The Angel of Mercy

The Lord of Petty Revenges was happy for three weeks after his ultimate revenge on his neighbour. His revenges were fun and exciting and each new disguise gave him pleasure. The spare room in his house, now permanently locked in case Bernard should discover it, had developed into a factory for disguises and a storage space for all the additional clothes he now owned. There was a rack of masks he had made, many more of which were female than male and he now had two complete female bodysuits that he had made in addition to various body parts. The man at the craft store now knew him by name and his ability to mold latex was improving every day.

However after three weeks he had started to notice that his neighbour Claire Hughes had been rapidly going downhill and Anthony started to feel guilty about what he had done. Her appearance, normally immaculate was now looking much rougher and on the only time he really saw her when she was doing her garden. Her lovely long brunette hair, previously always immaculately brushed out was now just a mass of tangles. Indeed from what he gathered from the neighbours she'd mainly given up hope after being rejected by several companies for a new job due to her drink driving conviction. The only thing that kept her going was her garden. It was one thing to take revenge, but another to have to witness the consequences of that revenge daily.

The revenges he was enacting also started to lose their luster. After weeks he had finally managed to track down the member of the Swansea Council responsible for maintaining the pavements that he'd tripped over whilst out shopping as Claire. He found the man had a beautiful garden, so he disguised himself as a workman and told them there was a water leak from a main in their garden and proceeded to dig it up, ruining the beautiful display of dahlia's the man had. Then suddenly Anthony as the workman disappeared without filling in the holes. He had no doubts that the man from the council would complain to Welsh Water, but they would never track down the miscreant workman. Normally this would have given Anthony a buzz, but the whole thing now seemed flat to him as he looked at upon the dejected woman in the next door garden busying herself.

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Claire dug another troublesome weed out of the bed and sighed to herself. Normally on a Sunday if she hadn't been with Sean, one of her friends would have come round for a coffee and a chat, or they would have gone out for the day somewhere. Now, since the party and the crash, none of which she remembered, they had all abandoned her and had not returned her calls. The conviction for drunk driving had lost Claire her driving license and this had counted against her in all the interviews she'd had for jobs. Since she had no redundancy money and the car was written off her savings were rapidly dwindling. And what was worse, the judge had ordered her to attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings despite the fact that she really hadn't ever been a heavy drinker in her life.

Claire stared at her watch, the seconds lazily ticking by. There was nothing better to do, but after a while she went back to her gardening. If something didn't happen soon then even the garden wouldn't matter. Her savings could only pay the mortgage for so long and then she would be forced to sell the house and she would become destitute.

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That evening whilst not really watching the TV Anthony had a revelation. Anthony had started to leave the TV on whilst doing something else some years ago just so that there was noise in the house. He'd been not watching the football earlier, but that had finished now and the Chelsea Flower Show highlights were on and he hadn't been bothered to change the channel. As Anthony was ironing some of his "other" clothes, Monty Don started talking about a new nationwide search for the home gardener of the year. Claire needed something to kick start her self esteem, Anthony needed something to bring his enthusiasm back. The answer was simple. The Lord of Petty Revenges would start to use his powers for good and would help Claire get herself back on her feet. After all he'd essentially caused the problem in the first place. His new goal would therefore be to rectify what he'd done to her.

And so was born the germination of the idea for the Angel of Mercy in Anthony's mind.

At work in the DVLA Anthony headed down three flights of stairs to the basement to the area of the office that was popularly known as the graveyard. This was the realm of one Rees Halliwell, a large friendly man whose cheerfulness belied the solemnity of the department he ran. This was the area where the old licenses for people who had died were removed from the database and destroyed in the furnace. Being able to acquire one of these licenses before they were removed from the database and destroyed would mean that Anthony could have an entirely new identity.

"So, what's a process clerk doing slumming it down here in the graveyard then?" Rees asked cheerfully.

Anthony turned and greeted the large man in response.

"Oh hi there mate. I gotta leaving card for Mary up in accounts. Can you get all the gravediggers to sign it and put some money in the envelope for a leaving gift? I'll wait here and then take it back upstairs."

"Is Mary the one whose about to pop?" Rees asked.

"Yeah, she's due in two weeks but she's leaving on Friday in case she's early. I'm sure none of you will, but can you ensure that it's all real money in there and not vouchers and foreign currency. That lot in accounts are real tight arses with their wallets."

Rees nodded and laughed before taking the envelope and heading into the furnace room. The accounts department were legendary for their tightness. Whilst Rees was out of the room, Anthony started going through the pile of cards and forms looking for a suitable subject. He rejected anyone over the age of 40 out of hand and quickly started looking for someone of suitable appearance for what he wanted. Then suddenly he got to one that was absolutely perfect - Angela Clemence, and what was even better was that she had been reasonably local from Port Talbot. Anthony pocketed the card and form and waited for Rees to come back.

"Sorry mate but Frank's not in today. Can I bring it back up to you tomorrow?"

Anthony having achieved his objective was not worried about the card.

"Sure, but I'll need it back tomorrow as it'll have to go on to some of the other departments before Friday."
With that Anthony headed back upstairs with his spoils and proceeded to put through a change of address request on Angela Clemence to his own address.

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Bernard had noticed that he friend's moods had been very up and down lately. It was, he mused to himself, probably down to his girlfriend leaving him and going to Australia. He was pleased to see however that tonight Anthony was looking like his old self again and was really on form.

"What's got you so perked up then boyo?" he enquired of his friend as he sipped on his pint.

"Oh, I've got a new exciting project at work" Anthony answered vaguely "and so far it's going really well".

"Really? Go on let me in on what this new exciting project is then mate! If she's anything like that cracker you pulled last time then I can see why your excitable." Bernard still lamented not getting a chance to have a crack at Tina, though his sister's lecture after she'd left their house told him that it probably wasn't going to be.

"No, it's a bit soon for that after Tina" Anthony lamented. "This is an altogether different project that will help people. Call it a charity project if you like."

Bernard had never heard his friend speak of charity before. He heard him grumble and bemoan the world in general and speak of getting his revenge on the world, but this was an entirely new aspect that he'd never seen in his friend before.

"You're not gunna tell me about it are you?" Bernard stated boldly.

"No" his friend replied, "but it is going to bring happiness all round I assure you. Now go get another round and I'll thrash you at darts!"

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Anthony had indeed been making good progress in his work throughout the week. The Angela mask together with a newly bought expensive human long red wig was completed and the trial fitting had gone well alongside his second bodysuit. Angela was a more voluptuous girl than Claire, but sexy in her own way. He'd practiced her voice each night, copying the drive-time DJ from Swansea Sound as he drove home from the office until he thought he'd developed a good unique feminine sounding tone. By Wednesday night he started to dress as her and become Angela completely all evening in everything he did, ensuring that the curtain's were closed all the while.

He had sent off an application last Monday from Angela nominating her neighbour Claire Hughes for the regional heat of the gardening competition. Today he'd received a reply that the regional judge would be coming round next Tuesday evening to judge it and to inform her of this. Anthony could not believe his luck since this was her AA night. He would not have to find another excuse to get her out of the house and was now ready to put the next phase of his plan into action.

Anthony got up early on Saturday morning and started to prepare himself as Angela. After pulling on the bodysuit and mask he slipped on a matching white bra and panty set before getting out the white dress and heels he had specifically bought for the occasion - Angels after all always wear white. Carefully he applied his new makeup and then teased the hair into the style he wanted. Then taking his car he drove into Swansea to the bank to apply for a new account as Angela.

The bank teller examined Angela's driving license, whilst also examining her cleavage and told her that of course that she could open a new account with them as her credit rating had shown up in the check to be very good. After completing the forms and depositing £300 in cash, the teller named Steve informed Angela that her new cards would be with her in two days and that for now they could give her a temporary check book. Angela smiled and said that she understood before leaving and heading back home.

By now it was about 10 in the morning and Claire should be up and about. So after getting out the car, Angela went straight up and knocked on his neighbour's door.

Claire, looking somewhat like an unmade bed, answered the door.

"I'm sorry luv, I don't buy and sell at the door." Claire stated plainly.

"I'm not selling anything" the lovely Angela said breathlessly "I'm here because someone is worried about you."
Just then the morning sun peeked out from behind a cloud and ringed Angela's hair causing Claire to need to shade her eyes.

"Oh, I'm not looking to be saved either." Claire said thinking that this woman was perhaps a bible basher.

"No, I'm not from any church. Your friend was very worried and said that you needed a helping hand. I am here to show you the beauty of life once again and bring you back to yourself again."

Claire looked dumbstruck at the red headed woman on her doorstep. This was the most bizarre thing that had ever happened to her, but as mad as it seemed she knew deep down that she needed help.

"How do I know that you are not just some nutter?" Claire demanded finally.

"Nothing in life is certain my dear, but since your break up with Sean and the unfortunate events of that night things have been bad for you. Your friend wants more than anything for that night to be erased and for you to find happiness again." This was harder work than Anthony imagined it would be. He had not considered the risk that she would just shut the door in his face.

Claire wanted to be happy again, but she could no longer find it in her heart after all that she had been through.
"I suppose I have nothing to lose" she replied in a resigned fashion. "Come in then and tell me how?"

Angela didn't need a second invitation as she entered Claire's house once more and went into the kitchen with Claire.

"First of all" Angela said "You need to go and tidy yourself up and put something nice on. "We're going out to show you happiness once more. I'm Angela by the way Claire."

Claire already having resigned to this, dutifully headed upstairs to change and tidy herself up. Once she had gone Angela quickly headed for the rack where Claire's spare keys were held and slipped the back door key off its ring before Claire returned looking somewhat better.

"Come on lets go out and have some fun!" Angela exclaimed leading the poor bemused Claire from the house to catch the bus. Apart from the weekly shop, her court hearing and the weekly AA meeting this was the first time that Claire had been out the since the incident that had wrecked her life. Anthony just hoped that this was going to work.

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Claire had moped and been difficult for the first hour of their odyssey around Swansea and Mumbles. She knew in her heart of hearts that this woman was doing everything that she could to cheer her up, but she just didn't feel like being cheered up. Angela had shown her happy smiling children in the playground to show her that life continues on, but it just reminded her that she had no boyfriend and would therefore not be having children. Then Angela had shown her a local football match, showing her how people could pull together to achieve success. However that had just made Claire feel how alone she was now and how much she hated football. Finally Angela showed her the beauty and wonders of nature in Singleton Park, and all Claire felt was how she should be back in her garden dealing with nature. That was until the Squirrel happened that was.

Angela had bought them both an ice cream and she had been licking it delicately when a Squirrel jumped down from a tree onto Angela's hair and scooped up a piece of ice cream from the cone with its paw. It had instantly reacted to the cold by jumping down and trying to shake it off. The whole scene was so absurd that Claire could not help letting out a silvery laugh the completely broke down her morbid resolve to see the worst of life. Angela, after having flailed at the Squirrel joined in with Claire and the two started to laugh harder and harder at the poor Squirrel rolling around to get the sticky ice cream from its paw.

Once they had stopped laughing Claire made a decision in her mind. Whilst she hadn't trusted this Angela at first, it was obvious that they could be good friends. Now that her other friends had abandoned her there was just once question that remained on her mind and now that the tension was broken she voiced it.

"So Angela, who is this mysterious friend of mine and why didn't she come to me herself?"

"I'm afraid this friend is not one of your old friends, but someone in your life you have never considered a friend before. More I cannot say for now, but in time you may learn their identity."

Claire was puzzled by this response as she had no idea who it could be. Angela had not fallen into the trap of answering with a gender so she still didn't know if it is a man or a woman.

"So give me a clue. Is it a man or a woman"

"Yes" was all the reply she got from Angela as a smile crept on the other woman's face.

Claire had enjoyed the remainder of the day with Angela and was surprised when they stopped at her gate after getting off the bus when the red-haired woman told her that she would call again tomorrow at noon. She hugged Angela and thanked her for cheering her up, but when she got over the threshold of her house two things started to worry her again. Firstly although she had enjoyed herself in the end her situation had not improved. Secondly (and perhaps more worryingly) the whole day had almost felt like a date. Did this Angela woman secretly fancy her? She hoped not as that would spoil everything as she was not interested in that sort of thing.

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Ensuring that Claire was not watching from her window, Anthony sneaked around to his side door and entered the house hoping not to be seen by his other neighbour. He pulled out the key from his handbag and set it down. For most of the day he had had a raging hard on deep within his suit and Anthony had not realized how much he really liked Claire until today. He desperately wanted to remove the suit and deal with his swollen member but he had work to finish first, checking things were ready for Tuesday. By the time he'd finished however he realized how wrong he was and he was forced to take of the dress, bra and panties and begin to strip himself out of the suit.

His masturbation was both painful and a relief when he finally came and he headed to the bathroom to get a tissue to wipe up the proceeds. All in all he thought it had gone very well. Things were starting to shape up very nicely, though he still needed a way to start to really get Claire's life back on track. He determined that tomorrow he would try and find that way when he met Claire again. So as to get a head start in the morning he took a bath and then put back on the Angela suit. That way he would save time in the morning and could get some more practice in. Slipping into the woman skin was becoming more natural to him now the more he was doing it, though he still found tightening up the under-corset to be painful. It was an erotic experience now covering his cock and his hips with those of the suit and he would smile as he looked down at his new pussy and sexy hips. He had always loved women, but in some twisted way he also loved being a sexy woman. He wanted to make love to her, but he also wanted to be adored as her. It was as though the synapse in his brain was fused across the two thoughts. He pulled the suit up so that the breasts covered his chest and reached around for the rod to do up the tiny zipper. Once done up his breasts wobbled slightly and Anthony jumped up and down a bit to make the wobble some more. The illusion in the mirror below the waist seemed good, but the real test on that would be tomorrow.

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That Sunday morning Claire's doorbell rang at noon and this time. She was expecting Angela who was standing at the door with a sports bag over her other shoulder.

"Go and get your kit, we're going to the water park for some fun girl!" Angela exclaimed excitedly.

Claire was surprised at this turn of events, but given that she had enjoyed yesterday she headed upstairs to get her things, still though slightly worried that Angela might be a lesbian.

They headed into town to the leisure centre, Angela paying for them both despite protests from Claire. The women's changing rooms were an open area with lockers, something that was becoming more common these days. Claire however could not help but look at her new found friend as she changed. The other woman was bigger built than she was but had curves in all the right places. She noted that Angela must be a natural redhead as her thatch below matched her hair, meaning that she didn't dye her hair. Whilst Angela put on her one piece swimsuit, Angela instead had gone for a white bikini bra and small triangular white bikini bottoms. Angela was about to head to the pool when Claire stopped her.

"Aren't you going to tie your hair back?" Claire had already used a tie to put her own hair into a bun.

"Oh silly me" Angela replied "I forgot to bring a tie. Do you have a spare?"

Claire produced her spare from the bag and watched as Angela struggled to secure it. Eventually Claire told her to give it to her and she did it for the other woman. All the time Claire was thinking to herself that this was something the other woman, who she estimated was about 30, should know how to do by now.

The two women enjoyed the slides and splashing about in the pool. Claire noticed that there were areas of the pool that at times Angela was avoiding and she wondered if her new friend had an enemy here. She did not vocalize her thoughts and instead kept watch.

The 'Rolling Rock' was the largest slide in the leisure centre and Angela had left it until last. Claire waited at the bottom for her newfound friend to appear from the tunnel and as Angela emerged she spotted that something was wrong. The water had pushed against Angela's bikini and her bikini top had ridden up revealing her breasts to all and sundry.

Angela quickly tried to pull the bikini top back down but the damage was now done as two men headed over to her.

"You ok love, I'm Bernard by the way and this is my friend Stewart. " said one of the two men obviously trying to pick Angela up. Claire decided to wait for just a second to see how her friend would react and noted that just for a second there was a slight hint of panic on Angela's face.

"I'm fine thank you" Angela replied regaining her composure after regaining her modesty.

"I'm her friend I can look after her" Claire stepped in now to rescue Angela. The man calling himself Bernard looked crestfallen.

"So there's no chance of a drink then next week then love?" Bernard persisted, his chat up technique not having improved greatly over the years.

"Sorry no" Angela replied, "but thanks for the offer of help."

Claire was now even more convinced that she knew Angela's secret. If she hadn't been moping so much she would have picked it up yesterday, all the little subtle hints of things that Angela did not quite as a real woman would. Angela was a transsexual, and there was nothing wrong with that. In some ways Angela needed as much help as Claire did, though a very different sort of help.

They headed back to change shortly afterwards and Claire started to notice more and more things that confirmed her theory. Angela was doing a pretty good job on the whole, her voice was good and many mannerisms correct, but if you really looked at everything that she did with a close scrutiny you could see it.

"So how's job hunting going?" Angela's question interrupted Claire's thoughts.

"Oh, I've pretty much given up now. I've applied and been rejected by almost all the Insurance Companies around here. The criminal record I'm afraid is a big no go area for them." Angela seemed to chew on her response before asking.

"So have you thought of applying for other things?"

"I've been in insurance all my life. I have no experience with anything else. I'd never get anything else that paid enough to keep the house." Claire replied dejectedly. It seemed to her that Angela was chewing this over.

"We'll see" was all she replied mysteriously and they headed back to Claire's house again.

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Anthony left work early on Tuesday as he'd built up enough flexi time the day before. He hurried home and dashed upstairs to begin preparing for this evening, taking a scented bath before taking down the Claire suit from its hanger.

"It's been a long time" he said to the empty suit, slipping into the legs of the slim woman from next door. He pulled up the hips over his own and inserted his penis in the catheter and sheath before pulling the suit up. He got more of a thrill being Claire than he did as Angela. Copying someone real was always more thrilling and also riskier. The corset for Claire had to be tightened much tighter and Anthony struggled to get it tight enough. Had he let his body go a bit since Angela was curvier? He pulled the suit up with the small perk breasts over his chest and finally zipped it up. Next he pulled the mask with the brunette hair from its stand and slipped it on before trying to blend all the seams as best he could with make-up.

"I must look my best for the judging tonight" Anthony practiced in Claire's voice. It was not great since he'd been speaking as Angela for so long. So as he started to make himself up he kept practicing. He slipped on a silky bra and panty set that he'd specifically bought for the occasion and then some patterned tights. Finally he put on a nice new two tone blue dress and matching jewelry before checking himself out in the mirror.

Despite the desire to keep checking himself out, Anthony knew he had to keep a watch out for Claire going out to her meeting. Sure enough at around 18:35 she left the house and the new Claire headed round the side door to take possession of her house. Since he'd been there at the weekend Anthony noticed that Claire had done a lot of tidying up which meant there was only a little more to do before the doorbell rang. The fake Claire went to answer her door and she saw a neatly dressed man in his fifties wearing a suit with a clipboard on the other side of it.

"Hello my name is Jonathan Evans and I am representing the Welsh region for the National Home Gardeners awards. I do hope your neighbour who nominated you, a Miss Angela Clemence, told you we were coming tonight."

"Oh yes, Angela did tell me. I've been looking forward to you coming all week." Anthony tried to make Claire's face beam delightedly at Jonathan. "Would you like a cup of tea before we start?"

"No, thank you Miss Hughes" Mr. Evans replied "You're the third lady to offer and I'm afraid I need the loo more than tea."

"Oh it's just over here" the fake Claire replied showing him the door where it was in his house and hoped Claire's was in the same place. The fake Claire noted the bulge in the man's trousers as he headed to the rest room. Oh no, not another man who fancies me, Anthony thought to himself. Jonathan was that bit too long in the toilet for just having a wee, and he noted that Jonathan Evans trousers were significantly less bulging now. Anthony hoped he could use the attraction to his advantage.

When he returned the fake Claire led Mr. Evans into the back garden. For all that Claire had not really kept the house as well as she could, she had ensured that the garden was still stunning. As it was the early summer now most of the flowers were at the height of blooming at the garden looked immaculate.

"Wow I'm very impressed Miss Hughes" Jonathan told the fake Claire with a genuine expression of delight on his face. "What's your secret?"

Anthony didn't know much about gardens himself but he had seen Claire getting muck from the local stables. Besides he wasn't going to tell this man his real secret.

"Plenty of fresh manure Mr. Evans, dug in early season." Anthony hoped that Mr. Evans wouldn't ask him anything hard since he was no gardener.

"Well we don't sell that at our centres, just plenty of peat and other fortified soils. I run the Evans chain of garden centres by the way."

The name should of clicked, he'd seen the chain numerous time, but as he wasn't a gardener he didn't think to match the name.

"Oh really, then we have an expert judge in our midst then" the fake Claire replied playfully.

"Well I know a bit but I rely on my centre managers for the real expertise, pity I've just lost my best one here in Swansea though to a rival chain. Home-base are always poaching my best staff."

"Really?" the fake Claire replied, an idea forming in her head "I'm looking for a job at the moment. When are you advertising it?"

"I think the advert will be out by Friday in the Swansea Echo. Are you interested then?"

"Yes very interested" the fake Claire replied realizing that it could mean something else. They continued their stroll around the garden and Jonathan bent down to examine the condition of some flowers.

"Well make sure to apply then. I think the snails have been at your Rhododendrons."

"Oh I will don't worry, and yes I try to keep the pests away but the run too fast for me!" Anthony tried a joke to hide his knowledge of the flowers. It seemed to work as Jonathan burst out laughing.

"Very good. Now I'll just need to make a few notes if you don't mind Miss Hughes and then I'll join you back in the house."

A short while later Mr Evans came back in the house his pen safely tucked away.

"Well that's about it, all done. You'll be hearing from the committee in 3 weeks. I hope to see you again soon Miss Hughes." The fake Claire shook his hand and showed him out. Then quickly she wiped the mud from the floor locked the side door and headed back next door. A plan was now forming in Anthony's mind to restore Claire Hughes good name and all he needed to do was ensure that she applied and got the job. And there was only one way to do that. Ensure that all the other candidates looked bad compared to Claire!

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Claire had avoided the subject of Angela's transsexualism again when she had visited on Saturday. She knew that she should mention it but she didn't want to ruin her new friendship. This was especially true now that Angela had given her an idea for another job as a Garden Centre Manager and indeed even supplied the job advert from the local paper. Although she was unsure she would get it, her recent lighter mood meant that she was willing to give it a try and she settled down Saturday night to fill in the form and attached her CV.

The next day Angela walked with her to the post box and they posted the application together. The closing date was Friday so Angela had said they should post it as soon as possible. After a day out on the bus to Caswell Bay in the sun with Angela, Claire settled down to watch the Television. It was then that she noticed the front of the newspaper that Angela had brought round. Clearly at the top it was marked in ink with 16 C/w Dr. Her own copy of the echo was in the paper rack and she pulled it out and looked at the front. It was clearly marked 18 C/w Dr on the top. So her mysterious friend was the man next door. The one she had had a blazing row with over the hedge some months ago. Why would he be interested in helping her and how did he know a Transsexual?

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Anthony's new morning routine involved him getting up early each weekday morning and waiting outside the post box of Evans Garden centre. When the post lady arrived he pretended to be an employee of the Garden centre keen for the post and he volunteered to take it in to the boss. He then took the post to work and opened all the application letters. Those that looked good to him he doctored and those that didn't have the experience he sent fake rejection letters to. He did his homework on the suitable candidates looking for their photo IDs on the DVLA database. He noted that those who they wanted to interview would be contacted via email, so he set up fake email addresses for the doctored candidates and changed the email on their CVs. Then he posted the doctored CVs back the following morning before the post woman arrived. In all he allowed 4 other suitable candidates to go through for the job alongside 3 clearly unacceptable ones and Claire's application.

By the end of the week he had 3 women and 1 man would might be asked back for interview for the job apart from Claire and he spent Saturday morning going to get the supplies he would need for the disguises. He also had another problem though. Bernard had informed him in the pub on Monday night that he met a red head at the leisure centre that he was madly in love with. Anthony told him that he was happy for him and questioned his friend about their relationship. Bernard had confessed to Anthony that he hadn't got anywhere yet, but he was determined to try and find her. He'd been very impressed with the size of the mystery woman's assets in the pool it seemed.

The following Monday morning came and interview offers came in as expected. He hoped that Claire had received one too but he would not know until Angela could speak with her. Then he noticed a problem with the plan. There were two interviews back to back the following Tuesday. The others were all OK, but he could never change disguises in such a short space of time. There was only one thing for it. Mrs. Webster would have to fail to turn up for her interview. It happened sometimes in interviews, but Anthony wanted to maintain the illusion of choice.

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Claire had been putting it off all week but she finally decided that she needed to talk to the man next door. She knew she wouldn't be able to do it Tuesday as she had her AA meeting, so she determined it must be tonight. Her neighbour Anthony was just walking out the door as she headed up his path.

"Mr. Danforth could I have a word with you?" Claire asked firmly yet politely.

"I'm just going out, if it's quick though" Anthony replied knowing that Bernard would be down the Kings Arms already.

"I'm just going to come straight out with it. Did you send your transsexual friend to help me? If so can you tell me why as I just don't understand all this."

Transsexual - where did that come from, Anthony wondered to himself. How did she find out it was me? Time for some half truths.

"Look, after we argued over the tree cutting I sort of felt bad about it. See the truth is that I really like you and it was such a silly argument. However after the argument, I didn't think that you would let me help you, so I asked my friend to help. I hope Angela is really helping you get back on your feet."

Anthony could see Claire weighing his response up in her mind. He was prepared for the worst.

"Yes she is helping and you're probably right. You were not someone I'd have readily turned too. Maybe we can let bygones be bygones and start over. Your friend Angela needs some help too adjusting to being a woman."

"Definitely. I'd love to be friends if that's alright with you. Go gentle on Angela though. She likes to think she's a woman now, so just give her the odd friendly advice and she'll be fine. Perhaps we could go for a drink on Friday night?" As soon as he said it he realized he'd said the wrong thing.

"My AA meeting is tomorrow night" Claire replied bluntly.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten. Maybe a non drink, drink then?" Anthony asked hopefully.

"Very well, but you're buying as until I get a new job I'm broke" Claire responded.

"Done" Anthony replied extending his hand to shake on it.

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Bernard had had no luck at all finding the mysterious red-head from the baths in the intervening week and his normal exuberant self was somewhat subdued as he met his friend in the pub.

"It's no good mate. It's like looking for a needle in a bloody haystack mate." He told Anthony soberly.

"Never mind. Plenty more fish in the swimming baths" Anthony consoled his friend.

"Yeah but not with those gorgeous knockers boyo. They were out for all the world to see and I'd love to get my hands on those puppies." Bernard was not a subtle man when it came to women and that was unfortunately his downfall. His sister Anwyn had not managed to knock it out of him yet.

"You need to learn a bit more subtly mate. It sounds like you scared her off. Perhaps next time you meet someone you can learn to not focus in straight away on the woman's breasts and focus more on a common interest."

"Well we were both at the leisure centre on the slides so I figure we both like water slides. Is that not enough for you?"

"You need a bit more than that to make a connection with a woman mate. You go in like a bull in a china shop mate. Get Anwyn to explain it to you."

"She's given up on me as a hopeless case. She says I have a Neanderthal gene. I told I her I get my jeans from Tescos and I don't have any truck with that poncy designer rubbish. They're real good value at £4 a pair they are!"
Anthony rolled his eyes and gave up at that point, returning the conversation to Cardiff City's change in strip colour from Blue to Red and the relative merits of both sides of the argument.

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Anthony's week had been another busy one, making three new masks for the interviews next week. He'd managed to get two days off from his boss at short notice and as the masks dried he began learning the fake CVs for Jeanette Windwright, Alison Thompson and Iain Jenkinson. The fat suit he'd used previously for his revenges would work nicely for Mr. Jenkinson and he'd use his two bodysuits for the women together with the new masks.

Tonight thought was Friday and he was getting dressed up for real as himself Anthony Danforth. For tonight it was his date with his neighbour Claire Hughes.

Anthony decided not to go to the King's Arms but drove Claire instead to the more up market pubs in the Mumbles. He bought Claire a soft drink and decided to have a coke himself. He didn't want anything to go wrong with their 'date' but as they chatted politely he began to realize that he was not having the fun time with Claire that he did as Angela. The chemistry just was not there.

At the end of the evening he drove her back home and she politely pecked him on the cheek and thanked him for a nice evening. It was then that he realized two things. Firstly it was never going to work between them in that way and secondly that he really was not her type. Her previous boyfriend had been a rough straight talking rugby player. She liked a bit of rough in her men. And he realized that whilst he liked her and he enjoying being her, he did not actually love her. She was not his type, which was perhaps why they had clashed previously.

As he was walking away a second epiphany hit him. Bernard was exactly the sort of man that she would go for, if only he could get his friend to tone it down a bit he might succeed in getting Claire both a job and a new boyfriend.

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Mrs. Jeanette Windwright waited in the reception area dressed in a smart business suit with her legs crossed over at the ankles. The snooty looking receptionist in the office above the garden centre looked down her glasses at the woman and told her that she could go in now.

"Ah Mrs. Windwright, please take a seat" Mr. Jonathan Evans said as he shook her hand and went to seat himself in the middle of the three man interview panel.

Mrs. Windwright smoothed her skirt and sat on the indicated chair.

"Now, you say you have worked in Garden Centres before as a sub manager. Can you tell me why you left your last post."

"They found my pot plantation and threaten to take me to the police if I didn't resign" the woman said matter of factly. The interview went downhill from there.

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Jonathan Evans didn't think that it would be so hard to find a new manager, but after the pot growing and smoking woman, there was a big thug of a man who admitted to intimidating staff to pressure sell to customers and the sluttish Alison Thompson whose punk hairstyle and studs were off putting enough, but her choice of clothing was hardly appropriate for an interview. The fact that she got all the plants that they'd shown her on the test wrong didn't help matters. With Miss Colbourne not showing up, that nice Miss Hughes was his last hope. At least she had seemed normal when he'd met her last.

He was pleased to see that Miss Hughes was wearing a nice sensible suit for interview and although she seemed nervous he understood that interviews were a stressful process. He was a bit disappointed to see the reason for her previous dismissal, but she had been going to AA and she had not touched a drop since. On top of that Miss Hughes had scored the highest he'd ever seen on the plant test that they gave all the applicants. Even before they'd finished the interview he knew that he was going to offer the job to Claire Hughes.

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Angela popped the cork on the bottle of non alcoholic Champagne. It would not taste the same as the real thing but it was so ingrained in celebration that she couldn't resist buying it.

"Are you sure that there's no alcohol in there, Ange?" Claire asked nervously.

"Positive dear" the red head replied. "Now let's celebrate your new job!"

Angela poured the fake champagne into the fake plastic glasses. That made three fakes here. Anthony was growing more comfortable in his role as Angela and had made great strides in his female impersonation under tips from Claire.

"Anthony has provided a little celebration present for you Claire by the way. The points on your driving license have mysteriously disappeared from your record."

"He won't get into any trouble over that will he?" Claire asked concerned and then added. "He does not it's not going to work between us?"

"No it'll be fine, and yes he realized that the magic wasn't there dear. But he did say that he wanted to remain friends." Angela sipped her fake Champagne before adding. "If you are up to dating again there's a man who I think would be perfect for you. I could set up a blind date if you'd like."

"Angela you angel you've already done so much for me. I'll give it a go but I can't promise you that I'll like him."
"No guarantees there hon, but you gotta get back onto that horse at some point."

"Yeah, ok. Set it up next Saturday evening then. I need to concentrate on my new job this week, but we could go shopping for new dresses during the day on Saturday if you can sub me until I get paid."

"Sure it'll be fun."

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Anwyn sat chewing her hair as Bernard's mate Anthony sat telling her brother about the hot date he'd set her brother up with on Saturday. Anwyn tugged at the split end irritably. She'd had plenty of goes at Bernard over his lack of a girlfriend, but in reality she was as worried about her own love life. She never seemed to manage to keep a steady boyfriend for any period of time, and the man that she really liked was sat in that room talking to her stupid brother. The last girlfriend that Anthony had had was a stunning blonde called Tina and she had felt truly unable to compete with her. She felt inadequate that her plainly mousey hair, often tangled, just made her so much out of the league compared to Tina. And Anthony was really lush, but she was afraid to say anything. Then just as she plucked up the courage to go and say something, Bernard and Anthony had already gone down the pub.

He would just discard me anyway, Anwyn mused to herself trying to make herself feel better. Normally she wasn't afraid to speak her mind to Bernard, but when it came to revealing her heart she was too afraid of failure.

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The Angel of Mercy sat in her boudoir the following Sunday and saw that all was back as it should be and that her work was done. Bernard and Claire had got on like a house on fire. Claire had a new job and once she could afford it, she was going to get a new car now that she was able to drive again. There was happiness all around and Angela realized that in many ways the Angel of Mercy was superior to The Lord of Petty Revenges.

All except in one thing that is. Anthony still did not have a girlfriend and now becoming Angela on a regular basis was going to put a cramp on his future dating. Not that he had a date in any case. The sad thing about the Angel of Mercy was though she could make it better for everyone else, she could not make life better for herself. With him being confused about his need to become a woman Anthony was in a strange place now.

Coming Soon – a new book by Katerina Hellam – Finneas Awakes!