18-SANDY THOMAS ADVERTISING

preparation for the perm solution, Tani's dryer switched off. He watched the familiar process continue as she carefully soaked each of the 50 or so perm rods in Ashley's hair with solution.

Barb came over and led Tani back to her station. Ashley was so preoccupied with what was happening to him that even if he had had a close look at the pretty girl that sat across the salon from him he wouldn't have recognized it as the little terror who had destroyed his tough-guy leader. Anyway, if Jack saw Ashley today, it would be worse than it had been for Chris! Maybe it was good that Jack had left the neighborhood after all, because in a couple of hours a new Ashley would be leaving the salon.

Barb carefully unpinned and unrolled each curler from Tani's hair. Shiny, perfectly formed corkscrew curls sprung back into place. As each roller was removed, the resulting curl was meticulously arranged and pinned into place with a glossy black bobby pin which would blend invisibly into the finished hairdo.

Barb asked, matter-of-factly about Tani's date, what he was going to wear, where they were going, etc. It was all so natural sounding except this was a boy being "prettied" up for a date with a young man.

Forty five minutes later Barb stood back and sprayed Tani's hair with hairspray. The image that looked back at Tani was beyond even his wildest expectations. His shiny black hair swept sensuously up from all sides. At the crown of his head a mass of intricately arranged ringlets and corkscrewcurls were piled 5" high!

It was as exotic a hairstyle as one would see worn by top fashion models as they walked the runways of the world's most exclusive fashion shows!

"Oh...it's so beautiful!" Tani sighed.

"No, my dear. It's you that's beautiful," replied Barbara who was herself in awe of the gorgeous boy that looked back at them from the mirror. Soon several other stylists came over to ooh and ahhh over Barb's beautiful creation, asking about the "big occasion".

One rather crude stylist said, "He'll come in his pants when he sees you!"

Tani blushed and Barb glared at this young new stylist.

MY SON, THE BRIDE -19

Tani thanked Barb for her work and paid with his gold card. He was made to promise that he would tell the salon staff all about his evening on his next visit. Looking at his feminine wristwatch Tani saw that he was still on schedule for his next appointment at the nail and skin salon. There he was scheduled for a full pedicure, manicure and make-up application.

When he arrived he caused quite an excited stir amongst the staff and clients. His gorgeous hair drew praise and gushing compliments. The staff, who knew that Tani was a boy, even whispered to him how jealous they were that he could transform himself into such a glamorous female. They too had an intuition about the reason for his concern and Tani shyly admitted a "date with a fellow."

Tani was seated for his pedicure and manicure first. While one girl worked on his toes another technician worked on his hands. To go with his total look for the evening, Tani was going to get nail extensions. Even though his own nails were a neat 1/4" past his fingertips, they were going to be enhanced another 1/4" more with porcelain tips. As the process went on Tani began to feel more and more excited about the approaching evening.

He wondered, How will Jeff react? This was most certainly taking things far beyond the level of playing a little joke by just putting on a dress. But then again, considering the obviously favorable reaction Jeff showed each time the feminine side of Tani was exposed, Jeff should be positively thrilled by the "young lady" he would possess tonight!

His daydreaming was interrupted as he was asked to select the right color for his nails. Two clear base coats had already been applied and dried. His dress for tonight was a shimmering red so he decided upon an equally vibrant red for his nails and lip color.

Once again he relaxed as the first of several coats of color followed by two coats of clear top coat were to be applied. Tani smiled as he thought about what he was going through. How odd, he thought, he was spending an entire afternoon being femininely primped and painted in order to look feminine for another male. His heart raced at the thought..he felt some reservation but it also fely pleasantly sinful! He had better start thinking what he was going to do if his attractive image achieved too much success.

His nails were done. He had only had nail extensions once before and they didn't look as good as this time. Tani's fingers