Ruffles and Lace

Erica glanced past Jodi as they approached the car. "Where did this car come from?"

"I rented it for tonight. I couldn't very well take you to dinner on the city bus," she said, grinning.

Erica slipped into the passenger seat of the Audi A5 sedan. The supple leather felt luxurious as it wrapped around her. Jodi sat behind the wheel and when she started the car it rumbled aggressively. "Lana taught me how to drive heels, it took a lot of practice," he said with a subtle smile

Jodi took her to an Asian place downtown for dinner and the meal was delightful. She dabbed her lips when she was finished. "Let's go to my place for wine," Erica offered.

Jodi nodded still a bit apprehensive, and followed her out the door. After she was seated in the passenger seat Jodi came around and sat behind the wheel. She pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the street.

She glanced over at Erica. "So, here's a question: why don't you have a boyfriend or even a husband? You are an incredibly attractive woman, Erica, I would imagine that men would be falling all over themselves to go on a date with you."

Jodi turned a corner at the stop sign as Erica thought quietly about her question.

"I've dated men before, I almost married one. And then the bastard cheated on me, with a bridesmaid no less. After that, a string of boyfriends began to convince me that I was unhappy and looking in the wrong place."

"Unhappy with men or with their relationships?"

"Both. Most men think with their dicks. They're generally self-serving, arrogant, and never willing to consider a woman's point of view. So then I started dating women. At least I found common ground with them, well some of them anyway."

Jodi turned another corner and continued down the street. "Some of them?"

"Most of them...I had a problem with the dykes, the real man-haters. The ones who felt they had an axe to grind and why wasn't I going to join their ranks." She shook her head and sighed. "It's not that I hated men, I just didn't want to date them."

The car came up to a stoplight and Jodi waited until it turned green. "I'm a man," she said blushing profusely. "Sort of."

"Oh Jodi, sweetheart," she said caressing her cheek, "you're so much more than any man I've ever met, trust me."

"Oh." Lana used to say something similar, but somehow Jodi thought it meant something different.

Erica looked out the passenger window and sighed. "Anyway, there were other women, gentler and more understanding, and I'm still friends with some of them, but something was missing." She turned to Jodi. "I never found the deep connection I was searching for."

Jodi stopped at another light a block away. "Wow, you've been on quite the journey." The light turned green and she continued on. She turned to Erica. "Do you feel like you're treading water now?"

She looked at Jodi and smiled enigmatically. "Maybe...but I've met someone recently who intrigues me." She reached across and pushed a lock of Jodi's hair behind her ear.

Jodi blushed as she glanced quickly over to her. She wasn't sure what to think. Here was a beautiful, smart, sexy woman who transformed her...literally. Could she become intimate again, so quickly after Lana? Part of the challenge of being with Erica was that she just didn't know what to do. And because of that Erica scared her a little.

They pulled up outside of Erica's apartment complex and Erica took Jodi's face in her hands. She kissed her, passionately. Jodi felt a bit tentative at first, then she realized that she really did want her...all of her, so she met her passion with some of her own.

It was still awkward for her and she didn't quite know when or how to move things to the next level. With Lana is was clear, she was the boss and Jodi always did what Lana told her to do. With Erica...she sighed, she was still a mystery. And, she slumped her shoulders and grimaced, she did have work in the morning to consider as well. "Well...Erica, ah...damn, can we table this tonight? I really have to work early tomorrow morning and...well, ah..."

She leaned back with her arms still wrapped around Jodi's neck. "Sure sweetie, I understand. Too fast, huh?"

"Sort of, I'm sorry, I just..."

Erica placed a finger on Jodi's lips. "Shush, darling, I'll see you next week for another photo shoot, okay?"

Jodi got out of the car and walked around to open Erica's door.

Together they walked to her front door holding hands. "Good night, Erica," she said, smiling. "I had a wonderful evening."

Erica leaned forward and kissed her again. She felt her body tingle in Jodi's arms. She leaned back and smiled. "Good night Jodi, I did too."

As Jodi drove away Erica turned and pulled her keys out of her purse. "That girl is going to get a few big surprises in a couple of weeks," she chuckled, "and I can't wait to hear her reaction."

That night Jodi snuggled under the covers with thoughts of the bagel shop and Erica swimming in his head. He was dressed in a man's t-shirt and jogging shorts, he still couldn't bring himself to accept all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. He reached for his cellphone and opened the message center. He started to send Erica a text then thought better of it. It was, after all, past mid-night.

He set the cellphone down on the side table and it chimed indicating that he just received a text. He opened the message center on the phone. It was from Erica. Hi, I hope this doesn't wake you. I just wanted to let you know that bet or no bet, I had a lovely evening tonight and I hope we get to do it again soon.

He smiled, paused, and then replied: Me too, I'm glad I lost the bet; it was the nicest evening I've had in a very long time.

Erica quickly replied: You've become very special to me, Jodi. Your trust means a lot to me.

Jodi responded: Your faith in me means a lot too, but I have a ways to go before I feel I can pass comfortably, even in a bagel shop.

Erica smiled at the bagel shop reference; Jodi had no idea the effect she had on people, walking correctly or not. She replied: Good night, Jodi.

Something connected in his heart when he read those simple words from her. She made him smile, something that had been lacking in his life even before Lana left. He liked that...a lot. He was smiling still as he replied: Good night, Erica.

The rest of the week was quiet, yet Jodi's thoughts were constantly drawn back to Erica and her kiss. That night, in front of her apartment was magical. He felt stupid for putting on the brakes with such a lame excuse, but it happened.

Standing in a stall in the men's bathroom, he felt a resolution coming, the next time he wouldn't stop, he trusted Erica more than she realized, maybe more than Lana because Erica wanted to be his partner. Lana never wanted that.

For the rest of the week, work was still the same, Jodi continued to dress in frumpy men's business suits and wrap his chest in elastic bandages every day. He wasn't quite ready to 'come out' so to speak. He was still afraid of how his colleagues would react. He took his lunches in solitude preferring to sit in his cubicle, or a stall in the men's bathroom rather than visit the break room. He was afraid that they would call him names. He detested the word 'sissy'; nothing would set him off faster.

Over the following weekend Erica finally persuaded him to accept that his fears were unfounded. "You are chasing phantoms, sweetheart. I'll bet you half the girls on your floor will applaud your efforts to dress as a woman and the rest will either ignore you or secretly wish they were you."

Jodi scoffed, but quietly considered her words. Would they?

On Sunday, Erica picked out a modest looking grey women's business suit, size ten, and handed it to him. "Wear this Monday and see what happens."

"I'll bring it back on Tuesday."

She smiled and shook her head, "Its yours."

He started to protest but she shushed him. "Just like the bagel shop, you can never know until you try." He nodded briefly...she was right, of course.

The next day, Jodi left for work dressed in the woman's business suit she got from Erica. She wore a white cotton blouse tucked into her skirt with a red silk ribbon tied in a bow at the neck. The pumps Erica gave her were only three-inches high and a simple patent leather black. She applied a modest amount of makeup from a few things that Erica let her borrow; she remembered what she did with her makeup and she tried her best to repeat it. Just without the false eyelashes, they were itchy.

She fussed with her hair a moment and sighed. It was as good as it was going to get. It wasn't perfect, but she thought it might be passable. Perhaps she'd let it grow out more.

The evening before she had looked online at several videos on walking and talking like a female. Although she was a beginner, she was beginning to build her confidence, at least at home. There was even a video on tucking, something that Lana always insisted on. She found an old athletic sock and cut it up, then she followed the rest of the instructions. The final look was acceptable to her critical eye, she hoped it would pass muster with her colleagues. Women were so much more critical than men.

Jodi stood at the bus stop waiting with her nose buried in an online game; it was an old habit, something to cut the boredom of a crosstown ride. She was so absorbed in the game, she didn't notice the bus until it pulled up and opened its doors. Not looking up, she just stepped on, scanned her bus pass on the kiosk, and walked to a seat. She was so incredibly nervous as she looked around hoping to see Erica, but she was missing this morning. Nobody else batted an eye at her change in wardrobe; they were all absorbed in their own worlds. Soon she relaxed a little.

When she finally stood in front of her building she hesitated. How would her colleagues react? She'd known them for two years now, but as a man not a woman. Would they tease her? Call her a 'sissy' or a maybe worse? The thought made her shiver as the elevator doors opened on the third floor.

Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she moved past reception to the general office spaces where her cubicle was. Sally, the receptionist offered a simple smile and a wave as Jodi passed her. Jodi waved back. Sally's reaction seemed odd, but welcoming. Still, it was better than a snicker.

Within minutes after she sat down, several of her coworkers gathered around her cubicle and commented on her new look.

"I'm so glad you finally dropped those mannish looking suits, Jodi, they looked kind of baggy on you," Kathy said standing at the corner of Jodi's cubicle. Claire, from down the aisle, nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, totally burlap bag-like," Marley chimed in. She peeked over the top of the cubicle wall with a huge grin, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

Feeling braver now that Kathy had broken the ice, Claire piped up next. "We kind of knew you might be pretty, we sort of discussed it once or twice in the break room. But you were so quiet all the time we didn't want to intrude. Did you win a makeover or something?"

Jodi's face felt warm. "No, not really, a friend helped."

Then Sarah walked in to join them. "I just saw Jodi on the bus."

Kathy pointed to Jodi. "Nonsense, she's already here."

Sarah grinned and gestured towards the elevators. "Come see for yourself."

Jodi joined them, as confused as the rest of the women until they went down to the lobby and watched another bus go by. On the bus a huge banner splashed across the side. It was an image of Jodi's face wearing the upper part of the white gown next to an ad for Erica's boutique. Across the street, a huge vertical banner was placed on a tall building with a full-length image of Jodi wearing the black lace dress and another ad for Erica's boutique beside it.

Jodi's cellphone rang...it was Erica. She couldn't help but laugh at the timing.

Erica's voice sounded excited. "Do you like the banners?"

"They look amazing, but you should have warned me." Jodi glanced again outside.

"No, you look amazing. And I did warn you. I said I would use the photos in promotion of my store and you said okay. If I told you where, you would have insisted that I didn't do it or you would have stayed home today and hid under the covers. Am I right?"

Jodi meekly answered her with a whisper. "Yes, and I still feel like hiding."

She giggled delightfully, "It's like I've known you all my life. I can't explain it any other way, sweetheart. Own it girlfriend...you are stunning. I've sent you a link to some videos online for you to look at tonight. They should help with a few things you need to practice, okay?"

"Thank you." Her colleagues stood waiting for the elevator to return; they motioned for her to join them.

Jodi nodded, then held up a finger indicated that she needed a moment longer while Erica asked another question. "Hey, can you stop by Thursday morning for another photo shoot?"

"What time?"

"Seven. Oh, and I've had several calls from modeling agents wanting to know how to contact you. Do you want the work?"

Jodi started to walk towards the elevator. "I'm not sure, let's talk about it tonight over dinner. My place, at six? I'll text you the address."

"Perfect."

Jodi stepped into the elevator. "I got to go, Erica, bye."

The girls took the elevator together to the third floor. When the doors opened Sarah suggested drinks after work to celebrate Jodi's new look.

Claire, Kathy, and Marley all agreed, then they all looked at Jodi.

She smiled and nodded. "But only one, I have a dinner date later."

That was followed with several "Oooh's" as the women moved back to their desks.

At lunch, Marley grabbed Jodi's hand and led her to the break room. They sat down to have a quick bite before heading back to work.

Marley leaned over to Jodi. "So, who's the lucky guy tonight?"

"Actually, it's my best friend, Erica. We're going to talk about modeling. Apparently, several agents have called, and they want me to model for them."

"That's fantastic," Marley exclaimed, then she became concerned. "Do you want the work? You're not going to leave accounting, are you?"

Jodi held up her hands and smiled meekly. "I haven't even heard their offers yet. That was Erica on the phone telling me about it for the first time."

"Is she your agent?"

Jodi nodded. "Not yet, but I hope she is. She's amazing."

Sarah dropped between them with a smirk. "I didn't know you batted for the other team, Jodi."

"Batted for the...oh, yeah. Well...I guess so. I never heard that before."

Sarah grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Let's go out clubbing sometime, just us girls."

She smiled and blushed crimson. "Perhaps."

Sarah brushed her hand across Jodi's shoulders as she left.

Marley's ears turned crimson. "Sarah's always been a little forward, but she's nice, you know?"

Jodi turned around. Sarah had just left the break room. "Have you been with her?"

Marley turned redder and nodded.

Apparently, a simple wardrobe change has had profound effects, she thought as they finished their lunch in silence.

It was nearly six. Jodi was dressed casually in men's slacks and a polo shirt. She was back to being a guy, at least for the night. The doorbell rang. He turned and opened the door for Erica. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. "I missed you today." She set her bag down and spun around, her sundress flared out as she twirled. She leaned forward with a mischievous grin. "Did you like my little surprise?"

"I was shocked, and so were my colleagues."

"I suppose they peppered you with questions, once they got past the change in wardrobe."

"Well, the wardrobe change was a bit of an adjustment for them, but oddly enough no one really teased me about it, they all seemed to accept it, even glad it finally happened. It was a bit unsettling. As if they thought I should have been dressing like that for ages."

Erica offered him a subtle smirk, tapping a finger on his chin. "You should have." She held up a wine bottle. "I brought wine, what's for dinner?"

"I ordered Italian, but not pizza, is that okay?"

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Perfect."

Jodi rummaged in a drawer for the corkscrew. "I got invited to go clubbing with one of the girls from the office today."

Erica stopped searching his cupboards for wine glasses. "Really, are you going to go?"

"Heavens no, I'd be mortified, what if they found out that I have a penis?"

She grinned. "I rather like the fact that you have a penis, Jodi, they might feel the same way, you never know."

"Perhaps, but you're different, I trust you."

Erica turned, smiling coquettishly. "Would you go clubbing with me?"

"Maybe, after I've studied those videos a lot more."

Her face glowed. "Thanks, let's do that sometime." She resumed her search for wine glasses. "So, what did they think of the banners?"

"They were as stunned as I was. Of course they followed that with a barrage of questions, mostly about you and your shop."

Erica nodded, finding two glasses and setting them on the counter. Then someone knocked on his door. The delivery guy arrived and dinner was placed on the kitchen counter.

Erica scrunched her face into a cute pout. "I wish we had a terrace, or someplace we could eat outside, it's lovely out."

"We do, off the back bedroom. This way." He grabbed their dinner and she took the wine and two glasses to follow him.

A moment later, they stepped out onto a small terrace overlooking a secluded common back yard. "Oh, this is charming, wait a sec." Erica set the wine and glasses down and pulled a larger table between two chairs.

Jodi set their dinner there and ran back into the apartment for two plates and some flatware while Erica pulled the dinner containers out of the bags.

"I love ravioli," she said opening the first container. Then she held up a couple of containers of Stromboli. She tilted her head, arching her eyebrows when Jodi returned.

"Back up," he said with a grin. "I'll put them in the fridge."

He returned shortly with two glasses of water and sat down.

"Dinner is served," she said, pouring his wine.

Beyond the railing, a tall line of trees created a sense of seclusion for their second-floor impromptu dinner. They quietly ate, listening to the night sounds around them.

"Wine, good food, and my best friend," he said sheepishly. "Who could ask for more?"

She looked at him and blushed. "Am I your best friend?"

He nodded. "You're probably my only true friend, Erica, and I mean that."

She paused a moment and gazed into his eyes. "Tell me about Lana?"

"Do I have to?"

Erica shook her head gently. "No, but I don't ever want to remind you of her."

"You are so completely different, my dear, you couldn't possibly remind me of her."

"Why?"

He took a big breath then let it out slowly into a sigh. "Because you are." He sipped his wine and collected his thoughts.

"I told you I met Lana in my senior year of college. She had a slender body and dark brown hair that flowed nearly to her waist. Her lips were full, and her eyes were sort of almond shaped."

"Do you have a picture of her?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I do, but it's put away and I don't want to look at it right now."

"Oh, okay."

"Anyway, I mentioned that she was always bossy, perhaps even pushy, but I didn't mind that as long as I had a cute girlfriend to hang around." He shrugged and smirked. "Kind of a guy thing, I guess. And that's why you could never remind me of her...because we're partners, right?"

Erica smiled sweetly. "Yes, we are." She paused a moment then looked into his eyes. "Jodi, were you a virgin before Lana?"

He nodded, blushing profusely. "She taught me a lot, especially on how to pleasure a woman."