The Boss's new wife

Michael Stanford's life to date had been almost effortless. Born both handsome and intelligent to wealthy parents, he had gone to public school and oxbridge, and had then become an executive for a major bank. He had married beneath himself, a girl who had never been to university, and whose parents had run a greengrocers. Still, she'd at least given him an heir and a spare.

Life was good for the next twenty years or so. Michael bought a large house and sent his own sons to public school and oxbridge and they themselves became married, wealthy executives and carried on the family line.

Then, one day, Michael's life fell apart. His bank had been bought out by a bigger competitor and, following a restructuring exercise, Michael was made redundant. For the first time in many years, Michael had to go job hunting. Michael was in his forties and would only consider executive positions. He could not find another job, became depressed and turned to the bottle for consolation.

His wife, Lois, noticed that he had lost heart, in spite of her encouragement and reckoned that, in his current condition, her husband would not secure another position. A housewife since her wedding day, Lois realised that it was now up to her to provide for her family. She got a job as a filing clerk in a marketing company, and from that position, learned all that she could and began to come up with ideas to help the company. She became a star in the company and was rapidly promoted until she became an executive, earning more than her husband had ever earned even when he had been in his prime.

Seeing the rise of his wife and his continued failure to gain employment, Michael became resentful and frustrated and increasingly dependent on the bottle as a prop. In the past, as a wife, Lois had dutifully fulfilled her role at functions and had been immaculate in her presentation. Now that their postions had been reversed and Michael was now the spouse, rather than the successful executive, he was frankly an embarressment. He did not bother to shave anymore or make any effort with his appearance and dress and stank of drink. Lois could not even consider taking him to any company functions.

Lois confided in another female executive, Miranda, who was of the same age and was also married, and asked her how she coped with being the more successful spouse and what to do about her problem husband. Miranda merely invited her to dinner at her house later in the week.

Lois dressed up in her best frock and went to Miranda's house. Miranda earned more than Lois and lived in a mansion. Miranda greeted her warmly. Lois expected to be introduced to her husband, but he was nowhere to be seen. After a cocktail, the ladies sat down to dinner, and the three course meal was wheeled in by a woman wearing a flowery frock, stockings and high heels, wearing full make up. The woman served them their meal without commentary and attended their every need, re-filling their wine glasses and taking their plates away. She was, Lois thought, the perfect waitress.

After they had eaten, and the woman had departed to do the washing up, Miranda revealed that "she" was in fact her husband, Dennis. Like Michael, Dennis had once been a successful businessman but had lost his job and had gone off the rails, forcing Miranda to become the breadwinner. But, although she worked hard all day, Dennis still expected her to continue in her role as the wife too. This attitude was unacceptable and so Miranda had scoured the internet for problem husband solutions and had found websites advocating feminisation and role reversal. Role reversal seemed entirely logical since their roles had been reversed. As Miranda now earned the money and Dennis was dependent on her, this gave her the power to issue him with an ultimatum. Unless he could find a paying job, he would have to do housework. Dennis had been out of work for several years by this point and his pride would not allow him to take any job of lower pay and status than the one he had last held so he had no chance of getting another job and had to agree to do more around the house.

Miranda gradually got him to wear an apron, bought him silk underwear, male beauty products and silk nightwear. Dennis, as it turned out, quite enjoyed wearing silken garments. Over time, Miranda made him presentable by taking Dennis to the beauty salon she used for a manicure and pedicure. Dennis enjoyed being the centre of attention, and being pampered, and became willing to submit to beauty treatments, including depilation, nailcare and eyebrow shaping. Keen to show off his hairless legs and varnished nails, Dennis was amenable to wearing dresses and skirts, realising that being pretty was something that he was good at, and he wore them all the time, except when he had to go outside. His whole personality had changed and he had become more submissive and pleasant. He had channelled all of his energies into being the perfect housewife, as he had once been the successful executive in an earlier life. He could not attend company functions dressed as a woman of course, but did so in male attire and was perfectly behaved, drifting into the background, and allowing his wife to be the centre of attention.

Lois was stunned and amused by what she had heard and in a quandry. Would her husband accept being feminised and becoming in effect a "wife"? There was only one way to find out....

A year later, Lois invited Miranda to dinner at her house. By this point, Lois was now Miranda's boss as she had become a board member. Miranda had known what to expect but was still amused to see Lois's husband, attired in a designer dress and stockings, which showed off his shapely legs, serve them dinner with a curtsey and a smile.

Miranda and Lois now had "wives" that they could be proud of.