Jo could always wrap me around her little finger. I suppose that is part of what loving your partner the way I do is. So, despite my protestations, I was soon ushered upstairs in our spare bedroom and trying on the underwear, stockings dress and shoes.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” asked Jo hold up the two-flesh coloured ‘things’ that were the false breasts in her hands.

“Do I have to?”

“If you do then I’ll get changed into something nice just for you.”

Reluctantly, I slid them inside the bra that I was wearing. I kept looking down at the two mounds that had appeared on my chest.

Jo gave me a long hard kiss which didn’t help the swelling between my legs one little bit.

“Stay right where you are. I’m going to give you a little present.”

She disappeared into our bedroom shutting the door behind her.

A few minutes later she emerged dressed in a very short version of her work uniform plus some very high heels. Her stocking tops were clearly visible and she was obviously wearing a lot of padding inside her bra. Her brunette locks were hidden under a black ‘bob’ style wig.

“Well, how do I look?”

Before I could answer she turned around and bent over. It was obvious that she was not wearing any knickers.

“Darling, can we talk about this?”

As my darling wife stood up, I could tell that I’d said the wrong thing.

“What’s the matter Darling?” asked Jo as she wrapped her arms around me.

“So I do this. Then what? Wearing makeup, getting boobs and everything?”

“Yes.”

I did a double take.

“Did you just say yes?”

“Yes I did. I love you dearly and don’t want to lose you. I just wanted to spice things up a bit.”
I sighed.

“How about a new year resolution to wear this for January and we’ll see how you feel then.”

“I’m not going out in this and for that there is no discussion,” I replied sternly.

Jo gave me a look that said, ‘really? We’ll see about that’.

Thanks, or maybe not to Jo’s patience and cajoling, wearing the uniform about the house had become almost second nature after a week or so. Jo had patiently schooled me on doing my makeup and hair. The bit about it that I didn’t like was having to go out to the woodshed in the cold. A Skirt that ended about 8in above the knee was not ideal. The wind reached parts of me that other things never did.

I remained resolute about not going out in the uniform. As far as I was concerned, that was just not negotiable.

Jo came home from work every day and put on her far more risqué version of the uniform. This made me feel a lot better. She even fetched the wood for the log burner from the shed at the bottom of the garden a few times just to play her part.

I wasn’t expecting the delivery that happened on the 21st. I’d answered the door without thinking of the possible consequences but the driver was far too rushed to be bothered about a ‘man in a dress’.

I phoned Jo who seemed overjoyed with the fact that I’d accepted the delivery.

“Open the package. The contents are for you my darling,” she said in a voice that I was getting to know very well.

I waited for around half an hour before opening the package. I sort of knew what the box contained even before I removed the outer packaging. When I actually saw the contents, I was pleasantly surprised.

The box contained a pair of ankle boots with only a 2in heel. I’d gotten used to wearing 3 or 4in heels all day. I wondered why Jo had bought them for me. The it hit me smack bang in the face.

She wanted me to go out dressed. These boots were more for wearing with trousers or leggings. Jo had worn a pair not that dissimilar these for ages with tight jeans leggings.

Deep down, I knew then that my life was not going to be the same again. The question I had to answer was, did I mind it? Did I mind playing the role of a woman or at least trying to. I had huge doubts about my ability to pass in public. Going outside our house was not a problem because we had no close neighbours but going into Stow, Evesham or heaven forbid, Oxford, Stratford or Birmingham was not something I wanted to put to the test. The words ‘never in a million years’ passed through my mind on a regular basis.

Jo revelled in being the sole wage earner in the household. Not that we needed the money but for the first time since we got married, she had a defined schedule every day. I was the reverse. I had to make things fill the day.

One day at the end of the month, I’d done all the jobs and our evening meal was cooking slowly in the Aga, I found myself watching daytime TV. I lasted less than an hour before I came to my senses and searched for something else to do.

I couldn’t find anything worthwhile.

“Sod it,” I thought to myself as I grabbed those boots, a coat and my car keys and left the house.

Before I knew it, I was in Stow. I parked in a quiet side street that was for ‘residents only’. I had the requisite permit on the car so I was in the clear. I headed off towards the main street only to stop myself after a hundred yards.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this but I was sure that I was walking like a man. I reduced my stride and carried on. I hoped that because we really didn’t know many people in the town that I’d escape detection.

That belief held true until I passed a coach that was dropping off its load of passengers. The sound of familiar accents pricked up my ears no end.

My heart did a double take when I saw one couple step down from the coach. It was Peggy-Sue and Bobby Parks. Both of these had been in my employ not that long before. I was sure that they’d recognise me bit to my eternal thanks they just walked past me and into one of the many Café’s and Tea Rooms that were all over the town centre.

I debated following them but a lack of money said that it would be a bad idea. But, with a smile on my face I went back to my car and drove home.

Over dinner, I said to Jo,

“Guess who I ran into today in Stow? Well not ran into but passed like ships in the night.”

“What? You went out? You went into Stow?”

“Yes I did. Scared the pants off me I can tell you.”

“How did it feel? To be out in the big bad world?”

“Strange but after a while I sort of got used to it. But it was only for a short time and I didn’t have any money with me so it was a brief visit.”

Joe came around to my side of the table and sat on my lap. Since, I’d been dressing, I’d seen a very different side to her. Far more daring in bed and in what she wore or didn’t wear at other times.

Most days, she didn’t wear any knickers and even more rarely, bra’s. Before she’d even been wary of exposing her breasts to me in the privacy of our bedroom.

“Now that we are more comfortable, just who do you see in town?”

“Peggy-Sue and Bobby Parks. They were getting off a tourist bus. A rest stop on their way from Oxford to Stratford probably.”

Jo grinned back at me.

“And they didn’t recognise you?”

“Jo, in a dress and wearing makeup I very much think my mother if she was still alive would have problems recognising me but there is still a risk. I felt very much on the edge all the time.”

“I’ll take it as a yes, they didn’t recognise you then?”

“They walked right past me. I think that they were more concerned with getting out of the chill wind and into the warmth of the Tea-Rooms.”

“I wish I could have been there with a camera,” said Jo with more than a smirk to her voice.

“No way, never.”

“I’m only teasing darling.”

“Yeah, right and tomorrow is our wedding day.”

The 31st January arrived and with it a big package.

“I know that I’m not going to like what’s inside that,” I said to Jo as she put it on the kitchen table.

“You have done so well, why don’t we carry on? I like living with the female you.”

“Is that all you like or it is the much kinkier sex we have been having?”

Jo blushed.

“Both, but you have come such a long way my darling. It would be a shame to go back to your old idle ways, now would it?”

I knew that she was right. I was getting to like playing the part of a woman even if it was just for her but there was a limit to everything. Jo was a past master at pushing the limits.

“Ok, so what bad news is in the package?”

Jo grinned.

“If you are going to go out then at the very least you need a proper coat, a handbag and a few other essentials.”

I sighed. She’d got me right where she wanted me.

“Why are you doing this? This has gone beyond a bit of fun, way beyond.”

Jo say back, crossed her arms and after smiling at me she said,

“So, you go find something to do that will make you enthusiastic again. Like you were when you built up the company from just you, Jake and Brad to one that employed several hundred people. After that we both know it became a bit of a chore but in the beginning, it was hard work but you had lots of fun.”

Jo, as ever was 100% right. Those were good days.

“But Jo, suppose that was a one off? I’m not sure that I have the appetite to go through all that again.”

“It does not have to be the same. Just something that will make you want to get out of bed in the morning and want to go to work. I’m just fed up with you doing SFA. I was too that’s why I took this job. The pay is crap but at least I’m doing something. Neither of us have to work again but to be honest, both of us are really shit poor at doing nothing.”

She was right, as usual.

“Take Henry Weston for example?”

Henry was a regular at the Prince of Wales, our local pub.

“Henry is old money. It is bred into him that he does not have to work. His father is just outside the richest 500 people in the country but what does he do five days a week?”

Jo didn’t wait for me to answer,
“He volunteers to drive pensioners to hospital and other places. He pays for everything out of his own pocket including the vehicle. No one down the pub gives a hoot about his money or his title. He’s a good guy because he cares about something that others appreciate.”

“Don’t forget that his family employ a lot of the locals,” I said trying to counter her argument.

“He doesn’t. As the youngest son, he’s very much allowed to do his own thing. He could have taken off with his wife Sandra and lived the life of riley somewhere exotic but come rain, come shine he’s there helping people out. That is one thing that I love about this country. There are a lot of really nice people who just get on with life and really don’t care what school you have or have not been too.”

Then she came back for more.

“Look how hard it was for us to be admitted into the country club. It took a special meeting of all members to get an invite even if you had put a good some on money into the election of the new DA. Just because I came from very much the wrong side of town then we were not considered worthy. They are a real bunch of snobs. I’m not saying that there are not people like that here but remember that we lived in a small town in the Mid-west, where who is a member of the Country Club and who isn’t divides the ‘Haves and Have nots’. Henry is just a down to earth guy and no one even tries to take advantage of him despite him having loads of money. Until we can be comfortable with our money and just learn to live a normal life again we are going to be somewhat rudderless. The money you got for all your hard work should not be an anchor on us doing things. In fact, it should not even be up there in our thoughts when making decisions.”

I was stunned by her outburst.

“You have been giving this a lot of thought, haven’t you?” I said for the not the first time.

“Yes, my darling I have. I don’t want to lose you to an early grave. How many times do you hear of people who work hard and drop dead within six months of retiring? Far too many if you ask me. Take Ben Pierce. He lasted three months. It didn’t seem more than five minutes from the us attending his retirement party to standing at his grave.”

“So, all of this is a game to make me think of something else to do?”

Jo hesitated before replying.

“It was at first but I kinda like seeing you like that. You are getting very good at being a woman.”

“So, you say.”
Then I added,
“As soon as I open my mouth and the game it up or hadn’t you thought of that?”

“Yes. Well yes, it is a problem but first things first eh?”

Then she pushed the package over to me.

“We can’t have you dressed as a maid all the time, now can we? And you need some other outfits for our weekend away.”

I knew that I was going to lose whatever arguments I put forward. Jo was enjoying her role as head of the household. Deep down, I didn’t begrudge her simply because that she’d done so much to help me when I was building up my business. It was time for her to spread her wings. I just wished that it didn’t involve me looking like an idiot or a ‘man in drag’.

Then the right word came to mind. I’d heard it used in the Pub more than once.

Yes, I really didn’t want to look like a ‘Plonker’ but I knew that it would not be long before Jo did something that would make me go,

“You have gotta be joking.”

The odd thing was that I was starting to look forward to her surprises.

[Continued in Part 3]

I debated and dithered for several days about taking the next step. Jo, to her credit didn’t push me. I racked my brains to find a reason why I shouldn’t do this. I did a lot of investigations on the internet. Some directions it took in me were frankly… odd to say the least.

I discovered the frankly weird case of one woman who was getting hypnosis to make herself dumber. Some were trying to make themselves look like the dolls that they played with as a child. There were more than a few WTF moments in those days. On the positive side, I got a lot of ideas from just clicking a link.

There really wasn’t one thing that said ‘Stop, go to Jail, do not pass Go’, apart from a small matter of citizenship. One evening I broached this with Jo.

“If I do this then there I have to do it properly or rather we have to do it properly. No going back. I'd suggest that we become British Citizens and give Uncle Sam the finger. That would save us from having to do that infernal IRS Tax Return every year. But my darling, the changes won’t be one sided. There are things that you are going to have to do for me. Are you clear on that?”

Jo cuddled up to me and after kissing me she said,

“That’s more like the old you. Thinking things through. Examining all the options.”

“And you deftly avoided answering my question.”

She kissed me again.

“I love it when you are like that.”

“Are you prepared to make some changes to yourself?”

Jo suddenly realised what I meant.

“What sort of changes?”

“I don’t know yet but there will be several.”

“I’m not sure if I like the sound of that,” replied Jo.

“Good. Now put yourself in my place. Then ask yourself the question about the next step you want me to take.”

“Ok, ok. I get it. I have put you in a bit of a spot, haven’t I?”

“You have indeed. That’s why I’m dithering a bit.”

Jo sat up any looked me in the eye.

“Why don’t I do something to show you that I’m with you on this?”

“You would?”

“Yes. We’ve done so much together and I don’t intend to stop now.”

“Ok.”

“So what it is to be?”

I smiled.

“Get your nipples pierced,” I responded without really thinking about it.

Jo burst out laughing. Then she saw my straight face.

“You are serious, aren’t you?”

“A little change to show that you are willing. That’s just the start though.”

“Very well, I’ll do it. We can go together and you can get your ears done.”

“That’s a date then. I’ll even wear one of those new outfits for you.”

A few days later, I put on one of the outfits that Jo had bought me, did my hair which really needed a visit to the hairdressers, but that could wait. I put on the ankle boots and joined Jo in the Volvo.

We went to a tattoo shop in Stratford that had been recommended by one of the people Jo worked with. Thankfully, we were able to park right outside. As Jo went to get out of the car, I held her wrist.

“It is not too late to back out you know?”

“I said I’d do this and I’m going to do it.”

I smiled and let her arm go.

Just over half an hour later, we emerged from the shop. I had four piercings in each ear and Jo had played her part and both her nipples were had been pierced. I’d spotted two items that would do perfectly for her upcoming birthday while I waited for her work to be done.

Despite me not actually saying I’d do it, I went ahead and started a more formal transition. We spent the evenings working on learning all the relevant facts for our Citizenship exam. It didn’t take long to realise that passing the exam was actually quite easy but we’d have to swear allegiance to the Crown at a formal ceremony once we’d cleared all the other hurdles.

With Jo’s help and a few items bought over the Internet, we got rid of what little facial hair that I had. Being a natural blonde sometimes has its advantages.

“I guess that the old me will have to stick around until then,” I said to Jo after I’d shown her the document that described the swearing in of the process.

“Can we make that the last time?”

“It might be fitting don’t you think?”

Jo kissed me.

“Then we have a plan then.”

We did but I still wasn’t sure about the future apart from one thing that was becoming increasingly evident to me and that was Daniel was looking more like a thing of the past and not the future.

The greeting “Hey Danny Boy,” came down the phone.

My heart sank. I knew who it belonged to in an instant.

“Hello Horace,” I said trying to be cheerful.

Horace had been my book-keeper in the early days of my business. He always called me ‘Danny Boy’. I hated it but he was too good at his job to make an issue of it.

“Guess what Danny Boy,” he carried on.

“Guess what Horace?”

“June and I are at Heathrow. We just got in from Chicago.”

My heart sank. I knew what was coming.

“Good flight?”

“Pretty good. Far better than when I flew Hercules.”

He told just about everyone that he’d flown Hercules Transports in the US Air Force at every possible opportunity. He and his wife June were also our former next door neighbours in the early days.

“We are going to Oxford the day after tomorrow once we have seen London. We are off to Berlin the day after that. We’d like to see where you are living. I expect you have a real fancy place eh? How many acres is it? Fifty or even a Hundred?”

“I’ll have to see what Jo says,” I said slightly desperately.

“Letting the little woman boss you around now eh? I’d never let June boss me around.”
I managed to stifle a laugh. His wife June knew how to make it appear that he made all the decisions. She made them all but he just didn’t know it.

“No Horace. Jo is working and I don’t know when she will be able to get free.”

I knew perfectly well that Jo had the next day off.

“Working? Why? You guys left here with a pretty penny and that’s fer sure.”

“Yes Horace, she has a job. She got bored so she went out and got a job.”

“June will awful be sad to miss Jo but we’ll be in Stow around 4pm. See you then good buddy.”

He didn’t wait for an answer as he hung up the phone there and then.

I stood by the phone for several minutes wondering what I could do. Absolutely nothing came to my mind. In the end, I realised that I’d have to wait until Jo came home. At the very least, we could go to somewhere just to get away from home. Thankfully Horace and June were only going to be here for a few days. Once their ‘See Europe in a week’ or whatever package they were on was over they’d on their way home to Wisconsin again and we’d be free to get on with our lives.

“Ok darling out with it? You haven’t decided on a name, have you?”

“No I haven’t even given it much thought.”

“So, what is it that has got you looking like the world is about to end?”

“I got a phone call from Horace earlier.”

“Really? How is he and June?”

“They are fine. At the moment, they are doing London in a day. Tomorrow it is Oxford. You know what that means don’t you?”

“Oh shit!”

“Yes. Shit.”

“Did he say what time they would be here?"

“He said around four but it could be anytime. You know how bad June’s legs are. It would not put it beyond the possibility that they skip Oxford altogether and come here first thing.”

“Yes, June’s legs. Most certainly not made for walking. Do you know how they are getting here?”

“By car I expect. Remember that Horace is supposed to have done a stint at Upper Heyford back in the day. How far away is that? Not very far really. I’m sure he’d want to show June where he was stationed. Then coming on here is not that much of a leap is it. Add that to the fact that he’s driven on the left before and I think we will be getting a visit from them tomorrow lunchtime.”

Jo didn’t object to my reasoning.

“What do you suggest we do?”

“I think we need to make ourselves scarce. The plucking that you gave my eyebrows at the weekend is going to be a dead give-away. You know how eagle-eyed June is.”

Jo nodded.

“Add to the fact that I’m not working tomorrow so, I think we should to get out of here tonight. Why don’t I go pack a bag for both of us while you book us a room somewhere out of the way. How about… where those funny cars made out of wood come from? We had more than a dozen of them at the hotel only last week for some rally or something.”

“Morgan’s? That would be in Malvern. About forty miles away at most.”

“That’s it.”

Jo didn’t argue. The last thing we wanted was a meeting with people from ‘hicksville’. I felt bad saying that but the places we’d been and the sights we had seen since we left our former home had given us a totally new outlook on the world. Given my state of dress at this moment, I regretted ever keeping in touch with anyone from our former lives. But it was done with good intentions at the time so there was little either of us could do about it now. We’d both moved on with our lives since we’d left.

Jo came bounding down the stairs carrying our overnight bags and then visibly winced.

“What’s up?”

“One of those barbells in my nipples keeps getting caught in my bra.”

I grinned.

“What’s so funny?”

“Are you wearing a lacy bra?”

“Yes? Oh, I get it.”

“Remember what the piercer said, plain bra’s only for the first month.”

I fished in the pocket of my dress and bought out a clean handkerchief.

“Here put this inside your bra. That should solve it for the time being.”

Jo gave me a long and passionate kiss. As she did, I remarked at how different our relationship was now when compared to when we were Stateside. That part of my life was definitely an improvement.

“Sorry for getting angry with you about my piercing. You even put out a plain bra for me this morning so it is my fault.”

“Don’t worry my darling. I still love you every more each day.”

“Oh you!”

And she punched me on the arm and grinned at the same time.

We booked a table in the restaurant when we checked in. Just before 8pm and we were scanning the menu when suddenly, another woman appeared and sat at our table.

“I’m not too late, am I?” she said slightly breathlessly.

“Er? I think you must be mistaken,” said Jo.

“I was told to expect to find two women at a table for four,” said the other woman.

“That’s not us I’m afraid but you are more than welcome to join us,” said Jo.

The other woman looked around and at that moment, two further women entered the restaurant and sat at an empty table.

“I’m so sorry. I think that those are the people I was to meet. Please accept my apologies for barging in like that.”

“Don’t worry. It was a mistake that anyone could make,” replied Jo.

“Thanks for being so understanding,” said the other woman as she made an exit and headed for the other table.

“I wonder what that was all about? Her face seemed a bit familiar,” I said to Jo.

“It looks like we are going to find out,” she replied.

One of the other women had got up from their table and was coming towards us.

“Hello, I want to apologise for my friend. If you are in the bar after your meal, please come and join us.”

“Thank you,” replied Jo.

“We may well just do that.”

“Great. Having two Americans around would give us something other than the horrible men in our lives to talk about,” remarked the woman before returning to her friends.

“What do you make of that?” I asked quietly when we were alone again.

“Do you want to meet them?”

“I guess you do. But I’ll give the game away the moment I open my mouth.”

“So? It might be nice to talk to some strangers for a change.”

I could not argue with that.

“Do you want a nightcap darling?”

“Yes, that would be nice. I’ll go and get them. Your usual?”

“Please.”

I went and sat down at an empty table. Jo fetching the drinks was something that was just not done in our previous life. There, women had a role to play and they almost never stepped outside that role. I watched Jo at the bar and saw how much more confident and assertive she’d become since we came to England. I liked that a lot.

Jo soon returned with two glasses of scotch and a jug of water.

“They had your favourite, Cardhu.”

I picked up the glass and took a taste. Glorious.

“What did you get?”

“I thought I’d try an Islay Malt. This one is very popular at the hotel.”

I waited for Jo to try the peaty malt.

Sure enough, she grimaced as she tasted it.

“Ugh! How can anyone drink that? Moose Pederson’s moonshine tasted better than that.”

I remembered the moonshine. It could double as a paint stripper on a good day.

“Here, I’ll take yours. Mine should be more to your liking.”

“Gladly,” replied Jo.

I added a good amount of water to the scotch and drank some. It wasn’t too bad. An acquired taste though.

Just then the three other women emerged from the Restaurant. They came over to our table.

“Do you mind if we join you?” asked the woman who’d sat at our table earlier.

“No, please do,” said Jo.

“Can I get you another drink?” she asked.

I looked at Jo hoping to convey the word ‘No’ to her.

“I think we are fine for the moment,” she replied.

There was a bit of a pregnant silence as the other two waited for their drinks to arrive.

“Here you go,” said the first woman.

“Right, I’m Julie O’Connell, this is Ann-Marie Glenister and on my left, is Samantha Goddard.”

“Pleased to meet you all,” said Jo.

“I’m Jo and this is my husband Danny or when he’s dressed like this Daniella.”

Ann-Marie grinned.

“I wondered if that was the case.”

“If me being here is a problem, then I’ll leave you alone,” I said quietly.

“You stay right where you are Daniella,” said Samantha.

Their names suddenly made sense. All of them had recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

“Thank you for being so understanding,” I said.

“So, what brings two Americans to this neck of the woods?” asked Julie.

“We live here now. Jo was actually born here but grew up in the USA.”

“That explains it,” said Julie.

“No self-respecting American tourist would find this place. It does not have room service for starters,” she replied jokingly.

I grinned back at her.

“We aren’t all like that you know but yes. This place is a bit… what is the word… Rustic, yes, rustic for most of them. Besides, the food is good and so is the beer.”

“What about you then Ladies?” asked Jo.

“Men,” replied Julie

“Present company,” said Samantha looking at me,
“excepted but none of us has had a very good experience with men in recent times. We have been hauled over the coals in the press and social media. None of us strayed but we got portrayed as being the evil witches and other nasty stuff.”

“We met up on social media some months ago and decided that a girls-only evening in a very out of the way place would help our morale. A place so out of the way that those bastard paparazzi won’t be here with their long lenses recording everything we say and do,” added Ann-Marie.

“Did it?” asked Jo.

“Did what?” replied Ann-Marie.

“Sometimes Ann-Marie, you really are as thick as two short planks,” said Samantha.

“We are here to give each other some support, aren’t we?”

“I suppose so,” replied Ann-Marie.

She was down in the dumps all right.

“Don’t you go getting soft on him,” said Julie in quite a stern voice.

“You didn’t get caught with your trousers round your ankles and bonking the maid of honour at your sisters wedding, now did you eh?” replied Samantha.

“No, I didn’t,” came her reply.

“So, don’t you forget it,”

“Sorry about that,” said Julie

“Its ok. Some men deserve all they get and that includes a kick in the balls,” I said.

Julie looked at Jo and said,

“If you ever want rid of Daniella, give me a call. I’ll take her off your hands,” she said jokingly.

“I will but she’s all mine understand,” said Jo as she put her hand on mine and grinned.

“That was an evening with a difference, wasn’t it?” I said.

“It darn sure was pardner,” came her reply with extra American accents.

I kissed her lovingly.

“What do you make of them?”

“An interesting mix of characters,” replied Jo

“Could you imagine three so very different women from so very different backgrounds getting together like that back home?”

Jo didn’t respond right away.

“I really don’t think they could. Back home those three would not have mixed unless they were in the same sorority or something to do with their husbands. The more things like this I see, the more I am glad we decided to stay here. I’m not sure if I could ever go back.”

“I think you are right my darling. I think we fit right in here with all these somewhat odd people. If I walked down Main St dressed like I was tonight, I’d be lucky to get away with a tarring and a feathering,” I replied half jokingly.

Then I said,

“The big difference is that this is a small island really. There was a programme on the radio a while back about this American who came over here and wrote a series of books about his experiences. One of his books was called ‘Notes from a Small Island’. Didn’t Mary-Jo Samuels describe Washington as being in a different country? Well compared to where we lived before out in the boonies of the Mid-West, it might as well be. London is just ninety minutes away from us on the train. It is far easier for people to connect here than in say Texas where it can take you a day just to drive across it.”

“What are you trying to say?” asked Jo.

“I’m trying to say that it isn’t really out of the ordinary for three women like that to get to meet up even if they are from different parts of the country. A few hours by car or train and there you are. Nowhere in England is more than half a days’ drive away from here is it?”

“Hello you two. I want to say sorry for last night.”

“Sorry, whatever for?” I asked.

“Well, I have a habit of putting my foot into my mouth and biting hard at time. One drink and I lose most of what little self-control I have left.”

Then I did something very much out of character. I stepped forward and hugged Ann-Marie.

“You didn’t do anything you know so you don’t have anything to apologise for.”

“Thank you Daniella.”

She hesitated for a second.

“Here’s my card. I’d like to keep in touch if you don’t mind. I may have to move soon but my mobile number won’t change.”

I looked at Jo who responded with a brief nod of her head.

“Have you another card?” she asked.

“I’ll put my email address on it.”

Five minutes later we were in the Volvo.

“Where to now M’Lady?” I asked.

“How about Hereford? They have a copy of the ‘Mappa Mundi’ on display. There was a party in the hotel last week that went to see it. They all raved about the place.”

“Sounds like a plan. Please programme the Satnav navigator,” I replied smiling.

“Aye-aye Captain Miss!”

It was dark by the time we arrived home. I did a drive past our house just in case our ‘visitors’ were waiting for us. They weren’t so we breathed a sigh of relief and returned to our home feeling happy.

“What do you think?” I asked Jo as we prepared something to eat.

“I think we have burned our last bridges with the old place. Or, we will have when they tell the story of their trip to anyone who will listen when they get home.”

“Do you mind?”

“Not in the slightest. Hopefully, now we can get on with our lives.”

“I love you Mistress Jo,” I said jokingly.

“Me? Mistress? You gotta be joking!”

Then we both fell about laughing.

[Continued in part 4]

Life got back to something approaching normality fairly soon after our little adventure in Malvern. That trip had sort of made the decision that I’d been mulling over for some considerable time even more clear. I wasn’t going back to life as Daniel. Daniella was pretty well here to stay for the foreseeable future.

To reinforce that decision even clearer, I cleared out almost all of my old clothes and dropped them off at a variety of charity shops in the area. Some of the clothes were very good quality especially the shoes. Several pairs of them were actually hand made. It made me slightly sad to see them go but I had to clear space in the closet for new shoes. As I dropped them off, I chuckled to myself. How many times back in America had I chided Jo for having what was it, fifty pairs of shoes when I made do with five or six at the most. Now I already had ten pairs and… I shook my head and laughed.

Something in me had flipped and I really could not think of me living as a boring man again. I don’t know what it was but as the saying goes, if I could have bottled it, I would have made a fortune.

Jo noticed the change in me as well.

“I do miss bits of the old you, you know,” she said one night.

“But the question is, is the new me a better person?”

“Darn right you are.”

“Well then the new me is a step forward then?”

“Yes but…”

I looked her right in the eyes for several seconds.

“Are you starting to have regrets about unleashing Daniella on the unsuspecting world?”

“Sometimes I do. There is something that tells me that I did the right thing but some devil that sits on my shoulder from time to time keeps reminding me that the world might not be ready for you. When I bought you those things I had intended to use them to get you out of the… the malaise that seemed to have come over you recently. A sort of shock to the system.”

I laughed.

“But it backfired, didn’t it?”

“Big time, big time. But, you know what? I’ve not seen you happier in years. Where this will lead us, I don’t know but at this point in time, I don’t really care.”

“Are you happy with the new me?”

“You betcha girl!”

I laughed. That was the first time she’d used the ‘g’ word to me.

“As long as we are together my dear then all will be right in the world.”

Then I added, trying to change the subject.

“No dark mysterious men staying at your hotel tempting you then?”

Jo saw the glint in my eye so she knew that I was joking. This was why neither of us would stray.

Why move on when you have your soul mate in your life already?

“Wouldn’t you like to know eh?” she answered teasing me.

“Perhaps I should visit the hotel a bit more often and checkout for myself?”

“Don’t you dare or there will be no sex for you. Understand?”

“Perfectly my darling. Speaking of sex….”

Jo sighed.

“There you are wearing a dress, makeup and everything and still every thought you have turns to sex.”

“Every other thought my dear. The other 50% of the time, I am thinking how lucky I am to have found you.”

“Flattery will get you…. Everywhere.”

She took my hand and led me upstairs.

________________________________________

About a week later, I was searching on line for something when I stumbled upon a weird video on YouTube. I watched it twice and sat back in my chair and wondered, ‘why not?’

I let things go for a few days but I kept coming back to this one thing. In the end, I did some more research into the subject. The more I did, the more I was certain that this was the ideal present for Jo’s forthcoming birthday. My only problem was how she’d react to it. There was a danger of it blowing up big time but in the end, temptation got the better of me so I ordered one and waited for it to be delivered.

In the meantime, it was time for Jo and myself to attend our Citizenship Exams. Out of hibernation came Daniel. It felt really strange to be buttoning up a ‘mans’ shirt again. How time changes things eh? As for the shoes, my American made ‘wing-tips’ needed some new soles. I sighed as I knew that they’d need to be done before we I was able to attend the award ceremony only to be thrown away or donated right afterwards. Needs must eh?

In the end, both of us found the exam relatively easy which was good especially as it was Jo’s birthday the next day. Her presents were all ready and waiting for her at home.
________________________________________

“Good Morning Darling,” I said as she came down to breakfast. I’d made something special for her in the shape of some locally Smoked Trout and lemon Scrambled Egg on a locally made Bagel.

“That was wonderful darling,” she said as she pushed her empty plate away from her.

“What are your plans for the day?”

“It depends upon you and…?”

I grinned back at her and gave her the first of her presents.

“What are these?” she asked as she held up the two sliver items that had come in a lovely velvet lined box.

“They are for your nipples. The will totally cover them. Now that they are properly healed I thought that it might be time to cover them up from the unsuspecting world.”

“Eh?”

“They are called nipple shields. I got them from the place where you had them done.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Jo.

“They won’t snag of those lacy bras that you like to wear,” I added.

Jo slowly looked up at me with a smile on her face.

“Well then you had better show me how to put them on and take them off then?”

“Err…. Darling, they are sort of meant to not be removed. They are semi-permanent.”

“What? How?”

“They are held in place with a special key. It fits through that little hole. There is only one key. According to the man in the shop, I’m supposed to keep it.”

“So, you are saying that I don’t get a say in when I can fondle my tits?”

“Err… Yes.”

Jo gave me that evil grin that said, get on with it then.

We went upstairs and after she’d removed the barbells that she’d worn almost every day since she gotten them pierced, then she thoroughly cleaned everything.

“Well lover, do the dirty deed.”

I kissed her and then fitted them to her now very erect nipples.

“Well Darling, they are certainly different but you know, I could get to like them,” responded Jo as she looked at them in the mirror.

“Jo… there is something else for you.”

Jo seemed to be very happy so said,

“Let me see then? Don’t keep a birthday girl waiting now!”

I retrieved the package from under our bed and handed a large velvet bag to her.

“What’s in here?”

“Open it and see,” I replied trying to keep a straight face.

“What the fuck is this?” exclaimed Jo when she saw the contents.

“That my darling is a chastity belt.”

“You don’t expect me to wear this, do you?”

“Yes, my darling, I do expect just that.”

“You gotta be kidding me!”

“No, my dear, I am perfectly serious. I keep the key and decide when and where you get released.”

“And what about my needs then?”

“Those will be satisfied when and where I allow them.”

Jo stood there for what seemed an eternity looking at me all the time. I didn’t flinch.

“You are determined to do this, aren’t you?”

“I am. There is one thing that you will need to do though,”

“Only one thing?”

“Yes my darling. All your pubic hair… It has to go permanently.”

“And you get to do it then?”

“Well, yes I do. You had a lot of fun when you removed all my facial hair didn’t you. Fairs fair eh?”

“That’s not fair and you darn well know it. Why isn’t there one of the contraptions for you then?”

“I’m not the one working in a hotel that has lots of desirable single men staying just the one night, now am I?”

“Pah!”

“Look my darling, we have a great sex life but I was trying to spice things up a bit.”

“Meaning that I get to suck you off while I get frustrated even more. Don’t you even think that I love you inside me?”

“Oh, my darling, I do know that. With you wearing this, then I won’t be able to get as much on demand so to speak. When we do have sex, it will be far more memorable.”

“Ok, you might have a point there,” she replied after some thought.

“Will you at least try it? After all, I tried being a woman for a short period to please you and look where I am now eh? Perhaps it is your turn to try something new?”

Then I added,

“Didn’t I tell you some time ago that there were going to be some changes for you. This is one of them.”

Jo knew when she was beaten on this rare occasion.

“Ok, I’ll try it,” she replied slightly reluctantly.
________________________________________
Half an hour later, I clicked home the padlock to finally secure her inside the belt. As I did so, she gave a little shudder.

“Why don’t you do a twirl my darling,” I suggested.

“It seems ok. But I’m not sure how I’ll go to the toilet.”

“That’s the point of trying it out, isn’t it?”

“What are you going to do with the key?”

I grinned back at her.

“I’m going to keep it safe. I had a piercing done when I went to get your shields. I got mine done as well. When they are healed, the key will hang on a chain between my nipples.”

“So I can see it but not touch it then?”

“Yes, so near but so far,” I replied grinning.

She put up her hands and said,

“You win this one.”

It took us almost two months to get Jo’s pubic hair removed. In the meantime, we’d received the results of our Citizenship Exams and thankfully both of us had passed. We also had a time and place for us to be sworn in as citizens of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

That meant that my almost final performance as Daniel was scheduled and then he’d exit stage left into permanent retirement.

I was actually looking forward to properly starting this next phase in my life. What had started out as a bit of a joke was actually a lot more than that to me. It was a chance of a new life and I was determined not to screw it up and this time Jo was playing a full part in it rather than a bit part as she had done before.

As I locked Jo into her belt for the real start of her trial period she grabbed my head and gave me a long passionate kiss.

“What was that for?”

“Because my darling, I think that you were right.”

“Right about what?”

“This!” she said fingering her belt.

“It actually empowers me. Now I can flirt with all sorts of men when we go out to my heart’s content,” she said with that evil smirk of hers plastered all over her face.

We both had a good laugh about it.
________________________________________

A month later, Jo and the old me travelled to Oxford for the swearing ceremony. It was not as razzamatazz and gung-ho as the American one but quite moving nevertheless. I took Jo to Lunch at a Michelin 2* Restaurant not far from the city. It was a fitting send off for my past life.

When we got home, I changed into something more appropriate and we held a brief ceremony in the back garden. Jo opened a bottle of Champaign and as my last set of male clothes burnt into nothing we toasted my birth as Daniella.

Back inside, I signed the document that formally changed my name to Daniella Fortuna. Jo changed hers to Jo Fortuna. Fortuna was an old name on her side of the family. Our next task would be to apply for British Passports and then we’d renounce our American Citizenship. I would not miss having to fill in an American Tax return every year. Still, that would soon be a thing of the past according to our Lawyer that is. We were both determined not to count our chickens and all that.

Life returned to normal while we waited for all the paperwork to be sorted out. We’d never put a timescale on the completion of my transition however far that might be but probably not the final step. Jo liked that bit of the old me far too much for that to go away.
________________________________________
My hair was our immediate cause for concern. I had to face up to the fact that I was going grey. The good news is that I have a full head of hair. We’d tried a couple of solutions that were supposed to cover the grey but they didn’t work very well. I needed some professional help but we didn’t know who we could turn to so Jo was left to give it a trim to get rid of split ends and that is it.

One night in bed and I was dropping off to sleep, Jo said to me,

“Darling, it is your birthday next month.”

“Yes,” I replied suddenly wide awake.

“I was wondering if there is anything particular you’d like?”

“I’ve not really given it any thought.”

“If I get you a belt you will wear it?”

I laughed.

“Of course, I will. I’m surprised it has taken you so long to ask.”

“Oh you!”

“Have you given any thought to how we can have sex?”

“Yes, and that’s why I didn’t ask before.”

“I have an idea but get a belt and we’ll try it out.”

“Tell me now… Please?”

“There are a few things I have to do first but by the time of my birthday, I’ll be ready to wear a belt for you besides, you can get your own back on me by removing all my pubic hair.”

In the moonlight that was streaming through our bedroom window, I could see that Jo had shed a tear.

“Why are you crying? I thought you would be happy?”

“I am happy. It is as if I’m living a dream. I’m more in love with you than ever and that is just not right. No one else seems to be like that so why us?”

I hugged her tightly.

“It is because we trust each other. I trusted you when I let you put me in a dress. You have trusted me over so many things as well. I think that’s why we work so well together. Well that and the fact that neither of us are afraid to try new things.”

She didn’t answer so I carried on.

“Think back to our old life. It was so false because we had to be. Everyone expected a certain type of behaviour, a certain type of everything. Why else did you have to have your hair done at least once a week? And the gossip that went around like wildfire if you showed any roots. You were expected to be the dumb wife who was on her husband’s arm when needed. You never were that even though you played your part perfectly. Here, we can be ourselves. We don’t have any people to put on an act for when we went for Lunch at the Country Club or to parties at our so-called friends. Sometimes I do wonder if they know what they are missing. Then I come to my senses and realise that they don’t have a clue.”

Jo still didn’t answer.

“Am I making sense or am I talking total crap?”

This time, Jo hugged me back.

“No darling, it is not crap as it actually makes perfect sense. I’m so happy here but every so often I think back to before and try to imagine how we got here, how I said yes to wearing a fucking chastity belt without throwing my toys out of the pram. When I do, I just shudder and realise that before wasn’t a real life, it was an existence. I know you didn’t want to lose the business but what do you think about it now? I think it was the best thing that could have happened to us. Am I talking total crap now?”

“No, my darling, you are not talking crap and that’s why I love you so much.
________________________________________
[one month later]

“Breathe in,” said Jo.

“I am breathing in,” I replied slightly breathlessly.

“Just a bit more,” commanded Jo

With a click, the belt lock snapped into place.

“There it is done. How does it feel?”
I grinned back at her.

“Painful. Putting this on me has given me a huge reaction and there is little room for expansion so to speak.”

“Well, you are staying locked up until tomorrow,” replied Jo as she tucked the keys to my freedom down her bra.

“Darling?”

“No, you aren’t getting the keys.”

“About having sex,” I said quietly.

“What? You have only been locked up for a minute and you want sex already?”

Jo grinned. She was playing a game with me and I didn’t mind at all.

“Come with me,” I said taking hold of her hand.

I led her into the smallest bedroom of the house. It was more of a junk room than anything but I’d cleared it out a couple of weeks before.

“Well, I’m waiting,” said Jo who stood resolute with her arms folded.

“We have to sort out how one or the other or both of us are going to have sex. Correct?”

“Yes, my darling we do,” she replied slightly indignantly.

I moved over to the chimney breast and moved two old doors that were propped up against the wall.

“What are those?” said Jo pointing to two things embedded into the wall.

“Those my darling are two wall safes. One for you and one for me. They only open on a fingerprint. The one on the left is keyed to one of mine. The one on the right is for you when we get it set for your fingerprint. The idea is that we put the keys to each other’s belts in there and lock the doors. Are you with me so far?"

Jo nodded her head so I continued.

“Then we throw a dice. Whoever gets the highest gets to release the other one and do their stuff. If we throw a double then we can go the whole way with both of us released. Then we throw third dice. The number of spots shown is the number of days to wait before one or both of us gets released. What do you think?”

“Ok, let me understand this. You want our whole sex life from here on in to be ruled by the throw of a dice?”

“Yep.”

“Well, that’s certainly different,” then she added,

“Putting these in place were the things you had to do before today?”

I nodded my reply.

“Well, as you went to so much trouble I’d be foolish to not give it a try. Before you ask, I don’t have a better idea but I reserve the right to come up with something better, understand?”

I held her hand and gave it a little squeeze.

“I would not have it any other way.”
________________________________________

[Three months later]

To say that the ‘roll of the dice’ in relation to our sexual encounters was a success would be to expose only the tip of the iceberg. If I thought that Jo was great in bed before, would be a complete understatement of the tiger that she’d become. We fell into the habit of ‘rolling the dice’ in the mornings while we had breakfast. That gave the lucky person or persons something to look forward to that night.

Our relationship was a lot more than the sex though. We became better lovers and even better friends. It was as if we were just two women deeply in love with each other.

I began to have some voice coaching in Oxford twice a week. It started to pay dividends and I became more confident when I was out an about shopping or just talking to people in the street.

I was however putting off the day when I’d be able to show to Jo that I was in this for the long term.

Without her knowing, I went for a consultation at a clinic just outside Oxford on a day when I was due to be there for my voice coaching. The clinic specialised in Plastic Surgery. I left the clinic a few hours later confident that what I wanted done would be possible. All I had to do now was tell Jo.

That night after some very energetic lovemaking, I was lying in bed with Jo in my arms when I said,

“I went to see a doctor today about getting some implants and a tuck on my eyelids.”

Jo sat up in an instant.

“Why didn’t you take me with you?”

“I wanted to investigate. To learn what was possible and what was not. I made no commitments but you know that this is a big step for me.”

“And you didn’t want me there holding your hand I suppose?”

“Jo, it wasn’t like that. I just needed to know a few things that I couldn’t find on the internet.”

Then I added,

“That’s why I’m telling you now. I needed to know some facts before having a conversation with you about it. When you had your breasts done back home, you didn’t want me anywhere near the hospital. You just announced that you were going from an A to a B cup. You called it your ‘mid-term upgrade’ if I remember rightly.”

Jo didn’t argue so I carried on.

“If you also recall, I was in the middle of a trying to deal with a union problem at the time. We are different people now and I need to get your approval for this especially on how big you think I should go?”

Jo then hugged me and whispered,

“Sorry darling, but it is a bit of a shock that’s all.”

“Let’s talk about this tomorrow and try to come to some sort of agreement. If you don’t want me to do it then I won’t. Remember Maria Martinez from 2310? Her marriage broke up because she went and got DD’s when Enrique was away on business. She thought that he wanted her that big. He didn’t because he was having an affair with his secretary. Maria was left with ‘them’ until Tony Fitzgerald came along.”

“Yes. It got really messy with them being catholic and all that.”

“Exactly my point.”
________________________________________
The following day, Jo had calmed down considerably. We were able to have a rational conversation about my breasts. In the end, we agreed that both of us would go and see the Doctor take it from there.

The day after that, I was about to make the call to the clinic when an email arrived.

“Dear Jo and Daniella,
Do you remember meeting three slightly dippy women in a Pub near Malvern some months ago?
You were kind enough to give me your email address as we left the following day. So, like a bad penny, I’m here again.

Ann-Marie Glenister
“
I remembered Ann-Marie from that night. She was definitely the ‘dippiest’ of the three.

I put that to one side and arranged and appointment at the clinic for the following Friday.
________________________________________
That night I told Jo about the appointment when we’d finished our meal.

She got up and came around to my side of the table and sat on my lap.

“I’m sorry for flying off the handle like that. I guess the adrenaline was still pumping around my body. I know that this is a big step for you and I want to be here with you all the way.”

I kissed her deeply.

“So let’s say nothing more about it until we’ve been ok?” I suggested.

“Agreed.”

Before she could move I said,

“There is one more thing,”

“Really? I thought we had covered that already?”

“Not about the clinic. I received and email today. You remember those three women we got rather tipsy with in that Pub in Malvern on my first real outing as Daniella? Well, one of them sent me an email.”

“How could I forget them. What was the word they used to describe themselves? Ah yes, Dippy. I love these words that the people here use to describe things. So much more inventive than back home.”

“They were a bit, to use a phrase from back home, a ‘bit left field’. I think I prefer dippy really.”

“What did she have to say for herself?”

“Here, read it for yourself,” I said giving Jo a printed copy of the email.

“I wonder what sort of proposal she has in mind?”

“I don’t know but shall I say that we’d like to come for a visit?”

“Why not.”

“Good, I’ll send a reply tomorrow.”

Then I added,

“I’ve booked us a table at that Restaurant in Woodstock for Friday, after the clinic.”

“Eh? Why? Did we win the lottery?”

“No my dear, the next day is our wedding anniversary unless you had forgotten?”

Jo stiffened up for a second.

“Sorry, it completely slipped my mind. I’d better go shopping then?”

“That sorta makes up for the several times I forgot due to work so don’t worry about it.”

Jo kissed me.

“I really do love the new you. The old one would have flown off the handle.”

“And I love you my darling maid,” I replied.

“Ok, so I didn’t change when I got home.”

“Err…. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m dressed as one as well. But there again, I only wear something different if we are going out.”

“And very cute you look too with that white frilly apron all neatly tied in a bow at the back.”
________________________________________
Jo was very subdued all through our Anniversary dinner but I didn’t press her. The visit to the clinic may well have raised more questions than it answered so I guessed that it was that that was on her mind.

That night in bed, I cuddled up to Jo and said,

“Penny for them?”

“What? Oh, sorry darling I’ve been miles away since the clinic, haven’t I?”

“Yes, sweetheart you have been on another planet.”

Jo wrapped her arms around me just a bit tighter.

“Don’t you want me to get some implants? I’d love to wear that black halter neck dress of yours or well, something like it.”

“I know you would and you would look great in it,” replied Jo.

I bit my lip to stop myself from saying the wrong thing.

“But you would look better and there is no way that you would want me to upstage you is there?”

“Are you saying that I’m jealous of you?”

“That’s how it seems from here my sweetheart.”

Jo didn’t answer right away.

“I… I think you might be right. About being jealous. I started feeling that way in the clinic. I should be so happy for you and there I am being jealous. I’m so sorry darling.”

“You are forgiven. How about you go up a size at the same time I get my implants? Then you would still have bragging rights?” I said slightly light heartedly.

“This is no joking matter you know.”

“I’m not joking. Have whatever you need done at the same time as me. Besides, you are far more beautiful and graceful than I’ll ever be so in my eyes there is no competition.”

“You say the nicest things darling. I’m being rather silly, aren’t I?”

“Not silly at all. So how about it? Do we both get some enhancements at the same time?”

“You know that there is no going back after this?”

“My darling, I’ve long since passed the point of no return. Daniella is who I am now and for the rest of my life. We may lead a pretty unconventional life but you know, I’m happier than I’ve ever been and that includes our honeymoon.”

Jo relaxed in my arms and a few minutes later she was fast asleep. She’d been able to do that for a very long time. I was happy for her that the issue was resolved.

“Happy Anniversary my darling,” I whispered in her ear.

“Happy Anniversary darling,” came her slightly sleepy reply.

Eat your breakfast and then I’ll give you your present.

“Can’t I have it now?”

“Sorry my darling but no.”

Jo gave me the eye but I ignored her and went off to get things ready for her.
________________________________________
Jo came bounding down the stairs half an hour later obviously full of beans and eager to get her present.

There was a big box in the kitchen table all nearly tied up with a ribbon.

“Is this for me?”

“Well, it says ‘To my darling Jo’ on the label and I don’t see anyone else with that name around here. Do you?”

I got that eye again.

Jo opened the box and pulled out the contents. There were a set of thigh bands that would attach to her chastity belt, a steel collar and matching steel cuffs. I’d ordered them from Germany.

“You don’t expect me to wear this, do you?”

“Well, not all of it all the time but yes I do. I’m wearing some of it as well,” I said and lifted up my skirt.

“Shit!” said Jo.

“Don’t you like them?”

“What? How?”

“I’ve been wearing mine all day while you are at work for the past two weeks. It took a while to get used to them but now, I find that I miss it when I’m not wearing them.”

Then her shoulder slumped.

Half an hour later, Jo was fully dressed in my present to her.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I’m trying to imagine what the people at work will say when they see this?” She replied fingering the polished stainless steel collar that was locked around her neck.

“That comes off as do the wrist cuffs.”

“But this?” she said rapping her knuckles on the stainless-steel bra that was locked in place around her chest.

“Stays on.”

I walked over to her and kissed her gently. As with many things it would take some time for her to adjust.

“Why don’t we wrap up and go out and do some window shopping?” I suggested.

“Eh?”

“You could wear that cape you bought at the county show last year. If I lock your hands to your waist band, then no one can see anything.”

“I guess that I’m your slave today so do with me what you will Mistress,” came her slightly snarky reply.

“I’ll never be your Mistress my darling. You are the boss and I don’t want that to change.”
________________________________________

An hour and a half later we were in Swindon. Jo was wrapped up so that none of her extra bits could be seen. I’d locked her wrist bands to her belt before we left the house. She hadn’t resisted at all. In fact, she’d even put her hands in the right place for me.

She was struggling with the thigh bands. I’d had some practice around the house since they’d arrived earlier in the week but Jo, to give her credit was trying.

We had a good walk around the Outlet Centre before getting back in the car and heading home.

When we got home, I went to release her hands but Jo was having none of it.

“Leave them alone. You wanted me trussed up like this so you can feed me whatever delight you are going to cook for us tonight. In the meantime, I could do with a cup of tea and some cake,” she retorted.

I tried and almost fell over doing a curtsey to her.

“Yes Mistress,” I said jokingly.
________________________________________
Later that night we were cuddled up on the sofa when Jo said,

“Ok darling, you win. I think I have a bit of a liking of this bondage stuff.”

“You don’t mind being trussed up like that?”

“This isn’t uncomfortable so no. But don’t go too far with anything else ok? As long as it is liveable in then I’m ok with it. By liveable means able to be hidden when we go out.”

Then she giggled.
“I got quite aroused earlier. When we were out walking around. It was then that I realised that I didn’t mind it.”

“But nothing visible for when you go to work?”

“Exactly.”

“What about those thigh bands?”

“Let me get dressed tomorrow and we’ll see ok.”

Then before I could answer,

“Are you serious about wearing yours all the time?”

“Yes. If you didn’t notice, mine don’t have locks on the chain between the bands. Unlike yours. Once they are on, they are on. I’m going to shorten some of my uniform skirts so that they are very visible at all times. No hiding.”

“What about this bra? Do you have one like mine?”

“Yes, it is all there in the box waiting for me to get real ones.”

“You do know that you won’t be able to answer the door with those bands visible?”

“Why ever not?” I replied all innocent like.

“You have gotta be joking!” came her reply grinning from ear to ear as she visualised me opening the door to a visitor.

Then she leaned over and gave me a long and passionate kiss. Being unable to use her hands and arms meant that her tongue went into overdrive. To say that both of us broke off with beaming smiles on our face would be an understatement.

[continued in Part 5]

Jo went off to work the next morning with her thigh bands unlocked. I’d given her the key to the chain that connected the two bands but the locks that held them around her thigh were different so she could experiment with the chain for a while. I’d given Jo the option of not wearing them but she gave me a steely look. The change that had come over her since we’d settled here was all to the good. She wasn’t the ‘appendage’ that supported me in my role as CEO. She’d got a new found confidence and determination that pleased me no end.

The presence of the bands meant that from now on did mean that wearing tights were out of the question. I’d bought Jo a good supply of black ‘over the knee’ socks for her to wear to work.

I didn’t wear them but instead I wore stockings. I also wore high heels as much as possible. Walking down the garden path in 4in heels to hang up some washing was as far as I went most days. When I had to venture further, I put a longer skirt over my uniform one and some more sensible shoes. Jo called it ‘finding my limits’.

At the end of the first week, Jo said to me that she had managed to do two shifts with the bands chained together so she handed me the keys.

“So what’s next for me then?”

“What do you mean?”

“What is the next bit of bondage you want me to wear in public?”

I smiled at her as if to say, ‘I really do not know what you mean?’.

“I know you have something in mind so out with it while I am willing eh?”

I sighed.

“Very well.”

I went upstairs to retrieve the item. There was no rapid ascent or descent of the stairs any longer for both of us since we’d been wearing the bands so it took me several minutes before I returned to the sitting room where Jo was waiting for me.

Before I got the chance to show her she remarked.

“Exactly how much did you shorten that skirt by?”

I grinned back to her.

“Eight inches.”

She just shook her head in disbelief.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just possible that you have the legs to carry it off.”

I did a curtsey to her. I didn’t fall over this time despite the fact that I was wearing 5in lace up shoes.

“Thank you M’Lady.”

Jo saw the funny side and laughed.

“Here you are, I said presenting the item that I’d kept hidden in my apron pocket.

“What’s this?” she exclaimed.
Then she twigged.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

I took it from her and went into the kitchen whereupon I washed it and dried it before returning to Jo.

“Ok, open wide.”

She opened wide and I inserted a gag into her mouth. I was much like a gum protector as it fitted quite snugly over her teeth.

With it fitted to her top teeth, I gently closed her mouth so that her lips were closed.

“Well?”

She mumbled something back at me.

I took this as a compliment so I kissed her. She did respond and when I broke apart, she grinned back me.

I removed it from her mouth and asked.

“Well?”

“Strange, very strange but I’m not really gagged, am I?”

“no but it would make you think twice about speaking.”

“Yes it would do that.”

After a pause, she said,

“If I am going to do this then I want a proper one. This will do for now but my darling I am going to go along with your game then I’ll need one that properly stops me from speaking.”

“Jo?”

“I mean it. I sort of expected this so I was prepared for a proper gag not this. I can use the internet as well you know. You should learn to delete your browser history more often…”

Then she added,

“You are a getting a lot better at speaking yourself now so it will be fun to not be able to come to your rescue from time to time,” she said with a grin.

“In the meantime, I will wear this so that I get used to it.”

With that, she put it back in and refused to take it out until we went to bed.

Finding what Jo wanted was not going to be easy despite my efforts I came up a blank. My failure was tempered by the arrival of an email from Sussex.

“Hi there Daniella and Jo,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Unforeseen circumstances and all that jazz.

If you are still interested in a little break down here in darkest Sussex and have the weekend of the 20th/21st free, then I’d be most pleased to see both of you.

I’m in the arse end of nowhere place called Drungewick. I live in the Hall as opposed to the Manor just down the road. If you are free to come, I’ll meet you somewhere nearby because even with a SatNav, visitors often get lost.

By for now
Ann-Marie
“

I afforded myself a little smile. That weekend was just over a week after our trip to the clinic near Oxford. It might be the perfect chance for me to wear something a little revealing for the first time?

I put that out of my mind and concentrated on finding someone who’d make something for Jo.
Knowing her, she’d not accept anything half-baked or cobbled together. I had to find a proper solution but that may take some time.

Over dinner that night we talked about our days.

Jo sat back in her chair and sighed.

“That was a nice meal darling. Thank you.”

“We got an email from Ann-Marie today.”

“I wondered when we’d hear from her again. What has she got to say now?”

I looked at Jo. She looked exhausted.

“How about you go for a nice bath and relax?”

“No, I’m all right. Just a little tired. We are three short this week.”

“I understand. “

“So what did she say?”

“She has invited us down to somewhere in Sussex called Drungewick. God awful name but there you go eh?”

“When?”

“The weekend after you know what.

“I’m not sure if I can get the time off so soon after Oxford. The hotel is very busy with American tourists visiting Shakespeare’s home and going to the Theatre. We had a load in last night straight off the Queen Mary. They docked at Southampton in the morning, got straight on a coach and came to Stratford. Tomorrow they are off to Cambridge and then onto another ship to go up to Northern Norway from somewhere called Tilbury. Talk about a whistle stop tour. I couldn’t do that in a million years.”

I knew what she’d meant. It was funny that about five years ago, Jo had wanted me to do something similar but up the West Coast of the USA and Canada.

“Do they tip you?” I asked offhandedly.

“Like hell they do. Their tour reps tell them in no uncertain terms not to tip a penny here. All the more for them at the end of the trip I suppose.”

“Bummer. Back home you’d get lots of tips for the job that you do.”

“Yeah, and it sucks. At least my pay is not dependent upon tips. They think it is awful cute for a fellow American to be looking after their Hotel rooms. I don’t correct them. I’m sure that more than a few wouldn’t understand or might even get angry that I’ve deserted the homeland.”

I laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“How much money is in our bank account?”

“That’s not the point and you know it. For the first time in years, I am earing some money. It is not a lot that for sure but it makes me feel good. Didn’t you feel good once the company started to make money?”

“Ok, yes I did and it felt good,” I replied.

“What do I tell Ann-Marie then?” I said changing the subject a bit.

“How about we delay it for a couple of weeks? I think the rush will be over then. The Theatre is closed for a week as they are rehearsing for their next production. That means the ‘whistle-stop’ tourists who come for all things Shakespeare will go elsewhere.”

“I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

Jo wasn’t really listening. She was yawning her head off.

The following day, I composed and email to Ann-Marie.

“Dear Ann-Marie,
Thanks for the invitation. It looks like we won’t be able to make it for the 20th/21st. Jo can’t get the time off work two weekends in a row. We should be able to come down the weekend of the 3rd/4th. I hope that is ok with you.

Daniella
“

I didn’t send it right away. I wondered why she was inviting us to her place.

Then I gave myself a slap on the wrist. Why didn’t I at least do an elementary search on her before now? I am such an idiot.

It didn’t take me long to discover that Ann-Marie was to be blunt, ‘up stinky creek without a paddle’.

I smiled to myself as I remembered ‘stinky creek’ from my childhood. This was a creek where when it rained heavily, a sewage outfall pipe would chuck all sorts of gunk into the creek. Out little gang had a rope swing over the creek where we pretended to be flying through the jungle over croc infested waters in the Jungle of Africa. Then one day Billy Taylor fell into the creek. He became very ill and was never the same again mentally. My smile turned to a shudder. We were never allowed to play near the creek again.

I thought back to those halcyon days, those ‘lazy days of summer’ and what they’d say ‘if they could see me now’.

I shook myself back into the here and now and after capturing all the relevant information, I closed down my laptop and set about making dinner for Jo and myself.

After dinner, I showed Jo what I’d found.

“She needs some help that for sure,” commented Jo. Then she added,
“The question remains is what she wants from us and how much will she want to sting us for?”

I laughed.

“What’s so funny?” asked a slightly indignant Jo

“Turn over that last page and see what I’ve written down.”

Jo did just that and her indignation turned into laughter.
I had written, “not a bent penny.”

“You know me too well you know?”

“And that’s why I love you so much,” I replied and kissed her.

“Do I accept her invitation but for the weekend of the 3rd and 4th? I have the email all ready to go?”

Jo smiled at me as she took my hand and led me towards the stairs.
“As Napoleon is supposed to have said, ‘Not tonight Josephine’. It can wait but we have something else to do, tonight don’t we?”

I followed her upstairs remembering that we’d thrown a ‘double’ that morning. We were in line for a night of unfettered passion.

*

I sent the email off the following day and went shopping. Or well, I tried. I’d just parked my car in the supermarket car park when I realised that I was wearing one of my shortened uniforms. My thigh bands were totally exposed. I almost went and got out of the car but common sense prevailed and I went home and got changed.

The episode did bring home to me how much my life had changed in the past year or so. I was doing things now that were totally beyond even my wildest imagination even when we were travelling around Europe. Now I was about to get some breast implants. That brought a smile to my face all through my shopping trip even though it was half-term and the supermarket seemed to have been taken over by children running amok.

I did wonder more than once if I was truly transgendered or was I just doing this for Jo? Yes, it had started out as a bit of fun while I found something to do. But now I was about to take a step with permanent results. Once done, and like a tattoo it was done for the long term.

Jo and I went for a long walk on her next day off. We talked and talked about us and everything. We came back both certain that this was the right thing to do for both of us.

That night I relaxed in a bath and thought about how much our relationship had changed since we settled in England. We were doing things together that I’d never envisaged in my wildest dreams and as I thought about it, I knew that I was happier than I’d ever been in my whole life.

*
The day of our operations came around and we said goodbye to of our hidden secrets including Jo’s nipple shields. She was able to fondle them for the first time in a long time. She wasted no time in making them come very erect. I kissed them both. It was these that attracted me to her in the first place. Yes, I admit it, I was a sucker for breasts like many men but Jo was different. Hers weren’t huge but her nipples once erect could stay that way for hours and hours. However, it didn’t take me long to realise that there was a lot more to Jo than her nipples and we were married less than three months later.

We arrived at the clinic near Oxford ready for the day ahead. We were soon shown to separate rooms to get ready for our procedures. Jo was due into theatre first. The last thing I remembered was being told that she’d come through her operation without problems.

When I came around after the operation, I couldn’t see anything. This was as expected due to the bandages over my eyes. I felt my chest and underneath the dressings, there were two mounds that hadn’t been there before. I relaxed back into the bed and fell asleep again.

I woke up again god knows how much later to find someone stroking the back of my hand. From the touch, I knew that it was Jo.

“Hello lover,” I said in a croaky voice.

“Hello lover,” came her reply.

“Can I have some water?” I asked.

“Lover you really know how to say the kindest things,” replied Jo almost laughing.

A few seconds later a straw was pushed between my lips and I got something to drink.

“How are you feeling now?” I asked when I’d had enough to drink.

“Sore but happy. You?”

“Sore but happy. Can’t wait to get these things off of my eyes though.”

“Tomorrow darling. Then if all goes well, we can go home the day after.”

After two nights in the clinic, we emerged as a happy couple. I wore dark glasses and would have a lovely pair of black eyes for about a week but from what I saw when the surgeon removed the pads over my eyes, they were going to look great.

Jo went back to work the following day complaining that her bra was making her nipples stay erect all the time. If that was the only thing wrong, then it was a small price to pay. She also commented, ‘these things are huge’ as she looked down on them. We both had a good laugh at ourselves. We knew from before that not many couples can do that.

A week later, we got the all clear from the surgeon at the clinic once we’d had our stitches removed. He promised that the scarring would virtually disappear over time. Then I had for the first time the pleasure of wearing a bra because I needed to wear one. I knew that there would be times when I’d regret it but for the moment, I had a huge grin on my face as I tried on all my different bras and looked at the results in the mirror.

Life returned to something approaching normality. I say approaching normality because neither of us wanted be the first to start wearing our belts and other things again. Over dinner one night, I asked Jo,

“Have we done with bondage?”

“No!” came her firm reply.

“Why have neither of us put it back on then?”

Jo’s reply was simple and to the point.

“I was waiting for you to put mine on. That is your job.”

A ‘Doh’ moment if ever there was one.

That night, we put each other’s chastity belts and thigh bands on again. With their keys safely locked away, we gently fondled each other’s breasts in bed. We fell asleep holding our partner’s breasts.

The next morning, Jo came downstairs topless.

“It is no good darling; you are going to have to cover these up again?” she said pointing at her erect nipples.”

I had to agree with her on that.

“Do you want the shields or the locking bra?”

“Just the shields. With the extra size of these babies, my uniform may well be too tight to hide the chains of the bra.”

“As you wish M’Lady.”

Jo went off to work that morning a very happy person.

We’d received a reply from Ann-Marie confirming that we were expected on the weekend we’d suggested. She said that she’d meet us at a pub a few miles from her home on the Friday evening.

The trip left me with a bit of a problem. What could a girl wear for this?

Most of my clothes were really modified ‘maids’ uniforms. They were what I wore every day. I had a few other things but these were just really comfortable and practical. I broached the topic with Jo that night.

“What do I take to wear over the weekend? I really don’t have much besides my uniforms.”

“Well, go shopping or just wear them? I’m going to take a long dress and some heels, a couple of skirts and trousers and I’m done. I’m not going to make a huge effort without knowing what to expect. Ann-Marie has not exactly been forthcoming now has she?”

I could not argue with that.

“I’ll get a few simple things tomorrow. Can I borrow that silver halter neck dress of yours?”

Jo giggled.

“Want to show off your new assets then?”

“Why not. If the opportunity arises then I’d like to look nice.”

Jo reached over and held my hand.

“Lover, you can wear that dress. After all, you bought it for me, didn’t you?”

I laughed and said,
“And I never thought in a million years that I’d ever wear it when I bought it for you.”

We didn’t wash the dishes that night before we went to bed.

*
On the day before we were due to go down to Sussex, Jo did the early shift. By early, I mean the 06:00-14:00 shift. This allowed her to get home and for us to go shopping before the shops closed.

When she arrived home, she disappeared upstairs to get ready. I was ready and waiting for her.

Ten minutes later, she re-appeared wearing her cape and a long skirt. She offered her arms to me. I knew what she wanted and I wasn’t doing to displease her.

I quickly l locked the cuffs around her wrist and then locked them via a short chain to the ‘D’ rings on her belt.

“I’m ready now,” she proclaimed.

“I have one thing to do before we can go.”

I went into the dining room and retrieved a pink plastic ball. This was the sort of ones that you give to small children to play with. It wasn’t solid as it had lots of holes in it.

“Open wide,” I said as I returned.

“What?”

I showed her the ball. She knew what it was for.

She opened her mouth wide and I held her jaw open just a little bit as I put it in her mouth. Then she closed it.

The smile on her face said that she was happy. Quite how happy she’d been by the time we returned was another matter entirely.

Jo to her credit played her part in the trip very well. Through a series of facial expressions coupled with nods and grunts, we managed to buy the things I needed for the weekend but by the time we reached home, I could tell that she was in some discomfort.

As soon as we walked through the door, she started complaining. She had good reason to so I sat her down in the kitchen and removed the ball from her mouth.

“Don’t talk. Just exercise your jaw. I’ll get you some water to drink,” I said trying to comfort her.

A few minutes later she was able to talk.

“Two hours is my limit with that,” she said.

“No other complaints?”

“I’d need to drink something while wearing it. For some reason my mouth got very dry.”

“Ok for next time, I’ll take some water with us.”
Then I said after a pause,

“Other than that you were ok with it?”

“I think it was just a bit too big for me. I had difficulties keeping my mouth closed after a while.”

“I thought that might be the case. I did offer you are trip to the ladies so that I could remove it but you said no?”

“I did and ten minutes later I regretted it. We need a signal so that you know when I’m in distress.”

“Like a safe word?”

“Yes, but as I’m unable to speak then something else.”
We both laughed at the predicament.

I made us dinner and fed Jo. This was my payment for letting her go out cuffed and gagged. It was a small price to pay. Seeing her eyes light up in anticipation of being unable to speak for the trip was almost priceless. After all, how many couples spice up their shopping trips like we do eh?

*

Jo did the same early shift the next day which meant that we were able to get away from Stow before 3:30pm. As it was a Friday the traffic was already heavy so it was almost four hours later that we pulled up in front of the Pub where Ann-Marie was due to meet us.

Ann-Marie was sitting in the bar looking a bit anxious. She relaxed when she saw the two of us.

“I was starting to think that you weren’t coming?”

“Friday night traffic,” I said.

Ann-Marie nodded.

“Have we time for a drink?” asked Jo.

“I have dinner simmering in the oven at home,” replied Ann-Marie.

“Well let’s go then,” said Jo.

We followed Ann-Marie’s car down some very narrow lanes for several miles until she pulled into a gravel drive. This led to a Victorian Gothic style house. I couldn’t see the full size of it in the growing darkness but it seemed pretty large.

“Please bring your things in with you,” said Ann-Marie.

We followed her into the house. The Entrance hall was quite impressive. A huge chandelier dominated the room.

“Your room is up the stairs and second on the left. I’ll go and check on Dinner. The kitchen is through that door over there. Why don’t you go and get settled in? When you are ready come on down and we can eat,” suggested Ann-Marie.

Our room was equally impressive. A huge four-poster bed complete with canopies and the works was the centre piece of the room. We had our own bathroom that had been recently fitted. This again confirmed what we’d learned from the internet.

Ten minutes later, we arrived in the kitchen.

Ann-Marie was waiting for us holding two glasses of red wine.

“Here you are. Not a bad claret really for its age,” she said offering the glasses to us.

We soon sat down to a delicious beef casserole. Perfect for hungry travellers.

“What do you think of the old place so far?” asked Ann-Marie.

“Very grand and someone has obviously spent a lot of money recently on it.”

Ann-Marie sighed.

“That’s my problem. Far too much money. My rat of a husband spent just about everything on this place. To say that it is a folly of the grandest scale would be an underestimate. When he upped, and ran out on me, I literally had to sell everything just to keep a roof over my head. All his other properties are gone like all the money that he splashed here.”

“From my guess I think he wanted to turn this place into a Hotel?” asked Jo.

“Nearly. He thought that this place could rival a place such as Champneys as a health spa. The problem is as was demonstrated earlier that we are up the arse end of nowhere yet we are less than 40 miles from Central London. Even the local taxi company don’t like coming here. You could try ten, or even twenty cabs at Guildford Station or worse, Gatwick Airport and none would know where we are. The house is not on Satnavs’ and the postcode takes you to a place on the other side of the canal.”

“I think we see your problem. So, what do you want from us?”

“That’s what I like about you Yanks. Straight talking and no beating about the bush eh?”

Jo and I smiled back at her.

“From your CV, I see that you ran your own business before it was sold out from under you. Am I correct?”

“You have done your research very well but as you can see, I’m not Daniel any longer.”

“No, you aren’t and my guess is that your days of running a business are behind you. That was evident from our previous meeting.”

Ann-Marie emptied her glass of wine. As she poured herself another one, she said,

“I need your expertise. Pure and simple. I know sod all about running a business. God knows my last two ended in total failures. I’d like you to give some advice and help allowing me and the girls to start-up and run a business.”

“Ann-Marie, I know as you put it, ‘sod all’ about running a place like this? A health spa is a very different kettle of fish to a manufacturing business.”

Then Jo said,
“Girls?”

“Ah yes. Four other girls, sorry women who have suffered at the hands of men in recent times will be coming down tomorrow. We all decided that we wanted to do something on our own to prove to ourselves that we did not need to depend on men to be a success.”

She smiled back at both of us.

“Here’s the business plan. It is based on an idea that we tossed around amongst ourselves,” she said as she handed us a loose-leaf folder.

I opened it and burst out laughing. Jo was doing the same.

When I’d recovered enough composure to speak, I said,

“You have gotta be kidding me…”

[Continued in part 6]

When Jo and I had stopped laughing, I said to Ann-Marie,

“I’m sorry for our reaction. It was most uncalled for. I hope we haven’t offended you in any way?”

To my relief, Ann-Marie was smiling.

“No offence. Some people who have seen that document have even thrown it back in my face not literally but physically.”

“Well, I can understand why and both of us know a good deal of our former countrymen and women who’d do that and possibly even more. Thankfully, burning at the stake is illegal in most of the USA at the moment,” I replied trying to make light of the issue.

“Ann-Marie, thank you for sharing this with us. Even if we decline to help, I can assure you that we won’t go broadcasting the document and its contents to the world,” said Jo

“Thanks Jo. I appreciate that.”

Then she got a bit serious,
“Laughing aside, what are your first impressions of what we are proposing?”

I looked at Jo who returned a tiny nod of her head.

“From our experience with these things quality is probably the last thing that the producers worry about. Again, from a limited experience, the only people who come close to making half decent equipment in this area are the Germans. Some companies make really top quality items but others promise a lot but deliver little.”

Ann-Marie looked at us a little harder

“Why do I get the impression you know more about this than you are letting on?”

“For the simple reason Ann-Marie, my old company supplied some pieces of equipment to two of the shall we say more reputable makers of Sex Equipment in Germany. Naturally, I can’t tell you who but we did it.”

Ann-Marie smiled.

“Thanks for being so candid with me.”

“You said the others?” asked Jo changing the subject.

“Yes. You have already met Julie and Samantha. They’ll be here tomorrow along with Sylvia Edwards and Karema Patel. We have all suffered at the hands of the men in our past. Therefore, we decided to do something for ourselves. A sort of Spurned Wives Club so to speak.”
She took a deep breath before continuing.

“How we arrived at this I don’t know but we all have experience using them and know from first-hand how utter shit some of the even the more expensive stuff is. A lot of it works once and then needs to be junked. Anyway, we were bouncing around ideas when Sylvia’s phone rang. It was in her handbag and in the act of getting it, she spilled the content onto the floor. There on the floor was two of the largest dildo’s you have ever seen. So, to cut a long story short, we ended up sharing them that night only for both of them to conk out in mid operation. It was Karema who said, ‘why don’t we make stuff for ourselves, stuff that works?’. No one objected so we each put up a couple of hundred quid and got the business plan drawn up. That’s where the good news ends.”

Ann-Marie took another drink of the wine which wasn’t half bad actually.

“Everywhere we went to try to raise funds we got laughed out of the room. In the end, we all agreed to put up as much as we can afford. With me, it is somewhere to run the business. Samantha has sold or is selling, the Ferrari that her ex gave her for her Birthday. As she does not have a driving license, it wasn’t much use to her anyway.”

She took a breath before continuing,
“The others are doing the same sort of thing. But we have lots of ideas and we are willing to learn but have zero experience in running a business, sourcing equipment and everything. Then Samantha remembered something you said in the bar that night and… well here we are.”

There was a pregnant silence before Jo spoke.

“Why don’t we peruse the plan overnight and we can talk again when the others arrive tomorrow?”

“Good show. I can give you the grand tour after breakfast. I’ll show you where we plan to setup shop so to speak. The others should be here around eleven.” suggested Ann-Marie.

*
In our bedroom, later that evening, I sat on the bed and read the Business Plan. Jo followed suit a little later after she’d had a shower.

When I finished, I sat back and began to think. Something about this intrigued me but I wasn’t sure about Jo. She was for once proving very hard to read.

When she finished reading it, she put it down on the bed and said,
“Well darling, that’s a turn up for the books, isn’t it? Talk about coincidences.”

“I know. Do you think they got the idea from us back in Malvern? I’ve been racking my brains trying to think back.”

“The date on this proposal is a week after we met so I don’t think so. There is nowhere near enough time to put something like this together. This was done by a third party but I really don’t think that they have done a good job.”

I opened the proposal and saw the date.

“Thanks, I missed that.”

“What about their proposed products? I think they are not niche enough,” said Jo as she started to get into her stride.

“I agree. Plus, the kit needed to make some of this stuff does not come cheap. Plastic Moulding tooling isn’t cheap either. Do you remember that tooling for that widget we made for Amtrak?”

“What? Oh, yes, it went somewhere in the toilets if I remember rightly.”

“Yes, that’s it. It managed the separation of solids and liquids. The tooling for that cost close on fifty grand. The other bids for that contract were almost double that. We won it because we had some tooling that could be adapted. Putting that aside, some of these devices will need expensive tooling however they make them. There is no getting away from that unless they use 3d Printing but that is very expensive to do in production given the current technology and the expected sale price for these ‘items’. Prototyping yes but anything more than low volume? Not a chance. They’d need a plastics expert as well.”

“I’d better write all this down,” suggested Jo.

“That’s a good idea.”

Jo dug a small notepad from her voluminous handbag and began to write things down.

“Tooling costs and plastic moulding machinery costs,” she said as she wrote them down.

“I think the range they are going for is too crowded,” suggested Jo.

“Not Niche enough then?”

Jo wrote it all down with a smile on her face.

“How are they going to get sold? Are they going for something like an Amazon or EBay store? There are costs and skills involved there? What about the Sex shop trade? I don’t see anything in here about how they plan to distribute and sell them.”

Jo carried on writing.

“What skills are the other players on the team going to bring to the party?” she asked when she’d finished writing.

“That my darling is the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question and will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“I think you are right darling.”

A little later we were lying in bed. I could sense that Jo wasn’t sleeping.

“A penny for them?”

“Oh… I was wondering what the hell we are doing here? If you get involved does it mean the end of Daniella? After all that was our agreement right back at the start of all this?”

“Jo, I’ll say this again, Daniel is not coming back ever. Don’t we have a better relationship now that we’ve ever had? I’m more in love with you now, than ever before. I think you feel the same with me. I’m not going to let anything get in the way of that and I don’t think you will either. I propose that we go softly, softly and make no commitments this weekend. That way if we turn the job down we can do it with honour. Agreed?”

Jo didn’t answer me with her voice but her lips.

“I love you Daniella. I don’t want the old Daniel back either.”

“Then no more talk of going backwards eh?”

Jo responded with a long goodnight kiss.

*

After breakfast, Ann-Marie gave us the tour of the place.

“As I said, my stupid ex, Tony wanted to make this a three hundred quid a night retreat like Champneys and other Celebrity Retreats. It was doomed from the start only I was far too interested in my horses to notice what was going on. Even when I asked, he fobbed me off with some excuse. I know that I should have realised but I was blind to what was going on until it was far too late.”

“I will give Tony due credit, a lot of what he did here was good quality but it cost the earth. He even pandered for my love of Horses. That’s where we are going now.”

Ann-Marie led us out the back of the main building and through a couple of gates in brick walls until we came to a large structure. She opened the door and showed us inside.

“This is what was supposed to be the indoor riding school. His idea was that being with horses is good therapy. It is but he had no idea about how to implement it. He should have used any of the ten to fifteen liveries that are within five miles of here instead of spending so much on this white elephant. Still it is here and we should use it.”

The place was empty but I could see why Ann-Marie had brought us here right at the start.

“This would be the centre of operations of our business. There is plenty of space to do pretty well anything we want. There is three phase power at the box outside and a loading dock plus 10 stable bays beyond the roller shutter doors. The stable bays can be used for storage.”

I got the impression that the ‘dizzy’ female that Ann-Marie projected was a bit of an act. It was either that or she’d had a big say in the design of the former riding school.

We headed back into the house where Ann-Marie showed us the bits that would not be of much use to the business such as the treatment rooms, the sauna and spa.

“Finally, we come to the straw that broke the Camel’s back,” said Ann-Marie.

She pushed open a pair of double doors. There beyond, was a 25m Swimming Pool.

“Fitting this place out took almost 60% of the budget. This is the golden elephant that sunk the ship,” she said with great sadness in her voice.

The pool was empty of water.

“It will cost around nine hundred to fill and at least a hundred a day to run. Tony was quoted a Solar Heating system that would have saved almost all the running costs by he preferred to spend the money on gold plated taps and showers. Sadly, it will probably never be used.”

Before we could say anything, we heard the sound of a car horn.

“Ah, that will be the others. Come on, they will be eager to meet you both.”

We arrived at the front door of the house to witness the four women getting out of a Bentley.

*

With the introductions made we all headed for the kitchen where Coffee was served.

“Girls, Jo and Daniella have had time overnight to digest the business plan so I’m sure that we’d like to hear what they think of it.”

I sat back and let Jo do the talking.

“Right ladies, as Ann-Marie said, Daniella and I took a good look at the plan last night and to be honest with you, if you follow this as it stands then you will fail.”

Jo let those words sink in at least a bit before carrying on.

“The plan is on the surface a good one but the market you are going after is all wrong. Most of the things you seem to want to make and sell you can already buy from pretty well any branch of shops like Anne Summers. Then there are the online merchants who are selling mostly the cheap crap from China and Taiwan. To sum it up, the idea of making or having made quality sex toys is a good one but the choice of toys is all wrong.”

The room was silent as Jo took a sip of coffee.

“Let me go through one item to illustrate the costs involved in just starting to make something. This does not include any budget for selling, marketing or distribution.”

“For a simple vibrator that is made of plastic, you are going to need tooling. Two grand minimum even for a small egg sized vibrator. Then unless you contract out the manufacture, you are looking at twenty to thirty grand minimum for a low volume injection moulding machine. Then there is the vibrating mechanism. Someone needs to design it as I assume you would not be willing to compromise on a cheap off the shelf mechanism. Then there are the costs and skills needed to make it. A hundred grand to set up the kit. Once you have a device, do you think that it can be sold just like that? Because it is electrical it needs safety testing. Then there is the ‘CE’ mark. You can’t sell it in Europe without one. Then there is the patent lawyer you will need because there are probably patents for vibrators that the patent owners will sue you over. And so, it goes on.”

Jo took another sip of coffee.

“As I said, mass producing stuff for general use is a non-starter unless you have several million lying around waiting to be burnt with little or no hope of a return of your capital let alone some profits. Even contracting out most of the work will still take at least half a million with marketing and advertising. There are a lot of established vendors out there who will fight you tooth and nail for market share. Finally, and the killer is in our opinion, little or no money to be made with the sort of items you list in the plan.”

Jo sat down and let the bad news sink in.

I squeezed Jo’s hand to say ‘well done darling’.

“How… how did you come up with all this in such a short time?” asked Sylvia who had been very quiet up to now.

I looked at Jo who smiled back at me. She took the hint and answered

“We read the document last night and made some notes. Then we slept on it. As usual we woke up around five and the two of us spent three hours on the internet doing some research. It wasn’t hard if you know what you are looking for and have run a multi-million-dollar business like Daniella.”

“But, it seems that you know more about this business than us?” asked Donna.

“Why don’t you all have a talk about what Jo just said while Jo and I have a little walk around the grounds. When you have had time to digest what we have said Ann-Marie can give me a call and we’ll come back,” I ventured hoping to deflect any more questioning for the moment.

There was no argument so Jo and I left the room as quickly as we could without seeming to do a hasty exit.

Out in the garden, neither of us wanted to aske ‘that’ question. In the end, it was Jo who dived in.

“Do we expose what we do or do we do a run for the hills?”

“I think the locals refer to it as ‘doing a runner’ but darling you are right. We have a choice to make,” I replied.

We came up to a bench so we sat down. I looked into Jo’s eyes.

“We have a very private and very unconventional sex life. As consenting adults, we are doing stuff that Pastor Franks, back home would find totally abhorrent and condemn us to Hell and Damnation in a second. If we take the next step here today, then we may well have to expose our very private stuff to all of those in that room. The question is, would it stay in that room or would it find its way onto social media within an hour. Does that sum it up?” I asked Jo.

She answered me with a quick kiss on the cheek.

“We have to lay down some ground rules now and for the future if we are going to work together with those women,” I added.

“I was thinking just that very thing,” agreed Jo.

“What sort of rules were you thinking of?”

“They will have to basically drop off the face of the planet for a period. Remember that start-up… Astral Bio Tech, they were based just off Highway 2 on the edge of town?”

“Oh yes. Brendan O’Reilly worked there at the start.”

“That’s right. They existed as a company but no one knew what they were up to for almost three years. They were in what they call ‘stealth’ mode. They were able to develop their product in virtual secrecy and only went public when they had something to show.”

The lights came on in Jo’s eyes.

“You want that sort of thing to happen here then?”

“Exactly and it is for the benefit of all seven of us in that room. The last thing a project like this needs is a horde of press camped outside. Did you recognise Karema? She was the mistress of a former government minister. Her face was plastered on the front cover of the low-end daily papers for days at the back end of last year,” I added.

“So no phones, Facebook and all the rest?”

“Almost. Using phones needs to be controlled. During World War 2, there were posters up saying ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’. Here it is ‘Careless Talk Attracts the Press’. So just normal activities but restricted to say between five and seven in the evening. At all other times, the phones are switched off and even locked away. Thankfully, none of them seem to be Social Media Addicts well from what we have seen so far. It might well be that Social Media has played a bit part in their problems in recent times and being off it is very good advice for those in ‘rehab’.”

Then a smile appeared on my face as an idea took hold. Jo noticed it.

“Something is cooking inside that mind of yours my darling. Something devious no doubt?”

“Yes. I wonder if they will go for it?”

Jo sighed.

“Out with it or no nooky for you for the next month!”

I grinned back at her and gave her a quick kiss.

“We don’t want it to get out that we are wearing belts and the rest. So why don’t they all do the same. Then they all have an interest in keeping things quiet. It will also prove that they are in it for the long run and not just a two-week flash in the pan?”

Jo cuddled me with a huge smile on her face.

“I think it is a great idea. I’d love to be able to take a picture of their faces when you tell them,” said Jo hardly able to keep a straight face.

“Not me darling, you. You are going to tell them and show them your belt.”

“Why me?”

“Because mine is a bit different, isn’t it? I’m not sure who knows the truth about me and who does not know.”

“Ok, I’ll do it.” replied Jo somewhat reluctantly.

We carried on walking and talking about various options for almost twenty minutes before my phone rang.

“Hi Anne-Marie. We’ll be there in a few minutes,” I said and hung up without waiting for a reply.

“Shall we go?” I asked as I gave my arm to Jo.

“Once more unto the Breach my Friends, once more,” Replied Jo quoting a line from ‘Henry V’. We’d seen it at the RSC theatre in Stratford the previous year.

“Yes my darling, once more.”

We entered the room and all eyes were upon us.

I put a smile on my face and said,

“Well ladies what conclusions have you come to since we left?”

It was Ann-Marie who spoke up.

“What you said made perfect sense. That is probably why we got nowhere with the business plan but that really does not matter now.”

She swallowed hard and after looking at the others, she continued.

“We think you are right. Many of us have shopped at very niche and upmarket shops over the years. I first met Samantha in the Restaurant at Harvey Nicks so our market was right there in front of us all the time and either we couldn’t see it or didn’t want to admit that it was there through embarrassment. I don’t know but as I said at the moment, it does not matter. We are willing to take your advice and look at other products.”

I nodded to Jo who stood up.

“Ladies, before we go any further, there are some ground rules. These are for the benefit of everyone in this room. Any questions? If not, I’ll outline them.”

Everyone looked at everyone else. No one objected so she carried on.

“Firstly what goes on in this room and here stays here. No blabbing to friends, relatives or anyone. You all know from first-hand experience what the media can do you even innocent people. Agreed?”

There was a general nodding of heads.

“Next, phones. No phones ever in this room. If we go forward with this project not one word must get out onto social media. I’d even go so far as to lock them up apart from two hours a day. That is more than enough time to keep in touch with those who really matter to you. Not the Facebook ‘friends’ and the like but people who really matter to you. Daniella and I knew of a start-up company where we used to live in the States. They were in what is called ‘stealth’ mode for three years before what they were doing became public. If we do this, then we are in ‘stealth’ mode until we have products ready for sale. As far as your friends are concerned, you are going under the radar for a while. If they are real friends, they will understand given the mauling that some of you have had in the press in recent times. Does everyone understand this?”

“Am I to give up my life?” asked Samantha.

“Sam, what is your life like now as compared to when you were with HIM?” asked Sylvia.
“It is nothing like it was before. The same goes for the rest of us. Going under the radar for a while won’t harm our reputations as most of us don’t have a very good one at the moment. Remember that it was HIS publicist who made out that it was you that were two timing him and not the other way around. No one believed you side of the story because of his squeaky-clean reputation with the public. I’m all for this.”

No one raised any further arguments.

Sylvia collected their phones and took them outside the room.

“Right. We will all test out the products. I mean test them by wearing them. No playing. We go with the lifestyle and live and breathe and wear what we are going to sell. That way we can ensure the quality and durability of what we are going to put our name to. Agreed?”

“What do you mean wear?”

I smiled as I nodded to Jo.

“Like this.”

Jo lifted up her skirt to reveal her belt

There were general gasps from the ladies.

“Is that… a chastity belt?” asked Karema, her eyes bulging from the sockets.

“It is indeed a chastity belt. I generally wear thigh bands and a chastity bra as well.”

“You say you wear? Just for playing and sex, right?” asked Julie.

“No. I mean all day, every day. Daniella wears them as well. That’s how we do things, as a couple.”

“But… how do you have… you know sex?” asked Samantha.

Jo grinned at me. I returned a slight nod of my head.

“I won’t go into specific details but we have an arrangement that works for us. When I am to be released that night, I go to work with a spring in my step.”

“What are you proposing for us then?” asked Donna.

“You all get some of the equipment you are going to make and like us wear them, live in them and get to know their features and importantly their limitations. Only then can you know what is important to get right for your products.”

“Who will keep the keys?” asked Samantha
“Always assuming that I agree to wear one of those things!”

“Ann-Marie, do you have a safe here?”

“Yes. Ah. I get it. I get to be the key holder for everyone then?”

“But you can release yourself?” argued Karema.

“Why don’t you keep my keys then?” suggested Ann-Marie.

No one disagreed with that.

“There is one thing though. And that is that all of you will have to lose all your pubic hair, for good. Believe me, wearing one of these for more than a few hours with hair down there is just torture, pure torture.”

It was Karema who was first to twig what Jo had just said,

“What? You have gotta be kidding me!”

Whereupon everyone fell about laughing.

[Continued in part 7]

“Ladies, ladies, let us not get carried away. There is a lot more to discuss that could potentially stop the project dead in the water. May I suggest that we break for lunch? That will give everyone time to think and try to consider what going forward may mean to the rest of your life.”

No one disagreed so I added,

“It is almost one o’clock now. Why don’t we reconvene at two thirty?”

Again, no one disagreed so the meeting broke up. The new arrivals went and found their rooms with the help of Ann-Marie.

That left Jo and myself alone in the kitchen.

“How do you think that went?” she asked after we’d had a kiss.

“So-so at best.”

“When everyone is in the dead zone after lunch are you going to hit them with the skills problem?” she said quietly.

I grinned at her.

“Me? You want me to do that?”

“Why not. You are doing great so far.”

Jo smiled. She knew that she was doing ok.

“If Sarah-May could see me now eh?” said Jo.

I chuckled.

“She’d probably go apoplectic at the sight of a vibrator let alone a chastity belt. She’s as puritan as they come. If she saw me she’d probably keel over on the spot. Remember when you spoke up for the proposition to allow that lap dancing club down by the old Railroad Depot? She threatened to start a petition to get us thrown out of the Country Club.”

“But here you are holding your own and… being lovely at the same time.”

“You know how to say the loveliest things my darling. Why did I take two weeks to say yes to your proposal eh?”

“Because Brad Thompson was after you just to spite me.”

“Oh him… he never had a chance. I just wanted to make you jealous.”

“Now she tells me. Pah!”

*

Lunch was a fairly subdued affair so it was good to get it over with and be able to get some fresh air.

Jo and I were in the garden when Karema came up to us.

“Sorry for butting in like this but there is something I need to know before we go back.”

“What do you want to know?” asked Jo.

“Daniella… I don’t know how to ask,” she said hesitantly.

“Karema,” I said smiling.
“Underneath this there is a man but I am living as a woman and I love it. Does that answer your question?”

She looked embarrassed.

“Yes. Sorry.”

“Karema, don’t feel ashamed to know. I plan on telling everyone if we go ahead. They have a right to know who they’ll be working with. Am I going to be a problem to you? With your heritage and all that?”

She nodded her head.

“Sort of. Please let me explain, in India, people like you are outcasts, the lowest of the lowest cast. Only the untouchables are below them. My family are very traditional. They had me married at 16. He turned out to be a really bad person. I divorced him when I was eighteen and my family has not spoken to me since. I’ve never really met anyone like you before so please forgive me. My life since has not been great. I seem to go from one disaster to another.”

“Karema, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. I hope that things work out and that we can get to know each other a lot better. I really don’t have two heads and turn into a dragon at night.”

Karema laughed.

“Thank you so much.”
Then she hurried off.

When we all gathered back together, the atmosphere was still subdued.

“You have given us lots to think about,” said Ann-Marie trying to break the ice.
“What more bad news to you have to give us?”

“Ann-Marie,” began Jo,
“You said before that you ran a Riding Stables?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Did you repair the tack? Did you do anything else with your hands?”

“Yes, I repaired the tack. Got quite good at it by the end and it saved me a fortune but fat lot of good it did me? Why do you ask?”

“Could you for example, make a bridle and bit to fit me?”

Anne-Marie looked astonished for a few seconds. Then she seemed to cotton on.

“Oh, I get it. Do I have any skills that we could use in the business?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“I can do what you want. I can cut, shape and stitch leather. I know the difference between a harness quality leather and stuff that isn’t. Is that what you wanted to know?”

“Yes, that was perfect. What about the rest of you? Can anyone do carpentry, welding, operate a lathe or just about anything that makes stuff?”

“I can sew, offered Sylvia. My mother was a seamstress and I learned about it from her. I had a job doing alterations and the like when I was at University. I also did two years as a ‘sous chef’ in London before I got involved with HIM.”

No one else had anything to offer.

Jo looked at me and said,

“That means if you wanted to make something like the belt Daniella and I are wearing then you couldn’t. You could make one out of leather, or at least Ann-Marie could but that is about it, isn’t it?”

“I did an MBA,” said Karema quietly.
“Could that be of use running things?”

I took my opportunity to get involved.

“Did you do much book keeping, raising invoices and chasing payments?”

Karema looked sad as she shook her head.

“No, I didn’t but I did ‘A’ level accountancy if that helps?”

“Are you willing to learn all the bits in the middle?”

“Yes but…?”

“As long as you are willing to learn then that is good.”

That put the others on the spot.

“So, what do we do then?” asked Samantha
“It seems to me that we are next to useless?”

“No Samantha, you are not useless. It just makes things more difficult. If you are willing to learn a skill, then you can play your part. By a skill, I mean being able to weld, to operate machinery and a thousand and one other things that are going to be needed in order to get a product out the door and most importantly, do it day in, day out and not get side-tracked back into your old life. That ladies, is called commitment,” said Jo.

“Daniella sometimes worked sixteen hours a day, seven days a week to get his business off the ground. I was there supporting him all the time. I was playing my part even though I didn’t realise it at the time.”

“Hold on a moment,” said Sylvia.
“You said ‘him’?”

I put my hand up.
“Guilty as charged. Daniel was my name and yes underneath this, I am still that man. True, I wear women’s clothes and have some breasts but somewhere underneath all this there is a man. Do I want to go back to being a man? No way Jose. Jo here has been with me all the way encouraging me and letting me make mistakes and learning from them. Do I want to go all the way? Well, that’s something for me and my wife and, only us to decide. If you can’t or don’t want me here then we will walk away, no fuss from our side but please keep this off of social media and the rest.”

Having said my piece, I sat back and waited for the storm. Instead Samantha started clapping. The others gradually joined in.

“Bravo Daniella,” said Julie who’d been rather quiet all day.
“I don’t have an issue and in fact I’m happy that it is out in the open. We all have things that should not become common knowledge. I’m a lesbian. Yes, I was married to a man he knew and everything but I was simply too afraid to come out of the closet only because his lawyers said that it would make him look good. It came out in the divorce bet he’d played away and the judge told him in no uncertain terms that he was in the wrong and that was that.”

There were no further revelations but everyone understood that keeping quiet was the right thing to do.

“Let us look at this from another point of view,” I said trying to change the subject.

“Making stuff is all about taking an input, and adding value and sending it out. Buying the inputs costs money. Adding the value costs money and you are not guaranteed to get your money back at all or if you do, actually make a profit. Is everyone clear about that?”

There were no dissentions.

“It might take a year to get the first product out the door. Funding is needed to get you through at least 18 if not 24 months. Can you come up with that? It is time to talk money,” I said quite firmly.

“Ann-Marie is broke, but can contribute this place as well as a base for you all. The Indoor riding arena is as good as we can expect at this time. That is a very valuable contribution. Who’s next?”

One by one they outlined the amount of money that they were willing to contribute until it came to Sylvia.

“I wasn’t sure about all this from the outset. Everything I’ve heard from Jo and Daniella today has been not only an eye opener but in my opinion very deliberate in the fact that we are totally unskilled and unprepared to do this, whatever ‘this’ turns out to be.”

“What I’d like to know is what part of all this are Jo and Daniella going to play?”

Everyone looked at Jo and me.

“We have not discussed this in any great detail. However, the idea is all yours but speaking for me, I don’t have a particular axe to grind with anyone. I did want to do some damage to some Venture Capitalists a while back but I’m actually very happy with my life now. I think Jo is as well. That means that I’m prepared… we are prepared to act as a consultant or mentor at no cost to you. That way we can remain objective and tell you honestly if you are up shit creek without a shovel. And I can keep out of the spotlight. The press would have a field day if they knew about me and you and what you are trying to do.”

I looked at Jo who smiled.

“I agree with Daniella. Don’t forget you also have two willing product trialists as well.”

“Thank you for being honest with us. I for one appreciate that,” said Sylvia.

Then she wrote down a figure on a pad that she had in front of her. I guessed that it was either a very good number or a very bad one.

She showed it to the others. Then to Jo and myself.

“I think Daniella is right and that without her help we are already up shit cheek but I am fed up being taken for granted or used by others and not all of them are men by any means. I think we all know at least one super bitch who will stop at nothing in order to get her way.”

There was general agreement all round.

“I’m in the process of selling the house on Cheyne Walk. My agent says that it is worth around six point five. Well, if he did go and literally die on top me while in the act, then I deserve to enjoy the fruits of his labours. I’ll put up two but along with Karema, I’ll keep a close watch on the finances. There are some conditions though.”

Everyone looked at Sylvia.

“Those of us who don’t have the skills must learn them. If Daniella can set us up with all the right kit I’m sure that there are retired people who are willing for a payment to teach us their skills, no questions asked so to speak. All off the books. Then there is an incentive for everyone concerned to keep quiet. I estimate we’d need around a year to get sufficiently skilled to be able to start working on prototypes. This also gives us time to do the research and even try what the competition is going to offer. Daniella and Jo didn’t say the words but they meant that we’d have to adopt the lifestyle. Much like a tattoo artist is usually covered in them. They live the lifestyle. We will have to do that as well.”

Then she continued

“What Daniella said was spot on. We need to drop out of sight. This place is perfect for that. It is silly to expect that we can just drop everything and come here. So, we all sell up or let our homes, downsize and report here in a month or so with very little in the way of stuff and then we can do our thing. If we fail then there is something left to fall back on but girls, I’m game to try this. I’m basically fed up with being someone’s date just so that they can be seen and get into rags like ‘Hello’ and ‘Ok’. I’m done with that. I don’t know about the rest of you but it is time for me to as the men say, ‘grow a pair’ and live my life as I want to and not as others expect me to.”

There was silence when she’d finished speaking. Then one by one they all went and hugged Sylvia. I took it to mean that she’d said what they couldn’t or wouldn’t say.

I took hold of Jo’s hand and we slipped away.

Out in the garden we found a seat and after sitting down, I looked at Jo right in the eye and said,
“Well we tried didn’t we.”

“Yes, darling we tried. They wouldn’t listen. I guess that the opportunity was just too great to let go. I think it might be up to us to help them succeed. What do you think?”

“My darling as ever, you have hit the nail right on the head. Yes, I think we do need to help them in any way we can. You never know it might be fun.”

Then I said,

“Were you serious about a bridle and bit?”

“Why not? It might be fun to try.”

“Whatever happened to the idea of a wearable gag?”

“That too.” Replied Jo with a glint in her eyes. I just shook my head.

We sat quietly for several minutes. The only sounds were the crows in the nearby trees.

“Do you honestly think that have any chance at all in pulling this off?”

“None at all but it won’t be for the want of trying.”
I chuckled. Jo looked at me and said,
“What’s so funny?”

“I just remembered something that my father once said to me. He said that failure is part of the rich tapestry of life and you should not be afraid of it. Treat it as part of learning and growing your personality. Those girls have been twisted and used by others. Concentrating on something like this may be the best form of rehab that they could ever have. I saw some evidence of determination coming through in that last session. That is goodness. Sure, they will fail but it could be the making of them as people. A brand new start after what they’ve been through in the past year or so is probably the best thing that could have happened to them. Doing it as a group will make them all stronger even if they fail.”

Joe hugged me tight and gave me a slobbering kiss. She only did that when she was really pleased with me.

When we went back into the house, the others were in deep discussion. It was obvious that it was going to go on for quite a time. Instead of being at a loose end, Jo and I went off in the car. We found a nice pub with a warming log fire. The food wasn’t bad and the beer was pretty good as well.

I’d grown to like what Americans call ‘Ale’ and the locals call Bitter. The different flavours of the different beers were a real pleasure to experience. This beer was from a very local brewery called Firebird. Jo was also developing a taste for the drink.

It was quite late by the time we arrived back at Ann-Marie’s. Anne-Marie and Samantha were the only ones still up.

“Have a good evening?” inquired Samantha.

“Yes. We found a nice pub.” Said Jo.

There was a bit if a pause so I asked,
“Did you resolve anything after we left?”

“We tossed a lot of ideas around. We tried hard but you seemed to hit all the big problems we might encounter right on the head.”

Jo looked at me. I knew what she wanted.

“I did miss one thing. If and that is a big if, you get something to market there is the question of if you want to be associated with something that might be perceived as a little sordid.”

They both laughed.

“I think we are all beyond that now. We are going to do this and we’d very much like your help. What do you say?” asked Ann-Marie.

I looked at Jo who smiled back at me.

“In principle, yes we’d like to help out. Are you going to do some market research as I suggested?”

They both grinned.

“Yes, we are. We are also looking for some help regarding tools and the like.”

“Anne-Marie, the work here involved some Electrics. Do you have an Electrician that you can use?”

She shook her head.

“I’m afraid not. They like several other trades, took me to court the day after I settled with my former husband. Thankfully the magistrate took pity on me and gave me time to pay. I did just that. They got all their money but I don’t want to even think about using them again.”

“Thanks for that. Perhaps it might be appropriate to bring in some new people to do the work but I am getting ahead of myself. I’ll look out for some decent equipment that is up for sale. In the meantime,”

“It can wait until the morning. Let’s say goodnight and we’ll see you in the morning.”

Later in bed Jo cuddled up to me. I knew the signs.

“Yes Darling?”

“This gig will mean a lot of work you know.”

I knew exactly what she meant.

“So, we do it together?”

“What about my job?”

“What if we bought a place oh, about ten or fifteen miles from here? They play Polo over at Cowdray Park.”

“I sort of like where we are.”

“I wasn’t thinking of selling that. Just a base down here so that we don’t have to stay here when we are needed.”

“Isn’t this place ok?”

“Remember those times when you suggested that I put a bed in my office?”

“Ok, I get it. Not a good idea and you told me so in no uncertain terms.”

I hugged her tightly.

“I’m not going down that road again. I almost lost you once. Never again understand.”

“No going back eh?”

“Not with these beauties attached to my chest I’m not.”

“I’m going to enjoy giving them a good fondle when we get home.”

“Yes dear,” I replied with a huge grin on my face.

For that comment, I got a hefty punch on the arm.

Everyone was in high spirits the following morning. It was good so see something positive starting to take shape. We left them in no uncertain terms that they would probably fail but as Sylvia said,
“It is better than doing nothing, isn’t it?”

I could not disagree with that, no siree.

Jo and I left them just before lunch and travelled home. Jo was pretty quiet all the way which is unusual for her.

“Ok darling, out with it? Why the silent treatment?” I asked once we’d had something to eat that evening.

She took my hand and looked me in the eye.
“I saw that glint in your eye. The last time I saw it was when you moved your company into that new place. You were looking at the future.”

I knew what she was referring to. I smiled at her.

“I know what you mean but I am a different person now. You are as well. I’m not going to do anything that does not involve you. I was very driven back then and looking back, I shut you out of a lot of stuff, some of it was by accident and some deliberate and… well I was wrong to do that. But the sort of mundane stuff that I talked about this weekend, suppliers, shipment, payments and even taxes are part of the business whether you like it or not. I didn’t want to worry you but I knew that was what I wanted to do and I almost lost you in the process.”

I kissed her hand softly.

“I promise you that I won’t get anywhere like that ever again. In fact, you have permission to let rip on me if I do even get close. Deal?”

Jo leaned over and we kissed for a long time. When we came up for air she said,
“I won’t forget your promise.”

Then she ruined the moment by saying,
“And don’t think you are going to get out of doing the dishes tonight either.”

About a week later, Jo came home exhausted.
“Two girls just didn’t turn up for work today. The manager called them and they have got jobs at that swanky new hotel right next to New St Station in Birmingham. That meant that the four of us had to do nearly double the rooms.”

“Then it is up to me to give you a bit of pampering then?”

Jo smiled at me as if to say, ‘please’.

I poured her a glass of wine and ran her a bath.

“Go and have a soak. When you are done, I’ll have something nice for us to eat. I’ll give your feet a massage later. Does that sound good?”

Jo wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hug.

The following morning, I could tell that Jo was not looking forward to going to work.

“I’ve been thinking,” I said quietly.

I could almost hear her mentally groan.

“As you are short staffed then why don’t I apply for a job?”

Jo laughed.

“Really?”

“I am perfectly serious you know. It will keep me out of mischief and also stop me spending too much time thinking about Sussex. How about I take you to work and see your boss? If he’s agreeable, then I could start today.”

“Sometimes darling, you are too good to me.”

“The only proviso is that we work the same days and have the same days off. Other than that, I’m ready able and willing.”

Three hours later I was being instructed in how to clean and ‘make up’ a room. Jo made sure that I was well rewarded in bed that night.

We received regular updates from the girls in Sussex. They were having fun trying out all sorts of products. They did put together detailed reports on each one which were entertaining reading but I could start to see some of that steely determination coming through. They were very critical of a lot of what was available. This was helping them decide on their market. We provided input and comment when needed.

About three months later, I was cleaning a room one morning and as usual, I had the TV on in the background. It was tuned to one of the news channels when something the announcer said caught my ear.

I stopped what I was doing and watched with interest. The TV was showing a building on fire. I knew in an instant that it was Ann-Marie’s place in Sussex. I dashed out and found Jo. Together we watched the scene unfolding before our very eyes. We saw Ann-Marie and Samantha looking very sorry for themselves. The reporter was saying that there had been an electrical fire in the oldest part of the house. I remembered Ann-Marie saying that it had not been re-wired before the money ran out.

It was hard to tear ourselves away but we had rooms to see to. Our boss was always trying to get us to speed up but then he’d criticise us for cutting corners. He was never satisfied so we didn’t want to attract his ire at this time.

We called Ann-Marie that night and got an update. The house was a ruin. That also meant that they were effectively homeless. Sylvia had organised rooms at a hotel in the nearby town of Petworth and everyone was safe and sound. Naturally all thoughts of the business went right out of the window.

Naturally, we offered any help we could but it seemed that some of Ann-Marie’s Horsey friends had rallied round and were there on the spot lending a hand. She also said that the Insurance people were going to be there the following day.

A couple of days later Ann-Marie called us with some news. The Fire Investigators had found evidence of shoddy wiring in the part of the building that had been re-wired. The Insurance Company were going to go after the very same Electricians who’d taken her to court over unpaid bills, but the good news was that Ann-Marie was going to get a sizeable insurance pay out in due course.

Then a month later an overjoyed Ann-Marie let us know that she’d received a very generous offer for the whole property and was minded to sell. At least, she’d walk away with some money from the place.

We kept in touch with the girls but the long term didn’t look very hopeful but Sylvia being Sylvia who seemed to know everyone worth knowing came to the rescue a few weeks later. Her solution was very different to their original idea but everyone was willing to go along with it. Their working together and the fire had really bonded them together as a team.

As a result, a little under twenty weeks after the fire, they took over an Inn not far from Tenterden in East Sussex. Both Samantha and Sylvia had experience behind the bar. Julie was in charge in the kitchen. Karema was going to look after the books and had also found a job in the local Post Office. There was a small livery at the other end of the village where Ann-Marie would be in her element. The main thing that came from our long conversations with them was that they all had a chance to do something without any men telling them what they could and could not do and well away from London with all its distractions and press with long lenses.

We visited them a couple of times and found them all to be very happy. I guessed that being together and being able to talk about things really helped them get going. They all thanked us for making them approach things in a different way so our involvement was not a total waste of time.

The ‘team’ invited us down for Christmas and we readily accepted only to find that we’d have to work Christmas Day. So, we compromised and travelled down right after work so we’d be there late in the evening. The hotel had agreed that we could have the 26th and the 27th off so we had two days to be with the girls.

We arrived just before 8pm and found them all in the bar waiting for us. They’d been open for Christmas Lunch which had turned out very well and all of them had pitched in to help. We could see right on arrival that they were very tired but pleased with their day and equally pleased to see the pair of us.

“Come on in and sit down,” commanded Samantha as we came through the door. The pub wasn’t open so we were the only people there.

We had a glass of champagne thrust into our hands and we all drank a toast to Friends.

Once we’d opened the presents, the girls looked at each other slightly nervously. Eventually Sylvia said,

“We would not be here doing this without you two. We all feel very liberated since you came into our lives. Daniella, you came and laid it out straight. For most of us to have someone telling it as it is and not some PR or PC Psycho babble or even worse a so-called Journalist just trying to dig up their next scoop was truly enlightening and chilling at the same time. It allowed us to bond together and work towards a common goal. I think the word for it is empowering.”

She took a deep breath and carried on.

“We may not have made a go of the sex toys thing but what you did was make us become a team and to hell with men. For that you have our eternal thanks.”

She looked at the others who were all dressed in the outfits they’d worn at lunchtime to serve their customers.

“We feel so liberated that we have all decided that we…”
then she ran out of words.

Samantha took over.

“Ready Ladies?”

They all smiled and lifted up their uniform skirts to reveal that they were all wearing chastity belts.

“We are all done with men for the foreseeable future so we’d like you to be our key holders,” said Ann-Marie.

My reaction was one of astonishment. Then Jo said,

“You have gotta be kidding?”

Then we all fell about laughing.

That was a Christmas to remember all right.
At one point Karema came up to me and quietly asked,
“Do you ever want to go back to… being a man and stuff?”

My reply was short and direct.
“You have gotta be joking. I’m having too much fun to ever want to go back.”

Then she kissed me. As she did, I saw Jo out of the corner of my eye. She grinned and gave me a thumbs up.

[Postscript]
A few days later, Jo and I decided to move closer to our friends so a few months later we sold our home near Stow moved down to Sussex. We both still work together cleaning rooms in a hotel. You might ask why we do that but working and being together really makes us happy. Our new place of work is a much smaller boutique hotel place near Bodiam Castle where we have a very nice boss, namely ourselves but only the general manager knows that. To everyone else, we are just the two lesbian maids that clean the rooms rather than the real owners of the hotel. That suits us perfectly.

We have a really great bunch of friends just a few miles away. Their pub serves a good pint of beer and great food which really helps at the end of a hard day.

Jo and I recently celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Jo asked me as she has taken to doing on these occasions, “Do you want to go back to your old life?”

I smiled back at her and cupped my breasts. Then I said, “and lose these beauties? Besides, you like playing with them so much, you’d probably want a divorce if I even suggested that I would want to go back.”

And I meant it. I have grown to love living as a woman and with a woman that I love and who loves me. What else could I ever want eh? There is a lot more to life than making oodles of money. I never realised that before... well before Jo decided to get me out of that rut I was in.

Besides, we were having far too much fun in bed to change our lives again.

Now where is that Bridle?...

[Really the end]