Numeric ID: 20 Date Received: 24 June 2004 Idea From: Rachel St. Denise Written By: Rachel St. Denise email to: /dev/null I opened the door expecting Jim's dad, but was surprised to see a stunningly beautiful girl standing there. "I tried ringing your doorbell first, but it must be broken. Hi, I'm Sandy. A...." I didn't hear the rest as I fainted. I woke up lying on my back on the floor feeling fingers gently massaging my temples. My head was in someone's lap and I had a pillow or something under my upper back. I was almost comfortable, achy and in pain from the mono, but comfortable. "Back in the land of the living, I see," a female voice chirped. I guess she must be psychic; I hadn't opened my eyes yet. My eyeballs weren't ready for the searing glare of light, any light. "Mmmmmmph," I croaked. "I'm still Sandy. We almost met before you passed out. What's your name?" "Steph," just popped out in six or seven tones. It sounded horrible even to me. "Let me guess, Steph. It's bronchitis, strep throat, pneumonia or mono. Since you're home and look like you've been run over by a truck three or four times, my guess would be mono." "Mo..," I started to croak. I opened my eyes and looked into the most gorgeous light mint green eyes I'd ever seen. They had several tiny little speckles of mahogany in them, too. I know it sounds corny, but I wanted to jump in them and live there forever. And die there. Too much mono and too many movies. I closed my eyes again. "Shhhhhh. Don't talk; just nod. OK. I know what talking's like, too. Try not to talk much, or it might affect your voice. My chatterbox roomy has a mono voice now, very Greta Barboish. Very sexy. But, she hates it. I had it last year, so I know what it's like from the inside out; and since my roomy had it, I know what it's like seeing someone else with it. You look like you're recovering, though. When I was recovering, I tried to push it and had some relapses." I nodded my head and closed my eyes. Her fingers, which had been massaging my temples and neck stopped, and I felt her hands move away. "Good. Steph, now open your eyes for a minute." When I did, I saw a sock dangling in front of my face. "Steph, your sock?" It was mine, but where she got it....? I felt my body go rigid as my first instinct was to check my "tits," but I tried to feel if my feet still had socks on. Sandy had to have felt my body go rigid when she asked the question. I didn't move though, except my head, which I nodded yes. "Right side, Steph. The other one's OK, though. This is so weird I can't believe it. Breast prosthesis are one the products I sell. I don't have any with me, though. Mostly, I sell cosmetics. I just started on my own this week, too," Sandy chirped at the end like starting to sell cosmetics was the be all and end all to life. We both heard the key in the front door at the same time, and we looked at each other. Sandy handed me my sock, which I hurriedly stuffed in my bra while the door handle was turning. "What the ?" "Hi, Jim. Meet Sandy. Sandy, Jim, my roommate," I managed to gargle out somehow. "Hi, Sandy. Did Steph faint?" "Nice to meet you, Jim; and yes." "Steph, can you get up and make to bed if I help?" I nodded yes; and Jim just lifted me up like I was a rag doll and holding me, walked me into the bedroom. "Bed or bathroom, first?" "Bed," I croaked. Jim helped me take off the robe and into bed, pulling the covers up and tucking me in, almost like Mom used to do when I was little. Just before I fell asleep, Jim's face was replaced by Mom's. ***** "Have you two been living together long?" Sandy asked Jim after the got settled at the kitchen table, Jim with a bottle of beer and Sandy with a cup of coffee. Jim started giving Sandy the 'set' story when she held up both hands, palms out and said, "Jim, first Steph is not a she. Unless she's a bearded lady like they used to have in circuses, Steph is definitely not a she. I didn't check between his or her legs, but one of 'her' tits, a sock, fell out when she or he fainted. Second, Jim. You're gay." "I'm n..." "Stuff and nonsense like my aunt used to say. You talk to me like I'm a person, a human being. You're not leering at me, which every straight guy I've met lately does; and finally, buster, you haven't got your eyes glued to my boobs. Come on, tell me you're not gay." "Okay. I 'm not gay. There. I told you, but it's not true. Am I that really that obvious?" "Only to a girl if she's paying attention." "You win." "We .... always .... do. Even when you guys think you've won. "Isn't that the truth? Okay, as you already know, Steph's sick." "Mono. Had it, got the t-shirt, et cetera. Blah, blah." "Can I finish? Pu-lease?" Sandy pulled one finger across her lips giving the old 'My lips are zipped.' sign, and Jim told her the real story in about ten minutes. "Wow. He's really a good friend to do that for you." "It's not all one way, you know. I let him stay here for free. I told you all that." "Yeah, but he did something really special for you looking after you when you had mono and the thing with your dad. I'm impressed. He's really your friend and a good friend to have. You're a good friend to him, too; and I don't mean about staying here for free. He's not gay, is he?" "No. He says he doesn't understand what I see in it, but he just accepts me as I am. I know he doesn't like it when Steve and I get lovey-dovey, so I guess he just doesn't like mushy stuff. At least, where he can see it. He's really not my type, either. Too, well, sort of geeky. Sooooo, Sandy, now that I've told a complete stranger more about my life than almost anybody else knows, what brings you here?" Sandy just pointed to her cosmetics case in plain site from the kitchen and said, "I just started selling cosmetics this week hopefully to give me some income while I work on my degree. I'm working and going half time this semester. Last semester, because I was working and going full time my grades dropped; and I lost my scholarship. My plan is to build up a client list that pays me enough to go to school full time without the scholarship, if necessary." "Man, that's rough. How much do you make selling this stuff?" "I don't know, really. Like I said, it's my real first week. I get a percentage in commission, but no salary. The more I sell, though, the higher the commission on each item. I have another job for that, so I can pay my rent and stuff." "Hey, I think maybe I can help." "You? You're a guy. Unless you wear make-up and stuff, how? And why?" "Sandy, just stay put for a half an hour. If nothing else, I'll GIVE you a hundred bucks for that." Jim took his wallet out and laid five twenties on the table. "They're yours in thirty minutes. And why. For some reason I instinctively trust you." "What do I have to do for them?" "Nothing. Absolutely nothing, but stay here for the next thirty minutes. Sit and drink coffee, if you want. Dance on the ceiling. Do whatever you want to do or not do within reason. Deal?" "Okay. Deal. Can I look in on S..Brad? Steph? You know who I mean." "Sure. Like I said, whatever you want. I'm going to be on the phone for the next ten minutes or so, and I would really appreciate no interruptions, though." At that, Jim dialled Steve and told him about Sandy in about five minutes. Then he called the two trannies who originally helped turn me in Steph and told them the whole story about Sandy. That took about ten minutes. While Jim was on the phone, Sandy came into the bedroom and watched me sleep for fifteen minutes or so and tidied things up, including piling all the clothes in two heaps ready to go in the washer. "Is he still asleep? I thought he was getting better. He did go out with my dad and me to a restaurant." Jim asked as he peeked around the bedroom door. "That's mono, up and down. He shouldn't have gone out." Sandy whispered, handing Jim one pile of clothes and taking the other with her as they left the bedroom. "Hey. You didn't have to do this. I saw you sort of cleaned up the bedroom, too. Thanks." "It's twenty minutes, since our deal began; and that's sixty six bucks and sixty seven cents. I figured I could do something. Besides, I hate just sitting; I'm one of those people who just can't sit still. I'm always doing something or going somewhere," Sandy said as they walked into the kitchen. She put her load in the washer, found the laundry basket and told Jim to put his in it, when the phone rang. ***** "Hi. Jim here." "Great." "How many?" "OK. I'll get food and stuff this afternoon." ***** "Hey, Sandy. Could you come back this evening with all your stuff, and I mean ALL your stuff?" "Sure. What's up?" "I called a couple of friends, and they can come over tonight with some of their friends; and they use what you sell, including the boobs." "Jim, I'm just starting and I don't have that much. I have to buy the samples and all I could afford was a starter kit with make-up, stuff like lipstick, mascara, you know. Hey, thirty minutes are up," Sandy said. Jim pushed the five twenties towards Sandy and said, "It's yours. Can you get the other stuff like boobs?" "Yeeeeessss, but that takes about three or four days, though." "Look. You can take the hundred and scoot. I'll call my friends and tell them tonight's off or we'll just party. OOOOOR, if you can come back tonight with what you have, arrange to have samples of the rest, if you can; or set up another day and time for that. "But..." "I know it sounds pushy, and I know I sound pushy. Steve, my boyfriend, tells me I get pushy at times, but I grew up with business. My whole life. I know how it works. My father. He's Mr. Businessman himself. It's scary sometimes, too. "Trust him," I croaked. I had woken up and heard them in the kitchen. I had very slowly gone to the bathroom first and then very slowly walked toward the kitchen. I could hear Jim's proposition to Sandy and see what he had in mind. Both of them looked at me and Sandy said, "I didn't hear you coming, and I have really good hearing." "I'm still trying to walk through Jello on rubber legs," I said. "Ooooh, maybe you're having a relapse," Sandy replied. "Oh, thank you sooooo much," I tried to say with sarcasm, but it came out like a cracked record. "Sorry," Sandy said as she hung her head. "S'okay, forgiven." "Thank you, Ste..Br..Steph. What do I call you?" "Either will do. I guess when I'm dressed like this you better call me Steph, just in case Jim's dad comes back or calls or whatever." "Was he the guy I saw get in the stretch limo that went around the block?" "Yeah, that's my dad, Mr. Businessman. He has to have the biggest, best, longest, tallest or largest of whatever it is," Jim answered. "How much do you need to get the samples of the all the other stuff?" "I don't know. I'll have to work it out. Hey, have you guys got a computer here on the internet? Your dad's kind of cute, Jim." "He'd kill you, if he ever heard you say he was 'cuuute.' Yeah, sure, for the computer and net. Why?" "Well, I can do all this over the net. Except pay. I don't have any money for that." "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get started," Jim said. "We'll find out what's available first, what we need, how long to get it, how much, then figure out how to pay. Is that okay with you Sandy? "Sure. Why not? I can drool, if nothing else. The more I sell, the bigger my commission. In percentage, too, if I sell enough." ***** Me. I raided the refrigerator for something easy to eat. I found some pots of yoghurt and a jar of applesauce, both of which looked like all I was able to eat at the moment, so opened a pot of yoghurt and put some applesauce in a dish. After eating my tiny meal I got a little energy boost from it, so I took the finished washing out, put it in the dryer and started the second load while Jim and Sandy were on the computer in what Jim and I called our 'study.' I'd just finished cleaning up and dumping my picnic dish and spoons when they returned to kitchen. We 'd started using picnic stuff to eat with because of the mono when Jim first got it. "Done," Jim intoned as he walked into the kitchen. "It was amazing. I didn't know what Jim did was possible. B..Steph, after I figured out what samples I would need and added it up, Jim lent me the money and transferred it to my bank account and then transferred it from there to the company. I got a receipt by email and the stuff I ordered will be here day after tomorrow. He says I'll sell a lot tonight and heaps on Thursday night." "Oh, you will. You will. You don't know it yet, but you will," I trilled through the keys on a piano keyboard, missing most and landing in the cracks between the keys. ***** Even with the noise in the house, I spent the evening sleeping, waking up to find Sandy sitting on the side of the bed. "Hi. How'd it go?" the frog in my throat croaked. "I can't believe it. I just sold enough tonight to pay Jim back when I get my commission on it. Mostly cash sales, too." "Believe it, Sandy. Believe it," I sang in about two zillion keys. I wondered what my voice would sound like when I got it back. "Steph, doesn't it bother you being around all these gay guys?" "No, not as long as they don't get too lovey-dovey when I'm around. I don't even like seeing lovey-dovey between a guy and a girl. It embarrasses me and makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason. Jim and I did some of it in front of his dad for his dad's benefit, though." "Steph, I had to go and went into your bedroom to use your bathroom thinking it was okay if I was quiet, since you were asleep. When I opened the bathroom door, Jim and Steve were in there; and Jim was going down on Steve, so I shut the door real fast. I don't think they knew who it was, or if they even knew someone had opened the door. I thought it was your bedroom; and then I remembered, so I went to 'your' bedroom and used 'your' bathroom. I found a pack of panty liners in there and took a couple. I hope you don't mind." "Sandy, think. Why would I mind?" my voice wandered through the known vocal range. "And Sandy," I continued, "I really didn't and don't need to know what Jim and Steve do." "OK. Why on earth do you have panty liners? Girlfriend?" "No. For reality. Steve and his trannie friends got them when we were changing me to Steph and moved everything I really didn't need into 'my' bedroom and bathroom," I said setting what I was sure would be a new record for the number of notes a voice could hit. "You're easy for me to talk to, Steph. This is going to sound weird, but I've enjoyed tonight. It's really nice talking to guys who don't have their eyeballs glued to my chest, even if they are gay. I'm really confused about you, though." "Wha...?" "Shhhh. I'll talk; you nod. Your voice is getting worse. What I'm confused about is Jim says you're not gay, but everytime we're together you look me in the eyes. Non-gay guys talk to my chest, not me. When you talk, you talk to me looking me in the eyes. So, what gives?" "Gorgeous. Your eyes are beautiful," I said with my voice extending the range of the piano by several octaves. Sandy immediately closed her eyes and asked, "Okay. What color are they?" "They're a light minty green with little flecks of rich mahogany in them," I said. She kept her eyes closes and told me, "You're the first guy I've ever met who actually could tell me that. You're sure." "The flecks have a very thin almost gold edge to them, very close to your auburn hair color. Three flecks in your right eye and two in your left," my voice warbled. "You really do know," she said as she opened her eyes. I'd closed mine, though. "Uh huh. Sandy?" "What?" "Mine." "Hazel irises mostly with goldy brown edges on the outside of the iris and medium dark green flecks close to the pupil. Pink eyeballs with lots of red arteries showing, like you've been drinking too much, studying too long or were ill." "I've got to go to the bathroom. Can you get Steve to help me, please?" "I helped my roomy when she had mono. Can you trust me?" "Yes," and I opened my eyes. "Okay, then. Uppsy daisy, Steph." ***** "Leave it. Gloria gets off on being a maid. So, I 'let' her clean up," Steve said. "Who's Gloria?" "She's the one who bought the 36C's tonight." "Oh, you mean.." "Gloria." "Right. Gloria." "How's Steph? I saw you go into the bedroom earlier." "She..he..Steph's asleep. Too much excitement or whatever and the following collapse when it feels like someone let the air out. You know she told me exactly what color my eyes are, and no guy has ever been able to do that before. An exact description." "Love." "Love?" "Yup. Love. But, the real thing. It would seem our Brad has just caught a bigger bug than mono." "This is gonna sound weird, but..." "Nothing is weird around here. Nothin, except maybe my dad, and he's gone back home. I hope." "I'm almost certain I love him. My body tells me, but mine's kind of screwed up right now. So, it's only 99 point 9 per cent. And I don't even know what he looks like as a guy, and, you know, somehow that doesn't matter. It just feels right." "Our Brad's okay looking when he's healthy. Some of my friends think he's really very good looking and have tried to hit on him. One, who wasn't here tonight, is 'madly in love' with him. You're lucky he wasn't here. We're all hoping this person will find someone else to be madly in love with. And soon. It's getting a little tiring for everybody. What's the one tenth of one per cent, Sandy?" "This has been one of the maddest days of my life. Just tonight I made more in one night than I was told to expect making in the first six months. I'm almost certain I'm in love with a guy who has mono and I've only seen dressed in a pink nightgown and pink robe and wearing a bra stuffed with socks. You tell me he's in love with me. And I've met some really great people tonight. I don't ever want to go back to before," Sandy said and kissed Jim on the cheek. "What's that for? If Steve sees, he'll get jealous. I didn't say in love; I said love. He loves you. Maybe there's a difference." "Just cause, and Steve's got nothing to be jealous about. I had to go to the bathroom and saw you two for an instant." "Ahhhhh. It was you. We thought it might be. Some of our friends would have just stood there looking; a couple of them would have started giving instructions or ask how it was going, believe it or not. None of our friends would have closed the door as fast as you did, and Brad wouldn't have had the strength to close the door as fast as you did. So, that left you." "I've only done what you were doing a couple of times. I felt like I was being used." "You didn't love them, did you? Even though I like it I got that being used feeling at times, then I met Steve. It's different with someone you love. Totally different. Everything's different, somehow. For me, anyway. "You think Brad'll..." "I don't know. I don't know anything about Brad's sex life, if that's what you're asking. He may not even have one for all I know. It's the one thing we don't talk about. Whatever you two do is up to you anyway. Steve and I tell each other what we want." "You're right, but I have to go. I have an early day tomorrow. My day job." "Stay here tonight. Seriously. You can leave from here. You can leave your stuff here. We can get a redirect on the shipment so it's delivered here where you'll do your thing on Thursday. There's an extra bedroom and bed. You're totally safe here. I think we might even be able to find you a clean pink nightgown. Tea or coffee in the morning?" "I'll need to leave about six to get to my day job. The one tenth of one per cent is between Steph and me." ***** "Got the ring?" "Yeah. Right here," and Jim held the wedding ring up for me to see. "You absolutely sure about this?" "I've only been absolutely certain about a couple of things in my life, and this is one of them. I knew from the first time I saw her. I know I've told you this at least a hundred times, but I wanted to dive into her eyes and live the rest of my life there." "Stop crying, Steve. Try to control yourself," Jim said turning to Steve. "I can't help it, but what Brad just said is so beautiful and romantic." "Try, for God's sake. Just think about what we can do that'll make you veeery happy, and try not to grin too much." An evil looking grin crossed Steve's face at that moment, but he did stop crying. "I know we haven't hardly seen each other this past year, so I have to ask. After the mono thing and you and Sandy started living in each other's pockets, did you ever dress up again? She told me she fell in love with you that day - a guy with mono dressed in a pink nightgown and robe and wearing socks in a bra. We had a long talk about whether or not you were gay, because she wasn't sure what your feelings for her would be. I remember she told me she was ninety-nine and nine tenths of a per cent in love with you. She was scared of something. Maybe she'd been hurt before, but she didn't say. "Yeah. I know. Do you remember when we took a long weekend and went off together just after we met and I was pretty much over the mono? We had one of those it's time to get naked weekends. That's when Sandy told me she used to have a guy's body. She showed me some photos she brought along. She never really looked like a guy in the photos; she looked more like a girl trying to look like a guy. I was holding her while we were talking, then the talking was over and we started giving rabbits lessons. She's ALL girl. After we moved in together I started dressing more in women's clothes. I was doing okay as woman, and it just seemed natural. Sandy just likes me no matter how I'm dressed, and I never really knew before I enjoyed 'being' a woman as much as I do. I dress up, and we go out as two young women. Restaurants, movies, shopping, whatever. Lately, I don't even dress as a guy unless I have to for some reason. Come on, Jim. You know I've never exactly been a sterling example of manhood. I've always been more androgynous. You know what some people used to say about us. You were the husband and I was the wife." "Yeah, but right now you're wearing a morning coat and all the rest of the stuff guys usually wear for getting married." "Not all, Jim. Underneath, Sandy and I are dressed exactly the same. Matching lingerie." "Really?" Steve said. At least, he'd stopped grinning. "I wondered about the choice of church," Jim said. "If you're more comfortable dressed as a woman, why aren't you both wearing wedding gowns? "Our choice. We talked about what we would wear. About the sex thing, technically, I suppose, Sandy is still a guy. At least, on her birth certificate. And two guys can't get married according to the law. So, here we are." "What next?" Jim asked. "We're going on our honeymoon to a small resort that caters to gays and so on. Alternative lifestyle people, I call them. When I change after the wedding, I'll pop boobs into my bra and change into a woman's suit with a skirt. We're going as a lesbian couple." "If it's gay, you'll probably get read." "Soooo?" "I thought you looked kind of flat down there. Tucked?" "Yup." "Don't you think you should, you know, untuck for the wedding? I mean, it looks like you don't have anything between your legs; some of the guys here are gay and some of them wear a rubber dick or whatever taped to their legs so they look bigger," Jim said. "We only have a couple more minutes. It would take too long for me to untuck myself. Hmmmm. If anyone has one to spare, I suppose I could use a sock."