[Friday December 16th, Lancashire]

I was at my desk working on the final plan for the rundown of production and not getting anywhere. My mind was not on the task at hand. If I was perfectly honest with myself, the plan was good and didn’t need any revision.

The current plan was that by the Tuesday of the following week, we would be ready to ship the last of the current products to the USA. After that, everyone would be cleaning down and packing any remaining components, and all unused material into a container for shipment to the Head Office. They owned them and had made it clear that they wanted them back. A stream of emails from Austin kept reinforcing that demand. I replied with photos of the shipping containers that had arrived to take the unused components stateside. I included the container numbers and copies of the shipping details for those containers from Liverpool to Charlotte. Once those containers arrived in the USA and cleared customs, my job was done. It was then up to Austin to get them shipped to whichever landfill site they wanted to use. Several key components were missing from the shipment. That was because we had not ordered any more stock after the visit from Casey. It also ensured that the US could not make more products to our designs from those parts without some effort on their part.

What I didn't do was include details of the customs declarations. They'd come later. I was sorely tempted to make them a load of lies. Then the customs people would inspect every component, but I was keeping that bit of powder very dry for the time being.

In a fit of frustration, I tossed the plan onto the desk and looked out of the window. Dusk was falling, and it was only a little after 3 pm. I sighed.

I kept getting the feeling that the past three weeks were the calm before the storm and that the storm would be more like a tsunami than anything, but no matter what I tried, I could not come up with what it might be. Despite months and months of planning and brainstorming every possible outcome, I could not help but feel that something unexpected was going to happen and it made me decidedly uncomfortable.

The few days following the meeting with Gabe Raskovic had been some of the most fraught of my life. It seemed that the people in Austin had an unlimited supply of lawyers on speed dial. They had to my knowledge already consulted at great expense, four very well-known law firms who all told them to pay up as it would be the cheapest solution once they’d briefed themselves on UK contract and employment law and the contracts that were freely entered into by both sides.

After a week, their current lawyers had to admit that their predecessors had screwed up big time when negotiating the contract to buy the UK Company. It was all the fault of the then-CEO who wanted to do the deal on the cheap before the end of the financial year in case it affected his bonus. He’d fled the coup as soon as COVID became hot news with a $5M golden parachute and a large bunch of stock options which were cashed in as soon as they vested.

It all came down to the 'Is a contract willingly entered into by both parties, legally enforceable?' Our lawyers said an emphatic yes. I had to assume that theirs did the same.

After an emergency board meeting where the current CTO and CFO were shown the door without a severance package, the new CFO accepted the deal that Stefan and I had cooked up in 2021. That was all down to two activist investors from a Venture Capital Firm in New York. They controlled 26% of the stock and that was enough to get two seats on the board. Once the fraud had been exposed, they wasted no time in cleaning house. That allowed the stock price to recover around 40% of its losses.

Once a new management team and corporate lawyers were in place, we were able to draw up plans to close down the UK business. We didn’t implement anything until all the money that would be used to pay the redundancies was deposited in an escrow account of a UK Solicitor. Once the last container had shipped from Liverpool, the money would be released in time for the staff to get it in their accounts before Christmas.

I had not heard from Casey since the day of the encounter with Gabe Raskovic. With every passing day, any hope I had of hearing from her became more remote. The phone number and email address that she’d given me were out of order. I had tried social media and LinkedIn but it was as if she had never existed. But she had existed. Her name and photo were there on a Harvard MBA Alumni website. It was as if when she left the company in Austin, she had ceased to exist. I had the memory of that kiss, and that was it.

The ringing of my phone stopped any more wallowing in pity that I might have done.

“Hello?” I said as I answered the call
I didn’t recognise the number.

“This is he. To whom am I speaking?”
I chuckled to myself for using the grammatically correct ‘whom’.

I listened to the voice on the other end of the call.

“I’m afraid that I am currently employed, Mr Pearson.”

“That is correct. The operations here are indeed winding down but I am concentrating on that, until the new year at the earliest. Any thoughts I might possibly have about finding a new position have been put on the back burner until after I have taken a long holiday. I’m sorry Mr Pearson, you are wasting your time at the moment. If you have a suitable position in say… the end of March then please feel free to give me a call in the new year to discuss a real job opportunity and I must emphasise, the word ‘real’. I have had far too many people in your line of work promising me the earth but did not have a job on their books that would interest me.”

I ended the call without waiting to hear more drivel from these so-called 'head-hunters’. Many of them were just trying to get me on their books and didn’t have a real job to offer. For the past two weeks, rarely a day would go by without another agency calling and offering me ‘the world’.

While I was brushing the likes of Mr Geoffrey Pearson off, I was struggling to work out how they’d got wind of the impending closure of the operation in Stuarts Mill. I hadn’t updated my profile on LinkedIn or used social media, in years, and I knew for sure that I hadn't posted anything that would give the game away. I tried to remember the last time I had actually posted anything on Facebook and failed miserably. It was just not my thing. In any event, it must have been at least a year before the axe fell on us. I made a mental note to delete all my social media accounts when all of this was over.

After that diversion, I decided to call it a day and go home. I needed a clear head to work on what would be the last but one set of production figures that I would send to Austin.

My home was what is called a 'two-up, two-down' terraced house in Accrington. I'd bought it at auction not long after I'd moved to the area. To say that it was cheap would be accurate. It had needed a lot of work on it including a new roof. With the help of a number of the people at the plant, I'd done it up and made it very liveable for a single man. It wasn't a 'man cave' or anything close but… it was home.

What I wasn’t expecting to find when I turned into what I called ‘my street’, was to find someone waiting for me. That someone was Casey. In a flash, my day had gone from awful to potentially brilliant but… there was always a risk of getting too close to the enemy.

I then mentally kicked myself. The company in Austin had issued a press release stating that Casey had been ‘terminated’ for gross misconduct. That was a lie but it told me that she was no longer the enemy.

The smile that appeared on her face when she saw that I’d seen her would stay in my mind for a long time. Then I saw what she was holding in her hands. She had bought me a bunch of flowers. That was a first!

Somehow, I managed to park my car without crashing into any of the other parked vehicles and went to meet her.

“This is a surprise,” I said as I walked up to my front door.

“Aren’t you pleased to see me?”

“To be honest Casey, I don’t know.”

The promised squally rain had arrived with a vengeance. The wind had a cold bite to it.
“Why don’t we go inside? This wind and rain, is only going to get worse before the night is out.”

“Thank you.”

I opened the front door to my tiny home.
“After you.”

Casey went inside. She wasn’t towing any luggage which added even more questions to an already very long list.

“Here, let me take your coat, it is already pretty damp.”

“Thanks.”

I hung her coat up near the small radiator that was supposed to heat the hallway. It failed but… it was the best that I could do.

“Please go through into the back room. I’ll turn the heating up.”
“The light switch is on the right just inside the door.”

Casey went into the back room. A small kitchen led off that room. In modern terms, my house was ancient and very small but it was home and didn’t have a mortgage attached.

I hung up my coat and followed her into what the locals call the ‘parlour’.

“Please take a seat. Can I get you something hot to drink or do you want something stronger?”

“Coffee would do fine as long as it is strong. I’m a bit jet-lagged.”

That told me that she probably didn’t have a hotel.

I filled the percolator and set it to brew.

“I tried and tried to get in contact with you but nothing. Why didn’t you at least email me?”

“I’m sorry but it all got very complicated when I returned to Austin.”

“Thanks for the heads up about the man mountain…”

Casey giggled as I unwrapped the flowers.

“I was escorted from the building that day, so I only heard very second-hand what happened when he came calling.”

“To use a US-centric saying, he got his ass handed to him on a plate,” I replied as I went in search of a vase. I found one in a rarely used kitchen cupboard.

“That’s what I heard, plus, I read that the CTO and CFO were thrown under the bus.”

I could tell that she wanted to say something else.

“Are you trying to ask me if that was what was in store for you?”

“Something like that.”

I shook my head as I trimmed the stems of the lilies.
“Not at all. I had enough time to dig a little into him and found out that he is a bully enforcer. So…”

“I heard that they caved in and you guys got what you wanted?”

I managed both a smile and a nod of the head.
“We are still closing up shop on the 23rd. Our last production run is underway. The last 4000 units will be on a ship bound for Charlotte, on the 24th.”

I finished putting the flowers in water and put them on the worktop near the backdoor. There was some light from outside in that part of the kitchen.

“Then what?”

I ignored her.

“Come on Lucas… I’m not the enemy you know?”

“Sorry, Casey. I’m under embargo until the 2nd of January. My notice period for the current company runs out on the 31st. The 1st is a public holiday so, until then I can’t say a word about what I’m doing in the future. Sorry, but that is all I can say on the matter of the future.”

“Ok. I understand.”

“What about you?”

Her shoulders visibly sagged.
“The bastards seem to have put the word out and none… and I made a lot… none of my calls were returned. I appear to have been blacklisted by the cabal of old white conservative men… You know, the ones who run the whole frigging country!”

“I saw the press release. Something about gross misconduct. That’s a load of BS if ever I saw some.”

She managed a smile.
“It was enough to get me blacklisted.”

“So, you came over here to try your luck?”

That got a smile out of Casey.

“No, I came for two reasons. Firstly, to see you and then to collect the shoes that I ordered on that shopping trip with your former wife.”

“I’m glad to see that I take precedence over a pair of shoes…? Only just mind you!”

“Not one pair… I bought three pairs.”

“But Casey, why did you go ‘off-grid’?” I said deliberately changing the subject.

“As I said, things got a little crazy back in Austin. Once I’d turned in my laptop and phone… Your idea of wiping it was brilliant. The people there didn’t like it one little bit. Once I’d turned in my things, I was marched out of the building. So, I went home and began to pack only to be interrupted by my landlord who said that he wanted me out by the end of the week. I told him to get lost or I’d report him to the IRS because he was renting out half the block to Tesla workers using Airbnb. He backed off and we agreed one more week.”

“How does that get complicated?”

“When I went down to Austin, I simply filled up my car with my things and drove down. Now, almost two years later, I discovered that no matter how I packed my car, my clothes and other stuff would simply not fit. There was a lot more pack and I was looking at a full car. There was nothing for it but to rent a ‘U-Haul’. The following Thursday, I set off driving the van with all my stuff inside and towing my useless heap of crap that I call a car.”

“Don’t tell me, you broke down?”

“Thankfully, I didn’t. It was worse. I got as far as the border with Arkansas and found a motel for the night. When I woke up in the morning, I found all my belongings spread over the car park and a bunch of cops searching the U-Haul van. Before I knew it, I was in handcuffs and being accused of drug smuggling. It turned out that the U-Haul van had been used for smuggling a load of weed last year and was still on the cop’s radar. By the time the lawyer that my parents engaged for me, had gotten me released, it was too late to go anywhere plus the cops were reluctant to let me have my stuff back. It took the lawyer three more days to get my things back. They’d been through everything with a fine tooth comb. Dad has sued the PD for wrongful arrest and for violating my 4th amendment rights. They didn’t have a search warrant. Those rednecks don’t like following the Constitution at the best of times. They’ll do whatever they want especially if the suspect is from out of state and with added vigour if that person happens to be a woman from ‘The North’. Down there, a lot of people think that the Civil War never ended.”

She sighed as the memory came back to her.
“Is that complicated enough?”

“Oh… you poor thing.”

“By the time I got home, it was Thanksgiving and before I knew it, my mother had wrapped me ten layers deep in cotton wool. Only my father saw that something was troubling me besides my little run-in with the cops.”

“Sometimes mothers can be overly protective. What did your dad do?”

“He took me out for the day down to Cape Cod. It was something that we used to do before I went to college so Mom let me go after some huffing and puffing. Dad took me down to the shore where we walked. I knew what was coming so… I told him everything.”

“About how your job ended?”

“That and a lot more besides. I told him about you and that you were complicated.”

I tried hard but failed to stop a laugh.
“Me complicated?”

“Yes, Lucas you are. Sandra told me all about your ‘dark side’. She’s still in love with you by the way… That’s why she told me in the hope of warning me off.”

“She knew what?”

“That you like to become your, alter-ego, Diana or at least that was your grand plan for the long term.”

That one word hit me for six and then six again.
“I never knew that she knew?”

“That’s what she said, but she found some of your posts under that name online.”

“And you told your father that I am what many of your fellow countrymen think of as a pervert and a child groomer and that we should be eradicated like vermin?”

Casey shook her head.

“Mom and Dad are as democratic as they come. He believes that everyone should be allowed to live the life they choose. He was cool.”

“Cool why?”

“He was cool that the person I fell in love with at first sight loves to dress up as a woman.”

If I had a punchbag, I would have hit it hard again and again.”

“Casey, it is not that I like to dress up. I do, but the rest of me just wants to be a woman, warts and all. The fact that I can’t do that hurts me every day. While I was married, I didn’t dress at all and I didn’t for over a year after we were divorced. I felt ashamed but since then I have been able to be me in the privacy of my own home.”

“And then?”

I knew what she was hinting at.

“And then you came into my office and screwed up my life big time.”

“In a good way, I hope?”

“Hell no. There you were here and then you weren’t. I had no idea what to think. Then I had to try to get on with closing down the factory not knowing if you were alive or dead and…”

“And not knowing how I’d react when you eventually told me that you were ‘T’?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, I’m here now and one day when you are ready, I’d like to meet her.”

I looked at Casey and shook my head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Casey, you are a stunningly beautiful woman with a very good brain. Let’s face it, Casey, you could have just about any man you want.”

“I know. I was propositioned three times while waiting for my flight from Boston last night.”

“I’ve seen how men can be total idiots when they see a beautiful woman with a not-so-beautiful woman as a partner. It can be horrible.”

“I know. I had such a relationship while I was at Harvard with my roommate. She was rather dowdy until I took her in tow. Now she runs an Ad-agency in Toronto with her wife as her No 2”.

Casey had shot down my arguments in one go. I didn’t know what to say next.

She took my hand in hers.
“Why not give us being a couple a try?”

“It is not as easy as that and you know it. I have never even been outside as ‘her’.”

“Then baby steps are the order of the day but there is one problem.”

“Only one?”

“This house is not big enough for the two of us.”

“But the town is?” I replied trying to make a joke.

“Very funny… While I waited for you, I had a chance to get a good look at the other houses in the street. There is one for sale near the end so I went onto the realtor’s website and looked at the plan. Two bedrooms and a bathroom that is beyond the tiny kitchen?”

“True. Very true but it is all mine and no mortgage.”

“Ok, then it is big enough for you but that is now. What about the future? This is not the place an aspiring CEO should live in.”

“Fuck that for a game of soldiers and besides, I’m out of a job in a week or had you forgotten that? As for being a CEO? Believe me, it is not all it is cracked up to be.”

“Yeah, and my name is Popeye and there is a can of spinach waiting for me. I think that I am quite a good judge of people and you would not have taken down the man mountain in the way you did if you did not have a plan for 2023. It seems to me that you had the closure plan all worked out and ready to go before I even set foot in the country. It wasn’t until I told my pop everything that it all fell into place. To get your ex to come in like that and the deal that you presented to the Man Mountain… It was all far too smooth and dare I say it, rehearsed?”

“Should that not be ‘Olive Oil’?”

“Ok, but you do have something don’t you?”

I didn’t say anything.
“Ok, that tells me that you do but aren’t going to tell me. That does not matter. All that does matter is that you have thought about the future and a long time before I came and muddied the waters.”

She’d got me by the short and curlies.

“Look Lucas, I know that it is a big shock to find that there is someone who wants to be with you however you want to appear. Why don’t I come by early tomorrow morning and we can go out for the day? I have some shoes to collect. We can make a day of it. Are you game?”

“But… where are you staying tonight?”

“At the Royal Oak. I got the last room.”

That explained the lack of luggage.

My first thought was that there didn't seem any way out of going out for the day with her. Then I thought, why not? At least I'd see a bit more of her before she flew home again.

I sighed.
“Ok, but I’ll drive.”

Casey stood up and said,
“Good. I’ll expect you at what time?”

“Eight-thirty good enough?”

“That’s fine.”

I helped her put on her coat before opening the front door. The rain was still falling. It was painting a picture that Lowry would have loved to paint, in the light from the streetlights.

I was just about to say good night when Casey leaned into me and gave me a long kiss.

“Drive safely,” I said as she walked away into the darkness.

I shut the door and cried from the emotion of the moment.

It didn’t last long. I had things to do before the morning.

[Saturday Morning]

The clock on the dashboard of my car said 08:27 when I drew up outside the Royal Oak. Casey was waiting for me and looking a lot better than the previous evening.

“Where to Madam?”

“North to Richmond. The shop is on the far side of the town and up a steep hill.”

I feigned ignorance of the location. There was a company that had operated out of another unit on the site that supplied us with plastic moulded cases until COVID forced them out of business. The owners had started up again in the nearby town of Northallerton.

“Ok. We have a choice about which way to go. Motorway or cross country?”

Casey thought for a moment.
“Why don’t we get there ASAP, do our business and then see what the time is.”

“Fair enough.”

Just over two hours later, I pulled up in front of a pretty nondescript business unit in Richmond, North Yorkshire. A small sign in the window said, 'H Young, Purveyor of Fine Bespoke Footwear'. We were in the right place.

“Have you been here before?” asked Casey.
“You found the business park very easily?”

“Ok, I admit that I have been to the business park before. We had a supplier that operated out of another unit but they went bust due to COVID.”

“Why didn’t you say so?”

“What’s the fun in that eh?”

She gave me a dirty look. That was quickly replaced by a smile.

We entered the shop. Our arrival was announced by a bell.

“I’ll be out in a moment,” came a female voice from the back of the unit.

Less than a minute later, the owner of the voice appeared. She took me by surprise. From the leather apron that she was wearing, it appeared that she was the shoemaker.

“Can I help you?” she said as she took off a pair of glasses and replaced them with another pair from the top of her head.

“Ah yes. Ms Burbank. Your order is ready for you to try. Please take a seat and remove your shoes. I’ll get your order.”

Casey gave me a wry smile as she removed the pair of trainers that she’d worn for the day.

The shoemaker returned with three brown paper bags. Two were the size of supermarket carrier bags. The third was a lot larger.

“I’m Helena by the way,” she said as she moved the sort of stool that you used to find in shoe shops into place.

She opened one of the smaller bags and extracted a pair of black high-heeled shoes. On the surface, they looked much like the ones that Casey had worn on that fateful day that she came into my life.

Helena fitted a shoe to Casey’s left foot.
“How does that feel?”

“Like a glove.”

“As it should. Now for the right one.”

“Please walk around and let me know how they feel.”

Casey walked around the small area. The smile on her face told me that they were good.

“I think a little more padding on the inside of the foot near where the big toe joins it.”

Helena smiled.
“Good. I’ll fit them before you leave today. Please come with me and we can try the next pair.”

I was a little puzzled by this move. I had little choice but to let them go into a back room.

Nearly fifteen minutes passed before the two women returned. Casey was wearing a short leather skirt, black patterned fishnet tights and a pair of thigh-high boots that almost came up to the crotch. The heels were at least 5 inches in height but she walked around as if they were flats.

“Do you like them?” asked Casey.

“I think so. They are rather extreme, aren’t they?”

“So? I’ve always wanted a pair of boots like these.”
She lifted the hem of her skirt to reveal what looked like a pair of suspenders holding them up. Amazing.

“Right, Sir. Now for your pair,” said Helena.
I looked at Casey who was sniggering. I’d been well and truly suckered.

“Please take a seat. Don’t be afraid. Almost half my customers are men such as yourself,” said Helena.

Reluctantly, I sat down and removed my shoes. Thankfully, I’d had a shower and cut my toenails before I’d left home that morning.

Helena swiftly fitted a pair of shoes that looked identical to the ones that she'd made for Casey. For me, the heel was a lot lower. More like 3.5 inches. I guessed that my dear former wife had told the maker my foot size. They fitted perfectly which made my embarrassment all the worse. Two… make that three women had conspired together to do this.

I did my duty and walked around. It had been a long time since I’d worn heels of any size. The low doors of my home made it fraught with danger. Now I understood what Casey had been going on about the previous evening.

“How do they feel Darling?” asked Casey.

“Pretty good,” I replied trying to hide my embarrassment.

“I made the heel more like a Kitten one than a stiletto. I find that these work a lot better with my male wearers,” said Helena.

She was right. They were much more to my liking. Then I sighed.

“How much do I owe you for these?”

“Nothing. I was paid in advance for all three pairs.”

I glared at Casey. She’d done me over once more.

“Come on darling, can’t I buy the person I love, a present or two?” said Casey with a gleeful smile on her face.

At that moment, I could have strangled her on the spot after kissing her first…

Once we were back in the car I turned to Casey.
“I told you that my being trans is a very private thing?”

She didn’t say anything.
“I have a good mind to drop you off at the nearest station and let you make your own way back to Accrington.”

Those last words seemed to have some effect on her.

“Look Casey, it has been nice to see you again but we both know that you are going to have to return home very soon. Then what eh?”

She didn’t reply so I carried on.
“Both times you have come into my life, things have been turned upside down, inside out and cut into small pieces. I love being with you but… but you are like a veritable bull in a china shop. You know what you want and woe betide anyone getting in the way of you getting that. I am a person and I have feelings, opinions and desires. Can’t you see that or has your MBA 204, ‘getting what you want at any cost’ frazzled your brain?”

Casey didn’t answer right away.

“Ok, when I was with your ex-wife, I let my enthusiasm get away with me. It was only later that I began to feel that she’d played me, but I’d already paid for the shoes so I hoped that today might bring you out of your shell. I failed to read you correctly and for that, I am so sorry.”

I wasn’t going to forgive her that easily.

I didn’t answer but started the car and drove out of the business park.

Our journey back to Accrington was almost devoid of conversation. She only spoke once and that was to get me to stop at a service area on the A1 for a comfort break.

Things were a little tense that evening. As she was my guest, I had to play the host, but it was a strain. Having a beautiful but very headstrong woman in my home was a totally foreign experience for me.

“I’m sorry about today. I have been so stupid. At times like this, I get carried away by events. I did it with your former spouse and I did it again yesterday. I’m so sorry for abusing your kindness and hospitality.”

I was about to answer when she just left me alone in the kitchen. I went to the front door and tried to stop her.

“Casey please….?”

“Sorry Lucas, I have to go. I promised myself so many times that I needed to be cool, calm and collected but once again, I failed miserably. I came barging in unannounced and… I forgot all those promises I made to myself.”

“Please stay. I’m sure that we can work this out?”

“I have to go. You are far too nice a person to be screwed around by me.”
[to be continued]