As Girly As It Gets - The Dress Code - Part 16

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The sales lady quickly checked them out and bundled their purchases in pink shopping bags with handles with the company’s name ‘Pretty Professionals’ on both sides in a purple script.  And so, Terry, Doreen, and Moira each strolled back to the office with their purses over their shoulders and carrying their new purchases in bags from a well-known lady’s boutique.  Moira steered them into the building instead of dropping their bags in the car.

All the ladies in the office noticed Doreen and Moira’s bags and they were then confronted by Terry following several steps behind carrying his own bag from Pretty Professionals.  Many of them sat at their desks wondering what Terry had found to buy at the lady’s boutique.  Of course, some of them had noticed over the last several weeks that the small briefcase Terry carried looked more like a leather purse.  Terry had enjoyed his walk with Doreen and Moira.  The shopping detour had worked out well.  He really did need a few more blouses.  And, the store had nice things.

He was so caught up in the experience along with the satisfaction of resolving his need for a few more tops, that it never occurred to him that he should feel odd walking into work carrying a bag from a women’s boutique. Terry set his bag down in the corner of his office and sat down to do some work.  Soon after their return, Moira brought Terry his first-afternoon cup of coffee.  Even with Terry getting coffee in the morning, Moira always made sure she got Terry his afternoon coffee.

Terry noticed this and he appreciated it.  Susan and Karen had observed the three officemates casually returning from lunch.  Karen kiddingly said, “Doreen, Moira, and Terry looked like some shopping commercial where all the women are wearing similar outfits and carrying the same shopping bag from some cute boutique.  Isn’t it just too cute?” Susan laughed and said, “I love Pretty Professionals' prices and the quality of their clothes.  I wonder what cute things Terry found there?”

They were both snickering when Susan caught her breath and turned to Karen.  Karen sensing something was wrong turned towards Susan to figure out what the issue was.  Seeing the scared look in Susan’s eyes, Karen asked, “What?  What happened?” Susan looked back over towards Terry and Moira as Terry entered his office and Moira was sitting down at her desk.  Karen followed her gaze. Karen suddenly realized the issue.  She whispered, “Why would Terry need or want cute things from that boutique?” Susan just nodded solemnly.

Karen suggested, “Maybe he bought a gift for someone?”  They both decided to drop the issue and returned to their work.  When it came time for the afternoon break, Moira told Terry it was time for a break.  Terry had enjoyed the break earlier in the day and since he needed to refill his coffee, he decided it might be nice to join the ladies for a break again.  He walked with Moira to the break room.  It felt good to be out of his office.  He hadn’t really socialized a lot lately and it felt good to just talk to some new people.  Susan and Karen watched Moira and Terry walking into the break room.

They both walked over to the kitchenette and poured themselves some coffee before joining the girls at the large table. Susan looked around and thought to herself, there are no other guys in this room.  In fact, there are never guys in this room for the break.  They may dart in.  But if they do they exit just as quickly.  Susan and Karen were both listening and watching Terry. One of the girls was talking about a new diet she was trying.  It occurred to Susan that Terry had lost some weight lately.

Susan said, “Terry, you seem to have lost some weight lately.  What’s your diet secret?” Several people looked at Terry.  He said, “Well I had laid off on working out and I started up again.  I have also been drinking a diet shake at lunch and trying to walk instead of heading out for a fatty meal.”  Terry was proud of himself for finding an answer to the question which did not really reveal any of his secrets. Moira jumped in and said, “Yeah, I decided to join Terry, and the smoothie at lunch with a little walk keeps your mind off the missing food.

Doreen has joined us a few times.” Terry has happy Moira had jumped in at first.  However, several of the girls wanted to know what the smoothies were and what the flavors were.  Then they wanted to know where they got the smoothies. Moira jumped in and said, “I’m getting my smoothies from All of U.” The girls forgot about Terry and wanted to know more.  Susan continued to observe Terry.  It occurred to her that there was something odd about his shirt.  His necktie seemed to come out from his neck instead of hanging straight down.

And as she looked closer, it seemed that his collar was a little more pointed than most guys.  Maybe it was a style.  She initially wondered if Terry was working out and building a big muscular chest.  That would explain the way the tie was hanging.  However, the rest of Terry’s body was so undeveloped that a bulky chest would seem out of place.  She decided she would watch him walking around the office or in the copying room and talk to Karen to get her thoughts. She laughed to herself as she realized that the place she associated with Terry was the copying room and not some executive office.

As everyone was getting up to return to their desks, Terry was happy to have deflected the diet questions.  However, several of the girls thought maybe they should look into these smoothies. As Terry walked out of the break room, Susan noticed that while he had lost some weight, he still had a bit of extra weight in his bottom and hips.  She thought that was probably from sitting around his office all day.  But then she reminded herself that when she thought of Terry, she thought of the copying room.  He seemed to spend a lot of time there standing while working on copies.

Shouldn’t all that standing and walking around help slim down his legs?  She noted that his waist was pretty small in relation to his hips.  In addition, his arms, neck, and face were not displaying excess weight.  And from the back, Terry did not have that V-shape that most of the weightlifter guys had when they bulked up their chests.  It struck her that there was something weird about the way his upper body was shaped.  She just couldn’t put her finger on it.

Later that afternoon, Karen pointed out to Susan that Terry was much more adventurous in his selection of earrings than most of the guys.  And he clearly had the best hair of any guy at the company.  Karen said several of the girls had lamented that they wished their hair was as full and looked as good as Terry's.  Susan was trying to process this with what she had observed earlier. Susan mentioned that Terry’s shirt was different than many of the guys in that the collar had very pointed corners instead of the more buttoned-down style many of the other guys wore.  Karen said, “I noticed that.

He also wore a shirt the other day with more rounded collars which are certainly more adventurous than most of the guys at this company.” Susan mentioned that she was going to talk to Moira about the smoothies they were drinking for lunch.  She felt like she could shed a few pounds and it sounded like Terry and Moira were pretty happy with the results. Karen asked Susan to keep her in the loop on what she found out. Susan went to talk to Moira and pressed her on what her secrets were regarding her activities lately.

Moira informed Susan that she had gone back to All of U to take their morning aerobics classes.  Up until last year, Susan and some of her friends had participated in an aerobics program pretty regularly.  She had twisted an ankle and because of other real-life issues, she and her friends had sort of slacked off from their regular workouts. Susan wondered whether or not she should reconsider getting back into aerobics.  Moira mentioned that once she had been working out for a couple of weeks she really felt like she had more energy and she really felt good about getting her body tone back.

Susan thanked her and said she’d think about it.  Moira avoided telling Susan anything about Terry.  Moira did point out that All of U was a company-sponsored program and that her use of the workout areas should be included in her membership.  Moira and Terry stayed a little late on Wednesday trying to finish a few reports for management and some proposal issues.  Moira dropped Terry off and he fell into his couch.  He had his purse/briefcase, the bag of blouses from Pretty Professionals, the bag of new workout clothes from All of U along with his package containing his cleaned backup workout outfit.  Terry slipped out of his professional clothes and pulled on a pair of cotton shorts and one of the All of U loose-fitting workout tops.  He made himself a light dinner and watched the news.

On Thursday, after his morning cleanup, Terry donned his workout clothes and gathered his work clothing together.  He decided to wear one of his new blouses purchased the day before.  Moira arrived and they left for their workout. Thursday morning, Terry was still working in the copying room at break time.  Susan and Karen both retrieved him from the copying room.  Susan again touched Terry on the shoulder to get his attention.

She intentionally placed three fingers on his shoulder as she called his name.  Terry turned quickly and acknowledged the ladies.  They insisted he joins them for the morning break.  Karen grasped his arm and pulled him towards the door.  Susan followed the two of them out the door.  Terry sat with the ladies and everyone sipped their coffee.  They discussed some news from the previous night.

Terry had seen the story on the news and held up his end of the conversation.  The girls kidded each other and Terry found himself enjoying the conversation.  He had never really had a chance to talk to people at the office in a casual manner other than Moira.

Terry returned to his copying and found himself in his office a little after 11:30.  Moira reported on several calls they had received and Terry dealt with e-mails until lunch.  Susan’s brain was going a hundred miles an hour.  Last night, it had finally struck her that something felt wrong when she had tapped Terry on the shoulder.  It seemed silly.  She wasn’t even sure what was wrong.  However, today, she had made a special effort to feel his shoulder as she touched him to let him know about the break.  Sitting at her desk, she had come to the conclusion that Terry had something with a skinny strap on his shoulder.

The problem was that the shadows under his shirt did not look like a wife-beater-style t-shirt.  In fact, she would have sworn she felt a slide on Terry’s shoulder like they have on the straps of a slip or a bra.  Susan was totally uncomfortable with these thoughts.  She felt like she was living in some alternate reality.  She couldn’t figure out why she was trying to create some complicated story around something she barely touched on Terry’s shoulder.  Susan liked Terry.  It was only in the last week or so that she had had an opportunity to interact with him.

But it seemed there was some secret she could not put her finger on.  After a quick lunch, Doreen, Moira, and Terry moved to take their walk.

Karen and Susan were standing outside and asked if they could join the group.  Doreen welcomed them.  The five office workers in blouses, skirts, and women’s pants strolled through the area and got a nice walk in while enjoying each other’s company.  That afternoon, Susan felt better.  Susan had her weekly visit with All of U late in the afternoon on Thursdays.  She had enjoyed the walk and she decided to ask about her options for aerobic workouts while she was at All of U.

Friday morning, after their workout, the finishing stylist ran a brush through Terry’s hair and snipped the band he used to hold it in a ponytail.  She had decided she was sick of Terry hiding her gorgeous hair in a simple ponytail every morning.

Terry did not realize his hair was loose as they left All of U.  Moira noticed but said nothing.  At work, Terry was in a good mood.  He quickly made coffee and delivered it to Moira and Doreen.  Karen had arrived early and was surprised when Terry asked her preferences and delivered her a warm cup of coffee.  Terry then retrieved his filing and copying.  Terry collected additional assignments and was still working diligently in the copying room during morning break time.  Susan and Karen collected him for morning coffee.  Susan continued to try to see what details about Terry she was missing.

Today, Terry’s shirt had a rounded collar.  In addition, she noticed that the thickness of Terry’s collar was much thinner than most men’s shirts as they folded over around the back of the neck.  In fact, it was much more common to have thinner shirt collars on women’s shirts.  That was probably because women seldom wore neckties.  For instance, on Terry’s shirt, the collar did not cover the necktie on the sides where she could see it.  His loose hair, which lacked the tie for the typical ponytail he wore, was fluffed out a little and covered some of the back of the neck of his shirt.

Susan also noticed that the cuff of the shirt was only about half the length that most men’s shirts were.  Susan wondered if for some reason Terry was wearing a women’s shirt.  She shook her head and said to herself that was crazy and she needed to stop trying to think up crazy explanations for things.  Terry and the girls had a nice break and Susan and Karen walked Terry back to the copying room.  Susan hung around and helped him for a few minutes.  Terry finished up in the copying room at around 11:30.  It seemed that lately, he was spending most of his mornings in the copying room.

He actually worried that his copying could stretch through lunch.  It was nice to be off his legs and sitting at his desk in the afternoon. Terry checked his face and applied a fresh coat of lipstick before getting down to work.  Moira smiled as she received the expected video of Terry checking his look and updating his lipstick.  She was still amazed that he had become so comfortable that no one knew what was happening that he actually used the lipstick tube to apply the lipstick in his office.

Over the last few weeks, Terry had adopted some very feminine habits.  Terry constantly swept a finger across the side of his face to push the hair back towards his ears.  This movement which he seemed to do very delicately had evolved to him sweeping his finger softly over the ear and almost back to his shoulder.  He could now be seen doing this almost anywhere and anytime.  He did it subconsciously when he was talking or sitting almost anywhere.

He even did it in the car with Moira. Terry constantly checked his face and used a finger to scrape away imaginary lipstick which might extend past his lip edge.  He would when looking at his face, use a finger to dust away imagined lint or dirt on his face.  Several times a day, Terry had actually started using the eyebrow pencil to fill in some imagined flaw in his eyebrows.  He did so sparingly, but he was doing it.

With Terry’s barely C-cup chest and new bras, he had also adopted that oh-so-feminine habit of adjusting his bra strap when he thought no one was looking.  At times, he would scratch an itch along the edges of his bra, just like every other person who wore a bra did from time to time.  Once in a while, when Terry was lost in thought, he would twist his hair at the side of his head around his index finger.  Other times, if he was wearing simple stud earrings, he would spin his right earring while thinking.

Over time, Moira noticed that Terry used his finger much less when applying lipstick.  He was more and more comfortable just using the tube and hoping no one noticed.  But as feminine habits sometimes develop, after applying lipstick Terry had begun running his tongue along his lips in a motion that many women would recognize.  Last week, when Terry and Moira had their salon visits, Terry was chastised for his lack of maintenance of his fingernails.

The ladies took time to train Terry in how to use a multi-faced salon nail file to maintain the edges of his nails and avoid chips.  The special nail file had two abrasive sections on one side and the other side had polishing faces.  The nail technician also gave him bottles of nail polish so he could touch things up if needed. Also, on the few occasions when Moira was with Terry when his hair was hanging loose, he had developed this really cute head bob and turn which would sweep his hair back over his shoulders.  It was yet another overtly feminine habit.

As Moira snapped herself back to reality, she realized it was time for lunch.  Smiling as she again remembered some of Terry’s feminine mannerisms, she made her way to the refrigerator and got their lunch smoothies.  After Terry, Doreen, and Moira finished their lunch smoothies, they got up to go for their walk.

Moira asked Terry if he wanted to open up his collar and maybe leave his tie in the office so he didn’t get them sweaty as they walked outside.  Terry slipped off his tie and loosened his top button.  The three of them headed out and Susan and Karen joined them.  They headed towards some of the local shops.  Terry detoured the cleaners because he had agreed to handle the cleaning with no complaints for the next few weeks.  It occurred to him that he and Moira had not really set a fixed time for him to take on this task.  Terry had five bundles of clothing on hangers.  There were dresses, skirt suits, pant suits, blouses, and separates.

Terry’s hands were full as the group headed back toward the office.  Moira explained that Terry was handling the cleaning because of a disagreement they had.  Everyone thought that was cute.  When they got back to the office, Terry handed Doreen her clothes and he and Moira made their way back to his office.  Terry hung up his and Moira’s things on the back of his office door.  That left him with the two bundles of women’s clothes and he did not know who they belonged to.

Moira smirked and let Terry worry for a few minutes.  She then told him that the first bundle of clothes was to be delivered to Chris’s secretary Marsha.  If she is not there, just let Chris know he dropped them off.  Moira told him when he was done, she would tell him where to deliver the other hanging bundle.  Terry headed towards Chris’s office with the bundle holding it by the hangers.  Chris’s secretary was not at her desk.  Chris’s door was open.  Terry sheepishly stuck his head in and saw Chris. Chris saw Terry and asked, “Hey Terry, what’s up?” Terry started slowly, “uh, uh, I have some clothes from the cleaners.  I picked them up with my stuff.  I was looking for Marsha, your assistant.” Chris laughed.  “She’s at her salon time.

Thank you for getting my stuff.  She mentioned that you and Moira go to the same place.  It really is a lifesaver.  Just hang it on the back of my door.” Terry reached around her door and hung the clothing on her door just like he did in his own office.  Chris was surprised Terry did not have Moira bring her things over. Chris asked, “How are things going?  I heard you guys upgraded a few big contracts.” Terry confirmed the contracts and they chatted for a few minutes.  Chris then told Terry she had to get back to work.  And Terry returned to his office.

While it was uncomfortable at first, Chris apparently thought nothing of Terry bringing her things.  She did notice that Terry’s hair was not in its typical ponytail.  His hair looked really ‘pretty’.  An odd thought. Terry made his way back to the office and asked Moira who the other bundle of clothes belonged to.  She smiled and told him the last bundle of clothes was for the director of Human Resources.  Terry stared at her.  That was too much.  Moira wanted the impact more than the embarrassment.  She giggled as she took the bundle and went to deliver it herself.  Terry sat in his office realizing he had picked up the dry cleaning for all the women executives and his boss's assistant.