I had never been keen on Rebecca. We had a mutual friend, Alice, and I thought she’d always had a bad influence on her. They were both lesbians; Alice had always been easier to talk to and we’d always felt we had quite a lot in common. Rebecca however, had a mischievous and even quite an aggressive streak in her and constantly encouraged Alice to “mess around” (as Rebecca called it). To me it was usually just cruel jibes and behaving badly in public.
The opportunity to spend a weekend away with the two of them didn’t really appeal. It had originally just been Alice and me - we were going on a city break to get us some culture. But no, Rebecca had to muscle in on the idea too and so it made sense for us to hire an apartment for the duration. I secretly hoped that it would make it easier for Rebecca to just go back when she got bored, but come the trip, of course, it became obvious that her plan was more to hang around and interfere.
After a day and a half of trudging around museums and old buildings, far from showing signs of leaving us be, in fact she turned her attentions to Alice instead. She was constantly leaning in close to her and whispering in her ear, distracting Alice and making her giggle. They both contantly flagged and asked to go for a drink and have a break. My patience was wearing thin and my displeasure at Rebecca’s attitude evidently showed.
Sitting in one bar, with Alice off to order food, Rebecca and I sat in silence. She stared at me with her deep blue eyes with that slightly devilish smile across her lips. “Not quite the weekend you’d hoped for?” she asked. “No, it’s fine,” I said in an unintentionally clipped tone. “She won’t fuck you, you know, she’s gay for fuck’s sake.” I paused so as to not let the immediate rise of irritation get the better of me. “I never thought she would fuck me Rebecca, I simply wanted to spend some time with an old friend doing the things we used to do before.” “Before what?” asked Rebecca. “Before.. nothing, it was just a turn of phrase, it didn’t mean anything.” “Before she started to break away and explore herself more is what you meant.” I just looked back at her, tiring of her games. “I think,” she said leaning over the table conspiratorially, “that you should try doing the same. Might loosen you up a bit, help you discover who you are. Maybe you‘ll find that you‘re more like…. well, like Alice.” The devilish smile broke into full on taunting.
As much as I desperately wanted to ask her what she was talking about, I was equally glad that Alice came back to join us. I had no intention of letting her see that I was rattled by her comment. As we walked around in the afternoon, her words went round and round my mind though. She was wrong when she implied that I had wanted to come away with Alice to fuck her. That gave me all the excuse I needed to fume over Rebecca and insist that she was categorically wrong. But occasionally her words about being more like Alice would filter through. I had always identified with her. But that was fine wasn’t it? This is the 21st century for fuck’s sake, couldn’t men and women be friends? I admired Alice for her intellect and grace, her wit and shrewdness. But I also took note of her style, the clothes she wore, the lipsticks she chose and the way she wore her hair. In particular I liked the way her perfume would still be on my clothes after we met up. It felt like she’d left a little mark of her style on me. But I liked to femininity of it, the way it made me feel. But how the hell would Rebecca know about that? She’s was just trying to get at me.
The rest of the day and evening went by pretty much the same. Rebecca gave me knowing glances. Alice was taken in by her every word and challenge to cause disruption. Watching the two of them giggling together made me feel uncomfortable and worried. I hoped that Rebecca wasn’t sharing her misguided observations with Alice.
Back at the apartment however, a few bottles of wine later, I started to relax. We’d all been chatting and the conversation had been nice, cosy even. I had almost forgotten Rebecca’s jibes earlier on. When Alice left the room to visit the bathroom I didn’t feel in the slightest bit uncomfortable. That was until that expression crossed her face again. “Oh no,” I thought, “can’t she even manage one single evening of being ok?”
“Well, isn’t this nice?” Rebecca said, drawing out every word and sighing at the end for affect. “A lovely, little chat between us all. I even thought it was going to start getting deep and meaningful. Would you have liked that? Would you have liked to chance to share your untold secrets?”
“Certainly not, I don’t think this is the time of the place to bare our souls actually. And I’m pretty sure I’d prefer you not to be in the room if I did.” I felt a rush of satisfaction. My tone had meant business. Her eyes gave away a look of annoyance and I knew I’d got to her, even if I also knew she’d bounce back pretty quickly. And she did.
“Ah, Alice, you’re back,” she said with a sideways glance over to me. “We were just talking, I’m pretty sure you’d be interested in this.” Both sets of eyes were upon me as the awkward silence sat between us all. “Well, what were you just saying about wanting to be a woman?” “I wasn’t saying that at all…” “Well, ok, maybe not being one exactly but you were just saying how sexy you thought it would be.”
Before I could get a word of protest in Alice threw her head back and laughed. It was a delighted giggle that preceded a warm and excited smile that was flashed over towards me. I couldn’t disagree even if I wanted to, this seemed to please Alice no end. “I KNEW it!! There’d always been something about you that made me think you’d have made a better woman. Aaaww honey, why didn’t you tell me before, it’s me, I wouldn’t have minded?” I still had a chance to deny it at this point but as the words were on my lips Rebecca grabbed the moment and jumped up. “I think we need to do something about this little dream of yours!”
It was all happening in such a confused rush but the thought crossed my mind quickly that I now had the chance to tell Alice on our own, to tell her that this was just a stupid game of Rebecca’s. Alice squealed again. “It was your eyebrows.” I looked quizzically back at her. “Your eyebrows are always so neat, I had a feeling that you probably shaped them. These little signs say a lot you know.” She winked, but sweetly. My mouth opened and I went to speak but nothing came to mind and I was silent. I didn’t do anything to my eyebrows, she was wrong. So why was everything else with her feeling so right? Her acceptance of me felt like coming home, her assertions that she knew felt like the truth.
The feelings were brought back to reality with a jolt by the ever present Rebecca - coming back into room with an armful of clothes and make-up and some curling tongs resting on the very top. I had quite longish hair, surely she didn’t mean to style it did she? By the look on her face anything was possible. I tried to make some noises of protest but even Alice was carried away now. They both dived into the pile of clothes and chattered away at what was going to look best on me.
It seemed inevitable and my heart raced. What would they start with? What would they do to me?
Alice was the first to come over to me. She had a pink scarf in her hand and she gently said she wanted to see if it matched my skin tone. She lightly brushed the silk against my cheek and I barely covered the sharp intake of breath at the feel of it. My skin was alive with the sensation and I wanted to feel it all over me. “I think this is definitely your colour,” Alice whispered. “Now I know exactly what to do.” She smiled kindly at me as she reached for the make-up box.
As gently as she had touched my cheek with the scarf, she started to cover my skin with foundation. Her soft and feminine movements made me feel so relaxed and safe. It was like being nurtured, like being her lovingly crafted creation. She brushed powder and blush onto my skin with the same tenderness. It must have taken 10 minutes for her to almost complete her work on me and the affect on me was contradictory. Part of me felt in a dreamy state at being given so much gentle attention, the other part of me felt tingling all over with sexual excitement. I felt I was becoming alluring and sensual, the essence of womanhood coming from within.
As the smooth, moist feeling of lipstick being applied signalled the end I looked at Alice’s intense face. She was concentrating so hard on my beauty and it was so endearing. I felt less masculine, less inhibited, so I leant over to her and gave her a kiss on her mouth. I wasn’t expecting the different sensation of her lipstick meeting mine but it made me want to lick my lips.
“Pretty,” said Rebecca, looking over from the corner of the room. My hackles were back up again. I hated this intruder being here at this moment between Alice and me. She stood up and walked over. “So, it’s time to strip the old you away even further, don’t you think?” She gestured her hand to get me to stand up. It was aggressive and demanding and my natural reaction was to stay put. She leant over the chair at me. “How are we supposed to help you when you won’t help yourself?” she shouted. Alice went to intervene but Rebecca carried on forcefully. “You look like a man in those clothes. And you’re not…end of! So why don’t you step out of this façade and let us give you the chance to blossom.” She started to unbutton my shirt and I instinctively slapped her hand away with rage at her crossing the line. Her reaction was as quick and as instinctive as she slapped me across the face. We both stared at each other, stock still. Hers was a stance of defiance and mine was of apprehension.
Alice stepped forward to stroke my cheek where I’d been slapped. “Ssshh you two.” She kissed where I was sure there was a red mark. “We just want to bring you out of yourself,” she whispered as she took my hand to raise me to standing. With Alice’s slow and gentle touch I felt less pressured as she undressed me. But Rebecca’s command was over us all and I felt confused as to whether it was Alice I was submitting to or Rebecca’s bullying.
As I stood before them I felt a pang of foolishness. I was different to them and craved the feeling of belonging, even catching myself flicking my eyes over to the clothes that had been chosen for me. Between them they held dresses up against me to see what looked best. Inside, my yearning was for something sexy but I daren’t voice this still.
The dress they chose was black and slinky. It was Alice’s, I recognized it. The soft, smooth material that had touched her skin was now going to touch mine. “So what lingerie do you normally wear to go with this then?” Rebecca said picking up a black basque. “Easily my favourite,” Alice smile, “and the most expensive!”
Rebecca stretched the basque around me and stood behind me to fasten it tight. I knew she’d claim that job. She pulled on the ties and enjoyed her moment of control as I gasped at the constriction. Alice, meanwhile was at my feet prompting me to step into a black pair of panties. She slid them up my thighs and I realized that she was going to touch my cock as she got to the top. Any arousal was out of the question as my basque was forcefully fastened at that precise moment.
Alice reached over for a pair of sheer stockings. “To emphasize your pretty legs.” With one foot on the side of my chair, she smoothed the stocking on and connected it to the straps on the basque. I looked down at my slender, long leg encased in such light, shimmering nylon. If I had been brave enough in front of my creators I would have reached down to stroke myself. Alice dressed me in the other stocking with the same care.
“What do we do about shoes?” said Alice looking me up and down. “I doubt we’ve the right size between us.” Rebecca picked up some black, strappy stiletoes. “They’ll be a bit small, be hey, you have to suffer for beauty, wouldn’t you agree?” This was directed at me. I was surprised by my slight nod of the head to her. I looked away immediately after so as not to see her gloat. The shoes pinched as I stepped into them but the feeling of growing and being elevated was palpable. It felt right given that I was feeling so alluring in new and unexpected ways.
“And now for the dress,” said Alice as she steadied me stepping into it. The soft fabric felt alien, it was both revealing and liberating at the same time. Rebecca did up the zip while Alice smoothed the dress down, skimming my new waist and my hips. They both examined their work. I wanted their approval and searched their expressions for signs. They turned to each other and smiled - the relief to me was strange and welcome.
“And now for the finishing touches,” said Rebecca as she picked up her curling tongs. Alice sat me back down on the chair and took my hand, placing it on the armrest. Then placing a bottled of deep, rose coloured nail polish next to her, she started to paint my nails as Rebecca curled my mop of hair into tumbling waves. There was silence between us as they attended the completion of my transformation. The only communication was by touch.