Maria Decides to Transition!

It was the second-to-last Friday in August, and I was at the airport to say goodbye to my son, Rick. He was going to be spending his second year of college as an exchange student in Europe. He would be gone for the entire year, not even coming home for any American holidays. My ex-wife and her parents were there as well. I had my hair underneath a baseball cap, and I was wearing a baggy sweatsuit. I was doing everything I could not to stand out although my ex kept giving me the occasional sideways glance. I should explain.

After his freshman year had ended in late May and Rick told us he would be going to Europe the following school year, I made a major lifestyle decision. I decided I was going to immerse myself in my femme persona while Rick was away in Europe. It would give me the chance to live as Maria full time. Rick and his mother didn't know. I wanted the opportunity to experience being Maria, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without the fear of Rick discovering my alter-ego.

I had given a heads-up to my boss at work, Ken, and the company's owner, Oliver Ross. They had both been with Maria before, but this would be something completely different. I didn't want to cause any problems for either of them. They were both 100% supportive. Oliver made sure I got the chance to sit down with the VP of Human Resources so she knew what I was planning, and she could help me prepare for any potential issues that might arise.

That summer, I started letting my shoulder length hair grow out even longer. I began taking estrogen to enhance my already fairly feminine shape. I changed my exercise routine to accentuate my curves, making them less muscular and more feminine. As the summer progressed, I could begin to see the results of the estrogen and my exercise program.

My shoulder length hair grew out at least 3 inches; it now spilled well past my shoulders. I had also begun laser treatment for the complete removal of my facial hair although it had always been sparse and thin. I started going to the tanning salon and began to tan completely naked. No tan lines for me!

Rick was so excited about his upcoming trip that he didn't notice anything. My ex-wife's parents never paid much attention to me, but my ex finally came up to me while Rick and her parents were exchanging goodbyes. "Wow, that's quite the change. I have no idea what's going on but thank you for letting Rick head off to Europe without this weighing on his mind."

"Is it really that obvious?" I asked.

"It is to me. I haven't seen you since the divorce so yes, I could tell right away."

I nodded my thanks. We all said our goodbyes and I headed straight to the cosmetic surgery center. I had decided to have breast implant surgery. If I was going to live as Maria, I was going to do everything I could to make Maria as femme as possible. Breasts implants could be undone if I decided I liked my dual lifestyle better. I also had Hyaluronic Acid lip injections while I was getting my implants, so I didn't have to return later.

Ken met me there; his wife only knew I was having outpatient surgery. He took me home afterwards and made sure I got settled in. I slept all night; even though both procedures were outpatient, the anesthetics made me very sleepy.

I woke up the next morning and groggily walked to the mirror. I was naked and the magnitude of what I had done hit me. Maria was staring back at me, but this was the most feminine Maria I had ever seen. Helped by my targeted exercise program, the estrogen had done its work.

My height had decreased by 1" from 5' 8" to 5' 7". My weight had dropped from 140 lbs. to 125 lbs. My face, butt, hips, arms and legs were all fuller, more lush and incredibly curvy. My 34-C breasts were perky and complemented my 23" waist and 35" ass perfectly. I was oozing sex appeal. My already small penis had shrunk considerably as well as my testicles and scrotum. I wouldn't have any trouble tucking at all.

Thanks to the great shape I was in from my workout routine, I only needed to spend one week at home recovering. I had been to any number of 'transformation' salons before; this time I was going to a women's salon to get my hair done.

I had always worn my hair long but fairly non-descript. Today I was going to get the most feminine, flattering hair style I could find. I took a picture of J-Lo with me to show the stylist; this was the look I wanted. It was parted on the left side and cut back a little. The bangs swept over the forehead and out. The back and top were layered and feathered to add volume. I had my hair dyed golden brown with auburn highlights.

When she finally showed me the results, I started crying tears of joy. Even with all the wigs I had worn over the years, I felt I had never looked more feminine. This was my hair, my style and there was nothing masculine or androgynous about it. My hairstyle screamed, "I am woman, hear me roar!"

From the hair stylist I drove to the nail salon. I got both a manicure and a pedicure. I had 2" almond tip gel nails applied to my hands, again I was going all out.

Finally, I went clothes shopping. Business clothes shopping. I had lots of clothes and certainly some that could be worn to work but my business wardrobe was not extensive. I wanted to look both feminine and professional. For that I needed to purchase new outfits. I had plenty of shoes and undergarments, but I needed outerwear.

I woke up early Monday morning and ran a hot tub. I added Jasmine scented bubble bath and got in to soak. It was the first time I hadn't needed to depilate before bathing, and I didn't need to shave while in the tub either. I just luxuriated in my bubble bath. I got out, briskly toweled dry, and powdered my body from head to toe. I sat down at my makeup table and stared at myself.

Shaking my head, I began to expertly apply my makeup. I went with a very understated, daytime look centered around a champagne color palette. I finished off with a rose-beige lip gloss and walked to my closet to get dressed. There weren't any of Luke's clothes in the closet anymore. I had moved them all to the guest bedroom along with all of his t-shirts, underwear, socks and shoes. This was Maria's closet now.

I'd been to work 1,000's of times before, I'd even gone to Halloween parties at work dressed as Maria, but this was something completely different. I chose a satin and lace, light brown bra, panty and garter belt set. I rolled dark suntan nylons up my legs and clipped them to the garter tabs. I put a full-length beige slip on. I know most women don't wear that many undergarments anymore, but Maria had always loved her lingerie.

I went to the closet and got the outfit I had chosen for my first day of work as Maria. I slipped into the cream silk blouse and buttoned it up, leaving just the collar button unbuttoned. I pulled on a taupe linen skirt that was just below knee length and added the matching suit jacket. Finally, I stepped into camel-colored, patent leather 3 1/2" stiletto heels.

I grabbed the matching camel-colored patent leather shoulder bag and looked at myself in the mirror. I don't know how to explain it, but I looked more like Maria than I ever had in my life before. The Maria looking back at me was the most feminine Maria I had ever seen. She was relaxed, confident, and happy.

The drive to work was remarkably stress free. Ken had asked me to call him when I was getting close to work so I did. "Hey boss man, I'm about 5 minutes away. What's up?"

"Nothing special. Just want to meet my newest employee at the door and make sure she feels comfortable."

"I'm fine, I'm going to be fine, I got this."

"I know you do, baby. I just want to make sure you know you're not alone. Oliver asked me to do this, he wants to make sure you're comfortable and you know your support structure goes all the way to the top."

"I swear. I'm just wondering if this support of yours is because the two of you have gotten into my panties so often."

I giggled and I could hear Ken blushing right through the phone.

"You are such a goof, and so is Oliver. That's why I love the two of you so much. A girl couldn't ask for any better friends. See you at the front door."

I parked my car, grabbed my things, and headed inside. As promised, Ken met me at the front door and walked with me on my way to my office. "Hey Maria, you have a 9:30 meeting to go over a new project that you're going to be managing. Take the time to catch up on all your email and voicemail before then."

I didn't have time to catch up with everything; I focused on those communications referencing this new project. At 9:25, I gathered up my notes and my tablet and went directly to the conference room. I decided not to beat around the bush and address the elephant in the room before we got down to the actual meeting.

"Good morning, everyone. I've worked with almost all of you on other projects. Or should I say I've worked with most of you as the man you know as Luke Jordan." I smiled. "From a work perspective, nothing has changed in regard to my talent, expertise, and business-related talents. I'm not naïve enough to think that you can all just turn off your own personal feelings and experiences in regard to my transition. But that's not why we're here and I hope we can all focus on making this a successful project development and implementation. If it helps to put you more at ease, I'd be glad to meet with any of you one-on-one to discuss my transition. In the meantime, let's get to work."

I'm not a big fan of long meetings but we got right to work and there was an energy in the room that took us right up to lunchtime. "Everyone to the cafeteria, lunch is on me. I'll add it to the start-up costs. Feel free to eat in your office or in the cafeteria. Either way, we'll reconvene here for one hour starting at 1:00 pm. I'm not going to keep you any longer than that."

Everyone was in the conference room at 12:55 when I entered. I smiled and said, "I like the commitment and energy I'm already seeing from this group. Let's review our individual tasks, sub-group assignments, and implementation timeline." We finished at 1:52 pm. "I'm not going to keep you any longer, the meeting is over, use these 8 minutes however you would like." Everyone laughed.

"Next week's meeting is one week from today from 11:00 am until 1:30 pm." There was a collective groan from the group. "We'll break from 12:00 until 1:00, lunch in the cafeteria will continue to be a start-up cost of this project." That drew a standing ovation. I smiled and headed to my office.

I started catching up on everything else I had missed while I was gone. There was a gentle knock on my door; it was Ken. "How'd it go?"

"Honestly, as well as could be expected. We had a solid meeting. I'll send you and Oliver the meeting minutes before the day is over." He smiled, nodded and turned to go. "One more thing." He turned and looked at me inquisitively. "You're going to have to cover the cost of lunch on the day of meetings for this committee until start-up." Ken laughed, a deep, long belly laugh, and walked away.

I was finishing up the meeting minutes when there was another knock on my door. "Come in." The door opened slowly, it was Charlie Ferguson, the oldest, most experienced, and maybe most talented guy on our committee. "Hey Charlie, come in, come in. Let me just finish typing this sentence and then you'll have my undivided attention."

I finished typing my thoughts and turned to look at him. "How can I help you, Charlie?"

"Um, I'm not sure I know where to start, Lu-, er, I mean Maria. Shit, I swore to myself I wasn't going to do that." Charlie hit himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand.

"Charlie! Relax, it's OK. I know I have to be just as sensitive to you as I'm asking you to be to me. This isn't a one-way street." I smiled to let him know I was OK with his verbal gaffe. "What's on your mind?"

"I'm not sure I should be on this committee. My mistake just now in starting to call you by your old name is a good example of that. I caught myself staring a couple of times today. I wouldn't want anyone else on the committee to think that I was disrespecting you in any way. That could hurt the teamwork this group is going to need. By the way, you did an amazing job getting this group to come together so quickly. Your leadership skills are second-to-none."

"Charlie Ferguson! I absolutely will not accept your offer to step away from this committee. We need you. We need your knowledge, we need your experience, we need your talent. And I need you, Charlie."

"What? Why would you say that? I'm just an old war horse."

"You're also a sensitive old war horse. You're so self-aware that you're worrying about making a mistake before you even make it. You came in here to apologize for something you haven't even done yet! If everyone in this world was as kind and caring as you, there would be a lot fewer problems!"

"But, but."

I interrupted quickly. "No buts. I need you on this committee, I want you on this committee. If something happens, we'll resolve it. Together. Please tell me you'll stay, Charlie."

"OK, I'll stay. I just hope I don't make an ass of myself somewhere along the way."

I jumped up and came out from behind my desk. "Thank you, Charlie. Not just for staying but for being you." I gave him a sisterly hug. He blushed and hurried out of my office.

I finished the minutes and sent them to Ken and Oliver. I also gave them a heads-up about my interaction with Charlie. I cautioned them not to let him go to one of them to help get him off this committee. I didn't want them doing anything proactive, I just wanted them to be aware in case Charlie went to them.

That never happened. The team settled in immediately and we went on a tear. We beat our implementation timeline by eight full working days. Charlie was the star of the team. He more than carried his weight, he was always available to his teammates, and they loved his energy and enthusiasm. If there was an MVP award for our committee, Charlie would have won it unanimously.

On a personal note, I continued to dress professionally outside but as feminine as possible on the inside. I had pants suits, skirt and blouse combos, and all manner of full-length dresses. Underneath, I went for frilly, feminine, and sexy. Silk, satin, lace underwear combos; half-slips and camisoles, full slips, and almost always garter stockings. Occasionally pantyhose but I just didn't prefer them.

I was reveling in my life as Maria even if my sex life wasn't nearly as exciting as it had been. That Maria had been so outgoing, so carefree, so experimental. This new Maria was doing her best.... to do her best. I was still trying to figure everything out. Old Maria's life was focused on sex because she didn't get to come out and play very often. New Maria got to 'play' every day except it was no longer a game. My life couldn't revolve 24/7 about sex.

A little over two months after my semi-permanent transition to Maria, the week after our successful project implementation, Ken knocked on my door on a Friday afternoon. "Hey girl, what do you say we knock off early today and go to a happy hour somewhere to celebrate your project's successful kick-off?"

I looked up and smiled at Ken. "I'd like that. I've been so focused on work since I've returned, I feel like I've almost forgotten how to have fun. Just let me finish typing up this last project evaluation and I'll be ready."

Ken smiled. "I'm betting that evaluation could wait until next week, but I understand. Pick me up at my office on your way out, I'll be ready to go."

Ken was leaning against his office door, waiting patiently when I got there. "Where's everyone else in our department?" I asked.

"They aren't so hyper-focused on work. When I offer them an early Friday dismissal, they take full advantage of it. And you look great, no, you look gorgeous but are you ever going to take advantage of 'Casual Friday' here at work?"

I looked at Ken closely. He was in tight-fitting jeans and an even tighter-fitting polo shirt. It dawned on me everyone was in jeans today. Everyone except me.

I was wearing a navy-blue silk over-the-knee pencil skirt and semi-transparent, sheer white blouse. Underneath, I had on a full slip, it was white satin and lace. Underneath that I was wearing a matching white satin and lace, bra, panty, and garter belt set. My garters held up 15 denier taupe stockings with reinforced heels and toes. On my feet I was wearing blue patent leather pumps with 4" stiletto heels.

While I had definitely toned down my makeup for work, I was still wearing way more makeup than any of the other girls at the office. Everyone had been polite enough not to mention it. Ken just grinned and arched an eyebrow at me during my moment of reflection.

"You ass, you could have said something to me. You're supposed to be my friend. I probably look like everyone's version of a sexy teacher; even on, especially on 'Casual Friday'!"

"Look Maria, I'm not sure you would have listened. Besides, my opinion isn't important. You're the one who's transitioning, your opinion is the only one that counts. You have to find your way. I know you will. Now, how about that drink?"

I walked over to him, gave him a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for being my friend, you big goof. Where are we going?"

Ken told me the name of a new bistro that had opened recently and had gotten rave reviews. He managed to score reservations for two, but we had to be there in forty minutes; they did not hold reservations long at all. "Two questions, if this bistro is so popular, how come you aren't taking Gloria?" Gloria is his wife; she'd met Maria once before Maria's transition.

"Gloria is out of town. She and some of her friends from high school take a 'Girl's Vacation' together for one week each year. What's your second question?"

"Do they have Korbel?" I smiled.

"Let's find out."

We drove separately, Ken beat me by five minutes, but I was still there two minutes before our reservation time. We got seated at a table-for-two in a semi-private alcove. The place was very sumptuous, the décor was old-world. "Wow, if the food is half as good as this place looks, it's no wonder they're all the rage."

The waiter came to take our drink orders. He was in his early 20's and was looking at my chest the entire time we were ordering. I forgave him because the restaurant had Korbel. We looked at the menu while we were waiting; it was very European but very eclectic. It looked like they had offerings from every country in the European Union.

The waiter came back with our drink orders, he was standing next to me when he took our food orders. I chose French food and ordered Lamb Shank Navarin; I hadn't eaten all day and decided to splurge on a bigger than usual meal for me. Ken also ordered lamb but went Greek and ordered Souvlaki with Tzatziki and Briam.

After the waiter walked away, Ken asked, "What's going on? That young man was looking down the entire time he was taking our orders. He never looked at me once. He couldn't pick me out of a lineup if his life depended on it."

"I'm guessing you saw him staring at my breasts while he was taking our drink orders." Ken nodded. "While he was gone, I hiked my skirt up high enough so you can see my stocking tops being held up by the garter tabs. I'm betting the only place he's ever seen a woman in garter stockings is online while he's jerking off!" I smiled naughtily.

Ken laughed, a hearty belly laugh. "That's the Maria I know and love! I've been wondering if she was still in there somewhere."

I laughed too, although much more ladylike. Ken was right. I'd been so focused on who I thought I should be that I'd kind of forgotten who I was. Maria's outgoing personality was the main reason I had decided to try transitioning.