Chapter 12

After breakfast we dropped off the hire car and entered the airport. After checking in our luggage there really was nothing to do for hours, waiting for our flight. It did give me a chance to interrogate Gem. She was pretty open about herself, but couldn't tell me much about what was going to happen after we arrived, because she didn't know.

She lived on her own. She was a divorcee and I realised that line of questioning was causing her some pain so I didn't pry. When we arrived we would be going to her rented apartment which was only a one bedroom place, so a relocation was definitely on the cards. Job wise, she had asked permission to go and when it was refused, had told them she was going anyway, which resulted in her being fired. She had to phone Eve to apologise and ended up telling her everything. Eve told Gem that if need be she would hire her independently. She was going to reschedule her wedding appointments and Gem was to call her as soon as she had returned so that a meeting could be arranged.

Gem had left in such a hurry that nothing further had been planned. Gem's whole job was about organising and sorting out problems, so she was uncomfortable with winging it, which is how she described her current situation. We discussed schooling which was going to be a bit tricky. Gem's apartment was small for one person and was totally unsuitable for the two of us, so where we were going to end up, location wise was uncertain, which meant working out which school to go to was problematic. After realising that formal education was not a priority for me and could have its own difficulties, since I had been a man all my life, we examined the other possibilities. Home schooling or taking exams that would gain me education certificates sounded plausible but we had to be careful that I didn't seem too different to Richard. Helping in that regard, education in England is completely different to the American system and I had no great knowledge of American history.

Gem was of two minds regarding going to school. I might find it difficult with my lack of knowledge regarding both American teen culture and female teen stuff. On the other hand, a school environment might be the perfect place to be educated on those fronts. Because I was coming from England, a certain amount of tolerance due to my ignorance was expected, but we are talking about teenagers, who can be very judgemental. Gem was worried that I would be verbally bullied for my lack of femininity and not fitting in. I might well be labelled as a lesbian, just for having short hair, no earrings or makeup. I did mention that might be true and Gem's response was that was beside the point. One's sexuality was a private matter, but in high school, telling everyone either verbally or through visual cues would lead to more verbal abuse.

The way she was talking about it, made me want to be home schooled. To some extent, the decision would have to be put off until we knew where we were going to end up location wise anyway. I had told her before we left the hotel room that Jen intended to have a year off before university and was going to spend it with me, helping me with my girl training and also finding out where our relationship was going. That was now in question since I was no longer even living in the same country.

When we had exhausted our conversation, Gem went back to a book that she was reading and I did some more research on my laptop. Eve and Laura had quite an interesting history and it gave me hope regarding my relationship with Jen. How much of what I found out is true, I didn't know, since they rarely talked about any serious stuff on TV. According to the internet, Eve and Laura were straight, both going out with men who were friends. The men decided to have a boys holiday in Vegas and got caught on camera with other girls hanging off them. Eve and Laura dumped their boyfriends and decided to have a girls holiday in the Mauritius. They ended up falling in love with each other and after a year of dating bought a house together. Now they were getting married and talking about adopting.

I think because they had previously been dating men, who publicly betrayed them, their relationship had been laughed off as revenge and was now considered sweet. Rather than their fans being upset with them, it was all blamed on the men and both Eve and Laura's careers had not suffered at all. The men, on the other hand, had been seen as that bad that they had turned straight women gay. I laughed at that. One was a male model and his career had tanked, the other was a rich socialite who now avoided the camera. According to one magazine, Gavin, the rich socialite who had been dating Laura, had promised revenge.

We had a leisurely lunch and finally were able to start our flight. Gem had booked our flights as economy, but we were both upgraded to business class. I have a feeling that Eve had a hand in that, since I looked through the curtain to the economy seating and it was not full. It was my first time in business class and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The food and service was amazing, the entertainment usefully distracting and the ability to recline the seat and get some decent rest was blissful.

We got off the plane not half as tired as I had anticipated. We were unexpectedly met by a limo driver, holding up a placard with Gem's name on it. He took us back to Gem's apartment where we dumped our bags, and had a quick shower with change of clothes before being taken to the mansion that was Eve and Laura's home. Gem told me this was all a surprise to her, but relatively typical behaviour for Eve. Gem had arranged some similar surprises for friends of the couple who were coming to visit.

The housekeeper met us at the door and explained that Eve was out and would be back in a couple of hours. Laura was still in Mexico. She offered us a tour of the place and did her best to make sure we were comfortable. The place was amazing. There must have been twenty bedrooms, the bathrooms were lavish with some free standing baths and some with spa jets. A tennis court, gym, swimming pool, large hot tub and amazing views. There were huge open planned areas that were used for music and dancing, with a stage at one end with a microphone already set up and musical instruments scattered across it. We had entered through a fenced off area so it was all pretty private. I had never really looked at the rich and famous. This tour really made me realise the difference between rich and ridiculously rich.

Eventually we were led back to a waiting area which had a comfortable lounge, TV, mini bar and a heap of magazines on a coffee table and left to relax.

Eve stormed into the waiting room like a force of nature. I don't think she was trying to make an entrance or do anything dramatic, it was just who she is. Full of energy and life, barely contained in her tall slim body. You felt her presence almost before you saw her and she dominated the room immediately. She held her arms open wide expectantly.

Gem gracefully got up with a calm demeanour and a smile on her face. “Eve.” She said hugging her.

I got over my stunned surprise and stood up, since everybody else was standing.

“And this must be Richard.” Eve said to me, with a query in her voice, a raised eyebrow and a full head to toe look over.

I laughed. “Call me Sophia. Soph to my friends.”

“Don't want to be a man anymore?” She asked.

I shrugged. “I'm a girl, I can change my mind.” I said with a smile.

Eve laughed with a loud, uninhibited, I don't care type of laugh that was so joyous, you just wanted to laugh with her. “Good for you. Be who you want to be. I must write that down, it sounds like a song lyric.” She said to a person behind her, who I hadn't noticed, with Eve dominating the scene. “I like the hairstyle, could do with some more purple though.” She said patting my head. She was significantly taller than me, probably six foot to my just about five. Then she strode to the lounge and sat down.

We all followed her and sat in the other seats. I ended up sitting last which meant I had to sit next to her. I was a bit hesitant, which she noticed.

“Don't worry, I don't bite. At least, not today.” Eve said with another grin. “Gem, I wanted to catch you before your ex-boss got a hold of you. I fired them after the way they treated you. I waited to do it until today, so they wouldn't have a chance to speak to you before me. I don't want to delay the wedding, so I need you to pick up all the pieces. Hire whoever you like, but nobody from that company. Lisa can help you. We only chose that company because I had heard good things about you.”

Eve was obviously not someone you wanted to piss off. Lisa, who was the person I hadn't noticed coming in with Eve and turned out to be Eve's personal assistant, disappeared with Gem to catch her up and for Gem to do her magic, which left me alone with Eve.