An Invitation To Come Out
by: Patricia Marie Allen

 

Even after eight years of marriage, Charles still couldn’t bring himself to tell his wife. He was just too afraid of losing her. It would be different if he had told her before they were married. But who knew this would be a lifetime condition. Oh sure, he knew that by the time he got married, he had given into the urges five or six times a week. Almost daily. He had still thought having a wife would banish the habit.

Indeed it did, for almost a year. They had been married in August. The honeymoon was everything he had dreamed about. For the next six months, she occupied his every thought. They worked at the same company, but in different departments. They often had lunch together, so it was hard not to think of her a lot. But when he decided to pickup a sexy nightgown for her on Valentines Day, he felt the old urges as he handled things in the lingerie shop. He passed it off as nothing more then an old habit. He didn’t need that, he had Claire. That was the last of that. But not quite. Some time in April, he had a few days off, during which he decided to help with the wash.

The white clothes were ready to come out of the dryer. He put them on top of the dryer and began to fold them just like Claire did. She was very organized, as you would expect any up and coming professional might be. The lingerie was still warm. Suddenly there was a rush of memories flooding his mind.

He had been eight when his sister was twelve. Their mother had gone shopping and left his sister to do the laundry. Like all girls her age, she spent half her life on the phone. That’s where she was when the dryer stopped.

"Charles, be a dear. Get the clothes out of the dryer. Just separate them into piles, yours, mine, mom and dads. I’ll fold them later. Thanks." She said holding the phone away from her ear.

Being the well-behaved little boy he was, he went to comply. He opened the dryer door and hauled the clothes out in two big handfuls. He climbed up on a chair and began to sort them as instructed. The lingerie was still warm. He was impressed with the way it felt. It was so soft and silky. Suddenly he was jealous of his sister. It must be heaven to wear such nice underwear. He compared them to his jockey shorts. No comparison. Hers were much nicer. He decided to "borrow" a pair.

Later he tried them on. He was right. It was heaven. A lot more so then he had thought. After that, he always had at least one "borrowed" pair of her undies. Later, it became more then a pair of undies. As he got old enough to be left home alone, he got into slips, bras and dresses. By the time he was in the sixth grade, he was wearing her pantyhose and high heals. In high school, he took to sleeping in her nightgowns a couple of times a week. He was always right there to do the laundry so he could get the borrowed items in the laundry and get some more out.

He also was sure to sift the charitable donations for useable "hand-me-downs." A lot of lingerie and dresses turned up in his stash that way. He always thought that this was a passing thing. It would go away when he got married.

Well, if that was the case, why did he want so desperately to put on that pair of peach colored panties with all the lace. Why did they feel so delicious. He shook it off, but as he put them away he felt it again. He put them on. It was still heaven. After a few nervous minutes, a bra joined the panties. He quickly put on a slip and dress. He knew his slight build was near his wife’s size, but he never knew that it was this close.

That was it. He managed a dress up session a couple of times a week. She had sales meetings every Tuesday and Thursday. On those days he caught a ride home with John in the mailroom. It was only a block out of the way. That made it easier since he discovered John lived a mile and a half farther out. John was a nice guy, none to bright, but he had a heart as big as all outdoors. He wouldn’t take any money for giving him a ride home. "It’s only two nights a week. And I only drive two blocks I wouldn’t anyway." He told him.

When Charles got home he would slip into something and fix dinner for her. He had his own pantyhose and shoes tucked away. He didn’t want to tip his hand and stretch out her hose, and his feet were too big to fit into her shoes.

Now here it was seven years later and they were moving in to a duplex just two weeks after their anniversary. They moved mostly because it was two miles closer to work, but in truth, Charles wanted to have a little more privacy. He was careful to pack away his things so Claire didn’t see them during the move. In two weeks time, he had secured his hiding place and was back to his old habits. Their landlady, Martha was really nice, about ten years older then they were. She was little taller then Charles with a husky build. She had two girls, Kim 11and Lois 13. In those two weeks, Claire had made friends with Martha. That lead to the regular Saturday morning coffee klatch. Every Saturday about 10:00 in the morning, they would go out on the patio and have coffee. As it turned out, Martha did that every morning. She was always baking cookies and cake and such. She began sharing them with Charles and Claire. On one Saturday, when it was raining and blowing, Martha called and invited them to come over and have coffee in her living room. After that, it became a regular thing every Saturday Morning. Rain or shine, they had coffee with Martha somewhere.

That led to the occasional Saturday night movie rental. Martha would rent one and Charles and Claire would rent one. They would take turns hosting. One time, they would watch at Martha’s and the next they would watch at Charles and Claire’s. This would happen about every other month. It was by no means as regular as the coffee klatch.

Sometimes, if there weren’t any new releases they wanted to see, they would rent an old favorite. One such time in early May, Martha rented "Tootsie." At the end of the movie, Dustin Hoffman gave his famous line. "I was a better man to you as a woman then I ever was as a man to any woman." With that Martha commented, "I think he was right. I think all men should try living as a woman for a while. It might give them some compassion for women in general and specifically, the women in their life."

"You know Martha, I think you’ve got something there. Men could stand some sensitivity training and I can’t think of a more intense way to get it for them."

"Yeah." Agreed Lois. "I can think of a lot of guys I’d like to see try to act like a girl."

"Well, Lois, " Martha said. "it’s not so much acting like a girl, it’s being treated like a girl. That’s the big thing. People, men and women both, treat men differently then women."

Charles sat back and listened as they went on a male bashing spree. He thought it best not to try to defend men when he was so out numbered. The conversation got pretty heavy and ended up with a challenge. His tactic didn’t work he still got drug into the conversation.

"Charles," Martha said. "why don’t you try it?"

"What?"

"You should spend some time in a dress, like Dustin Hoffman. It would give you a whole new perspective on what being a woman was all about."

Claire started giggling. "Yeah, I’d like to see that."

"I don’t think so!" Charles said in surprise.

"Oh honey. I’ve got a blue number that you would look great in." She replied laughing.

"What’s the matter Charles, I wouldn’t think that a little thing like wearing a dress would bother you." Martha informed him.

Charles began to get worried. Did Martha know something. Had he been careless and not pulled the curtains? "Well if you think I’m about to put on a dress, you all are dreaming." He protested in macho bravado.

On Sunday, as Claire was getting dressed she took out a blue dress with a full skirt, a boat neck and cap sleeves. "Charles, wouldn’t you like to try this on? " she grinned. "I think you’d look so good in it. Try it on just to see if it fits."

"You’re dreaming. I’m not about to try that on." He didn’t need to. He already knew it would fit good and it felt good too.

All day Claire brought up the subject just to get a reaction from him. The whole time Charles felt more and more uneasy. He began to think that not only did Martha know but she had told Claire. On Monday morning, he escaped to work.

Thankfully, Claire was all business at work. Since her job was outside sales, they really saw very little of each other at work. The week went as always. He dressed up on both Tuesday and Thursday. He did, however, take great pains to see that there was no way anyone could see in.

Saturday came as usual. Along with it the usual coffee with Martha. It had been an unusually warm week and Saturday day as no exception. It was already 75° by 10:00. Martha, even in the heat, had done her usual magic in the kitchen. She had some fresh apple strudel to share. Her daughters, Lois and Kim joined them just to get in on mom’s strudel.

The women talked and Charles listened as was usually the case. He would make a comment on occasion. He really just enjoyed being outside after spending so much time inside at work. When he least expected it, Claire said. "Oh Martha, you should have seen Charles last Sunday. I held out my blue dress and invited him to wear it. You’d have thought. I was asking him to take poison. I mean he could hardly talk, he was so shaken. Every time I brought it up, he acted the same way."

"Is that right Charles? It really bothers you that much?"

"Oh it really doesn’t bother me that much. It’s, well, it’s just not something men do."

"Well they should. You know, you give a lot of lip service to being a sensitive guy. If you were all that sensitive, you’d jump at the chance to walk a mile in your wife’s high heals, so to speak."

"Yeah, Charles, where’s your sensitivity?"

"I don’t need to wear a dress to be sensitive."

"Well, no, but you’d be so much more sensitive if you did. Come on Charles, you’re not chicken are you?"

By now, the girls were really interested in the adult conversation. They hung on every word. Martha drug them into the conversation, sure they would help tease Charles. "What do you think girls? Don’t you think that Charles should try wearing a dress?"

"Oh yeah I do." Volunteered Kim.

"Me too." Joined Lois. "It would do him a world of good." She smiled.

"See Charles," Claire pointed out. " everyone thinks you should do it."

"You know you shouldn’t be concerned about crossdressing. Women do it all the time. I know I do. Look at me now. I’m dressed to work in my garden. I have on men’s pants and a man’s shirt. And look at Lois. Those are boy’s high tops she’s got on. She refuses to buy girl’s tennis shoes. And Kim. She buys nothing but boys jeans and often wears them in combination with boy’s tee shirts. That doesn’t make them any less feminine. Wearing a dress wouldn’t make you any less masculine." Charles was visibly uncomfortable at this point and Claire changed tactics.

"Charles, if you’re chicken, I’ll understand." She told him. "After all, you do have your macho image to protect."

"I’m not worried about my macho image!"

"Well then, why don’t you put a dress on right now?" Claire said springing the trap.

"Yeah Charles, put your money where your mouth is. Put on a dress and prove to us that your macho image isn’t what you’re worried about." Martha added.

"You guys aren’t going to give up are you? I’m never going to hear the end of this until I’ve worn a dress. Will I?"

"Nope." Said Claire smiling.

"Oh all right. I’ll put on a dress." He said shaking ever so slightly. He waited almost hoping that they would laugh and tell him that it’s OK, he doesn’t have to prove anything. On the other hand, he was afraid they will do just that. That didn’t happen. Instead they are full of congratulations. As he stood up, Lois piped up. "Dustin Hoffman went all the way. He became a total woman from the skin out." She said.

Claire followed him in. "I’ll help you dear." She told him. Once in the bedroom, she opened her lingerie drawer and picked out a matching bra and panty set in light peach. They both were covered in lace. She also produced a pair of suntan pantyhose. Next there was slip in the same color as the panties. She instructed him to strip and put on the panties. Which he did. She smiled as she fastened the bra for him. She found some plain cotton panties to stuff in the bra, and helped him on with the slip. Then she took out the blue dress.

After he had it on, she rummaged through her closet, shaking her head. She finally came up with a pair of run down slippers that had always been to big on her. She managed to squeeze his feet into them. She marched him back out to the patio.

The girls were delighted. Martha was all smiles. "Charles, I’m proud of you. But those slippers have to go. They look like they’re about to explode. Wait right here." She disappeared for a little while. Soon she was back, carrying a small case and a pair of open toed sling back pumps. She adjusted the strap and slipped the pumps on Charles. Then without asking, she opened the case and began to do make-up for him. It was a complete make over. Foundation, blush, mascara, eye liner, eye shadow and lipstick. Then she brushed and ratted his hair and sprayed it. Reaching in her pocket, she took out a pair of lightly tinted sunglasses and slipped them on him. Then she took him inside and let him see him self in her full length mirror. He was amazed. He had never done make up. He was intoxicated. He began sweeping around the room like Grace Kelly dancing and saying how wonderful he felt. In every gesture, he acted overly effeminate like Shirley Temple, batting his eyelashes. Everyone laughed and giggled.

"Oh, I feel so feminine." He said, pausing and contemplating the first honest thing he had said on the subject. Then he continued. "I know just how every woman must feel. It’s such joyous thing. I am now a complete person." He really did feel complete. This was the most completely dressed he had ever been. He realized that all his other experiences had paled by comparison. With a little sorrow, he knew that he had to get out of this outfit quick or he wouldn’t be able to without making a fuss.

Abruptly, he stopped and reverted to playing the indignant male, forced to wear a dress.

"Well." He said. "I hope you are all happy. I finally put on a dress. Having let you all have you fun, I hope you’ll let me alone about it. I really need to get back into some pants."

"Oh, but dear," Claire spoke up. "you can’t possibly have soaked up how it really feels to be a woman in so short a time. You’ve only begun to touch the surface. You need to spend some time dressed up. Why, Dustin Hoffman spent months pretending to be Dorothy. You couldn’t even begin to experience anything like he did in less then half an hour. Just stay in the dress for a while."

"She’s right Charles. If you stop now, all you’ve done is tease yourself with the idea."

"Really mom, ‘Charles?’ He looks more like a Charlotte to me." Lois put in. Everyone laughed.

"Charlotte it is. Claire squealed. Charles blushed.

"You’re not going to let me change back are you?"

"Well, we can’t stop you. But if you do, nothing has changed. You’re still the same man you were before. All that’s different is you let us tease you in to looking foolish. If you want to redeem yourself, you’ll have to become comfortable with the experience. You know, you have an advantage over Dustin Hoffman."

"What’s that?"

She stepped up to him and put her arms around his neck. "The woman you love already knows you’re a man." She said lightly kissing him. He was immediately aroused. There was definitely something sexy about wearing a dress and having your wife kiss you. Even a little peck, like that.

"Oh… OK. I’ll keep it on for a while." He said pulling away. He didn’t want her to realize that he was aroused.

A while turned out to be all day. The usual Saturday morning coffee klatch, turned into an all day event. Charlotte helped prepare lunch for the group. The two girls who usually found something to do in the neighborhood stayed home all day. They talked to Charlotte and in general showed an interest in everything he did. That day, Charlotte was involved in every "woman’s work" or "girl talk" situation that came up. The only problem was that he was really enjoying the sensation of being around the others in a dress. What a let down it he would have when he went back to dressing up in private.

The day drew to a close with Martha and Claire going to Block Buster to rent movies. They found a couple of really oldies, "Some Like It Hot" with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon and "Charlie’s Aunt" staring Jack Benny. Everyone agreed it was an appropriate choice of movies considering Charlotte being a guest for the day and all.

After the movies. The conversation took an unexpected turn as far as Charlotte was concerned. Martha turned to him and said. "You’ve been a good sport today Charlotte. It’s been fun having you around. What do you think you’ve learned?"

"What could he learn?" Lois interrupted. "He’s been pretending to be a woman for about twelve hours. I’ve been at it thirteen years and I still don’t really know what it being a woman is all about."

"A good point. Compared to your twenty-eight years as a man. Twelve hours is hardly enough to affect you’re thinking."

His wife pulled dirty pool and hugged him. "You could always continue this tomorrow." She said kissing him.

"Yeah, all in favor of Charlotte coming back tomorrow raise your hand." Kim put in lifting her right hand. Her gesture was follow by Lois, Martha and Claire.

"No need to vote." Claire told him. "We already have the majority."

"Well, it’s getting late." He said. "Can we at least go to bed so I can get out of the heals?" he asked.

"Good night Charlotte, Claire." Martha said laughing as she stood up. "Charlotte, with that comment, I can tell you’ve begun the road to understanding. That is a chorus women the world around sing. Come girls, let’s go home so these two can go to bed."

Later, in the bedroom, Charlotte had taken off the dress when Claire called him into the bathroom. "Charlotte. Come in here. I’ve set you up so you can take off your make up. Take it from me. You don’t want to sleep in that stuff.."

He came in and she explained her nightly routine to him as she went through it. "You might as well do everything a woman would do." She said.

As she completed one step she started him on that step while she did the next. First she removed all her make-up with cold cream. As he began. She washed her face with apricot scrub. When he started the apricot scrub, she put on a quick setting mask and began brushing out her hair while it dried. As soon as he rinsed of the scrub she helped him apply the mask and handed him a brush. She thoroughly brushed her hair and he imitated her. When she was done. She pealed off her mask and applied a moisturizing cream to replace the moisture the scrub and mask removed. She rubbed it in and blotted any excess with a tissue. She prompted him to peal the mask and handed him the moisturizer.

"Be sure to blot the excess off or you’ll soil the pillow case." She told him.

When Charles came back into the bedroom Claire had just dropped a rather sexy nightie over her head. He reluctantly removed his slip, his pantyhose and bra. Claire had been watching him from next to her open dresser drawer. "Here." She said. "Sleep in these. That way you won’t interrupt your feminine experience." She was holding out a pastel blue short nightgown with matching sheer panties. He took the nightgown and slipped it over his head. As Claire got into bed, he changed panties. He quickly got under the covers and turned out the light. He was embarrassed that he was so aroused. He didn’t know if Claire would like that. Masculine arousal was definitely not a feminine thing.

Claire scooted close and kissed him. A passionate kiss. "That’s for being such a good sport today." She said and hugged him close. The feel of their two nylon clad bodies closely entwined, fanned the flames of his passion beyond any point of reason. The sex that night was as incredible as it was long lasting. After an eternity, they both slept.

In the morning Charles awoke first. It was his bladder that awakened him. While he was in the bathroom, he lathered up and shaved. As he was washing the left over lather from his face, Claire walked in. She patted his panty clad rear and kissed him on the cheek. "If last night is an example of what I can expect, I just might insist you wear a nightgown every night." She told him. The very thought of that, brought a tingle to his groin. He suppressed it as Claire sat out her cosmetics and a moisturizing soap bar. "You should have lathered with this." She told him. "It wouldn’t dry your face like the shaving cream. You’d better wash with it so your make up won’t deeply imbed itself in your dry skin."

He lathered up and did as he was told. Then she indoctrinated him in the morning ritual of a woman. After the moisturizing soap and a rinse. She applied a foundation and instructed him in the same. "Now watch as I put on mascara." She said as she carefully brushed her lashes with black/brown mascara. After she was finished, she supervised him in that task. Next she demonstrated eyeliner, and eye shadow. He managed to get a passable dose of each on. Then came the blush. That wasn’t too hard. There was a large margin for error. Lip liner took a little more care as did the lipstick. In the end, what with Claire making a few adjustments, he looked every bit as good as he had the day before. She picked out another set of lingerie for him. This time in a soft rose. The hose had a red cast to them. She put him in a skirt and blouse. The blouse was an opaque, rose color, that showed the lace from the slip, ever so slightly. The skirt was burgundy with pleats. It struck him just above the knee. He knew the skirt. He liked the way I swayed as he walked. The sling back pumps being black went all right with the outfit. They had no sooner gotten dressed than the phone rang. It was Martha. "Hi Claire, I thought you guys might like to come over for brunch."

"Let me ask. Dear, it’s Martha. She wants to know if we’d like to come over for brunch."

He looked down at himself. Then shrugged. "Why not. It’s a cute outfit I might as well let someone see it." They passed between two households by way of the patio.

"Oh Charlotte, you look gorgeous. To tell the truth. I invited you just to see if you really did repeat your performance. I’m glad you did. It shows me you have the courage of conviction." It was another day of inclusion in the feminine activities that normally would have passed Charles right by. The Sunday paper was full of advertising flyers form all the leading shops in town. It seemed that each of the others found an outfit in each circular that they thought Charlotte would look good in. He even found himself caught up in the game.

"I think this one is really nice." He said, point to a knee length dress that had an empire waist and a full skirt. "With my height and build. It would cover up what I don’t have in shape." With that Claire, who had been looking over his shoulder, gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Very good!" She told him. "You’re a quick study. Women often buy a particular style to accentuate the positive or cover up the negative aspects of their figure. We’ll make a woman out of you yet."

Charles cringed he really didn’t want to become a woman. He just liked to visit the woman’s world.

They all had dinner together that night. Over the dinner table, the subject of how well Charlotte had adapted to the feminine life style dominated the conversation.

"You know mom, Charlotte looks so good, I could almost forget that it’s really Charles under there." Lois said.

"Me too." Added Kim.

"You know Charlotte, the girls are right. Don’t you think so Claire?"

"Oh absolutely. Aside from a few masculine mannerisms, we could take him anywhere. And of course he would have to learn to speak more softly. Perhaps in a slight southern accent like ‘Dorothy’ did."

"That would be the perfect way for Charlotte to experience what women go through." Martha returned. Charles began to feel like he wasn’t there.

"We’d have to have him practice a lot, though." Observed Lois.

"Well, that’s true." Claire agreed. "How long do you thing it would take?"

"If he were to work on it everyday, we could have him ready in a month." Martha opined.

"It would take another month of him finding out how women are treated, before he could begin to know what we’re trying to teach him." Claire thoughtfully observed.

"It would take all of us coaching him on everything. What do you say girls, are you willing to participate? It would mean being around home more than you usually are."

"Yeah, it would be fun. Wouldn’t it Kim?" Lois said.

"Sure."

"Wait a minute." Charles said. "Don’t I get a vote? After all, I’m the one who will be making the biggest commitment."

"Oh, dear, we didn’t mean to leave you out. But you will do it for me, won’t you? It’ll be fun. You’ll be let in on things most men couldn’t even imagine. Say yes. Please." She said. The look on her face melted any resistance. He was terrified of going out in public dressed like this and that was clearly what they had in mind.

"What about work? I can’t wear dresses there."

"You can still wear under things. Oh! I saw some women’s shoes at Payless Shoe Source that looked like men’s loafers. You could wear them and some trouser socks. They’re like knee high’s only textured and heavier. They would pass for men’s dress socks. I have those gray slacks with the fly and hip pockets. And that one white blouse I have looks like a man’s shirt when the top button is buttoned. Add a tie and no one would know." Claire told him.

"I’ll bet my gray, double breasted blazer would make it look like a suit." Martha added. Let’s try it."

Charles was swept along with the current. Before he knew it he was wearing the pants, blouse and blazer. By just adding a tie, it did look like a suit, except for one thing.

"It looks great." He said. "But it buttons the wrong way."

"I can fix that." Claire said. "All I have to do is make this button a double button, like this one." She pointed out as she held the coat open by buttons.

"You get started on that." Martha said. "While I get to Payless Shoe Source before they close. I know what size to buy. He really wears one size larger then me. I’ll pick up some trouser socks too." Martha said putting on her coat.

"Here," Claire said. "take my credit card." Martha was out the door like a whirlwind. Claire opened up her sewing kit and selected a button and began sewing it in place. She then tried it on Charles and discovered that the other button needed moving. It wasn’t quite in the right place. Charles was impressed. He had on all women’s clothes and no one would suspect. If the shoes Martha bought were as good as this, he could do it. It seemed like forever before Martha came in carrying two shopping bags.

"I hope you don’t mind, I thought if Charles will be Charlotte for two months, he’d need more than one pair of shoes. So I bought two pairs of heals and two pairs of flats as well. I didn’t know if he wanted brown or black loafers so I bought one of each. It’s not as bad as it could be each pair of shoes was marked down 25% and on top of that they had a buy one, get one half price sale. I’m not sure of the ratio, but I think that three pairs of these shoes were free."

Charles put on the black shoes and while they were lighter weight then comparable men’s shoes, they did look the part. The trouser socks were just what the doctor ordered. He wished he had known about them a long time ago. They had the feel of nylons and the look of dress socks. The heals were in blue and beige, size 12W. They fit perfect. The flats were black and blue in the same size. This was like a dream come true. Shoes he didn’t have to hide. Now if only he could manage to keep them after the time was up. He was set.

"Well dear. What do you say now?"

"I know I’m crazy. But you taken away every argument I could use to say no. Besides, you’ve spent all that money on shoes already."

"Starting right now, you will wear nothing but women’s clothes. Every where but work, you’ll wear make-up, and you try your best to act like a lady for two months." Claire said.

"That’s the deal, two months." Charles said firmly

"That’s the deal." Claire agreed.

His wife’s routine became his. That night he followed her lead in cleaning up before bed. The night in the blue nightgown was a repeat of the one before. In the morning, he shaved using the moisturizing bar for lather. Then she dressed him in her panties and a "nude" bra. There was almost nothing to it. The cups were very light weight and transparent. Next came a no lace camisole, the trouser socks and the slacks. The blouse was actually more comfortable then his own dress shirt. He had never bothered to put it on before, because it looked too much like a man’s shirt. It sure didn’t feel like a man’s shirt. The neck didn’t bite into him like his dress shirt and the fabric was softer, gentler on his skin. The tie hid the fact the buttons went the wrong way. With the comfortable neckline, he wouldn’t have to loosen his tie.

"You know Claire, this blouse is really comfortable. I should get some more of them and wear them for dress shirts all the time." Charles observed, testing the waters a little.

"You could, you know. No one would ever know and I won’t tell." She said smiling.

He slipped into the shoes and put on the jacket. With his hair combed back he looked like executive material. Off he went to work, totally dressed in women’s clothes. No one would be the wiser. He wished it could be yesterday’s outfit. There was no way that would happen. But he did like this outfit. Claire was out of the office at lunchtime. She probably had a meeting with a client. She used the car for her sales work. He wished they could have had lunch together. He hadn’t thought of it yesterday in the rush, but he couldn’t wear the same suit to work for two months. They would have to make some sort of adjustment.

She was back by quitting time and they went home as usual. When they pulled up in the driveway, Claire popped the trunk. "I picked up some things we’ll be needing during lunch." Claire told him. The trunk was practically full of bags from three of her favorite women’s shops.

Inside she laid out her purchases on the bed. There were five women’s jackets, six pairs of slacks similar to the ones he was wearing and eight blouses like he had on. They were in white, bone, pastel yellow and blue. All colors he had in dress shirts already. She also had a pile of panties in every color and bra’s to match. The bras were her size, but they were padded push-ups. Something she surely didn’t need. There were also four more of the kind he had worn that day and three more no lace camisoles. "I thought that over the next two months it would be better if we expanded the wardrobe for you. You can’t keep wearing the same suit over and over again. And you’d have put quite a strain on my lingerie if we didn’t have these." She said holding up a pair of frilly panties and a bra.

Charles changed into one of his new push up bras while Claire made room in his dresser for the rest of his new wardrobe. While he dressed she hung his new things in the closet. Then she instructed him in his make up. "You know tomorrow, you’ll have to do this yourself. Of course, if you get stuck you could call Martha, she’d help you."

That evening Claire dropped a bomb. She was in the kitchen looking at the calendar.

"Charlotte," She said. "I just realized. For you to stick to the deal, you’ll have to go on vacation as Charlotte. The first week of our vacation is the last week of the deal."

"Really." Charlotte said, coming to check out the dates. "Well we’ve spent too much money to squash the deal now. Besides Martha would say it was just me getting cold feet."

"We’ll be staying at a motel. You won’t be able to check in as a woman and out as a man."

"So I go an extra week. After two months, what’s another week." He hoped that he would have the guts to go by then.

When Martha was told about vacation, she got the idea of going along. They called the motel and managed to change the reservation to two adjoining rooms. That meant Martha, Kim and Lois would be there to bolster his courage.

By the end of the week, he was almost as quick as Claire doing his make-up and needed no prompting. Every evening there was a session with all the genuine girls wherein, they all critiqued his deportment. And of course Saturdays, they all worked on his tone of voice and the amount of breath. They found he couldn’t do a consistent southern accent. But he could do a fair Loran Bacall like voice. The weeks went by and before he realized it he was in the car headed for a movie on Saturday.

At the theater, he let Martha and Claire buy the tickets while he hung out with Kim and Lois. He was dressed in a pantsuit and a pair of flats. Women didn’t wear dresses to movies anymore. He managed get through the movie without incident. After that they went to a burger place for dinner. They insisted that Charlotte order her own meal. He ordered one of the bargain meals by number. The harried teenager behind the counter saw Charlotte as the woman he had learned to be. After that, Charlotte got brave and went grocery shopping. She fit right in. The following weekend it was dinner at a real restaurant on Friday night.

At dinner on Friday, Charlotte was quit nervous. This would mean repeated contact with one person. Both Martha and Claire assured him that he would do just fine. After all the super market had been no trouble. He dressed in a green dress with a white print. It had a full skirt, long sleeves and white lace collar. He had to wear black heals with it. He carried one of Claire’s black purses. It was just him, Claire and Martha. The girls had a birthday party to go to.

"OK Charlotte, this is what you’ve been training for. Let’s put your femininity to the test." Martha told him as he got out of the car. They went in and were seated at their table. The waitress walked up to the table. She was young. She smiled and said. "Good evening ladies. What can I get you tonight?"

Martha ordered first. "I’ll have the skinless chicken breast with baked potato."

"Soup or salad?"

"Salad with Roquefort dressing."

"And for you ma’am?" she asked Claire.

"I’d like the Chef’s Salad with Thousand Island dressing."

"Last but not least, for you ma’am?" she said addressing Charlotte. He was ecstatic. "Ma’am" she’d called him. He was passing.

"I’ll have the petite sirloin, rare please. The baked potato and a salad with ranch dressing." He told her.

"Coming right up ladies."

"Well done Charlotte." Martha said.

"Very good indeed." Claire agreed.

The meal went flawlessly.

The next day, they all went to the mall. Charlotte was treated to the pinnacle of a woman’s joy. Shopping. At first he was reluctant to do more then walk around the mall. They eventually coaxed him into a shop. Soon he got into the spirit of things. He was looking a dress, holding it up to himself in the mirror when a saleslady walked up and said would you like to try that on? He turned, surprised. He caught Claire’s eye. She was shaking her head yes."

"Please." He managed softly.

There he was in the inner sanctum of the woman’s world. He was truly accepted as a woman. He had been invited into the fitting room. After that, you couldn’t keep him out. He saw the fitting room in every woman’s shop and women’s department in the mall. By the time the day was out nine dresses had been bought. Six of them for Charlotte. Four pairs shoes were bought, two for Charlotte. Three night gowns, two for Charlotte. A new gorgeous coat was on his back. He even bought a swimsuit for vacation.

Every weekend after that, Charlotte was out and about. Soon the closet was bursting with new clothes for Charlotte. Claire never said a word about how much was being spent. After all, everything, except the shoes, would also fit her. The way she saw it, Charlotte’s wardrobe was just a good place to borrow what ever she didn’t have.

The next thing Charlotte knew, it was vacation time. He packed all women’s clothes. Not a stitch of men’s clothes was in his suitcase. Not even the clothes he had been wearing to work. Everything was feminine. There were some pants, but they didn’t have a fly. There were also some shorts, they too had no fly.

By this time Charlotte was so confident, that he checked into the motel. He was wearing a skirt and blouse. He carried a bone colored purse and wore matching low healed pumps. "Hello, you have a reservation for Charlotte and Claire Johnston." He asked in his best Loren Bacall voice.

"Just a moment please." The middle aged lady behind the counter said, as she typed in the name. "Yes here it is. You have an adjoining room with Martha Carson." She said as she handed him a registration card.

"Yes, she’s right behind us." Just then Martha walked in.

"Oh hi Charlotte. All checked in?" she asked.

"Not quite." He said filling out the card.

"You must be Martha Carson." The desk clerk said, producing another reservation card.

"Yes I am." Martha told her.

"There we are." Charlotte said, handing the card back.

"Here are your keys. And yours Mrs. Carson." The desk clerk told them. "I hope you ladies have a nice stay. If there’s anything you need, just call the front desk." She added.

Charlotte walked out on air. "Ladies" she had said. The two weeks were delicious. Their room overlooked the ocean. And they had a large deck that the rooms shared. They spent a lot of time there. The motel had a swimming pool. Charlotte spent so much time in the pool, she turned up with a tan on her back. They went to dinner in the motel restaurant several times each week. And of course they went shopping. Charlotte got a lot of summer clothes.

At the end of the two weeks they loaded up the cars and went home. That night, Charlotte went through the nightly ritual that had become habit. He put on a nightgown and slipped into bed. Claire snuggled up close. After some very sensual love making, they slept soundly.

In the morning Charles got up and lathered with the moisturizing bar and shaved. After which he put on panties and a "nude" bra, followed by a no lace camisole, the trouser socks and the slacks. He topped that off with one of the masculine blouses, a tie and women’s blazer. He put on his women’s loafers.

"You look great this morning dear." Claire told him as they got in the car. Work was a drag. (pun intended) After work, as was his custom, he removed his tie and buttoned the jacket the other way round as he got into the car. He removed a clutch purse from the inside pocket and sprayed himself with perfume. When he got home he went straight to the bedroom while Claire started dinner. He stripped to his panties and put on a push up bra and pantyhose. In the bathroom, he ratted his hair to give some body and put on his make up. He put on a slip and dress and a pair of low healed pumps.

Returning to the kitchen, he sat the table as Claire put the finishing touches on dinner. It was back to the usual routine for the rest of the week. On Saturday morning, Charlotte and Claire were on the patio with coffee when Martha came out. "Good morning Charlotte, Claire. You beat me out here this morning." They had their usual coffee and muffins, fresh from Martha’s kitchen.

Charlotte decided to skip shopping that week, since she had done so much on vacation. But next weekend Saturday afternoon was spent in the mall trying on dresses. Oh, she didn’t buy anything, she just had fun trying things on. Things were definitely back to normal.

Charles birthday fell on a Sunday that October. They were enjoying a late breakfast when Claire looked up at Charlotte. "Do you realize that it’s been five months since you wore any men’s clothes?"

"Oh yeah. We packed them away when the closet got too full last June. I had almost forgotten about them."

"Do you think you’ll ever wear them again?"

"Well, I don’t know. How would you feel if I didn’t?"

"I don’t have any complaints with the way thing are now. It’s certainly a lot more interesting now. Between your wardrobe and mine, we have one of the largest wardrobe any woman could want."

"Well then, I guess I won’t then."

"What shall we should do with them?"

"We might as well give them away. I guess."

"Lets box them up and take them to a drop off center this Saturday."

"OK with me. Then we can go to the mall. I hear that Meier and Frank’s is having a sale."

"Oh, by the way, happy birthday." Claire said taking a gift-wrapped box out of the cupboard. It was heavy. Charlotte opened it up. It was a pair of prosthetic breasts.

-- finis—

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