Marked in the Wrong Box - Chapter 1

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Marked
in the Wrong Box
Chapter 1

by Tels

Copyright © 2013 Tels
All Rights Reserved.

 
Markus Jean had been traveling for years with the same passport. He often went back and forth to the states and even further south into South America as part of his job. Markus was for lack of a better word a perfume researcher. His job was simply to find exotic fragrances that the chemists would then use to make new and exciting perfumes.

The field was something he had fallen into, literally, after a rather embarrassing incident in his childhood at a cosmetics counter. There was a stacked pile of perfumes on display being young he had touched the display. His mother, who was at the time shopping for a new perfume, had warned him to not play with it but he did. The display had come crashing down on top of him with a number of perfume bottles leaking all over him in the process. It may not seem like much but for days he stunk of perfume and had to bathe regularly in tomato juice to eliminate the worst of the smell.

Ever after that incident he could identify any perfume easily. His nose had suffered some minor scarring that increased his sensitivity to smells. This made him a natural at identifying different smells from plants, flowers, and animal glands. Some glands on smaller animals or insects gave off a subtle fragrance that enhanced the smells of some flowers. Although not widely know many of the popular perfumes contained animal fats from glands for the smell enhancement.

He had a special luggage container bag that he would use to put tiny slivers of smells into wax sealed glass bottles and then into foam packages into boxes and finally the bag itself. He had variously stamped specialty clauses to transport said goods. The case was usually stored in the cargo area of the plane vs the luggage compartment and sometimes retrieving the case from customs took hours.

He was paid quite handsomely for his work. Indeed for a weeks worth of work he could sit back and enjoy the rest of the year without working if he wanted to. He was raised differently than that though. His parents were well cared for as was his two sisters. He lived mostly frugally. His house was not big nor was it in a wealthy area. His car was never a brand new model as he preferred to let other people pay the first 3 years of the big price and then get the car for less than half of new.

He did not need to live in a big city with its high crime rates like Toronto or Vancouver. He instead stayed in the rural areas of Manitoba where crime was almost non existent. His mother would often drive him and his 2 bags of luggage into Winnipeg where she would drop him off and leave him. The amount she spent of fuel was nothing compared to the cost of a cab or even parking his car for a week or worse a month.

Markus was busy reading one of the magazines that was free. In this case an old and much worn Chatelaine magazine. He was paying attention to the adds for the perfumes trying to identify if he had a hand in making them or not when he was interrupted by the barely understood intercom. His flight was early and he could, for once, board early. Gathering his small carry on bag he left the seating area. The line up for the flight check in was mercifully short so far. He passed over his bag and passport at the gate stepping through the metal scanner. Nothing beeped but they ran two hand scanners over him anyways. The added security left over from the 9-11 days at airports was a royal pain.

"Jean Markus? Are you Jean Markus?" a lady asked holding his passport.

"Well yes but it's Markus Jean actually."He corrected her. Markus was a little puzzled as he had never had a problem before.

"Come with me please Miss." She told him in a no nonsense voice. She seemed to be quite upset with him actually and he had no idea why. Choosing prudence he neglected to correct her address to him.

The lady lead him to a security office waiting area. The seats were not inviting but he was made to sit on the hard fiberglass type chairs. The lady took his passport into an office where he could see her talk with two men. Amid much arm waving and glances his way they debated over him for some reason. Phone calls were made while he waited and waited.

Markus found himself starting to nod off to sleep when the door opened to the office. A man and another older woman came out and gestured for him to follow them. He did hoping he could get this over with and get on the plane. If he had to catch a later flight he would not have much time to get to his hotel before he had to make the presentation at the headquarters of one of the biggest perfume/fragrance manufacturers in the States. COTY did not have the best reputation for being patient. Although their new chairperson was supposed to have changed a few things. Still Markus really did not want to screw this up.

He was led into a small white room that looked much more like a doctor's exam room than anything. This got him worried. He was not the least bit fond of rectal exams for drugs or the blood tests for same. He was a little surprised when the man started to read to him verbatim from a sheet. Half of it was in legalize that he could not understand at all. When the man was finished he explained it in easier terms.

"Due to current regulations a person whose gender is listed on their passport must present as that sex for the duration of the flight." he said.

"Okay.." Markus said waiting for the shoe to drop. His passport should say male just as he was dress in his obviously male three piece suit with the dress shirt in blue silk blend and the red tie.

"Jean what he is saying is that although you pass remarkably well as a man you have to dress as the woman you are for this flight. I'm sorry but our hands are tied with this regulation. I understand if you are upset as it is not meant as an insult to you or even as a something against your being a transsexual male. It is a policy we have to enforce." the older lady said.

"Are you fucking shitting me?" Markus couldn't help it. They thought he was a transsexual female to male. His mother was gonna love this when he told them.

"Ms. Markus that sort of language will not be tolerated. If you wish you can file a complaint or drive to your destination instead. If you choose to fly you will have to do so presenting as a woman." The man said. He seemed to be the guy in charge and with his outburst less than friendly or inclined to help.

Markus had to think. He supposed that maybe putting on some makeup to make him appear feminine would be enough to get on the plane and a quick stop to wash it off should leave him alright. Annoying as hell yes but not something that would kill his life. That was the heart of the matter. He debated for a few minutes. He had a few friends that were into that sort of thing and it had never really bothered him. What did bother him was that he was being forced to so. It all seemed so unreal.

"Hon we can change your flight to a later one free of charge. Do you think it will be possible for you to present as a woman for your..." She paused to check out the flight plan he had listed. He knew it was at most a 3 hour flight."2 hour flight?"

"What would this entail exactly to.. pass as a woman? Not that I'm agreeing mind you but just curious?" Markus asked.

"Jean... do you mind if I call you Jean?" she asked.

"Ah...I guess." It was his last name after all.

"Well Jean basically no facial hair showing. Maybe a little makeup to hide some flaws. A dress or skirt would pretty much leave no question. I doubt you would go that far. A less masculine hair style would be a good idea. Nothing super feminine but something that doesn't scream male either." she said. It was reasonable and not asking too much really.

"What about getting my passport fixed instead?"his last lifeline.

"I'm sorry Jean but it's Saturday. We called the passport office but they said for gender change on the passport it could take weeks and they are closed. We had to use an emergency contact to get that information. I'm sorry." she seemed to actually care about him in some way. The other man however kept looking at him like a lower life form to be squished.

"Ho..How long till the next flight?"

"You have about 4 hours. That should give you plenty of time to make yourself presentable."

"Can I have my passport back please." He whispered.

"Certainly." She passed him back his passport.

Markus got up and they escorted him to the baggage claim were he retrieved his carry on. The rest of his baggage they would keep in the locker for the next flight unless he chose otherwise. For now he just left it there. He needed to call someone. His mother would be ideal if she actually used her cell phone. He knew she only turned it on when she wanted to make a call.

His father was out Golfing so that was not even worth trying. He scrolled down the list of people he knew to possibly come pick him up. Sisters were not available since one of them now lived out with her husband in White Rock BC. Most of his friends were straight to voice mail meaning they were busy. With a cringe he got through to one of his older friends.

"Markus! Darling! What is the occasion of this phone call? Not that I'm implying anything by that." Markus cringed. Dougie was borderline gay. He didn't know for sure if Dougie was or not but he knew one thing. They guy was a drag queen when he wasn't just cross dressing anyways. On the few occasions he visited Dougie when he had to go to some drag competition or another he had to admit the guy looked quite hot as a chick if a bit over done. The regular cross dressing one would think he was a normal girl. However he also knew that Dougie loved to hunt, fish, play roughneck sports and many other typical male pursuits. Dougie explained that the dressing was just him releasing another side to himself.

"I need a favor. Could you come and pick me up at the airport. There has been a problem." Markus replied. He didn't think he gave away anything though.

"Sure no problem dude. Be there in say 15?" Dougie replied totally male without any feminine flare. This was serious Dougie. He had picked up on something.

"Yeah...K... be waiting, have no where else to go." with that he hung up or ended the call depending on your point of view.

Markus sat in the waiting area for 10 minutes before he got up and went to the doors looking around for Dougie's truck. It amazed him how Dougie would drive an older Chevy truck. A 4x4 truck not really raised up but the slightly bigger tires made it seem that way. The mid 80's truck was a shortbox stepside truck with a chrome cow catcher in the front and roll bar in the bed with the fake lights on top of it. The chrome tube rear bumper didn't really serve much of a purpose either. It was not a girl's truck either with the engine that sounded loud.

Sure enough the truck pulled up at the 14 minute mark just outside and Markus made his way to the truck to get in. The weather was a bit on the nippy side today being 3C. The inside of the truck was not yet roasting warm. That meant that Dougie had driven the truck while still cold, something he rarely ever did.

"Timmy's or something stronger?" Dougie asked.

"Stronger."

"Right need to stop off for mix then"

The stop at Safeway to pick up some generic brand cola and some assorted munchies such as beef jerky, potato chips, and of all things chocolate ice cream, did not take long. They were back at Dougie's apartment on the better side of Winnipeg soon enough.

"What'll ya have? I got rum, whiskey, and vodka..scratch the whiskey I remember this one should toss it."

"Vodka"replied Markus. He soon had the empty plastic cup in hand and a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. With the liquid courage in him he described his incident at the airport to a much amused Dougie. When they examined the passport in question they did indeed find that his gender was marked as female instead of the male box.

Dougie was floored and vehemently wished that such could have happened to him. Markus was more than willing to let Dougie take his place in the matter. Markus then asked Dougie what he though he should do. Rent a car and try to drive the 5 day trip hoping for the best. Dougie asked Markus if that would really work and it was tossed aside as a bad idea.

"From what I can see your best option would be to be somewhat passable as a woman on the trip and then change back. It's just clothes and a bit of makeup after all."

"For you it is sure. Me not so much. Dougie I really need that contract with COTY. If I can't make this flight I might as well just sit back and retire. Word will get around and nobody will be interested in my samples anymore."

"Can you retire Markus?"

"Well no. That blasted typhoon or whatever they call it in Japan wiped out some of my mutual funds. I could live well for a few years but not the rest of my life. Spent too much getting Sammi and her brood up to snuff."

"Look Markus. You know I like Samantha and all but really helping to put her kids into private schools? Like what were you thinking?"

"That I would rather have my nieces and nephew success in life instead of stoned vegetables."

"Ah good point but...that does not help you right now. You know I think I could make you passable enough. God knows doing drag I have had practice enough. Even if you turned out a butt ugly woman you would still be a passable woman for the flight. A quick shower and change and your done."

"It's just clothes.." Markus mumbled to himself. "It's not like I can't get dressed up after in normal clothes..."

"Think of it as a costume like in halloween. Or better yet as a gag on the other passengers. Whatever floats your fancy."

Markus thought about it for a few minutes weighing the pros and cons. As a gag it had some appeal. Costume even more so. He knew he would do it but a part of him was rebelling against it already.

"Fine! Lets make me pretty then."

"Well passable. I don't know about pretty yet that fuzz you call a beard has to go first."

Dougie did not have a razor as he preferred to use a few other items, such as waxing, or an electric epilator instead. He claimed it gave a better smoother finish without the stubble problem. Markus thought that Dougie had a bit of a sad streak in him for the pain he inflicted on Markus. The really hot towels before the use of the wax helped but it was still painful. Before long, gone was any hair on his arms, chest, face and back. He drew the line at his legs. More hot towels were used on him causing him to sweat a fair amount before he was told to shower. The gel that was put on his legs was not to remove the hair, thankfully, just bleach it. Dougie said that under a pair of pantyhose nobody would be able to tell unless he let them feel him up. He was made to wash with body wash and a poofa. After the shower he was coated with some creams and made to stand for a few minutes while Dougie played with putting hot rollers in his hair.

Markus's normally shoulder length hair was put into curlers, blow dried and then teased out enough to give him a slight wave but more volume. A quick spot of wax removed his uni brow but left him with two eyebrows, cleaned up for sure, but still androgynous in appearance.

Dougie had him dress in a pair of panties with a very stiff front panel making his crotch appear mostly flat. The first bra was actually way to big for him. Dougie was a bit upset as Markus had a smaller torso than him and he had to search for an older bra. With the new bra on and some dark brown gel inserts Markus now had a weird looking but female shaped chest.

A package marked press on sport nails in red with some gel like tape turned his small hands into delicate ones. The control top nude pantyhose got snagged and ruined requiring him to promise to pick up a few pairs for Dougie when he returned. The second pair was put on a little easier. A pair of women's pants that zipped up in the rear hugged his thighs and butt while it was tight above his normal waistline. The effect of the small fashionable belt at the top put a strain on his belly. An off white satin camisole was put over his head and covered up what would normally be the breasts. Dougie used some dark powder in the middle to give the illusion of hidden cleavage.

Dougie had him put a smock over himself and then Dougie went to town on the makeup. It didn't take him long. Dougie apologized saying he gave him more of the look he used as Daphne, his alter ego. The kissable red lips and flawless looking skin shocked him but it was Markus's eyes outlined in dark to light browns with visible but tasteful mascara that changed his face. Just the face alone made him look far more like a girl than he, or Dougie thought possible.

Dougie put a small chain necklace around his neck, some magnetic earrings on his ears, and a small fake gold watch on his left wrist. A spritz of perfume in the air above him gave him a scent but nothing over the top. Sweet but subtle as well. The ladies blazer was left open as Markus shoved his feet into a pair of ladies dress shoes. The low heel made walking easy. Again his smaller feet had caused Dougie to emit a few choice swear words and more searching in his closet for old shoes.

Dougie led Markus to a full mirror. Because of the lack of time Markus was expecting a guy in a dress look or an obvious drag queen. What he saw in the mirror was a young professional woman. Not overly feminine or even butch. All in all she looked just like any other of a dozen women one would meet on a flight in business class.

"So what do you think of Jean? Markus? I think she turned out quite well don't you?"

"GET ME OUT OF THIS SHIT!"Markus couldn't see himself and it was freaking him out a lot more than he expected it too.

"Now Jean calm down it's just a costume remember."

"Costume..." He or now she thought about it. It made sense it was just a costume on her it wasn't like she had changed sex or anything. It was all just temporary.

"I...this...is very uncomfortable for me Dougie." She said unknowingly softening her voice. While not the best female voice around it was almost passable. Dougie picked up on it along with the sudden change as well. He led the now docile Jean to a chair where she sat down. It was not a graceful sit nor did she keep her knees tightly together.

Dougie spent the next hour coaching Jean on a few things, such as having her state numbers from 1 to 50 but putting a slight upscale octave at the end of each number. He knew that this small practice enabled one to speak more musically just from the habit. By the end the softened voice that now had a musical quality to it was more than just a bit on the feminine side. He also had her practice walking by swinging her hips with way more emphasis than was needed. This way when she walked more normally she walked more with her hips.

He told her to sit more gracefully by running her hands down the sides of her knees. This did two things. It kept her knees closer together and gave the illusion that she was unconsciously tucking her skirt. A habit that many women grew up with and did as normally as breathing.

In the end while far from being a graceful woman Jean was still passable as a regular, if somewhat butch, woman. Jean refused to use a purse as she had her carryall. The pockets served quite well to hold her few odds and ends. Dougie did pack a purse into it with a few makeup supplies to allow her to touch up if needed when she wasn't looking however.

The ride back to the airport was spent discussing how Dougie would help to straighten out the passport error, or at least lay the groundwork while she was gone. At the airport Dougie sighed as Jean stepped out of the car just like she always did with one foot out and the other in legs spread wide open. She thanked Dougie for his help before shutting the door on him. As Dougie drove away he wondered just how much of a feminine side he had released on his poor friend and what the consequences would be. A look in the rearview mirror showed a feminine sway to Jean as she disappeared inside the automatic doors.


 
To Be Continued...
 

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Comments

Cute story!

Hypatia Littlewings's picture

What a silly rule. I doubt it would last very long however. "Jean" was accidentally caught by it, but I really doubt such a rule would stand up for long under fire from the true transgendered, at least now a days. Still it is an interesting premise and a fun story.

*Wonders if there might be a follow up at some point.*

More please

VERY good start. Want more!

"In this universe there are many strange interesting things. I like to think I am one of those Strange interesting things. "

how much of a girl is she/he?

giggles. You guys will find out ....

Little Dottie says great story, Jaci! (And big Dorothy agrees)

DogSig.png

I am wondering

if Dougie had a hand in the passport's error?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

S.L.Hawke's picture

Umm... I hate to spoil the possibility of a sequel... but you do realize that passport photo's need to be recently taken (as of the time the passport was applied for) and "guaranteed accurate" by someone, right? Which means that even if some idiot reversed the first and last names... and got the gender wrong... the photo on the passport would still very much be of "Jean" in male clothing, looking very male.

Smile. Or in other words, Jean can't fly because *she* doesn't look like the *male* photo, and Markus can't fly because *he* does not present as the gender indicated on the *female* identification.

Sigh. Dead in the water -- there is no win for this situation. It is a good thing this story ends *before* Jean gets back to the airport... as the next scene (Marcus Jean being refused clearance even after all his/her efforts to comply) is not likely to be pretty...

But hey, it is fiction... so it does not actually *have* to be too realistic (although Tels might want to change that "Real World" tag to "Alternate reality")... and as fiction it is pretty good. I am merely pointing out this in case anyone read this story and thought it might actually represent the true travel laws in Canada -- which it does not, quite. It is close, but based on a flawed interpretation of those laws. [Or so it seems to me -- I am not a lawyer].

If anyone cares... the relevant laws can be found here, in section 5.2(1)... with 5.2(2) also being pertinent, since it allows a pre-op to travel with the aid of a "travel letter" signed by a medical professional.

PS for Hypatia: Yes, it is a silly rule... and yes, once it hit the press around the beginning of last year, the transgendered community was very much up at arms about it, with court challenges being mentioned. I suspect that when (not if) it gets that far through the appeals process, this regulation will get overturned, for a variety of reasons. But right now, and for the last year or so, it is in fact still the law in Canada. Sigh. I am glad I am post op, with all my documents in order... so I don't have to worry about this sort of stupidity any more...

shift change

Heh, It would be a really Bad time for a shift change at the airport - Markus gets a new crew saying "Hey, These faces Don't Match" when he only did the change to suit their ruling. *g* If I was running this event in my RPG campaign I would be sorely tempted to have those people be off duty and their replacements looking blank at "Miss Jean's" story.
[Not that I am cruel of course *g*]

Very Cute

Very cute story and like others I can't wait for more. I always enjoy your stories and wish you would post daily since I go right to any story authored by Tels. Please write more as soon as you can. Love your writing.

Heather Marie

Please continue

Tels, you are a brilliant writer and this story has yet again confirmed it. The story has me wondering what will happen at the COTY meeting. Please continue this story. PS Do you have plans to coninue the second part of the Belle story? This again is one of my favourite stories.

Maddy

Maddy Maddison

actually

There is four chapters currently done on this story.

MissMarked

Good start Tels, how many of us would have had a person to turn to. I like Dougie, other characters to a good story are essential. Progress needs to be made before Jean closes a deal with Coty.

Like Jean, I would have been fit to be tied or taken away. The story would have been real short if Jean exploded, ha. Who checked the wrong box, or was it the French/French Canadian spelling of Jean? Looking forward to the coming chapters.

^_^ JessieC

Jessica E. Connors

Jessica Connors

uhm

The french/french Canadian spelling of jean is the same however it sounds like John depending on where you are. There is local dialects that really do a number on the language.. there is also local slang using non french words with french sounding.. It gets weird so ill pass on that thanks.

Heck....

Kim and I flew to Montreal for her GRS! She was pre-op and I was post. Kim was in a fragile state of mind during that trip; she was afraid she'd be killed (by a plane crash or anything else) and be buried without her GRS. I think if that situation happened to us, like if we got a ride to Niagara Falls, NY and planned to fly from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Montreal, she would have stepped out and killed herself in traffic and if not, in the Niagara River.

Wait! We took off in the US; Canada couldn't complain until we landed in Montreal. In fact, I think the surgery hospital center would have a deal with Immigrations/Transportation Security, etc. not to hassle pre-ops without a changed gender marker on their ID.

Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee

What about ... ?

Hypatia Littlewings's picture

What about the return trip, or do they have a special express paperwork department at that Hospital, doesn't the paper end take additional time?

canadian

The canadian medical system takes a minimum of 3 weeks to process paperwork so in a word NO.

So then . . . . err sheesh....!

Hypatia Littlewings's picture

So then, the newly minted girl would have to travel dressed and presenting as a guy. What the...!
*gets a completely befuddled look on her face*
That's just (Bleep)!

*blushes & apologizes for the unlady like comment*

on a good note

They do get a letter from that doctor explaining they had a recent medical procedure. It gives them some leeway when it comes to traveling. Still no makeup and androgynous appearance is appreciated but not really enforced.

As a whole the new law is not enforced that much. For the most part as long as your dressed decently and not carrying any metal your left alone.

Great start.

Great start Tels really looking forward to more of this one. Oh to be that passable in a few hours worth of work. Reading smiles, Jenn.


I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair