Max was wandering round the shops, for something to do.

His business had gone very quiet; it had gone down from not being able to fit jobs in to not having any customers at all, well, maybe one or two a week.

He’d come to a charity shop that he frequented regularly and was looking around to see what had changed over the holidays. He looked through the dresses, on the pretext that he was looking for something for a friend of his to keep warm. He spotted a nice jumper dress in ‘her’ size.

Sadly, as he new he couldn’t afford it, he went to leave.

“What’s up, love?”, the woman behind the counter asked. “You look really down today. Can I help?”

“Not really, but thank you for asking”, said Max. “Times are hard at the moment.”

“You still looking for things for your friend?”, she asked. “We’ve had quite a few bits and pieces in. Everyone seems to be getting rid of something.”

“I’m not surprised…”, said Max. “Everyone seems to be making do.”

He went to leave the shop. The woman stopped him, concern in her eyes.

“Come on, it can’t be as bad as all that.”

“You have no idea…”

“Try me.”

To his surprise, Max found himself opening up to the woman, who’s name was Grace. He told her about the business problems; the fact he was looking around for something to do, as well as the fact he couldn’t afford to have the electricity on at home.

“You must be freezing!”, she said. “Here, come and share a cuppa with me.”

Grace grabbed a couple of mugs off a shelf, washed them out then filled them from her thermos.

She and Max then just kept each other company, drinking.

Grace then seemed to come to a decision. She went round into another part of the shop and came back with the jumper dress.

“I think your friend could do with this, in this weather”, she said, smiling.

“I can’t pay you for it”, said Max.

“Don’t worry about it; we’ve got way too much stock in at the moment, and I’d rather help a friend out”, Grace replied. She then lowered her voice. “Besides, I know it’s really for you.”

Max went white, and not just from the cold.

“How the heck…?”

“You make a beeline for the woman’s clothing when you come in; you know more about it and sizing than you do men’s clothing, and I’ve spotted you holding a few items up against yourself to measure them. Draw your own conclusions…!”

“I’m not complaining, mind you; I prefer women myself. What’s she called?”

“Maxine”, Max replied.

“Great. Can I meet her?”

Max went even whiter. Leaving the jumper dress, he hurried out…

Grace was devastated.

Damn, she’d been too forward. She had no idea that Max was that jumpy. Now, how the hell was she going to fix this? She could practically guarantee that Max wouldn’t be back; she’d scared him off… Damn…

Sadly, Grace went back to work, tidying and getting items ready for sale. She kept the jumper dress behind the counter, though. She had a feeling…

Max didn’t come back for the next few days.

The weather was also getting colder.

Grace was really starting to worry. She’d got the store managers permission to come in for a shift daily, after explaining what it was about. It wasn’t as if she had anything to do at home…

Her parents had disowned her as soon as she had come out as gay. As far as they were concerned, she was broken and no daughter of theirs. She’d had to rent a flat in a hurry; she’d managed to pay three months bills up front, then had a nervous breakdown. The charity shop job was part of her road to recovery.

Now she felt really guilty. She felt she’d trampled all over Max’s feelings…

She started asking around, trying to find out if anyone else knew him. She also kept watch, hoping she see him walking past.

One day, she did. Before she could stop herself, she went flying out of the shop, not looking where she was going. The car caught her a glancing blow, and she went flying, landing in a heap on the pavement.

Across the road, Max had seen everything. With a yell, he went racing over.

Grace was somehow unhurt, apart from being very shaken up. Everyone insisted on her being taken straight to hospital, though, for a checkup. She admitted straight away that it was her fault entirely; she hadn’t been looking where she was going…

“I wonder why that was…”, came a voice…

Grace looked up and gasped.

Max was standing there, looking at her. At the same time, he wasn’t…

It was Maxine, not Max, that stood there. “I heard you were looking for me”, she said.

“Wow…”

Maxine was a really cute, middle-aged brunette with a cheeky smile. She was dressed in a leather maxi skirt, topped off by a white polo neck, and a pair of flats on her stockinged feet.

“I just hate heels”, she said. “Why torture yourself just to look good?”

“I quite agree”, said Grace. “However, you’ve managed it without torturing yourself…!”

The women both giggled, then Maxine sat next to Grace. Grace’s breathing quickened, and the heart rate monitor started bleeping a lot faster…

“Calm down, love”, said Maxine. “I’m not going anywhere…”

The two kissed…

Grace did have a concussion, but no broken bones; the doctors decided to keep her in overnight.

While they were checking her, they asked for her emergency contact information.

“She can tell you”, Grace said, pointing to Maxine. “It’s her.”

It was Maxine’s turn to gasp…

When Grace was allowed to leave hospital, Maxine was waiting for her, this time wearing leather slacks instead of the skirt.

“Too drafty for a skirt today”, she said, simply, causing Grace to giggle.

Grace rubbed up against her.

“I’m not giving you a chance to get cold”, she said…

The pair went back to Grace’s flat.

“I’m not going to push you”, Grace said, “I learned my lesson from last time. There’s a bed in the spare room if you prefer it.”

“Gone off me already…?”, asked Maxine, cheekily…

Grace wanted to keep her work at the charity shop going; Maxine understood completely. She even offered to help…

In the end, the pair went in together and staffed the shop whenever they were needed. Maxine also started making a lot of new friends…

She had had no idea at all that Jojo, the woman that came in on Wednesdays, was transgender as well. She looked amazing and was able to offer Maxine a great deal of advice, as well as plenty of encouragement.

“If you’ve landed Grace, you’re set for life”, she said. “She’s incredibly picky. She must have really seen something in you.”

Jojo then asked Maxine something totally unexpected.

“Had you thought of going the whole way?”, she asked. “Becoming a woman? I have… my operation is next month.”

“It’s all so new for me at the moment”, said Maxine. “Besides, I wouldn’t do anything without talking to Grace first.”

“About what?”, Grace piped up, coming back into the shop from the storeroom.

“Jojo was asking me if I’ve ever thought of having the op”, said Maxine.

“Don’t let me stop you”, said Grace. She came close to Maxine and whispered, “I’ll love you either way…!”

One morning, though, things were really different…

Grace came in on her own, looking really miserable.

“I don’t know what’s going on”, she said, sadly. “Maxine went out last night, saying she had to meet someone, and she hasn’t come back, yet.”

“I’ve tried phoning her; it just goes to voicemail.”, she continued. “I’m really worried…”

Maxine didn’t turn up the next day, or the day after.

Now beside herself with worry, Grace had already been asking other shops and cafes, as well as everyone else thar worked at the shop. Scared stiff, she phoned the police and the hospitals…

She had no way of knowing that one of Max’s family, his father, had seen him out as Maxine. Furious, the father had ‘insisted’ on a meeting.

When Maxine had turned up, his father had flown into a rage and knocked him out.

Maxine had woken up dressed as Max again and locked into his old bedroom at his parents flat. He couldn’t escape out of the window, as he was on the sixth floor; he was just biding his time, trying to work out what to do next.

His father had taken all of ‘Maxine’s’ things away from him; that included her phone, with Grace’s number on it.

Max screamed, raged and yelled, banging on the door.

“Do you want me to knock you out again?”, his father had yelled back.

Finally, after a couple of days of this, his father had had enough. He came charging into the bedroom again to hit Max and tripped straight over the debris that Max had spread over the floor. He went flying and stunned himself…

Max dived out of the door and started running. He didn’t stop until he was back in town, at Grace’s shop. He collapsed in a heap there, and passed out…

Grace rang the police; as Max was over legal age, she got his father charged with kidnapping and assault. “Teach the bastard to mess with my fiancée”, she said…

A suitable set of clothing was soon found in the shop, and Maxine was born again…

Jojo cheered when she saw Maxine was back.

“Thought you’d got cold feet”, she said, with a smirk.

“Never.”, replied Maxine. “I love Grace too much to do that to her. My father had other ideas, though.”

“He won’t be doing that again”, said Grace, coming off of the phone. “He’s now helping the police with their enquiries…!”

We both giggled. Jojo smiled as well.

Grace was so relieved to have me back. She’d never lost faith in me; she had always been convinced I was coming back. I was so happy that she felt that about me.

I said thank you properly in bed, later…