Anything Goes 3

Thanks to my amazing anonymous patron who commissioned the entire Anything Goes series!

“You can do this,” Chris said. “Focus.” He lifted the mascara wand toward the corner of his eye, stopped and put it down, going back to his smart pad, watching the video on WeTube again, as the girl explained how to create the “winged look.” It seemed pretty easy, but each time Chris attempted it he seemed to somehow mess it up. He watched intently, nodding. Okay. Okay. He’d crush it this time, he was sure. Adjusting his bra straps, he crossed his legs at the knee, leaned toward the mirror and slowly, carefully, painted the eyeliner first along his eyelid, and then… then… he created the little wing….

“Yes!” Chris shouted, pumping a little fist. He’d nailed it. Finally. Once he’d done the other eye, he examined his face. Lipstick. Foundation. Just a little blush. “Girl,” he said, puckering and blowing himself a kiss. Having his face done made him feel slightly less like he was about to totally freak out, call Jessica and break off the date. He was so crazy nervous. He still couldn’t even believe she’d called him, sweet talked him, asked him out.

She was so pretty and cool, and he just – well, he didn’t want to blow it.

She’d told him to make himself pretty, so that’s what he was going to do. It was his first, first date as a girl, and, well, romantic that he was, he wondered if it just might be his last first date, too.

***

Jessica pulled open the door and waved Chris into the dark, cool interior of the Ruby Tuesday. Chris giggled. He’d never been out on a date as a girl before, and he was still freaking out that he was on a date with Jessica. She was so much of everything. Everything looked new and special: the girl behind the podium, the sign that said, “Please Wait to Be Seated,” the wood paneled walls and burgundy booths.

“How many?” The girl asked.

Jessica took Chris’ arm, showing they were together, and said, “Two. By the window.”

“Right this way.”

There it was, again. That confidence. That sense that Jessica knew exactly what she wanted at all times and was not afraid to ask for it. Chris found that so amazing. Jessica pulled out his chair for him, then slid it in as he sat. “You don’t have to do that,” Chris said.

“I do, actually,” Jessica said. “Because you’re so beautiful.”

Chris giggled. Again. He giggled a lot when he was around Jessica. They made safe, first date small talk. Where are you from? What do you do? Have you seen this movie? That TV show? Jessica quickly put Chris at ease, and after some tense, awkward answers early on, they began to just totally connect, finishing each other’s sentences, laughing, joking. The food came, and they ate while talking and talking, barely aware of the restaurant around them, the other customers. It was like they were the only two people in the world, just lost in conversation and each other’s eyes. Chris, though, found himself being evasive.

“Where did you go to high school?” Jessica asked at one point. “I went to Burlington.”

Chris immediately pictured Jessica sitting at her laptop, doing search for his old high school, looking for him on social media. “Oh, you wouldn’t have heard of it,” Chris said. ‘It was a small private school, and it closed.”

“Private school? Closed? Interesting. What was the name of this school?”

Chris freaked. Damn. Damn. His mind raced and went right to Helluva

Boss. “It was… er… Vivian…. Vivian Rogers. Very small. Out in the suburbs and all that. So boring. Um, tell me more about Burlington.”

Jessica smiled. “Vivian Rogers, eh? Hmmmm.”

****

“How was everything?” The waiter said.

“Great,” Jessica said.

“Would you like to see the dessert menu?”

Chris, who did kinda want dessert, looked at Jessica and raised an eyebrow.

“Just the check,” Jessica said, reaching over and covering Chris’ hand with her own.

Chris smiled, but he was a little disappointed. He’d been feeling like they’d connected, like Jessica would know what he wanted, but she’d totally missed the signals on dessert. Hmmm.

“What?” Jessica said.

“Oh, nothing,” Chris said. Realizing he must have grown a little somber, he smiled a bright, pretty smile. “So, you were telling me about the comic you’re making?”

“I’ll get back to that,” Jessica said. “Right now, we need to talk about you and why you looked a little down for a second there.”

Chris, worried that Jessica wouldn’t like him if he weren’t always sweet and fun, shook his head. “No. No. I was– I’m fine.” He smiled and shrugged. “This is so fun.”

“It is fun,” Jessica said, “but let me tell you something serious. You can be you with me. All the time. You don’t have to worry. I want all of you.” She leaned back, hands behind her head. “I know you wanted dessert. We’re going to get dessert, but we’re at the mall. How could it be anything but Cinnerbun?”

Chris’ eyes went wide. She had seen him, gotten the signals. “I love

Cinnerbun,” he said, even more amazed than ever that this hot, cool, awesome girl was interested in him.

“I had a feeling you did.”

Jessica insisted on paying the check. Chris accepted, feeling all warm and fuzzy. It was such fun going on a date as the girl. As they got up, Jessica put her hand on the small of his back and guided him toward the door. He smiled up at her, but something she’d said began to gnaw at him. “I want all of you.” That sounded so great, and he wanted her to want all of him, and he wanted all of her even though they’d just met, and it was probably too soon to feel all this and–

He was a guy. A dude. He’d drunk a potion that turned him into a woman. He could be turned back into a guy with a splash of water if he wasn’t wearing his ring. Could he keep this a secret from her if they really did get together? Did he want to? Would it be right? What would Jessica think if she found out? Wasn’t he, in a sense, lying to her right now?

After Jessica had caught him so easily earlier with the whole dessert disappointment, this time he kept smiling, laughing, clinging to her arm as they walked along the wide, tiled floor of the mall. There were all the usual folks– teenagers, families, some older walkers. Music was playing on the sound system, the music so distant and soft it was almost subliminal. They got blasted by a cloud of aftershave wafting out of the Abercrombie and Fitch– “Now you’ll smell like a jock all night” Jessica joked, and then the cinnamon and vanilla of Cinnerbun, the air, itself, thick with sugar. “Two, please,” Jessica said, holding up two fingers like a peace sign. “One for here and one to go.”

“One to go?” Chris asked.

“Yup, and if you want to know why, you’ll just have to come home with me to my apartment.”

Panic! Chris’ head spun. Does she? Does that mean? Are we about to?

As the buns were delivered, Jessica swiped a fingerful of buttery frosting from the bun and then slipped her fingers between Chris lips, painting the frosting across his tongue. “In case you’re wondering,” she said, as Chris sucked on her finger. “Yes. We are going to have sex.”

*****

Her hot lips on his belly, kissing their way down, down until they came to the hot, wet space between his thighs… Chris gasped and arched his back.

It was so much more intense than anything he’d experienced with Girl Heaven. Their smooth, hairless thighs intertwined, they kissed each other in the lips, the neck, the breasts….

After they lay in each other’s arms, or on their sides, looking at each other, talking in whispers… but always the secret, Chris’ big secret, lingered. “Did you get along with your parents?” Jessica asked. “Did they freak out when they found out you liked girls?”

“My parents…” Chris said, that same tightness building in his chest. “Oh, they– I need to pee.”

*****

“What do you think?” Chris said, giggling, holding up a pair of cheeky white panties with pink trim.

“Hot,” Jessica said with a grin that said, I’d love to take them off you.

She held up a pair of tonga panties– black lace. “And?”

“I think it would be dangerous for you to wear those.”

“Ha. Let’s try some on.”

They went back to the changing rooms. There wasn’t anyone there, so they let themselves into Booth 4, giggling, laughing, hugging and kissing, stripping down. Booth 4 was large and spacious. It was the handicap accessible booth and even had two benches. One wall was a huge mirror, and the others were black vinyl. On one of them, in pink cursive letters, was written the name of the store: Victorian Closet.

They’d each worn just a tiny little cache sex– it was totally not cool to try on underwear nude– and they slipped into their panties, giggling, touching. Then, they laced each other into leather bustiers. Chris stood in front of the changing room mirror, one hip thrown out to the side. Jessica stood next to him, her opposite hip thrown out.

“You look like a sexy pirate,” Jessica said, playing with Chris’ hair.

“Arrrgh,” Chris said, making an ugly pirate face. “I demand ya surrender yer vessel!”

“I’ll surrender you this,” Jessica said, turning his head, kissing him on the lips, then shoving him, hard, against the wall with a thump.

Chris, eyes glassy, licked his lips. “Permission to come aboard.”

They both started giggling, and Jessica stepped forward and put her hands on Chris’ hips, kissed him, then let one of her hands slither between his legs and cup his vagina. She gave Chris a look.

“In here?” He whispered. “Now? Maybe when we get home.”

“Doing it in public is such a fucking thrill,” Jessica said while nibbling on his neck. “You have to try it.”

Chris was excited. Scared. Freaking out. Part of what attracted him to Jessica was her sense of daring and adventure, but sex in public? Still, he didn’t want her to think he was a dork. He dropped down to his knees, yanked Jessica’s panties down. “That’s my girl,” Jessica said, putting her hands on Chris’ head as he began to work on her with his mouth. Jessica moaned softly, then louder, louder…

Bang. Bang. Bang. The door rattled. “Stop that now!” A voice shouted.

“Are there two of you in there? That’s not allowed!”

Jessica met Chris’ eyes. Chris was worried, but Jessica’s eyes danced with glee, so he smiled, too, confident because she was confident.

“Um, it’s just me,” Jessica called out. “I love your clothes so much I orgasm when I try them on.” They each started giggling at that.

“You think you’re funny?” The voice shouted. They heard a metallic clink, and then the handle to the room began to turn. Jessica waved Chris into the corner, yanked up her panties and, just as it started to open, threw herself against the door. A middle-aged woman– to Jessica and Chris she looked 90– poked her through the partially open door, a lemon frown on her face.

“I’m not decent!” Jessica said. “Privacy, please.”

The store manager glanced around as best she could, but Chris was hidden behind the door. “Get out of my store,” she snapped. ‘Or I’ll call the cops.”

Jessica mock saluted. “By your command.”

The door closed. As soon as they heard the manager stomp off, they quickly changed back into their own clothes, then, hand in hand, they ran out of the changing room and the store. “Bye, bye!” Jessica called. “You should do something about that turkey neck!”

“I knew there were two of you in there!” The Manager shouted. “You’re banned from Victoria’s closet– FOR LIFE!” Laughter was her only response.

***

“Agoraphilia,” Jessica said, plucking at a strand of her hair. ‘It means I like having sex in public.” Chris lay naked next to her. They’d gone to his place and were sprawled out on his bed, surrounded by smiling images of

Ranma ½. “So, that’s another one of my secrets.” She rolled onto her side, propped her head on her hand. “Your turn.”

“Me?” Chris stayed on his back, looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t really have any secrets,” he lied. His big secret was eating him up, in fact. The need to tell Jessica had only grown stronger the more time they’d spent together, the closer they’d grown.

“Liar,” Jessica said.

“I’m not–”

“You are,” she interrupted. “You won’t talk about your family, and that school you claimed you went to doesn’t exist. You never even talk about your past at all. I tell you everything.”

“It’s just not that interesting,” Chris said.

“What are you so afraid of?” Jessica said. “You know, we can never have a relationship if you won’t get honest.”

A relationship. He wanted that more than anything. Chris closed his eyes. He had to get honest. He had to. “I’m afraid,” he whispered. “I’m afraid that once you find out who I really am, that you’ll hate me.”

“You can tell me,” Jessica said, reaching out, giving Chris’ arm a squeeze. “Trust me. You have to trust me.”

“Okay, but I guess I better show you.” Chris rolled off the bed, took a couple steps away from the bed. He felt the weight of his breasts sway, cool air between the empty space between his legs, his long swishing across his back. “Don’t freak out.”

“I’m sure I–” The words froze in Jessica’s mouth as Chris’ body began to ripple and glow, his flesh seeming to have turned into liquid, shifting, moving… Chris felt a sadness, emptiness and embarrassment growing in him as his perfect female body melted away, the weight of his breasts replaced by the weight of his junk reforming between his legs.

Jessica, who’d seen more than a few transformations during her years watching anime, stared in amazement to see one happening with her own eyes as Chris turned from a girl to a guy. Blushing, Chris covered his groin with his hands. “So, this is the real me,” he said. “That’s my secret. I’m actually a guy.” He couldn’t meet her eyes and tensed, ready for her to tell him to go to hell.

Jessica could see the hurt and fear in Chris’ eyes. It made her heart ache for him. As shocked as she was by what she’d just seen, she shook it off. Chris needed her, and she knew what she needed to do. She got up and went to Chris. “I’ll just–” he started to say, but Jessica put her fingertips gently to his lips and silenced him.

A smile as warm and welcoming as an April sunrise spread across

Jessica’s face as she took one of Chris’s hands in both of her own then held it over her heart. “Look at me,’ Jessica said.

Chris raised his head and met her eyes. He saw only love. “You don’t hate me?” Palm on her chest, he could feel the steady beat of Jessica’s heart, and it felt like his own heartbeat matched hers as he began to breath freely, a sense of calm coming over him.

“Hate you?” Jessica said. “I find you more fascinating that ever.”

“But, you like girls. I’m a guy.”

“Chris, I’ve done some, let’s call it exploring. I’ve been with girls. I’ve been with guys. I’ve been with none of the above. I can tell you something, and I have no doubt about this: you are a girl, and you just got ten thousand times hotter to me than ever.”

Chis felt like his whole body had turned to light. He laughed.

“Now, let me see that hot body– hold on.” Jessica put her palm on one of Chris’ nipples, and with the other she cupped his junk. “Now, turn back.” Chris blinked, willing the change.

Jessica, her hand on Chris’ flat chest, felt the breast begin to form beneath her hands, which rose along with the swelling of the sweet fresh, even as she felt Chris’ nipple get bigger, wider, hardened against her palm, a fierce little nug. While her right hand rose and cupped the full, feminine weight of Chris breast, he right moved in the opposite direction, pushing in and further in as Chris’ junk shrunk, and as his dick was replaced by a slit, her fingers slid right into the soft, wet new space between Chris’ legs.

For Chris, the riot of gender blurred feelings drove him insane, and the feeling of Jessica’s fingers slipping into his vagina even as it formed made him weak in the knees.

Jessica kissed him, hard, and then spun him, pushed him, sending him falling back onto his bed, legs spread, his long red hair falling across his eyes. Jessica grinned as she took in those smooth, round thighs, the glistening lips between her lover’s legs. “Let me officially welcome you to team chick,” Jessica said as she climbed between Chris legs, kissed him as she pushed him onto his back and climbed on top, pressing her breasts into Chris breasts, nipples grazing as their legs intertwined, the soft swell of their vaginas pressing together, hot and wet as the air filled with the dark, earthy smell of horny women.

Chapter 2

Days passed. Weeks. Wildly in love, Jessica and Chris spent as much time together as possible, just living this amazing new life as “we” instead of “me.”

One morning, Chris curled up against Jessica, his legs tucked underneath him as they lay in bed and watched Helluva Boss. Just before that they’d showered together and, of course, had gotten it on. Another first for Chris: shower sex. Now, they both had that crisp, clean morning soap smell. Chris loved it, and he nuzzled his nose against Jessica’s shoulder. “I have to go to work soon,” Jessica said.

“Can’t you call in sick?”

“No workie, no money,” Jessica said.

“Maybe I can find that magic shop and get a potion that turns dirty dishes into money.”

Jessica chuckled. One of the many things they shared was a hatred of doing the dishes, and they had playful arguments about whose turn it was as they piled up in the sink, the two of them eventually doing them together when the pile got so high the dishes were threatening to spill out and crash on the floor. “I don’t think there is sorcery strong enough to save us from dishes.”

“Anyway,” Jessica said, getting up and giving Chris a goodbye kiss. “I have a little surprise planned for us tonight. If a package is delivered while

I’m gone, don’t open it.”

“Oh? Hmmm,” Chris said as he watched Jessica walk away, enjoying the view of the body he’d gotten to know so well. Already, he was wondering what the surprise might be and whether, if a package did come, he’d be able to resist the urge to open it. Once Jessica left, Chris rolled onto his back and groaned. He was so tired. He glanced over to the kitchenette area of their tiny loft apartment and frowned at the grim mountain of dirty plates and bowls and coffee cups, a crooked pile that looked like some kind of mad Jenga. Chris knew that if he got up, walked across the room and cleaned those dishes, it would probably only take 15 minutes to scrub that mess away.

He also knew that Jessica would be really so happy if he did.

Yes, Chris decided, squinting at the evil dish pile. This is what I must do. He gathered his strength. Rolled over and planted his feet on the cold, hardwood floor. The dish pile seemed to glower and laugh. Chris smiled crookedly. “Prepare for the end, you–” Knock.

Chris found his eyes immediately drawn to the door. One knock. That meant a delivery, which meant Jessica’s secret package, which meant– Chris jumped up and hurried to the door, opened it and looked down at the box. It was medium sized, with the Tribe logo, blue tape. What could it be?

He picked it up. It weighed almost nothing. He shook it and couldn’t hear anything or feel anything move. There were no clues. Nothing. “Ahhhhhh!”

Chris placed the box on the dining room table, climbed onto their bean bag chair, hugged his knees to his chest and stared at the box. I will not open it, he chanted to himself. I will not open it. He could think of nothing else but opening the box. Jessica won’t really care, he decided, consumed with curiosity, but just as he was about to tear the box open, his phone vibrated. A text from Jess: Don’t open the package. Damn.

He needed a distraction.

****

As Jessica walked down the hall to their apartment, she smelled lemon, the odor growing stronger and stronger until she reached the door to their unit. What the hell? She wondered as she began to slip her key into the lock, but before she could even finish, the door flung open and a desperate looking Chris stood there, hair all disheveled, bangs draped across one eye. “Open the box! Open the box!” Chris begged.

Jessica laughed as she greeted Chris with a pec. “Just give me a second,” she said as she pulled off her shoes and then headed into the apartment, her eyes immediately drawn to the sparkling, stainless steel and completely empty sink. “You did the dishes.”

Chris nodded as he grabbed Jessica’s arm and led her toward the kitchen table. “Yes. Yes. Now, the box. It’s been driving me crazy all day.”

Jessica allowed herself to be drawn toward the box, amused, but her attention, meanwhile, was on the glistening wood floors, the clean counters, the crisply made bed and the sparkling windows. “You cleaned?” She said, amazed.

“Yes. Yes,” Chris said, turning Jessica so she faced the box, then standing behind her, his arms around her waist as he pressed his breasts into her back. “It was the only way to keep myself from opening the box.”

“I’ll have to order mystery packages more often,” Jessica said, laughing. Then, deciding to tease Chris, she reached toward the box, then stopped.

“‘I’m a little tired from work,” she said. “I’ll open it later.” She slipped free of

Chris’ arms and started to walk away, but Chris ran around in front of her and blocked the way,

“Noooooooooo!”

“Okay. Fine.”

Chris watched, trembling with excitement as Jessica tore the box open, then removed a layer of bubble wrap. Under, there were what looked like plastic pouches. “What is it?” He asked. Jessica picked on, slid open the zipper, and pulled out a tiny scrap of cloth with a leopard skin pattern. Chris still couldn’t tell what they were until Jessica unfolded them and he saw the slender straps. He bit his lip. “Swimsuit try on party,” Jessica said. “You like?”

“I like,” Chris said, reaching for the bikini.

“Get changed. I’m making margaritas.” As Chris headed toward the bedroom, Jessica fired up some music– thumping dance music.

Chris slipped out of his clothes, then held up the one-piece. It looked two-sizes too small, and he smiled anticipating how Jessica was going to react when she saw him in it. He stepped into the suit, then pulled it up to his hips, grabbing the top and tugging it up and over his breasts, feeling the suit pull tight against his groin even as it cupped and lifted his breasts. He heard the blender grinding, ice rattling as he tugged and pulled and adjusted his suit until it clung to every curve and cranny, and then taking a quick look in the mirror he posed and giggled. He looked hot as hell in that little suit with the animal skin pattern. He felt exotic and mysterious.

Chris strutted out of the bedroom letting his hips sway as he rubbed his breasts across Jessica’s chest from across the room. Jessica let her eyes roam over Chris’ body, and she smiled, a hungry, predatory smile, as she held up two margarita glasses, rims encrusted with sparkling chunks of salt.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” Jessica Chris accepted a drink. “To love,” Chris said.

“To sex,” Jessica answered. They clinked their glasses together, and

Chris took a sip. His mouth lit up with the complexity of flavors– the tart

lime, the syrupy agave, the bite of the tequila and the grainy salt. “Ummm.

This is the best margarita I’ve ever had,” he said.

“I know my way around a blender.”

They kissed, all lime and salt. Jessica set her drink down and grabbed her phone. “Pose.”

Chris laughed and started posing, just remembering things he’d seen models do, or else girls in videos, twirling, thrusting his breasts out, turning and looking back over his shoulder, one hip sassily out to the side. He made his fingers like claws and barred his teeth, pretending he was some kind of feral leopard girl. Jessica snapped away, constantly telling him how beautiful he was, how sexy, and Chris felt sexy, gorgeous, desired. “Oh, my God,” Jessica finally said. ‘I am so fucking wet right now. She grabbed one of the suits from the box and handed Chris the phone. “Take some selfies.

I’ll be right back.”

Chris made duck lips and snapped a shot, then grabbed his margarita, took a sip and posed, pretending he was a model doing a tequila shoot. He checked back and looked at the pictures Jessica had shot, shaking his head, amazed that he was that pretty girl in those pictures.

“Me Jane. You Jane,” Jessica said as she came out of the bathroom, putting all kinds of vavavoom in her walk. Chris felt his nipples pop just at the sight of her in that pink one-piece. He’d seen her naked, and he’d seen her clothed. He liked her both ways. He’d never seen her in a bathing suit, and, wow, did she look good. “You’re a goddess,” Chris said as he went up to her, through his arms around her. They fitted their bodies together and kissed, their soft breasts pillowing together, the swell of the mounds between their legs kissing through nylon fabric. Jessica grabbed the phone and shot a picture, and they kissed and more pictures, the two of them clinging to each other, draped over each other, caressing each other’s bodies. Jessica yanked half of Chris’ top down, his right boob popping out, bouncing, the nipple hard as stone, then snapped a picture as she cupped his breasts and pinched the nipple, hard.

Soon they were rolling on the bed, kissing, caressing, and pictures, pictures and more pictures as the camera flashed and flashed against the round, smooth skin of their bright young bodies.-- thighs, shoulders, breasts, hair, necks, lips and eyes… they went into a frenzy, rolling together, hair in their eyes, then they had to separate, cool down. It felt like it had gotten dangerous, like they could both just burst into flames if they didn’t pull back.

“Let’s switch suits,” Jessica said as she took a break, gasping, breasts heaving as she knelt on the bed. Chris nodded, and they each wiggled free of their suits. Jessica handed Chris her pink one– the crotch was wet with her juices, and the whole suit smelled of her earthy, curry-infused diet. Chris lifted the crotch to his nose and breathed deeply, closing his eyes and feeling himself getting lightheaded. He loved the way she smelled, and when he closed his eyes, he saw that Jessica was watching, her own eyes glittering with so many things– desire, curiosity, love.

Slipping into Jessica’s suit, Chris almost felt like he was slipping into her skin somehow, certainly he was bathing in her sweat, her sex. He liked having her smell on him, wearing her clothes. They helped each other wiggle into their suits, Jessica’s fingers grazing Chris’ soft hips, his breasts as she tugged and adjusted. He slipped his hands into the cloth at her crotch, letting his knuckles press against her mound, then slide along the smooth, moist skin as he ran his fingers along the leg holes, then let them snap against her skin. Jessica put her arms around Chris, pressing her breasts into his as she ran her fingers along his shoulder blades, pulling the suit up, straightening the line that ran along his back. Chris did the same, pushing his thigh between Jessica’s legs as he did so, the two of them kissing, then staring into each other’s eyes.

Once they had pulled their suits on, they went to the mirror and checked themselves out, turning, posing, giggling. They’d pulled back from the blaze, the inferno, but the heat was still there only now deeper, smoldering, like a vat of molten steel.

Jessica got the phone. “Pose,” she said, just like before. Chris had an idea. High on sex and booze, he crossed his eyes and made a peace sign.

“Am I sexy now?’ He asked.

Jessica laughed, and they each started to strike goofy poses, like the kind of poses an insanely bad model who thought she was insanely good might do, each one trying to top the other, the posing growing more and more ridiculous until Chris felt the laughter building and building within him, until he snorted, and Jessica snorted, and then they each exploded into laughter, falling into each other’s arms, and then rolling onto their backs, tears rolling down their cheeks and they held their bellies, laughing, they laughed so hard and so long they found themselves gasping for air, hardly able to breath, and then slowly, slowly, the laughter finally drained away, and they lay, still on their backs but their heads turned so they could stare, smiling into each other’s eyes, their breath slowing, their cheeks aching.

Calming, Chris started to smirk, his eyes sparkling with glee.

“Don’t,” Jessica said, “please. I can’t–”

But Chris stuck his tongue out and made his eyes bulge, and Jessica couldn’t help it as she burst out laughing, and Chris burst out laughing, and they were once more out of control, laughing and laughing, kicking their legs in the air, laughing because they were alive, and they had, somehow, after so many years, found the one person in the world they were always meant to be with.

Chapter Three

Jessica sat upright on the couch in a nightshirt. Chris lay lengthwise, with his bare legs draped across hers, plucking at his hair, sipping a steaming cup of mint tea. They were both muddle-headed, happy-tired from their hours of sex. Jessica, who’d been checking her texts on her phone, set it down and gave Chris’ thigh a squeeze. “I think it’s time we moved in together,” she said.

Chris’ heart skipped a beat. The thought scared and excited him at the same time. “Move in? Like roommates?”

“No, like brother and sister,” Jessica said.

Chris started to shake his head, confused, and Jessica, seeing the confusion, felt bad for making the joke. She still forgot that this gorgeous was all new to being a girl. “Joking,” she said, leaning down and kissing Chris’ leg. “I think we should move in like lovers, because that’s what we are. We’re a couple now.”

A couple? Move in together? It was all happening so fast, and yet it was what Chris wanted. He and Jessica, he couldn’t explain it, but he felt like he’d known her forever even though, really, they’d just met. He frowned, but Jessica, well, she could read him, understood him. “I know it’s a lot,” she said. “I know it’s fast. I think we’re ready. What do you think?

Honestly.”

“I’m a little nervous,” Chris admitted.

“That’s normal.”

“It is?”

“It is.”

Jessica grabbed her laptop from the end table. “Let’s look at some places.”

Chris sat up and nuzzled against Jessica, looking on as she went to an apartment finding website and started to search. The first one that popped up was dingy, with worn Formica tile and cracked, plaster walls. “It looks like a crime scene,” Jessica said.

Chris crinkled his nose. “Gross.”

They looked and looked, laughing at some of the more exotic places– loft apartments with a toilet in the living room, a place with a second level made of raw wood that made the bottom “floor” only 5 feet high. As they looked, laughing, they talked about what they each wanted– a fireplace, exposed brick, big windows, a downtown location, a full stove…

And then, after over an hour and dozens of apartments gross, bland and sorta okay, they both gasped as they saw it– exposed brick, fireplace, full kitchen with butcher block counters. It was in a converted factory downtown, and had all kinds of hip, cool vibes. They looked at each other, back at the photos of the apartment, back at each other. “Aiiiyee!” They each shouted in unison, throwing their arms around each other and kissing.

Then, they ran into a problem.

*****

Carter Han walked up the stairs, tools swaying from the heavy, leather toolbelt he wore around his waist. He was whistling, feeling keen. He was that sort of guy, always feeling keen. He noticed the hallways were clean, the lights all bright, everything ship shape. He believed in things being done right, and he believed in the rules. That was why he had refused to let Chris out of his lease. A contract was a sacred and legally binding agreement between two parties, and this younger generation had obviously not been taught the meaning of the word responsibility.

Enter me, Carter thought as he approached Chris’ apartment and prepared to knock. Chris had called in to report a plumbing problem, but Carter had his doubts. In fact, he was quite sure Chris was going to try and talk him into letting him break the lease. Ha! He knocked. He heard footsteps approaching. The door opened and Carter Han’s mouth dropped open as he stared at a young woman with red hair wearing only a bra and panties.

“You must be Mr. Han,” she said in a breathy, little girl voice. “Thank God you’re here,” she said, tossing her hair and arching her back. “There’s something wrong with my, um, plumbing,” she said, looking to the side and biting her lip. “I’m all wet.” She grabbed Carter’s hand and dragged him into the apartment. Carter felt himself beginning to panic. He’d always been nervous around women, especially beautiful ones, and he was totally freaking out when she led him down the hall and into the living room.

“Ahh!” He shouted in fright. There were three more scantily clad girls draped across the bed, bodies entwined as they kissed and caressed each other. A fourth, also inexplicably dressed only in a bra and panties, plus a beret, was recording it all with a video camera. At the sound of Carter’s shout, they all turned their eyes on him, though the girls on the bed kept their hands on each other’s bodies, and they all smiled seductively. “Oh, you are a handsome man,” Jessica, who was playing the director, said, as she strode over to Carter, training her camera on him. Chris, meanwhile, moved behind the man and pressed his breasts against his back while cupping his ass.

“Don’t do that! Stop!” Carter said. The women all laughed.

Squirming away from the handsy women, Carter yelled, “What’s going on here? Where’s Chris?”

“Chris doesn’t live here anymore,” Jessica said as she followed Carter, who backed up and backed up until his back hit the wall. “I sublet his apartment to shoot porno videos. We’re live streaming now.”

“Live? Turn that off!” Carter said, covering his face. The girls all got off the bed and they, along with Chris, started to walk toward Carter, all giggling and flirty. “Stay back! Stay back!”

The girls ignored him. Jessica stepped back as they all swarmed him and began to unbutton his shirt, undoing his tool belt, kissing him on the cheeks. “Good. Good. You’re a natural,” Jessica said. “Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll pay you 500 dollars.”

Terrified, Carter pushed his way through the girls– as politely as he could, of course– and holding onto his belt, which was threatening to slide down to his knees, he hopped out of the apartment and slammed the door.

Jessica, Chris and all Jessica’s friends started laughing.

The next day, Chris received an email telling him he was being evicted.

He and Jessica danced the Charleston.

Chapter Four

It was that good, late morning sun that only seems to come on a quiet and relaxing Saturday morning– warm, golden, a perfect venue for dust motes to do their dancing. Chris and Jessica sat across from each other in the little three-windowed nook just off the kitchen where they’d put their dining table. Outside the windows, they could see the silvery river, a tugboat tugging a V-shaped wake behind it, occasionally blaring its horn.

Gulls pinwheeled above the water.

Chris wore his every morning outfit: Helluva Boss shirt and a pair of string, thong panties. Jessica wore a black, DJ Pon-3 shirt and blue panties. They each sipped from mugs of coffee, a half empty French press resting on the table between them, plates displaying the scattered remains of their bagels and lox. They’d been together awhile now and we’re still crazy, each one stealing glances at the other. Neither one wore a bra, and their full breasts thrust out, stretching their shirts, jiggling, swaying with each subtle movement.

In between glances at Jessica, Chris looked out the window at the river, the tugboat, the buildings rising on the far bank, the old, iron bridge stretching across the water. A tear rolled down his cheek.

“I know,” Jessica said. “I can’t believe this is all real sometimes, either.”

Chris wiped the tear away and smiled. She knew him so well. Knew each other so well. It was like they could read each other’s minds. “I don’t know what I did to deserve to be so lucky.”

“You deserve it,” Jessica said. “You deserve all of it. We both do.”

“Why?”

“Because we are the only ones who know how to love this hard.”

The next morning, Chris had to go to work– as the old Chris. Jessica loved to see him transform, and even though he found it super embarrassing, he morphed back into a guy while she sat cross-legged on the bed. “That is still the coolest thing I have ever seen,” Jessica said, laying back down. ‘Okay, more sleep for me.”

“You don’t have to rub it in,” Chris said as he got dressed. He slipped into a pair of panties– he just felt more comfortable and confident in them. They were a physical connection to what he felt was his real self, and he enjoyed knowing he had them on under his guy clothes and as he moved around the world in what more and more seemed a fake body with a fake face. He worked IT for the state. There was a large IT office with over a dozen employees. Chris trudged into the building, everything feeling wrong– his walk, his center of gravity, his flat chest. He got to work, glancing at the clock, counting the hours. At one point he wandered into the break room and there were three women he worked with there, laughing about something, but as he walked in, they stopped talking about whatever it had been. “Hey, Chris,” Kelly said. The others said hi as well.

“So, what were you talking about?” Chris asked as he put a cup into the coffee maker.

“Oh, just girl stuff,” Kelly said, waving it away dismissively. “You wouldn't be interested.”

It stung. Chris was used to it, but it still stung. He’d always wanted to be able to hang out with the girls, and he still couldn’t at work, during his life. Later, as he was trouble-shooting a problem with Lara Edge’s computer, he listened as she talked about how she and a bunch of the girls were going to hit a bar after work for a little “girl’s night out.” Once more, he felt that old longing to belong.

When he got home from work that night, he turned back into a girl and then he and Jessica went for a walk along the river, holding hands. They stopped by a little shop that sold the best fudge and split a brownie encrusted with sea salt and then shared salty, chocolatey kisses before heading home, making love as slow and blazing as the sunset. As they lay in bed, the light fading, night creeping over them, Chris stared at the ceiling. “I think it’s time to let go of the old Chris completely,” he said. “I don’t want to be him anymore.”

“So, do it.”

“How will I work? What will I do? Female Chris doesn’t exist, and I doubt anyone will believe me if I show up at work as a woman and claim I transitioned overnight.”

“How important is it to your happiness to be Chris full-time?” Jessica said, propping herself up on a forearm.

Chris thought about it. “A lot.”

“Then we’ll just have to find a way.”

“How?”

“I don’t know,” Jessica said, “but as Collette says, ‘Hope costs nothing.’”

Chapter 5

Chris’ heels clicked as he walked into the Bannister Building lobby and approached the security checkpoint. He noticed that Granderson, the white-haired security guard, gave him a once over. “Hey, Grands,” Chris said as he swiped his ID and walked through the metal detector.

“Hold up,” Granderson said, suspicion filling watery blue eyes. “You aren’t Chris.”

“It’s me, actually,” he said, heart racing. This was his first encounter as the new Chris with someone who knew the old Chris. “I, um, well, this is me now.” He gestured down at himself.

“You’re Chris? You?”

“Yup,” Chris said. “Oh, here.” He dug into his laptop bag, pulled out the new driver’s license he’d gone down to the DMV and gotten with Jessica. On it was his new face and his true sex, indicated with the letter F.

Granderson looked at the ID, then back at Chris, then at the ID again. Chris smiled and shrugged. Granderson shook his head. There was a pause, a long pause, and Chris started to get nervous.

“Congratulations,” Granderson finally said, a smile breaking across his craggy features. “You look great.”

“Thanks!” Chris said, taking his ID and strutting to the elevators. “You do, too.”

It had been Jessica’s idea. Chris had taken his vacation time, two weeks, and he had informed his supervisor via email that he was “making it official.” When he returned to work, he would be doing so as a female. “I don’t know if people will believe I’m me,” he’d objected as he sifted through other jobs on Linkstuff. “I think I should just get a new job. Start over somewhere else.”

He’d been sitting cross-legged on the bed in their new place. Jessica came up behind him, kissed him on the shoulder. “Is that what you really want?”

Chris sighed. “No. I like my job. I like the people.”

“So, what is it?”

“I’m afraid they won’t accept me.”

“Follow the fear,” Jessica had said. “Don’t run from it.”

Chris’ supervisor, Carrie Collins, had asked him to come by her office. So, once he got to his floor, he dropped his laptop off in his cubicle and walked through the bullpen, conscious that there were a lot of curious eyes on him. When he got to Carrie’s office, he knocked. “Morning.”

Carrie looked up from her monitor. “Morning,” she answered. “Can I help you?”

“It’s me,” Chris said. “Chris. You asked me to–” “Chris?” Carrie said, blinking.

“Yeah.”

“Come in,” Carrie said, “and I am sorry for my reaction. It’s just– you look great.”

“People keep telling me that,” Chris said.

And they did. It seemed everyone in the office came by, said hi, told him how good he looked. It was like his first day of work all over again, and he was so happy that everyone just seemed– nice. It was a little weird to get so much attention, which he really didn’t want, but awesome that everyone just seemed happy for him.

He snuck off to the stairwell a little later with his cell phone and called

Jessica. “And?” She said as soon as she picked up.

“It’s been– great,” Chris said. “Everyone’s been super nice.”

“Told ya.”

The day settled into its regular pattern, and Chris was able to just focus on his work. By the time he made his way home, it was just another day, and he walked along, hair tossed by a cool breeze, feeling tired, eager to see Jessica, chill and watch some TV. He opened the door to their new place. It was dark. “Jess?” He called as he slipped out of his pumps. They had been a mistake, and he promised himself he would not wear them to work again. His legs were killing him. “Hello?” She must have gone out, he decided, feeling a pang of disappointment, loneliness, as he made his way down the hall and to the living room.

That’s when he heard the sultry music coming from the bedroom. He smiled and went down the hall. He could see candlelight flickering from beneath the bedroom door. He pushed it open to see Jessica stretched out on the bed, a platter smothered in strawberries as well as a bottle of champagne and two glasses. “Hey, babe,” Jessica said. “I thought we should celebrate the first day of the rest of your life.”

“You didn’t have to do all this,” Chris said, walking over to the bed as he unbuttoned his blouse.

“Well, to tell the truth, I was also feeling really horny,” Jessica said, “and in the mood for champagne.”

“You,” Chris said, taking one of the strawberries and bopping her on the nose. He popped the strawberry into his mouth and unzipped his skirt, wiggling out of it.

“Me,” Jessica answered, watching Chris undress.

Down to just his bra and panties, Chris sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down to kiss his lover. The mattress shifted, the tray shifted, and the bottle wobbled. They both yelled, but Jessica grabbed it just before it tipped over, brought it to her mouth and took a long drink. “Just the way I planned it,” Jessica said.

“Yeah, right. Let me put this over here,” Chris said, taking the tray and putting it on the dresser.

“Bring the glasses.”

Jessica poured champagne into each glass, and then they sat on the bed, looking into each other’s eyes. Jessica raised her glass. “To the most wonderful girl in the world.”

They clinked glasses, and Chris sipped his champagne, the bubbles tickling his nose. Chris welled up, the tears gathering in his eyes and then pouring down his cheeks. Jessica took him in her arms, pulling him to her, holding him tight, so tight, and Chris did the same. “I love you more than anything,” Jessica said.

“I love you so much it scares me,” Chris answered, sobbing. He finally accepted that it was true, all of it. He was a girl in love, and his girlfriend loved him, and everything was so much better even than he’d ever dreamed it could be.

He started laughing. Jessica started laughing. They rolled onto their backs, laughing and laughing, kicking their legs in the air, each of them feeling that life couldn’t possibly get any better.

Bonus Pic!