Chapter 22

A new employee

The resignation of Tom Evans from his job and the subsequent appointment of Clare Simpson were put into operation by Karen without a great deal of fuss the following morning. I handed over Tom’s letter of resignation, then sat down and completed a new application form giving my new name, address, telephone number, bank account details and of course showing my sex as female. I also made sure that my new signature looked quite different from Tom’s old one. Once I’d completed the form I gave it to Karen together with Clare’s birth certificate and national insurance number. She didn’t ask where these documents had come from and I got the impression that she preferred not to know.

‘I appear to have aged four years overnight,’ I said as I handed over the documents and she began to read through them.

‘Yes, I suppose you do look a little younger than the twenty-four years stated here, but as long as you continue to wear some makeup at work no-one is likely to question your age,’ answered Karen.

She checked the various documents, before putting them in a brown envelope.

‘Thanks Clare, these all seem to be in order. I’ll forward them to Head Office tonight. You realise, of course, that any National Insurance payments by the company will be credited to the wrong name.’

‘Yes, I know, but it’ll only be for a few months and I’ll be able to make up for them later, I answered smiling.

I then added as an afterthought: ‘unless of course I decide to remain as Clare until I retire.’

Karen looked up at me to see whether I was being serious or not, but didn’t make any comment.

‘I’m also going to need two passport-sized photographs from you; one to send to head office with your application, and the other so that I can issue you with a new ID badge.’

‘Here you are, will these do?’ I said as I retrieved the three remaining photos of me from my handbag.

‘Thanks,’ she said taking them.

She selected two of them and returned the third to me.

‘You are very photogenic,’ she said inspecting the pictures. ‘There are many girls who would love to have your looks.’

‘Thank you,’ I said, blushing slightly but beginning to enjoy such compliments.

Karen rang the Human Resources Department at Head Office and informed them of Tom’s resignation, saying that she would be forwarding his letter. At the same time she reminded them of their agreement to replace him with a part-time worker and requested their authority to go ahead and appoint Clare in his place.

‘Tom’s salary for January will be credited to his bank account by the end of the week, she said as she came off the phone. ‘They’re also happy for Clare to start work tomorrow morning, so let us now decide upon your new working hours.’

We were soon agreed. I’d begin at 10.00 and work through to 3.00pm, taking only thirty minutes for lunch, that way I could complete my required hours between Tuesday and Friday. That suited the job quite nicely as Mondays were always fairly quiet in the office and it would be useful to have me around to cover the lunch-times if Karen or Helen ever had to be away from the office. It also quite suited me as it meant that I would no longer be travelling during the rush hour and would also have the opportunity to get Suzanne settled for the day before I left for work.

‘If I ever need to take my friend for a hospital appointment, will it be possible for me to change these hours and make up the time?’ I asked.

‘Yes, of course, that’s one of the advantages of the new arrangements, we can be fairly flexible on both sides as long as you complete the right number of hours each week,’ answered Karen.

‘I’ll start work at 10.00am tomorrow then.’

‘Yes please. Did you have cause to speak to anyone from Head Office last week?’

‘No I don’t think so. In fact I can’t remember dealing with anyone there since the beginning of December.’

‘Good! In that case I suggest that you should avoid answering the phone for the first couple of weeks just in case anyone thinks that they recognise your voice once you start introducing yourself as Clare. Nobody will expect the new girl to be contacting them straight away.’

‘That’s fine by me.’

‘I also suggest that you should now remove any trace of Tom’s former existence from your desk and take the rest of the day off. We can start you off as Clare with a clean sheet tomorrow morning.’

‘Yes, it certainly will be a clean break with the past,’ I replied.

‘Well it is what you want isn’t it?’

‘Yes, I believe so. Having to go part-time has rather forced my hand, but on reflection, I’m not unhappy about the way things have worked out for me.’

‘In that case, good luck with your new life.’

‘Thank you. I’m sure I will continue to enjoy working here and will do my best,’ I replied.

There wasn’t a lot of evidence of Tom’s former existence in his desk; he wasn’t the sort to make much of an impact on his surroundings, or bring his personal possessions to work. What there was from him was quickly deposited in the rubbish bin. From tomorrow it would be Clare’s desk and would be populated with her belongings in the same way that her colleagues seemed to do. As I was clearing my desk Helen arrived in the office, having been out somewhere. She came over to greet me.

‘So Clare is officially one of us now,’ she commented, smiling.

‘I guess so, I’ll be starting work again tomorrow.’

‘I wasn’t referring to you as a colleague; how does it feel to be a full-time woman?’

I shrugged.

‘Pretty good, but I’ve been living as Clare for nearly four weeks now and so am beginning to get used to it.’

‘I’ll expect that you’ll find there are both advantages and disadvantages to the change,’ she replied.

‘Yes, I know, but so far things have gone well, thanks.’

‘I’ve spoken to the others and we decided not to get Tom a farewell present, but rather to buy something for Clare,’ she said taking out a rather nice deep red orchid in a pot, from a shopping bag. She gave it to me, together with a large pink ‘Good Luck’ card.

Karen and Debbie came over to have a look, as she did so.

‘Thank you very much everyone, but there was really no need to get me anything,’

‘Maybe, but we thought we’d encourage you to brighten up your desk a little — it was almost as if Tom was afraid of bright colours,’ said Debbie smiling.

‘You may be right there. I’ll do my best to be a little more colourfull but it will require practice to learn what looks well together,’ I said smiling.

‘Between the three of us and your friend Suzanne we’ll soon have you sorted,’ said Debbie.

Once I’d arranged my card and plant on the desk, there was just one task remaining before I left for the day. I wanted to have a brief private chat with Debbie. Fortunately it was then almost coffee time and Debbie was due to hold the fort for ten minutes whilst the other two went out to the café next door, so I offered to hang on and keep her company.

‘So how did it go yesterday?’ I asked, once the others had left us.

‘How did what go?’ she responded in mock innocence.

‘Debbie you are no doubt going to want me to tell you about how I get on with Andy later on, so you had better start telling me how it went with Guy. Remember that I have so much to learn in this respect.’

She smiled.

‘Alright, since you put it like that, I suppose I’d better tell you. I think it went quite well, and he has promised to call me again,’ she said in an excited voice.

Over the next ten minutes she proceeded to tell me what they’d said and done together on Sunday and also how she felt about it. She did so in an open, confiding, manner that nobody had ever used with me before, so that I found myself empathizing with her excitements and uncertainties regarding her new friendship. This was another aspect of being a young woman that I hadn’t fully taken on board.

Before I left work I phoned Suzanne to tell her that I’d be home at lunchtime. She too was anxious to find out how I’d faired, and to know the details of my future working arrangements. I suggested that we went out together for a late lunch, but she didn’t feel well enough. I therefore made my way home and made us both some soup. Suzanne was tiring easily these days and so she had a nap after lunch.

Once I’d cleared up I used my free time on the Internet learning more about myself. I found that the more I read, the better I began to understand who I really was, and why I’d spent the first twenty years of my life living in a shell. It hadn’t been an uncomfortable life, but was certainly one lacking in colour, excitement and adventure, which suddenly now seemed to be on offer to me as Clare. I tried to make sense of the enormity of what had happened to me over the last seven weeks. I’d changed from being a shy and retiring boy without any social-life to a confident and attractive young lady who now had two part-time jobs and an extensive wardrobe. I also had two female friends to confide in and if necessary discuss my feelings and emotions with, something I’d never done in my life before.

I woke Suzanne at six, to give her some tea and then we stayed in together watching TV for the evening until I helped her to get ready for bed. It was nearly midnight when I sat at my dressing table in my nightdress brushing my hair. As I did so I reviewed the events of the day. Looking after Suzanne would inevitably restrict my social life to some degree, but far less than living as Tom would have done. In any event, she was quite good company and had been adamant that she did not expect me to stay in with her every night. Since I’d now come to terms with the idea of living as a woman in most other respects, why shouldn’t I also have a boyfriend? The idea simultaneously attracted and repelled me. I pictured myself getting ready and going on a date: what I’d wear and how I’d react when we went out together. This in turn led me to wondering what I was going to say to Andy when he phoned the next day — if, of course, he did choose to phone after my rather luke-warm response to our first meeting.

Things went very smoothly the next day. Suzanne was soon settled and I actually had time to think about what I was going to wear. I’d also now got the process of getting myself ready - putting on makeup and doing my hair — down to a fine art. I arrived in the office at 10.00am on the Tuesday having had a far more leisurely and less crowded journey in to work than usual. For once I had a seat all the way and was able to read the fashion magazine loaned to me by Suzanne. I even stopped to buy a couple of my own plants as well to keep the orchid company.

As soon as I’d arrived and changed out of my winter coat and boots and put on some heels, Karen came over to my desk and handed me a new identity badge and a plastic sign for my desk, both in my new name, together with a desk diary for the New Year.

‘That was quick work,’ I commented.

‘Well I like to get organised,’ she answered. ‘Now remember Clare, for the next couple of weeks you’re the new girl around here so let the three of us answer the phones for the first few days. When you do begin to answer them and it is someone from Head Office, act a little dumb and ask a few basic questions so as not to give rise to any suspicions.’

‘They’ll think I’m a complete idiot,’ I said.

‘It is only for a week or two, then you can go back to being your normal efficient self.’

The disruption caused by my resignation and re-employment under a new name was now over and my three colleagues henceforth accepted me as one of themselves. No further reference was made to my former life or identity. In the event, I had more than enough to do in catching up with paperwork without answering the office phones. In fact the only phone call I answered that morning was one on my own mobile.

‘Hi Clare, it’s Andy. If you remember, you suggested that I should call you this morning. Maybe we could meet up and have lunch together?’ he asked.

He actually sounded nervous; very much the way I felt.

‘No I’m afraid not Andy. I’m only taking half an hour and I’ll be covering for my colleagues for most of the lunch period, but I’m glad you phoned and would like to have a talk with you sometime soon. I could be free any time after about 3.30 pm this afternoon,’ I answered.

‘Will it be good news or bad news?’ he asked.

‘I hope it won’t be bad news,’ I replied laughing. ‘There are just a few points of clarification I need to make with you first.’

‘Oh dear, that sounds a little ominous, but we’d better get it over with. I suppose that I could pop out from work for an hour this afternoon. There is a cafe that I use close to St Paul’s tube station, why don’t we have tea together there at 4.00 pm?’

‘That would be nice, if you can spare the time,’ I replied.

‘Anything for you, my lady,’ he said with mock courtesy.

‘I’ll look forward to it, kind sir,’ I replied smiling.

Andy and I met, as arranged. The café that was close to his work, but also quite convenient for my journey home on the Central Line. We greeted one another a little shyly, and sat down at a secluded table. When the waitress came I ordered a tea but turned down the offer of a cake.

‘So what did you want to say to me?’ he asked once our drinks had arrived.

I related to him the events of the five momentous days since we’d last met, including the fact that I was now working part-time but had agreed to remain living as Clare whilst looking after Suzanne. He listened intently as I told my story, but didn’t appear to be particularly surprised by any of the events. It was almost as if my change of gender was nothing out of the ordinary.

‘So what are these ‘points of clarification’ that you need to make?’ he asked when I finished.

‘Andy; I should be happy to go out with you, if you want me to, but only on the understanding that you always treat me as a woman and never make any reference to my past gender.’

‘Yes of course,’ he answered sounding quite surprised that I should have asked. ‘I’ve only ever thought of you as a young woman, and have no interest in your past or wish to think of you in any other way,’ he said gently touching my hand for a moment as he did so.

I felt a brief sensation of pleasure as we touched one another, and my cheeks coloured a little. He then seemed to become self-conscious and moved his hand away. I felt a dash of regret as he did so.

‘Also, if I’m to continue dressing like this it’ll be quite expensive and I can’t keep relying on Suzanne all the time. I’m only now working part-time, so I’d better warn you that I’ll not always be able to afford to pay my share when we go out together.’

‘Look Clare, if I ask you to go out with me then I’ll expect to pay; your responsibility is just to look beautiful,’ he answered.

I blushed, but was quite pleased with his answer.

‘In that case, I’ll be happy to go out with you sometime, if you ask me nicely.’

He smiled and seemed genuinely happy.

‘Clare, would you like to go out for dinner this coming Saturday night, and then perhaps we could go on to a nightclub afterwards?’

‘That’ll be nice,’ I answered. ‘I’ll need to make arrangements to make sure that Suzanne is alright, but it should be alright.’

‘Great,’ he said continuing to look really pleased with himself.

We finished our teas and then he walked with me to the tube station, before returning to his work. As we walked along the pavement our hands brushed against one another. I made no attempt to move away, and so he took my hand. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze in acknowledgment.

‘Where shall we meet on Saturday?’ he asked, as I was about to go in to the station.

‘You know where I live. Would you be able to come round to collect me at my place at about 8.00pm? ’ I suggested. ‘Then you’ll be able to meet my flatmate Suzanne before we go out?

‘Yes, of course, I should like that.’

We were about to go our separate ways when I turned to him.

‘Andy, thank you for being patient with me,’ I said kissing him on the cheek.

‘I hope it’ll have been worth it,’ he replied and then kissed me on the lips.

As he did so, I opened my lips to let his tongue come inside my mouth and allowed my body to be drawn closer to his. I could feel the shape of his erect penis under his clothes but was also conscious of the beginnings of a similar reaction from my own, which was fortunately tucked out of the way between my legs. Not sure how to react, I pulled away and muttered goodbye, with a promise to meet on Saturday evening, before disappearing into the tube station.