It seems that Heidi will be central to whatever happens in Christine’s plan for Andy and the extra time she wants them to stay in the village as Astrid and Christopher.

Chapter 8 — The plot thickens

In Penny Lane there is a crimper showing photographs
Of every head she's had the pleasure to have known
And all the people like to come and go,
Stop and say hello (with loving appreciation of Lennon and McCartney)

……………....

As they left the tiny salon, Christine looked over her shoulder, through the half-open stable door. Heidi was watching them every step of the way.

“She knows….” she whispered, although whispers were not needed, “… she knows about me, I’m sure, that I’m the me she has styled for in the past. I could tell….. The way she said I needed more of an under-cut and more movement in my hair. But I don’t think she knows you, so, even if she suspects, she can’t be sure…….”

“She was giving me very penetrating looks that told me she was thinking…..” Andy smiled

“Probably just professional interest, in what she could do with your hair, honey. You look so good today, I’m convinced she won’t know…. Well, not for sure….” Christine hugged his waist.

Andy was enjoying this. So, Astrid chipped back, “OK, maybe, but what about when I’m in her chair, and she’s got me.. Hands-on… She’s bound to know. But then, do I care? D’you know what? I don’t! Let her say something — it’ll be sexy just finding out how long she can resist before she comes out with what she knows….. With both of us.”

Walking down the little High Street, they were soon out of sight of the watching crimper.
Andy paused, thinking quickly about the scenario he was developing, and then he went on.

“ I’ll be in there for an hour, or more than that, before you come in. I bet you she’ll have cracked long before you arrive. Then, like she may have done with me, she’ll find it tempting to keep you guessing whether she knows…… In fact, I could conspire with her to lead you on, playing you in your male role….. How about that? Let’s see if I can persuade her to do that after she has ‘outed’ me to herself! What fun!!”

Christine was delighted at that. Andy was now fully and totally involved and committed to the play-acting that she, Christopher, was hoping would develop.

“You mustn’t dare lead her to ‘out’ you before she chooses. I want to hear all about how that happens, and how you enjoy what comes before I get to the salon. You have an hour and a half to enjoy before I arrive.” Christopher sounded jealous.

“What cums before you get there…. If anyone cums, it will be a disaster! I shall wear that girdle you bought for me but I haven’t yet worn……. And a pantie-liner just in case I do!” Astrid almost shuddered with pleasure at the thought of cumming without being engaged in sex, just being pampered.

Christine’s plan evolved another step, just there and then. “If we can involve Heidi in discussions about her other customers and what their characters and passions might be, we could really learn a lot that would help open up this apparently hung-up little community. I’m sure she’ll know many secrets, or have suspicions that we’ll enjoy hearing.”

Christopher tightened his hug around his wife’s waist. Astrid looked into his eyes and smiled. “I do so love you, you know! What fun this is, just even talking about tomorrow! I can’t wait to get you home…..” His knowing smile told Christine that she was on a winner.

There she was, walking down the street, thinking how much she loved this lovely man. A man who was so much in love that he would play someone so feminine, that he would go so far as to try, and succeed, to pass as a female in the street, before taking her home to give her a great night in the sack.

She knew she had a choice. She could let him have her as a woman. She could let him have her as a male. Or she could choose to be a male and have him as a female. What a thought! Christopher laughed out loud, he felt so good! What would he choose? What would Christine choose? What did Andy want?!

Andy was quietly but very excited by very similar thoughts. Astrid, too, was yearning to get home.

“I don’t think we should be seeking out any other people today…” Astrid said, keeping her voice in training. “After all, we have some thoughts about several couples and we’ll no doubt meet others, maybe tomorrow morning, before we go back to Heidi’s.”

“No, no, you’re right…” said Christopher, his male voice deepening again, “we have enough to go on. The question I haven’t shared with you is what we might do with any information we have or might get. Where do we want this all to go. I mean, do we want to shake the whole place up like it will never be the same again? Or do we just want to test the waters and be awfully shy about it and just share an idea with one, or maybe two other couples?”

“And Bev at the pub?..... And Heidi????” Astrid laughed. “I love them both. Can’t leave them out. No way!”

“Ah, yes, Bev, the blonde. I hadn’t forgotten her…. but I had thought she’d be mine….. in fact…. We’ll have to fight over her!” Christopher too laughed out loud.

“Let’s sit on the bench and watch the world go by, before we go home.” suggested Astrid, enjoying the feel of her underwear and the free-flowing girly clothes she was wearing. This idea brought immediate approval from her ‘husband’ who courteously swept a few twigs from the bench where she would be seated.

They sat in silence for a while. The village was quiet in the afternoon sunshine. There were no other people out for a walk, it seemed. All the doors were closed.

Birds sang in the breeze. Otherwise, this was England at its quietest best. The cross-dressed lovers enjoyed every moment. Their genders merged. They were one and two, and three and four….. Lovers. But Andy had to get straight in his mind how he would handle to encounter with Heidi, all alone for an hour and a half, the following evening.

“If Heidi knows, or even just suspects that you and Christine are one and the same person….” began Astrid, “.. Perhaps we shouldn’t play games with her and do all this ‘will she, won’t she’ stuff. Might it not be better for me to push it, like, early on after I’ve gone in to have my hair done? I mean, I could ask her how she seemed to know you when we met today. That would give her the chance to say how she thought you were Christine but playing a game….”

“Then what would she think about you? Aren’t you going to try to pass yourself for real? ……. For the girl you wannabe?” Christine didn’t seem to like the sound of the ‘up front’ disclosure while she wasn’t in the salon. Before she had a chance to control the way it went…..

“If you ask me, you should play it for real. Be the woman you look as you are. The woman I fancy soooo much I could eat you right here and….” Christopher’s voice trembled as he described hid desire for his wife sat beside her. His hand slipped on to Astrid’s thigh and the silky feel of her nylon stockings excited Christine. Andy’s thighs spread a little further apart. Imperceptibly, maybe. But as any lover will know who has fondled the inner thigh of their lover and detected a tiny ‘give’ under featherlight pressure, there was an invitation to caress a little further.

Christopher looked over Astrid’s shoulder and, seeing nobody in sight, moved his hand towards Astrid’s pantie line where her cock was now straining within the lacy creation that Andy had enjoyed putting on so much this morning.

“Promises, promises!” laughed Andy, breaking out of Astrid mode for a moment. The thought of shagging in the High Street in full view of everyone who might pass was so ludicrous Andy nearly fell off the bench laughing. “Later, later! I insist!”

The couple fell silent. Christine did want to be in control… or rather, feeling as she was as Christopher, she definitely saw it as her place to dictate when and how her own gender was disclosed and, more importantly, how Astrid’s real identity and gender were admitted to Heidi. Heidi was clearly becoming an important part of Christine’s plan for Astrid.

Christopher hummed a song…. Very familiar, but words came easily to fit their different situation.

…….Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue country skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
In Penny Lane there is a farmer with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen.
He likes to keep his tractor clean
It's a clean machine

He laughed again but stopped at the Trumpet Solo

A Farmer with an hourglass, corseted figure maybe?

Their thoughts returned to the following day. A lot of planning had to go into this if it were to be so much fun.. So deliciously tempting.

“Ok, Ok, I’ll keep my secret for as long as I can. I’d love to. You must know that. But what I’ll do if she challenges me about myself is another thing. What do I do then?”

Andy was giving in, but didn’t want to. Any barrier he could find would be offered. “What if she just says ‘well, I can tell with your partner, so what about you….?’ What do I say then?”

“You make the transition from ‘girly girl’ to ‘girly man’ and start flirting with her….. madly! That’s what you do….” retorted his ‘husband’. “….We want her on board with what I have in mind.”

By the time they had strolled on home, everything seemed right with all four of their worlds. Andy’s. Christine’s, Astrid’s and Christopher’s. They all felt in control of what had happened today. And more importantly, they felt able to decide on what should happen the following day. At their own pace.

They saw no more people on the short walk. It was that time of day. It was getting closer to a traditional time for Andy and Christine. To enjoy a Five O’ Clock Fuck.

They had never enjoyed that after a walk crossdressed as they were. The roles and genders were reversed from their usual. It was incumbent upon Christopher to make the first move. It was incumbent upon Astrid to flirt with her husband. Who would begin?

The man’s responsibility, for sure? Should it not be Christopher? Many readers will agree.

It should be Astrid, other readers may say ‘of course’ but Astrid was hesitant. Was he to transition to be Andy and to demolish Christine’s guise as Christopher? Or was she to fall into ‘his’ arms and let ‘him’ have his way?

Astrid had felt very feminine all afternoon and therefore reached towards Christopher’s shirt buttons, looking up into his eyes and saying “I’m yours, my darling. Yours to please me with. Just try me, and fly me!” She licked her lips and realized there was no lipstick upon them. None at all.

Seeing her tongue pass across her lips, Christopher said “Astrid…. You’re not wearing anything at all on your face. Why don’t you go and freshen up while I make you a Martini Extra Dry? It may only be Four-Thirty but that means we have plenty of time.” Astrid turned away to do as Christopher had bidden, only to feel the hand of her ‘husband’ on the zipper of her dress. The folds of the garment separated and her bra became visible.

The padding that filled the cups of Astrid’s brassiere pressed on Andy’s chest, reminding him that, to the world, all day today, he had breasts. A beautiful feminine figure. He had. Astrid had.

“Well, why not… and I may slip into something more comfortable while I do.” said his ‘wife’ as she took a first step up the stairs towards her bedroom where her cosmetics and lingerie would be found….

--oo00oo–

As Christopher climbed the stairs just a moment later, he sang to himself, but in Christine’s voice,
(again, with devoted attribution to Lennon and McCartney)

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the benches in the middle of the churchyard
A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway
In Penny Lane the crimper perms another customer
We see the trannie sitting waiting for a trim
Then the trannie’s wife rushes in
From the pouring rain...
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue country skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue country skies...
Penny Lane.

Chapter 9 will not be explicit, dear Readers, but you will learn which of the four lovers took part this evening. The chapter will focus on Heidi’s discoveries and her revelations about the village and its community players.