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The walk down the twelve stairs from my second floor to my first was the longest walk of my life. The butterflies had moved from my stomach to my chest and then on up to my head, and my knees were actually weak and shaking. When we reached the first floor, Mitch had his back to us, talking to Hilda. "I believe your date is here," she said to him as she indicated that Marie and I were behind him. My stomach sank to my knees when he turned and the smile on his face dissolved into a slack jawed look of astonishment. The room was filled with uncomfortable silence and I was about to give up on the whole scheme and run back to my room when Mitch finally said, "Holy shit, Donnie..." I stood frozen, ready to run away. "...how did you... what happened... your breasts... Umm.... You look... I mean..." he took a deep breath and let it out, "... you're... beautiful!" I was so relieved, I almost cried! "Really?" I asked without really having any reason to doubt what he'd said. "You're happy with how I look?" "Happy!?" As I've told you before, Mitch isn't the most eloquent speaker, and now he was having a hard time thinking, let alone speaking. "Dude... you... you're... I mean... I don't even understand how... I mean... dude! I'm thrilled with how you look! The hair! The dress! Your makeup! Your tits! Donnie, you have actual tits! They look so real!" I was completely overwhelmed by Mitch's approval of my appearance, which should have been a warning to me that I sinking too far into my role as his girlfriend. Heck, I'd never once looked for Nancy's approval of how I looked in all the time we were a couple. "Alright, alright, alright." Marie took my hand and led me to Mitch, almost as if I were a gift to him. "Tits? Really, Mitch? You know better than that." "Oh, yeah, of course," Mitch sputtered. "Sorry, but dude..." "And that's the last 'dude' I will hear from you until you both get back from Hawaii. Is that clear?" Marie was speaking as if she was a second grade teacher scolding a student. Mitch responded in kind, "Yes. You're right. What do I call him... her... then?" "How about 'Dawn?'" Hilda suggested. "It's a beautiful name, isn't it? And it's how your coworkers know her." Mitch smiled at me. "Dawn. Yeah, it's a beautiful name." He continued to smile stupidly at me as I did the same back at him. Then he snapped his fingers, "Damn! I was going to pick up flowers, but then I thought it would be a stupid thing to do. I should have gotten them, though. I'm sorry." This time I did realize that I was not thinking straight, though, when I realized how disappointed I was that I was not getting flowers. Instead of showing it, though, I waved a weak wrist and giggled. "Don't be silly. I don't need flowers." He shook his head and smiled broadly. "Dawn... I just can't get over how great you look!" "You look pretty good yourself," I replied. I rarely saw Mitch in a suit. Typically, if he still had on work clothes, he was down to rolled up sleeves, unbuttoned collar and a loosened tie. I doubted that this was a suit he typically wore to the office, though. It was well tailored and shiny and had a very nice matching vest. He really did look like a Brooks' Brothers advertisement. "Look at that," Hilda pointed out, "their hair is the same color. They match, perfectly. What a handsome couple." I glanced at Mitch, then at my own hair and realized she was correct. For some bizarre reason, that made me giggle a little and blush. I don't think I can properly explain how strange I felt standing there with my sister and sister-in-law watching us and Mitch smiling down on me. My insides were flipping and churning with the strangest sense of happiness I'd every felt. It was as if I'd pleased Mitch and that made everything right with the world and I can not, not for the life of me, explain why I felt that way. "Ok." Marie finally picked up a black leather coat she was loaning me and began helping me to put it on. "There is one big thing we need to do before we leave here." Neither Mitch nor I knew what she meant. "Kiss her," my sister said quite matter of factly. Both of our heads snapped in her direction. "What?" We said in perfect unison. Marie shook her head. "Look, love birds, you're going to have to kiss each other at the resort." "Why?" I asked. This was an aspect I had not considered. Marie and Hilda looked at each other and shook their heads. Hilda put one hand on each of our shoulders and smiled. "Look, when I was a teenager, I worked at a very posh ski resort in Sarajevo and we hosted corporate events all the time. When the wives and girlfriends came along for the retreats, I watched and saw how everyone behaved. The couples would come down to breakfast together and sit in small groups. When the corporate masters called the men away, they'd all stand, then bend down and kiss their wives goodbye. When they came to dinner, if the men stood up for any reason - to get a drink from the bar, to go to the rest room, or cross the room and talk to a colleague, whatever - they bent over and kissed their wives. At formal events, the same thing. Anytime they separated, they kissed each other goodbye." "Why?" I asked. It seemed overly involved to me. Nancy and I were always pretty independent in social situations. "It's a sign of ownership, I think," Marie offered. "It's a way for the male of the species to 'mark' his mate so the other males stay away." We both stared at them, prolonging the inevitable as long as possible. "Oh, for crying out loud," my sister was getting impatient, "just put your homophobic silliness away and do it." We both nodded, dumbly, and looked at each other. "Ready?" Mitch asked and I nodded. So, he leaned over an planted a tiny peck of a kiss on my left cheek. "Are you serious?" Marie asked, sounding a bit disgusted. "Donnie, who is your best friend in the world?" "Mitch," I said. "Do you trust him?" "Of course." I knew where she was headed, but I didn't want her to arrive at her destination. She asked Mitch the same questions and got the predictable answers. "Do either of you suffer from halitosis?" Marie was getting snotty, now. "Of course not," I replied. "Then, for crying out loud, just kiss each other." Marie had reached the end of her patience. "Trust me," Hilda said, in a sweet, quiet voice, "we will not judge you." Both Mitch and I took a deep breath and stared at each other. Mitch gave me an apologetic and resigned smile, then he put his hands on my shoulders, leaned forward and gently plated a kiss on my lips. It only lasted a second or two, and it was awkward and unsettling. When it was over, we both looked at Marie and Hilda for approval. "Well..." Marie shook her head, "...it's a start. Donnie, next time close your eyes and lean your head back so that Mitch doesn't have to work so hard and Mitch, don't be so tentative. We could stay here practicing this for the next three hours, but our reservation is in twenty minutes, so we need to get our butts in gear. Next time, though, I want to see some improvement." I looked at Mitch who still had that apologetic look on his face and I shrugged. "Sorry," I whispered. "I'll do better next time." "Me too," he nodded. "Let's go." Marie and Hilda went in Hilda's Land Rover while I rode with Mitch in his Lexus. That is, I rode with Mitch AFTER I received a tutorial about getting in and out of a low automobile in a tight dress and then rehearsing those actions about a half dozen times. Even though the satellite radio was playing the latest Taylor Swift offering - Mitch has always loved TS - the first minute or so of the drive was uncomfortably quiet. Finally, Mitch cleared his throat and said, "You really do look amazing, Dawn. I can't believe how different you look. In a good way, I mean. Like, better." I snickered at that. "Better?" "Ok, I can see that I'm digging a hole here, so I'm just going to stop digging." More silence, then, "Does it feel... different?" I thought about that for a second. "Yes and no. I mean...they took off all of my body hair - well... almost all, so everything feels a little different, and the clothes are a lot... not just softer, but... nicer, so that all feels different. Everything smells different because of the makeup and Rie sprayed some perfume on me and then there's all this hair that I have to deal with constantly... so, yeah, a lot feels different, but..." When I didn't continue, Mitch prodded. "But what." "Well... I was going to say that I still felt like me, but... I really don't. I do feel different... very different. Like... smaller, in a way, even though my shoes make me taller. Vulnerable, I guess - and not just in the 'a dress makes you vulnerable' kind of way, but... when Rie says anything critical, it really hits me hard and when you... oh, Jesus, let's not go there." Mitch sounded concerned. "What? Wait... did I say something that upset you?" "No, no," I insisted, "but..." Ok, I knew that what I was going to say was going to sound really weird, but I needed to be honest with Mitch if we were going to pull this off. "Look, you know I'm only doing this to help you out, right? So, maybe that had something to do with it, but... Nancy and I lived together for almost ten years and if, in all that time, she ever said that I looked nice, I just said 'thanks' and moved on, but... just now, when I came down the stairs and you... you said I looked..." I took a breath to strengthen my resolve. "...you said I looked..." the word stuck in my mouth, "...beautiful... I don't know why, but at that moment, hearing you say that was the most important thing in the world to me. So... thanks... for saying it, I mean." I felt like such an idiot for having been so honest about it, but I think I needed to tell him. The Taylor Swift song ended and before another could start, Mitch shut off the radio. I just stared forward into the dark, winter night. Anthony's Restaurant was just ahead. I could see the sign. Maybe, I could relax and just shut up with Marie and Hilda with me to keep the conversation going. Then something occurred to me. "I realized that I'm going to need an ID to get through airport security. I don't know if that's even possible, so maybe this isn't going to work, any way." As I was finishing up that sentence, Mitch suddenly turned his Lexus into the parking lot of a CVS Drug Store that was located next to Anthony's. I was about to say that the restaurant was the next driveway, but I could tell by the way that Mitch slammed the car into park that he already knew that. I'd upset him. I knew that I'd upset him and I felt bad about it. Shit, what do you do when you answer a question honestly and it upsets someone you care about. "Look, Mitch..." I started to say, but he stopped me by twisting his body as much as he could so that he could look at me and he took my hand in his. "I'll take care of getting you an ID. I've already figured out how to do that. I just need to take a picture of you before I leave you, tonight, but... Donnie... um... Dawn... When I asked you to do this... I guess I never expected that you'd have to... go this far, I guess. I was kind of expecting that you'd wear a wig and, you know, put on a dress, or something. I never expected..." He took a huge breath and grunted it back out. "... I never expected that you'd BECOME a woman, but... You did and... it's amazing... and you really are one of the most beautiful women I have ever laid eyes on. So, look... I know this is weird for you, but you have to realize that it's pretty weird for me, too. I can't thank you enough and I can't wait to show you off when we get to Hawaii. So, I appreciate how honest you were with me about how you feel and I want you to keep being honest with me, the whole time we're doing this, ok?" "Ok." I smiled, very relieved. "So, let me be very honest with you, ok? I am so, so amazed that I have a friend who would go so far to help me. I really am. This... this means everything to me, Donnie. Everything. I will never, NEVER be able to repay you or thank you enough for doing this for me." He took a breath and calmed down before continuing. "So, anyway... you said that when I said you were beautiful, that was important to you. Well, let me just say that you being this beautiful for me is the greatest thing anyone has ever done for me and if all it takes for me to make you happy is to say that you're beautiful, then I will say it a million times a day." He took my hand in his and looked at my manicured, painted nails. "Donnie, you are the most beautiful person, male or female, I have ever known." Then he shocked me by kissing my hand. "Your hair is beautiful." He kissed it again. "Your eyes are beautiful." He kissed it again. "Your body is beautiful." He kissed it again. By now, I was actually lighted headed by the romance of the moment. "Your breasts are beautiful." He kissed my hand once again, but this time the kiss lingered and it made me shiver. Who the heck was this guy? Not my shy friend Mitch, certainly. This was a very confident, very warm person and his lips were warm and soft on my hand and those lips were making me melt. Then he looked at me and said, "And more beautiful than all the rest of you are your lips." I smiled and felt weak. "We don't have an audience, now. Let's see if we can do this right." As he leaned towards me, I wanted to snap him out of it. I wanted to laugh the whole thing off. I wanted to say something glib to defuse this whole ludicrous situation. But I didn't. I tilted my head back, leaned towards him, closed my eyes and felt his soft, warm lips touch mine. I felt myself quiver and melt when his arm worked it's way around my shoulders and pulled me closer. I felt tingles at my core that I'd never felt before. I felt a warm rush of submission course through me as I succumbed to his strength, his aroma, his heat. I don't know how long the kiss lasted. It could have been ten seconds, it could have been an hour, but when Mitch ended the kiss and pulled back from me, I felt different. I felt small. I felt incomplete. I felt needy. I needed Mitch to be with me. My heart was beating so fast that I thought I might pass out and I could feel a warmth on my face that told me that Mitch could see my neediness, too. Maybe he didn't know that his kiss had changed me, but he knew that it had changed our relationship. There's no way that he couldn't know that. "I think we did it." Mitch smiled down at me. "That was a pretty good kiss, wasn't it?" "Mitch..." I searched for what I wanted to say. "I... I...I... I don't know... I mean..." I was nearly breathless as I sputtered and tried to form a coherent thought. "That was... wonderful, but... I'm not... I mean, we're friends and... but..." "Relax," Mitch said, patting my long, blonde hair. "It was just a kiss. I'm not going to have sex with you or anything." Oh, my God! Had he just said that!? "Mitch..." I was still in shock - possibly in awe of Mitch's kiss. "I'm not... gay, Mitch. I mean... I'm still a guy in here." He smiled and even laughed a little. Maybe the laughter was just nerves, or maybe he thought my overreaction was funny, or cute, I don't know, but it did help to lessen the tension I was feeling. "I know, Dawn. I'm not gay, either. I just... well, like Marie said, if we're going to pull this off, we're going to have to be comfortable with things like kissing, so... let's just make the most of it and enjoy it. Ok?" Then, as he put the car in reverse to pull out the parking space, he sang. MY FRIEND MITCH ACTUALLY SANG, "You must remember this. A kiss is just a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh..." A few moments later, a valet at Anthony's Restaurant was opening my door for me and offering me a hand. Remembering Marie's tutorials, I swiveled to my right and placed my feet on the ground before allowing myself to be assisted to my feet. The long, black leather coat that I was wearing fell around my stockinged legs as I stood and waited for Mitch to come around to my side of the car. He came up on my left side, placed a strong hand on my lower back and we walked that way into the lobby where Hilda and Marie were waiting. "Did you get lost?" Marie asked, with a smirk on her face. "We had some... things to talk about." Mitch nodded. "Sorry if we made you wait." The hostess showed us to our table and Mitch helped all three of us with our chairs. "Well, aren't you the chivalrous one." Marie teased as we opened our menus and looked at the selections. We all ohhed and ahhed at the descriptions of the food, but all the while, I could feel Hilda looking at me. When I glanced to my right to see what she was looking at, she sat back a little and announced, "Excuse me for a few moments, please. I need to use the ladies' room. Dawn, would you come with me, please?" A bit surprised, I said, "Me? I... don't need..." "Dawn," my sister in law sounded more insistent, "would you please accompany me to the ladies' room?" I glanced around the table. Mitch was still buried in the menu and Marie just gave me a nod to indicate I should go. So I did. I stood to leave, but Hilda stopped me and whispered, "Kiss Mitch goodbye." "Oh." I nodded and turned, bent and kissed Mitch on the cheek. "I'll be right back." Mitch was a little surprised by my kiss and said, "Oh, ok. I'll be right here." I followed Hilda through the restaurant and into the ladies' room. Wow, was it different than any men's room I'd ever been in. There were actually two rooms. The first containing three, small, elaborately brocaded couches, and a counter with a well lit mirror. That room opened to another room with toilet stalls and sinks. Hilda walked to the mirrored counter and opened her purse. She patted the seat next to her and I sat there. As I waited to find out what was happening, Hilda retrieved a couple of items from her purse, placed them on the counter, then handed me a tissue and said, "Go ahead. Use it." I just looked at it, confused. "Use it for what? Is my nose running?" Hilda huffed, then checked that we were alone, before snatching the tissue from my hand and aggressively removing the lipstick from my lips. "What are you doing?" I asked. She looked disappointed as she said, "What happened. Did you two stop to make out on the way here?" "No," I said honestly. "Then why is your lipstick smeared?" she scolded. "Oh..." I think I may have looked contrite, but I also may have looked guilty. I don't know. "We had to talk through a few things and we thought it might be easier if we tried a real kiss without you guys watching us. So... he kissed me." "It must have been a heck of a kiss to have messed up your lips that much. Here, this is your lip color. Reapply it so it looks right. I have some sealer here, too. That will help maintain it a little better, too." I thanked her and looked into the mirror and recolored my lips. While I was busy, Hilda crossed her legs and watched me. "Is this really just a plutonic thing between you and Mitchell? Because I think I saw some sparks flying when he first saw you as a woman." I stopped, holding the lipstick an inch or so from my lips. "I don't know. I think that it's just plutonic, but... I don't know." Hilda looked at my face in the mirror and nodded. "Did you know I was married once before I met your sister?" "No!" This really shocked me. I thought I knew everything about my sister in law. "I was, and I was happy, for the most part. He was a nice man. Successful. He owned several dry cleaning shops in Brookline. He treated me well and we got along just fine." "You were married to a man?" I never considered that Hilda had ever been attracted to a man. "What happened?" "One night I went to a party with my husband and Marie was there with her boyfriend, Rick. We got to talking and, well, I felt an attraction to Marie and, it turned out, she felt the same about me. As time went on, that attraction turned into love and here we are." I finished my lips and applied the sealer. "What happened to your husband?" Hilda looked a bit sad. "My husband... he understood and we parted ways. I loved him, Donnie, but... Marie ignited a feeling in me I'd never felt before." I finished with the sealer and closed up the case. I looked at Hilda in the mirror. "So, you think I'm gay?" She smiled. "I think you're human. That's all. Maybe you are feeling something for Mitch. That's what I'm saying." I shook my head. "I think it's the clothes messing with us. I don't think I'm gay." Hilda shrugged. "Neither did I, but my advice is, if you find love, don't ruin it with labels." I nodded at her, but deep down, I knew that I wasn't gay. I just needed to get a handle on my emotions. It was the clothes. Definitely the clothes. "Now, about this role that your playing," Hilda was now speaking as a theatrical professional, "you need to remember that you are a trophy partner, not a mistress. You do not make out in a car in a CVS parking lot - yes, I saw you as we passed. Your body is your tool. It needs to look perfect at all times. Your makeup will always be perfect, your hair will always be beautiful and you will be the perfect decoration for Mitch at this retreat. No more slutty behavior, ok?" I smiled. 'Slutty behavior.' Since when was a kiss in a car 'slutty behavior,' but I definitely got the message. "I'm an accoutrement, not a mistress. Got it." "I know that sounds terrible, but it's true," Hilda smiled. We returned to the table where Marie and Mitch were in an animated conversation. I kissed Mitch's cheek again as I sat, and then Marie brought us up to speed. "I was just telling Mitch that he'll need to contact the airline and pay for all of your luggage." "How much do you plan on taking?" Mitch asked. "I paid for one stowed and one carry on. Isn't that enough?" "Probably," I posited. "I only own one suitcase and a carryon." "Oh, my God, you two are impossible," Marie shook her head. "Mitch, you want her to look her best, right? Well that involves a lot of clothing options. That means luggage. Donnie, we are going to Kaminsky's tomorrow to pick up an entirely new wardrobe for you. These are expensive, high end items. You can't just cram them into some cut rate cases. After we go to Kaminsky's, we'll go to a reputable luggage store and get everything you need. They need to be designer cases, too." Finally, Mitch held up his hands. "Ok, now wait a minute. Luggage is luggage. I got some nice American Tourister pieces at JC Penny's the other day..." "If I could interrupt," Hilda said quietly. "Luggage, like every other aspect of a trophy's appearance, is a sign of her societal aspirations. If a woman shows up with American Tourister luggage, then she is looking to have a good, solid, middle class life. If she shows up up Vuitton, or Dior or Gucci luggage, then that girl is going to do whatever she can to support a husband who can provide her with the best lifestyle available. These names will not go unnoticed by the wives of the partners. Which message do you want to send?" "Ok," Mitch surrender, then he looked at me. "You'd better use that luggage a lot." "Or loan it to your sister," Marie suggested. "May I take your drink orders," the waiter asked. Hilda ordered a whiskey sour, Marie a moscato, Mitch ordered a bottle of Sam Adams beer and when I said I'd have the same, Marie snapped, "No you certainly will not! She will have an appletini, thank you." That was just the start of how my decisions would be made for me that night. I wanted the filet mignon, but I got the grilled Caesar salad. I wanted the German Chocolate Cake, but I had to share one scoop of gelato with my sister and her wife. Don't get me wrong, it was a great meal, just not what I would typically order. Marie made it clear that I needed to think about meals like that until we got home from Hawaii. Oh, well, I knew that I could still have a good time, even if I was relegated to eating rabbit food. We said goodbye to Hilda and Marie in the parking lot and Mitch drove me home. After a couple of drinks, I was much more relaxed. I mentioned before that beer never really bothered me, but that liquor hits me really hard. Well, two appletinis had me very relaxed and Mitch knew it. See, Mitch knew my history. See, I partied a lot when we, Mitch, Nancy, Marie and I, were all at Umass getting our degrees. If there was just beer at the party, I was fine, but if there was liquor, I tended to blackout - and by that I don't mean I passed out, I mean my consciousness shut down, but my body kept right on partying and the next day, I couldn't remember a thing about the night before. Mitch was the one who figured out that I couldn't handle my liquor. Since then, I've been a two-beer-maximum guy with just the occasional mixed drink. When we got to my house, Mitch came in with me to take a picture for my new ID. He had me stand in front of a beige wall and snapped a pic on his phone, but before I'd let him do that, I slipped my heels off. Walking around with only the thin layer of stockings covering my feet was a very sensuous feeling. Mitch seemed to like the way I looked, too. "Look," he smiled as he looked at me and that smile made me feel nice, "I know you and Marie have a lot to do tomorrow, but maybe tomorrow night we could grab dinner again, or something. Maybe something more casual than tonight. Maybe we could just talk about the trip and stuff." I waffled for a minute before saying, "I should probably ask Rie if I can. She may have me scheduled for something or another." He smiled more broadly. "Yeah, I get it. Boys have all the freedom in the world, but girls have to be kept on a short leash, right?" I chuckled. "No, but my sister is a world class control freak, you know that, and, if I'm being very honest, I'm scared of her, so..." Mitch laughed. "If I'm being honest, I am too." We stood awkwardly and stared at each other for a solid minute or more before Mitch asked, "Can I kiss you goodnight?" "Well," I sighed, "the answer is 'yes,' but according to Hilda, YOU need to be more gentle when you kiss me. Last time, you smudged my lipstick." "I'll be gentle. I promise." He laughed as he came closer. As I've mentioned, Mitch is six foot two inches tall and I'm five foot six. Eight inches has never seemed like a big gap to me before, but it was, that night. He put one arm around my shoulders, and the other around my lower back and pulled me in to him tightly. He gave me a sweet, soft, gentle kiss the made my toes curl. "You know what?" He whispered, "I've already broken a promise to you?" "You have?" I blinked at him. "Yep," he kissed my forehead. "I promised that I'd tell you that you're beautiful a million times and I've probably only done it a few hundred thousand times. So, let me tell you once more that you're beautiful, then give you one last kiss good night." "Sounds good," I smiled. Why did I like the feel of being held like this? Mitch put his forehead on mine so our eyes were just inches apart. "You are beautiful," he said quietly. I said, "Thank you," but I couldn't get anything more out because he kissed me on the lips and hugged me tightly. When the kiss ended, he pulled his head back, but the hug continued. I was feeling very unsteady at this point, and I needed to gain back some control over my emotions. "I think you'd better go so we can both figure out what we're feeling. Ok?" "Ok," he let me go. "You're right. It's been a very surprising night. We should calm down and talk tomorrow." He stepped back and put his hands on his narrow hips as he took one last look at me. "Donnie," he said, "you're beautiful and..." he winked as he said his customary goodbye phrase, "... I love you." An hour later, my organ was untapped, my hair was brushed and in several cloth hair ties, my makeup had been removed, my skin had been moisturized and I was climbing into bed in my ugly, male pajamas which I had come to hate, and I was crawling into bed, desperately trying to get a handle on what had happened to me that night. Did I love Mitch? Yes, of course I loved him, but as a friend, right? Did I like it when he kissed me? Yes, of course I did, but maybe that was just the loneliness of not being with anyone since Nancy. Did I want to have sex with him? See, that was the problem. No. The thought of another man's penis did nothing for me. Did I want to caress it? No. Absolutely no. Did I want to do down on him and take it into my mouth? No. Absolutely no - like, a big time, capital letters NO! Did I want his penis to enter me? No. Absolutely, no. In fact, I couldn't even conceive of it. So, where did that leave me? I loved Mitch - as a friend and.... I loved the way I felt with Mitch. I loved how he smelled, how he kissed, how he touched me, how he made me feel protected, but... I could never be with him. So, once again, where did that leave me? The same place I'd been since Nancy left - Sad and alone in a cold, empty bed. Great. Now life wasn't just unfair and painful, it was confusing as hell, too. That was like the icing on the cake for my pity party. So I did the only thing I knew how to do. For this first time since my mother's death, I cried. I cried for over an hour and eventually, I cried myself to sleep. I slept through the night and was awakened by my twin sister flopping herself onto my bed. "Wake up, sleeping beauty, we've got a big day ahead of us." I cracked my eyelids open and asked, "What time is it?" "Eight forty five. Come on." She sat up, took my hand and pulled me to the seating position. I groaned as I moved. "I'm going to have to take your key away. It's too early." Marie laughed. "Ugh, we're going to have to get you some nighties. You can't sleep in these rags any more." She was laughing at her own teasing, but then she stopped and looked at my face. "Hey. Have you been crying?" I touched my cheek. "Oh... yeah... a little... last night." She looked very serious. "Really? Why?" I shrugged. "I don't know. It was a long and confusing day and I was a little drunk... I guess it just all hit me when I was alone." She touched my cheek. "I'm sorry. This must be an awful lot for you, huh?" I nodded. Marie looked at me and asked, "You and Mitch didn't... you know... did you?" I shook my head. "No. I could never go that far. He just kissed me goodnight and went home." Ok, it was the truth, but it was only part of the truth. I couldn't face my feelings alone, I certainly couldn't share them with Marie when I couldn't even access them myself. "Tell you what," she smiled, "let's get you dressed and I'll buy you Dunkies for breakfast." For those of you who don't live in New England, Dunkin' Donuts, or 'Dunks,' or 'Dunkies,' is the most important institution ever established on the face of the earth. Why, because they sell good coffee. Not that bitter garbage that Starbucks sells for three times the price, but just good coffee. They also sell fairly tasteless doughnuts and pretty good breakfast sandwiches. Marie's suggestion sounded very good to me. A good cup of coffee and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a flakey, buttery croissant would hit the spot. Of course, because Marie felt that a croissant sandwich was too fattening for a trophy girlfriend to be eating, she ordered me a a breakfast wrap - a tasteless egg, processed cheese and one slice of bacon on a piece of paper thin wrap- bread. A sandwich designed to be eaten by women on their way to aerobics classes. Oh, well, it got me through the morning. When we arrived at Kaminsky's, Randall was smiling and waiting with rack after rack of clothing options. He guided us towards the clothing he'd chosen for me to wear in the cold weather of New England for the next four days before my flight. He did make it clear that he didn't much care for the skirt and top that Marie had loaned me to wear that day. It was a very comfortable brown, woolen skirt with black tights and loose, red sweater. It was plain, but comfortable and Randal gave it a subtle scowl and suggest that I get out of 'that' and into some 'nice clothes' as quickly as possible. Since my four days in the cold were not really the focus of our outing, Marie picked out six lovely ensembles in a heartbeat. I tried them on right there in large 'VIP Shoppers Room' with Randall leaving and returning after I was dressed, and she liked them, so those outfits were put aside for purchase. I was particularly fond of one outfit that Marie didn't care for. I tried it on anyway and mentioned to Rie that Mitch had asked me out to dinner again that evening and that this out fit, a tartan skirt with a cashmere sweater would be nice to wear for that. Marie agreed and thought that a casual date with Mitch was a great idea. So, I text him to tell him that I could go to dinner with him. Then came the arduous, yet strangely titillating process of choosing my resort clothing. For day wear, Randall had chosen a general style of sleeveless, silk tops that would fit loosely and offer a cool feeling in the Hawaiian sunshine, coupled with a series of skirts that all seemed to fit similarly. Marie liked the concept and pointed out that the blousy tops would allow me to look pretty and shapely without wearing the waist cincher during the day. After nearly two hours of trying on clothing items and having them scrutinized by Randall and Marie, my day clothes for the resort were chosen and I thought that way too much was being purchased, but my opinion was laughed at by Marie and ignored by Randall. The majority of the purchases adhered to Randall's blouse and skirt plan, but I was allowed two sun dresses that I rather liked - They weren't included because I liked them, though, but rather because Marie thought they looked sexy on me and she thought Mitch might think so, too. Next came the evening outfits, so on went my waist cincher. I can't say that I liked the evening wear as much as the day wear. It wasn't nearly as comfortable, but it was pretty and, I have to admit, it made me look lovely as well. Marie chose seven dresses, one for each night and one for just in case. Then came the formal wear. Two actual gowns! I couldn't believe that formal meant THAT formal! I must have tried on thirty different gowns before Marie chose two and, thank heavens, those two were far and away the most comfortable. By now, it was well past lunch and that little nibble I'd had for breakfast wasn't keeping me filled up. I may have been becoming a little testy at that point, I don't know, but I was definitely annoying my sister. "Randall," she said as if she'd used a personal stylist everyday of her life, "I'm going to take Dawn to lunch. When we get back, I'll need to see the corresponding lingerie for each of these outfits, some shoe selections and some swimwear. We should be back in an hour or so. Thank you." Now, if I were Randall and I'd just invested the amount of time I'd invested in a bossy woman and her submissive little sister, I think I may have been at the end of my rope, but he sucked it up and nearly kissed our feet as we left. Lunch was a tuna salad at a little place across the street. Nothing to get excited about. "You're doing great, Donnie," Marie complimented when I expressed how tired I was getting. "Let's get some protein into you and you'll be fine. Just hang in there. Only another couple of hours to go." Did you hear that? A couple more hours, she said! I could not for the life of me understand how women could do this! Typically, I either ran into a store and grabbed a pair of jeans, or just ordered them from Amazon. Suddenly, shopping had become hard work! So, we returned to Kaminsky's and found that Randall had laid out each of my new outfits with the appropriate lingerie laid neatly beside each one. I took a few minutes to take a picture of each outfit and it's corresponding lingerie so that I'd not make a mistake when I was dressing at the resort. Now, when we were kids, both Marie and Nancy worked in a department store not to far from our house. I remember a conversation that occurred one spring night in which they both discussed how many girls and women were reduced to tears when it was time to buy a new swimsuit. Every year, when I ran into Walmart and bought a new pair of board shorts without even trying them on, I thought about that conversation, but I never understood how difficult it was for a woman to buy a new swimsuit until that cold winter day at Kaminsky's. There were one piece and two piece suits laid out on the table. I tried to lead them to the one piece suits, so that's where we started. There were three. All were aqua, but had different patterns. Randall stepped out of the room and Marie instructed me to try on the suits with my panties still on, which certainly gave me a little piece of mind. Those of you who are not women have more than likely never worn a woman's one piece swimsuit, but I have to say - they are really comfortable! The stretchy material was actually exhilarating and the built in cups did wonders for my breasts! I felt like a model and I was very happy to buy that first suit and call it a day. THEN Randall and Marie began to scrutinize the suit, the fit and, most painfully, my body. My butt was too small for the suit, the legs were cut too high and with my little tush, it made me look like a boy, the top showed too much breast, the straps didn't compliment my shoulders - on and on and on through all of the one piece and seven of the two piece suits until, finally, it was decided that a high waisted two piece didn't make me look too hideous. Once that decision was made, Marie asked for two more of that style in different colors. If I'd had any delusions of being exceptionally beautiful when I was eating lunch, those delusions were shatter after trying on bathing suits. Then I had to try on several different coverups to wear around the pool and on the beach. Three were chosen, one to go with each of the swimsuits. Then we tried on shoes. And then shoes. And then more shoes, until finally six pairs were chosen for the trip and three for the cold weather. It was then approaching four thirty and I wanted, more than anything, to get out of that store. Luckily, we were done. Randall sent a minion to get together a complete tally of the vast harvest of clothing that was being put into bags and store labeled garment bags for us. As we waited, Randall recommended a high end luggage store about a mile away from Kaminsky's for our suitcase needs. And then Randall was handed the final invoice for every thing. He perused it for a moment, then handed it to Marie. She looked at it for a moment, pulled out Mitch's credit card and handed it to Randall, but on the way past me, I caught a glimpse of the tally and nearly fainted. Once Randall had stepped away to process the card, I spoke to my sister in a quiet, but agitated voice. "Marie, that bill is for seventy two hundred dollars! We can't spend that much. We have to put some of it back!" Marie gave me a very condescending smile. "Donnie, I talked to Mitch last night while you and Hilda were in the ladies' room and told him how much this was going to cost. He didn't even flinch. He said I could spend up to twenty thousand if I needed to, so, in a way, this is a bargain for him." I couldn't believe it. "But I'll probably only wear this stuff one time." Randall came back and handed Marie the receipt and credit card and Marie led a parade of employees out to her car to load the clothes in. "I know that you're in a rush to be with Mitch," Marie tased as we pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main drag, "but we need to stop at the luggage store. Why don't you call Mitch and tell him to pick you up at seven." I was putting my phone away as we arrived at the luggage store. Long story short - I actually took a stand this time. Marie was bound and determined to buy a complete set of Louis Vuitton luggage for me at more than three thousand dollars a bag, but I put my foot down. That was an absurd amount of money to spend on luggage, even if it wasn't my own money that we were spending. Instead, we bought a complete, eight piece set of luggage plus three matching garment bags made by a company called Tumi that the saleswoman assured us was prestigious enough to impress Mitch's colleagues and their wives. That little purchase ran us just under two thousand dollars - an absurd amount for luggage, but substantially less than even one of the Vuitton bags. We agreed to pick up the luggage Monday evening so that the store could embroider my initials onto the luggage. We were home just after six and spent a good ten minutes hauling everything up to my guest room. "Ok," Marie clapped her hands, "let's get this all sorted..." I couldn't... I just couldn't do this right at that moment. I had been dealing with these clothes all day, I was hungry and I wanted to go out to dinner with Mitch. "Rie, please, I have to get ready to go to dinner. Everything is folded neatly or laid flat in the garment bags. I'll hang everything up first thing in the morning." I was practically begging her to let me go on my date with Mitch. She smiled and patted my cheek. "Ok, Princess, we'll take care of it tomorrow. Go do your makeup and I'll just hang up the garment bags." "Thanks," I breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you grab that plaid skirt and black sweater for me?" I ran into my lavatory, pulled off the top and skirt I was wearing and quickly adapted my day makeup to nighttime. I opted not to wear false eye lashes that night. When I rushed back into my guest bedroom, Marie had a new pair of silky, black panties held open, waiting for me. "Do I really need to change my underwear?" I asked, in a rush to get dressed. Marie shook her head in frustration, a gesture I'd become quite used to at this point. "First, it's lingerie, not underwear, and second, yes, you have to remember, this is your job and part of that job involves being clean and fresh at all times. That will be a little easier for you than for a woman who has to worry about feminine issues in her panties, but you still need to get used to the regime. Every change of clothes is a change from the skin out." "Fine," I muttered as I lowered my panties and stepped into the fresh pair. Marie undid my bra and helped me with the new one. Truth be told, this lingerie was amazingly soft and comfortable, so, even though I made a little fuss about changing, the softness was a very thrilling feeling. With my manhood taped securely between my legs, I could not achieve and erection, but those feminine little butterflies I had felt the previous night were waking up again. Then I stepped into the skirt. I'd describe it as a midi-length, A-line tartan plaid with moderately sized squares of dark and light grey, and lines of a really pretty shade of green running between the squares, but when I say it was an A-line though, that does not really describe it. The shape was A-line, but while the front of the skirt was a smooth, flat piece of material from the waist to the hem, the sides and the back of the skirt fell in loose folds of extra material. It was so wonderfully luxurious and beautiful that it actually gave me shivers. Then, I pulled on the black, turtle-neck, cashmere sweater and it was so soft that I almost couldn't feel it touching my skin. I pulled my hair through the turtle-neck and smiled at the wonderful feelings of the soft fabric and at the way my blonde hair looked in contrast to the black of the sweater. "Here," Marie handed me a package of sheer, black, elastic top stockings. "Put these on. It's cold out tonight. You'll need them." I sat on the bed and rolled the stockings up my legs, further enhancing the exotic feelings. Then, before I stood, I slipped my feet into a pair of pointed toe, two inch pumps that fit the style of the skirt perfectly. When I looked in the mirror again, I was thrilled with the look. I was comfortable, the shape of my breasts was beautifully displayed, but I didn't need to feel self conscious about my cleavage, the skirt hung beautifully and the shoes felt great. "Very pretty," Marie smiled, "in a 'good girl next door' kind of way." "Well, I like it," I beamed. "If I were a woman, this how I'd dress everyday." The words had barely left my mouth when I realized how it was going to sound to my sister. "Well, I have news for you, Princess..." she started to tease, but I stopped her. "Yeah, yeah. I didn't mean it that way." Marie stood beside me and looked at our reflection. "Donnie... when you get back from Hawaii... are you going back to being a boy?" I snickered at that. "Of course, Rie. Why wouldn't I?" "Well," she patted my hair, "you just seem really... happy right now. Like, happier than I've seen you in a long time. I was just thinking..." "Hello!" Came a man's voice from the foot of the stairs. "Just letting you know I'm here. No rush!" Marie didn't finish her thought. "I'll go keep Mitch company while you finish up." "I'm ready now," I told her. Marie shook her head. "I don't smell any perfume and you just pulled a turtle neck over all that hair, so brush it out before you come down." It took six or seven minutes to brush out my long hair and spritz myself with a vanilla and lavender perfume. When I came down the stairs, I was famished and thrilled to see my buddy there to take me to dinner. He already had Marie's leather coat in his hands, waiting to help me get it on. I was probably a little rude to Marie as I hustled Mitch out the door before I died of starvation! Marie understood, of course and laughed it off, saying that she'd lock up before she left. "Well," Mitch said as we drove up the road, "first off, I was going to just say how beautiful you looked regardless of how you were dressed tonight, but damn, Donnie, you are more beautiful today than you were yesterday!" "Thanks," I blushed, just like I'd done the previous night. Why was I so impacted by whatever Mitch said? I guess it made sense, though. I was doing this for him, so it was important that he liked how I looked. "Second," he shook his head, "I was just going to take you to Applebee's for something simple, but I can't do that with you looking so amazing, so - how does O'Connor's sound?" O'Connor's was an Irish restaurant in town. They specialized in Irish haut-cuisine - I know, who ever heard of Irish haut-cuisine, right? Well, I'd been to O'Connor's a handful of times and was happy to go again. It was always delicious. We were seated near the center of the main dining room. Mitch pushed in my chair for me and I crossed my legs at my knees, taking the time to marvel at the way the my skirt draped off my legs. God, clothes could be so amazingly elegant! I was going to enjoy this for as long as it lasted. After Mitch had ordered himself a Sam Adams and white wine for me, and a 'Berry, Mesclun and Romaine Salad' to share, he reached into a bag that he'd been trying, and failing, to let me see. "Here," he said, handing me a inexpertly gift wrapped box that was approximately an inch and a half thick, eleven inches wide and fourteen inches long. "What's this?" I asked. "I got you something for the trip." I looked at the box, feeling guilty. "Mitch, you've already spent so much money on this trip..." "But the clothes and all aren't really for you, really. This is." I took a deep breath and opened the package. The plain white box made me look up at Mitch. "You bought me an iPad!?" He smiled. "Yeah. That way you can watch movies and stuff on the plane. Open it. I already registered it to you and charged it because I want to show you the resort." "Mitch, this is too much!" I shook my head. "This is just too much!" "No it's not. Just open it." He insisted. I was opening the box when a woman who was passing stopped and said, "Mitchell?" She was a very attractive woman of about forty five years old. Mitch looked up and a look of shock appeared on his face. "Bev!" He regained his composure. "What are you doing here? I mean, I know what you're doing here, but I just didn't expect to see you." He stood and kissed the woman's cheek. "Oscar and I are here with the Elliots. We're sitting right over there." She pointed to an area behind me, then looked at me as if for the first time. She squinted as she looked at me more closely. "Oh, my goodness, is this beautiful thing the legendary Dawn?" Mitch looked at me and said, "Oh, Geez, I'm sorry. Where are my manners. Yes, this is Dawn. Dawn you remember Bev from the Halloween party, don't you. Bev was The Bride of Frankenstein, remember?" Suddenly, I did remember the woman and I also remembered that she was the wife of the founder and president of Mitch's firm. "Bev! Of course I remember!" I said as I reached up and shook her hand. "How are you?" "Oh, Mitchell, she is so much more beautiful without the costume! Why have you been keeping this beautiful child hidden?" She was staring at me, but speaking to Mitch. Then, without warning, she raised her sightline to the side of the room behind me and called across a fairly crowded restaurant, "Oscar! Look who I found! Mitchell is here with his girl." She turned to Mitch and said, "He'll be happy to see you. They were just talking about you five minutes ago." Mitch smiled and nodded and tried to say something about having a quiet dinner, but that was interrupted by a very fit man in his sixties bursting past me with his hand extended to Mitch. "Mitch! We were just talking about you!" The man said. "Bob Elliot and I were just talking about the Rand case and he wanted to get some things straightened out before we leave for the retreat this week. Why don't you come over to our table for a few minutes and fill us in on a few of the details." "Oh, well, I'm here with..." Mitch tried to say, but Bev beat him to it. "Don't worry about pretty little Dawn, Mitchell. I'll keep her company. Oscar, when you get back to the table, send Jodi over here to join us." "Oh," Oscar said, noticing me for the first time. "Is this the infamous Dawn that I've heard so much about? How nice to meet you, my dear." He smiled down at me, but did not offer a handshake. Then I thought - Wait a minute! What did he mean by 'infamous,' or 'hear so much about?' Did everyone in Mitch's professional world think of me as his girlfriend? Well, I was, but... you know what I mean. This whole, 'Dawn' thing seemed to have pretty deep roots. Was I his 'Girlfriend in Canada?' You know, the made up girlfriend for a gay man? What had he told these people? A server arrived with our drinks. She put my wine on the table and Mitch grabbed his bottle of Sam and bent down to kiss my cheek. As he did that, he whispered, "I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can, but it is a pretty important case..." "She'll be fine, Mitchell," Bev said, pushing Mitch along. "Jodi and I need to get to know this pretty little thing. You boys go talk shop." And just like that, Mitch was gone and I was facing Bev, who seemed very happy to have me to herself. "Dawn, Dawn, Dawn," she smiled as she sat. "Ever since Halloween, you have been the topic of great speculation at the office, you know." I did my best to smile and look confident. Bev continued. "Well, prior to that night, Mitchell was the most eligible bachelor at the firm. Tall, handsome and winning nearly every case he worked on. Then, out of the blue, you appeared. You broke a lot of hearts that night, I'll tell you. When you were a no-show at the Christmas party, a lot of girls got their hopes up again, but now... wait till they see how beautiful you really are. That drab 'Daphne' costume you wore on Halloween, did not suit you." "Velma," I corrected. "I was Velma. Daphne is the pretty one..." "Yes. The pretty one, indeed..." she said, very cryptically. I felt like I was being scanned by a computer, or something. Every molecule of my being was being scrutinized by the this woman. For my part, I did notice that her dress was a Dior and her shoes must have cost eight hundred dollars, those were things I would not have noticed before, but I also took note of how much softer my skin looked than hers. How much more lustrous my hair was - well, it was my hair in that Mitch paid for me to have it - and how much more I liked my outfit than hers. There was something about the way that she looked at me that made me feel as if I needed to be in competition with her. "Ahh," Bev suddenly looked up and extended a hand to someone coming up behind me, "Jodi, look who's here! You remember Mitch's girl, Dawn, don't you?" "Dawn!" The woman said as she sat in a seat between Bev and me. "What happened to you! We all loved you at the party and then you fell off the face of the earth! When you were a no-show at Christmas, a lot of the girls thought that Mitch was back on the market. There are going to be a lot of broken hearted office girls when you show up in Hawaii. Oh, you are coming, darling, aren't you? You must, dear, you must come!" First, I have to mention that both of these women were a lot - A LOT - younger than their husbands. Jodi was probably only five or six years older than me and her husband was, as Oscar was, well into his sixties. Second, I was very surprised that these women were so aware of the social going-ons at their husbands' law firm. This all seemed very 'Mad Men' to me. You know that show about the advertising industry in the late fifties and early sixties? Until that moment, I thought that women had moved past this kind of gossip and manipulation. I was wrong. I started to explain that I'd been unable to attend the Christmas party for one reason or another and that I was going to go on the trip... but as I was speaking, Jodi lifted the table cloth and looked under it. Then, as I was in mid-sentence she turned to Bev and said, "Oh, my God, Bev, have you seen this skirt? It's adorable! Stand up, honey, and let us see it better." Completely baffled, I stood and stepped away from the table. "Isn't that just the cutest outfit?" Jodi said, nearly applauding for me. "Oh, it is," Bev agreed. "Give us a little turn so we can see it better." I did as I was asked, and to be honest, the fact that they were approving of my choice made me feel pretty great. "That would look just perfect on my step daughter," Jodi said. "You must tell me where you got it!" I was quite happy to share that information. After all, this was the one outfit that I'd chosen and I was proud of it. "Kaminsky's" Both women looked impressed. "Kaminsky's?" Bev said in a 'faux shocked' manner. "Isn't that a bit... pricey... for a graphic artist?" Wait? They knew what I did for a living? How much had Mitch told them? "Unemployed graphic artist, actually," I smiled as I sat back down. "Mitch bought this for me." Jodi took my hand and squeezed it tighter than any car salesman ever had. "Oh, you know what that means, don't you? If a guy is willing to spend that kind of money on you, a diamond ring can't be too far away! Mitch is a real keeper! Tall, handsome, an excellent lawyer... if he settles down and gets married soon, I bet he makes partner by thirty five. Don't let him slip away!" Yeah, no pressure, right? I needed to talk to Mitch about all of these 'behind the curtains' plotting and planning. We'd need to come up with a really good break up story after the trip. My salad arrived and the ladies allowed me to dig in, thank goodness, and all the while they commented on how I 'ate like a bird' and after I married Mitch I could 'let myself enjoy food again.' It wasn't exactly the kind of conversation one would have heard around the Algonquin Round Table a hundred years ago and I kept hoping that Mitch would return to rescue me. He finally did, but that was nearly two hours later. The restaurant as actually closed and customers were finishing up their meals. "Ladies, I am so sorry that we got involved in work related things," Oscar said as all three men came over to our table. "And I especially apologize to you, young lady," he said to me, as he picked up my hand and patted it as if it were a gerbil. "I'm sure that I interrupted a romantic evening for you. I am sorry." "Not a problem at all," I smiled as Mitch pulled out my chair, helped me to stand and held my coat open for me. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I couldn't get away." "You didn't eat anything," I whispered back to him. "Should we get the rest of the salad to go?" He just shook his head. As we reached the parking lot, I received kisses on the cheeks from both women and their husbands. It was odd for me, but also, Bob Elliot's kiss seemed to last just long enough to cross the line from uncomfortable and become creepy. Mitch must have apologized fifty times on the short ride to my house. I said it was fine. I knew that they had been talking business. "Well, yes, for part of it we were, but a lot of the time was discussing the golf tournament in Hawaii and who we would be partnered with. Things like that." Ok, this was a problem. Mitch loved golf. He played on the golf team in high school and even got a partial scholarship to play golf in college. If he got out of work early, he went to the driving range. Every weekend and vacation morning, he was playing a round of golf with some group or another or even just going to the course and hooking up with someone who needed a partner. He loved the game and he was good at it. I didn't and I wasn't. "Mitch... I can't play golf. I suck at it. You know that." He smiled at me. "No worries. It's just for the lawyers and accountants. A few of the wives play, but not as part of the tournament. They have us scheduled for two rounds of golf on different courses on most of the days of the retreat. It's a team building thing." Now, I was very confused. "So, what will I be doing while you do that?" He shrugged. "You'll be with the wives and girlfriends. There's all kinds of things to do at the resort. I'll show you when we get to your place. There's beaches and hot tubs and pools, spas, massages, facials, all kinds of lady stuff." This was sobering news. I thought I'd have Mitch to protect me on the trip, but now... just me and the women. Wow. That was a lot to take in. I needed to get a handle on how that was going to work. When we got to my place, Mitch came in, helped me with my coat and asked me to sit on the couch with him. Once again, he presented the iPad that I had not been able to unbox earlier. "I have an iPad, you know," I shook my head, still surprised at how reckless my penny wise friend was being with his money. "You have a first generation iPad with a cracked screen," he scoffed. "It'll make a better cutting board than a computing tablet. Trust me, you'll love this one." I turned on the iPad and was surprised by how quickly it came on. I was also surprised that it had my internet connection password already entered. When I mentioned that, Mitch just smiled and told me the name of the resort where we'd be staying. I entered it in Google and it opened on the site of the most beautiful resort I'd ever seen. Every view was amazing! Mountains - volcanic mountains - palm trees, perfect white beaches, water as blue as the sky... just amazing! Mitch smiled at me from the other side of the couch. He could tell that I was actually getting excited about this trip, now. "Can I see the iPad?" He asked. "I'll show you our suite." "Our SUITE!?" I repeated, shocked. "You didn't tell them that we're honeymooning or anything, did you?" He smiled. "No, but this may be the only time we get to go to Hawaii, so why not go all the way and stay in a suite?" "You're spending a lot of money on this, Mitch," I shook my head. I never had a lot of money, but after months of just struggling to keep all the balls in the air while I looked for a new job, I had become more cautious with money than I was before Nancy left. "You know, we racked up quite a bill at Kaminsky's today, and the luggage, and then this iPad... this isn't like you. You've always been very frugal. To be honest, I'm a little worried about you." He waved me off. "Donnie, I'm fine. I promise. I decided I was going to splurge on this trip whether you came or not. I booked this room back in August. You'll love it. Come here. Sit closer so we can both see the screen." I moved beside him, tucking skirt under me as I sat. The room was amazing. It was huge and had two king sized beds in it. That was a relief. I hadn't really considered the sleeping arrangements until I saw the beds. A massive bathroom with a jet tub in it, one of those showers with jets coming out of everywhere, an actual dinning room where we could eat food ordered from room service, huge TVs in the lounge and bedroom... it was all every impressive. I asked about the flight. I didn't know anything about the departure time or anything else. "I've got a town car picking us up at four on Wednesday afternoon. We'll get to the airport in plenty of time, and since we're flying first class, we'll eat in the Hawaiian Airlines lounge. The plane leaves at ten that night, it's an eleven hour flight, we can sleep on the plane and, because of the six hour time difference, when we arrive in Hawaii, the sun will just be coming up. Pretty good, huh?" "Pretty great," I agreed. "I guess we'll need to wear sweats to sleep on the plane." It was about this time that I realized that I was sitting differently. I had kicked off my shoes and my feet had gotten chilly, so they were tucked under me, nestled cozily in my warm, woolen skirt. Then, somewhere along the way, I had leaned in towards Mitch to see the screen better and now I found my body also nestled cozily, but I was nestled against Mitch's chest and his arm was around my shoulders. I should have been upset by this, but it felt nice to be close and warm and nothing felt at all weird about it. I just stayed focused on the iPad. "Donnie," he laughed at my suggestion of sweat pants, "we're traveling first class. The chairs fold flat into actual beds and they provide pajamas for the customers. Usually, the pjs are just plain, broadcloth things, but I called them this morning and spent a little extra to get you silk ones. They're really nice and have the company logo on them. They'll look nice on you." I turned my head and looked up at him. "They'll look nice on me?" Mitch chuckled at my question. "Ok, look, this is kind of playing with my mind, Donnie. I mean, you've looked in the mirror, right? I know that you're my friend, Donnie, and I know I'm really happy that we've found a way that we can help each other out, but... this kind of feels nice, too, doesn't it? Sitting here together? I'm not going to pretend that anything can come of this, but... for the time being... why don't we just, you know, go with it. I've been watching you and you can't tell me that you're not enjoying this and, to be very honest, having someone who looks beautiful and smells unbelievable holding my hand, kissing me, cuddling with me... truth is... I like it." I relaxed against his chest just a bit more. "I smell good?" I teased him. He put down the iPad and hugged me tightly, taking a comically deep breath. "You smell one hell of a lot better than you ever did before, Donnie, I'll tell you that. Yeah! You smell like..." this time he really did take a deep breath, "like vanilla and... some kind of flowers and your hair..." he buried his nose in my hair and breathed deeply, "... I smells like fruit... strawberries, maybe." By now, I was laughing nearly uncontrollably at the way he was sniffing and analyzing my scents. "So, to satisfy your seemingly constant need for compliments, you look beautiful, you smell beautiful and I love having the opportunity to be with such a beautiful woman. Are you satisfied?" I rolled onto my back so that Mitch had no choice but to cradle my shoulders like he would a baby's. I smiled and said, "I don't know if 'satisfied' is the right word. 'Confused' or 'frustrated' might be better." As we stared at each other, our smiles dimmed. Mitch, very slowly, leaned over until his lips were nearly touching mine, but then he stopped. I knew why. He was looking for some sign from me that I wanted him to kiss me. So, I gave him the best sign I could. I raised my head and kissed him. It only lasted a few seconds, but then he kissed me. This one lasted longer and felt more heated, as if it might lead to something we both knew we shouldn't do. When he pulled away, he smiled at me and gently brushed my blonde hair from my face with his soft fingers. "I'd kiss you more, but I don't want to mess up that lipstick. Marie intimidates me, but I'm pretty sure that Hilda could beat the tar out of me." "Good thinking," I smiled and sat up and straightened my voluminous skirt out. "Thank you for dinner... and the iPad." He smiled. "And the clothes..." I continued. "Do you like this outfit? It's the only one I picked out and I got it just to wear tonight." "Really?" Mitch asked. He seemed flattered that I had put so much thought into my clothes. I nodded. "I thought it looked pretty... you know. Marie says it looks 'classic.' Actually Bev and Jodi said that, too. You don't think it looks too... frumpy, do you?" He looked at me, his eyes settling on my breasts where they remained for several seconds. Then, suddenly, he stood. "I'd better go." I stood, too. "Oh... yeah... you have work in the morning and all. Will I see you tomorrow?" He pulled his jacket on then looked at me as if considering the pros and cons of being with me too much. It took a good long time before he said, "Yes," and I felt a sense of relief pass through me. Marie and Hilda were great and all, but I felt different with Mitch and I liked that feeling better than how I felt when he wasn't with me. We remained looking at each other, neither really wanting to say goodnight until Mitch noticed something and he smiled. Then he said, "I just noticed that you pierced your ears... kind of a lot!" He slid his hand along my cheek and pulled my hair back to inspect my ears. "Three in each ear? Nice." "You like them?" I asked. "I love them," he smiled then used the hand on my face to pull me closer. He laid one long, soft, warm gentle kiss on my lips, then stood straight and looked in my eyes. "I love you," he said, then walked out the door, leaving my mind racing. Was that a regular 'I love you,' like the ones he said nearly every time we'd said goodbye since middle school, or was it something else? God, is this how a woman's brain worked? Did she leave every date feeling... empty... like I did right at that moment? I didn't think I felt that empty the day that Nancy left me! It just sucked. I locked up my house and went up to my guest room to change out of my clothes and hang them up. All the bags that Marie and I had brought in were piled on the guest room bed and there was a note sitting on the bags that read, 'I hope your date went well. Get a good sleep. I'll pick you up around ten. I booked a tanning salon appointment for you. You don't want to look too pale in Hawaii. I ran to Target and got you a present. It's hanging in your bathroom. Love you. Marie.' I hung up the skirt and sweater, admiring them both again as I did. Then, I walked into my bed room wearing just my bra and panties and stockings. When it walked into my bathroom, I smiled when I saw what looked like a long, blue, men's pajama top, but was in fact, a very cute nightgown. It was just a soft cotton, practical nightie, but it looked more comfortable than what I normally wore. It also had a night pinned to it. That note read, 'Surprise! We'll get some romantic nighties tomorrow, but this will do for tonight. Remember to wear panties - don't be a tramp. Love you! Marie.'