Andre Becomes Andrea

The door that my friend was hiding behind was one that I had to go through to find him, or to still have a connection with him. The secret he was keeping, was now part of my life. I felt myself being pushed, by my own hand, to confront these feelings.

I called Andre, but he would not answer my calls. I texted him and tried to make my words sound accepting of his new lifestyle. I wanted to see Andrea again. I wanted to tell Andre that he was my friend no matter what. Finally, after about a week, I got a call from a number I did not recognize.

"Hello?" I said, thinking it was a wrong number.

"Hello. Is Robert There?" The voice said.

"This is Robert."

"Hi, Robert. This is Andrea."

My breathing started to increase. My heart rate was moving quickly now. I was excited. I was happy she was calling me. We talked for about an hour. Not once did we mention Andre. She told me, in a bitchy voice, about how her boss was an incompetent and how she was looking for a new job. She talked about how her website was doing. There were many like-mined people such as her. She was grateful for that. We agreed to meet for an early lunch the next day. I had a class but was going to miss it. I needed to see her.

The next morning I showered, shaved, and prepared myself as though I had a date. This was a date. I brushed my teeth a couple of times and used mouthwash. I sprayed some cologne and headed out to meet her.

The mall was mostly empty. It was still early. There were a few senior citizens finishing up their morning walks. There were a few mothers with young children in strollers. Normally, I would be ogling any milf in my field of vision, but this day I was too excited and only thinking of one thing. I found Andrea in the mostly empty food court. She waved to me as though I didn't recognize her. Her hair was a different color. She was sitting at a table. Her legs crossed and foot dangling in flip-flops. She was wearing black spandex pants and had on a white blouse. Her waist cinched by a gold belt. Andrea was wearing a couple of noisy bracelets on both arms. She had on a pair of shades. Today her hair was blonde and shoulder length. It was as though I was seeing her for the first time.