by Kristen
The story so far: Stephanie Clark has decided that living as a woman, after Dr. Carson's study was over, was what she wanted. She was still recovering from the death of her lover, Michael, when she discovered that he had left her as his beneficiary in his will, as well as on a 2 million dollar life insurance policy. In the mean time, her professional career was soaring as she became the supervisor for the IS department of the law firm where she worked. Going to one of the partners, Richard Price, for help managing her new found wealth. Instead of helping her with her finances, Richard confessed to her that he was aware of her "secret" and that he was Gay, and would like to get to know her better. Stephanie agreed to a date with Richard, and when he took her home from the dinner dance they had attended, he ended up making passionate love to her.
I guess my life has changed in the past year and a half. I am now worth about 10 million dollars (Michael's estate plus a 2 million dollar life insurance policy), I have a job as the supervisor for the IS department at the law firm that I work at, and oh yes, I am no longer a lonely man. I am now a very attractive and sexually active woman. I have been seeing Richard (one of the partners her at the law firm) for about 3 months. Although he is very handsome and seems to care about me, I don't seem to have the same feelings for him that I had for Michael. I guess I need to take some time to really get to know him, but there just doesn't seem to be the same electricity that there was with my beloved Michael. I mean, Richard is probably better in bed than anyone I have ever been with, but there isn't any tenderness there. I arrived at work a little early, as usual and saw that there was already messages on my voicemail. The first one was from Richard, "Steph, I may just be free for lunch this afternoon after all. Give me a call and we can set something up." That was the only voicemail, so I picked up my phone and dialed Richard's extension. "Hello, Richard Price's office. Can I help you" came the voice on the other end of the line. I was a little shocked, I had gotten Richard's office, but I knew that the voice on the other end wasn't Richard's secretary, or any of the other's in the building, even though she sounded familiar. I finally answered "Yes, Hi this is Stephanie Clark, from the IS department, I was returning Richard's call". "Stephanie, Richard left a message. He wants you to meet him at 1:00 at Mario's". I still couldn't figure out why that voice sounded so familiar, but I responded "Thanks, please let Richard know that I called and I will meet him there." I hung up, unable to get the voice out of my mind. Later that morning, I was just 2 offices down from Richard's, and my curiosity got the better of me. I don't know what I expected to see when I walked into the waiting room for Richard's office, But what I saw made me stop in my tracks. Sitting there was a tall, attractive blonde with a smile that lit up the office. The fact that she was so attractive wasn't what surprised me, I finally understood why her voice sounded so familiar. Sitting behind the desk was my ex-wife. As I entered, she looked up and smiled at me. "Can I help you". It appeared that she didn't recognize me from the years that we were married. Of course why would she recognize me, back then I had been Steven Clark, her husband, not the woman that now stood before her. Before I knew it she was standing up and approaching me with her hand out, "You must be Stephanie. I saw your picture on Richard's desk, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you right away". I was stunned, even up close, she didn't recognize ma as her ex. "I'm sorry" I stammered "I was next door fixing a Win95 problem and I thought I would stop in and say hello to Richard". "Oh I'm sure Richard will be sorry he missed you, but he's upstairs in a meeting with the other partners". "Well, let him know I stopped in, and that I'll see him at lunch time" I said as I made my exit.
As I walked back to my office, I ran the scene through my head, and it dawned on me, that Sharon (my ex-wife) wasn't wearing a wedding or engagement ring. I thought back to when we broke up, she had told me that she was leaving me for one of the instructors at her fitness center. I was never what you would call a wuss, but I couldn't compete with the steroid kid. I had assumed that she was in love and would end up marrying the guy (I never even learned his name).
I kept busy the rest of the morning, and around 1:00 PM I headed out the door for Mario's. When I got there, I looked around, but I didn't spot Richard. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Sharon was at my side, "Richard called and said that the meeting with the partners would probably go on for the rest of the day, so he asked me to come down and keep you company for lunch". I wasn't quite sure what to do. This was a woman that I had loved (and still did I realized) but I was no longer the man that she had known. I decided that maybe even if we were no longer lovers, we could at least be friends. The waiter showed us the way to the table that Richard had reserved. "You know, I'm kind of glad that things worked out this way" Sharon said as she scanned the menu. This is my first day on the job and I wasn't sure that I would meet anyone that I could talk to". Sharon always did love to talk. "When Richard called me after my interview, I was really excited. I had been working odd jobs since I left my boyfriend over a year ago. Actually, I tried getting in touch with my ex-husband, to see if maybe it wasn't too late, you know maybe we could reconcile. But when I called his number, it had been disconnected, and his landlady said that he had left and sent a check to cover the balance of his rent. He didn't leave a forwarding address, it was like he ceased to exist. I even checked with the police and the coroner to see if something terrible had happened to him. I finally decided that I needed to get on with my life, that's when I interviewed with Richard."
I could hardly believe my ears, my wife was searching for me, hoping to get back together, and I was sitting right in front of her. The really ironic thing, was that I couldn't tell her who I was, and why she couldn't find me. I was brought back to reality by the waiter "Mam, are you ready to order now?" I hadn't looked at the menu yet, but I had been here often enough to know what I wanted. "I'll have the grilled chicken salad and a large iced tea with lemon and sugar please." The waiter thanked us for our orders (Sharon must have ordered while I was daydreaming). "So, Sharon, why did you leave your husband in the first place, if you really do love him". Sharon looked at me as if I had just asked a question that she had been asking herself, " I don't know, really. I had met a guy at the gym where I work out, and he started hitting on me. At first I just sort of ignored him, you know, I didn't say yes, but I didn't say no. Steven was involved in a major project at work (I cringed inside when she brought that up) so I wasn't seeing him as much as I would have liked. After a couple of weeks, I finally said yes when Tony asked me out for a drink after I was done working out. He took me to a little place that had a dance floor, and after I had a couple of drinks, he asked me to dance. He held me close, and I could smell his cologne and feel his breath in my hair. He put his hand under my chin to tilt my head, and his lips met mine. I don't remember much else about that night, except the fact that I ended up at his place in bed with him." I already knew most of this, she had told me about it when she asked for the divorce. "How did you explain getting home late to your husband." She looked like she was ready to cry at this point, "I was going to confess to him what had happened and hope that he would forgive me. When I got home, I went into the bedroom to wake him up, but I found out that he hadn't come home from work. I guess it was selfish of me. I mean this was one of the few times that he worked that late, but I still felt like maybe I was justified with what I did". I decided that we had talked about this long enough, so I changed the subject, "How do you like working for Richard?" Sharon perked right up "Richard really seems like a nice boss. The funny thing is that this morning, one of the secretaries told me that I wouldn't have to worry about sexual harassment with Richard for a boss. I thought that she was referring to Richard's being involved with you, but she said that Richard is actually a closet gay. She told me that he dated you to hide the fact from the partners." I almost burst out in laughter, Richard thought that he had been able to keep his secret from everyone. "I can truthfully say, that Richard and I have a very enjoyable sex life". I knew that was not a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.
Our meals arrived, and we spent the rest of the time getting "to know each other". I found that all of the hostility and anger that I had for Sharon when she walked out on me, was starting to fade. She seemed to be truly sorry for what she had done to me. More than once, I found myself catching myself from saying something that might have given me away.
Later that day, my phone rang. It was Richard, "Hi Steph, I'm sorry I had to ditch lunch, but I couldn't get out of that meeting. If your not busy, I'd like to make it up to you at dinner". I wasn't mad at Richard, but I figured what the heck, "OK, what time do you want to meet". "How about 7:00 at that Japanese restaurant over by your place?" I thought for a second, "OK, I'll see you then. Maybe after dinner, we can go back to my place for dessert". Richard picked up on my mood "That sounds delicious. See you later".
I decided that I wanted to go casual that night so instead of my usual revealing dress or skirt and high heels, I chose a pair of black slacks and a white silk blouse that opened enough to show just the start of my cleavage.
I walked into the restaurant and saw Richard standing at the bar, with a strange look on his face. I thought that it was unusual, because I had never seen Richard drink before. As I approached, Richard noticed me and turned to greet me. "So here's my little slut". I was taken back, Richard had never addressed me like that before. "I suppose your late because you been off taken care of one of your other boyfriends, huh?" I was shocked, "Richard, I don't know what it is that your insinuating, but I've got a feeling that this is the drink talking." "No baby, I'm the one that's talking now, not little Scotty." I had to think for a second before I realized who he was talking about. "Richard, what has Scott Beatty have to do with this?" Richard looked at me with hate in his eyes, "I know you been getting it on with Scotty boy at lunch time sweetcheeks." "Richard, Scott is a new employee, and as his supervisor, I took him out to lunch once during his first week on the job." The fury showed in Richard's face, "You lying bitch". With that Richard surprised me by hitting me in the face with a closed fist. I didn't expect it, so I didn't have time to avoid it. I staggered back but I wasn't hurt bad. Richard brought his fist back to strike again. At that point everything seemed to go into slow motion. I noticed that although the patrons of the restaurant seemed to be shocked at what was happening, none of them moved to stop Richard. As I saw his fist come forward, I reacted. With my left hand I blocked Richard's blow up and away from me. At the same time, I stepped into him and drove my right fist into his stomach. I could see the shock on his face as my blow connected. I then took the hand that I had blocked and grabbed it in both of my hands, I stepped in and under, twisting Richard's arm as I came back along side of him. I then shifted my body weight to my left foot and kicked out with my right, connecting firmly with his ribs. I heard 3 distinct noises. The first was the cracking of at least 2 of his ribs, the second was the sound of his shoulder popping out of it's socket, and the third was the scream of pain that the other 2 caused. I released Richard's arm, thankful that Tae Kwon Do had been part of my conditioning regiment during Dr. Carson's study. I picked up my purse and headed to the nearest Mickey D's, all of that action made me hungry.
The next morning, I arrived at my office to find Richard sitting at my desk, with a box. "Don't bother removing your jacket, your fired". I didn't even bat an eye, "Please leave my office right now, unless you would like me to explain to Mr. Lanham what really happened last evening." Richard glared at me "Go ahead, do you really think that he would believe you over me?" I saw that look in his eyes, and I let him in on my little secret, "He will when he sees the signed statements that I got from some of the people that were there last night." As I held up the papers, Richard's jaw dropped, "All right, what do you want from me." "I already told you what I want, Get out now." Richard left, and I started unpacking the box that he had put all of my things into. Scott walked into my office "Stephanie, if you have a moment, I need to talk to you." I motioned Scott to sit down, "What can I help you with." He looked kind of nervous, and I noticed he was looking more at my breasts than my face. "Mr. Price called me into his office this morning, I was the only one here so I guess that's why. Anyway, he told me that I was to remove all of your access to the system, that you were being terminated. I wasn't sure what to do, so I didn't do anything. Are you leaving?" I could tell that Scott was worried so I assured him, "No, I don't have any plans to be leaving. Thank you for waiting to check with me before doing anything." This seemed to alleviate his fears, and he left my office smiling. As I turned to start unpacking again, my phone started ringing. I picked it up and immediately recognized the voice on the other end, "Steph, it's me, Sharon. What did you do to Richard? He's walking around like he'd been in a head on collision, and he said that if you called that I had his permission to tell you to "Go to hell". I mean I heard some rumors that he got physical with you at the restaurant last night. I also heard that you got physical right back." Leave it to the office grapevine to spread the news. "Sharon, I'm kind of busy right now. Why don't I take you out to lunch, and I'll give you all the details. My treat." "OK, I'll come down to your office around noon. I got to go now."
At noon, Sharon showed up and I grabbed my purse and headed out the door with her. I was amazed at how easily we had been able to become friends, as if there had never been the hurt between us. "So, give me all the dirt, are the rumors true, are you really Schwarzenegger in high heels?" I started to laugh, "Listen, Richard had a little too much to drink, and decided that he had the right to take his frustrations out on me. I just used some karate moves to discourage him." Sharon just looked at me in awe "From what I hear, you did more than that. You broke 3 of ribs, dislocated his shoulder, and caused him to spend 4 hours in the emergency room last night. And, from what everyone is saying, you went to easy on the bastard." I just smiled at her and started eating the lunch that I had ordered.
The rest of the lunch went without any more talk about the previous night. As we were walking back to the office, Sharon said something to me that made me stop in my tracks. "Stephanie, are you going to be seeing Richard any more?" At first I thought that she might be interested in him, but then I realized the way she had spoken about him, she didn't want to have anything to do with him. "I really don't think that I could ever trust Richard again. I hadn't really thought about it, but I just don't see him in my future". She turned to me "I'm glad you feel that way. I'd hate to see him hurt you. I don't know why, but I just feel really close to you."
Things pretty much got back to normal, for the next couple of weeks, until the morning that I came to work and found Sharon sitting in my office waiting for me. She had a shocked look on her face. "Steph, have you heard?" I wasn't sure what she was talking about. "Have I heard what?" "Richard was arrested last night. He apparently picked up some transvestite on the street. They were seen together at a bar, and later the TV was found beaten to death. They found blood in Richard's car and home, and have placed him under arrest for second degree murder." I stood there not quite knowing what to say. Sharon came over and put her arms around my neck and hugged me. "Oh my god, that could have been you Stephanie. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost my best friend to that son of a bitch." I instinctively hugged Sharon back, and I could feel the warmth of her breath on my neck as she cried, and her firm breasts pressing into mine. I turned to look at her, and found that she was looking at me. She leaned up and put her lips to mine. I couldn't think, my emotions just took over as I pulled her into me and parted her lips with my tongue. We stood there kissing passionately. My hands started to roam over the body that I knew so well. I could feel Sharon tense as I ran my hand up her side to her breast. I took her nipple through the cloth and squeezed it between my thumb and forefinger. Her hands ran down to my legs and started lifting the hem of my dress. As she made her way past the tops of my stockings and up along the straps of my garter, I put my hand on hers and stopped her. I unbuttoned her blouse and pulled it off. I then reached around her and released her bra. I lowered my head and took her large nipple into my mouth, sucking on it. Sharon didn't try to stop me, instead she put her hands on my head and moaned my name. I then raised her skirt and pulled down the lacy panties that she was wearing. I was not surprised to find that she still preferred stockings and garter belts to panty hose. I licked and nibbled at her swollen clit. I then ran my tongue in and out of her warm moist pussy as she shuddered, pushing my head tighter to her groin. After I was sure I had satisfied her, I came back up and kissed her deeply again, allowing her to taste her juices from my tongue. We finally broke the kiss and just looked at each other. "I'm sorry Steph, but I have been wanting to do that since the day I met you. I'd never found myself attracted to another woman before, but there is something about you that I just can't seem to resist." I looked at my gorgeous ex-wife and knew that the time had come to tell her the truth. I took my phone off of the hook, and walked over and locked the door. I then took Sharon's hands in mine and looked into her deep blue eyes. "Sharon, there's a reason that we are attracted to each other. Yes, I have wanted you too for a long time, longer than you can know. Before I came to work here, I had participated in a study run by a psychologist, Dr. George Carson. He wanted to determine the effects of living as a woman on men. You see Sharon I am really a man. After the study was over, I realized that I had a much fuller life than I had before I started the study, in fact my life hasn't been this good since my wife left me."
Sharon picked up on what I had just said and looked at me, and then looked for the first time as if a veil had been lifted. "Steven". "Yes Sharon, this is why you weren't able to track me down. Dr. Carson was able to arrange for a whole new identity for me. I wish that I didn't have to lie to you since you started working here, but I just didn't know how to tell you." Sharon looked at me and started to smile "Steven, er, Stephanie. What should I call you?" "Steven doesn't exist any more, please call me Stephanie." She smiled even brighter "Stephanie, I realized after what happened to you with Richard, that I love you. The fact that you are someone that I used to know and love doesn't change that. I guess the only question now is where do we go from here?"
I am still amazed at how beautiful the view of the Pacific Ocean is from here. I decided that the time had come to leave the law firm. I learned from Dr. Carson that he had met Richard when he had been treating him for alcohol abuse. It seemed that Richard had been married, ( Richard had told me that he had never been married) and he used to beat his wife whenever he got drunk. He was finally told by a judge that he either got help or went to jail. Dr. Carson said that part of that problem had been from the fact that he was trying to hide his homosexuality.
Using the money that I had inherited from Michael, I started my own consulting business here in Maui. I moved into the condo where Michael and I would have spent our honeymoon. As I turn back into the condo , I see an even lovelier view. There is Sharon, nursing Jason, our first baby. I don't know how we are going to explain our family to him when he grows up, all I know is that he will definitely grow up in a family filled with love.