Kaylee knew that excuse wouldn’t work, but she really needed to get her off the phone. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to fill her roommate in on all the details of last night’s date, but much of the conversation wasn’t appropriate to have it in a crowded office building. Risha had a commanding voice normally, but excitement amplified it considerably. With how loudly she was coming through the phone, it was like she had it set to speaker.

“You can not leave me hanging like this!” Risha insisted. “I need details!”

“If you wanted that so bad you shouldn’t have spent the night at Lauren’s place.”

“Girl, you know I ain’t gonna pass up a chance for me and my girl to…”

“Gotta go, bye!” Kaylee said before quickly hanging up the phone. People in the lobby were already starting to look at her, and she didn’t need Risha to blurt out the details of Lauren sitting on her face last night. She loved Risha like a sister, and often was jealous of her brave, proud demeanor. But it was time to go to work. The gossip hour would have to wait until this evening.

Kaylee loved going to work. She’d spent her young life in the backwoods of the Appalachian mountains, dreaming of having a posh life in the city. The bright lights striped across the ceiling reflected off the glossy, beige floor. The clicks of dress heels and polished men’s shoes echoed off the brown and silver walls like she was in a cathedral. A large, flat TV hung on the wall just before the row of four elevators. Upon the screen, Rachel Maddow recounted the top stories of the day. Finely dressed business men and women crisscrossed the lobby while talking on cellphones or sat upon benches along the wall with computers in their laps. It all coalesced into a snapshot of big-city life, and even though she’d called it home for almost three years now, it always felt as it did on day one.

The elevator doors opened as she approached them. Others waiting had already pressed the call button, but it added to the overall feeling of the universe just falling into place for her. She barely felt her feet on the ground because, to her, it felt like she was walking on clouds. Her mind was locked on that kiss. Her skin still tingled from being pressed against the stubble on Brandon’s face. She remembered the feel of his hands on her hips. No matter how things went with him from now on, she hoped it would never tarnish that moment they’d shared. He still didn’t know she was trans, and if things were to continue he’d eventually have to know, but for now she was living her own metropolitan fairytale.

The polished, silver doors closed and the elevator took off. She spent the ride looking at her reflection in them, though she ignored the fact that she was the tallest person in the elevator. Kaylee was a vision in her cream colored, flowy dress pants and silky, short-sleeved black blouse. Her black pumps raised her another inch off the ground, but she was addicted to the way they clicked on the linoleum floor when she walked. She was the image of a woman with success, a woman with looks, and now a woman with a hot guy yearning for her.

If only she could’ve been a woman with a vagina; then she’d have it made.

Kaylee got off on the 17th floor. The offices for DCS was at the end of the hallway. Double glass doors with the company logo emblazoned across them awaited her at the end of the tan carpeted corridor. Kaylee pulled on the long, stainless handle and made her way into the office.

“Hello, Kaylee,” the receptionist said with a smile. She was a portly, pale woman with short, curly brown and silver hair. Her thick-rimmed glasses were suspended by a chain of large, obviously fake “diamonds’.

“Good morning, Madison,” Kaylee replied with a smile. She heard a few more hellos on her way to her desk. She shared a block of cubicles with three other people. She was grateful to have made it to this point in her career, but her eye was always on one of the private offices along the walls with a 17th floor view of uptown Charlotte. Years ago she was amazed they even let her stay on after coming out to human resources; today she was hungry for a promotion.

She set her stuff on the desk as her phone buzzed in her purse. She fished it out and tapped the screen. REMINDER: Staff Meeting – 15 Minutes. She didn’t really need the reminder since it was how every Friday morning started off, but she never bothered to delete it.

“So, how is Kaylee this morning?” a voice asked from her left.

She smiled as she turned. The man at the desk next to her was rather short, with olive skin and overly-gelled short black hair. He was sharply dressed, too, with a freshly pressed pair of black pants and royal blue shirt. His tie was silky and solid black, done up at the collar with a fancy knot that looked like a flower.

“I’m wonderful!” Kaylee exclaimed. “How is Bashir?”

“Bashir leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. “Just living the dream, like every other day,” he replied sarcastically.

Kaylee sat in her seat and pulled up her email client. After sifting through a few messages, she noticed Bashir’s eyes focused on her. “Something up?” she asked.

“Was about to ask you that,” he answered. “Curious to know why you’re grinning so much.”

“Well,” Kaylee said as she pushed her rolling chair away from the desk. “I had a date last night.”

“Did you now?” Bashir said. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “Guy or girl?”

“Guy.”

“Hot?”

Kaylee gave an exaggerated laugh. “As fuck.”

Bashir rubbed his hands together eagerly. “I need pictures.”

The request gave Kaylee pause. “Um…I actually don’t have any.”

Leaning back again, Bashir put up his hands. “Well, as you Americans say: pics or it didn’t happen. Just pull up his Facebook.”

Kaylee grabbed her phone. “I’ll have to find him.”

“You went out with this guy and didn’t already friend him?”
“Not yet.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Kaylee paused as she typed his name into the Facebook search box. His profile was the first result. She smiled as she beheld a picture of him in baggy blue shorts and a white tank top. He was outdoors with a group of guys. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes. He was just so dreamy. “Because he doesn’t know I’m trans yet.”

Bashir’s eyes opened wide. He slid his chair around his desk and into her cubicle. “You mean he couldn’t tell?”
Kaylee raised an eyebrow. “Gee, thanks,” she said sarcastically.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Bashir corrected. “But you didn’t tell him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Why should I have to?”

“Well, don’t you think he has a right to know if he’s dating you? Maybe he’s not into trans women.”

Kaylee closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “If he’s into women, then trans or cis shouldn’t matter.”

Bashir smirked. “Well, we both know we don’t live in ‘Should-land’.”

“Here’s his picture,” Kaylee said as she turned the phone to him. The conversation was starting to piss her off and she hoped this would stop the uncomfortable turn things were taking.

“Damn, he is cute!” Bashir exclaimed.

“I know, right?!”

“Send him a friend request.”

Kaylee siged. “I told you, I’m not ready for that.”

“Because he’ll find out you’re trans if he stalks your page?”

“Yes.”

Bashir rolled back to his desk. “So it’s no big deal to not tell him, but it is a big deal that he not find out? Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical?”

“Fuck you!” Kaylee said louder than the meant to. A couple eyes in the neighboring cubicles turned to them, but soon went back to their computer screens.

“Look, honey,” Bashir started. “You know I love you. You know I support your and I will personally be cheering for you two to fall madly in love and for him to have a huge cock you get to ride into next week.”

Kaylee snickered.

“But if it’s not important for him to know you’re trans, then it can’t be important to keep it from him.” There was a pause. Clicking keys and ringing phones were the only sounds in the open office space. Bashir turned back to his keyboard. “I only say it because I love you, girl.”

Kaylee just sat there. She felt deflated. If Risha were there, Bashir would be getting an ear-full about trans women being just as valid as cis women and that she had a right to privacy. Risha had a much stronger spirit than she did. Kaylee knew it was right, but she did feel like a hypocrite. Thoughts of how Brandon would react if he found out kept popping up in her mind, and she tried her best to push them away. She didn’t want to face them, not yet. She was enjoying her chance to feel like it wasn’t something she had to worry about.

“We gotta get to the boardroom,” Kaylee said softly.

With her laptop under her arm and a coffee cup in her free hand, Kaylee pushed through the glass door on the far wall and stepped into the boardroom. Easily the largest room in the office space, it had eight foot tall windows across the entire wall. The full beauty of the uptown Charlotte skyline served as the backdrop of each day’s business. The table at the center of the room was roughly twenty feet long with a sleek, black, polished surface. A microphone and wall outlet was built in at every seating spot along the table. A projector sat suspended from a beam in the ceiling, casting the image of the DCS logo onto a white backdrop on the wall.

Kaylee took her seat and set her stuff on the table. She took a deep breath as she unlocked the screen on her laptop. Don’t let him kill your high, Kaylee. When her desktop came up it was all set to go. The data from her meeting at the airport was front and center.

“Good morning, everyone,” said a commanding voice from the door. Donald Reed, or ‘Don’, was a middle-aged man with a golden tan and most of his hair gone. He sported a thick moustache and small set of reading glasses. A gray and white suit covered his tall, chubby body. “I trust everyone is ready to get started.

“Yes sir,” said all in attendance, Kaylee included. She took a sip of her coffee.

Don took a seat near the end closest to the screen. “First things first. I need an update on where we are with the Barren Industries account. Kyle, you’re up.

Kaylee took a long, deep breath and closed her eyes.

“Er, sorry,” Don corrected. “Kaylee.”

“Thank you,” Kaylee said as she stood. Almost two years to the day and he still fucks that up sometimes. “I spent about two hours with Mr. Barren yesterday and took him to dinner. He had very few concerns and I’ve already emailed those out to everyone. He’s ready to see the full presentation before he flies back out on Tuesday.”

“Is he staying all weekend just to wait on us?” A woman at the far end of the table asked.

Kaylee shook her head. “His daughter lives in Matthews, so he’s visiting her.”

“Excellent work, Kaylee,” Don said with a smile.

“Thank you, sir.” Kaylee’s phone screen lit up. She knew to keep it on silent during meetings, or else Don would have scolded her for the distraction. She glanced down. It was a text from Roxy. Could my roommates please wait till five to beg me for gossip? She slid the phone under the table and pulled up the message: ‘hon u c this? There was a link attached. She glanced up. Don was talking to Josh about financials, which had nothing to do with her. Convinced she wouldn’t be needed for a moment, Kaylee clicked open the link.

It was a CNN article. First she saw a mug shot of a large, white male with no hair and a thick beard. The title popped up next, and she immediately saw why Roxy had sent it to her. NORTH CAROLINA MAN CHARGED WITH MOLESTING TEEN GIRL IN WOMEN’S RESTROOM. Her stomach turned. Her mind filled in much of the story with just the image and the title, but she read on anyway.

‘TAYLORSVILLE-NC: A 40 year old man from Alexander County has been charged with following a teenage woman into the women’s restroom at the Taylorsville Walmart and exposing himself to her. Authorities were alerted to the Walmart at 5:40pm on Friday evening. After being shouted out of the restroom by the victim and several other women, the man continued to shop in the store. Store management followed him until police arrived, at which point he was arrested for indecent exposure.’

Kaylee gritted her teeth. She could already hear the comments people would make against trans people because of this. The state had infamously dealt with transgender bathroom issues in the past, and it was still a hot-button issue. The thought of reading any more made her nauseous.

“Kaylee!” Don said loudly.

Her boss shouting shook her from her thoughts. She looked up. All eyes were upon her. “Yes?”

“Something taking your attention away from this meeting?” Don asked sternly.

“I…uh…got a news alert on my phone,” she answered, only half lying.

“Anything important?” Don asked. “Anything we should be worried about?”

Kaylee sighed as she gazed out the window. The sky was getting cloudy, and the regular reflections of sunlight in the adjacent buildings was fading. “I really hope not.”