Tamara's Début   Part Eighteen   by Shiraz

 
 
Sunday 7th December continued
 

The drive to Wick airport was uneventful to the point of being boring. Michael pulled up in the short stay car park by the small terminal building then went to find a trolley for the luggage. Angela, however, began to have an attack of nerves and firmly refused to open the car door.

“Angela, it’ll be fine, I promise you.”

Tammy walked round the car and swung the door open, holding out her hand.

“I’m not going and I’m definitely not holding your hand!”

“We’ll tell Michael to take you back, if that’s what you want.”

“Fine.”

Tammy closed the door and went to speak to her father who had the tickets plus their passports. Then she began to worry: her passport still said ‘Thomas Edward Smart’ — her former legal name.

“Dad, do you think we can use my driving licence instead?”

“I’ll speak to them, put your passport away.”

Angela was getting confused, “What’s wrong?” She wound the window down after looking around to make sure no-one was nearby.

“My passport has my old name in it, I forgot to change it. I also look nothing like the photo, it was taken four years ago. I might not be able to fly if they insist on it.”

“Why do we need it anyway, it’s not as if we’re going to France or some other country?”

“It’s the new security rules, they have to know exactly who’s on the ’plane. The UK doesn't issue ID cards like other European countries so they say you have to have a passport.”

They waited a few minutes before they saw Richard returning, Angela was becoming less tense although she initially wanted to wind the window back up when a young couple passed him, pushing a small child in a buggy.

“Right, I told the airline you didn’t have a passport so they’ll accept the driving licence photocard. Angela, I had a little chat with them about you, they don’t think it will be a problem. I said you’d be getting your passport changed as soon as you’d had your surgery.”

“You didn’t!”

“No, but your face was priceless.”

She stared at Richard.

“Angela, they really said it was okay provided you still looked like your photo. Don’t worry, once we’ve passed the check-in you can forget about it.”

Somewhat re-assured, Angela began to get out of the car, but stopped again. She now had two contrary problems.

“Tammy, I need a wee.”

“Then come with me,” Tammy held out her hand, “I know where the loos are, I’ve flown from here before.”

“But I’m not holding your hand.”

“Fine, but if you don’t come with me you’ll wet yourself.”

Reluctantly Angela started to get out of the car, after checking again that there wasn’t anyone nearby. She had a fright when a small child ran into the car-park towards her, a parent in hot pursuit. Without a thought for herself she rushed out of the car to intercept the child, scooping her up.

“Oh, thank you, thank you. She’s a little scared and ran from the terminal when I took her out of her buggy.”

“That’s okay, I’m a bit scared myself.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” The mother smiled at Angela, who blushed brightly. “You’ll do fine, I love the skirt by the way.”

Tammy walked over and the woman noted her skirt. “Matching, that’s lovely. Are you sisters?”

“No, but I thought it would be good for Angela and I to wear matching clothes today.”

“That’s a lovely name, oh here comes my husband.”

The husband looked at Angela, his eyes showing that he was confused.

“Dear, this is Angela, and,—”

“Tammy.”

“Tammy. Angela just saved our daughter from an accident. You’re grateful, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course. Come on, we’ll miss our flight.”

Richard, who’d stood the other side of the car after loading the cases on the trolley, now approached.

“Are you on the Edinburgh flight? I’m Tammy’s father by the way.”

The husband was given a jab in the side and held out his hand to shake Richard’s. “Yes we are, I think we need to get checked-in soon.”

They approached the terminal, Richard and the husband in the lead, Michael was pushing the trolley. The girls walked with the mother and daughter, Angela, realised that a tantrum now would be counter-productive, especially as her bladder was complaining bitterly in the cold air; she was far from comfortable.

“Tammy?” She hissed.

“I know, we’ll get right there.” She turned to the mother and said they need to get there quickly.

“I’m heading there myself, I think the little one needs changing. I’m Sally Yates, by the way, my husband is James. The urchin is Becky, she’s two years old.”

“My father is Richard and that’s Michael who’s a friend of the family and our driver today.”

They entered the warm terminal and the three walked to the ladies loo. Angela abruptly stopping outside, shaking her head.

Tammy tried to pull her. “Don’t make a scene!”

Sally quickly realised what was happening. “Come on dear, I guess this is new to you but you’re only going to bring attention to yourself out here. Going into the gents is not an option right now.”

Angela began to cry but accepted Tammy’s hand as they went through the door. Tammy directed her to an empty cubicle then went into one for herself while Sally went to the fold-down changing station. Tammy was out swiftly and went to wash her hands, Sally however was having trouble with her daughter who was threatening to wriggle off the mat and on to the floor.

“Could you help me, dear?”

Tammy dried her hands then went to assist. They’d just finished when Tammy could hear sobbing from a cubicle. She went across to the door.

“Angela, Michael is still out there if you want to go back. Otherwise don’t ruin your make-up, we won’t have time to fix it until we’ve gone through security.”

The sobbing stopped but the door remained closed. Sally decided to intervene.

“Angela, you might have saved my daughter from serious injury, or worse, for that I can’t thank you enough. I also think you are very brave but you need to start believing in yourself, I can’t see much of a boy in you right now, you might not be very girly either but no-one will challenge you in case they get it wrong.”

“I’m not sure.”

“Like I said, when you believe in yourself you’ll find this easier. Would it help if I said that my own brother was like you?”

“Was he?”

“Yes, and had the same problems when he was out and about as a girl. Now, we’re going to miss the flight and I bet the men are starting to wonder what on earth we’re doing.”

Angela slowly opened the door and peeked outside. “Don’t forget to wash!”

She’d been so much in a hurry when she’d entered the loo that she hadn’t looked around. She saw how clean it was, very unlike any male facilities she’d previously used. As she used the dryer a couple more ladies entered. Angela had her back to them but nonetheless felt vulnerable.

“Angela, I’m sure they’re dry by now, come on.” Sally took Angela’s hand and they walked back onto the concourse. As expected the men were stood waiting, not pleased with the delay.

The speaker system announced their flight and Angela was pulled across to the desk. The woman there did a double take when she opened Angela’s passport and found Tim within. She shook her head but processed the tickets regardless. No doubt she’d have a laugh later but her recent training session on equality meant that she knew better than to say anything to the passenger in front of her.

They walked to security and placed their hand baggage on the conveyor before walking through the arch. Angela set off the alarm and froze, a security officer beckoned her forward and used a wand to isolate the problem to the zips on her boots. Satisfied he allowed them to proceed. Richard and James had needed to empty their pockets so had to stand there picking everything up from the trays while Tammy and Angela folded their arms—this was payback for earlier.

As they entered the departure lounge Tammy started to drag Angela towards the ladies room.

“I don’t need to go again.”

“You need to fix your face and we can’t easily sort it out on the ’plane.” Sally nodded in agreement, handed her daughter to James, and the three marched into the loos.

It was apparent to several women who were in there that Angela was not applying her own make-up, a few tried to make comments but Tammy and Sally kept up a near constant conversation.

“Stand still, Angela.”

“How does this colour look?”

“You really should do this yourself.”

“Try this look, here I’ll help you.”

"Come on, keep your head still. I still don't see why that school wouldn't let you wear makeup so you could practice."

Ten minutes later they were finished, having fixed their own faces as well. The two men were sat together with five coffees on the table, the look on their faces showed that they hadn’t seen exactly where the girls had gone, but they didn’t risk asking questions. It also looked like Becky was still restless.

The coffee was still warm and a welcome calming distraction for Angela, indeed she now started to forget what she was wearing and became apprehensive about the flight instead. Richard had spoken to James whilst the girls were absent, James now seemed to have less of an issue with Angela as he spoke.

“Angela, have you flown before?”

“No, never, I’m not sure about this.” Angela was referring to the flight but the statement had another meaning which the group picked up.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. It’s a very safe way to travel, where are you travelling to?”

“London, but I don’t know any more than that.”

Tammy answered, “Edgware, but we’re flying into Stansted as they haven’t built London Edgware Airport yet.”

They all laughed at the joke. Becky started to cry so Sally took hold of her after finding a feeder cup. She had some warm milk in a thermos flask, the security check had missed it somehow.

“That’s a good idea,” offered Tammy.

“It saves asking people to warm it for me especially as most places refuse these days on health and safety grounds. All very stupid.” She handed the cup to Becky who grabbed it firmly. You’ll get used to the rules that don’t make sense if you have your own children.”

Tammy giggled at that, but felt it best if nothing was said, Sally hadn’t identified Tammy yet.

A few minutes later the flight was called. They picked up everything and started towards the door that led to the tarmac. A steward beckoned the twenty or so passengers booked onto the small aircraft, although Angela shook her head. Sally handed Becky—who was still drinking—to Tammy and took Angela’s hand, whispering reassuring words into her ear. Angela nodded and kept walking.

Tammy went to hand Becky back to Sally but Sally shook her head.

The five adults plus child headed up the steps into the cabin. Becky chose that moment to throw her empty cup across the cabin towards the steward.

“Angela, can you get it for me?” Tammy was now able to hand back the wriggling child.

Angela walked over to the steward who was holding the cup. “There you go, Miss.” She blushed and rushed back to the others who were now seated. She ended up behind the others, who were paired. Tammy realised that Angela needed support so switched seats, abandoning her father. It also prevented a stranger from sitting beside Angela.

Angela listened to the pre-flight announcements intently but Tammy and Richard, being seasoned fliers, got comfortable and ignored the information.

Angela actually missed the take-off and when she looked out of the small window saw Wick already disappearing rapidly beneath a blanket of cloud. The rest of the flight proceeded quietly, Angela and Tammy discussing school and Thurso’s characters. Tammy mentioned Joanne and her experiences with the torturess.

“You let her do that?”

“It didn’t look like I had a choice, plus I did it for Cathy, Elsie's daughter.”

“Not for yourself?”

“Well, it’s looks better when you wear a bikini.”

“Why?” Angela obviously had limited experiences. Tammy reached over and whispered in her ear.

“Oh. Did it hurt?”

“I’d be lying if I said no. It was much easier for my legs, you’ll eventually find that out for yourself.”

“Why?”

“Do you want to wear those thick tights every day, even when it's warm?”

“No.”

They continued to chat, barely registering the approach to Edinburgh until the captain made an announcement. Angela tensed up again as the ’plane descended, her knuckles white as she gripped the seat armrest.

They touched down a few minutes early, Angela was pleased to get off the aircraft, temporarily forgetting her fear of being identified as a boy dressed as a girl. Of course, most people were too interested in their luggage to look at the other passengers. Richard held combined tickets for both legs of the journey so didn’t need to retrieve their bags before they headed towards the transfer area. Sally and James had a different onward flight but walked with Richard and the girls.

“Tammy, I hope you don’t mind but something’s been bugging me since I met you. I heard you and Angela talking on the flight and I’m pretty sure you were male once. Please don’t answer that if you don’t want to.”

“Sally, I was male until a few weeks ago andlegally I still am, for now at least. I’m hoping my appointment at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary on Wednesday will solve that administrative issue. By the way, my name is now officially Tamara.”

“Thank you for being honest with me, I should explain I’m a nurse working with transgendered patients at the London. I opted for that because of my brother’s issues, unfortunately he died before he completed his journey into womanhood.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m just angry with myself that I didn’t support him more. He couldn’t take the pressure and threw out all his female clothes, refusing to acknowledge that side of him. He also told me to never refer to him as a girl. It was my regret that made me look for a role in that field, I was already a psychiatric nurse at the Royal Marsden.”

“I’m wondering if you’ve come across Alison and Andrea McPherson?”

“That pair! How do you know them?”

“I’m staying with their aunt in Thurso. I’m hoping to meet up with them while we’re in London.”

“You’ll have fun, I know you will. By the way, who are you seeing in Glasgow?”

“Professor Roberts.”

“I’ve heard of him, but apparently he’s very difficult to see as he only does a couple of days a week with NHS patients.”

“I’m seeing him privately.”

“Oh, I don’t always agree with seeing a consultant privately but unfortunately I do hear of TG patients who have waited a year or more for their initial referral on the NHS.”

“I was referred by an NHS psychologist who said he was the best available, I wouldn’t have gone privately otherwise.”

“If you need to discuss any issues while you’re in London then come along to the London, here’s my number.” Sally handed her card over.

“Thanks.”

Tammy, Angela and Richard were called to the gate for EZY238—their flight to Stansted. Most of them gave a goodbye kiss, Sally’s husband being the exception. The group then separated and the business of flying took precedence.

Once seated aboard the Airbus Tammy spoke again to Angela, whom she’d barely known as Tim.

“Where did you live before Thurso?”

“In Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, not far from Milton Keynes. I almost didn’t go to Thurso, I was offered a place in a private school there after taking some tests. They never told me much about the school but Dad wouldn’t allow it, he said that if he was going to Scotland then I was as well.”

Before long the questions stopped and the two girls fell asleep. With the help of a tail wind the ’plane landed at 1925, ten minutes early. The touchdown woke the girls with a start, Angela forgetting where she was for a moment.

Tammy felt a pain in her back and quickly reached for the pills in her bag. She had no water so had to swallow one dry, something she’d never liked doing.

Baggage retrieval was the usual confusion, with several domestic flights arriving minutes apart. Once they had everything they headed down to the station, underneath the terminal. From there it was a train ride to Liverpool Street station and an underground journey to Edgware Road. Finally Richard took a cab from outside the tube station for the final mile of their travels. It was, however, nine in the evening when they finally arrived. Richard's car was sat in the driveway, where he'd left it a month earlier.

Richard's personal assistant, Tanya, was waiting for them. They could smell a chilli in the kitchen but first had to take their bags upstairs, Tammy showed Angela the guest room and suggested she hang her clothes up. Tanya had made sure the bedrooms were prepared and the fridge had been stocked with essentials for the next few days. Richard knew this was well outside her contract but he would compensate her for the extra effort.

After eating they stayed to have a hot chocolate before heading for bed. Angela had found a nightie in her case so wore it, given no alternative choice. She was asleep within a minute.
 
 
Monday 8th December
 
Richard was the first awake in the morning and called for the girls to get up, with a promise of a hot cup of tea. Downstairs, he sorted out his own breakfast whilst waiting for the two sleepy-heads. A suggestion of a cooked breakfast was quickly dismissed by Richard.

“We have a lunchtime meeting with the solicitor. You won’t want to spoil your appetites.”

After their cereal and toast, Tammy took Angela back upstairs to shower. Tammy seldom needed to shave, and not at all during the past month, however Angela had some light coloured stubble that had to be removed. This was followed by a moisturiser, something Tammy told her, that she’d have to do daily from now. A short make-up lesson followed, concentrating on her eyes and lips. Tammy put a light coating of foundation on her face, Angela could practice that another time.

They then to select that day’s clothes, again Tammy did her best to choose clothes for Angela that she could match from her own limited wardrobe. Given the time constraints Tammy again insisted that Angela wore opaque tights under her long skirt, they would deal with that issue later.

It had taken over an hour for them to return downstairs, by now needing a coffee. Richard was getting impatient; he was not used to this delay.

"Whilst you've been up there I've had a call from Elsie. Angela, apparently your dad was a union representative at the school and the union is claiming your dad was bullied."

"You're joking!"

"No, it's true, apparently this kind of thing does happen, don't worry about it."

Finally the three of them piled into the car and headed across North London towards Brent Cross Shopping Centre. As ever the London traffic caused problems, but today was worse than normal. Richard pulled on to the A5 and immediately was stuck behind a bus trying to pull into the outside lane, past a 40 ton lorry stopped there, behind a police car with lights flashing.

"I bet that lorry was stopped for no good reason, especially on a 'Red Route'!" Richard was never happy with the Don’t Even Consider Stopping Law on that road, which seemed to create more problems than it solved. They made good progress until they were just short of the A406 North Circular Road, the road that only just fails to be the longest car-park in the UK — after the M25.

“What’s going on here?”

Ahead they could see more blue lights, right now nothing was moving. To his left the bottom of the M1 was also stationary, he could have used the Sat Nav travel advice but that would only have told him what he could already see.

“Dad, how long are we going to be here?”

“I haven’t a clue.”

He switched on the radio and tuned it to BBC Radio 5 Live where, every half an hour they were given an update on their own traffic jam. By midday they had crawled as far as the roundabout but the police sent them back down the A5. Tammy called their solicitor as Richard went back the way they’d come.

“We've just escaped from a traffic jam and have turned back for the house, Dad asks if you can meet us there?”

“I’ve just left a meeting in Watford, I’ll be with you at one. I hope the coffee is good?”

“I tried some this morning, and survived.”

“In that case it can’t be too bad. ’Bye.”

It took only twenty minutes to retrace the two and a half hour journey of the morning. The radio was now saying that an Italian registered Ferrari had been involved in a collision with a black cab. The taxi had survived better than the Ferrari.

Back indoors they took stock of the fact nothing had been achieved so far. Tammy went to the fridge and found enough ingredients for a Bolognese sauce, the dried spaghetti was in a cupboard. Angela went for a walk around the town-house, mostly to pass the time. It was too cold to venture into the garden.

Richard found the mail that hadn’t already been dealt with, then checked the fax in his office. An invoice from the hotel in Lausanne said that his wife Tara had checked out and the account closed. He actually had little to deal with, Tanya had handled everything on his behalf. He wondered if he could tempt her to work for him full time.

Gerald arrived just after one and was met by Richard, who introduced his daughter.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, finally. I’ve heard so much!”

Tammy blushed. Her father took over.

“This is Angela, a school friend of Tammy.”

“Please to meet you,” he held out his hand to shake hers.

The introductions over, Richard showed him into the dining room while Tammy and Angela handled the food. A few minutes later they were eating. A suggestion of wine had been turned down on the grounds of driving, the coffee however was strong and black.

Tammy and Angela cleared the remains away, loading the dishwasher before returning to the dining room. The two men now had financial paperwork spread over the table and were going through a bundle of official documents. Very soon both had also found space for their laptops on the table, Tammy suggested to Angela they weren’t needed.

Gerald looked up, “Tammy, this affects you. Can you hang on for a minute?”

“Right, but I’m getting a bit bored.”

The solicitor shifted some papers out of the way and brought a new file to the table.

“This contains the transfer of part of your father’s portfolio. As you may know, your father has at times worked for himself and owns a private company for that purpose. Before you were born, indeed before your parents married, his company bought this house and it is the registered address of the company.”

“I know about Dad’s company, I think it’s called Richard Smart Ltd, but I never knew it owned the house.”

“When you signed some legal documents three months ago, a new company was formed named Thomas Smart Ltd. This property is now owned by that company, as well as some other properties, stocks and shares.”

“But that’s not my name any more.”

“Exactly, which is why I asked you to remain here. Would you sign these documents to transfer all stock to Tamara Smart Ltd?”

Tammy walked round the table and signed. Angela opened and closed her mouth.

“I’d also like you to sign this order to wind up the former company.” Tammy did as asked.

“So, what does that make me worth?”

“We valued this house as £800,000 for the asset register, the apartment in Paris as €650,000 and shares in various companies at £1.4 million.”

“Thanks, I wasn’t entirely sure before now, but I have control of about three million quid?”

“That and a few things I haven’t mentioned, they’re all in this file.”

“I hope I don’t have to read it all before you leave?”

“No, but if there are any questions I’d like them before the end of the week.”

“That’s fine, but if you’re done with me I’d like to take Angela from the room before she faints on me.”

“Certainly.”

“Tammy, more coffee please.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Tammy sat Angela in the kitchen and gave her some iced water to drink whilst she organised some more coffee. Outside it was starting to rain, within a few minutes the garden was soaked.

“You’re worth that much?”

“Yes, but I can’t spend it, it’s a paper valuation.”

“But Tammy, three million?”

“It's a lot of bits of paper, not hard currency right now.”

“You weren’t upset or worried by all this?”

“Not this time, I fainted the first time I heard about it.”

“Oh.”

Tammy took the fresh coffee pot into the dining room, it looked as if her father was going to have a long meeting. She suggested Angela and herself head upstairs.

“Why?”

“It’s time we sorted those legs out.”

“Do I have to?”

“Resistance is futile.”

They returned upstairs to the bathroom that Tammy and Angela shared, Angela was still a little shy about undressing next to Tammy but this was wearing off.

“Okay, ideally I’d take you to see Joanne but she’s a bit far north at the moment. Instead we have this handy cream that my mum kept here. It should be much better than shaving, although we might have to tidy up a little afterwards. Left leg up first please.”

After Angela exited the shower there were indeed a few areas that needed a razor but the overall effect was good. Tammy rubbed in some soothing cream to reduce any soreness.

“You can’t put anything on your legs for a few hours so don’t plan on going outside. I think it's still raining anyway.”

“Are we done?”

“No, now we have to redo your make-up, it’s time for lesson number two.”

Tammy had Angela take off all her make-up and use a cleanser. Then she was shown how to apply foundation, with a stern warning not to over do it. The lesson continued with Angela trying to poke an eye or two out with mascara.

Eventually they went back downstairs at four o'clock, just as the men were finishing. Both seemed happy with the progress, copies of many of the papers would be going to Tara’s solicitor the following day.

As they strolled towards the front door they heard a key being inserted — from the outside.