Memories - Girls' Weekend - Invitation

I saw the wrapped present on my counter, looked at it, at Emily. "What's that for?" I asked her.

"Just something I got for you."

I picked it up, it was obviously a book, opened it, it was a book on some regional wineries. "Thanks," I said, still confused.

She smiled at me. "You should read that before we go," she said.

"Go?"

"On our wine weekend," she said. 

"Wine weekend?"

She got a bigger smile on her face. "Look in the front cover."

I looked, found an envelope, opened it; it was an invitation. "You're cordially invited to spend a weekend with your girlfriend..." The invitation mentioned a bed and breakfast/winery that was apparently in the book she'd given me.

"You booked a b&b," I asked, smiling with her.

She nodded. "Sure did."

"Em..." I was looking at her, smiled with her. "You're so sweet," I said, "of course yes."

"You have to finish reading the invitation before you say yes," she said.

I looked at it, didn't see anything else. "I don't understand..."

"There's an asterisk," she said. I looked at the invitation, saw the small symbol. "On the other side," she said.

I turned the invitation over, there at the bottom was an asterisk with a note.

This is a girls' weekend.

"What's that mean, a girls' weekend?"

"It's a girls' trip," she said.

I still didn't get her meaning. "A girls' trip?"

She smiled. "No boys allowed, silly."

"No boys? You don't mean...Emily..."

"That's exactly what I mean," she smiled. "The invitation is for a girls' weekend, no boys, no boy things, just girls."

"But I..."

She left the room, came back with a box wrapped in wrapping paper. "Second part of the gift," she said.

I took it, opened it. Inside was an outfit, a cream sweater, a dark blue plaid pleated skirt, a bra and panty set, a package of black silky tights, and a pair of heels. "This is..."

"Traveling outfit," she said.

"Em...you...you want me to be...to be a girl for an entire weekend?"

She nodded. "If you want to go on the trip, yea," she said, "I told you, it's a girls only weekend."

Flashes went through my brain, traveling, checking into a bed and breakfast, touring wineries, dinners...

"Emily," I felt like I was having a mild panic attack, "I...I can't be a girl for a whole weekend."

"Why not? You do here?"

"Not in public?"

She looked at me. "You've been a girl in public before."

"Like at a club where it's dark and...and they're...you know...friendly."

"So? This is no different."

"This is a whole weekend. During the day...people...people will know..."

She looked at me, a grin. "When we do your hair and makeup, you mostly pass," she said. 

"I see some women look at me," I countered.

"Women are more perceptive," she said, "but more understanding, too. Men are oblivious."

"It's different at a club," I said, "it's expected."

"I already talked to the b&b," she said, "it's run by a gay couple and they have no problem."

"You told them?"

She shrugged. "It just came up in conversation, " she said, "and when it did, I thought you'd more comfortable if they knew and were cool with it, which they are. There's nothing to worry about, you really do pass."

I bit my lip. "The whole weekend as a girl," I said.

"The b&b actually has a restaurant, so we can eat dinner there; we'll do lunch at a winery. I know you'll be nervous, but really, no one will notice and those that do won't care."

"I...I don't know if I have the right outfits," I said. She laughed. "What?"

"The boy part of you is worried about the girl part; the girl part is worried about what outfits to wear."

"It's an issue," I said.

"Well you have one outfit," she said, "we'll go through your things and mine and see what we come up with; we can always go shopping."

"Seriously, you...you want a girls' weekend..."

"Yea," she said, "and just to be clear, no boys on this trip means no boys on this trip...meaning soft and tucked the whole weekend."

"We...we can't..."

"Yea, duh," she said, "you think I'm going on a girls' trip with my girlfriend and not messing around...but soft and tucked..."

"Emily, I..."

"You have to say yes, love," she said. "Yes to a girls' weekend with me."

"Of course, yes," I said, "of course."