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Cindy Pagent

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Cindy Pagent

The XX-Files

Author: 

  • New Author
  • Cindy Pagent

Audience Rating: 

  • General Audience (pg)

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  • 17,500 < Novella < 40,000 words

Genre: 

  • Transgender

Character Age: 

  • Mature / Thirty+

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  • Posted by author(s)

The XX-Files
By Cindy Pagent


Chapter 1

I’m Sandy Andros, of the Aero Airplane Company, in Portland, Oregon. I had been working at Aero for about 5 years, having moved up from the Assembly Area to the Manufacturing Engineering (ME) Area, and finally as the Computing Representative for the ME Area. And, being as young as I was, 25, and not having lots of attributes of Maleness, like a big, muscled, hairy body, or having a Beard to speak of, only being 5’6” tall, and a whopping 120 lbs. I had taken my share of kidding, in school, and since then, and that didn’t stop when I started to work at Aero.

OK, I admit it, I look like I’m a bit of a Geek, besides being one! I have loved Computers ever since I was young, and spent much of my extra time working on them, and I didn’t have much in my Desk area to show Social Interactions. No Girlfriend pictures, no Dog pictures, no statues of silly figures from Star Wars. The only thing that might be in that league, is my pictures of Macintoshes, since I was not a member of the Dark Order of Windows Aficionados, who bow at the sight of Bill Gates, screaming, “We’re Not Worthy, We’re Not Worthy!” But I also have pictures of the X-Files duo, Scully and Mulder, since I did like that series. I certainly thank the Fox Network for bringing back Fox and Scully!

The funny thing is, more than once, I had been told that I looked like Gillian Anderson, as Agent Scully. Yes, the Female Agent on the X-Files! I had let my hair grow out, and it was Red, like Gillian’s, and it was about shoulder length. I did it to look like I was a bit of a Rocker, you might say, and that’s why I let my hair grow! And I’m sure that’s part of the reason I was tagged as looking like Scully. Well, that and having nearly alabaster skin, which goes along with not having much of a Beard. So, I didn’t have any Beard Shadow, like most Guys have. My light complexion, having shoulder length Red Hair, a gentle face without strong Masculine lines, so yeah, I can understand. It almost makes me think of doing Scully for Cosplay at the Portland Comic Con. I just needed a Fox Mulder, to go with me to the Comic Con!

And, as it was almost Halloween, the kidding had started up, with the people in my Cubicle Farm saying that I should make myself more social, and go to the yearly Halloween Party that was being thrown by Aero, but I had never attended. It was expected that there would be around 200 to 250 people at that party, being held at the Doubletree Galaxy Room, in downtown Portland. Drinks and Snacks and all of the expected would be provided! The usual expectation was that I would be asked to go as a Cheerleader, you know, as usual, they wanted me to Mock Cheerleaders.

Patty Painter and Janice Shisedo were the Girls who convinced me to join the ME group, in the office, going from the Factory floor, and they were giving me a bad time about going to the Halloween Party. They were giving me a hard time about going to the Party as Agent Dana Scully.

“Come on,” Patty said, “You’ve got the perfect look for Agent Scully, and we think we’ve got a perfect Fox Mulder for you to go with. You should easily win the best Couples Costume, if you two dress that way!”

“Yeah,” Janice said. “If we get Paul Prentiss, over in the Industrial Engineering area to go as Fox Mulder, you two should walk away with the Costume Award! And, by association, Janice and I would be part of the Winning Team!”

I knew of Paul Prentiss. He was a very smart, very good Industrial Engineer. He dressed very well, and was really good looking, as all of the Women of ME and IE would tell all of us Men, I think they did that to get us jealous, that we might imitate his looks! As far as I knew, he never had a problem getting women to go out with him. He was everything I wasn’t, as a Man. Tall, Hunky, Self-Assured.

“You seriously want me to dress up as a Woman?” I said, incredulously. “You don’t think I would take a lot of kidding afterwards? And that would get women clamoring after me?”

“The Women of the ME area would really admire you, if you did it, and maybe the IE area, too” Patty said.

“And the Guys would be merciless,” I said. “They wouldn’t let me forget it!”

Janice said, “Most of the Guys would be jealous of your guts that you would do this. And there would be the Guys who hit on you! Because you’d be so cute!” she said with a smile.

“Oh, yeah!” I said. “That’s what I want, the Guys of the ME and Industrial Engineering areas hitting on me! I’ll say it again, I don’t think they would let me forget it!”

“You are perfect for the looks of Scully!” Patty said. “Even the Girls of the area wouldn’t look as good as you would, if you did it!”

“And I want the ill-will of the Women of the area, too, if we got that award?” I asked. “You don’t think they would be jealous of a Guy winning their prize for Couples?”

“If you agree to do it, Janice and I will help you get ready, getting you into the right costume, fix up your makeup, and fix your hair,” Patty said.

“And I promise you a date, after the event, if you do it,” Janice said. “If you still want to date women!”

I grumbled, “What makes you think I’d change teams? I’m very Hetero, you know!”

“I’m just saying!” Janice said.

Janice was a very good-looking Asian gal, and she had been the target of many of the Guys, me included, to go out on a date. To get a date with her would be a coup, for any of the Guys of the area.

“If I agree to this, do I have a promise from you two, that you will do everything in your power to help fight any backlash I get from this?” I asked.

Patty spoke up. “You have my word, and I’m sure Janice is with me, in guaranteeing that we will help you. I don’t want to see you taking any heat from this. It should be fun, and that’s what we’ll make sure it is. We just need to talk with Paul Prentiss to make this work out. Janice, let’s go talk with him!”

“OK, you have my conditional approval to go forward with this,” I said. “I may be crazy for saying Yes. I just don’t think it will go as well as you guys think it will, but I trust you, that you will help me out, if it goes sideways. After all, you two are responsible for me even being in ME, so I kind of owe you. Look, I’m not Homophobic, but I’ve never had an interest in kissing another guy. For me, there’s just nothing interesting about it.”

Janice piped in, “If it’s done right, kissing a Guy can be one of the most wonderful experiences! I know I’ve always really enjoyed noodling around with Guys!” She added a wink! “It’s the lips! Nice, firm, wonderful lips!”

Patty and Janice smiled, stood up, and made their way to the Industrial Engineering area, to talk with Paul. The Girls ganged up on him, and seductively sat around Paul’s desk.

They got his attention, and he looked up from the project he was working on.

“Paul,” Patty said, “We’ve got a deal for you, for the upcoming Halloween Party for Aero. We want you to go to the Party as Fox Mulder, as part of the duo of FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. If you agree, I’ll go to on a date with you, afterwards. What do you think?”

“Well, Hello, Ladies! Yes, I’ve been told before that I look a lot like David Duchovny before, so that makes sense,” Paul said. “What Woman do you think will be the Scully to my Mulder? I don’t remember any of the ladies around here looking like her. There must be some angle to it, if you two are behind it!”

“Well,” Patty said, smiling, “That’s the interesting thing. The person we’ve gotten an OK for, really, really looks like Agent Scully. That person is pretty much a Rookie at Aero. It’s Sandy Andros, who recently joined ME last year.”

Paul was visibly negatively affected, as he knew who Sandy Andros was.

“Ah, so you want a ‘Guy’ to play Dana Scully/Gillian Anderson,” Paul questioned? “One of the most beautiful Actresses in Hollywood?”

“Yes, despite him appearing to be the wrong Sex for the part, Sandy has the right facial structure, the right hair color and length,” Patty said. “And he just looks like Gillian, and only needs just a little makeup to look exactly like her. And a little ‘other’ help, too. Believe me, Sandy has had a lifetime of looking like a Girl, with no payoff for that distress. Wouldn’t it be nice, for once, if he got something good out of his ‘misfortune!’ for the way he looks!”

“Well,” Paul said, unsure of what to say, “If you can prove to me that Sandy can look like a Woman, like Gillian, I guess I’ll say yes. But that’s a mighty big chore! If you can make him look right, we would certainly walk away with the Best Couples Costume award! That would certainly be a hoot! I have had a long-time love affair from afar with Gillian. She is ultra-hot!”

Patty and Janice were shaking their heads yes.

“We couldn’t agree with you more,” Patty said. “We will get Sandy to do a test of the Gillian look, and photograph Sandy as her, so that you can see, and you can be happy with the costuming for the Halloween Party.”

“Since we have just over two weeks until Halloween,” Paul said, “That should give you time this week to get ‘Gillian’ ready. And that way, I can take her out this weekend, if she looks as good as she should, as a bit of a Trial Run. The only way to do this right, is for Sandy to look the part of Gillian!”

“OK,” Patty said. “We’ll get her ready for this Wednesday night, and show you the pictures. And if she looks good, we’ll do it again for Saturday night.”

And with that, the two Women made their exit, and walked back to the ME area. I could see them coming, and I could tell there was something those two ladies were about to spring on me. They were both smiling, broadly! And I couldn’t see, so was Paul!

“Well, Paul will do it,” Patty said, “But he wants to have assurance that you will look good in the role, as Gillian would.”

“And how will you do that?,” I asked. “With Photoshop? I have put my head on the bodies of some handsome guys before, to see what I’d look like!”

“No, we have something much more fun planned for you. Janice and I will come over to your place this Wednesday night, and make you over, as Gillian, and then take photographs” Patty said. “What do you think? That will give us a week and a half to make sure the costume and look come together for the Party.”

“You know, I’ve never done anything like this before, in my life. Not even dressing up as a Girl at Halloween when I was a Teenager like many Guys do, except they do it as a joke,” I said. “I haven’t even acted in a High School play!”

“No problem,” Janice said. “Patty and I will come over to your place this Wednesday about 5pm, and work you over, and help you look like you will for the Halloween Party, and teach you a few tricks to make you more Feminine. We’re already sure that you’ve picked up a lot of being a Girl in your life! Do you think you’ll be ready for that?”

“Well,” I explained, “As I said, I’ve never done anything close to this before. Wearing Women’s makeup, and such, is a totally new experience for me. And wearing Women’s clothes is new to me, too! But, yes, I think I’ll be ready for that.”

“You’ll be lucky,” Patty smiled. “Remember that Agent Scully was usually in slacks on the show, so you won’t be wearing a skirt or dress.”

“Thanks for small favors!” I said, mocking happiness, raising my eyebrows up and down.

“Well, you never know,” Janice said. “If this works out, you may need to wear a skirt, if you do Agent Scully with Mulder again! There’s big money in doing Celebrity Look-alikes! Especially if they’re popular! And Scully and Mulder and X-Files are popular!”

“Uh, yeah!” I laughingly said. “I’m never going to do this kind of thing again!”

“Never say never!” Patty said. “It may turn into a really profitable thing for you!”

Chapter 2

True to their word, Janice and Patty came over that Wednesday night. And they had a big makeup kit and several garment bags, with the costume/outfit in it.

I welcomed them in, and they set the makeup kit down and the garment bags in the Dining Room. And they started to get things out to start the makeover.

I offered them some Roscato wine I had. They gladly accepted it.

“Remember, guys,” I said, “Makeovers aren’t exactly my thing, not having done that kind of thing, before.”

“No worries, Sandy, or should I say, Dana, if you don’t mind. Since it wouldn’t make sense to call you Sandy, we’re going with Dana,” Janice said. “We’re quite used to doing Makeovers, and have lots of fun, as all Girls do, doing makeovers. It’s part of how we grow up, part of the Sisterhood!”

“What we need you to do, first,” Patty asked, “is for you to take a shower, wash your face, and wash and dry your hair, and take this razor and shaving cream to shave your arms, underarms, chest, and legs, so that we have a clean canvas to start work on. And when you come back, dress only in your T-shirt, underwear, and jeans. We will get you in costume AFTER we get you made up. That way we won’t get any makeup on the costume.”

“I’m not crazy about the shaving part, but I guess it will grow back! Okay,” I said, “No problem. I’ll be right back!”

With that, I moved to my bedroom, and took off my shirt, jeans, and underwear. I moved into the Bathroom, and I showered and shaved as they asked. After I had dried off, I covered my body with the Body Lotion they gave me to put on after the shower. It had a sweet, flowery smell to it, and certainly made my body feel much softer.

While I was doing the shower and moisturizer, they set out the makeup. They also opened up the garment bags and took out the clothes for the costume. I had done as they asked earlier this week, and had already given them my measurements, so that they could get clothes that fit me correctly. I hadn’t done some of the measurements before, like the bust measurements, and that was very interesting! Apparently I was a Size 4 on top, and a Size 2 for the bottom.

For the shoes, I gave them my Men’s size, they translated that into the Women’s size. I hadn’t ever worn pumps before, not even my Mom’s, when I was a kid. But they took pity on me, and only went with a two-inch heel, which they thought I would be able to walk in.

I came back into the room, and they had me sit on a chair from the Dining Room set. That way, they said, they would have the most exposure of me to them.

First thing, they pulled out a big picture of Gillian Anderson. “This will be our guide of what to do with you, to make you look like Gillian,” Janice said.

“First thing,” Patty said, “Take off your T-shirt.” I did that, and Patty pulled a cape over my shoulders.

“Even though you have an Alabaster skin tone, we need to start with a foundation, just to even things out,” Patty said, as she applied the Foundation.

She then got the rest of the makeup she needed, the blusher, the mascara, the eye shadow, and all of the other ancillary items. She used brushes and sponges and all kinds of things to apply the makeup!

“A little blusher to start things off,” Janice said. “We want those cute cheeks to show up!”

“Can we keep the use of ‘cute’ down to a minimum,” I said. “I will have a toxic amount of sickly sweet terms used while I’m like this.”

“OK,” Patty said, “We’ll try to, dear!” obviously sarcastically.

Janice continued to apply the Blusher, looking at the picture of Gillian, for instruction. She looked up, and asked me to smile, and kept applying blusher, until she looked satisfied with the results. Patty started working on my Eye Shadow, which had a Bronze/Peach look to it. When she was done with that, Janice took to applying the Eyeliner and Mascara to my eyes. She pulled a few stray eyebrow hairs while she was there.

“Hey!” I cried out. “I don’t want pencil thin eyebrows!”

“Don’t worry,” Janice commiserated. “All I did was clean them up, so that you didn’t have a Unibrow any more. Now they look cute, but still believably Masculine, kinda!” I groaned.

“Try not to blink,” Janice said. “I don’t want to poke you in the eye! And since you haven’t had this done before, it will be natural to blink!”

And next came the Lips. “Hold your lips still, while I outline them,” Patty said. “And then let me use this lipstick to fill that in.” She was using a wand-type lipstick, and applied it by gently brushing it on.

“And, you wouldn’t look right,” Patty grinned, “if your ears weren’t pierced.” And she started to make a motion towards my ears with a gun-like device I didn’t recognize. She grasped the bottom of my right ear. I started to pull away, trying to stop her from piercing my ears.

“Come on!” Patty growled out. “Don’t be a baby Girl about this! It won’t look right, if you don’t have pierced ears!”

“I don’t want to have pierced ears!” I complained.

“Many guys have at least one ear pierced,” Patty said. “What’s the big deal with having two ears. If you don’t like it, just let it grow back over, in the next several weeks.”

I took a big breath, and said, through my teeth, “Well, OK, but I’m not happy about it!”

With that, Patty placed the punch back on my Right ear, and pulled the trigger. A small, instant pain came over me. I certainly knew someone had just violated my body. But before I could say anything, Patty took aim on the Left ear, and pulled the trigger, once again. The same pain emanated from my Left ear, but because of the pain in my Right ear, I didn’t seem to feel it as much. And after she did that, Patty pulled out a box, and put Zirconia studs in my ears, in the new holes. I didn’t know how I felt about the new accouterments, but what is done, is done!

Patty and Janice made a few adjustments to the makeup, using the sponge and the brushes, and used some Fixer, as they seemed to be happy with their work. Next came the hair! And they teased and combed and curled it out into the short style that Gillian wore for Agent Scully. And, before you knew it, they were done playing with my hair, and sprayed it with Hair Spray!

“Do I get to see what you’ve done?” I asked.

“Not until we get the costume in place, we want you to get the full effect,” Patty smiled, and said. And with that, she pulled the cape off me, and made sure she didn’t disturb the makeup.

“First things, first, let’s start with the underthings,” Janice said, with obvious glee. And she pulled out the bra and panties, and something that looked like a jockstrap, but I didn’t recognize it.

“I see you noticed the Gaff!” Janice said. “I bet you haven’t seen one of those before! Looks like a Cup, doesn’t it? I made it from some Drag Queen instructions I found on the Internet.”

I had played Baseball in school, so I had ample idea what wearing a Cup was for, and felt like to wear. But I didn’t recognize the Gaff, and couldn’t exactly understand what it was for. That look of confusion was obvious to Janice.

“Well, well, well,” Janice said. “You don’t seem to know what the Gaff is for. Like your Cup’s protection, you have something ‘extra’ down below, and especially with slacks, we don’t want that ‘something extra’ to show through. The Gaff will give you more of a Woman’s Camel Toe. We will give you some dignity, and have you put the Gaff and the panties on in your bedroom, so you don’t have to show off that ‘extra’ stuff. You’ll get used to changing with the rest of the Girls, and not worry about the nudity.”

“I seriously doubt that!” I said. I took the offered items, and headed off to my Bedroom. When I got there, I took off my underpants, and tried to put the Gaff on. It wasn’t too difficult to figure out, and once that was in place, the Panties were no problem. I walked out to the Girls, and presented myself, with some artistry.

When I got out there, they gave me a pair of Pantyhose.

“I’m not wearing a skirt!” I said. “Why do I need to wear Pantyhose? Wouldn’t knee highs do?”

“Well,” Patty said, “You don’t ‘need’ to wear Pantyhose, but we’d like you to understand what it feels like having to wear them. Maybe then you won’t complain about how long it takes for Women to get ready, next time! And, you’ll be a little more understanding! Besides, they ‘hold you in’ a little better!”

I rolled my eyes, but I took the proffered item, and sat down to put them on. I did like I’ve always seen on TV and Movies, and rolled each one up, and pointed my toes into the leg, and pulled them up. I then pulled the panty portion of the Pantyhose up so that they fit around my rear. While I was standing up, Patty sprayed me with some Perfume. It was a sweet, floral scent. I instantly liked it!

“And next come the Slacks,” Janice offered them. I got them, sat down, and pulled them on. They were probably the only piece of this outfit I would already know how to put on.

“OK, sit down, and we’ll fix the Bra next,” Patty offered. “Stick your arms through the straps, and let me hook it up around your back. And, to fill it out, we went cheap for now, and just filled some balloons with uncooked rice, so they would have some heft and shape, but still be malleable, like real Breasts. If you keep doing this, you might want to get some silicone inserts, like Mastectomy Women wear. But those are a bit expensive!”

“Why would I keep doing this?” I asked.

“As we said before, you might like doing this, or it might be profitable to keep doing it, for Celebrity Lookalikes jobs,” Janice said. “And if you keep on doing this, you’ll want a more professional set of inserts, that ‘Take a licking, and keep on ticking’, as they say!”

Well, the balloons worked nicely, for now, and gave me some boobs. I didn’t know how I felt about that. It made me look right for the part, but I didn’t know about having boobs, or as the guys in the cube farm would call hem, Tits. I never have felt comfortable calling them that vulgar term.

I guess my Mother trained me well. In actuality, she raised my Sister and me almost the same. She taught Cynthia that she could be anything she wanted to be, and that was a bit unusual for a Girl back in the 60’s. She taught me the same thing, which was usual, for a Boy. But the terminology, like ‘Boobs’, I had picked up from them. You see, we lost our Dad in the War, and so I did grow up in a more Feminine House. And I demonstrated it everyday.

I think that’s why Patty and Janice were so friendly with me. They saw me as just another one of their Friends, more like a Girl Friend. That’s the kind of language we used when we talked with each other. We had, more than once, gone out for Lunch, and ended up shopping for ‘that perfect little outfit!’ for the Girls, as we went looking at Ross and Mervyns, and even Nordstrom Rack. Not only didn’t they mind me going along, they used me for advice, which they trusted. They said that they took me along for a ‘Male Perspective’, but I think I saw through their trickery.

“And next we have the White Blouse,” Janice said with a smile. “Left arm in and Right arm, let’s pull it around to tighten up, and button it up! Looks good! You have good Boobage there!” The blouse tucked in very nicely!

“And, you said you wore a Men’s size 7 shoe, so let’s try these size 8 ½ Black Pumps,” Patty said, “And let’s see how you walk in them!”

I held onto the back of the chair, and slipped on the Pumps. It was so unusual feeling the change of height, and standing with a forward angle. And they slipped on real well!

“OK, let’s see you walk a bit!” Janice said.

I started to walk, and then felt how they changed my gait. There was no denying it, I felt sexy! I started to smile. Patty noticed me smiling.

“Oh,” Patty smirked, “You like the Pumps?”

I kept smiling. “Yeah, they make me feel…sexy! What can I say?”

“I think you’re going to do fine, Dana,” Patty smiled at me.

I noticed that Patty was calling me Dana. I guess that was all part of her immersive conditioning, to get me to feel like Dana Scully, and more Female. I had to admit, it was working!

Patty worked on my hair, and brushed it into shape.

“Let’s get the Suit coat on, and then test fit the Raincoat,” Janice said, as she reached for the Suit coat. After she pulled it on, she reached for the Raincoat.

Janice helped me out with that item. And, I was done. I was fully dressed as Dana Scully.

“Oh, one last thing! We need you to have an FBI badge!” Patty said, as she clipped it to the lapel of my suit coat.

“Here,” Janice said, “Let me get some pictures!”

Janice picked up her iPhone, and started to take pictures. She took close-ups and full body shots of me. I did some standard Agent Scully poses, from what I saw of her in the TV Series, trying to do Gillian Anderson some justice.

“Let’s get these up on the Television,” Janice said. “You’ve got an Apple TV, right? After all, you’re a Mac FanGirl, right?”

“No problem,” I said. “Just hook up to ‘Enterprise’. That’s my WiFi Name, with a Password of ‘make-it-so’. I’ll just get the Apple TV up and running. Luckily, we haven’t put nail extensions on yet, so I can still operate the remote!”

With that, I got the Sharing up on the AppleTV, and Janice’s iPhone hooked into it, and got the pictures of me showing up on the TV. It was surreal! On the TV, I really looked like Dana Scully! I wasn’t sure that we hadn’t tuned into ‘The X Files’. Except it was me on the TV. And I had been the biggest skeptic!

“Wow!” was all I could say.

“I think that should take care of Paul,” Janice said. “If he doesn’t think you look like Dana Scully, then he can forget going out with Penny!”

“I couldn’t agree more!” Patty said. “I think we should go out, and test this get-up!”

My eyes went wide! “How…wait…you…I…I…I can’t go out like this!”

Imitating me, but with a simpering tone, “I can’t go out like this!” Patty said. Returning to normal, she said, “Why not? You look like any other Twenty Five year old woman. Strike that! You look like a TV star, Gillian Anderson, to be exact! Why wouldn’t you want to go out and Flaunt It? If I looked that good, I would!”

“You must be out of your mind!” I said. “I’m not a Woman!”

“No, you certainly aren’t. But, you sure look like one!” Patty said, satirically. “Just look at the TV!”

“But you need to sound like her,” Patty said. “Can you try to sound more like Gillian?”

I cleared my throat, and tried to raise my pitch, and imitate Gillian. “How is this? I have been listening and practicing with the DVD’s I have of the X-files, and have also been watching some YouTube videos to find out how I could sound a bit more like a Woman, like Gillian!”

“Okay, let’s hear it again, but a little more lilting,” Janice said.

“I’m Agent Dana Scully of the FBI,” I tried. “How is that?”

“It’s not perfect, but I think it will do, for now, Patty said. “Keep working on it, and use your phone recorder to record yourself. You might try to sing with some Female singers, in your car, or elsewhere. Also, you might put some of that DVD material on your phone of Dana speaking, and practice sounding like her.”

“I…I…I…just can’t go out like this!” I said, bringing my hands up and down my sides, to show the insanity.

“Your voice is better. Now, come on!” Janice said, impatiently. “You’re going to be exposed to 200 to 300 people in several weeks. Why don’t you ‘Boil the Frog’, so to speak! We want to take small steps, and expose you a little at a time. Just so you’ll get used to it! Just like the old adage about slowly ‘Boiling the Frog!”

I had to admit, she had a point, there. “OK, but nowhere around the Plant, please. I don’t want to explain it to our Co-workers, not yet. I would like to take this slowly, please.”

“Before we take you out, you need a purse, and luckily, I brought one,” Patty said. “Let’s put your wallet and your cell phone in there. Plus, let’s put your lipstick, a mirror, and some tissues in there, too.”

Before I could make a motion, or anything else, they pulled out a Black purse, and filled it with the aforementioned objects. “Here you go!” Janice said, as she handed me the purse. “Oh, just a second,” she said as she took the purse back, and placed several tampons in it. “Just in case some Girl asks you if you have a tampon to help her out, this will look more realistic. Many Girls ask each other if they can help that way.”

“That would mean I’d be going into the Women’s Rest Room! I don’t want to do that!” I said excitedly.

“And where do you think you’d go to the Bathroom, dressed like that? Do you want to walk into the Men’s Rest Room, and use the Urinal, like that,” Patty queried?

Well, I couldn’t fault her logic. I looked down at my toes, and nodded my head Yes. It made a lot of sense! I took the purse back, as she handed it to me.

“Let’s go out to my car,” Patty said. “I don’t want you getting a Ticket, dressed like that! Your License doesn’t match, yet, at least!” And she started to move towards the door, and guided me with her hand. I locked up my apartment, and we headed out. After the Elevator, we made it out to Patty’s Corolla, and even though I didn’t have a Skirt on, the Raincoat made it more difficult to get into the car, especially since I tried to be more Feminine.

After about 20 minutes, we drove to a Shopping Mall just North of Tigard, away from the plant. And we parked. And they looked at me. It was obvious they wanted me to get out.

“Well?” Janice said. I was slow to get up and out. Once I was out, the Girls came up beside me, and took me by the arm, and guided me towards the Mall, the three of us, arm in arm, we must look like the Three Musketeers! And we entered the Mall, and there were no screams. But there were head turns. And people talking about us. What I didn’t realize, was what they were saying, “Is that really her?”

And just then, a Young Girl came running up to us, and said, “Are you really Agent Scully?” The Girls smiled on as their creation was appreciated. And they waited, to see how I handled the Girl.

“No,” I said, surprised, “I just look like her!”

“Oh!” You could see the Girl was deflated. “Well, you look just like her. You must get that all the time.”

“Ah, yes, I do,” I commented. “And she’s a great Actress! I like being recognized as her,” I lied. It was obvious that it meant a lot to this Young Girl. And I felt better making her feel good. She smiled.

The Mother came up, and started to collect the Girl. “Come on, Tammy!”

“Well, good luck!” the Tammy said.

And she walked away with her Mother, and we continued through the Mall.

The Girls led me up to some windows of Women’s shops. There were beautiful dresses inside the windows. Not that I would know from experience! But, they sure looked good on those mannequins. We kept looking at more shops, and stepped into a few. We even looked through the window at a Bridal Shop.

But, I was worried about one store in particular. Victoria’s Secret. I didn’t mind looking in. I just didn’t want to –go– in. But, of course, we did. And the Girls kept pointing at Bras and Panties they liked. And, of course, they said, ‘Wouldn’t you look cute in that!’ as we walked up to a display with Black and Red Bra and Panties. The undergarments were very exposing. And I was getting very uncomfortable.

“Girls, do we have to keep looking at all of these?” I asked.

“Sure!” Janice said. “It’s normal for a Girl like you to want to look at these Fundies!”

“Ah, do I have to remind you that I’m NOT a Girl?” I asked, very nervously.

“But don’t you wish you COULD wear them?” Patty smiled and winked.

“Do I have to remind you that wearing those kind of items, with this outfit, was the first time I have worn them?” I asked.

“You never played with your Mother’s undies?” Patty asked.

“No, never!” I answered back.

‘Oh,” Janice said, “But don’t you wish you could wear them? They feel so sexy!”

“Well,” I acquiesced, “ The Gaff is the only thing that really doesn’t feel so good.”

“See!” Janice said, “The other things aren’t so bad! And they give you such good and natural shape! You’re so small that you almost look like a Regular Woman!”

We looked around Victoria’s Secret a bit more, and then we went around to more stores around the Mall. No one commented, or said anything like, ‘Isn’t that a Man in those Women’s clothes?’ And, I actually started to ease up in the feelings of dread. And, despite myself, I started to enjoy myself. Not that I would tell Patty and Janice so! And we kept walking around for about an hour, and I got used to wearing and walking in the Pumps more, but my feet were getting tired of them. They asked me if I was ready to go to a Restaurant, and order some food. Not yet, I said. So, we left the Mall, and went back to my Apartment.

The Girls and I sat down in my Living Room, and just talked. They wanted to help me with some more Feminine gestures, and other things, so I would look more the part.

“So, you already passed the mark on how to sit! You didn’t sit with your knees spread apart, like you had quite a load of Family Jewels. Bravo! Or, should I say, Brava!” Patty approved! “The only thing we need to teach you there is when you’re wearing a skirt to always sweep your skirt to the front.”

“Thanks! I did pay attention, a bit, when my Mother was teaching my Sister to be a proper Woman!” I happily replied. “As to the skirt, you don’t seem to get it that I won’t be doing this again, and no skirt will be involved, then.”

“Well,” Patty said, “We’ll see about that! Remember, there’s good money in being a Celebrity Look-alike!”

“And you sound better with your voice,” Janice complimented me.

“I’ve tried to bring my pitch up, but aren’t there other things that Women do that differentiate them from the way Men speak?” I asked.

“Very good!” Patty said. “The words we use, like Tummy instead of Stomach, the use of words like Dear, Boobs or Bust instead of Chest or Tits, and many Women also talk with a slight rising at the end of the sentences.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed that,” I said, “But I forgot to include all of that in my speaking patterns.”

“With a little reminding,” Patty said, “that will become second nature!”

“We’ll let that settle in, for now,” Janice said. “Can you explain how Women sit and cross their legs?”

I started to do the standard Man thing, of letting my Ankle rest on my Knee, showing the Man thing, and then brought my Right Leg over my Left Knee, to have a correct posture of a Proper Lady.

“Very Good, Dana!” Patty exclaimed!

And they continued to talk with and groom me, so that I would look more believable as a Woman. We three sat there and had a Half Glass of Wine, each, and they taught me the proper way to hold the Glass and drink the Wine.

So, after Patty and Janice were happy with their initial training, I went to my Bedroom and got out of and hung up the costume, and put some Androgynous clothes on. I joined Janice and Patty back in the Living Room.

“Now you need to hang that costume up,” Patty said, “And we’ll be over on Saturday, to help you get ready, if Paul agrees you look good enough. I don’t think Paul will have any question about escorting you to the Party. You looked great! And you will look great!”

“If you say so,” I said, still not quite believing them.

“Now, I’ve left you some Eye Makeup Removal Pads,” Patty said, “And I’ve also left you with some Makeup Cleaner and some pads to take that off with. After doing the cleanup, promise me you’ll take care of that Alabaster Skin, and use the supplied Moisturizer on your face! We don’t want that beautiful skin to have any problems!”

I crossed my heart, and promised to take care of my skin. The Girls hugged me, and left my Apartment.

I exhaled, and sat down in my Recliner. I think I was starting to enjoy all of the ministrations, and the good side of being a Woman. It was really starting to change my mind, and all the years of training that Men get, to not be any kind of “Fag” by being any kind of Woman, or showing any Feminine attributes. This was definitely alerting me to the good things about being Female, and exposing, in me, a softer side, that I didn’t really acknowledge I had before, but I really did. Dana was really growing on, and in, me. I was finding that I had more Woman in me than I had thought before. Maybe this is why I never seemed to fit in with the Boys, I mean ‘other Boys’.

Chapter 3

And so we went back to work the next day. As you can imagine, the Girls and I were very interested in showing Paul the pictures of ‘Dana’ they printed out, and what opinion Paul would have of the pictures. They made their way over to Paul’s area.

“Paul,” Patty asked as she set down the pictures, “What do you think of our ‘Dana’? Does she look pretty enough for you? Does she fulfill being enough Woman for you?”

Paul was looking over the pictures, over and over, until he looked back up, incredulously at Patty and Janice. “And this is Sandy, the Guy from ME, not ‘Sandy’, one of your Girl Friends?”

“Honest,” Janice said, “Look closely. That is Sandy in that outfit, or ‘Dana’, as we’re calling her. It helps Sandy get in character. Can’t you see Sandy in the face pictures?”

“Amazing!” Paul said. “I can’t believe the person in those pictures is actually a Guy! Tell you what. Since we still have some time before the Party, Like I said, I want to see what ‘Dana’ looks like in Real Life, and I want to take her out, to see if I have the right reaction to her. That way, I won’t have any surprises when I take her to the Party. How does that sound for this weekend?”

“Well, it’s up to Sandy, of course,” Patty said. “But if he’s alright with it, we’ll be up for helping ‘Dana’ come alive for you, and then you can take her out!”

“Sounds good to me!” Paul said. “I’m ready to take that Girl,” pointing to the photos, “out any night. She looks hot! You go and negotiate with her, er, him, OK?”

“OK, we’ll do that,” Patty agreed.

A few minutes later, Patty and Janice headed over to my desk, surrounded me, and smiled.

“OK, Girlfriend. We talked with Paul, and he’s a go for the Party,” Patty said, “with one caveat.”

“And what is that?” I asked, defensively.

“He wants to see how Real you look, in person,” Janice said. “I think he wants to know how good you look, as Dana, despite what you looked like in the pictures. But we could tell he seemed interested.”

“Well, that’s no problem,” I said. “I’m not doing anything this weekend.”

“There’s one more part of the caveat,” Patty edged in. “He wants to take you out, in public. He wants to see how good you look there. Janice and I would be ready to help make you ready for that outing.”

“He said that he wants to ‘take me out’,” I asked? “Like where?”

“He didn’t exactly say where he wanted to take you to,” Janice replied. “I think he doesn’t know yet.”

I actually liked this idea. Paul is a good-looking guy, and I would like to investigate what being liked by a Guy would be like. This seems like the safest way of doing that. This was one more part of me trying on the Female role, to see what it felt like to me.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but this seems pretty safe to me. I know where Paul works, and he seems like a pretty good dude. And he knows who he’s going out with. You Girls would go out with him, wouldn’t you? Is there anything I should know about going out with him?”

Patty replied first. “I would go out with him. He does seem like a nice guy! The only thing I would warn you about is that you are new to this Female thing, and it’s easy to get carried away when a Man is being very nice to you. If you drink any alcohol, make sure you don’t do anything you would be ashamed of, especially considering the situation. And, of course, the ‘normal’ Female thing to do would be to not let him know where you live. But in this case, he already knows you, so it’s not a concern. However, the ‘keep your wits about you’ thing still holds true.”

“OK. You convinced me,” I said. “This would be a good ‘Boiling The Frog’ episode, where they constantly up’d the ‘temperature’. And I’m sure I would be safe with Paul. After all, he would already know that I’m a Guy, so he won’t get all mad at me for ‘Tricking’ him.”

“Perfect!” Patty agreed. “Janice and I will be by at 3:00pm on Saturday to get you ready to go out with Paul.”

“Please!” I implored. “Keep it down with the ‘go out with Paul’ stuff, here at work!”

“OK, OK!” Patty said. “We get the picture. We just need to talk with Paul, and set up a time for him to get you. Sound good?”

“OK, that’ll work,” I agreed. “Since we’re getting you ready starting at 3, he should pick you up around 6pm, sound good?”

“That sounds good,” I replied.

Janice and Patty went back over to Paul’s desk. They surrounded him, like they were going to attack him.

“Ladies?” Paul asked, as he looked up.

“Okay,” Patty said. “’Dana’ will expect to be picked up at 6pm on Saturday. What, may I ask, are you two going to do on Saturday?”

“Well, first I was going to go to a Restaurant, like the Vineyards,” Paul said. “And, maybe, if ‘Dana’ is amenable, a movie after that. I’ve done that before on Dates.”

“I hope you don’t want any hanky-panky to happen!” Patty exclaimed.

“Please!” Paul said. “I know that ‘Dana’ is really a guy! So, I don’t think that’s going to happen! I just want it to feel real!”

“Well,” Janice smiled and said, “Just make sure, for ‘Dana’s’ sake. It might scar her, er, him!”

Saturday rolled around, and 3pm came about. There was a knock at the Front Door a few minutes after 3. I walked up to and opened the door, and welcomed Patty and Janice in. This time they only had the Makeup kit with them.

“Are you all ready for this, Dear?” Patty asked, as she placed the Makeup kit on the Dining Room Table.

“Would you believe me if I said I wasn’t?” I admitted.

“No, I wouldn’t believe you, Dana,” Janice said. “You’re much too brave a person to be bothered by something as small as this is going to be.” She smiled at me.

“You need to do the same procedure as last time,” Patty said. “Shower, shave, dry your hair, if it gets wet, and then come out here to get pretty!”

“Remember about the ‘Pretty’ or other sugary names?” I asked.

“Sorry!” Patty admitted. “I’ll try to be better about it, honey!”

“Oh, you!” I said in mock anger. Dropping my voice, I said, “Hey don’t do that, Bro! There, see how it feels?” I finished in a very manly voice.

“I don’t get it! And never do that voice change thing again” Patty said, in mock disbelief.

“Fine!” I said, and smirked. “Don’t let it happen again, Dear!”

And they followed the same procedure with me as last time. The Foundation, the Eye Shadow, Eyeliner, Mascara, Blush, and Lipstick. Just a little bit of touch-up when they were done with the main course of makeup. Next, Janice was working on my hair. She was making it look good, again, like Gillian’s. Then they added some Perfume. They told me it was Charlie White. It smelled really good, and very sexy, and Feminine! I liked it on me. Wait! Did I say that?

Next came the undergarments, for which I left the Living Room to put them on, Panties and Gaff. And I came back in, Patty put the Bra on, and slipped the Rice Bag Boobs in, and got me looking good, undergarment-wise. Next I put on the Pantyhose and Navy Blue Slacks. After that came the White Blouse and the Navy Blue Suit Jacket, which I stood up to put on. The only thing we didn’t do, that we did last time, was the addition of the Badge for Agent Dana Scully, and the Raincoat, since that was part of the X-Files gear. All of that work took 2 hours, with 1 hour left to lounge around. But, this time, they let me look at the results of all of their work right away. And it looked good and Feminine! Wait, did I say that, again?

Patty, Janice, and I just sat around and had some Coffee and Girl-Talk. And I looked even more Feminine than my two helpers, if you can imagine that! And we talked. About Girly things. And I found myself more easily falling into character. It was supposed to be the ‘practice’ for my ‘Dana’ voice. But it was more than that. I really was getting into talking with them about what interested them. And we talked about clothes. And guys. And Paul. And I understood more of what they were talking about. And I discussed more. Intelligently. And I cared more. Like I didn’t, before. It seemed weird. But only for a little while. After a while, it seemed natural. And I liked to talk about what I found interesting in Women’s Clothes, and in Women’s ideas. Why wasn’t that bothering me, like I thought it would? Like I had been raised to feel? Could I really be getting into character even more? Was it still a character? The Girls kept correcting me to do things the Girlish way. The name Dana didn’t seem so Foreign to me. Dressed like I was, smelling like I smelled, and getting ready to go out with Paul didn’t seem so Foreign to me. What was happening to me? Did I really like this whole ‘Dana’ get-up?

And there was a knock at the door, and I jumped! It was just before 6:00pm, so it must be Paul. I was nervous, like any Girl on her First Date would be. The Girls noticed. Even though I had dated Girls as the Male, Sandy, this really was my First Date, as ‘Dana’. So, I collected my wits, got up, and answered the door. It –was– Paul, to no-one’s surprise. And he looked Wonderful and Sexy. He really looked like David Duchovny. And he smelled wonderful. Not like Old Spice, not like anything I had used, as a Guy. No, it was very alluring, to me. And it was obvious that he was looking me over, head to toe, like he would with any other Woman, although this time it was OK for him to look me over. He had gotten dressed up, for me. And that was different.

“Hello!” he smiled. “How are you doing tonight, Dana?”

He was calling me Dana. I liked that. It helped me feel more the image. Why hadn’t I noticed his smile before. It was bright. It made me feel gooey, inside. I Blushed.

“Please, would you like to come in, and meet up with my creators,” I asked.

“I would love to see the experts who created this stunning visage!” Paul replied. I Blushed. Again.

Paul stepped into my Apartment, and followed me into the Living Room, and saw Patty and Janice.

“How are you Ladies doing tonight?” Paul asked them, smiling again. I got Gooey, again.

“Very good, Paul! How are you doing?” Patty said.

“I’m doing fine! And you, Janice?” he asked.

“I’m doing good, too,” Janice said. “We’re just hanging out after helping Dana get ready for Tonight’s Date. What do you think of our work? Good enough for the Halloween Party?”

“Well,” Paul proffered, “Dana looks good enough to go to the Royal Ball! Let’s see how the evening goes!”

“I think you’ll be plenty pleased with Dana,” Patty said. “She was just with us, as Dana, for the last hour, and I couldn’t tell we weren’t sitting here with one of our Girlfriends. She was Dana to me! But please do me, and yourself, a big favor. Treat Dana as the Lady she appears to be, tonight. Open doors, have her hold your elbow, hold hands, all the things you would do if she were any other Lady out on a date with you. It will help –sell- the character she’s portraying, and it will help her feel the character. I know that Agent Scully portrays an Independent Woman, but we aren’t pretending to be the FBI tonight. Get it?”

“Yes, I get it. The more I make Dana look like a Girl, the more people will believe her. Am I right?” Paul said. Patty and Janice nodded in agreement. “That won’t be too hard, at all, from what I see.” Turning to me, he said, “And if I can make a request, Dana?”

“Go ahead,” I said.

“Since I am calling you Dana, let’s complete the circle, and how about you calling me Fox?” Paul asked.

“That seems perfectly reasonable,” I said, and smiled.

“And you should treat me as a Gentleman, in return,” Fox asked.

“Once again, seems reasonable, and sounds fun!” I agreed. He turned on that 1,000 watt smile again. And I went Gooey, again. Again?

“So, with no more to say, or do,” Fox said, “Let’s get going!”

“OK, Girls,” I said, “Time for you to leave!”

And Patty and Janice gathered up their stuff, and made for the door.

And, with a bit of clumsiness, since I’d never done it before, I reached for Fox’s left elbow, and started my Dana and Female routine. When we had cleared my door, and he pulled it shut, I locked it. The Girls and Fox and I made our way to the Elevator, and got on, when it arrived. I kept hold of Fox’s elbow, and held on to it all the way out to his car. I stood, statue-like, at the Passenger’s door of his Nissan 370Z. He got the idea, and unlocked it with his clicker, opened the door, and helped me get in. When it was obvious that I had hooked up the seatbelt, and gotten comfortable in the seat, he closed the door, as any Gentleman would. He walked around to his side of the Z car, got in, started it, and revved the engine.

“Hot little car you have,” I smiled. “All I have is a little Stanza. Bet this baby gets up and goes!” When we were clear of the parked cars, Fox opened it up, and showed me what it really could do.

“Something like that?” He said.

I was pushed back in the seat. “Yeah,” I said with some fear in my voice, and my eyes wide open, “Something like that!”

And with that, we were off to where he was going to take me. I couldn’t pry it out of the Girls, if they knew where he was taking me, so I just asked him.

“Fox, what is our destination tonight?” I asked him.

“I thought we would start with some nice steaks, or something, at the Vineyards,” he said.

“That sounds very nice!” I exclaimed. “You said ‘we would start with’. Did you have other ideas?” I asked.

“Well, let’s see how the evening goes. If it is going well, I have some other ideas,” Fox said.

I didn’t know how I felt about that. I was thrilled by Fox’s presence, but I was afraid of what he might want, and what I might do, if I got too much liquor in me, and he did, too.

“OK. We’ll see how things go,” I said. “I want a pleasant evening, and I’m sure you do, too!”

“This is a bit of a Trial Run for the Halloween Party,” he intoned. “That’s what I’m hoping this will be.”

I was a bit relieved, and honestly, a bit disappointed. He was going to treat me like a Lady tonight, but how much so? I guess I was hoping he was going to treat me a bit more than an arm hanger. We’ll see how that works out.

And it was a good 20 minutes until we arrived at The Vineyards. They had Valet Parking, but I was still expecting Fox to be the Gentleman, and open the door for me. And he didn’t disappoint. He scooted around and opened the door, and offered his hand to me, very Gentlemanly! And I gently turned my rear-end around so that I could get out, with the help of Fox. And he didn’t disappoint. He pulled me up, easily, and put my hand in his Left elbow area, just as a Gentleman should. He handed the keys to the Valet Parking Guy, along with a $10 bill, and the Valet Guy handed Fox a token, so that he could get his car back, when we left the restaurant.

Fox gently guided me into the Steakhouse, and up to the Maître d'. He handed over another bill, which I couldn’t see, to the Maître d', and told him his Lady and he were looking for something Romantic, and not too close to the kitchen.

“No problem, Mr. Prentiss!” the Maître d' said.

“The Maître d' knows you by name?” I asked.

“Of course,” Fox said. “I take all of my Fine Ladies to The Vineyards!”

And he meant me, with that statement. All at once, I felt special. Like I never have before. Nobody had cared how I felt. I was always expected to be the one who made the other feel special. I looked up at Fox, and smiled. He saw me looking up at him, he looked at me, and smiled back. It was obvious he was enjoying himself.

“Fox,” I asked, “Are you treating me any different?”

“Different from what?” He asked, confused. “I’m treating you like you are, a beautiful date of mine.”

A shiver went down my back. And, once again, I felt really special.

The Maître d' came back to us, got two menus, and said, “Follow me!”

And Fox held me tightly by the hand, with his hand over mine, at his elbow, and guided me to follow the Maître d'. As we arrived at the table, Fox helped me into the booth, and made sure I was comfortable, and then sat down himself. The Maître d' first handed Fox a menu, and then me before he left. Fox started to look at the menu, and then asked me, “See anything you like?”

I actually was amazed. As I was portraying a standard Female, I expected Fox to order for me, and what I wanted was not any worry of his.

“From what I see on the menu, I’d like a 6 oz. New York Steak, Well Done, New Potatoes with Dill Weed, and Green Beans, “ I told him.

“Hmm, I think I’ll have the Lobster, with an 8 oz. New York Steak, and some Asparagus. That sounds good and Romantic to me.” I was a bit worried about the last statement.

The waiter came up, and announced himself. “I’m John, and I’ll be your Waiter tonight. Can I start the lovely couple with some wine, tonight?”

“Dana,” Fox turned to me, “what do you prefer to drink, tonight?”

It was so very nice of him to ask. So many Men will ManSplain their choice of Wine for the Woman. Not that I had ever done that! As I was portraying a Woman tonight, I expected that attitude. But I said, “I’d like a little Roscato, if you have it.”

“That won’t be a problem, Madam,” John said. “And for the Gentleman?”

“You know?” Fox said, “The Lady has made a nice choice. I think I’ll have the same. In fact, why don’t you bring a whole bottle of Roscato to the table?”

“Very good, sir!” John agreed. “I’ll be right back with that. And, if you’re ready to order, what would you like for Dinner?” John turned to Fox. He was into the stereotypical Male way of ordering Dinner at a fancy restaurant. Fox didn’t disappoint him, except that he respected my request.

“The Lady will have a 6 oz. New York Steak, Well Done, with New Potatoes with Dill Weed, and Green Beans. And I will have the Lobster, with an 8 oz. New York Steak, Medium Rare, and I’ll have the Asparagus . OK?”

“Very good, sir! I will turn that right into the kitchen, and be right back out with your Roscato!” And with that, John was gone.

“Thank you, Fox. That was done very nicely! You respected me, and gave me a choice. Many Men do the whole ManSplaining thing, and need to have control of the whole dinner, ordering, and all!”

“Well,” Fox said, “You seemed like you deserved to be treated like an intelligent human being, even if you are Female.” My eyes just rolled, as I smiled! Fox smiled, too! He was obviously teasing me. I liked that. Smart people can tease each other. And it was obvious that Fox was treating me as a Smart Woman. And I thought of him as a Smart Man.

I was looking all around, to check if I was still pulling the Dana character off. And I didn’t see anyone giving us any funny looks. In fact, Fox moved in closer to me, and asked, “Dana, could you scoot around the table towards me a bit? I’d just like to be closer to you. After all, I’m supposed to be all Gentlemanly with you, and you are making it very easy to fulfill that part.” He smiled, again! And I was gooey, again!

“Well, if I can say,” I looked down as I said, “Fox, you make it very easy for me to fulfill the part of Dana. I really appreciate how much you’ve been a Gentleman with me. You’re making me feel very natural as your dinner mate tonight.” I looked up at Fox, “You’ve been the perfect Gentleman, and very easy to be with. I may be new to this Dana thing, but you make me want to continue it. I haven’t felt the special feeling you’re giving me, ever. I hope I’m giving you a nice feeling, too.”

“Dana, I know this is all a big farce, to help me feel good about taking you to the Halloween Party. But I don’t want this to end, either. You, too, make me feel special inside, like I never have before. The best kind of person to Date is someone you’re good friends with. And you feel that way! But I feel that way because you look like you do. But, also, you aren’t acting Male, in any way. You’re acting as the person you appear to be, a Smart Female. And I’m very attracted to that Smart Female. And you look like an Attractive Female. You look the part, but I’m intellectually attracted to you, too. How do you feel about that?”

Just as I was about to answer Fox, John came back with glasses and our Roscato.

“Would you like me to pour the Wine?” John asked.

“Please, go ahead,” Fox said, with an obvious annoyance in his eyes because of being interrupted, as he was flirting with me.

John poured our wine, and left.

“As to the question you asked, before we were rudely interrupted.” I paused. “ How do I feel about that? When I was originally asked to do this ‘dress up’ thing for the Party, I looked on it as an annoyance, something I couldn’t be bothered with, as a Straight Male. At least I thought I was a Straight Male. I’m not so sure about that, anymore. And I’m not talking about any kind of Gay thing, dash that from your mind, right now. No, I’m feeling much more Female, than Male. And that is really confusing me. Because I’ve never even given that a thought, before. But I feel different when I’m with you. I feel comforted by you, cared for. And that’s not a feeling I’ve ever had before. Does that make sense to you?” I took my wine glass and took a long sip.

“I’m like you, I don’t have any feeling of Gayness about how I feel for you,” Fox said. “But I feel something special. I feel like you’re somebody I want to know. Someone I want to be my Best Friend. Someone I want to slip into bed with, and spoon with, and cuddle up with. But, in a very Male/Female way. Does *that* make sense?”

“Yes, it makes sense. I’ve never felt this way about anyone I’ve been with, before, Female or Male. And that’s what’s so confusing to me. I’ve never had this feeling before. And yet, I want more. I don’t want it to end. But the new thing is that I’m enjoying being Dana. I never thought I would find being Female so natural, and so alluring.”

Fox reached over and gently took my hand. He very gently rubbed it, in a very sexy, thoughtful way. I looked him in the eye, and smiled. I reached with my other hand, and rubbed the top of his hand. It was very endearing.

And in a few minutes our food came, and we were busy eating it, too busy to be making out. And we were very happy with our food. And, very much the Girl, I couldn’t finish my Dinner. And I couldn’t figure out why. I had easily eaten that much Dinner before. But I just couldn’t! So, the next time John showed up, when we were just about finished, I asked John to fix my left-overs to take home. “This is too good to waste!” I told John. He took my plate to box it.

“And any Dessert for the couple? A little Cheesecake?” John asked.

Fox looked at me, but I moved my head no. I hate to be so stereotypical, but there just wasn’t room for anything else. And those calories! Where would they go? Did I just ask myself that question?

Fox spoke for both of us (both of us?), and told John, “No, I think this was enough for my Sweetie, tonight!” And John dropped the bill, and Fox pulled out his credit card and placed a tip in the billfold, with his credit card. John came back and took the bill, and went away to cash us out, and bring my leftovers back.

“Well,” Fox said, “This is the time I was talking about earlier. Our Dinner is done, but the evening is still young. It’s only 8:45, and I know that the Movie Theatre is very close. They’re playing a movie I’m sure you’d love. It’s a Rom-Com.”

Well, I guess the Dana role is really working. Fox thinks I’d rather watch a Chick-Flick, than the latest Star Wars flick. Actually, I thought I’d prefer the Star Wars movie, but if that helps him believe my Dana character more, what harm does it do me? So, we get his car, from the Valet, and drive around to the Fox 10 theatre. When there, he once again played the Gentleman, and pulled me even closer, playing like I’m his Girlfriend. And I was happy with the way he was handling me.

Fox bought us tickets to the Rom-Com, and we headed into Theatre 4. We seated ourselves in the middle of the Theatre. And Fox pulled me in closer, and put his arm around my shoulders. And with his other hand, he took my closest hand to him, rubbing my hand sensually, and getting me all worked up. And wet. Wet? Did I just say that to myself? I’m asking that kind of question again? Am I losing myself in this character? I think I am. But am I unhappy about that? As I’m feeling now, No. And yet, I hadn’t even put on Female clothes and Makeup until less than a week ago. Did I uncover something about myself that I had been hiding from myself? I knew there was something that bothered me, that I didn’t feel right about myself throughout my younger life. I was always sad, knowing something wasn’t right. And, apparently, this might have been it. Did my Mother cover some of that up for me, raising me and Cynthia the same way? Was the ‘same way’ really a ‘Female way’? If so, it was a Strong Female way.

Fox was making me feel like I’ve never felt before. I’ve felt love, before, as a Male, with a Female. But this time it was different. Fox was into me. And I was into Fox. And I felt for him, unlike I’d ever felt for a Woman, especially on a Date. I wanted to be close to Fox. I wanted to be his ‘other’, the person who completed him. He made me think that I wanted to be part of a couple, with him. I’d felt that for women before, and I felt that I wanted to be part of a couple, with them, but nothing like I felt with Fox. It was really strong. I felt something for him.

And it’s good that we didn’t go to a Star Wars movie, because Fox might not be giving me the attention that I’m getting from him now. Fox has started to nuzzle me, on the neck, and then he kept on going. He worked his way to kissing me on the cheek, and then the lips. I wouldn’t have guessed myself to have reacted as a Female would. But I did! I liked what he was doing. I felt like a woman doing this. And I was happy doing this. And if you had told me two weeks ago that I would be sitting in a theatre, with a Guy with his arm around me, holding my hand, kissing my neck, and that above it all, I would be enjoying it? I’d have called you crazy!

But I was crazy! Crazy for Fox! Don’t try to analyze it. It was, it is, and I am. And we necked throughout the movie. And I enjoyed it! And Fox and I watched the movie to the end. Well, I say we watched it, but really, we didn’t do a lot of watching. When the movie was over, we got up and headed out to his car. He was the perfect Gentleman, again, and opened the door of his car, and helped me get in. And he smiled at me. The kind of smile that you know he was very happy with you. I’ve never had that kind of feeling, but there it was! He walked around his car, and got in. After he started the car, and put it in gear, his hand found it’s way to my knee. And he was rubbing my knee. I closed my eyes and took it in. I smiled, turned my head towards him, and opened my eyes. I found him looking at me. And I had chills, because I knew he wanted me. And I wanted him. But as a Woman would want a Man. And that confused me. Because I didn’t consider myself to be a Woman. Didn’t Consider. Didn’t. But I found that changing. Because I did feel like a Woman, with Fox, for Fox.

“Do you mind if I call you Paul, now?” I questioned.

“If you don’t mind if I keep calling you Dana,” he asked. “I just can’t call you by that other name, looking as stunning as you do. I know that Sandy is also a Woman’s name, but with Dana, I’m reminded that you’re Female, different than the person I know at work!”

“Well, thanks!” I replied with a smile. “I hope that I have made your concerns of me looking like a parody of a Woman go away. I feel like Dana, or should I say, Gillian, when I put on these clothes, and inhabit this personality.”

“If you haven’t guessed by now, I totally think of you as a Woman, as Dana, when you look like that,” Paul said. “I totally believe you. And I don’t want to feel any different about you. As Dana, you are convincing, and likeable. You act and feel like a Woman, the personality is definitely Female. And, truthfully, I want to see Dana again, besides the Halloween Party.”

“And I want to see you again, but you don’t have to look like Agent Fox Mulder. You can look like plain, old, Paul,” I intoned. “Not that I think of you as plain, or old!” He was looking very cute, and he smiled.

We pulled up to my Apartment complex. And Paul hopped out of his car and opened the door for me, and he offered his hand. I took it, and pulled myself out of his car. Paul closed the door and offered his hand to me, so that we could walk, as a couple, up to my Apartment. I pulled him closer. We followed the usual pattern up to my Apartment, and came up to my door. I didn’t know if I should ask him in. It had been a Perfect Date, if I had really been Dana. But I wasn’t, so it wasn’t a ‘Perfect Date’. So, I unlocked the door. But I still had to ask him. I paused, and then turned around and looked him in the eyes. He was taller than me, he was at least 6’. So I definitely had to look up into his eyes, just as any woman would want to do.

“Do you want to come in and have a cup of Coffee before you take off?” I asked.

“I really want to,” Paul said, “But I know I shouldn’t. While I am definitely attracted to you, Dana, I know this is something I shouldn’t do, right now. I would have a hard time controlling myself! You are such a Beautiful Woman, outside, and inside!”

My heart fell a little, but I understood. This wasn’t something he had signed up to do, and certainly something that he didn’t expect to happen, at least I thought. And it wasn’t something I had signed up to do, and I didn’t expect! But was it something I was unhappy that it happened? And as I looked up into his eyes, I couldn’t help myself, and put my arms around his neck, and reached up with my lips and kissed him, on the lips, passionately! And it was heaven! It was everything I thought it could be. Something I had never achieved as a Man. A charge went through my body! And I sucked on his tongue, and he, on mine. And it was wonderful! But I knew it couldn’t go any further, for now, at least. I disengaged myself, from him.

“Goodnight!” I called to him.

“Goodnight, Dana!” Paul smiled, his voice was velvet.

Paul walked away from me, towards the Elevator. And he looked so good, walking away. I had never thought of a Guy in that way before. But I did, this time. And Paul fulfilled that thought. He looked good. I opened my door and went in, and the first thing I wanted to do was to get those Pumps off! I now knew why Women complained about having to wear Pumps for a long time. It hurt my feet! So I kicked them off! And I pulled my Suit Jacket off. But I was so used to the Undergarments, and Pantyhose, that I didn’t even think of pulling them off, at least yet!

I collapsed into the Recliner. It was 11:30pm, and I knew that I had to call the Girls, and have them join me in a conference call. I felt like my Girlfriends and I were talking to each other about our dates! Except it was me, gabbing to them, about my Date.

“Patty, Janice, can you hear me now?” I asked.

“Fine, here,” Patty said.

“No problem here,” Janice added.

“Well, I’m sure you want to know all about it,” I said.

“Yep!” they both answered.

“OK, here’s the Four One One,” I admitted. “Paul took me to The Vineyard for Steak and Wine, and Lobster and Steak for him.”

“He sounds pretty Romantic,” Patty kidded.

“Well,” I was a bit sheepish, “It was that. He was that.” It was very quiet on the phone. I don’t think that was the answer they expected. But, maybe they did.

“I ordered a New York Steak, with some vegetables,” I said. “And he had Lobster and Steak, a real Surf and Turf kind of meal. Oh, and he scooted closer to me, before Dinner was served,” I admitted. “And, he reached over, and held my hand and rubbed it, when he wasn’t eating his meal. Very Romantic!”

“Are you sure you’re a Straight Male?” Patty asked me, with some concern in her voice. “This doesn’t exactly sound like someone trying out the costume, to see if they’re comfortable with the way you’re dressed. This sounds like a Girlfriend bragging on her guy!”

“Well, Paul was very convincing in the way he treated me,” I countered. “And I liked that way. I very much liked him treating me as Dana. There was something very special in the way he was treating me.”

“But Sandy,” Janice jumped in, “As far as I knew, you were a Straight Guy! You even tried to take me out!”

“Well,” Dana said, still with the voice of Dana, “A Girl can be wrong, can’t she?”

“But that’s a bit more than just being wrong,” Patty asked. “That’s questioning your very being, isn’t it?”

“I’ve never told you two that I have something about me, something I’ve never told anyone else, before,” I admitted. “That I always felt something was wrong, in my personality, that I had led a very sad life, up until now.”

“Are you saying this whole costume thing has awakened something in you, that you didn’t want to admit to,” Patty asked?

“I don’t want to sound like one of those Geraldo shows, where somebody has been hiding inside of me, for my whole life,” I said. “But, hey, why fight it? But really, portraying a Female has opened me up to the possibility that I was really meant to be Female, that something didn’t quite go right in the Birth process.”

“Are you saying we have a new member to our Sisterhood?” Janice asked. “That we might be the new ‘Three Musketeers?”

“You never know, Girlfriend!” I said.

“This definitely needs more looking into,” said Patty. “I always knew there was something that made you fit into our little group, but I never would have guessed that you were actually one of us! But it makes lots of sense, now! You’ve most naturally fit in with us, sitting with us for lunch, going out shopping with us, and some other ways we’ve fit together. You’ve just felt like one of us. But enough of the Girlfriend stuff, Dish on what you did with Paul?”

“Well, first off, you may notice that I’m still calling him Paul,” I said, “and not Fox, as I had earlier been doing. It just felt so right, getting to know the real him. But he did ask that I allow him to keep calling me Dana, when I looked like this. That makes sense! Because I’m just not the same person when I’m dressed this way. Oh, and he’s a good…” I left it trailing, to see if they were interested.

“He’s a good… what?” Patty asked, seemingly out of breath.

“He’s a good… kisser!” I exclaimed, quite vociferously. “Oh, and he smells so good, too! I think he was wearing some of that Pheromone cologne.”

“Kisser, huh?” Janice asked. “What else?”

“He’s tall, and looking up into those eyes as you’re kissing him, is exquisite!” I admitted.

“Dana,” Patty said, “You’ve gone whole hog, Girl! I never thought you would be this Boy Crazy!”

“A Girl’s gotta do what a Girl’s gotta do!” I said. I ended it with a smile, not that they could see it! “One thing I have to tell you two. I really fell for Paul, and I wanted to do with him, what I knew I couldn’t do. In other words, I had feelings for him, not Male to Male, but I imagine as what a Female would want. I know it wasn’t the whole Gay thing, because I didn’t want him, sexually, as I would, if I felt like a Male with him. Oh, I know I’m not explaining this very well!”

“No, you’re doing perfectly fine!” Janice agreed. “You are just discovering a new ‘inside’ to you, something you didn’t understand before. And you confirmed that you are still Hetero. You wanted Paul as a Woman would want him. I’d call that a 360 degree switch! From Hetero to Hetero!”

“I know you’ll think this is corny, and maybe even expected, but it just felt ‘Right’!,” I said with emphasis.

“I told you that there was something special about noodling with a guy! So, will we be seeing Sandy on Monday?” Janice asked.

“For now,” I admitted. “I don’t know where this will lead, but I think we’ve seen just about the end of Sandy. I think I need to find out what it will take to move down the road and see what it will take to be Dana, permanently. I just don’t know, for now. But Paul has definitely awakened something really good, in me. And I have you Girls to thank for it. Because, if it wasn’t for your insistence that I go to this Party, as Agent Dana Scully, who knows how long Dana would have been sitting in there, waiting to come out. Thank you, Girls! Now, I think I need to make an appointment to see a Therapist in a couple of weeks, or so. And, do a little searching with Doctor Google!”

“I’m just glad we were around to see, and assist, in Dana’s coming out,” Patty said. “We’re just so happy we could be the ones who helped Dana come out of her shell! We have always been Friends. Now we’ll be even closer Friends, Girlfriends!”

“This must have been very traumatic for you,” Janice said, “to learn you had this different personality inside of you. And, to be so Romantic. We’ve certainly heard about all of the Transsexual Girls, and the struggles they go through. I remember that National Geographic special that Katie Couric did, that explained a lot, to those of us who knew nothing of what those people go through.”

“I think we all learned a lot, lately, from that Nat Geo special, to all of the talk that’s gone on around Caitlyn Jenner, and that little Girl, Jazz Jennings,” I said. “It’s certainly given me pause in what I’m going through, and it has certainly helped my decisions. Now I need to find out if I need to go any further.”

“All of that has certainly given you lots to think about. This was originally just supposed to be about having fun at a Party. It has turned into a Life Changing event and choice for you,” Patty said to me, knowing it wasn’t an easy thing I was getting into.

I could tell that it wasn’t easy for her, either, but I knew she was getting something she didn’t expect from this: a new Girlfriend. And I didn’t see this coming. But Patty and Janice have come to mean so much to me, and have been such an integral part of this investigation, this discovery of who I am, underneath it all.

“OK, well, we’ll see Sandy at work, on Monday,” Janice said.

“He’ll see you two Girls, then!” I said.

“Hasta La Vista, Baby!” Patty laughingly said.

Chapter 4

So, that Monday rolled around, and I had the Dana outfit hanging in my closet, tempting me, daring me to inherit that personality. But it was going to be a normal Monday, just getting ready for the Halloween Party that next weekend.

And when I first saw Patty and Janice, Monday morning, they came up to me, and Patty was first in giving me a hug. And it was a Sisterly hug. I could tell. There was now a difference in our relationship.

I moved to my desk, and got ready for work.

“The Break won’t give us enough time, so let’s talk at Lunch, Okay?” I asked.

“No problem,” Janice replied. “We’ll see you then!”

And with that, the two ladies turned and made their way to their desks, and their responsibilities.

Lunchtime rolled around, and I made my way to the Cafeteria. Nothing much to eat there, as usual, so I just got a Soda, to go with the lunch I had made that morning; a Sandwich, some Fruit, and Chips. So, I took my lunch bag, and Soda, and found the usual place we sat. Janice and Patty came along, and sat down at our table. They placed their lunches on the table, and started a conversation. It was about what I expected they would be talking about.

“Well, you certainly had an interesting weekend,” Patty started. “I think it was Janice who said, ‘I thought you were a Straight Guy’ after you said that you kissed Paul. You said you thought it was fantastic. And I, too, sure thought you were a Straight Guy, up to this point. But you haven’t been portraying a Woman for long, and like I said, you’ve gone Whole Hog and Boy Crazy.”

“You really think so?” I asked. “I just don’t know how I feel about the Date. But I’d have to say that definitely something came awake this weekend. I’ve never felt that way before. I felt so comfortable with Paul, and I felt taken care of. That is what I’ve always been told that Guys are supposed to do for their Women, but I’ve obviously never had that done for me. And I found it to be very sexy. And it was something I really enjoyed. And it felt so natural. And I just don’t know what that means for me.”

“That Girl who we were talking to for an hour, before she went off on that Date,” Janice said, “was a Real Girl. I was very happy to talk with Dana for that hour.”

“And I would have to add my vote to that,” Patty added. “Sandy, I was very happy to be talking with Dana, both at that time, and after the Date. That was a Natural Girl talking with us, after you were out with Paul. You exhibited all of the natural things any Girl would think, after that date.”

“Well, thank you, Girls,” I exclaimed. “I am just blushing! And I feel like I truly joined you this weekend. If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to join this Sisterhood, as if I wasn’t already a member, just in a different standing. I’ve always felt close to you two, especially after you asked me to join ME. Was there something ‘extra’ you saw in me?”

“Yes, in the time that we dealt with the Assembly area, you definitely were noticeable, and we talked about how you seemed to fit in with Janice and me, and would probably fit in with the other women of ME. And, speaking for Janice,” Patty said, “I think I’m ready to say that you’re ready for this Sisterhood.“

“You two have been like Sisters, to me,” I replied. “And I know that feeling, because I already have a Sister, and I feel as natural talking with you, as I do with Cynthia, my Sister, but in a slightly different way. I think I’ve missed that in my friendships. Cynthia and I had a special relationship, certainly not like anything I’ve heard before that went on between a Brother and a Sister. I’ve really felt like we were equals. And that’s how I feel about you Girls! I think that’s always how I’ve felt about you. It’s just that I couldn’t express it as plainly as I have lately.”

“Well,” Janice said, “I certainly have always treated our relationship as one of equals, and I now recognize that relationship as one of Sisters. And I’m very happy to be able to say that!”

“And we will have to talk more about Paul,” Patty said. “But, we need to get ready for this Saturday, and the Halloween Party. Janice and I already have our costumes worked out for this Saturday, so we don’t need as much time to get ready for the Party as you will. Since we’re accomplished at doing makeup, and such, we won’t have a hard time getting ready for Saturday’s shindig. We’re just worried about what it will take to get you ready.

“Ok,” I said, “I’ll be ready for you about 1:00pm, so you can have some time to get ready, yourself.”

And with that out of the way, we dived into our Lunch.

The week went slowly, and Saturday finally rolled around, and the Girls arrived at their appointed time of 1:00pm, so that they would have time to get into their own costumes and makeup, for the Halloween Party. They had decided to go as the latest in Female superheroes, Wonder Woman, and Batwoman. Those characters both gave plenty of material for a fun makeup and costume session, lots of Leather and Bustiers!

The Girls set up the Makeup while I got the costume out of my closet, and set it up in the Living Room, so they could see what was there, and had worked before.

“Sandy,” Patty said, “I did some investigation, online, to find out if there was a market for X-Files Celebrity Look-alikes, and I found out some interesting information.”

“Oh, yeah?” I queried, “What was that?”

“Well, it seems that not only is there an active market in the Portland area,” Patty said, “There is a market all over the country. And not only is it active, it’s very profitable! Like, we’re talking you could make $1,000! Each! Per Appearance! And just for Dana Scully, it is just as profitable!”

“Wow!” I said. “That’s a lot of money, for not doing much! I just might be interested in that, even dressed as a Girl!”

“Here, and you said you’d never put on a skirt!” Janice chuckled.

“Who said anything about putting on a skirt!” I said, unbelieving.

“Well, if you’re going for the whole Dana Scully, FBI Agent, they might be expecting that,” Patty said.

I sat down in the chair, so that Patty could start working on my makeup.

“Gee, for a $1,000, I might be talked into it,” I said. “And, I am getting into this whole Girl thing. I might just try that.”

“I thought that just might change your mind,” Patty smiled.“

“Well, who said anything about NOT putting on a skirt!” I said, this time with a little defiance, and eyebrow movement, like I had never said the negative line about wearing a skirt.

“As they say, money does speak!” I added, smiling.

“Let’s get started here, Dana,” Janice said, switching my name over to the Female one. And she picked up the Foundation, and started to apply it to my face.

After Janice was done with my Foundation, Patty started working on my eyes, starting with the Shadow, the Liner, and finally the Mascara. My eyes were just wonderfully made up, giving me a very sexy look. Finally, Janice came in with the Blusher, and I was all Contoured, and Blushed out. They let me take a look at what they had done, and I was astonished! I was…, Dana was quite fetching!

“I can’t believe what you Girls have done with me,” I said, astonishingly. “If I didn’t know better, I would think I was looking at a picture of Gillian Anderson.”

“That was the idea!” Janice exclaimed. “It doesn’t hurt when you have the right bone structure in your face, and the Alabaster skin.”

“Yeah, right!” I said. I put my chin down on my chest. It was obvious that I had some feelings about what Janice just said.

“What’s the matter? Did I say something wrong?” Janice asked, concerned.

“Well,” I said, “You talked about something kinda touchy. I know you girls said I looked like Gillian Anderson, and that helped with this whole Halloween event. But, there is something about that you don’t really know. You see, I didn’t always have the face of somebody famous, let alone someone Male. I was teased, constantly, incessantly, in school, about looking like a Girl. While this is something that has come in handy, like with this Halloween thing, mostly I’ve had many years of this face not being a plus, in fact, being very much a negative.”

“I didn’t realize you had so much pain attached to your looks,” Patty said. “To me, you were always just a very nice looking, kind Guy. Until this X-Files thing came up, and I realized you had some attachment to the looks of Gillian, I never really thought about it being such a negative, and such pain coming from your Schoolmates. I guess we Girls don’t go through much of that kind of badgering in school. Not that we didn’t have bad actors, or Mean Girls, but there is such a feeling against Boys looking Feminine, at all, that there can be such backlash against them, such hatred. Sometimes Girls can be given a hard time about being too ‘butch’ looking, but it is definitely something different for Boys!”

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s time I got something positive about looking this ‘pretty’, and small, overall,” I said.

“Ok, time to get suited up!” Patty said. And with that, I went off to my Bedroom, got undressed, and put on the underthings, and then put on the Dana Scully outfit. While I was getting ready in my Bedroom, the Girls were getting ready in the Living Room and Dining Room. As I came out of my Bedroom, all dressed up, the Girls were just finishing up putting on their costumes, just about ready to add to their makeup, for the characters they were portraying.

Just as they were finishing up the work on their own faces, there was a knock at the door. It had to be Paul. And so I moved over to the door, and welcomed Paul in.

“You look beautiful, tonight, Dana,” Paul said as he smiled, and gave me a hug Hello. He then noticed the other people in the room.

“Oh, and you two look fabulous, also!” Paul said.

It was obvious that Paul was caught unaware, and knew he had to make up for not noticing how nice the other two Women looked in their costumes. Paul moved in, and sat down on the couch, letting Janice and Patty finish getting ready.

I just noticed that I was describing Janice and Patty to myself as, ‘the other two Women’ in the room. Other. Like I was one of the Women in the room. There was something coming over me since I started this whole Dana Scully thing. I was excited by the actions of a Man, I was very happy with the way that Paul treated me out on our ‘date’. That was different than I had ever been treated before. As a person desired. As a Woman.

“Are you ready to go, Dana?” Paul asked me.

“Yes, Paul, er, Fox!” I corrected myself. “The Girls are just about ready to go, too, and they’ll be travelling in their own car to the Party. I’ll be going with you, of course! They don’t need to follow me home, to get me out of this outfit when the night is done!”

Paul grinned, that kind of grin that guys get, when they think better about making a comment, one that might get them in trouble. I’m pretty sure that Paul was going to say something about him getting me out of the outfit himself, rather than the girls.

Patty got my purse, and loaded it up with the cosmetics they used on me, some things from my wallet, like my driver’s license, and some other things she said any Woman has in her purse.

Paul came over to me, and very obviously started moving me towards the door, like he would with any other woman who was his date, gently putting his hand on the small of my back. The Girls followed behind, and I closed the door and locked it. We all made our way to the Elevator, and they went to their car, and Paul and I went out to his cool car. Paul opened the car door for me, again, being very chivalrous, as usual. Once I was tucked in, he moved around to his side, and got in, and started up the car.

Chapter 5

It was a fairly short drive to the Halloween Party site, and Paul did the reverse of before, and helped me out of his car. I put my Right Arm through his proffered elbow, and walked with him into the Hotel’s Ballroom where the party was being held.

There were a lot of people at the Party. A lot of our co-workers had ‘dolled-up’ for this Halloween Party, and were quite inventive with their costumes! Of course, you saw the usual Witches and Supermen, but there were also Lawmen, and lots of Celebrities from TV and Movies. Lots of Sci-Fi characters were present, including lots of Star Trek characters, including Captains Kirk and Picard, the most amazing was a Female Captain Picard! Lots of Spock’s, too! Even a Data! But Paul and I were the only Scully and Mulder there. And we were getting lots of attention from the other party-goers.

Fox was very amorous about how he handled me through the whole night, it started out light, and became very obvious. We visited the Bar that was provided by Aero for it’s employees, and he asked me about what drink I would like.

“Dana,” Fox asked, “What can I get you for your drink?”

”You can get me some Red Wine, whatever they have,” I said.

“Okay,” he said, “I’ll get you that, and I’ll have some White Wine, myself.”

He left me at a table we found, and went for the drinks. I looked around, and saw some of my co-workers decked out as their favorite stars or characters. Some were pretty good. Others, were not as successful! They were certainly ‘ideas’ of those characters, but they were not very successful. You can’t fault them for trying! And I’m sure they had a lot of fun doing it! Just like I did!

Fox came back to our table with the drinks, and asked if I wanted him to get us some plates of hors d'oeuvres. I said that would be great, so he scurried away to get those snacks.

It was so different being treated as a Woman, to have a man care for you, hand and foot. And I could tell, Fox was doing it not because I was playing the Dana character, but because he really cared for me. I could see it in his eyes. We made contact that way. And it was something I was definitely not used to. But it was real. I had not experienced the downside of being Female, so it wasn’t a full experience! Not that I was looking forward to that, but I did recognize it.

When Fox sat down, he scooted his chair up close to me, and it was obvious that he was enjoying being with me. And while I had been very friendly with my dates before, this was different, it was much more intimate. When Fox looked at me, there was a definite lust in his eyes. As I said before, I could tell that he was really into me! I dated Girls that showed a lot of interest in me, as a Guy, but this was different. It was much more intense. And I have to say that his interest was not unwanted, and was returned. He slid his hand onto my leg, even with the pants on, giving me a feeling up and down my spine that was electric! And I returned the favor by putting my hand on top of his. I rubbed it and a smile came across his face. I took a sip of my wine, and smiled back at him.

One of the things that the company had also done for this party was to hire a full Swing Band to play throughout the evening. And so, Fox took full advantage of that, and stood up and offered his hand to me, to entice me to dance with him. There were a few couples out on the Dance Floor already, but this fast tune was something right out of the 40’s, and was quite fun to dance to. I wasn’t much of a Dancer, before, but I had especially not done any dancing as the Female, in a couple, and so all of this was really new! Fox made it really fun! He guided me, and took control all through the dances.

And then a slow number came up, and Fox pulled me up close to him. And I could see why couples enjoyed slow dances. Fox really took charge. And he guided my hands and arms, and me, around the Dance Floor. It was so enjoyable! And he pulled me close. And I enjoyed that! He was so much fun to dance up against. And I felt that he was ‘excited’ to Dance with me, or just be with me.

“Dana, you’re such a joy to Dance with!” he said.

“And Fox,” I answered, “You make it such a joy! I have never Danced before, and you have just taken control, and made it such an enjoyable thing!”

“Dana,” he said, as he looked down to my face, “You are so beautiful! And you’re such a joy to be with!”

“Oh, you’re just too nice!” I said. I realized how Female that sounded.

“No, I am not being overly effusive. You are a really great Dance partner!” Fox said.

And we stayed out on the floor for several more numbers, and we enjoyed each other even more. I found myself burying my head into Fox’s shoulder, it was so natural! I just wanted to keep holding onto him.

“Let’s sit down for a little bit. You must be tired from all of these Dances,” Fox said.

“Sounds good to me,” I admitted. “I could use a nice cool drink of that wine!”

Fox guided me back to our table, and with great Chivalry, helped me sit down in the chair, and then sat down, himself.

We had several of the other people from our Departments come up and talk to us, during the night. At first, they recognized Paul, and understood that he was Fox Mulder. But then they, to a person, asked who the Beautiful Agent Scully was. And, again, pretty much to a person, their jaws dropped when they were told who was his Agent Scully. They just couldn’t believe I was Sandy Andros! They usually left, talking between themselves, saying ‘That couldn’t be Sandy! She was too pretty!’

Paul had a little fun with that, saying that indeed, I was too pretty! We both got a chuckle out of that!

After about 30 minutes more of Dances, they announced that the Judging for the Contest would commence, and the results would be announced in 30 minutes, at the front of the room. And the prizes would be given out after that. Dancing would continue until then.

So Fox and I kept talking to each other, exploring how we felt about each other, and how each other had come to Aero Company. I found out that he had always thought he would be an Industrial Engineer, ever since his Father had taken him to work on ‘Bring Your Kid To Work’ day, that Aero had 15 years ago. His Father had shown him what he did for work, and that he was an Industrial Engineer. And so, Fox/Paul had gone to school, at Stanford, to get a degree in Industrial Engineering.

I told Fox how my Father, had also worked at Aero, and was a Manager in the Assembly area. Nepotism had worked strong in my case. My Father knew of another Manager who needed workers, and all I had to do was take a class in Blueprint Reading, at the local Vocational-Tech College. I did that, and applied for a job in that area, which I got. And about a year later, Patty and Janice rescued me out of that Assembly area, into the Manufacturing Engineering area, because I kept re-writing the ME instructions of Assembly, and did it correctly.

“That was quite smart of them!” Fox said. “You already knew the things that were being assembled there, so there wouldn’t be as much training involved!”

“And it got me out of the Assembly area, and into the Office, and a White Collar job! I really have to thank them! That’s why I agreed to do this, to pay them back” I said.

“Well, I’m glad you agreed to this Costume Party, too,” Fox said. “I’d seen you before, and at first, I thought that they had hired another Woman into the Manufacturing Engineering area. I was disappointed to find out they hadn’t! And then this Party came along. And I was proven right with my original assumption!”

“I’ve found out that I’m glad they asked me to this Costume Party, and I accepted, after all!” I smiled, and said. “I’ve found a new side of me, that I never knew existed before. And I find I like it. And it didn’t turn out to be such a ‘Costume Party’ for me, after all!”

“No, it didn’t!” exclaimed Fox. “You certainly aren’t in any kind of costume, are you?”

“No, I not, am I?” I said, looking deep into his eyes. “But I can’t exactly open up about this revelation here, in front of all of our Co-Workers, now can I?” I smiled a wicked smile at him.

“Not yet,” he said, “Not yet! You know I’m not Gay, and I suspect you aren’t either. I don’t get that vibe from you. But there is something special about you that intrigues me. Something very Womanly!”

I looked him deeply in the eyes again, and smiled, yet again, silently agreeing with him.

The time had come for Fox and me to go to the front of the room, and hear the judgment for the contest.

We went to the Coat Rack area to retrieve the Raincoats, which were the signature of the FBI Agents. We were fairly obvious, since we were the most ‘normal’ looking people in the contest, the only thing separating us from ‘normal’ was our FBI badges.

The rest of the contestants were dressed up as Witches, Superheroes, and the like. Star Wars, Star Trek, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Halloween favorites! We were being judged in the Couples Category, and there were a few entries in that category. There was a Superman and Lois Lane, Anthony and Cleopatra, Desi and Lucy, and even a Gay Couple as Batman and Robin!

So, after they were all done with the Judging, Fox and I sat back down at our table. The Band played on, and we took a couple more turns on the Dance Floor, while they tallied up the votes of the Judges for the different categories. We all gathered up front, again. There was a great C3PO for the Male Singles category, and an Elvira in the Female Singles category. And then, it was up to the Couples category. And the winners were… the X-Files couple! Us! We had won! And I turned to Fox, and hugged him vigorously! And we were so happy! And they handed us a big trophy for winning that category. And I kissed Fox, and he kissed me back! Apparently most didn’t think anything of us kissing each other, because they thought we were a ‘couple’, as most of the other couples were, and I guess we looked so natural, that even the people who should know better, didn’t say a thing that night!

Fox was very effusive in the display of his pleasure that we had won. And I was very effusive back to him. He lifted me up and swung me around! To say that the following time was kinda lost to me, would be an understatement! I had a bit of wine in me, but the happiness of the winning had me giddy, more than just the wine! Patty and Janice came running up to us, and each of them hugged me, and screamed that we had won! They were both involved with my transformation, so they were very responsible for us winning! But then again, looking good as a couple must have had something to do with it…

“Let’s go out and celebrate!” Fox exclaimed to me.

“That sounds good!” I added.

Fox and I gathered our things together and made our way out to his car. He helped me get into his car, and dashed around to his side, and got in. We headed to his favorite bar, El Toro, parked, and went in. He sat us down and scooted in beside me, and wrapped his arm around me. I snuggled in to him. I wasn’t used to this kind of treatment. No one had ever treated me with such kindness, with so much love. Fox cared for me in a way that no one, in my life, had ever shown me. And I found something new about myself. I found that this Female thing was much more of the ‘real me’ than I ever thought.

So, a Cocktail Waitress came over and took our drink order, and Fox ordered us each a Strawberry Margarita. And he slipped his arm around my shoulders, and I snuggled in close to him. And I liked it, and told him so.

“Fox,” I said, as I looked into his sexy eyes, “I want to tell you how much I’m enjoying how you’re treating me tonight. I feel like a Princess, and that’s something I never knew I’d say, in my life. But I truly feel that way, and it’s quite a pleasant feeling!”

“Dana,” Fox said with his wonderful, sexy Baritone voice, “Not to be a braggadocio, but I’ve been out with many other Women, and you are making this a most memorable date! You are so sexy, in the way you move, the way you talk, and just, the way you are! It’s just a pleasure to be out with you, tonight!”

“Fox, er, Paul, I’m just having the best time of my life, tonight. And I think I’m going to call you Paul, instead of Fox. That’s your real name, and I’d rather make this real,” I said into the wonderful eyes of his. “I think I’ve found out something new about myself with our Dates. I really enjoy being the Woman in this relationship, and that’s something I’ve never considered before. Heck, I thought I was a Heterosexual Guy, all of this time. Turns out I was more of a Heterosexual Girl. Because I was totally into the way you treated me. And I felt real in the way that I treated you. It felt normal that we were a couple, and I felt normal in admiring you, and your sexy body!”

“Dana,” Paul said, “You have a sexy body, too! Some parts aren’t filled-out yet, but I expect they will be. And I’m quite taken with you! I want to just sit on the Couch at my place, watch a Movie, and cuddle, if you want?”

“There is nothing in the world I would rather do than sit on the Couch and Cuddle with you, Paul,” I said in as sexy of a voice as I could muster up. “I would be so happy to just relax with you, and watch a movie!”

“As soon as we finish these Margaritas, let’s get back in my car, and get to my place!” He said, smoothly. “I’ve got a nice setup, with Netflix, Hulu, and a good supply of DVDs and Blu-Rays you can look through. I do have to admit, though, I don’t have a lot of ‘Chick Flicks!”

“That’s alright! It sounds perfect, anyway!” I said! “Let’s drink those Margaritas up, and get on our way!”

(Continued in Part 2)

The XX-Files Part 2

Author: 

  • Cindy Pagent

Audience Rating: 

  • General Audience (pg)

Publication: 

  • 17,500 < Novella < 40,000 words

Genre: 

  • Transgender

Character Age: 

  • Mature / Thirty+

Permission: 

  • Posted by author(s)

The XX-Files Part 2
By Cindy Pagent

This is a story of Discovery. Part 2

(For those of you who read Part 1 before, I’ve done some slight refinements to it, and reloaded it, so you might want to re-read it! Thanks, Cindy!)

Sandy Andros, of the Aero Airplane Company, has been working at Aero for about 5 years. Being 25, and not having lots of attributes of Maleness, like a big, muscled, hairy body, or having a beard to speak of, only being 5’6” tall, and a whopping 120 lbs, looks like, and is, a Geek. In fact, he looks a lot like Gillian Anderson, Agent Dana Scully of the FBI, despite being Male!

He is asked by several of the Women of his area to go to the Firms Halloween Party as Agent Dana Scully with someone else as Agent Fox Mulder, because there is a Costume Contest, and the girls think Sandy, and a handsome Fox duplicate will win!
Sandy finds out something new from this escapade! Can you guess what?

In this Second Part, Sandy and Paul have gone to the Aero Halloween Party, they won the Couples Category, and some other things happen to the two of them! Good Things! And things are leading up to something wonderful!

Chapter 6

As soon as we arrived at his House, and he clicked to have the Garage Door open, and we moved inside from his Car, in the same fashion as he had been doing all night: Treating me as a Lady! I had not received this kind of treatment before. I had always been the Guy in the Relationship, and had always been responsible for the treatment I was now receiving. Paul was so -Gentle-, so -Kind-, so -Loving- in the way that he was treating me. If I was to attach a name to the way he has been treating me, it would be Princess, which I said before. And, that would make him a Prince. And a Prince he was! I’ve never had somebody be so attentive to me!

We moved into the House from the Garage, and he showed me into the Living Room, and he sat me down on his Couch, in front of the 70inch LCD TV. It was obvious that he had quite an Audio/Visual system to be entertained by. And Guys are always very proud of their A/V system! And he had good reason to be proud of his!

“I’ll be right back! I just want to get us some Wine, and get the Popcorn started,” Paul said, as he was helping me get my Outer Coat off, and then helped me sit. He turned the System on, and then tuned in the Local News. Paul then took our coats and put them in the hall closet. Then he went to the Kitchen to get things ready for the Movie. I just sat there and watched that grand 70inch TV.

Paul had moved into the Kitchen, and reached under the counter to his Wine Fridge, and grabbed a bottle of Roscato, and got two Glasses. He reached to an upper cabinet and grabbed a bag of Popcorn, popped it into the Microwave, and hit the Popcorn button. He was quick to get a Bowl out for the Popcorn, and took the Roscato and Glasses out to the Coffee Table in front of the TV. He poured the Wine out, and offered me one of the glasses. We clinked Glasses, and took our first drink of that Wine! Just after that, he heard the Buzzer go off on the Microwave, and headed to the Kitchen.

He returned with the Popcorn Bowl, and set it down on the table.

“What do you want to watch now?” Paul asked.

“Well, I did get the joy of choosing the last movie, the Rom-Com, so why don’t you go ahead and choose this one for us?” I said.

“Ok, let’s do something that is kind of in-between a Rom-Com and an Action Movie. Let’s go with Jason Bourne!” he said with a wink!

“Well, there is a Love Story in The Bourne Identity!” I said, with a wink back.

So, he loaded up the Bourne Identity Blu-Ray, grabbed the Remote, and sat down beside me, cuddling up close. He started up the movie, grabbed his glass of Wine, and took a drink. And I took a drink, too. Paul sat his glass down, and took mine and set it down, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I cuddled up to him, even more.

We watched the first part of the movie, but it was a good thing I already knew what happened in the second part, because we were too busy smooching each other to notice what was happening on the screen, no matter how big the screen was, and how loud and wonderful the sound track. I don’t know if we were “in love”, but we certainly were ‘making love’! I’d never kissed a Guy before, but Paul was an eye-opener! I’ve never been kissed with such passion! Let’s just say, he was really into it! And, when he came up for air, so to speak, he commented, “You’re a Great Kisser!”

Well, you can imagine, that really got me going!

“You’re not too bad, yourself,” I replied!

I had never thought I would kiss a Guy, especially with such emotion, and get such emotion in return. I pulled back and looked him deep in his eyes. He really had a good cologne on! I didn’t realize it before, but I now thought of Paul as extremely Handsome! I looked, and looked, and realized Paul was something special, someone special I had never had in my life before. Someone who really cared about me for me.

“Paul, I don’t know if I’m in Love, but I’m very taken with you! I know, I know, using the ‘L’ word this early in a Relationship is usually poison to it, but even though I’ve never been in the role of a Woman in a Relationship before, I don’t feel bad about saying it as I have. You are someone very special, and I don’t know how I’ve lived these 25 years without that kind of caring, before.”

“Dana, don’t worry about using that ‘L’ word, I’m not worried,” Paul said. “I am, in fact, very much taken with you, too! And, no, I don’t think of you as that Guy I know over in ME. I think my initial thoughts were absolutely on the mark, they did hire a Gal in ME, you! And I don’t think of you in any way other than my latest Girlfriend. I know this crazy Costume Contest is the reason for us coming together, but I’m sure glad they had it, and we went to it as the X-Files Couple. Because without it, I’d never had met you, the ‘you’ that is in front of me, right now!”

“Awww!” I said, and buried my head into his shoulder, and I grabbed him around the middle, and hugged him with all my might! I looked up to him, and said, “I think this whole thing has brought something in me up to the surface. What I’m feeling for you, and the way that I’m acting, is totally fine with me. It’s something I’ve wondered about for many years. When Patty and Janice asked me to join them in ME, I didn’t have to think twice about their request. And then, we kept having Lunch together, and talking about whatever the Girls wanted to, and that seemed so natural to me, too!”

“You know, whatever you want to tell me, that’s fine with me. Whatever you’re discovering about yourself, it seems right to me. Look, I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging, but I’ve been out with plenty of Women, and I don’t see anything different about you from them. You are very Womanly, very sexy, to me!”

“Thank you for saying that, Paul. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to call you Dear, when we’re by ourselves,” I said. “Do you mind that?”

“Not if you don’t mind me returning it to you, Babe,” he said.

We settled back in, and tried to watch the rest of the movie. However, we had fallen asleep in each other’s arms, and awoke around 3am.

“Dana?” Paul asked. “It’s past 3am, and I know I would like to get some more sleep. Do you want to get up and have me drive you home? If not, you can sleep here, and I promise to be a Gentleman. Since I don’t have a Second Bedroom for you to sleep in, you could sleep in my bed, with me. I promise to not do anything naughty! Well, most of the time, anyway!” Paul asked me with puppy dog eyes. “And, I have some pajamas for you to wear!”

“Well, with an offer like that,” I responded, with a smile, “How can I refuse?”

You could see the Joy in Paul’s eyes. With that, we moved from the Living Room into his Bedroom. He went over to his chest of drawers, and got out two Pajama sets.

“Sorry, I only have Men’s Pajamas!” Paul sorrowfully explained. “I wish I had something more appropriate for you. However, most Women look very sexy in their Boyfriend’s PJ’s or Shirts, right? Do you want to try these on?”

“It’ll do, Pig, It’ll do,” I said, quoting the line from the movie “Babe”, smiling.

“Funny, funny!” Paul replied. “I know that movie! I’ll just lay your set out here on the bed, and I’ll change out in the Living Room. I know you’ll probably want to remove your Makeup, first. There’s some Moisturizer by the Bathroom Sink. So, let me know when you’re changed and ready, OK?”

“Sounds, good, Boss!” I said back to him.

Paul grabbed his set of PJ’s, and went out to change in the Living Room. I took the other set, and moved into his Bathroom. I didn’t have a lot of experience in getting out of my outfit, but I somehow did it. I stood there in Bra and Panties, and cleaned my face. I used the Moisturizer on my Face, and smoothed it all over. I got into the PJ’s, and went back out into his Bedroom, opened the door to the Hall, and went out to the Living Room.

I came up behind Paul, on the couch, hugged his shoulders, and kissed him on the head.

“I’m ready, Dear!” I said to Paul, who was sitting on the Couch, done with his changing. He got up, and guided me back to the Bedroom.

He pulled back the sheets for me, and I got into the Bed, and he pulled them over me. He went around, and got in himself. We ended up looking into each other’s eyes.

“Do you like to Spoon when you sleep with someone else?” Paul asked, with a little smile on his face.

“Well, yes, I do like to Spoon, but I’m usually the Spooner, not the Spoonee!” I whispered.

“If you’d lay on your Left side,” Paul whispered back, “I’ll move into you, and drape my arm over your side.”

“That sounds good to me,” I replied, and rolled over on my Left side. Paul moved up behind me, and put his arm over my side. He stroked my side for a while, and within 10 to 15 minutes, we were asleep. I was happy.

Chapter 7

About 9am, we finally woke up. I looked over at Paul, and gave him a Big Kiss. He returned my amorousness. He wrapped his arms around me, and continued the kissing! It was at least another 5 minutes until he stopped.

“Would you like me to fix us up some Breakfast? Do you have Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, and Pancake Mix?” I asked him.

“Not only do I have all of that,” Paul answered, “I even just got a Waffle Grill!”

I got out of bed, and so did he, meeting at the foot of the Bed.

“Well, if you don’t mind the ‘Little Woman’ making some Breakfast,” I enticed him, “I’ll do all of that after I get some Coffee started. Does that all sound good to you?” I wrapped my arms around his waist.

He kissed me on the head. “That sounds great!” he answered back. “Just for future info, I take my Coffee with 1 spoon of Sugar, 1-part Milk to 3 parts Coffee.”

“Well, I’m glad you told me,” I said, smiling back to him, “So that I’ll know for the next time I’m over here, if you’ll have me?”

“Yeah! Like that’s in question, now!” He swatted me on the rear, as I released him, and made my way to the Kitchen.

“Ouch! Silly Boy!” I yelled back at him. I still had his Pajama Top on. I had seen plenty of women do just this, on lots of Movies and TV shows, so I didn’t exactly feel out-of-place in wearing that for Breakfast. It was Sunday Morning, after all!

I started the Coffee, and got it brewing, and got some cups out for us. I got the Eggs, Sausage, Bacon, and finally found the Pancake Mix and the Waffle Maker. I got all of that out and started, and got the Oven going with the Bacon and Sausages on a Cookie Sheet.

Paul came up behind me, and placed a kiss on the back of my neck, and said, “Mmmm. I haven’t had a Woman making me Breakfast in a long time! Do you need me to help?” He turned me around, put his arms around my waist, and hugged me really tight.

“No, I’m fine!” I replied. “I just have to know how you want your Eggs done? And then, why don’t you go out and watch some Sunday Morning Football, or something else on that Big TV of yours?”

“I prefer my Eggs Scrambled. After I get my Coffee,” he said, “I’ll take you up on that suggestion to go watch the TV!”

He planted a kiss on my lips, and worked his way to the back of my neck, again, and waited over by the Coffee area. As soon as the Mr. Coffee finished its’ thing, and brewed the whole pot, the Sugar was already in the cups, so I poured in the Coffee, and added the Milk into both of our cups. He took his, gave me another kiss, and scooted out to the Living Room, to watch some Football.

I got the Breakfast ready, baking the Bacon and Sausages, making the Waffle Mix and making us each two Waffles, and finally, Scrambling the Eggs. He had a Pancake warmer, so I used that for our Waffles, turned off the Burner under the Scrambled Eggs, and pulled the Bacon and Sausages out of the Oven and got out some fancy plates to put those on. I found some Blueberries in the Freezer, thawed them, and put them in a bowl, and then on the Table, as topping for the Waffles. I dusted a little grated Cheese on top of the Scrambled Eggs, and had a bowl of diced Roma Tomatoes next to the plate, to put on the Eggs, if he liked that. I put the plates, and the Pancake Warmer onto the Table.

I went over to the Living Room, sat next to him on the Couch, tucking my legs underneath me, and said, “Breakfast’s Ready, My Lord!” He was obviously hungry, gave me a big Hug and a Kiss, and then pulled us both up to go into the Dining Room, and devour the Breakfast I’d made.

“It all looks so good,” Paul exclaimed! “Oh, the things I learn about you!”

“Yeah,” I smiled at him, “I’ve been told I’m a pretty good cook! My Mother made sure both of us children were taught cooking, since I didn’t have Home Economics in School!”

That being said, and another Big Kiss from him, we dug into Breakfast. I added a little Ketchup to my Eggs, which he shook his head at.

“There are sliced-up Tomatoes, to add on top,” I said, “If Ketchup isn’t to your liking!”

“I’ve never understood that!” Paul said.

“I learned it from my Mother. I think it comes from the fact that she learned it from her Mother, who had grown up during the Depression, and to make the food edible, or spice it up, they added things like Ketchup.”

“Kind of Disgusting,” he said, “but totally understandable! I’m sure there’s lots of things they did to make food more edible!”

“Yes,” I said, putting some Blueberries on my Waffles, after the Butter, “I also learned a lot of Comfort Food recipes from my Mother and my Grandma. They had to do a lot to make food edible back then.”

“Well, if your Breakfast is any clue,” Paul remarked, “you must be a Fabulous Cook! I just love your Breakfast!”

I bowed my head, and did my best to try to curtsey, in a chair. “Thank you, Sir! Your remarks are very welcomed!”

We finished up the Breakfast, and moved the dishes into the Dishwasher, and then we went out to the Living Room, and sat on the Couch, beside each other, cuddling up to each other.

“Well, this is all very Domestic!” Paul said. “I have to say, this is also very comfortable! I could get used to this!”

I looked over at him. “Yes, it’s very comfortable, and I could get very used to this, too! But I think we should probably take things slowly. There’s lots we don’t know about each other. And this is absolutely new territory for me!”

“Yeah,” he said, “But I think the most important thing has been discovered, already, don’t you think? I already know that you sleep on your Left Side!”

I grabbed a Throw Pillow that was on the Couch, and hit him over the head with it.

“Wait! Whoa!” Paul tried to get from under my assault. “Just Kidding! Just Kidding!”

I relented, and let him recover.

“Yes, I would have to say that my most ‘hidden secret’ is out in the open for us. ‘That’ has already been revealed!” I emphasized. “But the question is, what am I going to do about ‘that’? I could be wrong, but this seems like the Real Me, something I’m very comfortable with, the Natural State for Me.”

Paul turned down the volume on the Game, so that we could talk seriously, without having to talk over it.

“Yeah,” Paul said, “I could be wrong, too, but being ‘Dana’ seems like you. It seems like how you should probably live the rest of your life. I’m certainly not knowledgeable in that area, and I’d guess you aren’t either. What do you need to do, to start this process off, go talk with a Therapist?”

“I think that’s where I should probably start,” I answered, “but I think there’s also Support Groups, and Therapists, locally, who would know more of what to do, who to see, and all of that. I will probably jump on the computer and the Web, at home, to see what Resources there are here in Portland, to help me answer the questions I have. I will start Googling the information I need to start this Journey. It will certainly be a Journey, with lots of interesting ‘stops’, along the way, and lots of things to see and do! But I can’t think of a better place to be ‘different’. Between here and Seattle, we live in a very accepting community.”

“That plan sounds very smart, but don’t forget your built-in resources of Patty and Janice!” Paul reminded me. “After all, they would know what being Female is all about! Use the information you can get from those knowledgeable places where people who’ve been on that Journey before, know about it. There are probably lots of mistakes that people have made before, and those groups know how to avoid those mistakes. I must say, you take to this role very well. You are a most naturally Female person. I love the person inside this Human Being, and the scenery isn’t too bad, either! I do have to say that you seem like the person I’ve been looking for, that ‘other’ that completes me. I’ve been looking for you almost all my life, and now I’ve found you! Who knew that a Halloween Party would be the reason I found you!”

“Why, thank you, Sir,” I said, as I buried my head into his shoulder, once again.

“You are smart, funny, uninhibited, strong, and I know this might seem a bit unusual, but you seem to be yourself, without apology!”

“Can we just cuddle for a while,” I asked?

“I thought you’d never ask!” Paul said, as he grabbed me, and made me the target of his kissing attack.

After cuddling for a while, and watching Football for a bit, I gathered my things up, dressed myself appropriately, and got things together for the Garage.

“Paul, dear, I’m ready to go now,” I called out to him.

“Coming, Baby!” he answered me. He came down the hall, pulling his Sports Jacket on, and plucked his keys out of the bowl, by the front door. In his other hand, he grabbed my other things, and shooed me out of the door to the Garage.

We moved out to his 370Z, and he very Gentlemanly, opened my door and let me sit down, buckle up, and he then closed the door. He opened the back hatch, and loaded my Coat and extras in, and then moved around, sat down and punched the Garage Door Button. Then, he started the Z car, by punching the Start Button. I’m still not used to a car being started with a button!

As we zoomed down the road, I caught glimpses of the Beautiful Columbia River, and looking Southeast, I could just make out Mount Hood!

“We sure live in a Beautiful place, here in Portland, and in the Pacific Northwest. And I love the Oregon Coast!” I exclaimed. “Hey, do you want to plan a small Vacation out to the Coast, Lincoln City, or Gleneden Beach at the Salishan Resort? I love that area around Lincoln City!” Siletz Beach, the Sea Lion Caves, and Depoe Bay, which you know they shot part of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.

“I’ve been out to the Lincoln City Area a bunch of times!” Paul said. “My Family always Summered out there. I’d love to set up a Vacation with you to Lincoln City, stay at Spanish Head Hotel, and up to Tillamook to see the Cheese Factory, and the Air Museum, and at Depoe Bay, across from the Lighthouse, on their Bay, that’s in that movie, is the Spouting Horn Restaurant, which has lovely Pies and great Dinners! Obviously we’ve only known each other a short time, so we may need a bit of learning of each other before that trip, a Month, or so, I think! But I think I would enjoy learning more about Dana, and what makes her tick.”

He used his right hand, and massaged my Left leg. I found this very soothing and comforting. I hadn’t ever thought I would enjoy this kind of treatment, especially by a Man. But I am finding out more and more about myself that I didn’t know, and what I now enjoy. I turned my head towards him, and smiled. He smiled back at me, and I once again felt a tingle go down my spine. And that was a feeling of Happiness, of Belonging. I didn’t belong -to- him, I belonged to a Relationship, of common Love for each other. That was something I had never felt before. And it made me very happy!

“Paul, if you don’t mind waiting for me to find My Real Self,” I said to him, “I now want to become the ‘Real Me’, the one I am now finding out about. Do you mind all of the talk that will happen with me changing, especially that you’ll get?”

Paul looked over at me as he said, “Will you be Dana, and not Sandy, when this is all over?”

“Whether I was with you, or not,” I said back, “I would be pursuing this change. I have found the ‘Real Me’, the person who has been so sad through my early years, and the loving, emotional person I have found, that is the ‘Real Me’. And I am lucky enough to have someone like you, who finds me to be someone you want to spend time with, who wants to be with me, and who really cares for me!”

“Dana, I definitely see you as a Woman,” Paul said, “the Woman I want to be with. I see you as someone I want to know, someone who ‘completes me. I can wait for all of the changes to happen, to physically complete the person you should be. I’m in love with the Woman I’ve been with this Weekend, someone who cares for me, and I care for. I haven’t met someone like you before, and I want to keep finding out more about you. Does that make sense?”

“Perfectly,” I said. “I’d have to agree with everything you said. This is a Relationship I never saw coming, but something that was very pleasing to me.

“And since this Relationship is based on a Mental connection, and not the usual Physical one, I’m much more sure of it,” Paul replied.

“I will have to talk with people in the know about this kind of change, and then, I’m sure, I’ll have to talk with HR at the company, too!” I thought, out loud. “I want to keep working at Aero, even after the change. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that much of a surprise to everyone, if the Party is any indication.”

We pulled into my Apartment’s parking lot, up near the door. Paul got out and got my stuff out of the back. He helped me get out of the car, and took all of my things, and we went up to my Apartment. After I had unlocked my door, and we went inside, he put all of my gear down, He grabbed me, and pulled me to him, by my waist.

“Dana,” he said, “I’m sure this week will be a lively one, and full of discovery. I’ll see ‘Sandy’ at work, but don’t feel like you have to not see me there. I understand what is going on, and so, I understand the reality of what’s going on. Keep me updated as to what you find out.”

“I will also be calling those in the know,” I said, “And setting up appointments and probably going to some Support Groups. I’m sorry for all of the kidding that will probably happen tomorrow, at work!”

“Oh, they’re just silly!” Paul responded. “I understood the ‘consequences’ when I said ‘Yes’ to this whole thing, so don’t worry about it. You’re worth all of the hassle that’ll go on.” And with that, he planted a long, wet, romantic kiss on me. It went on for what seemed like hours! He finally let up, but kept me in his arms. And he kept looking me in the eyes.

“I know these are charged words, but I have to say it.” I said.

“And what is that, Dear?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, unsure of what would come from my lips, but smiling, nonetheless.

“I Love You!” I said, with extra meaning. And I hugged him very hard. And he hugged me back.

“And I Love You, too, Missy!” he said back to me.

With that hug, he let go of me, and he left my Apartment. It was Monday tomorrow, and we’d both be going back to work!

Chapter 8

I got ready, as usual, for work. I drove in to Aero Monday morning, worrying about what the reception would be in the Cubicle Farm, to Paul and me at the Party. I was sure there would be fallout as to what Paul and I did at the Party, and what people saw.

I parked my little Blue Stanza in the parking lot, and thanked goodness that I didn’t have to wear those Pumps from my car to the Engineering Building, because the Parking Lot was made of gravel, and even the one block walk into the Engineering building would be painful. I didn’t know how Patty and Janice did it every day. They must wear a pair of Sneakers, or something similar, for the walk in! That’s something else I should talk to them about!

I finally made my way in, and to my Desk, where I put my Lunch and things into my desk. I got my present assignments out, and started to work, Latte at my side.

Patty was the first one to come by my desk, about 30 minutes after I arrived.

“Well?” Patty said. “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to drag it out of you. Sorry for the Double Entendre!”

“Why don’t we wait for Janice to come in,” I said, “And why don’t we wait for Lunch time. I have enough to tell you two, that Lunch would be a better time to talk. Let’s just say that things went as well after the Party, as they did at it.”

“Ok. I think I can wait that long, …but just barely, with news like that!” Patty replied. “You better have some juicy stuff!” She winked at me as she said that last bit.

“Oh, I think I can measure up to that request,” I said, winking back.

“Fair enough,” Patty said! “The usual place in the Lunchroom, at 12:00.”

“See you then in the Lunchroom at 12!” I said back to her, confirming the time and place.

I walked by Paul’s desk at Early Break, to see if he had anything to say. As I walked up to his desk, I caught his eye.

“Let’s go outside,” Paul requested.

“Sounds good to me!” I replied.

Paul got his coat, and we walked by my desk, where I got my coat, and proceeded outside. We found a nice little bench to sit on, under a tree, next to the building. I had to resist wanting to hug him. New habits are hard to break, too!

“Well, have you had any reaction to us at the Party?” I asked.

“I’ve had several people from the IE area, and a couple of Engineers come by and congratulate me for winning,” he said. “They said they didn’t realize how much I looked like Duchovny until that Party.”

“And nothing about ‘us’?” I asked.

“Well, they did say they didn’t realize how much you looked like Agent Scully,” he said slyly. “And they were quite impressed at how well you pulled it off! And those who didn’t know it was you just thought you looked very nice. And the Single guys said how Sexy they thought you looked, and how lucky I was! I guess they didn’t know who you actually were.”

“And nothing about how ‘chummy’ we were?” I asked.

“Well, I did get a little kidding from Fred, over in ME. He did start to say how good-looking you were, and then gave me a hard time about our kissing, and how much PDA you were doing with me, and I didn’t seem, to him, to be objecting enough. I told him to ‘Bugger Off’! It was my Personal Business! I guess he’s one of those more ‘Toxic Masculinity’ types! I’ve been putting up with his ‘Insights’ for years, now. I didn’t tell him that I didn’t mind all of your PDA, it was quite nice!” He smiled when he finished saying that. “But I didn’t exactly advertise our actions when I got back to work, at least yet!”

“Yeah, you don’t want to poke the Sleeping Bear!” I joked.

“It all seemed very normal to most of them, I think. I have to wonder if they have always thought of you as a Female person, like I first did. When Patty and Janice revealed their plan to me, and told me that you would be my Scully, I have to admit it didn’t exactly sound that crazy! I know, I know, I was a bit thrown, at first, seeming to have a ‘Guy’ play Scully. But the more I thought about it, there is a lot about you that is Feminine, not Effeminate! Like now, the way that you’re sitting, the way you hold your hands. I don’t mean anything negative by it, but that isn’t exactly Masculine!”

“You may have something there!” I answered. “I was beat up a lot after school, like at the School Bus Stop for my neighborhood. I got forced into a lot of fights, and was called ‘Fag’, and the like, during my early school years. And come to think of it, I was even given a difficult time for the way that I carried my books! They said it was ‘Too Girlish', for most of the guys, the way I carried them! They were relentless! I didn’t ride the Bus many times because of them and their attitudes, if they were on the bus!”

“Dana,” Paul said sadly, “I never knew! If I had been there, I would have Defended you!”

“Except,” I replied, “that would only have made those idiots more mad, if you can believe it! I learned to just leave them alone, and pay no attention to their antics!”

Paul looked down at his watch. “Ok, it’s about time to go back inside,” he said. “I forgot, I wanted to ask you, is Dana doing anything this Friday night?” he asked with a smile.

“Well, I think she just might be,” I replied, with a wink. “I’ll have to ask Patty and Janice if they can help her get ready, ok?”

“That sounds good. Let me know when you know,” Paul said. “It seems to me like you might need to have some classes on how to do the makeup, and stuff, I mean if you keep going out in public, you might want to just do that getting ready yourself, instead of having to ask your two cohorts.”

“That sounds like a great idea! I’ll go to them and ask that,” I said.

Paul and I moved back inside. We split up on our way, and I went to see Patty and Janice. I had a hard time not grabbing his hand on the way back in.

“Patty? Can I get a minute or two with you?” I asked.

“Sure! What’s it about?” Patty asked. “I have the time right now to talk with you!”

I found the chair from the empty desk next to hers, and sat down. Janice wasn’t there, right then.

“What I want to talk about is that Paul has asked Dana to go out this Friday,” I said, “And I need you girls to help get me ready for that.”

“No problem,” Patty replied. “If Janice isn’t available, I can handle what you need, by myself.”

“But that points out a problem,” I said. “The problem is that I obviously haven’t acquired the knowledge and training that I need for that. I wasn’t raised as a Girl, how I would have gotten that knowledge. What I really need is to learn what I should know about makeup, and many more things Female. As Female as Paul sees me, there are some things I know I do that are very Female, but there are so many things that I don’t know.”

“I know that I’d be very honored to be your Teacher on those subjects,” Patty said, “and I’m pretty sure that Janice would be, too! I’d be very happy to help you know what you need to know that would help you be more of a member of the Sisterhood! But, you’re right, you don’t know what you should, at this point in a Woman’s Life. And you just might need some training in those areas.”

“I’d be so, so, indebted to you two, if you would help me out,” I said to Patty. “I don’t want to seem like I’m being ‘Old Fashioned’, but there is a certain set of Stereotypes that are very true, that most Women do and know. Our Society expects Women to do those things, and they are recognized as being very Female. I was raised by a Mother who also raised a Daughter, and, for the most part, we were raised exactly the same, with some extras for each of us. So Cynthia also got some training in how to be more ‘Male’, more self-assured and strong. And I got training in how to be more ‘Female’, more emotion and empathy in what I do. That is a good reason, I think, that I’ve been seen as being Female. Well, my looks are also responsible, too, I think. Looking like Gillian Anderson is more ‘acceptable’ now, than when I was growing up, especially for a young Boy. And it is still not seen as something positive, unlike for Tomboys. And I’ve always been small, for my age, which I’m now finding to my advantage!”

“I’m so sorry for what you went through in your childhood!” Patty replied. “I think you might be one of those people who had a mix-up in your Genes. It’s very obvious that you got physical Male characteristics in some of your Genes. But it’s also clear that your Gender Identity, that inner part of you, in your Brain, came out very Female. You’ve just taken to being Dana like a Duck to water!”

“It has seemed quite easy for me,” I replied. “When I’ve been with Paul, I’ve just become Dana, and he’s treated me that way. And I’m very happy with it. So, when Paul asked Dana out for this Friday, I still looked like Sandy, but that didn’t phase him. He could see beyond it. Silly as it may be, I do want to look Pretty for Paul on this date! And I don’t even know where that comment came from! There’s a bunch of things I’ve been thinking and saying that I’ve never thought of before!”

“Sandy, I think you’ve got a lot of Dana already built inside of you, so I can see how it would be so easy for you,” Patty said. “And, I’d be happy, and I’m sure Janice would be, too, in helping you learn more of what you need to know about being Dana. I don’t see this as being something that you’re going to do for a short time. I think you’re heading in this direction. And, as I said before, I think that’s one of the things that really stood out about you, and why we noticed you. Well, besides doing so well in rewriting the Plans of those Shop Orders! Let’s talk more at Lunch, ok?”

“Thank you for saying ‘Yes’ to helping me this Friday,” I thanked her. “I’ll see you and Janice at Lunch, ok? And we can talk about all of this, and the Weekend.”

“That sounds grand!” Patty replied.

With that, and a smile to her, I moved back to my Desk, and kept busy until Lunch.

Lunchtime came around, and I saw Janice and Patty were already sitting at our Table. I sat down, and got ready to eat my Lunch.

“Well, did you clue Janice in already?” I asked.

“Yes, and she said Yes.” Patty replied. “She and I would be happy to help you get ready for this weekend. I held off on talking about your other request, as it seemed like that would be more appropriate to talk about in person. And you also have other things to talk about, don’t you?”

I looked over to Janice, and said, “The first thing Patty is talking about is that even though you two will help me out this Friday, I need to learn what you’re doing, because this is more than something temporary to me. I believe being Dana is something that I will continue to pursue. And the other thing Patty is alluding to is what happened this past Weekend. Here’s what happened. After you two last saw of us, Paul wanted to go have a Celebration drink at his favorite bar, El Toro, to celebrate our win. By the way, I’ve started just calling him Paul, since this has turned out to be much more than just the Halloween Party. And, that is his ‘real’ name!”

“That makes sense!” Janice said.

“So, after the El Toro,” I said, “We went to his place, and watched a Movie. It was ‘The Bourne Ultimatum,’ for those interested! And we had wine, and Popcorn. And I fell asleep in his arms, before the end of the movie.”

“You didn’t!” Janice blurted out.

“I totally did!” I said.

“This is sounding more and more sordid! Go on, go on! You have my interest!” added Patty.

“When we woke up on the Couch,” I continued, “It was 3am, and Paul didn’t exactly want to drive me home, at that time, and I didn’t feel like getting out into the cold outside, to go home. So, he suggested that I sleep-over at his place. The thing is, he only has One Bed, and One Bedroom, so he said, if he promised to be a Gentleman, would I mind sleeping in his Bed, in a pair of his PJ’s.”

“Oh, my!” Janice said. “He -is- seeing you as Female, just the way he’s acting towards you, all the time. And, he asked you to stay. Didn’t he offer to sleep on the couch?”

“Darn! I didn’t think of that! But that wouldn’t have been as much fun,” I said. “Well, you know Men! Anything to get us into their bed! (Did I really just include myself as a Woman, and excluded myself as a Man! Interesting!) I got into the PJ’s, and slipped onto his Bed, and he did, too, and he Spooned me!”

“And you didn’t mind? You thought he was still being a Gentleman?” Patty questioned.

“Well, he was very Gentlemanly in his Spooning.” I said, and smiled. “And I was the Spoonee, and he gently stroked my side, until we fell asleep.”

“Well, I don’t know if he was the ‘most’ Gentlemanly,” Janice added, “But he sounded like he was very Sexy, and Loving, in the way he treated you. And, it sounds like he was also very gentle! It does sound like he was being very proper with you, and not being too physical!”

“I thought so,” I said to them. “I know I’m new to this ‘Girl’ thing, but it seemed like he was very respectful, and yes, Loving. With that kind of treatment, when he asked me if I was doing anything this upcoming weekend, I didn’t want to say No!”

Patty looked long and hard at me. I didn’t know what she was getting at, but then, it hit me. I hadn’t gone into what happened in the bed, and the next day, Sunday. We finished up our Lunch, and she said, “So, what happened on Sunday, when you woke up next to each other?”

“Well, when we woke up next to each other,” I continued, “I have to admit, that was a new situation for me. Especially since we ended up kissing each other that Morning, for like 5 minutes! I don’t know what came over me, but it was just so natural! And he was so good at it!”

Janice and Patty both just looked at each other, and raised their eyebrows. Patty said, “Go on!”

“It was 9am on Sunday, so I asked if he would like me to make Breakfast for us. And I said something about him not minding me being the ‘Little Woman’! He didn’t mind, and even said something that made me think we would be doing this again. He told me how he wanted his Coffee, and I said that’s good to know, since it sounded like he wanted me over to his place again. And he said, ‘As if that’s in question!’, which made me feel very wanted, and then we acted like Sophomores, with him swatting me on the rear, as I left for the Kitchen, and him heading for the Couch and watching Football.

“So, I went ahead into the Kitchen and found the makings for Waffles, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, and the Coffee, too,” I said.

“Sounds very Domestic!” Janice said.

“That’s what he said,” I emphasized! “I really felt like a Girlfriend! So, I went ahead and made Breakfast, which was very easy for me, because my Mother taught me to be a good cook. She said that I would be a Bachelor, and no one was going to make my meals when I was Single, so she thought it was a good idea. Besides, I didn’t get to take Home Economics in High School.”

“Sounds very smart to me!” Patty answered. “What else went on that Morning?”

“He was very Romantic before, and during Breakfast,” I smilingly told them, “with lots of Kissing, and he implied he could get very used to this Domesticity. That gave me a lot to think about. After we finished up with Breakfast, we watched TV for a while, Football, of course! While we were on the Couch, he assured me that my little ‘secret’ was safe with him. And being Dana seemed like the ‘Real Me’, and that I probably needed to find out who can help me with this change. He knew I should make this change! And he reminded me that I had a built-in resource, in you two. And then he said something very sweet. He said he had been looking for me, almost all of his Life, and now he’s found me. I fell into his shoulder and cried. We ended up cuddling for a while, while I finished crying. Then we got ready to go to my place, and we headed off.”

“That’s some Breakfast! And that’s some statement, about looking for you,” Patty said. “Anything else?”

“When we were headed back to my apartment, on I-84, I commented on what a beautiful place we live in, here in the Pacific Northwest, and happened to mention the Oregon Coast,” I related. “Especially the Lincoln City area, Salishan Resort, the Cheese Factory, and the Air Museum. He said his family did many of their Summer vacations out there. He said that although we’ve only known each other only a short time, after we learn a bit more about each other, we might think of a Vacation out there. Am I crazy, or does he seem like he’s falling for me?”

“I think that your Feminine Intuition is working OK,” Patty said. “Just be careful of being too optimistic about that. We Women are known to do that.”

“Yeah, you don’t want to fall into the trap of falling for him, too soon!” Janice added. “You know Men!” And she smiled, after saying that.

“It’s a good thing he’s started thinking in more of an ‘Us’ mode,” Patty said, “then thinking in a ‘Me’ mode. That’s one of the more difficult things to get Guys to accept. They’re taught to be so self-reliant, and they forget to be inclusive of others, especially loved ones. See? You’ve even got me doing it! I don’t think of you being part of the ‘opposite sex’ anymore, even with what I see in front of me! You ‘mostly’ look like Dana, anyway!”

“Thanks, I think! Now, if I’m going out with him this Friday, and probably staying at his place Friday night, and maybe Saturday night, too, I think I might need an nice outfit for Friday night, some casual ‘Girl’s’ clothes for Saturday and Sunday, and a bit of makeup for Saturday and Sunday, and how to put it on, don’t you think?”

“Oh, and don’t forget a load of undies, too, when we’re looking for your clothes!” Janice added in.

“That sounds right to me,” Patty agreed! “Janice and I can shop with you this week, and help you get the outfits you need, the undies, and makeup, too!”

“What are you doing tomorrow at 5pm?” Janice asked.

“Shopping with you?” I answered and asked.

“Splendid!” Janice enthused. “We can go to Nordstrom Rack for the outfits, and then Goodwill, if needed. And we’ll go to Target for regular clothes, some undies, and the makeup!”

“I know, I’ve been shopping with you two before,” I said, “But there’s a whole world I’ve got to learn about, for Female shopping!”

“You’ve got hold of a very nice Gentleman,” Patty said, “And we’ll do everything we can to help you keep hold of him. A loving relationship is hard enough to find, especially one this complicated, and this one is really special! And so is Paul, really special!”

“I couldn’t agree with you more!” I said, smiling! “I really feel fulfilled by this one.”

And with that, we dug into our Lunches, talked over a few more details, and when we were done, finally went back to work.

Chapter 9

Tuesday afternoon came along, and Janice came over to my desk to pick me up.

“Hey, there!” Janice said, “We might want to stop back at your place, to get you looking right for our shopping, ok?

“That sounds great!” I replied, “I think that only a little makeup, and maybe the Scully outfit will do.”

“Yeah, we don’t have a nice easy set of shoes for you, yet,” she said, “And the Scully pumps are a bit dressy, so that’s something else we need to take care of, when we’re out, ok?”

So, we went out, and got in my car, and started out for my place.

“Hey, I wear an size 7 in Men’s shoes,” I said, as I was driving. “What’s that in Women’s shoe size?”

“As I remember, that’s going to be a Size 8 ½,” Janice said. “There’s about a 1 and ½ difference between shoe sizes, the smaller size in Men’s, ends up larger in Women’s. Don’t ask me why it’s different! But I do know why our buttons are on different sides, Men and Women!”

“Why’s that,” I asked?

“Well, it goes with the whole idea of Women being the property of Men argument,” she said. “Because Women were always dressing Men, in olden times, and to make it easier for the Women, because they were in front of the Men when they buttoned their shirts, they put the opening and buttons on the opposite side, for the Women, to make it easier, so they only had to learn one way!”

“That doesn’t seem to be exactly transferable,” I said.

“Come to think of it,” Janice said, “I guess it isn’t! I just learned to do it that way for my clothes, and never questioned it. When I learned of the reason, it seemed logical, so I didn’t think about it. I guess you’re right!”

“Another of life’s mysteries solved,” I exclaimed!

“If you say so,” Janice said! “After we get you looking a bit more correct, where should we go first?”

“Let’s get the fancy outfit taken care of first,” I answered. “I guess that would mean Nordstrom Rack first, right?”

“That sounds about right, to me,” Janice replied.

With that, we were just about at my place, and were shortly pulling into my parking lot, and working our way upstairs, where I let us into my Apartment.

“You wait out here,” I said, “while I get changed into something more ‘comfortable’!” I smiled.

“Ok,” Janice replied, “I’ll just take a seat on the Couch.”

With that, I went into my Bedroom and got my Scully outfit on.

I came out, got my Purse, and transferred the ‘special’ things, and we went out to my car. I’m still not used to getting a Purse before leaving. I’ll have to concentrate on that!

Upon arriving at the Clackamas Mall, we went into the Rack, and started looking around in the Dresses area, and chose 3 outfits that we thought would look good on me, and would be appropriate for a Date. We then headed off to a Changing Room.

“I don’t know, Janice, I’ve never been in a Women’s Changing Booth,” I whispered, “Would you go in there with me?”

“Don’t worry,” Janice replied, “Women are not as worried about their friends seeing them in undergarments, so let’s find a Family-sized booth.”

“Sounds good to me!” I answered.

We found a Family booth, and went in. We hung up all of the Dresses, and I got undressed, from the Scully outfit. I stood there, in my undies, feeling exposed. Janice took the first dress of the hook, which was Red, and got it ready for me to try on. This was going to be a week of firsts, and this was an example. And this would be the first dress I would wear. I wore the pantyhose again, so my legs were fine, for a dress. The pantyhose made my legs the right color. I got the first dress on, and let Janice do up the zipper.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked Janice.

“That looks pretty good. It accentuates and nips your waist, and shows off your figure. Let me get a picture of that, in case you want to get it later, “ Janice said, as she took out her iPhone. “Let’s see how the others look on you, Okay?”

“Okay, just give a second to get out of this one,” I said. I reached back, unsuccessfully trying to undo the zipper. “Janice, could you help me again with the zipper?”

“Yes, that’s one thing we should also get,” she said, “It’s the curse of all Women, zippers! We need to get a zipper puller. I got my latest one on Amazon. It’s called the ‘ZipHer’, and I wouldn’t be without it. You can get it on Amazon, just like I did. For now, you’ve got me! I’ll be your ‘ZipHer’!”

“Sounds good to me,” I replied.

Janice unzipped me, and I stepped out of the dress. Janice got the Green one, and I tried that on. It was a bit more revealing, being backless.

“As I said when you picked out this dress,” I complained, “Isn’t this dress a little bit risqué?”

“Every woman should have a Backless dress,” she exclaimed. “This Green one could be your first! Anyway, you’ll need a Strapless Bodice Bra, and we’ll look for one when we’re loading you up with Bras.”

“You’re the expert, here,” I said. Janice helped me pull the dress on.

“I will be with you on Friday, if you get this dress,” Janice said. “But you need to know how to get into and out of this by yourself, right?”

“Okay, Mother,” I comically hissed back at her.

Janice dutifully took a picture, or two, of this one. She made sure to get one of my back.

“Patty will love to see these pictures,” Janice said.

We got the Green one off, and Janice got the third one, resplendent in Black, almost a velvet look to it.

“Now, every girl should have an LBD,” she said.

“I know we work in aerospace, where we use a lot of TLA’s,” I said, “but what does LBD stand for? I would guess the middle letter stands for Black, and the last one is for Dress, but what about the first one?”

“Little, Black, Dress, she spelled it out for me. “It’s supposed to be the ‘killer’ outfit every girl has in her wardrobe. It should be sexy, so that you can’t keep the guys off of you, well, at least with their eyes.”

“Now I get it!” I realized, and told her. “And the one we’ve chosen is certainly that! It’s definitely a ‘killer’.”

What little of it that there was, slipped on easily. I would need that ‘ZipHer’ if I chose to buy this dress. Janice zipped me in. We both looked at me in the mirror.

“Wow!” I exclaimed.

“Wow, indeed,” Janice seconded. “Now you understand why every girl needs one in her closet!”

“I think this one is a keeper,” I said. “But let’s not buy this to wear this weekend. I don’t want to kill the guy, this early in our dating!”

“Okay, Okay,” Janice replied, with a smile, “Don’t kill him! Don’t wear it this Friday! You should get that one, and the Green one, too. Oh, heck! With as low a price as they’re asking, why don’t you go ahead and get all three? The Red one was only $24.95, the Green backless one, $32.95, and the LBD was only $44.95, marked down from $250.”

“Double Wow,” I exclaimed. “This one is expensive! At least originally!”

“Yeah, that’s what you find at the Rack, sometimes,” Janice said. “Some Women buy a dress at Nordstrom, and return it in a week, or so, afterwards. And you get it for $44.95. Isn’t shopping at the Rack wonderful?”

“I’d say so!” I replied. “Three dresses for about $100! But that doesn’t count the shoes, and undergarments.”

“That’s true,” Janice said, “But you looked fabulous in all Three dresses! Put a price on Looking Fabulous!”

“OK, you’re right,” I replied. “I’m just getting used to the price difference. Buying clothes before was no big deal. If I needed jeans, I just went to JCPenney’s, and bought them, for $35. But I do have to say, this is much more fun, especially shopping with one of your Girlfriends!”

“Why, thank you, dear,” Janice emoted. “It’s a lot of fun for me, too! Especially with you looking so snazzy in those dresses. Now you may understand why we Women go out shopping so much!”

“Well, getting a good price on your duds isn’t too bad either,” I said.

“That’s another thing we need to work on,” Janice said. “These aren’t ‘duds’, they’re Outfits. Get it?”

“You’re so right,” I said! “These certainly aren’t! I’ll remember ‘outfits’, not duds! I especially liked the LBD!”

“Yeah, me too,” Janice said. “After we get you out of that LBD, it’s off to the Shoe Department.”

So we got the LBD off, and I put the Scully outfit back on.

“Janice, since I’m learning all this new Jargon,” I asked. “What do you call the kind of outfit I have on now?”

“That’s a Pantsuit, sweetie,” she said, smiling back at me. “Remember they were making fun of that kind of outfit with Hillary. What else was she supposed to wear? Imagine the Vice President in a Dress.”

“I’d rather not!” I said. “I don’t like him enough, already. Let’s not add ‘funny looking’ to the pile!”

“But you get the drift,” Janice said, “Don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah,” I replied, “I get the new term, and I get your point!”

“Gather your dresses up,” she said, “and off to the Shoes!”

We arrived in the shoe department, and I was just overwhelmed with the choices! Janice took it easy on me, and didn’t look for Pumps with 3” heels, except for the Black ones. We took the two pair that we’d chosen, and took a seat in the fitting area. A good-looking young Man approached us.

“My name is Steve,” he said. “May I help you Ladies with your shoe choice?”

I picked up the shoes, and presented them to him.

“I’d like to look at these,” I said, “in size 8 and one half.”

“No problem!” Steve happily said. “I’ll be right back out to you Ladies, with the full set!”

When Steve was out of earshot, I said, “The last time I was in a shoe store,” I said, “They had the women putting on some kind of little sock, right?”

“You’re right!” Janice replied. “That’s called a ‘Pedi’ or a ‘Ped’. Those are temporary socks, so you don’t have to put on shoes that somebody else wore, and might have had some foot disease.”

“Right!” I said. “You wouldn’t want to get somebody else’s foot disease” I said, teasingly.

“Right!” Janice echoed, laughing.

Steve came back, with two shoeboxes in hand, and sat down on a Fitting Stool, right in front of me. I hadn’t gone whole hog yet, so I didn’t have painted toenails. But that is a good idea! I think I’ll have to do that before I go out with Paul.

He pulled out some Pedi’s and let me slip them on. He offered the Right shoe of the Black pumps, and then he put the other on my Left foot.

“How do they feel?” Steve asked.

“They feel good, in fit, at least,” I said. “Let me try them out by walking a bit.”

“Sounds good,” Steve said, in a cheery, salesman’s tone.

I stood up, and started to walk around. I wasn’t used-to this extra height, I was a little shaky, but I still made it around my little path that I knew I would take. I came back and sat down.

“That feels good!” I replied. “Let’s try the Beige ones.”

Steve took the Back Pumps off my feet, and slipped the Beige mid-heel pumps on my feet.

“Why don’t you try your little excursion with those,” Steve said.

And so, I dutifully got up and tried the Beige pumps out. They seemed fine, too.

“Those feel good, too!” I said. “We’ll take both of them!”

Steve boxed up the two pairs of shoes, and asked, “Is there anything else I could do for you Ladies?”

“No, but Thank You for your kind help,” I said.

We gathered up the shoes, and dresses, and made our way up to the Cashier.

The young girl at the register rung up the items.

“That will be $190.40, please,” she said. “If your using your Debit card, the card reader is on the right, yes, right there!”

It was lucky that they had a Card reader, because, although I had a Nordstrom card, it was still in Sandy’s name. It still did require me to sign it, but most people don’t have a very readable signature, so I wasn’t worried! And my old First Name could be a Female’s name, too!

“Alright! That’s it Miss Andros! Have a wonderful day!”

“Thanks,” I replied, “You, too!”

And with that, we were out of there, into my little Nissan Stanza, and off to Target.

“Whew! Glad that’s over!” I said, with some relief.

“What? That was wonderful! And Fun! Didn’t you have fun?” Janice asked.

“I was having fun, except I thought everyone was staring at me,” I said. “I guess it’s just me! I’m still not having as much fun as I could, because I’m not used to being out in Public dressed as a Woman, especially in the Daylight.”

“I’m sure that it will become more and more natural for you,” Janice said. “If you could handle being out with Paul, this shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Yeah, but everyone knew I was Male there, well, most people,” I said. “They knew I was Sandy Andros, from Manufacturing Engineering.”

“Au contraire, Mon Ami,” Janice said, in French. “The way that many of them acted towards you and Paul is proof that many of them didn’t know anything about you. And if they knew, they didn’t care.”

“I guess you’re right!” I accepted. “I’m just being a bit silly, and paranoid!”

“Yes, you were,” Janice tried to be understanding, “And yes you are! But just keep acting normal, like you were just shopping with a girlfriend, and things will be alright!”

“Yes,” I replied. “And, of course you’re right. I will try to do my best and relax, and not be paranoid. It will take some time, but I’m sure I will become more relaxed.”

We arrived in the Target parking lot, and went inside. Janice had me pick-up 3 packages of Panties (that name will have to grow on me. I’ve had 20-some years of training that Panties was a ‘Bad Word’) 3 regular Bras, and a couple of packs of Sports Socks, with cute color bands. Cute. Did I say that? We even got some pantyhose, knee highs, and a Nightie. I paid for them, and we were done for the day. I would do my ‘other’ shopping with Patty.

We set off for Aero, since our shopping was done. I pulled up to Janice’s car, in the Aero parking lot. I turned to her, as she was taking off her seat belt.

“Thank you, so much! I don’t know what I would have done without you,” I said. “I needed a ‘kick in the rear’ to start the shopping, to get ready for this weekend.”

“Oh, that was nothing,” Janice said. “It was my pleasure to help you out! And don’t worry about it. I’m helping a ‘Sister’ who just needed a little help to get going! You and Janet can pick-up tomorrow, and get the Strapless Bodice Bra, some regular clothes, and some Makeup!”

I leaned over to give Janice a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I said, as I was hugging her. Now I knew why Women hugged each other so much. It was nice, and felt good, too!

“Good bye!” I said. “See you tomorrow!”

“Good bye and Good Night sweet Dana!” Janice said, as she let go of my hug. “You were a pleasure to shop with! And you got some important clothes, for this weekend, and other times

Janice got into her car, and fired it up. She moved out, then. I just wanted to make sure that her car started before I left. I wouldn’t want her to have to wait, in this cold, for AAA to come out and rescue her. I drove home, and got into my new Nightie, and fell asleep very fast!

Chapter 10

The Alarm at 6am was loud, and too early! But, I knew I had to get up, and trundle myself off to work, after some Breakfast, and I did just that. I realized that I would have to start getting up earlier, to get Dana ready, as there was much more to getting ready, as a Female, than as a Male getting ready for Work, so I might as well get used to it.

“Well, look at what the Cat dragged in this Morning!” Patty joyfully said.

“Who, me?” I asked. I plopped my stuff on my desk, and started to set things up for the day.

“We’re planning on going out this afternoon, aren’t we?” I asked.

“Yes, dear,” Patty said. “We have to get you all ready for this Weekend, don’t we?”

“I guess so! We need to stop off at my apartment, first, Okay?” I said.

“We’re going to a Mall, far away from here, okay” Patty asked.

“That sounds good to me!” I said. “We can go in my car, if that’s good?”

“That will work for me,” Patty said. “I know where we’re going to, so we don’t need to take my Eclipse.”

The rest of Wednesday went pretty much normal. Lots of Plans to write, lots of Research to do, and I also had a stint as the Liaison ME, where I went out to the Shop, and fixed the plans that needed fixing, of the jobs that were in work. That just about took me up to Lunch. I got my Lunch, and headed off to the Cafeteria, where I knew Patty and Janice would be waiting.

It was a different lunch than usual. The Girls were asking me what I was expecting, and what I wanted to do with Paul this Weekend, I think like they would have been asking any other Female worker of theirs the same questions. And that made me happy. That they would be accepting me, already, as a Female co-worker.

Four o’clock came around and Patty and I got our things together, and headed out to my car, and got in, and headed off to the Clackamas Town Center, South of Portland. We pulled into the Parking Lot and parked near Nordstrom, and I followed Patty, as she cut through the store to the Mall.

“Oh, no, no, no!” I said. “I’m not going in there! That’s a den of inequity, or something!”

“Don’t be a chicken about it!” Patty said. “You know you’ve got to go in there! One time, or another! Just get it over with!”

I stood there a moment, just outside the most Pink Place on Earth, Victoria’s Secret.

“I, ah, I, ah,” I stuttered, “Can you just let me hang onto your elbow?”

“Sure, thing,” said Patty, “’fraidy cat!”

“Now, now.” I said, “No reason to be mean!”

“Just wait!” said Patty, “You’ll be begging me to take you to Victoria’s Secret, in a year!”

“Maybe so,” I replied, “But right now, I’m just a bit afraid of this place!”

I grabbed Patty’s left elbow, and her arm, and we proceeded in. She focused in on the Bra section. She let me go, and then we started looking for the special Bra I would need for the Backless dress. Hunting around she picked up, and set down several Bras, before finding one that was perfect for my needs. She handed it to me, and I was a bit flummoxed.

“Waita-whoa!” I said, as I took the Bra from her. “Oh, that’s right. You already know my ‘size’, or what my size is supposed to be.

“Yes, we’ll get something nice looking,” Patty said.

“Ok, yeah, that looks good,” I said, “I guess!”

“We’ll get that,” Patty said, “and then let’s go over to the Nightwear section.”

We looked around, and finally found the Nighties. We each picked them up, and looked at them. I finally found one that I liked, called a ‘Cupro Cami & Short Set’. I found one in Red, that didn’t look too femmy.

“What do you think of this? It’s called a ‘Flounce Satin Kimono set’, and I like this light Blue. It would look better on you, than the set that you have,” Patty said.

I looked at the price tag. “Boy, it isn’t cheap being a Girl!” I exclaimed.

“You can say that, again!” Patty said. “And there’s what some call a ‘Pink Tax’ on all kinds of items, like razors, and mirrors, and such! Just because they were for a Woman, or they were Pink! It ends up being an extra $1,300 a year, just to be a Woman!”

We worked our way up to the Cashier, and put our shopping on the register shelf.

“Good Afternoon, Ladies,” the perky clerk said. “Anything else for you today? Do you have an Angel Card? No? Can I sign you up for it?”

“Not today, thanks,” I said. “I’m in a bit of a hurry, so not today!”

Once again, it was lucky I had a Debit Card in the name Sandy Andros, so they didn’t think twice about me. We were quickly doing the exchange of the card, and the payment, and we were out of there.

As we walked out of the Victoria’s Secret, Patty asked me something.

“Dana, do you want to stop in at Claire’s, and pick up a couple pairs of Earrings, and then go to Designer Shoe Warehouse?” Patty asked.

“That sounds good to me!” I said. “My Bank Account will be glad when we’re done!”

“Like I said,” Patty said, It’s not cheap being a Woman, especially all at once!”

We went into the Claire’s and found some cute earrings, and I found 4 pairs that would look good on me, I thought. Patty was in agreement. And so, next on the schedule was the Designer Shoe Warehouse.

“What do you think we need here,” I asked Patty. “Have something in mind?”

“What I had in mind was that since you and Janice got some dressy shoes, you now need some casual shoes,” Patty said. “Like some Ballet Flats, and some Sneakers.”

“Why do I need Ballet Flats?” I asked.

“That’s just the name of them,” Patty said, “and the style! When you look at them, you’ll see how much they look like Ballet Shoes.”

“Ok, if you say so!” I said.

“DSW is pretty easy,” Patty said, “because they are Self-Service, all we have to do is find what we want, the right size, make sure they fit, and then check-out.”

“Sounds pretty easy to me!” I said. “The only thing we have to choose the color!”

“Well, I’ll make that really easy,” Patty said. “We’ll only be looking for Black Ones!”

“Doesn’t sound too ‘expressive’,” I said. “Don’t I want more colors?”

“Not at this point,” Patty replied. “You need to start out with the Basics, first.”

“You’re the Expert!” I said.

So, we first found the Ballet Flats, and found a good pair. We moved on to the Sneaker area. That was a bit more difficult, but I got a pair of Reeboks, the right size, and in Black, and took them over to a seating area, to try them on.

“I think these will do. They fit pretty well, and I’m very happy with them,” I said.

“Ok, then,” Patty said. “I think we can go up to the Cashier, and get out of here!”

With that, we were done, for the night.

“Can I treat you to some Dinner, for all of the help you gave me today?” I asked Patty, as we walked out to my car.

“You sure you’re ready?” Patty asked.

“C’mon!” I exclaimed. “I’m ready. Don’t you think I’m ready?”

I opened the trunk, and we put the bags in. We got into the Stanza.

“More than ready, sweetie!” Patty said. “More than ready!”

“I saw a Shari’s on the outskirts of the Mall,” I said.

“That sounds good to me!” Patty said.

Chapter 11

With that we drove the short distance to the Shari’s. We got out, and went into the Restaurant. We went in, and the Hostess greeted us, “Hello, Ladies, I’m Bridget. A Booth or a Table for you?”

“I think we’d prefer a Booth,” I said, still with some trepidation.

“A Booth it is!” Bridget said.

We followed her in, and to a Booth, and I was still learning, so I followed what Patty did, and put my Purse in first, and then very Lady-like sat down in the Booth seating, and scooted in. Bridget gave us our menus, and said, “Stephanie will be your Server, and will be right with you. Have a good meal!”

I took a deep breath.

“This will be a good test for you,” Patty said. “Sitting here, in the lights, and full exposure!”

“Yeah, I know! This is what really scares me!” I said to Patty, letting her know how I really felt.

“You know,” Patty said, “you’re getting into things with the whole ‘Staying at Paul’s Place’, and him asking you to go out this Friday. But where do you want to go with all of this? Where do you see yourself at the end of this journey?”

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately,” I said. “And who would have thought that the Aero Halloween Party we just had would’ve awakened such a big change in me? I have known, all of my life, that there was something very different, maybe Female in my soul. But I didn’t know what I could do about it. The Web was still so young, and many didn’t think of it as the Go-To information resource that it is thought of today!”

“Yeah, the Web has caused many people to change the directions of their life,” I said, “because they found out something that turned them around. I’ve been looking, online, and I’ve been wondering why I’ve been having this feeling, a feeling that something was wrong with me, and I finally figured it out. It was something I had to do something about, and the Halloween Party was just an excuse to find out what that feeling meant to me.”

“Yeah, I have to say,” Patty interjected, “I noticed how natural you acted, even with 25 years of being taught to be a Male.”

“You didn’t see the first 23 years of my life,” I said, “when I struggled, when my older sister would make me feel bad for things I did that was too Feminine. I think she wanted a Male Playmate, a Brother to go out and Roughhouse with. I think she was a bit disappointed with me. I think she kinda was the opposite of me, somewhat more Masculine!”

“Not having known her,” Patty said, “I’d have to say you’ve found a very likely reason that you didn’t do anything about your ‘problem’ at an earlier age. If I had someone giving me a hard time for acting Feminine, like you must have, I don’t know that I wouldn’t have done exactly what you did! I’d say that you’ve come out very sane, considering!”

Our Server came up, and said, “Hello Ladies! I’m Stephanie, and I’ll be your Server tonight! How are you two tonight?” Stephanie was middle-aged, and looked like she had been doing this job since her teenaged years. The lines on her face told of a hard life.

“We’re doing just fine,” Patty said, “How are you doing, Dana?”

“I’m doing just fine, also! We just got done shopping at the Mall, if you can believe that!” I said, “And are my feet tired!”

“You don’t say!” Stephanie said, with a wink. She looked and sounded like she understood, especially what tired feet were like. “What can I get for you two?”

“Well, since we didn’t get any Dinner before we went shopping,” Patty said, as she looked over the Menu. “I think I’ll have the Grilled Lemon Salmon dinner.”

“And what can I get you to drink,” Stephanie asked.

“Well,” Patty replied. “I think I’ll just have water.”

“Okey doke!” Stephanie turned to me, and asked, “And you?”

“I’ll have the Slow Roasted Turkey Dinner,” I said. “That looks good!”

“That it is!” Stephanie said. “And what to drink for you?”

We handed our Menus to Stephanie, as I said, “I’ll go for the Strawberry Lemonade, please!”

“Very good!” Stephanie replied. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

As Stephanie walked away, Patty picked up where we had left off.

“So it sounds like you’re going to Transition,” Patty said, “all the way to becoming Female, right?

“From what I read, online,” I said, “that will take about two years. But with what I’ve had to put up with this last 25 years, that will seem like a hop, skip, and a jump! Especially if I have people like you and Janice on my side!”

“You know that Janice and I have had a strong belief in you for several years, now,” Patty said, smiling, as she reached over and grasped my hand and gave me a nice, strong squeeze.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you two right beside me,” I said. “You two are my Best Friends. What do they call it? BFF’s?”

“You got that right, Sister” Patty replied, blinking. “We saw great promise when you were out in the Shop. It has continued while you’ve been in ME, and now we’re both glad to do whatever we can to help you along. You are a good person, and I know Janice feels like I do, that we will do what we can to help you through this tough time of Transition, and welcome you into the Sisterhood!”

“You two are just the greatest,” I said, almost crying, well, crying a little bit. “You two have turned my life around in many ways, and always to the better.”

“You’re our friend,” she said, “of course you’re worth it!”

I scooted over so that I could give her a full body hug. It turned into a long, long hug.

At that moment, Stephanie stepped up with our drinks.

“Sorry to interrupt you two,” Stephanie said. “You looked like that was a very heartfelt hug!”

“Oh, it was!” I said. “I was just thanking Patty for the good friendship she, and a friend, Janice, were giving me through a turbulent time.”

“Well, I don’t want to intrude,” Stephanie said, as she was setting the drinks down, “But Girlfriends, like her, are just the best, and I’m glad to see when two Girls acknowledge that, between them. She directed that last statement, to me.

“I know!” I said, “I’ve found, that even as a grown woman, those Girlfriends are still so important!”

Patty grabbed my hand, again, and squeezed it, again. “Ain’t that so true, girlfriend, ain’t that so true!”

Stephanie grinned, as she started to move away, saying, “Ain’t that so true!”

Patty and I were filled with Giggles. I hadn’t giggled since I was little. And it felt so good! I looked up at Patty, and broke out in another set of Giggles!

“But, seriously, folks!” Patty tried to stop her Giggling, but wasn’t too successful at it. “I want to turn things back to you, and Paul. It would seem that you’ve successfully worked your way around something I think would be such a barrier for you, coming out with your secret. It would seem that you’ve already worked around that, and it doesn’t seem to be a big deal with him, right?”

“Yeah,” I said, “so far, Paul seems to be cool with it all. I don’t think he would have invited me into his bed, if he had any problem with it. I’ve had past relationships, but they just weren’t as intense as this one is, right now!”

“I’ve found,” Patty said, “if you are really compatible, there’s just something different about it. And you and Paul didn’t have much doing with each other before, so he didn’t have to get over what you used to be to him.”

Stephanie came walking up with our plates on her forearms, professionally balancing them, and making it look so easy.

“You had the Salmon,” Stephanie said, as she placed it in front of Patty, “and you had the Turkey, if I remember right!” as she placed it in front of me.
she said. “Anything else I can get for you two Ladies?”

“I don’t think so,” Patty said, “It all looks perfect!”

“Ok,” Stephanie said. “If there’s anything else you need, just let me know! You Ladies have been a pleasure, and I’d like to keep you satisfied!”

“Perfect!” I said.

“Salt and Pepper is at the far end of the table,” Stephanie said, and she moved away.

“Dana,” Patty said, as she was seriously looking at me, “Let me know what I can do to help you. If you need someone to accompany you to those Support Groups, just let me, or Janice, know. We’re here to support you, and help you through this change. You are our Girlfriend, and that’s all new to you, and we’re ready to help you on that journey!”

I looked down, trying to collect my feelings. “Patty,” I said as tears were forming at the corners of my eyes, “I don’t know what I did to deserve to have such good Girlfriends as you and Janice. I’ve never had anybody be as wonderful and loving as you two are.”

“You’ve never been yourself, like now,” Patty said. “When you’re being yourself, you’ll gain so many rewards! People know when you’re being true to yourself!”

“And I feel so free!” I replied. “I just don’t need to have those barriers up, all the time! I just feel so free! And I just feel so, … myself!”

“And people around you, see that!” Patty said. “You gain so many friends when you do so! Janice and I were just ‘clairvoyant’ in seeing the ‘real you’ early on! We pulled you into Manufacturing Engineering because we saw Dana, and this whole Halloween Party just seemed like the perfect way to let you out of your straightjacket. Dana is the result. And we also saw that Paul was a great guy, who we thought you would ‘fit’ with. And we were right!”

“You two are just Matchmakers, like Yenta!” I said, harkening back to Fiddler on the Roof, which I was in that play in High School. “I’m so glad I have you on my side!” I reached over and gave Patty a hug, again!

“Well, we better get to our Dinners,” Patty said, “Before they get cold!”

“Sounds good to me!” I said. And with that, we enjoyed our Dinner, together. We paid the bill, and left a nice tip for Stephanie. We made our way back out to the car, and I drove Patty back to Aero, so that she could get her car, and get back home.

Chapter 12

It was a nice Wednesday night, and I had done some good work at Aero, in the ME area. I grabbed a quick dinner at Wendy’s, and went on home. After eating the meal I bought, I went to my iMac, sat down in my comfy Office Chair, and started to search on the Web for Support Groups in the Portland area that dealt with Gender Dysphoria. I found that there were several, but the Q Center group seemed to be the one with the most good comments from the Facebook group devoted to Gender Dysphoria in the Portland area. They had a Trans-Fem* group that meets on the First and Third Wednesdays, from 7-9pm. Since the First Wednesday was coming up on the 6th, that’s when I planned to make my first trip to the Trans-Fem Support Group. It sounded like the right group to go to. As they say, I girded my Loins!

Thursday came and went, as normal, and on came Friday! And, of course, that was the night that Paul and I were supposed to go out, on a Date. I stopped by his desk in the Morning, hoping he would let me in on where he planned to take me.

“Paul,” I asked, trying not to sound sexy, “Can we take a step outside? I’d like to talk with you!”

“Give me a second,” he said, finishing something on his Computer.

We both stepped outside, to our now ‘favorite’ bench, and sat down. I focused on doing it more Lady-like.

“What can I do for you, Dear?” Paul asked me.

“Well, Mr. Bond,” I said, “Where do you plan on taking me tonight? It makes a difference if I’m dressed to the Nines, or just out for a casual date night. After all, I need to look like a Bond Girl, and that’s kinda sexy!”

“I was thinking that since this is really the First Date that Paul and Dana will be going on,” Paul said, with some amount of shyness, “it should be something special, not something like a Denny’s. I already have the place in mind, but I don’t want to tell you. I’d prefer it be a bit of a Secret.”

“Ok, but that still sounds like ‘Dressed to the Nines’, I would think,” I replied.

“And that sounds like I should be wearing something more than a T-shirt and cutoffs,” Paul replied back. “Does a fancy Sports Coat make me look enough Bond-like for you?”

“With you in it,” I said back to him, “It should do just fine. And you should look just right, Mr. Bond!

“Alright Miss Honey Rider!” Paul said. “Is that it? Anything else, or can we return inside?”

Looking at him, deep into his eyes, “You know I just want to grab you, and smother you with kisses, don’t you?”

“And the same to you, Missy!” Paul said in his Sexy Baritone voice. “That time will come, I’m sure. But right now, you’ll have to wait for tonight!”

“Should I pack for the whole Weekend,” I asked him? “Should it be enough to stay through Sunday?”

“I was hoping you would stay that long,” he said. “After going out tonight, I was thinking we could take it easy on Saturday and Sunday. That’s if you agree? I don’t want to be pushy, especially this early in the Relationship. After all, I wouldn’t want my Girlfriend to do anything she didn’t want to.”

Paul smiled. He was being extra Gentlemanly.

“That’s so sweet,” I said. “I’m very proud of you. You’re taking my feelings into account with what we’re going to do.”

“How could I do anything else,” Paul said, “with someone as beautiful as you! On the Inside and the Outside! And that’s something I’d like to discuss this weekend, if you’re up to it?”

“There’s something I’ve wanted to discuss with you, too, since the Party.” I said. “Something important happened that weekend. And I think it’s about the same thing.”

“That sounds good to me,” Paul replied. “I always want to make sure we’re in the clear about us.”

He just sat there and stared back at me. I wanted to grab his hand, to tell him I understood, and agreed. But this was the Workplace, and I knew we couldn’t do that, yet. That will come, in time, I’m sure.

With that, and smiles all around, we stood up, and walked back into the building. I wanted to wave goodbye, but thought better of it, at least for now!

The Morning and Early Afternoon seemed to drag on, and the End of the Day finally came around. Patty and Janice came over to my desk, and I stood up to talk with them.

“Ok, how do you Girls want to handle this Evening?” I asked.

Patty was the first to answer, “Since you should have everything you need at your place, we just need to come over to help you, okay?”

“That sounds great to me,” I said. “You two can help me get ready for tonight. Paul said, as we guessed, that it was going to be a Fancy Evening with him.”

“Ah, that sounds great!” Janice said. “We’re ready to get you into your Fancy Dress!”

“So, see you girls over at my place within the Half hour, okay?” I asked them.

And with that, I gathered my stuff, and the girls went to get their purses and overcoats, and we were off to my Apartment!

We rolled into my Apartment complex’s Parking Lot, and the three of us moved into my Apartment.

“You girls get comfy out here on the Couch,” I said, “and I’ll be back after a shower, and a shave, with the outfit, and dressed in the Lingerie, ok?”

“Sounds good to me,” Patty said.

“And we can get things set up out here,” Janie said. “I can see you’ve already got things out on the Dining Table, here, so it should be easy.”

I went into my Bedroom, and got the Underwear and Dress out. I got undressed, and ready for the shower. I got my new Pink razor and Shaving Cream out. After showering, I took care of my Face, Legs, Underarms, and Arms, I Shampooed and Conditioned my Hair, and used the Body Wash that they had told me to get, and was then done with the Shower. I used the towel in the new way the Girls had taught me, and patted myself dry. Finally, I towel-dried my Hair, and then Blow-Dried it, leaving it to be taken care of out there.

Going back into the Bedroom, I got the Lingerie on, tucked myself in, as I had seen on Web Sites about such things, and got my ‘Boobies’ in place, so that I looked proper! I then got my casualwear out and into my Suitcase. I also stuffed in my clean-up gear, so that I could take care of myself, properly, over at Paul’s. I knew he wanted me to stay over on Friday evening, and Saturday evening, too. I also got the extra Bras and Panties out, also. I put a bathrobe on. After filling it up, closing the suitcase up, and getting the Green Dress ready, I brought the whole kit-and-caboodle out into the Dining Room, to get ready for the Girls getting me set.

Patty and Janice were sitting in on the Couch, drinking Coffee, obviously waiting for me to get my early preparation done. They put their Coffee down, and came over to the Dining Table.

“I see that you’re bringing your Suitcase along,” Janice said. “Planning for a long weekend?”

“Paul said he’d like for me to stay the whole weekend,” I said, “We don’t have any plans after going out. I think we’ll take it easy for the rest of the weekend.”

“Paul is seeing you more and more as Dana,” Patty said. “And he seems to be treating you that way, too!”

“You would be correct,” I replied, with a smile! “I guess that’s an indication that we’re already somewhat friendly, don’t you think?”

“Since you know each other, a bit more than a couple that has just met,” Janice said, “that’s ok with you driving over. But, if you were not so ‘chummy’, that wouldn’t be so good. You know Guys usually pick the Girl up, but you two started out a bit differently, in many ways!”

I sat down in the chair that was obviously set for me to get their Makeover.

“OK, I’m ready for you,” I said!

First thing, they put a Hairband on me, so that my Hair would be out of the way while they did their work. And over the next 20 minutes they worked on me, once again. What was different this time, as they went along, they explained what they were doing and why, including the color usage. The coloring was different, not because we were going out at night, as I had done before. No, this was explained to me that my outfit was a different color, being Green, and some of the different colorings would look better.

Patty worked on my makeup, and Janice sat and looked on. Patty concentrated on my Foundation first, and then worked on my Eyes, doing the shadow, and then my lashes. She told me what she was doing as she went along. I was beginning to understand what they did, and why. I had wondered how Women did their makeup, and looked so good, for many years. Being someone who is into detail and process, it started to explain why certain things were done, when Women were going out, even when they were just going to work.

“One thing that you could do, that would help you learn this skill,” Patty explained, “is for you to subscribe to several Women’s Magazines so that you have an idea of what is going on, and is popular, with Makeup and Fashion Looks. Every Woman doesn’t always know all the current styles, for Hair, Makeup, and Fashion. In fact, one of the things you can do now, that Janice and I couldn’t do when we were learning, is take advantage of YouTube, and the videos that are available for Makeup and Hair Styling. However, you didn’t get the decade or so of training that we, and all other Girls and Women had. Learning those things will make you smarter and look more natural in your presentation as a Woman!”

“Those sound like excellent ideas,” I replied. “I think I’ll also get some books from Amazon on Makeup and Hair Styles, and will start looking at YouTube. I know I have a long way to go to catch-up with you Girls, but I need to start!”

“I’d get Cosmo, Allure, and Vogue, to start with,” Janice added. “And, to help you start to speak more like a Woman, you might get some Romance Novels, written by Women! Learning the words that they use would be a good start in modifying your language. It’s not just the Pitch that Women use that’s the difference, it’s the words they use, and how they use them. I’m no Vocal Coach, but I can tell you that much!”

“And don’t forget,” Patty added in, “that Women have a lilting sentence sound. Listen to TV shows, and you’ll see what I mean! Oh, and we also use our hands more, like this,” and she demonstrated moving her hands around, as she spoke.

“I see what you mean!” I said. “There is so much to learn, but if it will make my journey easier, I’m willing to do it! I know I’ve seen what can happen to Men when they do anything that is construed as Feminine. Men can be so cruel to each other! The fear that is instilled in Men surrounding this can be truly affecting, so much so that there can be a backlash if one is seen acting Effeminate. That is one of the all-time No-No’s for Men.”

“Yes, I have seen that!” Janice said. “It’s alright for a Woman to be more ‘Manish’, like being a Tom Boy is seen as something that is very accepted. The worst thing that can happen, is Men can call them ‘Butch’, and a ‘Lesbian’ for those activities, but those usually are only given to Grown Women, not Girls. But Boys are teased, just as bad as Grown Men, especially from Peers! And when the Coach or PE Coach says to not be so Girly, Man-up!”

“Oh, don’t I know that!” I said. “That’s part of what I hadn’t told you about my life, growing up. As a little Kid, I suffered a lot from ridicule from my Peers. I was teased in School, and at School Bus Stops, and I was even challenged to fight some Boys. I never could understand why they did that. I had those thoughts of feeling more Feminine, at that time. But I didn’t have the thoughts that many Trans Women seem to have, of being Female, from their earliest memories.”

And when the makeup was done, they concentrated on my Hair. They teased and combed it to their likes, to fit the look of a Woman more than a Guy. I already had a very Feminine color to my Hair, so it was more about me looking good, and right, with my shoulder-length Hair, with the person I was about to be, again!

Now that I had my Makeup and Hair done and ready, it was time to add the special Green Backless Dress, so that I’d be complete, and be a Vision, and to look like a Princess again! It fit so well, and made me feel so Feminine! It was a nice shimmering Green material, and made me look so Delicate! To that we added a pair of 2 inch heeled Green Pumps. Again, they didn’t want to be cruel to me and give me any higher of heels, but give me something Sexy to wear with the knee-length Backless Green Dress. There was a nice little slit in the back of the skirt, that allowed the wearer to have a little more Mobility. And, it didn’t hurt that it was also very Sexy!

With my Hair and Makeup in place, it was time for the Earrings and Perfume! Patty went over to her Purse, and got out a package containing a little box. In it were the most exquisite Diamond Earrings! She delicately put them into each Earlobe. She gave me a Handheld Mirror, so that I could see the Complete Package. I was just Gobsmacked! I couldn’t believe I saw Me staring back in the Handheld Mirror! I was a Babe!

Janice came over and sprayed me on the Neck with what she used before, Charley White Eau de Parfum, on what she called my ‘Pulse Points’ on my Wrists, and on my inside elbow areas. It’s quickly becoming my favorite scent!

“That will let the Perfume escape from your Skin, and overwhelm Paul, if he gets close enough to you!” Janice said with some authority. “If -you- let him get close enough to you. And the way you two have been, I think you’ll be letting him get close.”

I pulled my right wrist up to me, and smelled the Parfum. It was exquisite! And Floral! It was wonderful, and sexy!

“Here’s a little one, 1.5 oz, to put in your Purse. You never know when you’ll need a little refreshing!” Janice said. She was an expert in applying the Perfume!

“You did kind of stick-out to us,” Patty said. “When we did Liaison ME, Janice and I would see the Shop Orders that you would correct, and we would talk with you, then Janice and I would talk to each other, after that, realizing that you seemed different to us, as in how you were presenting yourself. We discussed how we just didn’t see you as a Male.”

“For as long as I could remember,” I said, “I have tried to ‘fit-in’ as a Male. That started when I was in Elementary School, and has continued all of the way into Aero. I even still get teased here! I wonder how things will be after I Transition to Dana. By the way, I know that I will be going all the way, and having Surgery, to complete myself physically, as a Woman.”

“We know you’ve worked with a lot of Women out in the Shop, and you always seemed to ‘fit-in’ there, more than would be expected for any Guy working out there. And that convinced us that we should talk to you, about coming to work in the ME area. That was one way we thought we could get more Women in ME, hiring you! But, of course, it didn’t hurt your chances that you were really competent in being able to write plans. But we didn’t expect you would be changing Sex!”

“Well, before the Halloween Party,” I said, “I didn’t think I would be doing that, either!

So, we sat around and talked about Work, and the other things that Patty and Janice wanted to talk about. Again, we also talked about Women’s Issues, as we had some Coffee and Tea. It was so nice, and natural, to be talking with them about that. It just ‘seemed right’! And that was one thing that told me I was doing the right thing!

“You know,” Patty said, “I have some outfits that are Classic, but don’t fit me anymore, that I’d be happy to ‘gift’ to you, Dana. Would you like for me to bring them over some afternoon, and see if you like them?”

“That’s awfully kind of you, Patty,” I thanked her. “You really don’t have to do that!”

“I know I don’t have to,” Patty said, “But if I can’t give it to my ‘Little Sister’, who can I give it to, Goodwill? (She winked at me!) And, besides, it makes me feel really good to do this! I’m just a couple of inches taller than you, so they should fit, pretty close! Besides, if they don’t fit, you can start to learn about Sewing, and alter them to your needs!”

“That sounds pretty good! But, I guess I better get going,” I said. “I need to get out to Paul’s place, so that he can surprise me with the night’s Entertainment, and Food! As usual, Mr. Bond hasn’t told me where he’s going to take me, tonight! I just know that it will be someplace nice, and so I’d better wear that nice Backless Gown!”

I got up, and so did Patty and Janice. I went over to each of them, and gave them a Big Hug! I whispered in each of their Ears, “Thank You!”, and gave each of them a light kiss on the cheek! “I’d be lost, without you!”

“No problem, Sister,” Janice said. “We just want you to have Fun tonight, and catch that Man who sees something special in you, like we do!”

“And know that we’re awfully proud of you,” Patty added. “You’re having an almost Cinderella story, and of course, we’re jealous!” She smiled really big, and I knew that this was very special to them, and they really were proud of me! I really felt the Love from these two special Ladies!

“I’ve got everything packed up,” I said, “and with these Cosmetics I’m putting in my Purse, I should be ready to go! I just need to grab my Suitcase on the way out, and I’m ready for the Weekend!”

“Ok, dearie,” Patty said, tearfully! “We’re glad to be part of this Special Night, for you. I didn’t have a Little Sister, until you!”

“Yes, I’m right in line with Patty on this,” Janice added. “You look so beautiful! And you’re my Little Sister, too! I am so proud of you!”

“Here,” Patty offered, “I’ll grab your other things, and we’ll follow you out to your car, Okay?”

“That sounds great to me!” I said. “I just have to get hold of my Nerves! I need to be all ready for this weekend with Paul!”

“You’re ready, you’re ready,” Patty said, to calm my nerves.

“You’re more ready than I was,” Janice said, encouragingly, “more ready than I was for my first night-over with my First Boyfriend!”

I turned around and hugged the girls, again!

“I’ll call you two Sunday night, around 9pm,” I said, “and let you know how things went!”

We moved into the Hall, I locked the door, and we walked out to my car. When there, we loaded the Suitcase and other bags in the Trunk. I hugged them, once more.

“Bye, Girls!” I said, emotionally.

Janice, then Patty said, “Bye Dana!”

I got into my little Stanza, waved, and drove off. All the way over to Paul’s, I was a Nervous Nelly! I pulled into his driveway, turned off the car, and walked up to his Door. I hit the button and waited. I could hear his footsteps, as he walked up to the door. And it opened up, to reveal Paul.

(Continued in Part 3)


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