They Think I am a Woman! - Part 7

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Half an hour later, my body was painfully free of hair in all of the places that Bridget used the wax stuff. It felt like a bad case of sunburn, but Bridget rubbed on some cream, and that helped a lot.

I had a sneaking admiration for girls now and the pain and suffering they went through to make themselves look pretty. I thought shaving was a drag (although I didn’t have to do much of that, thank goodness). But all the waxing, plucking, pulling, and pushing girls had to go through to make themselves attractive put the things that men had to do in the shade.

Now, take washing your hair as an example. As a man, you just grab a bottle of whatever shampoo or shower gel, wet your hair, put the stuff on, rinse, and rough-dry with a towel, then comb your hair into some semblance of order.

Now, to girls, it’s almost like a religious thing. First, you choose the correct shampoo and conditioner for your hair.

There appear to be thousands of different hair types. I thought that dry, normal, and greasy were all you had to worry about, but nooooo, there are shampoos for fine, oily, limp, coarse, split ends, processed hair, colored hair, etc. Shampoos that make your hair shiny, have more volume, ya di ya di ya…

There are as many types of conditioner as shampoos; no wonder that the companies that make these products earn a fortune!

Enough of my ranting. You can see I had too much time on my hands waiting for Bridget to finish doing her stuff. Let's get back to the nitty-gritty.

Bridge finally let me get dressed and left the room.

I got dressed in my far too skimpy clothes.

Although I was sore, I could immediately feel the difference as my feminine clothes slid on more smoothly than before.

My breast forms made me gasp as they nestled in my silky bra against my now hairless chest. The panty tights, skirt, and blouse all slipped over my hairless body without resistance, and the feeling was, to say the least, erotic. Percy liked it too, and it took a bit of tugging and pulling before I could tuck him up and send him to sleep. My old granddad told me once that when he was in the army during the war. They used to put bromide in soldiers’ tea to stop their willies from becoming too aroused. I think that I needed something like that!

Just as I finished putting my lacy top and salon smock back on, Bridget came in.

‘Are you decent? OK, sit in the chair again, and I’ll sort out your hair.’

‘You just did it.’

‘Yes, and you just messed it up again putting your top back on!’

Luckily, the damage was not too great, and in a few minutes, after almost choking in the pungent fumes of industrial-strength hairspray, the hair was repaired to her satisfaction.

‘Now Toni, I want you to shut your eyes and trust me.’

‘Why?’ I said suspiciously.

‘I need to do your makeup, but before that, I need to do something.’

‘What?’

‘It’s a surprise. You will like it, I promise. Now be a good girl and shut your eyes.’

Being of a trusting, if somewhat simple nature, I shut my eyes.

I heard someone come into the room.

Suddenly, both my earlobes were grabbed, some cold stuff was put on them, and then, before I could say anything, my eyes popped open wide as I felt a stabbing pain in both ears.

‘OWWW! Oh,’

‘My, my, that’s not the language that polite young ladies use,’ said a grinning Bridget. ‘You need your ears pierced if you are going to look girly.’

My ears started to throb a bit as I complained bitterly. The other grinning accomplice to my torture left the room giggling for some strange, warped reason.

‘That hurt! I didn’t need my ears pierced. I could have used clip-on earrings.’

‘They are crappy, and you don’t get much choice. Once your ears are healed, you can stop using the studs and wear some lovely dangly ones.’

I wasn’t convinced but said nothing more. There was no point. The foul deed had been done now.

‘Don’t forget to keep rotating the studs and keep them clean; you don’t want an infection.’

‘So I can blame you if my ears drop off?’

‘Now you’re being silly. Right, back to business. Let’s do your makeup.’

‘Oh, goodie!’

‘Tut tut, no sarcasm, please.’

With that, Bridget started applying her lotions and potions. I kind of zoned out. My ears throbbed, and my body was sore from the waxing, so I didn’t pay much attention to what she was doing, but she had this habit of sticking her tongue out and wiggling it while she concentrated, and I was kind of mesmerized by it.

Finally, I was pronounced finished.

‘Right, Toni, the moment of truth. Let’s carefully take your smock off. Now close your eyes and turn around.’

‘Oh no, you’re not going to get me to do that again! You’ll probably pierce my navel or do something else unspeakable.’

‘I promise I won’t do anything to you. Just trust m,e this one last time. I won’t hurt you.’

I did as I was told, muttering under my breath, and with a heavily beating heart, I shut my eyes and turned around.

I heard the sound of cloth falling on the floor.

‘Open your eyes, Toni.’

I opened my eyes and was a bit startled to see the large mirror in front of me. I gasped at the apparition in front of me.

I was looking at myself, but it was as if I was looking at someone else.

I was wearing the same clothes, but they looked different because my hair had been teased and tugged into a very feminine style. I had a fringe (what Americans, for some reason, call bangs) just above my thinned-out and femininely arched brows. My hair was longer and fuller and came down to my shoulders in a gentle, wavy style.

I heard in the distancee Bridget talking to me.

I put in some hair extensions. That will help until your hair grows out. You must come and see me at least every other week so we can keep you looking lovely.’

The wonderful hair changed the shape of my face, making it thinner and more girly. My eyes had a delicate shading of purple merging into pink. My eyelashes were thick and full with the delicate touch of mascara, making my eyes big and Bambi-like. My face now had what looked like a peaches and cream complexion. Healthy, vibrant, and full of life.

My lips seemed fuller and were a wonderful shade of shocking pink.

In short, despite all my male hang-ups and concerns that I would be ‘outed’ at any minute for being a pervy man dressed up as a girl, I only saw a girl in the mirror. Not a man or boy, but a lovely, vibrant young girl.

‘What do you think, Toni?’

‘Wow!’

‘I take it you like it?’

‘Wow!’

‘I assume that means that you are happy with the results?’

My mouth got into gear as I realized that Bridget was talking to me. I couldn’t drag my eyes from the mirror and the beautiful vision reflected in it.

‘Is that me?’

‘Yes, hon, all you.’

‘Thank you.’ I whispered, seeing the mouth in the mirror saying the words.

It was a bit unreal. I couldn’t quite get the hang of the fact that the image reflected me, Tony Summers. A boy aged 18 years. This wasn’t Tony. I could see nothing that could possibly remind me of Tony, except, perhaps, the nose. But my nose was always a bit small and tweaked up at the end, just like my mother's. Sheila had done a great job at getting me to look good enough to face the general public without being found out as an impostor. But this was on a different level. This was premier division stuff compared to Sunday league.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

I didn’t turn around; I was still looking at the girl in the mirror. I heard the gentle tones of Sheila.

‘Bloody Hell!’

‘Hi, Sheila, she scrubs up well, doesn’t she?’

‘Too right, Bridge. God, Toni, with you looking like that, I could change religion and become a lesbian!’

I giggled nervously as I realized that Sheila, too, couldn’t see anything of Tony now.

I tore my eyes away from my reflection in the mirror, and I turned to face the two girls.

‘You think I look OK, then?’

‘Darling, you look wonderful,’ said Bridget enthusiastically.

‘Drop-dead gorgeous. I’m quite jealous, you cow!’ Said an equally enthusiastic Sheila, ‘But we have to go now. I’ve booked lunch at a swanky restaurant using my slimy ex’s plastic, and we only have half an hour to get there.’

‘I don’t think….’

‘Now you can’t tell me that you are worried about passing; you look about twice as girly as me, and I’m no slouch in that department. Come on, grab your purse, and let’s hit the road.’

As we left the salon, Bridget came over, gave me a hug, and then handed me her card.

‘Toni, if you need a chat about things, give me a ring. My home and mobile numbers are on the back of the card. You may want to talk about what you are feeling, and I might be able to give you some advice. OK?’

‘Yes. Thanks, Bridge, for all you’ve done. I will ring you soon, promise.’

We went out into the bright sunshine, and I was so aware of my hairless body brushing against the fabric of my skirt and top in the light breeze. My full hair swayed gently as we walked to Sheila’s car.

There were a lot of people around, and I noticed that men and women were looking at me. Some women smiled; others frowned. Men seemed to look at my legs, then my face, and ended up on my breasts. It was a bit uncomfortable. I knew now how pretty girls felt when being ogled at, and I must admit, secretly. I liked it. God, where did that come from! Was I becoming a flirt five minutes after being turned girly?

In no time, we were in the car driving towards the restaurant.

I didn’t say much but kept looking at myself in the vanity mirror. Sheila was talking, but I wasn’t taking in what she was saying.

‘TONI!’

I jumped.

‘Sorry, Sheila. Did you say something?’

‘Yes. If you can possibly tear your eyes away from the mirror. I was saying that this restaurant is really great. It’s the top one in the area and has had rave reviews in the papers. I would love to see that slimeball Steve’s face when he sees the bill for your salon trip and the meal. That will teach him to mess with me!’

I began to take notice of where we were. It was funny. The area rang a bell. We turned the corner, and there it was. It had to be, didn’t it? The same restaurant that Davis took me to, and where I poured lager over his smug, pockmarked face.

‘I can’t go in there. I must be banned. That’s where Davis took me!’

‘Oops. I didn’t know. Sorry. Anyway, it’s booked now, and no one will recognize you with your hair change and everything. Come on, are you a girl or a mouse?’

‘Eek!’

‘Come on, Mini. If anyone recognizes you, I promise we won’t stay if you don’t want to.’

I hesitantly followed Sheila in with trepidation.

Jeeves was there, all smug, smarmy, and subservient.

‘Hello, ladies, how may I help you?

He was wringing his damp hands a bit like Uriah Heep, being ‘ever so humble.’

‘We have a table booked in the name of Jones.’

He looked at his list.

‘Ah yes. Please step this way, Madam.’

‘It’s Ms.’

‘Sorry!’

He walked us over to a table in the corner. I breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t recognize me.

After sitting us down and leaving us with a menu, he left us in peace.

‘See, Toni. I told you he wouldn’t realize who you were. You look so different now. Let's order, and then we can have a nice little confab.

We both ordered a smoked salmon salad, and after the hovering waiter, who looked like a stripped-down version of Jeeves, had left us, we tucked into the delicious meal.

‘Well, Toni. You have your interview in two days' time. Are you up for it?

‘It’s a bit soon. I still don’t know if I can pull it off. Anyway, there are probably loads of other girls going for the job.’

‘I like the way you said ‘other’ girls. Does that mean you are accepting that you are a girl now?’

‘It was only a slip of the tongue. Anyway, I’ve only just started even thinking about this. Don’t push me too soon. Anyway, if I don’t get this job, I can go back to being Tony again.’

‘Is that what you want?’

‘I DON’T KNOW!’

‘Shhh, don’t shout. The last thing you want is to draw attention to yourself.’

‘Sorry. It’s just that I keep having to remember who I am underneath this girly exterior. I don’t want to lose my past.’

‘You will never lose your past. You are just looking after your future.’

I felt myself tearing up.

Sheila leaned across and held my hand.

‘Look, Toni, it’s about time I said things that might upset you. Don’t shout or be angry. OK?’

I nodded, apprehensive at what she might say. I looked around. Luckily, the restaurant was not full, and as we were in the corner, we seemed quite private.

‘Firstly, I’ll ask a few questions. Just give me a straight answer. OK.’

‘OK.’

As a boy, did you think that you were masculine?

‘Not really. I tried, but I was one of the weedy boys. Not good at sports, except running. I was OK at that. I suppose because of my light frame.’

‘We both know that you are a bit shy; why is that?’

‘I don’t know. I get tongue-tied, and I always think that when I say something, it will be silly, stupid, and show me up.’

‘Do you relate better to boys or girls?’

‘Girls, I suppose. I went to a boys’ boarding school. I was a bit small; I didn’t fit in, and I just didn’t seem to have much in common with the other boys. The headmaster had twin daughters, Suzy and Jemma. Somehow I got to know them, and I had my happiest times with them. The other boys made fun of me, saying I was a sissy and stuff like that. Then there is you. I think of you as my best friend, even though you are ancient.’

‘Bloody cheek! I’m only ten years older than you, and I have all my teeth!’

We both giggled, and then Sheila carried on quizzing me.

‘OK. So we have established that you are shy and you relate better to girls than boys. Do you like the way you are dressed?

I didn’t want to answer.

‘Come on, Toni. Be honest with yourself. Tell me, do you like the way you look?

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again as I nodded and whispered. ‘Yes, but it’s wrong.’

‘Why is it wrong?’

‘Because I’m a boy, and boys should not have these feelings.’

‘So you think that being a boy is only about what is between your legs?’

‘Yes, no, I don’t know. I’m confused. My talk with Bridget has made me think about everything, and I don’t know what to do about it.

I blew my nose on a tissue and carefully wiped my eyes. I could see traces of makeup on the tissue, and this reinforced the duality of my situation. Was I a girl trapped in a boy's body or a boy with delusions?

‘What I think is that you are finally finding out who you are. I saw your face at the salon when you saw yourself in the mirror. You loved what you were seeing, even though you may not realize it yet. I think that you are happier looking like you are now, a pretty girl, than a boy who doesn’t know where he is going.’

I looked up at Sheila and was just about to agree with her when someone moving caught my eye on the other side of the room.

My heart immediately leapt into my mouth. I gasped and nearly fainted.

‘What is it?’ What’s wrong, Toni?’ said Sheila, turning around in her seat.

It was Davis. The sick, disgusting, and odious Davis, coming across the room with a blond, gum-chewing bimbo in a PVC dress, tottering on stiletto heels. They were heading straight towards our table, and I had nowhere to hide!