Chapter 5

When I let myself in, I looked around and decided that I wasn’t going to bed until I had given the place a clean. I spent the morning, after clearing some space in the wardrobe and drawers for my new things, with a broom and duster, giving everything a good clean. Seeing that it was all modern surface finishes, it didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

There was nothing in the kitchen, so I would need to go to the shops to get some supplies. Before, I would usually eat at the local café, but decided that I really needed something for decent breakfasts. I put the trench coat on and found a shopping bag. I went to the café where I got much better service than I was used to, had a good lunch, and then went to the supermarket to stock up. Everywhere I went, people smiled at me and helped if things were on a high shelf. It was a shock to realise that I could have exposed more of me than I wanted had I reached up for things, although I did see a few old creeps waiting for just that to happen.

Back in the apartment, I put everything away and the time I had been on my feet caught up with me, so I stripped off, went to the toilet, found one of my new nighties and snuggled into my old bed, with the curtains shut, determined to sleep the clock around.

I did, in fact, sleep for about eighteen hours, with a few breaks for a pee. When I finally roused myself, I had a good shower, washing my hair with new products I had bought yesterday. I took my time to dry and then looked in the mirror to see if there was any odd hair that needed removing. I had a few things I wanted to do today. The first was to have a good breakfast, as I was now very hungry. I fried some eggs and bacon I had bought, added about four slices of toast, and heated a small tin of baked beans. After that I felt much better.

I sat in an easy chair and scrolled through the messages on my phone. All the people I knew would send me short texts because they knew that I wouldn’t read them for some time. It was only the advertisers and scammers that sent long messages, and my mother, who couldn’t help but send essays. After working through the list, there was only one from her, and when I read it, I called her.

“Hello Mum, it’s Jamie, what’s wrong.”

“Oh, hello dear, you’re home then.”

“Yes, Mum, it was a long session, this time. I went around the world twice in one duty roster and resigned when I got back, yesterday. I’ve just slept eighteen hours.”

“Resigned, why on earth would you do that. It’s a good job. It will not reflect well on your father, seeing that he must have done something to help you get it.”

“Mum, I really don’t care what happens to him. I worked first class on a flight which he captained. I found out that the girls call him Creepy Curtis and also discovered why. I’ve decided that I’ve admired him long enough.”

“Did he accidentally let you know that he plays around. I’ve known that for years.”

“You did? I never realised. Did you know about Janet in Norwich?”

“He talks in his sleep. ‘Janet, dearest’, and the rest of them. I’m glad you found him out. How did it happen?”

“That’s a long story, Mum, and I think I’d better come and tell you it, in person. I think you’ll be a little surprised with me when you see me. I’ve had a fundamental change in my point of view. Now, what’s this about you having to go into hospital?

“I’ll tell you that when I see you, darling. There’s some paperwork for you to read.”

“All right, I’ll pop around this afternoon, I’ve got to do a bit of shopping, first.”

I washed my breakfast things and went to dress. Now I was going to meet my mother as a girl, for the first time, I wanted to make a statement. I put on my best underwear, some nude tights, my new, blue dress, and a sweater, with the black heels with the straps around the ankles. I made sure that my hair looked good and took a lot of care with my make-up. The day was a little warmer, and that was good for what I had planned.

I took the car to the local shopping centre and hit the fashion shops. What I wanted was some things to get me through the colder days, and ended up with a couple of knit dresses, another good sweater, and some casual sporting things, such as jogging suit, leggings, long tees, and runners. I loaded my car with my bags, went back inside for some lunch, then went to see my mother.

When I knocked on her door, she opened it and looked at me.

“Yes, dear. What do you want?”

“I’m here to have the talk with you that we spoke about on the phone this morning.”

“Jamie! It can’t be. I had a son.”

“Exactly, Mum. You had a son, but now you have a daughter. One who has a great future in front of her.”

We went inside and she put the kettle on. We sat and I took her through the story, from the vomit on. She listened closely, laughed in all the right places, and frowned when I told her that Dad had thought that I was his daughter from Janet, and also made a pass at me. When I told her about the film, an abridged version without the kissing, she found it hard to believe that I had met, and talked to, all the stars I had met. It took me showing her the two contracts that allowed her to accept everything.

“Well, Jamie, if these numbers on the contract are anything to go by, it makes what I have to tell you a lot easier. My problem is that I have to have an operation. If I wait for the NHS to fit me in, I’ll be dead before my turn comes. I was going to let you know about this today. I can jump the queue as a private patient, but it will cost at least a couple of grand. I was going to ask you for a loan, with this property as collateral, which you get when I die.”

“You don’t have to do anything, Mum. I’ll talk to my agent about getting an advance to cover whatever it costs. Start making the arrangements and I’ll back you up. I have enough savings already to cover the initial costs, and will have more than enough by the end of the month. I may have to be in Hawaii for a while, but I’ll try to be by your side when I can.”

She started crying and then we hugged for a long time. When I left, she waved to me as I went to my car. She had told me that I really make a lovely daughter, not just by how I looked, but also how I acted and carried myself. I felt that I had become the person I should have been, except for an accident of chromosomes. I would have treated her to dinner, but it was her bingo night, which she went to with a few of her friends after they went to the local pub. My transition hadn’t gone far enough for me to subject myself to interrogation by her friends. I had met them, and they scared me.

I had nothing to do this evening and wanted to sort out my wardrobe. I planned to wear one of the knit dresses tomorrow, when I met with Jim. If I had a favour to ask, I wanted to look businesslike. I realised that I needed to look around for skirt suits so that I can present a confident persona when I attend future conferences with studio bigwigs. I also wanted to get some boots and other shoes for daily use. I used my serious side to make a list of things I might need to continue as the new Faith Inyew. There were official things I needed to do, considering that I would now have to go through customs as an ordinary person and my passport would have more than a cursory glance.

In the morning, I made myself a good breakfast, again, and washed everything up before I went to dress. One of the knit dresses was ivory, and black tights and the black heels looked good with it. When I looked in the laundry hamper, I realised that I would need to catch up with the washing. No more once a fortnight now!

With my trench coat on I left the apartment and walked to the bank. I got them to check my account and was surprised at the amount in it. When they looked at the screen, there had been two deposits overnight. One was from the airline with my owed pay and accrued leave, while the other was for five thousand US dollars with the note that it was my signing bonus. I now had more than enough to pay for Mum. I organised a safe deposit box, which took the two contracts. Finally, I transferred enough to wipe out my credit card bill and was much happier when I carried on to the tube station.

I sat in the train, aware of glances in my direction, and making sure that my knees were together. In London, I went to an electronic store and got the guy to work out what sort of computer I could use, never having the need for one before. I ended up buying a tablet, with the accessories and a nice shoulder bag to carry it in. He set it up for me with my phone company and gave me an email address. While we were settling up, I got a few emails, welcoming me to the service, along with one that offered a penis lengthening drug, and another that told me that I had won several million dollars, just needing to send all my details to receive it. It allowed him to show me how to get rid of these, permanently.

I stopped off at a department store and bought an ivory shoulder bag, big enough to put the tablet bag and my handbag in, so was reasonably uncluttered when I went to Victoria to meet Jim at the hotel. I left my coat with reception and was shown to his table. I was the fourth person there. Jim and two other gentlemen rose to greet me. Jim gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, while the others just shook my hand, gently.

“Guys, this is Jamie Lee Curtis, our next superstar. Jamie, the young one is Roger Alcone, while the other is Horatio Jermyn. Roger is in charge of our London Office and will be your go-to man when I’m not available. Horatio is our company lawyer, with a huge number of influential friends.”

Roger gave me a big smile, no doubt enhanced by his obvious Italian heritage. It did nothing for me, the girl who had already kissed Kurt. He was quite good looking, though. We were all seated, and our orders were taken before Horatio started to speak.

“Jamie, Jim has apprised me of your; shall we say, special circumstances. There are a few things that we need to do before you can travel freely. The first, as you are aware, is to change your name. Have you thought of one?

“Something said in Hawaii stuck in my mind. I wondered if Faith Inyew would work.”

He got me to spell it and typed it into his tablet.

“Sorry, Jamie, but that name has been used by several people, with different spellings. They’re mainly US citizens and look, to me, to be mainly religious. You can still use Faith, but something else for a surname.”

I thought for a moment, then realised that I needed something which would allow me to use my usual signature, so it had to fit J.L. Curtis, although the scrawl I signed could read anything you wanted to see.

“O.K. What about Julia Leigh Curtis, where we drop the last for a stage name. Does anyone have Julia Leigh?”

He looked on his tablet and muttered to himself.

“Other than Janet Leigh, there isn’t anyone in films. Although there’s an Australian author with that name. That shouldn’t be a problem. Do you have your passport with you? I can organise the name change with the issue of a new passport. When we have finished, here, Roger will take you to the office where he can take pictures that are suitable and email them to me.”

I dug into my bag and handed him my passport. Jim then spoke.

“You should have received your signing bonus, so that should keep you afloat until the first pay comes in. That will come to me, and I’ll forward it to your bank, less my cut. When we finish our meal, Roger will take you to the office, as Horatio has said, and there are a lot of contacts that we want to put on your phone or send to your computer. Do you have a good computer?”

“I bought a tablet this morning, will that do?”

Roger asked to see it, so I got the case out of my bag and handed it to him, after turning it on and logging in. He told me that it was absolutely all right, and then busied himself adding email addresses to my account, just saying that he’ll explain when we’re in the office, but this would save a lot of time.

Horatio was telling me about all the legal things that the agency could do for me, from taxation services to legal representation. In a lull, I asked Jim about helping my mother, telling him that she needed an operation, and I wanted her to go private.

“That’s not a problem, Jamie. When you’re in the office with Roger, call her up and ask who she sees, then we’ll contact the clinic and ask them to send a referral to one of our contacts. With the sort of clientele that we look after, we have a range of medical specialists who do work for us. We even have a clinic that would be perfect for you as things progress.”

I almost choked on the oyster that I was savouring, but managed to start breathing again, unaided. That was a thought that had stayed on the edge of my brain for a few days. For some reason, not only did I work well in a girl’s job, but it appeared that I had looked good doing it. Not once had I thought that I would throw off the clothes and go back to the half wardrobe full of my bloke things. That’s when I decided to get a pack of garbage bags and toss the lot.

We had a good meal that probably cost as much as I used to earn in a week. Jim started talking about some of the projects that had been discussed in Hawaii. If they all went ahead, I’d be working for a couple of years, at least. The guys were talking about them as if they were already signed and sealed. I asked if I had a say in it, seeing that there might be roles I’d be no good in.

Jim laughed. “Jamie, when I saw those two, totally opposite, screen tests, taken within an hour of each other, I could see that you will bring something magic to anything that’s offered. Remembering that what’s offered will already be discussed and fine-tuned to suit you. With everything, we’ll look at the scripts and the plot lines. We won’t allow you to be thrown into anything that hasn’t been looked at, from top to bottom.”

“That makes me feel better about all of this. I just hope that I live up to everyone’s expectation.”

We had some wine in our glasses, and Horatio proposed a toast to a future, full of joy, and, of course, good returns.

Roger handed me back my tablet, which I put in the bag, and we all stood. This time, both Jim and Horatio gave me a hug, while Roger waited to escort me to the office. He helped me into my trench coat, and we left the hotel, with the doorman hailing a cab for us. Sitting in the cab, he told me that he was really excited about my future, and that he knew that it would be hard work, on everybody’s part, to make sure it ran smoothly. I was starting to realise that I was now entering a world that had always seemed to be lived by celebrities.

At the office, he introduced me to the small team, took the required pictures, and then sat me down to go through the contacts on my tablet. I now had a preferred clothing supplier, a salon in the city, a shoe supplier, and a cosmetics supplier. He gave me cards for them all, with Younger Agents as the name.

“When we have your new stage name set and registered, we’ll get cards in that name, as well as business cards for you. In the meantime, these people will bill whatever you get to this office, and we’ll take it off your first million.”

This time, when he smiled, I had been with him long enough to know that it was genuine, and was meant for me, as a person. Then we got on to my mother’s problem. I rang her and, when we had spoken for a few moments, I told her that I was going to pass the phone to Roger Alcone, who would be able to sort out her problem.

He was very good with her, to the point that she told him to call her Agatha. She told him what her doctor had said and gave him the name of her doctor. Roger wrote that down and then told her that he would call her back and tell her when she would be picked up. He then called a name on a list and asked to speak to an eminent surgeon that even I had heard of. He told the person, on the other end, what the symptoms and prognosis was and asked when an operation could be fitted in.

When he had the answer, he wrote it down and then called Mum’s clinic, asking them to send a referral to the surgeon as he would be performing the operation. When they had assured him that it would be emailed, he then called Mum, again.

“Agatha, it’s Roger. You will be in the operating theatre the day after tomorrow. If you pack your things, I will arrange a car to pick you up tomorrow, around three in the afternoon. I wish you a speedy recovery.”

He listened to her for a while and assured her that it was all above board and wouldn’t cost her a penny. When he put the phone down, he looked at me, who was sitting there, agog at the speed it all happened.

“Don’t worry, Jamie. The surgeon has done work with us before, on other aging film stars. It will all be added to your account for later payment, so you don’t have to worry about a thing. Now, I suggest that you go and visit all of these shops who now consider you a valued customer, to introduce yourself and get some new things. It’s a girl’s dream come true, to shop without having to pay a penny. The salon, by the way, has worked with she-males and will look after you with utmost discretion, as well as more professionalism than you’ve been used to.”

He gave me two other cards. One was his, with his contact details. The other was a business card for a telco.

“That’s down on the ground floor. It supplies all our company phones. Show them my card and tell them you want a silent number. They will email me with that number for our files. Get them to set it up, then bring it with you tomorrow, so I can Bluetooth your tablet and migrate all the contacts to it. I’ll pick you up at eleven in the morning, and we can take your mother to hospital.”

He gave me a debit card to use with taxi and then gave me a hug when I left the office. By this time, his hug almost chased away the memory of Kurt’s kiss. At the telco, it didn’t take long to be given a phone that the office had standardised on, have it loaded with a sim card and connected to the service. This one, I realised, was my work phone from now, with only the contact list knowing the number. It joined my tablet in the carry bag.

Outside, I hailed a taxi to take me to the salon, thinking that the last time I had been in one was Sydney. At the salon, they asked to see my card. One of the girls asked me if I had a film yet, I told her that I was going to play opposite Kurt Andreessen and Jack Fellows in their next film. The attention ramped up by several notches after that. I was taken to a private room where I had to strip, completely, and my make-up and falsies were carefully removed. They went over every inch of my body, defoliating where needed and checking all the little spots and blemishes. They asked me if I had a card for the cosmetic company and, when I said I did, they asked what I was using now. I told them to have a look in my bag and then one of the girls went out to make a call.

By the time that I had been waxed, oiled and my breasts reinstated with a new set that were so much better than the previous set, I was feeling like a new woman. They were much better matched to my skin colour and were now sealed so that the join was invisible. When I was redressed and sitting in the hairdressing section, a girl from the cosmetic company had arrived. She talked with the salon girl and, while I was waiting for my hair to dry, they started working on me, fingernails first, now in fiery red, rather than company black. Once my hair was brushed out, they worked on my face, discussing my palette as they worked.

When they finished, they wanted a selfie with me between them. When I looked in the mirror, I really saw a film star looking back at me. The salon girl took my card to put through the till, while the cosmetic girl took my cosmetic card and used a mobile reader. I caught a glimpse of the total and asked her if that was the correct total.

“Yes, Ma-am. That includes my work with you today. It also is for a full make-up box that we will ship to Younger Agents for you to use on set, as well as a travel box for you to take on trips. If you have your handbag handy, please take out your old cosmetics and we can replace them with all that I’ve used today. You can use your card at any of our outlets around the world, our London outlet is in the cosmetic section of Harrods. If you allow us to use your image when your film is released, I’m sure that our payment will more than pay for what today cost.”

With all my cards returned, I took one last look at my reflection before thanking them all and going back out to continue my journey, now without a worry about whether I looked female enough.

Marianne Gregory © 2024