The Seventh Wheel

"Cash or credit?"

I was at the checkout, it was crowded, I waited about twelve, fifteen minutes to make it to the cashier. I had all the items transferred from the cart to the little conveyer belt. I was holding my purse.

"Here you go." I gave her Max's card.

She looked at it, at me. "Can I see some ID?"

"Ooh, I'm sorry I don't have any on me."

She gave me a weird smile, "You don't have a driver's license?" She pressed a button, she didn't wait for an answer. The 'cashier closed' light went on above her, there was a low audible 'Aww' behind me. I was playing with my hair, I started to get nervous.

"Is there a problem?"

I looked up, a large man in a vest was holding Max's card, he was looking at me. He looked annoyed we interrupted his Saturday afternoon.

"This woman here has no ID, she has a credit card with one of our members' names on it." The cashier had her arms folded, she was waiting for a bit of drama.

The man started getting angry at me, he called me names, I was getting embarrassed. I apologized to the people behind me on the line.

"I will go somewhere else then, I'm sorry to bother you." I was trying to be nice, my voice was erratic and shakey. I could tell they knew I was transgender.

"I have to call the cops, take a seat." And he pointed to a chair against the window, I would be on display, on display in front of the whole store. He was being a jerk. Why didn't he ask me about the name on the card? I left. I walked out the door, let the cops chase me, I know how to run in heels. The last hour was a bust, my items were still on the conveyer belt. I was going to get sick, this was the reason I stayed in my room, in front of my mirror or my nice organized closet.

"Miss?"

I heard someone call, I jogged to the violet Buick, I didn't turn around.

*

I was crying I was two blocks away, a corner, under a tree. I was watching a man teach his children how to ride bicycles. Every once in a while the little girl would look my way, look at the violet car. Her smile made me feel so much better. I was forgetting about the fools at the Market, Beth's favorite, she could keep it. My phone buzzed.

"Sabrina?"

"Mmm."

"Are you okay?" It was Max, I didn't want to tell him what happened, it was probably partly my fault anyway. I realized I forgot to take back his card. "I'm at the Farmer's Market, where are you?"

"I'm, um, I'm going to go back to the house."

"I will come get you, there has been a misunderstanding." He sounded so concerned I started to cry again as I told him the cross streets.

*

We were in his Jeep, we were in the lot, he wanted to take me inside. He smiled, he waited, he was very patient with me. It took a long time for me to get out of the passenger seat, to make my way into this store, it was the last place I wanted to be. We saw the annoyed man in the vest, he was in an office slightly above the cashiers. Max took my hand, we interlocked fingers, we made our way through the crowded market.

Max looked at the man, he waited, he watched him walk towards us. The man in the vest looked a little nervous. "Here you go, for next time." He held out his hand, he was holding an envelope. I wouldn't touch it, I wouldn't even look at him.

"What else?" Max spoke, I could tell he didn't like this man.

"Oh, ahh, I'm sorry."

Max tightened his grip on my hand, he walked over to the cashiers, and the man followed us. "What was that?"

"I, ahh, I'm really sorry. I just thought..."

"There was no reason for that. My girlfriend came here to shop." I looked at Max when he said 'my girlfriend' I wasn't expecting that, I forgot about the big man next to us. "And you had to be nasty, keep your card, remove my name off your membership list. We are not coming back. There are plenty of places in Malibu to shop."

I watched Max, he wasn't being loud or angry, he was telling the man and the customers watching us. Max then reached for the man's shirt, he touched his collar and the man flinched.

"Now say you are sorry one more time, I want you to look in her eyes, she is a beautiful wonderful person and you treated her terribly. If you can't be an adult, then you should just get another job." Max still had his hand on the man's shirt, his other one was still holding mine.

"I'm sorry miss, I have been having a crazy day, I'm sorry I took it out on you."

I smiled, it was quite a hard thing to do, for both of us. As we left the cashier gave us three shopping bags, it was all the things from my cart. I'm sure some of it had been out in the warmth of the store for too long, but it made me happy. She then gave me flowers. "I'm sorry too, please come back." And we left, we carried our things to the Jeep. I sat in the front seat and I cried into the flowers, Max had his arm around me, he was quiet, I let it all out. I felt so much better.

*

"Pancakes?" I called into the hallway where his bedroom was. I didn't want to get too close, I didn't want to alarm him, I didn't want to see him naked.

I felt wonderful the next morning, things were different. Max dropped me off to pick up the violet-colored car. I said hello to the man with his kids, I admired the two bikes. Max watched me from the window of his Jeep, he had a huge smile on his face. I think he was surprised I was talking to someone. I felt so nice, and feminine, today, I had on a denim skirt, a white top, and six-inch pumps, I wanted someone to see my legs in the nude nylons. I wanted to show off my long nails.

The little girl I saw yesterday was on one of the bikes, she was probably seven, or eight, and she had blonde hair like me. I could be talking to myself, I could have gone back in time, through some other dimension, a portal, where I was a female child ready to take on the world. Ready to learn how to ride a bike.

"I'm Sabrina, what's your name?"

'Nicole."

"Hi, Nicole."

"That's my brother Nicklaus." She pointed. "Oh and that's my dad, I call him dad."

I smiled, she was cute. "Hi, Nicklaus, hi, dad, that nosy man in the Jeep is Max." Max waved. "Bye, have fun on your bikes, thanks for watching my car." They waved to us, it was nice. I went back to the Jeep and took out one of the potted plants I bought for the house, and the flowers I got from the woman at the market. I gave it to Nicole. She smiled and sniffed, I tapped her nose and then waved goodbye to the others again. It was the nicest Sunday morning I have ever had in my life. I went back to the car, but I was secretly looking for the portal.

Max followed me back to the house, our house. I listened to music and watched him in my rearview mirror. Every couple of blocks I gave him a girlie wave, I didn't know if he could see me but I didn't care. I loved that he was behind me, making sure I was on the right path, going in the right direction. I would have never expected this, I remembered the day I was dressed as a barmaid, dressed as a woman, seeing Max from afar. I never would have expected he would treat me like this or be intimate one day, never in a million years.

We passed my blue Toyota in the parking spot by the side of the house. We backed side by side in the garage, violet and black, I had the whole day to do nothing.

"Max, can we spend the day together?"

"We can, I would love that."

Some part of me felt like this was the beginning. This was the new start. I felt like I was getting ready to learn how to ride a bike.

*

"Why are you so hard already Mister?"

"Well, I have been thinking of doing this all day."

Max and I were in my room. I was being cute. We went to an antique store this weekend and bought a bench, it was a love seat. It matched my furniture, it had a little back on it, it had arms. We wanted to be able to sit a little more comfortably when we watched YouTube and the videos we found. We watched everything on a new TV. A nice big mirror behind it, I needed to see us, a man and a woman together. My new room was beginning to feel more like me, more lived in.

"Oh, my god, I found the best pair of legs, wait 'til you see this," Max would find something, and I would find something else. Jerking off had become less solitary, it became a part of our nightly ritual.

"Mmm, I love that. Look at her lips, CDs, drag queens always have the best lips. I love watching them put on makeup."

"So do I." He smiled he kissed my cheek.

We found some more videos of beautiful CDs fixing their mascara, and putting on lipstick. I went to my vanity and picked out a nice plum, dark and matte, I took off the pink. I sat back on the bench to watch the monitor again, Max watched me, I ignored him. "Don't you want to see how she does her lips?" I was being cute, I was trying to flirt.

He was looking at my lipstick tube, he had an expectant look on his face. He was waiting. I remember him asking me about my lips before I moved in before we really knew each other.

"Um, I was wondering if you were, you know..."

"Mmm, I guess." I playfully shook my shoulders, and I turned the bottom of the tube, I held up a little mirror, I put on the new purple. Top lip, then bottom lip. I checked I turned, I looked into my little mirror. I cleaned up the edges with my pinky, I rubbed my now darker lips together, I had an audience. I smiled into my mirror and then showed Max. "Like?"

"Mmm, I do,"

He had his hand on his cock, it was sticking out of his briefs, he was still so hard, he leaned over and kissed me. He lightly kissed my lips, I started to suck his tongue. I took hold of his manhood myself, I started to pump him. I had his cock in my hands way more than I had my little 'clit' in mine the last couple of weeks. I was getting very good at making him cum, making him happy, we didn't think we needed to update the woman when we made our calls about this little turn of events, they always seemed a little annoyed at me anyway. I could just imagine though, 'Hi Beth, yes, I have been taking care of your boyfriend, you know he has such a big cock, do you remember what it looks like, should I send you a picture? I'm sorry my nails are in the way, hehe...'

He didn't last long, once again I had his warm cum in my hands, I licked my palm clean as he watched, and then we kissed again, slightly salty.

"Mmm, you taste so good," He told me, he told me this every time. He would then run his nose through my hair, and my neck, he would hold me and caress me tight. I could tell he was enjoying my scent, my body. I was enjoying the closeness, the intimacy, the romance of it.

I started to realize my life before Max was mostly alone. For work I was either on the phone, going through catalogs, or colors, by myself in someone's empty closet. If I was home I would be by myself, trying on different outfits, taking pictures for my collection. Lula tended to do other things without me, she was always out of the house, she'd go out after work, hang out with the couples at restaurants and coffee shops, and visit or talk to her friends on the phone. We very rarely ate at the same table, even slept together. We were barely a couple.

Max and I were suddenly always together. Now that I was always in a dress, always in makeup and heels it was better. He liked the female me, he seemed uncomfortable before when I wasn't dressed up, and it was understandable, he wanted to be with a 'woman.' The day we came home from meeting Nicole and picking up the car we were on the steps of his house and I whispered in his ear as he got out his keys, we waved to a couple of neighbors.

"You called me your girlfriend yesterday."

He paused opening the door, "I did, is that okay?"

"What about Beth, would she mind?"

"She would, she would scream and throw things at us, she has a temper. But that is the chance I am willing to take." He laughed and then he kissed me. His tongue went gently through my lips. Our first kiss out in the open, in front of others, in front of the entire world. I put my hand on his chest, he put his arms around me.

We hugged, it was nice. "Sabrina I'm sorry I didn't ask you. I really like this, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

I smiled, we kissed again at the top of the steps, I saw the violet car in front of the house. "Does the car come with this new position?"

He looked at me, he glanced at Beth's car. "I'm afraid it does." We laughed, we kissed some more. We fell into the house and I took him into my bedroom.

***

"What did I love? Hmmph." I was on my freshly made bed, I was kind of bouncing. "Mmm, what did I love?"

I love that he asked me that question, but I didn't know, I had no clue what I loved, what turned me on, what made me warm and fuzzy inside. I mean I had an idea, but I couldn't put my finger on it. My finger was on my D cup breast.

I decided I couldn't answer him. Max was above me, looking down on me, I had on long false lashes, I felt very warm, comfortable.

"Can I take you out tonight?"

"Go out, are you sure? Someone might see us." I was nervous, I didn't want one of his or his girlfriend's friends to see us. I didn't want him to have to explain anything. Well, anything again. I didn't want anyone to think we were cheating, or worse, that he was being sneaky.

"Yeah, so. I want you to go out, look at you, you look so hot in all those new dresses of yours. Don't you want to have dinner, go shopping? Don't you want to show off those legs?"

I looked down, I was wearing only a corselette, pantyhose, and heels. I stretched my legs out.

He held my chin, he looked at me, "Um, miss, don't you think we should leave the house?"

So I got dressed and we did. It would be the second time we did something together in the world, with me glammed up, dressed like the perfect girlfriend. When I texted Lula she was asking if I was enjoying myself, my time as a girl. I couldn't tell her that after almost two months I just started. I just finished everything up with the house, finally finished Beth's closet, just bought new clothes and just started going out. I also didn't want Lula or especially Beth to find out Max was being very nice to me. There was no pressure, no rush, it was all so natural and relaxed. Sometimes if we needed space I didn't even see him for a couple of days, or if he was on a call for work, or far away, I would tend to miss him. I didn't want Lula to get jealous of me, she told me Beth was a little grouchy, a little mean. Said she kind of liked it sometimes, she told me I could be a little mean to her when she was back in California.

It wouldn't happen, I wouldn't be mean to her, to anyone. I was a nice 'girl.' I tended to forget all about them. They weren't here, they didn't matter as much to me anymore.

"Wow, you look incredible." Max was looking at me, lately, he had been looking at me a lot, a lot differently. He was always smiling, he was always touching me, he was definitely happier living with a 'woman,' and not a man pretending to be one. Once I committed to dressing up he was all for it, he was completely in. I was always female to him, he never slipped or brought up my other gender, and the pronouns were always correct. I was more than a little appreciative.

"Really, it's not too short?"

"Sabrina, can a woman even wear a dress that's too short? I don't think so. At least not when a man is watching." And he laughed, he took my hand and we walked over to the wall of mirrors by the front door. He stood behind me, he wanted me to look at myself, get comfortable, he rubbed my back, he moved my hair, he lightly kissed my neck.

I had on a short red dress with little white flowers. When Max asked me what I loved, the only thing I told him was flowers, even though I knew he meant something else. Almost all of my dresses had a flower pattern, even my jewelry had flower designs, I knew what I liked, I just didn't know what I loved.

The hem of the dress came about mid-thigh, showing off my nude pantyhose, showing off my legs. I had on the push-up bra in the corselette and it was giving me some incredible cleavage. I had my D cup forms in my bra. My hair covered, even more, reaching the top of my boobs, strawberry blonde and slightly wavy. I had on four-inch beige sandals and I carried my little red bag. I was ready to go out. I was so ready to be a girlfriend.

"I need you to kiss me," I told him, my voice was so quiet, I wanted to feel like Beth.

"Will that make you feel better?" He kissed my neck, it was so nice, it was very romantic.

"Mmm, where are we going?" I had the chills.

"First tell me if you are ready." He looked in my eyes, in the reflection, I could tell he was worried about me. The last time we were out I was so upset, I think I was now ready to try and go out again, especially if he was with me. Especially if I really looked okay. I wanted him to treat me like he does Beth, I wanted to be his prettier, substitute girlfriend.

I had on press-on nails, they were white, they looked so nice as I moved the hair out of my eyes, really just to get a better look at Max. My makeup was light, I had on long false lashes and dark eyeliner and shadow. My lips matched my bag, bright and red, I thought I looked okay. Waking up as a woman for the last two weeks has done something to my brain, my way of thinking, and even my libido. It all felt so natural.

I smiled, my teeth were whiter, my smile and eyes of course were bigger, I guess I was ready to go out.

"Thank you for having so much faith in me," And I smiled at him again. "I'm ready."

"Great."

"So do I get to find out where you are taking me?"

"Dinner, but first I want to take you someplace. Someplace you will love."

*

Surprisingly we pulled into the Cali Mall right near the house. He smiled as he helped me out. As I spun out of his Jeep, my legs exposed to the parking lot. He took my hand as I stood up, fixed my dress, fixed my hair. I stayed quiet I didn't want him to know I was nervous.

"Do you want to hold my arm?"

"Okay." And I did, I held him tight, I smiled at the beautiful women we passed, the little children, the older men hanging in front of the stores, the cashiers looking out the windows. Max kept patting my hand as I held him. He was so tall, at least three to four more inches taller than me in my heels. I felt like a woman with a man, I didn't feel like I was standing out. When I am out by myself I feel everyone is looking at me, disapproving.

"Here we go." We walked into a spa, we walked to the side, there was a young Asian woman at the counter, I started to get nervous, I didn't want to shed my clothes at a spa.

"Can I help you?" She had a big bright smile on her face, she looked at both of us, but Max started to speak as I held onto him still. I needed the support.

"Hi, yes, my girlfriend would like her nails done." He then looked at me, my knees were a little weak, especially him referring to me as his girlfriend again. I knew he liked what happened last week, how excited I got when we got back to the house. When I thought about him telling the people at the Farmers Market I was his girlfriend.

"Ooh, okay follow me, I will introduce you to Amber." We followed, there were so many women getting their faces worked on, their hair, then to the back of the shop, their nails. "Amber, I have a new client for you." She sang and then Amber turned around. She was tall, beautiful, full head of long shiny gray hair.

She grabbed our hands. "Hi, hi, and who are you two."

"I'm Max and this is my girlfriend Sabrina?"

She looked at me, I was wondering if she was surprised I had a boyfriend. I had a feeling she knew I was trans, but it didn't matter. "Wonderful. Hi Sabrina, let me see." She lifted my hand with the plastic nails on, she shook her head. "Are we taking these off, do you want tips?"

"Um," I looked at Max again, these are questions I should know the answers to.

"She does."

"Great. Do you want them as long as this? Or do you want them even longer?" She squinted at me, I liked her right away.