We made our way down to the lobby on our way to the dining room where Helen looked up, saw us and smiled. “Looking good tonight girls, it’s a pity that it will all be wasted on a group of other women, you’d be fighting the boys off if you were out on the town.”

That gave me a bit more confidence to face the rest of the women on our course and we entered the dining room with my head held high, to be greeted by a rather overweight middle-aged man who looked like a chef that enjoyed his own food concoctions a little too much.

“Hello girls, congratulations on winning your place here, get yourselves a welcoming drink and we will all introduce ourselves before sitting down to dinner.”

“Good evening Ladies, I am Hugo Möser, I will be your host and mentor for your course here. I am the co-owner and executive chef, and helped to built the reputation of the hotel and restaurant working as the pâtissier chef de partie, which is what you are most likely interested in. Although i have other duties, I still like to work in the kitchen and substitute for my pâtissière chef de partie, Stephanie, on her days off. That’s all my formal welcome, if you each just introduce yourselves and say what you hope to get out of the next two weeks, then we can relax, enjoy dinner, and get to know each other better.”

The other ladies all introduced themselves: Jan and Meg were two thirty-something full-time chefs from famous London restaurants who were there to improve their professionals skills and food repertoire; Sue and Laura were forty-somethings who ran delis in Oxford and Lincoln much like my mum’s shop, and were looking for more exotic and higher quality new offerings for their customers; Pat and Rosie were sixty year old friends from Chester who were now empty-nesters and were just enjoying life, following their interests including cookery. Lastly there were Kelly and me, the babies and by far the least experienced of the group at twenty one, who were lucky enough to have won places on what would normally be a very expensive course. Kelly, who worked in telesales, with no connection to the catering industry, lived in Stafford, not too far away from my home in Lichfield.

We were treated to an excellent meal and quality wines, Hugo was a charming host, keeping us entertained with stories of the various celebrity chefs who seemed to be forever on television, and we all got to know each other quite well, although the two professionals, Jan and Meg, seemed to distance themselves a little from us amateurs and tended to chat amongst themselves. At first I was a bit reserved, still a little unsure about how well I was coming across as Jayne, but the easy jolly manner of the other women, particularly Pat and Rosie, soon brought me out of my shell and I found myself chatting away with them all.

“Right Ladies, while the waitresses have been serving us they have assessed you for size for your kitchen uniform work clothes and there are two personalised sets of ‘Whites’ waiting for each of you to collect just outside the room, change every day and put the dirty ones in the laundry basket, they will be cleaned and returned to your rooms. I hope that they have guessed right and that they fit you. Breakfast for you is at eight, in the guest restaurant, after which you can go and get changed and I will see you all in the training kitchen at 9:30 after the main rush.”

Back in our room we unwrapped our uniforms and hung them up in the bathroom for the creases to drop out, and started to get changed for bed.

“Damn, among all the hustle and bustle of the shopping today, I completely forgot about something to sleep in, my pyjamas were ruined and I put them in the bin bag with the rest of the rubbish.”

“You have three choices then Jayne, sleeping in the nude is obviously not on the list as a fourth, you can just wear one of your tops and panties, or you can do the job properly and wear a sleep set of shorts and top that I bought you as a present, or you an wear the nightie I also got for you. You will find them under your pillow.”

“You shouldn’t have done that Kelly, but I am grateful that you did. If you don’t mind I
will wear the shorts and top set, I am not sure if I am comfortable with the nightie just yet.”

“It’s up to you, that’s fine with me, it’s fairly like what I will be wearing. Go in the bathroom and get changed, I will get changed out here, and then we can clean off all this makeup, and get into our beds.”

When I came out again she looked up at me and giggled.

“I see that you have kept on your bra, you don’t have to, us girls are only too glad to get them off at the end of the day.”

“I did take it off but the top didn’t sit right or look right, and besides I need to get used to the feel of wearing a bra as I will have to live with one for the next few days.”

As we sat and cleaned off our makeup and, as she assured me was necessary, applied a generous amount of moisturising night cream, we chatted away about our families, where we lived, and what we wanted to get out of life.

“Jayne, you seem to have adjusted far too easily into your new persona and seemed to fit in so naturally with the other women tonight. If you don’t mind me asking, are you gay, or a crossdresser or anything like that.”

“Believe it or not I am not gay, and other than dress-up games with my sisters the thought of living, even temporarily, as a girl has never entered my head. Events just seemed to conspire together today and one thing led to another and here we are. I actually enjoyed my time tonight with the others and you are right it is easier to fit in with them as a girl. Unless I give up on the course and leave, I do not have much choice now. They all know me as Jayne and that is who they will expect to see in the morning so I’l just have to make the best of it and continue to go with the flow. Anyway we will have to be up early in the morning, as I now realise how much time I will need to get myself ready, so we had better get off to sleep now, goodnight and thanks for all your help today Kelly, you have been a really good friend.”

“Goodnight Jayne, sweet dreams.”

We were up bright and early on Monday morning and started to get ready to go down to the kitchens. When I came out of the bathroom after washing, shaving and changing my underwear, Kelly was tapping away on her phone.

“Just checking my emails, I don’t know how people survived and kept in touch before mobile phones and the internet.”

“I think that they called it letter writing, you know, with a pen and paper.” I sarcastically replied with a big grin.

“Anyway let’s get dressed and go down for breakfast. I’m just going casual in my denim skirt and sky-blue top, I suggest that you do something similar, That flared mini-kilt you got yesterday should do. Have a try at doing the makeup yourself, not too much, the daytime look is always a bit more natural and working in a hot kitchen with lots of makeup on will get a bit uncomfortable as well.”

I dressed as she suggested and did my make up, which I was quite pleased with, Kelly’s only criticism was that I needed another coat of mascara, which was reassuring. I has not put on too much as I was afraid that i would poke my eyes with the wand.

As we entered the restaurant for breakfast we were waved at and called over by Pat and Rosie.

“Would you like to join us, we’ve only just arrived and haven’t ordered yet. Jan and Meg came in and went over to the corner table by themselves with only a quick ‘Good morning’ as they passed. Bit anti-social really, I think that they consider themselves a bit above us provincial amateurs, Sue and Laura haven’t come in yet.”

“We’d love to join you, we will all be working together while we are here and it will be good to get to know you a bit better.”

Despite the age gap we all got on well together and enjoyed a delicious filling breakfast with them. I thought that I would enjoy their company for the next two weeks, they seemed very easy-going and full of life.

“Have you tried on your tunics and trousers yet?” asked Pat, “My tunic was a bit baggy, but after a needlework course we were on a few weeks ago, it didn’t take long to take it in a bit and get a better fit. I know that when I was your age and had a much slimmer figure I did like snug-fitting clothes to show it off. See how yours fit and if you want them altered just bring them up to my room. we still have a bit of time before we start in the kitchen.”

Back in the room, my outfit was a decent fit, but Kelly really wanted to have the trousers shortened and went off to see Pat after giving me more instructions. “They tend to be fussy about hair and hygiene in commercial kitchens, and you shouldn’t need to keep brushing your hair away from your face. There is a pack of bobby pins in my toiletries bag in the bathroom, have a go at pinning your hair up out of the way while I am out, and put on the little white cap thing to see how it looks.”

My hair was not really long enough to do anything fancy with, So I just brushed back the sides and put in a couple of pins to hold it in place, gathered what I could at the back, put a band around it and clipped it up out of the way. When the cap was put on I thought it looked quite a good job, clean, tidy and professional and was pleased with myself. Kelly was soon back and got changed into her whites, pinned her hair up in a similar way to mine, but left a little bun at the back, and we were soon ready to face the world.

“Before we go, we have to have a couple of selfies of us all fresh and ready for the off, give me a big smile Jayne and we’ll see how they turn out.”

The photos were brilliant except for the fact that I thought that Jay was nowhere to be seen, just a happy, smart, attractive, young woman, Jayne, and her good friend Kelly. it would be good to have them as a memento of my time here but they were something to be kept to myself and not shared.

“ You go down Jayne and meet the others, I need the loo, I’ll follow you down.”

I made my way to the special training kitchen and was chatting away to Rosie and Pat when Kelly joined us, closely followed by Hugo Möser.

“Good morning ladies I hope you slept well, enjoyed your breakfast, and are ready to start. Most of the stories you hear about the TV chefs ranting and raving at their junior staff are correct, in some ways we are artists and perfectionists and have a temperamental streak, but I promise to treat you gently, after all, you are paying me very well for this.”

A gentle giggle echoed around the kitchen, it sounded like Hugo was going to be fun to be with and learn from.

“Ok, you are all here to learn about Pâtisseries, or Gebäck as we say in German, so today we will start off with lessons in producing the basic pastry types, short, puff, choux, filo, and strudel.”, at which there was a groan from Jan and Meg.

“I take it from that noise that some of you think that you already know all there is to know. While I am instructing those that want to learn more, if you wish, please feel free to go to one of the workstations at the back of the kitchen and produce me a sample of each of the types. Add whatever you prefer to turn them all into finished desserts, and we will see if you are as good as you think you are.” at which the two of them, feeling a bit sheepish, went off to do their own thing.

“Back to my agenda. You will have heard chefs on TV tell you that making puff and filo are difficult, time-consuming, and not worth the effort when perfectly acceptable commercially made products are readily available in the supermarkets. I beg to differ, and intend to show you how easy it is, and how much more satisfying it is to make it yourself.” Hugo then demonstrated the techniques and supervised each of us making our own, correcting any mistakes.

“Today is about the quality of the pastry itself, not the fillings, so we will just make basic items, a glazed strawberry flan, profiteroles and eclairs, and Baklava, just to see how you are with pastry mixing.”

At the end of the day we had made and presented our pastries and were all, including Jan and Meg, lined up to hear the opinions on our baking from Hugo and his pâtissière Stephanie. “As a start, they are all reasonable efforts, but none of them are up to a standard that would be allowed toleave my kitchen to be served, Surprisingly those of you with least experience have done best, maybe it is because Kelly and Jayne listened to what I was telling them, well done girls.”

Kelly and I exchanged self-satisfied glances, and noticed Pat and Rosie smiling at us to express ‘Well done.”.

“Jan and Meg, I am surprised, given your experience, at how poor your pastries are, your peach flan pastry is too dry and hard, the Bakewell tart needs a lot more almonds, the eclairs and profiteroles are too heavy and stodgy, not as light and airy as they should be and the Baklava should be crisper and more flaky, if those are examples of what you are serving to your customers, you would not last long in my kitchen. I suggest that tomorrow you join with the rest of us. That’s all for today, your dinner tonight is in the main public restaurant.”

Back in our room I was glad to sit down and kick off my shoes, when Kelly interrupted my peace and quiet with a squeal of delight.

“ What’s up Kelly?”

“Our photos on facebook have already got 78 likes, see.” she said passing her phone over to me showing one of the photos she had taken before we went down to the kitchen with me smiling showing off my new kitchen whites.

“ W..w..what on earth are you thinking K..Kelly, don’t forget who I am, I don’t want any photos of me all over the internet, what if my family and friends see it and recognise m..m..me, what would they th..th..think?” the stress of it brought on my stutter again for the first time since we had arrived

“ Read some of the comments, everyone thinks that me and my friend Jayne really look the part and will brighten up any kitchen. Nobody will recognise you, all they will see is Jayne, not Jay.”

“ No more, do you promise?”

“ Spoilsport, you are too sensitive, but ok, agreed. Let’s get freshened up and changed and have a good look around the hotel before going in to dinner.”

I cleaned off and redid my makeup, dressed in a plain white skirt and scarlet blouson top and braved the 4’ heels we had bought, unclipped and brushed out my hair into the straight bob that Kelly had styled for me, a quick spray of Cologne and I was ready to go.

Walking across reception to the restaurant, Helen called us over. “Hugo was telling me all about what you have been up to today and how well you have done, he has definitely taken a shine to you two. We both love your photos and he has asked me to find out if it is ok for us to use them on the noticeboard advertising his training courses.”

I glared at Kelly and was about to ask her what she had done, but she put a finger to my lips to silence me. “No problems at all, glad you like them, we are really enjoying our time here, I look forward to seeing how you use them. Come on Jayne, there is a delicious meal waiting for us.”

I dragged her into one of the private dining rooms to have another go at her. ”T…this has got to s..s..stop Kelly, you are humiliating me.”

“It will only be a problem if anyone finds out, I’ve told you that you are a natural as a girl, just behave yourself and act as if this is all normal for you and you will be ok. By the way, we are now up to 110 facebook likes and not one has asked ‘who is that boy that you are with?’, everyone just sees you as Jayne.”

We noticed that Jan and Meg were sitting with Sue and Laura, so it looked like Hugo’s slap down of their egos was making them a bit more sociable and part of the group. We joined Pat and Rosie as to a certain extent they were mothering us and making sure that we were happy.

“Hi girls, you were certainly ‘Teacher’s Pets’ today, not only did you do well in the kitchen but Helen on reception showed us your photos and told us that they wanted to use the one of both of you for their publicity sheet. it is a gorgeous photo, you should be proud.” Rosie told us. For the first time i could remember I began to blush, other than from Mum, I was not used to being complimented.

“If we did well today, It’s probably because we are a lot nearer school age than the rest of you, no disrespect, and that we are still used to being lectured and having to pay attention. We are here to learn and Hugo is a good teacher.”

After dinner the whole group got together for a drink in the lounge and with Jan and Meg now being more friendly towards everyone we sat and chatted and had a bit of team-bonding, before going back to our rooms to get ready for bed.

I noticed Kelly looking at me as I was sitting in my sleep set cleaning off my makeup. “I know you don’t like me keep saying this Jayne, but you look like you have been doing this all your life and downstairs with the others you just fitted in as one of the girls, you are doing really well. Just keep working at it and think ‘I am a girl’ and there is no chance that anyone will remember you as anything but that nice young girl Jayne.”

I was a bit overcome with emotion and went over to give her a hug and a goodnight peck on the cheek, and got into bed before the tears started to well up. I lay there tossing and turning for a while thinking about what was happening to me. Kelly was right, I was fitting in easily with the other women, picking up on their habits and gestures and the way they talked and expressed themselves, and I was worried that the longer this went on the more normal and natural it would become for me.

Tuesday morning I woke early and went in for a shower leaving Kelly in her bed. I shaved where I needed too, mainly odd spots I had missed on my arms and legs, dried and powdered myself and got dressed. I automatically slipped on the bra and panties, a skirt and top, did my makeup and brushed out my hair, all before Kelly even got out of bed. Even though it was only my third day as a girl, it had all become just my normal morning routine.

While Kelly was sorting herself out I went to reception, found a quiet spot and phoned Mum.

“Hi Mum, it’s me, I just thought I’d give you a call to let you know how things are going”

“Is that you Jay?”

“ Of course, it is, I rang to let you know that I got here okay and that everything is fine.”

“I was a bit confused, your voice sounds different, at first I thought it was Sarah or Chloe, you are obviously a bit excited about something, your voice always goes up in register when you are agitated.”

“ It’s probably because all the other people on the course that I am mixing with are women and girls and I am probably just following the group and blending in.”

“I know what you mean, you can be a bit like that with me and the girls in the shop sometimes. Now, tell me all about what you have been doing.” Other than the little fact that I was now dressing as a girl and sharing a room with Kelly, I gave her all the details of the people on the course and what we had been doing, and she seemed happy that I had settled in ok

When Kelly came down, after a quick “ We are now up to 155 likes.” we went in for breakfast, this time with Jan and Meg, who now seemed a lot pleasanter than when we had first met, before going up to pin up our hair and put on our whites.

“Good morning ladies, unfortunately I have other duties this morning so I will leave you in the capable hands of Stephanie who will demonstrate some of the pastry delicacies that we make and this afternoon I will return and supervise you all having a go yourselves. I’ll see you later.”

To say Stephanie was an artist with the pastries was an understatement, she quickly produced some of their more popular offerings, under our entranced gaze. Hugo liked to offer his guests a selection from his hometown of Vienna, but they also added a selection from around Europe to the menu. We were amazed at how quickly and easily, Steph, as she preferred to be called, soon mixed, shaped, filled, baked and dressed over a dozen different dessert pastries and cakes beautifully presented on a large serving platter for us to have a tasting. From Vienna she had picked Sacher Torte, Imperial torte petit-fours, Gugelhupf, Nusstorte, Millirahmstrudel,and my favourite Rehruecken a version of a chocolate log. Unusually she had selected a couple of specialities from Azerbaijahn, Badambura and Sheckerbura, Sfogliatellas and Strufolli from Italy, Rosquilla and Costrada from Spain, Bolas di Berlim from Portugal, and last but not least, Millefueilles and Profiteroles from France and Switzerland.

“ Ok girls, you have seen how quick and easy it is to produce unusual and delicious pastries to delight your guests, although I must admit to years of practice and sweat before getting some of them right. Pick two or three of your favourites, I will give you recipe sheets and you can see how yours turn out.

I went for my favourite of Rehrucken, the Imperial petit-fours and the Costrada, and they all turned out fairly well. Hugo had come back to watch over us and give advice while Steph went back to her kitchen duties and he was so pleased with my Rehrucken that he put it on the cake trolley to serve in the restaurant. We each picked a small selection to take back to our rooms, most of the rest went into the staff rest room for them all to pick at.

As we left at the end of our working day we were passing Helen just as she lifted up a parcel for me. “Post for you Jayne it was dropped off while you were in the kitchen, I hope that it is something exciting for you.”

“Thanks Helen, I am not sure what it is but I’ll take it upstairs to open it.”

“Is this your doing Kelly, you have that guilty look on your face?”

“Just open it and see, I can’t wait for your reaction.”

“What on earth are breast enhancers?” I asked looking at the label on the packaging of two gel blobs in the box.

“Those socks and tissues that you have been padding out your bra with have done the job for a couple of days, but you need something better to last until the end of the course. They are really meant to improve on natural breast sizes, but we haven’t had you over-endowed before, so they should do. You put them in your bra, and they are slightly sticky so they cling to the bra and your chest to stay in place. The other thing is that they will wobble a bit as you move around and altogether will look a lot more natural.”

“Where did you get the idea for these, are they expensive?”

“You must have noticed that sometimes your sisters looked a lot bigger up top than normal. Sometimes it is just a matter of a different bra with a bit more push-up to emphasise the cleavage, but most girls at some time will have used something like those for a bit of extra lift and sexiness, me included. Boys don’t know the half of what we get up to to get them to notice us. Just try them and see what you think. You can spend a fortune getting full-size artificial breasts, usually just called forms, but those were not too expensive and I’m sure that you will find them worth it, ditch the socks and tissues and see what you think.”

Once again she was right, after i fitted them in and put on a more figure-hugging top, they definitely looked a lot more realistic and natural and I was quite pleased with the new look.

“ Ok, you can stop looking at yourself now, tidy up your makeup, put on a skirt and we’ll go down for dinner.”

To be continued.