People don’t take trips, trips take people - Antoine 27

It was a pleasant if not slightly breezy afternoon as Antoine and Fifi strolled slowly through a park not far from the store. The picturesque park was a place they often walked through on the way back to the store, its peaceful nature and tranquillity a safe haven away from the normally noisy city.

The scene that day was no different, the only noise to be heard, being the birds singing and the clicky clack of their high heeled shoes, which to most observers would probably seem an odd choice of footwear for an afternoon stroll through the park.

But the thoughts of random strangers critiquing his footwear was the last thing on Antoine’s mind, he a much bigger problem, and it had nothing to do with his hair sporting bright pink highlights, leftover from a photoshoot a few days back.

“Zara, please tell me what’s wrong”, Fifi suddenly announced, making Antoine stop and turn towards her.

“What do you mean? Nothing is wrong”, Antoine replied defensively, brushing his hair behind his right ear, which had just blown in front of his face.

(See image 50)

“I don’t believe you”, Fifi announced forcefully, stamping her high heeled foot, “I know you and I know something is wrong, you’ve had a sad look on your face all day, and you’ve hardly said two words to me, did I do something to upset you”?

“No, you haven’t done anything wrong”, Antoine quickly stated, “you have been such a good friend to me, that’s what makes this so difficult”.

“So, there is something, I knew it”, Fifi said stepping closer, “please, tell me what it is, I want to help you, I hate seeing you so sad”.

Antoine started to tear up, “I… I… can’t”, he said struggling to hold back the tears.

“It’s ok”, Fifi announced, stepping forward and giving him a hug just as Antoine broke down and started crying.

“I’m… I’m a fraud”, Antoine mumbled into her shoulder, “I’m not Zara, I’m not even a woman”.

Then there was silence, realising what he had just done Antoine pulled away and took a step backwards. Fifi opened her mouth in shock as time seemed to stand still, Antoine seeing the surprise in her eyes without thinking, took off running.

With his long skirt flapping against his legs and his high heeled shoes sinking into the grass, Antoine ran, in that moment, he didn't care about how ridiculous he must have looked like, he just needed to escape. He ran until his legs ached, finally stopping as he was having trouble breathing. 

Spotting a small, cushioned bench, he sat down and crossed his long legs, “what have I done”? he thought to himself, “why did I tell her? But then again, she would have found out soon enough anyway with the real Zara coming home”.

(See image 51)

Antoine had received the news the previous day when Lily had received a text from Zara, and he had been a nervous wreck ever since. She was coming back next week and would, of course, be wanting her room and all her things back.

Antoine and Lily had spent the previous evening trying to think up a way out of their predicament, but with Maryanne in the spare room and Monique up visiting, there didn’t seem to be any option other than to finally tell the truth.

The fallout was going to be devastating to everyone involved, even Lily would find out all the lies he had been forced to tell her, 

Antoine knew was about to lose everything he loved and as he sat somewhere in the middle of the park, dressed up in his feminine outfit, his feet aching inside his towering high heeled pumps and the sight of his pink hair blowing around the edge of his vision, Antoine also knew that almost all of his problems, could have been avoided, had he just been a little smarter.

Looking to his left, Antoine took a deep as he saw Fifi awkwardly walking towards him, struggling as her expensive designer shoes sank into the soft grass. His first instinct was to run, but he knew that wouldn’t solve anything, he would have to face her eventually.

“Can I sit”? Fifi asked as she arrived in front of him slightly out of breath.

Antoine nodded, moving his pink handbag to make room.

Fifi took her time, taking off her own handbag before smoothing out her skirt before finally sitting next to him, crossed her legs in a similar position to his, “I want to tell you a secret”, she announced, “but before I do, you have to promise not to tell anybody, nobody knows this, not even Anissa”.

Antoine turned to his left and nodded, intrigued by what she was about to say, “I won’t tell anyone, I promise”, he replied.

Fifi let out a heavy sigh, “I’m a fraud too, my name is not Fifi, and I’m also not a woman, she announced as Antoine screwed up his face.

“Don’t do that, this is not a joke, what I told you was true”, he said loudly before putting his head in his hands and leaning forward.

Fifi reached out slowly and started rubbing his back, “I wish I was joking, but trust me, I'm not, my real name is David Lubis, I’m a man who went travelling to Jakarta looking for a little adventure, and well, I guess I found it”, she said letting out a small laugh, “I’m not even French”.

Antoine looked up and after staring at her for a moment, he still couldn’t tell if she was joking, “you’re serious”? he announced, his facial expression now having changed from anger to utter shock.

“Yes, I’m serious, it’s a bit of an unbelievable story, I’ll tell you about it, but first, I think you should tell me your story, once I know everything, I can help you”, Fifi said nodding.

“I don’t know where to start”, Antoine said, taking a deep breath, "everything just got so out of hand".

Fifi smiled, “how about you start with your name”?

“Well, my name is Antoine, and if you think you have an unbelievable story, wait until you hear mine”!