Another Side of My Life
Chapter3
by Julie D Cole

His retort was ‘OK how about tomorrow evening? Are you available?’
………………………………………….
I thought about it for a few minutes and just said let me think about it please and perhaps I can let you know in the morning after I know what I’m doing.

I must admit that I was tempted. I already liked Jack because he was kind and also he just accepted me and believed me. But did he realise that I wasn’t a woman or not. I had seen him looking at me a number of times with a searching expression.

He hadn’t pre-judged me and nervous as I was when I first talked to him I’d gradually gained in confidence working with him and I had really liked the interchanges with him and the rapport with his regular customers. I think the tips came because they liked the ambience of the bar.

He teased me and said I’d been hired to work the punters and he told me to pretend I was on a stage with an audience and to ensure I looked around all of the audience so they all felt special. It did seem to work and it made me less nervous to think I was acting. I liked the experience of being a waitress for the evening and to follow Jacks instructions.

Two of the female investment bankers in the Group did seem a bit aloof at first but after a couple of large glasses of sparkling wine followed by shots they became more friendly. One of them made a comment about my Northern accent and the pitch of my voice but they still seemed to treat me as a woman. I tried to lift the pitch a little but in the end decided that sounded too false. Let’s face it lots of girls have slightly deeper husky voices and some men on the news channels sound more female than male these days.

But what the heck this is London.

I liked being on stage like this since it was much more fun that hiding in hotel rooms or walking around the shops trying to behave inconspicuously.

I told him that if I accepted then it would only be on the basis that he didn’t sack his regular waitress and it would be as a favour because of his kindness. Also he’d have to accept that I was supposed to be on vacation and whilst I was now short of funds I still wanted to see some of the sights.

He had a big smile on his face. Really I didn’t want to encourage him and I fully intended to say no but the words came out differently to what I was actually thinking.

By now the bar was fairly quiet apart from some hotel residents and Jack said they usually just come in for a nightcap. One guy was a bit frisky because they’d been to a bar with dancing girls earlier and he made some stupid remarks to me that made me embarrassed. He was inferring that I should show some cleavage and wear a skirt because I had a nice bum. He tried to touch me but I resisted his grope.
I tried to put him off saying that I was engaged and that my fiancé was collecting me shortly but that seemed to make him worse. I suppose since he’d been paying dancers he thought that every girl was easy prey.

Jack cut in and asked him to quieten down and ushered me to the back of the bar to clean glasses whilst he tidied up around the bar and took the drink orders. This guy kept staring at me and then he shouted that he’d pay me twenty pounds if I showed him my tits. I had no idea how to respond and must have been as red as a beetroot.

Jack apologised to me and said this was unavoidable because the guy had drunk too much but then he told them it was last drinks since they wouldn’t behave and that he was closing the bar early. They argued a bit but then decided to leave and go to a pub around the corner from the hotel.

I felt awkward now but Jack said not to worry he would stay open another hour now they’d gone. It gave us chance to talk a little bit and the bar was better with just two couples coming in for a quiet drink after a London show.

Jack asked me why I was wearing a ring on my engagement finger and I told him that it was obvious wasn’t it. He looked at me and said he wouldn’t let me go to London alone if he was engaged to me and that he didn’t see me as the marrying type. I wasn’t sure what he meant by that and tried to pass it off. He just smiled.

He decided to close up at around 11-30 pm and apologised to keep me so late. I didn’t really mind since despite the incident in the underground I’d had my longest experience as a girl and I didn’t want it to end. I’d had a couple more drinks and I was feeling quite relaxed.

We took a taxi to Jacks apartment building because I had a suitcase and he thought I’d had enough experience of the underground for one day. The streets were very busy even though it was quite late and it only took 20 minutes. The cabby knew Jack so they laughed and joked a bit and he made some comments about Jack having pulled at last. I just blurted out no I’m engaged and we just met. He just winked and said Jack was a good catch and the best available in London now Kate had caught Prince Edward.

As we dropped off Jack pointed to the small hotel he’d recommended and said it was run by a nice Asian family but if I wanted to save the money I could stay at his place. He insisted that he’d be on best behaviour and that I’d nothing to fear. I did feel that it would be better to stay with him than to turn up late at night at a strange hotel but on the downside how could I keep my secret safe and I’d need to shave the next day to avoid any risk of stubble on my chin.

He was very insistent that at least I looked at his place so I finally accepted to have a look. It wasn’t all that big and it had been nicely decorated. The lounge area was very spacious with a small bar area of course plus a large red sofa and a giant screen TV. He had a surround sound music system and lots of photos and pictures along with two towers of CD’s and a giant marble coffee table strewn with magazines and boy toys. There was a very beautiful girl in a picture frame on a table at the side of his reading chair. I wished I could look like her.

He showed me the bedroom and bathroom that was alongside but no guestroom. Just one very large king size bed. He insisted I use it and he would sleep on his sofa and he said I could lock the door from the inside if it made me more comfortable. Then he said I had 3 seconds to make up my mind and he’d go open some wine.

I accepted of course but decided I’d better freshen up.

As I looked in the mirror I was surprised at how soft my skin looked and I’d expected to see my boy face and a dirty scruffy person after an evening of toil in the bar. I was quite surprised as if spending the day as a girl had caused some natural changes. I tidied up my make up but really I wanted a shower. But first I joined Jack for a glass of wine and it was great to take off my shoes and curl my toes. I sat at one end of his big sofa and he sat in his reading chair. He’d put on some Westlife music to relax even though it was not his CD.

I had to ask if it was his girlfriends CD and pointed to the photo in the frame. He laughed and said she was his sister and yes it was her CD. She was coming down to London for the weekend with two of her friends to see a show called ‘The Jersey Boys’ and staying in the hotel that owned his bar so if I helped him out I could meet them.

I just said ‘Let’s see.’

He offered me first use of the bathroom to take a shower so I accepted whilst he busied himself putting some fresh bed linen on the bed. I was impressed.

I gathered my night things and was glad I’d packed a silk dressing gown and some slippers as well as the new leopard print nightdress. At least I could cover myself to avoid showing the lack of bust.

I couldn’t put on any make-up so I was scared. At least the lighting in the lounge was soft and I settled back on the sofa with my legs underneath me whilst he showered.

He had very little shyness and came out with a twel around his shoulders rubbing his black hair but with a nice pair of Calvin Klein jogger bottoms. He had strong arms and a nice six pack and I thought he must work out. Not much body hair but a body that any girl might kill for.
This time he sat at the other end of the sofa and emptied the last of the wine into his glass having taken care to ensure my glass had sufficient left.

Then he turned to me and said ‘Since I told you this is my sister Debbie and not some girlfriend how about you tell me a bit about this fiancé of yours?’

To be continued ……………………