Three Dresses for Charlie

Down a Girl

"You know, I can cook..."

"Really? Are you offering?" Lilly asked.

"Sure, I can follow recipes. My mom used to work late and she'd pay me to help out. I took a summer cooking class."

"Cool, this'll be fun, why don't you read over the recipes and start prepping food when you're ready. I'm going to set out the dining area." She ran over to a clothes rack, pulled down an apron and tied it around Charlie. "Trust me, you don't want to mess up those clothes. They're expensive." The apron was rather large and frilly with yellow trim. Charlie tried to put out of his mind what he must look like and got to work.

None of the recipes were too hard to follow, and a lot of the food was already prepared and sitting in the fridge, but Charlie did have to bread chicken and make stuffing.

Things went smoothly. Lilly was in and out of the kitchen while Charlie cooked. Forty-five minutes later, Georgia and Ms. Hughes came in the side door.

"Hey Lilly, are you here all by yourself?"

They both stopped cold when they saw Charlie working the kitchen.

Ms. Hughes chuckled politely and spoke, "Oh, nevermind. You've got it covered. Thanks Charlie!"

"Not a problem Ms. Hughes," he said.

"I guess not. See Georgia, boys can be quite useful."

Georgia didn't seem her usual snarky self. She was quietly looking Charlie over. Her eyes got wide, and she stared at him. Once she did speak, her voice was shy, and her face red. "I guess you do have it covered."

"Thanks, You okay? You look shocked." Charlie asked.

Georgia slowly tilted her head to one side as she gazed into his eyes. "No, I'm just impressed." She turned abruptly and left the room.

Ms. Hughes waited for Lilly to get back to waiting on guests, then she cupped her hand over her mouth and commented to Charlie, "Don't take this the wrong way. But when I walked in, I thought you were your mom, in that apron. Like when we were kids."

Charlie had forgotten about the apron, as there weren't any mirrors in the kitchen. But when Ms. Hughes left. He took the opportunity to make a quick run to the bathroom and look at himself. The apron was made to go over the yellow kitchen dresses that the girls wore, but it also fit very nicely around his grey suit, and made it look a lot like a dress. He took a step back, and it was very easy to see himself as a girl, like pictures of his mom when she was his age. He blushed, feeling equal parts embarrassed and guilty.

After he was done helping with dinner, he took the apron off, and Lilly told him to go up and get Georgia to deal with the dishes. He wasn't sure how well this would go over with her, but when he knocked on her door, she greeted him with the same strange look she had in the kitchen. She looked him over briefly, though this time disappointed.

"Fine, I'll finish up." She said, sounding annoyed and left for downstairs.

***

Charlie helped out in the kitchen twice that next week. Both times during Lilly's shifts, and both times, Georgia came back a little early from whatever she was doing to help them cleanup. She'd chat casually with Lilly, but Charlie caught her glancing quietly at him whenever she had the opportunity. She wouldn't make eye contact, so he didn't say anything.

A few days later, Charlie came back from town to find Georgia frantically working in the kitchen. When he tried to ask what the fuss was all about, she shushed him and ran out to the dining room with a tray of silverware.

She returned and started explaining while she was prepping food.

"Harriet Bowman, the owner, just called. Ma'dam Bowman. She's bringing eight people for dinner. Lilly and Kate are off at a movie, I don't know which one, but I'm sure they have their phones off, and Ms. Hughes drove over to Whitebell to buy fabric. We never get anyone here on a Wednesday. So I have to handle it all myself." Georgia shook her head, looking exacerbated.