16-SANDY THOMAS ADVERTISING
by taking a nice leisurely bath. The femininely scented bath oil caressed his smooth skin as he luxuriated for nearly an hour contemplating the significance of this day.
It was all so unaccustomed. He was going on a date with a handsome young man. He was going to be dressed more femininely and more sensually than ever before in his life. The young man was obviously already attracted by his feminine persona that had only peeked out at Jeff so far. Tonight 'Tana' was going to be there in full, living technicolor!
After toweling off from his bath, Tani applied skin lotions on his legs, arms and body. He brushed his hair back into a high ponytail and tied it there with a wide silk ribbon. Nothing fancy. He slipped on a pair of silky, white tap pants with lace around the legs. He didn't bother with the tight gaff for his maleness because he wanted to be comfortable and because he was going to be wearing a full skirt.
Next, a matching white lace bra with padding was put on. Finally, he put on a light cotton front button shirtwaist dress. He had dressed simply, for coolness and comfort. Normally he tended towards more elaborate feminine clothing when he ventured out as Tana, but considering his plans for dressing that evening he decided to just stick to the basics.
His first appointment was at the beauty salon to get his hair done. He had visited the salon twice that week after school just to discuss with Barb some ideas on how she could do his hair for the coming Saturday.
Barb noticed how excited Tani was and how concerned he was for looking sexy.
"So what's up," Barb asked with a cunning grin.
Tani blushed, giving the knowing Barb a clue. She'd seen the "boys" sneaking around before and was always delightfully pleased by their embarrassment. Most of her boy client told her more about their "feelings" then even their mothers. She liked that.
"Bet you got a boy interested," she said nonchalantly, "Is he taking you somewhere dressy?"
Tani nodded, embarrassed about getting caught so easily. "OK! We'll make you tantalizing." Barb decided on an exotic style. Barb washed his hair and conditioned it with a product which added extraordinary shine to hair. His damp hair was then combed out and blown partially dry.
Next Barb began to smooth his hair back and up to the crown. There it was pinned up with bobby pins. When she
MY SON, THE BRIDE -17
was done he had sleek hair at the front, sides and back. A circle of criss-crossed bobby pins collected all his long hair within a 6" circle at the top of his head.
Barb began to section the hair, spray the section with setting lotion and winding it in a corkscrew or ringlet fashion around a small roller. This was then securely fastened with two long bobby pins. Section after section was done that way until he had a virtual pyramid of rollers stacked at the crown of his head. Barb led Tani over to the dryers.
She set the timer to 60 minutes and motioned him to the seat. Tani was a regular and he knew the routine. He smiled at her and tilted the clear dryer hood down over his head and adjusted it to a comfortable height. Picking up a copy of Mademoiselle he settled in for the duration.
He always found the long waits under the dryer a little boring. Anticipation of seeing the final style was always keen. However, today Tani was entertained in a way that he would have never believed just a few weeks ago. He caught sight of a familiar face come in the door accompanied by a middleaged woman.
The face was familiar alright, but nobody would have expected to have seen that face in such a feminine surrounding! It was one of Mr. Cementhead's ex-cronies! Ashley Gilbert was the smallest and newest of the former "gang". He probably enjoyed hanging out with them because he felt tough. ..something that his delicate build couldn't do on its own.
As Tani watched suspiciously from his vantage point under the dryers he saw Ashley's mother, Tani had guessed she was his mother, pointing to a magazine cutout or something and then fingering her son's hair as if explaining how he wanted it styled. Ashley looked very nervous, but he pointed to something on the picture as well then to his hair. Apparently, he wasn't being dragged there entirely against his will. Barb led Ashley to a chair and one of the other stylists was summoned over. After a brief consultation, the stylist nodded with a smile and began to prepare Ashley for a shampoo.
Tani could hardly wait for Monday morning after what he saw. Ashley or his mother must have decided that the new "fashion trend" at school was just the ticket for him!
Tani watched as the stylist did a trim of his hair. She was giving Ashley nice bangs and a cut about 4" long all over. After that she rolled over a cart filled with rollers of all kinds and began winding Ashley's hair on perm rods! As she finished that task and was applying cotton around his ears in