I took a glance all around the room. Everything looked perfect and at its place. I was at it since morning. ‘It’ being cleaning the house and arranging the guest room. I took a sigh of relief and sat on the couch. I switched on the TV and started surfing the channels.

Since morning, I was at ‘it’ because my friend, Divya, and her sister, Kavya, were coming over. I recently joined my new job in Goa just two months back. As soon as I had received the offer, I had shared the good news with my close friends, including Divya. Of course, it went without saying that my friends can come over any time for the proverbial Goa trip.

Divya took me up on that within two months of my relocating to Goa. The house that I took on the rent was on the first floor of a duplex. The house was in a locality with similar homes with a big garden area. All the houses were a bit apart from each other and not closely nestled. Being a bit away from the main city area allowed us freedom from the city hubbub or the noise from the tourists who would come down to Goa to party. It had a separate stairwell that did not go through the main living areas of the first floor, where my widowed landlady, Poonam Shenoy, lived. She was around fifty years old and was pleasant to me while I moved in. I, by nature, am a bit recluse and initially tended to keep to myself. But Poonam aunty would often invite me for tea and ask how the job was going on. I was deeply moved by her affection and would offer to help her out around the house if she needed it.

As I was surfing the TV, my phone rang. It was Divya. I picked up and asked where she was. I said to ask the cab driver to reach Vincent circle and take the left road for 2 kilometres to reach the place. I had already shared the GPS location, but with Google, it sometimes tended to recommend smaller lanes and not the main roads to reach the house. Hence, I had to share the directions for the easier route with her.

About ten minutes later, my phone again rang. They had reached! I came down and ran up the path leading to the main gate. I opened it and beckoned the driver to get to the main house. Poonam aunty came out hearing the car coming to check who had come. I introduced the sisters to Poonam aunty. They started chit-chatting. I took the luggage bags and started to move them upstairs. After the luggage was taken upstairs, I came down again to fetch them. Poonam aunty said, “Your friends are amazing. You guys should have dinner downstairs with me today. I would also have some company, and at least for the first day, you won’t have to cook either.” We collectively said, “Sounds good, aunty. We will be there.”

When we went upstairs, I showed them to the guest room. I explained how I had set everything for their comfort. I showed them the wardrobe where they could keep their belongings and mentioned that one door was stuck and did not open. But since there were two accessible compartments, the two sisters could keep their clothes and other things separately.

“Kavya, you go freshen up and take a bath while I catch up with Pankaj,” Divya said.

“Sounds good. Don’t have much fun while I am away.” Kavya said jokingly.

As Kavya closed the room door behind her, Divya and I planted our asses on the couch. Divya turned to me and asked, “So, how is everything going on?”

“Everything is fine. You have already met Aunty. She is very nice to me. Very helpful. And the job is also good. Not too much anxiety over there as of now.”

“And how’s your hobby going on?” Divya asked with a devilish grin.

I smiled sheepishly. “That is also going on fine. The place allows lots of free time and privacy. I am getting better at it.”

“Wo to dikh hi raha hai. Haath kaafi smooth hain tere. (Yes, I can see that from your smooth arms!)” Divya said with a wink.

“Oh, you noticed?!”

“Aunty ko bataya? (Did you tell aunty?)”

“Na.”

“Bata dein? (Should we tell her?)” Divya giggled.

“Pagal hai kya? Pata nahi kya sochegi. Plus, itna achchha ghar itne kam rent pe kaha milega. (Have you gone mad? I don’t know what she would think of me. Plus, I don’t want to lose such a nice house at an affordable rent.)”

Divya laughed at my ashen face. “Okay, okay. We won’t tell her.”

“Hey, you haven’t talked about this with Kavya. Have you?”

“No. Do you want me to? I know she would be pretty cool about it. Maybe pretty excited too.”

“Na Na. We will tell her, if we tell her, when the time comes.

You see, Divya and I were talking about my crossdressing. She was one of the few close friends whom I confided in. She was very excited at this revelation.

“Photo bhej. (Send me your pic)” was her first reaction.

When I shared my en femme pics, she was very supportive. She said, “Lag to sahi rahi hai tu. Thoda sa polish karna padega bas (Wow, girl! You look amazing. We just need to do a little bit of polishing.)”

“Thanks.” I was blushing while replying to her.

“Naam waam kuchh hai is sundari ka? (By the way, what’s the name of this beauty queen?)”

“Sundari? LOL. Ye zyada ho gaya. Naam waise Pankhuri hai. (Beauty queen? LOL. That’s too much. I have picked a name Pankhuri – meaning flower petal, for me.)’”

“Nice name. Pankhuri ko phool bana dein? (Nice name. Should we turn this flower petal into a flower?)”

“Pagal hai kya? Kuchh bhi bolti hai. Tera pati marega tujhe. (Have you gone mad? You don’t even think before speaking. What would your husband say to you?)”

Since that day, our friendship has grown stronger. We used to share everything with each other. Issues at home, at the job, with her husband, what drama I was facing at my job, we discussed everything. She would also share some makeup tips at times (which helped me further in my journey). I would also ask her recommendation for any outfit I was thinking of buying. More than friends, I think we became sisters as time grew.

“Kya baat chal rahi hai dono beheno me? (What chitchat is going on between sisters?)”

Divya and I turned to find Kavya at the room door. She had freshened up.

“Behen…? (Sisters … ?)” I stuttered.

“Yeah, itna hans-hans ke khusur-phusur bas behenein hi karti hain. (Yeah, only sisters laugh and chit chat like that!)”

I was relieved that she was just pulling our legs and was unaware of my secret.

I said jokingly, “Teri hi chugli kar rahe the humlog. Kitni shararati ho gayi hai. (We were gossiping about you.)”

Kavya just made a face and said, “Didi, the bathroom is all yours.”

Divya got up and said, “Tumlog baat karo. Main abhi aayi? (You girls continue talking. I will be back in a jiffy.)”

“Let’s go and reheat the food by the time Divya gets ready.” I said to Kavya.

Once Kavya came out, we had food and went to our rooms for an afternoon siesta.

P.S: No copyright infringement is intended. This story will be taken out of this website anytime if Pankuri, the actual author of this story is having any concerns.