Chapter 11 - The Summer Job

Since Sheila's family attended the Baptist church near Pete's house, Sunday afternoons at Pete's place soon became a regular practice. Thankfully, both sets of parents enjoyed each other's company and Pete's little sister was becoming interested in boys around the age of Sheila's younger brother.

With a knowing shake of the head both sets of parents arranged the extended use of one of their cars so the two could spend the day together doing something besides hanging around the house where everybody was watching them. Pete had inadvertently become a 'good influence' on the Sheila the wild child.

If only they knew. Two things slowly evolved: Poly became more of a personality in her own right and their relationship became serious. Sheila, Pete and Polly were afflicted with a severe case of New Toy Syndrome; all of them were annoyed with the limited time they could carve out for Polly to come out and play.

Of course there were 'regular' dates with no mention of his clothing choices, but Sheila had a quirky sense of humor and managed to surprise him regularly. Thus she blindsided Pete completely when she asked to visit the Oregon Historical society. History and culture, right? No mention of crossdressing, right?

With some adroit footwork, Sheila managed to get Pete through the lobby without spying any of the exhibit postings and took them up to the top floor, working their way down. Despite his misgivings, Pete found himself enjoying the place, strolling hand-in-hand with his girlfriend. After quite some time they made it to the bottom floor, where Sheila sprang her surprise. The featured exhibit was several costumes worn by Darcelle XXV, Portland's reigning drag queen. For over fifty years Darcelle had been performing and some of her outrageous dresses were on display.

"Why you little sneak," whispered Pete when he realized just why Sheila wanted to come here.

"Not so little, lover."

"But sneaky, you have to give me sneaky."

"I suppose I do. Impressed?"

"Very. No way you'd get me into anything like those dresses, though."

"Not about to break into show biz, are you?

"Not if I have to trail an extension cord behind me every time I go out."

"With the light output of that dress you wouldn't have to worry about night time makeup, you'd bring the day with you."

"The whole idea is that no one notices Polly as anything out of the ordinary. That wardrobe kinda defeats the purpose."

"I suppose you're right."

"It is fun to see, though. It would take a lot of nerve to do what she does."

"Good thing Polly is becoming real, you ought to be able to go out with me as Polly fairly soon."

"Right! In your dreams."

"I thought you were the one with the dreams, lover."

Graduation was looming, there were only a few weeks before school ended and summer began. Pete and Sheila were snuggling on the back porch swing while the older generation played some card game in the dining room and the younger generation were off at the playground amusing themselves. There wasn't much conversation for quite some time, but eventually their bodies demanded they start breathing again and one set of lips released the other.

"Polly, your lipstick is smudged."

"Polly's not here - it's your lipstick that smudged."

"Then what's that red stuff all over your lips?'

"Your lipstick, I presume. I know how to do my own makeup better than that."

"You need a tissue."

"It's in my purse and that's up at the cabin."

"A proper lady never leaves home without her purse."

"I'm not a proper lady."

"Good thing I'm not, either. Hold still. I may not be proper but I do have a tissue."

"Thanks."

"How's the job hunt going?"

"Nowhere. About now I'm desperate enough to even say 'You want fries with that?' "

"Funny you should say that."

"I'm not laughing."

"I have a proposition for you."

"Shouldn't we be alone at the cabin before you proposition me? I don't think we could make to my bedroom without being observed."

"Not that kind of proposition. Remember my friend with the triple tits-in-a-box?"

"I've never met her but she has my eternal gratitude."

"Some of her family runs one of those swanky tourist resorts down along the McKenzie River. They're looking for summer help."

"They are?"

"They most certainly are, and I worked there last summer. You work your tail off, but it's fun and you get to meet all sorts of interesting people.."

"Good for you. Will you support me in my old age when I'm an unemployed deadbeat living under a bridge?"

"Only if you shave regularly. I'm not kissing anyone with stubble. I got enough of stubble when Dad tickled us with his when we were kids."

"You know I only shave twice a week, that might not be a problem. Besides, Polly just might opt for electrolysis."

"Since you've brought Polly into this conversation…"

"Did the temperature just drop twenty degrees? Suddenly I have goosebumps all over."

"And here I am getting hot - for you, lover."

"Uh, Polly?"

"It would seem Polly is more suited for the job."

"Give me a break! You're out of your tiny little mind!"

"Uniforms are included and we'd be sharing a room."

"If you tell me that that they want a French Maid in uniform for this job I'm gonna know you've flipped out and call someone to take you to a nice, quiet place in the country for a while."

"What, the cabin in the country isn't good enough?"

"This is as stupid as some of the stories I've read online. This stuff doesn't happen in real life."

"The uniform is sensible: black skirt, white blouse, hose, flats. You could play in an orchestra wearing that outfit."

"Not if they heard the way I play!"

"I suppose we could arrange for a frilly apron if you work in the kitchen."

"You want fries with that?"

"Not really. We get two weekdays off and Rosemary will let me use her car sometimes so we can get away."

"So we just go down there and I hand them my ID and Social Security Number and then we're both out on our collective asses. I don't want you screaming in pain when I play with your pretty little ass. Not a good plan."

"If we were traditional employees and did the W4 thing that would be a problem. However, we are living in the age of contract employment, which means nobody wants to pay taxes or benefits on their employees anymore. We would be contract hires, no paperwork except for a Social Security number. Use your initials and just wait for the 1099 to come next January. Just be sure to bank 15% of your money so you can pay the Social Security taxes.

"No wonder you're going into accounting. You're slinging that jargon like a professional."

"Do what people expect and they don't look too closely at you. That's good advice for Polly, too."

"And just how do we explain to our parents?"

"You have a summer job with one of my friend's family business. It's a three hour drive away so we don't have to worry about unexpected visitors."

"And the sharing a room part?"

"I'm bunking with a girl named Polly. A complete stranger hired for the summer. Who knows where Pete will sleep?"

"And your folks - not to mention my folks - are going to blithely let us spend the summer together without supervision? Seems I remember some tales of a wild woman who needed a lot of supervision. Still does, maybe. A wild woman whose parents know we're sleeping together."

"You want the job. I want you to have the job. I'll behave."

"You're going to need more practice to sell that one, just like I'm going to need some more practice to sell Polly."

"You get it on Wednesday. The schools are closed for the Teacher's Day Of Action. Which means half the teachers are at the legislature raising hell because the cheapskates won't fund education properly and the other half are raising hell because the hypocritical bastards want to use the schools to indoctrinate us."

"Not cynical much, are you?"

"I'm going into accounting, but I'm going to minor in Political Science. I'd never get elected because I speak the truth, but you have to be politic with your customers - especially when you give them bad news."

"While helping me to fool everyone about who I am."

"That's politics for you. We'll see some action ourselves when I take Polly out for some retail therapy. You're going to need a wardrobe for the summer when we're not working."

"Now you want me to spend money I don't have for a job I may not get as a person I only think I might be?"

Simple, huh?"

"And they're going to hire me sight unseen?"

"Not quite. Saturday we take a trip to the scenic McKenzie River and Polly can impress them with her charms."

"You almost make this silliness seem reasonable."

"Do you or don't you want to spend the summer together before have to go to college?"

"When you put it that way…"

"You're quick on the uptake."

"Have you considered that if we spend so much time together to get ready for our summer certain people are going to expect to see a ring on your finger or something like that?"

"Oh, there will be."

"OK, time out! I bow to your superior feminine wiles and astute planning, but I'm just a poor, wannabe woman who is completely confused. I assume this is an engagement ring that will be gracing your lovely hand."

"The twin to the one on yours, darling."

"I surrender! If I had a white flag I'd be waving it."

"Here - use my hankie."

"It's blue."

"Details, details!"

"It's the details that are going to get us sucked down into the tar pits like those poor dinosaurs at La Brea. I thought you were a reformed wild woman."

"The pressure is still in there, just better controlled. The whole thing makes perfect sense. The rings will keep some of the wolves at bay. I get to have you in my bed all summer, you get to see what it's like to live as a woman, and we both get paid to do it. Perfect!"

"Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?"