Chapter 1
The holiday job

“ Oh come on Chris, you’ve done it before with no problems, please help me out.”

“ No, I’ve changed in the last two years, I don’t think I will pass like I used to, and, besides, there must be someone else you can ask”

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My name is Christopher Trevelyan, Chris to my friends. I have just finished the second year of my course for a degree in Sociology and Criminology at the University of Exeter and have gone back home to Mevagissey for my summer break. For those of you that have never heard of Mevagissey, it is a small town on the coast of Cornwall in South West England. It used to be a fishing village, but now most of its income comes from tourism based around its quaint harbour, cobbled streets, hotels, restaurants, accommodation and glorious surrounding countryside, and in season it is bustling and full of holidaymakers. Unfortunately by the time my university course finished the tourist season was well under way, and all of the holiday season jobs were already filled and nothing was on offer, even for someone from the town, as most of the seasonal staff were local school kids trying to earn some spending money or incomers having a working holiday before going back to school or college.

My elder sister Jilly, runs a tea shop/cafe down near the harbour, nothing upmarket, just the normal English cooked breakfasts, soup and rolls and a daily special cooked lunch, cakes and sandwiches for tea, and obviously the well-known Cornish delicacies Pasties and cream teas, all washed down with tea, coffee or fruit juice. There was only a small staff, Jilly the manager and cook, and four waitresses.. Anyway, Jilly was having problems as one of the girls, Wendy had fallen off her surfboard awkwardly yesterday evening and broke her leg, and couldn’t work for a few weeks, effectively for the rest of the season.

“ Oh come on Chris, you’ve done it before with no problems, please help me out.”

“ No, I’ve changed in the last two years, I don’t think I will pass like I used to, and, besides, there must be someone else you can ask.”

I had worked in the cafe for a couple of seasons when I was 16 and 17, but for various reasons Jilly preferred waitresses rather than waiters, and so I had spent two summers effectively as a girl as it was easier than changing back and forth twice a day.

“Please Chris, you know the ropes, and the other girls, and it will be a great help to me. I’ve asked around my friends and the other girls and their families, but either they already have jobs or they are not interested.”

“ I’ll come in to help but not as a waitress, you can work front of house, and I’ll do the cooking, it’s only good plain home-cooked food and I should be able to manage ok.”

And so that’s what happened, I turned up early the next day to get things prepared before the cafe opened, finished off batches of half-baked rolls and croissants, made up a couple of sponge cakes, teacakes, scones, and buns, and the daily cooked special, a couple of large cottage pies. I’ve always worked on the principle that if you can read and can follow a recipe then the end results are normally pretty decent, even if not cordon bleu. Jilly and the waitresses, Jo, Kathy, and Mandy came in about an hour later to set up shop and open up. The early part of the day is usually predictable, either full English breakfasts -any combination of bacon sausage egg tomatoes, beans and toast- , or croissants or toast and jam for the less hungry or adventurous. The day went off smoothly, and after the lunch period was over and the cottage pies all eaten, I left the girls to finish off the day with the drinks cakes and buns.

Jilly come home later, thanked me profusely and surprised me with my share of the tips which was a lot more than they used to give me a couple of years ago. We agreed that we had all worked well together and that I would continue until it was time to go back to college.

A couple of days later, I was just finishing my shift and preparing to leave, when Jilly came into the kitchen.

“I’ve had to sent Mandy home, she has been coughing and sneezing all morning and has a bit of a temperature and generally looks very ill and pale, which does not go down well in a cafe, as customers don’t want germs all over their food. Can you put in the extra half-shift today and I’ll try to get someone else in for tomorrow ?” We had a busy afternoon, and to try to match the waitresses, I wore one of the uniform blouses and slacks, which were a bit androgynous, but not too feminine, and a short white waist apron, but soon forget what I was wearing and just got on with the job.

At the end of the long day, I was completely shattered and just went home to crash out and relax, or so I thought. When Jilly got home I heard her and mum having a long chat in the kitchen and the both then came in with broad smiles.

“The bad news is I couldn’t get anyone to stand in for Mandy, but Mum has agreed that she will cover the kitchen for a few days, until Mandy gets better and comes back in. The bad news is that I’m still short of someone front-of-house will you stand in for a few days.”

“That’s no problem, but I have already told you that I can’t work as Chrissie again, I’ll never get away with it, I’ve grown a bit and put on some weight in the last couple of years.”

“ Oh come on Chris,” Mum said, ”you are still no Arnie Schwarzenegger, you are not much bigger than Jilly, and your hair is very student-length, well over your collar and ears. If we clean and tidy you up and style your hair I’m sure you can still pass as a girl. Your voice is still quite high for a man, and sounds a bit like a husky girl’s, if you just choose your words, think about what you are saying and speak a bit slower, nobody will notice anything out of the ordinary.”

“Please Chrissie,” said Jilly, using the girl’s name she had called me when I worked as a waitress before, “ at least give it a try. Let me re-style your hair, put on a bit of makeup let’s see how you look, and if you don’t think it will work, we’ll think of something else.”

“Why must you have a waitress anyway, what’s wrong with me as a waiter, it worked ok today?”

“Lots of reasons. There is a house style and I like all the staff to wear similar clothes, and also girls normally get better tips than boys, especially if they smile and act nice with the customers. We had a few comments today from customers about the pleasant new girl, so you fitted in without even trying. Please, please give it a go.”

For the next hour or so, wearing one of Jilly’s dressing gowns she took control of me, slightly trimming my hair in places and cutting-in a fringe, tidying it up and setting it with rollers, applying basic daytime make-up, light foundation, eyeliner, mascara, blusher and lipstick. After a few finishing touches with a heated brush, Chrissie was again revealed to the world, or at least to my mum. The three of us agreed that i was presentable and that it would work, and sat and chatted about how tomorrow would go.

Mum went off for an early night as she had to be at the cafe early to prepare the food, leaving Jilly to lecture me about all things girly and how to conduct myself tomorrow.

“ Right , that was ok for a trial but we need to make a bit more effort before you face your public tomorrow. We won’t have a lot of time in the morning so you better go to the bathroom now, have a close shave of all the bits that can be seen, face,, legs, arms, chest, shoulders and have a shower using some of my body lotion, put on the dressing gown and come back down here again.”

Back downstairs, feeling all clean and smooth, I was given a close inspection by Jilly, given a tub of moisturiser which she told me how and where to apply, had my hair reset in rollers, had my eyebrows “cleaned up a bit”, had my nails painted a soft pink, and bits I’d missed shaved by Jilly, and sent off to bed.

The next morning we all rose early, Mum had to go in to the cafe to get the food prepared for the day, Jilly had to help me get sorted out and take care of herself, and so it was all a bit hectic.

“ Chrissie, I’ve left out some clothes and stuff for you on the bed, get dressed and I will help with your make-up after I’ve sorted myself out. And don’t forget the control panties, they will help to keep your dangly bits hidden and firm up your bottom a bit, leave off the blouse until you have put on your foundation make-up” Jilly shouted from the bathroom.

I was soon dressed in full female mode, bra and matching panties, control panties, tights, one of the uniform blouses, a black skirt, and black dress shoes with 2” heel. I had started putting on the eye-liner and eye-shadow when Jilly came in to finish me off.

“ Why do i have to wear a skirt and heels, you and the girls have been wearing trousers and flat shoes all week?”

“ It’s the weekend and a lot of the visitors go home and new ones come in, we try a bit harder to make a good first impression when they look through the window to see what we have to offer, all of us will be in skirts today. Besides, wearing a skirt and heels will enhance your feminine appearance a bit more than slacks and flats. That reminds me, I think you will be better off if you put these breast enhancers into your bra, don’t ask where they came from, us girls have our secrets.”

With a borrowed coat and shoulder bag, we then made our way to the cafe. As it was the weekend, which is our busiest period, all the team were in, including Mandy who had now recovered, ready and waiting for me to make my first appearance as Chrissie. For about 5 minutes I was the centre of attention, lots of comments and questions about how I was dressed and if I was comfortable, and then it was showtime and the door was opened to our public.

We soon settled down into work routine, and even though there were five of us front-of-house we were constantly on the go, and I just settled into my new role and forgot that I was doing anything unusual.

Most of our customers were extremely polite and pleasant but you always get someone who thinks they are too important to wait to be served, or young men who think that the waitresses are also on the menu and can’t keep their hands to themselves. There was one particularly unpleasant group of three lads in their early twenties who were trying to flirt with all of us, fuelled by an earlier session in the pub next door. One of them slapped my backside quite hard when I walked past and when I turned to shout at him he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me over onto his lap. Without thinking I gave him a quick slap to the face and stamped on his foot. Before he could retaliate Jilly and Mandy came over and tried to calm things down. You could see the hostility in his face but his two friends grabbed him and held him back, and they were all asked to get out.

“ Unfortunately we get that from time to time, usually it’s nothing more than a slap or pinch on the bum or an “accidental” brush of the breast, often when they have had a few drinks. Unfortunately it’s something us girls have to put up with. Have a few minutes in the kitchen to calm down then come back out and get on with serving as if nothing happened. That was the main excitement of the day, and when it came to closing time, we all sat down with a cup of tea and the few leftover cakes.

“ You did well today Chrissie, but next time try not to assault the customers,” Jilly said, drawing a lot of giggles from the other girls, “We had a really good day today, I’ve not reckoned up yet but the till seems awfully full, and the tip box looks very good for all of us, there was a bit of a sympathy surge in the tips after Chrissie was assaulted, but please don’t encourage it just to get a bit more money”, again everyone had a good laugh. Now that Mandy is back, and with Chrissie we are back to our usual numbers, Mum would like to go back to her home life of leisure. and Chrissie and I will do alternate days in the kitchen and as waitresses, if everyone is ok with that.”

Jo, Kathy and Mandy were all in agreement with that. We also agreed that except for weekends that it only needed two of us in the “shop” most of the time, and so during the week we would rotate days off. As the holiday season in pretty short a lot of the hotel and catering staff around town worked a six day week and we were open every day, that gave us all a welcome chance to have some time to ourselves.

“Can I suggest” Jo chirped in “that as Chrissie fitted in so well, and none of the customers noticed anything out the ordinary, that she continues as Chrissie, even when working in the kitchen, otherwise it could lead to confusion over names and slips of the tongue at the wrong time, what do you think Chrissie?”

“ I hadn’t planned on it, it’s an awful lot of more work getting ready as a girl in the morning, it’s a lot easier to get up, quick brush of the hair, throw on a tee-shirt and jeans and a pair of trainers and a man is ready to go, but I can see that that it will avoid any confusion over names and things, so if you are all happy for me to continue as Chrissie, let’s give it a go and see how it turns out.”

On Sundays a lot of day trippers come into town in addition to the holidaymakers staying over for a week or two, so we were again rushed off our feet, even with four of us serving. We didn’t get much chance to have a decent break for a lunch for ourselves, just a quick sandwich and an orange juice, but at least the day went off quietly and the three troublemakers didn’t make another appearance and hopefully we wouldn’t see them again.

When we agreed the day-off rota, my time-off was set for the Mondays, so I cleaned off all the make-up and nail polish before I went to bed and was looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow, back to being Chris.

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To be continued.