Phyllis: Part Twenty-Three

~ beetleypete

This is the final part of a fiction serial, in 822 words.

If he was expecting Alan to be angry, Terence was wrong. He was both apologetic, and very affectionate.

“I am so sorry about what happened today. It was a trumped-up accusation at best, and that Clive was behind it, I’m sure. My Chief Inspector made it work for him. He must be involved in Clive’s life somehow, as we have been trying to nail that weird bastard for ages, but no charges or warrants ever get past my boss. As soon as I saw your name and address on the warrant, I just knew it must be malicious, but I had to go through the motions. We always knew that it would never result in a charge, let alone a prosecution, so I’m guessing it was a half-arsed scare tactic. I beg you to forgive me”.

With that, he flung his arms around Terence, and showered him with kisses, even though he was not dressed as Phyllis. That made one thing obvious, and irrefutable.

Alan had always known Phyllis was a man dressed as a woman.

He hadn’t asked Terence not to tell on him, and never even mentioned the possibility that he might. That not only meant he had some trust that would not happen, but also a desire to retain the status quo in their relationship, such as it was.

Terence decided to take him up to his room for a drink, keen to know more. He didn’t have to wait long for Alan to explain.

“That allegation would never have got off the ground, if it wasn’t for whatever hold Clive has over my boss. No evidence, nothing at all. Just an unsubstantiated claim by a boy that could not be backed up by anything whatsoever. I don’t know how or why you upset Clive, and I don’t want to know. But I can assure you nothing will be continued in the case, and I really hope nothing will change at New You, or between us. I cannot stress how much coming here means to me. It is all that I live for now”.

Assuring him that everything would be okay, Terence told him about what he knew of Clive, and that he intended to expose him with the photographs and the DVD films. He thought Alan would be pleased, but he wasn’t.

“Please, please, don’t do that. Clive tried and failed, and he will fade away. He used his ace in the hole, and it didn’t work. If you try to expose him now, my boss will be caught in the crossfire, and who knows who else. God forbid they should find out about New You, and expose all of your customers. That is likely to happen, and you must know that. Leave well-enough alone, and we have a chance to be happy here”.

Pouring him another drink, Terence reassured him that he would think it over. But he had already decided to take that advice. Life was good in Horncastle, and rattling cages or raking over old wounds would almost certainly change everything. When he had calmed down, Alan made a surprising request.

“Can we both go and dress? I badly want to feel feminine, and I need you to be Miss Phyllis. I have told my wife I am tied up on a case, so I can stay all night if that’s alright with you. I really don’t want to be alone as John Digby, and even though I always guessed you were a man, I would never have said anything if all this hadn’t come out today”.

For the first time that he could remember, Terence felt something. He had feelings for the man he knew as Alan, and that worried him. He realised that Alan being upset made him upset too. He readily agreed that they could both dress as requested, and that Alan could stay overnight. When they were both in their familiar characters, Terence took his hand and led him back up to the bedroom. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

The next morning, they were both awake early, and Alan had something he wanted to say.

“In less than six months, my daughter will be going to university, my mortgage will be paid off, and I can take my thirty-year police pension. I have been unhappy with my wife for years, but needed a push to make me do something about it. You are that push. I want to finish it with her, sort out the finances, make sure my daughter is financially stable, and then sell the house. I will have my pension lump sum, the house is in good equity, and my monthly pension is more than enough to live on, even after I pay off my wife. My dream is to come and live here with you, maybe invest in the business and develop it. What do you say, Phyllis?”

Smiling and happy, Terence said yes.

The End.

51 thoughts on “Phyllis: Part Twenty-Three”

  6. You surprised me, Pete. I thought there were going to be several more episodes, and Terence would get hung out to dry in the end. He fared much better than I thought he would.

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  8. (1) “Alan had always known Phyllis was a man dressed as a woman.” Oh man, oh man, oh man! Alan’s got female intuition down to a science!
    (2) Bad citation: “I cannot stress how much coming here means to me. It is all that I live for now. Well, that and watching reruns of Sergeant Stripes.”
    (3) “I should never have rattled my cage. I ended up being evicted from the zoo and cast as an extra on Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp!”
    (4) I like a little T&A in a story. But “Terence and Alan” is not exactly what I have in mind!
    (5) Overhead:
    Terence: “Tonight, my horn will crash through your castle door.”
    Alan: “Okay, but tomorrow we swap roles!”
    (6) John Digby: “I’ve been unhappy with my wife for years. I’m a henpecked man, Terence. And what’s more, Eleanor isn’t even feminine. She has short hair, wears crappy pantsuits, never shaves her armpits or her legs, doesn’t know how to cook, and watches sports all day on the telly while drinking case after case of Morland Old Speckled Hen!”
    (7) The New You franchise is destined to be listed on the London Nylon Stockings Exchange.
    (8) Terence chose as his company’s mascot Phyllis the Pheasant. The character became a true phenom after it was paired with Clive the Clumber Spaniel in an animated television series! (“The Americans can keep their Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons!”)

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