Another surprise was, her nephew (20 or so) who's staying with her came home while she was making me up. He sat in and chatted with us while she was doing my face. I don't know if she knew he was coming back and said nothing to me, or if it was a surprise to her too. But that was also an inhibiting factor in my asking for bolder makeup -- I didn't want him to think this was more than a Halloween costume.
Remember what I wrote yesterday about being in that bad indecisive place? That's where I was at that time.
When she was done, we couldn't decide where to go. There are no major malls near her; the closest one was right by my office (my previous and current company both) and I was apprehensive but I figured, what the heck.
One thing that I had mentioned was that maybe I would surprise my old boss, Z, with my costume. C thought this was a good idea.
So off we went. As we were getting into the car, I asked C to take a couple of pictures with her cel phone, the only camera she had with her.
We went into the mall. First we went into a "New York & Company" store where she tried on a couple of tops; I didn't see anything that appealed to me there. After she did so, I had to ask her to please not call me by my boy name, especially when calling across the store!
By now, it was after 11 and I suggested that she call the boss, see if she wanted to join her "and a friend" for lunch. She said there wasn't a lot of room in her back seat so she'd pick Z up and drive her over to the mall. While she was driving, I wandered into an H & M store and tried on a couple of skirts. Trying on clothes as Meg was a new experience. One skirt I really liked but I didn't want to buy it because I didn't want to basically admit that I did this regularly. If Z saw the bag, it would kind of give that away.
This was a problem: I wasn't sure if I wanted to say to the boss "this is what I do" or "this is a one-time thing". I should have made up my mind first. (See bad place, above.) Since then, I've told her the whole story.
C took her time coming back so I wandered into a couple of stores and around the mall a bit. Finally, she showed up at the restaurant. They paused so C could look for me. I walked up to them and smiled at C. C kept talking to Z, who looked at me. Z looked me up and down and put out her hand and said "hi. You must be C's friend. I'm Z." I started to say "Hi. I'm
We had lunch. The hostess said "can I help you ladies?" The waiter referred to us the same way. I love that, but back then it was unique, affirming, and empowering. Most of the conversation revolved around goings on at the office and with C's status since being fired. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to say "this is my first 'lunch with the girls'. Can we talk girl instead of shop?" so it wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped.
After lunch I walked back to my car to get my boy clothes and makeup remover. In this mall, I park in a small lot in front of a small strip of stores across a road across from the Lord & Taylor. So to get to my car I have to walk past about thirty shops, through Lord & Taylor, across the parking lot, and across a street (4-way stop and crosswalk) to the smaller lot.
By now, my feet were hurting from the shoes. I forgot to put band-aids on my little toes and I was getting serious blisters on those toes from the rubbing. So I was walking slow. I had to go from the restaurant to my car, get my boystuff, and walk back across the road again. The closest family restroom was near the Lord & Taylor, so there wasn't a lot of walking back at least.
Normally, when I cross that street, the cars ignore anyone crossing, unless they're pretty close to the car (and sometimes they're ignored even then). I try to give pedestrians a wide berth when I'm driving there but rarely wait until the clear the crosswalk. Unless it's a nicely-dressed or nice-looking woman; in that case I wait and watch and relax for a minute.
As I said, I was walking slow because of my shoes and the skirt but the cars all waited for me. I'll assume they wanted to watch the babe crossing in front of them. Hey, illusion and fantasy go together. Besides, I might have been far enough away to look good. I look better the further away you are. From space, I'm a beauty.
Changing back took only 15 minutes, including removing all of the makeup. I was out of the office for probably four hours, but I made that time up on the weekend.
I would have liked to do this in the office. And I would have liked to get another woman on the old team who I was friendly with in on the surprise. But I was still apprehensive and she loves her gossip.
One reason I was pushed to do this was because this I thought this may be the last chance I get. Next year, Halloween is on a Saturday. 2010 it's on a Sunday. 2011 it's on a Monday and I'll be 57 and who knows where my friends from that old company will be. Or where I will be.
One other thing about C: I asked her, shortly after I admitted indulging in my hobby: "do you mind crossdressers?" She said "no." I asked, "how about if your guy crossdessed?" She said "yes." I think this is common.
All in all, it was a fun day. It was far from perfect, but I still felt great at the end of the day.
Great story, Meg.
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