Nice Shoes Part 3
By Deane Christopher
Copyright 2004
Oddly enough, Amber presented Ethan with the perfect opportunity to come clean about her rather unique sexual duality later that very same evening. It all began innocently enough during their ride up in one the Hilton's swanky elevators, when Amber casually quipped, "Tell me something. What is it with you and those high heels of yours? I mean, you really must like 'em, given that you've got to have damn near every color that they come in, and them some."
Aware that it was 'shit or get off the pot time', Ethan, with that ever so sultry voice of hers, casually replied, "Actually, I've only the one pair."
"Get out of here!" Amber's boisterously exclaimed, as the elevator doors slid noiselessly opened. "You've got a whole bunch of them."
"Yeah... You'd think," Ethan replied, as she and Amber began to make their way along the hallway. "But, the truth of the matter is, I've only got the one pair, and that's the pair I happen to be wearing now."
"That's a bunch of bullcrap, and you know it!" Amber was clearly becoming agitated. "And, do you want to know why I know that it's a bunch of bullcrap? Well, I'll tell ya'! I know it's a bunch of bullcrap because I've seen you wearing them.
"Just yesterday, you started off in the morning wearing a pair of navy blue kidskin ones. Then, when you changed for that business dinner with the CEO of that cosmetic company, you put on a pair of red ones; red ones that, if I remember correctly, matched that stunning red satin camisole you were wearing with that very stylish charcoal business suit to a tee. The day before that, you wore a metallic, gunmetal gray pair of heels during the day, and that black pair you're wearing now that evening. I also recall you wearing a pastel pair of powder blue ones. Oh, yeah! Then there were those electric blue ones that you wore twice, once on Tuesday, and then again on Thursday. Plus, you wore a pair of pink ones when we went out to lunch with Phil, the agency's staff photographer the other day."
"Boy, I must say that you really do have a good memory, owing to the fact that you can remember all of that," Ethan, chuckling all the while, freely admitted, as the two of them came abreast of the door to Ethan's suite.
"Then, you're not denying that you wore all those different color shoes?"
As she slid her keycard through the slot of the card-reader, Ethan casually replied, "No, I'm not denying the fact that I did indeed wear a whole bunch of different color shoes. However, as hard as it mighty be for you to believe this," Ethan, according herself as the proper gentleman she was up there in that staunchly male mind of hers, motioned for Amber to precede her into the suite, "all those shoes you saw me wearing were none other than the very same pair that I have on now."
"Yeah... Right! In a pig's eye they were."
"No. I'm telling you the gods' honest truth, Amber. Though they were colored differently than they are now, they were in all reality, the very same pair of pumps that I have on now."
"Come on, Ginger. Get real here. How's something like that possible?
"Look, I'll grant you that technology has come a long way in the last fifty years or so, but I have yet to hear about anything that would allow shoes to change color the way you're suggesting that yours do. Besides, had anyone come up with something as innovative as that, I certainly would have heard of it before this.
"Furthermore, now that I think about it, your shoes weren't only a different color, a few of them were of a different texture altogether."
"What can I say, Amber? Save to say that when you're right, you're right. And, I must say that was very astute of you to have taken note of all of that.
"Tell you what I'll do. Since seeing is believing, how 'bout I give you a demonstration of how these heels of mine work?
"You just take a seat in that chair over there, and blink when I say blink."
Ethan waited until Amber had done as she had directed, and then continued on to say, "Okay. Blink."
Opening her eyes to see a pair of shimmering metallic silver spiked heels gracing Ginger's feet, a thoroughly flabbergasted Amber excitedly gasped, "How's something like that possible? How in the world did you do that?"
Ethan answered Amber's query with just the one simple word, "Magic.
"Okay, now... I need you to blink for me again."
Though incredulous, Amber did so, only to see Ginger's heels switch from silver to gold.
"Again."
The golden hued stilettos changed to a bright fire engine red enamel.
"And a again."
A pastel tropical sea island turquoise replaced the eye-riveting red coloration, which in turn, was supplanted with a brashly bold Florida roof-tile orange a second or so later.
Forest green, mint green, day-glow green, tan, pastel pink, rich pink, light brown, dark brown, pastel yellow, sun-bright yellow, purple, violet, eggshell white, pearlized white, and even white-white followed in quick succession, as Ethan continued on with her unwavering cadence of, "Blink, blink, blink..."
"And if you think that's something," Ethan, with that ever so come-hither voice of hers, continued on to glibly add, "just wait till you get a load of this."
Amber, who was blinking along in lock step with her lover-girl's repeated instructions to do so, did not at first fathom the remarkable thing that had just occurred. Then, as her mind caught up with the mind-boggling change that had just taken place, she excitedly stammered, "Your heels! They're... They're... They're not shoes anymore! They're boots now! Thigh-high, shimmering, black patent, stiletto heeled boots!"
Then, after a short pause to allow Amber to grapple with the implausibility of what she was beholding, Ethan continued on to inquire, "Or, would they perhaps look a little better like this." Then, upon the realization that nothing had happened, Ethan coquettishly chided, "Come on, Amber. Get with the program. Look, you've got to work with me here. I need you to stop gawking, and blink those adorable baby blues of yours in order to get this show of mine on the road.
"Okay? Ready? One... Two... Three... Blink."
In an instant, those gleaming, black patent leather thigh-high boots of Ginger's were transformed into a pair of a fashionable, kidskin leather calf-high boots.
Thoroughly entranced by what she was witnessing, Amber excitedly exclaimed, "That's amazing! Simply amazing..."
"It is, isn't it?" Ethan found herself forced to agree. "By any chance do you notice anything else different about me?"
"No... Can't say that I do..."
"Take a real good look, and then tell me if anything else has changed," Ethan directed.
"Holy shit!" Amber giddily exclaimed. "I don't know why I didn't notice it before, but you're not wearing jeans or that tube top anymore. Just where the hell did that micro-mini skirt and halter top come from, and what in the world happened to the clothes you were wearing just a minute ago?"
"Come on, Ginger. Fess up. How'ya do it?"
"It's like I told you before, Amber. It's magic, pure and simple. These heels of mine are magic."
"That ridiculous," Amber vehemently charged.
"Ridiculous or not, I'm telling you truth. These heels of mine are magic."
"And they actually let you change your clothes like that?"
"They sure do.
"Tell you what, if you don't mind blinking some more, I'll give you a further demonstration of what they can do."
With Amber blinking away to beat the band, Ethan put on a real show. Starting with the calf-high boots, mini-skirt, and slinky halter-top ensemble, Ethan began a rapid-fire fashion show that ran the gauntlet of feminine attire. Without any rhyme or reason, Ethan began to garb that ever so shapely figure of hers in one fantastic and fashionable outfit after another, going from casual wear, to club wear, to eveningwear, to bedroom wear in a dazzling array of unparalleled sexuality. Moving from there into the realm of fetish wear, Ethan became Little Miss Vixen, the dick-teaser's dick-teaser, as she garbed herself in one tease-to-please outfit after another. Adorning herself in the gossamer pantaloons and bejeweled halter-top of a veiled harem girl to kick off the new tack she was embarking upon, Ethan pulled out all the stops as she pirouetted about, and into the pink pastel dancing togs of an ever so amorously clad prima ballerina. Cheerleader, French maid, dominatrix, nurse, policewoman all followed in quick successions, ere Ethan brought her show to a close by encasing that subtle hourglass figure of hers in the shimmering satin confinement of a Playboy Bunny costume.
Enthralled by what she had just seen, Amber excitedly stammered, "All I can say is, wow! That was really something."
"So, do you believe me now?"
Amber sought clarification, "You mean about your heels, and how they're magic?"
"Yeah..." Ethan scoffed. "What'd ya think I was referring to?"
"Well..." Amber began her reply thoughtfully. "Since you're right about how seeing is believing, and since I can't for the life of me come up with any other way you could have done what you just did, I guess I only have one choice open to me."
"And just what might that choice of yours be?" Ethan, who was still garbed in full bunny regalia, prompted.
"I guess I have to accept that you're telling me the truth about those high heels of yours."
"So, I take it that you're saying that you believe me when I say that they're imbued with some sort of magical wherewithal that let's me do what I just did?"
"Yeah... I guess so. I mean, what other explanation is there? Magic is the only means I can think of that would allow you to do what you just did..."
Sensing that Amber's reply was still tinged with a healthy measure of skepticism, Ethan decided it was time for her to pull out all the stops, "Well, if what I just did didn't thoroughly convince you, maybe this will.
"Okay, blink."
Amber did as directed, only to behold the statuesque Catherine Zeta-Jones, decked out in the very same black satin bunny outfit that Ginger had been trussed up in, standing brazenly before her.
"Ginger..." Amber gasped. "Is that really you?"
In a voice that was an exact duplicate of Catherine Zeta-Jone's, Ethan, with a smirk, sarcastically quipped, "Well, of course it's me. Who'd ya think it was?
Then, before that California lover-girls of hers could formulate a reply, Ethan crisply directed, "All right, Amber. I need you to blink for me again."
Catherine Zeta-Zones was replaced by a bunny costumed Marilyn Monroe, save that Marilyn's torso hugging merry widow, heels and matching ear ensemble were of a shocking pink, a pink that matched the gown the starlet had worn when she performed the number 'Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend'.
Then, feeling as if she had finally convince Amber that she was telling the truth about her heels being magical, Ethan brought her little demonstration to a close by turning herself in Amber's twin.
"Oh, my God!" Amber shrilly shirked. "You're me!" A second later, Amber, in a markedly subdued tone of voice, amended that ecstatically delivered declaration of hers, "Or, I should have said, you're the new and improved me..."
+++++
A few minutes later, having taken a few sips of the rum and Coke that Ethan had fixed for her, Amber brightened as she hopefully asked, "Ginger, do you think I might be able to try those magical high heels of yours on? As silly as this might sound, I'm just dying to see if they'll work for me the same way as they do for you."
Balancing herself with her outstretched arms, Ethan gracefully stepped out of first one of her heels and then the other, as she casually replied, "Sure... by all means... Give 'em a try..."
Bending ever seductively Ethan picked up the heels, and sashaying that pert little ass of hers over to where Amber had seated herself proffered the pointy-toed stilettos for that Californian lover-girl of hers to take possession of.
Acting as if they might actually rear up and nip at her fingers, Amber gingerly took possession of the heels. As she did so, she thoughtfully mused, "Now, I find this to be really strange..."
Amber's seemingly banal comment piqued Ethan's curiosity, "What is? What, may I ask, do you find so strange about those shoes of mine?"
In an oblique response to her lover's rather pointed question, Amber pensively replied, "I had no idea that you had such tiny feet, Ginger. I mean, I've seen dainty shoes before, but these shoes of yours have to take the cake."
"I'll have you know that I don't have small feet. Truth is, my feet are about the same size that yours are. It's the heels themselves that do that. They contract down to a size that would fit a little girl when I take them off, and magically expand to fit my foot whenever I put them on."
"Are you sure about that?" Amber asked dubiously.
"Sure, I'm sure. Go ahead. Give 'em a try. You'll see..."
Setting one of the ever so dainty pumps aside for the moment, Amber did as Ethan suggested, but to no avail. The high heel retained its diminutive size.
"Now, that's really odd..." Ethan mused thoughtfully. "I've never, ever had any trouble with 'em. They always just slip right on."
Miffed at her inability to try Ginger's heels on, Amber agitatedly barked, "This is for the birds! Magic or not, they're simply way too small to ever fit me, and they're not expanding the way you said they would."
"Yeah..." Ethan had to admit that Amber was right. The heels were not expanding to encompass Amber's foot the way they always did whenever he put them on. "What can I say, save to say that you're right. They're not working for you the way they always have for me."
"No," Amber was forced to agree. "They sure as hell aren't."
Holding the heels out for Ethan to reclaim, a somewhat disgruntled Amber continued on say, "Here you go, Ginger. I want to see you put these stiletto heels of yours back on. But before you do, how 'bout you put one of your feet down over here alongside of mine. That way, I can do a stare and compare..."
Ethan did as Amber requested, only to hear her lover quip, "Damn! As much as I hate to admit this, you're right. Our feet do appear to be about the same size."
"Told 'ya."
"Okay, smarty-pants. Now it's your turn. Go ahead. Show me how you manage to cram those size eights of yours into these so-ridiculously-small-as-to-be-almost-child-sized high heels of yours."
Dropping the stilettos on the floor before her, Ethan employed the well-manicured toes of her nylon-clad foot to upright first one heel, and then the other. Gracefully lifting her right foot, Ethan easily inserted her toes into the open maw of the pump's U-throat.
"Well, I'll be..." Amber exclaimed, as the nylon enshrouded heel of Ethan's foot settled ever so snugly into its appropriate place within the shoe's innards. "The damn thing fits.
"I never thought it would, but I'll be damned if it doesn't.
"Okay. That's one. Now, do the other."
Ethan obliged her, only to have Amber make another demand of her once she did. "Okay. They fit. Now, take 'em off, so I can try them again..."
The same scene repeated itself several times before Amber finally had enough, and decided to call it quits. "That's it. I've had it. For some reason or another, these shoes of yours don't seem to like me."
As she easily stepped back into those heels of hers, Ethan endeavored to placate Amber. "I don't think it has anything to do with these heels of mine liking you, or not liking you, Amber. I mean, while they might be magical, they are still only inanimate objects. Basically, I have a sneaking suspicion that these heels of mine are somehow metaphysically linked to me, in that the magic that they're invested with has somehow attuned itself to me, thereby allowing them to do what they do.
"Actually, though I've only become aware of this little tidbit here recently, most, if not all of the magic that's embodied within the heels themselves, seems to have somehow replicated itself in me. In other words, Amber, I find that I can now do the same sort of things that I only thought possible when I was wearing the heels, without the necessity of my actually having to have them on."
"Oh, you can, can you?"
"Yes. Surprisingly enough, I can..."
"Okay. Tell you what. How 'bout kicking 'em off, and giving me a demonstration?"
Dutifully, Ethan did as Amber requested, and in so doing used the opportunity presented to her to change out of Bunny regalia and back into the casual jeans and tube top that she'd spent the afternoon and evening lounging around in.
"Well, I can't say that I'm not jealous of you and those shoes of yours, Ginger, because I am. Fact is that I'm about as jealous as jealous can be," Amber, with the hint of a smile, teasingly offered. "So, tell me," she continued on to say, "What else can those magical stiletto heeled bad boys of yours do?"
Aware that Amber had just provide her with the opening that she had been looking for, Ethan took a deep breath to quell the uneasiness that was beginning to churn and burn in the pit of that taut little tummy of hers. Then, with a great sense of trepidation welling up in that manly-attuned mind of hers, Ethan leaped into the proverbial breech with both high heel shod feet.
"Amber," Ethan began tentative, "I have something to tell you now that you might find to be, shall we say, unsettling at best.
"However, before I do, I just want you to know that I never once meant to deceive you in any way. Circumstances, to one degree or another, precluded me from saying anything about this till now."
"Ginger..." Amber's voice conveyed a sense of uneasiness, an uneasiness that could easily give way to fear. "Are you trying to tell me that you have a lover waiting for you back in New Jersey?"
"No, absolutely not. Look, while I haven't come right out and said anything about this before now, owing to the fact that I didn't want to make you uneasy, or scare you off, or anything of the sort, you need to know something. The only person that I'm currently in love with just happens to be living right here in California. The fact of the matter is, she's sitting right here in this very room with me."
Amber, spurred on by her surging emotions, giddily exclaimed. "Ginger, are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Though Ethan's reply conveyed an underlying sense of hesitancy, it was nevertheless earnestly tendered, "Well, if you think that I'm saying that I love you, then the answer is yes. That's exactly what I'm saying.
"Actually, I've been a little remiss, in that I should have told you how I felt before this, but I do love you. Truth is, I love you more than I thought possible, more than I ever thought one person could love another."
"Oh, Ginger... that's absolutely wonderful, because, I love you so much it isn't funny. However, while I'm hoping to God that I'm wrong about this, I'm sensing that there's one of those ever so irksome 'buts' involved in all of this?"
"Yes..." Ethan reluctantly found herself forced to concur with that ever so insightful lover-girl of hers. "There is, and I'm afraid that it could prove to be a rather big one at that."
With an eager, unbridled sense of hope rising in her voice, Amber replied, "But I take it there's a chance that this 'but' of yours might not be a problem?"
"I guess that it all depends..."
"It all depends on what?" Amber, the timbre of her voice conveying a sense of ominous uncertainty, demanded.
"It all depends on how you feel about what I'm about to tell you."
"Well, if that's the case, I suggest that you better just get on with telling me whatever it is you feel that you have to tell me."
"All right...' Ethan resignedly replied, as she began to collect her thoughts.
"Well, as I've already demonstrated, these high heels of mine are magical, in that they allow me to do things, or better yet, change things to suit these rather capricious, if not down right perverted whims of mine. However, what I haven't shown you as yet is, what I have come to think of as their primary function."
Amber, in an all out effort on her part to move the proceedings along, peevishly prompted, "And just what might that prime function of theirs be, Ginger?"
"First off, Amber, you need to be aware of the fact that my name's not really Ginger. It's Ethan. Ethan Eager Samuels if you want to get all technical about it.
"And, if you're thinking that that's a guy's name, you're right. It is.
"You see, Amber, I'm not really a woman."
Aggressively refuting Ethan's assertion out of hand, Amber heatedly clamored, "Trust me, Ginger, you're a woman alright. There's is nothing fake or artificial about that body of yours.
"Believe me. If there were, I'd know it."
"True... You're right. That's to say that as it stands right now, speaking in a purely physical sense, I have to agree that I'm as much of a woman as you are. However, you need to know that I wasn't born a woman. You see, Amber, the only reason I am a woman now is due to these magical high heels of mine."
"Okay, I think I understand. What you're saying is that you used to be a man, but somewhere along the line, for some reason or another, you tried on those heels, and they somehow magically ended up changing you into the woman you are today.
"And that's perfect fine by me, Ginger. I couldn't give a rat's ass that you were once a man. As long as you're woman now, that's all that counts."
Ethan, keenly aware that she had to clear up any misconceptions that Amber might be either harboring, or in the process of forming, soundly interjected, "But that, in a nutshell, is the problem. You see, Ginger, regardless of what you might think, I'm not a full time woman. In all actuality, I really am a man, who only becomes a woman on what I have come to call an elective, part-time basis."
"That's ridiculous," Amber vehemently countered. "Absolutely ridiculous..."
"Ridiculous or not, that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
Then, stepping out of the heels she had just stepped into a few short moments before, Ethan quipped, "Here, I'll show you just how ridiculous it is.
"All I need you to do is to blink when I tell you to."
"And what if I don't want to?" Amber returned in a huff.
"No problem... If you don't want to blink for me, that's perfectly fine by me. If you won't cooperate and blink for me, I'll just have to mosey into my bedroom, change back into my old manly self, and stroll back out here."
"You would, wouldn't you?" Amber pouted.
"Yes, if you won't do as I ask, you leave me no recourse but to do something such as that."
"Okay then, since you're bound and determined to do this, I'll blink for you. But, you got to promise me if seeing you as a man freaks me out too much, you'll change back right away, okay?"
"Sure thing... I'd be more than happy to do that for you."
"Thank you. I appreciate that."
"Okay. How 'bout we do this? On three, blink.
"One... Two... Three... Blink."
Upon beholding the male Ethan standing there before her, an extremely startled and thoroughly astonished Amber squeamishly squealed, "Holy crap! You really are a guy, aren't you?"
"I'm afraid so..."
'Well, if this isn't rich, I don't know what is," Amber despondently smirked. "Of all the girls I could have fallen in love with, I go and fall in love with a girl who just happens to be a guy."
Ethan, unsure as to what he should do, or not do under the rather fragile set of circumstances he found himself enveloped in, gingerly put the question to Amber, "Would you by any chance like me to change back?"
"No!" Amber ruefully snapped.
Then, upon becoming aware that she was on the cusp of becoming unhinged, and therefore ran the risk of reacting in an irrational manner, Amber drew upon every last vestige of her will power in an all out effort to chill out, and look at things rationally. Having said things that she neither felt, nor ever meant to say during those instances in which she became mentally distressed in her past, Amber scrambled to ride roughshod over those beleaguered emotions of hers. Forcing her voice to emulate a calmness that she had yet to achieve, Amber endeavored to defuse the situation before it devolved into a no holds barred crisis, a crisis that that could well result in a calamity.
"No..." she continued on in a far less confrontational tone of voice. "While I reserve the right to change my mind, for the time being, I think I'd like to you to stay just the way you are.
"Basically, Ethan," Amber sounded out his name as if she trying to see if it fit him or not, "this, shall we say, rather startling revelation of yours has kind of thrown me for a loop."
"I can see how it would. Were the situation reversed, where I was on the receiving end of things like you are, I'm sure that I'd be feeling a little put out right about now."
"Trust me, Ethan. I'm way beyond the point of feeling put out."
"So, I take it that you're angry with me for not telling you about this rather unique, if not perverse sexual duality of mine before this?"
"No. While there's no getting around the fact that I could be, or even should be, the truth of the matter is I'm not. The person I'm angry with right now is myself.
"I guess what I'm really feeling is hurt; hurt and confused. But though I am, I also know that I have no cause to be feeling the way I do, and I guess that's why I'm just a little bit angry with myself.
"You've got to understand something here, Ginger - Sorry! This, whatever you want to call it, really is confusing. I mean, I'm so used to calling you Ginger, I'm afraid it's going to take me awhile to make the mental adjustment to start calling you Ethan."
"That's okay. I completely understand," Ethan, still unsure as to how he should best accord himself, tentatively offered. "Believe me, it takes one hell of a lot of mental gymnastics on my part to handle this part-time girl business. That's to say that I sometimes have a hard time knowing when I'm coming or going."
That off-handed comment of Ethan's struck Amber as being rather humorous. "I can see where that might present a real problem for you," she chuckled. "I can just picture it. There you are in bed, going at it hot and heavy with some woman - hopefully me - so hot and heavy in fact that you lose track of which sex you just happen to be at moment, and because you do, you have no idea if you're going to ejaculate, or have a string of female orgasms."
"Funny you should say that."
"Oh, so am I to take it that something such as that has actually happened to you?"
"Oh yeah... The fact is it's happened to me more times than I'd ever like to admit to.
Changing the subject, Amber, curious to gain some understanding, tactfully inquired, "Tell me something, Gin... - I mean Ethan. Is it safe for me to assume that you don't go around telling everybody and his brother about how you're a guy who has gained the ability to turn himself into a girl whenever the mood strikes you?"
"Yes," Ethan evenly replied. "As you can imagine, that's not the sort of thing that most straight guys would ever freely admit to. I mean, while I truly believe that most guys would jump at the opportunity to experience what being a girl is all about, just as long as the change wasn't a permanent one; there are damn few who would ever come right out and admit to it.
"Yeah... You're probably right about that. Admitting to something such as that just wouldn't be very manly, now would it?"
"So, Ethan, tell me," Amber continue on to ask. "Do the Meadows know about this rather unique proclivity of yours?"
"Yes... Yes, they do..."
"Oh, so you told them before you told me..." Amber mused thoughtfully. "How 'bout Paula? Does she know as well?"
Feeling that it not was his place to let the cat out of the bag about her uncle's sexual duality, Ethan found himself forced to skirt the truth. "Yes. I'm sorry to say she does too."
It was clearly evident to Ethan that Amber was not at all happy about being left out of the loop. "Oh, now I find that all to be very interesting. You tell them, but you didn't see fit to tell me until this evening.
"So, who else knows? I mean, are there a whole shitload of people back in New Jersey who know about you, and those magical high heels of yours?"
"No... The only people who know about me are you, the Meadows, and Paula."
Not at all happy over the fact that she had been the last to be included in that short list of Ethan's, Amber resignedly sighed, "Well, while I'm not all that happy that I wasn't the first person you told, I guess I ought to feel privileged that you told me at all."
"Amber..." Ethan pleaded. "I think that you're taking this the wrong way. Please believe me, I would have told you earlier, it's just that..."
"It's just that you didn't trust me with this little secret of yours until tonight," Amber vehemently hurled the accusation across the room at him.
Becoming a little vexed himself, Ethan gruffly countered, "You're right, Ginger. I didn't.
"Back in the beginning, back when I first met you, while I knew I was attracted to you, I wasn't sure if I could trust you with this dirty little secret of mine. If you recall, I flew out here with only one purpose in mind; that being, to pursue a full time modeling career. Then, I met you, fell in love, and ended up with a no holds barred quandary on my hands.
"You might not believe this, but I've been wanting to tell you about this secret life of mine from the very first night we met. I mean, even when we were down at the bar that first night, I was having a hard way to go not telling you."
It wasn't anything in particular that Ethan had said that triggered Amber's sudden epiphany, but the realization as to why he had withheld informing her of his other life until that evening hit her like a ton of bricks. "Oh, Ethan," Amber's voice was distraught. "I am so very sorry. That was totally unfair of me to behave like I just was. The truth is that I was being a real asshole just now. You had every reason to be cautious about telling me, or anyone else for that matter, about this magical guyo-girlo thing that you can do. I now realize why you didn't tell me about this unique ability of yours before. I mean, it goes without saying that if the tabloids ever got wind of what you can do, they'd have a field day with it. They'd hound you. The paparazzi would never give you a moment's peace after they found out that you have the ability to change your sexual affiliation whenever the mood strikes you.
"Instead of being mad, I should feel extremely flattered that you trusted me enough to have told me anything about this double life of yours. And, now that I've had some time to think about it, I must say that I feel not only very flattered, but also extremely honored that you feel that I am trustworthy enough for you to have confided in me like you have.
"It couldn't have been an easy decision for you."
"You're right, it wasn't," Ethan concurred. "Fact is that I've been agonizing over it since the first night we met."
"Well, I want you to know that no matter what happens as far as this relationship of ours is concerned, whether we work it out or not, I just want you to know that your secret is safe with me. You have my word that I will never tell anyone about you and those magical heels of yours.
"I appreciate that, Amber. I really, really do..."
"Okay..." Amber mused thoughtfully, "So, I guess that pretty much takes care of that. When it comes to you, and your being able to change yourself into a girl, mum's the word. You have my word that I will never ever tell another living soul about this, unless of course you might one day want me to.
"However, since my Aunt Janice already knows about this bisexual business of yours, be advised that I have every intention of talking to her about this. In other words, I need a sounding board. So let me be up front with you, and give you fair warning that should your ears start burning you'll know that I'm talking to my aunt about this rather unique, if not down right bizarre, situation of ours.
"So, I guess what you and I really need to hash out right now is where this relationship of ours is going, if that is you still want one?"
"Want one?" Ethan was incredulous. "I'll have you know that I've never wanted anything more in my whole life. Fact is, I'd marry you in a heartbeat."
"Well, as flattering as that is to hear you say something such as that," Amber, knowing that she had gained the upper hand, replied rather coyly, "I guess the question is: given everything I've learned tonight, do I still want to pursue a relationship with you?"
Unhinged by what he had just heard, Ethan frantically sought clarification, "So, am I to take it that you're saying that you don't want a relationship with me anymore?"
"No. I'm not saying that at all. What I said was that I have a decision to make."
It was Ethan's turn to be petulant, "Okay... So, go ahead and make it already."
"Hey, cut me some slack here, will ya'? This isn't exactly an easy decision for me to make.
"You see, the problem is that while I'm so in love with your female alter ego it isn't funny, as it stands right now, illogical or not, you are a complete stranger to me. I have no idea who this Ethan character of yours is. I mean, I don't know if I even like you as it stands right now.
"Let's face it, you're no God's gift to women in the looks department.
"I'll grant you that from what I've seen, you appear to have a nice tush, and while I wouldn't quite classify you as being handsome, you do have that rugged, outdoorsy look that I kind of fancy in the men I've had an occasion to go out with."
"Hey," Ethan hastily interjected, "If my being a man is going to present a problem for you, I can always forgo it."
With a clear sense of surprise lacing her voice, Amber coquettishly replied, "You would actually do something like that for me? You'd actually give up ever being a man again were I ask you to."
Without any hesitation whatsoever, Ethan earnestly and eagerly responded, "I sure would. If it meant that you and I could be together, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
"Well, I must say that was really sweet of you to say that. However, you should know right up front that I would never ask you to do something such as that. Truth be told, Ethan, if things work out the way I'm hoping and praying they will, when it comes to me and these sexual proclivities of mine, you might be just what the doctor ordered.
"If you remember correctly, I made no bones about the fact that I have been known to swing both ways. Now, while I prefer women over men, that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy a roll in the hay with a guy every now and again."
"So, am I to take it that there's a chance that we might be able to salvage this relationship of ours?"
With a fiendish glint in her eyes, Amber, rising from her seat as she did so, mischievously replied, "Oh, I'd say that there's a fairly good chance of our doing just that.
"However, I must tell you that it all depends," Amber coquettishly teased, as she walked over and grasped one of his hands in one of her own.
Ethan, not all sure if he wanted to hear the answer to his question, nevertheless felt compelled to ask, "Depends? Depends on what?"
With a tug, Amber began to draw a somewhat forlorn Ethan towards the bedroom they had been sharing, "It all depends on just how good a lover you are."