Week 1 Part 4

Chris’ heart began beating quickly, and he froze in place. Surely he had imagined the knocking!

*knock* *knock*

It sounded again and echoed along the walls in the house. Chris’ breath caught in his throat. Was it Miss Valentine? It wasn’t fair! This was supposed to be his day off!

He tiptoed towards the door and reluctantly pulled it open. Standing on the porch was a beautiful woman wearing a strapless, white and pink floral dress and heels. Her hair was pulled in a tight ponytail, and her face was youthful and pretty. She smiled warmly, and her eyes lit up.

Her voice was playful and sweet. “Hi! I’m Sylvie; you must be Chris. So good to meet you!”

Chris nodded then spoke with obvious confusion in his deep voice, “It’s—uhm—good to meet you too, Sylvie. Can I help you with something?”

Sylvie giggled and swept past Chris through the threshold. Her dress rubbed against Chris’ leg, and a strong feminine perfume wafted to his nose as she slipped by. He was caught off guard by her sudden movement and didn’t get in her way fast enough.

“Ex-excuse me!” Chris whined, “Why are you barging into my house? Who even are you?”

Sylvie stopped and turned on her heels before cocking her head to the side. “I told you, I’m Sylvie! How can I be barging in if you opened the door for me? I’m from production. I’m here to train you!”

Chris shook his head angrily; his dreams of a relaxing day alone were shattered! He spat, “No, no, I’m supposed to get Sundays off!”

“From workouts,” Sylvie added, “And, by extension, Miss Valentine. She’s such a sweetheart, isn’t she?”

Chris prepared to answer her snarkily before his stomach audibly growled. He realized he hadn’t even eaten his breakfast yet. Sylvie gave Chris a quick *tut* and pointed a shiny, immaculately maintained fingernail towards him.

Her tone was filled with concern. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you, mister? Oh my, let’s get you to the kitchen! I’ll be here at 10:00 every Sunday, so please make sure you eat and get ready before I get here.” With that, she turned away from Chris and clicked her heels across the foyer.

Chris followed Sylvie curiously towards the kitchen. He evaluated her carefully. Chris felt attracted to her effortless femininity but worried she was another Miss Valentine in disguise. He also found it alarming that she somehow seemed to know her way around the house. Sylvie opened the refrigerator and retrieved the first plate along with the shake, which had a purple hue.

She spoke cheerily, “Since it’s so late, I think you should just eat both of these at once.” She then lowered her voice to a whisper, “It’ll be our little secret from Miss Valentine. You know how she can be if you don’t follow her directions exactly.”

Chris had so many questions, but he was too hungry to care. He nodded along. More food in one sitting sounded good to him! He plopped onto the nearby stool to dig in.

Chris scraped the bottom of the plate and drained the purple shake in a handful of hearty gulps. The slimy, congealed mass of blueberry and salt-flavored liquid slid down his gullet. He cringed at the unpleasant aftertaste but felt contented with food finally occupying his belly. He licked the remnants off his lips and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He then let out a shallow burp, clearly having eaten a little too quickly.

He turned his attention to Sylvie, who was watching him with a mix of disgust and horror. She was examining him up and down.

She sighed, “I see I have my work cut out for me.”

Chris was suddenly cognizant of, and embarrassed by, his ravenous eating manners. He felt his cheeks starting to redden. She didn’t understand; he was starving! He took a nervous chug of his sweet water.

He quickly tried to change the subject, “So...what exactly are you doing here? What’s your ‘work’?”

Sylvie collected Chris' plate, spoon, and glass, which she gently placed into the sink.

She turned and responded, “I’m here to teach you about being a woman. It’s one thing to look like one of us; it’s another thing to actually be like one of us.”

The gears in Chris’ mind turned as he asked, “Wait, is that what I’ve been doing with Miss Valentine? She’s trying to make me look like a woman? What kind of pills is she giving me?”

Sylvie shook her head. “No, I think her job is to thin you out so prosthetics can be applied during filming. It’s a lot easier to make you look like a woman if your base is thin and petite. I’m not in charge of pills, so I don’t know what she’s giving you, exactly. She’s a health expert, though, so I’m sure whatever they are will keep you alive during the training process.”

Chris nodded and kept his thoughts churning. The more he thought, the more it seemed to make sense. Miss Valentine was thinning him out with a low-calorie intake and intense workouts while sustaining him with the proper vitamins, supplements, and nutrients. He had to admit that trying to make his ‘Captain America body’ look womanly would be almost impossible, no matter the quality of the prosthetics. A perverse excitement at the idea of losing his ‘Captain America Body’ started to take hold in Chris’ brain. Whatever factors were in play from the first week of training, Chris was slowly becoming more susceptible to suggestion. He was satisfied with her explanation.

Chris spoke awkwardly, “No disrespect intended, Sylvie, but...I’m a professional actor. If I need to act like a woman, I’ll just...act like a woman?”

Sylvie giggled, “Oh, Chris, no disrespect taken! I’m sure you’re a wonderfully talented actor. But playing a transgender character is something you’ve never faced before. I’m here to help you work on it. Try to see me as an...an acting coach! I promise my training is a lot less intense than whatever Miss Valentine has you doing for the rest of the week!”

It was true, Chris had never played a character like this before. A male trying to become a convincing woman...He knew it was going to take a whole new mindset to succeed. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to hear Sylvie out and try to learn something. He looked her up and down from her tiny heels to her silky hair. She seemed sufficiently feminine enough!

“Okay, what do you want to do today?” Chris asked with a newly opened mind.

Sylvie responded joyfully, “Let’s start with something basic, something every grade-school girl knows how to do!”

She reached into a hidden pocket in the frills of her dress and procured a few bottles of nail polish.

Chris chuckled, “It beats doing lunges! We can remove it easily, right?”

Sylvie gracefully sat next to Chris and nodded, “Of course! I have the remover right here.”

She pulled a clear bottle of nail polish remover from her other pocket and placed it on the table.

She cleared her throat. “Now, listen up.”

Sylvie spent the next few hours explaining all the ins and outs of nail polish application, removal, and maintenance for both hands and feet. She demonstrated on herself and on Chris before removing the polish and allowing him to try. Chris had hoped to use Sylvie’s petite feet for his trial and error, but she made him practice on himself instead. She also instructed him about the waiting period for drying and how the process worked. Chris nodded along. It was a subject that he had virtually no experience with. For her part, Sylvie was consistently kind and understanding as she explained how and why he had messed up on his first few attempts. He started off pitiful but steadily improved with each application. After a few hours of painting and drying and removing on repeat, he looked down at his acceptably painted nails and admired his handiwork. The color looked totally out of place on his manly hands, but it was due to the hands, not the polish.

Sylvie begged Chris to keep the polish on for a bit, but he protested and she reluctantly agreed to let him remove it. Chris was gauging Sylvie’s reaction and noticed that she seemed to be okay when he didn’t do what she wanted. She was the exact opposite of Miss Valentine in that regard. Sylvie did insist on giving the remover and the bottles of polish to Chris. He was going to press the issue and insist on declining but ultimately decided against it. She had already conceded taking the polish off, and it wasn’t like the bottles could hurt him in a forgotten drawer somewhere.

After the lesson, Sylvie requested a tour of the mansion. Chris obliged and led her around the house. Unlike Miss Valentine, who was quiet during her tour, Sylvie asked any and every question her mind could think of. She wanted to know when and where Chris purchased things and how much those things cost. She wanted to know how long he had owned things and how long X had been painted Y. Chris didn’t have many answers and couldn’t fathom why she wanted to know. Nonetheless, she turned a thirty-minute tour into multiple hours.

When they had finished the tour, Chris’ stomach was growling once again.

“Dinner time, I think.” Sylvie offered.

Chris nodded and followed Sylvie to the kitchen, where the final plate revealed his dinner.

He dug into the meal but slowed down to better mind his manners. He had grown fond of Sylvie after being with her all day. Her eyes were wide and excited while her body language was vibrant and positive. He didn’t want to embarrass himself like he had at breakfast. Additionally, he wasn’t nearly as hungry as on other days because his activities weren’t overly strenuous. He finished the last morsel and accepted the paper cup of pills that Sylvie had slipped across the counter to him. He swallowed them with a gulp of sweet water.

After the meal, Sylvie engaged Chris with some conversation in the kitchen. Chris perked up when Sylvie mentioned ‘Desperate Housewives.’ Apparently, Sylvie was a big fan, and Chris found himself gushing with her over intimate details of the show. He knew all the drama, relationships between characters, and their various conflicts, both spoken and implied. He caught himself halfway through the conversation and felt embarrassed. He was trying to learn about women’s preferences, sure, but he was still a man. He didn’t really like those kinds of shows!

When it was dark out, Sylvie understood the conversation was over. She excused herself for the night and gave Chris a thankful goodbye. She promised him they would meet again the following Sunday at 10:00 sharp. She whisked out of the kitchen with the scent of her floral perfume wafting behind her. Once Sylvie had exited the mansion, Chris headed up to bed. He wanted to try hitting the weights for his upper body but worried Miss Valentine would work arms/shoulders/back tomorrow. The last thing he wanted to do was make a hard workout even harder by tiring his muscles the night before.

He tossed the bottles of polish into the bottom drawer of his bathroom sink, vowing to forget they were there. It was a good thing that he had more feminine knowledge, but he had no desire at all to actually wear the polish. Afterwards, he brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and utilized the facilities.

He returned to the bedroom and stripped down to his boxers. He felt his diminished upper body and, once again, fought the urge to hit the weights. He took a hearty swig of pink water before dozing off and dreading the next day. What could Miss Valentine possibly have planned for him this week? He was about to drift off when he remembered something.

He hadn’t gone to purchase a new cell phone.