Candy's Fashion House Ch. 06

Thanks to Charlie for the editing, advice and support.

*****

After a couple of days Lauren still hadn't returned. I called Karla to see if Lauren was staying with her but she hadn't seen her. For the next few weeks the status quo remained. I was living at home by myself. For all intents and purposes Lauren was gone and I was now single. She refused to answer text messages. When I rang her at work it was impossible to get past Maddison. Every time I called she was either busy or out of the office.

So this was it? It was all over, after all we had been through she just left. For days I fretted and worried, I cried, I got angry, and I threw things. Damn it I was pissed off. The least she could have done was tell me it was over. Fuck it; after a month of no contact I decided if it was really all over. If it was over I was going to file for divorce. I refused to live like this and let her control my life. I made an appointment with the lawyer for after work and went in and signed the papers I was not seeking or taking anything, all I planned to take was my car and the 996. I was giving her the house and all of the furniture. We kept separate bank accounts and hers was a lot healthier than mine, because I paid all the major accounts. I left her car which I had brought for her, it took me two years to pay that sucker off, but it was what she wanted, I still remember the look on her face when I rocked up at home with it and handed her the keys!

The lawyer said it would take a couple of days to get the papers ready, they asked where to serve her and I told them that probably work would be best because I didn't know where she was living.

Two days later my phone went mad, there were hundreds of missed calls and messages. I scrolled through them and there were lots from Lauren and even more from Karla, there was one was from the lawyer confirming they had served Lauren.

I ignored the messages for a couple of days but as I was pulling out of work Karla turned up in her beemer and blocked my path. She jumped out and came over screaming at me, she tried to wrench open the doors of my car but I locked them. I wound down my window and said, "hi Karla." She started yelling and screaming so I wound the window back up.

She wouldn't stop screaming so I reversed back into our yard and drove out through the back way.

That night was worse there were literally hundreds of messages all from Karla.

She obviously wasn't going to stop so I called her.

When she realised it was me she started to yell at me again so I hung up.

She rang me back, "OK Michael I apologise for yelling but you are infuriating me. Michael, Lauren is having a breakdown and she is a mess. Why the fuck did you get her served at work? That was bloody mean."

"Well Karla the reason I had her served at work is they couldn't reach her any other way. She hasn't been living at home, so I had no choice. It's not something I wanted to do."

Karla was silent, "What do you mean she isn't at home?"

"Well Karla about a month ago after the night at home when you were there, she started going out at night and not coming home. Then one night she left and didn't return. I can live with her weird fucking ideas but I won't live with a cheat. No Karla I had no choice. Lauren has made her choice she has obviously found someone else."

The phone was deadly silent, "Michael I am sorry I didn't know any of that. Where has she been staying?"

"I don't know Karla because after that day at home she has never spoken to me again. She was angry we weren't talking and I have tried and tried to contact her but she refuses to answer my calls. I will not stand to be treated like this."

"Michael please can we talk about this, I know Lauren and she wouldn't cheat on you, she loves you. She is broken hearted at the moment; maybe she is staying with someone else because she was lonely."

I snapped, "lonely my ass Karla, she is living with someone else. How the fuck could she be lonely?"

"Please Michael Karla pleaded if I organised a get together would you come so we could talk about this?"

I ruminated for a few minutes, was it even worth it? In the end I agreed I wanted to hear it from her mouth. "Yes OK Karla, if you can set something up I will be there, just text me a date, time and location."

Later that night I got a text, we were to meet at Karla's office the next night after work.

I texted back, 'Do I need to bring my lawyer?'

The response was quick, 'No Michael this is to be a friendly get together to just see if we can maybe find some common ground.'

So I rocked up to Karla's office and she was there with Lauren, who did look a mess. She had obviously been crying.

I sat down opposite them at a big round table. Lauren was just staring at me; Karla said, "Thanks for coming Michael. OK the reason for this meeting is to see if we can get you two talking to each other. Michael perhaps you could start?"

"OK Karla, Lauren as I explained to you already Lauren has moved out and is living with someone else, so I want a divorce, simple really isn't it."

Lauren exploded, "What the hell are you talking about Michael; I have not left you."

My anger got the better of me and I barked, "Sorry Lauren, should I have said you have found somebody you prefer to me."

Karla pleaded; "OK guys please settle down, we won't make any progress if you just yell at each other."

"Yeah OK Karla I am sorry but this is pretty emotional for me."

"Michael what I want you to tell us is why you filed for divorce, just in simple terms, explain your position."

OK Karla, well it all came to a head the day Lauren walked out of our home and never returned or contacted me. She refused to return calls or messages. So I figured she has moved on."

Lauren was crying the tears were flowing and she was just shaking her head.

Karla sucked in a deep breath, "OK Lauren your turn baby, give us your perspective."

Lauren could barely speak, she was sobbing and sniffling, she was just staring down at the table. "After our fight Michael stopped talking to me, he wouldn't even look at me. We would walk past each other like ships passing in the night, so I decided to stay with a friend, because it was so stressful at home."

I barked, "That's OK Lauren I can understand that, just tell us who was it you stayed with?"

Again she couldn't look me in the eye, "That's none of your business Michael, it is just a friend."

"None of my fucking business! OK Karla I am going to make it simple, I have filed for divorce and unless Lauren can give me a good reason why that shouldn't happen I am going to push forward with it. I am not living with someone who is having sex with someone else."

Lauren jumped up and leaned across the table screaming at me, her face a twisted bitter mask. "Fuck you Michael I haven't so much as looked at another man I don't know how you can say that about me."

"If that's the case Lauren just tell me where you have been staying."

"No Michael, as I said its none of tour business! It's just a friend; you will have to trust me."

"Shit don't be stupid Lauren you have the bare faced gall to use the word trust?? Where's the trust on your side? Where's the faith in me Lauren? No Lauren, I'm sorry but I need answers Lauren."

I had come to this meeting with the hope that I could show a hard cold face, but it was impossible, the tears started to flow and I was sobbing, Karla came around the table and hugged me, "It's OK Michael, this is going to work out I promise."

Lauren was crying as well and she came around and we all hugged, "I'm sorry Michael I never meant to hurt you. I love you. Michael you have always been my rock, my best friend."

In the end the tension boiled over and it was so explosive it just blew up in our faces. One minute we were hugging and talking the next we were standing toe to toe yelling and arguing and then the next minute Lauren was gone. She stormed out in a huff with steam billowing from her ears. After she had left Karla flopped down in her chair. "I am sorry Michael; I don't know what to say."

I sucked in a big breath, "Yeah that seems to be the way it has gone lately." We hugged and I went home to a cold house.

I talked to my lawyer a couple of days later only to be informed that Lauren was contesting the divorce. She was going to fight.

When I asked what the next step was she told me that they would seek a court hearing and we could start the process. She did warn me that it would take time. The court would probably seek mediation and probably instruct us to undergo counselling.

The house isn't large when there are two people living in it, but when you are there by yourself it seems cavernous. I found myself wandering around trying to keep myself occupied but it was hard. Laurens behaviour was so out of character it totally confused me. I started looking for clues to where Lauren could have stayed, and who it was with?

It was obviously somebody that Lauren knew I wouldn't agree with other wise she would have just told me. No this had to be very bad news; it had to be whoever she was fucking last time.

I started to think about recent events, running old conversations back over and over in my mind trying to find that elusive clue. I remembered back to my last visit to her office, I was sure I had seen Alecia at her office that day, is it something to do with her? I mean Lauren knows that we don't get along but why would she keep it a secret? The more I thought about it the more it did my head in.

I started going through the house, I tried to hack into her email account on our desktop computer, but had no luck, there was nothing. One of the last places I looked was in her wardrobe, why I don't know but what I found in there was a half a dozen bags of unopened clothes. I realised they were from her very last shopping expedition. They were clothes for Kelli.

I pulled all the bags out and laid them out on the bed. I noticed the two pairs of high heels, I looked around just checking that there were no mysterious watchers spying on me and I tried them on, they were a perfect fit, she had obviously used the riding boots to get the size. I pulled on the other and tried to walk around, fuck it's harder than it looks. It took me about twenty goes before I got the hang of it and didn't end up on my ass. At least with the riding boots they fitted so tight and went right up to my knees, they gave lots of support. I got braver and ventured down the stairs and back up again. I walked back and forth in front of the full length mirror on the wardrobe. As I admired how the high heels tightened up my calf muscles and made my bum stick out. I laughed loudly, I could imagine Lauren sitting there watching telling me what a fucking girl I was. It did feel good, I hated admitting it but I missed being Kelli.

I decided to try on the little yellow dress, it did fit but it was a form fitting dress and the only way I would be able to wear it was if I wore the corset strung up pretty tight. So I dug around and pulled out the corset. What a nightmare, how the hell do you do this by yourself I wondered? Ah Huh google, remember google is your friend. I watched a couple of video clips until I saw one similar to the one I was trying to put on. I cinched it up and secured it to the bed and leaned away tightening it. I pulled it in tighter around the waist to give my waist more definition and I did it time and time again until I had the desired effect. Then I pulled the dress back on. Wow it was perfect and it fit my new figure really well. It looked so feminine.

I spent an age just walking around admiring myself, running my hands up and down my hips. This was so much easier without Lauren pushing me.

I sat down in front of the mirror and thought OK how did Lauren do this? Once again I brought the laptop over and set it up beside the dresser and watched video after video of crossdressers showing how to feminise your face using makeup. After watching so many I thought OK let's give this a crack, I started with the moisturiser making sure I got a nice even coverage I rubbed it in like the video using my fingertips. Next I worked on the foundation, making sure I followed the video exactly, next I moved on to my eyes I had to try lots of different textures and colours; I wanted a natural appearance rather than a nightclub look. Finally after many attempts I found something that worked. Then it was my lips, this is the part I loved so much. I love the feel of lipstick on my lips especially when Lauren and I kiss. Once I started to watch lipstick video clips I found lots of clips about how to pump up your lips. So I tried a couple, the one that worked the best was putting a bottle top over my lips and sucking it hard, sure enough it really worked, my lips looked nice. I used the wig that Lauren had got when we went riding and it looked pretty good. Not as good as when Lauren did it but passable.

I took a load of selfie pictures and then spent an age walking around. Yes I had missed Kelli, I had to start being honest with myself I liked it. I was fighting against it because I had fought so hard to be accepted as a man. I don't care how often Lauren said she loved me being dressed up, eventually she would lose respect for me as her husband. In fact she probably already has and that's what drove her away. But I couldn't help it, I liked dressing up. It made me feel different, special or better. I couldn't put my finger on it. Michael is insignificant but Kelli is popular and accepted. If I could just get pasy those feelings of insecurity.

The other upsetting thing was how horny this made me, I laid back on the bed and started to stroke my dick, it was already hard and I laid back thinking of Laurens lips kissing me and her lips sucking my dick, it had been so long since I had sex it didn't take long and I was coming, I had to try and catch it all without getting it all over my dress. I had barely recovered when the urge returned and I did it again. Oh god the release was so good. Lying there afterwards I felt those old feelings of humiliation, god what the hell I couldn't clear my mind. I removed all of the clothes and hung them up. I took a long shower and scrubbed and scrubbed.

Still all the scrubbing couldn't remove the thoughts, I liked being Kelli, I liked being dressed up.

The next few nights after work I came home and straight away got dressed up, I tried on all of my favourite outfits that I loved seeing Lauren in. She is a little smaller than me but not so much that I couldn't wear her clothes.

Together Lauren and I had watched hour upon hour of video clips on crossdressing tips and information. The one that had interested me the most and I wanted to try was for hair removal or slowing the growth down. Since I had been dressing as Kelli I noticed that my facial hair especially was slow to grow. When Lauren and I had our big bust up, I tried to grow my beard back but it just wouldn't fill out! Since Lauren had walked out my biggest problem was mood swings, I was breaking down and crying at the smallest little problem, at work I was constantly having to walk away because I would get all teary eyed every time even if it was only some trivial little problem.

At night I was spending more and more time getting my makeup right, the main problem was still that bloody facial hair, I did a fair bit of research and I used a depilatory cream which did leave really smooth skin, but what I decided on was turmeric, it was cheap and I could do it at home. I mixed turmeric and papaya into a paste and rubbed it into my skin. It wouldn't happen immediately but if the research was right over a couple of weeks it should all but disappear. I couldn't do much with my eyebrows as I didn't want the guys at work giving me any more grief than they already do. They have been razzing me over my long hair, which is something else I would love to do something with. I hated wearing a wig it seemed so fake, so I had been growing my hair. I was just letting it get longer.

I was sitting down applying my makeup and experimenting with new mascara when the phone rang it was Karla asking if we could try to get together again tomorrow night. I agreed and we set up the meeting for her office after work tomorrow.

I ended up working late and had to go straight to Karla's from work. They both gave me a cold look as I walked in covered in dirt and grime. I did apologise but from Karla's look I thought she was going to spread out newspaper on the chair before I sat down.

Karla started, "OK guys I thought you have both had a chance to think about your life and what you want to do. Perhaps we could just start with each of you explaining how you have we been going with the decisions? Michael what are your thoughts?"

"Karla nothing has changed from my perspective."

Karla was nodding as she held Laurens hand. "OK Michael, thanks for that. Lauren what about you honey have you given any more thought to what you want to do?"

"Of course I have Karla you know I have, we talked about it. Michael I want to come home. I want us to try and make our marriage work."

I could feel my face softening and after months of feeling lost I felt a little warmth seeping into my bones. "I would love nothing more Lauren. I would love to try and fix this. All I need is for you to tell me where you have been staying, and who with. If as you say it is just a friend then there is no problem is there."

Laurens face sagged a little. "Michael I want to start afresh. I want to forget about the last few months. That includes where I have been staying. I want you to just accept my word that I have not had sex with any other man."

I stood up and turned heading for the door. "OK then ladies I guess the meeting is over? We seem to be at an impasse then don't we? Perhaps let's just go ahead and finalise the divorce, because this is going nowhere."

Karla reached out, "Please Michael can we just talk for a while; Honestly Michael I can see what Lauren means your first instinct is to walk away. You are running away from your problems and Michael it won't solve anything. Please let's see if we can find some common ground."

I begrudgingly sat back down, "OK Karla let's hear it, how do we do this?"

Karla reached out and held both of our hands. "Look you guys I can find common ground straight away, she turned to me, Michael do you love Lauren?"

"Yes of course I do Karla how many times do you want me to say It."

Karla gripped my hand tightly, "I do believe you." She turned to Lauren, "what about you Lauren, do you still love Michael?"

There were tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes. "Yes Karla I do love Michael, I love him more now than I ever have. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him." She looked across at me, "Michael I miss you baby. I miss you so much."

I was getting teary eyed myself, "Lauren can you look me in the eye and say that you have forsaken all others during our relationship?"

Her eyes diverted down to the table and her cheeks flushed a bright red. "Michael I told you last time that I have never even looked at another man since we have been together."

I stiffened my resolve. "Lauren answer the question, have you forsaken all others during our relationship?"

She was trying to bluff me by not answering directly, "What did I just say Michael; I said I have never looked at, touched or been with another man since we met."

"That's not what I asked Lauren, my question was have you forsaken all others?"

Now she was really blushing, her eyes were bulging out of her head and the tears were falling like a cascade down her flushed cheeks. She had a horrified look on her face like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She had her head in her hands as she cried.