Summer With Em - Chapter 24

By JulieDCole

My break was a chance to sit quiet in the coffee shop and calm down after a hectic three hours which seems to be the busiest part of the day on reception duty. The good thing was that we were allowed free drinks and a snack so I opted for a green tea and a breakfast cereal. I had already gotten used to Special K that Em introduce me to that she said helped keep her figure in shape. I just liked the taste.

I wasn’t sure about the green tea but most of the girls said they drank it all the time to clean out their systems. It had a bitter taste but it was ok. I did wonder if it might affect the colour of my pee that I already checked regularly as taught by my mother to ensure my kidneys were healthy.

Her advice was to drink a gallon of water a day that I did at home from the tap. With Em I was using a water filter supposedly to purify water that is already purified but it was much softer than at home so how could that be? It made me think. Perhaps the water at home had something added that made the water hard and was that the reason my boobs had developed. But if anything the growth had not stopped and I looked down to confirm it. I could feel my bra was much fuller than in the shop where I’d been measured.

I decided that I should drink more bottled water rather than the filtered tap water to see if the growth stopped or could be reversed. I didn’t like the thought of having to use strapping or tight vests to flatten them when I returned home and to college.
The green tea was making me thirsty if anything and it had a bitter taste that didn’t go too well with breakfast cereal. I would have preferred a coffee or an English Breakfast tea from Ceylon.

I took a bottle of water that was also free to freshen my mouth and quench my thirst and returned to my duties on reception. I saw that Bec’s had arrived and that she was in the office with Helen with the door closed for privacy. Vicki who had taken over from me said they’d been locked in for a good ten minutes and she was asked not to disturb them and pass on the message to any of us looking for either of them. I didn’t really take much notice since I was soon back answering the phone and booking classes for members.

About ten minutes later Helen stuck her head out and asked me to pop in for a few minutes and asked Vicky to cover for me. We looked at each other. Was I in trouble? Had somebody complained about me arriving to work dressed like this and being given access to the female changing areas? Was I going to lose my job?

I felt nervous as I sat down beside Helen and I took care to respect Bec’s as the Manager and not as the girlfriend of Em and a new flatmate.

‘Kim we have been looking at your application form and your CV. You haven’t been very truthful have you?’

‘I’m not sure what you mean. I thought you knew my background and I’ve only followed advice since I was given the job.’

‘No I didn’t mean the way you dress I meant your qualifications.’

‘Yes I gave you a list of my subjects and the grades I achieved.’

‘ Yes but according to your cousin Emily you missed one item of importance here.’

‘I’m sorry I don’t recall missing anything. Please tell me if I made a mistake and I’ll change if that’s what you want.’

‘ Not so drastic for you to worry about it. What I mean is that you have several swimming badges and more important you are a qualified Lifeguard. Is that true?’

‘Yes I swam in competitions but that was ages ago and I didn’t think it was important. I didn’t like it because I was having to train every day early in the morning.I also got bullied about it at school.’

‘The swimming is important but I’m more interested in your life saving badges. We have a number of qualified lifeguards because we have to be in attendance at the poolside full time. We have a rota to share it around with two or three full time. Some just do back up during their statutory breaks. Sometimes the fitness coaches or reception staff cover the breaks.’

‘Yes I’ve noticed but how does that affect me?’

‘If you are qualified you could be on the rota as cover that would help us a lot. We always have difficulty finding people through the summer holiday season and the pool gets very busy through school vacation periods.’

‘ Well I haven’t been swimming for a couple of years or so. It’s at least three years since I got my life saving badge.’

‘Well Helen and I have just discussed this and we want you to bring a copy of your certificate in for our files. As it happens there is a life-saving class and a test later today. We’ve arranged two or three of our staff to attend. It’s in the pool at 3pm this afternoon. I’d like you to attend and be assessed.’

‘But I can’t I don’t have any gear and it would be awkward.’

‘Think again please we need extra cover and if it works out and you are on the rota it means an extra £5 per day to your wages. You can use the pool as well in your free time.’

‘ But I left my swimming things at home in London.’

‘Don’t worry we can supply you with a costume and a top and shorts like the ones the lifeguards wear. You are ok aren’t you? I want you to attend.’

‘Are you insisting?’

‘No it’s up to you but I’d be grateful if you said yes. It helps Helen with her staffing plans through the holiday period.’

‘OK I will. But I hope that I don’t let you down.’

‘Off you go then and Helen will sort you out for some kit. Let’s see how good you are.’

The swim suit was black and Helen suggested a medium size but the legs were a bit too high cut in the leg for my liking. It was a good job Em had persuaded me to shave my legs. However when I tried it on it it didn’t exactly hold me as tight as I would have liked. Helen commented and suggested I might like to consider a Brazilian wax in the salon some time. I panicked a bit since no way was I going to let anybody pour hot wax around my bits. I rang Em and she came up with a solution. She suggested I popped out during my lunch break and purchase a G string. She did giggle a bit however.

I changed in the staff changing rooms later putting my costume under my day gear. At least I had privacy. The G string was tight but it did work.

We assembled at the side of the pool that had been sectioned off for us and the instructor arrived with his gear and his assistant. He was a bit of a hunk and clearly was a bit of a show off and a womaniser. I was aware of him staring at my breasts that seemed more prominent than ever in the swimsuit. I didn’t know what I’d do if the doctor found a solution when I got to meet him. I remember thinking if it was the water in the Manchester area I was about to dive into a pool full and no way could I avoid swallowing some especially when I’d be jumping in in pyjamas for one of the tests.

All went well until there was a sudden cry of panic from the duty lifeguard. Somebody was struggling in the water and had sunk to the bottom. I just dived in without thinking about it and swam down to bring the guy to the surface. We lifted him out and laid him It looked like he’d had a heart failure.

I helped clear his lungs and carry out CPR as I’d been trained to do. I just seemed to do it instinctively so luckily he was breathing by the time the ambulance arrived. He seemed like he was now in good hands so the session was closed and we dispersed and headed to get dried and changed.

The whole leisure centre seemed to know about it by the time I returned to reception and the guy was a long standing member that everybody seemed to know. His wife had been in a ‘bums and tums’ class upstairs and had rushed off to hospital with him.

Bec’s called me to her office to check that I was ok and arranged for some hot tea since I was in a bit of state of shock. It was my first time. I’d only practiced on dummies.

We completed an incident report that Bec’s needed to record in the Accident Book and then Bec’s suggested she ran me back to the apartment rather than expecting me to go back to work. I appreciated the offer since I felt quite shaken. It was my first encounter with someone facing death and somehow we had managed to revive him and hand him over to the ambulance crew.

I didn’t feel like doing anything or talking to anyone that evening although Em came and sat with me in my room and we chatted for quite a while. As far as I was concerned I wanted to forget what had happened. All I could see was the pained expression on the terrified face of an elderly man at the bottom of the pool closing his eyes and giving in.

I had promised to call Frankie but I didn’t have the strength or energy to hold a conversation, certainly not risk chatting about our days. She sent me a text but I just said I wasn’t feeling well and had taken a sleeping pill which in fact was true.

At least I had a restful night and I came around fairly quickly when my alarm went off. Another early start and looking out of my window it was another blue sky day outside so I decided to walk again. It seemed to be a myth that it was always raining in Manchester.

I left before Em and Bec’s surfaced from their bedroom since I wanted to avoid the risk of becoming emotional. I was keen to find out if the medics had saved the mans life because he was somebody’s father and probably grandfather. I didn’t bother with a Starbucks en-route to avoid any risk of early morning customer abuse.

When I arrived at the Health Centre there seemed to be a lot more people waiting for it to open as I headed to the staff door. This time the security guard had no problem letting me in and he greeted me with a handshake because he’d heard about the incident. He had not heard anything about whether or not the guy had recovered but nothing negative either.

When Helen arrived she made a big fuss of me and she had been told he was recovering in intensive care and was expected to pull through. She said that she’d watched in admiration as I calmly took charge and applied CPR. I had no real recollection of events I’d just responded automatically.

By 6-30am when we opened to doors there were several members with sports bags but also several others who turned out to be a male and a female reporter a photographer and a guy with a video camera. They wanted to interview Helen but quickly turned their attention to me when she told them I’d been directly involved in rescuing the member and reviving him. It was so embarrassing for me because I had never liked standing out in the crowd or being singled out for praise right from an early age. I couldn’t even remember what they’d asked and what I’d said by the time they suddenly packed up and rushed off to do something else.

Helen said I should be proud of myself for giving the club some good publicity but mainly for reacting so quickly. She told me these people were from the lcal press, the Manchester Evening News and the local TV and radio station. I was shell-shocked. It was even more embarrassing and I told her that I didn’t want a fuss because I hadn’t done anything special. She calmed me and said she doubted whether it was much of a story just an everyday event. Maybe the club would get a mention in the press or on the local news if they were short of bad news.

But it didn’t stop there. I seemed to become extremely popular throughout the morning with colleagues and members with lots stopping for a chat. The phones never stopped ringing all morning so I didn’t have much time to even take my break. Bec’s had a call from the mans wife expressing her gratitude and also a call from central office praising our efforts.

By lunchtime things had calmed down so I decided to take my break with a walk in the fresh air and buy a sandwich and a coffee to go from Starbucks despite the expense. I saw an empty table in the sunshine so sat a while to people watch.

I felt better by the time I headed back to the leisure centre and all was going well until mid-afternoon when Helen told me the paper had published the story on their web-site along with my photo and my name. The real shock came when she flicked to the BBC website on her i-pad. ‘Transgender Girl saves ex-Mayor George Wilkinson.’

Helen looked me up and down in surprise. ‘Where did this come from?’

‘But they are wrong. I’m not transgender. This is awful. Terrible. Helen please what do I do?’