Lady of the Rings
by Brandy Dewinter and Ellen Hayes
(All rights reserved)
Chapter 18 - Debutante? Not!
Build 5
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," I heard Kim's painfully cheerful
voice way too early the next morning. It was the first morning that
my stiffness hadn't made me wake up early.
Ignoring her didn't work. Ignoring Kim was about like ignoring
direct sunshine in your eyes. You could try, but it wouldn't go away
and it was too bright to sleep through. Besides, she poked me.
"Alright, already, I'm up," I promised. A lie, but one that didn't
make me feel guilty. It also didn't help because she poked me again.
I considered one of the more painful martial arts moves, but I
didn't know how to deliver it from flat on my back and with my eyes
closed. If I was going to have to get up and open my eyes anyway, it
would have been too much additional effort to kill her. So I just
staggered into the bathroom and started "primping."
Kim kept bubbling away, either oblivious to my mood or determined
to push me past it. "Sarah already checked with Tom and Jim and you
have all day off, until the evening performances. Sarah's also got the
keys to one of the circus pickups, so we're ready to go as soon as you
get dressed."
I yanked a brush through my too-long hair. It was a good thing,
or a bad one depending on my mood at the moment, anyway a key point that
I enjoyed the soothing feel of brushing my hair in the evening when I
might have done something about it, and hated it in the morning when it
would have been too much bother to hunt up a pair of scissors. So it was
still long. At least I always got it smooth and shining at bedtime so
brushing it out in the morning wasn't too bad. Adding a bit of makeup
had become automatic enough to be done while I was still mostly asleep.
I even put on a bra that morning. Dressing in my jeans and a clean shirt
soon followed.
Kim's tapping toe didn't really help my mood, but it did keep me
from getting the sit-and-stares before I was done so it wasn't too long
before we were ready to go.
"Get your money," Kim ordered.
"Why?"
"Because we're going shopping for you, that's why, dummy!"
God, how I hated enthusiasm in the morning. I went to my stash
and got the cash I had accumulated. Since I had free room and board and
somehow no one ever got around to withholding taxes and Social Security
and whatever from my pay, I had actually managed to put back several
hundred dollars even after I got my flute. Especially since the Colonel
had raised my pay. I wasn't quite prepared to say that running around in
my show costume was worth it, but it did pay pretty well.
We left the dorm trailer and made our way to the parking area.
Just as soon as Sarah saw us she started in on me with her own relentless
energy. They were lucky it was so early or I would have demonstrated
some fancy chokeholds.
"Oh, Bree, Kimberly should have told you to get a dressy blouse
instead of a polo shirt," Sarah complained. "And a skirt like Kimmie,
instead of those jeans."
Kim excused herself with a statement that caused a look of shared
conspiracy to pass between my two supposed friends, "She doesn't have a
skirt. And the only tops she has are polo shirts and a couple of oxford
style."
Well, let 'em smirk all they wanted. I was dressed just fine as far
as I was concerned. I had to admit though, Kim's skirts really made her
legs look good. Just flippy enough to add energy to her walk. Like she
needed any.
At least Sarah wasn't totally evil. She had brought a couple of
cokes from the kitchen. I inhaled one before we even got out of the
lot and settled back to wait for the caffeine to kick in.
"All right, here's the plan," Sarah began. Just what I wanted at
dawn, a plan. "I can get you a simple business outfit, just a skirt and
jacket, from the costume stock. You need a pair of shoes, the right
kind of pantyhose, a nice blouse, and maybe some other accessories.
We can get you the basic stuff first, then try on some outfits to see
what works best for you."
"Look, I just want to meet this guy, not form a corporation with
him," I grumped.
"Fine. This outfit will just get him to look at you instead of
filter you out of his world. After that, well, it's up to you," Sarah
promised.
The caffeine and sugar from the coke finally started to get my blood
circulating fast enough for actual conscious thought, so I sat up a
little straighter to see where we were going. The clock on the dash said
it was after 9:00 already. Well, I never had been a morning person. I
could get going once my heart was started, but I never liked it. Still,
I was actually paying attention when we pulled up to some local mall and
parked.
"What sort of store is this?" I asked Sarah.
"It's a medium fancy department store. We'll pick up some nice
pantyhose here, and maybe a better bra. Then, once you're wearing
those we can find some shoes and a blouse."
"I already have a bra."
"Yeah," now Kim chimed in, "I've seen all your underwear. That's
why this is the first stop."
Like that explained anything. Actually, I found out a few minutes
later that it did. When Kim and I had shopped for underwear before we
had been in a discount store, utilitarian at best. Now we were looking
at colors and lace and all kinds of choices. They led me directly to a
section that had those wire things, and the little bit of padding that
Sarah had incorporated into my show costume.
"Wonderful!" Sarah chortled, like that was a cute thing to say.
Clueless me didn't get the joke.
"Let's see, the blouse should be a light color so get something that
won't show through. Say this peach one," she continued, then ordered.
"Go try it on, and take these with you, too. I'll clear it with the
clerk," she said as she handed me a pair of dark pantyhose.
Kim followed me into the dressing room. Again. Didn't women ever
think about privacy? Since we already knew my sizes the stuff fit okay.
I was about to take it back off when Kim stopped me.
"Oh, no, leave it on. You'll need to be wearing that to make sure
the rest of your new things fit properly."
She hustled me out of the dressing room so quickly I barely had time
to get my jeans fastened. They felt funny with the pantyhose on under-
neath. But the real shock was the shirt. When I put the tight knit on
over that bra (a Wonderbra, of course, that's what Sarah was laughing
about), I looked like I had about twice as much bosom, all cleavage. All
blatantly displayed.
"God, this is obscene. I look like a damn cheerleader or something."
"You look wonderful," they said together. I wanted to slap them
both, but they were back in their relentless cheer mode again and moving
too fast.
"Very full," Kim giggled.
I did slap her then, but just on the arm, and not too hard. The
inescapably honesty forced on me by the ring showed she wasn't making fun
of me. Both of them sincerely wanted to help. It wasn't clear why, when
I was being such a bitch about everything. Time to quit complaining and
start giving them the respect they deserved.
I decided I needed to confess a little and asked, "Can we stop for
a minute?"
We moved to a nearby bench and I continued. "Look, I've never been
into frilly clothes, much. (No joke!) This is all sort of new to me.
Could we take it a little easier? I appreciate what you're trying to do
for me. I really do, but it's kind of overwhelming."
They both nodded, reining in their enthusiasm to a level I could at
least try to keep up with. They smiled encouragement to me and we
strolled rather than strode to the next store. Unfortunately, it was a
shoe store.
"Have you ever worn heels?" Sarah gently asked. I just looked at
her until she said, "Okay, then we'll let Kimmie be our judge for comfort
and our principal model. If you've never worn heels, you won't be able
to tell right off what works and what doesn't. Kim, pick out some with
no more than a couple inches of heel. Full pumps, not sandals."
Kim poked through the shoes on display until she found a pair that
were basically black with a little gold trim around the heel. Even I
could tell they were pretty conservative, but dressy enough for a
businesswoman trying to make a good impression. She waved the clerk
over.
"We'd like to see a pair of these in 8B, and also in 7B," Kim
declared.
"Miss, if you're not sure of your size, I'd be glad to measure your
foot," replied the young man. Too damn glad, I could see from his aura.
He just wanted to feel up her leg. Kim was wise to his trick though.
"No thanks. Actually, we're both looking for shoes and we know
our basic sizes," she said with a glance toward me to indicate who else
was a potential customer. The thought of two sales made his aura light
up with a different desire and he hurried off to get our shoes.
"Let me see the 7Bs first," Kim said. She had already slipped her
thin sandals off. In seconds, she was standing in the pumps.
"Nope," she declared before I even had my boots untied.
"What's wrong?" the clerk asked.
"Angle of the heel is wrong," Kim explained brusquely. "It's too
far forward. Sorry."
She was already back in her sandals as she spoke and we were out of
the store almost as quickly. The next store didn't have any styles she
liked. We couldn't get waited on in the third (a woman clerk, was that a
factor?). Finally, in the fourth store we entered she found another pair
she liked, similar to the first pair except the gold trim went across the
toe instead of around the heel.
"Bree, these heels are just a little higher. Maybe two and a half
inches. Will that be okay?" she asked. How would I know?
Sarah to the rescue, again, "If they're comfortable for you, we can
help Bree learn to walk in them."
Kim nodded and signaled the clerk over, another young man but more
professional in his duties. He had our shoes in a couple of minutes and
Kim had hers on in a moment more.
"These are the ones," she announced as she floated across the room.
The heels made her legs longer and slimmer without losing their shape.
The motion of her hips caused the brief hem of her skirt to flip back and
forth like the tail of a hunting cat, full of energy, and promise, and .
. .
And I decided I better get my mind on other things. It was a good
thing that nobody else had a magic perception ring because I was sure my
aura was broadcasting messages I didn't want made public right then. I
leaned over to take off my boots and realized the others didn't really
need a magic ring. The cups on the new bra were a lot softer than those
in my everyday bra and the excitement I felt from the sight of Kim's legs
was displayed in a thoroughly physical way through those thin cups and
the tight knit shirt. Damn! What would the others think of me?
That thought triggered an image of me walking in high heels and a
short skirt, which did an excellent job of taking me down flat. That
just wasn't me! Well, maybe it was about to be me, but it wasn't right
for me. Frightening, not exciting, and completely unerotic. By the time
I got my display of interest under control, I had my boots off and the
clerk was helping me on with the new shoes.
About the best I can say, is, I managed. There must have been some-
thing inherent in the way my new hips worked because I found my feet
stepping along a narrow line, like walking a tightrope, and that seemed
to help. I also had to take much shorter steps. My new body had always
been more liquidly graceful than my old once I learned how to move in it.
So I didn't fall down. Quite. After a few minutes I was able to walk
without holding on to things but it wasn't a pretty sight. Especially in
comparison with Kim's easy float.
"I don't know about this," I warned.
"You'll be fine," Kim promised, and Sarah smiled her own encourage-
ment. A few more minutes, and I began to move with reliability, if not
comfort. Sarah nodded her head and told me to take the shoes off and pay
for them, plus a matching purse.
Not a pleasant experience. I groaned when I saw the price, "Ouch."
"Don't scrimp on shoes, dear," Sarah lectured. "You need good ones
to support your feet properly. It'll be worth it in the end."
At least they let me wear my hiking boots as we went to the next
store, a boutique thing not to different from the ones near the Brant
building. At least, it didn't seem too different until I looked at the
prices. Much lower than the stores in the office district, thank God.
"All right, now for a nice blouse. What do you thing about an
elegant high lace collar? I've always thought those were so pretty,"
Sarah mused as we entered the shop.
"Careful, Sarah, thunderstorms off to your left," Kim warned,
looking at me.
Sarah turned around, looked at the expression on my face, and moved
on so smoothly you'd have thought it was her own idea, "No, I think we
need something with a nice soft collar that will show a bit of that . . .
wonderful . . look Brittany has."
Oh, joy! Instead of being choked I was going to be flaunted. Some
choice. My two friends were babbling on about one shirt, excuse me,
blouse, or another until Sarah pulled one off the rack.
"Here, hold this," she ordered me. I was about to head off for a
dressing room when she stopped me, "No, wait, you can take back several
at once."
More joy. With a sinking feeling, I knew I would be expected to
show them what each one looked like. Before long I had several more
blouses, mostly off-white with a few pastels. They finally let me head
toward the dressing room. This room was too small for the others to come
in with me, actually just a closet with a curtain, so I had a moment of
almost privacy as I took off my shirt.
The most conservative one they had handed to me was a fairly bright
pink, but I tried it on first. Actually, it wasn't too bad. The collar
dropped down a little, but didn't really show anything. It was a smooth
soft material, too, that felt sort of nice. I came out of the dressing
room to see what it looked like, but before I even found a mirror they
were both shaking their heads.
"Try another one, hun," Sarah ordered softly, "that is not your
color."
Before I went back into the dressing room, I went to get a look in
the mirror for myself. I didn't know what made something "my" color, or
not, but something just didn't look right about the blouse. Nodding in
agreement, I went for the next option.
This one was a creamy off-white, a bit more revealing, in a shiny
material that seemed to shimmer in the lights. Out I went again. Down
the metaphorical thumbs went again.
This time it was Kim who explained, "Too fancy. That material isn't
right for the daytime. The color is good though. Stick with that color
and try one in a material more like the first one."
The only blouse that met those requirements was even lower cut in
front. In fact, I felt like it was cut to my navel but the lapels were
sort of gathered up so that they actually covered a lot more than I had
expected. The top button was a little above my bra so I knew it would-
n't show, but not by much.
"Bingo!" Kim called when I came out of the little cubicle. Well, I
had her vote, and the smile on Sarah's face said it would be at best
two against one. I looked in the mirror and my first thought was that
I was going to show a lot more of myself than I wanted to. Actually,
that was a sort of fool-the-eye thing, though. The cut of the blouse
led the eye downward from my throat and the lapels kept the line going
even after the buttons kept anything from really showing. It wasn't as
bad as my show costume by a long shot.
I looked again at their faces and their confidence made it clear
that I would be happy with this one. Okay, let's get on with it. I
nodded and went back to put my own shirt on. Another surprisingly-high
bill and I had escaped. Or so I thought. Silly me.
"Now, back to the department store," Sarah announced. Maybe it was
because that was where we had parked. Not.
In the department store we now headed for the ladies' suits. As we
stepped among the racks, Sarah whispered to me, "Now, remember, we're
just looking for styles. I'll fix you up something from the costume
wardrobe."
At least that meant I didn't have to pay for anything. You'd think
if we weren't really going to buy anything that we would have finished
quickly. No such luck. They picked out a couple of suits, but before I
could try them on they made me put on my new blouse, and those shoes.
This was the first time I had worn a tailored skirt and I was surprised
at how much it restricted my motion. Until I tried to walk in high
heels. It was a sort of contest between the skirt and the heels to see
which one restricted me more, a contest where it seemed like the loser
had to be me. At least the skirt was fairly long, well below my knee.
"Oh, Bree, that's terrific!" Kim cheered. You mean I got it right
with the first suit? Not possible, with these two. I walked over to
the mirror and looked at the stranger there. It wasn't me, or at least
not the me that had started out the day. The figure in the mirror was
trim, elegant yet businesslike. At least until I moved. I still didn't
have those heels down right.
Well, I was more or less right about it being impossible to try on
only one suit. I traipsed back and forth through three other options,
each about the same as far as I could tell. One gray, one blue, one
blue-gray. Just like men's suits as far at that sort of thing went.
Finally Sarah nodded her head.
"Okay, I've seen enough. Let's go. Bree, hun, why don't you wear
your new shoes after you put your jeans back on? You could use the
practice."
Now there's an understatement. I figured I could make it as far as
the pickup without damaging myself, but of course that wasn't the plan.
By now it was lunchtime and we all had to walk the length of the mall to
a restaurant. Well, not the whole length. In fact, it was just a few
doors down but by the time we got there my feet felt like I'd walked a
couple of miles.
I was just never going to be able to match those two for energy. I
tried, Lord knows I tried, but even when I had something to say, the
conversation swirled along too fast for me to break in. They were having
such a good time I sort of got swept along, though and by the time we
were done I was laughing as hard as I had in ages. Until I stood up,
that is.
"Ooh, my feet hurt."
"You'll get used to it," Kim promised. Why did I want to?
They walked patiently beside me as I tried to remember how to walk
in heels. I could tell I was getting better but it wasn't easy. By the
time I got back to the truck I didn't seem like I was an accident waiting
to happen. More like an old lady tottering along. Still, I got there
and we were soon back at the circus.
"Okay, Bree, change you shoes so you can walk across the field but
don't bother tightening your boots. As soon as you get to my trailer
you'll need to put your heels back on," Sarah explained.
Once again, I did as I was told and made my way back to the tiny
cubicle at the back of her costumes. I had my clothes off and the blouse
on about the time her hand did its little dance over the wall.
"Here, hun, try these."
"These" were a skirt and jacket in navy blue. Even before I brought
it close to my body I could tell that the skirt was a lot shorter than
any of the suits at the store.
"Sarah, this skirt is too short."
"No, it's not, dear. The ones in the store were unhemmed. This
will be just about right," she promised, without a hint of doubt.
About right for a midget, maybe. I knew I was tall for a girl and
most of it in my legs. That skirt would leave, well, almost as much leg
showing as Kim's did.
Memories of the first outfit I had tried on in that trailer were
flooding back as I worked my way into the suit. It was clearly less-
expensive material than the ones in the store, but still a nice fabric.
In a couple of minutes I was once again standing in front of her mirror.
I even made it down the steps in my heels without killing myself.
The skirt was shorter, but I could see it was appropriate for a
young professional woman. Actually I looked quite a bit older than I
expected, maybe 25. No sweet-sixteen debutante, thank God, but not even
my true 19. That was okay, I wanted to be taken seriously. The skirt
was a bit tighter than the ones I had worn before though, not so much
tight across the hips as narrower in cut, more restrictive. Not a lot,
though. The jacket looked okay, too. All in all, not bad, I thought
as I turned a little in the mirror. It could have been a lot worse.
"Hold it, don't move," Sarah ordered. I froze like I had done some-
thing wrong as she disappeared into her trailer.
"Here," she said as she returned. In here hands were a pair of ear-
rings, a necklace, and a bracelet. All were costume jewelry (duh!) but
looked nice. She helped me get them on and I looked at myself again.
Not bad! Once again the thought came to me, even if I did say so myself.
"Not bad!" Sarah announced, provoking a giggle from me. That was
the first time I felt good about myself in women's clothes. That giggle
surprised me as much as it surprised the others. I didn't try to ex-
plain, just savoring the feeling for a moment. I still wanted to get
back to my real body, but at that point I knew I could live with this
one until I finished my quest. Like I had any choice. But maybe it
wouldn't as bad as I had been thinking since my transformation.
Ah, ignorance is bliss. The time would come when I would remember
this moment and kick myself for my naivete. There's a lot more to living
in a woman's body than wearing a woman's clothes.
"Okay, time to get ready for the show. Bree, you can take those
clothes with you, but you might want to change here."
Kim waved as she headed off to her own preparations and in a few
minutes I followed. It had already been a full day, with an even more
full night to follow. Still, I had a sense of accomplishment. My
friends had helped, a lot. The next step was up to me.
(
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