We became lovers almost immediately. I couldn't believe it; she wanted me passionately! I was new to these things, but I sensed something developing, something deep that neither was willing to discuss. There was so much I wanted to tell her, so much I wanted to share, but I was afraid to open up to her. I think she felt the same way; we didn't even discuss why each of us had been at the seminar. In addition, I could sense almost from the start she was involved with someone else. Don't ask me how; call it 'female intuition'.
After a while, she just stopped seeing me, stopped returning my calls. I was hurt. I didn't understand. I wished we had had more time together, time for me to summon the courage to say the things I wanted to tell her. I resigned myself to the loss, but she haunted the corridors of my mind for a long time.
I earned my degree, moved to the city, and landed a good job at Barnes and Bidwell. I hit it off well enough with my co-workers, especially Gwen. She worked in Human Resources (they don't call it "Personnel" anymore) and helped me fill out the myriad of forms that goes with a new job. We had lunch together and she introduced me to her girlfriends: Peggy from Human Resources, Beth, and Lisa from Word Processing, Melanie from Payroll, Suzie from Administration, Nancy and Gayle from Accounting. They made me feel so at ease.
Before I knew it, I had friends - and girlfriends at that! I found an apartment (my own place at last!), started shopping for my 'special things', hung or put them away in their own places in my closets and dressers, and settled in to practice my own version of The Good Life.
I kind of drifted into the Drag Queen/Transsexual scene. There were some substantial differences between me and them; I had a job, paid my own bills without selling drugs or hooking, wasn't all that interested in the latest music by Des'ree, Pebbles, or Salt n' Peppa, didn't want to compete in any pageants, and wasn't looking for a 'husband'. I didn't even dress at first (after all this time 'in the closet', I was too afraid of looking silly), while most of them were living 24/7. Still, I felt comfortable there. I had finally found others like me who enjoyed being as feminine as they could be.
