Mike’s last day at work (for a while?) Ballroom dancing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t realise just how important it would become in shaping my future, until I had to take the place of one of my bosses following an accident. Dancing Queen A novel by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2013 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 9 — Mike’s last day at work

Mum offered to loan me some of her clothes to enable me to go into work on Monday morning dressed as Michelle. However, I didn’t have Sarah’s wig available and there was no way that I was going to travel in on the bus with short hair, whilst wearing a dress. I was still a little apprehensive about how she would react to seeing me dressed as a girl, for the first time.

‘Th-thanks, Mum, but I would prefer to wait until my visit to Joan’s salon this evening before I make the transition.’

‘Alright then, it will give me the opportunity to look out some of my office work clothes that I no longer wear now that I’ve retired.’

‘Y-You know that I’ll be late home this evening,’ I said.

‘Yes and I’m looking forward to meeting my new daughter.’

I therefore arrived at work, dressed as Mike, and found that Richard had beaten me to it. After all the fuss over the last five days or so I felt a little embarrassed in front of him: much more so than I’d felt the previous week as Michelle.

‘Hi, Mike! Have you recovered from Saturday yet? I must say that you and that Alan guy performed excellently.’

‘Th-Thanks,’ I said, blushing slightly, as I took off my coat and started up my computer.

Helen arrived next: I hadn’t expected to see her in the office that day as she’d been working the previous Saturday, but it later transpired that she had arranged to take a day off the following week for a shopping trip to London.

‘So how did you get on Saturday, Mike?’ she asked as she sat down at her desk.

‘I th-think we did alright, thanks. At least we didn’t make any silly mistakes and the audience seemed to appreciate our efforts.’

‘I’m sure you did very well.’

‘They were both brilliant, especially Mike, given the handicap of having to dance whilst dressed as a woman,’ added Richard, from his desk.’

‘Some of us have to do that all the time,’ commented Sarah as she hobbled through the front door with the aid of her crutches, followed by her husband bringing a large blue carrier bag.

‘I’m pleased that you did so well, Mike,’ added Helen.

I smiled in acknowledgment but had the impression that she was a little disappointed to see me at work in male mode once again. This was confirmed a few seconds later when she added.

‘I enjoyed working with Michelle last week, and you looked so lovely on Friday evening, when I last saw you that I half hoped you might decide to continue with the experiment for a while.’

I wasn’t sure what to say in response to her as I was still wondering how I was going to break the news to my colleagues. However, before I could do so, Sarah chipped in and made the announcement for me.

‘Don’t be too upset, Helen; Michelle and her partner danced so well on Saturday that the Committee have asked them to take responsibility for the next three demonstration sessions, so Michelle will be re-joining us tomorrow.

‘Really! How long for?’ she asked, whilst not attempting to disguise that she was pleased by the news.

‘S-six weeks, I’m afraid,’ I replied, blushing a little.

‘From tomorrow morning until the middle of November, we will have a new female colleague working in the office, Michelle, and so we’ll be forgetting about Mike, for the time being,’ added Sarah.

‘That’s great news,’ Helen said, addressing me, but then added as an afterthought, ‘if that’s what you want?‘

There seemed to be no point in my pretending otherwise.

‘I- I think so, at least it will give me the opportunity to improve my dancing skills,’ I replied.

‘It’s not that I don’t like working with you as Mike, but it will be more fun to have another girl to talk to,’ she said.

Then, somewhat to my surprise, Richard agreed.

‘Yes, I was pleased when I heard that you will be coming back as Michelle.’

I blushed and wondered how he already knew.

‘I rang Richard last night to give him the news and he has agreed to video your remaining performances for us,’ explained Sarah.

‘I’ve put a couple of excerpts from Saturday’s video on You-Tube,’ said Richard. ‘They’ve already received a number of hits and several votes of approval.’

Rob, who had only come in to deliver his wife before going out on a job, was now on the point of leaving once again. He looked towards me to see how I was reacting to the various comments. I shrugged my shoulders.

‘I j-just hope that I’ll get on alright and don’t let you all down,’ I said.

‘I think that Michelle is going to be an asset both to the ballroom dancing society and also to us at work,’ he said and then left.

Richard was also now getting ready to go out on a site visit.

‘Sarah, would you mind if we had a quick look at those video clips before any customers arrive?’ Helen asked.

‘Alright, but please be quick,’ she replied.

We crowded round Richard’s computer to look at them. They were a lot better than the majority of amateur clips of ballroom dancers, I’d seen.

‘Wow, I think you both looked brilliant,’ commented Helen.

‘Thanks,’ I said, now feeling quite proud of my performance.

‘When Richard has filmed all of your demonstrations, we can perhaps edit the material and sell DVD copies on behalf of the Society,’ said Sarah, then added ’as long as you and Alan are agreeable.’

‘I w-w-won’t object as long as nobody uses my real name,’ I said.

Once all the initial fuss and congratulation was over and Richard had left the office, work seemed a little duller for me in the role of Mike than it had been the previous week as Michelle. I even began to look forward to her return the following day. I was also conscious of the return of my stammer after several days in which it had disappeared, so was less willing to enter into conversations with my colleagues and less inclined to answer the phone unless I really had to. Instead I found myself working on the computer updating our entries on the Rightmove database for most of the morning which was a task that no-one particularly enjoyed doing. At one point I noticed the Johnsons, the elderly couple that I’d dealt with the previous Friday when I was dressed as Michelle, were heading in the direction of the shop. I just about managed to slip out to the back office in time, leaving Helen to deal with them.

‘S-sorry about that, Sarah,’ explaining my sudden interruption.. ‘I’m n-n-not s-sure how they would have reacted if they’d realised that the young woman they’d spoken to on Friday was really a young man.’

‘That’s why we didn’t want you switching backwards and forwards between Mike and Michelle at work,’ she replied. ‘It shouldn’t be a problem for you after tomorrow, though.’

‘I guess not.’

As soon as they’d left I returned to my usual place in the front of the shop.

‘They asked to speak to the helpful young lady that they saw last week,’ said Helen as I sat down again.

‘D-did they say what they wanted?’ I asked.

It looks as if you may have interested them in being shown round that house at Houghton Regis that has been on the books for so long.’

‘S-So what did you say to them?’ I asked.

‘I offered to make an appointment for them to be shown round later in the week, or else they were welcome to come back tomorrow when you would be in the office once again. They decided to do the latter as they had a number of questions they wanted you to answer. It seems as if they appreciated the way you dealt with them.’

‘Maybe Rob is right and Michelle will be an asset to the business,’ said Sarah who had overheard the conversation.

Sarah had been due to show a young couple around a new housing development at midday but was no longer in a position to drive the office car. In any event, she would never have been able to walk round a building site on crutches and with her leg in plaster, she had therefore asked Helen to go in her place. Thus Sarah and I were alone in the office between eleven-thirty and two. As I was going to be leaving work early I felt duty bound to buy myself some sandwiches and a coffee to eat at my desk rather than go out for a lunch break. That way I could at least help Sarah if there was more than one caller.

‘With all the excitement last night, I didn’t really have a chance to ask how you got on with your mother?’ asked Sarah during a quiet patch.

‘N-Not too bad; that is once she’d told me off for failing to let her know about my demonstration dances.’

‘So was she alright about Michelle?’

‘Y-Yes, I think so. To tell the truth, she was quite positive about the idea. She loves ballroom dancing and was pleased to have me take part again, even if it was as a woman.’

‘So, are you all set for this evening?’

‘I g-guess so.’

I hesitated for a moment, before continuing.

‘Actually, I’m quite looking forward to it.’

Sarah smiled.

‘I thought so. I’m glad. I wouldn’t want you to do anything against your will.’

‘I’ll j-just have to sort out what I’m going to wear to work over the next few weeks.’

‘That reminds me,’ said Sarah who pointed to the large carrier bag, which Rob had brought in to work that morning, and asked me to bring it over for her.

‘Here is the dress and shoes of mine that you wore last week, which you are welcome to keep. There are also the underclothes that we bought for you. These will be my contribution to Michelle’s wardrobe. I washed everything over the weekend.’

‘Th-Thanks, I expect I’ll wear the dress in to work tomorrow as I’ll be going dancing afterwards.’

‘I’m hoping you will also receive some other donations in the next day or so.’

‘M-My mother has also promised to help out as well.’

‘Good, the more you have to choose from the better.’

During the course of the lunch hour Sonia and Louise from the Ballroom Dancing Society called in to the office bringing with them an old suitcase, which they presented to me.

‘Some more clothes for Michelle,’ said Louise. ‘We’ve both used the opportunity to go through our wardrobes looking for suitable items that should fit you and which we no longer wear. Some of the other ladies who are your size will be doing so as well.’

‘By the end of the week you should have a reasonable wardrobe for Michelle,’ added Sonia.

Sarah and I quickly had a look through the case in the back office, whilst there were no clients around.

'There's quite a lot here,' I commented.

'Yes, Sonia has a reputation for being a shopaholic when it comes to buying clothes and so often had plenty of barely used ones to spare,' commented Sarah. 'She also has a tendency to go for styles more suitable for a younger woman, such as yourself.'

Between the three of them I’d been given a number of dresses, skirts, tops, and shoes to wear over the next six weeks, with the promise of more to come. I would, however need to buy myself some more underclothes over the next few days.

‘It’s going to be quite a task for you to carry all of those clothes home with you tonight. Am I right in thinking that you have a driving licence?’ asked Sarah.

‘Y-Yes, I passed my test earlier this year and have been saving up for a car.’

‘Good, as one of our employees you’ll be insured to drive the office car. Helen should be back with it by three o’clock. You can then drive yourself and the clothes to Joan’s salon and afterwards take the car home for the night, so long as you bring hit back in tomorrow morning.’

‘Yes of course. Thanks very much.’

‘Those will be for your everyday and work clothes, there’s still the problem of your dance costumes for the demonstration sessions,’ said Sarah.

‘Y-Yes, I suppose so,’ I replied.

‘I expect I’ll be able to loan you another of my dresses for the next demonstration on Saturday week but I hope that some of the others will be able to help you out in later weeks. You’re also going to need to get used to wearing and dancing in higher heels than those that you wore last weekend.’

‘Really!’

‘Yes, but don’t look so anxious, it will be fun.’

‘I guess so.’

‘Once you are safely back in Michelle mode we can discuss your future costumes.’

‘Alright then.’

Helen came back with the car on schedule and I got ready to finish work at 3.40 pm. As I was about to leave she came up to me.

‘I suppose it is goodbye to Mike then.’

‘Y-Yes, at least it is goodbye to Mike for the next six weeks,’ I replied.

‘Or maybe it is goodbye to Mike, for the next six weeks, at least?’ she added with a grin.

I smiled, but didn’t rise to the bait.

‘I’ve bought a small present for Michelle, perhaps you’ll pass it on when you see her,’ she said, handing me a paper bag.

I opened it and found a lovely pink lingerie set, and a card to wish me good luck.

‘Sarah told me Michelle’s size.’

‘I’m sure that Michelle will thank you very much and that she’ll want to wear them tomorrow,’ I replied.

Next time: My transformation

Thanks to Bronwen for editing and to everyone else for comments and kudos which are always appreciated. The next chapter will be published on 21 December. Louise