Chapter 322.
The girls, accompanied by half the class, walked Tim home from Margaret Sanger that afternoon. That evening, when Shirley got home, she was treated to a blow-by-blow account of the show-and-share, which had Tim blushing again.
âWell youâre a good boy for being such a sport. Iâm not surprised everyone was impressed.â
ââSpecially Miss Taylor,â quipped Clara.
âOh, I can imagine⊠Anyway, I have some news too. Tim, Iâm sorry to say that youâll be going back to ESDS in the morning.â
âNoâŠ.â cried the girls, in chorus, throwing their arms around him.
âAlready? Why so soon?â asked Maggie.
âBecause heâs mastered the basics now, and my role is finished. Besides, he has a wedding to attend on Saturday, and he needs to be prepared.â
âPrepared?â
âYes, dear. He needs to be pampered for a few days, have proper skin care, get his hair cut, all that stuff, so he looks nice. He is the sole pageboy, after all. Heâs a very important person. Oh, and Nicola said you have a parcel fromâŠFantastex, is itâŠ?â
Tim punched the air. âYess⊠My special pageboy pants!â
âP-pageboy pantsâŠ?â Clara queried, looking at him askance.
âOh, er, yeah⊠See, like, when youâre a pageboy, you, er, have to have a special outfit, andâŠâ
âJust so long as we gets some piccies, TimâŠâ smiled Maggie.
âOh, yeahâŠsureâŠcourse⊠Wow, I canât waitâŠâ
Nicola collected him the following day. He said his goodbyes, promised to visit â even, under pressure from Maggie, to undertake a return visit to Margaret Sanger â and departed. They were back at ESDS by ten. He was eager to see his pageboy outfit, and kept pestering Nicole until she fetched it for him to open. She watched as he knelt down and opened the box and took his outfit out piece by piece. First, his little pageboy cap, red vinyl.
âCool!â
Then his crisp white short, snow-white socks, and red bow-tie. He looked up at her.
âMiss Nicola? I need to put these in my drawer as soon as possible. They mustnât get creased before Saturday.â
âOf course, MitzyâŠâ
He looked up. âI wonât be Mitzy when Iâm a pageboy. Iâll be Tim. Pageboy Tim.â He gasped. He had found his pageboy shorts. He carefully unwrapped the tissue, unfolded them, and held them up reverentially by the waistband, eyes sparkling. âLook at these, miss!â
She was looking. Looking and trying to keep a straight face. Purple latex pants with ink leg frills! She bit her lip, and choked back her laughter.
âOh, how smart youâre going to look!â
âAnd they have a matching belt⊠See? These are next yearâs colours, you know, miss. But Iâve got them now! And look, here are my shoes⊠Red, see, so they match my cap and my tie. Brilliant!"
âAnd whatâs that little package?â She reached in and picked it up. âOh! A little pair of red latex gloves. How sweet. Amazing! Now I have something to attend to. Why donât you repack everything into the box, then weâll go to your room and put it all away neatly, and Iâll come and discuss the programme for the next few days. Yes?â
âSure, miss. Iâm so happy nowâŠâ
She had to get out of there. She closed the door and vented her amusement with a snort she hoped he didnât hear. In the corridor she ran into Cassandra.
âWhatâs the big joke?â
âOh my god, Cassie. That Tim. You should see his outfit for the wedding. Heâs so excited. I nearly burst out laughing. I mean, little tiny pink and purple latex shorts! And a bowtie! What does he think heâs doing? Heâll be a laughing-stock!â
Cassandra nodded slowly. âFirst of all, Nicola, he wonât be a laughing-stock. Everyoneâs been thoroughly briefed. Heâll be flattered and praised from all sides.â
âReally? How so?â
âMiss Poole has put the word around. This isnât going to be his last wedding â or his last event. She has big plans for her little pageboy â weddings, hen parties, dinners⊠A cute little diversion for any occasion, our own little amusing wunderkind.â
âBut how does he not realiseâŠ?â
âItâs sweet, isnât it? The thing about Tim is heâs really desperate to let everyone â but particularly the girls â know heâs a boy.â
âWell they wonât have any doubt about that when they see him in those little tiny latex pants!â
âWhat I mean is, he wants to show off and be admired. Itâs innocent vanity. I think itâs his antidote to his maid training. He does his best for one reason â to get our approval, and ultimately the approval and attention of his mistresses. But at the same time it confuses him, being dressed as a girl. It doesnât feel natural for him. But he desires female approval and proximity above all else, and it gets him that.â
âIs that all he wants? Doesnât he want a girlfriend?â
âThe girls found out a lot during his interviews. He has no duplicity. He blurts out what he feels, what he likes. He does have a sort of girlfriend at Pittâs Wood. But it seems she comes second to his friend Bobby, and second to his work. However he might complain sometimes, in general he loves being a boot boy. First of all he loves the feeling of latex pants. It makes him horny, and when he got his little latex gloves on as well he sometimes finds it difficult to keep his hands off himself. Second, he loves it because the uniform gets him loads of female attention. Itâs the same with the pageboy outfit. But heâs essentially a very shy boy, so he rarely really gets further than flirting, or being flirted with. When we pressed him he admitted he actually prefers to wear his pants and gloves and masturbate.â
âGosh, really?â She laughed. âWell, well, how sweet. I donât know what to say â except that ESDS seems the perfect place for a boy with his exhibitionistic and fetishistic tendencies. Donât you think?â
âAbsolutely, Nicola. And I want him to be able to show off to his heartâs content. So until the wedding we wonât worry about his maid training. I want Carly to make him look as good as she can â facemasks, get his skin perfect, do his eyebrows, no makeup, mind, except for the tiniest touch of mascara. Oh, and no device for the time being. Saturday is his boy time â his last boy time for a week or two at least, I imagine. Lucille wanted to see him in his finery before he goes, so on Friday weâll have a dress rehearsal and she can interview him to make sure heâs presentable and heâs happy with everything. Serenaâs been invited to the wedding so sheâll drive him to the church Saturday morning, and bring him back in the evening. The following week he can go back into training and weâll focus on his makeup, so he makes a good impression when we send him to Connie Brookshawâs.â
âHow many uniforms is he going to take to Connie's?â
âA couple, plus sheâs ordered a special â sort of pink vinyl and crinoline creation â which should be in Wednesday or Thursday.â
âIsnât she the one who likesâŠyou knowâŠ?â
âHarnesses and masks? Yes, thatâs right. But she knows heâs a novice. She wonât be unkind.â
âIn at the deep endâŠâ
âNonsense, dear. He has to learn his trade. And I predict heâs going to be one of our most popular maids.â