“Here she comes!” Hayley squeaked excitedly as the black London taxi pulled onto the street. Sophie fidgeted nervously in her loose dress, forcing a smile on her face as she prepared to hold up the banner that she and many of her friends had spent the previous evening making.

“Everybody ready?” One of the two identical ginger-haired Scottish women asked, smiling as everyone nodded affirmatively.

“On three,” the other ginger-haired Scotswoman said. “Ready? One, two, three…”

“Welcome home!” All the assembled women cheered, making Paige shriek as she gingerly stepped out of her taxi, accompanied by her grinning fiancée.

“Jeez-” Paige hissed, before giggling at the sight of all her friends. “Worth reminding you all that I’m not used to peeing out of it yet?”

“Well I’m not hugging her then,” One of Paige’s sisters snorted, folding her arms with a smug look on her face. “After you, Trish.”

“You first, Nina,” Trisha replied, before sharing a giggle with her twin sister as their younger sister rolled her eyes.

“It’s the one time I’m actually gonna welcome a hug from either of you, don’t waste it,” Paige said, before grinning as her sisters both gave her a gentle hug.

“Mum and dad would be down but they’re busy with the guest house,” Nina explained.

“Aye, it’s okay, I’ll be seeing them soon enough!” Paige giggled as her sisters and her fiancée helped her toward her front door.

“Speech!” Anna-Jade called out, making the raven-haired girl roll her mismatched eyes.

“We did come all this way,” Abbey said with a mock pout. “And we made you this lovely banner. Some of us even took leave…”

“Oh- fine,” Paige sighed. “Thank you all for coming, it really does mean a lot to me. I am going to be off my feet for a LONG while though, heh. But hopefully I’ll see you all soon.”

“And you’re all welcome to drop round anytime,” Jessica said with a warm smile. “From tomorrow onward, anyway. Someone kinda needs to get settled in first, hehe!”

“We’ll be round tomorrow, you can be sure of that!” Natalie giggled as the Scottish girl and her family disappeared inside her flat and the crowd started to dissipate.

Relieved to be away from the thronging crowd, Sophie let out a light sigh as she and her two flat mates headed back to their flat. Both Amy and Hayley had been excited by Paige’s return and what it represented, but Sophie herself felt conflicted. She was happy for Paige, of course- she understood how hard she’d worked to earn the right to have a body that matched how she felt inside. But while Sophie herself didn’t feel the same way, she had also worked hard in the same way over the previous nine months- and she too had the same option open to her that Paige and the rest of her friends had, whether she wanted it or not. And much to Sophie’s horror, over the previous three months, there had been times when she had found herself wondering about the life that was available to her.

In the weeks immediately following her decision to continue working on her expose, Sophie found herself relaxing more and more, both in her job with the airline and in her home life. Her social life also greatly expanded- she began regularly attending the group’s Sunday morning dance lessons and went on more nights out with Amy and Hayley, including a memorable night out in the middle of March where the trio had finished as runners-up in a karaoke competition at the pub Rachel owned. At times, Sophie even had to remind herself that the whole reason she was immersed in that life was to work on her expose- but there were other times when she was brought crashing down to reality and reminded that her life as ‘Sophie’ was only temporary, and all of those times coincided with when her friends talked about the more intimate nature of their transitions.

Every time the topic of conversation in the flat concerned hormones or surgery, Sophie found herself squirming and wishing that she could be transported to literally anywhere else in the world. When they were talking about make-up, work or clothes- even lingerie- Sophie had no problem relaxing and joining in the conversation, but the second Amy or Hayley brought up oestrogen, Sophie felt her chest tighten, and she knew precisely why- because it was proof that she was a fraud. Amy and Hayley- and Paige and Jessica, and Anna-Jade, and even Natalie, who like Sophie was ‘chemically male’- had lived their entire lives fantasising about being women. They had worked just as hard as Sophie had to achieve their goals and in many cases sacrificed a lot to fulfil their dreams. Sophie, meanwhile, had stumbled across this life almost by chance. To girls like Amy and Hayley, being a woman was almost literally a matter of life and death- to Sophie, it often felt like little more than a game, which filled her with a deep sense of shame- and made her wonder where the harm would be if she chose to transition herself as well.

Sophie frequently talked through her anxieties with her counsellor, whose advice- and staunch refusal to prescribe hormones- helped to soothe her mind. Nonetheless, the conversations with her flat mates continued to make her uneasy, especially as she knew that there would come a time when she’d never have those conversations again- and that thought horrified Sophie just as much as the thought of having the surgery that Paige had just had…

“…SO can’t wait for my SRS,” Amy gushed as Sophie half-listened.

“Ugh, tell me about it,” Hayley sighed. “Can’t believe it took me this long to get oestrogen, heh.”

“Well you’re on it now, and that’s what’s most important!” Amy giggled. “Did your counsellor give you any reason why they delayed so long, or was it- well, you know…?”

“My dad?” Hayley sighed. “That’s what she told me. When she saw that I’d made an effort to track her down but couldn’t, she knew there wasn’t any reason to keep me off them any longer.”

“Good,” Amy said. “How about you, Soph?”

“Hmm?” Sophie replied, startled by the sudden mention of her name. “Umm, sorry?”

“The magic medicine?” Amy teased. “Any closer to the pills yourself?”

“Oh, umm- no, not really…” Sophie awkwardly replied. “I- I’m still, you know, deciding, heh.”

“I dunno,” Hayley giggled. “That dress you’re wearing looks like evidence that your decision’s been made, hehe!”

“And that lipstick!” Amy teased. “And those flats, and that handbag… trust me, Sophie, no BOY would ever have that good taste in fashion!”

“I dunno,” Sophie mumbled as her cheeks began to redden. “I had two really good teachers, though!”

“D’aww!” Amy and Hayley simultaneously cooed.

“Speaking of ‘teaching’,” the ginger-haired girl teased, “are you looking forward to tomorrow?”

“A little,” Sophie replied.

“I’m surprised you didn’t take the opportunity in February,” Hayley says. “I actually found it really rewarding to mentor Kiera.”

“Yeah,” Sophie chuckled nervously. “I just- I dunno. I was still learning the job myself, heh.” And was pretending to be a stewardess just as much as I’m pretending to be a woman, Sophie thought to herself.

“Umm, we started on the same day?” Hayley reminded the brown-haired woman. “And we’ve been on flights together, you’re just as good at the job as I am. I reckon your rookie will be lucky to have you as a mentor.”

“Aww, thanks!” Sophie replied, allowing herself a girlish giggle. “Hope my trainee agrees, heh.”

“I’m sure she will,” Any said with a grin. “And if she’s only just started to transition, she’ll have a hell of a role model there, too!”

“Yeah!” Sophie chuckled nervously, feeling her body start to tremble with nerves as the three women headed home.

----------

“Easy now,” Jessica said as she, Nina and Trisha slowly lowered Paige onto the air mattress. “Nice and slow…”

“I know how to sit down, thank you very much,” Paige snorted, before wincing as her sensitive new area pulled in an uncomfortable direction. “Ugh, I used to, anyway…”

“You heard everything the surgeon told you,” Jessica chastised her fiancée. “For the first few weeks you’re going to need to relearn how to do everything.”

“Especially peeing!” Trisha quipped, before biting her lip and smirking as Jessica and Paige both shot her an angry glare.

“But you’ve got three whole months off to do it in,” Jessica said. “By the time you go back to work you’ll have forgotten what it was like to NOT have lady parts.”

“God, I hope so,” Paige replied. “Just wish you were here the whole three months…”

“So do I,” Jessica sighed as she exchanged a gentle cuddle with her fiancée. “Gonna be even worse when it’s my turn in December, heh.”

“Ugh,” Paige spat. “No offence Jess, but I am so NOT looking forward to that. I mean, aye, I want you to, you know, be complete, but knowing that you’ll be at home in pain and I’ll be flying off to Germany or wherever with a bunch of stuck-up-“

“Yeah, I get it,” Jessica chuckled. “Still, I’m off work the rest of the week, and I am completely, 100% YOURS.”

“D’aww,” Nina cooed as she and her twin sat down on the sofa next to a large pile of packages, all of which had Paige’s name and address on them. “Looks like these are all yours too, hehe!”

“Good,” Paige giggled as she was handed the first of the packages.

“There’s a few here from America too,” Trisha said. “They from your family, Jess?”

“Or Alexa and Jenny,” Paige said. “God, I hope I’m well enough for their wedding…”

“It’s almost two months, you should be fine,” Jessica said. “And you will of course be well enough for the wedding in THREE months’ time, hehe!”

“If I have to drag myself up the aisle, I will,” Paige replied, making her sisters sigh happily as she exchanged a kiss with her fiancée. “Just about three months from now. Alana’s probably not going to be happy with me coming back from three months of sick leave only to immediately go on honeymoon, heh.”

“Her problem,” Jessica said, taking her phone out of her handbag and switching it on. “Should probably message everyone to let them know you’re home.”

“Tell them to bring more presents, too!” Paige giggled as she opened yet another ‘get well soon’ card. “And have you called mum and dad yet?”

“Aye, a few minutes ago, I told you!” Trisha replied.

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Paige snorted, before frowning in confusion as a scowl spread across her fiancée’s face. “…Jess?”

“Ugh, voicemails from Alana,” Jessica sighed as she clicked the button to play the first message.

“Hi Jessica,” the two women’s manager’s refined voice came through the speakerphone. “We need supervisor cover to Paris today, give me a call back when you get this.”

“Umm… Aren’t you on leave today?” Nina asked the blonde American woman.

“On leave all week,” Jessica replied. “There should be cover in place though, she shouldn’t need to call me…” Jessica frowned in confusion as she played the second voicemail message.

“Jessica,” Alana said in a much sterner tone than her prior message, “call me when you get this message. We need to talk.”

“She’s fucking well got that right,” Paige sneered. “Gonna call her?”

“I probably should,” Jessica sighed, clicking the button on her phone to return her manager’s call (and switching off the speakerphone). After two rings, the phone was answered, and Jessica braced herself for what was coming next.

“Hello?” Alana asked.

“Hi Alana, it’s Jessica,” the blonde woman replied, trying her hardest to disguise her anxiety. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes,” Alana replied. “We needed you to cover the Paris flight today, why weren’t you answering your phone?”

“Umm, because I’m on leave today,” Jessica replied. “I wasn’t down as cover, was I?”

“No, Hannah was,” Alana replied, making Jessica roll her eyes. “But she needed the day off today, so I needed someone else to cover.” Jessica tried to control her anger as she heard the news- Hannah Marsh was one of her fellow supervisors at the London hub, but unlike Jessica, she had spent all of her time since being promoted ingratiating herself with Alana to the extent that the two were rarely seen apart. As Jessica was learning, this was paying dividends for Hannah.

“Who’d you get in the end?” Jessica asked.

“That’s not important,” Alana replied. “What’s important is that you weren’t available to answer the phone when I called.”

“I was in the hospital, my phone was switched off,” Jessica retorted. “And I’ve had this leave booked for months, you knew that, right?”

“Yes, but you should be prepared to put the company’s needs first,” Alana replied. “I’ll be in touch, Jessica.”

“Yeah, bye,” Jessica said, letting out a long moan as she clicked off her phone.

“…Thank god I don’t work where you girls do,” Nina said.

“You wouldn’t be able to anyway,” Paige said with a smug grin. “Maximum age for a stewardess is thirty.”

“Get tae-“ Trisha replied with a look of pure fury. “If you still had any nuts I’d be kicking you in them!” Paige giggled at the threat from her sister- and the reminder of her new ‘equipment’.

“It’s especially worse for Trisha as she’s the older one!” Nina said with a smug grin.

“Piss off am I the older one!” Trisha snorted. “You’re first alphabetically, you’re the older one!”

“It’s only six minutes, I don’t see why you’re so defensive about it,” Nina teased as her twin seethed and Jessica and Paige sat back and enjoyed the show. “Is that even legal, anyway? Firing someone once they turn thirty?”

“Ugh, it’s a long story,” Jessica sighed. “I’m sure Paige has told you if before?”

“Tried to, anyway,” Paige chuckled.

“You girls need a union,” Trisha said. “Like, a proper trade union.”

“Never gonna happen,” Jessica sighed.

“Not while all the decision makers at the airline are busy brown-nosing their superiors,” Paige sighed. “Like one long, giant human centipede with Antoine Masson at the front.”

“What about Masson’s daughter?” Nina asked. “Doesn’t she still work for the airline?”

“Only for another few months, before she goes to university,” Paige replied. “And things there are- well, kinda complicated…”

----------

“Can’t imagine what it'd be like,” Ellen mused as she and her girlfriend shared a tall, cool strawberry milkshake at their favourite coffee shop.

“That is funny,” Amelie replied with a smug grin. “I know from experience that you know exactly what it is like to have a vagina!” The French girl giggled as her northern lover playfully blew a few drops of the milkshake at her through her straw.

“You know what I mean!” Ellen snorted. “Lucky her having three months off sick though, heh! Kinda makes you jealous, I mean, us ‘born as’ girls don’t get that, do we?”

“Paige said to me that as we get maternity leave,” Amelie shrugged. “Which is more than three months.”

“Yeah, doubt I’M going to knock you up any time soon,” Ellen chuckled. “Though it’s not like I’ve got to focus on my career either, heh.”

“Has Alana not given you a trainee again?” Amelie snorted.

“Yeah,” Ellen sighed. “And no, I DON’T want you to throw your surname around! I want to earn my way up the ladder, not buy it!”

“Some people in the company could learn from you,” Amelie snorted. “Including its owner.”

“Your father’s not done too bad, has he?” Ellen asked. “You’ve got to have some talent to turn a billion euros into five billion, right?”

“It takes more talent to turn no euros into a billion,” Amelie replied. “But you are right that he is a good businessman. He is a less good husband and father.”

“That’s another thing where I can’t imagine what it’d be like,” Ellen said. “Getting anything you ever wanted.”

“Trust me,” Amelie growled. “There were things I wanted that I did not get. A father who loves his wives and children more than money, to begin.”

“Yeah, that’s why I said any ‘thing’,” Ellen sighed. “Some- well, ‘things’ are more important than ‘things’.”

“Are we talking about Paige again?” Amelie asked with a smug grin, making Ellen snort and roll her eyes.

“Right,” the northern girl sighed. “You can’t tell me anymore that you don’t understand English slang!” Amelie giggled bashfully at her girlfriend’s teasing, before letting out a long sigh.

“I shall miss this,” Amelie sighed. “My twelve months for the airline have finished over a month ago."

“Doesn’t mean you HAVE to leave the airline,” Ellen said, before letting out a long sigh. “Though I can’t say I’d blame you. You know which uni you’ll be going to yet?”

“My father will want me to go to École Normale Superieure, where my brothers and sister went,” Amelie replied. “He is a patron, it will be free for me.”

“I can request to transfer to Paris,” Ellen shrugged. “I speak fluent French, shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“And Alana will allow this?” Amelie sighed. “Or instead, Alana will be allowed to allow this? Ugh, I think life was easier if I didn’t work with you.”

“If you didn’t work with me, we’d never have met,” Ellen said softly. “Trust me, life is much, much better this way!”

“…It is,” Amelie giggled. “Maybe I should look at universities in London? Maybe I already have?”

“…And you’re only telling me now?” Ellen asked, rolling her eyes as her lover giggled even louder.

“I thought I would surprise you when I was accepted,” Amelie replied. “But you were looking so unhappy I thought I would make it an early present.”

“And it’s not even my birthday,” Ellen giggled. “But thanks.”

“De rien,” Amelie whispered as she linked her fingers with her lover. “It is nice to have someone who loves me for a reason that is not money!”

“How d’you know I don’t just love you for your money?” Ellen teased.

“Believe me, I know,” Amelie giggled as she and her lover shared a long, gentle kiss.

----------

The stewardesses who had welcomed Paige home spent the rest of the day relaxing and musing about their own transitions- none more so than Sophie, whose conflicted thoughts caused her to lay awake in bed contemplating her future- or rather, what remained of her future as ‘Sophie’.

The following morning, Sophie, along with her housemates, got out of bed before dawn, expertly applied her make-up and slithered into a slinky black pencil dress before heading westward to her place of work. There, as usual, she exchanged her smart dress for the black blouse and blue skirt, blazer, hat and heels that made up her uniform, but instead of heading to an aeroplane once she was dressed, Sophie went the opposite direction down the corridor to a small office where several nervous-looking young women were sat. Sophie immediately recognised one of the women, a petite blonde girl with piercing blue eyes, and sat down next to her with a smile.

“Hi,” Sophie said, trying her hardest to disguise her nerves. “I’m Sophie, and you’re Rachel, right?”

“R- right,” the young woman replied. “Yeah, I- I’m, umm…”

“Really nervous?” Sophie asked softly. “No need to be, really. Okay, I get it, the whole ‘first day in a new job’ thing, heh.”

“Yeah,” Rachel chuckled. “Especially as, you know…”

“It- it’s your ‘first day’ in another sense?” Sophie asked, biting her lip at the awkwardness of the question.

“Umm- no, actually,” Rachel replied with a quiet giggle. “I mean, yes, I know about the whole reputation of the airline, but I- I was born with, you know, ‘lady parts’, heh.”

“R- really?” Sophie asked, clearly surprised by the revelation.

“’Fraid so!” Rachel nervously chuckled. “I just always wanted to be a flight attendant, and Soixante-Trois pay REALLY well, I speak French and Spanish and I love visiting France and Spain so, well, yeah, really. If- if you don’t mind me asking, are- are you-“

“’Fraid so,” Sophie replied with a nervous chuckle of her own. “I- I, umm, came out about nine months ago, started working for Soixante-Trois at about the same time.”

“You’re very, you know, umm, convincing…” Rachel said, before blushing. “Sorry… I- I kinda, umm, never met a, umm, you know…”

“Never met a transgendered person before?” Sophie asked, smiling as Rachel blushed. “It’s okay. Want to know a secret?”

“W- what?” Rachel asked.

“Before I started working here…” Sophie said with a sly grin. “I’d never met a transgendered person either, hehe!” Sophie and Rachel shared a cheeky, girlish giggle as the rest of their colleagues arrived, and before long, the room was hard at work as Sophie and the rest of her more experienced colleagues instructed the trainees in the ins and outs of working for Soixante-Trois Airlines.

After three hours of hard work, the ‘class’ broke for lunch, and Sophie couldn’t help but smirk at the overwhelmed look on her trainee’s face as the two of them picked at their meals.

“It’s not THAT hard, honestly,” Sophie said, making Rachel giggle nervously. “It seems like a lot to take in, but you get the hang of it very quickly.”

“Ah, I remember saying THAT nine months ago!” A familiar Essex accented voice said, making Sophie roll her eyes as the owner of the voice sat down next to her.

“Hi Abbey,” Sophie chuckled. “Rachel Lyscombe, meet Abbey Watkins, my mentor when I started here. Abbey, meet Rachel, my trainee. Guess you could say you’re her ‘grand-mentor’?”

“Oh- shut up,” Abbey said with a derisive snort of laughter. “Remember you’re actually older than I am?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Abbey,” Rachel said, exchanging a feminine handshake with her new friend. “How long have you been working for the airline?”

“Just over three years,” Abbey replied. “Had my ups and downs in that time. That- that was kinda, you know, an aeroplane joke, heh.”

“I got it,” Rachel said with a smirk. “So, umm, you- you’ve worked here for three years?”

“Yep!” Abbey replied, her smile faltering as an awkward silence descended over the table.

“…You can ask her,” Sophie said, sitting back with a smug grin as her trainee’s cheeks started to redden.

“Umm, okay…” Rachel mumbled. “Abbey, are- are you-“

“Yes, yes I am,” Abbey replied with a smirk. “There’s no need to be so coy about it, you’re going to be working with a lot of ‘girls like us’. Some of us will prefer not to talk about our transitions but a lot of us will be open to any questions you might have. Though… Would I be right in guessing that you don’t, well, ‘need’ any questions answering?”

“…Guilty as charged!” Rachel replied with a giggle.

“Ugh, SO jealous,” Abbey sighed.

“Never had anyone be jealous of me for being born before!” Rachel said.

“Well, get used to it,” Abbey said. “You’re going to be working with a lot of ‘girls like us’. Some of us will only be at the start of our journey, some of us will be a bit further along and some of us will even have taken ‘the final step’. But we are all female on the inside, no matter what the outside looks like. That’s the most important thing.”

“Oh- I get it, honestly,” Rachel said. “I wouldn’t have come to work here if I didn’t. I mean, I’ve watched every episode of the Angels, I get that some people need to live their lives as a different gender, it’s just-“

“Weird meeting girls like us in the flesh?” Abbey asked.

“Weird that you’re all so hot!” Rachel giggled. “Seriously, if you hadn’t explained to me, I would NEVER have been able to tell.”

“Aww, thanks!” Abbey giggled as a wide, genuine grin spread across Sophie’s face.

While ‘James’ was unlikely to ever become a male model, he’d certainly not been bad looking either, and had always been popular with women on nights out or at parties. Moreover, ‘James’ had always been proud of his attractiveness, and the first time that ‘Sophie’ had been told how attractive she was as a woman, it had made her cringe. As time had gone on, however, Sophie grew increasingly proud of the compliments she received, taking it at first as proof that she was doing a good job in her undercover role, but in recent weeks, Sophie had begun to take the compliments in the manner they were intended- especially when they were being given by someone as attractive as Rachel.

“Thanks,” Sophie said with a grin as Rachel giggled and blushed again. “We, umm, we should eat up, got to get back to class, heh!”

“Of course!” Abbey giggled. “I’ll leave you two alone, got a trainee of my own to whip into shape, hehe!”

“She means that metaphorically,” Sophie reassured her trainee, triggering another giggling fit.

“Well- usually, anyway,” Abbey said with a wink as she finished her meal and headed toward the corner of the small cafeteria where her trainee was sat.

After lunch, Sophie and Rachel headed back to the classroom where the latter spent the rest of the day learning about the company’s policies with the former’s help. By the time 5pm came around, Rachel’s head was buzzing from the information she’d taken in, and she let out a long sigh of relief as she freed herself from her tight blue uniform, as did her mentor standing beside her.

“One day down, hundreds more to go!” Sophie teased the petite blonde girl, who replied with a tired, nervous giggle.

“Yeah,” Rachel replied. “Can’t wait to get up there and, you know, do it for real, heh.”

“It’s pretty daunting the first few times,” Sophie advised. “But you’re definitely approaching it with the right attitude, hehe!” Rachel smiled in response to Sophie’s teasing, before nonchalantly stepping out of her skirt and her blouse, standing before the brown-haired woman in just her bra and thong.

Sophie mused on how comfortable Rachel looked stripping off in front of her, as though she’d done it a hundred times before- which, Sophie reasoned, Rachel would have done in places like school changing rooms. What surprised Sophie the most, however, was how comfortable she herself was. She was no stranger to being in the company of other women in various states of undress, but she’d rationalised that as the women were mostly transwomen, it somehow didn’t ‘count’. However, Sophie felt no different being in the changing room with Rachel as she did with Amy, Hayley or any of the other girls- which proved to her that there really was no difference between the girls. It didn’t take Sophie long to reach the further conclusion that there wasn’t any real difference between her and the rest of the girls either…

“Like it?” Rachel asked as she did a playful twirl in the form-fitting pencil dress she’d slithered in to whilst Sophie was lost in thought. “I bought it especially for work, heh. Any job that gives their employees a clothing budget is somewhere worth working for, hehe!”

“Yeah,” Sophie replied as she pulled on her plain dress. “It’s definitely a perk, heh. Even if it is maybe a little, you know, odd to have a dress code going to and from work?”

“Don’t see why not,” Rachel shrugged. “They want their employees to project a professional image, right?”

“Well- yeah,” Sophie conceded. “How can you tell who is an employee and who isn’t, though, once we’re out of uniform? And before you say anything, I remind you that you yourself said that ‘girls like me’ are indistinguishable from ‘girls like you’?”

“…Yes, and I didn’t mean it like that!” Rachel said, he cheeks reddening once again. “But, you know, well, umm…”

“I think I get what you mean,” Sophie said softly. “So, umm… You heading home now?”

“Probably,” Rachel shrugged. “I still live with my parents, sad as that sounds.”

“You’re only nineteen,” Sophie shrugged. “I was still living with my parents until I was 22, apart from when I was at uni in Leicester. Nothing wrong with that.”

“I guess,” Sophie shrugged. “A lot of the other trainees are talking about how they moved into their own flats, got their independence… I’d kinda like that, you know? Be free to live life to my own rules…”

“Don’t forget why a lot of the trainees need that independence,” Sophie whispered. “A lot of them don’t have the option of living at home. My- umm, myself included.”

“Oh- oh, oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Rachel said, grimacing as the colour drained from her cheeks. “I completely forgot…”

“It’s okay,” Sophie said. “You won’t make that mistake again, that’s the important thing.” And god knows I made a few similar ones when I started for the airline, Sophie thought to herself.

“Are- do, umm, do you not speak to your parents at all?” Rachel asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, I mean.”

“It’s… Kinda complicated,” Sophie sighed as she thought of how proud her parents were of their son- and how oblivious they were to their 'daughter'. “We should probably get out of here before it gets too crowded in here, heh. But, umm, but before you go home, do- do you want to get a drink somewhere? I know a pub nearby- well, okay, it’s in central London, but I reckon you’ll like it?”

“Umm, sure!” Rachel replied as the two women grabbed their handbags and headed to the nearest tube stop. “Which pub is it?”

“Well,” Sophie replied with a smug grin. “You know you said you liked the Angels…?”

Just over an hour later, Sophie and Rachel were sat at a table in the pub managed by the trainee’s namesake, giggling as they shared stories over a small bottle of white wine.

“I can’t believe I’m in the actual Angels’ pub!” The petite blonde girl gushed as she sipped her drink. “God, do NOT let me drink too many of these tonight, hehe!”

“I wouldn’t be much of a mentor if I did!” Sophie chuckled. “And it’s not really an ‘Angels pub’, I mean, it’s owned by Joshua Benedict, and you occasionally get Angels dropping in, but, well, yeah.”

“Good enough for me,” Rachel said smugly.

"It's really more of a hangout for Soixante-Trois employees- well, some, anyway," Sophie explained. "The manager of the pub used to work for the airline, she's engaged to a guy whose sister is in Out of Heaven, and with Joshua owning the pub there's a lot of six degrees of Kevin Bacon stuff going on, heh."

"And the 'Sky Angels' show they did a few years ago too," Rachel reminded her mentor. "I know there's, like, a close-knit group from some of the Instagram pages I follow, some of the stewardesses are close to Jamie-Lee Burke for obvious, umm, reasons..."

"Yeah, kinda," Sophie said. "I've met her a couple of times myself but I wouldn't say I'm a friend, but, you know, she's pretty cool."

"Well, if I come here often enough, I'm bound to run into her sooner or later, right?" Rachel asked.

“You never know,” Sophie said with a smug grin as the establishment’s manager approached the table.

“Ah, good evening Miss Connelly!” The blonde-haired manager said with a warm smile.

“Good evening Miss-but-not-for-much-longer Harrison!” Sophie teased. “Rachel Lyscombe, I’d like you to meet Rachel Harrison, the manager of this fine public house. Rachel, meet Rachel, my new trainee. She just started for the airline today.”

“Ah, wondered if you’d be playing ‘Obi-Wan’ this time round,” Rachel H said with a grin. “Nice to meet you, Rachel, though we may need to work out a way of referring to each other without causing confusion, hehe!”

“I don’t mind being called ‘Rachel L’,” Rachel L replied. “There were, like, twelve Rachels in my school year thanks to Friends, heh.”

“Wish I could say I was young enough that that was where I got my name from,” Rachel H said with a chuckle. “So, how are you finding like in the skies?”

“Not even got to the skies yet!” Rachel L replied. “Really looking forward to it, though.”

“And looking forward to meeting any Angels,” Sophie teased, making the younger woman cringe and blush.

“Come here often enough and you never know,” Rachel H said with a smirk. “I’m sure Sophie could have a word or two with Zoe as well, in case you’re ever free on Sunday mornings?”

“And don’t mind squeezing your body into a pair of tights and a skin-tight leotard?” Sophie teased.

“Are you kidding?” Rachel L laughed. “I LOVE ballet. All things girlish, really. Took ballet lessons up until I was seventeen, still sometimes pop in one of Krystie Fullerton’s ballet exercise DVDs when I want to work out. Always wanted to go to one of the Angels’ Wednesday morning sessions, but a Sunday morning session with you girls will do for now, hehe!"

"We can probably arrange that," Rachel H said with a grin. "I take it you'd have no problem dancing with women who weren't, you know, 'born that way'?"

"I'd be working for the wrong company if I did!" Rachel L giggled. "And, you know, I've always wanted to work for Soixante-Trois, ever since the Sky Angels show was on, heh.”

“Well, welcome to the family,” Rachel H said with a smile. “Like a very wise woman often says, you can never have too many friends!”

“Too right!” Rachel L giggled excitedly, before smiling smugly as the door’s pub opened. “Ah, looks like my ride home’s here!” Sophie smiled as the young woman stood up and made her way over to a tall, attractive young man, greeting him with a long and obviously loving kiss.

“Hey babe,” the young man said as Rachel L led him back to the table she’d just vacated.

“Hey boo,” Rachel L giggled. “Girls, I’d like you to meet Lucas, my extremely sexy boyfriend! Lucas, this is Rachel- no, really- the manager of the pub, and this is Sophie, my mentor at work.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Lucas said with a smirk. “Hope you’re taking care of my Rach?”

“Stop it,” Rachel L playfully mumbled as her boyfriend wrapped his arm around her waist.

“It’s not like she needs much care,” Sophie giggled. “She’s a really fast learner.”

“Meh, I’ve got a good teacher,” Rachel L shrugged. “See you tomorrow, Soph, and nice meeting you, Rachel!”

“You too,” Rachel H said with a smile as her namesake and her boyfriend left the pub. “Well, she seems nice enough.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool,” Sophie shrugged as she finished her glass of wine.

“And I meant what I said,” Rachel continued. “I’m impressed that you’ve taken on a trainee in this hiring round, given that- in your own words- you aren’t ‘really’ a flight attendant, right?”

“Just, you know, keeping up my cover,” Sophie mumbled. “Most stewardesses take on a trainee when they’ve been working for 6 or 9 months, right?”

“True,” Rachel replied. “Most stewardesses aren’t moonlighting as undercover journalists though. Or is that the other way round?”

“Honestly, I’m not going native,” Sophie said. “Twelve months, then I’ll write up my notes, given them to you to publish, and I’m out of there. Nine months down, three to go.”

“Until you never pull on a uniform again?” Rachel asked, smiling as Sophie nodded. “How about never pulling on a skirt again?”

“…I- umm…” Sophie replied.

“You might not be going native as a stewardess,” Rachel said softly. “Not that there’s anything wrong at all with THAT, of course. You’d be surprised how many girls only plan to work for the airline for a year or so then go ‘all the way’ and transition. I think Jess and Paige might even be on that list, and look at Paige now! From the waist up, of course.”

“I’m never doing THAT,” Sophie replied.

“Nor is Natalie,” Rachel reminded the brown-haired woman. “But I’m not the one you should be talking about this with. When are you next seeing Beverly?”

“Thursday after work,” Sophie replied. “And yes, we’ll have a lot to talk about.”

“Fair enough,” Rachel replied. “Will Rachel L be one of those things?”

“Don’t see why,” Sophie shrugged. “I mean, I’ll mention her, but she’s just, you know, a colleague.”

“Who you’re responsible for training,” Rachel said. “I suppose you’re right, though.”

“And it’s not like I’m, you know, responsible for ‘showing her how to be a woman’,” Sophie said. “I don’t have to be a mentor there as she’s, you know, not transgender.”

“Oh- really?” Rachel asked. “Huh, I guessed she might be ‘cause of how short she is, and what she was saying about ballet…”

“Is- is that unusual?” Sophie asked.

“A little,” Rachel shrugged. “It’s very rare for a transgendered girl to have a non-trans trainee… Meh, I’m sure Alana has her reasons. You sticking around long tonight?”

“Got to get off after this drink,” Sophie replied. “No rest for us hard working mentors, hehe!”

“Teacher’s pet,” Rachel teased as Sophie finished her drink, grabbed her handbag and headed back to her flat.

A short while later, Sophie flopped onto her sofa at home, and a few short hours after that, she was in bed, musing on the day’s events. Sophie genuinely liked her young trainee, and the feeling was obviously mutual- and this served to make Sophie feel guilty. Guilty that she had yet another person to lie to as she worked on her expose. Guilty that she had another person to let down when the time finally came to leave the airline- and ‘Sophie’- behind for good. However, as Sophie’s feelings of guilt filled her, she contemplated whether or not Rachel H had been right- whether or not she had ‘gone native’.

As Sophie ran through her usual routine on the warm Thursday morning, she mused on how ‘normal’ it had become. Brushing her hair, applying make-up and pulling on women’s underwear was second nature to her to the extent that she could barely remember what ‘James’s morning routine had been. Travelling to work with Amy and Hayley was far more fun than her usual lonely morning commute had been. And she’d even grown used to walking in heels- often, when walking in sock feet, she’d found her heels lifting up almost as if they were compensating for not being in heeled shoes. Sophie wondered whether or not there would be any real harm in ‘going native’, until she remembered that ‘James’s life hadn’t been completely lonely. ‘He’ had a family that loved him, that cared for him, that missed him… And would almost certainly go ballistic if they ever found out about ‘Sophie’. Sophie didn’t want to ever do anything to upset her parents- but at the same time, she never wanted to lose touch with Amy, Hayley or any of her other friends. Sophie knew, however, that there was no way she could have her cake and eat it- especially when it came to the physical aspect of transitioning.

“Morning!” Sophie said with a forced smile as she sat down next to her trainee, unconsciously smoothing her skirt underneath her as she’d done hundreds of times before.

“Morning!” Rachel replied. “Thanks for the drink last night, I really needed that, heh.”

“You’re welcome!” Sophie replied. “So… Did you go home last night or did you spend the rest of the evening with your boyfriend?”

“Both,” Rachel mumbled as her cheeks reddened. “My parents really like Lucas so they’re okay with him staying over, even though my sisters are only 10 and 13.”

“That’s not THAT young,” Sophie retorted.

“My parents would probably disagree,” Rachel said with a playful roll of her eyes. “They’re okay with me having regular sex since I was seventeen but flying by myself to a different country? HELL no. They don’t even like it when Nicki or Lizzie go on school trips.”

“Harsh,” Sophie said.

“Can’t wait to see their reaction when they find out that the dress code mandates thongs and stockings instead of tights,” Rachel said with a giggle.

“I bet they wouldn’t react as badly as my parents would,” Sophie retorted, making the blonde girl blush again.

“Ah- yeah, sorry…” Rachel cringed. “I mean, it is REALLY easy to forget that you’re- well, you know?”

“Thanks,” Sophie said with a genuine grin. “And I know a few of the girls at this company who reacted badly to the whole ‘stockings’ thing, let alone their parents.”

“Meh, I can see the reasoning behind it,” Rachel shrugged. “I mean, these skirts are SO tight and you really don’t want a VPL, and when I was at school my legs were so skinny that ‘tights’ really kinda didn’t live up to their name, heh.” Sophie smirked as their manager arrived to begin the day’s ‘lessons’, though internally, she was conflicted- as much as she liked Rachel, with the attitude she had, she probably wouldn’t be a good fit for the tutu project, which was going to lead to yet more conflict for Sophie…

After three hours of hard work, the ‘teachers’ allowed the trainees and their mentors to head for lunch, where Sophie again chuckled at the frazzled look on her trainee’s face.

“And I thought yesterday was tough,” Rachel chuckled as she nibbled at her flatbread and hummus.

“You will get the hang of it, honestly,” Sophie reassured the blonde girl. “After a while, it’ll become second nature. And god knows I should know a thing or two about THAT, heh.”

“Yeah,” Rachel chuckled. “I suppose I’ll get the hang of it soon enough. I mean, this IS my dream job and has been for, like, years, heh, but actually doing it is kinda, you know, a lot of really hard work?” Another thing I know a thing or two about, Sophie thought to herself as she pictured her future journalism career.

“If you enjoy, it’s not really hard work,” Sophie advised, wondering whether by ‘enjoyed’ she meant the writing part of her work, or the ‘being a woman’ part.

“True!” Rachel giggled. “Hope my parents see it that way, you know, respect the fact that I work hard at the job, I’m good at it, that sort of thing?”

“I’m sure they will,” Sophie said softly as she wondered the same thing about her own parents, causing her mind to race.

Virtually everything Rachel had said had resonated in some way with Sophie, from her love of her job, her need to adapt quickly to new situations to, most of all, the hope that her parents will accept her for who she is. Sophie had already made plans to see her parents on the Saturday, taking advantage of a rare weekend when she wasn’t working, but Rachel’s tales had added an extra dimension to the visit. Sophie’s parents would inevitably ask how her life and her career were going, and Sophie would inevitably have to lie to them once again and feel guilty for doing so. However, no one was forcing Sophie to lie to her parents- and she wondered what would happen if she was to tell them the truth…

After lunch, Sophie, Rachel and the rest of the ‘class’ sat through more induction and interactive learning programs, until eventually, 5pm rolled around and the stewardesses headed back to the locker room to change into their street clothes. Before she could even leave the ‘classroom’, however, Sophie was intercepted by her manager, who had a concerned look on her face.

“Sophie, have you got a sec?” Alana asked, putting the young woman’s nerves on edge.

“Umm, sure…” Sophie replied. “I’ve got an appointment with my counsellor this evening though."

“Oh, well I won’t keep you long,” Alana said. “I just wanted to talk to you about Rachel.”

“My trainee or my cousin?” Sophie asked cautiously.

“Actually, kinda both,” Alana replied. “I’m not going to stop you from going to see your cousin at her pub, but we would prefer it if you didn’t take, well, ‘new’ Rachel there.”

“Umm, okay,” Sophie replied. “Rachel’s an adult though, she can make her own choices, can’t she?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Alana said. “If she wants to hang out there, it’s her choice, but we believe it’d be in her best interests not to do so.”

“Okay…” Sophie said. “May- may I ask why?”

“We see a bright future for Rachel in the company,” Alana replied. “She has all the qualities we look for in a model employee, and we believe she’ll make an ideal supervisor, and eventually, manager.”

“…She’s only been working here for two days!” Sophie said, trying to suppress a snort of laughter.

“Nonetheless, she’s someone we want to ‘nurture’,” Alana said. “Given the way your cousin left the airline, you can appreciate how we’d prefer it if they didn’t interact.” Sophie smiled and nodded and allowed herself an internal grin- this information was news to her, which meant extra material for her expose- which meant that she’d need extra time to write it, which meant she’d need to spend even more time as ‘Sophie’…

“I see,” Sophie said stoically.

“There’s no need to be jealous,” Alana said with a chuckle. “If we weren’t very happy with your performance we wouldn’t have selected you to mentor Rachel. You’ve got a good future with the company too, Sophie, but we can already tell that Rachel will be something special.”

“Yeah, it’s okay, I get it,” Sophie said. “I’ll let her- well, both Rachels know, heh. I, umm, kinda need to head off now…”

“Sure,” Alana shrugged. “Thanks for stopping behind, and good luck with your counsellor!”

“Thanks,” Sophie said as she headed back to the locker room, thinking about what her manager had said- both that she was showing clear favouritism to Sophie’s new friend, but also that she considered Sophie herself to be one of her best workers. If Alana only knew why Sophie was REALLY working for the company, she’d undoubtedly change her mind- but once again, Sophie wondered whether or not Rachel H had been right and she had started to ‘go native’…

A short while later, Sophie walked up the stairs of the posh clinic in central London where she’d been going for the previous several months, entering the office of one of her few confidantes with a tired smile on her face.

“Good afternoon, Sophie,” Dr Phillips said with a smile. “Good day at work?”

“Not bad,” Sophie replied. “Not actually been flying anywhere this week, we’ve got a group of new hires at work and I’ve been assigned to mentor one of them.”

“Ah,” Dr Phillips said. “A few of your colleagues that I’ve spoken to have mentioned they’ve been mentors in the past, I think it’s every February, May, August and November, right?”

“Yep,” Sophie replied. “To avoid the really busy months, well, apart from August. Bet most of the colleagues you spoke to weren’t working undercover for the airline, though.”

“I bet most of them weren’t,” Dr Phillips conceded. “This is obviously troubling you, Sophie- is it the fact that you feel you’re deceiving an employer who’s rewarding you for good performance?”

“Partly,” Sophie sighed. “My manager even took me to one side today to compliment me on how well I’ve been doing.”

“You said ‘partly’,” Dr Phillips said. “May I ask what the other part of your worry is?”

“…That I’m ‘going native’,” Sophie sighed. “Truth be told, it’s not that bad a job. Sure, the customers can be a real pain, the dress code is idiotic, the owner is a massive misogynist and management- well, I actually learned something new about them just an hour ago that’ll probably shock you, heh. But it’s not the worst place I’ve ever worked, and the pay is REALLY good too.”

“And as we’ve discussed before on numerous occasions,” Dr Phillips said, “it’s not just in the job that you’re worried about ‘going native’, are you?”

“Every day that goes past, I feel more and more comfortable as a woman,” Sophie sighed. “It’s like this is natural for me now, and- and I can’t imagine what my life would be like without it. The clothes are unimportant, they don’t matter at all, same goes for the hair and the make-up and all that stuff, but the friends I’ve made, I- I don’t want to let them go. I’ve had more fun in 9 months as ‘Sophie’ than I ever did in 23 years as ‘James’.”

“It’s perfectly natural to feel this way,” Dr Phillips said softly. “And nothing to feel ashamed about.”

“I don’t feel ashamed,” Sophie said firmly. “I may have done before, but I don’t anymore. But…”

“Go on,” Dr Phillips said.

“My- my parents probably will be ashamed,” Sophie sighed. “My trainee’s copped a lot of criticism from her parents just for wanting to work as a stewardess, and she’s, you know, not even transgendered.”

“Parental pressure can be a terrible thing,” Dr Phillips advises. “You’ve met my daughter, right?”

“Who, Sarah?” Sophie asked. “A couple of times, yeah.”

“I’ll tell you a story in confidence,” Dr Phillips said, taking a deep breath. “Growing up, Sarah always felt pressure to go into medicine when she was an older. My brother and my sister are both doctors as well- surgeons, rather than psychiatrists- and as I’m the only one of us to have had a child, Sarah felt the pressure to go into the ‘family business’.”

“Isn’t she studying fashion design?” Sophie asked.

“She is,” Dr Phillips replied. “And about to graduate with a distinction and start a Master’s degree in it next year. And I couldn’t be happier or prouder of her. But when she was fourteen, she’d convinced herself that I’d be terribly disappointed in her if she studied anything other than medicine or psychiatry at university.”

“Did- did you ever say anything to her that made her think that?” Sophie asked.

“Never,” Dr Phillips replied. “This ‘parental pressure’ was all in her head. She eventually realised this, the fact that I actually did some modelling for her for her final year's assignment might have helped!”

"Heh," Sophie chuckled. “Rachel- my trainee- has said that she actually has had her parents, you know, ‘talk to her’ though,”

“I wasn’t necessarily talking about Rachel,” Dr Phillips said softly.

“…Ah,” Sophie whispered.

“I’m not going to tell you that changing your gender isn’t a much bigger deal than changing your job,” Dr Phillips advised. “Even if it is- or rather, was- on a temporary basis and you aren’t taking any physical steps to transition. But you’re not the first person to have built up their parents’ rejection in their head to the point where they’re almost afraid to speak to them at all.”

“I don’t need to come out, though,” Sophie retorted. “I’m not going to be ‘Sophie’ forever.”

“Even though- to use your own words- you couldn’t imagine your life without ‘Sophie’ in it?” Dr Phillips asked, silencing the young woman sat opposite her.

“…Yeah, I did say that,” Sophie croaked. “But I’m not going to, you know, ‘physically’ transition. I saw Paige coming home after her operation and- no. That’s not for me. I like being ‘James’ too much. Ugh, yes, as well as being ‘Sophie’.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that either,” Dr Phillips said reassuringly. “Not every transgendered person has SRS, some don’t even start HRT. It doesn’t mean you can’t successfully be a woman if you want to be. You just may have to work at it a little harder than other girls, that’s all. But I know for a fact that you’re not afraid of hard work.”

“True,” Sophie shrugged.

“That’s a quality any decent parent would be proud of,” Dr Phillips said. “Regardless of whether their child was male or female, or wearing trousers or a skirt.”

“I suppose,” Sophie sighed.

“Of course, if you’re still not comfortable with the idea of coming out to your parents, that’s entirely up to you,” Dr Phillips said. “I can’t force you to come out, or even recommend, I can only offer advice, and support. If you want me to be there in person when you come out, or if you want me to make my office available-“

“No- thanks, that’s okay,” Sophie interrupted. “No offence but they’d probably be doubly disappointed if they knew I was seeing a shrink.”

“There’s no shame in asking for help through your problems,” Dr Phillips said softly. “That’s a lesson a lot of people could stand to learn. When are you next seeing your parents?”

“Saturday, actually,” Sophie chuckled. “’Cause I’m not working this weekend… Figured I’d, you know, take advantage and drop in to see them.”

“And are you thinking about telling them about ‘Sophie’?” Dr Phillips asked.

“I think about that every time I see them,” Sophie sighed. “But you’re right, I can’t go on being Sophie indefinitely while keeping them in the dark.”

“And you do want to go on being Sophie indefinitely?” Dr Phillips asked, once again silencing the young woman.

“…I want to have that choice,” Sophie replied. “Of course, then I’ll have to explain to Amy and Hayley why I’m not transitioning, not taking HRT…”

“One step at a time,” Dr Phillips said. “There’s no sense fretting about steps 2 and 3 when you haven’t taken step 1 yet. And I think you’ll find Amy and Hayley may be more understanding than you think.”

“You’re right,” Sophie chuckled. “About everything. As usual.”

“I just do what I can,” Dr Phillips said with a smile.

Forty-five minutes later, after covering topics including Sophie’s work, her life at home with Amy and Hayley and her progress on the expose, Sophie stood up, smoothed out her dress and shook her counsellor’s hand, before breathing a long sigh of relief.

“Thanks, as always,” Sophie said with a tired chuckle.

“You’re welcome, as always!” Dr Phillips replied. “I know sessions like this can be uncomfortable but we have made a lot of good progress over the last nine months. And I do believe we’ll still be seeing each other long after your ‘project’ has run its course.”

“Yeah, I think so too,” Sophie said.

“We will find a way you can live your life however you want, whenever you want,” Dr Phillips reassured the young woman. “Contrary to popular belief, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to have your cake and eat it. But we’ve talked long enough today, I think!”

“Yeah, thanks again for agreeing to an evening meeting,” Sophie said with a genuine smile.

“Most of the people I help have full time jobs, I need to work around that,” Dr Phillips shrugged. “What have you got planned for the rest of the evening?”

“Sleeping!” Sophie giggled. “Been so busy this week, heh. Just one day to go, though.”

“That’s one way of looking at it, heh!” Dr Phillips chuckled.

“Have you got anything exciting planned?” Sophie asked.

“My gentleman friend’s coming up from Brighton for the evening,” Dr Phillips replied with a wide grin. “Just because I’m now the wrong side of fifty, it doesn’t mean I can’t take my own advice about having my cake and eating it!”

“Heh, true!” Sophie chuckled. “See you next week.” Sophie smiled as she waved goodbye to the middle-aged counsellor before heading back to her flat, which she found empty thanks to her flat mates being on later flights. Sophie took advantage of the silence to muse on what she’d learned from her meeting with her counsellor, as well as things she already knew- that she had the support of her friends, and that she could always rely on them should the worst happen when speaking to her family. She also mused on one thing that she’d said without having realised it- that she’d never again be able to live her life without ‘Sophie’ being a part of it. And the more she mused on this fact, the more content she felt…

“Hello, Obi-Wan!” Amy said as she walked through the front door, startling Sophie and derailing her train of thought.

“We disturb you?” Hayley asked as she followed the ginger-haired girl into the flat.

“Umm- no, just, umm, enjoying the silence, heh!” Sophie chuckled.

“And god knows we hardly get any of THAT!” Amy giggled. “’Fraid we’re going to be noisy for a bit, if you don’t mind?”

“No, I’ve had enough silence for today!” Sophie giggled.

“Good girl!” Hayley cheered as she headed toward the kitchenette, emerging seconds later with a bottle of wine and three glasses.

“So then…” Amy asked. “How’s the ‘padawan’ coming along?”

“She’s doing fine,” Sophie replied, biting her lip as she remembered what she was told by Alana as she left the airport.

“But…?” Amy asked.

“I think Sophie’s just surprised by someone as extremely girly as you using a Star Wars reference,” Hayley teased, making Sophie blush and Amy roll her eyes.

“What?” The ginger girl protested. “I can’t be a sexy, sultry woman AND like Star Wars?”

“Just as long as I don’t ever see you in a gold bikini,” Hayley said, rolling her eyes as a smug grin spread across Amy’s face.

“No promises,” Amy said, before turning back to Sophie. “But I'm guessing you weren’t talking about that though, right?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Sophie grimaced. “It- umm, it’s kinda awkward… Not sure it’s something I should be telling you, really.”

“Is- is it personal?” Hayley asked. “I mean, you already told us that Rachel was, you know, ‘not trans’, is it something to do with that?”

“I really hope not,” Sophie replied, before letting out a long sigh. “Okay… I’m going to need you both to swear that you won’t tell ANYONE about this, okay?”

“Of course,” Amy said as she and Hayley both nodded.

“Alana, she-“ Sophie grimaced. “She kinda talked to me, she said that Rachel is basically being groomed for management even before she started.”

“Is- is that it?” Amy asked, confusing the brown-haired woman. “Ugh, Soph, trust me, that sort of shit happens ALL the time.”

“Wha- really?” Sophie asked.

“From what I’ve heard this last year, sure,” Amy replied. “You know Annabelle, the American girl who lives with Abbey and Anna-Jade? She told me once that she was being ‘groomed’ the same way, given advancement opportunities before everyone else… I’m guessing it’s because of Masson wanting to expand to America and he saw her as the ‘face’ of that expansion but it made her really uncomfortable.”

“How did Annabelle find out?” Sophie asked.

“Think it was her ex-boyfriend who let it slip,” Amy replied. “The pilot guy, the one who’s about 95% grease?”

“The one who’s Masson’s nephew?” Hayley asked.

“That’s him,” Amy confirmed. “Anyway, I don’t know the whole story, but from what I understand, he offered her a leg up if she offered him a leg ov-“

“Yes, yes, message understood,” Sophie chuckled as her journalistic instincts began to tingle. “And this sort of thing happens all the time?”

“It’s not like it only happens at Soixante-Trois,” Amy replied. “And it is Masson’s company, he kinda should have the final say in things.”

“Well- I guess,” Sophie shrugged.

“And can we please not talk about work anymore?” Hayley moaned. “Paris today AND tomorrow is more than I can deal with!”

“Still bad, then?” Sophie asked.

“I- what part of ‘change the subject’ didn’t you understand?” Hayley said with an exasperated snort of laughter that made Sophie blush.

“Sorry…” Sophie moaned. “Kinda difficult to avoid the topic when we all work together though, isn’t it?”

“Meh, I guess,” Hayley shrugged. “If Ellen still lived here we could pester her about how things are going with Amelie, I guess.”

“Depressing all three of us single ladies?” Amy asked.

“And given who Amelie’s father is, it still qualifies as talk of work,” Sophie reminded her flat mate.

“…Okay, you’ve got me there,” Hayley chuckled. “Guess we’ll just have to talk about, I dunno, clothes, make-up, celebrities?”

“Now you’re talking!” Amy giggled excitedly.

“But before we do,” Sophie said, making the other two women playfully jeer her, “we do have room for a fourth person in this flat, don’t we?”

“Why, got anyone in mind?” Amy asked.

“My trainee at work,” Sophie said. “Yes, yes, I know we talked about not discussing work, but I’m only talking about her, you know, ‘individually’. She’s nineteen, still lives with her parents and from what I understand, they’re kinda controlling so she could really use her freedom.”

“We’ll think about it,” Amy said. “We’ll meet her, have a couple of drinks, but if you don’t mind sharing the room, I don’t see why not.”

“And she wouldn’t mind sharing with three transgendered girls?” Hayley asked.

“Who better to give her fashion and make-up tips than us?” Sophie replied, earning cheers and giggles from her two friends. “I reckon she’d be up for it if you two are.”

“We’ll definitely think about it,” Hayley said. “Though she should consider herself lucky that she’s able to live with her parents at all, transgendered or not.” Sophie grimaced as she was brought right back to the topic she’d spent what felt like forever discussing with her counsellor- a topic she wasn’t keen to revisit with her friends. The main reason Sophie was so uneager to discuss her parents was the fact that she’d once again have to lie to her friends- telling them how she hadn’t spoken to them in months, when in fact, she would be seeing them with the subsequent 48 hours.

“…Topic change?” Sophie asked, smiling as her friends both nodded sympathetically.

“Reckon Rachel might fit in here, actually,” Amy said. “We’ve got two brunettes and a redhead, we need a blonde to, you know, ‘complete the set’.”

“I could always dye my hair blonde, if it helps?” Hayley offered, making her flat mates giggle into their wine. “Gentlemen prefer blondes, don’t they?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Amy replied. “I’ve neither been blonde OR a gentleman, hehe!” Sophie relaxed back onto the sofa as she and her friends gossiped long into the evening, the topic of conversation varying wildly but never touching on two of the three most fraught things In Sophie’s life- work and family. However, the third of those topics- the 'physical’ nature of transitioning- cropped up repeatedly throughout the evening, and each time it did, Sophie felt more and more uncomfortable- and not just because she had to lie to her friends’ faces.

Sophie had a lot on her mind as she settled down to bed that night, even though she’d spent most of the evening writing her thoughts down, not just for her expose or her next session with Dr Phillips, but for her own benefit as well. Writing down her thoughts had helped to calm Sophie down ever since she was a young boy, and had helped immensely since the start of her life as ‘Sophie’. As she looked back at her old diary entries, however, Sophie couldn’t help but notice that her attitude to her new life was a lot more negative in the beginning- and, more alarmingly, even her writing style seemed to have become more feminine over the previous few months…

The following morning, Sophie walked into Heathrow Airport, outwardly prepared for whatever her working day may bring but internally still conflicted by the many things she’d learned over the previous few days. Nonetheless, she was determined not to let it affect her work- as Alana had said, she was one of the airline’s hardest workers.

Meanwhile, Amy took advantage of her rest day and headed toward her nearest tube stop, armed with a 2 litre bottle of Irn Bru. A short while later, she was stood outside the flat where she’d welcomed her Scottish friend home three days earlier, but as she approached the front door, she was startled by the sound of raised voices coming from within the flat. Mere seconds later, Jessica emerged from the flat with a scowl on her fully made-up face and a smart, form-fitting dress covering her body.

“Hey Amy,” Jessica sighed as she hurried past, tying her long blonde hair into a tight ponytail.

“H- hey Jess,” Amy replied. “Umm, where- where are you going?”

“Well, apparently I’m going to Berlin,” Jessica spat.

“I thought you had the whole week off?” Amy asked.

“So did I!” Jessica shouted as she disappeared down the hall, leaving the ginger haired girl confused and flustered as she knocked on the front door.

“Yes? What?” An angry Scottish voice yelled from within the flat, making Amy jump back in surprise.

“Umm, it- it’s Amy,” the ginger girl replied. “Paige? You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Paige sighed. “Door’s open, come on in.” Amy smiled sympathetically as she walked into the flat and saw Paige laid on an airbed in the middle of the room, her face scrubbed clean of make-up but looking no less pretty than normal.

“Hey…” Amy said softly, sitting down on the plush sofa opposite the Scottish girl. “Did- did I interrupt something?”

“YOU didn’t,” Paige scoffed. “Jess- she- she got called in. AGAIN. Said no other supervisors were available… Ugh.”

“Kinda makes you want to not be promoted even despite the extra pay,” Amy scoffed. “Don’t they, you know, write the rotas around annual leave? Even supervisors’? Hell, even around Alana’s leave, didn’t she have, like, three holidays last year?”

“Ugh, no offence Ames, but she’s the LAST person I want to talk about right now,” Paige spat. “That fight you heard was- well, Jess didn’t want to go in, obviously, but she didn’t want to lose her job, or even her promotion either… Still reckon we’re getting punished for our ‘association’ with Rachel. And Zoe and Natalie, maybe.”

“Yeah…” Amy grimaced, remembering how she defended the company to her friends the previous evening. “Would Alana REALLY hold a grudge like that?”

“Oh yes,” Paige replied. “Actually told Jess to her face to be overly critical of Natalie when she found out that Nat’s sister was shagging Masson’s daughter, thinking it’d break the two of them up.”

“I remember hearing about that,” Amy said with a tired chuckle. "Doesn't sound any more legal six months later, heh."

“Aye,” Paige snorted.

“Will- will you and Jess be, you know, okay?” Amy asked. “That sounded like a nasty fight…”

“Ugh, we’ll be okay, it’s not like we were shouting at each other,” Paige replied. “When we’re angry, we just up the volume a bit. Sometimes I think Jess has more jock in her than she’s letting on, heh.”

“Heh,” Amy chuckled. “Don’t want to have bought a new dress for the wedding for no reason, you know?”

“Honestly, we’ll be fine,” Paige said. “I’ll call her on her layover. And is there ever no reason for buying a new dress?”

“None that I can think of!” Amy giggled. “Really sucks about Jess today, though, isn’t there something either of you can do about it?”

“Not if we want to keep being able to afford to live here,” Paige sighed. “If I wasn’t laid up we’d probably head up to Scotland for the weekend but, well, yeah.”

“Don’t need to explain why you can’t do THAT,” Amy chuckled. “How- how’s it, you know-“

“Feeling?” Paige asked. “Still hurts like hell. Dilating is the most awkward, embarrassing and uncomfortable thing I’ve ever had to do and I hate walking like a 2 year old with two broken legs.”

“But…?” Amy teased.

“…But I’m SO glad I’ve had it done,” Paige sighed happily. “Been dreaming- literally dreaming- of this since I was, like, eleven.”

“I know THAT feeling, hehe!” Amy giggled. “And no, I’m not going to ask to see it. The only one I want to see is either my own or the girl I’m in bed with!”

“Same,” Paige said with a smile. “Which obviously means ‘mine or Jess’s’.”

“When’s Jess having hers done?” Amy asked. “She’s been on HRT for a while, hasn’t she?”

“Two and a half years,” Paige replied. “She’s probably having it done end of November, start of December time, so she can spend Thanksgiving with her family in America and recover in time to spend Christmas in America as well, as her brother’s birthday’s 2 days before Christmas and he’s 21 this year so it’s kinda a big deal.”

“Lots to celebrate, then?” Amy asked. “I always thought Thanksgiving was in February, though?”

“You need to watch more crappy American TV!” Paige giggled. “Thanksgiving is the day before Black Friday, which I know you’re aware of, given how much you whinged about having to work on it last year!”

“They had a designer skirt discounted from £130 to £35 that wasn’t available online!” Amy moaned.

“Which you later got anyway as Sophie bought it for you for Christmas,” Paige retorted.

“Well- yeah, but still, you know?” Amy pleaded as Paige began to giggle. “…Fine. And speaking of Sophie, I’m gonna need to mention this thing about Jess to her, she kinda ‘collects’ stories like this, heh.”

“What, stories about SRS?” Paige asked.

“Oh- no, HELL no,” Amy replied. “If anything stories like that make her squeamish, though THAT’s understandable, I suppose. I meant stories about, you know, management being unfair, that sort of thing. Found out a while ago we've both been keeping 'diaries' about work and we've kinda swapped stories from time to time.”

“Huh,” Paige said. “Come to think of it, she has asked me a couple of times to, you know, go into detail about things like that that I’ve complained about in the past.”

“Weird,” Amy shrugged. “Oh well. Never mind. Do you have anyone else coming round to babysit you today?”

“Get tae- ‘babysit’!?” Paige protested as the ginger woman chuckled. “For your information, it was meant to be Jess, but obviously Alana fucking Branton got in the way there, so she’s called Anna-Jade round, she should be here in a bit. Once she’s got up.”

“Wonder how many F-bombs A-J dropped when she answered THAT call?” Amy asked with a giggle. “Ah, I am jealous, though, girls like you, Jess and A-J have been around the company for years, now you’re at the end of the journey… Kinda feel like, you know, an intruder?”

“Don’t see why,” Paige shrugged. “You’ve got as much right to be in the company as I have, or at the Sunday morning lessons- which I’m REALLY going to miss- or anywhere else, you know? You and the rest of ‘team ASH’. Even if Sophie does ask the occasional strange questions, hehe!”

As Amy and Paige spent the morning giggling and gossiping, the unknowing subject of their gossip was immersed in her ‘role’, helping to instruct her trainee in the roles and responsibilities of her new job. Despite Paige and Amy’s discussion of her evidence gathering, however, the expose was the furthest thing from Sophie’s mind. Instead, she strove to be the best employee she could be, and to ensure that Rachel would be as well, even as she ultimately sought to undermine the airline. However, by the time 5pm rolled around, Sophie had immersed herself so deeply in the role that she’d all but forgotten about her ‘other job’. Much to Sophie’s surprise, it was only as she unbuttoned her shiny black blouse and saw the padding in her bra that she remembered about her ‘other gender’.

“Ugh, can’t believe how tired I am,” Rachel said, suppressing a yawn as she removed her uniform and slithered into her slinky dark grey pencil dress.

“Trust me, it’ll be a million times worse when you get onto flights!” Sophie giggled. “And don’t expect to have every Saturday off, either! Tomorrow’s a rare privilege for both of us, heh.”

“Oh, believe me, I get that!” Rachel said with a tired grin. “NOT looking forward to the 4am starts but I guess I’d better get used to them, heh.” Unless Alana decides you don’t have to do them, Sophie thought to herself.

“They’re really tough in winter,” Sophie advised. “But you get over it quickly if you’re on a red route flight, hehe!”

“I bet!” Rachel chuckled. “Kinda wish I wasn’t so pale-skinned now, I could get a REALLY good tan in weeks, heh.”

“We’re not usually laid over THAT long,” Sophie advised. “Usually just long enough to get the plane turned around. Think the company aren’t keen on springing for hotels, heh. But you do get them occasionally, and they can be REALLY fun, heh!”

“Speaking of,” Rachel said, “what’ve you got planned for the weekend?” Sophie paused as she considered her response- she didn’t want to lie to Rachel, but at the same time she knew she couldn’t ‘blow her cover’ by telling her what she was really doing…

“Oh, just, you know, hanging out,” Sophie shrugged. “You?”

“Same,” Rachel replied. “Lucas is at work all weekend so I’ll probably just hang out at home tomorrow, Sunday… I’ve got no plans in the morning. None yet, anyway?”

“Wow, that was a subtle hint!” Sophie chuckled, before grimacing as she remembered her manager’s ‘advice’ from earlier in the week- if Alana didn’t want Rachel to go to her namesake’s pub, she’d certainly have something to say about her hanging out with Zoe and Natalie, considering how both women ended their employment with the airline. Then again, it was Rachel’s decision to make- and as Sophie was quick to remind herself, it wasn’t like she herself would be working for the airline for much longer.

“So…?” Rachel asked. “Should I dig out some of my old leotards this evening?”

“I’ll- I’ll talk to Zoe about it, I promise,” Sophie said. “There- there is kinda something you should know, though.”

“Umm, okay?” Rachel replied. “What’s- what is it?”

“Not here,” Sophie said, wary of being eavesdropped on. “Do- do you want to get a drink somewhere? Not, umm, not Rachel H’s pub, it’s busy tonight, but, like, a bar somewhere?”

“Ugh, kinda- kinda promised my parents I’d be home by six…” Rachel replied, her cheeks starting to redden. “And yes, I know how lame that sounds. Now I’m making proper money I am TOTALLY looking for my own place. Which, in London, will either be the size of a wardrobe or will involve sharing with fifty other people, heh.”

“Or three others,” Sophie said with a smug grin. “Not making any promises there either, but there’s a spare bed in our flat, and I’ve already talked to my flat mates and they wouldn’t be completely opposed to the idea.”

“Bet my mum would be!” Rachel retorted. “Speaking of, I’d better get home. Whatever it was you wanted to talk about, can we talk later?”

“Umm, sure,” Sophie said. “I- I’ll call you after dinner, this is kinda something we should talk about, you know, sooner rather than later.”

“Okay,” Rachel shrugged. “Talk later, see you Monday- or maybe before, hehe!”

“Yep, see you!” Sophie said with a smile and a wave as the petite blonde girl headed off. Sophie let out a quiet sigh as she headed toward the nearest tube station, and before long, she was back at her flat, where she found Amy curled up on the sofa, playing with her phone.

"Hey Soph," Amy said. "Good day with the padawan?"

"Yeah," Sophie shrugged. "How's Paige?"

"Getting better," Amy replied. "Still totally off her feet, as you can imagine, but looking better. Not got any colour back in her cheeks, but she's Paige, so you'd kinda expect that, heh! Only stuck around until lunch, though, she'd had a bit of a fight with Jessica in the morning, and at lunchtime they called each other and, well, I don't need to catch diabetes. Or an STD over the phone, which was on the cards if they'd gone on any longer."

"Yikes," Sophie replied. "You working tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Zurich," Amy replied. "We can't all be nine-to-fivers!"

"I'll think of you while I'm sleeping in," Sophie said with a smug grin as she headed into her bedroom. "Or while I'm heading to my parents'..."

After making a quick phone call, Sophie exchanged her smart pencil dress for a very slouchy, very comfortable grey turtleneck and pleated denim miniskirt, before laying back on her bed and letting out a long sigh. Within 24 hours, her face would be make-up free, a pair of loose jeans would be in place where her skirt was, and on her torso wouldn't be a turtleneck but a loose, smart shirt- and her chest would be totally flat. There was a part of her that couldn't wait to once again be 'James'- the person she 'really' was- but there was another part of her that wanted to get the time as 'James' over and done with as fast possible. Sophie's dilemma was that she genuinely didn't know which part of her was the largest...

"Ah!" Sophie yelped as her phone began to ring, snapping her out of her daydream. The brown haired woman smirked as she checked the caller ID- it was the call she'd been expecting. "Hi Rachel."

"Hi Soph!" The blonde haired girl replied. "You free?"

"Yep, not doing anything," Sophie replied. "I called Zoe a few minutes ago, she's okay with you coming along on Sunday morning, if you want."

"Oh my god no way!" Rachel excitedly squeaked.

"Now, you DO know there won't be any Angels there, right?" Sophie asked. "Not even Krystie, even though it is her school?"

"I know, I know," Rachel replied, trying her hardest to sound nonchalant. "But, you know, eventually, right?"

"Don't get your hopes up too high too quickly," Sophie cautioned. "And... You may not want to come along at all."

"Why wouldn't I?" Rachel asked. "I told you, I love dancing, I'd probably want to come along even without the Angel connection."

"Yeah..." Sophie grimaced. "It's kinda- kinda not that connection you should be concerned about. Zoe, the main teacher, and my Rachel, they kinda didn't leave the company on good terms. In fact, it wouldn't be going too far to say the company kinda hates them. Like, a lot."

"Right, and?" Rachel asked.

"Well, it's kinda the first rule of employment," Sophie sighed. "It's not what you know, it's who. I have it on fairly good authority you could go far in the company, and if you're seen associating with-"

"Oh- what?" Rachel snorted. "I can make my own friends, I don't need to be told who to hang out with!"

"I'm just passing on what I heard, don't shoot the messenger!" Sophie pleaded.

"Well- okay," Rachel sighed. "But you sounded just like my mum there for a second. She went on at me for ages about the friends I hung out with at secondary school AND most of my boyfriends too, reckoning I was too good to hang out with any of them."

"And too good to work as a trolley dolly?" Sophie asked, making her trainee giggle.

"Something like that, yeah," Rachel replied. "But I reckon she's coming round. You know, there are worse jobs I could do? She'd be a pretty crappy parent if she disowned me for something like that."

"Any parent would," Sophie said softly.

"Oh- god, Soph, I'm sorry..." Rachel moaned. "I- I keep forgetting... Sorry."

"S'okay," Sophie shrugged, her stomach churning at the thought of her inferred lie. "But anyway, yeah, Sunday morning you're fine to come along. If you REALLY want to."

"I really want to," Rachel said. "Is there or isn't there a saying that goes 'you can never have too many friends?"

"Yes there is, and yes I know who's credited with saying it," Sophie giggled. "I'll text you the details."

"Cool!" Rachel squeaked. "See you then, Soph!"

"Yep!" Sophie replied. "See you then..." As Sophie clicked off her phone, she laid back on her bed and let out a long sigh. Sunday morning was something to look forward to, seeing Rachel meet the rest of her friends, getting to know them and feeling smug about the fact that Rachel wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for Sophie. Sure, Rachel could easily have been the trainee of someone like Amy or Hayley, or Abbey or Annabelle, or any of the other girls, but she wasn't. She was Sophie's trainee, and it was her responsibility for integrating her both at work and with the group. And within hours, 'Sophie' would, however temporarily, cease to exist. Sophie couldn't help but wonder how Rachel- or any of her friends- would react to that knowledge. More particularly, she wondered whether or not their reaction would be any better than her parents' reaction to the mere existence of 'Sophie'...

The following morning, after Amy and Hayley left for work, James got out of bed, combed back his long hair into an androgynous style, removed any trace of make-up or nail polish from his body and pulled on a pair of loose boxers shorts and black socks, followed by a plain grey t-shirt and a pair of old, comfortable jeans. He left the house without a handbag, carrying his wallet and his phone in the pockets of his light summer jacket, and a few short minutes later, he was ringing the doorbell of the house where he grew up.

"It's open, come on in!" James's mother said, making the young man smile nervously as he entered the house.

"Ah, hello son!" James's father said, giving the young man a firm handshake before returning to his chair and his copy of the Times. "Finally got time away from this project you're working on, then?"

"Yep!" James replied. "It's been going well, taking a long time though. Should be done in about three months."

"That's what you said six months ago!" James's mother reminded him as she set a warm mug of tea in front of him. "This must be a big story for you to still be working on it after nine months. I take it you're going to publish it as a book?"

"That's the hope," James replied. "Though I- I'm not sure you'll want a copy."

"Why wouldn't we?" Mr. Connolly asked. "You've worked hard on it, surely it deserves to be read?"

"Oh, I've definitely worked hard," James said. "But- but that's kinda why I came round early today, as I need to tell you something that I know you won't want to hear."

"What is it, James?" Mrs. Connolly asked, a look of concern spreading across her face. "Is it about the project?"

"Yep," James said. "I've never told you exactly where I'm working."

"I always assumed it was some kind of secret," Mr. Connolly replied. "Like you were some kind of spy or something. I didn't want to ask in case it jeopardised your work."

"Nothing like that," James said. "I am technically undercover, yes. Sort-of, anyway..."

"James?" Mrs. Connolly asked. "Whatever it is you need to tell us, you know we won't judge you." Well, we'll see, James thought with a sigh.

"For the last nine months," James said, taking a deep breath. "I've been working for... Soixante-Trois Airlines. As a flight attendant."

"...Oh," James's mother replied, her face falling slightly. "Is- is that the airline that hires-"

"Mostly transgendered stewardesses, yes," James said, fidgeting in his seat as his heart raced and he felt his stomach churn.

"...Well what's so bad about that?" Mr. Connolly asked with a shrug. "There are much worse places to be undercover, you could be a football hooligan, or one of Tommy Robinson's lot, or trying to infiltrate an ISIS cell or something."

"D- dad?" James asked.

"So you're dressing up as a stewardess, big deal," Mr. Connolly said as James felt a weight lift from his shoulders. "When the story's published, you won't have to ever do that again, right?"

"Umm- right," James said as he felt his heart sink again.

"It's not like you're REALLY having a sex change, right?" Mr. Connolly chuckled. "I hope you're getting plenty of material about those fruits!"

"I'm mostly, umm, investigating management," James mumbled.

"Well I'm sure it's very interesting work," Mrs. Connolly said. "And it does explain why you haven't had a haircut in forever! First thing you need to do after you publish your story is get it chopped as short as possible!"

"Of course!" James chuckled.

"As for today," Mrs. Connolly said, "we're going to make sure you can sit back, relax and enjoy being who you REALLY are for as long as possible before going back to work! When do you need to be back, anyway?"

"Mo- umm..." James replied as he thought carefully about his answer. On the one hand, he didn't need to be at the airport until Monday morning. But there was Rachel's debut at the Sunday morning dance class beforehand- and James, or rather, Sophie didn't want to miss that. Even if it meant dressing up in a leotard and a pair of tights. Or rather, especially as it meant dressing up in a leotard and a pair of tights...

"Tomorrow," James said defiantly. "I kinda- kinda live with a group of girls, and for the story I, well, need to 'integrate', and-"

"No, no, the less I need to hear the better!" Mr. Connolly chuckled, making James sigh internally. "Son, I can understand why you'd be nervous to tell us this. But it's not like you're really, REALLY pretending to be a woman, right?"

"Umm, right," James replied.

"It's just for a job!" James's father chuckled. "And god knows it's a job I couldn't do, so you do deserve to feel proud about all the work that you've put in. I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end."

"And we will want a copy of the book, won't we?" James's mother asked.

"Oh, one each!" James's father said with a grin. "Signed by the very talented author, too!"

"That can probably be arranged," James said, forcing a smile on his face as internally, he screamed in frustration. His parents had accepted him as an undercover stewardess, but they hadn't accepted 'Sophie', and from their words, it was obvious that they never would.

Throughout the rest of the day, James answered questions about his life as a stewardess, going over the work that he did, the passengers he had to deal with and the management issues he was documenting. At no point was he asked about the friends he had made, or the way he spent his free time, or- and this was what James noticed the most- the name he used while working for the airline. Telling his parents about his work should've been the ultimate relief for James. Instead, if just caused him more stress.

When Sophie woke up on Sunday morning, she felt relieved and energised. She showered, applied her make-up, slithered into a pair of soft pink tights and a stretchy black leotard and felt ready for anything the world could throw at her. More importantly, however, she was stress-free. She knew that 'her' days were numbered, but that didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy them while they lasted. It also didn't mean that she had to accept that her days were numbered- just that the choice between 'James' and 'Sophie' would be harder than ever, and would have even bigger consequences than she'd previously anticipated.

But that was a worry for another day. Sophie had a ballet lesson to attend, and actively participate in, just like she would actively participate in training Rachel to be a stewardess, and actively participate in the shopping trip she and the rest of the class were going on after the end of the lesson. Sophie had 'gone native', she knew that, and she knew there was no turning back and no point being ashamed. She just wish that there was a way she could live her life without her parents being ashamed...