It's Hard to be a Man Patrick lazed in the bed and listened to Hank working in the kitchen. He felt a little guilty at letting Hank fix his food; it was supposed to be the woman who cooked for the man. Well, he was still being 'wooed' by Hank, so he didn't mind him doing these little extras for now. When they were married it would be a different story. All in all, it had been a perfect weekend. On Friday night they had hit the clubs and had a riotous time. He had basked in the admiring glances from men and in the envious looks from other women. He was so lucky to be such a beautiful girl. They had only stayed until an hour or so past midnight. Patrick and Hank had been very eager to get back into bed with each other. Hank's apartment was quite different to Patrick's. It was about the same size, but in a less expensive part of town. Hank was as untidy as most single men. The only two really expensive items in the place were the hideously complicated home theatre system and a large double bed. The next day, a Saturday, had seen them taking a very long time to get up. In the afternoon they had hit The Blackmount Amusement Park. Hank had even won a large cuddly toy for him. Then it was back home and more rampant lovemaking. He could still feel Hank's powerful hands digging into his breasts from when they had had sex doggie style. He thought back to when they had just been two men who went out girl hunting together a lot. He found it difficult to remember when he had just been Hank's male colleague, instead of his female lover. Patrick felt a strange twinge of disquiet when he saw Hank walking back naked, carrying their breakfast. He couldn't work out what was worrying him. The sensation quickly passed and he forgot about it. He sat up, exposing his breasts. That hardly mattered now after the intimacy they had shared. "I can't eat all that!" he remarked when he saw the bacon and eggs Hank had cooked. "Course you can," Hank replied. "Anyway, we've probably sweated off several pounds the last couple of days. We need to keep our energy up." "Quite, it'd be a disaster if we couldn't get it up." "With you around, I doubt that'll ever be a real problem." Patrick was surprisingly hungry and he started on the large breakfast. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Come on, Ian, open up. I can sense you're in there!" Abigail listened intently. She thought she had heard movement inside Ian's apartment, but she could not be sure. "It's alright, I don't blame you for what happened." She was starting to feel foolish shouting through the door. She had got some odd looks from some of the other inhabitants of the building. Ian had disappeared shortly after the debacle two days before. Abigail hadn't been able to contact or see him since, and she was getting worried about him. She was about to give up and leave when she heard the door being unlocked. Ian opened the door a crack, and looked out nervously. It was obvious that he hadn't been getting much sleep. "Are you alone?" "Yeah, Amanda doesn't even know I've come here." Ian let her inside and then closed the door. "Do you...um...want something to drink?" "Do you have any coffee?" "Yeah, sure." Ian didn't talk as he made Abigail her coffee. Abigail had been as surprised as Amanda when she had found out that Ian had made love with Patrick. It hadn't occurred to her that anything like that could happen. Obviously, Ian was having a hard time understanding it as well. "I was wondering why I hadn't seen you back at my shop the last few days," Abigail said. "We need to plan for our next attempt." "You're joking, aren't you? Do you think I can face Amanda or Patrick again after what happened? God alone knows how I'll cope with work tomorrow. I don't know what'll be worse, facing Patrick as a man or as a woman." Abigail sighed. "You have to stop hurting yourself over this. Just put it behind you and carry on." "I can't do that. How can I forget how I fucked a man! I'm not queer!" "Patrick has a very sexy, female form and the mindset of a sex kitten. You saw a sexy girl who wanted you. Even though you knew 'she' was really a man it was impossible to stop yourself reacting to 'her'." Ian was silent for a few moments. "Perhaps, but I should have been able to stop myself." "Perhaps you were suffering from your own type of shock. Will you come back and help us? We can't leave Patrick like that, can we?" Ian thought about the sexy curves Patrick's female body had. "No, you're right. Is Amanda okay about me coming back?" "She's okay about it. She has quite a temper at times, but she's had more than enough time to calm down." "Okay, I'll probably feel better doing something than just sitting around here." "Great!" Abigail replied brightly. Now all I have to do, she thought to herself, is convince Amanda not to strangle Ian on sight. Amanda's anger hadn't died away, despite what Abigail had said. She still held a level of resentment against Ian for what had happened. Abigail was sure she could talk her round, though. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ian's heart was racing as he went into the office the following Monday morning. Despite Abigail's reassurances, he still felt bewildered and humiliated by the 'incident' with Patrick. He was relieved to see no sign of his boss in either a male or female form. He was slightly late and everyone else was in. Susan was up by the coffee machine and she headed over to him as he arrived. "What happened to you on Friday?" she asked. After all that had happened he had forgotten he hadn't gone back to the office on Friday afternoon. "Ummm...I wasn't feeling that well." "I thought that was the problem. I told Hank that was probably what had happened." "Damn, I forgot to call in." "Don't worry about it," Susan told him, "Hank's got a bigger problem. Patrick hasn't turned up to work again. Apparently, he hasn't seen him since Thursday." Ian decided against pointing out that Hank had probably been seeing him all weekend. To his embarrassment, Ian realized he was more than slightly jealous of Hank. He moved over to his desk. Inside Patrick's office, Hank was on the phone. He put it down and then walked back into the main office. "Good to see you're back, Ian." Hank said. "With Patrick missing we'll need everyone we've got." "Still not answering his phone?" Susan asked. "I just keep getting his answerphone," Hank replied. "This just isn't like him. He acts all weird last week and then he disappears." Throughout the morning Ian attacked his work with a vengeance. It helped him keep his mind off of what he and Patrick had done. At the same time, Hank was more and more distracted. Patrick was addicted to work and his career. He simply wouldn't take two days off of work without at least telling someone. Hank had not seen his friend all weekend either. He hadn't minded at the time because he was busy with Becky, but it was very strange not to have heard or seen anything of his friend in four days. Hank got two calls during the morning, but they were both from Becky. She was off shopping again. Hank wondered how much of his money she had gotten through that morning. Never mind, she more than made up for that in bed. At least she hadn't insisted on spending the morning at work with him again. By lunchtime, Hank finally decided he had to go to Patrick's apartment and see if anything was wrong. The traffic was unusually light and he was able to get there in good time. He knocked loudly on the door of Patrick's apartment. Hank didn't wait very long. If Patrick could answer the phone he would have done so long before. He reached down and tried the handle. To his surprise the door was unlocked. Hank pushed open the door and walked cautiously inside. He quickly scouted around the apartment. Nothing seemed out-of-place or missing. So there hadn't been a robbery or something like that. As he was walking back to the front door Hank heard a noise in Patrick's bedroom. Cautiously, he opened up the door and looked inside. This room was in a mess; Patrick's clothes were covering the entire floor. "Oh, hiya!" said a familiar voice from the bed. "Becky?" Hank said in surprise. "What are you doing here?" "Well, I am supposed to be living here until I get a place of my own, remember?" Hank finally noticed that the clothes she was wearing didn't fit her. "What are you doing?" "Just playing," 'Becky' replied. Patrick had done some more shopping since leaving Hank's apartment that morning. After awhile even that had started to get boring, so he had headed back to his own apartment. There he had started his own private fashion show with all the female clothes he had bought in the previous few days. When he had got bored of that he had wandered over to the wardrobe holding all his male clothes. They seemed odd and unusual to him now. Just days before he would not have considered wearing anything else. He leaned into the wardrobe and breathed in the masculine scent emanating from the clothes. Patrick felt his nipples erect and a now familiar longing start to build in his loins. He couldn't help smiling at the thought that the scent of his old body was turning his new one on. Patrick had quickly dressed in a pair of boxer shorts socks and a shirt and suit. The clothes didn't fit him at all and he couldn't do all the buttons up on his shirt. There was a way he could make the suit fit perfectly, but there was no way he'd ever turn himself back into a man. It wasn't long before he was on his back on his bed, slowly masturbating himself. He was so lost in the sensations that he wasn't aware Hank had arrived until the bedroom door opened. He could see the slightly confused look on Hank's face. "Why are you dressed like that?" "Just playing," Patrick repeated with a smile, "with myself." "Have you seen Patrick today? He hasn't turned up at work." "Nope," Patrick replied. The hand inside his pants continued to work slowly at his excited clitoris. "I haven't seen him in ages. Don't really care if I never see him again. Now come here; my hand is getting tired." "Rebecca, now isn't the time," Hank said; though he was sorely tempted. "Could you phone around your family and find out if they know anything?" Patrick gave a small, annoyed sigh and sat up. He didn't want to be reminded of his hateful male self, with its flat, hairy body. He was beginning to regret wearing his old clothes. "I'm Patrick," he announced, "your boss, and I'm ordering you to get over here and fuck me." "Becky, I don't have time for games. I have to get back to work. Didn't you get enough over the weekend?" "I can never get enough," Patrick whispered in a voice full of desire. "I have an unquenchable fire inside of me and it's burning for you right now. It's making me feel so hot and tingly." Patrick could almost see the thoughts running through Hank's mind. Hank was weighing up the pros and cons of making love to him right there and then. Patrick decided to give one little shove to win the argument. He dropped to his knees and opened the flies of Hank's pants. Hank was already getting hard, so getting his hot length out took a little careful effort. Patrick hungrily sucked the tip into his mouth. He had never sucked Hank to orgasm and he was eager to rectify that. The last part of Hank's minimal resistance melted away as Patrick worked hungrily on his cock. Patrick massaged Hank's testicles through his pants as he milked him. His tongue rasped over the sensitive head of Hank's penis. Hank reached down and grabbed a handful of Patrick's long hair. He had to admit she was very good at blow jobs. She seemed to know exactly how to cause the maximum amount of pleasure. He groaned deeply and started to pump his seed into Patrick mouth. Patrick swallowed as much of the salty cum as he could. Only when Hank had completely softened and shrunk did he let the penis pull out of his mouth. Patrick stood up. His own needs were as yet unsatisfied and sucking Hank off had only made him hornier. He started undoing Hank's shirt, but his lover stopped him. "I have to get back to work," Hank explained apologetically. "With Patrick missing we've fallen behind schedule." "Please stay," Patrick pleaded, "You make me feel so good!" "I wish I could, baby. You promise to phone around your family and see if Patrick has turned up or left a message?" "Okay," Patrick agreed reluctantly, "but--" "No arguments. You've got a bit on your chin." "Eh?" Patrick reached up and felt a trail of cum that had escaped from the side of his mouth. Hank reached over and kissed Patrick on the cheek. "I'll call you later. I better get back now." He turned and headed to the front door. "Let me know if you find out anything." Patrick watched, still highly turned on, as Hank left. It was frustrating to be left unfulfilled like that, but at least Patrick had managed to satisfy his man. He walked back to the bed and flopped back on to it. He had no intention of calling around his family. They had no idea what was going on anyway, of course. He'd be able to quiet Hank's worries for now, but at some point he was going to have to turn himself back into a man so he could resign his job and move away. Then with 'Patrick' out of the way he could settle down to life with Hank as 'Becky'. The idea of wearing his old body again repulsed him and he decided he could put that off for a few days at least. He felt uncomfortable wearing his old male clothes now. Why had he put them on in the first place? He quickly undressed and went back to the spare bedroom to continue the search for a suitable outfit to wear for Hank that evening. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "So he explained how embarrassed he was by the whole event and I told him how we didn't blame him for it." Abigail stressed the word 'we' and hoped that Amanda got the hint. The glare she got from Amanda told her that the hint had been received. "Yes..." Amanda added, less than convincingly, "we have to put this incident behind us and move on." "Thanks," Ian added quietly. It wasn't Amanda's anger that distressed him the most, it was having to face up to having slept with a man, albeit a transformed one, to Amanda and Abigail. "So, when can we try again." "The next holy day for Amanda's tribe is weeks away," Abigail replied. "We can't wait that long!" Amanda cried. "Look what he's like after just one week!" "This would be a lot easier if he was actually co-operating with us instead of wandering around thinking he's a dumb blonde." Abigail added. "W-we have to get her away from Hank." Ian said. Abigail noticed the use of the feminine pronoun but decided it best to ignore Ian's slip. "He's right. Patrick entered this state after having sex as a woman for the first time. What we need is another 'shock' of some sort that will bring him out of it." "I have an idea," Amanda announced. "To get this right, timing is going to be essential. It's too late to put in operation tonight; Patrick is probably already with Hank now. Tomorrow then, we have to be ready. We'll probably only have one shot at this" * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "What do you think of this one?" Patrick asked excitedly. Hank suppressed a groan of annoyance and looked at the book Patrick was holding up. It was a picture of a traditional white wedding gown. She would look good in that, Hank admitted to himself, but she couldn't seriously be thinking about marriage already? He had only known her for a week. Anyway, he always broke out in a sweat at the thought of spending the rest of his life with just one woman. "Don't you think it's a little early to start looking at things like that." "Not at all," Patrick replied happily. "A girl can dream, can't she? Anyway, you'll make an honest woman of me one day, won't you?" "I doubt anyone could do that," Hank replied with a smile. Patrick moved closer and laid his head on Hank's chest. Hank absentmindedly stroked Patrick's long hair. She is great in bed, he thought, but does she have to be around me all the time? It was getting a little wearing spending all his free time with her, even despite the great sex they had. With a little luck, she would step back a little in time. Hank thought that when Patrick returned his relationship with Becky would tail off anyway. He remembered how Patrick had made it crystal clear he should stay away from Rebecca. Good as Becky was, it wasn't worth risking his job over her. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * There were three places that Patrick could show up at. Amanda, Abigail and Ian decided who would be where to wait for him. Amanda would wait outside Patrick's apartment, Abigail would stake out Hank's apartment. Ian had little choice; he had to be at work where he could not only keep an eye on Hank, but also wait for Patrick to show up. Ian was even more afraid than he had been the day before. He tried to calm himself. He had to be ready if and when Patrick showed up. Hank was less distracted that day than he had been previously. Apparently, 'Rebecca' had told him that Patrick was out of town dealing with the funeral of a distant cousin. They were very busy again and Hank warned the team that they'd probably have to work late into the night. They had fallen behind schedule again. Ian thought it was going to be nearly impossible to finish the project on time without Patrick. It was gone 7.00pm before Abigail called Ian on his mobile. "Patrick has just arrived back at Hank's place. He had a couple of bags of groceries with him. Looks like he's cooking dinner." "This is too weird," Ian muttered to himself. "So what's the plan now?" "It's just what we agreed. Amanda is on her way over to your office right now. You shouldn't need to do anything more." "I still don't think it'll work." "Listen," Abigail said with a little laugh. "You might be a man, but you don't understand them as well as Amanda does. She knows what buttons to press." Ian kept as close a watch on the window as possible without alerting Susan or the others. He was relieved to see Amanda's car pulling into the car park fifteen minutes after the phone call. Her plan had seemed insane when she had explained it the previous evening. It contained far too many ifs and maybes to work. Shortly after, Amanda appeared at the office door. Hank looked up questioningly; he knew Patrick and Amanda had split up the previous week. "Hi," he said uncertainly, "what's up?" Amanda looked on the verge of tears, "I need to talk to you. Now." "Well...okay. We can use Patrick's office." Together they went inside and Hank shut the door behind him. Then he ran down the blinds to give them complete privacy. "What's that all about?" Susan remarked. Ian shrugged, "Haven't a clue." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Abigail was getting cold. She had been sitting in her car for hours and the temperature had really started to drop since night had fallen. She was beginning to have trouble staying awake. She had no idea stakeouts were so boring. Seeing Patrick leave the building and head towards his own car snapped her awake. Where was he going now? Hank. He had to be going to Hank at work. Abigail tried to start her car, but it wouldn't go. She cursed as she saw Patrick pull out and drive away. She wrestled with the car for another two minutes before it finally spluttered into life. Already it was too late to catch up with Patrick and intercept him. She got out her mobile phone and punched in Ian's number. He was the only one who could stop Patrick discovering Amanda and Hank together before anything had happened between them.