Intimate Wear

Henry grew up thinking that there were two kinds of men; men's men and ladies men. At 5' 6" and 135 lbs, he was seldom mistaken for a man's man. Although he had wrestled from high school through college, he never took on the macho behavior of the locker room. On the other hand, he had virtually no luck with the ladies, either. Even if he could effectively project manliness, there was his size. He was painfully aware that women liked their men large, certainly larger than him. Along with his stature, his sensibility relegated him to bonding with guys on the perifery of society, fellow geeks, artists, and the painfully shy.

At a point of being able to and in dire need of choosing a career path, Henry found himself in his junior year of college ready to use his outcast status in society to his advantage. He became pre-law. His status actually rose upon admittance to law school as his fellow students sought him out for help with studies. He became, what he thought was, the most popular one in his class. His reputation for being a dedicated student who was generous with his time for those in need worked very well for him. Upon graduation and passing of the bar, he was primed to take his elevated status into the workplace.

Alas, as Henry was to discover, jocks, spoiled brats and those with long-term social status tended to hire their own. And with the limited number of positions at nearly all of the top law firms in Western Washington going to those types, he was, once again, dateless in the prom of life. There were a few firms that offered unpaid intern positions. Others suggested that he hang out his own shingle. But with student loans to start paying, he needed income from employment. So, for a time, he had to work multiple fast food jobs while he pursued his legal career.

Tenaitousness and constant rejection by prestigious firms led Henry to the door of Salazar and Dharmatrapelly, a relatively new law firm specializing in domestic law. He answered an internet ad, sent his resume and, to his surprise, received a quick response from S & D. They seemed willing, if not eager to have him come for an interview at his earliest convienence. In a matter of a few hours, he was inside the waiting area of the S & D offices taking in the warm inviting colors and the mix of perfumes from a female dominated firm. His interview was with the named partner, Consuela Salazar and an African-American woman, Mabelline Dent. They seemed rather interested in Henry's comfort. He answered softball questions, and they laughed at his attempt at humor. Still, he thought it unlikely that he would be returning to this loft style office in the uptown neighborhood of Queen Anne.

Complete shock awaited Henry as the pair of women excused themselves and asked him to wait a moment in their conference room. Upon their return, he was offered an associate position to begin immediately. The opportunity being way too good to turn down, Henry accepted with no further inquiries. That was how he became the newest and first male associate at S & D, or as they were known around town, the She Devils. He would have to adjust to domestic and divorce law as well as being the only male amongst twenty women. His worries were about his behavior being either inadvertently sexist or overtly polite. So, for the first few days, he avoided social interaction then worried that he was being too stand-offish. Eventually, Henry was reminded by Ms Salazar ( Connie ) that he was brought in to show a male perspective and that he should feel free to be himself. Other attorneys sought him out to role play the husband for their client's benefit. Soon the interaction became more frequent, and he was able to participate in discussions on topics of mutual interest which came as pleasant surprises.

The firm was big on bonding activities such as: spa days, movie nights and exploiting ladies nights at a local bar. After Henry's 90 day probation, he was given a party in his honor and then expected to participate in all social activities, except ladies night at the bar where the group could get a bit wild. S & D was especially fond of shaking up Casual Friday's to costume-themed Fridays. There were even prizes for outstanding costumes that most law firms would consider way too outrageous to don at work. This element of fun extended Henry's adjustment period at the firm, as he had never been much of a party guy. He also found it hard to consider himself "one of the girls." Fortunately for Henry, there was one associate who made an effort to see that he was included in social activities and didn't let him fade in the background in spite of his discomfort. Her name was Courtney, a tall brunette with curves of a plus-size model.

Courtney would bring a spare costume for Henry on the special Fridays and made sure that he had an opportunity to change before the work day started. She would stop by his desk and descretely update him on the office gossip making sure that he, at least, knew what not to say. Henry was uncomfortable, at first, with the extra attention that he was getting from Courtney, but after a while, he looked forward to seeing her. He did immediately notice her gold banded jeweled ring which he took as the barrier of her engagement, otherwise, she would be the type to capture his heart.

Late one week at S & D, it was announced that in order ot complete the preparations for a rare court date, the partners called an "all hands" work day for that Saturday. Henry had few if any plans on weekends, but the vast majority of the firm groaned over the inconvenience. Then someone suggested that it should be a pajama day to which everyone, excluding Henry, cheered. Henry hadn't worn pj's since he was 6 years old. He usually wore a pair of ratty old underwear to bed. He gnashed his teeth at having to go buy a pair of pj's just for that Saturday. Courtney saw his distress and came over to offer a pair of her own. "They're black silk with gold striping. They really don't look like women's pj's, and I believe that we wear the same size." Henry thanked her but said that he could use a pair, anyway, so he would stop by a store later. But the rest of the week was so busy that getting to a store before it's closing proved impossible. So on Friday night in despiration, he called Courtney to ask if her offer of loaning him a pair of pj's was still good. She was very happy to accomidate him and promised to meet him early at the office so that he would have time to change before most of the staff arrived.

Saturday morning came and Henry pulled his car into the lot at S & D at 6:30 AM. He crossed his fingers that Courtney's would be the second car to pull in. It was. She parked next to him, and they entered the office together. She handed him a bag, and he stepped into the restroom to change. Once inside, he disrobed quickly as he had decided to proceed with speed to give himself no time to contemplate his potential coming embarrassment. The pajamas fit quite well and were very comfortable, but a glance in the mirror made him cringe at how ridiculous he looked. When he stepped out of the front restroom, Courtney was waiting for him in a leopard print version of the same pj's he was wearing. She was so stunning that he had to catch his breath. She had a big smile and her hands on her hips as she told him, "You look really nice in those." He could only mumble a return compliment as he felt truly embarrassed, and they both headed for their desks to start work.

When the rest of the staff showed up, the office was awash in floral prints, pinks and other pastel colors. Henry and Courtney stood out and everyone made comments on what a cute couple they made. Henry had learned that it was best to return compliments irregardless of how they made him feel. So he said things like, "I like that print." or "I'll bet those are comfy." or even "Those are very pretty."

The firm soon got it's focus on the case they needed to prepare for trial. Henry had to help organize several depositions, a mulittiude of documents and a few videos. By mid afternoon, Connie, the litigator, declared herself ready to take everything to trial. She asked that only her assistant, Ella, and one paralegal, Jean, and two other volunteers stay to go over strategy, then the rest of the staff was dismissed. Courtney, who had been working closely with Connie on the case, looked over at Henry as she raised her hand to volunteer. He took the hint and joined her.

In just two more hours, they had gone over every detail that Connie could think of that could be of concern inside the courtroom. The files were locked in Connie's office and they all said good night. Henry dashed into the front restroom to change. When he came out, he appeared to be alone, so he finished turning off the lights and got ready to set the alarm and lock the front door. He was just about to push "Armed" on the alarm panel, when spotted a light still on in the breakroom. When he went back to check it out, there was Courtney eating some pizza that had been ordered earlier and drinking from her coffee cup. "Oh hey, Henry. I thought that you had left."

"Uh no. I thought that I was alone, too. I went to change out of the pj's that you loaned me, so I could give them back."

"Oh, you didn't have to bother. Those are my oldest black pair. You may keep them."

"Uh, thanks." Henry then noticed the open bottle of wine next to Courtney. "Have you been drinking?"

"Yeah. The pizza was a bit dry, so I opened a bottle from Julianna's shower last month. Would you like some?" Without waiting for a responce, Courtney poored a rather small amount into a clear plastic cup. "Oh sorry. I'll get another bottle."

"No. That's okay, Courtney. I'm not going to drink before driving home. You didn't just have that whole bottle. Did you?"

Courtney giggled. "Yeah...I guess I did...It's okay. I'm used to having lots of wine on the weekend."

"Well, let me drive you home, then."

"Oh no. I'll be fine...Really." Courtney got up to show how steady she was, but she then staggered and had to grab onto the refrigerator in order to stay on her feet. Henry hustled to her side and eased her back into her chair.

"Sorry, but I can't let you drive. I'm lousy at defending DUI's. So when you're ready, I'll take you home."

"Henry, you don't have to. I can..."

"No, you can't! I'm driving you home. The ruling is final, counselor."

"But I don't want to be without my car, tomorrow."

"I'll drive you home in your car, then come back for mine. Okay? Let's have your keys." Courtney gave Henry a sheepish look, then pulled her keys out of her purse which was on the breakroom table. He took then from her then helped her to find her coat, guided her to he front door where he finished setting the alarm and shutting off the lights. Then he got her out to her car and buckled her into the passenger seat. He took her directions to her co-op complex along Lake Washington and drove her there, parked in her designated space, then escorted her to the door of her unit and handed back her keys. She smiled at him with the look of the truly impaired but managed to open her own door. She even managed to find the light switch before turning to Henry for what he thought was good night. Instead, she grabbed him by the arm, pulled him inside and led him protesting to her sofa. A combination of a push from her and his shock led to him falling onto the sofa with her on top of him. She kissed him hard, but going on pure reaction to losing control, he made a quick escape.

Henry had an instant of regret as he absolutely wanted to enjoy Courtney's amazing body. But she was clearly drunk, and he always hated guys who took advantage of women like that. So he he backed away towards the still open door. She protested, "What's the matter? Where are you going?"

"Uh...This is a bad idea, right now. I, uh...I don't feel so good. I should go,"

"Oh no, I want you to stay, but I can't have you puking in here."

"Yeah...Maybe you should use your bathroom, soon, Courtney. You don't look so good, either." With that, Courtney bolted off the sofa down the hall and into the bathroom. Seconds later, Henry heard what his suggestion had led to. Part of him wanted to leave, but he thought that it would be better to be polite and wait until she came out to say good night. He went to her kitchen and got a bottle of water, and a few minutes later presented it to her as she came out of the bathroom.

Courtney gratefully took the bottle and thanked Henry. She had removed her silk pajama top but still had on a black lace bra. It was the kind that gave well endowed women great cleavage. Henry had, of course, seen Courtney's cleavage in varrious outfits at work, but now her breasts were on display in nearly their full glory. There was something about the scantily clad woman that appealed more to him than a nude body. And her smudged make-up somehow just turned him on more. It was very difficult, but but he managed to avoid staring at her chest. He needed to get away before anything physical occurred that would cause regret. But before he could see it coming, she had put down her water bottle and threw herself around his neck. He felt her bra pushing into his chest. "Thank you, Henry." she breathed into his ear. "Thank you for being so kind and understanding."

Henry could only mutter back, "It's okay. I had fun being one of the girls." He needed to break off the hug before Courtney could feel him being more than kind and understanding. "I'd better go now." That got her to release him, and he backed down the hall towards the front door.

"Wait!" Courtney said. "I want to give you something."

"That's okay." Henry said as he tried to slip out.

But Courtney caught Henry's backpack before he could shoulder it. She quickly stuffed something inside where he still had the black silk pj's. "They're my panties. Hope you enjoy them. Good night." Henry left so relieved that he dismissed her last statement as the ramblings of someone still drunk. Getting home quick was his priority, but his call to the cab company produced no luck. They didn't serve the area he was in. They suggested that he take a bus and call from downtown. But he knew that once downtown, he could catch a bus to Kent and his apartment complex. Or he could even take a route to the office, where his car awaited. After a long walk up the hill from the lake, he saw the tail lights of the bus to Kent. So he waited for the bus to Queen Anne, picked up his car and made the drive home.

An exhausted Henry finally reached his apartment at 1:30 AM. He managed to shower dry off and climb into bed. Sleep should have come almost immediately, but curriousity about what Courtney had stuffed into his backpack nagged at him until he got up to check it out. When he opened the backpack that he had left outside his bathroom, along with the silk pj's was a pair of black sheer panties trimmed with black lace. Henry had no experience with such garments, but then came the realization that Courtney's gift was actually her scent. The aroma was far different from that of his own underwear. But the odor was neither disgusting nor even off-putting. In fact, it was rather stimulating. After a minute of just holding them in his lap while sitting on the bed, he got aroused. He grabbed his member and started stroking while slowly bringing the panties closer to his face. As he barely got them to his face to feel the silk-like material on his cheek and got a real whiff of Courtney's essence, he came and collapsed onto the bed.

After a while, Henry recovered enough to put aside the panties, pull off his underwear and don the pajamas that Courtney insisted that he keep. Sleep not only came, but kept him in bed well past his normal 6:30 AM alarm which was not set due to it being Sunday. He woke to see the clock read 10:30 AM, then he burst out of bed only to realize that he had slept in the black silk pj's that he had found embarrasing to wear at work. So he immediately dressed for the day in blue jeans and a tee shirt. The day then became a routine Sunday filled with chores such as laundry, apartment cleaning and car maintenance. But before any or those could be tackled, Henry checked his phone. There was a text from Courtney, "How r u doing? Call me." The message had been sent more than three hours ago, so he immediately called, and she answered with, "Oh good! Are you alright?"

"Yeah...Thanks. I got in real late, so I just got up. How are you?"

"Good. Thanks for getting me home last night."

"No problem...What's up?"

"Oh nothing, really. I just wanted to be sure that you got home okay. And I want you to know how much I appreciate that you took care of me. I don't know why I drank all that wine... And there's this one other thing."

"What's that?"

"Did you take something from my place when you left, last night?"

Henry nearly dropped the phone, but he recovered to say, "Uh, there was the bag with the pajamas that I put into my backpack. Remember, you insisted that I keep the black pj's? I could bring them to work tomorrow, if you've changed your mind."

"No, I wanted you to have them...Was there anything else"

"Oh god, Courtney. I'm sorry. You were very drunk, and...oh god...you, uh...you."

"Oh my god, I did give you my panties. Didn't I?" Henry exhaled with relief over her recovered memory, but he noticed that her tone was...off. She didn't sound shocked or apologetic. "Well, that was awfully forward of me. Wasn't it? I hope that you don't think that..."

"Oh no, Courtney. I really shouldn't have taken them. But I had to leave when I had that chance. I just couldn't, you know, take advantage of you when you were, well..."

"And I thank you for that, Henry...So, did you enjoy them?"

"What?..I'm sorry...What did you want me to do? I'll bring them back, or I'll bring them to work tomorrow. Whatever you want."

"No, Henry. They're for you to enjoy. In fact, they'll probably fit you. So you should wear them."

"Uh, well I...Oh! I get it! You're being funny. Good one, Courtney! So do you really want them back?"

"No, Henry. I'm serious. You should wear them. You said that you wanted to be treated like one of the girls. Well, then you should wear the panties."

"Come on, Courtney. I didn't mean it like that. I just want to know if I should bring back your panties."

"But I really meant what I said, Henry. I want you to wear my panties to work, next week. If you don't, well, I'll just have to tell people that you kept my pj's and stole my panties."

"Oh jeez, Courtney! Why would you make me do this? I thought that you would appreciate that I got you home and didn't take advantage of you."

"Oh, I do, Henry. I really do. It's just that I don't appreciate when you won't admit to enjoying them, last night. I know that you did."

"How could you...Damn it!..Okay, I enjoyed them. I smelled them and touched them and...had a good time. So I'll just throw them into the wash and bring them back tomorrow. Okay?"

"No, Henry. First, you don't 'throw them in the wash.' You wash them by hand in the sink with a drop of hand soap. Then you hang them up to dry. In the morning, you put them on before you come to work, and sometime before the end of the day, I'll check to see that you have them on. Don't worry, this will be just between us, unless you disobey. I've got to go. I'll see you in the morning."

"Courtney, wait! I can't...Damn it!" She had already hung up. Henry called back but got no answer. He texted a few times, then got a message that he was blocked. So for the rest of that Sunday, he contemplated what to do about going to the office in the morning. It all came down to how much trust he could put in Courtney to be absolutely discrete. She seemed to have no close friends on the S & D staff, save himself, so perhaps, he could take her at her word. It was also a matter of comfort. So, for a trial run, he waited until late afternoon when the panties were dry, pulled off his pants and underwear, took the black lace trimmed garment off the towel rack, used a towel to get the remaining dampness from them and put his legs through women's clothing. He pulled them up to his crotch and let go. From his bathroom mirror, they looked ridiculous, but they, kind of, felt...comfortable. He took a few steps around his bathroom to see if everything down there would stay in place, felt satisfied, then put his pants back on. There were chores to finish, so he went out, finished folding laundry, put away dishes and vaccumed his carpet.