Emily and Steve Ch. 08

Mike took a few deep breaths. With each breath, I saw mousy, nervous Mike disappear, and in his place strong, confident Emily.

"From tomorrow onwards, I will be coming to work dressed as a woman, and I will be known as Emily."

Standing at the front of the room, even though she was dressed in men's clothes, was my smiling and happy girlfriend Emily.

* *

Glen and Irene then started to speak about respect and diversity. The three gossipy ladies who work in my department sat speechless, staring at Emily. Irene started to draw a squiggly line on the white board which she called the "acceptance curve," which she then started going into tedious detail in explaining.

Right after Emily's announcement though, Rita looked over at me. She raised an eyebrow and mouthed the word, "Emily?"

I nodded.

A smile creeping over her face, she mouthed the words, "your Emily?"

I nodded again, and a smile crept across my face.

Rita sat back in her chair and nodded. She gave me a thumbs up and a wink. She then pointed at the three gossips and mouthed the words, "they are going to LOVE that."

I laughed out loud.

Glen very seriously said, "Steve, I know this might be uncomfortable for you, as it is for many heterosexual men to discuss topics of differing gender and sexuality, but please try and treat this seriously."

"Sorry boss," I said. Looking over at Emily, I said to her, "I think what you have done is very brave, and I fully support you, in every way I can. I look forward to welcoming Emily to our department."

Glen seemed satisfied with my progress towards acceptance, and so he nodded to Irene to continued her lecture on the acceptance curve and where we all were on it. I winked at Emily and blew her a kiss. She smiled and winked back.

Irene, who had been droning on, had suddenly stopped talking. Turning, I locked eyes with Irene. It was obvious she had just seen what happened, and looked shocked. Turning red, she quickly looked down and started shuffling through her papers.

To me, it looked like the HR department might be behind me on the acceptance curve.

* *

The next day, Emily dressed in a conservative black dress with a black jacket covering it. She tied a light red scarf around her neck to give the ensemble some cover, and we drove to work.

We arrived at the office, and I went around and opened the door for Emily, helping her out of the car. As Emily stood up, I noticed the three gossips from my office looking over at us. I leaned forward and kissed Emily on the lips, a long, slow, passionate kiss.

We broke the kiss, and I looked over. The three gossips were standing there, mouths agape. I put my arm around Emily, and we walked towards the front door of the office building. Above me, I could those people who got in early starting to crowd around windows, curious to see the transgender woman who they had all received an email about yesterday afternoon. Not only did they see a beautiful Emily, but her boyfriend striding into the office with her.

As we got close to our cubicles, Rita greeted us.

"Emily, nice to meet you again. We met at the restaurant a few days ago, if you remember. I told Steve afterwards what a beautiful girlfriend he had. I'm not sure if he told you," Rita said.

Emily smiled and said that I had.

Rita took Emily by the hand. "It'll be nice to have a girl my own age around her. Those old bats who work here are about as fun as a sack of wet rocks."

Rita escorted Emily to her desk. There on the desk was a potted plate sprouting large red flowers. Emily looked at me, but I shook my head.

Rita laughed and clapped. "They are from me. Your desk was too boyish. I wanted to make it more girlie. It need some colour. Tell me you love them!"

Emily leant down and smelt them. "They are beautiful. Thank you, Rita."

I left Emily and Rita to become fast friends. I tried to settle down into some work, but found it hard. I was just too elated with what was happening. It was like all my dreams were coming true. I had an amazing girl who also happened to be a male-to-female transgender, just like I wanted. I was living with her, and she was growing right in front of me.

All day, people came down and said hello to Emily, congratulating her on her choice. Emily was glowing. I had never really seen Mike happy at work. Now that Mike was gone and Emily was here, she was very happy.

At 2:03 PM I got an IM from Emily69, Emily's IM address. It said simply, "Thank you for all of this. You gave me the courage to be the person I truly am."

I replied back, "You don't need to thank me. I should thank you. Being with you makes me the happiest I have ever been. Having you around 24 hours a day, instead of just nights and weekends, just gives me more chance to be happy."

Emily69 replied back, "You make me blush. I love you."

"I love you, too," I replied.

I sat back. Everything seemed perfect. All the darkness from yesterday, all the feelings that Emily could be cheating, they all passed. It was all in my head, I told myself.

The future was bright, and to me, obvious. Love, marriage, a lifetime of happiness together with Emily. The path was set, and nothing could derail it.

The only thing I hadn't counted on was the complete and total unpredictability of life.