Story: The Purse Came First

The Purse Came First
By Varian Milagro


“Don’t forget your purse, Larry.”

I came to a stop. I turned and looked at the speaker; it was my co-worker Janine, a short, serious minded woman in her mid thirties.

She smiled at me and pointed to my desk. “You wouldn’t want to forget that.”

I looked at my cubicle and sitting on my desk was a black woman’s purse. It had short handles, was around a foot or so tall and looked like something a stylish lady might carry. It also had not been there seconds ago when I got up to leave work for the day. "Very funny, that's not mine."

“What?” Janine gave me a frown.

“Who put that there? It wasn't there a second ago,” I said. “Are you making fun of me?” I didn’t find this funny, not in the least.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied. “Look, if you want to leave it here that’s fine with me; I was just trying to be nice,” she said as she turned back to her computer.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

I looked around as I walked slowly back to my desk, fully expecting someone to jump out and laugh at their prank. This had to be a joke, but I didn’t know how anyone could have placed the purse on my desk without me noticing. Once at my desk I opened the purse and found a set of keys that looked remarkably like my own. I reached into my coat pocket for my keys, the place where they had been just moments before, but they weren’t there. I pulled the keys out of the purse and verified that they were indeed mine. “What the…?” I breathed.

I stood at my desk dumbfounded; there was a purse on my desk with my keys in it, a purse that appeared out of nowhere. After a few moments I picked up the bag and tucked it under my arm like a football and headed out the door. Once in my car I placed it on the passenger seat and examined its contents. Besides a matching lady’s wallet everything else in the purse belonged to me, my phone, my thumb drive and my pocket knife. I looked in the wallet and it contained my driver’s license, cash and credit cards. I was flabbergasted. As I wracked my brain trying to figure out how this was possible, my headache began to grow in intensity. I had awoken in the morning to a massive hangover. I had drunk a few beers the night before, but hardly enough to bring on a headache of that magnitude. Aspirin had helped a little, but the headache had persisted all day. After a few moments of not knowing what else to do, I started my car and headed for home.

On the way home I stopped at a local mini-mart to pick up some supplies. This store was more expensive than the big chains and lacked their inventory, but it had a certain special something the others lacked. I picked up some chips and dinner in a bag. It wasn’t very healthy, but it was quick and easy and my cooking skills left a lot to be desired. I could boil a mean pot of water, but other than that I was at a loss. I made my way to the checkout and the store’s certain something special.

Stacy was one of the store’s cashiers and the reason I came here with its poor selection and high prices. She was just about what I would call a prefect ten. She had so many things going right, her pretty innocent looking face with its big green eyes, framed by a mane of thick wavy red hair, her tight lithe body with its tiny waist, curvy hips and luscious ass. I know a few people who would discount her due to her small tits, but I thought they fit her slender body very well. She stood around five-eight or five-nine, but that was in heels. It was hard to guess her true height because she always wore heels. While her co-workers were all jeans and t-shirts, Stacy always dressed real nice; skirts, dresses and tights. Her only real flaw for me was her age. She was probably close to twenty years my junior; way too young for me. I liked younger women, but I thought that a decade younger was pushing the limit.

Stacy greeted me with friendly recognition. I doubt she knew my name, but I was a regular customer. “That will be $11.27,” she said. “Are you having a good night?”

“Can’t complain,” I replied as I fished my money out of my purse.

“That’s good to hear.”

I handed her a twenty and then it suddenly dawned on me that I had the purse with me. I’d been carrying it around the store, its strap slung over my shoulder like it was a normal thing for me. It had been so automatic.

“Here’s you change,” she said. “Everything all right?” She asked with a look of concern.

“Sorry, long day.”

“I like your purse, is it new?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” I looked at Stacy for a sign of irony or mockery, but she seemed sincere; it was almost as if my carrying a purse was normal to her.

“Well, have a good night.”

“Good night,” I replied. I took the purse, groceries and my bewildered self back to my car and drove the final mile to my home, where hopefully things would start to make sense again.

Once home I dropped my purse on the kitchen counter and put away the groceries. I then headed to the bedroom to remove my suit and change into sweats. I hung my suit next to the few others I owned in my closet. I was not a suit and tie kind of guy, but work had a strict dress policy. Once I’d changed I headed back to the kitchen to microwave my dinner. While waiting for my dinner to finish I noticed the dirty dishes in the sink. I considered putting them in the dishwasher, but I remembered that the dishwasher was full of clean dishes and I lacked the motivation to empty it.

The dishes weren’t the only thing to slide when it came to cleaning my home. I tried to keep the clutter to a minimum in the few rooms I still used, but I’d been letting it get out of hand of late. The fact that my house was way too big for one person did not help in its maintenance. It had even been too big for me and my wife, Karen, when we bought it back in 2002. I would have sold it and moved into something smaller, but with the housing collapse last year no one was buying.

Karen and I had met in 2000, just after my 30th birthday. We were setup by my friend Brandon. Karen was a friend of a girl he had been dating at the time and we went out on a double date together. Brandon stopped seeing Karen’s friend two weeks later, but Karen and I kept going out. I tend to struggle to be at ease around most people, but there are times when I meet someone and something clicks and I am totally at ease around them; Karen was one of those people. We were married within the year, she moved out five years later and was dead two months after that. I was surprised when she walked out. At first I thought maybe there was someone else, but she was convincing in her denials. She said I didn’t appreciate her and life was too short to live with someone who could take or leave her. I tried to assure her otherwise, but she said it was too late. We also fought a bit, but it was normal stuff I suppose. She thought that all I cared about was sports and I thought that all she cared about was spending all our money.

After her death Brandon had helped pack up her stuff and move it into several of the many rooms in the house for which I had no need. She had so much crap, so many useless things; the vases, the figurines, the dried flowers, the candles, the “art” work, the doilies, the knick knacks, the jewelry, the endless shoes and the clothes and clothes and clothes. Brandon had wanted me to give her stuff away, but I couldn’t bear to let it go. I may have thought it was all crap, but it was her crap and once it was gone so was the last of her. So it all sits in boxes in the many rooms I do not enter. I only really needed four rooms anyway, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room. The last of which served as dining room, study and entertainment room.

Shortly after dinner while catching up on the sports scores on ESPN my cell began to ring. I made my way to the kitchen and found the phone in my purse; it was Brandon.

“What’s up Brandon?” I answered.

“Larry, I’m going to be a bit late tomorrow, probably no more than ten minutes,” Brandon replied.

I looked at the purse; I had forgotten about it again. When I had retrieved my phone, it had seemed perfectly natural that it was located in the purse. I found it weird that I could so easily forget something so strange and foreign. When I had stopped at the store earlier in the evening I had automatically grabbed the purse and slipped its strap over my shoulder as if it was something I normally did. It was so automatic. I didn’t even register its presence until I started pulling my money out. Hell, I’d even thought of it as ‘mine’. I definitely didn’t think of it as mine right now; it may have my stuff in it, but it wasn’t mine.

“Hello…you there Larry?” Brandon asked.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I replied. “No problem about tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up.”

“Later,” Brandon said.

I looked at the purse again and thought about tomorrow. Would I automatically take it with me to work? Would I even remember it as being strange? I grabbed a pen and paper and quickly wrote myself a note.

I woke up Thursday morning later than normal so I needed to hurry to leave on time. I made my way to the bathroom which adjoined my bedroom and shaved my face during a quick shower. I brushed my teeth and slapped on my deodorant; my hair was so short I didn’t even need to brush it. I went back to the bedroom and put on a pair of boxers and then my suit after which I made myself some coffee and toast which I’d eat on the drive to work. I checked the time, twenty five minutes from bed to leaving, not a record, but not too shabby. I grabbed my coat and purse and headed to the garage. As I opened the door to the garage I noticed a piece of paper tapped to the windshield of my car. ‘IDIOT! Why are you carrying a PURSE?????’ it read. I looked and sure enough it was tucked under my right arm just like it had a right to be there. I dumped the contents of the purse and stuffed them into my pockets. I tossed the purse back into the house and headed to my car. I pulled out of the garage and proceeded to work, finally. If traffic was kind I could still arrive on time…doubtful.

Traffic turned out to be lighter than normal and I would have made it on time, but for the anxiety and the nausea. The anxiety began as soon as I pulled my car out of the garage and slowly continued to build as I drove to work. The purse dominated my thoughts. It wanted to turn around and retrieve it desperately, but I wasn’t going to give in. I think I could have made it if it hadn’t been for the nausea which crashed into me with only a few miles left of my trip. It came on so suddenly that I almost puked all over the dashboard. I tried to continue, but with my office almost in sight I decided to turn around. I couldn’t believe I was going to drive all the way back home to retrieve the thing, but I did.

As soon as I started towards home I felt the nausea begin to ease, vanishing completely by the time I pulled into my driveway. The anxiety did not completely disappear until I touched the purse. I quickly put my stuff back in the purse and called my boss to let him know I’d be late; he was not amused. This time the drive was uneventful. I looked over at the purse sitting on the passenger seat and it just looked so natural. No one said anything about the fact that I was carrying a purse as I entered the building and made my way to my desk. It was just another day at work.

After work I headed to the gym to lift weights with Brandon. It was lower body today, which meant a lot of leg lifts and squats. Brandon and I had been lifting together twice a week for just over two years now. After Karen died I had lost all motivation for self care. I pulled away from everyone and nearly lost my job. Brandon stuck by me though and would not let me self destruct entirely. He talked me into working out and soon we were lifting weights regularly. I’d not only got into much better shape, but it helped with my general outlook as well.

Brandon and I had met in the late nineties on a fantasy baseball league. Discovering that we had both migrated from southern California to northern Oregon got us talking and we soon realized that we also shared a common interest in all things sports and could talk about it for hours. Our friendship grew over the years mostly centering on watching games together on TV or the occasional live game. Brandon was five years younger and stood an even six foot, about a half inch shorter than me, but he was quite a bit leaner. While we had similar muscle mass, my crappy diet kept me packing quite a few extra pounds. Brandon had shaggy dirty blond hair and a face that seemed to draw the ladies, something he used to his advantage regularly. Karen and I had tried to encourage him to settle down, but he was looking for the ‘right’ woman. Until then he said he would enjoy himself while working his way through the field.

These days Brandon was my only friend. I have always had trouble making friends and the few that I did have were either couples friends who sided with Karen when she moved out, or left when I became a self absorbed asshole after her death. Since then I didn’t do much else besides my job and the gym with Brandon. The people at work seemed nice enough, but as with most people I struggled to talk to almost all of them. I always had a hard time thinking of something to say. I could talk sports for hours, but people at work had little knowledge on this topic, besides who had won the previous day.

The workout was uneventful, lots of scoping out women while encouraging each other to lift our best. We didn’t fully agree on what made a ten when it came to the ladies, but we both loved to gander at the fairer sex. I liked women who were slim, pretty and could hold a conversation, Brandon liked them with huge knockers and dumb as a post. I’d told Brandon more than once that if he would date a woman with an IQ higher than her bra size that perhaps he would find the ‘right’ one. He wasn’t convinced. Lately Brandon had been trying to get me to ask out a woman, any woman, but I still wasn’t ready to start dating.

While changing back into our street clothes after a post workout shower I once again noticed the purse, currently sitting in my locker. “Hey Brandon, can I ask you a weird question?” I asked hesitantly.

“Shoot,” he replied.

“Do you think that it’s weird that I have this?” I pulled the purse from the locker.

“No, why?” He asked, barely looking up.

“You mean you don’t think it’s strange that I have this with me?”

“No, should I?” Brandon asked. Now he looked directly at me with concern. “Is everything all right, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, just asking,” I replied.

Brandon went back his stuff.

I decided to persist. “What if Frank over there carried a purse, would you think that was weird?”

“Hey Frank,” Brandon called across the locker room. “Larry thinks you’re going to start carrying a purse!”

“Fuck you both,” replied Frank. A few of the other guys in the locker room laughed.

I finished dressing and headed out with Brandon to our cars. Once outside I began again. “One more question, if it so strange for Frank to carry a purse, why don’t you think it’s weird for me?”

Brandon thought for a moment. He looked perplexed and for a moment it looked like he realized that there was something strange going on, but it quickly passed. He shrugged his shoulders and slapped me on the back. “It just isn’t,” he said. “See you later.”

As I drove home I contemplated the bag sitting next to me. Was it really that bad carrying a purse? It could carry a lot more than my pants and jacket. No one else even seemed to even give it a second glance; it was just normal to them. I figured what the hell, I carry a purse now. I figured why not, life is too short to worry about the small stuff. The heels that appeared on my feet at work the following week, well that was another matter.

Well, they weren’t actually heels, I know that now. They were actually a sling-back sandal and practically flats, but at the time all women’s shoes were heels, boots or sneakers. Something else I didn’t know at the time, but found out that night was now all my shoes were now ladies shoes. Not only did my existing shoes change, but my closet was packed women’s shoes.

I was at work the following Wednesday morning, looking over some budget numbers when Lucy, a salesperson at my company, came to my desk.

“Good morning Larry, do you have the margin analysis for the Cooper account? Oh, I really like your sandals, are those new? “

I looked down and saw them. You would think I would have at least felt the air on my naked toes. I stared at them dazedly. “Yeah, they‘re new alright,” I said without looking up.

“Where did you get them?”

“I have no idea,” I replied.

“You don’t know where you bought your shoes?” She asked, giving me a bit of a frown.

“Uhh…they were a gift.”

“Well, that’s nice, you’ve got to like free. Say, Kelly and I are going to get some Thai for lunch, do you want to come?”

“Sure, that would be great,” I replied. I may have been just as shocked by the invitation to lunch as I was by the sudden appearance of woman’s shoes on my feet. I never got invited to lunch anymore.

“Sweet, we’re going to leave at 11:45; Kelly’s driving.”

“That sounds good. I should have the analysis done before lunch.”

“Thank you so much; I could really use this sale,” she said. “See you at lunch.”

I was thrilled at the prospect of having lunch with Lucy. Of all the women at work, she was the one I desired most. Lucy reminded me of Stacy in a lot of ways; similar build although Lucy was a couple inches taller. They shared a love for skirts and dresses, something Lucy’s profession demanded, not so much Stacy’s. Where Stacy had red hair, Lucy’s was golden blonde. Lucy had more curves than Stacy, particularly up top. Lucy wasn’t as top heavy as Brandon’s bimbos, but she could really fill out a sweater. I’m not the best at guessing women’s ages, but I would put Lucy around 30.

Besides her beauty it was Lucy’s way with others and her outlook on life that really endeared her to me. She was one of those people who were loved by all and who’d never met a person they didn’t like. She laughed easily and had a smile that lit up a room; it was no wonder she excelled at sales. What really attracted me to Lucy was that she made me feel better about life when she was around; her enthusiasm for life was infectious. She was also one of the people with whom I could talk. I did not run into her often at work, but when I did she would always ask how I was and if my team had won. While I did not feel anywhere ready to date, if there was one person who could get me to change my mind it was Lucy.

Unfortunately, I discovered that Lucy was living with someone named Gary for over a year now and they were very committed. Even though I did not have a shot at her romantically, I did think it would be nice to be her friend. Whenever I was around her my day would brighten a bit, but I had no clue on how I could invite her to do something outside work and it not seem like a come on. But now she had invited me to lunch out of the blue. I just wished it had been a day when my shoes had not changed into women’s shoes, but it was better than never.

I began to get agitated at the thought of the sandals on my feet. I’d come to terms with the purse, but at the time it did not occur to me that it would happen again. I was really frightened now. I did not know how far this would go. Would my clothes suddenly change into a dress or would I find my boxers changed into panties? Was I going become a complete cross dresser? Did regular cross dressers get sick when they were away from women’s clothes? I’d never really thought about why some guys dressed up as ladies. Perhaps I had caught something that was going around. Of course that would not explain how the shoes and purse just appeared out of nowhere. It also did not explain why no one else seemed to notice. Well, they noticed, but they thought it normal. I wondered if my coworkers really did think it was normal. Could it be some vast, elaborate practical joke? Maybe, but that would not explain the weird nausea and anxiety that happened when I tried to leave my purse behind, or how natural it felt carrying it.

For a moment I considered going to a shoe store and buying some normal men’s shoes, but I doubted that I could make it to a shoe store and back before lunch and there was no way I could do it and get Lucy’s report finished in time. Then I remembered my gym bag. I kept sneakers in my gym bag and the bag was in my car. My sneakers were a little ratty, but at the moment I didn’t care; they were better than what I was currently wearing.

I rose and headed to the door. Walking in the new shoes did not feel particularly weird. Being able to see my toes while walking around at work was definitely new though. Once at my car I retrieved my gym bag and opened it and found sneakers, but they weren’t mine; these looked brand new. They were white with light blue trim. While technically these were probably women’s sneakers, no one would be able to tell the difference. I changed my shoes and headed back inside to get Lucy’s report done before lunch. I really did not want to disappoint her now that she had invited me to lunch.

I was able to get the report done in plenty of time and met Lucy at her cube at 11:45 sharp. She smiled as soon as she saw me and jumped up and grabbed her purse, an action which reminded me that I was carrying one as well.

“Hi Larry, let’s grab Kelly and get going,” she said. “I’m really craving some Thai food.”

We met up with Kelly and we were soon on our way to the restaurant. Once we arrived we were shown to a table and given menus. Lucy and Kelly split a tofu dish with steamed vegetables while I opted for a normal sized Pad Thai. As soon as we ordered Lucy turned to me. “OK Larry, you have to tell me what is going on with your shoes.”

I started to panic. What should I say ‘women’s shoes magically appeared on my feet, I swear’? I wondered if she now thought the purse was odd. I decided to play dumb. “What do you mean?”

“Why were you wearing sneakers at work? Aren’t you worried that you’ll get in trouble?” Lucy asked with a look of concern.

I felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. I was relieved that she didn’t think I was cross dressing, but at the same time if she did think I was cross dressing it would mean that my world might be back to normal. I tried to think of a decent reply. None came. “Well, I was just in the mood, you know.”

“No, not really,” Lucy replied. “If George Anderson catches you wearing sneakers on a Wednesday he’ll freak.”

“You’re right, I’ll change my shoes once we get back from lunch,” I answered.

Once our food arrived Lucy and Kelly launched into the latest office rumors. This is what usually happened when I was the only guy around a bunch of women. They would start talking amongst themselves on topics such as office gossip, relationships, fashion or which celebrity is sleeping which celebrity; none of which I had any knowledge or interest. I started counting sugar packets.

“Well Larry, what do you think?” Lucy asked

“What?” I looked up and both women were looking at me, waiting for my answer.

“Do you think Wendy is hooking up with Jason from marketing?” Kelly asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“’I don’t know’ is not acceptable. You’re new here so I will let that one slide, but you must share your thoughts on the matter,” Kelly said.

“Yeah Larry, spill it, do you think they’re having sex or not?” Lucy asked conspiratorially.

I thought for a moment. Then it hit me “They just might be. I mean, I was in a budget meeting for marketing last week and Wendy had a laughable request and Jason not only jumped a little too strongly to her defense, but afterwards when the topic shifted they shared a definite ‘look’ with each other.”

“Nicely done, you catch on quick,” Kelly replied. “Okay, consensus is that they’re definitely fucking. Now what about Ellen, is she going to finally leave her asshole husband or what?”

This went on for the rest of lunch. I kept up as best as I could, but it was hard to keep pace with such seasoned professionals. After lunch, as we headed back to the car, Kelly turned to Lucy. “Lucy, about Saturday, I’m not going to be able to make it,” she said. “I’m really sorry, please don’t hate me.”

“You can’t do this to me. I was really looking forward to going with you. You’re going to ruin my weekend you know,” Lucy pouted.

“What about Larry? I bet he’d go with you,” Kelly said as she looked at me pleadingly. “Wouldn’t you Larry?”

“Uhh, I guess, what are we talking about?” I asked.

“Kelly and I were supposed to go shopping together on Saturday,” Lucy said. “It’s all right Larry you don’t have to go; Kelly and I can do it another time.” She definitely looked bummed.

“I would be happy to go with you Lucy,” I replied.

“You would?” Her face lit up. “That’s great we’ll have a good time, I promise.”

“Thank you Larry for helping me out,” Kelly replied

“You are not totally out of the woods sister,” Lucy told her. “You owe me for ditching me again.”

Once back at the office I was feeling great. Thoughts of purses and women’s shoes were totally out of my mind. Nor did I concern myself that I’d just spent an entire hour sharing office gossip that came from I know not where. I was too elated with my ‘date’ with Lucy. I’d been under the impression that her relationship with her boyfriend was pretty solid, but perhaps that wasn’t the case. If I played my cards right on Saturday perhaps this could actually lead to something.

I found a note on my desk from my boss when I returned from lunch; he wanted to see me right away. This wasn’t good. Being called to his office was never a good thing; not being present when he wanted you was even worse, lunch or not. This was the last thing I needed; this job was one of the last things I still had in my life. I went to his office immediately. His door was open so I knocked on the door jam. “You wanted to see me Mr. Anderson?”

“Yes, come in Larry and close the door,” he said. Mr. Anderson was a stern and serious man. He was about two things, making money and image. He rewarded strong performers who exemplified the profession image he demanded; the rest were asked to leave the company.

I closed the door and took a seat across from his desk. Being asked to close the door was not a good sign either. “Larry, I will come right to the point,” he said. “Why are you wearing athletic shoes?”

I open my mouth to reply, but he was just getting started.

“Are you not aware of our dress policy Larry?” He asked.

I started to reply again, but he went on.

“I know there are other companies that allow jeans and athletic shoes all week long, but I find this to be sloppy; sloppy dress leads to sloppy work and I will not tolerate sloppy work. It is bad enough that we have causal Friday; I will not have a casual Wednesday as well.”

I let him continue.

“You are a good employee Larry and I see big things on the horizon for you. It is not common knowledge yet, but Pete Larson has given notice; he will be leaving the firm next month. The board will want to hire from the outside, but I have in mind an internal candidate whom I believe can do the job. I believe that person is you Larry. I believe you can do the job, but you have to be fully committed, something I am beginning to doubt. Last week you were uncharacteristically late and today you are wearing athletic shoes. So you tell me, will you be fully committed or should I let the board go with an outside hire?”

“I’m very honored that you thought of me Mr. Anderson,” I replied. “I won’t let you down.” This promotion would not only mean a whole lot more money but also an office with a door.

“See that you do not,” he said. “Close the door on your way out.”

I went from Mr. Anderson’s office straight to my car and changed into the women’s sandals. I decided to go to the shoe store after work and buy some men's dress shoes. Being afraid I’d forget, and without pen and paper, I placed the sneakers on the driver’s seat. I hoped it would be enough to remind me to purchase new shoes. The rest of the day went well enough. Despite my run in with Mr. Anderson, lunch with Lucy and our future date kept my spirits high. My new footwear slipped quickly from my mind.

The sneakers on the car seat almost didn’t work. I simply tossed them on the passenger seat as I entered my car upon leaving work. Something nagged at me I as pulled away from work and then it came back to me. Fearing that I would forget my mission mid trip to the shoe store I continually repeated ‘men’s shoes’ to myself. I made it to the shoe store, one of those help yourself, discount shoe stores. The shoes at this store were not the best quality, but I only had two criteria; I wanted men's shoes and I wanted to deal with as few people as possible. If I tried to get help from an employee they would probably try to sell me high heels. I entered the store and made my way to the men's section and quickly found a pair of black dress shoes in my size. When I sat on one of the many benches to try them out, I noticed I was still wearing the sandals; it bothered me that I didn’t think to change into the sneakers after work. As I was trying on the shoes, a woman and her small son came into the men's section. She took a look at me, looked down at the men’s shoes and then gave me a look of utter disgust. I really wanted to say something nasty, but I figured it was not worth it. I put my sandals back on and went to the cashier to pay for my new men's shoes. For all I knew they might turn into high heels the moment I left the store, but if they didn’t I thought I might be on to something.

Once at home I found my new stash of women’s shoes. My closet was now a rainbow of tall boots, short boots, high heels, low heels, sandals and some I could not even begin to name. I wondered what in the hell did anyone do with that many different shoes. Up until this point I had probably 6 pair of footwear, two colors of dress shoes for work, golf shoes, sneakers, work boots and some flip flops. I closed the door to my closet and attached a new note to the outside of the door. I placed my new pair of men’s shoes directly under the sign.

The men’s shoes did not transform in the night so I wore them to work. I brought the sandals with me as well; I figured I should keep them on hand just to be safe. After the weird bout of nausea and anxiety I had encountered when leaving my purse at home I didn’t want to be too far from potential relief.
I didn’t encounter nausea this time, but the anxiety did come and steadily grew throughout the day. I was coping pretty well and I think I would have made it through the day except for an encounter with my boss. I was headed down the hall to talk to a co-worker when I passed Mr. Anderson. As soon as he saw me he looked down towards my shoes and then looked back up and through clenched teeth said, “My office, now.”

I followed him to his office. Before either of us could sit he started in on me.

“Did our talk mean nothing yesterday?” He asked angrily. “If you do not want Pete’s position you could just say so,”

“I still want the promotion,” I replied.

“Are you trying to be funny then? Well if you are I hope you can see that I am not laughing. Please tell me what possessed you to wear those shoes today?”

“What do you mean Mr. Anderson?”

"Do not try my patience Larry. Are those men's shoes on your feet?"

“What’s wrong with men's shoes? You’re wearing men's shoes. “

“So is this some kind of statement? Do I need to bring HR in here?” He paused for a moment. “Look Larry, are a good guy and a valuable part of the team. I do not care what you do on your own time, dress how you want, but while you are in the office please follow the dress code, can you do that for me?” Mr. Anderson asked.

“Yes sir”

“Do you have appropriate footwear you can wear for the rest of the day?”

"Yes sir."

“Well then for goodness sake put them on so we can get back to business,” Mr. Anderson said.

“Yes sir.” I left his office to swap out my footwear.

I may have lost the battle, but I was determined not to lose the war. I may have to wear women's shoes to keep work happy, but that didn’t mean I had to go all out and wear heels. I had a sign on my closet door to remind me to make good shoe choices; that should keep me wearing the sandals. I was determined not to wear high heels if I could avoid it. I did wear a pair on Friday night, but that was strictly in the name of science.

I’d begun to suspect that I had a new gait. I was walking to a meeting at work when, for a moment, it seemed to me that I’d been walking differently than normal. I came to a stop and tried to determine what was different about my walk, but was unable. I started walking again staying aware of my gait. It seemed normal to me. I had similar sensations other times during the day. I suspected that in addition to wearing women’s shoes I was now walking like a woman as well.

I needed to determine if this was indeed the case, but was unsure how test my hypothesis. I doubted asking anyone would help. They would most likely respond as Brandon had when I had asked about the purse. I needed a second set of eyes, but eyes that I could trust to tell me the real truth. I eventually decided to film myself, that way I could review the footage and see for myself.

Friday night I dug out my hand held video camera and set it upon a shelf across from the main hall in my house. I figured I would be able to catch quite a bit of myself throughout the evening from that location. I decided against wearing the sandals; I wanted to really test this so I grabbed a pair of black high heels. I’m not sure of their exact height, but they were several inches tall. I considered grabbing my tape measure to get an exact measurement, but that seemed a little obsessive.

The experiment did not go very smoothly. For one thing, I found walking in high heels quite difficult and almost twisted an ankle a couple times. Also, I was very conscious of not only the heels, but also the camera, which was counterproductive. I needed to somehow forget about both so I could walk ‘naturally’.

While pondering how I could distract myself properly my cell phone started ringing. I went to my purse to retrieve it, but then remembered that I had left it in the bedroom. I started to hurry and finally broke into a run to catch it before the caller hung up; last thing I wanted was to end up in a dreaded game of phone tag. It turned out to be a wrong number. As I headed back down the hall I remembered the camera; I’d never been happier to receive a wrong number call.

I retrieved the camera and reviewed the highlights from the evening. I watched some of the earlier portions where I was aware of the camera and I was as awkward in the heels as I had thought. I fast forwarded to the call and I was correct in my earlier suspicions. When I wasn’t aware of them I walked in the heels like I had been born in them. Hell, it seemed I could even run in them with ease. I really didn’t know how to process this. I really wished, and not for the first time, that I had someone I could talk to about this whole thing, but who would believe me. It was extremely difficult to deal with and all the more so alone.

I woke on Saturday very excited; it was my day with Lucy all to myself. Today it would be just the two of us and I had a feeling our relationship would be going in a new direction. I had enjoyed lunches with her this week, but there was always at least one other with us. Kelly was absent after the first lunch; I wondered if it had anything to do with her cancelling on the shopping trip.

We met just inside the entrance of the downtown mall. Lucy was wearing a bluish dress that showed a nice amount of thigh. She jumped up as soon as she saw me and gave me a big hug, her breasts smashing against me; the day was starting out great.

"I didn’t know the mall opened this early,” I said.

"The stores don't open for another thirty minutes, but I like to arrive a little early so I can work out my plan of attack.” Lucy started to bounce a little in her excitement. “I am so happy you’re coming shopping today, we’re going to have so much fun. There are so many shops I want to hit today. Is there anything special you’re looking for? I sometimes start at one end and go through each store until I hit the other end and then do the same thing on the other levels. Or we could just want to wander and see where the day takes us? What do you think?”

“Well I…,” I began.

“Hold that thought, we need to get you to a shoe store and pronto. I like your sandals Larry, really I do, but we have got to get you something else to wear.”

“I have other shoes,” I replied. “I just like wearing these.”

“Well, we’ll just have to find you another pair you like then. You cannot wear the same shoes every day; people will begin to talk. ” Lucy picked up a couple lattes from the bench next to her. “Oh, I brought coffee. I didn’t know what you drank so I just got you the same as mine”

“What do you drink?” I asked.

“A triple shot, skinny, no whip, grande, mocha with a three quarter pump of vanilla,” Lucy replied.

“Hey, that’s my drink too!”

“Really?” Lucy asked, her face lighting up.

“No, not really,” I replied, smiling.

Lucy let out a laugh “I can see we really are going to have fun today.”

I took a sip of the coffee as I followed Lucy to her favorite shoe store. The thing was pure sugar; I doubted I could finish it. Except for a couple mall walkers and shop employees we seemed to be alone as we walked toward our destination. When we arrived, I was unable to discern any difference between this store and the several others we had passed on the way. I assumed it had some special appeal to Lucy that escaped me; after an hour of trying on shoes I decided it must be the stamina of the employees.

Lucy had me try on nearly every shoe in the place. Initially I was surprised they had shoes in my size; my feet are fairly large even for a man. Perhaps whatever had changed all my footwear into women’s shoes was also at work in this store. She insisted I walk in the shoes each time I tried on a pair. The first pair she picked was of course a high heel. They looked similar in style to the pair I had been wearing at work, but the color was different and the heel was well over double the height. When I tried to walk I stumbled.

“Perhaps you would like to try something with a smaller heel,” the clerk suggested.

While I was in full agreement with the clerk, I also bristled at the suggestion. She didn’t think I could walk in heels. I don’t like being told I can’t do something; I’m very competitive that way. “Just give me a second,” I replied.

I knew that if I could make myself forget about the shoes I would be able to walk naturally, but I did not how was I going to accomplish that in a women’s shoe store, wearing high heels and with two women staring at me. I thought back to the experiment from the previous night. I thought about the wrong number and how it had distracted me. I began walking again, this time focusing on a meeting from the previous day. I walked to one end of the store and back.

“I hope it doesn’t take you that long every time you try on a pair,” Lucy chided. “We have a lot of others stores to hit today.”

“I just had to get my sea legs, it’s been a while,” I replied.

Lucy laughed. “Well, you seemed to get back in the swing of things pretty quickly. What do you think about this pair?”

I learned a lot about names and styles of women’s shoes in that marathon session. I lost track of which was which, but I tried to remember as many names as I could. I tried on shoes with names like; mules, pumps, slides, ankle boots, knee highs, sling backs. I tried on each in a variety of heel height and thickness; kitten heels, stilettos, stacked heels, platforms, wedges, block heels. Add to that the fact that each came in a variety of colors, materials and designs, it was a wonder we ever left that store.

Lucy insisted on purchasing two pairs of shoes for me along with a condition on each. The first was a pair of pumps with a kitten heel that Lucy insisted I wear at least once the following week. The other was a pair of strappy wedges with a moderate heel for shopping today, both of which apparently matched my bag. I did not want to give up my sneakers, but since it also meant I could finally stop trying on shoes and the poor clerk could finally get a break, I agreed to her terms.

A succession of women’s clothing and accessory stores followed. Except for the handbag store we visited half way through the day, Lucy stopped having me try on things. It was all her now. She tried on blouses, skirts, dresses, slacks, jeans, camisoles, necklaces, bracelets, the list went on. She was very interested in my opinion on each. I would give her a ‘That looks nice’ whenever she asked my opinion, but eventually she grew tired of this.

“They can’t all be nice Larry,” Lucy said. “I need you to be honest here, brutal even. If I just wanted rote answers I would’ve dragged Gary here.”

While waiting for her to try on the next outfit I observed a couple ladies discussing the clothes they had just selected. I caught a couple phrases and hoped I could use them to bluff my way with Lucy. When she emerged from the dressing room I examined the dress critically for a few moments. “I like the way this hangs on you, and the color really sets off your eyes,” I said.

“You really think so?” She asked. “I do like it.” She turned to the left and right while gazing at herself in the store’s three way mirror. “I think I’ll get it.”

I continued to listen to other women throughout the day, picking up as much of the lingo as possible.

After another half dozen clothing stores, while she was examining what I swear was the exact same blouse she had dismissed three store prior, Lucy turned to me and said, “I think this would look rather nice on you. Don’t you think?”

I froze. Why was Lucy suggesting a woman’s shirt to me? I looked down to see if my clothes were different. I was still wearing the same button down shirt, jeans and wedges. Perhaps she was joking. Could I be so lucky?

“Earth to Larry,” Lucy said.

“Yes, it does look nice,” I replied.

“Why don’t you try it on? There’s a changing room just over there.” Lucy pointed to the changing rooms in the Men’s section.

“Be back in a moment.” I took the white, satiny, long sleeve blouse from Lucy and headed across the store.

I examined my clothes again and they still appeared normal to me. What was going on? I feared that I was now going to be wearing women’s clothes along with the shoes and purse. Where was this thing going to end? Once inside the changing room I tried to remove my shirt and I discovered that my top had in fact changed. It looked the same, but the buttons were now on the opposite side. Also, my t-shirt was not really a t-shirt; it was made of a much softer material, was sleeveless and had very thin shoulder straps. My jeans and underwear were still the same, thank goodness for that at least.

I donned the blouse and headed out to find Lucy. She was waiting just outside the room and nodded her approval. I purchased the blouse in hopes that I could forestall her from making me try on anything else. I was in luck as that was the last clothing store of the day.

When the day was over we hugged and we said our goodbyes, I climbed into my car and reflected on the day as I headed home. My hopes that it might lead to something romantic faded quickly during the day. It was clear that Lucy saw me as a companion not as a potential lover. It was worse than being in the friend zone; I was more in the girlfriend zone. Also, she went on and on about her relationship with Gary during lunch. She loved him dearly and would say yes instantly to a marriage proposal. Unfortunately for her he had a firm lack of belief in the institution of marriage. I was glad to have her friendship at least, plus I wasn’t really ready to date anyway. Lucy was a lovely, funny, caring person and I was happy to spend time with her, no matter what we did. She was so friendly to everyone she met and had dour store employees wearing a smile within minutes. Her bright, positive outlook was infectious to all.

Once home, while putting my new blouse away, I discovered that all my shirts had changed much as my shoes had changed earlier in the week; I had so many now. I really wished I knew what was going on. At that moment I had a weird feeling that there was something I was forgetting. I could not put my finger on it. This frustrated me and I was afraid it would bother me for the rest of the night; it was soon forgotten, however, as I quickly slipped into my usual routine.

The next day I arose early for my monthly golf game with my father; we had golfed together regularly since I was old enough to swing a club. While we usually finished within a few strokes of each other I rarely lost to him. As I got ready for the day I wondered if I still had my golfing gear. I’d seen my clubs in the garage, but I would need shoes as well. I found a woman’s golf shirt in my dresser along with my normal men’s golf slacks. For driving to the club I opted for the wedges Lucy bought me yesterday, boy they were comfortable. In the garage I found my golfing shoes; they looked very similar to my previous pair. I put the shoes and my clubs in the trunk of my car and headed to the golf course.

I arrived a little early and found a parking space close to the club house. I turned off the engine and as I tossed my keys into my purse I noticed a pencil that I didn’t recognize. I pulled it out and took a closer look. It reminded me of a charcoal pencil that an artist might use. I was about to toss it in the back seat when I noticed other new items in my purse, one of which I recognized instantly; it was lipstick. I looked in the review mirror and found to my horror that the makeup was not only in my purse, but also all over my face. I tried to think of something to use to wipe my face clean when I heard my father call my name. I grabbed my purse and exited the car.

“Larry, great you’re early as well, they had a cancellation so we can tee off in ten minutes.” My father stood a couple inches shorter than me, but was very trim. Since his retirement a couple years ago he spent several days a week at the course and it helped to keep him in shape.

“Great, but I need to hit the head,” I replied.

“Well, don’t take too long. I don’t want them to give our new time slot to someone else. “

I grabbed my purse and headed to the bathroom in the pro shop to wipe the crap off my face. The men’s room was empty, which was a blessing. I grabbed a paper towel ran it under some water hoping the makeup wasn’t water proof. Just as I was about to clean my face I remembered the incident with the men’s shoes. It occurred to me that everyone probably thought this was normal now. To me, I looked ridiculous, especially since I had not shaved this morning and had a distinct five o’clock shadow to go along with the eye shadow. My father had not batted and eye when I met him a few moments before; he must think it normal now. Conscious of the time, I left the makeup on my face and headed back to my car to retrieve my clubs.

For the first nine holes I couldn’t get the makeup out of my mind. While I may have appeared normal to everyone else, it was not normal to me. My golf game suffered as a result and I found myself behind a few strokes at the end of nine holes. I was getting rather frustrated and I started taking it out on my father. After hitting a shot into the rough on the third fairway he dropped a second ball and prepared to hit it.

“Do that and it will cost you two strokes,” I said.

My father glared at me as he picked up the ball “It’s just a game Larry.”

He was always trying to take a mulligan and it annoyed me to no end. There are rules in golf and if you are not going to follow them then you are just cheating. I usually suffered in silence, but my frustration with the new development on my face and its affect on my game had me in a foul mood. My dad could sense it and we skipped the normal male bonding banter for rest of the first nine holes.

We took a break before the back nine and I used the time to pull myself together. It was one thing to wear makeup, but to let it mess with my golf game was unacceptable. I wasn’t going to lose to my father; I would never hear the end of it.

My golf game improved on the back nine and I made a couple birdies to come one ahead with one hole to go. We were sitting in the golf cart, waiting for the foursome ahead of us to finish putting on the 18th green, when my father turned to me.

“Your lips are beautiful enough son, let’s tee off.”

I realized that I had a compact in one hand and was applying a fresh coat of lipstick with the other. I felt my face flush with embarrassment. I couldn’t believe I had actually put on lipstick in front of my father. As I teed off I was still very rattled at how automatic applying makeup had been and as a result my shot hooked dramatically and made a spectacular splash in one of the course’s many ponds. I finished the game down two.

We grabbed lunch afterwards and my father paused only briefly in his nonstop retelling of his win to remind me that my mother would like to hear from me. I said I would call her, but we both knew I would not.

On the way home, I purchased fresh veggies and chicken from the grocery store. I wanted to start eating better; my current diet made it hard to keep trim. I botched the dinner as usual. It wasn’t so bad that I had to throw it out, but it certainly wasn’t good. I ate while watching ESPN to catch up on the day’s sports scores. Afterwards I decided to clean up the kitchen. I’d been letting it get rather messy and it was really beginning to bug me. The whole house could use a good scrubbing, but I only had energy for the kitchen tonight. Before going to bed I used some cold cream I found in the bathroom to wipe the makeup off my face.

Knowing that I would need to deal with makeup I arose early the Monday. I headed to the shower, kicking off my panties on the way. After washing and shaving I dried myself and then wrapped the towel around my waist. I’d briefly considered going to work without makeup, but like the shoes, it was apparent that people would find it weird if I didn’t wear makeup. If it wasn’t for the possibility of the promotion at work I might have risked it, but Mr. Anderson was already annoyed with me over the shoes. If I had another run in with him, I could kiss that promotion goodbye.

Of course deciding to wear makeup and being able to apply makeup were two very different things. I looked at the vast array of cosmetics on my bathroom counter and I found I could name less than half of them. I’d seen my wife put on makeup enough times that I knew the basics, lipstick goes on lips, eyeliner around the eyes, but I also knew it required a bit of expertise. The difference between a young teenage girl’s made up face and a woman in her twenties told me that there was definitely some skill involved.

I thought back to the golf game and how I had automatically applied lipstick during the golf game. If I could switch to auto mode I would probably start applying it like I’d done it my whole life. The trick was making myself forget about putting the makeup on my face while putting makeup on my face. I then remembered a trick I used to do to make myself last longer while having sex with my wife. I started recalling last season’s offensive stats for the starting players on my favorite baseball team. As I put on foundation I tried to recall slugging percentage, eye liner was on base percentage, eye shadow home runs and so on. It worked like a charm. Now I just had to do that every morning for the rest of my life.

On my way into my bedroom to get dressed I spotted the lacy, pink panties on the floor and the truth of it hit me. I opened my closet to find skirts, dresses, women’s dress slacks and in my dresser tights, nylons and panties. It was like Karen was back; the closet and dresser were crammed with women’s clothes and the bathroom counter clogged with makeup items.

I knew one thing for certain; I was not going to wear a dress. I needed to dress nice enough to comply with the company’s dress code, but I really doubted that skirts or dresses were required. Women at work all dressed professionally and a few wore slacks. I made a mental note to look up the company policy on women’s attire, but today I would just have to wing it. I searched through my unmentionables to find the most basic panties I now owned. I had to dig under some pretty racy stuff, but I finally found a stash of plain cotton panties in assorted colors. I selected a plain white pair. I added to this a pair of grey wool slacks and the blouse and pumps I had picked up at the mall with Lucy. On the bright side I didn’t have to wear a tie now. Oh lucky me.

Forty minutes later I was sitting in my car, parked outside my office. I made no move to exit the vehicle. I had worn women’s shoes and carried a purse at work last week, but that was minor league compared to what I was about to do. I looked at my clothes and checked my painted face in the rearview mirror. I felt ridiculous. I looked ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against guys who wear women’s clothes. I say live and let live, but it wasn’t something I had ever considered for myself. I was beginning to entertain the idea of going home and skipping work, thus abandoning any hope for the promotion, when I was startled by someone knocking on my car window.

“Morning Larry,” Lucy called. “A little morning meditation before work?” She chuckled.

I exited the car. “I wouldn’t want to be too early, it’d set a bad precedent,” I said as I gave her a hug.

“I like your outfit; that blouse looks so nice on you.”

I returned Lucy’s compliment and we headed into the office together. My recent lunches with Lucy made me aware of a difference between men and women when it comes to greeting each other. Guys shake hands and if they are friends usually flip each other shit in some way, while women complement each other; probably because the men in their lives are always forgetting to do so. I’d been one of those guys with Karen and it made me feel bad.

Thoughts of running home left once I was at work for a few minutes; everyone treated me exactly as they always had. I didn’t catch anyone giving me the slightest double take and I don’t believe it was just out of courtesy. I used to wear my hair a bit longer, still professional, but more of a normal business man’s cut. The day I came into the office with my near buzz cut people reacted. It was an abrupt change and some co-workers were caught by surprise when they first saw me and the reaction was evident on their faces. There was none of that today; my new wardrobe was perfectly normal to them. I threw myself into my work and soon the clothes and makeup became normal to me as well.

At lunch it was just Lucy and me. As we were being seated Lucy asked the hostess about her day. This reminded me of the mall and how she treated everyone.

“You sure are nice to everyone you meet,” I said.

“I used to work retail and it can be tough working with the public; some people like to share their misery. When I helped a customer who was nice and would ask me how my day was going it brought a glimmer to my day. So, now I try to do that for everyone I meet. It is such a little thing for me to do and totally worth it if I brighten one person’s day, even for a brief moment. Plus I’ve been doing it so long now it’s just automatic.”

“At the mall it seemed like you knew half the employees and you seemed to know something about each of them.”

“I ask people about themselves; people love to talk about themselves and I make a point of remembering. The next time I see them I ask them about something they told me before and it makes them feel special to have someone remember them.”

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“At first, but once you get into the habit it’s easy. You should try it. It will make you feel better about yourself.”

I met Brandon at the gym after work. As I approached the gym’s locker room I became very nervous. There was something almost sacrilegious about wearing panties and lipstick into such a masculine domain. Once again no one reacted. I found a free locker, hung my purse on one of the locker’s hooks and proceeded to change into my workout clothes. I realized too late that I should have double checked my gym bag before leaving the house. Its contents had not been spared during the recent changes to my wardrobe. My shorts were now black spandex with hot pink piping and only went to mid calf. The matching top left a large portion of my mid section bare.

Once dressed, I appraised myself in one of the locker room’s mirrors; skin tight spandex was not a good look for me. While I’d spent considerable time at the gym gaining strength the last couple years, I hadn’t watched my diet very well. There were guys in the gym that could probably pull off this look, but I for one did not like looking at my exposed, hairy, flabby belly. I sucked in my gut and checked my reflection, turning from side to side as I did so. I looked a bit better with my belly pulled in, but I would eventually have to breathe. I reminded myself that it was time to take my diet seriously. If I was going to be forced to wear women’s clothes, I wanted to at least look good doing so. I headed out of the locker room to meet Brandon.

After our workout and back into our street clothes, Brandon and I stood in front of the locker room sinks. Brandon was combing his hair and I half sat on the counter next to him.

“So, what are your plans for this weekend?” Brandon asked.

“I don’t know, it’s only Monday I haven’t thought that far ahead,” I replied while setting my purse on the counter next to me.

“Well, I’m going out with a couple others on Saturday, you should join us.”

“Hmm, not really my thing, you know that,” I replied. “I was never into the pickup scene and I don’t think I’m ready to date yet.”

“Come on Larry, It’s been three years since she died. You’ve got to get back on that horse.”

“Right, let’s say I do go,” I said as I started digging in my purse. “You’ll be talking up some blonde with a giant rack and I’ll be talking to myself for the rest of the evening.”

“I promise no blondes this time,” he said. “I’ll stick by you the entire evening, I promise. We’ll do whatever you want. Come on; don’t stay at home on another Saturday night.”

“Fine, if it will get you off my back for awhile.” I started touching up my lips.

“Great you won’t regret it,” he replied. “We’ll have a wonderful time.”

I looked at the lipstick in my hands and a thought occurred to me, what if it wasn’t just me. Everyone thought the makeup was normal for me, but what if it was the makeup itself. Perhaps it was the makeup and clothes themselves that were perceived as normal, no matter who wielded them.

“Brandon, do me a favor and hold this for a moment,” I said handing him the open lipstick.

“Uhhh…okay,” Brandon replied. He took the lipstick from me with a frown on his face.

“Nice lipstick dude; won’t you look so pretty wearing that.” One of the guys said to Brandon as he made his way back to the lockers.

“Thanks Larry, you’re a pal,” Brandon said. He handed the lipstick back to me, so much for that theory.

On Tuesday morning a Tiffany’s outlet appeared on my dresser, there was every type of bangle and bobble imaginable. There was a large stand holding scores of earrings; hoops, studs and danglers, some of which were as long as my hand. Next to this was a large ornate wooden box with several long drawers containing rings, bracelets and necklaces. Since Karen’s death the only jewelry I had worn was a men’s watch. I was now the owner of several watches all too tiny to be actually functional. I wondered what my wedding ring looked like now; did it have a solitaire diamond? My wedding ring was buried with Karen; so that would remain a mystery.

I found perfume in my bathroom where my cologne had been. Looking at my reflection I could see that I had a bunch of holes in my ears now. There were all filled with studs or small loops with the bottom most hole on each ear empty. This was the hole that my wife would reserve for the big earrings, the danglers or the big hoops. I counted the holes in my ears and there were five in each ear. I checked the rest of my body and I was thankful to find no more new holes.

I showered and shaved, did the baseball thing while putting on my makeup and then went to get dressed. I had a couple new signs in my bedroom; one on my dresser reminding me not to go crazy with the panties and one on the closet reminding me to wear slacks which was just above the sign reminding myself to be mindful of the shoes. I went a similar route as the day before with the outfit; modest panties, slacks, plain blouse and low heeled shoes. I considered removing all the earrings from my ears, but I feared the anxiety that I had experienced when I went to work without my purse a couple weeks ago. I kept the earrings I was already wearing, but did not add any other jewelry, not even a watch.

Later that day, while in the break room at my office to refill on coffee, I decided to try out Lucy’s advice on a co-worker. It was Charlie from IT. I knew nothing about him, although I figured he must be into computers since he worked in IT.

“Morning Charlie, how are you today?” I asked.

“Fine,” he replied.

“So, what do you think about the latest product out of Microsoft?” I bluffed. I figured Microsoft had to have launched something recently.

“Well, Windows 7 doesn’t officially launch until Thursday, but I was a beta tester,” he began. While I did not follow everything he said, a lot of it was fairly technical, he was very passionate and I certainly knew what to bring up next time I saw him.

At lunch it was just Lucy and me again. With memories of the spandex outfit still fresh in my mind I ordered a salad along with Lucy. I told Lucy about my desire to go on a diet.

“Don’t diet Larry, that’s a bad trap,” Lucy said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Too many people go on diets, lose some weight and the gain it all back plus more the moment they fall off the diet.”

“So, what should I do?”

“Well, cardio for one, but besides that make better food choices,” she replied. “I can help you with that; I have a bunch of recipes that are low carb, low calorie, but taste awesome.”

“I’m not a very good cook,” I said.

“You just need practice,” she replied. “I’ll email you some of the easier recipes I know to get you started.”

That night I tried out one of Lucy’s recipes and it actually tasted pretty good. It was a parmesan chicken breast with roasted romaine. The chicken was moist and flavorful, perhaps Lucy was right; I could do this.

In hindsight the pierced ears should have warned me for what came next. Up until that point the only things that had changed were items of mine, just things. Sure it was my way of life too, but physically I had remained the same. When my ears became pierced it was the first time that my body had also been altered. It was not a major alteration, simple holes that easily could be made with a common needle, a very mundane thing, easily overlooked. But my body had been changed and I should have seen it for the vanguard that it was.

I awoke Wednesday looking through a weird red mesh. At first I thought something was wrong with my eyes, then I thought I was just hung over, but I didn’t remember drinking. I then realized that my vision was obstructed, but unsure by what. When I tried to remove the obstruction I found that it was in fact attached to my head. I had a mane of red hair now.

I had taken the last few changes in stride for the most part, but this one was a turning point in my mind. I realized that the changes would now be affecting my body. I’d clearly been in denial up to this point. Why I had thought that only my clothes were going to be affected, I do not know. I was going to become a woman; I knew that now.

I sat at the edge of my bed and my eyes began to water. I was not a crier by nature, but I was overwhelmed. Was I going to get tits… a pussy? I loved my cock. Sure it had not gotten as much use as I would have liked in the last couple years, but I didn’t want it to go; my cock was my buddy. I didn’t know what I was I going to do. I briefly thought of calling in sick so I could stay home and sulk, but my boss was the type that thought that the only good excuse for missing work was for a funeral; your own.

I headed to the shower and wondered what to do with my hair. I knew from my wife that long hair took a long time to dry properly. Hers had been to the shoulder blades; mine was now to the middle of my back. I spotted a shower cap hanging from the shower rod. The tub now also held a wide array of shampoos and conditioners along with a pink ladies razor. I ran my hand over my face; no need to shave my face today. Looking over the rest of my body I found that I was practically hairless. My pubic hair was red like the hair on my head and neatly trimmed; my legs and pits were shaven clean. At least I wouldn’t have to shave today, what a plus.

As I prepared to put on my makeup after the shower, I noticed that besides a lack of stubble on my chin, my brows were much thinner and my lashes much longer. My new hair was thick, wavy and long; Karen would have been envious. I was so distracted by my worries over my new locks that I didn’t have to do any special mental tricks to apply makeup to my face. To get my hair under control I recounted last season’s fielding errors. When I was finished my hair was pinned in a way that had it fall to the sides of my face and then cascade down my back. The makeup on my face seemed to fit a little better now that it was framed by the long red hair.

As I exited the bathroom I briefly entertained the idea of wearing a skirt today since my legs were shaved; my notes to myself saved me again. I put on some plain panties, slacks and blouse. As I closed my closet door I actually felt a little pang of disappointment that I was passing on some really cute outfits. I did not know who long the notes were going to keep working. I was starting to get a strong desire to dress up. Leaving my bedroom I noticed that my baseball hat collection was missing. I did not have time to ponder that now. I had to skip coffee and breakfast again if I was going to make it to work on time. I was going to have to start rising earlier; twenty five minute mornings were definitely a thing of the past.

Lucy was not in the office. She sent me an email informing me that she would be at customer appointments all day and would not be able to make lunch. It was a bit of a blow. I really felt the need to talk to her today. The hair thing today had really knocked my legs out from under me and I really wanted to talk to my friend. I couldn't actually tell her what was wrong, but she would be able to tell that I was bothered and would be compassionate regardless. I needed her support today and I wasn’t going to get it. I was happy she was busy though; she needed those commissions to keep up with her shopping habit.

On the way home I stopped by the mini-mart to pick up some milk. The store was atypically busy and there was a line to the cash register. After a few minutes it was my turn. “Good evening Stacy, you sure do look nice tonight”.

“Well, thank you; I love your hair,” she said as she pointed to her own red hair which hung to the middle of her back like mine. “Not that I’m partial or anything.”

“You sure look busy today, you here all by yourself?” I asked as I pulled my wallet out of my purse.

“Nah, Jimmy’s here too, but he’s on lunch. Never fails, I always get slammed when he goes on break.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever introduced myself,” I said as I handed her a five. “My name’s Larry.”

“Well, as you know my name is Stacy,” she said, pointing to her name tag. “I hope you have a great night Larry. I hope to see again soon.”

“Goodnight,” I replied.

I called Lucy once I got home, but she was headed to dinner with Gary. I let her go, figuring I would just talk to her on Thursday. That night I woke to the strangest feeling. It felt like thousands of fingers were lightly rubbing my entire body simultaneously. It was accompanied by a warm sensation that I find hard to describe. It was not warm like sitting near a fire or the sun on a warm day. It was warm more like a lover's embrace. It continued for several minutes. I couldn’t help but touch myself; my cock was granite. I pleasured myself while basking in the nocturnal sensations. It probably wasn't good whatever was happening, but I was too turned on to care at the time. When I woke the next morning the sensations were gone, but their memory lingered. I lay in bed for a few minutes letting my hands roam my body hoping that the sensation would return. While my hands on my body felt more sensual then I remembered, it was nothing compared to the previous night. I finally gave up and started my new routine. I went with the boring clothes again, refusing to wear my more fashionable outfits. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was denying myself; I had some pretty cute outfits in my closet. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be wear skirts or dresses, as the notes on my closet door indicated, but I would probably look a lot nicer showing a bit of leg and who didn't want to look nice? With a heavy sigh I decided to trust my past self and stuck with the slacks.

Lucy was out on appointments all day again today. I received another email with an apologetic message which was appended with ‘Sent from my iPhone’. Lucy had spent hours in line less than a month ago to buy the latest model. I still had a pretty basic cell phone, no fancy options, just a mobile phone. It had a pretty good battery life when I remembered to charge it. I’d briefly considered getting one of the new ‘smart’ phones until I saw their price tag.

When lunch rolled around I decided to just skip lunch and stay in the office. As Janine gathered her stuff to head out for lunch she stopped by my desk.

“You bring lunch today?” Janine asked

“No, I just don’t feel like eating today,” I replied.

“Wow, Kelly was right you are joined at the hip.”

“What are you talking about?” “You and Lucy,” she replied. “You two have been inseparable for a while now. You’re even skipping lunch when she’s gone.”

“I don’t know what Kelly is telling you; we’ve had a couple lunches together, so what.” I answered tersely.

“And went shopping together all day on Saturday,” she said. “Kelly thinks you’re trying horn in on her friend.”

“Yeah, well you can tell Kelly that she’s a bitch,” I retorted angrily. “You shouldn’t listen to anything she has to say.”

“I let you tell that to Kelly,” Janine laughed. “Why don’t you come to lunch we me and Donna, we’re getting sushi.”

“Thanks, that sounds great.” I logged off my computer, grabbed my purse and joined Janine on her way out the door. I found myself pretty annoyed at Kelly. Who did she think she was talking behind my back? I had a strong desire to really tell her off.

That evening I met Brandon at the gym; after fuming most of the day about Kelly I felt I could use a real good workout. I changed into my black and pink spandex workout outfit. Once again I checked myself out in the mirror before heading out to the gym proper; I looked a bit better this time. I had my hair pulled back into a pony tail, but what really stood out was my belly. I don’t know if it was the lack of dark belly hair or a result of eating better, but my belly looked pretty nice; it didn’t bulge as much and my skin looked supple.

I joined Brandon on some exercise bikes once I’d finished admiring myself. It felt really good to be moving even if I wasn’t technically going anywhere. After sitting all day I typically relished the opportunity to work my body, especially with a great friend, but today it felt especially good, amazing even. My body felt really good and energetic and I swear I could feel every muscle in my body; they all felt alive and ready to take on the world.

“You all right there buddy?” Brandon asked

At first I thought he must be joking. “I feel great!”

“Well, you’re sweating like a pig.” He looked genuinely worried. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Trust me I feel awesome.” I jumped off the bike, wiped my face with my towel and then slapped Brandon on the back. “Let’s hit the weights,” I said and headed off to the free weights.

I found a free bench and started putting weights on the barbell. Brandon and I were currently doing bench presses in the 200lb range. We liked to start with a few reps at a much lower weight to work out any kinks and get in the rhythm of lifting. Brandon caught up by the time I was done putting 175lbs on the bar.

I pumped out a set of five and I could tell this was going to be an excellent session. My muscles were so energized I figured I could probably set a new weight record for myself. I switched places with Brandon and my body went from awesome to heavenly. It was like last night, but this time instead of hands gently caressing my skin, they were giving my muscles a deep sensual massage from the inside.

I was lost for a moment, but then realized that I was sporting wood once again and this time I was not in the privacy of my room. In a haze of ecstasy I moved to cover my front with my towel. The spandex pants I was wearing didn’t leave much to the imagination normally, but now I was at full mast. I would have had a hard time hiding it with baggy shorts. Brandon finished his warm up set and jumped up to let me have a go.

“Hey Brandon, do you mind starting out?” I struggled to sound normal. I struggled not to moan.

“No problem. You really look flushed are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yep, I just need a moment,” I said. “I’ll be fine once you’re done.” “OK, you’re the boss.” Brandon added weights to one side.

Brandon paused, gave me another concerned look, and then added weights to my side when he realized I wasn’t going to do it. I couldn’t add weights to the bar and keep my erection hidden simultaneously.

Brandon did a quick set of three at 200lbs and stood for my turn. I was beginning to feel a little better. The sensation was still there but it felt more manageable and less sexual. As I sat Brandon tapped my shoulder with the back of his hand to get my attention and then motioned with his head to the other side of the gym.

“Would you get a load of that action?” Brandon was looking at a woman heading to one of the group exercise rooms. By the look of her body and the yoga mat under her arms I guessed she was heading to one of the yoga classes, perhaps she was the instructor. Now she was something to get hard over. I have always appreciated women who did yoga, I loved that body shape. This was new for Brandon though; he normally went for women with more exaggerated curves.

“I thought you preferred women who were a bit more—top heavy.” I was feeling much more normal now. My cock began to relax.

“Yeah, I guess.” Brandon continued to stare. “I don’t know though, there is something about her that looks real hot right now. I wish I could get me some of that.”

I was about to agree with Brandon that his new object of affection was also hot in my book when I had this feeling that I was forgetting something, something important. I tried to search my mind for what I could be forgetting when I noticed Brandon removing weights from the bar.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked.

“I hadn’t removed the weights from my set yet, sorry about that. I’ll have you ready to go in a jiffy.” Brandon started hurrying.

“No, why are you removing weights at all? You were just doing 200, that’s perfect for me.” I wondered what was getting into Brandon, first the switch on his taste in women and now this.

“You can’t lift 200 Larry,” Brandon said.

“What the fuck are you talking about? We did over 200 last week. Hell, I just lifted 175 five times with ease a few minutes ago.” I was getting frustrated. I’d been really looking forward to lifting tonight and now it was going all wrong.

Brandon hesitated. He cocked his head and looked to the side in thought. After a couple moments he shook his head “You can’t do 200. Tell you what I’ll put 150 on the bar and if you can lift it once, I’ll not only add weight, I’ll paint your house next month.”

I gave a derisive chuckle “You’re on. Oh and I want top of the line paint, not that cheap shit you use on some of you customer’s houses.”

“Absolutely, whatever paint you want, just lift 150 and you got it. Hell, I’ll even reroof your house as well.” He had a disturbing look of confidence. He was sure that he wasn’t going to lose.

Something was weird here; Brandon had never reneged on a bet. He’d told me before that he’d sooner use a cheese grater on his balls. He was so confident that he was going to win the bet that was willing to paint and reroof my house if he lost. He knew he wasn’t going to lose, but I had just lifted 175lbs five times with ease and now I only had lift 150 one time.

“You haven’t messed with the weights have you?” I asked accusingly.

“It's 150 and no tricks. I won’t touch the bar unless you ask or it looks like you are going to fail. If I touch the bar before you ask, you can go again.” Brandon still had that knowing look.

As I lay down to do my lift, Brandon moved to the head of the bench to be ready to grab the weight. We usually didn’t get that serious about spotting until we started to push our limits. I put my hands on the bar and couldn’t budge it. Something was really wrong here. I wasn’t about to give up that easily so I pushed as hard as I could, straining to move the bar even slightly in the bench’s cradle.

“Tell you what Larry, how about I ease the weight down to your chest and hold it there and you can push it off my hands. If you can lift the weight up from that position you’ll still win the bet. I think that’ll be safer.”

I agreed and Brandon lifted the weight and then lowered it to just above my chest. I grabbed the bar and started pushing like my life depended on it. Brandon lowered his hands but kept them about an inch from the bar. I exhaled slowly as I pushed on the bar; the bar didn’t budge. I was straining just keep the bar from dropping back into Brandon’s waiting hands. This was not possible. As I pushed with all my strength I could feel my face redden from the effort.

“Breathe Larry!” Brandon scolded.

I knew what had happened now. I looked at my forearms and they had no bulk. Whatever had changed my clothes and my hair had now stolen my muscles; muscles I had worked very hard to obtain. Years of lifting weights gone in minutes. It’d been a luscious, nearly orgasmic few minutes, but hardly worth it. I let out a guttural roar as I tried, by force of will, to raise the bar.

“You’ve got to let it go Larry, you’re going to hurt yourself, buddy,” Brandon said gently.

“I can do it!” I wailed. But I knew I couldn’t. My vision blurred as I lowered the weights into Brandon’s hands. I sat up and was barely able to control the tears. I’m sure I was drawing attention from others in the gym, but I hardly cared at the moment. I was losing the war for my very self, let them stare.

Brandon sat next to me on the bench and put an arm around me. “It’s okay Larry; It’s going to be okay.”

I turned my head into his shoulder and cried in earnest.

I’m not sure how long we sat there, but eventually my tears began to ebb. Brandon gave me a gentle squeeze. ” Come on let’s get out of here.” We walked side by side to the front door. “Give me your key and I’ll get our stuff.”

I handed Brandon my locker key and waited just inside the club’s entrance. I started to wipe at my eyes when I realized that I was probably making a horrible mess of my makeup.

“Here this will help,” said a voice from behind me.

I turned and it was one of the girls who signed people into the club; she held out some Kleenex. I took it and dabbed at my eyes. “Thanks,” I sniffled.

“You’re welcome,” she said. She put her hand on my shoulder. “Hang in there, it’ll get better. It probably doesn’t seem that way now, but it will.” She stayed with me until Brandon returned.

I was really touched by her spontaneous compassion, but at the same time I thought, “What the hell does she know? She probably thinks I broke a nail or something.” I was being mean; she was just trying to be nice.

Brandon appeared carrying all of our stuff. I unburdened him from my purse and gym bag. My gym bag was overflowing with my street clothes.

“I want to thank you for staying by me in there. I’m so embarrassed though and I’m sorry if I humiliated you.” I could not even look at him.

“Look at me Larry,” he said.

I looked up.

“Do I look humiliated to you?” He did not look humiliated, just concerned.

“No,” I replied.

“Larry, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I must have looked like a fool. I am surprised no one was laughing.”

“They know better,” he said very seriously. “I would have kicked all of their asses.”

“Well I owe you one,” I said, trying to smile. “Will you help me paint my house anyway?”

Brandon laughed and slapped me on the back. “You better start really hitting the weights if you want me to paint.”

“Are you alright to drive?” Brandon asked as we made our way to my car. “I could drive you home and we could get your car early tomorrow.”

“Nah, I will be okay.” I opened the door and climbed in.

“Well, have a good night,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at 7pm on Saturday.”

“Sounds good.” I was very tempted to cancel Saturday night. After today I didn’t think I could handle going out on the weekend, but after being there for me today I did not want to let Brandon down. I looked in the rearview mirror and my face was a total mess. I considered trying to repair it, but figured I would be home soon and I could clean up there. I started the car and headed home, glad it was nighttime, otherwise I might frighten small children on the way.

Once home I checked out the damage to my body. My face may have been a disaster, but the spandex outfit looked really good on me now. I was appalled at the loss of my muscles, but I was so lean and toned now. There was no bulge or sag anywhere; my skin was taunt and smooth. I used some cleansing wipes to clean my face and then I changed into some sweats. I had a feeling it was going to be an early night tonight. I heated of up leftovers from last night’s dinner, whipped up a quick garden salad and ate it while watching the Angels play the A’s.

After eating, I grabbed a blanket and curled up on the couch. I could barely maintain enough energy to pay attention to the game. I was spent, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I didn’t have much fight left in me and I feared there would be nothing left of me soon. Something began to nag at me though, something about the club. It wasn’t the debacle with my muscles or the weights; it had to do with something Brandon had said. It was while I was having that full body orgasm. He was looking at the yoga beauty when he said ‘I wish…’. Then I remembered. The memory flashed in my brain like lightning on a cloudless night. I sat straight up. “That fucking fairy!”

I was fully clothed with flashlight in hand and marching through the dark forest an hour later. I didn’t remember everything. I couldn’t remember exactly how I found her or what I was doing in the forest that night. I remembered where I met her, but not what led me there. I remembered talking to the fairy, but not what we talked about exactly. I did remember her saying a couple things. One was if I needed her I just had to come to the same place and call her name. Not that I remembered her name; that would be too easy.

The other thing I remember her saying was ‘Do you wish it?’ That had to be what was changing me. But I could not fathom why I would wish for what was happening to me; why would I wish to be a woman? It didn’t make sense, not that fairies made sense. If you had asked me about fairies two hours ago I would have laughed. I wasn’t laughing now.

I needed to remember her name. She could reverse whatever it was that was happening to me, of this I was sure. I entered the clearing where I had met the fairy, but I still couldn’t recall her name. I could see her in my mind. I could see her as she was saying her name; at that moment I really wished I could read fairy lips. I pictured her in my head again, but instead of trying to remember what she was saying to me, I tried to remember what I was thinking as she said it to me.

Suddenly, I was no longer in the forest. I was still surrounded by trees, but there was no undergrowth and there was quite a bit of space between each tree. It was still night, but no longer dark. The moon was full on the horizon and seemed to take up half the sky. It was so bright the trees cast a distinct shadow. In the distance I could see a house and barn both surrounded by a large white fence. There was something very familiar about this place. I looked at the trees and realized that they were cherry trees and full of fruit. I wandered down to the farm house and barn. As I drew close to the house I realized where I was; this was my grandparent’s farm. It was my grandparent’s farm from when I was a child. I had played tag in the cherry orchard many times as a child; that is until my grandparents died and the place was sold. Last I had heard the whole place had been bulldozed and apartments had been erected.

I began to suspect that I was not actually here; I was probably still in the clearing. I had been trying to remember the fairy’s name, perhaps the answer lie around me. I looked around the barn and house, but nothing came to mind. I decided to head back to the cherry orchard. Once I arrived I looked at the grass then at the base of the cherry trees, but still nothing leapt out at me. I looked at the trees themselves, but still nothing. I looked at one of the cherries so bright red from the moon’s glow and I remembered her name.

“Cherry Moonglow, come here and fix this!” I shouted, suddenly back in the clearing.

“I said call my name if you needed me, not scream it like a bleeding banshee,” returned an impossibly high pitched voice in a lilting Irish accent.

I turned and there sitting delicately on a fallen log was Cherry Moonglow, all nine inches of her. She was leaning forward with her tiny legs crossed at the knee looking at me mixture of frown and curiosity. She was wearing a tiny dress whose color reminded me of fall leaves, an iridescent mixture of oranges, golds and browns. Her translucent wings, nearly as tall as she, were slowly opening and closing.

“What are you doing to me? Why are you changing me? What are you doing to my life? I want it back. I want my life back now! Change me back!” I demanded

“Hello to you too,” Cherry replied.

“How rude of me, where are my manners.” I put on a fake smile. “Hello Cherry, it’s so nice to see you again. How have you been?” I didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s nice. How have I been? I’m so glad you asked. Well, a couple weeks ago I started carrying a purse. I didn’t want to. Hell, I didn’t even buy the damn thing, it just appeared suddenly and I was forced to carry it like a total fool. I probably could have lived with that. No one else seemed to care, but then it was shoes and then makeup and then panties and all my clothes. I was turned into a cross dresser against my will. Then it was my hair and now just today all of my muscles up and vanished. Other than that I’ve been fucking peachy.” By the time I was done my smile was gone and I was screaming again.

“Are you done?” Cherry looked bored.

I stared at her, how she could be so nonchalant baffled me. “I guess. Are you going to change me back?”

“If you did not want this why did you wish for it?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “I don’t remember wishing to be like this.”

“Of course you don’t, you aren’t supposed to,” she retorted angrily. “You aren’t supposed to remember anything, not the wishes, not me, not my name and especially not this place.” Cherry stood. “I don’t know how you remembered where to meet me, but it is the least surprising thing in this whole mess.”

“I didn’t remember anything until tonight. I still don’t remember much. I almost didn’t remember your name, but then it came to me.”

“Oh, remember did you?” Cherry laughed. “I gave you the vision of the cherry orchard. I hope I wasn’t too vague,” she said sarcastically. “Lord, it took you long enough to figure it out.”

“You could have just told me your name.”

“That I could not do, I am in big enough trouble for revealing myself to you in the first place. If my Queen discovered that I appeared to you unbidden a second time she would flay me alive. Showing you the vision is a bit of a no-no, but not officially against the rules.”

“Oh, yeah I was lost,” I said. “I was out walking and I got lost then you appeared out of nowhere.” The memory was very foggy.

“You were lost alright,” she said. “You looked so sullen and dejected; out here alone at night with no light of your own. I have seen it before and it never ends pretty; it broke my heart to see you so. Stupid me, I thought I could help. Now who is going to help me?”

“You thought you could help me by making me a weak, redheaded cross dresser?” I motioned down my body.

“Of course not, you will not be a cross dresser; the magic has not finished yet. It should have finished quickly the first night, but it has not gone well.”

“I don’t understand, why a woman? What did I say that made you think I wanted to be a woman?”

“Let’s see if this jogs your memory. Do you remember telling me about the woman named Lucy? That she was the greatest person you ever met? How you wanted her, but you did not want to hurt her relationship or change her at all because she was just perfect how she was?”

“Vaguely,” I replied. This sounded a little familiar.

“Do you remember saying that you would settle for just being her friend.”

This sounded really familiar. “Maybe…but I didn’t want to be her girlfriend I know that.”

“No, you did not say you wanted to be her girlfriend, but you did say that wished you could be more like her.”

“I didn’t mean it that way!” I shouted.

“Do you remember going on and on about your friend Brandon?”

It was all coming back to me now, I remembered telling her all about Brandon and Lucy, but that was only part of it. I told her everything, even stuff I had never told anyone. I had started babbling to her just after…“You drugged me!”

“I did no such thing.” Cherry feigned insult.

“Yes you did,” I retorted. “It was in that drink you gave me.”

“That drink was the finest fairy wine, I’ll have you know. If you cannot moderate your drinking it is hardly my fault.”

“I had one thimbleful,” I replied.

“It is a tad strong and not really meant for mortal consumption, but it does tend to loosen the lips.” Cherry wore a very mischievous smile.

“Fine, but that doesn’t explain why I’m wearing makeup and have a mane of red hair halfway to my ass.”

“Do you remember what you told me about your friend?”

“I remember telling you about Brandon and what a great friendship we have, but I wished he would find a woman he could settle down with, a nice pretty girl who would care for him, not one of those big titted bimbo one night stands,” I said.

“And?

“Well, I wanted him to have a great relationship with a woman who loved him and wouldn’t leave him; someone whom he loved as well.”

“Exactly!” Cherry said triumphantly.

“Exactly what?” I asked. “What the hell does that have to do with me becoming a woman?”

“But don’t you see? You wanted to be great friends with Lucy and be more like her, so you are becoming her best friend with all sorts of common interests,” Cherry explained, apparently pleased with herself. “You wanted Brandon to have a great relationship with a woman he loved and who loved him. Since you were going to become a woman and you already loved each other it was perfect, true it was not a romantic love, but that is an easy tweak.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I yelled. “I didn’t want to be a woman like Lucy; I was talking about her way with people and her outlook on life. Also, there are billions of women in the world; you could’ve hooked Brandon up with one of them.”

“Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time and I may have started on the wine before you showed up…and continued after you left.” Cherry looked guilty. “It seemed the perfect solution and it should have worked immediately and you should not have been aware at all. Poof, you are Lucy’s best friend and Brandon’s woman, none the wiser.” Cherry began to pace. “Something went wrong though; once I cast the magic there was a backlash like none I have ever seen. It took me many days to recover; I tried again with a similar result. True I had never done magic of this scale, but it should not have been that difficult. I cajoled a few friends to aid me, but even working together we still struggled. I should have just left it there, but I really did want to help you. I did not want to leave you in a half state. “

“Well, thank you for trying. If you could just reverse it now we can call it even,” I said. “No harm, no foul.”

“I wish it were that simple, but someone told my Queen. She was furious with me at first, but when I told her of the troubles with the magic she became intrigued. If it had been just me working the magic she would have assumed me incompetent, but some of those who helped me are highly regarded. She decided to lend her skills. When she too encountered the same problems she became determined. She does not like to fail and I fear that now her pride is on the line. She believes an unknown force is fighting the magic, but she does not yet know who wields it or why.”

“Well, ask her to reverse it then; can’t she do that?”

“I am not on the best of terms with my Queen at the moment. She would likely banish me if she were to find out you did not actually wish the magic in the first place,” she replied. “It would be best to let the magic finish.”

“Best for you maybe, but I don’t want to be a woman, let alone Brandon’s woman,” I answered angrily.

“I’m sorry Larry, but I cannot help you. I would suggest you try to make the best of your new life. My Queen will not quit until the magic is complete.”

“You can’t do this to me Cherry,” I said. “You said you wanted to make my life better.” Tears rolled down my cheeks. "This is not better!”
“It does pain me that I have caused you more unhappiness,” she said, looking saddened. “I truly meant to do you good. Goodbye.” She disappeared.

Once again I was alone in the woods, sullen and dejected. Well, at least this time I had a flashlight.

On Friday morning I struggled to get out of bed. By the time I had made it home the previous night it was only a couple hours until work. I was tempted to stay up all night, but I figured a couple hours of sleep were better than none. After showering I put on my face and then worked on my hair. As I headed into the bedroom to get dressed I remembered that it was Friday, which meant I could wear sneakers and jeans today. Unfortunately I couldn’t find jeans in the closet or dresser. I figured there had to be jeans; every woman I had ever known had jeans of some sort. It was then that I remembered the other closet. It was easy to forget because I had my dresser in front of it. It had been Karen’s so I didn’t use it.

I struggled to move the dresser out of the way; a task I could have done with ease yesterday morning. I had to remove most of the drawers before I could budge it. I opened the closet and there were the jeans. There were also hats, women’s hats of course. There were also purses, lots of purses in lots of different sizes and colors. And Flats! There were also more clothes in clear plastic bags. I grabbed a pair of blue jeans and closed the door.

When I opened my dresser drawer to grab a pair of my ‘normal’ white cotton panties my eyes caught a pair of red, lacy, silk panties. Damn they looked sexy. I bet they would feel really good rubbing against my cock. I picked them up and started to pull them up my legs. I had them halfway up my legs when I stopped myself and thought that I mustn’t give in. I may have to wear women’s clothes, but it was going to be the least feminine, least sexy thing I could find. I started to pull them off and then stopped once again. What did it matter anymore? Cherry wasn't going to help me and reverse the magic. I was going to become a woman. I was going to become Brandon’s lover. Wearing silk panties or cotton panties wasn’t going to change that. I pulled the red panties off and put the cotton panties on. I may end up becoming a woman. I may become the most girly-girl known to man, but I was not going to give up. I was still Larry Wilkins and I would fight this thing to the bitter end.

Once I arrived at work I wished I had worn slacks instead of jeans. Why did women wear jeans that were so damn tight? My jeans were tailored to accommodate a penis and balls so I was able to survive the day, but man the things were tight. Just before 10am I got a call from Lucy.

“Larry, I’m really sorry, but I am not going to be able to make it for lunch again.”

“That’s okay Lucy. I’ll miss you, but business first right?” I was totally bummed, but I tried to hide it from my voice.

“I know it is last minute, but do you have any plans tomorrow morning?”

“Nothing major, what do you have in mind?”

“You’ve hear of La Femme Choyée, right?” Lucy didn’t wait for an answer. “They are a very exclusive spa and I happen to have two gift certificates for their full package. Please come, it would be so boring without you,” Lucy pleaded.

“Of course I’ll come, it sounds great.” I said with false enthusiasm. So much for drawing a line in the sand, but I did not want to let Lucy down. She was always so nice to me and I really enjoyed my time with her.

“We’re going to have so much fun; I’ll pick you up at 8am,” she said. “I need to go, the client is coming back. See you tomorrow morning.” Lucy hung up.

I was so glad I had not given into the red panties. Tomorrow when I was getting my hair and nails done I would be so glad I didn’t give in and wear lacy panties today. I’m sure my vanishing masculinity would thank me.

Janine ate in for lunch so I asked Donna and Wendy to join me for some Vietnamese and had a good time chatting with them.

Once home from work I chopped up some vegetables and made myself a tofu stir fry. As I ate I looked around the living room and decided I really needed to clean the house. Its lack of tidiness had been wearing at me and I couldn’t stand looking at the mess any longer. I spent the rest of the evening trying to get my house back in order.

As I lay in bed that night it occurred to me that there had been no changes that day. It had been the first day without changes since my shopping trip with Lucy. Maybe Cherry changed her mind and talked to the fairy Queen after all. Nothing had changed back so I wasn’t very hopeful. But if I didn’t change any further I would at least keep my penis and heterosexuality.

I found out the next morning that Friday was just an anomaly; a stranger’s face greeted me in the bathroom mirror. I do like waking up to a pretty face, but only when the face is attached to a pretty girl and not attached to me. In addition to the thin sculpted eyebrows and long lashes I had gained on Wednesday, I now sported full lips, large green eyes, high cheek bones and a button nose all sitting on a heart shaped face. I looked at least ten years younger. I’d tried not to get my hopes up last night, but apparently I had more than I realized. I stood still and stared at my new face. The face I had grown up with was gone; that face had been my identity, now I was a stranger to myself. My eyes filled with tears again; I hoped I wasn’t going to become one of those girls that cried all the time.

The doorbell brought me out of it. I wiped my eyes as I grabbed a robe and slapped on a fake smile. If Lucy asked about my teary eyes I would blame allergies. She didn’t ask. She bustled in with two lattes in hand. She handed both coffees to me and whipped off her coat to reveal a very stylish, sleeveless dress accompanied by black knee high boots with a tall, stiletto heel. Her belt and purse matched the boots, of course.

“My God Larry, why aren’t you ready yet?” She asked as she grabbed one of the drinks from me.

“I was just going to change.” I took a sip of the remaining latte and tasted chocolate and vanilla; it was delicious.

“Well, I am a bit early so we have a bit of time for you to get dressed. This place is a bit on the snobby side, so you should go high end,” she said as she followed me into my bedroom. “So, let’s see what you have to work with.” Lucy stopped short. “What are these, ‘No Heels’, ‘Slacks only’?” She was looking at the signs on my closet door.

“Uhhh…inside joke,” I said as I opened my closet door.

“You’re so loopy. Wow, you have great taste.” Lucy started going through the outfits in my closet. “Larry, please do not take this the wrong way, but why don’t you wear some of these to work?”

“I like slacks?” I mumbled.

“Too bad you weren’t wearing this on Monday; that would have shut Kelly up.” Lucy was looking at a baby blue skirt. “She can be such a bitch sometimes.” Lucy turned to me and made a small frown. “You did realize she was insulting you, didn’t you?”

“I guess I missed that one.” I remembered her saying something about skirts and work, but I didn’t think she had been talking about me.

“You are just a babe in the woods aren’t you Larry?” Lucy paused and seemed to consider something. “Tell you what Larry, I’ll stop by tomorrow and I can help you pick out some outfits for the week. We’ll make Kelly eat her words.” Lucy said mischievously.

“You don’t have to do that Lucy,” I replied, hoping she would take the hint.

“It’s really no problem.” Lucy turned back to the closet. “Well, I hope you don’t mind wearing a dress today. While we’ll be in robes most of the day we do have to look good on the way in and out.” She pulled a black sleeveless dress out of the closet. “This is perfect.” The dress had an intricate floral design on the front and the back and sides were solid black. “Try this on and I’ll find some shoes. Too bad you wouldn’t buy that handbag last Saturday; it would’ve gone perfect with this dress.” Lucy said while studying my shoe collection.

I opened the second closet. “Knock yourself out,” I said as I took the dress into the bathroom to try it on. After I pulled the dress on I made my way back to the bedroom for Lucy’s approval.

“Very nice,” Lucy said as she scrutinized the dress. “Oh good your legs aren’t shaved; we’ll be getting a wax today as part of the package. Black nylons would go great with this.”

I pulled a pair of nylons out of my dresser and headed back to the bathroom. After a couple steps I went back to the dresser and grabbed the red panties I had been eyeing yesterday.

“Why is your dresser in the middle of your room?” Lucy asked. “Typically you see those against a wall.”

“Fung Shui,” I replied.

“You are such a loon,” Lucy laughed. “It’s no wonder we get along so great.”

After a quick shower I pulled on my panties and relished the silky feeling on my privates. I sat on the toilet, balled up the nylons as I had seen Karen do many times, and slid them up my legs. As the nylons pulled against the stubble of my leg hair, I kind of wished I’d shaved them along with my pits; the feeling was a little…gross. With makeup applied, hair brushed and dress donned, I rejoined Lucy in the bedroom. For jewelry I picked out an onyx necklace on a silver chain along with its matching bracelet and earrings. Lucy was holding a small black clutch and black stilettos out towards me. I slipped on the heels and now towered over Lucy. I studied my reflection in the bedroom mirror and I had to admit that I actually looked pretty nice. Without breasts and womanly hips the dress hung too straight in my opinion, but with my new face, lack of bulging muscles and long hair, the dress, jewelry and makeup no longer looked quite so out of place on me.

“Looks pretty nice on you, doesn’t it?” Lucy asked. “See, you can trust me, I won’t lead you astray.” She checked her watch. “We should get going.”

I don’t know how to differentiate an exclusive spa from a merely expense one. Judging by its exterior this spa was certainly expensive. When Lucy drove her Escalade up to the front entrance I noticed several young men in valet uniforms standing rather rigid near the entrance. As soon the vehicle came to a stop they sprang into action; one headed to my door and the other to Lucy’s. The valets opened both doors simultaneously “Welcome to La Femme Choyée,“ they said in unison.

I did not move; I found I was suddenly very nervous. Lucy exited the vehicle and handed her keys to the Valet. I still did not move. The Valet at the driver’s door started to enter the vehicle, but paused when he noticed I had not yet exited. The Valet my door looked directly at me; I think he could sense my fear. He gave me a warm smile and held out his hand. I looked at the hand, but still did not move.

“You coming Larry?” Lucy had made it around to my side of the car and was smoothing the skirt of her dress.

I realized I was making a fool of myself, so I swung both legs around, took the offered hand and tried to stand without flashing my manhood. I stood on my stilts and joined Lucy at the entrance.

Lucy had a compact in her hand and a concerned look on her face. “Is everything all right?” she asked as she opened the compact to check her face.

“Just a bit nervous I guess,” I replied. I started to mimic Lucy by smoothing my clothes as well.

“Well, don’t be, we have just as much right to be here as they do,” she said as she handed the compact to me. “Our money is just as good as theirs.”

“Thanks.” I quickly checked my face.

“Ready?” Lucy asked.

I nodded and we entered the Spa.

Entering the spa reminded me of a scene from the movie ‘The Wizard of OZ’. Specifically the part where Dorothy exits her farm house into Munchkin land; where it changes from drab black & white to the golden opulence of OZ. I went from feeling way over dressed to severely underdressed as soon as we entered the lobby. The whole place screamed money.

“Don’t be a tourist Larry, close your mouth,” Lucy whispered sternly, but smiling the whole time. I doubted the smile was for me though.

Lucy proceeded to the reception desk, but I remained behind. I really wanted to leave. I had tried to prepare myself for the feminine pampering, but not for all of the elegance and wealth; I felt so out of place. I looked at the women sitting on the couches and chairs in the lobby, sipping from champagne flutes. Their outfits were probably worth more than Lucy’s SUV. Their jewelry sparked in a way that led me to believe they were not only real, but would make the wearer an instant millionaire.

I looked down at my clothing; my dress looked so cheap now. Lucy was right about needing to wear something nice. She had failed to mention that I had nothing nice, at least not in comparison to this place. I began to get angry. I had given in this morning when I had agreed to wear extremely feminine clothes and now I felt like I wasn’t dressed feminine enough. I started this morning worried that I would look too feminine and now I felt too masculine. I was sure that someone was going to call me out for the imposter that I was.

Lucy arrived a few minutes later along with a very smartly dressed woman. Her dress looked about as expensive as Lucy’s so she was probably an employee. They were talking animatedly and both smiled at me as they approached.

“Larry, welcome to La Femme Choyée, my name is Rita Dearborn and I will be guiding you through your spa experience today,” Rita said as she shook my hand. “How are you today?”

“Overwhelmed,” I replied.

“That is not uncommon on a first visit,” Rita laughed. “Rest assured we do not bite. Would you like to start with some Champagne? We have a delightful buffet of fruit and imported chocolates.”

Lucy looked at me and then back to Rita “No, I think we’d like to get started, if that’s okay.”

“Excellent, your package starts with a whirlpool bath in our signature hammam. If you will follow me I will show you where you can change.” Rita turned and began to walk towards the spa proper. I followed, dressed in my rags.

As I followed Lucy and Rita I found myself wondering if Karen had felt that way about her clothes. We had fought often about the money she spent on clothes and shoes. I had felt at the time that she was being irresponsible, she had plenty of shoes and clothes why the hell did she need anymore? I felt remorseful, she only wanted to look nice and probably mostly for me. I should have tried to see things from her point of view while I’d had the chance.

Rita led us to separate, private changing rooms. I changed into my swimsuit and wrapped myself in a white robe I found in the changing room. It was so soft and fluffy and felt amazing against my skin; I could live in the robe. I decided to see if they were for sale. I felt myself relax a little. As I reached for the door to rejoin Lucy I hesitated; I wasn’t sure I was ready for this. The world of femininity was all still so new to me and now I was at its nexus. I felt like a rookie ball player suddenly called up to the majors during the World Series. I had no clue what to do in a place like this. Spas had always seemed such a woman’s domain to me and this spa was the big time. I remembered that I was here with Lucy and she wouldn’t let me make too much of a fool of myself.

Rita led us down a series of immaculate halls to a shrine dedicated to heat and water. The room had a single large dome and was all marble and pillars. There was a large pool in the center of the room and smaller whirlpools in candle lit alcoves. Rita described the inspiration for the room and some of the optional amenities while she led us to one of the free alcoves. In our alcove stood a woman dressed in a white uniform.

“This is Jennifer; she will take care of all your needs while in the bath. Anything you need just let her know. I will be back in a half hour,” Rita said before departing.

Jennifer took our robes from us as we slid into the steaming, bubbling water.

“Thank you so much for inviting me Lucy, I’m glad I was free, I would’ve hated to miss out on this,” I said as Jennifer served us champagne.

“I have a confession to make, Kelly was originally supposed to come, but she cancelled on me Friday morning. I’m glad she did, I’m much happier that you’re here instead of her. She’s really been getting on my nerves.”

“I’m sorry she has been annoying you,” I said. It occurred to me that it was probably the fairy magic that was causing a rift between Lucy and Kelly.

“She hasn’t been just annoying me, I found out that she’ been talking behind your back.” Lucy rested her head and closed her eyes. “I called her on it and that’s when she cancelled.”

“I’d heard she was talking about me. I thought of saying something, but since she was your friend I didn’t want to get into an argument with her.”

Lucy raised her head and looked at me. “I appreciate you taking the high road Larry. You’re such a better friend than she’s ever been.”

“You’re a great friend too Lucy, but don’t give up on her, it’s probably a phase or something.”

“She has been flaking out on me for years now,” she replied. “I’ve always let it slide, but I don’t know anymore. I think our friendship has been too one way for too long now.”

All too soon Rita was back and she and Jennifer were wrapping our hair in towels while we slipped on the delicious robes. Once again we found ourselves led through the maze of halls, but this time to a long room made of rich mahogany and adorned with tropical, flowering plants. A series of padded tables were lined in front of floor to ceiling windows that provided a magnificent view of the valley below. In the corner of the room were a few privacy screens which we used to slip out of our swim suits. With towels wrapped around our bodies we lay face down on adjoining tables.

As soon as we were situated a couple of female masseuses went to work on us. They began by laying large warm stones along our spines, the feeling was heavenly. We didn’t talk at first, we simply luxuriated. After a few minutes the stones were removed and my masseuse began my massage. She poured warm oil on the base of my neck and then with strength that belied her diminutive stature she worked my neck muscles. The nutty oil smelled wonderful and between the heat and pressure of her hands I felt myself sink into relaxation. Unfortunately the wonderful sensations began to remind me of the sensations at the gym. Fearing I would start becoming depressed I turned my head toward Lucy.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how did you afford this?” I asked.

“I won it in a charity auction for a local youth charity called ‘Lend a Hand’, have you heard of it?”

“No,” I replied.

“They help disadvantage youth stay in school and get a decent meal.”

“It sounds like a good cause, I should donate to it.”

"They could use the money, but what they really need is volunteers. They’re always so short handed. I like to spend a couple hours a week either tutoring one of the kids or helping prepare meals."

“That’s so generous of you,” I said. The masseuse poured more oil on my back and worked her skilful hands down the sides of my spine.

"I don't know how generous I’m being. I get so much out of it; I feel kind of selfish actually."

"You are being hard on yourself. It’s very noble of you to volunteer your time; there is nothing selfish in that."

"It started selfish; I was seeing a counselor several years ago after my father died and she suggested I volunteer. Besides putting my own problems in perspective, she thought it would make me feel better in general by helping someone else. When I started it was solely for me."

"It sounds like it’s more than that now," I replied.

"I can't help but care now. They need so much help; you should come with me sometime next week. You’re so smart you would be a great tutor.”

“I think I will,” I said. Having forgotten about myself for awhile I found that I was enjoying the massage greatly.

Lucy told me more about her relationship with Gary during our wax, particularly his distaste for the institution of marriage, something that bothered Lucy greatly. I did not catch everything she said, her voice being drowned out by my screams as the waxy strips were yanked from my legs. Afterwards I was extremely happy I’d declined the full Brazilian wax. Based on the pain of having hair ripped forcibly from my legs I didn’t even want to consider the pain level had they torn it from my nether region.

After talking me into matching, French tip nails during our mani-pedi, Lucy asked about my past life. “Larry, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but what happened to all of your other friends. You’ve told me that a lot of them sided with Karen, but once she died surely they would not have had their loyalties divided. If this is too painful we can talk about something else.”

“You’re right, they were very sympathetic after Karen passed, but I did something really stupid at the funeral and most of them haven’t talked to me sense,” I replied as the attendant glued white, artificial nails to the tips of my existing ones.

“What happened?” Lucy asked.

“I never wanted Karen to leave and then when she did I wanted her to come back. The night of her accident we’d met and I noticed that she was wearing her wedding ring. After the accident, when they recovered her body, the ring was missing. I’d decided that I would give her mine so she could have it with her; so she could lie eternally with a token of our love. Well, I forgot to put it in the casket before they closed it. So, while they were lowering her coffin in her grave I dropped the ring in with her. Everyone freaked out, including my mom. They thought I was insulting her, throwing the ring away like it was trash. Nothing could have been further from the truth; I just wasn’t thinking right.”

“Oh god Larry, I’m so sorry,” Lucy replied.

“My mom and I got into an argument and I said a lot of things I wish I could take back. I was still mad at her from a conversation we’d had shortly after Karen moved out. I told her Karen’s reasons for leaving and then she goes into this filibuster on how I should have treated her better. I was so incensed; so when she snapped at me at the funeral I just lost it and I haven’t spoken to her since. I’m not mad at her anymore…I don’t know…now it’s been so long since I talked to her it’s just easier not to,” I said while holding my fingertips under a UV light. “I burned a lot of bridges making that scene at the funeral, the few friends that stuck around after that didn’t stay through my tailspin afterwards. I became quite the self absorbed asshole; only Brandon stayed by me. He wouldn’t let me slip too far. He practically lived at my house for a couple months. He never pushed too hard, but if I stated to get too self destructive he would stop me. We started exercising together and that helped a lot. He’s been trying to get me to go out on the weekends for a while now, but I’ve always said no. I guess I was still taking too much pleasure from feeling bad about myself.”

“Well, I am glad you finally said yes, we’re going to have a great time tonight,” Lucy replied.

“What do you mean, tonight?” I asked.

“Our double date, silly,” Lucy replied. “I’m excited to meet Brandon and you’ll get to meet Gary.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” I lied as my stomach did a flip flop. The consequences of my big mouth combined with the fairy’s magic were coming on like a freight train and I was standing on the tracks in the middle of a tunnel with nowhere to turn.

I lapsed into silence and Lucy followed suit. While the nail technician painted my nails with a clear coat I pondered my options. I had none. Well, I could avoid the date I guess, but to what end. Cherry’s magic was going to make me a complete woman and I had no way to stop it. I did not know what I would accomplish by cancelling the date, other than hurting two important people in my life.

Once our nails were finished, we were given facials, had our hair done and then a makeover. Lucy had specific ideas for my hair and makeup. She talked the stylist into covering the mirror until everything was finished.

“Are you ready to see? You are going to love this.” Lucy said giggling with excitement. Lucy looked amazing with her new stylish makeup and her hair made up in a combination of tight braids and loose wavy, curls.

The stylist removed the mirror’s covering and I stared at myself with my mouth agape. I wasn’t that familiar with my new face, having just received it that morning, but I knew what it looked like. It was an attractive, pretty face, but the face that stared back at me was fucking gorgeous. My hair was piled high on my head with copper ringlets cascading along the side of my face and down to my shoulders. My makeup gave me a sexy, dramatic look. I was beautiful and it made my heart flutter.

As Lucy dropped me off at my home I honestly thanked her for one of the most enjoyable and relaxing afternoons of my life. Lucy gave me a hug and I went inside with my new robe to prepare for my first date in years and my first ever with a man.

It took me a while to pick out an outfit for the evening. I figured Lucy would ride me if I hid my freshly waxed legs, so that meant a dress or a skirt. As I browsed my closet I asked myself what Karen or Lucy would select for a night out. While this narrowed the selection it still left me with several from which to choose. As I tried to make up my mind one dress in particular kept catching my eye. It was a black cocktail dress with a high neckline and black lace for sleeves. It was very sexy looking and very tempting. I thought of resisting again, but the dress called to me. I wanted to see it on my body. I wanted others to see it on me too.

Once I made my decision and began looking for shoes and purse to match the dress I thought back to the day at the spa. I would love to go back; I would certainly need the promotion at work to afford the price of admission. While thinking about the spa it suddenly occurred to me that I had been surrounded by beautiful nearly naked women all day long and I didn’t remember looking at one of them in a sexual manner. I’d certainly appreciated their beauty, but they hadn’t excited me. I feared that with losing interest in women I had almost certainly gained an appreciation for my own gender, not that I would be a member much longer.

After I dressed, I examined myself in the bedroom mirror. The dress fell to mid thigh and on my feet I wore a pair of black, stiletto pumps. Not having the curves the dress required bothered me. I’d briefly considered trying to create makeshift breasts of some sort, to fill out the top, but I didn’t have a bra to stuff. For jewelry I wore dangly, silver earrings and matching bracelets. My hair, nails and makeup were still perfect from the spa. My long nails made dressing more of a chore, but Lucy was correct, they looked amazing. All too soon I heard a car pull into my driveway followed by footsteps approaching my front door. I wasn’t ready. I was dressed and my makeup was done, but I was never going to be ready.

I grabbed my shawl and clutch and made it to the door before Brandon could knock. “Hi Brandon, you’re right on time.”

Brandon just stared at me. I started to panic. Perhaps part of the magic was gone and he saw me as the cross dresser that I was. “Is everything okay?” I asked.

“My god Larry, you look amazing,” Brandon gushed.

I felt myself blush. “Thank you Brandon.” I looked down and then back up at him “You’re very sweet.” What was I saying? I didn’t seem to be able to stop myself. His compliment seemed to have a strange effect on me. It reminded me of the feeling I used to get when I looked at a beautiful half naked woman.

“These are for you,” he said as he handed me a bundle of red, long-stemmed roses.

“They’re so pretty,” I replied. “Let me put them in some water.” I suddenly wished I hadn’t packed up all of Karen’s vases. In the kitchen I found a water pitcher, filled it with water and used it for an impromptu vase. I placed the flowers on a table near the front door.

“Allow me,” Brandon said. He took the shawl from me, reached around me and arranged it on my shoulders.

We stood for a moment face to face, neither of us speaking. I was struck by how nice Brandon looked in his suit. I’d seen Brandon in a suit before, but had failed to notice how well he filled it out, how it accentuated his broad shoulders. I shook my head, not wanting to go down that path.

“Shall we go?” Brandon placed one hand on my back and gestured to the door with the other.

As we walked to Brandon’s car I began to question my choice of footwear. The stilettos looked awesome and went perfectly with my dress, but I was now so much taller than Brandon; I had at least four inches on him. I probably should have worn flats, but I had not even considered wearing flats when I was dressing. Brandon led me to the passenger side of his black BMW 750. He opened the door for me and I suddenly wished he was driving an SUV like Lucy’s; sitting down in the low sedan wearing a tight dress and tall heels was no easy trick.

“Did you catch Angel’s game last night?” I asked as Brandon began to back out of my driveway.

“Of course, that was a tough loss, but we’ll get the A’s tonight.”

We continued talking baseball the rest of the trip to the restaurant. It felt good to discuss sports with Brandon. It was something very familiar and comforting after so much change and uncertainty of late. I was happy we could still talk ‘guy’ stuff. After a full day of pampering and ‘girl’ talk it was a lifeline.

We arrived at the restaurant on time and Brandon escorted me to our table where Lucy and Gary were already sitting. They leapt to their feet when they saw us. Gary pumped Brandon’s hand and Lucy gave me a hug.

I‘ve been Brandon’s friend for many years and in that time we had been on many double dates together. While this was the first time we’d sat on the same side of the table, I have learned a few things over the years about what he expects in a date. Brandon has a need to play the gentleman on a date, especially a first date. He likes to hold open doors and pull out chairs. If his date is one of those ‘feminist types’, his words, he gets annoyed and fast. It makes for a long and unpleasant evening.

After hugging Lucy and shaking Gary’s hand, I waited until Brandon was finished with his greetings so he could pull out my chair. “Thank you,” I said, flashing Brandon a smile.

“You are such a gentleman Brandon,” Lucy said while pulling out her own chair. “It must be nice to be out with such a gentleman Larry.” She gave a Gary a frown.

“Well, you know what they say, if you see a man open the car door for his date, either the car is new or the date is.” Gary laughed.

“Is everybody up for some wine?” Brandon grabbed the wine list. “I hear the sea bass is amazing here, shall we get a white?”

The date went smoothly enough. The food was delicious, the conversation engaging and the wine bountiful. I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed double dating back; while it was strange to be the woman’s counterpart on the date it was still an enjoyable time. Being the recipient of flowers and having the door opened for me was a bit awkward and caused me to think once again to Karen. I almost never bought her flowers and I rarely ever opened the door for her; I certainly didn’t pull out her chair. I bought flowers on Valentine’s Day and our anniversary, but I never went out of my way to do so on any other day. I rarely, if ever, made the extra effort to make her feel special. Brandon’s gentlemanly ways filled me with guilt.

I declined Gary and Lucy’s offer to extend the evening at local night club. It actually sounded like a lot of fun, but I was afraid I was going to lose myself if I started dancing with Brandon. We said our goodbyes and soon Brandon and I were in his car once again.

“The night’s still young and there has to be some live music somewhere in the city. Do you feel up to some exploring?” Brandon asked.

“Not really, I’m a bit tired. What I would like to do is watch tonight’s game, but that has to be over by now.”

“I recorded it; we can watch it at my place,” he said.

A voice in my head said ‘Have him take you home and then make him leave, immediately’, but it was mostly muted by wine. “That sounds great,” I replied.

When we arrived at Brandon’s and I kicked off my heels just inside the door. My feet thanked me immediately.

“Why don’t you get the game started and I’ll pour some drinks, how does a Merlot sound?” Brandon asked, heading to the kitchen.

“Wine and baseball? How gauche,” I replied with mock disgust.

Brandon laughed. “Point taken, two Heinekens coming up.”

I made my way through Brandon’s large home to his equally large living room. Brandon had been flipping houses during the boom and had made quite a bundle. He’d seen the market starting to turn and instead of being greedy like some others, he sold his entire inventory and avoided getting caught in the crash. A few months ago, with the market still in the toilet, he picked up this house for half of what it sold for the just the year before. Since then he’d been doing contract handyman work, keeping himself busy until the market turned around.

Once in the living room I sat on the couch, set my purse on a nearby table and grabbed the remote for the 70” flat screen TV. I looked around the room; Brandon and I shared a similar minimalism when it came to interior design. There were places to sit and places to set a drink, but the room lacked flourish. It seemed drab, dull and without personality.

Brandon arrived a couple minutes later with a couple beers and a bowl of chips. He set the chips and drinks on the table in front of us, removed his jacket and tie, and then proceeded to sit right next to me. He turned to me and looked deep in my eyes.

“Larry, I’ve had a wonderful time tonight,” he said as he leaned closer. “But there is something that would make it even better.”

I began to panic. It looked like he wanted to kiss me. I wanted to flee, but I couldn’t look away from him. His eyes were so intense and commanding I was like a deer caught in headlights.

“I have certain needs and I’m hoping that you can help fulfill one of them for me.” He put his hand on my thigh.

“Brandon, I don’t…”

“Larry, may I have the remote.” He removed his hand from my thigh and held it out palm up.

I handed over the remote and he scooted over half cushion and turned on the TV.

“Thanks Larry, you really know how to satisfy a man.” He smiled mischievously.

“Funny, you had me going there for a moment,” I laughed in relief

“You’re so easy,” Brandon said as he grabbed his beer. “To a great dinner and an even better evening watching the Angel’s kick Oakland’s ass.” He held his beer up for a toast.

I grabbed my beer, tapped his bottle with mine and took a sip. I felt myself relax; it was like old times again.

The Angel’s dominated the A’s early, it was good to see them winning after last night’s defeat. I normally like a tight game, it makes it more interesting, but I was fine with tonight’s lopsided game. It gave Brandon and me something to cheer about together. Thoughts of dresses, makeup and double dates faded from my mind as we cheered on our team and worked our way through Brandon’s beer supply.

Brandon was in the kitchen fetching more beer when it started. The game was in between innings and I was reclining on the couch enjoying the buzz from the beer when I began to feel really good. It started deep, much deeper than before. The warmth was radiating up from by bones, through my muscles to my skin. It was everywhere and growing in intensity by the second. I knew I needed to leave. Brandon would be back any second and I was very afraid of tonight’s changes; I feared this was the big one. It dwarfed the experience at the gym and it had just started. I tried to rise, but I could not pull myself up.

Brandon arrived with more beers. Once he saw me he dumped the beers onto the table and sat next to me.

“Are you alright Larry, you look flushed.” Brandon put a hand to my forehead.

I grabbed his arm and tried to use it to pull myself up, but I merely pulled him closer. I tried to ask for help, but a surge of heat radiated through my body and all I managed was a low moan. Brandon was suddenly kissing me.

I put my hands up to his chest to push him away, but the fight was leaving me. His kiss was so strong and forceful it was hard to resist. My arms moved around to Brandon’s back and I pulled him closer. I began to return his kisses. Encourage by my response he thrust his tongue into my mouth. We both moaned as our tongues played with each other. The sounds of our pleasure were indistinguishable at first, but gradually they became more distinctive as mine entered into a much higher register.

His mouth left mine and went to my neck, his hands roamed my body. I felt myself squirm; his lips on my skin turned the heat within my body into a fire. I began to unbutton his shirt, but my long nails made the task difficult. Brandon pulled away from me, grabbed his shirt with both hands and tore it apart. Under a shower of buttons I marveled at the site of his broad hairy chest. I had seen his chest many times, but never from my current angle. I liked this angle best. I raised my hands buried the white tips of my nails in the coarse black hair on his chest.

Brandon grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me up, bringing my mouth back to his. As our tongues resumed their dance he released my hands. I threw my arms around him and let my hands explore the landscape of his muscular back. Brandon reached around me with one hand while the other lowered the straps of my dress. His hand at my back found the zipper of my dress. In one motion he yanked down the zipper with one hand and my dress with the other. He laid us back down; his coarse chest hairs felt alive against the soft smooth skin of my chest.

Brandon lips left mine and he made a trail of kisses from my lips to my chest. His lips found my nipples and the fire became an inferno. My erection strained against my panties; I could feel his on my leg. He alternated sucking one nipple and massaging the other; I thrashed in ecstasy beneath him. I moved my leg up and down his manhood. His lips left my chest and made their way to my belly; my nipples stood tall and engorged in their wake. His hand was on my thigh and moving under my skirt. Just as I began to spread my legs, the radiating heat vanished. It was gone so suddenly it was like being hit with a bucket of ice water on a hot summer day, but the sensation was from the inside out.

I bolted up and pushed Brandon off me.

“Holy fuck,” Brandon said, grabbing at his mouth.

“I can’t do this.” I jumped off the couch and nearly fell over. I grabbed at the table, trying to steady myself and knocked the beers over in the process. The room was spinning and I couldn’t get my bearings. Suddenly Brandon was next to me, holding me upright. He towered over me.

“What’s wrong Larry, are you alright?” Brandon asked looking very concerned.

“I’m sorry, I need to go, I have to get to the forest, I need to see her right away.” The spinning had slowed and the room was coming back into focus. Apparently my new stature couldn’t hold as much alcohol.

"Larry, you aren't making any sense, who do you need to see?" Brandon asked. One hand went to his mouth again. It looked like he was bleeding.

“Oh my god, are you alright? Did I do that?” I asked. “I’m so sorry.” My voice sounded so girly to me.

“I just bit myself when you jumped up, don’t worry about it, just tell me what’s going on.”

"I can't explain right now, can you take me?" I asked.

“Sure, right after my cold shower.” Brandon slacks still strained against his erection.

My eyes went wide with panic. "No, I need to go now."

"I was joking Larry. We can go right now; let me grab a new shirt."

As Brandon headed down the hall I pulled up my dress and then struggle with the zipper. I was able to zip it earlier this evening, but inebriation made the task impossible.

I was wondering if I would be able to walk in my heels in my current state when I noticed a bra on the floor. I looked down at my chest, but the dress looked pretty flat from my perspective. I lowered the top of my dress; I had breasts all right. I can't believe I did not notice them. They weren't very big; tiny was probably a better word. I felt one and the soft supple flesh yielded easily under my touch. Pleasure arched through my nipples and they rose at my caress.

"They feel pretty amazing don't they," Brandon said from behind me.

I whipped my hand away and pulled my dress up. As I turned toward Brandon I felt a rush of blood to my face, marking my shame.

"Don't stop on my account. I’m more than happy to watch." Brandon had my shawl and shoes in his hands

"We should go, can you zip me?" I turned my back to him.

Once my dress was secure I grabbed my clutch and bra. I stuffed my bra into the clutch, mostly. Brandon handed me my heels and I held onto his arm as I bent to slip them onto my feet.

He handed me my shawl and then I slipped my arm through his and we left the house. I held onto him for dear life as I wobbled precariously towards his car. Even in the heels, Brandon still had three or four inches on me.

I gave him directions as we drove. He continued to question the urgency and grew increasingly impatient with my vague answers. In between Brandon's inquiries I tried to figure out what had changed on my body. I could still feel my penis and balls nestled in my panties, so I was still male, technically. I had lost a lot of height, but I did not know what the rest of my body looked like now. It would be easier to determine if I just started feeling myself up, but Brandon was already agitated. Running my hands all over my body while sitting right next to him would probably send him over the edge.

My foggy brain made the task harder than it should have been. For one thing, I occupied a lot less of the passenger seat than I had a couple hours earlier. Not only did I sit much lower on it, there was quite a bit more room on either side of me now. My arms and legs were even thinner now and my hands were dainty. I wondered if I had a woman's ass now; I shifted in my seat, I thought I could feel more padding, but it was hard to tell for sure. I was smaller all around; it was hard to tell if I had a 'figure' now.

When we arrived I quickly unbelted and opened the door. "Wait here, I will be back in a little while," I said.

"Where do you think you are going?” Brandon grabbed my arm. “You’re not going out there alone."

"Listen to me Brandon; I need to do this alone. I won't be long I promise." I really did not want Brandon to come; I feared what he would do if realized the truth. If he met Cherry he might realize that he'd been making out with a man. I feared our friendship would come to an immediate end.

"Larry, there is no way I am letting you go out there alone to get raped or murdered." Brandon gave me a very stern look.

I knew that look; he was no going to give in. "Fine, but just don't hate me okay?" As Brandon retrieved a flashlight from the car’s trunk, I headed into the woods.

“Hey, wait up Larry,” Brandon called.

I made it another step and lost my balance in the heels and fell headlong into a blackberry bush. I struggled to break free, but my hair and dress were caught in the brambles.

“Here let me help you,” Brandon said from somewhere above me.

“I can do it!” I braced my hand on a nearby tree for leverage and tried to extract myself from the bush. “Son of a bitch!” I screamed as I broke two nails on the tree. I was able to get a foot under me and I pushed and pulled my way out of the bush losing some hair and part of my dress in the process. I stood triumphantly and pumped my arm in victory and promptly lost my balance and fell backwards toward the bush. Brandon caught me on the way down. He lifted me with ease and set me back upright. My dress was ruined, both sleeves were tattered and there was a large rent down one side. My shoes were whole, but terribly scratched and I was bleeding from several places on my arms and legs.

“Are you okay Larry?” Brandon looked very worried. “Let’s forget this and go home. We can come back tomorrow.”

“No, I need to do it tonight,” I answered.

“Well, at least let me carry you,” he replied. “You aren’t going to make it very far in those shoes.”

“I’m not some little kid who needs to be carried, I can walk thank you very much,” I retorted. I removed the heels and threw them back to the car.

“Okay, okay” Brandon said, throwing his hands up. “I was just offering.”

“Well, thank you anyway.” I took two steps and screamed in pain when I stepped something very sharp. “All right, fine.”

As I rode Brandon piggyback toward the clearing and hopefully some answers, I wished I had worn the bra instead of stuffing it into my purse. The material of the dress was rubbing my nipples raw. This had not bothered me at all during dinner; I suspected their sensitivity had increased significantly.

Once we made it to the clearing Brandon set me down and I called, "Cherry Moonglow I need to see you." I remembered not to shout this time.

"Who the hell is Cherry Moonglow and why are we meeting...Holy shit what is that?" Brandon sank to the ground suddenly unconscious.

“Brandon!” I ran to him terrified that he was hurt.

"Worry not, he merely sleeps. I cannot make myself known to a second mortal,” she said. “What, pray tell, possessed you to bring him with you?”

"I didn’t have a choice; he wouldn't let me come alone." I could hear Brandon breathing deeply.

"Well no matter, he will awaken when I leave and have no memory of me." Cherry seemed to considered something for a moment. "Actually he may remember, I don’t know anymore, you were not supposed to remember either. Regardless, I am glad you came and from the look of you not a moment too soon. The magic has not completed so you should still be male, is this true?"

"Yes, I’m still a boy where it counts," I replied.

"Good, then it is not too late. Your plea from two nights ago would not leave me and my guilt would not be abated. I truly thought I was helping you, but I see now that I was arrogant to believe I could wield such magic without consequence. It was better on my head than yours so I beseeched my Queen this night and she agreed to halt the magic.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said. “Can you turn me back as well?”

“Yes, but on a condition. You must agree to meet with my Queen; she believes you are the cause for the errant magic.”

“Me, there is nothing magical about me.”

“Perhaps not you directly, but possibly something linked to you. My Queen will attempt to discern the cause. Will you agree to a meeting?”

“Yes of course do I meet her now?” I asked.

“No, you will be summoned at a time of her choosing. “ Cherry reached behind her neck to remove a tiny silver necklace. “To reverse the magic, wear this amulet and say ‘I invoke thee, reverse’. If you wish to complete the magic say ‘I invoke thee, complete’.” Cherry placed the necklace in my hand

“I'll be reversing the magic, believe me, but there’s no way I can wear something so tiny.”

“It will fit,” she replied.

I looked at the necklace again and found that it was significantly larger. I could see now that the delicate chain held intricately wrought silver pendant; I put the necklace around my neck.

“Before you invoke the magic, please consider your choice carefully. When I first met you I do not believe you were long for this world; your sadness permeated your being. When we met for the second time you were so much more alive; today you radiate vitality. Choose wisely.”

“I will and thank you. I hope you did not get into too much trouble with your Queen.”

“I did not escape punishment entirely, but my Queen is fair and the punishment just; I will not be banished as I had feared. I look forward to our next meeting no matter what form you wear.”

“Goodbye Cherry,” I said, but she had already vanished

“Who’s Cherry?” Brandon asked from behind me.

Startled I whipped around to face him. “Cherry, what do you mean?”

“You just said ‘goodbye Cherry’,” he replied.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” I said. “We can go now.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? We came all this way and we’re just going to leave?”

“I got what I needed,” I replied.

“What are you talking about?” He looked puzzled. “We walked into this clearing, you said ‘goodbye Cherry’ and now you want to leave.”

“I can’t explain,” I said. “Can you take me home now?”

“No problem, if you want to say goodbye to some peaches on the way, just let me know,” he said gruffly.

We didn’t talk on the way to my house. Brandon was too pissed and I was too distracted by Cherry’s final words to me. Up until that point I hadn’t considered an alternative, I was a man, so of course I had to change back. I wasn’t supposed to be a woman. I knew one thing, I was definitely too drunk to make the decision tonight. Once we arrived at my house Brandon gave me a terse goodnight. He waited for me to limp to the door and unlock it and then he abruptly backed out of the driveway and raced down the street.

I watched Brandon’s car as it rapidly shrank into the distance. I’d really messed things up tonight. I’d been afraid that if Brandon found out the truth he’d hate me; it appeared he now hated me anyway. My heart sank when I finally lost sight of his car; I feared that I had done irreparable damage to our relationship tonight. I dropped my shawl, shoes and purse as soon as I entered my house and limped into the bedroom. I threw myself on the bed and promptly passed out.

I awoke the next day to the mother of all headaches. I struggled to the bathroom for water and aspirin. I turned on the light, caught my reflection in the mirror and turned the light back off; I was a total mess. My face was smeared with makeup, my eyes were blood shot and my fancy hairdo was destroyed. I think I actually saw a couple twigs sticking out of my hair as well.

I swallowed a couple aspirins I found in the dark and then drank as much water from the tap as my stomach could hold. The room spun as I headed back to bed. I lay on the bed and waited for the ceiling to stop rotating above me. What was I going to do? I had to change back; I needed my life back. I would lose Lucy if I did that. We’d become such good friends I did not want to lose that. Brandon and I would still be friends, but he would go back to his bimbos. Why did that thought make me so jealous? What was the alternative, become a woman? Was that really something I could live with? I turned my head and looked at my closet. I think I might miss the clothes. I had resisted them all week, but it had been a lot of fun dressing up yesterday. I thought about last night with Brandon, his lips on mine; his mouth sucking on my nipples. I had totally lost myself in the moment, I had wanted to worship his body as he ravished mine; I wanted to finish what we had started.

Ever since the day the purse appeared on my desk I had been set on getting my life back, but now that I had the opportunity, I wondered what had been so great about my life. But become a woman? Could I really do that? I was pretty close right now, I just needed to swap my outy for an innie, the rest was already done.

I wanted to talk to someone desperately, but who would believe my outrageous tale? I only had a couple choices really. I still feared telling Brandon even though my silence was causing a rift between us. I might be able to tell Lucy; she was so dear to me now. As I soon as I decided to tell her I felt a heavy burden lift and I began to giggle. Soon I was asleep once again.

I awoke to the sound of knocking. It took me a moment to realize that it was coming from my front door. It took me a few more moments to remember that it was undoubtedly Lucy. I staggered to the door

"Morning sunshine," Lucy said as soon as the door began to open. "Have fun last ni...holy shit what happened to you?" Lucy asked once she caught site of me.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” I mumbled as I gestured for her to enter.

"Are you all right? Were you attacked? Did Brandon do this to you?" Lucy placed two coffees on the table next to the roses Brandon had given me.

"No, I'm all right, no one attacked me,” I replied. “I do have a heck of a story to tell though."

“My god, your dress, your shoes; you should have called me. I've been trying to reach you all morning.” Lucy bent down slightly and pulled me into a hug; she was now several inches taller than me, and not just because she was wearing heels.

“Oh, yeah my phone,” I replied. I grabbed my purse and dug out my phone, it was dead; the battery had failed sometime last night.

"This must be some story," Lucy said looking at the bra hanging out of my clutch.

Lucy handed one of the lattes to me and followed me into the bedroom. "Do you have a first aid kit?" She asked.

"I'm really okay Lucy."

“Have you looked in a mirror?”

“OK, you have a point,” I replied. “It’s in the bathroom, middle left drawer.”

“Why don’t you get out of that dress and put on a robe and I’ll be back in a moment.” Lucy disappeared into the bathroom.

While Lucy busied herself in the bathroom I undressed. I noticed that the cocktail dress no longer hung straight on my body; it clung to my slender waist and wider hips. I worked my way out of the torn dress, changed my panties, wrapped myself in my fluffy robe and then quickly made the bed. I sat on the bed and finally took a drink of the latte and failed to suppress a moan. The hot, sweet, caffeinated ambrosia rushed through my body in a revitalizing wave.

Once back, Lucy laid several towels on the bed and had me sit in the middle of them. “Okay, let’s see the damage.” Lucy swept my hair back and looked at my face carefully; she then checked my arms taking in the various scrapes. “Oh, your beautiful nails,” she gasped as she took in my two broken nails. She moved on to my legs and feet taking note of all my injuries. “Well, you certainly did a number on yourself. I won’t be able to fix your nails, but I should be able to treat everything else.” Lucy sat next to me. “Okay, let me hear what happened. If this is Brandon’s fault, I’m going to hunt him down.”

“It’s not Brandon’s fault, he was a saint all night. This is all my doing; no one is at fault but me. I hope you don’t hate me after I tell you this, but I can’t hold it back from you any longer.” I was so nervous I could feel myself shaking.

“Larry, I’m not going to hate you,” she said as she hugged me. “Now, relax and tell me what’s been going on,” she said gently.

I launched into my tale. As I talked about the purse, shoes and our first lunch she cleaned my face, arms and legs with a wet wash cloth, then followed with an antiseptic wipe on my various scrapes. Besides a few yelps of pain when Lucy wiped at a cut, I stuck to my tale; besides the occasional 'hold still’ or 'don't be a baby’ she didn’t interrupt.

When I reached the golf game with my dad she began by pulling brambles from my hair. She placed these on the towel between us, which was soon dark with what looked like half the forest. I was thankful nothing was crawling. Lucy brushed my hair with such loving kindness I faltered a few times. She would follow this with a quiet 'take your time, we have all day'.

When I reached my run in with the Cherry, after lifting with Brandon, she stopped me.

“Do you mind if I braid your hair?” Lucy asked. “I like to keep my hands busy when I listen.”

I nodded and told her about Cherry. I told her about losing my face and how wonderful I found the spa, how scared I was of the date with Brandon and the passionate events that followed. By the time I was on the trip to the forest with Brandon, Lucy was tying a ribbon to the bottom of my new braid.

“That pretty much brings us up to date,” I said upon finishing. Lucy didn’t say anything at first. Finally after a minute, which seemed to last an eternity, she spoke. “Well, that certainly explains the signs in your room,” she said. She lapsed into silence again and seemed lost in thought, her face shifted through several expressions; confusion, contemplation, consternation, frustration. Finally she broke the silence again. “I believe you Larry. I was trying to remember you from before and it is very strange, when I try to picture you in my mind it gets very muddled and hard to stay focused. When I think about you wearing a dress it seems entirely normal and natural. I know you are male and when I think of other men wearing a dress it does not seem normal. I don’t think of you as a cross dresser. It is as normal for you to wear a dress as it is for me.”

“I’m so glad you believe me, I didn’t know if you would.”

“It breaks my heart that you have had to go through this alone. I can understand why you didn’t want to tell me, I don’t know if I would’ve had the courage to tell anyone in similar circumstances.”

“You don’t know how much it means to me that you believe me.” I gave her a hug. “I’ve wanted to talk about it for so long.”

“Well, next time don’t wait so long. You can tell me anything, you know that now.”

“I’m so happy that you aren’t mad at me,” I said.

“Why would I be mad at you?” She asked. “You could’ve wished for anything and you wished to be my friend. It’s the one of the sweetest things anyone has done for me.”

“So what am I going to do?” I asked.

She reached over and lifted the amulet that hung around my neck and examined it for a moment. She released it and looked back at me. “I don’t even know where to start. I’m still trying to fathom that magic is real. So, should you become a woman and be Brandon’s lover or should you go back to being a guy completely?” “Yeah, that is the crux of it.”

“Well, I have only been a woman so I do not really know what you would be giving up, but I can say that I think being a woman is pretty awesome. There is some give and take. For example, I love makeup and it makes me feel pretty when I put it on, but sometimes I resent it as well. If I don’t wear makeup I’m judged, if I wear too much I’m also judged. Some days I wish I could just throw on whatever and be ready in 15 minutes like Gary. Periods are no picnic; every month it’s cramps, bloating and emotions in turmoil, but it also means that I can get pregnant and give birth to a baby. The clothes, I love my clothes and I love shopping for them, but their so expensive and women’s fashions fade so fast. Gary has been wearing the same suits to work for years. If I tried that, there would be so much talk.” Lucy took a deep breath. “I love feeling feminine; I love pampering myself. I love Gary and in today’s society it is so much easier to be in love with a man if you are a woman. You’ve had a taste of this side, what do you think so far.”

“Well, it certainly is different; I have had a lot of fun with you these last couple weeks. I loved shopping with you and especially the spa. I’ve had a lot of fun dressing up last night and I think I am starting to get the hang of the makeup.”

“If you changed back you would have to give up your beautiful wardrobe. Think you could do that? There are women who would kill for your shoe collection.” Lucy put her hand on my arm. “Plus, if you go back I’ll lose my best friend.” Lucy had tears in her eyes. “Don’t make me go back to Kelly, you can’t do that to me,” she laughed through tears.

Could I really do it, become a woman? I looked down at my body. “I sure got gypped in the tits department. I didn’t think Brandon should only be interested in women with giant racks, but I thought the woman he ended up with should at least have breasts.”

“Let me look at you,” she said.

I pulled the robe tighter, suddenly embarrassed.

“Oh come on, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. If you go through with it we will most likely be dressing in front of each other; if you don’t then I probably won’t remember anyway.”

I stood and dropped my robe.

Lucy stood and looked at me from front and rear. “Wow, you’re in amazing shape, there’s practically no fat on you anywhere. I’m totally jealous of your tiny waist; you have a figure that will look great in anything. ”

“Sure, but I don’t have any tits.” I hopped up and down. “They don’t even jiggle,” I said while looking down at my tiny breasts.

“Sure your boobs are small, but big boobs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, trust me your back will thank you. Plus when you’re sixty and all your friend’s tits are at their knees yours probably won’t even sag.”

“I guess,” I said doubtfully. I looked at Lucy’s chest, feeling a pang of jealousy. I had a feeling Lucy wouldn’t be saying the same thing if her breasts were so small. “I do love our friendship and I don’t want to lose that, but I don’t know if I can be with a man.” I pulled my robe back and sat on the bed

“It sounds like you were pretty into it last night,” Lucy said with a smirk.

“That was the magic.”

“Are you sure?” Lucy paused for a moment. “It is clear that you and Brandon have had deep feelings for each other for a long time.”

“We have been friends if that is what you mean.”

“From what you have told me about Brandon it sounds like he has loved you for a long time otherwise why would he have stuck by you when no one else did? Why else do you think he has been trying to get you out of your funk?”

“I guess.”

“I think that if you search your feelings you will find that you have loved him too.”

“Perhaps, but it is brotherly love.”

“And now it is changing into something more.”

“The magic is changing it. It won’t be real love.”

“If Brandon shows you love, what does it matter where it comes from? Love is magic already; who knows what it is that makes two people fall for each other. Perhaps magic is at play whenever any two people fall in love and you just happen to know the source for yours. I don’t doubt my feelings for you. I have loved and cared for a lot of friends in my life and my feelings for you are just as real to me as any of them. It may have started by magic, but I think our friendship is very much our own at this point.”

“It feels pretty real to me too. I’ve had so much fun with you over the last couple weeks; I don’t want to lose us.”

“I don’t want to lose you either.”

“If I do go ahead and do it, you may not remember any of this. You’ll probably think I was always a woman.”

“If I forget, just tell me again,” she replied. “I believed you today, I’ll believe you again”

“I hope you don’t forget, it takes a long time to tell,” I replied. “But what if I go back?”

“Well, if I don’t remember, ask me if I know of any volunteer opportunities. I’ll probably tell you about ‘Lend a Hand’ again and we can at least volunteer together.”

“Okay,” I said.

“You should go see your mom,” she said abruptly. “I can’t imagine making a decision half this big without talking to my mom; she knows me better than anyone. It sounds like you had a pretty good relationship before Karen’s funeral; you should give her another chance.”

“You’re right I should go see her,” I replied. “You know, it all started because she thought I should’ve treated Karen better and the simple truth is she was right. I should have treated Karen better and I can’t help but thinking that things would have been a lot different if I’d just made more of an effort before she moved out.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too much Larry. It is good to learn from our past, but we can’t change yesterday; we can only change today,” she said. “I need to powder my nose.”

While Lucy used the bathroom I pondered my conversation with her. I still wanted to go back, but losing our friendship would rival that of losing Karen. I was not prepared to lose Lucy or my manhood. One thing for certain, I could not stay in my current form. I think I would go mad if I stayed in this in-between state too much longer; I was too much female to be a man and too much male to be a woman. I had to make a choice and I wanted both and neither.

When Lucy returned from the bathroom she did not look at me at first. “I’m going to go now,” she said. When she did turn toward me she had tears running down her face. “I hope I see you again, I love you.” We hugged and cried and then she was away. How could I give her up?

After she left I headed to the bathroom to bathe before heading to my parent’s house. As I entered the shower I noticed that one of the many bottles lining the tub was bubble bath. Bubble baths had been one of Karen’s favorite activities. I switched off the shower and began filling the tub. Once the tub was ready I slid my body into the hot soapy water; besides the initial stings to my many scratches, the water felt heavenly. After several minutes of just enjoying the soak I began to wash myself. All it took was one pass with the wash cloth across my new breasts and I stopped washing myself and began pleasuring myself. I have masturbated many times over the years; it holds one of the top spots in my top ten list of things to do. Masturbating with both tits and a cock instantly took over spots one through nine on that list. It was good enough to make me briefly consider staying just as I was. I wouldn’t do it in the tub again though; ejaculate floating in the water is gross.

After the bath I decided to dress however I felt like, no holding back this time. I decided upon a long sleeve, fuchsia dress with a loose skirt that fell just past the knees. Looking at all the injuries on my legs I decided to add a pair of black stockings. For shoes I wore the wedges Lucy had bought me on our shopping trip the previous Saturday. It had been so sweet of her to buy me shoes and it may be the last time I would get a chance to wear them.

Within an hour I was parked down the street from my parent’s house. My mother’s car was in the drive, so it was likely that she was home. I checked my reflection in the rearview mirror, my hair and makeup looked fine, just as it had when I checked it less than a minute ago. After a couple deep breathes I decided I needed to get it over with and I grabbed my purse and exited the car. As I made my way to the front door I found I enjoyed the sensation the skirt made as it flowed around my legs. I enjoyed feeling pretty. When I knocked on the door it occurred to me that it would’ve been kinder if I had called first. This reminded me that I still hadn’t charged my phone. I could hear footsteps approach the door; my hands shook. The door opened and my mom’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped.

“Hi Mom,” I said shyly.

Tears filled her eyes “Larry! Oh my god!” She wrapped her arms around me and she showered me with kisses. “I’m so happy you’re here, I have missed you so much. I am so sorry Larry, I did not mean to hurt you. Come in please”

“I’m sorry too,” I replied. “I should’ve called you back.”

“Yes you should have, but that is all water under the bridge now. You’re here and that’s what matters. I am so glad you came. Have you eaten? I just made lunch.”

I realized I had not eaten yet today. “Lunch would be nice Mom.”

“Great it will be just us two; your father is golfing today,” she replied.

I avoided talking about anything of substance while we ate. I figured I should get food in me before I started. I told myself I would need my strength, but I was just postponing. I helped clear the plates and then we headed to the living room. I figured it was now or never.

“Mom, I have something I need to tell you and you may have a hard time believing me,” I said as we sat on the couch next to each other.

I told my mom my story. I began with the purse and continued through to this morning. I tried to leave nothing out. I kept my time on the couch with Brandon on the vague side and I skipped the bubble bath entirely, but other than that I included everything I could remember; every change to my wardrobe, every change to my body, every worry, every conversation, every compulsion, every fear and of course the decision that now loomed before me.

“Well, you certainly have great taste in clothes,” she said when I finally finished. “I love your shoes.”

“Be serious Mom, what am I going to do?”

“I can’t make this decision for you Larry.”

“You’ve got to help me. Do you even believe me?”

“I do believe you Larry. I do not remember you as anything other than you currently are, but these last few weeks I’ve had the weirdest sensations. They were faint at first and I brushed them off, but in the last few days they couldn’t be ignored. A feeling deep in my chest, like my heart was being twisted. It was at its worst last night. It was all I could do to keep your father from calling 911. He thought I was having a heart attack, but I knew something was wrong with one of my children. I do not know if it was you or your brother. I now believe that I was sensing this magic, when it changed you I could feel it.”

I pulled my mom into a hug. “Oh thank you Mom, thank you. You don’t know how much it means to me to know you believe me.” I could feel my eyes watering again. I pulled away from her and looked her in the eyes. “Please help me decide, I don’t know what to do.”

“Larry, why were you in the woods that first night?”

I looked down and fidgeted with the hem of my dress.

“What were you going to do Larry? That was the anniversary of Karen’s death, that wasn’t a coincidence was it?”

“No, not really,” I replied. “I wasn’t going to do anything I was just going for a walk.”

“Just a walk, in the middle of the woods at night? Now that I have a hard time believing, what drove you out there on the anniversary of your ex-wife’s death?

“She wasn’t my ex, she was my wife!” I shouted. “We never divorced! She was my wife and I killed her!” I burst into tears.

“What are you talking about?” She asked. “No one killed Karen; she died in a car accident”

“No, it was me. I’m the one who had her drive that night. I talked her into coming out for drinks with me. I wanted her to move back in, but she refused and we fought. I didn’t think she’d drunk that much. I thought she was alright to drive. If I had driven her home or if I’d just stayed home she’d still be alive.”

“She wasn’t drunk Larry,” she replied. “It was just a terrible accident, not anyone’s fault.”

“I can’t help from feeling guilty. If I hadn’t invited her out, she’d still be alive today.”

“Who knows Larry, I think it was just her time. So, that was all that was going on, nothing else that night.”

“I just needed to get out of the house; it reminded me too much of Karen. At first I tried to do something with Brandon, but he was on a date. I thought about going to a bar, but those are always so depressing; everyone is hooking up and I end up sitting by myself not talking to anyone. I stopped by the store and bought some beer and then drove out to the woods, to this place where there’s this great view. After working my way through most of the six pack I went into the woods to relieve myself, after I finished I just started walking, then I came to the clearing and Cherry appeared. I wasn’t planning on hurting myself; I just…I don’t know…I don’t know what I was going to do.”

“I’m so sorry Larry,” she replied. “I wished I’d known.”

“I don’t know what to do now Mom.”

“Well, it doesn’t sound like you were too happy before,” she said. ”You look positively radiant now.”

“I have been enjoying life more now and I am strongly tempted to finish the magic, but I think that is the magic talking. There’s no way I’d have wanted to be a woman a couple weeks ago. Can I trust myself to make a decision, knowing that my mind has been altered?”

“Our minds are altered everyday. Every day we are a little different than yesterday. Perhaps magic is influencing you or maybe you have had experiences you’ve never had before and are a different person because of it. We can’t make decisions based on our past selves, who we were. We have to make decisions based on today. For good or ill you are as you are now and you have to make your decision based on that.”

I pondered for a few minutes. “I’m really sorry for how I acted at the funeral,” I said finally. “I was still mad at you from before, I thought you were on Karen’s side after she left. I know better now, I should have treated her better.”

“I’m sorry too,” she said.

“Beverly, is that Larry’s car down the street?” My dad asked as he entered the living room.

“Daddy!” I jumped up and gave him a big hug. Even in my heels my dad still had an inch or so on me.

“Hello Larry, I’m glad to see you here,” he said to me. “Have you two been having a good visit?”

“The best,” I replied.

“Larry and I have had a lovely visit,” my mom said.

“How did your golf game go?” I asked my dad.

“I shot an 81,” he replied.

I put my hand on my hip and cocked my head at him. “How many mulligans this time?”

“Only a couple…on the front nine,” he chuckled.

“You’re so bad.” We both laughed

“Well, I will leave you two to it,” my dad said. “I have us booked at the country club on the 2nd at 9am.”

I wondered if I would still have a golf game if I finished the magic. I hoped so; I loved playing golf with my dad. It kept us close. “I need to go actually,” I replied. “I’ll see you in a couple weeks Dad.” I gave him another hug.

“Mom, would you like to have lunch next week?” I asked. “There is a new café that I’d like to try.”

“That would be lovely dear,” she replied. “Be sure to call me no matter what you decide.”

“I will Mom,” I said as we hugged.

“Decide what?” My dad asked.

“That’s between us…I will tell you later.” My mom winked at me.

As I left my parents I decided to do something that I should have done well over three ago. On my way I stopped by a florist and purchased a dozen red roses. Once I arrived at the cemetery I grabbed the flowers and made my way to Karen’s grave. I hadn’t been there since the funeral. I’d had so much guilt and had embarrassed myself so fully last time I was there, I couldn’t return. Walking in the grass between the graves was tricky business in my heels, but I did not fall this time. Being sober helped a lot. Once I made it to her grave I stood and stared at the headstone.

“Hi Karen,” I said after a couple minutes. “I’m sorry I haven’t visited before this.” I paused. “I’m not really sure what to say…no, that’s not true. I’m sorry Karen. I’m sorry I didn’t treat you better. I’m sorry I was such an asshole about the money,” I said as my eyes began to water. “I’m sorry I didn’t buy you nicer things. I’m sorry I took you for granted, that I didn’t tell you that you were beautiful more often. I’m sorry that I let a single day go by without letting you know how much I loved you.” Tears were streaming down my face. “Please forgive me,” I said and then I began to sob. After a minute or so I reached into my purse and dug out some tissue and used it to dab at my eyes. I took a couple deep breaths to regain my composure. I reached back into my purse to get my compact so I could check my face, but I stopped short. I looked at my purse. I looked at my dress, at my heels and at the long white fingernails that adorned my hands. ”If you could only see me now, you’d probably think it was karma getting even with me,” I said with a smile. “Perhaps you would be right,” I said more somberly. “You were a wonderful woman and I didn’t deserve you.” I laid the roses by the headstone and headed back to my car.

I drove straight to Brandon’s to tell him the truth finally. On my way I decided on a plan of action. I’d take a full week to decide, during which time I would let myself fully experience all of my new feminine urges. I would not hold back on the clothes any longer. I’d volunteer with Lucy and get my nails fixed as well. I’d see if Brandon was willing to go out again and we could take it slow. I’d see what it was like to be his ‘girlfriend’. Perhaps I would try cooking for him and we could have a nice night in. I wasn’t prepared to go all the way with him just yet, but surely some snuggling and kissing would be okay. Once the week was up I would reevaluate. I felt myself relax a little; I liked this plan.

As I neared Brandon’s house my heart leapt at the site of his car. He was home and I’d be seeing him very soon. I caught sight of him in the window as I made my way up his front walk. He saw me and burst into a gigantic smile. My heart soared; I bounded towards the door. Brandon stepped out of the house and I ran to him.

“Larry, I am so sorry abou…,” Brandon began.

I finished my journey and leapt into his arms and kissed him. Brandon recovered from the shock and returned my kisses. A moment later his tongue entered my mouth and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Brandon turned and carried me into his house.

I pulled my head back a few inches, breaking the kiss. “I love you Brandon. I’m sorry about last night.”

“Shhh, it doesn’t matter. I love you too.” He was carrying me through his house. It appeared we were headed toward his bedroom.

“I’m ready to tell you about last night. I went to meet a fairy. She cast magic and it’s turning me into a woman, your woman.” I could feel Brandon pull the zipper of my dress. “She gave me an amulet and I can use it to go back to being a man or I can use it to become fully a woman.” Brandon laid me on the bed and I kicked off my shoes. “I need to decide what I should do.”

“Pick the one where we end up together,” he said as removed his shirt.

“You do realize that the magic is making us want each other.” Brandon had a very large bulge in his trousers. My panties strained at my own erection.

“I want you more than anything I have ever wanted anything in my life, Larry,” he replied. “I’ve spent years searching for the person I could spend my life with and I found out last night that you have been right before me the whole time.” Brandon climbed on the bed and over me. His face hovered over mine. He was all I could see. He pulled my head towards his and kissed my gently. “I don’t care what made me love you. I love you and that’s what matters to me.”

“I love you too,” I said as tears filled my eyes. “At first I fought it, but now I want it with all my heart,” I said as all doubt vanished. “I love you Brandon and I want to be with you forever.” I clutched the amulet and said the words.

He laid me back, grabbed my dress and yanked it off of me. He moved back up my body and I grabbed the top of his pants and pulled him down to me. He kissed me again, more forcefully this time. He reached behind me and expertly unhooked my bra. His hands went for my breasts and his tongue for mine. My nipples were already hard and electricity arched from them to my crotch. I felt the familiar and now very welcome magical heat begin to build within me. I pulled at Brandon’s zipper; I needed to free my prize.

Brandon moved his head down to my breasts and lavished them with kisses. They felt amazing under his ministrations. The heat grew in intensity, but seemed focused just beneath Brandon’s mouth. My breasts were on fire. I grabbed his head with both hands and pulled his head against my tits.

Brandon grabbed my panties and pulled them down. His hand went to my crotch and he rubbed at my erection. The fire moved from my tits and focused under his hands. His hands guided the lava within me. He stroked my cock, sliding his hand from its tip down along its length to the base and back up. His strokes began to shorten until he no longer stroked, but rubbed and flicked the nub it had become. He moved his hand away from my new clit and rubbed the area where my balls had been moments before. I moved my hands from his head to his cock. I pulled it free from his underwear and slid my hand up and down its length. He was iron and I needed him, now.

As my loins reached fire storm levels under Brandon’s needy caress, I began to feel dampness. His hand slid with ease along my crotch, friction seemed to vanish. Brandon’s fingers stopped moving back and forth the length of my crotch and focused on the area where the moisture was most intense. He worked his fingers around this area and my body began to yield. I stroked his cock with gusto.

Brandon removed his hand from my crotch and grabbed my hand and stopped my hand job. His fingers were drenched. He pulled my hand up to the side of my body and held it pinned under his grasp. Brandon reached down with his free hand and guided his cock toward my fountain. His cock lined up, he pushed with his hips and his cock head entered me. He pushed again and my body yielded and another inch entered me. He pulled back and I gasped. I did not want him to leave me. Once his cock head was back to the top of my pussy, he pushed again and he entered me completely and I could feel his whole length from within my body.

He pulled back, the head nearly exiting and again he plunged into me. Slowly he would draw his length out of me, tease me, then thrust back in. I gripped his manhood with new muscles, heightening the feeling of his rod against the walls of my pussy. I wrapped my legs around him and rubbed my stockings against his lower back. He picked up the pace and soon I felt his balls slapping my new lips. Each time his pelvis struck mine a wave crash through me, radiating to my toes, my fingertips, my brain. The fire that coursed within me began to expand beyond my body. As it encompassed Brandon we became one. I was fucking and being fucked. I was he and he was me. Our faces moved within inches of each other. “I love you” we said with one voice as we came into each other and the world exploded in a white hot inferno.

When I awoke I did not know who I was. By the light from the window it looked to be near dawn, but I wasn’t sure of the date or the year for that matter. I was naked in bed snuggled up against Brandon, held securely by his protective arm that much I knew. It was enough.

When I woke again I still did not know who I was. It was lighter outside; I guessed an hour had passed. I still wasn’t sure about the date. I looked up at the clock; it was 7:05am. I seemed to remember something about a phone call. I was still snuggled against Brandon, held safely in his arm. I considered spending the rest of my life right where I was, but the thought of the phone pestered my brain.

I slipped out of Brandon’s arm and slid to the edge of the bed and stood. My chest bobbed, a sensation that seemed normal and strange simultaneously. I looked down at my girls. Nothing looked amiss. I brought my hand to my perky, right breast, which was a bit more than a handful. I remember hearing somewhere that a handful is enough, but I have pretty small hands. Brandon loved them and that was enough for me. I looked at Brandon’s sleeping form and sighed deeply. I loved him so much.

My pussy. I needed to check my pussy. I was unsure why I had a sudden need to start the morning feeling myself up, but I did not resist. I reached down and ran my fingers along my lips. It felt nice; it felt new.

The phone forced its way to the forefront of my mind and I reluctantly removed my fingers. Lucy…I needed to call Lucy; now I just needed to find my phone. I wasn’t sure how I would find a phone when I couldn’t even remember my own name, but I figured my purse would be a likely enough place. I looked around the room, but I could not find it.

I grabbed my robe from a hook outside the master bathroom and headed into the hall. I found my purse hanging on a hook just inside the front door. My phone was in my purse, but it was my wallet that I removed. I quickly located my driver’s license. There next to my picture was the answer to my identity: Name: Zoe Wilkins, Eyes: Green, Height: 5’6” Birth: 4/22/1981. I remembered my name now, I was Zoe, I was 28 years old and lived here with Brandon. “That must have been some mind blowing sex last night to make me forget my own name,” I said aloud to myself.

I retrieved my phone and found Lucy’s name in my list of contacts. I clicked on her name and the phone began to ring.

“Morning Zoe, was your night as amazing as you thought it’d be?” Lucy asked.

“Even better, Brandon was amazing,” I replied.

“I’m so glad, you two make such a great couple,” Lucy paused. “Zoe, can I ask you something really weird?”

“You know that you can ask me anything, what is it?” “Were you ever a guy named Larry?” She asked hesitantly.

Both my new and former life burst into my mind. I was Larry; I was Zoe. “Yes, I was Larry!” I considered for a moment. “I’m Zoe, but yes I used to be Larry, I remember that now.”

“Oh good, I thought I was going nuts. I’m so happy you’re Zoe now. You have to tell me everything about last night.”

“I will, trust me, but not right now. I won’t be at work today. Will you meet me at the gym tonight? I think I’d like to try out Yoga.”

“You got it girlfriend, I’ll see you tonight,” she replied.

“Bye,” I said.

I used my phone to send an email to my boss telling him that I was using a sick day. I looked at the phone, it had been upgraded to an iPhone during the night.

Before making my way back to my bedroom I took a quick tour through my home. It was still the same structurally, but it was now evident that a woman lived here. The Spartan décor was gone and in its place was the cover of a Homes and Gardens magazine. Once back in the bedroom I took in the vanity that held my jewelry and makeup and the walk-in closet which held all my clothes. I briefly wondered if my wardrobe had been upgraded again. I would worry about that later for now I let the robe drop and made my way to the bedroom’s standing mirror.

As I admired my reflection, the first thing I noticed, besides Cherry’s necklace still around my neck, was that my breasts were larger than yesterday; they still weren’t large, but they were closer to the size of apples than the kiwis I’d had the day before. All of the cuts and scratches were gone from my body and my broken nails were once again whole. I ran my hands over my taunt belly, slid them along my slender waist, along the curve of my hips and then to my firm, rounded buttocks. I luxuriated in the feelings my hands made as they caressed the soft skin of my lithe form. I slid one hand up to my breast and the other between my legs. I massaged my right breast with one hand while the other slid along the lips of my new pussy. I started to feel really good. I looked over at the bed, at the hunk of man just feet away from me. While touching myself was nice, I thought it would be much nicer if he was touching me instead. I decided to wake Brandon up… in a special way.

I climbed back in bed. Brandon was sleeping soundly on his back, which was perfect for my plans. There were a few things Karen would never do for me. One was a wakeup blow job. It wasn’t that big of a thing, but it was something I’d always wanted to experience. I didn’t want it to be an experience Brandon went without. I may never receive one myself now, but I’ve always heard that it is better to give than to receive anyway.

I slid head first under the covers and moved toward his crotch. As I drew closer I became heady from his musky aroma. I felt myself a warm dampness between my legs. I straddled his hips with my arms and lowered my head until my nose brushed against his pubic hair. I breathed deep again and relished his scent. I extended my tongue and left a wet trail toward his beautiful cock. His cock jumped as soon as I reached its base. This was going to be fun, I thought.

My tongue continued its journey along his length until it reached the tip of his cock. I kept my tongue in contact with his cock while I retracted it, bringing my lips into contact and then slipping around its bulbous head. I sucked the rest of his cock into my mouth, something possible now, but a much more daunting task hopefully very soon. I eased my suction and Brandon’s penis slid out of my mouth partially. I sucked it in again and rolled it around in my mouth with my tongue. I was rewarded with a low moan. I kept him in my mouth. I pressed his cock to the roof of my mouth with my tongue and then suckled him. I could feel him expand and lengthen.

“Oh God,” Brandon moaned

Encouraged by his voice and his cock growing bigger in my mouth I quickened my pace. I felt his hands in my hair.

“Zoe, that feels amazing.”

I pulled back until my lips were at the tip of his cock again. I grabbed the base of his cock with one hand and licked his length. My hand spread as his cock became engorged. I removed my hand and he stood on his own. I enveloped him with my mouth again and bobbed my head up and down, trying to get as much of him in my mouth as possible. After a minute Brandon pulled gently at my arm. I let his cock pop out of my mouth and I slid my body up his.

“I need to be in you, baby,” he said huskily.

“What a marvelous idea,” I said with moan.

I slid my hips up long his legs and then I sat on his cock, his entire length sliding into my sopping hole. I ground my pussy against him. He brought his hands up to my tits and massaged them. My tits disappeared under his large hands, my nipples responded to his firm caress.

I lowered my body to his until our lips met. He grabbed me around the waist, then lifted himself and twisted until he was on top of me. I wrapped my legs around his hips and drew him deeper into me. He began slowly, sliding his length in and out of me with an almost casual rhythm. He’d draw his hips back pulling his cock to the entrance of my pussy and then back in until his pelvis hit my clitoris and send a tidal wave of pleasure throughout my body. After several minutes he began to quicken his pace and soon was thrusting with abandon. As I writhed beneath him I clutched his back with my long nails. He too began to roar. We cried out each other’s names while losing ourselves in conjoined pleasure. We didn’t come together this time. We both came, just not together. While we were certainly joined together we did not become one, nor did the world explode. It was better than last night in its own way. While we didn’t reach the same, fueled by fairy magic, heights, it was still magical and all the better because it was our magic.


Epilogue:

That was nearly three months ago. It all seems like a dream at times. If it weren’t for my mom, Lucy and Brandon remembering that I had a previous life, I’d probably doubt it myself. They remember Larry, but as he was at the moment I told them about Cherry and the magic. Before that they still remember me from before, but more as Zoe. Both Brandon and my mom remember doing things with Karen and me, but they remember me more as I am now. They also remember Karen being heterosexual. It’s pretty confusing. They don’t try too hard to remember Larry’s past though, and neither do I. I love being Zoe and I’m not looking back.

We found that except for the boxes of Karen’s things my house was empty. Lucy and I had a garage sale of all Karen’s things and gave the money to charity in Karen’s name. Brandon and I decided to rent out the house; a young family of four lives there currently.

I didn’t get the promotion. Brandon thinks it is because I became a woman and they discriminate. I think it’s because I stopped caring about it and Mr. Anderson knew it. I still worked hard, but it’s just a job. My priorities lie elsewhere now.

I go on lots of double dates these days, Brandon and I double with Gary and Lucy at least every other week. Lucy and I have taken our moms to lunch together a couple times now, we are thinking of making it a regular thing.

Lucy and I are the best of friends. We are pretty much joined at the hip, that is when we can actually part from our men. Lucy and I really enjoy Yoga, so I am still able to work out with a great friend. We volunteer together every week without fail. Brandon and Gary became friends so we do lots of things together as couples. I still love sports, but it holds little appeal for Lucy. So, when we all get together I leave the sports talk to the boys and Lucy and I talk about one of our many shared interests. When it’s just me and Brandon, we have great evenings snuggled together on the couch watching one of our favorite teams on the TV.

Brandon now joins me and my dad on the links. He wasn’t a golfer before and it shows, but I enjoy playing the game with both of my men. Dad still takes the occasional mulligan and has even enlisted Brandon into the activity. I can’t drive the ball as far as I used to, but using the ladies’ tee helps. I put more effort into my short game these days, so it’s still a contest.

Brandon and I have another thing in common; we both love to fuck. We’ve christened every room in the house a few times now. We have a hard time keeping our hands off each other. I’m not certain if I kept part of my male sex drive, it’s part of the fairy magic or it’s just that we are still in the early flush of love. Don’t know, don’t care. I love having sex with my man and he loves having sex with me; that’s enough for me.

Brandon and I are now engaged. Brandon purchased a beautiful ring and proposed the very next day. He said he would have done it even sooner, but I wouldn’t let him out of bed. Gary is still against marriage so Lucy’s hope for a double wedding is looking doubtful. I have yet to be summoned by the fairy Queen so I still do not know what is supposedly magical about me, but I’m in no hurry to meet her. Although, perhaps I could see if she could get Gary over his anti-marriage stance, but it’s probably better to quit while I’m ahead.

The End

Author's note: The Purse Came First was my second story posted not only to FictionMania, but also online. I started writing the story in late October of 2013 and submitted it to an editor I found on FictionMania on 12/7/2013. By the time I posted "Just Pretending" on 1/1/2014 I still had not heard back from the editor so I tried to edit it myself. It was posted on FictionMania on 1/16/2014.