Chapter 8

When I did arrive back at the school, my room was spic and span, and everyone was happy to see me. Of course, I was way behind with the gossip and the activities. While I had been away there had been a complete intake of first year students, and the older ones had left. There were a lot of cards on my bed, all from girls who had visited the sites, with many of them expressing their gratitude with my involvement with them.

It was nearing the end of term, so my first attempts of taking lessons usually ended up with my SSD getting a workout as I explained how the things that they were looking at fitted in with the days they had been sealed up in the tomb. I had to give some of my spare time for meetings with local organisations, as well as more interviews. I found that my time in Egypt had been followed by the readers of the local paper, and that my returning to teach was viewed with amazement, seeing that I had my awards from Egypt. I told anyone who asked that a promise made is a promise to be kept.

When it came to the break I went home. My mother had been busy since the last time I had stayed there. My old bedroom had disappeared. In its place was a sunny room with yellow walls and the bed was now a double with bright linen and a colourful quilt. All of my old clothes had gone, and Mum had spent some money buying me things. When I questioned it, she declared that it was more for her than for me, as she would say that she was buying for her famous daughter.

She took me to meet her circle of friends, something that would never have happened with the old me. My SSD got a lot of use wherever I went. I was taken to meetings of amateur historians, photography clubs, even giving talks at stalls in holiday shows, with my insight into being in Egypt for long periods. The Embassy arranged most of those and, as a Cultural Ambassador I couldn’t refuse them.

Being in the public eye, I met a lot of men, many thinking they could sweep me off my feet. With my experience with Khepri, I never allowed any of them to get too close. Until I met Darius. I met him in a large display hall at a holiday show. I was on the official Egypt stall, helping out the Embassy. We had a part of it that promoted the history and there were big pictures of some artifacts from the four big finds that I was now eternally linked with. Darius was on a stall not far away, promoting high-end tours to historic sites in the east, with a big push to travel to Egypt.

At one point, he had left his stall in the hands of his assistant and wandered around, finding himself enraptured by the pictures on our stand. He asked questions and I provided answers. At one point he whispered to himself that I was a wonderful person to know all these facts. The thing was that he said it in Masri, so I answered in the same language that I know so much about the sites is because I found them. It was only then that he moved his eyes from my cleavage to my name badge. I could see the wheels turning in his brain as he figured out who I was. I found it funny, as he was so earnest about the country and his core business. I also found him personable. It helped that he knew a lot about the destinations he was promoting.

He insisted on buying me lunch at the questionable food area. Over the course of the ‘meal’, we found that we knew a lot of the same places, especially Cairo. He also knew some of the people I had met at parties. When the show was closing for the day, he invited me to join him for dinner. When I agreed, his smile lit up. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was going to have a proper meal with him, or if he was thinking about signing me on as a tour guide. A small group visit to the Museum, led by someone who had found some of what was displayed would attract a premium.

That thought made me wonder if I was getting cynical. Now over thirty, and still a virgin, I had almost resigned myself to ending up as an old spinster. I realised that I had better make use of what the surgeons had given me, or else it would be a waste of money. I continued to dilate, as ordered, and sometimes used a vibrator with a degree of satisfaction. With the time since the operation, living as a woman and enjoying the company of women, I needed to cut through my reservations with men. They weren’t all bad. Khepri wasn’t a bad man, just caught up in the machinations of family responsibilities and politics, never a good mix.

The dinner was good. I went to the Embassy and glammed up. Darius had changed into a fresh suit. The venue was good, and we had a good table, good food and good service. I found that he owned the tour company, along with others. He did a lot of business with specialist small group tours, like ones to the craft centres of Europe, railway trips, flying shows, and even one that took ‘Acorns’ to Europe to see Knights Templar sites.

We all had another day of the holiday show to get through, so I made sure I had comfortable shoes and had picked up a sandwich that I had asked the Embassy kitchen to supply. The day was very busy, and I didn’t get any time to socialise. We sent a lot of people to visit other stalls to see if they could afford to satisfy their desire to see the Land of the Pharaohs. Later, as we were taking down the stall, Darius came over and thanked us for sending potential customers his way.

He invited me to dinner again, and I told him that I would join him, but had to get an early start in the morning to get the train back to the school, so it would have to be an early night. I went back to the Embassy and chose a different dress for the meal. I must have been thinking about other things because when I stepped out of my taxi at the restaurant, I realised that I had chosen an outfit more aligned with clubbing, rather than genteel dining.

He was also more casual, and I could see something different in his eyes as I approached the table. He rose and pulled me into a hug and a peck on the lips, and then allowed the waiter to help me sit.

“You look stunning tonight, Evelyn. Why don’t we make this a shorter meal and then head for a dance club I know. I promise that you will still get that early night.”

I smiled and nodded. The meal we chose was a seafood platter for two, which we didn’t finish. We skipped dessert and he paid while I went to the restroom to freshen up. We then walked a block to the entrance of the club. It was more sophisticated than I expected, with a DJ playing smooth music rather than hip-hop. There was a bar and alcoves. I found an alcove while he got the drinks.

Over the next hour or so, we drank, we talked, and we danced – very close together. When I went to freshen up, I applied some lube to my vagina. I was under no illusions about his commitment, he may even be married, but I didn’t care. Tonight, I wanted a man in me, and he was going to be that man.

I did get that early night, naked and in his bed. He was wonderful and it was everything I had expected it to be, and a lot more. I didn’t tell him that he was my first, or that I was trans. I was his woman and he played with my body in a most delightful way. I was back in the Embassy a little before one in the morning, with our phone numbers exchanged and the feeling that I would see more of him.

I was a bit later getting away the next morning. I did have a reasonable sleep but spent a little while on the Embassy computer researching my lover. I discovered that he was from a higher-class family, with parents and several siblings living in Cairo. He had arrived in Britain a few years after his college degree to start the touring company. It followed his parents’ business organising coach tours in Egypt. The personal details showed that he was driven to make the business succeed and, although several women had been in a relationship with him, none had managed to get him to commit.

One thing I did see on the computer was a press release destined for release in Egypt. It was a report of the holiday show, with pictures of the stall and more than a few showing me, including me talking to Darius. I printed that off for myself, which I would show him if I met him again.

Back at the school we prepared for a new term. My lessons were very popular, and I was told that we would be getting a second teacher. I would be expected to vet the applications as they came in. We were a month into the term when we employed the new teacher. She was one of the girls in her last year when I had first entered the school. Brenda had gone on to get accreditation in teaching and had just graduated. Although she hadn’t had the joys of being on a dig with me, she had volunteered on sites in the UK and France.

It didn’t take long to get her up to speed with the History lessons and we started working in tandem. The Head arranged for us to go to Egypt in the last two weeks of term, while the students would be doing exams. It was a surprise when we arrived at the airport and found Darius with a group of tourists, all ready to spend ten days looking at historical sights. He had phoned a few times since I had last seen him, and he came over and gave me a hug and a kiss. I introduced him to Brenda, and he asked us if we would help him with his twenty clients while we waited for our flight.

It helped that everyone in the group knew who I was, so I could keep them occupied while we waited. Darius spoke quietly to Brenda and was then on his phone while I looked at the itinerary and talked about the places they would be seeing.

Just before the boarding was called, he took me and Brenda aside.

“I’m sorry if this spoils your plans, but I’ve cancelled your booking with your hotel and added you to ours. We’re staying at the one near the museum. It will be where we spend the first few days, then we look at the Great Pyramids then head for Luxor. If it fits in with your plans, you’re welcome to join us, all expenses covered.”

“We’re just going to get Brenda up to speed with the historical sights, so we will be happy to join you. Let me call Abbas and I’ll see if we can set something up to make the Museum even more memorable. I have my ID so I can take you into places you wouldn’t have seen.”

I rang Abbas while waiting in line to board and he said that he was happy that I was bringing a crowd of tourists. He said that Heba would have a couple of her staff to help us herd the group around. He also told me that tourist numbers had increased since I’d been on the show stand.

There’s a different atmosphere when you’re travelling with a group, to when there’s just two of you. We spent a lot of the flight talking to enthusiasts who were ready to learn all we could teach them. Brenda and I took it as just another time in the classroom. Darius was often at my side as I answered questions. At Cairo, there was a coach and two of his local staff to take us to the hotel.

We had a good dinner and retired to our rooms to be refreshed for the day to come. He had put Brenda in a single room, with me in one that had a door to his suite. Needless to say, that night I didn’t spend a lot of time in my own bed.

Next day, Heba joined us at breakfast, and I had to announce that we would be visiting the Museum in a way that they hadn’t expected. The group was split into three smaller ones, with Heba and Brenda leading one, Darius leading another with them to be joined by one of Heba’s staff. I took the third group.

Heba told them all that the leaders would be rotated over the three days that they were there, and that everyone would see almost everything that there was to see. Before we walked to the Museum, she gave me a piece of paper with the rooms that I was expected to lead my group. My task, each day, was the original chamber, the Tut exhibition, and a tour of the back rooms where the artifacts from the latest finds were stored for preservation. The other two groups would be seeing other areas.

I started with the Tut exhibit. We took our time as I explained what it feels like to be the first into a burial chamber after more than two thousand years. We then moved to the chamber, where I took in three or four at a time, explaining what they were seeing with the lamps and telling them that this is how I had found the original site.

We all met up in the dining room for lunch, then I took my group down to the back rooms, where we were all kitted out in booties, gloves, and masks to go into the climate-controlled area. One of the staff was there to show us the way. The first table had a lot of artifacts from the oldest dig, with the partial pot and the complete replica in pride of place, alongside some of the grave goods that had come out of the burial sites.

I could explain each item on view, where it was found on site, and how it fitted into the history of the area. Most of the group was staggered at finding that these items would be rewriting the history books.

Next was the artifacts of the two latest sites, much later, but so far more wonderful. It took all afternoon for my small group to see everything and absorb the importance of the items that they were seeing, some five years, so the staffer told me, before they would be going on public display.

It was an energised crowd that met for dinner, with everyone swapping stories about what they had seen. Darius was beaming, as he could see the next trip could be very well attended. Once again, I didn’t spend a lot of time in my own bed, that night. After all my years without sex, I couldn’t get enough of it.

Over the next two days, I repeated my tour with different groups. On the fourth day, Darius and his helpers were heading for the Pyramids, so Brenda and I went back to the Museum, where I thanked Heba and Abbas for their help. Then Heba took the two of us on a tour that took in everything that was to be seen, so giving Brenda a complete overview of the Museum. The last thing she showed us was the plans of the Evelyn Saunders wing, which was in the process of being surveyed, and where the Pharaoh and his queen would take pride of place, with an annex showing the finds of the African Humid finds. She told us that a couple of historians were busy writing the catalogue and a new history book.

The following day, we joined the rest of the group to fly to Luxor, checking in to the Hilton and spending three days visiting all of the best sites, including a guided tour of the Valley of The Kings, going into a lot of the famous tombs. The next day, we all flew south to Abu Simbel to see the famous temple and the one for Nefertari, both well worth the time to visit. We stayed at the New Abu Simbel Hotel, a five-star modern establishment, where I didn’t spend a lot of time in my bed.

After that, we all flew back to Cairo, where the group was allowed a day of exploring the city but were pointed to the best shops to get souvenirs. Brenda went with them while I spent the day with Darius, visiting his family and being welcomed. I had met his father at a couple of parties, and he was surprised to have me turning up at his doorstep with his son.

We had a very good day, with me meeting most of the extended family. His mother took me aside and told me that Khepri had married the daughter of one of the politicians and that they had already had a son. As usual, it was the women of the family that knew the best gossip. I was sure that news of my return, with Darius, would be doing the rounds before long.

That evening, at dinner, one of the group stood and thanked us for making their trip so memorable. Darius was asked if another could be organised, so he said that anything was possible, and that his clients would be the first to be told. That night, after we had made love, he gave me a box with a diamond ring in and asked me to marry him.

It only took me a few seconds to say yes but did tell him that I wasn’t able to have children. He laughed.

“Too many in the family already. I expect that we’ll have a couple of my sisters’ children to look after from time to time. We can be the go-to uncle and aunt.”

The flight wasn’t until late morning, so we went to tell his parents before we met the group at the airport. Brenda was agog when she saw the ring on my finger and gave me a hug. She was followed by everyone in the group, all happy that they had been to places that none of their friends would see for years. To them, my happiness was secondary.

Back in England, I gave my resignation to the Headmistress, telling her that I was sorry to leave, but that marriage was on the cards. On the last day of term, I was given a send-off with flowers and a box of chocolates. It was hard to leave Veronica, Stella, Tracey and now Brenda, but I had another life to lead now.

When I left, with Darius picking me up, I had tears in my eyes as we left the grounds. My life here had been exciting and worth every second I had spent. He drove us to his home, an apartment in a tower overlooking the Thames. It was wonderful, and our first full day was spent in bed, only getting out to pee and eat.

I had some duties to do, with a visit to the Society to give them the news of how the new exhibit was going. I also checked in with the Embassy to find out the dates of the future holiday shows that they would want me to attend. That was when we could set a date for the marriage. It would be in Egypt, in the arms of his family, and we would be splitting our time between his apartment there and the apartment here.

He asked me if I would lead tourist group in the future. I had a lot of fun with the last one, so agreed. The next day, we did a visit to his London office to introduce me to the staff. I was welcomed, as many of the tourists had been in touch to find out when I was going to lead another tour.

We went to stay in his apartment in Cairo, near the top of a new tower with a view that had the Pyramids on the horizon. It was fantastic. The wedding was full-on. My parents flew out to attend and were put up in luxury. We had a full church, his family not being Muslim, but lapsed Coptic Orthodox Catholics.

I was made ready by my new mother-in-law to be, and three new sisters-in-law. The dress was far too hot for the climate, but I was able to change for the reception. The guest list was a who’s who of Cairo society and Museum staff. Khepri was there with his wife and new son, along with his parents and a few other ministers. It was a shock to Darius when I was referred to as ‘My Lady’, as I wore the sash of my Order of the Virtues with my going away dress.

We honeymooned across the water in Greece, staying in a villa on one of the islands. Then we were back in Cairo so that I could co-ordinate with Abbas about bringing small groups to the Museum, to give them the full tour. Darius told him that the first tour group would be by invitation only, all travel writers.

Abbas gave us permission to go to the sites of the finds and said that we would be allowed to take people in with lights, as the sites were too remote to be opened like the Valley of the Kings. Darius arranged with a Cairo helicopter company to fly us around, with an ex-military Chinook, a method of transport that I was too familiar with but would be something special for visitors.

My life took on a new focus, working for our family business. I discovered that my husband was very rich, and, with my awards and contacts, we were able to expand the usual tour to take in the extra sights. We would fly to London or Manchester to pick up the tour groups, stay with them in hotels as we guided them around, and fly back to stay at the London apartment as we went to the office to discuss the tours and work on changes.

The first Egypt tour with the travel writers cost a lot but was well worth it in advertising. The Egypt tours, led by Evelyn Saunders, were hot tickets. I did keep my own name for business purposes, you don’t throw away a hook that grabs customers.

I was able to get my parents, and friends, into groups on free tickets, a couple at a time, and it was a lot of fun when they were with me on the trip. I was still feted in Cairo as a member of the society, and we had lots of invitations to parties and other events. We now had our stand next to the Embassy stand at shows and I would flit between them. We all did a roaring trade, especially with the big pictures of the Senusret chamber, as taken in situ.

Five years later, I was asked to cut the ribbon on the Evelyn Saunders Wing of the Museum. They had spent a lot of money to house all the treasures and it was an instant success.

We were starting to talk about adopting a son and that brings me to where I started this tale. I was sitting at the window of our Cairo home, watching the Pyramids change colour in the light of the setting sun. Tomorrow, we would be starting the process to adopt. Tomorrow, I would be starting a new chapter in my life. One where I would be fitting in with the other mothers in the city. I had come to this point in ways that I had never seen coming, but it had been fun and interesting. As I sat, Darius came and sat next to me, kissing me, and telling me that he loved me more every day. That was something I never wanted to end.

Marianne Gregory © 2024