Wednesday, 20th February, 2002

First day out!

And where better to do it than in New York? Graham had gone over for his 30th birthday, and we'd come to an agreement that he could have the 19th if I had the 20th *giggle*

The hotel I was staying in had nowhere to get a coffee — and I can't face the world without one, so first of all Graham went out to fill up on caffine. When he got back to the hotel he asked the guy on the door whether or not it would be safe for me to go out and walk down to the East Village. Suitably reassured, I got dressed and ventured out in my denim skirt, a black polar-neck, and a pair of trainers.

I'd already bought a handbag at the Gap the day before.

Anyway, I walked down 2nd Avenue — a bit nervously to be honest — carefully checking the reactions of the people I was passing. And on the whole, no-one batted an eyelid! OK, so I got the odd stare, and a couple of children giggled a bit, but I felt soooo relaxed.

I pottered around for a bit — I didn't have the guts to go into any shops or anything, I just wandered round the streets. I felt so free!

Then, I seemed to take a bit of a wrong turn, and kinda found myself in an area that didn't seem as nice I'm sure it was OK really, but I started to feel just a bit self-conscious. And it didn't help that I could hear footsteps behind me ...

... suddenly this guy walked past me from behind. He turned as he passed, smiled and said "Hi, how are you?" with a big smile on his face.

"I'm a bit scared" I said

"Don't worry, you look great in panties"

That kinda threw me a bit — but it was cool *grin* Although I decided that maybe that was enough daylight exposure for my first time, and I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night.

I had arranged to meet up with Cynthia Majors in a bar uptown that evening, and I figured that I should change into something a bit more smart. So When I got back to the hotel (and *giggle* after running round my room in a flap, grinning to myself, and marvelling at what I'd just done), I took off my denim skirt and put on a little knee-length black pencil-skirt.

Except that I suddenly realised that even though I had pretty thick tights on, my hairy legs were totally obvious! (Graham doesn't shave them as much as I'd like *sigh)

*Eeek* What to do?

Well, there was only one thing for it *giggle* I had about two hours before I needed to leave the hotel, so out came the razors and I spent a rather pleasurable time with my legs resting on the sink, scraping the hair off my legs. Silky smooth *grin*

I put my heels on, picked up my coat and headed out the hotel. I had intended to walk, but it was about 30 blocks uptown which would have taken me about an hour in trainers, and a lot more in heels, so I stuck my arm out and hailed a cab. (You should have seen the cabbie's face drop when I opened my mouth to tell him where I wanted to go *giggle*)

I got to the bar earlier than I wanted to, so I walked round the block a couple of times. It was dark by then, and no-one paid any notice to me, except one guy who called out to me "Miss! Miss!"

I wasn't expecting that! I turned to look at him, hoping he was calling after someone else ...

"Miss! You're a guy, right?"

*Eeek* What to say? I panicked ...

"Yeah, I am"

"Oh, sorry"

And with that, he walked off with a big smile on his face. Cool! Except I really wanted to run after him and ask him what it was that had given me away *grin*

Anyway, I went into the bar, and walked through a room full of men in suits to get upstairs where Cynthia had said she'd meet me. Except, I didn't know what she looked like, so I kinda plonked myself down at a table, hoping that she'd see me and come over. Actually, she wasn't there yet, and she came in just after me.

I had such a fantastic time with her! She was sooo lovely! We talked for ages — she told me about herself, and I told her about me. Not only was this my first real night out, but it was also the first time I'd ever met anyone the same as me. It was so nice to be able to relax and be myself!

We went back downstairs to have a meal, and got serenaded by the guys that were there. It was cool *grin*

I've never had such a good night in my life. When I eventually got back to the hotel, I just stood in front of the mirror for about an hour, grinning to myself. I didn't want the night to end sigh