Changing Roles
By Julie Dawn Cole
Chapter 29
‘Wow it’s amazing. Who lives here and how come we are allowed to stay this weekend? Are they on vacation?’

‘Nobody actually lives here as a permanent resident it is purely for special guests and key company employees. I’m surprised you were never given the opportunity to use it since you were Managing Director of a subsidiary. A few Executives at Managing Director level have had the privilege but it is restricted use so that it is available for invited guests who have business with the Group. It is an opportunity for them to bring their families to London. Primarily customers from overseas who get to meet our Chairman. I’ve often participated in the visits accompanying my uncle. He and I have a very close relationship.’

‘So it’s like a business entertainment suite and a way of enticing key clients of the Group to feel special and then doing business with us?’
‘Yes, or as a reward but only in special circumstances. It isn’t often made available to our particular company customers since we aren’t the biggest earners in the Group. I got it this weekend because it was vacant and my uncle knew I was in town at my brothers’ party and he wants to catch up with me so I could fill him in on my progress. As I’ve said already, he knows all about you.’
‘What do you mean he knows all about me? Has somebody employed a private detective to follow me? I presume he knows about my change of job and that I was demoted and now work for you. Will he be at the party?’

‘Yes he knows you are my PA. He supported my decision to keep you on board because he trusts me and I doubt that he will be at the party. It’s not his scene.’
‘Or does he just keep me on board to avoid a scandal and assume that I will be too worried about my crossdressing being exposed.’
‘That is hardly logical if you think it through Jules. Just trust us. Whilst we are in town, I’ll definitely be meeting him. Probably on Sunday morning before we go back North if you are OK looking after yourself for a few hours. I promise to keep you updated. You do trust me, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I do. It’s not easy though.’

‘You can always pamper yourself and take advantage of the sunken bath that has jacuzzi jets or take a walk through the park and the Princess Diana memorial. I can arrange for breakfast to be brought in by the concierge who looks after the residents in the building.’

‘I suppose it depends on how tomorrow night goes and if we stay late,’

‘Well we don’t need to worry about that now. Talking about food makes me hungry. We are due to meet Georgina and her fiancé for food soon. Your chance to meet my brother. Or should I say my sister. Then you can tell me what you think.’

‘Emily why didn’t you tell me we were meeting them tonight? I only brought dressy things for tomorrow night.’

‘It’s nothing formal so don’t worry. We are fine as we are and it’s a chance for us to chat that will be impossible tomorrow. As I said I think having you with me will help a lot and if you don’t mind I’d like to introduce you as my girlfriend. I’ve never met George’s partner and I think if they see me as an equal rather than George’s straight. spoiled and privileged sister who went to private school and a girls college. Lot’s of their friends will be at the celebration tomorrow night and I don’t want people to feel uncomfortable around me,’

‘But Emily it will be a lie and we don’t know much about each other apart from work and we’ve nothing in common.’

‘We can say that we met at a club in Manchester and I don’t mind letting people think I’m gay and it will allow me to blend in. You have visited these places and cross-dressed and it will break the ice and the main thing is I hope that my relationship with Georgina will be back on track. I want her to be comfortable with me again like she was when we were at home.’

‘Emily you might be making things more complicated by this approach. What about afterwards? I just work for you now and then there is your uncle to consider. He knows the truth.’

‘But he won’t be there and George is not likely to meet him in the near future.’

‘Do you call her George by the way. That is more boy than girl. Doesn’t it upset her?’

‘I’ve always called him/her Georgie.’

‘Well Emily I don’t mind if you want to say we are dating but won’t it be obvious that I’m a man dressing in female clothes?’

‘Well lots of women have masculine features and traits these days but as a woman you don’t fit in that category based on how you look these days. You hide your masculinity extremely well.’

‘So you think we’ll be assumed to be a lesbian couple rather than you dating a trans person?’

‘Why not? You can show me properly your Julie side. The woman I know who you really are.’

‘This seems all wrong to me. I like my feminine side but I also like to keep it private or to close friends who I can trust.’

Emily just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. ‘It’s time that you came out properly. I told you that you can trust me and that I’ll support you. Surely it’s a better path to follow than the one that Georgina had to follow.’

‘OK, I’ll do it. But you owe me. Only because we are meeting strangers who don’t know me from Adam.’

‘Surely you mean Eve.’

‘Very funny.’

‘We are meeting them in a wine bar at 8pm so lets just freshen up and go. It’s only 15 minutes’ walk and I’m ready for a drink.’

‘So am I OK like this? Maybe I should remove my make-up and these inserts?’

‘That would defeat the plan. I think it’s better if I remove most of my make-up and you enhance yours. Let’s look like you’re my femme partner and I’m the more butch one who is smitten by you. Maybe you can give yourself a bit more padding to fill out your bra and I’ll go braless. It’ll be a relief to be free for a while even if it means my nipples are on display. It’s a chance for you to practice for tomorrow. Let’s see how Georgina reacts to her sister becoming a member of her community and if she will come back into my life and let me help her and spend time together like we did growing up. I hope that you will help me to understand how she feels and what I can do and say to make her comfortable around family and friends.’

‘I’m sure that she still loves you and never intended to hurt any of you but I’m sure that she will have felt rejected. Maybe you are over the first obstacle by referring to her as she and accepting that she is now your sister rather than your brother.’

‘Jules we have had no choice but when you see her I hope that you can talk to her one to one and see if she will confide in you. She probably won’t believe that I’ve suddenly become lesbian but at least she knows I had a lot of girls as friends since I was forced to attend girls schools and colleges. Even if she quickly recognises you as transgender as long as we appear to be in a relationship it might help a lot.’

‘It’s a tall ask Emily but of course I’ll try my best. I wish I had a brother or sister so anything I can do to help to bring you close together again.’

…………………….

Emily disappeared to her room to get ready and I went into the bathroom to look at my hair and see what was needed to enhance my make-up if this was possible. My hair was long enough now to brush out and it almost reached my shoulders. It was certainly growing fast these days and noticeably thicker and benefiting by regular brushing before I went to bed. Emily had taken to wearing hers in a pony-tail much like I’d been doing and it suited her and added to her image of being totally in charge at work. However this was another side of her this evening. She seemed nervous about meeting her new sister even though some contact had been made along with her mother.

I decided to apply more mascara to my eyes and use a stronger shade of eye shadow and this seemed to work. When Emily and I checked each other out she insisted to try a different shade of lipstick that was darker and I was surprised at the effect. Now she had none on her lips and she laughed and said that would soon be corrected when we kissed later to show we were in a relationship. I felt a tingle of anticipation since I’d never really kissed before other than soft pecks or kisses from my mum and aunty. How strange that my first kiss with a woman might be with our sexes reversed.

‘So Jules what do you think? Do I pass as a butch lesbian or not?’

‘It’s hard to say since I know that you’re my boss and that you are not lesbian at all.’

‘Well you never know. I played a few male parts at school and college and kissed a few girls. Not many boys around so we had to practice on each other.’

I didn’t pursue the discussion and clearly must have looked embarrassed because Emily changed the subject.

‘I just had a message from George. They arrived already so come on let’s get a skiddadle on. Have you checked your bag to ensure what you have what you might need?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘All girls carry a tampon, a packet of condoms, small pack of tissues and some lipstick. The tampon in case of an accident, condoms in case they are lucky, tissues in case he needs relieving and lippy in case it’s a blowjob.’

I was speechless, Was this really Emily talking? She just burst out laughing. ‘Jules you should see your face. Have I shocked you. Welcome to the real girls world. We are no different to men. We all like some fun and we aren’t scared to talk about it.’

We headed out into Kensington High Street to walk to the wine bar that served Spanish food and Emily fancied some tapas. As we walked she insisted that I hold onto her to keep me steady on my heels that she insisted I wore. I wasn’t a novice and I knew to take small steps.

The wine bar was down a side street with quaint red brick buildings and was open fronted with two tiers and tables looking onto the street. As we approached Emily let go of my arm and surged forward as she saw Georgina who looked stunning. They hugged and clung to each other. Then they turned to me and Emily introduced it as her girlfriend Julie and presenting her sister Georgina.

‘Hi Julie, this is indeed a surprise and by the way it’s Jina since Georgina is a mouthful. Glad to meet you and to see that sis has finally admitted to being in a relationship. You look very nice.’

Then she turned to introduce her boyfriend Bennie. ‘His name is Benjamin to his family but I prefer Bennie and some of his friends call him Ben. Big Ben but he’s not a giant as you can see. So you just have to guess why he was christened Big Ben.’

Emily interjected to save Bennie’s embarrassment and said Jina should behave. ‘So it seems like all four of us are similar height. Without us girls in heels of course.’

I could sense Jina looking at me closely and I was pretty sure that she had her doubts about me being female.

‘So Julie how long have you two been dating and where did you meet?’

‘We’ve been friends for a while but only dating since Em moved North with her job’

‘So young love then? How cute. My sister has at last stepped off the shelf and dipped her toe in the water. So sis you’ve come out at last?’

‘I was never in and just took care not to let mum and dad find out too much about my personal life since they expected to become grandparents by now. As you know I have a career and becoming the little wife at home like mum was has never been in my plans.’

‘Here that Julie. Looks like it’s over to you. But she’s not fully equipped and it might be a while before FTM transformations can involve sperm production.’
‘That’s enough George. Don’t spoil the evening.’

‘OK sis I was just joking. And it’s Jina now.’

She took hold of Bennies arm and he leaned forward to kiss her. As they parted and turned towards Em and I, Jina spoke ‘Come on you two would you like a glass of wine. We’ve got a bottle of red already and it’s really nice.’

We sat together on two-seater sofa across from the seats occupied by Bennie and Jina and Em took my hand. ‘Are you OK with wine Jules or do you prefer a soft drink?’

I wasn’t a great drinker but for Em’s sake I needed to be sociable.

Bennie and Em looked at the menu to decide on the food opting for a lot of tapas. In the meantime it gave me chance to chat with Jina who was quite talkative. I asked her about the arrangements for her party and who would be attending and it was clear that no family from neither her or Bennie side had been invited. I managed to confirm that Ems uncle wouldn’t be attending that was a relief.

Then I was hit with a hammer blow. ‘’So when did you come out and do you live full time?’

How could she tell? I didn’t think I’d dropped my guard at all and I didn’t have any masculine features that were obvious.

‘What do you mean? When did we both come out as lesbian?’

‘Yes, what else?’

‘Well it’s a shock to me to find my sister finally in a relationship and then to have been introduced to you as her girlfriend. You weren’t born female were you?’

‘How did you guess? Is it that obvious?’

‘Not at all but it takes one to know one. I wonder if this is you full time or if you spend your life between two genders.’

‘Well until I met your sister I was mainly living male with some excursions but she is now my boss and she’s has employed me as her PA. I like her and she treats me really well and has sympathy for my desires. I like dressing as female and she is trying to understand your feelings and be of help not to be critical. Hence she invited me for the weekend.’