Chapter Two: The Appointment

The website looked discreet but warm: Ava & Co. Transformations—NYC’s Premier MTF Makeover Studio. Tasteful before-and-afters. Testimonials that sounded like whispered confessions. A calendar widget with a few weekday openings and a handful of Saturday slots that vanished as he hovered over them, like they were frightened of his indecision.

Arjun booked a Tuesday evening under the name “A. Patel.” It took him half an hour to press confirm and three seconds to pray he hadn’t made a terrible mistake.

Chapter Five: Unfolding

The week after the salon night stretched like a taut string. Aria returned to her daily rhythms—emails, project deadlines, cooking lentils in her tiny kitchen—but everything felt changed. When she brushed her teeth in the morning, she remembered the pressure of Ava’s finger on her lips. When she sat on a Zoom call, she caught herself touching the ends of her hair, twisting them the way she’d seen Melissa do.

And at night, when she looked at the photo gallery Ava had given her, she no longer saw “costume.” She saw herself, whole and luminous.