On Vacation - An X-Change Novella Ch. 01

If there's any change in your perception I find that the main issue is that people treat you differently. Out in the world, men will hold doors for me, they let me on the elevator first. And you do get checked out and it is not very inconspicuous. When my wife and I are out and about, we've been hit on and we're both in our fifties and wearing wedding rings. Now, you're going to be on vacation and spending most of your time in Mr. Armstrong's company so you will probably be able to avoid most of that, but you can't avoid the eyes. Men do it without even thinking. You do it and I do it. Honestly, I still do it, despite wearing pantyhose.

We really don't have enough information to give you a decisive answer. I seriously doubt you will have a strong urge to read Cosmo and watch Real Housewives of New Jersey."

"So you don't think it will change me?"

"Spending two weeks as the other sex is an intense experience. It probably will change you in some way, but it's impossible to say how. I don't know how you treat the woman in your life, but maybe after seeing the world through female eyes you will be nicer to them. Perhaps you will just grow the bushiest beard possible and start chewing tobacco. This isn't a risk free situation. We will do all we can to make this easy for you, but under the circumstances, you really are going all out for your friend. I'm sure he will understand if you decide to back out.

Mr. Dixon, I was part of a team that created something that I believe will help many people, now and long after I'm gone. I'm proud of what we've accomplished. Knowing that my main objective is to help you as well, I have to ask you...why the hell are you here? Why are you even considering such a drastic response to Mr. Armstrong's situation?"

The room was quiet for a minute

"Dr. Jacobs...I have a pretty decent family. I'm the youngest, with an older sister and brother. I was treated well, but I never felt that they really understood me. It was like they didn't get my sense of...anything. Then I met Danny. He laughed at my jokes, he harmonized to my songs, and he could finish my sentences. We were always able to make each other's worst days better.

If Danny needed a kidney I would get tested the same day he told me and I would pray that we were a match. I know he would do the same for me. Is this that different? Two weeks, what is two weeks? Two weeks will come and go no matter what I decide to do. If I go ahead with this, two weeks later I'm back in the same skin I'm in now. I'll see some sights, have some fun, get some sun, and have some strange tan lines for a week or two. It's a lot to ask, and then again it really isn't."

"So, Mr. Armstrong, have you decided?"

I knew I was awake, but it was so difficult to open my eyes. I was so thirsty and I knew this would be my main motivation in finally getting moving. Once I got my eyes open, the first thing I saw was a bottle of red Gatorade. Gawd, I have to get up...Now!

I lifted myself up on my elbows and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I sat up grabbed the bottle and chugged the cool liquid down. One dragon slain. I became aware of my surroundings. I felt sore, like I had spent the day before playing pickup basketball. I pressed the call button.

"I'm awake." Although scratchy, my voice was a much higher pitch.

"Good Morning Jaci. Remember to shower. Take as long as you want. Your counselor, Rebecca will be ready as soon as you call back in."

Jaci. That's what we decided my name would be. Close enough to my real name and it should be easy enough for Danny to use as well.

I got out of bed and stood up. Most of the fog had lifted. The change was now a reality. I could feel the weight of my breasts. I seemed to be shorter. I felt my hair on my shoulders. I also reeked. I headed towards the bathroom. You're so used to your penis you don't even think about it when you walk...until it's not there. I didn't need to use my hands or my eyes to tell that it wasn't there.

I got into the bathroom, turned on the shower and removed the hospital gown. While I waited for the water to get hot, I took my first look at myself in the floor length mirror. My first thought was that I could have been my mother's sister. I could see my mother in my eyes and nose, but the rest of the face was different and the hair was a different shade. I would guess that I had a C cup. My mother's side of the family was pretty well endowed.

I was attractive. Actually, very attractive. I had nice legs. I turned around and saw a very shapely butt. I climbed into the shower. I just stood in the warm spray for a few minutes. Just like Dr. Jacobs said, I began to feel really good and strong. It was time to clean myself up, but I wasn't exactly sure what to do. Normally I would just shampoo and soap up. I had so much hair, how much shampoo should I use? I squirted about five times more than usual into my hands and began to apply it. I started on top but there was so much more, I wasn't sure if I could make it all the way to the bottom. I then realized I would have to do the back as well. I kept squirting more shampoo into my hands and applying until it felt like I got everything.

I grabbed the soap and started to use it, which was also the first time I got to touch myself. My arms were much thinner. My breasts were...quite nice. Although large, they were pretty perky. I guessed this was a byproduct of being only a couple of hours old. Gravity hadn't yet grabbed these puppies. I was aware that breasts could be sensitive, even an erogenous zone, but the bar of soap didn't do anything for me.

The bar of soap didn't do anything for me down there either. There was a step in the shower so I raised my left leg and decided to go exploring. Yep, I had a pussy all right. It felt just the same as any of the woman that I had fingered. Two full lips, clitoris on top, a little tight. It felt weird to insert a finger there. I didn't try to insert too far. There wasn't any arousal, but there were plenty of times when you touched your dick and it wasn't sexual.

I got back under the spray and washed off the soap and shampoo. I ran my hand through my hair and it got caught in some tangles. Only then did I realize that with hair this long I would need to condition it as well. Once again I went through squirt and apply until all my hair had conditioner. I knew it had to stay in for a few minutes so I gave myself a once over with my hands and eyes. I noticed that my fingernails had grown. Dr. Jacobs forgot to mention that possibility.

I washed out the conditioner, turned off the water and grabbed a towel. I knew that there was some major process of toweling off the hair and wrapping it, but I was clueless so I just did the best I could. As expected, there was a robe hanging on the wall.

I walked back to the bed and pressed the call button again. "I'm finished with the shower." My voice was much better now but still sounded weird to be coming from my mouth.

"Ok Jaci, Rebecca will be there in a minute."

I had too much energy to sit down and wait so I walked around the room to get used to my new size. The door opened Rebecca walked in. I had met her the day before when I was being prepped.

"Happy Birthday Jaci. Ten fingers and ten toes?"

"Two tits and one clit Rebecca."

"Well, let's see them. Lose the robe. Our measurement person will be in any second now. I have a set of scrubs you can wear if you want."

"That's OK. Never been shy to be naked in front of woman before. Don't think this is a reason to start."

I took the robe off and threw it on the bed. Rebecca stared at me for about ten second.

"Jaci...you're a hottie."

Looking away from her I replied "Yeah, I know."

"In the preliminary, you said you wanted to go for a stylish look. This works for that. It is easier to tone down sensuous. If you were plainer we would have had to slut you up to get the right look. We're good."

"I'll have to trust you. You know, you don't really think about your mother in certain ways, but looking in the mirror just now, I first realized that she's a real MILF. Really nice rack...just like her son. I guess my sister got my father's side. I would much rather have had a small B."

The door opened and a woman with a tape measure came in. All the numbers were entered into a tablet. She left to get me some clothes to wear. I put the robe back on as the hair stylist came in.

Rebecca told her "We need something that will be very easy to care for. Something medium in length. Layered away from the face so she won't be constantly brushing back hair from her eyes. A junior vice president look."

I had never sat for this long a haircut before. There was spraying, and snipping, and blowing, and brushing. But when it was over, I had sort of a regal look. Attractive, not sexy. A bit intimidating. Rebecca gave a look of approval. She stood over me with several items of clothing.

"Before you get dressed Jaci, we need to know what you want done with that." She was pointing at my crotch.

"What! What the hell are you talking about? No one's going to see down there. I want nothing done with that."

"Like most men, you don't pay attention to the subtleties. It is not about anyone seeing what's down there. It's about how you feel, how you present to the world on a subliminal level. You want to be perceived as stylish, as classy. Do you think that mess is classy? Well, maybe in Europe, but not at the Halekulani.

And another thing, how do you know no one will see? What if Daniel's mother wants to take you to the Spa? Sure, you will be wrapped in towels, but things can slip, and trust me she will be looking. And lastly, you're going to Hawaii. That means beaches and pools. That means bathing suits. How sophisticated is it to have pubes sticking out of your suit?"

"Ok, Ok. I'm going to need your help. This is something I never have really thought about."

"Well, Jaci...what do you like? What did you find attractive?"

"I was never a fan of a big bush, surprise, surprise. But totally hairless looked weird to me. Trimming it into weird shapes like hearts or letters is way too cutesy. Would it be possible to remove the hair between my legs, you know, from my butt to my clit, and trim down the pubic patch smaller, but keep the triangle shape?"

"Sure. Untie your robe and lie back on the bed. I'll have the cosmetologists come in. Jaci, it's a new sensation for you and it can be painful. It's really only a 2 or 3 out of ten, but because you know it's coming, it seems worse. It's over quick, and you won't need another in the two weeks. After it's over, you can get dressed and we can start on your mani/pedi."

"I don't think Danny knows about these subtleties. When this is over he's going to owe me a big ass steak from the Metropolitan Grill."

It hurt. Not punched in the balls hurt, but painful.

Afterwards, I got dressed. I started with a pair of Jockey's for her. Pink and lilac stripes. Simple, cotton, comfortable. I then pulled on a pair of light wash Levi's. The measurements were perfect. They fit amazingly well. I was surprised that I didn't need a belt. With my hips flaring out, there was no way these would come off unless they were unbuttoned.

I turned to Rebecca with more than a hint of dread. It was bra time.

"Jaci, you are about to experience something that most woman haven't. With all the measurements we took, your very first bra is going to fit you perfectly. This is a T-Shirt bra. It is tan colored, lightly padded, seamless, without an underwire. It supports without pushing up. This is as comfortable as a bra gets, but every bra gets annoying after eight to ten hours, especially to someone who has never worn one before.

I want you to take the bra and put it on backwards with the cups facing backwards and the hooks in the front below your breasts. Do not put your arms in the straps yet. Fasten the hooks, spin the bra so the cups are now in the front, place your breasts in the cups and put your arms in the straps."

I did what she said but it didn't feel right, so I pulled the cups out and down and reseated the breasts.

"Good. That was going to be my next instruction to you anyway. Ok. Now we need to make some adjustments on the straps. How does it feel?"

"Ok, I guess. Nothing's pinching or too tight. It's actually nice that they're not pulling down, that they're supported."

"Welcome to female 101. You should know that almost all woman your age don't put on a bra that way. We can practice the real way later today, but I'm not sure you will have the knack down by the time you're heading to the airport. Now this is important. If you have to continue to put your bra on this way, make sure that Daniel's mother doesn't see you.

This is a good bra to start things off. We will need to stop at Victoria's Secret or Soma to get you the rest."

"It's only a ten day trip. How many bras do I need?"

"More. Several more."

I put on a blue T-shirt as another cosmetologist came in.

"Jaci, you're going to find this hard to believe but most woman find the pampering in getting a manicure and pedicure to very relaxing. We all know how to do it ourselves, and in a pinch we will, but having someone do it for you is very satisfying and looks much nicer.

I have picked out for you a strawberry color. The reds are really the most attractive, but there are certain reds that are just too provocative. This one's more subtle.

Now this is important. If your nails get chipped or break, every hotel you're staying at will have a salon. Should you go with Daniel's mother, have them change the color to a mauve, or clear with French tips. Tell her that when you go back to work there's an executive meeting that you need to prepare for. Now, repeat that back to me."

"Mauve or French tips, executive meeting."

"Excellent. I've just texted that information to your new phone."

"New phone?"

"You're not bringing Jason's phone to Hawaii. We got you a phone with a bunch of girly apps loaded. I'm in your contacts along with Peri Jacobs and several other female staffers. Later we're going to take some pictures of you. We're going to Photoshop you into some pictures of Daniel and upload them to the phone. Fortunately, the story is that you haven't been dating that long so we won't need to do too many. We'll include some local's images of Seattle as well. We will play around and get a few pictures of you onto his phone too."

"Pretty damn thorough."

"It's the little things that sells the big things. Enjoy your treatments. I have to run out and get you something."

"What?"

"You'll see. Later."

The ladies doing the manicure and pedicure set up a laptop and played several how to videos on putting on makeup. They also brought equipment that dried the polish quickly.

Rebecca came back holding a shoebox.

"I have in here a beige female loafer with a modest one inch heel. That's a good started shoe but we'll get into larger heels later. You lost 3 inches in height. You're now at 5 foot seven inches. Daniel is 5' 11". That's not too bad a height difference, so we can get away with a 2 or 3 inch heel.

How were the makeup videos?"

"Complicated."

"As soon as your toes are dry, we can hit the mall. You'll get some one on one instruction at the Estee Lauder counter. I think we'll go with Beautiful as your perfume. Very elegant with a slightly different smell depending on who wears it. We can try some others but I'm guessing you'll be overwhelmed."

I walked around the room and down the hallway a few times in the shoes. It was different, something to get used to, but not too difficult. Right before we left she told me she had gotten me something else and tossed over a jeans jacket. Just after she parked at West Lake Center. She turned to me.

"Jaci...you're wearing jeans, which are not particularly tight or form fitting. You've got on a t-shirt, so you have no cleavage. You're actually showing a minimum of skin. The shoes you have on don't make your butt sway. Still, you're about to be in public for the first time as a woman. It can take a very long time to ignore the stares, and you don't have much time. Talk to me. Get it out of your system. I'm here to help you through this."

"Rebecca, this is one lesson that you didn't need to remind me about. I've been thinking about this moment since I agreed to do this. I even walked around this very mall last week, watching the guys watching the girls. Even when I was doing that, I couldn't help checking out the woman as well. I know that deep down, 99.9% of it is harmless, even if it leads to thoughts that I wouldn't want my mother to know about. I'm going to try to be pragmatic about it. Looks, glances and stares are not contact, not interactions. At least I'm not alone. I'm very thankful you're here. Just keep talking to me. That will keep my mind off of it."

"Look Jaci, I could use a latte and you probably should take the edge off with a glass of wine. Let's go find a place and I can show you the game plan."

A few minutes later I was rolling my eyes on how good my white wine tasted.

"Yeah, we're still researching that. For the most part, the changeover doesn't affect your favorite foods, with heavily smoked meats the exception for male to female. But there does seem to be perceptible differences in other fare. We have found that converted females actually find salads taste better. Although many men can love white wine, our new women react exactly like you, especially with that particular brand, Cakebread's Chardonnay."

She took out her tablet and moved her chair next to mine so we could both view the screen.

"The next few hours will be grueling. We're going to be going to many stores and trying on a lot of clothes. And yes, you have to try things on. Depending on the outfit, you could be a size 6, 8, or 10. Here's is the shopping list I put together for a ten day Hawaiian vacation."

"Holy Crap!"

"You're going to be spending three evenings with Daniel's parents. On those three nights you will need to be able to change into a second, dressier outfit. And well-dressed does mean dresses, although probably not for each night. I figure two dresses and a third just in case. During the six days you're alone with Daniel you can probably get away with one outfit per day, but I think three extra to be on the safe side. That means seventeen outfits but while they're on the cruise, you will be able to send out the laundry. That brings it down to about thirteen outfits. Your casual outfits can be some mix of t-shirts, tank tops, blouses, skirts, shorts, skorts, capri's and jeans. In the islands, you're going to want a couple of sundresses, but I can accommodate your sensibilities with a print maxi dress. One or two pairs of nice slacks would be in the mix for your evening wear.

I'm figuring eight pairs of underwear. You're probably inclined to go with the boy shorts, but I would only suggest two of those plus two bikinis, two hipsters, and depending on the outfits we get, two thongs. Don't fight me on that please. Your outfits will also dictate what other bras we get you. Two, possibly three more, plus two sports bras for hiking and working out. You will probably need one or two pairs of yoga pants as well. There will be socks. Maybe pantyhose, for the fancier evenings. In Hawaii you can get away with bare legs in a skirt.

Which brings us to our most difficult subject. Hawaii means beaches and pools. You cannot confine yourself to only one piece suits. Mrs. Armstrong will think there's something wrong with you. You can get a one piece, and a compromise Tankini, but you are going to have to be seen in a bikini at least for one day. It doesn't have to be a thong or a micro. There are plenty of classy two pieces. Don't worry, we will also get you a cover up."

"Why would she think there's something wrong?"