Changing Roles

By Julie Dawn Cole

Chapter 26

Gemma reappeared on stage and introduced the next act who was a very butch drag king called Ivor Peacock that brought a burst of laughter and welcome applause. She’d styled herself on KD Lang with a masculine hairstyle and she sang 2 songs that I’d heard whilst growing up that my father enjoyed. A tear filled my eyes as I thought of him and how quickly he’d declined since admission to the care home surrounded by other aging residents who were in various stages of cognitive dissonance. He’d been such a strong and clever father and held a variety of positions in his career.

When Ivor sang Hallelujah the whole of the room seemed to become totally silent and at the end we all stood and applauded in appreciation.

Emily turned and was smiling ear to ear and she complemented Jack on finding such talent for a venue that was seemingly not high profile. He smiled and said it was a personal friend from London who was due to appear at The Arena in Manchester the following evening as the main support act. They’d both worked together in London in the City and Ivor had done well for herself.

Emily responded. ‘It seems like you have done too Jack if this is just a hobby.’

‘What do you mean Emily this is where I live and it takes a lot of running. It is pretty much full time even though I don’t do the hard slog behind the bar. It keeps me entertained and out of trouble.’

‘Oh sorry please forgive me. I just thought you were a silent partner here and did something else.’

‘I don’t know who told you that and gave away my secrets.’

‘It was just something Kim ha said when we were chatting at the bar. Sorry I wasn’t being nosey.’

‘You aren’t undercover from the Tax Office I hope.’

Emily smiled and responded. ’What? Looking like this? I don’t think their employees see anything of real life or could afford a dress like this. I think they disappear at night anyway. Funny creatures.’

I thought that Emily had managed to deflect any suspicion, but I hoped that now she’d be more careful. She did back off a little after that to leave everything to me.

Now the customers were becoming more boisterous as alcohol kicked in as parties celebrated and I could see that both Emily and I were receiving attention so Jack stepped in to ensure we weren’t pestered too much. When I needed the bathroom I waited until the small dance floor was filled and Emily insisted to accompany me whilst Jack guarded our drink. He assured us that we would be safe and he’d watch out in case we were followed.

Emily was wanting to chat a little and she was pleased that we’d gained trust from Jack and that I’d hopefully get to meet George or chat with him. Clearly he was over in Cayman Islands in her opinion even though she doubted it was a holiday destination. She realised it might have been better to have placed a travel restriction on him in case he never returned to the UK although as far as I was aware he’d not been accused of anything due to lack of information. I was obviously being used to identify chinks in his armour. What if I declined to assist or misled them a little? I owed George some loyalty. My life seemed to be so complicated now and at least changing my role had removed stress and maintained my income. But what if the finger was pointed my way? I had to take extra care.

Inside the bathroom We found just a short queue for the cubicles and two young women all over each other and they just looked up when the door opened and then carried on. I thought the other young women were attracted to Emily and they made a few derogatory remarks but Emily wasn’t phased at all. She stared them down and asked if anything was wrong. No response on their part as Emily stood legs astride ready to fend off any threat of trouble.

I never expected to feel scared of young women, even in a ladies bathroom and should have been able to deal with any trouble myself. I wasn’t a weakling just a little outside my comfort zone. On nights out with friends we’d always used the mens bathroom since most customers were transvestites or in drag and gay men never seemed to object. Nevertheless, we always took care and watched each other’s back. Once we were freshened up we left and headed out.

We sat with Jack who had ordered more drinks and tried to keep the conversation light. He was a quiet person unlike his father who would have been cracking jokes and telling stories albeit I’d never seen him in a venue such as this.

After a while Emily insisted that we danced to avoid being dragged to the small dance floor by some over-excited girls who were hanging around our table. They were hardly able to stand let alone dance.

‘I’m going to have to teach you how to take the female pose and follow your partner or you’ll stand out like a sore thumb.’

‘I can’t Emily or I’ll trip and fall in these heels. I’m not yet ready to walk properly let alone dance and follow your lead.’

‘You’ve got rhythm so just follow me and hold on. The main thing is to relax.’

‘What are we going to do now Emily? Should we stay whilst Jack is happy to spend time with us or just say goodnight and head back home?’

‘I’m thinking I might get somewhere with Kim if I can get her away from the bar. She still keeps looking my way and locking eyes.’

‘What do you mean by get somewhere? Do you mean you fancy her?’

‘Oh jealousy? Of course not. I meant I hope to get her to leak more information. She seems a little naïve and quite innocent and she appeared attracted to me so if I play along a bit who knows what she might say. You are OK about that aren’t you?’

‘Oh. Sorry of course it’s up to you. I have just misunderstood a little. I didn’t mean to imply anything.’

‘Good. It would be helpful if you distract Jack. How about you suggest to go somewhere more private and try to contact George for a chat. He seems to think you’ve both been unfairly treated. I’ve not taken advantage of you, have I?’

I decided to just shake my head rather than answer and she didn’t delay in excusing herself leaving me alone with Jack. She headed back to the bar and within minutes Kim was serving her with a drink and leaning on the bar smiling.

Jack looked at me and said that Emily had better take care since Kim was clearly making a move and had a reputation with beautiful customers. I told him that Emily was capable of handling herself but that she had told me that she would like to give me chance to talk more with Jack and she felt in the way.

I asked if it was possible for us to call George whilst we were together and after a long pause he took me by the hand and led me to the staircase that accessed the accommodation where he lived with Gemma. It was quite large with a side room that was obviously Jacks office and we sat down and Jack produced a mobile phone from his pocket and sent a message.

Almost instantly I recognised the voice of George at the other end and Jack switched to loud speaker mode.

‘Hi dad. Somebody wants to speak with you. Is it convenient?’

‘Depends on who it is son. It’s convenient since mum is out for a few hours with two of her friends.’

‘Let me switch to video to make it more interesting. Here we go.’

‘Julian. I that you?’

‘Yes George I hope it doesn’t shock you.’

‘My God is there something in the water over there? What has happened? I thought Jackie to Jack was a big enough shock but surely not you as well?’

‘This has been something I’ve done in private since my early teens because I liked being able to look like girls at school who had chance to wear nice things. I did it in secret as a hobby I suppose, As I grew, I never really kept pace with other boys due to my smaller frame and I got bullied a bit. I worked hard with my studies and qualified. You gave me my first job and mentored me, and I was determined to give my passion secret to respect what you did for me. I couldn’t let you down George and give people the opportunity to infer anything about your reasons for promoting me. So until you left I kept everything separate and hidden. Since then I’ve been given a new role as if my secret was out. It seems like Emily Waterton had an ability to read me. She treated me like most people treat their personal secretaries and she encouraged to be myself and change my appearance to fit.’

‘What do you mean a new role? You were the MD and this seems a bit extreme. You are better than this. Come on Julian are you sure it’s not somebody blackmailing or threatening you to get at me? For Gods sake man you have to stand up for yourself. Changing your job to such an inferior position. You should have walked out and gone straight to a lawyer. I could have sorted one out for you. I still can. Jack has the details. Don’t tell me you are enjoying this new role and that you are transgender too?’

‘I’m sorry George but since Emily Waterton took over she’s changed a lot of things and got rid of our management team. I quickly realised that she is smart and quick to identify what needs to be done. She might lack experience in our business but she spots problems before they become disasters or unmanageable. You know my circumstances with family so I had little choice but to accept her offer to stay but in a change of role as her assistant with no power.’

‘Good God man are you crazy? Walk out and take them for constructive dismissal. You don’t go to work like that I hope. Why didn’t you get in touch sooner?’

‘George I haven’t been forced to dress like this or wear make-up. At work I had to wear a uniform that was abandoning my suits and wearing a different cut of trousers and a shirt without a tie. I suppose it’s developed a bit further towards a more feminine style’.

‘You’ll be telling me next you go to work in a skirt.’

I didn’t have the courage to answer honestly or explain much more. I tried to switch the subject.

‘Jack they are investigating where lots of money has gone and already proved that some fraud was taking place and will be prosecuting. Rao more or less put his hands up to bribing our guys to set up their factory machines without paying his bills. It seems there is more under investigation, but I don’t know any details. They suspect you are the mastermind and that Andrew Frobisher was deeply involved. He was escorted from the premises.’

‘I know since Andrew contacted me. We decided not to keep regular contact and that he take legal advice.’

‘ But George the Chairman seems to have had suspicions and he brought in Emily Waterton to run the business and eek out the bad apples who might be involved. They suspect that you’ve set yourself up using company funds and had support from key customers.’

‘Madness Julian. It’s madness. You know me better than that. Do I look like a criminal?’

‘Of course you don’t George. I can’t believe you’d steal anything but I don’t have much of a say anymore.’

‘Why? You were the MD working for me. You ran the business and had enough control to spot any misdemeanour. My money came from inheritance and some shrewd investments guided by Jacks friends. I had some good tips.’

‘George help me please. I don’t know what to think anymore. I miss you and I fear that I am switching my loyalty to Emily. She seems to have a very compassionate side as well as a ruthless one.’

‘Look Julian we’ve planned to return in a couple of weeks so can you last out until then. Just keep in touch through Jack and update me when it’s appropriate. Don’t put yourself in an awkward or vulnerable situation and trust me.’
The call ended and Jack passed a tissue to dry my eyes. ‘Sorry Jack but George has been like a father to me too. I miss him and I love him.’