Linda felt a strange mix of emptiness and purposefulness as she turned and headed for the opposite side of the closet. All the clothing rails here held clearly masculine clothing. She found herself drawn to a garment bag hanging on one rail that she plucked from it’s place. Like Zoe had done, she took it and draped it over the back of the chair at the vanity before turning to the underwear drawers. Without even thinking she knew which drawer she needed as she opened it. She plucked a pair of men’s boxer shorts and a pair of socks from inside and returned to the chair.
Just like Zoe had done, she too dropped her towel to the floor, not caring that she was fully naked in front of her daughter. She grabbed her boxers and slid them on, not noticing how unusual it was that they fit her fine, followed by the socks. Next she opened the garment bag to reveal a dark navy suit, complete with a white shirt and a red tie. She slipped the shirt on and buttoned it up over her bare chest, her dark nipples almost visible through the white material. Next she pulled on the trousers, which were also a perfect fit. She grabbed the tie and expertly knotted it despite never having worn one before. She pulled it neatly against the top of her collar before finally putting the jacket on, buttoning it up and straightening the tie so it was hanging dead centre. She found a red rose head in one of the pockets and fastened it into her lapel.
Next she needed some shoes, she plodded over to the shoe wall and selected a smart black pair of men’s shoes that fit her feet, and laced them up. She returned to the vanity where she picked up a single hair-tie and pulled back her hair into a masculine looking half-up half-down ponytail. Then she turned her attention to the jewellery display, she could see the gap where Zoe had taken her ring from, and next to it was a plain gold band. She plucked it from its stand and placed it on her ring finger.
She confidently turned and walked back to where she had been standing and the haze seemed to clear from her mind. Both her and Zoe blinked a few times and they felt whatever was holding them in place subside. They looked each other up and down, taking a moment to let the reality of the situation sink in.
