I have a job interview
but more work is required

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

by Louise Anne Smithson

Chapter 3

An interview and a manicure

The next morning I emerged from my bedroom at about nine, again wearing Clare’s slacks and baggy tee-shirt. I found her in the kitchen and discovered that both Karen and Anne had already left for their work.

‘Good Morning Chris! You'd better hurry and get yourself some coffee and toast, as Jenny will be here any minute and we have to get you dressed and ready for your job interview,’ she said.

‘Clare, I've been thinking about last night and I'm not sure that it is such a good idea,’ I said.

‘Why ever not?’ she replied. ‘Jenny and I thought it was a brilliant idea and a good way for you to earn yourself some money.’

‘Maybe so, but I'm not sure I'll be able to carry off the deception at work,’ I said.

‘You fooled Jenny last night, even without making any effort to do so,’ she said.

‘I know, but ….,’ I began to reply.

‘By the time we've finished with you this morning even your own mother would think you were a girl,’ she interrupted.

‘That is a nice idea, but …,’ I thought.

‘Suppose someone were to challenge me, whatever would I say?’

‘Nobody will challenge you! Why should they? Whoever takes any notice of a waitress, unless of course she drops the food in their lap? In any event, Jenny’s mother won't let you work if there is a danger that you might damage the reputation of her business.’

‘But what would your mother say if she found out?’

‘Mum is likely to be away for some time and has plenty of other things to worry about at present.’

‘And what about Karen and Anne, what'll they think of me?’ I asked.

‘They already know. I told them about the plan last night and they both think it is a brilliant idea. They'll be in tonight when we get back from work so you'll be able to tell them how we got on. Now come on Chris, you know that you want to do it really,’ she said in an enticing voice.

‘How does she know?’ I thought to myself, but did not answer.

Fortunately, Jenny arrived at that point bringing her wig, and so that put an end to any further discussion on the matter.

---

‘Before you get dressed we'll need to wax your arms and legs. You're not very hairy but it'll be best to make sure’ said Clare.

I was instructed to strip down to my knickers, and the two girls spread some warm wax strips over my legs and arms, and rapidly pulled them off taking the hairs with them. The sensation was one of shock rather than pain, but I began to get worried when they asked to inspect my armpits, and proceeded to spread some depilatory cream all over them.

‘Why do you need to clear my underarms, they'll not be visible?’ I asked.

‘It is better to be safe than sorry — nothing will give you away faster than a glimpse of a hairy armpit,’ said Jenny.

I had to stand for ten minutes whilst the depilatory cream took its effect, and so my two colleagues went off to fashion some more realistic looking breasts for me to use. They came back with a pair of old stockings where the toes had been filled with lentils and then tied off.

‘These should be of about the right weight and consistency to slip in to your bra cups and the knots will make a convincing nipple shape,’ said Jenny. We'll need to tape them to your body so that they do not shift around as you work.’

I had a shower to get rid of the cream, and all the unwanted bodily hair came off with it, leaving my limbs feeling smooth and silky. I was given a change of knickers, but this time they were somewhat more feminine than before. I then joined the two girls in Clare’s bedroom. First of all they helped me to tape the new home made breast forms in place and put on and adjust my bra. I sat down and was again shown how to put on a pair of tights without laddering them, by Clare.

‘This is the last time I'm going to show you; in future you'll have to do it for yourself,’ she said.

‘Who’s said anything about the future?’ I thought to myself.

The silky texture of the tights felt nice against my smooth legs and created a pleasurable sensation as I walked. I put on the black dress and the court shoes provided for me the previous evening. Jenny then told me to sit down in front of the dressing table mirror and began to put some makeup on to my face. This time she explained exactly what she was seeking to achieve with each of the cosmetics and offered advice on how they should be applied.

‘The main thing is not to put on too much. There are loads of makeup training videos on You Tube, so next time, we'll expect you to be able to do this for yourself,’ she said.

‘Not if you don’t want me to be found out. This clearly needs a lot of practice,’ I replied now asserting myself a little more

Finally, Jenny showed me how to put on her long brunette wig that she had brought with her; how to clip it securely into place and then brush it into a style. I had never had long hair before this date and so the feeling of it on my shoulders and around my neck was entirely new. Yet, as with the feeling of the tights on my legs, it was a pleasurable sensation.

As soon as I was ready the three of us stood in front of the full-length mirror admiring our combined work. I must say I was impressed with myself and seemed to present an even more convincing, and indeed attractive, female image than the previous evening. My new long hair was lighter than my natural shade, but still looked good. My two companions were of the same opinion.

‘He looks really lovely,’ said Clare to Jenny.

‘What do you think Chris?’ asked Jenny.

I felt as if I might faint from the sheer pleasure of looking at myself and feeling so good.

‘I suppose I do look fairly convincing,’ I responded tentatively.

‘What about some jewellery - earrings and a necklace?’ answered Clare.

‘I don’t think it will be necessary, earrings will not be visible under the long hair and a necklace will look out of place when he puts on the waitresses uniform.’

‘Alright,’ replied Clare, ‘but we're going to have to stop referring to him as ‘he’: from now onwards Chris we will refer to you as ‘she’ whenever you are dressed as a young woman.’

‘Very well,’ I shrugged, trying not to sound bothered one way or another at the prospect.

‘Shall we call you Christine, or is there some other name you would prefer?’

‘To avoid confusion it might be better if I were to take on another name whilst I am working. What do you think about Emily?’ I asked.

‘OK then, as long as we are allowed to shorten it to Emmy.’

‘Very well then Emily, let’s go and introduce you to my mother,’ said Jenny.

---

I was experiencing a mixture of emotions as the three of us arrived at Jenny’s house half an hour later. Inevitably, I was feeling both nervous and exposed to be wearing a dress, wig and makeup in public, and was about to be introduced to the parent of my new friend. But at the same time I felt a rush of pleasure, knowing that, in spite of everything I looked like an attractive girl.

Jenny’s mother was a cheerful, business-like woman in her late thirties. She was of middling size and smartly dressed in a suit, having just come back from meeting a potential customer.

‘Hi girls!’ she said as she opened the door to us. ‘Thank you very much for agreeing to help us out tonight Clare, and I understand that you might be interested in some more summer work.

‘Yes please. Mrs Green,’ answered Clare, ‘I need to earn some money before I go back to school in September.’

‘Well as long as you are reliable and willing to work hard, I'm likely to have plenty for you to do over the next few weeks.’

She then turned to her daughter ‘I thought you were bringing Clare’s cousin over this morning, or has he now changed his mind?’

She may not have noticed me hanging back slightly but then she asked ‘who is this young lady that you have brought in his place?’

‘No Mum, this is the same person that I spoke to you about last night, except we've now given Chris a new name of Emily,’ said Jenny.

‘Emily, this is my mother Joyce.’

I blushed deeply as I greeted her and we shook hands.

‘I am sorry Emily, I did not know. You look most convincing as a girl, and you also sound like one as well so I did not realise that you were the person I was expecting to see. In fact it was not until I shook hands with you that I noticed anything boyish about you at all.’

‘Oh!’ I said, not knowing whether to be pleased, disappointed or embarrassed with what she had just said.

‘Do you have any experience of waiting at tables my dear?’

‘I have helped out as a waiter in a café near to my home, but only as a casual weekend job,’ I replied.

‘Do your parents know that you are intending to work for me as a waitress?’ she asked.

I explained that I came from a single parent family with no contact with my father, and that my mother was currently overseas on an important business trip and that I did not want to worry her by telling her that I had lost all my clothes and money.

‘Yes Jenny explained your predicament to me. I suppose I would be willing to risk giving you a trial for tonight, since it appears that we are both rather desperate. However, I'm just a little bit concerned that your hands might give you away, and so I wonder whether there is something we might do to them to make them look a little more realistic.’

‘What have you in mind Mum?’ asked Jenny. ‘They look ok to me and in every other respect I thought we did a pretty good transformation job on Emmy.’

‘Don’t get me wrong Jenny; you've done an excellent job. However, hands are quite important if you are serving meals to people, as they are liable to be noticed,’ she replied. ‘May I have a closer look at them Emily?’ she asked.

I held them out in front of me and allowed her to examine them.

‘They are not too bad, your fingers are quite slender, but your nails are far too short and have no shape to them. Also, most women have a first finger that is slightly longer than their ring finger, whereas your two fingers seem to be of equal length. Would you we willing to have nail extensions and wear a little bit of a fairly subdued nail polish?’ she asked.

‘I would not object, but I have no money to pay for them,’ I replied.

‘Alright, I will meet the cost for you on this one occasion,’ she said, ‘but if you work for me again after tonight you will either need to pay for them yourself, or else you could always hang on to the extensions.’

She seemed to be assuming that I would work for her on more than this one occasion. I did not say anything as I wanted to reserve judgement on the matter, but there was no way that I was going to walk around Shrewsbury with painted finger nails whenever I was not working. But I had come so far with their plan, and there seemed to be no point in raising any more objections. Joyce therefore telephoned a friend who owned a nail salon in the town, explaining my particular circumstances and arranging for me to have an appointment immediately after lunch. In the meanwhile, I used my mobile phone to call the two lost property offices to make enquiries about my luggage. Unfortunately neither one was able to help me. There had been no enquiries or messages from the USA. Once again they both suggested that I should call back after another day or two.

---

Jenny was needed by her mother to help with some preparatory work in the afternoon, so Clare agreed to escort me to the nail salon, and as a bonus for our stepping in at the last minute, Joyce agreed to pay for her to have a manicure whilst I had my extensions affixed. I was rather nervous at first as we boarded a bus into town and walked through the busy shopping street on our way to the salon. Once again I was conscious of the different feelings of wearing a dress and tights. Also the wig gave a different sensation. My new shoes reminded me how to walk and tried to avoid taking large strides. However, after a while I realised that nobody seemed to be paying very much attention to me, and so I gained in confidence. The young manicurist had originally intended to do my nails in a back room, but when she met me, she changed her mind and invited me to sit on one of the usual seats in the centre of the salon.

‘Hello madame, I am Natalie I understand from Joyce that you are to have gel extensions and a fairly subdued nail polish.’

‘That’s right, but please call me Emily,’ I replied.

Natalie smiled and began cleaning, shaping and buffing my existing nails, pushing back the cuticles and removing any dead skin. She then carefully spread a clear layer of transparent gel on each of my finger nails and asked me to hold them under an ultra-violet light for fifteen seconds to cure. Next she placed gold foil nail forms around each nail and underneath the tips, sticking them round each finger and creating a base for each extension. Once again she spread a thin layer of gel on each nail, gradually extending it on to the form. After each coat she asked me to hold my hand under the ultra-violet light for one minute. After three of these coats I had long transparent finger nails on each finger. She carefully removed each form, and added a final top coat of white gel. Once this had cured she proceeded to go through the same with my thumbs. Afterwards, she carefully trimmed and filed all my nails into shape.

‘These extensions should now be as strong as your natural nails’ she said, brushing away the dust. Ten minutes later they were finished and she began to paint on a coat of brownish-red varnish.

‘So what do you think of your new nails Emily?’ asked the manicurist as I held out my fingers for the varnish to dry.

‘They look very nice, but I'd no idea they would be so long,’ I said. ‘It will be difficult for me to use them.’

‘Don’t worry, you will soon get used to them, and they make your hands look so much better’ she responded.

I had to admit to myself that she was right. I thanked her and went to join Clare who was waiting for me when I finished, having paid both our bills with money provided by Jenny’s mother.

‘That is quite a set of talons you have there, Emily, I wouldn’t wish to get into a cat fight with you,’ she said smiling.

I blushed a little and did not answer; but nevertheless I felt quite proud of them.