Julie was up, dressed, had put on her makeup and prepared us both breakfast by 8.30 am on Sunday. I told her to slow down as it would only take us twenty minutes to drive over to Bracknell and Susie wouldn’t want us to arrive before 10.00 am. Also I’d prefer not to run into her mother, if I could avoid it, just in case word of our visit should eventually reach my parents.

‘I’m sorry to hurry you Jenny, but I’m so looking forward to having my extensions put in and my nails done,’ she said by way of explanation.

‘I’d rather gathered that from reading your blog,’ I replied coolly. ‘You do realise that once the extensions are sewn in, it’ll not be easy for you to take them out again. The same will also apply to the nail extensions, if you have them done. You’ll be taking two further steps along the road, to becoming a young woman, and together with the glued on breast forms, it would probably take several hours to change you back into Julian,’ I commented.

‘Yes I know, isn’t it wonderful? That’s why I’m so anxious to get going this morning,’ she replied looking me straight in the eye.

She had a gleam in her eye as she said this, but deep down I knew she wasn’t joking. My sister was single minded on this subject. She knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t going to be deflected. I tried to look serious but in the end couldn’t help smiling at her girlish enthusiasm.

‘Alright, as long as you’re sure that you know what you’re doing, I said.

‘Yes, believe me, Jenny, I am sure,’ she replied, more seriously.

‘Well, since you’ve chosen to put on some makeup this morning, I think I’ll do the same myself,’ I said, glad of any excuse to delay her for another fifteen minutes or so.

We arrived at Susie’s house at 10.30 am by which time her mother had already left. She had everything ready for our arrival.

‘Hi Jen, Julie,’ she said as we arrived.

Then turning to me she said: ’wearing makeup on a Sunday morning Jen? I can see that your sister’s been having a good influence on you.’

‘It’s nothing to do with me, she has started dressing more carefully to impress her new guy,’ said Julie.

I coloured a little and stuck my tongue out at her.

‘Now then ladies, no rowing today please. Jen, you can tell me all about him during the course of the morning. Julie, when did you last wash your hair?’ asked Sue.

‘I washed it last night and also again this morning.’

We both looked a little surprised.

‘I woke up early and knew that I wouldn’t get back to sleep as I was so excited — so I decided to wash my hair again,’ she continued as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

‘Well that’ll save us one job this morning,’ Susie continued. ‘Now take off your wig, put on this cape and come and sit at the sink. We’ll need to lighten your hair first and then colour it.’

Julie did as she was instructed.

My friend knew what she was doing when it came to colouring hair as she regularly did it for her customers. I just held the pot of dye or passed her the brushes, whilst I gave an account of my date with Joe, and then Susie gave us an update on her love life. Julie listened intently and, to be honest, we both rather ceased to be aware that just one month before she’d been living as a young man with two surviving parents. As a result we may have ended up divulging a little more grubby detail than we ought.

Just over an hour after we’d started my sister emerged as a natural looking blonde. The new colouring suited her and I’m sure if Susie had just given her hair a little more style and shape she could have successfully passed as a girl without either a wig or extensions, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough for her.

‘Of course you’ll need to touch up the roots every three weeks or so, as your hair grows, but Jen should be able to help you do that,’ said Sue.

‘Until mid-September, I added in my own mind, but didn’t say so out loud.

‘Here is the hair piece that I’ve bought for you,’ she said.

She produced one piece on a continuous cotton edge about three feet long and made up of strands of blonde hair about 18 inches in length.

‘The length of the hair is really great, but does the colour match my new hair?’ asked Julie, holding up the hair piece next to her own.

‘It looks fine to me,’ I said.

Julie sat in a second chair, next to a small table.

‘Don’t I at least get to see what’s going on,’ she asked, noting that there was no mirror in front of the chair.

‘It’s not really practicable as we’ll be working at the back and sides of your head mainly. I’ll try and explain to you what I’m doing but you’ll just have to be patient until we’ve finished, then you can look at yourself in the mirror for as long as you like,’ said Sue.

‘Alright then,’ she replied.

‘I’d normally begin by dampening your hair, but it is still a little damp from the colouring. Jen; perhaps you could help me with weaving the braids which will anchor the extensions.’

I’d never seen hair weaving before and didn’t know what was involved but agreed to help if I could. Sue carefully combed Julie’s hair upwards creating a parting that went round from one side, round the back and to the other side of her head, explaining what she was doing. She then used a band to hold the hair out of the way. Sue then took a small tuft of the remaining hair which was divided into three and she began to weave a narrow cornrow braid that followed her hairline. I took over from her whilst she started from the other end. It was a fiddly job, but I was making progress. By the time I had finished mine Sue was almost finished with her second braid which went round the back of Julie’s head.

‘Fortunately your hair is long enough to enable us to use braids,’ Susie said to Julie. ‘Jen and I will now sew them together and also to some of the surrounding hair stems to create one continuous braid that sits close to your scalp,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be using curved needles to avoid accidentally digging into your scalp.

‘Is there any danger that they may come out?’ asked Julie.

‘Not if we do it properly. We’ll be using a strong thread which matches your new hair colour.’

Having sewn the first row of braids together and to her scalp, Sue and I repeated this process two more times to create three continuous braids round the sides and back of her head of her head.

‘How do they feel Julie?’ I asked.

‘A little tight, but not too uncomfortable,’ she replied.

‘Good! They do need to be quite tight to begin with, but after a little while you’ll probably not even notice them,’ said Sue.

‘I hope so.’

Sue continued with her running commentary.

‘I’m now going to divide the hair piece into three lengths to correspond with the braids and then we’ll begin to sew the lowest one in place.’

Once she’d put in the first few stitches Sue asked if I’d like to carry on, and so I carefully watched as she did the next two stitches, and then tried a couple of my own. Sue seemed quite satisfied with my efforts.

‘If you’d like to continue with the sewing, I’ll make a start on her finger nails,’ she said.

‘Alright,’ I agreed, ‘but you’d better finish each piece for me and start the next one.’

‘By the way, am I doing one or two sets of nails today?’ asked Sue.

‘Two,’ said Julie definitively. ‘Jenny is going to have hers done as well but it’ll be my treat, to thank her for being such a wonderful sister to me.’

I sighed, but couldn’t very well refuse as she’d put it like that.

‘Alright then, as long as there’s enough time after you have finished her hair,’ I replied.

Sue asked Julie to hold out both her hands for her to inspect.

‘Your fingers aren’t bad looking, given that you used to be a boy, but the nails are not long enough to shape properly without some acrylic extensions.

‘I know,’ agreed Julie eagerly.

‘Will the extensions come off if necessary?’ I asked.

‘I’ve no intention of taking them off once they are fixed,’ said Julie.

‘Maybe not, but I might want to remove mine at some time,’ I said.

‘Don’t worry; there’s an acetone solution which is used to soak them off. It takes about twenty minutes,’ said Sue, 'although it would be a waste of money if you did so.’

The next quarter of an hour was spent by Sue in cleaning, shaping and buffing Julie’s existing nails, pushing back the cuticles and removing any dead skin. In the meanwhile I carried on sewing the hairpieces, interrupted only when Sue checked that I was still doing it right, or else tied off the end of the first piece and started the beginning of the second. As we did so, the three of us started chatting. Sue and I began speaking about former boyfriends, and moved on to clothes and other things. Julie again listened intently and taking it all in but also joined in from time to time.

As soon as the nails were ready Suzanne took out a set of acrylic nail forms from her drawer which she carefully shaped, trimmed and filed to fit over about a third of each of Julie’s existing nails, explaining what she was doing all the time. Once each tip was finished she painted a primer on to its surface and put it on one side to dry.

‘I’ll put some adhesive onto the underside of each new tip and on to about a third of your natural nail, ensuring the edges are well covered. We leave it for a few seconds then I gently attach it to your nail, rocking it into place and holding it for a few seconds, whilst pressing gently at sides to give us the most secure bond.’

Julie held out her hands and said nothing as she gradually acquired a set of new nails. By the time Sue had stuck on the last one, the first was entirely secure, She therefore shortened and shaped the tips and sides and blended the overlap as far as possible in to the natural nail surface using an emery board.

‘Once I’ve finished these extensions will be at least as strong as your natural nails,’ she said to Julie, as she brushed away the dust. ‘We now apply a coat of resin to your nails and the tips, followed by a puff on to them with a polymer powder, and then another coat of resin. Finally we’ll use a spray activator which causes a chemical reaction to harden the surface and will disguise any sign of the join.’

She carried out these actions on each nail in turn. Julie said nothing but just watched in amazement as she acquired some long, smooth and shapely finger nails.

‘Have you ever worn nail varnish before Julie?’ she asked.

‘Only on my toe nails, but I’m looking forward to doing so on my hands,’ Julie replied.

‘In that case I’ll give you a first lesson in how to apply nail varnish,’ said Sue. ‘I always use a base coat first. It evens out the nail and prepares it for the coloured lacquer. Once it’s on we have to wait until it’s completely dry, not just tacky. We then paint each nail with one straight line going from the base to the tip on either side and then another down the middle. Re-dip the brush if you find it dragging along the nail.’

She’d chosen a nail varnish that matched Julie’s lipstick.

‘I’m afraid you’ll now have to sit and do absolutely nothing for a few minutes,’ she said to Julie. ‘You need to wait for them to dry and then harden; it would be a disaster to spoil them at this stage.’

‘Thanks so much Sue, they look really lovely. I’ve always wanted to have long shapely finger nails and long hair,’ said Julie as she examined each hand.

‘Well in just over an hour from now you should have both,’ replied Sue.

Once I’d finished the sewing, Sue neatened off and cut off any remaining cotton. We then removed the band and clips from Julie’s hair and let it fall back into place. There was no sign of the braids or any indication that the hair wasn’t natural. Julie reported that the braids were no longer as uncomfortable as they had been, although she was of course still aware of their existence. Sue therefore sprayed on some warm water to dampen her hair again and proceeded to layer and style it. She was a very competent hair stylist and I could see it was going to look really good. Julie was anxious to see the final results, but Sue kept telling her to be patient. Eventually she put in some large rollers and Julie sat under the dryer.

Whilst we were waiting for Julie’s hair to dry, Sue made a start on manicuring my finger nails.

‘As soon as my hair is dry, please may I help with Jenny’s nail extensions,’ said Julie. ‘I’m anxious to learn as much as I can about beauty techniques. Maybe I might even work in a beauty salon one day after I’ve had my operation.’

I looked towards Sue and rolled my eyes. She just smiled back at me.

‘Alright then, we can do Jen’s nails together if you like.’

By the early afternoon I too possessed some long and elegant lacquered finger nails, for the first time in my life, thanks to the joint efforts of Sue and Julie.

‘I must admit they do look rather nice but they’ll take some getting used to. I’m not sure that I’ll be keeping them for very long, I’ll just have to see how I get on with them.’

Whilst my nail varnish was drying Sue took out the rollers from Julie’s hair, brushed it into shape and then at last held up a hand mirror to let her see for herself. I must admit to feeling a little envious of my sister's long blonde hair, and even wondered what it would be like for me to have mine done in the same way. Julie was beside herself with pleasure at the look and feel of her new hairstyle and finger nails, tossing her hair backward and forwards or else spreading out her fingers to admire the nails.

‘Do you have a full length mirror that I could use please Sue?’ she asked.

‘Yes, there’s one upstairs in my bedroom, the first door to your left at the top of the stairs.’

Whilst she was gone Sue turned to me.

‘Wow! She really does enjoy being a girl doesn’t she?’

‘Yes, it’s amazing. I used to think that Julian was really intelligent, but as Julie all she seems to be interested in is nail varnish and hair styles. But at least it’s something to take her mind off the loss of her parents,’ I replied.

‘Don’t knock the beauty industry, it’s how I shall be making my living,’ said Sue.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, but at least with you it’s a business enterprise,’ I replied.

‘Don't worry about Julie, it’s only a phase, that young girls go through,’ said Sue

‘Some girls go through,’ I corrected.

‘I expect, Julie will soon grow out of this interest in cosmetics and long hair and start being concerned with more serious things,’ she said.

‘I sincerely hope so, because from the middle of September onwards she’ll be on her own,’ I replied.

‘Since she’s so keen to learn, perhaps she could come and help out in my mum’s salon for a few hours each week, if she wanted to. She’s too young for us to employ, but there are a number of odd jobs she could do in the salon, such as sweeping up, serving coffee to the customers or taking out rollers. She'd be able to learn some more about makeup and hairstyling. We wouldn’t pay her but we would probably find some way to reward her efforts with free cosmetics or training,’ said Sue.

‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ I asked. ‘Supposing one of your customers recognised her?’

‘I’ve now spent a number of hours in your sister’s company and she's never given me the impression that she was anything other than a rather feminine young woman.’

‘Well I suppose it would give her something to do and get her out of the house. As you said, I can’t very well keep her locked up for the whole summer,’ I replied.

‘I’ll see what Mum thinks about the idea before mentioning it to her.’

‘Will you tell your mother the story about her background?’

‘No, perhaps not the whole story — I’ll just say that she’s your cousin and has recently lost both of her parents.’

Julie eventually came downstairs after having admired herself in the full length mirror for a good fifteen minutes, still in raptures about her hair and her polished finger nails. I doubt whether Sue had ever previously had such a grateful customer, as she paid the remaining money that she owed to her, including for my new set of finger nails.

‘I still have an hour to spare, would you like me to fix your makeup for you once again, Julie?’ asked Sue, clearly pleased with the appreciation of her efforts.

‘Oh yes please,’ she replied eagerly.

‘Would you also have time to do mine as well?’ I asked tentatively.

Sue looked towards me in surprise and then smiled.

‘Jennifer!’ she said, with emphasis, ‘I always thought you were above such trivial things as eye shadow and blusher.’

My cheeks coloured, thereby removing any need for the latter.

‘Well you made such a good job of Julie the other day that I thought I might get some ideas for when I go out with Joe on Tuesday night,’ I replied a little grudgingly.

My friend looked as if she’d scored a small victory as she smiled patronisingly at me and agreed to do so.