Girly preparations part II. shopping and the arrival of our escorts Ballroom dancing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t realise just how important it would become in shaping my future until I had to take the place of one of my bosses following an accident. Dancing Queen A novel by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2013 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 25 Girly preparations

Helen and I eventually finished our practice session at about eleven o’clock and had a quick cup of tea together before making our way to our respective bedrooms.

‘Thanks for everything, Helen, I’ve enjoyed myself tonight,’ I said as I was about to retire.

‘That’s alright, young lady; it’s been fun, hasn’t it? I trust you are looking forward to tomorrow night as well.’

‘Yes, so long as I pass ok as a girl dancer.’

‘You know perfectly well that you will pass ok as a girl,’ she scoffed. ‘It’s also clear that you are a natural dancer. So as long as you only copy the girls dancing and don’t try to dance like a bloke, I don’t see what there is for you to worry about.’

I smiled at the idea of me ‘dancing like a bloke,’ whilst simultaneously wearing high heels and a short dress.

‘I suppose it is my being out in a social situation with people who are unaware of my true sex that makes me a little anxious.’

‘I am sure that Rich will keep an eye on you and make sure that you come to no harm. It’ll be up to you to encourage him if you want to take it any further.’

I made no reply, other than blushing, before going to my room.

The bedroom I was occupying was decorated in pink and filled with uncompromising girly furnishings which accorded with and made me feel quite relaxed about my new identity. There was no doubt that I was enjoying my life as Michelle, even though it now took me more than half an hour to get myself ready to go to bed in terms of removing my makeup, moisturising my face and hands, and tying up my hair. It usually took twice as long to get myself ready in the morning but I didn’t mind because the results were worth the trouble. I then climbed into her floral pink sheets and fluffy pillows, and fell asleep dreaming of electro dancing.

As usual, I woke at about 7.30am on Saturday morning needing to go to the toilet. There was no sound from Helen’s bedroom and so I returned to my room and sat in front of the dressing table for a while to think about my situation. It had been a week since I’d allowed myself to be talked in to continue living as a girl until the end of the year, and already I was sure that I’d made the right decision. As Michelle, I was more confident than Michael and I didn’t stammer. I also had more friends and a closer relationship with my mother. Michelle also got to do more interesting things at work, wore nicer clothes and appeared to be able to earn more money. Above all, she was able to demonstrate her expertise as a ballroom dancer; a competence that Michael had barely been aware of as a young man. Since the first occasion I’d put on a dress, no-one had challenged me in the street or at work. Maybe I had received a few odd looks at the dancing club on the first occasion I’d turned up, but these had been quickly overcome and I was now accepted as one of the best dancers. So what was there for me to regret?

Yet the beginnings of a regret began to insinuate itself in my brain: ’if only I’d been born a girl, like Helen, how different my life would have been, how much happier I might have been.’ I attempted to squash that thought straight away, before it did any damage. I was a young man, albeit not a particularly confident or well-developed one; and that was an end of the matter. I had to accept that fact. All the same, I had been presented with this opportunity to live and work as a girl for three months, and there was no reason why I shouldn’t take full advantage of all the fun offered to me during this period.

Having satisfied myself on that matter I began to look forward to my day ahead and especially my date to go clubbing with Richard. What would it be like? How would I feel? Would anyone from my past life recognise me and, if so, what would they think? I could not possibly answer, and would just have to wait and see and take things as they came. But this served only to create yet another anxiety: ’what am I going to do and what will life be like for me once these three months are over? Had I sacrificed any credibility I might once have had as a young man?’ I simply didn’t know the answer, but the New Year was ten weeks away and for the time being I was determined to make the most of my new life as Michelle.

I therefore got up, showered, dressed, carefully put on some makeup and fixed my hair. By the time I’d finished Helen had emerged from her slumbers, showered and was preparing some breakfast for us.

There is not a lot to be said about our shopping trip later that day, except that it was great fun. We took the bus into Luton as there was a greater range of shops to choose from compared to Dunstable, and we headed straight for ‘the Mall’ shopping centre. Helen tried on and bought herself a sparkly black and silver dress in ‘Monsoon,’ which was almost as revealing as the one she’d sold to me. She also bought a pair of black almond-toe five inch heels with an ankle strap, in ‘Next.’ I bought myself a strapless bra in ‘Debenhams’ together with a pair of control pants to make sure there would be no visible bulges when I was dancing in my new dress. As I was queuing to pay for my bra I found myself standing in front of a girl who used to be in my class at school and with whom I’d danced on a few occasions as a young teenager. I turned and we smiled weakly and acknowledged one another. She looked as if she was frantically racking her brains trying to think where we’d met previously. Fortunately I was called forward to the next till, and she was called to another one and so there was no need for any embarrassing explanations.

As we were about to leave the shop Helen pointed out a set of twelve clip-in, shoulder length natural hair extensions, in my colour. They cost almost forty pounds.

‘I think you should go ahead and get them, they’ll do wonders to boost your confidence, tonight,’ she said.

‘But it says here that they are only guaranteed to last for three months?’ I said, reading the label.

‘Well that should be just right for you then!’ she responded.

I couldn’t very well argue with that

‘In any event, if you take as much care of them as you would your own hair they will last you at least twice as long.’

‘But I wouldn’t know how to put them in!’

‘We’ll have plenty of time after lunch. I’ll show you how to do it.’

‘I had saved myself some money through not having to buy a new dress, so why not?’ I asked myself.

‘Alright then,’ I said with a smile and went ahead and made my purchase.

We had some lunch in a café in town before returning to Helen’s house at 3.00pm. I quickly rang Mum at home, just to check that she was alright and assure her I was fine. I told her about our shopping trip. She sounded happy herself and wanted to know what I’d bought.

‘I’ve bought an almost brand new red dress from my friend Helen to go dancing in tonight, but I needed a strapless bra and some knickers to go with it: I expect they’ll be useful for me to wear with some of your dance costumes,’ I said.

‘Is that all you have got yourself?’

‘No I did get myself some hair extensions.’

‘Well a girl needs a little bit of extravagance from time to time.’

As promised, Helen demonstrated to me how to clip in my new hair extensions, doing the first couple for me and then leaving me to finish the remainder. Afterwards she explained how to brush and style my somewhat bulkier head of hair. I’d enjoyed having longer hair ever since Joyce had first sewn in a set, but these added even more body and length and felt great.

‘Is there any danger of them coming out when we dance?’ I queried.

‘I don’t think so, but if you like we can have another practice session before tea, just to make sure.’

Joe was the first of our two escorts to arrive on Saturday evening and Helen entertained him for a few minutes whilst I made the finishing touches to my hair and makeup in her sister’s bedroom. I then came downstairs ready to be introduced.

‘This is Michelle, my friend from work,’ said Helen as I entered the room.

I smiled shyly.

‘Wow you look really hot in that dress,’ was his spontaneous reaction.

If anything I felt quite the opposite as it was quite alarmingly short and with a low neckline. I’d also been advised against wearing any tights. But I knew he wasn’t talking about my temperature and so I blushed and murmured my thanks whilst averting my gaze. I was not sure whether to be pleased by his comment or a little put out by his lack of gallantry towards his own escort, who looked pretty good herself in her new black and silver dress.

‘Michelle already has a dance partner for tonight so you can just put your eyeballs back in their sockets,’ commented Helen.

I suspected that she was not lacking in confidence and when the time came was quite capable of dealing with guys by herself without any concern on my part.

‘Sorry Babes,’ said Joe. It was an unconscious reaction on my part, you both look great,’ he responded.

‘Michelle is a champion dancer,’ added Helen,’ apparently unconcerned by his comment to me.

‘But I’m afraid that it’s for ballroom dancing, not what we are doing tonight,’ I replied.

The doorbell rang and Helen left us to go answer it whilst I sat in a chair next to Joe.

‘I must say you have a nice pair of dancer’s legs,’ he said with a cheeky grin and patting me on the knee.

I wasn’t sure how to react to his actions. In some ways it was quite a pleasant sensation to feel his hand on my bare knee, but it was also a cheek on his part. Who did he think he was? I certainly had no wish to upset my friend so I consciously moved my legs away from him just as Helen came back in to the room, bringing Richard with her. This was a good opportunity for me to move away.

‘Hi Richard, great to see you,’ I said getting up and giving him a welcoming kiss on the cheek. I then joined him on the sofa, just to reinforce the point that he was going to be my escort for the evening.

Joe accepted the inevitable and started talking to Helen. Richard seemed a little surprised by the warmth of my greeting, but apparently wasn’t unhappy. I then noticed that I’d left a small lipstick mark on his cheek which I ostentatiously wiped away with a tissue.

‘I do like your new hair style, Michelle,’ he said. ‘It really suits you.’

I smiled.

‘Thanks, much of it was purchased over the counter at Debenhams this morning but it is good fun to have plenty of hair to work with.’

Joe motioned Helen to come and sit with him.

‘Richard has offered to drive the four of us tonight to save having to park two cars,’ suggested Helen.

‘That’s fine by me, at least I’ll be able to have a drink or two during the evening,’ said Joe.

‘I’ve packed my weekend case, so perhaps we can take it with us and then you can drop me home afterwards,’ I said.

‘Yes of course, I’ll bring these two back here first of all and then run you home,’ he said.

Helen gave me a knowing smile as he said this.

Next time: A new kind of dancing

Thanks to Bronwen for editing and to everyone else for comments and kudos which are always appreciated.Louise