30--MAID UP

Finally he said, "Alright, I'll do it."

Dr. Hepstein, glancing at Mary with a mysterious smile, said, "I am sure that Mary will help you as much as she can."

39

Mary smiling broadly said, "Of course, Darling, I will help you to look and feel like a girl as much as I can."

CHAPTER FIVE

For the next 2 weeks everything went as planned. As soon as John came home from work he changed into the clothes Mary had readied for him. Usually it was the simple white blouse, black skirt and apron outfit and occasionally other attractive dresses. He was particularly fond of a dark green knit dress, which clung tightly to his figure, with a high square neck which had a colorful scarf attached to it. It looked superb on him and he always wore his best lingerie under it which caressed his nylon-clad legs. The dress gave him such a good figure, that John felt his hips go swivelling automatically when he walked.

The psychological treatments continued. Mary made a remark about his good looks whenever she could manage it into the conversation. She took care that John kept his body hairless and at night she suggested he use cream and other beauty lotions and treatments. She regularly plucked his eyebrows so that they began to look awfully feminine. John's secretary noticed it one day and remarked, "What happened to your eyebrows, Mr. Howard?" John didn't know what to say and quickly left the office under some pretense.

Dr. Hepstein would hammer consistently on the same theme. She would compliment him on his beautiful appearance or on the perfect manner in which he served the drinks and did other feminine chores. Mary managed to continue giving John large doses of female hormones without his knowing about it.

After the first six weeks John began to notice some physical changes. It seemed as if he did not have to shave as much. His face began to look rounder and softer making his appearance years younger. His waist seemed to become smaller, while his hips rounded out to the point where his regular pants began to look funny on him. It was like there was a new layer of fat under his skin, a softness. He also felt the urge to argue with Mary diminish. He become passive and submissive even while her domination and bossiness increased almost every week.

As more time went by, he found himself looking at the clothes women wore on the street and wondered how they would look on him. Several times he caught himself standing before a lingerie shop admiring the beautiful undies. When that happened he quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen him.

Mary had insisted that she start cutting his hair. "Your barber

TV FICTION CLASSICS -31 does an awful job," she would say. Docilely he agreed. He noticed that she barely cut anything off but merely shaved his neck and neatly trimmed the rest even.

During this time, Mary had also insisted that John go on a diet. This made him lose almost 20 pounds over a period of 2 months, and cut his waist down to 25 inches.

Dr. Hepstein and Mary continued to praise his progress. Mary seemed much happier and content and as John became more feminine he felt less and less at ease during the day and more and more comfortable in female attire at home.

One evening he mentioned to Dr. Hepstein, who continued to visit the Howard's every few days, that he felt some physical changes. His body temperature felt higher so that he was always warm in his male clothes. His tweed pants seemed coarse and itchy. Dr. Hepstein discussed these symptoms with him at great length. She mentioned that he was becoming more like a woman every day. "I bet you only have to shave twice a week," she said.

John himself had to agree with her. He explained that now he felt more secure, especially when dressed as a woman. "Maybe you and Mary have been right all along."

One day Mary called Dr. Hepstein at her office. "This morning

I noticed that John's voice is beginning to change," she said. "Has Jill noticed it?" asked Dr. Hepstein.

"No, I don't think so."

"Well, he will soon. I think the time will not be far off when he will want to be a woman full time." By now John's hair had grown quite a bit. Had it not been for the many mods and beatniks in town, he would have attracted attention.

Then within a few days several incidents happened which shocked John to the very core of his being.

He went to a tailor shop to purchase some slacks. The man took his measurements and then did a double take and took them again. "I am sorry," the clerk said, we don't have anything in your size, unless ...," he disappeared, muttering to himself and shortly came back with several pairs of slacks of different colors: green, blue, one even pink, much too bright to John's taste. When he decided to try them on anyway, he flushed sharply. These pants zipped in the back. They were women's slacks.

The man called from outside the dressing room, "May I come in? I want to see wether they are all right." Before John could answer, he shoved the curtain aside and found John with his perfectly fitting woman's slacks. "I think these are just right," he said. Embarrassed to death, John took 2 pairs, one green and one blue, and rushed out of the store. Mary was very pleased when she admired John's purchase that night. John said nothing but his mind raced chaotically. What was happening to him? Was he really