"Today I'm going to push ahead and put my name forward with the party to be the next district representative!" said Edna, with a mixture of pride and determination in her voice. She had been working extra hard, pressing the flesh, kissing babies and sucking up to the party bigwigs because she wanted that nomination so badly. Once a city councillor for Oasis Springs, she could really push her policies.
"I wish you well dear. I know you'll be brilliant as a city councillor" said George.
"Thank you, George. I don't want our lives to be all about me, me, me and my upward trajectory. What about you? How are you days whilst I'm not here?"
"Oh just boring paperwork for the hotel..." said George, waving away any suggestion that his day was going to be anything but dull. But that wasn't true: He had something potentially exciting lined up for today but he couldn't tell Edna.
"Is that cleaning lady, Boombah..." said Edna.
"Beulah"
"Yes, Beulah. Is she coming today to clean our house?"
"Yes, Edna dear...about an hour after you leave for work."
"Such a shame our paths don't cross: I'd like to meet her. Anyway, I must finish typing up my speech." And with that Edna got up from her seat and made her way to the study.
Whilst Edna was doing that, George secretly did some dusting and polishing to make it appear that Beulah had cleaned the house. Edna must never know the truth about their cleaning lady, never know the truth about who Beulah actually is.
Edna finished her speech and was preparing to go to work when she saw a pile of unwashed dishes on the dining table.
"When Beulah gets here, tell her to start with those disgusting plates. Standards around here are really slipping!"
"Try not to wear yourself out, George, while I'm gone" she said.
George waved goodbye and watched her get into the taxi. When it sped off and turned the corner at the end of the road he waited at the window for another minute, just in case it should happen to return if Edna had forgotten something. When it did not reappear, he ran downstairs to the basement, fetched his special suitcase and ran back upstairs to the bedroom where he transformed into Beulah.
It was to be Beulah's first day at her new job as the Landgraab's maid so clothes, make up, prosthetic boobs and wig had to be near perfect in appearance. George squeezed into the bustier that gave him more of a figure and pushed his fake breasts up and spent longer in doing his make up. He put a tight fitting stocking cap over his head so the hairpins could hold his wig firmly in place with hairpins. Once the dress and shoes were on, George became Beulah and after an inspection in the mirror, a brief practice of his Southern Belle accent, and a walk up and down the hall to make sure his feminine walk was OK, he left the house and ventured forth on a new adventure.
George was getting so used to walking around the neighbourhood as a woman that no one batted an eyelid at him...or her. He didn't talk much in public either, just a polite word to the bus driver that she was going to Acquisition Butte and a thank you when he gave her the ticket was all she needed to say. She also knew she was going to get to wear a maid's uniform and that gave them a thrill just thinking about it. Would it be all frilly like a French Maid or more classical like you would get from a period costume drama?
The bus stopped just at the crest of the hill on Acquisition Butte and Beulah did a polite thank you to the driver before stepping gently out of the vehicle. Up ahead was Affluista Mansion, the ultra modern home of the Landgraab family. Beulah walked up to it in her most 'feminine' flouncy manner and stopped at the end of the driveway to check her hair and make up were in top condition before venturing further. You pass she thought.
She rang the doorbell and was greeted by none other than Geoffrey, who was delighted to see her and ushered her in more like an honoured guest than hired help.
"Beulah, you look wonderful as ever" he said, gushing and fawning over her. "Come through to the lounge, Nancy is waiting for you."
"Oh mah, such kindness Geoffreh" said Beulah, the Southern Belle accent working like a charm as she sauntered through to the lounge. Nancy was there, pondering a chess game but it was unclear who her opponent was meant to be.
"Nancy, dear, Beulah's arrived" said Geoffrey.
"Ah, yes, welcome Beulah...and on time as well. I do value punctuality in a person" she said with that characteristic haughtiness in her voice. Good breeding thought Beulah.
"Speaking of punctuality, Beulah, alas I have to now get ready to go in to the office. I wish you all the best for your first day with us and I hope you're not daunted by the size of our abode."
"Size has never daunted me in the past" replied Beulah with a giggle.
"Then I bid you adieu" and then he did an extraordinary thing: He leant forwards and gave Beulah a big, tight hug right in front of Nancy, who hardly paid attention.
Geoffrey then left and there was an awkward silence as Beulah just stood there in the middle of the room and Nancy was ignoring her as she peered intensely at the chess board. Then, after what seemed an age, her attention suddenly snapped back to reality, she stood up and walked over to Beulah.
"So sorry to leave you just standing there, Beulah, it's just that my attention was gripped by the game. Such a fascinating pastime, chess, do you play?"
"Not a great deal, Nanceh, ah have to confess" replied Beulah.
"Anyway, take a seat and let's get to business" said Nancy, ushering Beulah to a seat.
Beulah was hugely impressed at how Nancy had kept her figure at her age and after having a child and how bold she was with her fashion sense. Daring, she thought, but carried off with elegance. There was more than a hint of envy in Beulah. To get a figure Beulah had to use girdles, corsets and other enhancements.
"You know the layout of the house, don't you, Beulah?"
"Ah certainly do"
"And just between you, me and Geoffrey you can address us by our first names but if we have visitors you will address me as either Mrs Landgraab or ma'am. Is that clear?"
"Oh yais, I understand"
"And be careful and sensitive when it comes to cleaning Malcolm's room. I've told him he must put anything he has just lying around on the floor away but please do not go through his drawers, closets or other private spaces...he's very adamant about that."
"Master Malcolm won't hardly know ahm there"
"Good, good...now I have a uniform for you..." said Nancy, standing up. Beulah was suddenly excited. "Here we go..." continued Mrs Landgraab as she opened a closet and pulled out a short black dress with white collar, trim and apron. It wasn't the frilly French maid option Beulah had hoped for but it looked the part.
"You can get changed just over there" said Nancy, indicating one of the many rooms in the mansion. "I did order it in the size you indicated"
"Ahm sure it will fit just dandy" Beulah replied, taking the outfit, doing a little curtsey before walking off to the room to get changed.
The dress fitted well but Beulah noticed the short hemline. It just about covered her dignity...amongst other things she'd rather the world not know about...but she felt good in it, thrilled to be exact. Another costume she'd long wanted to try ticked off the mental checklist.
After that it was straight to work. She began by dusting and vacuuming the downstairs living areas and giving the glass tops a polish. Nancy was still pondering her chess game but none of the pieces had moved since Beulah had arrived. Instead it appeared as though Nancy was more engrossed at the placement of the pieces.
After that Beulah cleaned, scrubbed and polished the bathrooms and kitchen and all the while marvelled at the expensive and well designed furnishings the Landgraabs had. All built within the last three years and with that space age trim. She figured the place must have cost at least a million to build.
The whole of the downstairs of Affluista Mansion was the same size as Sneedley Burrow and there were still two floors to go. Heading upstairs, carrying the heavy vacuum cleaner, mop and bucket, Beulah stopped in on Malcolm in his room.
"Masteh Malcolm...it's jus' lil' ol' me, Beulah come to clean yah room" she said. She saw Malcolm sitting at his desk which was cluttered with papers, school books and magazines.
"Oh, Beulah...yes, of course. Just confine yourself to vacuuming and a little light dusting on the window sills...don't clean or polish my desk." replied Malcolm, who Beulah noticed was looking tired and bleary eyed.
"Did y'all have a late night, you look mighty tired Master Malcolm?"
Malcolm looked as if he'd been asked a trick question and was busy trying to work out an appropriate answer. "Ummm, yes. I had...erm...a lot of French to catch up on" he said, thinking about his girlfriend, Marie.
"Ah, French is such a romantic tongue!" said Beulah.
"It is how I use it..." said Malcolm with a mischievous grin.
"Well, ahl leave y'all to get some rest; don't overdo it with the French now"
"I think that ship has already sailed..." he said, still looking mischievous.
"Oh fiddley dee, you're such a card, Master Malcolm!" said Beulah with a giggle and a skip in her step as she left his room.
Beulah continued through the house, cleaning yet another bathroom...just how many did they need? The one nearest Malcolm's room was the filthiest with discarded towels, soapy water on the floor and uncapped toothpaste tubes leaking minty smelling gunge all over the sink and bathroom mirror that had hardened into some kind of a fluoride and peppermint resin. Beulah had to get on her hands and knees to clean this area and as she stood up one of her legs caught the sharp edge of the bathtub and she heard a faint ripping noise. Looking down at her legs she noticed a big run in one of her stockings.
"Damn...and they were a new pair as well!" she muttered.
George was finding out that taking on a woman's role in life wasn't all pretty frocks, wigs and flouncing about...which is what most of his transvestism was up until now. He had taken a step out into the world...in the guise of a woman...and was now having to live with the more realistic, everyday annoyances from having to put up with the advances of men you don't fancy and having wardrobe malfunctions with clothing that is designed to look nice but not made for durability.
Once that bathroom was done Beulah made her way to a study area that lay just off the master bedroom. She found Nancy at her desk, looking at her diary and making notes.
"Oh, excuse me...Nanceh...but is it ahl right if ah vacuum n' dust here or should ah come back later?"
"No, I'm not doing anything special..." said Nancy, shoving the diary and notebook quickly into a drawer. "...please do continue your work" she added, smiling.
Beulah did a little curtsey and proceeded to dust all the surfaces with a feather duster. Nancy observed Beulah at work; her facial expression was one of intense scrutiny. She noticed Beulah's legs.
"Oh dear, a run in your hose...it happens all too often I find. I go through about a dozen pairs a month" said Nancy.
"Ahm sorry for mah appearance...ah should have bought a spare pair" said Beulah, wondering if she had offended Nancy with the way she looked.
"It's forgetting the little details that can cause problems later on" said Nancy. "You can have a pair of mine to wear...If I receive visitors, which I often do, I think it would be advantageous to look your best."
"Ah don't want to put y'all to any trouble..."
"No trouble. Come through to the bedroom." said Nancy, standing up and inclining her head towards the bedroom. Beulah followed and thought I'm going to wear something of Nancy Landgraab's!
Nancy walked over to the chest of drawers, opened the one second from the top and pulled out a pair of black nylons which she handed over to Beulah.
"These pantyhose should fit you...they're one size" said Nancy.
Now George had a hatred of the modern pantyhose...he considered them vulgar and inelegant compared with stockings that were fastened with a garter belt. But this was what was being offered to him by a woman he admired for her social status and glamourous image....what to say to her?
"Ah don't suppose you have stockings instead...it's just ahm an old fashioned kind of woman..." said Beulah.
Nancy nodded. "I can see that...a real, homely Southern Belle, aren't you? Normally I would say yes but I only have two pairs of stockings and they're of the finer, more expensive kind...not for everyday wear." Nancy sidled up close to Beulah. "I only wear those when I want to entice Geoffrey...or another man...into doing something I want" she said, raising one eyebrow and smiling the same mischievous smile that Malcolm flashed earlier.
Beulah giggled. "Oh Mrs Landgraab...ah know what y'all mean. Got to keep them menfolk enticed!" she said. "Well, in that case I'll just slip into these and ah thank you...I mean, y'all...for your kindness and generositeh!"
Beulah took the pantyhose from Nancy and left the room to head to a spare bedroom on this floor. She took off the ruined stockings and threw them in the waste basket, took off the superfluous garter belt and then put on the dreaded pantyhose. Once on, Beulah noticed they weren't that bad and, after all, they were Nancy's.
It was back to work after that, tackling the third floor of the house, emptying all the waste baskets and bins and giving the place one last tidy up before ending her shift.
Beulah went back to Nancy in her study and politely knocked on the open door to gain her attention.
"Ah reckon ahm done here for today, Nanceh" she said.
"Everything looks fine, Beulah, you've done a good job. So here's some money for you, it's all there" replied Nancy, handing over a plain, unmarked envelope. Beulah didn't wish to insult Nancy by opening it and counting the money...she just took it on trust.
"Oh, and you can keep the pantyhose. I have dozens of pairs, I won't miss one." Nancy added.
"Y'all have been so kind to me, Nanceh, ah thank you...y'all" Beulah replied.
"Not at all...same time next Monday, Beulah?"
"Oh yes, Nanceh, ah'll see y'all then" said Beulah, curtseying again.
Beulah changed out of her maid's outfit back into her everyday clothes and headed home. By the time she got back to Sneedley Burrow she was exhausted. It turned out to be a more physically demanding job than George had realised and his back was aching with all the bending down and being on his hands and knees whilst wearing women's clothing. He staggered into the bedroom, kicking off his shoes, taking off his dress, taking off his wig which had made his head very hot and then he slumped on the bed for a while whist he got some energy back. Lying there he pondered on all the things he'd experienced today as Beulah. Yes it was tiring doing all those chores but it was also thrilling and exciting at the same time to be doing them whilst disguised as a woman.
He couldn't spend much time lounging on the bed in his lingerie because Edna would be home in an hour so the painstaking process of de-feminising began: False fingernails off, clip on earrings off, fake breasts removed, lingerie off and put in a laundry bag along with the dress, make up removal so that every trace was gone, men's clothes back on, hair combed and all of his drag stuff put back into a case and returned to its hiding place in the downstairs bunker. Tomorrow he would wash all his feminine clothes ready in time for his next day as either Georgina or Beulah.
If he had been exhausted before de-feminising he was absolutely drained after it. He had just enough time to make himself a coffee before Edna returned home. Outside another maid walked past the burrow; either returning from or going to a job. George looked at how she was dressed and wasn't that impressed. "Tsch, no hose and wearing sneakers...slack" he thought to himself. "I look more the part than she does!"
Edna duly returned home with a smile on her face and a spring in her step.
"Hello, dear, I trust that things went your way at work?" said George.
"Pretty much...I am now officially one of the two nominees for the councillor position" she said, beaming with pride before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Well done, you deserve it" said George.
"Thank you, George..." Edna replied. She started to walk towards the kitchen but paused to turn to George. "I think this calls for a celebratory drink, care to join me?" she said.
"Oh yes, that would be fahn, erm, I mean fine" he said, accidentally slipping into a Southern accent over the word 'fine'.
Edna went to the kitchen cupboards, pulled out a bottle and poured two glasses of neat whisky which she handed one to George and kept one for herself. They sat on the couch in the lounge where George raised his glass to her.
"Congratulations"
"Thank you George. Yes, one step closer to securing the nomination. I've only Abe Aveleyman to beat and rumour has it he's having an affair with his secretary. Fortunately there's no hint of scandal with my candidacy!" Edna said, gulping her drink down in one. Then she did a sniff as if she had detected an unusual smell. "That's a strong fragrance...did Beulah come today?"
George looked startled for a moment before he figured out what to say. "Oh...yes. Yes she did! As you can see by all the dirty dishes having been cleared up."
"Hmm, she forgot to put away that book over there" said Edna, pointing to a book that had been left out on the couch.
"Oh...that was me, I was looking at it just before you came home" George replied, defensively.
"But enough about her, let's talk about what we're going to do next?" said Edna, getting up to pour herself another drink.
"We?"
"Yes, we, George. We need a high profile success for the League of Decency. Let the party know that our little group means business."
"What do you think we should do?" asked George.
"We'll work on that together...maybe a protest outside of the Kitten Club or a public speech about standards or something like that. Details, George, we can work on them later."
Edna finished her second whisky and felt a lot more satisfied about things. She went to her handbag and pulled out her diary to see what she had on for the rest of the week when she noticed an entry under today's date.
"Oh George, dear...I've just looked in the diary and do you know what day it is today?" she asked in a sly, sultry tone.
"The anniversary of the start of the Franco-Prussian War?" George replied.
"No, Dear, it's that time of the month...you know, our special time? What my old Scottish grandmother called 'houghmagandie'" she said, fixing her gaze at George.
"Oh! That..." he responded. "Do you mean...now?"
"Yes, now, George. We agreed, once a month and now that time is upon us again. Unless you don't want to...."
George looked wide eyed with glee. "Oh no! Let's do this! It's our special time and why wait out here, let's get to the bedroom!"
"Oh and George..."
"Yes dear?"
"Can I go on top again?"
