to loosen up, so there was a bit of joking around between her and Nancy, and she saw a small smile once or twice.

When they were done, she turned to Ricky and said, “Come in to the other room and sit next to me. I want to get to know you better.”

Nancy, who wanted to give them a bit of time together, said she’d stay and pack up the leftovers.

He was flattered Jeanette seemed to like him, but couldn’t help thinking that there was just no way she could ever be interested in him, so he felt half-hearted about a conversation.

He sat down at one end of the sofa, and Jeanette sat down very close to him. He couldn’t move further away, as he was against the sofa’s arm.

“You know, Rickie, I think you’re very cute,” she said softly, putting an arm around his shoulders.

“Really?” he almost squeaked.

She nodded. “Really.”

“I think it would be great if you could come to work at my company. I’ll bet you’d make a wonderful little secretary.”

He was getting uncomfortable, thinking she would discover his secret, not to mention his inherent worthlessness.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’d probably screw it all up,” he said.

She began to nuzzle his ear. He wasn’t sure how to react, never having been this intimate with a woman before. His thoughts became a bit jumbled as she worked her way to his neck.

“Jeanette, I, I don’t want to lie to you. You’re very nice, but I am not what I appear to be.”

“You mean because you have a penis?”

His eyes went wide and he felt like fainting.

“You… know?”

“Yes, but that’s no big deal. It’s obvious you’re a woman.”

She looked at him. He seemed frightened and amazed at the same time.

“May I ask you something, Rickie?”

He nodded.

“Can I kiss you?”

He slowly nodded again.

She took his chin in her hand and turned his face toward hers. Then, staring into his eyes, she slowly brought her lips to his. Both pairs of eyes automatically closed. She felt him loosen up just a little, and it was a very pleasant kiss. She pulled back, and looked into his eyes. He looked at her in a sort of unbelieving, pleading way, and she moved back in for a more passionate kiss. This one lasted a lot longer, and she felt him relax and turn toward her. His lips opened on their own and her tongue invaded. His arms found their way around her neck. She loved how he yielded to her. His emotions were all over the place. She felt him start to tremble, and once the kiss was over he burst into tears. Jeanette pulled him tight and let him get it out of his system.

“Let it out, baby,” she said.

Nancy had been peeking out the kitchen door, and smiled. Her hunch had been correct, and she knew Ricky needed this release.

Once Ricky had recovered, Jeanette helped him dry his eyes and clean the mascara off.

“You really like me?” he asked, wonderingly.

“Yes, I certainly do,” she answered. “Will you think about coming to work with me?”

He looked into her eyes.

“Yes.”

She hugged him again.

“And maybe you’d consent to going on a date with me.”

He looked at her blankly. A beautiful woman was wanting to date him? It was like a miracle!

“Rickie?”

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked at her, and a smile slowly made its way across his face.

“I would love to go on a date with you, Jeanette. I’ve never been on a date before.”

“We’ll have to rectify that as soon as possible!” she replied. “I’d love to be seen with a cute girl like you on my arm.”

Nancy came in the room and sat down across from them.

“You two look happy,” she said.

“I was just discussing a date with my new girlfriend here,” smiled Jeanette, whose arm was still around Ricky.

Nancy smiled. “You know, I had a feeling about you two… And it’s so nice to see a smile on your face, Ricky.”

He blushed.

“She’s cute when she blushes, Nancy.”

“All right. I think we’ve embarrassed her enough,” Nancy giggled.

-o0o-

That night Ricky went to bed feeling better than he had in ages. Not only did he have a date with an actual woman—a beautiful woman—but also the prospect of a real job. It was almost beyond belief. He still didn’t know what Jeanette saw in him, but he’d try to be whatever she wanted.

-o0o-

Over the next few months Jeanette took Ricky on dates, and brought him to her place of business. She had an administrative assistant start to train him in office work. As Nancy had said, he picked things up quickly, and he seemed to enjoy the work. Jeanette didn’t want him working right under her, since she didn’t think that would be that healthy for their relationship. But working in the same building, she could take him to lunch all the time. They got to know each other slowly but surely. She was happy Nancy had brought them together.

Jeanette got him more clothes while helping him to develop his own style. She took him to the salon for a styling and manicure. He responded to all this attention like a flower which had never gotten enough water. In his own head he was starting to think of himself in the feminine sense. He was no longer afraid of people seeing him and clocking him.

There was no doubt at all he was the submissive one in their relationship, and he was thriving under her attention. He still lived with Nancy, but was spending more and more time at Jeanette’s, and was falling deeply in love with her. She treated him so extremely well—not that Nancy didn’t, but Nancy was more like a loving older sister. So unlike his own sister, who had joined his parents in looking down her nose at him and trying to make him feel worthless.

-o0o-

“Nancy, what would you think about Rickie moving in with me? You’ve been so good to her…”

“She did save my life, Jeanette. I’m so glad you two are getting along so well, and I’d be happy for both of you if she wanted to move in with you.”

“Okay. Good. I’ll ask her tonight!”

Nancy blew on her knuckles and said, “I think my work here is done!”

-o0o-

At dinner that night, at Jeanette’s house, she made sure everything was perfect. She lit candles and had purchased a ready-to-heat elegant meal, having never learned much about cooking. They sat at the table and smiled into each other’s eyes. There was very little talking during the meal, and some soft jazz was on. When the meal was over she led Rickie to the couch and pulled her onto her lap. She gazed into Rickie’s eyes. Rickie gazed back and put her arms around Jeanette’s neck.

“We get along pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Yes, we do. I love being with you,” said Rickie.

“Rickie, honey, how would you like to move in with me?”

“Do you really mean it? I’d love to live with you!”

Jeanette squeezed her and they kissed deeply.

“I thought you’d say yes, but I didn’t want to take it for granted.”

“Of course I want to. I hope Nancy won’t be lonely.”

“I’ve already spoken with her about this, and she said she would be very happy for us.”

Rickie smiled, and some tears started down her cheeks. “I can’t believe how my life is turning out. Not so long ago I was just a classic loser. What you and Nancy have done for me is really a miracle.”

“You just needed love, honey. It’s hard for someone to get along in life without it. Like a diet with no nutrition.”

Rickie hugged her and they just held each other.

-o0o-

After a year of living together they got married, in a private ceremony. Rickie decided to take Travis as her last name, since there was really nothing about Hessler that she felt good about. She thanked her lucky stars every day for all that had happened since the fire.

The End. (Probably)