People don’t take trips, trips take people - Antoine 25

There was a moment of silence in the room, as Antoine looked down at his flowery pink skirt, feeling a little nervous until suddenly the question he was waiting for was asked, “Antoine, where were you tonight”? Lily asked.

A million thoughts rushed through his head, he wanted to tell the truth but that would involve untangling a trail of lies, lie upon lie, going back so far, he had forgotten what was actually true at this point.

Looking up, he suddenly realised too much time had passed since Lily asked the question, now in a panic Antoine's mind went blank, “whatever it is, you can tell me, you know”, Lily added in a soothing voice.

“I was out shopping with Marianne”, Antoine blurted out.

“Oh”, Lily said in an emotionless voice, “why didn’t you just say that? And why don’t you have any shopping bags”?

“I… we didn’t buy anything, and I didn’t tell you as I thought you would think less of me”, Antoine replied, fiddling with the hem of his skirt awkwardly.

“Why would I think that”? Lily said moving over to sit next to him on the bed.

“Well… I’m your boyfriend and going shopping to buy girls clothes doesn’t really sound very masculine, does it”?  Antoine said quietly.

“Antoine, I’ve told you before, I’m ok with you exploring this side of yourself and I thought I’d made that quite clear during our alone time together that I like it”, Lily said lifting his chin gently and looking him in the eyes, “is there something else? something you’re not telling me”?

Put on the spot, Antoine had to think fast, he knew he’d have to say something as a simple no would sound suspicious, “there is something”, he replied sheepishly.

“Go on”, Lily said encouragingly.

“well...It's just... I’ve been trying to do my best at work recently, you know, try to impress Fifi and Annisa and Marianne’s been helping me”, Antoine said, shocking himself once again at how well he was able to lie these days.

Lily nodded, “I see, so this has become more than a disguise for you now? This is a lifestyle you want to explore further”? She said looking him dead in the eyes.

“Shit, shit, shit”, Antoine said inside his mind, somehow, he had done it again, he had made things worse, but what could he say. Slowly nodding his head, he forced a smile on his painted lips, “yes”, he whispered, bowing his head.

Lily seeing how difficult it was for him to say the words wrapped her arms around him, “don’t worry, baby, I’m going to support you through this, everything is going to be just fine”.

Three days later, Antoine found himself out in the city doing a familiar activity, shopping, but what wasn't familiar was his partner for the day. Since the chat in the bedroom, Lily had been pushing Antoine to spend more time with her, which under normal circumstances would have been something he would have loved, the problem of course was now, she believed that he wanted to live as a woman and was going out of her way to help him achieve that goal.

One positive to come out of the chat, was the next day, Lily had approached Marianne and had a talk with her, Antoine didn’t know what they had said to each other, but since then Marianne had pretty much left him alone, she was no longer ordering him about or telling him what to wear.

He was already reaping the rewards of that chat as he found himself out wearing a pair of pants for the first time in as long as he could remember, not exactly manly pants with them being bright white and the legs finishing around his ankles, but in his mind, it was a pleasant change from the usual skirts he was used to wearing. 

What was strange to Antoine though was the feeling of having his legs covered in public, which surprised him as up until a few weeks ago he had lived his entire life in pants but as he tottered through a busy shopping area of Paris on his designer red pumps, the rigid tight material of the pants compressing his legs slightly and squashing his male parts flat, he realised he had forgotten what it felt like.

(See image 46)

The day started out a little awkwardly for Antoine, and although he had been out shopping with Lily in the past, before he had been the one waiting around and carrying the bags, now things were reversed, he was the one going into the changing room with arm fulls of soft and frilly garments. trying them on before exiting for Lily to critique his look, the funny thing was as the day wore on, he started to relax and enjoy himself.

It had been a long time since he'd spend a whole day alone with Lily, and as the day wore on, Antoine realised he had missed her company recently, he had missed her sense of humour and her positive approach to life but more than anything just being around her.

By mid-afternoon, Antoine had almost forgotten the way he was dressed, he was just having too much fun, no longer worried about what anyone else thought of him or the topics of conversation about fashion as they surprisingly just seemed to naturally flow out, he even shocked himself by having his own opinion about certain styles and colours, especially as he didn’t know where they were coming from.

Around 5 pm, a tired Antoine was ready to call it a day and head home but when he mentioned this to Lily, she informed him, that she had one last surprise in store for him that day.

“Where are we, Lil”? Antoine asked as their taxi pulled up outside a building he didn’t recognise.

“Wait and see”, came the surprise as Lily paid the driver before they both exited the cab.

“Come on, you’re killing me here, please give me a clue”, Antoine said playfully as the pair strode confidently side by side towards the entrance of the building on their tall heels.

“Oh, ok”, Lily said, giving in, “remember you said the other day, that you wanted to do well at your job and impress Fifi? Well, I figured the best way to do that is to get to know her a little better”.

Antoine felt confused, “get to know her? What does that have to do with…”, his sentence was cut short as he looked over to see the very person he was talking about, dressed in a flattering black playsuit and trademark 6-inch heels, smiling back at him.

“Hi Fifi”, Lily said, rushing over to greet her with a hug.

Antoine watched on stunned, trying to work out what was happening, as the two girls greeted each other before turning to face him, “Are you hungry, Zara”? Fifi asked cheerfully, “I know this really cute little restaurant around the corner from here”.

(See image 47)