Finding Julia Chapter 17 [FINAL]
By Julie D Cole
When Eve came back she noticed I was shaking a bit and she asked what was wrong so I told her what we’d been talking about.
‘Did you explain that I told you to walk out.’
‘No I just said we’d chatted and I’d tried to set up a meeting with my boss but he wasn’t available.’
‘And did you explain to Georgina that you are more qualified than Liz and you were transferred to the department after being identified as Senior Management material. She was one of the candidates who were rejected much to the annoyance of your boss.’
‘No because that wasn’t the problem and I hadn’t got that far.’
‘Well that is the root cause, in my opinion and you found out from the girls that they were having an affair.’
‘But that is just girl talk around the office. It was the accusations and the threats made against me that caused a loss of respect from my team that was reported back to my boss. As you know I didn’t want stories to get back to you.’
‘You should have been open about it. I don’t bite do I?’
Georgina looked puzzled and since she’d been open about her story I felt I could trust her I felt able to talk. With more than a little encouragement from Eve of course.
‘After lunch I sat sorting through a few of the jobs I’d been given when Liz popped her head out of her door, my door, and she called me into the office and asked me to close the door. This time she asked me to sit down. She said she’d been told that I’d asked to see my boss and she was now my boss so what was the problem.’
Eve just said ‘ The stupid bitch.’
‘She said that she’d been shown some photographs that were posted on YouTube and she had felt obliged to report it. The Company did not look kindly on its staff posting on the internet and the photos were obscene and inappropriate for a Manager of the Company.’
Georgina seemed taken aback and asked if they were real and if I’d posted them. They were taken by one of the students and I was dressed as a tart sitting on a Vicars knee that I didn’t try to deny. It was high spirits and my fellow student had kissed me and fondled my false breasts. Several of the female students had dressed me and styled my hair applying make-up. Liz said I was a pervert and she had more evidence of me dressing regularly in female clothing and she said she had to disclose this along with the details of a web-site filled with pornographic photos of transvestites displaying themselves having sex with naked models. I denied any involvement but found myself immediately on the defensive with Liz getting more and more aggressive.
At the end of our discussion she said that she’d recorded it to pass to our boss Mr Frazier and update him but I had a choice.
‘What choice?’
‘She said I could accept her decision of being re-trained or sign a letter of resignation that admitted lewd behaviour and leaving with immediate effect and giving up all rights and possible claims against the Company. I was in a panic but she gave me 5 minutes to make a decision. The recording had been stopped. She took a comfort break.’
‘Does Eve know all this.?’
‘Yes it came out later in discussions with her, mum and sis’. I made the stupid decision of signing the resignation letter and was dismissed back to my desk.’
‘But this woman was blackmailing you.’
‘She had photos from a site that I never found and the record of the discussion. I was a mess. I broke down later that afternoon and as the weeks went by things got worse. The girls weren’t too bad and two or three of them hated Liz. They tried to help me but my standards were slipping and I was making more and more mistakes. It wasn’t like me at all. I never made mistakes.’
‘How long did this go on?’
Eve chipped in ‘About 3 months until I had a chat with Professor Nightingdale who offered to help. Mum and sis’ agreed to follow her advice and we visited her and then the hypnotherapist.’
‘I was losing weight and some of my business suits were hanging off me. I had no energy and somehow Eve stayed faithful to me and was trying to motivate me. She still believes in me and I owe her so much.’
‘But what of the photos on the site? Was that true?’
‘Yes the dressing was true but I never posted anything and I never found the site.’
‘Did you enjoy the dressing then? Was it something you did regularly or sometimes in secret?’
‘At university I’d done it quite a few times but only in fun. But I never told Eve.’
‘No you didn’t but to be honest I was never interested in big hunks or hairy monsters. I liked your sensitivity and your cuteness. You treated me as an equal and with respect.’
‘Georgina I’m sorry but something has happened to me recently. I know your life changed after your treatment so what exactly happened.’
‘I started to behave as the person I was born to be and my parents accepted that I suffered from gender dysphoria and it was permanent. That acceptance was the key to me moving on and I finished my studies with high grades.’
Eve took my hand and looked into my eyes. ‘You have been fighting a losing battle but not to the same degree as Georgina. Look at you now. Who are you?’
‘I’m your fiancé Julian.’
‘No who are you?’
‘I’m Julian.’
‘Julia. Who are you?’
‘I’m Julia.’
She leaned forward to hug me. Tears were running down my cheeks.
‘Eve I can’t go home like this. I would be ridiculed.’
‘So being humiliated and treated as office junior is not being ridiculed?’
‘No it’s just until I get back on my feet. I’ll get another job.’
‘So who will give you a reference and hire you when you lost all your confidence.’
‘I suppose I’ll have to work on it.’
‘Why not call their bluff and confront them. Lots of students have fun at university. So what if you did dress as a girl and joke with your friend? Is it a sackable offence? I don’t have a problem and neither does mum or sis. You are who you are.’
‘But my boss has a problem with perverts.’
‘No your boss has a problem period.’
‘What is the dress code at work then?’
‘Just smart and casual on Fridays. Ties no longer necessary.’
‘Do you like the clothes you’ve been wearing here?’
‘Yes but we are on vacation.’
‘What if you told your employer that you were a pre-op transsexual and went to the office as Julia?’
‘But I’ll be sacked.’
‘No you won’t it’s illegal. Your sis and I took advice from an employment lawyer. Your boss can be done for harassment if you complain and suspended immediately pending an investigation. Both of them in fact.’
‘That would be sweet revenge for what they have put me through.’
‘I think you would also have a good chance of being reinstated as Manager. Do you think you’d handle the job better as Julia? You have an all-female department after-all. But it depends what you want and if you could live as a girl.’
‘But what about our relationship. Would you find a new boyfriend?’
‘Do you think I’d have gone to all this trouble if that concerned me. I like you as a person. I love you as Julia. I would be supporting you all the way. I’m not an ogre. ’
‘I don’t know. It’s a big step to take.’
‘Not in one go. First you have to decide if you will be happy and then take the necessary steps one by one. So after your experience here do you think you might just be happier and more confident as Julia?
‘I guess I would.’
‘What do you think Georgina?’
‘I think you found Julia and lost Julian on this vacation. Go for it girls. Just be happy.’
Comments
Finding Julia
Thank you for a lovely wrap up. It's good that Julian/Julia has such great support from family and fiance. Now on to revenge and a restart to her career.
Time is the longest distance to your destination.
Overall this was a very good story......
But if this the end it seems very rushed, almost as if you can’t wait to be done with it.
There is so much more to be explored here. The whole issue in the office is glossed over in the matter of a few paragraphs, not to mention the entire matter of Eve having been to this conference before. To forget that she obviously knows many of the other attendees and has a very close relationship with many of them. What would Eve have attended the conference before? Why was she hiding the whole situation with Professor Nightingale and the hypnotherapist? Why does she seem to have such a close, some might say intimate, relationship with many of the other women at the conference?
Too many loose ends for the story to be simply cut off.
You have a wonderful talent; why not explore the questions further?
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
The story had more legs
But sometimes the declining number of hits and kudos for chapters of some of my stories gives me a feeling that perhaps I need to post more frequently or focus more on solo stories. I'd promised to wrap this story up a long time ago and I do get a lot of nice comments that I often take notice of. I enjoy the interchange on this site.
Enjoyment
I don't say this nearly as often as I should and I'm sorry that I haven't commented much at all. I adore your writing, which brings me great joy. Thank you!
Love, Andrea Lena
Wow what an upside
So happy to receive your comment. You and Alison encouraged me from the day I started writing and posting on this site.
Stay safe and my sincere best wishes.
Hugs
A Lot Packed Into This Chapter
It feels a bit rushed, but I can understand the points you made to D. Eden regarding finishing it now. The elements for resolution are all there, and Julia's convinced that Eve is solidly in her corner. I think with the additional support of some of the new friends she's made at the conference that she's got a good chance of getting her life back on track. She will need a bit more backbone than she's shown so far though. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Again
You have been a great supporter and motivator.
I tried to wrap up the story through the last two chapters in almost 4000 words. Sorry if it comes over as rushed but the comments from D Eden on the last few chapters made me feel I might be causing too much hurt and pain with this story so I wanted to let people see that Julia had full support from her family.
Real life is often not so fair as that.
As for the experience she had at work I have seen lesser versions from time to time but from my personal life experience I used constructive dismissal to my advantage and moved immediately to a great job for a St Louis company that opened up the opportunity to travel in my job and meet amazing people and see wonderful places around the World. It helps my stories. I count myself as extremely fortunate so if I can bring a smile through my stories I'm very happy.
The effect your writing has on the reader......
Is the sign of a truly good writer. There are few authors who are capable of stirring strong emotions in their reader, and you definitely have that talent.
Yes, there were points about this story which bothered, at times even upset me. That is an indicator of how much I was able to identify with your main character. Of course, my own insecurities definitely played into this. My own fears and worries were given life by the actions of your characters, exposing and dragging them out into the light of day.
In many ways, I have been very lucky in my transition. My spouse and I are still together, but although she professes to love me, I have trouble believing it at times. She tells me that she still wants to spend her life with me, that she can’t imagine me not being a part of her life. But there is little intimacy, and our sex life is exactly nil. Perhaps I should take it as a compliment that she sees me totally as a woman, which basically means that not only does she want nothing to do with me sexually - but also that I am not allowed to show her any affection in public.
She tells me that I am her best friend, but she shows more affection to her sisters than to me. She is so concerned with not being seen as a lesbian that in public she treats me at times worse than she does co-workers and people she meets on the street. She tells me that I should understand that since I am the one who has changed that I shouldn’t blame her for this - that it isn’t her fault. Like I tell her all the time, I am fully aware of this, that I don’t blame her - and that is exactly why I am insecure. The woman that I love with all my heart is still right in front of me; the person she wants no longer exists, never really did exist. I want her. She wants a husband who doesn’t exist anymore. She wants a man, and she constantly tells me how much she misses things.
Which one of us should be more concerned about the other finding someone else?
This is why the unresolved questions in a story like this one bother me so much. Because I sit in the dark at night wondering how long it will be before she calls me to tell me not to come home. Because I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before she tells me that there is someone else. Because the fact that she has a male co-worker who calls her cellphone regularly makes me wonder if this is the guy........ wonder if in fact there might already be someone else.
Yeah, because I watch her at night while she sleeps wondering if tomorrow will be the day she tells me.
So yes, Julie, an outstanding author like you brings out the raw emotions. But take that as the compliment it is intended to be - not as criticism. And please understand that any comments I have on your stories are me expressing my thoughts and questions about a characters actions, and are wholly colored by my own experiences, emotions, and at times fears. Any reflection that they have on your writing is solely due to your ability to pull me into your stories - to make me feel like I am in their shoes.
Thank you for sharing your writing and the strength of your talent with me. And forgive me for inadequately expressing how much your writing moves me.
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Believe in Yourself
Say it easy as a friend of mine used to say. I hope you keep confidence in the decision you took and that things work out.
I sensed your difficulties.
My best wishes
That would be sweet revenge
And I really hope Julia takes that revenge. I am totally not a vindictive person, there is just too much hare in the world, but I'm all for pushing for an investigation, and Liz and her lover would then be clearly exposed as bullying self serving liars.
Atta girl Jules, this is a really great work! It got inside my head, in a rather scarry way..( I've even been dreaming about it!)
Don't worry that people don't always comment, you tell some magnificent stories!
Thanks and Love
Lucy xxx
"Lately it occurs to me..
what a long strange trip its been."
What can I say
You amaze me and I really do thank you for your kind comments and encouragement.
Hugs
xxx
Self denial?
How many young men would dress up as a women just for fun while at University? Most would find it revolting unless they were several shades into the wind. Or passed out and as a lark, those with them felt it would be a funny prank to pull.
But that doesn't seem to be the case with Julian. He is the only man in a department of women, he has the desire to dress as a woman but believes he knows it would not be accepted. So he buries his desire until the confrontation at the office where the two emotions collide, causing Julian to start acting as he did.
The two conflicting emotions, and their affect on Julian, caused Eve, sis, and mom to step in and try to get Julian to realize his true nature, with the professor and Dr. Kerr's help. Except for the secret hormones, if they had confronted Julian head on he would have denied everything they would have told him. They had to make him take on the role so he could see the truth for himself. Eve had to ask Julian three time who he was before he admitted, Julia.
Now that he's admitted to himself that he is Julia, there's no reason for Julia not to return to work, with the added knowledge that two people could end up on the street if they objected. The only stopping point would be Julia being worried what the other women in the department would say.
It would be nice to actually see how the two morons react when Julia walks into the office. And if the do what's expected so they both cause the company to show them both the door, and the lose of every benefit they've acquired. And Julia getting her rightful position back.
If this is the last chapter in the story, it's sad to see such a fine story end. A story that is written in such a manner as to bring out not only the characters' emotions but the readers' as well.
Others have feelings too.