My Ring Pt. 05

Disclaimer: all characters appearing in this story are fictional and are 18 or older.

Denise drove to work slowly. She played this conversation over and over in her mind. "Hi, I am Denise and I want to be a man now." It was impossible to put the words together in a way that saved her from the inevitable embarrassment. She had short hair, no purse or feminine clothes, no makeup, no perfume, and nowhere to hide. She rolled into her parking spot, took a deep breath, and began her day.

Denise tried to keep her head down as she walked through the parking lot and to the office. She scanned her ID and was able to enter with little issue. Luckily it had appeared that she had arrived at a different time than the rest of her colleagues and staff. Eventually she would have to face them directly but for now she knew her instructions were to establish protocol with human resources.

Denise rode the elevator alone to floor 5 where she snuck into the office of Francine White. Francine was an older woman who appeared to be in her 60s. She had worked for the pharmaceutical company for about 10 years but had been an HR administrator for over 30. She had shoulder length gray hair, was average height for a woman, and could be described as over weight.

"Oh my goodness. Is that you Denise?" Francine looked up from her morning coffee and could hardly recognise the executive in front of her. "Come on in, it looks like we have plenty to discuss. Why don't you tell me what is going on."

Denise meekly headed in and sat down in the chair opposite of Francine. "Well Francine, I um have been experimenting with my uh sexual identification." Denise blushed deeply and looked down as she was ashamed to be having this conversation.

Francine was surprised sure, but seeing Denise dressed up like a man had somewhat dampened the shock. "Ok Denise. Well, there are several things we can talk about but can you elaborate on how you would like to identify first? Legally you will have to tell me specifically before I can address it properly."

Denise looked up and let out a small sigh. "I um... I have decided that I am going to be identifying as a male from now on."

"I see. Well thank you Denise for being forthcoming today. It is our policy here that these matters need to be addressed by human resources first so we are taking the proper steps. I want to assure you that we have a strict policy that forbids you from being harassed due to your identification. A memo will be sent to the employees you work directly with informing them of your new identity as well as your chosen pronouns. Can you please provide me with those as well?"

"Francine, I suppose he/him is acceptable."

"Thank you Denise. Now the rest of the company will be sent a reminder of our non-discrimination policy but you will not be mentioned. I recommend you meet with your team this morning. You may answer questions they may have or you may tell them it is a personal matter. You are not obligated to justify your choices and how much you wish to discuss is strictly up to you. If anyone does not adhere to this you should send me an email for it to be addressed internally. Do you have any more questions for me sir?"

Denise was caught off guard by the sir. She realized that most of her staff would now be addressing her as a mr or as sir. Her heart pounded and she felt short of breath. "Um I uh... I don't have any questions. Thanks Francine."

"Ok then. Just call me or stop on if anything comes up or if you have any more questions. You can always refer to your employee handbook as well. Have a good day!"

Denise knew that everyone around the office had just been notified that this twisted new reality was her new status. The girl boss was now the first transgender executive in company history. Now as she walked back to the elevator she could hear whispers of everyone starting to discuss it. The employees she didn't know were buzzing and actively trying to source the mystery employee. The gossip would soon have her name in every person's mouth today.

She made her way back to the elevator and an intern joined her on the elevator. Luckily he did not recognise her and she managed to ride in silence to her floor. She stepped out on the 12th floor and what at first was all employees whispering suddenly fell silent. Denise had to walk past all of them on the way to her office. None of her employees made eye contact with her as she walked. Denise was red with embarrassment. It was all she could do not to cry in front of them. It felt like time stopped and she never thought the moment would end.

Once inside her office she shut her window blinds and laid her head on her desk. She must have cried a half an hour until she felt some of her composure coming back. She was done feeling weak and now it was time to take control and reign back in whatever dignity she could muster. Quickly she wiped away the rest of her tears and marched back out.

"Ok. Ok. Everyone outside my office now." She yelled across the office floor. The 12th floor was completely dedicated to the development of drugs. All of the brand management, researchers, product trials, sales, and marketers were present and reported to her. They all quietly made their way over, mostly still shocked about what emails they had just received.

"You all got the email. If you did not read your mail this morning then you are probably wondering why I look like this today. Well, now and going forward I will be identifying as a male. My pronouns are he/him. You can refer to me as Mr. or as sir. I will still be using my given name of Denise until further notice. I will not be taking questions on the matter. No employee production or performance should be impacted by this personal matter. You are all aware of our company policy and are still to be expected to adhere to it. Since this is a new period for all of us, a grace period is in effect but repeat offenders of our policy will be reported. That is all. You may return to your normal duties. Thank you."

The murmuring was still present but died down considerably. Throughout the day each employee tried their best at correctly addressing Denise as she had instructed. There were some accidental slip ups but all in all there were no employees who deliberately defied her. She knew there would be some mocking behind her back but eventually everyone would embrace this new reality, even her.

Her day consisted of many presentations and performance reviews. She was constantly embarrassed and there were a few times she excused herself for a brief cry session. All that really mattered was that she made it through the day. Somehow she managed to make it to the last item on the agenda: Presentation of Project 37790B.

She called in Macy and her team of researchers into the boardroom with all the supervisors of floor 12. Macy was a nerd. She was the girl you knew growing up that always had her face buried in a book. It had led her to a comfortable job. She was not conventionally pretty, she still struggled with some acne and was slightly but not terribly overweight. Macy had never had a relationship with a boy before and her social skills were weak. Presentations were typically not her strength but the team felt very confident about their new product.

"Good Afternoon Sir and to all of you" Macy opened. "Today we are presenting research on Project 37799B. The team has delivered each of you a file with all of the research so far conducted. This project is very early in the developmental process, we have created a sample product but no testing has yet occurred. We are hoping after your thorough review that you will give permission to begin trials."

Denise just remembered that the ring had brought this project up specifically this morning. With all the emotion of presenting herself she had completely forgotten about this project. When she looked down at the research file her heart practically jumped out of her heart. "Oh no. Oh no. This can't be happening" she thought to herself. She looked up and everyone was starting to look over to her. Obviously she was doing a poor job disguising her panic.

Macy continued. "We feel that this product is one that can ease the lives of many who are going through a difficult period in their lives. Our team believes that this project is revolutionary and will redefine what it means to be transgender." Macy proceeds to take out a box that has approximately 10 blue pills and 10 pink pills.

"This is project 37790B. We have codenamed it 'TrueID'. This drug is researched to be able to rewrite DNA specifically along gender lines. The pill releases an agent that targets the DNA markers for each gender and slowly rewrites them to conform to the specific pill. The blue pill is designed to rewrite as male and the pink pill is designed to rewrite as female. There is a great number of the populous who have a sexual identity other than what they were assigned at birth. This product would affirm their new ID and allow them to become their true self."

Denise had all color flushed from her face. Not only was it obvious why she was instructed to procure the drug, but she had to do it in front of everyone right after admitting to them all that she herself was transgender. "Macy, thank you for the uh... wonderful presentation and research. Lets go ahead and address the biggest concern right out of the gate and I am going to turn it over to legal."

Denise needed a moment to compose herself. She practiced short breaths and calming thoughts while the legal team explained their concerns. They laid out how every state has different laws that impact gender affirming care and how there is no guarantee that, even if successful, they could bring it to market. The drug would be certain to be brought to challenge in court and eventually to a supreme court hearing. The company had a strict policy of avoiding products that could be legally challenged. Ultimately though it was Denise's decision of whether they could advance to trials.

"Macy, unfortunately I have to concur with legal." Just as Denise had said this, a powerful jolt was emitted from her ring reminding her that she would not be permitted to let the product be locked away. She bit her lip as the pain surged through her arm and into her chest. She grunted softly in pain as she tried to suppress her agony. As the pain decreased she tried to once again regain her composure. "Sorry about that, I had a wicked cramp in my arm." She tried to chuckle it off but no one seemed to laugh with her. It was very awkward.

"However Macy, I do not think this project is a loss altogether. I would like to request a personal review of your data and the product you brought today. I believe there may be some components that could be used in our other developments as instrumentation or building blocks for delivery at cellular levels."

This was unprecedented. It was extremely unorthodox for the executive of development to take a personal look at a product. Not only that but it was discouraged for one person to have unsupervised access to any product due to the nature of the business. There were suspicious eyes all around. While Denise had made a compelling case of review, they all had the same thought. What if she happened to take one? No one was brave enough to suggest such a slanderous accusation of course. The room was silent for several moments as everyone digested the situation.

Macy finally spoke up. "Thank you sir for taking such a personal interest in our product. It would be my honor to have you review it so thoroughly. I am looking forward to working on this with you so we can find the best solution for the company."

As Macy appreached Denise to give her the box of pills, Denise swore she saw Macy wink at her as she turned to leave the room. Was she just imagining that response? Her stress levels were so high she couldn't muster the brainpower to decide.

Denise excused everyone quickly and was determined to get out of that office as fast as she could. "Have a good weekend everyone" she yelled as they all began to pour out of the office floor. She took the product back to her office and decided to wait everyone out before she could sneak out. It had been such a long day and she just wanted to be home. How was she going to deal with this drug, her predicament, and her emotions all at once?

Meanwhile back at the mall Larry and Emily had finished shopping for his lingerie set for that night. Emily had just clocked off of her shift and met Larry at the front of the store. "Alright miss Larry, I remember you said that you needed to go clothes shopping first. There is a little boutique a couple doors down that has some cute dresses. Does that sound like a good place to get started?"

Larry didn't really have any ideas of where he wanted to go so he figured it was probably best to let Emily lead. "That sounds great Emily. Can you help me pick out some stylish ones? I don't really have an eye for fashion yet."

Emily hugged him. It was so different from any other time he had hugged a woman. There was just nothing sexual and he felt like just one of her friends. "Oh of course Larry. A girl like you just needs to get started and I'm sure you will pick it up really quickly."

Emily led Larry into the boutique. The two of them walked around the store looking for dresses that would fit Larry's frame. Some of the other women shopping would stare at Larry but Emily would give them a fierce look and they would just turn away. Larry kept giving her a thankful smile and she would always reassure him that everything was ok. They had managed to grab a couple for each of them and made their way over to the dressing rooms. Emily nudged Larry into one of the rooms and went inside with him.

"Now in the other stores we aren't going to change together but we are going to need each other to get these dresses on and zipped. Normally you would try on one of yours and come out to model it for me and then we would switch. You need to get feedback from your girlfriends when you try them on. Ok?"

Larry nodded and set his dresses down. Immediately Emily started getting undressed. She was wearing a teal bra and a black panty. In any other situation he would have been completely turned on by watching her undress. It was different today, he didn't see her sexually and could admire her beauty but in a platonic friendship way. She put on the first dress which Larry helped her in and they would alternate. With each dress Emily would talk with Larry about its style and how it either complimented their bodies or didn't.

Larry made sure that as they went to each store to try on clothes that not only did he meet his quota for outfits but he understood how to choose them. He would also make sure Emily always found something she liked for herself and he would ring it up with his things. She would protest, but Larry saw it as just a way to return the favor of accompaniment and the lessons she was giving him.

When the two had finished shopping for clothes, they returned all the bags to the car. Emily said she had to go to the restroom and made her way over to the bathrooms. Larry stopped outside to wait for Emily but he was startled when she turned back toward him. "Larry. Women go to the bathroom together." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bathroom. She went into a stall and left him at the sink. "So Larry, be on the lookout for some cute guys. I know you have a husband at home but you know, maybe help a girl out."

Larry just realized that he was in a very foreign situation. When girls go to the restroom it's so much more than just taking a piss. It turns out all the ladies are adjusting their makeup, fixing their hair, gossiping, having girl talk, and Emily even explained that girls like to go in pairs for safety too. Emily was into tall athletic guys. She chatted freely about her type. He was her wingwoman today and that meant checking out all the cute guys.

Afterward the two of them made their way to the food court to grab some lunch. Emily suggested she wanted a salad to keep herself on a low calorie intake. Larry decided he would just do the same for convenience. When they got their salads they looked for a place to sit and Larry noticed a pair of guys that were actually Emily's type.

"Hey Emily, you know how we were just talking about your type, well check out those guys over there." Larry pointed over to them and put his hand down quickly in case they saw him pointing.

"Good eye girl. Let's go say hi." Emily was obviously not shy. She was tagging along with a customer she had just met and now wanted to chat up some guys. Larry stood behind her and didn't really want to be seen at all. Having a girls day was one thing being like this in front of other dudes was nerve racking. "Hi boys. Do you mind if we goin you? My name is Emily and this is La..." She paused momentarily. "Laraine." She looked back at Larry with a 'sorry I panicked' look.

One of the boys looked up. "Hey. I am Dave and this is Greg. Sure, why don't you girls join us? What are you doing at the mall today?"

Emily smiled and they both sat down. Larry meekly began to eat so he wouldn't have to talk and he tried not to make eye contact. "We are having a girls day today. So shopping, hair, nails, the works. What are you boys doing?"

Greg mentioned that the two of them work at the sports department store near the food court. They made small talk with Emily until Dave caught Larry's eye even though he was trying to keep his head down. "So what's your story Laraine?"

Larry looked up and then over at Emily. She gave him an 'I don't know' kind of look. "Well I uh... came to the mall today to do some shopping while my husband is at work. I met Emily and we kind of hit it off. She was so nice that I felt encouraged to meet some more people like you guys."

"That's very cool and honest Laraine. I really like being with people that can be real about themselves." Dave smiled toward him.

The four of them enjoyed small talk as they ate. Greg eventually stood up "Well girls, it's about time that we got back to work but I really enjoyed chatting with you. I was wondering if, Emily, would you give me your number?"

"Uh sure Greg." She giggled and placed her number into his phone. He thanked her and said he would call her before returning to work.

Larry felt so good that he had picked out these guys and Emily had made a connection. Emboldened, he decided to press his luck. "Dave, did you want Emily's number too?" Emily shot him a look of 'oh my gosh, you are embarrassing me'.

Dave cleared his throat and looked over to Larry. "Well I uh... know that you said you had a husband and all but I was actually hoping I would be able to get your number Laraine."

Larry was so surprised he snorted. "My number? Why?"

Dave put his hand on Larry's hand. "I really liked talking to you. You have a beautiful soul. I just want to get to know you better."

Larry didn't know what to do because he didn't want to scream 'but I am a dude!' and when he looked at Emily, she was enthralled, truly enjoying herself. After an awkward moment he relented and entered his phone number in Dave's phone as 'Laraine'. Dave looked so happy. "Thanks for making my day, ladies." He had a pep in his step as he returned to work.

Emily looked over at Larry wide eyed. "Girl what the fuck just happened. That boy just picked you up."

Larry gave her a puzzled look back. "I panicked. This is my first time out as a girl and I honestly did not expect something like that to happen. Oh and by the way, what's up with Laraine?"

"I'm so sorry Larry. When I saw those guys I just thought it would be easier to say a girl's name. Plus I am so appreciative of you working your wingwoman magic, but dang girlfriend you have got to give me the tea. Are you going to see that guy or what?"