As Girly As It Gets - The Dress Code - Part 10

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Sunday afternoon, Moira called and reminded Terry that they had to go to exercise class on Monday morning.  She suggested that maybe they should carpool.  She arranged to pick Terry up on Monday morning at 6:45 AM. Next Week Terry rolled out of bed.  Moira told Terry that all of the clothing for the exercise program was supplied by All of you.

She told him to dress like he was going to work since he did not want to carry lots of extra clothes around.  He took a quick shower more to wake up than anything.  He got dressed in his normal office attire and Moira texted when she was arriving. Terry grabbed his bag, locked his place up, and joined Moira in the car.  Terry turned to Moira and asked, shouldn’t I bring some of my own clothes?”

Moira said, “Terry, I have seen your clothes and you have nothing they will let you wear at All of U.  The shop has everything we need.  Natalie will have what we need for you when we get there.” Terry continued, “I didn’t even bring my tennis shoes.” Moira explained, “I saw your shoes in the closet when I was over there.

Your shoes are old.  Since you used them to run outside, they won’t let you use them inside the facility.  When you do aerobics, you have to have shoes that are only used inside.  We’ll get you taken care of.  But we need to go.” Moira guided Terry to the shop and Natalie followed them into the shop and greeted them.  Natalie explained that Moira had called ahead and given her Terry’s measurements.  Natalie said she put together everything Terry would need.  Terry only needed to try on the shoes and they could go to the changing rooms.

Terry sat on a bench and Natalie and another young lady brought a pair of purple and white trainers for Terry to try on. Terry tried the shoes on and they fit perfectly.  However, Terry was bothered by the purple and asked if there were any other colors.  The saleswoman explained that the color pattern was the same on all of the shoes they offered since it was the color pattern for the company and their signature logos and everything else.  Terry reluctantly accepted the shoes and presented his credit card to the woman to buy the prepackaged bundle of clothing along with his new trainers. Terry and Moira made their way to the changing rooms.

All of U, being a higher-end club, had a locker room where people could store their valuables and their street clothes under lock and key.  The room was lined with changing cubicles which were spacious and included a shower and dressing area.  This allowed modest people to undress and dress in a private room where at the end of their exercise, they could shower and dry off before redressing in their street clothes.

Terry and Moira selected adjoining changing rooms and Terry began to unwrap his new clothing.  In the pack were several pieces of clothing.  All of them sported a variation of the All of U signature color combinations of purple, black, and silver.  There was an oversized t-shirt with a wide neck along with a sports bra.  The pack included a now recognizable pair of the All of U spandex underwear, a pair of athletic socks, and a pair of spandex pants that looked way too skinny or maybe tight.  Finally, there was a headband and a hand towel for drying the sweat both he and the club hoped would be the result of his workout.

Terry undressed and donned the new sports bra which fit perfectly and unluckily highlighted his most depressing assets.  He quickly pulled the shirt on over the bra.  The neck seemed big/wide and the sleeves were shorter than usual.  The shirt had an elastic bottom which would keep it from popping up during exercise.  The bottom of the shirt could be placed at the top of his pants in which case it was bunched up.  Or, he could pull the shirt below his butt which made it feel like a short dress.  He opted for the waist.  Terry pulled on the spandex underwear which kept his male assets confined and virtually hidden.

The pants turned out to be a pair of leggings that ended above his ankles and were fitted all the way up to the wide waistband.  The two layers of spandex seemed to hide any hint of Terry’s male assets.  Terry, however, was disturbed that the clothing seemed to obviously be for a woman.  “Moira,” He called to the next room.  “I can’t wear this.  These pants are obviously for a woman.  I need something else.” Moira responded, “Terry, put on your shoes and let me see.  All of U requires everyone to wear the same clothing.  You can’t bring your own stuff in.  Let me take a look.” Terry pulled on the short athletic socks and his new purple tennis shoes.

After carefully hanging up his suit and gathering his other personal items, he opened the door.  Moira was waiting outside. Moira was thrilled to see Terry in his exercise clothing.  The shirt did little to hide his breasts though it was oversized.  The pants fit perfectly.  Terry immediately noticed that Moira was dressed identically to himself down to the short socks and shoes.  Moira had pulled her matching headband on to hold her hair out of her face.  Terry had him in his hand.

Moira said, “Terry, you look great.  That is what everyone will be wearing.  You have to exercise here and that is the uniform we all wear when we are here.  After we are done, you turn your stuff in and they get it all laundered for you before you return.  The only difference is there are several styles of shirts.  We’ll get you some of the others for variety.” Terry waved his arms at his legs.  “Don’t you think this looks a little too feminine?” Moira thought it looked a lot feminine.

Mostly because he was wearing women’s clothes and his body was pretty similar to a woman’s body.  But she had no plans to tell Terry.  “Terry, they are tight pants.  It helps with blood flow and lots of guys wear similar pants to run and work out.  You are just bothered by the color combination.  Get over yourself.  Let’s put our stuff in a locker.” Terry followed Moira to a row of lockers.  They were deep lockers with a hanging bars.  Terry hung his things up and placed his bag and other personal items inside.  The locker locked and the key came out.

Moira used the pin to hook the key to the waist of her pants.  Terry followed suit.  Terry reluctantly followed Moira to a workout room with a lot of mirrors.  There were people already in the room. As they were entering the room, the instructor asked everyone to get in position.  Moira pointed and positioned Terry and within moments, they were stretching and working out.  Terry tried to pay attention to the woman leading the session and had little time to fully observe the other participants.  Everyone was wearing a similar outfit and there was a lot of mumbling and groaning as the session continued.

Terry was quickly bothered by his hair falling in his face and sticking to his head.  He pulled the headband on to pull his hair off his face and it was immediately clear why everyone else with long hair was wearing the headband.  It wasn’t until the end of the session, as they were cooling down, that Terry realized that virtually everyone in the room was a woman.  In fact, he was having trouble finding a man in the room.  Terry decided to wait until he and Moira were alone to discuss the makeup of the class.

The instructor introduced herself and welcomed Terry and Moira to class.  She clearly remembered Moira from previous classes.  Terry and Moira retrieved their clothes, showered, and changed.  The dressing area included a blow dryer and mirror.  On their way out, they dropped their things at the desk where everything was identified by their name.  The spa stored everyone’s shoes and personal items and washed the workout attire.

As they were leaving, there were several stylists sitting around the atrium.  Moira guided Terry over towards one of them.  Moira sat down and the woman took a quick look at Moira’s face.  The woman touched up her eyebrows and brushed something onto her cheeks.  She played with Moira’s hair and even Terry thought it looked better.  Moira stood up and the woman pulled Terry into the chair.  Terry tried to resist. Moira pushed Terry and said, “Terry this is just a free service.

They take a look at everyone leaving for work and make sure you didn’t miss anything.  She won’t bite.  Sit down.  It just takes a minute.” Terry sat down.  The woman had a stick in her hand and rubbed it on Terry’s eyebrows.  She grabbed a brush and comb and fluffed and finished Terry’s hair.  The curls were defined and his hair was “bigger” and had life and body.  She asked for Terry’s lipstick, which he pulled out of his bag.  The woman then cleaned up his lips and expertly finished his lips.  “Perfect,” she said.  “Off you go.” Terry and Moira arrived at work early as was their habit lately.

Moira pushed her cup toward Terry without saying anything and Doreen arrived in time for him to provide her a cup.  Moira had some files that needed to be returned to the file room and a couple of things she asked him to copy for her. Doreen watched as Terry went to the file room.  When she heard the copier start working, she wandered over to the door.  She walked up behind Terry and asked, “Hey, Terry. Happy Monday.  Did you have a nice weekend?”

Terry wasn’t in quite as cheery a mood.  But Doreen could be infectious.  He smiled and said, “It was alright.  Moira and I went out for drinks on Friday and I pretty much laid around all weekend.  So, I guess it was relaxing.” Doreen was surprised to hear they had gone out for drinks.  “Next time you guys decide to hit happy hour, I’d love to join you.  Will you let me know?” Terry wasn’t sure how anyone could say no to that.  “Sure.” Doreen smiled, “Thanks.  Hey, it doesn’t make sense for us both to sit around waiting for the copier.

Usually, we just ask whoever is working the copier to copy everything and then hand it out.  It raises the efficiency of the department.  Makes us all look good.  I think it was your idea.  Could you copy these three files for me when you are done with them?  Thanks.” Doreen dropped the files on the table next to the copier and smiled at Terry as she turned and returned to her desk.  She paused at Moira’s desk and said, “I asked Terry to copy a few things for me while he was in the copying room.  He is so helpful in the morning!”  She smiled a conspiratorial smile at Moira and continued to her desk.  She turned back and said, “I also asked if I could join the two of you next time you hit happy hour.  Terry said sure.” Moira almost laughed at the idea that Terry was copying both of them.

If they kept piling work on, they could keep Terry in there even after other people showed up at work.  And, why would Terry agree to invite Doreen to happy hour? At around nine o’clock as the rest of the staff was arriving in the office, Terry returned from the copying room delivering files and copies to Doreen and Moira before returning to his own office.  Both women thanked him for his help. Doreen decided she would keep a much closer eye on what Terry was wearing to the office.

She had taken a much better look at Terry, his hair, hands, and face.  She had never realized he was such a metrosexual.  Terry’s hands were clean and his obvious manicure finished the look.  There was not a stray hair on his face.  His eyes and his eyebrows were perfect.  If she didn’t know better, she would think he was wearing an eyebrow pencil to finish his brows.  She kicked herself for not noticing these things earlier.  She wanted to make sure she did not miss any other little details about Terry and Moira and their strange relationship.  The one other item that caught her eye was that she had not previously realized Terry had his ears pierced.  He was wearing simple gold studs like they give you when you get your ears pierced.  She wondered what he would wear tomorrow.

Later that morning, Terry and Moira reviewed Moira’s proposal for Jefferson.  Terry was very impressed with the work Moira had done.  “Moira, this is a really good job.  I am very happy and impressed.  We need to map out the next steps.  You need to meet with manufacturing to confirm your numbers.  You also need to talk to Human Resources to see if they agree with the manpower assumptions.  Once that is done, we will take it up the management ladder and get final approval before submitting it to the client.” Moira was very excited.

She asked Terry where she should plan to hold these meetings.  Terry had some meetings in his office and others in the conference room. Terry told her he usually met in his office for the first two meetings.  Moira asked if she could just schedule the meetings here at the office.  Terry agreed.  He said, “I don’t really need to be at these meetings since you are doing the proposal.  We’ll work things out.” Monday evening, the early morning and exercise caught up with Terry and he fell asleep in front of the TV. Early Tuesday morning, Terry was up and going through his morning routine.

His phone beeped and he realized Moira was outside waiting for him.  Terry was astounded to find Moira already dressed for working out when he got into the car.  Moira explained that she had two complete outfits.  She wore one to go to the fitness class, changed into her work clothes, and when she turned in her sweaty clothes, she collected the clean ones from the desk for the next day.  She felt it saved time and she didn’t feel like she was dressing for work twice.  The only thing she had to do when she got to the gym was put on her workout shoes.

Terry thought that made a lot of sense and planned to get a second workout set. Terry and Moira made their way into All of U and approached the check-in desk.  After changing, they ran into Amber as they left the dressing rooms.  Amber took them into the training room and they began slowly.  They worked with several machines.  The resistance levels and weights were low to begin.  But, both Moira and Terry were feeling the effects of the session.  At the end of the session, Amber told them that she wanted them to go with her to their juice and smoothie bar.  She ordered them a drink designed to rebuild muscle and tone their bodies.

She also told them that she wanted them to start drinking a special smoothie for lunch over the next couple of weeks.  Terry was not totally listening as Amber explained that the drinks were designed to smooth out and balance their mood over a month.  The drink also included an appetite suppressant along with some synthetic hormones. After showering and changing, Terry and Moira were each given a bag containing their lunch smoothies for the next week.  Terry stopped in at the shop and picked up a second workout clothing set.  Remembering what Moira had said about his old tennis shoes, Terry bought a second pair of tennis shoes to have at home.

The clean-up stylists fixed them both up and they were off to the office in Moira’s car.  Doreen arrived moments after Terry and Moira entered the office.  Moira had stockpiled her filing the previous day and had several things that needed copying.  Doreen had several things that needed copying sitting on her desk.  As Terry gave Moira her coffee, she instructed him on the filing and copies she needed.  Carrying Moira’s work, Terry delivered Doreen’s coffee to her desk.

Doreen looked up and thanked Terry.  She asked, “Terry, will you be doing some copying this morning?” Terry did not think about the question and simply nodded holding up Terry’s files.  Doreen smiled and said, “Great, here let me add these to your pile.  I really appreciate all your help in the morning.”  With that, she slipped three files with post-it instructions describing what she wanted to be done onto the top of Terry’s pile of copying.  Terry reluctantly made his way to the filing room.  It seemed that there were more files than in the previous days.  Once he completed the filing, Terry moved to the copying room.  Terry made Moira’s copies and then realized that Doreen’s copies were more involved including how he was to reassemble the finished product.  Terry did not finish his copying work until a few minutes after nine in the morning.

In fact, as he was leaving one of the other secretaries was entering the copying room with a pile of her own.  Terry was happy she had not gotten in there in time to ask him to do her work.  Terry said, “Good morning,” and moved on to deliver copies to Doreen and Moira. As Terry was delivering the copies to Doreen, she asked, “Hey Terry, I noticed you got your ears pierced.” Terry smiled and acknowledged her observation, “Yes I did.” Doreen said, “Terry, you keep wearing the same earrings.  In fact, the ones you are wearing are the keepers they gave you when you got your ears pierced.  Aren’t they?” Terry was a little annoyed, “Yes they are.  So what?” Doreen said, “Terry, do you remember about 3 months ago you wrote up Beverly for not dressing in a professional manner in the office as required by the dress code?

Because she told me that one of the specific items you pointed out was that she was wearing the same earrings every day.  I believe you said in your report that professionals wearing earrings have a responsibility to not only wear tasteful earrings but to vary their jewelry to match their outfits and to maintain a professional appearance.  I suggest that you heed your own advice or I guarantee you Beverly would be happy to file a similar complaint against you.” Terry just stared at Doreen.  He could not tell if this was a threat or advice. Doreen continued as she reached down into her purse, “Let’s go into your office for a minute and we can solve this problem easily.”

Doreen stood up and passed by Terry heading for his office.  Terry found himself following her. Moira watched the two enter the office and stood up to follow. Doreen turned to Terry and said, “Now hold still for a moment.”  Doreen reached up and removed Terry’s left earring.  Then she replaced the gold stud with a small gold hoop earring.  She repeated this on the left. Terry reached up to touch the earrings.  Doreen said, “There we are.  Now you won’t have to worry about Beverly or anyone else reporting you for a dress code violation.

Well, at least, not today.” Doreen turned to the desk, leaned over, and dropped the gold studs into Terry’s purse which was open on the desk. Turning back she said, “Maybe you, Moira, and I can go out at lunch and we can help you acquire a few other alternatives for professional earring choices.  You have to have the variety or someone might report you.” As she left the room she said to Moira, “Let me know when we are going shopping.” Moira snickered and followed Doreen out of the office. Sitting down at his desk, Terry could not believe that Doreen had just changed his earrings for some kind of hoops.  Why would he want to wear hoops?

Why did he need more choices?  Why had he complained about Beverly wearing the same earrings all the time? Terry was relieved to get off his feet after over thirty minutes of filing and copying.  However, he immediately pulled out his phone and checked his lipstick and his hair.  It seemed like his hair was bigger than he remembered.  The curls were more pronounced.  But with the stylist finishing him off each morning, he thought it looked really good.  His hair was a little back and his earrings were more visible than he thought they were typical.

As Terry leaned back in his chair to think, he was aware of the feeling of the back claps on his bra which pressed into the center of his back.  This led him to think about the bra and its straps.  He found himself looking down at his chest and wondering again if everyone could tell what he was wearing. Once each day began Terry and Moira slipped back into their normal roles.  Moira got Terry his coffee later in the day and they did their work.

Moira had scheduled a morning text on Terry’s phone to remind him to take his herbal pill each day in the late morning.  Terry hoped that the pill and his new smoothies would keep him from feeling under the weather.  At lunch, Moira grabbed their smoothies and sat in Terry’s office while they drank the drinks.  They both liked the taste and they decided to take a stroll outside to get some additional exercise during their lunch break.  Terry and Moira left their suit coats at their desks as they made their way outside.  With all the changes in Terry’s body in the last few months, Moira wondered what effect the synthetic hormones in the smoothies might have.

When Moira dropped him off at home, Terry hung up his suit jacket and removed his blouse.  He donned an apron over his camisole and bra to prepare a small meal.  Moira was thrilled to see the updates of Terry checking his makeup wearing the apron and his lingerie.  He was not throwing off his clothes and jumping into a bunch of male casual wear when he returned home.  Tuesday evening Terry again fell into an early fitful sleep after dinner.  Wednesday morning Terry was up and ready when Moira texted him before her arrival.  Leaving his place, Terry brought a bag with his dry cleaning and tossed it in the back seat of Moira’s car.

Terry and Moira completed their aerobics session and Terry was reminded that he wanted to ask why it looked like he was the only guy in the morning class. On the way to work, Terry asked Moira about the class and the lack of men.  Moira told him, “Terry, I have honestly seen very few men willing to work out in an aerobics class for any length of time.  They just want to build bulky muscle and seldom seem willing to work on stamina and simply look fit.  I like this program because it is designed to build the right muscles, tone us up, lose some weight, and build stamina.

Give it a few weeks and you are going to start to feel great.” Terry was still bothered but he let it go.  On Wednesday morning, as was his routine, Terry started the day off by making coffee for Moira, Doreen, and himself.  He then retrieved the files from Moira’s “to be filed” box along with the things she needed copying.  He was not surprised to find that Doreen had some more things she needed to copy.  Terry did the filing first and then moved to the copying room.  At about ten minutes after nine, Terry was finishing his copies.

As he turned to leave, he found Susan, one of the secretaries standing there holding some copies waiting for him to finish.  She seemed to have an inquisitive look on her face. “Good morning,” Susan said. “Are you done?” Terry quickly made his way out the door saying, “Yes, mam. I am done.  Thank you for waiting.” Susan put her first copies on the machine and stuck her head back out the window to look at Terry.

It looked to her like Terry was delivering copies to Doreen and his own secretary/assistant Moira.  Susan would need to ask what was going on.  She got back to her work.  She couldn’t help wondering why a manager with his own secretary would need to do his own copies. Susan dropped by Doreen’s desk later in the morning.  She inquired about why Terry seemed to be doing her work and maybe even Moira’s.

Doreen smiled and looked conspiratorially at Susan.  “Susan, it’s really kind of silly.  Terry was in the copying room making copies for some work that he and Moira have been working on.  I had some copies I needed to do.  So, I was waiting in line and I remembered Terry’s rule that he made when he became manager.  If someone is making copies, 2 or three people don’t need to stand around.  Simply, give the work to the person on the machine and they can give it out when done.  He said it would all even out since the person on the machine is random.  Don’t you remember that?”

Susan seemed unsure, “I remember.  But, why would Terry be there in the first place?  Also, it never occurred to me that the rule would apply to Terry himself.” Doreen nodded in agreement, “I understand.  I actually asked him in a kidding way.  I thought he would just have me do all the copies.  But no.  He took the work and made the copies like he was one of us.  I think maybe he is doing it to earn a little more respect from the staff.

I noticed he seems to come in early and make some copies early in the morning.  Next time you see him in there, remind him of the rule and see what he says.  The worst thing he can say is to tell you to make copies.  And, you can’t complain since it is actually part of your job description.” Susan wasn’t so sure but she agreed to ask him to do her own copies the next time she ran into him in the copying room.  She told Doreen she would report back.