“Well? Are you willing to really be the person you want to be and the one I have seen for real these last few days?” asked Lucia.

“How do you know that? I feel like I’ve been winging it all the time.”

“Life is all about winging it. Things come up that you have never encountered before and you wing it… True? Didn’t you ‘wing it’ when you started your company? After all, you had never done that before. So?”

“Ok, I’ll give you that one.”

“What about it, Sophia?”

“Stop… please stop. I need to think about this.”

“Ok, let me try another thing. Do you know how to contact your ex?”

I shook my head.
“No. It was all done through her solicitors. Once we’d signed the final papers and the court granted the divorce, she legged it and left her bill unpaid. They tried to come after me for the outstanding money but my legal people soon put a stop to that. They took me to court, but the judge tore them off a strip for coming after me when it was their client that defaulted on their bill. Their only interest was in getting paid for their services. As far as I know, that bill remains unpaid to this day.”

“So, you don’t know where she is then?”

“I don’t and I don’t care.”

Suddenly, it clicked.
“Hey? Are you suggesting that she is in this area?”

Lucia nodded her head.
“How else could she have taken those photos of me?”

“Then there is a case for her stalking you. We need to investigate that but that is not the main thrust of what you and I should be doing in the next few days.”

“Ok, maestro… what is that?”

“Make Anthony a thing of the past. Become Sophia for real.”

“You mean to change my name?”

“Yes, and then go into work as Sophia.”

“And have everyone laugh at me?”

“They won’t laugh and besides it is only for a few weeks. Plus, you have a lot of street cred with them because of their Christmas presents.”

I tried to imagine the scene but could only visualise a total disaster.

“If you are Sophia for real then her campaign will fail, won’t it?”

“I hope so,” I replied without conviction.

Scamp who had already been walked twice that day came into the room holding her lead. I looked at Lucia more in hope than anything.

Lucia leaned over and gave me a delicate kiss.
“I’ll walk her. Why don’t you get ready for bed?”

“But… it is New Year’s Eve?”

“And your ex has spoilt our enjoyment of it.”

Lucia was not wrong. She was fast becoming the rock that I’d missed for so many years.

---

[New Year's Day]

“What time is the agent coming tomorrow?” I asked Lucia as we ate breakfast.

“When I collected the key, he said that he’d be here just before lunch. Why?”

“Then we have time to go out today. We can get up early tomorrow and make sure everything is clean.”

“Where did you have in mind?”

“Alston. It is a fine day and there are plenty of paths to follow for a walk including part of the Pennine Way.”

“I’d better make some sandwiches then?” said Lucia.

“Just a couple. I’m sure that we can find a pub to get something to eat on our way home.”

Lucia looked at me and smiled.
“I take it that Sophia is here to stay then?”

“Yeah. I thought about it for much of the night, and you were right.”

“Right about what?”

“Taking the fight to her. Becoming Sophia for good would take the wind out of her sails. All of her posts mentioned me play-acting…”

“Good.”

---

“Don’t turn around, but I think that we are being followed,” said Lucia after we’d been driving for twenty minutes.

“There is a grey Volvo that has been on our tail since we left Barnard Castle.”

I looked in the side mirror. Several hundred yards behind us, there was a grey car.

“We are on the road to Alston. I think that we should turn left in Alston and take the Penrith road. If the car follows us then we can just go back to the cottage.”

“And if they don’t”

“The Lake District awaits M’Lady.”

Lucia laughed.

Scamp was sleeping on the rear seat growled.
“Scamp approves. There must be more rabbits there.”

“Rabbit pie for tea?” said Lucia as she turned onto the A666 and Penrith.

I didn’t say anything as I watched the Volvo follow us.

“Where too after Penrith?” asked Lucia.

“There will be more traffic in Keswick.”

“If it is her then why don’t we lead her on a ‘Grand Tour’?”

I glanced over at the fuel gauge.
“We’ll need to stop for fuel very soon,” I remarked.

“There should be several places in Penrith. We can fill up there and head down the Motorway.”

“Motorway?”

“There was a sign back there saying that the ‘M6’ was this way.”

“I didn’t see it…?”

“I know. You were far too interested in the car that is behind us. It is still there by the way.”

Then I had an idea as we passed a ‘P’ sign indicating that there was a place to park half a mile along the road.

“Pull into the next layby. We can watch the Volvo from there.”

Lucia nodded and began to slow down as the parking place came into view.

As we came to a halt, I said as I got out of the car.
“I’ll let Scamp stretch her legs.”

At the mention of her name Scamp, came alive. That dog was always able to surprise me. I clipped her lead in place just as the Volvo went past us.

There was a young woman at the wheel with an older man in the passenger seat. The 'L' plates were very visible on the dashboard and stuck to the rear tailgate.

“I feel a bit silly,” I admitted to Lucia as she joined me carrying a bag for Scamp’s poo.

“Same here.”

“Let’s head for Keswick and find a place for lunch?”

“That’s a good idea.”

After the distraction of possibly being tailed, the rest of the day turned out to be enjoyable. We found a dog-friendly pub and ate an early lunch. Then we headed south to Rydal Water where we gave Scamp a good walk around the lake. After a cup of tea in Ambleside and with the light fading fast, we returned to the cottage.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” asked Lucia as we finally reached the A66 that would take us back to Barnard Castle.

“It wasn’t. At least no one screamed at me for being a man in drag.”

“You are way beyond that my darling,” replied Lucia. Then she asked,
“Do you think that our trip today be on Facebook?”

“I don’t care,” I said trying to sound convincing.

“What do you mean… don’t care?”

“That’s just it, I don’t care what she says or does. She… as in my former wife, my adulterous scumbag ex-wife. You were right as usual. It is time for me to break away from my past. Selling the company is the ideal time to start a new life.”

Lucia didn’t reply right away. Instead, she found a place to stop the car. Then she looked at me.
“That sounds awfully fatalistic?”

I shook my head.
“Not fatalistic my darling Lucia. You have done a great job on me and I’m ready to start living life again. If you will have me then I’d like whatever that is to be with you and Scamp.”

Scamp let out a little ‘woof’ at the mention of her name.

“What about those social media posts?”

“Fuck them. My dear ex-wife is just bitter that I made the company a success without needing her. She bailed out nine months before we got our big break. That’s life. Some you win, some you lose.”

I took her hand in mine.
“I know that you loved your husband, but I hope that there is space for me in your life from now on.”

“Oh darling, there is space… plenty of space… in both our hearts for you.”

“Lucia Lambretti, will you be my wife?”

She grinned back at me.
“If you will be mine?”

“I will… with all my heart.”

---

We were up well before a watery sun rose to the east and after a quick breakfast, we began to clean the house. Were all packed and ready to go a good hour before the agent arrived to inspect the house. While he was expected, I didn’t expect to see my former wife Jessica get out of his car.

Her first words were right to the point.
“Well, if it isn’t the loser who needs to dress in women’s clothes to get his kicks!”

Lucia heard her words and it was only Scamp who stopped her from giving Jessica a right seeing to. Instead, she grabbed the arm of the agent and took him into the house.

“Not nice to see you, Jessica. I saw those posts on Facebook that you did about me.”

“It seems to have worked? Where is all that feminine shit that you were wearing then? I hope is in the rubbish. You will never make a woman in a million years.”

“That’s where you are wrong. I’ll be changing my name when my lawyers office opens tomorrow. From now on it will be Elizabeth Sophia.”

“And her? What about her then? She’s after your money, isn’t she?”

“That’s where you are wrong, so very wrong. She has money of her own and it will not come between us. She is very different from you. We are getting married in a few months.”

“What? I’ll soon put a stop to that.”

“You? How will you do that? Our divorce was finalised by the court several years ago.”

“I’ll do something. I have a lot of followers these days. I’m an ‘influencer’ and I have well over a million followers.”

“So? A million losers following an even bigger one? Yeah, that’s about right…. A loser. I’m just mad at myself for not seeing that you were a loser before we were married.”

Jessica came at me with fists flying. She’d done that before… before she left me. I let her fists pummel my back until Lucia came out of the house and force her off me.

“I’ll get you for that. You assaulted me.”

“Look at the house. What do you see?” said Lucia.

“Why should I?”

“Because your agent friend recorded your assault on your former husband who as far as I could see never lifted a finger against you.”

Jessica started to say something but stopped herself. I took the opportunity to make just a few of the points that I had dreamed about since I saw those posts on Facebook.

“Good. Now sling your hook before I deliver a hook of my own to your jaw. If I were you, I’d take down those posts about Lucia and I, today and we never want to see you again. If we do then I’ll make sure that the video of you assaulting me is delivered to the Police and our lawyers. Oh, and yours still want paying for the work that they did for you on our divorce. I’m sure that a little tip-off as to your whereabouts would be a very nice new year present.”

I let that sink in for a couple of seconds.
“Do I make myself clear?”

Jessica nodded.
“Say it!”

“Yes, you are clear.”

“Good. Now get the hell out of our lives for good.”

My back hurt and my face would probably be bruised but otherwise, I was ok.

The agent appeared from the house and gave Lucia her phone.
“Did you get it all?”
“I did.”

Then he added,
“She will not be doing any business with my company from now on and she can walk back to town. That was uncalled for. She told me that you owed her a load of money and that you were going to repay her today,” explained the agent.

“No thank you for letting us know that she wanted to come here with you. She was always a very persuasive liar. More fool me for getting sucked into those lies,” I said.

I turned to Lucia.
“Is everything ok with the house?”

She grinned.
“Perfect. The deposit is already back my account.”

“Then we should hit the road before those black clouds drop on us?” I replied pointing to the west.

We didn’t see my former spouse on our way to the A66. The rain came as we’d feared. I hoped that she got well and truly soaked. It was a small payback for what she’d done to me.

---

[Early January]

After some reflection, I decided to see out my time at the company as Ant. Naturally, I told Sue about Sophia and our encounter with my ex-wife in person at New Year. Sue laughed and showed me her latest Facebook post. She was still ranting about how her ex-husband had ripped her off to the tune of several millions of pounds.

“See the number of followers.”

I looked and as we watched, the number was decreasing by the hundreds.

“So much for her being an influencer,” remarked Sue.
“I don’t know what I ever saw in her…”

“Don’t say that, Sue. I could have never built this company without you at my side.”

She blushed and then gave me a peck on the cheek.
“I’ll miss you when you are gone.”

[End of February]

“That’s me done then Sue. I hope that everything goes ok with you and everyone.”
I hated making speeches so I’d been around the factory on my last day. I’d taken the time to have a few words with everyone. I knew them all by name and I felt that they appreciated my effort. My last duty was to say goodbye to Sue.

“I’m sure that we’ll be fine,” said Sue.
“What about you? … You and Lucia?”

“We are getting married in a months-time at the registry office in Lincoln.”

“Who is getting married?”

I grinned.
“Lucia is marrying Elizabeth Sophia. We have rented a house in Lincoln now that my place has been sold. I’ll send you an invite. I’ll be using the name Sophia by the way, Lucia christened me that and I added the Elizabeth part.”

“We’ll be there.”

We said our final goodbyes and I headed out of Grimsby after buying some smoked haddock for our evening meal.

I arrived at our temporary home in Louth, to find Lucia giving Scamp a blow dry using her pink hoover. Lucia was a sight for sore eyes. It didn’t matter that she had rollers in her hair, she looked fantastic. She always did.
I considered myself so lucky to have met her and Scamp. My life would never be the same again and for that I would always be in debt to Rona.

---

Those thoughts turned out to be very prophetic. Our temporary home was just that. We'd only just settled in when the letting agents arrived unexpectedly and gave us the bad news that the owners wanted to repossess the property in a little over a month. It irked me because we’d paid for the whole let in advance.

My immediate reaction was to start looking through the contract. It told me that while the owners could throw us out, they’d have to compensate us financially for terminating our six-month lease early because we had not breached the terms of the lease. If anything, the place was cleaner than it had ever been. The letting agents went away to work out a deal with the owners.

When they’d gone, I sat down feeling a bit dejected. Just when things were starting to look up, something else came to stop us. Lucia wrapped an arm around my shoulder. That was her all over. The smell of her perfume was often more than enough to bring me out of my fug but this time it failed.

“We need a plan ‘B’ and today,” said Lucia.

Talk about the obvious…

“Any ideas?” I said more out of hope than anything.

She returned a smile. I knew that smile of old. It told me that she had an idea.

“How about we become live-in housekeepers for a while. Yes, it is just what you suggested at Christmas and I sort of poo-pooed it but now, it makes good sense. That way putting a roof over our heads would not be a problem. While we are gainfully employed, we can continue looking for a permanent place to live.”

For the life of me, I could not fault her argument other than the prospect of my past coming to light during the interview process.

Lucia was waiting for me to respond.
“What about my background?”

She smiled.
“From your reaction, you must have an idea of somewhere to go and that our prospective employers won’t bother about my history?”

“I don’t, but if we go about this the right way then it won’t matter.”

“What do you suggest?”

“You have already changed your name… that is the first step. Next, we form a company with us as the two directors and only employees. Then we can offer our services through the company. My late husband used to do that all the time for some of his more-risky ventures. It limited his financial exposure should it go bust… Sorry darling, I forgot that I was talking to a former businessman.”

I gave her a little peck on the cheek.
“That’s ok. It is easy for you to forget that especially given how I’m dressed at the moment.”

Lucia giggled.

“You look gorgeous my darling.”

I was wearing a frilly, lacy dress that exposed a lot of leg and cleavage. My stocking-clad legs and a pair of silly-height sandals completed my look for the day. Lucia loved choosing my outfit even if my feet paid for it at the end of the day.

---

The letting agents came back with an offer of compensation a few days later. It wasn’t that bad, so we accepted it knowing that the sum that we agreed on would pay for us to stay at a reasonable chain hotel for almost a month including meals but it was a poor substitute for a proper home even if that home was just for a few months.

Setting up a company took a matter of hours. That could not be said for finding a position. After some initial leads, things dried up.

“That’s another day gone with no progress,” I said as we prepared for bed.

We had just one more week left before we had to move. The house was littered with cardboard and plastic boxes ready for the move. Just a few months ago, I had hoped that we would not have to move again for a while but that hope had gone up in smoke.

“I know and I’m not happy about it. It all seemed so easy at first.”

I gave her a kiss.
“I’m sure that something will turn up in a few days.”

I looked at Lucia for one of her 'tells' but her facial expression was as blank as I'd ever seen it.

A few days of getting no leads about a job turned into almost a week, when we had a surprise visit from Rona.

[to be continued]