Carl was depressed. The weather was the three things he never liked, cold, wet and windy.

However, it did give him chance to try out his latest acquisition…

Carl had been out walking in the foul weather. He didn’t mind it now his new coat was keeping him dry. What he didn’t expect to do was run into some of his friends from work…

“Hey Carl!”, came the voice. “Didn’t think you’d be out in this!”

Sandy waved to him. She was wearing her favourite purple raincoat, with the hood up. She also almost flew over…

“Love the coat!”, she cried. “Where did you get it? Talk about thick rubber; it oozes quality. And that white sheen…”

Carl hadn’t expected his coat to be turning Sandy on so much. If only she didn’t look closer…

Sandy did.

“Hang on a minute. I recognise the brand. That’s a woman’s coat…!”

Carl, now uncomfortable, went to leave…

Sandy put a hand on his shoulder. She’d also spotted the gloves and boots, now, as well as the purse sticking out of one of the raincoat pockets…

“Carl, have you been hiding things from me…?”

Before he knew what was happening, Sandy wrapped herself round his left arm.

“Come on, love. We need to talk…”

Sandy took them down the road and steered them into the restaurant at the end.

“Table for two please, Francis. Near the back, my girlfriend and I need privacy.”

“Certainly, Ms Grant. Your usual booth is free, will that be suitable?”

“Perfectly, Francis, thank you. Thoughtful as always.”

Francis led the pair through to the secluded booth at the rear.

“I’ll bring you some drinks through”, he said, leaving.

Carl was in shock, stunned. What the hell was going on? How had Sandy got so much pull? Also, she’d called him her girlfriend…?

“Come on, then”, Sandy said, suddenly. “Take your coat off, and let’s see you.”

Carl just stared at Sandy, frozen, his worst fears coming to life.

As he hesitated, Sandy reached over and started undoing his coat…

The polo neck came into view, as did the leather skirt. There was also a pendant round his neck, hanging neatly in his cleavage…

Carl looked the perfect woman under the coat. He had obviously been dressing that way for some time; all the curves were in the right places. Also, now Sandy looked at his face, she could see it was a woman’s, too. It was only because of how close she was to Carl that she had recognised him.

“Oh… wow… that look really suits you. Very businesslike. Tell me about her. You know, Carla.”

“How did you know… well, never mind. Carla’s a secretary at a legal firm; she’s just on her lunch break from the office at the moment. She’s also a good gurl…”

Sandy leaned over and stroked ‘Carla’s’ cheek.

“Not too good a gurl, I hope”, she said. “That would make things terribly boring…”

After their first meeting, Carl and Sandy got more ‘involved’, but Sandy made it clear that she was in love with Carla, not Carl. When she met Carl, everything was strictly business; she was only into women, and she made that perfectly clear.

That made it such a big occasion when Carl, as Carla, handed her a key.

“I trust you”, he said. “You own me, now.”

She knew exactly what he meant…

A month later, they got engaged; Carl had legally changed his name to Carla, and started transitioning, with much encouragement and support from Sandy, even though he was still trying to keep things quiet.

Then Sandy dropped the bombshell.

“I’m feeling generous today; so I’ll give you a choice… Come in to work tomorrow as Carla, my PA, or I’ll tell people who you used to be and what you like wearing in wet weather…!”

Carla couldn’t believe Sandy was treating her like this.

“I trusted you! I love you! We’re engaged! You’re going to do this to me, now??”

“I’m fed up with you still holding back! It’s like you’re stuck as Carl! If you don’t change over completely, publicly, it’s all over, as far as I’m concerned. I can’t wait for you forever…!”

“Is this our first real fight?”, asked Carla.

“Yes, I think it is”, said Sandy. “And I’m damn well going to win it.”

Sandy threw her arms around Carla and gazed into your eyes.

“You’re ready, love. Even though you think you aren’t. Please, trust me.”

Hand in hand, the pair set off for work.

Carla started digging her heels in before they got there, shaking her head.

“I can’t do it! I’m telling you, I’m not ready!”

“Damn it, get in there! If you don’t go in that office right now, I won’t be there when you get home!”

“Sandy….!”, Carla whined.

“Choose! Be a chicken, and a coward, or go in there and embrace Carla. If you don’t, you might as well forget about transitioning as well, as you’ll never be comfortable as Carla. Just walk away and go back to being boring old Carl.”

Carla couldn’t believe how hurtful Sandy was being.

To Sandy’s utter amazement, Carla just turned round and walked away…

Had she pushed too soon? She didn’t think so; it had been weeks since Carla had started transitioning. Had she lost her girlfriend forever?

Sandy didn’t know what to do.

She had an important meeting in work that she was supposed to be at; however, she also needed to be there for her girlfriend.

Stupidly, she was still angry at Carla; she really felt that she had let her down. Because of this, she didn’t go chasing after her. She just walked into work.

As the day went on, she got more and more irritable and snappy. This came to a head when she almost bit her managers head off when she queried some of her department’s work. In shock and embarrassed, she jumped up out of her seat and headed out of the office. It was only then she realised what was winding her up…

As fast as she could, she headed home.

Carla’s clothes were in a heap on the floor. Nothing else was missing, except for her original set of ‘boys clothes’. She’d even left all her hormonal and other medication behind…

Sandy collapsed in a heap, wailing.

Carl had dumped Carla…

Sandy tried all the phone numbers she knew.

The one to Carla’s phone rang from a drawer next to her; she’d left that behind as well. Carl’s parents had had no contact with him since he came out. Even Carla’s doctor hadn’t heard from her.

Sandy phoned the police.

They were very understanding, but as it was only a few hours since she was last seen, and she was a grown adult supposedly able to take care of herself, there was nothing they could do.

She then phoned round the hospitals.

She was getting more and more frantic, tears streaming down her face.

Had Carla gone and done something stupid? How could she have pushed her away?

As she was looking at her phone, wondering what to do next, it rang.

“Sandy, its Francis at the restaurant. I’ve got your friend Carl in here. He looks in a real state. I think you should come right away.”

Sandy flew out of the door…

It only took her a few minutes to get to the restaurant.

Carl was in the booth they used when they had first gone there, crying quietly. Sandy, crying again herself, slid in next to him…

“I’m sorry!”, she cried. “Please, I don’t want to lose you!”

Carl said nothing. He just carried on crying. Then his head slumped forwards…

Sandy just screamed…

The restaurant called for the ambulance.

Sandy refused to leave Carl’s side.

The pair was taken to the nearest hospital…

“He must have been off his medication for days, for it to affect him like this”, the doctor said. “Some of his levels are through the roof. We’re going to have to keep him in for a few days.”

“He was in the middle of transitioning”, said Sandy. “I pushed him too soon; It’s all my fault…”

“That explains some of it”, said the doctor. “Have you got a list of the medication he’s on?”

Sandy hadn’t, but a quick phone call to Carl’s doctor got the information they needed. Then the doctor said something…

“He was going through one of his hormone therapies way too quickly”, she said. “It was as if he was in a hurry to transition…”

Sandy dissolved into a heap.

“I let him down… it is all my fault…”

It was her turn to be admitted into hospital…

As Carl was legally a woman, they ended up with beds next to each other…

Slowly, Carl regained consciousness.

Looking around, he realised he was in hospital. Then he saw who was in bed next to him…

Instantly, he was out of bed and sitting next to Sandy.

“What have you gone and done now, you silly cow?”, he said, in a light-hearted voice.

Sandy opened one eye.

“Who woke you up?”, she said, just as light-hearted, with a touch of sarcasm.

The two friends hugged each other, all past sins forgotten…

Two months later, Carla, now fully a woman, did something even more strenuous than going to work.

She married Sandy…