I am introduced to my cousin’s friend
who is looking for some hired help

A Fortuitous Adventure:
or, how I got my first job

by Louise Anne Smithson

Chapter 2

A job opportunity

Having previously been a little mocking of me as I related the tale of the loss of my luggage and my holiday money, Karen now offered me a friendly and sympathetic smile.

‘Don’t do anything too quickly Chris; you still may get your suitcase and your money back. Your mum will be worried enough when she hears about Gran’s stroke so let's not give her any more grief than is necessary. The first thing you need to do is telephone the railway lost property office before it closes for the night. You never know but they may already have your case.’

I did as she suggested and explained the circumstances of my loss. There was no record of any suitcase having been handed in at Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Birmingham or Euston during the afternoon. I asked whether they would take my name and phone number and notify me if it were found. They weren't terribly hopeful, particularly when they realised that there was no name and address on the case and it might have been inadvertently taken out of the country. Instead of taking my number they told me to ring back to enquire again in two or three days. They also gave me the telephone number of the lost property office at Birmingham Airport, and so I rang them and told the story once again. The airport wanted to know details of the flight and the destination of the person with my case, but I could supply neither. There'd been half a dozen flights leaving for, or connecting with other flights to the East coast of the USA, in the three hours immediately following my loss, and nobody had so far reported anything untoward. Once again they didn't take my details but suggested that I should ring them again the following day, by which time the girl with my case would have probably returned home and realised her mistake. I reported back to my cousins.

‘It looks as if I’ll have to borrow this bath robe until my own clothes are dry?’ I asked.

‘We don't have a tumble-dryer and so it will take at least twenty-four hours before your jeans are dry,’ said Anne.

Clare now took pity on my plight.

‘Chris, you are roughly the same size as me. I’ll try and find you something suitable of mine to wear in the meanwhile. By the way, what’s your shoe size?’ she asked.

‘Six,’ I answered.

‘You’re in luck,’ she said, ‘I take the same size.’

Given the events of the day so far, I couldn't really agree with her sentiments.

---

Clare arrived back from her bedroom about ten minutes later, carrying a pile of her clothes. She put them down on to a chair and began to sort through them.

‘Chris, would you prefer to wear a skirt or a pair of trousers?’ she asked playfully.

‘Very funny,’ I answered blushing deeply.

She handed me some girls’ slacks, a baggy sweat shirt that could equally be worn by a boy or a girl, together with some short white socks and a pair of girls’ trainers. She also handed me some plain white underclothes.

‘I tried to find you some knickers which aren’t too ‘girly’, and you can have the most masculine looking bra that I could find,’ she said smiling to her sisters.

I was now blushing deeply.

‘Thanks but I’ll pass on the bra,’ I said. ‘But I suppose I have no alternative but to wear the remainder of the clothes, as long as you all promise not to tell my Mum or Aunt Carol’.

Inevitably there followed a little more good-natured teasing from my three cousins and offers of something a little more feminine to wear, if I wished, but eventually everyone promised to keep silent about the incident and so I agreed to put on Clare’s clothes for the evening.

---

Both Mum and Aunt Carol telephoned soon after tea, having first spoken to one another. Mum’s initial reaction on hearing the news about her mother had been to want to cancel her trip and return to the UK by the next available flight, but she had been dissuaded from doing so by her older sister. My grandmother’s condition, although serious, was not life-threatening and Carol had promised to look after her, at least for the time being, and to report back daily. Gran had also insisted that she shouldn't cancel her trip. Mum was also a little anxious about me, but pleased to hear that I had arrived safely, without untoward incident, and that I was being looked after by my three cousins. The last thing I wanted was to worry her with the story of my lost luggage. Aunt Carol then rang and spoke firstly to her three daughters. I was relieved that they all kept their word and made no mention of my present clothing, or my long term difficulties. She then asked to speak to me.

‘I am sorry that I won't be around for a couple of weeks Chris, particularly after I'd promised your mother to keep an eye on you.’

‘Don’t worry Aunt Carol, I’ll be fine. My cousins have all been very nice to me’ I answered.

‘Good, I've told them that they're all responsible for your well-being and ensuring that you don’t get into any trouble.’

‘I won’t do anything silly. I'm hoping to find a part-time job or some other way of earning some money if I can.’

‘OK then. I’ll be ringing to check that all is well at regular intervals!’

---

Karen and Anne had both arranged to go out with their respective boyfriends that evening so after dinner Clare and I washed up and sat down to watch television together. At about eight o’clock her friend Jenny Green telephoned to check that she was at home and then called round to the house shortly afterwards. I was introduced to her as ‘my cousin Chris from Sussex who will be staying with us for the summer.’ Jenny smiled and asked me where I came from and my plans for the summer. I was feeling a little self-conscious about my unusual attire and so I didn't prolong our conversation. I merely answered her questions, and said I was hoping to find some work for the summer before making my excuses about having to unpack my case and sort out my new bedroom, and so I left them chatting to one another. Half an hour later, Clare knocked on my bedroom door and asked if she could have a word with me.

‘Jenny’s mother is looking for some waitresses to work tomorrow evening — she owns a small catering business and has been let down at the last minute. Jenny will be working herself and has asked me if I’d also be willing to work as well,’ she explained.

‘That’s alright, go ahead, please don’t feel that you need to stay in and look after me,’ I said.

‘I’ve already agreed to do so but, she has asked me whether my cousin would also be interested in a job as a waitress. When I introduced you as Chris, she assumed it was short for Christine, and didn't realise that you were really a boy who happened to be wearing some of my clothes.’

‘I don’t see how she could have made that mistake? I’ve got short hair and a flat chest’ I answered, somewhat surprised.

‘I can understand her mistake. It is quite difficult to judge whether you’ve any boobs or not in that baggy tee shirt and many girls have short hair these days. Also you do have a slight build for a guy of your age and your voice is rather soft and high pitched as well.

‘Thanks a lot!’ I said blushing deeply. ‘I can’t help my size or my voice. You’re not exactly doing much for my self-confidence Clare, particularly when I have just lost all my clothes.’

‘I'm sorry Chris, but it isn't my fault that you have a nicely shaped face and look quite cute as a girl,’ she replied with a trace of petulance.

I blushed again and looked downwards, not knowing what to say in reply. She took this as a signal to continue with her story.

‘Anyway, I explained your situation to her and she was amused by her mistake but also sympathised with your plight. She still wonders whether you might be willing to work as a waitress tomorrow. The money would be good - fifty pounds for about six hours of work. She’d have to clear it with her mum first, but Jenny thinks that she's so desperate that she might be willing to employ you.’

‘I could certainly do with earning the money, but couldn’t I do the same work as a waiter, as my clothes will be dry by then?’ I asked.

‘I am afraid that would be a non-starter since all her mother’s staff wear a uniform - black dresses with little white aprons — it is part of their corporate image. There's no way they would let you work in jeans and a tee shirt. However, nobody knows you in this town and we both think you could make a very convincing waitress if you were willing to give it a try,’ she added.

‘I don’t know about that,’ I said.

‘Just think about it, if you did earn some money working for one evening you would be able to go out and buy yourself some more guys’ clothes to wear.’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Why not at least come downstairs and have a word with Jenny about it?’ she said.

---

As I came down Jenny turned to me with a nice smile and said, ‘hello again Chris: I'm sorry that I mistook you for a girl, but it was a natural mistake since you were wearing those clothes.’

I blushed for a third time before answering. I'd not realised that I looked as feminine as I clearly did.

‘That’s alright, Jenny. I suppose it was my own fault for losing track of my suitcase,’ I replied, trying to sound as masculine as possible.

‘Yes, you've been a careless bunny, haven’t you? But how do you feel about my suggestion?’ she asked.

I dared not say what I really thought about it.

‘I'm not sure. I need to earn some money urgently, but I’d be worried that your mother’s customers might not make the same mistake about me that you did.’

‘Well, let’s at least see what you look like wearing a dress and with some fake boobs before deciding,’ she said. Turning to Clare, she asked, ‘can your cousin try on some more of your clothes?’

‘Yes of course, it'll be easier to find him something that really suits if I'm not restricted to boyish clothes.’

---

She returned after a few minutes with a short black dress, a black bra, a pair of tights and some black court shoes with two inch heels.

‘Here put these on Chris, they're the same colour as your uniform would be. You can use your socks to fill the cups of your bra for now’ said Clare.

I did as I was told and the two girls showed me how to put on the tights without laddering them. I then stood up and they looked at me.

‘I think he looks pretty good,’ said Jenny; 'he’d have to shave his legs of course but otherwise they look quite good in tights.’

‘Remember to keep your legs together and not to cross them when you sit down,’ said Clare to me, and then turning to Jenny she suggested, ‘Let’s put on a little bit of lipstick and eye makeup to make him look a little older.’

‘OK, but not too much,’ said Jenny opening her bag and retrieving some makeup. 'He needs to look like a waitress not a beauty queen.’

I was ordered to sit down whilst they quickly made up my face. Five minutes later I asked them for their verdict.

‘Come on, you’ve both had plenty of time to inspect me, so what do you think?’ I asked.

‘Chris you look really great - just like an attractive young woman, even with the short haircut,’ said Clare ‘I don’t think anyone would realise that you were a boy.’

‘I have a shoulder length brown wig that he could wear tomorrow if that would help,’ said Jenny.

‘Yes please, he would look even more convincing then,’ said Clare without even consulting me.

‘Hang on a minute, I haven't agreed to go ahead with your plan yet,’ I cautioned.

‘Come on Chris, don’t be awkward. You look great and no-one will ever know,’ said Clare in a tone that ended all further discussion.

‘How do you feel wearing those shoes?’ asked Jenny.

I walked around for a while trying to get used to them.

‘OK, they seem to fit comfortably and I suppose I could get used to wearing them, but I wouldn't wish to wear anything higher than these,’ I replied.

‘Good. So that’s settled. Let me now ring my Mum and assure her you’ll be working tomorrow Clare as she has been frantic all afternoon about how we are going to cope tomorrow. I’ll also explain to her all about your cousin, and see if she is willing to take him, (or perhaps I should now say her) on as well.’

---

There was no mirror in the sitting room and so I left them went out to hall both to sort out my own thoughts and to see what I now looked like. I have to admit I was favourably surprised by my image. I didn't look at all outrageous or like a drag queen, just like an ordinary, but quite attractive girl. I may have looked ordinary, but I felt wonderful, as if I were walking on air, everything felt just right.

A few minutes later I returned to find them talking together about something. Jenny then turned to address me.

‘Mum was a little anxious about the idea but would be willing to consider you as a waitress. She wants to see you wearing a dress and with some makeup on tomorrow morning before she decides whether or not she’ll take the risk of employing you.’

‘Oh!’ I said, suddenly feeling let down.

‘Don’t worry’ said Clare, ‘You can hang on to those clothes until then and I’ll also help you get ready in the morning.’

‘I’ll bring my wig round first thing as well, and show you how to put it on and style it’ said Jenny.

‘Alright then, I suppose there isn't a lot else I can do until my jeans are dry,’ I said, trying to sound indifferent to their plan.

‘Exactly,’ said to Clare.

‘But what will Karen and Anne say when they find out?’ I asked her.

‘Don’t worry about them; I think they’ll be quite pleased if you have found an opportunity to earn some money, whilst you are waiting to get your case back.’

---

Jenny left us to go home at about ten thirty, and I decided to go to bed. Clare had wanted me to stay up, dressed as I was, until her sisters returned, but I pleaded tiredness after having travelled for much of the day. So she found me an old pair of her pyjamas to wear and gave me a new toothbrush that they kept as a spare.

‘I am afraid that I only have pink one to offer you, but in the circumstances it is quite appropriate,’ she commented as she handed it to me.