On Vacation - An X-Change Novella Ch. 01

"Wearing one pieces, twice in a row? The first thing she may think is that you lack confidence in yourself, you a young, beautiful woman. She also might think that you're toning it down on purpose, to give a good impression. Or you have a skin condition, or you were once assaulted. You're unnecessarily raising her suspicions.

Now what do you normally sleep in?"

"I just leave my boxer briefs on and sleep in that. Naked if I have company."

"You're likely going to share a bathroom. We'll get you a couple of pairs of sleep shorts and a couple of sleep shirts with built in support. Your girls will thank you. If you had your sister's B, you could have gotten away with just a t-shirt.

So here's our strategy. Clothes first, swimwear next, then shoes, underwear, and finally accessories."

"Honestly Danny, I think the most clothes shopping I ever did in one trip before yesterday was two pairs of chinos, three shirts, some socks and a baseball cap. We bought more than that from the juniors department at Nordstrom's...or was it the misses department? Don't ask me what the difference is."

After watching videos for most of the morning, while being forced to hold hands, Rebecca thought it would be a good idea for us to go out to lunch to get used to being a couple. I was trying to explain to him some of the subtleties he had not taken into account when he asked me for this favor. I had decided not to volunteer any information that involved hot wax.

"Jeez Jace. How much stuff are they making you bring?"

"Jaci. You have to remember to call me Jaci."

"Sorry Dude. It's just that despite the girly clothes, lipstick, and jewelry, I can sort of see you in there."

I was wearing the same jeans as yesterday, but with a lilac buttoned blouse. I had a jumping dolphin silver necklace around my neck and an amethyst tennis bracelet on my wrist. After much practice I had done a Rebecca acceptable job with lipstick, mascara, and eye shadow.

"I'm checking a suitcase and a garment bag. On the plane I'll have a tote bag and ... a purse."

"And the garment bag is for...?"

"Dresses. Five dresses, three being evening dresses, one sun dress and one maxi dress. Also, two pairs of slacks and one pleated skirt."

"What's a maxi dress?"

"It's a dress that goes from your shoulders to your ankles. Very comfortable. Casual, with a touch of elegance."

"Wow. You're really getting into this. You even ordered a salad."

I slumped my forehead into the palms of my hands.

"It actually tastes good. It's a side effect. Never mind."

When I looked up, Danny looked a little flustered.

"Dude, I want you to know how much this means to me. This is above and beyond even the best of friendships."

"Danny, you also have to stop calling me dude. JAY-CEE! Actually, you're going to also figure out how to throw in a honey or babe every now and then. Really Dan, you're better than this. What's wrong, what are you holding back?"

He looked down at his plate with his chin in his chest.

"You're right. It's just that...you are so beautiful. I know that doesn't do anything for you and probably makes things a little awkward. I knew that you were going to be a girl, but I didn't expect this ... you."

I waited a few seconds and then I playfully slapped him in the head.

"Listen Danny, I agreed to do this. Trust me, there have been a few situations come up that were unexpected, but now I'm getting motivated. I'm not going through all of this just to flop out. This HAS to work. I will make your parent's like me. Your mother has to leave Hawaii believing her son is in good hands.

You're a little uneasy telling me I'm beautiful? Danny...I'm freakin gorgeous. Beautiful makes this easier. Beautiful is first down on the two yard line. Beautiful is what Barbara Armstrong's son deserves.

At first, it was awkward to hold your hand this morning. But it's just a hand. And it's actually nice to hold a hand. This afternoon, Rebecca is going to make us do some other awkward things. I'm going to spin it in the same way, because we need to do these things to make all this work. So stop being a wuss and start being my boyfriend."

Danny looked up at me and began to laugh. After that it became normal between the two of us. He told me about having to handoff some cases. I brought up sports. As we got up to head back to the X-Change facility, I said "Damn!"

"What's wrong?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"So?"

"I have never gone to the ladies room before. I've only used the one in my room."

"Can you hold it till we make it back?"

"Don't want to risk it. Still not 100% sure of the equipment. Besides, we have airports, restaurants, tourist sites, and hotel pool decks ahead of us. Might as well get used to it."

When I came out he asked me how it went.

"Well any naïve fantasies we may have had about girls prancing about in their underwear and admiring each other's body parts are dashed. It's a bathroom, all stalls, and the doors are closed. Rebecca gave me the heads up to always first check if there's toilet paper before dropping your drawers. That was after the wiping lesson. Anything else you need to know?"

"Was it cleaner in there?"

"As far as I could tell, yes. No puddles, no pubes. I hear that some woman won't fully sit down at a public toilet, which probably causes more inadvertent spray. I checked, looked clean."

When we got back, Rebecca continued our awkward boot camp. She had us sit on a couch with Danny's arm around me while she asked us questions to keep a conversation going. At one point, Danny was quiet for too long, so I asked him what the problem was.

"You really smell good."

"I'm wearing perfume, and..." Rebecca interrupted.

"And she's going to be wearing perfume anytime that she might run into your mother with the exception of going to use the gym. She will wear perfume on the beach, she will wear perfume at the pool, and she will wear perfume on top of Diamondhead.

And that segues into our next subject. Danny, throw her a compliment once in a while. Babe, you smell good. Your hair looks great today. Jaci, that blouse is pretty, is it new? Not constantly. Not every hour on the hour. Once or twice a day, in front of your mother or in range of your mother. Got it?"

Rebecca then reached into a bag, pulled out some clothing and threw it at Danny.

"Go put on those athletic shorts. Jaci, change into that denim skirt that we got at Old Navy."

Danny went into the bedroom and I changed in the bathroom. When we finished, Rebecca had us sit side by side on the couch.

"Ok Danny, put your hand on her thigh."

He hesitated for a second then dropped his hand on my right leg.

"Give it a squeeze, rub it a little. Nothing gropey, a little playful. Your parents are going to expect something a little more involved than holding hands. Yes, it's possessive, but a couple should be possessive of each other. And that means that you put your hand on his thigh Jaci. Same story, squeeze and rub."

Like Danny, at first I just dropped my hand on his leg. I then gave it the tiniest of squeezes. I took a deep breath in order to dissipate the awkwardness. When I started to rub his leg in a small circular motion, a calm came over me. Suddenly, it began to feel right to touch him. That 'This is going to work' feeling came over me. I gave him one more hard squeeze and then slapped his thigh.

Rebecca had us change back and she decided we should walk to a close by restaurant for dinner. "Remember to grab your purse dear."

We didn't even go half a block before she turned to us and raised an eyebrow. I grabbed Danny's hand and walked the rest of the way like that. When we got to the restaurant, Rebecca asked for a booth. She made us sit side by side and close. Half way through dinner she asked Danny if his pasta was good. When he replied that it was excellent she scornfully said "Jaci, this pasta is great. Would you like to try some?"

He repeated "Jaci, this pasta is great. Would you like to try some?"

"Now, feed her."

We both said "Is that really necessary?"

"Once. Wait till the food is really good or unusual. Then do it once, in front of the folks. Or, it could be Jaci feeding you Danny. Either way, take a quick bite, acting like it's the most natural thing for two people to do. Work out some signal for when and who. Now feed her and then you feed him. Or wait for desert, but it's going to happen."

After dinner we went back to the facility. She did two more hours of only verbal coaching and conversation. No more touching. I was mentally exhausted so she told Danny to scram.

"No scrubs tonight. Try one of the sleep outfits we bought. We'll run a quick laundry in the morning so everything is fresh."

It was so good to lose the bra. I put on a magenta night shirt that had some support and a pair of pink shorts. Parents wake up first, parents knock on hotel doors. It was actually very comfortable and I was asleep within minutes.

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Showtime.

The cab was pulling up to the Halekulani. My brain was going a thousand miles per hour. I was trying to remember all the things that Rebecca had taught me. She had also told Danny to use the flight over to fill me in on all the things about his parents that he had told Pamela. There were things that you tell a girlfriend that you may not tell your buddies from college.

I also took to heart the final two things that she told me when I left. "You're a girl, not a fake girl. No one is going to associate you with a brand new genetic procedure. If you make a mistake, or do something male, the worst thing that's going to happen is that people will think you're a weird girl." She also told me to remember to keep my knees together when I swing my legs to get out of the cab.

Rebecca had picked out my outfit. I was in a floral print, A-line skirt with a silk top. She also had someone do my makeup. "You're doing fine with the casual, basic stuff, but you're going to be meeting Daniel's parents today. Let's look our best."

The cab came to a stop and I immediately grabbed my purse. Inside was a pack of Tic Tacs, lipstick, mascara, vials of other makeup, tissues, a couple of pens, two tampons ("you never know who's looking"), and my new phone in a wallet case. Inside the wallet were a couple of Jason's credit cards ("for decoration only. Don't pull them out, don't use them. Use Apple Pay if necessary."), a fake gym membership card, a Safeway card, and the answer to one of my biggest questions, a fake driver's license. I had no idea how I was going to get on the plane till this morning. The license read Jacqueline Carole Mann. It turned out that X-Change had arrangements with the DMV. My new license was tied into Jason Dixon's license, so if Jaci got a ticket it would go on Jason's record. I asked them about the "Mann" last name. They said it was attempt at humor. All temporary male to females got the last name of Mann. Naturally, I asked about the temporary female to males. "Actually, the first dozen or so temporary changeovers were Male to female. When we got our first female to male we went with the last name of "Newman". Guess we could have gone with "Oldman" for the male to females, but by then it was established." X-Change had also been able to get the plane tickets under my new name.

The Valet opened the car door. I squeezed my knees together, swung my legs out, and accepted his hand as I stood to exit the cab. Danny and I had practiced this move a few times at the airport parking lot. Once Danny confirmed that all the luggage had been loaded onto the cart, I took his arm and we walked into the hotel. A gentleman in a suit approached us. "Mr. Armstrong? Ms. Mann?

"Yes, that's us."

"Good afternoon sir. I'm Mr. Hale. I will be expediting your check in. Please come with me."

He brought us to an area near a small pool of water.

"Please wait here for two minutes Mr. Armstrong. If I can get your driver's license and a credit card, I will go complete your check in and get you the keys to your suite."

Apparently first class accommodations actually meant first class. As he walked away I heard a woman's voice call out "Daniel...Daniel!"

"Ma!" He met them half way and gave her a big hug. "Omigod Dad! You look terrific."

"I hope you weren't expecting to see me in a hospital gown Danny boy." They embraced.

His father was in khaki shorts and a salmon Ralph Lauren polo. His mother had on a tan skort and a sky blue t-shirt.

"Well Daniel. You look fit, but a little lean."

"Some long hours at the firm Ma. I promise I'll eat plenty of Spam and pineapple while I'm here."

She turned to me. "And this must be Jacqueline."

"Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong. So very good to meet you. Thank you so much for all you've done for us."

Just then Mr. Hale returned.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong. As you can see, I have found your son. Here are the keys to your suite."

"Thank you Mr. Hale. Would it be possible for you to get someone to bring our luggage up to the room? I haven't seen my parents in almost two years and we would like to catch up."

"Certainly Mr. Armstrong." He called over a bellman and I saw Danny slip him a twenty.

I then took his arm and said "Daniel, there's some nice sofa's near the window. Why don't we sit down and talk over there?"

My calling him Daniel was our signal to carry out the plan we came up with on the plane. Once the four of us sat down I turned to his parents and said "Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, I am so very sorry that you had to learn about me the way you did. After all the two of you have been through, he just didn't want to burden you with the news of his breakup."

"Mom, Dad, this is all on me. You didn't want me to visit, so I got into the habit of being upbeat on my calls home."

"Son, I didn't want you to see me like that. Even though the prognosis was good, I lost a lot of weight and my hair. But your phone calls always were the best part of my week."

"Daniel, why didn't the two of you just pick up the phone and make introductions?"

"Ma, Jaci was out of the country for work. She just got back last week. At that point I just thought it would be better for you to meet her in person."

"Where were you dear?"

"Croatia. We have a team of developers out there that I needed to work with."

"Jaci? Daniel's best friend from college is Jason. He calls him Jace. That must get confusing."

"I know Jason. I actually work with him. That's how I met Danny."

"You work with Jason? Were you two ever...together?"

"Oh, no Mrs. Armstrong. First of all, I don't date people at work. Besides, as soon as I met Jason I felt like a big sister, even though we're the same age. We're just good friends."

"Did you know Pamela?"

"Yes Ma'am. I've known Danny before during and after Pamela."

"And what was your impression?"

"That's not really a fair question. Things were cool between us. I think she recognized me as a threat. Still, she was a very smart and confident woman. Pretty, down to earth. I just didn't think they would last."

"You were a threat? You've been attracted to Daniel?"

"Danny and I had bad timing. I had a boyfriend when we first met. Then he had a girlfriend, then I was seeing someone, and along came Pamela. If it wasn't for Jason, we would probably still be side stepping each other."

"Jason got you two together?"

"A few months ago, the three of us were meeting up after work. At the last second he texted us that he had an emergency at the office that he had to deal with. He knew that I wasn't seriously dating anyone and he was tired of Danny moping about Pamela."

"So now you're the rebound girl."

"That's true, but I like to think of myself as the favorable circumstances girl. I think Jason would think of me as the It's About Time girl."

"And how are you and Daniel's circumstances?"

"It's really going well, but I can give you a much better answer when you and Mr. Armstrong return from the cruise. I am comfortable enough with Danny to actually look forward to this uncomfortable situation. Thank you again Mr. & Mrs. Armstrong for this wonderful break."

"Please call me Barbara."

"And I'm Ted. So we figured that we would all be a bit jet lagged, so we think we should have dinner at the hotel's casual outdoor place early tonight. They have live music. We have reservations for their fancy place for tomorrow night. Why don't the four of us take a walk around the resort to get our bearings?"

Showtime...and this time, I was the show.

That's probably an exaggeration because of how much I've been dreading going out in public in a bathing suit. Actually, most of the other girls at the pool were showing a lot more skin as I just couldn't do a bikini my first time and went with the blue one piece. I also had a cover up for walking round the resort although it was somewhat sheer. I did get a good look at myself in the bathroom's full length mirror. I was eye candy, so not all the stares were in my imagination.

To deflect any nervousness that I was projecting, I told Barbara that I was uneasy about my "Seattle Tan." She replied that it was better to be a bit pale than a lot burnt and told me to get some SPF 30. By the time I finished the Mai Tai Danny got me to give me the courage to leave the room, there wasn't four lounge chairs together, so we ended up by ourselves. That was fine by me as this was really the first time I could relax since check in.

After touring the resort with Danny's parents, we finally got to our suite. I immediately began unpacking and planning. I was trying to figure out what to wear for dinner.

"Why do you need to change? Dad said the place was casual."

"Rebecca said that I should change. I don't need to shower, and I can keep the makeup on, but I have to change clothes. Besides, your mother will change, so I need to change."

"My mother probably changed as soon as she got to their room. She won't change again."

"She is spending an evening with her son's new girlfriend. She'll change."

"What can we bet?"

"We're in Hawaii. Let's bet a Mai Tai."

When we met at the restaurant, Barbara was now wearing a floral sun dress. I had gone with white capris and a sleeveless denim shirt. The evening went well. They asked me a lot of questions, so I stuck as close to the truth as possible. I had to change what college I attended, so I borrowed some stories from people I worked with who had also gone to technical schools. I was still amazed how good Chardonnay tasted.

Jet lag was the reason for ending the evening early. When we got back to the room, I had to wash off the makeup and change it to my sleep outfit. By the time I left the bathroom, Danny was out on the couch. I closed the bedroom door and was unconscious as soon as my head hit the pillow.

We woke up to our phone alarms. His parents had arranged for an early private tour that took us to the top of Diamondhead and then to Pearl Harbor. Our guide was very chatty which took the focus off of me.

So now, as Ted said "We can relax by the pool and then get ready for our fancy, schmancy five star dinner."

An afternoon in paradise. Barbara was reading a book. Ted was sipping a beer. Danny was in the chair next to me with his air buds in. I was stretched out, sunglasses on, listening to some pop on my headset, decent buzz going, under mostly clear skies.

After ten minutes with just my thoughts, I began to have concerns in two areas. Physically, I had a very warm sensation which had nothing to do with the sun. It felt like it was generating internally rather than externally. It was a strange feeling that I've never felt before. I wondered if after all the massive changes only a few days ago, maybe something was off. Mentally, I had an overwhelming impression that I either had forgotten something or was missing something important. I just looked around the pool area, hoping that the answer would just pop into my head.