Throwing me in at the deep end, forcing me to go out with them in public we all headed to The Nag's Head, one of the pubs that I regularly visited as Jack and where I was fairly well known. As we went in I was on tenterhooks waiting for someone to recognise me. Fortunately it never happened, nobody took any particular notice of me, I was just another one of a group of girls and I calmly settled down with the others at a corner table.

“What's your poison Jane, you can't have your normal pint of bitter?” Babs asked as she made to go up to the bar.

“I think I had better keep off alcohol for the moment, I need to keep my head clear and concentrate on behaving correctly just an orange juice please.” I whispered, hoping that my voice would not stand out.

“Sorry, I couldn't hear that, you will have to speak up.” Along with the others she wasn’t going to let me sit there quietly. They had brought me out to get used to life as a girl, and they expected me to be as outgoing and vocal as they all were.

“Trying to pitch my voice up a bit I repeated “Just an orange juice please, and get it topped up with plain lemonade.”

Loud enough for the people at the bar to hear, Linda burst into a massive grin and squealed “Off the wine now Jane, you aren't pregnant are you?” Causing me to blush deeply and squirm in my seat.

Deciding that if they were trying to embarrass me that I would play them at their own game, I took a deep breath before replying, “Chance would be a fine thing, my sex life has not been up to much lately, I think I need to try a few new techniques, anyone got any suggestions or know any spare men?” That shut them up for a few seconds before they all started giggling.

“That was brilliant Jane. When you are working with women at whatever you intend to do, that is the sort of comment you are likely to get, and that is the sort of reply they will expect, just relax with us and keep thinking ‘I am Jane'.” Jenny quietly whispered to me.

We stayed there for a couple of hours and other than occasionally picking me up on something I did or said wrong, they just treated me as one of the girls, drawing me into their conversations with no embarrassment even when discussing period pains and which was the best sanitary product, or giggling about some guys up at the bar and the size of their ‘package’.

Once I relaxed, I totally enjoyed my night out with them all, and agreed that for the next week I would spend as much time as possible with them, either individually or as a group, I was under no illusions that I still had a long way to go before I could safely and convincingly be let loose in an office full of women.

“I’m off to the loo before the walk home, anyone need to go too?” Babs looked around, causing Jenny to give me a nudge, and quietly telling me to go with Babs. “Go with her, you need to get used to using the Ladies washroom, that’s what you will be doing for the next few weeks.”

Other than the fact that it was a lot cleaner and tidier than the ones I was used to and it didn’t smell of stale urine, I thought to myself, ’It’s just a washroom, so what if I am in the Ladies, that’s who I have to be from now on.’ I nipped into a cubicle for a quickie and came out to see Babs doing her lips and thought I had better do the same.

“You’re learning Jane, you didn’t need me to remind you, you’re doing great, just keep thinking ‘I am a girl’ and follow what we are all doing. it will soon become second nature and you won’t even have to think about it.”

“What have you told Mum and Dad about what you are doing?” Jenny asked as we walked back to her flat.

“Just that I am away for a few weeks visiting old friends from university, I thought that if I said I was just staying with you they would start asking all sorts of questions, thanks for putting me up Jen.”

“That's what sisters are for Jane, it‘ll be a nice change having my baby sister staying with me, someone to talk to in the evenings and help me keep house. Come on up and I'll show you your room, you can get changed ready for bed then we can have a quick drink and chat. I’ve left some things on the bed for you, which will do until you get more stuff of your own.”

‘Some things' turned out to be a short plain cotton nightie and dressing gown to change into along with some more skirts and tops which went into the wardrobe and drawers. I changed out of my skirt and top into the nightie, removing the bra, which was a strange feeling with the breast forms hanging free, but decided that I needed to keep on the panties to keep me under control.

I joined Jenny for a glass of wine and a chat for a while, feeling a bit self-conscious of my breasts moving freely under the flimsy nightie, but soon realised that hers were doing exactly the same and it would have to become the new normal for me.

“Are you sure that you are really ok with this Jen, it must be weird for you seeing me like this, and acting as just another one of the group when I was out with you and the girls tonight.?”

“Just remember it is not ’the girls’ but ‘the other girls’, you have to totally consider yourself as just another one of us. I have got it into my mind-set that you are my sister Jane staying with me for some time while you are in town on business, and I am ok with that, but please stop dragging me back to reality by keeping bringing it up, just accept that at the moment Jane is who you are. What are your plans for tomorrow?”

“Nothing has been arranged with any of the girls, sorry ,any of the other girls, so I thought that I would just mooch around and maybe go for a walk. I need to get out and get used to meeting people and everything, even it is just a casual ‘Hello, isn’t it a lovely day’ as we pass.”

“As I said earlier it will be nice to have someone help around the house, see if you can tidy the place up a bit, have a look in the cupboards see what we need and go down to the shops, if that's ok. Meet me in town after work and we can do some clothes shopping for you, you can't wear the same things day in and day out. Anyway, I have an early start in the morning, let's get our faces cleaned up, and get to bed, us girls need our beauty sleep.”

After all the trauma of the day before, I slept amazingly well and woke up fresh and relaxed. Still half asleep, I was confused by the unusual scents that filled my nostrils and by a strange tightness pulling on my chest, but soon came to my senses and remembered what I had done. First things first I rushed to the toilet to relieve myself, remembering to sit as I had been instructed, tucked myself up again, grabbed my dressing gown and went to the kitchen to find Jenny dressed and ready to go out to work.

“Good morning sleepyhead, there's bread for toast, or yoghurts in the fridge if you prefer, just help yourself to what you want. If you are ok going out in public, have a wander down to the supermarket, I’m getting a bit low on supplies. Will you be ok on your own?”

“I'll be fine Jen, get yourself off to work, I'll have my breakfast and then sort myself out.”

I noticed from the leftovers on the table that Jenny had just had half a grapefruit and a blueberry yoghurt with her coffee, and decided that for as long as I was Jane that I would follow her lead. It all tasted quite good but I still felt hungry at the end of it so I decided to get dressed and make myself busy to take my mind off raiding the biscuit barrel. I had a quick shower finding one of Jenny's caps as I didn’t want to ruin Susie's hard work on my hair, and smothered myself in her scented shower gel. Even though they had no sensitivity, washing around my breasts feeling them moving around on my chest was a strange and stimulating experience. Susie had been right, if I really wanted to get into the character of Jane, they were an essential part of my new femininity.

Patted dry and powdered I was back in the bedroom looking through the clothes Jenny had loaned me and quickly selected a matching bra and pantie set, just relatively plain cotton, I thought that I would leave the fancier sexier ones for another time. As I would only be around the house for most of the day, I just picked out a simple cotton v-necked top as I was still not comfortable exposing my cleavage, and a plain denim mid-thigh skirt.

I checked out the cupboards and made a shopping list for later, Jenny obviously lived day-to-day as there was not a large selection left to choose from. The living room was tidied and dusted and vacuumed, clothes put away in the bedrooms and the beds made. At home I had never been particularly tidy, my room always had clothes, magazines, game consoles, etc, scattered all over the bed and floor, but I felt that I owed it to Jenny to change my ways while I was living with her.

I didn’t really notice the time passing as I was keeping myself busy, but when I sat down for a coffee the morning had passed. I thought that as I was going to the shops anyway, that I would get something to eat while I was out, rather than mess the place up again. I freshened up my makeup, brushed my hair into something vaguely resembling what Susie had given me, picked up my shoulder bag containing my purse and what Jenny had called ‘a few essentials’ and some carrier bags and left for the shops.

I quickly pushed the trolley around the store filling it with day-to-day necessities, fresh fruit and vegetables, fish for later, cheese, bread, cereals, and cleaning materials. Even though I would be going out clothes shopping later with Jenny, I made my way to the clothing aisle which I normally avoided, but now I had as much right to browse through the racks as any other woman. I picked out a few sets of underwear and packets of tights. I almost took a couple of tops and a skirt, but thought it best to leave them for when Jenny was with me, styles were not something I had yet got to grips with. At the till I panicked when I suddenly realised that all my cards’ accounts were in Jack's name but luckily one of them just had my initial rather than my full name and it went through without any problem.

I parked the trolley in the locker area and went into to the coffee shop, ordered a prawn sandwich and cola, picked up the drink, and found a table waiting for the server to bring over my food. I sat looking around at the other customers, mostly women, but quite a few men too, thinking that being out in public was not too bad and I seemed to pass okay as Jane, even while chatting to the girl on the checkout as I was packing the shopping.

“Hi Jane, I didn’t expect to see you out and about today, have you settled in ok with Jenny?” Babs' voice woke me from my daydream.

“Oh, hi Babs, I didn’t see you there, Jenny’s cupboards were getting a bit empty so I thought I would make myself useful and get some things in. Come and join me, have you ordered?”

“Actually I was just leaving when I saw you, but I can stay for a while. How are you getting on, I must say that you are looking good, is this all your own work or did Jenny help?”

“For better or worse, this all my own work, although it did take a few attempts before I thought it looked reasonable, do I look ok to you?”

“Absolutely perfect, you are a natural.”

While I finished my food, we chatted away about the world in general, what her neighbours had been up to, which was a lot of salacious gossip, and what the daytime TV shows had been on about that morning, just like all the other female customers in the café.”

“What do you have planned for the rest of the day Jane?”

“Just drop all my shopping off at Jenny's, maybe go for a quick walk around the park and then go into town to meet her for some clothes shopping.”

“Sounds like a good plan, can I join you, I’ve nothing else important to do, shopping is a lot more fun when there are a few of you?”

Back at home I gave her a coffee while I put the groceries and things away, and we set off through the park to meet Jenny. I was glad that I had the ‘comfort blanket’ of having Babs with me, I was a lot more relaxed in her company than I would have been by myself.

When we arrived, Jenny was already there waiting for me and looked surprised to see that I had company “Oh, hi Babs, I wasn't expecting to see you as well.” Jenny smiled as she gave us both a quick welcome hug.

“I bumped into Jane looking all lonesome in the store, we sat and chatted for a while and she told me about going clothes shopping with you. Remember, back in the day, how much fun we had with the others in the mall on a Saturday morning, going from shop to shop, trying on clothes and having our own little fashion parades? Well, I thought that Jane missed out on all that, and that it is an experience she should have, so here I am.”

“You're right, it’s one of the fun experiences in a girl's life and if she is to fit in at work, the more girl experiences she has the easier it will be to get on with the others. Let's hit the shops girls.”

For the next three hours until the mall closed I was dragged from shop to shop, trying on dresses, skirts, tops, trousers and shoes. Jenny and Babs where quite clear and forceful about what did and didn’t suit me, and almost everything went back on the racks. I was amazed at how tolerant the sales staff were, they didn’t seem a bit put out that I tried on a lot and bought little, or in most cases nothing. I was in and out of the changing rooms, emerging to give them a twirl and get their opinion on how things fitted, usually in the changing rooms on my own but sometimes they came in with me, especially when I was trying on back-zip dresses. The girls were right, shopping was a lot more fun as a girl, almost a social event.

Eventually we made our way back home, with not much to show for 3 hours shopping. I ended up with three skirts for work and a couple of casual ones for about the house. They had insisted that I had a formal dress for going out with them and more blouses and tops in a variety of colours and styles, packs of bras and panties, two pairs of dress shoes for work and two pairs of flat casuals, not forgetting what seemed to me to be months’ worth of supplies of creams lotions and makeup. I couldn’t understand why I needed so much and when I would get to use everything, but when I asked they just looked at me as if I was stupid. I was dreading the next monthly bill from my credit card account

Babs left us and we went back to unpack and put everything away, before sitting down with a glass of wine and a pizza we had picked up on the way.

“You’re doing well Jane, you’ve been out all day among people and you looked quite at ease in the shops, are you still comfortable with all this?” Jenny asked with a concerned look on her face.

“I can live with it for a while until the project is completed. I’m beginning to get used to the clothes and makeup and am getting on quite well with you all. Its different to my normal life in a lot of ways, but it makes no difference to the basics, eating, drinking, sleeping, talking to people, it just all has a little twist to it There has been so much to learn and I’ve had to reprogramme my actions, but most of it is becoming second nature to me now. Anyway, I thought that you said you didn’t want me constantly reminding you that under all this that I am really Jack”

“Ok, but if it gets too much, let me know and whatever it is that you have cooked up with Darren I’ll sort him out and tell him it’s got to stop.”

“Thanks sis, and thanks for all your help, you and the other girls have been so good to me, you could easily have been mocking me and making me uncomfortable, but you have treated me as another one of your group of friends. Honestly, how do you think I am doing, do you think that Jane will be ready to face starting work soon.”

“Honestly, sometimes it is easy to forget that you are my brother, not my sister, there are still a few rough edges, but none of us girls are perfect, we all have our faults. Give it another week before you start work and you should be fine.”

The next day I arranged to meet up with Darren in a local coffee bar to confirm that I was ready to start in the office, and to get our stories straight as to who I now was, how I should behave, and how I should dress and present myself.

It was a warm day so I dressed casual in a light plain pale blue cotton blouse and loose floral, summer skirt, hoping that it was the right look, but on the way to meet him, I checked out how other girls were dressed and my outfit did not seem out of place.

I was there before him, ordered drinks and cake and sat in a window seat overlooking the main square, people watching, while waiting for him. He came in not long after and looked around for me, obviously did not recognise me, and looked at his watch worriedly to check the time was right. I gave a smile and a little finger wave to catch his eye and saw the look of astonishment on his face as he realised who I was and rushed over. He was just about to sit down when I quickly stopped him.

“Doesn’t a girl get a kiss and a hug when you meet her? The other customers will be expecting to see that.”

Astonished and taken aback, he did as he was told, leaned over with his arms around my shoulders and gave me a quick friendly peck on the cheek.

“ Wow, J...ane, you look amazing, I met Susie in town and she told me all about you, but I didn’t believe her when she said what she had done. Without being patronising you will definitely be the looker in the office, the other girls will be so jealous.”

“ Let’s hope that they are just as impressed with my talents and abilities, unless looking for a sugar daddy, us girls cannot be judged on looks alone.”

He gave me a quizzical look, which turned into a beaming smile. “You are really getting into the role aren’t you, you not only look and speak like a girl, but you seem to be thinking and acting like one too.”

“Keep your voice down, you don’t want anyone overhearing comments like that. As the other girls keep telling me, if I want to fit in, I have to keep thinking ‘I am Jane’, and that is how you have to treat me.”

We sat and chatted about what I would be expected to do for about an hour, and not once did he talk to me or treat me differently to he would with any of the other girls, and equally after all my time with the girls, I reacted as any of them would have done.

As we left, he gave me a big hug and kissed my cheek again, and held my hand as he walked me back to my car. “See you on Monday Jane.”, he said as he left, with no hesitation about my name, he had accepted me now as Jane.

Over the rest of the week, I spent as much time as possible with Jenny and her friends, immersing myself in all the girly chat, adopting their attitudes, mannerisms and speech patterns, any corrections getting fewer and fewer as the week went on. Saturday night the girls had arranged to meet at the local trattoria for a meal. Jenny left me to choose my own outfit, do my makeup and hair, and was waiting when I came out of my room, in a cherry red sheath dress, matching 4” heels, and full evening makeup.

“Hey girl, you look fantastic, just right, I couldn’t have chosen anything better for you, the girls will be jealous.”

We all met up at the Delizie di Napoli, a local pasta and pizza restaurant. The others had all dressed up too and the waiters paid a lot of attention to all ‘le adorabili signore’, constantly hovering around our table with, as Linda said, ‘their flashing eyes and tight little bums’.

I had a great time with the girls, they just totally accepted me as one of them, although I did catch them a few times having a good look at me, but Jenny told me later that the looks were just inspecting my clothes and appearance as they would assess any other girl, rather than looking for faults in the way I was behaving. As we were having an after-dinner coffee, the lights suddenly dimmed and our waiter marched in with a birthday cake complete with candles and placed it in front of me as the girls all joined in a rousing chorus of “happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jane, happy birthday to you.” with the other diners all joining too. Jenny sitting next to me gave me a big hug, as I looked at her puzzled.

“What' up Jen, you know it’s not my birthday for a couple of weeks yet.”

“No, that's Jack’s birthday, today is Jane's, as far as we are concerned you are now officially a girl and from now on we will always have a birthday meal for you on this date.”

I didn’t think it would ever be repeated but it was a nice thought from them, and I even felt a tear forming in the corner of me eye as I went round each of them in turn to give a big thank-you hug. It had been years since I had really had a birthday celebration, I had no close male friends other than Darren and the girls had never invited me, as Jack, to any of their birthday get-togethers, it gave me a warm feeling to find that I now had a set of really close friends who cared for me.

For the next week the schooling by the girls continued and I was now totally at ease and natural in my new life, and I very rarely had to think about what I was doing, I was just getting on with my life as normal, except as Jane not Jack .

On Sunday to prepare for my first day in the office, I wanted to look my best and went in for another makeover session with Susie. Rather than the slightly wild casual hairstyle that she had given me before, she worked it into a more controlled formal pixie cut which she thought more appropriate for the office, thinned my eyebrows, plucked a few stray hairs gave me a full facial, and redid my nails. Strangely I was beginning to like being pampered like this and could understand why girls and women looked forward to visits to the beauty salon.

Back at home it was a relaxing day with Jenny, chatting away watching a rom com on TV, and generally getting ready, physically and mentally for my first day at work as Jane.

To be continued.