After leaving Maxine’s home in Reigate, Kim travelled by train back to Royston where her car was parked. When she changed trains at Blackfriars, she nearly left the package that Maxine had given her on the train. For a moment, the swore at herself for being so absent minded. Then she laughed at herself. Absentmindedness was a family trait that she’d worked hard to eliminate. Kim wondered if the emotional trials and tribulations of the recent few weeks was finally catching up with her.

The second part of the journey gave her the chance to review the two meetings that she’d had the previous day. It didn’t take her very long to reach conclusion that really didn’t know what to make of Maxine. She’d never met anyone like her before. She was clearly one sharp cookie indeed and Kim knew that she’d never get the better of her in business. Some of Garth’s words about a woman in business that was really sharp came back into her mind. He must have meant Maxine even though he didn’t say so directly.

Maxine was also unlike any other trans person that she’d ever met and she’d covered more than one Pride Event in her time at the paper. The way she oozed confidence even when Kim had identified her as trans was amazing. It was truly as if she had really meant to have been born a woman. Far too many of the transwomen that she’d encountered were unsure of themselves and often preferred to hide away and not to make waves. Maxine was certainly not like that.

Kim laughed to herself as she thought about those at the other end of the spectrum, the Drag Queens. ‘Loud and Proud’ was the order of the day for them. She’d always admired them for having the mindset to go way out in their makeup and dress.

---

As she drove north towards King Lynn, Kim’s attention turned to what she was going to do when she eventually arrived at Brian’s home that afternoon.

She glanced down at the package on the front seat beside her. Maxine’s words about playing to her strengths or basically flaunting it were echoing around in her brain.

Those very thoughts brought Kim’s mind back to when she was at school. She’d never been in the ‘IT’ crowd. Her miniscule breasts had seen to that. It wasn’t her fault that her DNA was missing some essential sequences in the mammary department.

She shuddered as she remembered the bullying that she’d been on the end of from the gang of dumb blondes who called themselves the ‘C Team’ because they all had ‘C’ cups by the time that they were fifteen. Anyone who didn’t have in their eyes proper sized breasts was going to end up at working a checkout at the local supermarket. How wrong they were. The last time she’d been back to the town of Fareham where she’d spent her early teenage years it hadn’t taken her long to discover that at least some of the ‘C’ team that were working in shops and even slightly envious of her work as a journalist.

She chuckled to herself at the thought of going to the next school reunion. Saying that she was running a Charitable Foundation that was giving away a Billionaire’s Fortune would really blow their tiny minds. Then she realised that they’d never believe her. They were more concerned about the likes of the Kardashians and who was bonking whom on Love Island than giving money to good causes. She shook her head as she realised that they lived in a different world to her and… She decided that she wouldn’t be going back there anytime soon.

Kim tried to put those thoughts about her the past life out of her mind for the day at least.

Maxine’s words kept rattling around in her mind so that by the time she’d passed the city of Ely, she had decided to go full on glam for the afternoon. Her only regret was that her lashes were very poor in comparison to Maxine’s but she did have some ‘Extra Lash’ mascara that might do the job instead provided that it hadn’t dried out.

With renewed determination, she carried on driving north.

---

Once back in her flat, she got a bit of a surprise. Lying on the doormat was her notice of eviction. Well not exactly eviction as that involves a court order but really a notice that her rent had not been paid and that she had seven days to leave. Kim had known that it was coming but wished that it hadn’t arrived for a few days at least. She put it aside to deal with the following day.

After a shower she began to get ready. She opened the package and discovered that Maxine had left a note for her.

“I added a few little extras to what you wore last night. Knock’em dead kiddo.”

Kim laughed. It was highly likely that she was older than Maxine but knew the sentiment behind the words.

The little extras turned out to be a pair of false eyelashes, a pair of sheer stockings and a suspender belt. Kim picked up the last item and remembered what Maxine had said, ‘it is all about the details. The little extras that show that you really care about how you look. You don’t want to be seen as mutton dressed up as lamb but someone who is a force to be reckoned with and not to be pigeonholed as the ‘token woman’ and ignored.’

Normally, Kim would have laughed all this off but Maxine’s words had hit a nerve. She was in a different league now. A league where not only what she said and did mattered but how she looked and conducted herself.

With a sigh, she headed for the bathroom and began to apply her makeup.

After three failed attempts to get the corners of the lashes to stick she succeeded. Kim now knew why Maxine and many other women paid to their lashes glued on properly every few weeks. Despite knowing that she could master the skill of applying falsies they’d never look as good as the sort of lashes that Maxine wore. Another job for the next few days.

Then her hair was a mess. It needed cutting properly and colouring. She’d found her first grey hair the previous week. That would just not do. Yet another job for the forthcoming week.

Eventually, she was finally ready to leave. After checking herself once more in the bathroom mirror, she decided ‘that’s as good as it is going to get’, she picked up her handbag and her Jimmy Choo’s and headed out of her flat.

---

When Kim arrived at Brian’s, the first thing she noticed was that the damage she’d caused to the gatepost the last time she’d been there had been repaired. For a moment, she was angry but once again, it was Brian being Brian. There were also a couple of strange cars parked outside. She hoped that there would not be a whole raft of people present. She had two key decisions to make public and it would be better if there were only Brian’s family and Garth present.

Slightly nervously, she changed into her heels. She made a mental note to get Brian to wear ones just as high if he accepted her answer to his proposal. He owed that much at least to her after all, he had goaded her before. The memory stopped her dead in her tracks. How long ago was that? She asked herself. It seemed an eternity but it wasn’t.

As she walked around the side of the house, she could hear Brian’s children enjoying themselves in the paddling pool.

Once she’d seen who was present, she let out the breath she didn’t realise that she was holding. She could only see Garth who was behind the Barbeque, Brian who was on his knees splashing water at his children and the children.

Garth saw her and waved. Kim smiled back.

“Come and get yourself a drink. The food will be ready in about fifteen minutes,” called out Garth.

Brian saw her and looked mightily relieved.

Then, to Kim’s surprise, Garth’s old friend, Professor Jameson emerged from the House carrying a tray of extras to go with the food.

She smiled at Kim.

“Hello Professor,” said Kim
“I was not expecting you to be here today?”

“Margot please. And no, I wasn’t but after you called, I started thinking and eventually, I started making some calls and eventually, I got hold of Garth and… well, here I am.”

“Nice to see you again.”

“You are looking really good. You seem in a better frame of mind than you were yesterday?”

“Thanks, and yes I am. Our talk was very useful indeed. Oh, and Maxine sends her regards.”

---

Brian had left his children in the pool and after getting a glass of wine, he approached Kim.

“You look… really nice.”

Kim looked a bit sad.
“Is that all?”

“Well, I was going to say ‘hot’ but I thought I might be going too far,” he whispered.

Kim smiled.
“I had some help but thanks.”

Then Kim took hold of Brian’s arm.
“Can we go somewhere a bit more private to talk?”

“Let’s go inside. Margot and Garth will keep an eye on the children.”

Brian let Kim go first as the went into his home.
“Go on through to the front room,” he suggested.

When they were in the front room, Kim turned to Brian.

“Brian, I am so sorry for the other evening. I… I was a total mess but that is no excuse for what I…”

That’s as far as she got. Brian stepped up to her and after wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her with Kim still in mid-sentence. The kiss went on for some time.

“Oh!” exclaimed Kim when they broke apart.

Brian laughed.

“I’ve never had anyone just say ‘Oh!’ after a kiss from me before.”

“Sorry. I was just surprised. I had everything I was going to say planned out but then I was interrupted.”

“Like this?”

Brian kissed her again.

As they kissed, Kim thought it slightly surreal for a father of two wearing a summer dress to be kissing a woman in his front room.

It got even more surreal as she noticed that they had an audience. Brian’s children were watching and dripping water onto the wooden floor at the same time.

Kim broke off the kiss to Brian’s surprise.

“Look,” she said pointing at his children.

“I’ll be back in a moment,”

Brian dashed off almost dragging the children with him.
The moment was gone.

Kim followed them out into the sunshine. Margot was helping Garth dish up the food.

She heard the oldest of his children claim,
“Uncle Garth told us to tell you that the food was ready!”

Brian’s anger didn’t last very long and everyone tucked into the food.

Kim was not normally a fan of BBQ food but this was something else entirely. Garth had obviously worked wonders with the sauce or marinade or both. Kim didn’t mind as it tasted wonderful.

The lack of conversation spoke volumes for everyone else’s opinion of the food.
Kim would just have to wait for her chance to get Brian alone again.

That opportunity did not arrive until late afternoon. The day was still warm and no one really wanted to be the first to start packing up and going inside the house.

In the end, Kim was able to get Garth alone first.

“Garth, I’ve been thinking about your offer,” she began slightly hesitantly and immediately that she’d put herself on the back foot.

Garth smiled.
“Brian told me about the other night. I’m glad you have got over the shock. It was shock wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was. Well that and my own self-doubts. It all got the better of me for a bit.”

“That’s what Brian said. The day was supposed to be rather different but never mind. As you say, that’s water under the bridge.”

“Garth, I’m going to accept your offer on one condition.”

He raised an eyebrow.
“Only one?”

Then he laughed. He really was in a good mood. Kim had not seen him this relaxed before.

“Sorry, please go on. What is your condition?”

“If I am to do the job you want me to then I have to be able to do it my way. Once we agree some targets it should be left to me to get it done.”

Garth smiled.
“I would not have it any other way.”

Kim hesitated.
“There is one more thing?”

“I’d like Margot to sit on the board. She has all sorts of contacts that will be useful.”

Garth smiled.

“That won’t be a problem given that I’ve asked her to marry me. I should have done it fifty years ago but got scared. She was always the brainy one at school. I asked her earlier when we met up in Kings Lynn and she said yes. I have to thank you for going to see her. It was your visit that resulted in us getting in touch again.”

Kim felt slightly embarrassed. Garth noticed this.

“There is no need to feel embarrassed. I would have gotten around to finding her again before long. All you did was bring that forward. That was part of moving here. I knew that she had renounced her US Citizenship so it was useless of me to try to get her to move back there with me.”

“But Garth? Do you mean to say that you met her somewhere in Kings Lynn and straight away, asked her to marry you?”

“Yep. That’s about it. All I said was that I should have asked her something years ago and before I could answer, she said, ‘yes Garth Samson, I will marry you.’ That was it, the deed was done.”

Kim stepped over and gave him a big hug.

“You are a bit of a softie at heart, aren’t you?”

“Maybe yes, maybe no but don’t go telling anyone about this. I have to maintain my usual gruff reputation for a while longer.”

She knew what he meant.

“Ah, there you are,” said Brian.
“Planning to take over the world?”

Both of them laughed.

“No, I was telling Garth that I am going to work for him.”

Before she could answer, Garth said,
“I’ll go find the kids and leave you two in peace.”

Then Kim took her chance.

“Brian, I will marry you if you want still want me to that is?”

Brian answered her question by literally picking her up off the floor after wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her long and hard.

“But…” said Kim when he put her down again,
“You are going to have to decide one way or the other?”

“Decide about what?”

“Guess?” said Kim looking him up and down.

“Oh that.”

“Yes that.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Don’t go putting this all on me. I want what makes you the happiest.”

“Then it is Bryony then. Well not straight away but in time and with you at my side we can make it work.”

Kim leaned over and whispered into his ear.

Brian went red in the face.

“Ok?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied with a smile on his face.

“Good. Then on my wedding night you can make a proper woman of me but we are going to have such fun deciding on our negligée’s.”

Brian went even redder in the face.
Kim kissed him.

“That is for us alone.”

[Four weeks after Brian’s proposal to Kim]

“Are you ready?” asked Simone as she popped her head around the door.

Kim smiled.
“Yes I am. As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good, everyone is waiting. Maxine says that Margot is also ready.”

In the absence of her Mother, Maxine was going to walk Kim and Margot down the Aisle.

Kim’s final flourish was to pull the veil of her wedding dress over her face and arrange it properly. Her dress was a perfect match to Margot’s thanks to the Dressmaker that Maxine used. The alterations needed to accommodate her new breasts had been done in a matter of days. She’d even gone with Maxine and Margot the previous day to her hairdresser ‘Bea Beautiful’ for a full set of lashes and nails. Kim had also adopted a totally new hairstyle including colour. Her hair had gone from a slightly unkempt brown mess to a shorter but more manageable ‘bob’ in a radiant metallic bronze.

Earlier that morning Kim, had sighed as she looked in the mirror at the finished results. This would have to be how she presented herself to the public from now on. No more being in the background. No more blending in with others while on an undercover assignment. Now, she was to be the public face of Garth’s Philanthropic Enterprise. Thankfully, Garth had agreed on a clothing allowance for both Kim and Margot for when they were on Business for the Charity.

Kim had laughed when Margot had shown some reticence at having to dress up. After years as an Academic the only time she ‘dressed up’ was for the formal dinners and graduation ceremonies at her College. Even then what she wore was covered by her gown and she would be just one of many Academics. Now she had to attend engagements on her own.

Kim and Maxine had taken her to one side and given her a lot of support. Gradually, Margot had come around and was starting to accept that in her new life as Mrs Garth Samson, it would involve a number of public appearances and how she would look was often as important as what was being said.

At one point, Kim said,
“Margot, I’m much like you in that in my past life, I preferred to remain… remain part of the furniture. That is going to have to change now that we will soon be in the public eye. It will be a journey for both of us and I’d like to do it together.”

Margot laughed.
“You are making me sound like your mother?”

Kim smiled.
“You understand me far more than my own one does so what’s wrong with that eh?”

Margot could not answer that.

Kim’s only slight regret was that her mother was not there to see her get married. Brian and Kim had travelled down to Cornwall to give her the good news in person. Kim’s mother had reacted badly to the news that they would not be having children. She’d not responded to the invitation and despite Kim’s phone calls and another visit, her mother had refused to bless their marriage.

Kim and Brian were going to take the children and visit her mother a few weeks after their short honeymoon in the hope of mending the rather stormy relationship that Kim had with her Mother. Their hope that when she saw Bobby and Monica her opposition would simply melt away but deep down, Kim had her doubts. Her mother had a set expectations for what Kim would do with her life and so far, she’d failed to meet even one of them.

The subject of Brian becoming Bryony would most certainly not be on the menu during the visit with her mother. That was just one of the items that would take a lot of time and care to put in place.

Kim put those thoughts to one side and concentrated on the day ahead.

Since that day at Brian’s house, things had moved rapidly. After some effort, she and Brian as well as Garth and Margot were to be married in a joint ceremony.

The issue of where they would get married had been solved at a stroke. A big helping of good luck had come their way and they’d managed to get a cancellation at Cley Windmill.
How many people can say that they were married in a Windmill, let alone one as pretty as this one?

The wedding was to be a small affair. Just over thirty guests in total. Some of Garth’s closest friends had flown in from the USA and France to be there. When Kim had looked out of the window a little earlier, there was no evidence of the press which pleased her no end.

Kim and Margot had jointly prepared a press release that was going out to Reuters and the Press Association at the very time that they were due to say ‘I do’. The main subject of the release was the marriage of Garth to his childhood sweetheart, Margot. Kim’s marriage to Brian was not mentioned. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t important. Garth Samson getting married and moving to the UK was very newsworthy whereas Brian’s marriage wasn’t in the grand scheme of things.

With a final intake of breath, Kim began her last journey as a single woman.

Most of what happened in the next hour was a high-octane adrenaline enhanced blur. She managed to say the right words at the right time and she remembered Brian placing a ring on her finger and her doing the same to him so it must have happened.

Now she found herself standing with Brian, Margot and Garth facing a wedding cake. It wasn’t very ostentatious but more than suitable given the rushed nature and size of the event.

They’d all discussed who was going to cut it and eventually, it was agreed that she and Margot should do the honours.

As they cut the cake, the photographer they’d hired to record the event started earning his money. At Garth’s insistence, the man was hired for the day. He’d retain no copyright to the photos he took but had been paid well for his services. That way no pictures could be leaked to the media or worse to social media without a huge lawsuit heading his way.

The weather was perfect and the views from the Windmill out over the Cley Marshes reserve was clear and bright. Kim was sure that Garth would have loved to just say ‘I do’ and disappear to one of the Bird Watching hides that was literally just across the road from the Windmill. He’d been doing just that in recent weeks. He’d even taken Margot, Brian and Kim along on one of his early morning expeditions.

All thoughts of returning to a warm bed had disappeared in a flash when the four of them saw two Barn Owls hunting in the same field and flying silently just a few feet over their heads as they stood watching in awe.

Kim put the memory that very enjoyable day out of her mind and returned to the here and now.

Once the cake had been cut and a few words of thanks spoken there was a chance to mingle with the guests. Two of Margot’s nieces had come over to see their Aunt get married. They would carry the news back to their hometown. The Mangan clan would not be happy at the news but they were almost ancient history as far as Garth was concerned.

Helene teased Garth about his well-known hatred of the press only for him to employ one as his right-hand woman in his new venture.

“What better solution my dear. What better way of handling them eh? Didn’t some general say something like ‘keeping your enemies close’?”

“My dear Garth, it was the Chinese General Sun Tzu who said ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’” teased Helene with a huge grin on her face.

“Whatever, Kim is as close to me as Margot will allow.”

Everyone laughed at that.

All the newlyweds made sure that they met and talked with everyone at the reception. Some of the Academics from Cambridge were a bit stuffy towards Garth at first but Brian reminded them that there was a Professorship up for grabs now that Margot was leaving Cambridge to work with Kim on the Charitable Trust. That soon shut them up and gave them something to gossip about amongst themselves.

All too soon, it was time for the four newlyweds, to leave their guests and depart on their honeymoon. Garth’s plane was going to take them to Iceland. If the press wanted to find them once the news was out about his marriage, they’d have to search the whole island for them. Not that they’d find them there as they were heading to Prince Edward Island in Canada. On that leg, they were flying on a different aircraft that had been chartered from the company that Maxine Forsythe used from time to time.

[Two Days Later]
From their cabin on the beautiful shore of PEI, the two couples watched the reaction in the financial press to the announcement of Garth’s scaling back of his business interests and subsequent change of direction. Little was made of his move to Norfolk apart from some speculation that Margot would be not very welcome in the USA due to some Tax Irregularities with her final filing before she had given up her US Citizenship. That was of course complete baloney.

Margo laughed this off by saying that she had a letter signed by the then head of the IRS stating that her returns were all in order. Getting that statement had been part of the process of revoking her citizenship. The general consensus was that this was fake news that had been fed to the press by Frankie Mangan.

One afternoon, Garth disappeared to make a few Phone calls.

When he returned he was grinning from ear to ear.

“I think I may have put Frankie Mangan’s nose so far out of kilter he can see his ass.”

Everyone looked at Garth. Frankie Mangan had reacted to the news of his and Margot’s nuptials by sending a gift to his Long Island home. The gift was a short length of rope tied like a Hangman’s Noose. The only card said ‘Garth Samson – on the stairway to hell’.
The old rivalry was alive and kicking.

“I was impressed by the speed of the Internet here. That got me thinking so, I made a few calls to my people in NYC and arranged put in an offer to buy the local phone company from back home in Kentucky. I’ll put up a few million so that they can put Fibre Internet into every home in the County. I’ll also make it free for the next five years. Think of it as my first act of Philanthropy.”

There was silence in the room. No one moved an inch.

Then Margot picked up an iPad that was lying on the coffee table. After a brief flick through some pages she found what she was looking for.

She showed it to Brian who started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” asked Garth.

Margot showed the others what she’d found.

“There was a news item on the TV this morning about another county in Kentucky that has done pretty well what you just told us apart from the ‘free’ bit.”

This is the piece from the Lexington Herald Leader that was dated some two weeks earlier.

Garth took the tablet and sat down looking somewhat dejected.

“Garth…” said Kim softly.

“You must have heard it and registered it in your subconscious. Then it came to you later when you watched Brian talk to the factory back in Norfolk and it came back to you.”

Garth sat down and started to laugh.
“I thought that I was losing my mind for a moment.”

Kim smiled at him and said,
“There is no danger of that Garth, but I also heard the news item and thought that it would be an interesting technology area for the Foundation to start work. Seed money to bring Clean Water and High-Speed Internet to places that have had their water supply contaminated by things like Coal Mining and Fracking.”

Garth looked at Kim and grinned.

“I knew you’d some up trumps. That is exactly the sort of thing I want for the Foundation.”

---

Kim and Margot worked their magic on Brian and for the last few days of their trip to PEI, Brian was replaced by Bryony. Even Garth danced with her on the last but one evening. The next day, Bryony made her first venture out in public. Kim and Margot were at her side. It was judged by all to be a great success.

“But what happens when the press find out? They’ll have a field day!” he complained.

“Don’t worry my darling. We are all adults and can take a little bit of bad publicity. It will soon blow over when the find some ‘D’ list Celeb bonking a supposedly gay man.”

---

[six weeks later]

“That’s the last of it,” said Kim as the office supplies delivery van disappeared down the lane after dropping off the desks and other equipment that Kim had brought for the Annex.

“Everything we ordered is here. There is just enough time to get it all stowed away before Bryony picks me up. We are going to the PTA meeting tonight.”

“Good,” replied Garth.
“Then tomorrow we can get down to some serious work. I have some leads to start the ball rolling but there is something you should know.”

“And what is that?”

“Four things actually.”

“Firstly, Margot says that my biography is done. Those rewrites that you gave her yesterday for editing were great. That completes Volume 1, ‘The Early Years’.”

“That’s good. Now I can concentrate on getting the Charity properly operational. Up to now it is nothing more than an empty shell. I’m sure that there will be hacks on both sides of the ‘Pond’ wanting it to fall flat on its face. We need to show some progress for those watching our every move and that has to be sooner rather than later.”
Garth laughed.
“You really have gone over to the dark side, haven’t you?”

Kim just grunted. She had been actually a little embarrassed by how easy it was to leave journalism behind until she realised that it was journalism that had left her behind.

Garth smiled.
“It hasn’t happened yet but the story of how I came to decide to give away all my money should be enough for the second volume. A lot of what you have written will form the core of that book.”

“Oh, I get you.”

“The second thing is that Margot’s house has been sold. She is donating most of her book collection to the University. Now that Volume 1 is done, she can start cataloguing the several thousand books. I expect her to move out at the end of next week. It will be nice to have her here full time.”

“It must be a bit of a wrench for her to leave all those books behind after all this time?”

“If I know one thing… Margot will not want to let them all go. Do you think that there is a corner of the factory where she could set up a small library?”

Kim laughed.

“I’m sure that room could be found. You can ask Bryony yourself when she picks me up.”

“Then there is the final volume. One that won’t be published until I’m dead and buried,” said Garth changing the subject slightly.

“Volume 3?”

Garth grinned.
“Mostly about who and what my… or rather our Philanthropy has helped. However, I think that the first chapter of Volume 3 will be written next winter.”

“Why next winter?”

“I’ll come to that in a moment. I’ve put a file on your desk. I think that the project it describes would be good for a first project for you to run with. You know one of the key players already… Maxine. She and her friends are planning on creating a totally carbon free Hotel and that includes the food chain as well. It might be good to have the foundation’s name on it. As it is relatively local you won’t have to spend much time away from Bryony.”

Kim was initially surprised at moves like this but she had soon realised that this was Garth being Garth.

Garth grinned at her slight unease.

“Finally, I’ve twisted a few arms and I’ve managed to get you a slot to present at the next World Economic Forum meeting at Davos. It will make a good opening for the book. Isn’t it what you writers call a ‘Hook’?”

Kim stood there dumbfounded. Her mouth opening and closing but no sound but for a strangled ‘eek’ seemed to come out of it.

“Just think back for a moment to when you were originally sent to Norfolk. Your orders were to get a story that simply wasn’t there. Then, well under a year later, you and Margot will be speaking to world leaders about Philanthropic Capitalism. Isn’t that a real story?”

Kim had to sit down before she fell down.

Garth was right. That was one heck of a story! But... she wondered who would believe it?

[The end]