Thanks everyone for being so kind about my first ever posting on BCTS, especially for the wonderful comments n PMs I think I’ve replied to y’all n I hope you like this second slice…. Take care my baby.

This crazy Friday was raising so many unanswered questions. Was this business running on child labour? How did Ms Wilson know his girl name when he’d only been given it less than an hour ago? Exactly who, or what, is the agency? Did he really have to come back tomorrow and if so, as Joseph or Seren?

Seren Dee Petty: Chapter 2

“Who is this pretty little thing? Pamela, you didn’t tell me you had two daughters …. what pretty name do you go by my dear?”

Immediately she saw Joseph’s lips beginning to form the shape of a J, Pam gushed the first girl’s name that came into her head. “Seren! This is my second daughter, Seren. Seren, this is Mr Stevens, hopefully he’s going to be my new boss.”

“Very pleased to meet you Seren,” said Brian as he gently shook Joseph’s hand. “Right, lets the three of us head up to the office and see if we can’t bring that about shall we?” And with that he strode purposely towards the entrance to the shopping mall, still holding Joseph’s shaking hand.

Joseph had no option but to totter in pursuit, taking three tiny steps to each of Brian’s strides, concentrating on placing one heeled foot in front of the other and not daring to glance over his shoulder at his mother. Who, he hoped, was following close.

Behind them, Pamela’s mind was flicking through a series of thoughts like automatic gear changes in an accelerating Mercedes. “Phew! Quick thinking there Pam, saved Joe from outing himself. (Click) kept alive the job interview, and good relations with Brian. (Click) office? Oh, Joe’ll just have to sit outside quietly, but who else might be in? (Click) well he should be able to fool them, his make-up’s really quite good and he’s doing well to keep up with Brian in those heels. (Click) you’ve dressed up before haven’t you Joseph? More than once! (Click) we’re going to have to have quite a chat when we get back to the house. (Click) oh my god, what are we going to do if I get this job?” (Vroom…)

By now they had reached the pedestrian exit from the car-park and Brian was tapping a code into the panel of a side-door, releasing Joe who turned to look his mother in the eye for the first time since she renamed him Seren. Pam shrugged and Joe gave a weak smile. He was still wrapped in the relief that blanketed his embarrassment when his mother’s quick thinking rescued him from being outed.

With all thoughts focussed on maintaining the illusion, Joe had not yet considered events beyond today. It was proving to be the most amazing Friday of his life. From the rare luxury of two hours home alone to experiment with make-up and outfits, and play out his fantasy of being a member of the Saturdays*. The shock and then fear at discovery by not only his mother, but his sister too. He certainly feared the consequences of little sis Sally holding this information. The guilty procession to the car, silent terror of a drive into anticipated humiliation and then his mother’s surprise collusion in the deceit of a stranger, and now? Now, Joseph was taking his first feminine steps in public. All his muscles were aquiver in fear and, perhaps, just a tinge of excitement.

“So, Seren,” said Brian, holding his briefcase in one hand and the side-door open with the other, in such a way that his arm created an arch for Pam to walk under. “Are you going to trawl the mall while your mother and I get down to business?”

“No!” Pam blurted. Softening immediately into a smile as she realised her interjection was both too fast and too harsh. “She’s forgotten her purse. Again! I’m not going to bale her out this time and anyway, I think it would affect my concentration in the interview if I was worrying about her being in the mall all on her own.”

Pam’s self-congratulatory feelings, on getting a complete set of correct pro-nouns despite the potential confusion of the situation, were quickly dissipated by Brian’s reply. “No problem. Hopefully Mary will be upstairs to keep her company and I did hear there might be a couple of temps coming in later.”

Joe’s heart quickened as he realised he was going to be under even more scrutiny rather than just hiding in a corner. While Pamela worried that, not only was the cat out of the bag, she was beginning to have kittens. Pam could only hope that they didn’t get fed well enough to mature into tigers and come back and bite them.

Entering beneath Brian’s arch, Joseph didn’t come close to needing to duck and climbed the stairs ahead of the two adults. Pamela again noting his proficiency in heels, that tapped their way to the top, where Brian tapped in another code and the trio entered a colourful and comfortably furnished reception area, mercifully devoid of all life forms.

“Oh! I expected Mary to still be here,” said Brian. “No matter, make yourself comfortable Seren. Pam, you know where the boardroom is. I’ll grab a couple of cups of coffee, Mary’s sure to have left a pot, black no sugar isn’t it, and what about Seren?”

“You remembered correctly, I’m impressed. Just a little water for Seren, please, I don’t think she’s old enough for coffee,” called Pam as Brian disappeared around a corner. Joseph slumped into one of the welcoming sofas, hard, like the boy he is. But surprisingly, sweeping the short skirt of the flowered green dress beneath him with both hands, like the girl he appeared to be.

Pam leaned down and whispered fiercely in his ear. ”We’re nearly through this, so just behave yourself and do exactly as you are told. Do you hear me?”

“Yes mum.”

“To the letter!”

“Yes mum.”

“And put your knees together, the world doesn’t need to see your panties and I certainly don’t.”

Joe immediately clamped his thighs and blushed. Partly in embarrassment of flashing his panties and partly because his mum knew he was wearing them. Actually, Pamela hadn’t known her son was wearing panties. But she did now and she wasn’t sure if that knowledge made her more, or less, troubled.

Pam intercepted Brian to pass Seren her water, then followed him back down the corridor, turning right into the boardroom as Brian turned left to collect their coffee. Pausing on his return, Brian winked to Seren: “I’ll try not to keep her too long,” before also disappearing into the boardroom, clicking the door firmly closed behind him.

Joseph took a sip of water, picked up a fashion magazine from the small table next to the white leather sofa he was sitting in and released a huge sigh as tension, tight as a watch spring, began to unwind in his stomach.

Reception remained quiet save for the rustle of each turn of a magazine page, the occasional muffled laughter of his mother escaping from the boardroom and a sharp, three-word question in the voice of a middle-aged woman. “Are you Seren?”

Startled, Joseph looked up at a very stern Auntie-type, except better dressed and immaculately made-up, wearing an expression demanding an immediate answer. At Joseph’s weak nod and whispered “Yes,” the stern face gave way to a wide smile of gratitude.

“Oh thank goodness! The agency did promise you’d be here but, to be honest, I was beginning to doubt it. Right then! Chop, chop! Follow me and let’s get you started. Make sure you close the door behind you and be careful coming down the stairs, they’re a bit steep for those heels.”

The orders came fast and rhythmical, the last issued as the woman slipped through a door in the wall behind the reception desk. For once, despite his confusion, Joseph knew how to respond. It was, after all, just minutes since he’d received the clearest of instructions. “Do exactly as you are told. To the letter!”

Hanging firmly on to the handrail and watching to keep his feet at a 45 degree angle to the tread, it was not until Joseph had tip-toed to the bottom of the narrow wooden staircase that he noticed he was now in a large storage area. Littered with piles of long, flat cardboard boxes, empty clothes rails and the fifth person ever, to see him dressed as a girl.

“Julie, this is Seren from the agency. Seren, this is Julie, who is going to be helping you. I’m Mary Wilson, the shop manager, but you will call me Ms Wilson. Here, put these on,” instructed Ms Wilson as she handed Joseph a pair of small, white cotton gloves that fitted fairly snugly.

The youngsters barely had time to smile and say “Hi,” to each other before Ms Wilson was off again. “Right, let’s get started then shall we? The more we can get done tonight, the less we will have to finish off in the morning.”

This crazy Friday was raising so many unanswered questions poor Joseph didn’t know which to deal with first. Julia looked like she might be younger than his sister, was this business running on child labour? How did Ms Wilson know his girl name when he’d only been given it less than an hour ago? Exactly who, or what, is the agency? Did he really have to come back tomorrow and if so, as Joseph or Seren?

But all questions had to be put aside for now as Joseph turned his full attention to Ms Wilson’s instructions and, following her orders to the letter, set to the task in hand. The piles of boxes littering the storage area represented Steven’s Fashions new stock, delivered days later than promised, but just in time for the school holiday. Each of the flat cardboard boxes contained ten dresses of the same style, but not necessarily the same size or colour.

The girls, as Ms Wilson referred to Julie and Joseph, were each to work from their own box, slip one dress at a time onto a hanger, check the dress-size on the label and click a corresponding number onto the hanger. Each dress was then to be hung on a rail, next to those of the same style and colour and placed in order, according to size.

Julie already had an open box in front of her and was lifting out her first dress. Joseph took time opening his first box, positioning it between himself and Julie, so he could get a good look at what she was doing. Julie was wearing jeans and trainers but instead of bending over, she still bent at the knee, crouching to lift out the dress and keeping her legs together through the whole move.

Joseph then did his best to copy her poise, grace and fluidity, immediately realising that even though his dress was short, this technique would keep his panties covered. He was nowhere near as poised as Julie, especially not at first. But given he was not wearing trainers, but two inch heels, and that he was operating under the watchful eye of Ms Wilson, he did ok for a young girl, and absolutely brilliantly for a boy.

He couldn’t match Julie for speed though, even given her head start Julie was opening her third box before Joseph was half-way through his second. He also noted that while Ms Wilson watched him closely and every so often double-checked that the size labels on dresses he’d put on the rail, matched the coloured number he’d clipped to the hanger, she made no such checks of Julie’s work.

“She’s obviously an old-hand at this,” thought Joseph, and was again confused by Julie’s apparent young age. He was delighted however, that for all Ms Wilson’s checking, she found nothing untoward. Yes, he wobbled on his heels sometimes as he straightened up from his crouch, dress in-hand. But he was taking care not to let the dresses touch the dirty floor, was moving slowly and deliberately so as not to step on them as he turned to the rails and was proving to have a good eye for colour and style. Easily picking out even subtle differences in hue and design, to place dresses in exactly the right position on the rails.

Ms Wilson didn’t let on for a moment how pleased she was. Girls from the agency had been a pretty mixed bunch over the years, but Seren might just be one of the best. Julie could tell she was pleased though, as before Joseph had even finished sorting his third box of dresses, Ms Wilson announced that she would: “Leave them to it for a few minutes,” and carefully tip-tapped her way up the stairs.

“My, you’ve made a good impression,” said Julie, immediately the reception area door clicked shut behind the exiting Ms Wilson. “She usually stands over agency girls for at least the first two days and almost never leaves them alone with new stock.”

“You think?” answered Joseph, grinning. “I am concentrating very hard, trying to make sure I get everything right and especially don’t do any damage to these wonderful new dresses.”

“Believe me, Mary’s impressed, and so she should be. You can’t imagine how rough some of the girls can be with the stock and how mixed up they get with which dress goes where. I’ve been watching you and you might even have a quicker eye than me in spotting little design quirks or detail changes that separate one set of dresses from another.”

“Thanks Julie, but I think you’re just being nice. I mean, how can you be watching me and yet still get through your boxes so quickly? You do three dresses to every two of mine.”

“Of course I’m quicker, I’ve been doing this since I was tall enough to reach the rail.”

“But you’re only a little girl.”

“And you’re not, pretty little princess? You might have fooled the agency and you might have fooled a hassled Ms Wilson who was in desperate need of an agency girl. But you don’t fool me, I’ve been watching you very closely and I’ve worked out your little secret.”

Joseph froze, holding in front of him a beautiful lilac party gown, in just the right size. If he was standing in front of a mirror, his reflection would be jumping up and down, screaming: “Buy it!” But he was standing in front of Julie and she was staring him straight in the eye and sporting the wickedest of smiles. Joe felt the heat of his rising blush, beginning at the top of his sternum, racing up his neck, hiding beneath his make-up and then popping out on both ears at the same time, rushing to a pulsing red at their tips. He tried to swallow but his mouth was dry and instead he croaked. “What do you mean?”

“Like I said, I’ve been watching you closely. Real close. Ok the outfit’s perfect and the make-up’s done pretty well, but it’s way too thick and that foundation is for oldies. Bet it’s your mum’s. That lipstick shade is from last year, those eyelashes are too long and beautiful to be anything other than false and what teenage girl is gonna be wearing false eyelashes to work. And you’re doing pretty well on those heels, but I saw you wobble more than once when you were picking up dresses. So come on Seren, just admit it.”

“Admit what?” whispered Joseph, feeling the first prickle of an embryonic tear.

Getting my third slice out early as am jettin east for a couple o weeks n don’t know if I’ll be able to access the interknit while I’m away. Thanks again for all the wonderful comments n PMs on the second slice, I just hope this one tastes as good, can’t believe it’s still Friday…. Take care my baby.

Joseph smiled because he realised he’d added “necessarily” to his “Not in a dress” thought. He knew this was the other way around of saying: “Possibly in a dress. Maybe in a dress. Perhaps in a dress.” Was it possible that Seren had a future? Was it possible that he wanted Seren to have a future?

Seren Dee Petty: Chapter 3

“You might have fooled the agency and you might have fooled a hassled Ms Wilson who was in desperate need of an agency girl. But you don’t fool me,” said Julie. “I’ve been watching you very closely and I’ve worked out your little secret.”

Joseph froze, holding in front of him a beautiful lilac party gown, in just the right size. If he was standing in front of a mirror, his reflection would be jumping up and down screaming: “Buy it!” But he was standing in front of Julie and she was looking him straight in the eye and sporting the wickedest of smiles. He felt the heat of his rising blush, beginning at the top of his sternum, racing up his neck, hiding beneath his make-up and then popping out on both ears at the same time, rushing to a pulsing red at their tips. He tried to swallow but his mouth was dry and instead he croaked. “What do you mean?”

“Like I said, I’ve been watching you closely. Real close. Ok the outfit’s perfect and the make-up’s done pretty well, but it’s way too thick and that foundation is for oldies. Bet it’s you mum’s. That lipstick shade is from last year, those eyelashes are too long and beautiful to be anything other than false and what teenage girl is gonna be wearing false eyelashes to work. And you’re doing pretty well on those heels, but I saw you wobble more than once when you were picking up dresses. So come on Seren, just admit it.”

“Admit what?” whispered Joseph, feeling the first prickle of an embryonic tear.

“That you’re not really 15. I can see right through it Seren, for all your grown-up mini-dress, heavy make-up and adult shoes, I bet stripped right down you’re not much older than me. Might even be younger?”

“Oh!” said Joseph, regaining muscle control and hanging the lilac dress on the rail.

“You don’t need to worry, I’m not gonna tell anybody. Least ways not ‘til we get all these dresses sorted and out on the shop floor tomorrow morning. Anyway, I like you and it’s nice to be working with a girl my age for a change, instead of all those mean-queen karaoke cumquats that I usually have to put up with. And yeah, I agree, that lilac one is so you. You’ll have to try it on if we get time in the shop tomorrow.”

Joseph smiled. He felt as if he had just survived a barefoot walk across hot coals and had now been initiated into the club. Was that the girl club? Did girls have clubs? He knew boys did because he’d been told by several boys, at his old school, that he was not part of their club and so couldn’t join the game, be let into the den, have a quick swig from the bottle or look at the magazine.

Joseph smiled because he had been holding a beautiful lilac dress, had recognised that it suited him and had that opinion verified by a real-life girl. A girl that liked him and, despite her most intense scrutiny, thought he was a girl too.

Joseph smiled because he was not wearing false eyelashes, they were his own and Julie thought they were long and beautiful.

Joseph smiled because he was enjoying his work. He was doing a good job, getting it right, not damaging anything, not getting things mixed up, not getting into a panic. His co-worker was enjoying working with him, his boss was impressed by his skills, he was not getting shouted at.

Joseph smiled because he was able to concentrate on what he was doing, here and now. He was not gazing out of the window or watching his back or dreaming he was someplace else. He did not get caught up in the conversation, allowing Julie to rabbit on nineteen to the dozen, pretty and soothing, like a babbling brook on a sunny afternoon. He just dropped in the occasional word of agreement or reply and that seemed to satisfy Julie.

Joseph smiled because he was surrounded by dresses. Beautiful dresses, fancy dresses, practical dresses, gaudy dresses, ugly dresses, sexy dresses and for every style and colour there were several in his size. He never knew dresses could feel so wonderful, could make him feel so wonderful. He didn’t know what Seren’s future might be, but he knew, there and then, that Joseph’s future would be in dresses. Not in a dress, necessarily, but in dresses for sure. He wondered if Mr Stevens, Brian, who was at this very moment upstairs interviewing his mom, had experienced a similar revelation in his own childhood. Or had Brian just been organically and irretrievably absorbed into the family business, like a cherry stone into a melting sundae.

Joseph smiled because he realised he’d added “necessarily” to his “Not in a dress” thought. He knew this was the other way around of saying: “Possibly in a dress. Maybe in a dress. Perhaps in a dress.” Was it possible that Seren had a future? Was it possible that he wanted Seren to have a future?

Joseph smiled as he realised, looking around at the piles of boxes still to be sorted, that Seren did have an immediate future. There was no possibility they would finish tonight so it seemed he was already committed to returning in the morning. Both Julie and Ms Wilson had made that clear.

Of course, he could skip it and they’d have a hard job tracking down a non-existent teenage girl called Seren. But then he thought of his mum and the impact his absence might have if the interview proved successful and she got the job. “I’m sorry Mrs Petty, I know we made you an offer, but you see, your daughter let us down and well, you know what they say, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ We just can’t take the risk you might do the same.”

Then there was Julie’s enticement to consider, the dangled promise of trying on that lilac dress. If there was time? Joseph, who was beginning to tire a little, found a new reserve of energy and picked up his pace.

Julie was smiling because she thought Seren was smiling at her, with her. She was really enjoying working with Seren, with someone who was actually good at the job, seemed to delight in the job. Who was there to work not whinge and was a help not a hindrance.

Julie was smiling because it was a great conversation, even though she was doing 95% of the talking. If she was to be truthful, maybe it was because she was doing 95% of the talking. Rather than being interrupted, or talked over, like the older girls always did.

Julie was smiling because she was sure she held Seren’s secret, no way was that girl 15. Julie hoped to turn out to be the elder of the pair, but even if not, a secret meant power and she liked being in charge.

Julie was smiling because with the real help Seren was giving, they would easily finish their task in the morning, Mary would be pleased and her daddy would be proud of her. Julie wondered why Mary was taking so long upstairs, whether the new lady had turned up on time, how the interview was going and whether daddy had remembered all the questions he was supposed to ask.

Mary was sitting at her desk in reception trying to understand why Brian was so interested in the whereabouts of Seren and what business it was of the new woman, who wasn’t even on the payroll yet. “She’s the best girl we’ve had from the agency in a long while,” explained Mary. “A bit late arriving, but surprisingly well-mannered for girls these days, nicely dressed too. Not particularly practical for this job, mind you, but a credit to her mother nonetheless, and I’d have no worries about using her in the shop.”

“What agency?” asked Pamela, trying to remain, and look, calm. “What job?”

“The Maiden Helps Temp Agency,” said Mary. “We use them for all our casual labour, although with the girls they’ve been sending lately we had plans to go elsewhere. But we were in a bind tonight with all our holiday stock arriving so late and had urgent need of an extra pair of delicate hands.”

“Delicate hands?” Pam groaned.

“So Seren’s downstairs with Julie, hard at work sorting all the new dresses?” realised Brian.

“Oh gosh!” Pamela put both hands to her face. “How many has h-she torn? I’m sorry, um, I’ll pay for the damages, well, if I can. Otherwise, we can work something out to take it from my paycheque.”

“Hard at work is right,” Mary replied to Brian, ignoring Pam. “She has a real knack for it, her and Julie are making great headway between them and if they work through until seven tonight as we planned, they should easily get finished tomorrow morning.”

Pam looked confused. “A knack?”

Brian laughed. “So, one interview, two employees. Mother and daughter. Now there’s value for money.”

Mary looked confused. “Seren’s your daughter?”

“No, Seren’s my s-s-second daughter,” Pam saved.

“So why send her through the agency?”

“She didn’t come through any agency, she came with me, to the interview?”

“Sure she did. They promised me two girls for the afternoon so we could get the job finished by six. When they hadn’t turned-up by three I called Maidens again and they said there was a sickness going round, the only girl they had available was Seren and they’d send her straight over.”

Brian looked confused. “That can’t be, Mary. I met the two of them together in the car-park and brought them up with me. In fact Seren was still sitting in Pam’s car when I first saw her.”

“No, the agency distinctly said they would send Seren and she’s been absolutely fabulous. Not as quick as Julie of course, so we’ll definitely need her back in the morning. But she’s polite, hard-working, follows instructions, wonderfully gentle with the dresses and has a fantastic eye.”

Pamela looked confused. “Are you sure you’re talking about my s-Seren?”

“No, I’m talking about my Seren, my angel from the agency. To be honest they seemed reluctant to send her at first, only agreed when I started to make a fuss and I did wonder quite what was going to walk through the door. Maybe it’s because she looks …. a ..... bit …… young.” It was finally dawning on Mary that something was not quite right. “How did she get through the door?”

“I already told you, I brought Seren and Pamela up together,” said Brian. “Maybe it’s just coincidence that the agency sent her here at the same time as your interview Pam, so she cadged a lift.”

“But Seren’s not with the agency, she’s not old enough. She’s not even a g-g-good worker,” exclaimed Pam, nearly giving it away for the fourth time in as many minutes!

“Agreed,” said Mary. “She’s an excellent worker and you should be very proud of her. She even beat her mother in getting a new job, if only by an hour or so.”

“You don’t suppose she signed up to the agency without telling you,” suggested Brian. “It’s just the sort of trick Julie would pull, to prove her independence and show she’s ready for greater responsibility. I do believe she’s got her eye on your job Mary, so watch your back.”

“Works like a Trojan, got a good head on her shoulders and knows what she wants from her staff. She might be the first female of the family to take over the top job when the time comes,” Mary quipped.

Pam had been about to deny any possibility of Seren’s secret signing to Maiden Helps, but as she thought through the strange events of this crazy Friday afternoon, she wasn’t absolutely sure she could rule it out. She said the best she could: “I think it’s pretty unlikely.”

“As unlikely as the possibility of there being two Seren’s, in one small town, heading for the only independent dress shop in the district, on the same day, at the same time,” Brian laughed.

“Well I’m sorry, but there is only one Seren here,” said Mary.

“And I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to take her away,” Pam said looking at her watch. “I’m due to pick her sister Sally up from Norton’s at six and I’m already cutting it fine.”

“Oh, you can’t do that,” said Mary. “The agency promised I’d have her right through until seven tonight and back again at seven-thirty tomorrow morning. Julie’s agreed to that too, it’s the only way we can get things done in time. Mark and James should be here in the morning, but I daren’t let those two oafs anywhere near the new stock if I want to keep it in saleable condition.”

“But ..”

Brian interrupted: “Come on Pam, let’s get you out of here, you don’t want Sally left waiting on the street. Seren’s in safe hands and it’s an opportunity for her to get to know Julie. Mary, I have to shoot off too I’m afraid, so would you mind locking up when you’re done? And could I trouble you to run Julie and Seren home, we both live on the same side of town so it’s not much out of your way?”

“That’ll be fine and well worth it for what we’ll get done by seven.”

“But ..”

Brian interrupted, taking a couple of twenties out of his wallet: “Take this Mary and treat the girls to supper in the food court. They’ll be more than ready for food by the time you’re locked up and it’ll save Pam and Sally having to hold up dinner until Seren gets home.”

“But ..”

Mary interrupted: “Great idea Brian, it’ll save me cooking too, it’s been a long day and another long one coming. Pamela, I hope you don’t think me interfering but, would you mind sending Seren in with no make-up tomorrow? It’s just that she’s likely to be in the shop, at least some of the time and what she’s wearing today is too thick and, to be honest, more than a bit dated.”

“But ..”

“Oh don’t worry, we won’t leave her face naked, we are a fashion shop after all. It’s just that we have a bit of a corporate look and it will be quicker to start with a clean canvass. And judging by what I’ve seen of Seren so far, I’m sure she will want to fit in with the rest of the girls.”

“But ..”

Brian interrupted: “That reminds me Pamela, just before we realised that Seren was missing, you mentioned there was something really important you had to tell me about her. I think your exact words were: ‘A crazy mix-up that has to sorted before things get out of hand.’ So, I’m all ears!”

Am still away but found some QT to get this fourth slice together n am now in a place where can access the wibbly wobbly web n hopefully upload. I am really appreciatin all your comments n questions n so glad my little story is putting smiles on faces. Please keep the comments comin n feel free to PM me. I’m sorry but we still don’t seem to be able to get beyond Friday…. Take care my baby.

Pam gushed: “Seren is not a woman and this whole masquerade has just got to stop. It’s Sally’s dress, I never knew it had ever been worn until we walked in on it being danced in early this afternoon. Sally’s shoes too and, I’m guessing, everything else. Except the make-up, that’s mine.”

Seren Dee Petty: Chapter 4

Mary interrupted: “Pamela, I hope you don’t think me interfering but, would you mind sending Seren in with no make-up tomorrow? It’s just that she’s likely to be in the shop, at least some of the time and what she’s wearing today is too thick and, to be honest, more than a bit dated.”

“But ..”

“Oh don’t worry, we won’t leave her face naked, we are a fashion shop after all. It’s just that we have a bit of a corporate look and it will be quicker to start with a clean canvass. And judging by what I’ve seen of Seren so far, I’m sure she will want to fit in with the rest of the girls.”

“But ..”

Brian interrupted: “That reminds me Pamela, just before we realised that Seren was missing, you mentioned there was something really important you had to tell me about her. I think your exact words were: ‘A crazy mix-up that has to sorted before things get out of hand.’ So, I’m all ears!”

Pam gave a huge sigh! It began as a natural release of pressure on realisation that at last the whole story was now going to come out. The lies and half-truths could stop and the tension involved in pre-editing every word, to avoid stepping off the narrow plank laid across the swamp, could be unwound. Yes, the sigh began naturally, but was extended to an unnatural length. In fact, for as long as Pam could extend her breath, buying time to consider how best to present her sorry tale.

She decided to kick-off with her ‘concerned mother on the edge of tears’ approach, anticipating that Brian was one of those guys sensitive enough to recognise when a woman was on the verge of breaking into sobs. But not sensitive enough to know how to deal with a full-on crying woman and so would back off rapidly in a manly effort to keep the waterworks from flowing.

Pam knew it wouldn’t wash with Mary though, she’s been too many times round the block and probably knows every dodge going. So she lined up her ‘recently widowed mother of two starting out alone in a new town,’ second defence. She figured Mary was either a spinster or widowed herself, so would respond with either guilty sympathy or total empathy and she could work with both.

Finally running out of exhalent, Pam took a great gulp of air and gushed, in a voice so full of emotion you felt one river bend from Niagara: “Seren is not a woman and this whole masquerade has just got to stop. It’s Sally’s dress, I never knew it had ever been worn until we walked in on it being danced in early this afternoon. Sally’s shoes too and, I’m guessing, everything else. Except the make-up, you were quite right about it being dated Mary, that’s mine. My poor child, I never knew this was happening until this afternoon and I don’t know how long it’s been going on, but obviously this is not the first time, and it’s got to stop, and I’m ashamed of the part I played in misleading you, but you surprised us in the car-park, I didn’t know what to say, I was worried about the interview, and losing the job, and I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened if Mr Petty had still been with us, and now I’ve got to sort it out all on my own, and I don’t know what to do ..”

At that point Pamela’s face had puffed red, the first sobs had been deployed, she’d almost run out of breath, was completely out of words, was just contemplating collapsing into Brian’s arms, when he finally leaned forward and put a tentative hand on her shoulder.

“There, there Mrs Petty, Pamela. Don’t go getting yourself all worked up, after all, it’s not such a bad thing. Not really. And I’m not so sure that Mary hadn’t worked it all out anyway. My top manager isn’t easily fooled you know,” Brian comforted, as he gently used the flat of his hand to smooth the seam of Pam’s blouse where the sleeve met her shoulder.

“Well if I’m honest, I was taken in to begin with,” admitted Mary. “Maybe because, in that first instant, I so needed Seren to be the teenage girl we were desperately expecting. I suppose, once I recognised the subterfuge, I should have called an immediate halt. But the two children were getting along so well together, Seren was obviously enjoying the work and she was being such a good girl.”

“But that’s just it,” bawled Pamela. “Seren’s a bad boy!”

“I wish my Julie was a bad boy,” sighed Brian. “As much as she loves getting involved in the business and seems to be happy handling and working with the dresses, I just can’t seem to get her to wear them. She goes around all the time in t-shirt, jeans and trainers, hair tied back and as often as not, dirt smudged on her face. I’m sure the neighbours on both sides think I’ve got a son not a daughter, she makes such a good boy.”

That’s why Brian is delighted that the two children are working so well together and one of the reasons why he encouraged Mary to take them to the food court for dinner. He knows it can’t be forced to happen, but is hopeful that spending this time in each other’s company, tonight and then again tomorrow, might lead to the two youngsters becoming firm friends.

All Julie’s current friends are boys, so Brian thought: “It will do her good to be in female company for a change and with Seren being so especially girly, hopefully some of that femininity might rub-off on to my tomboy daughter.” Brian was just relieved it was Pam’s second daughter that had come along this afternoon and not Sally. He’d shuddered that day he met her in town, not that there was anything bad about Sally. Just that she too seemed to favour the boy look, was clearly older than Julie and was not the sort of influence he wanted for his precious princess.

In fact, Brian had worried how he would keep the tom-tomboys apart if he employed Mrs Petty and began the day very undecided as to whether he should take that risk. Particularly as he was quite taken by Pamela Petty in a way he wasn’t sure was appropriate for an employer/employee relationship. It wasn’t until his car-park encounter with the delectable Seren that he knew Pam would be joining Steven’s Fashions as quickly as he could make it happen. Now all he had to do was keep tomboy Julie in the full-on feminine glare of Seren’s girl power headlights and wait for her to melt into chiffon.

As Brian’s thoughts plotted away, Mary consoled Pam. “Now don’t you worry, I’ll take real good care of Seren, we’ll have chance for a nice little chat in the car on the way to your house and we’ll have everything cleared up, put away and a fresh set of rules ready to be run to in the morning.”

A doubtful Pam said: “You just don’t seem to be quite getting it. Maybe we should call Seren up here and then we can both explain together and you can see what the problem is.”

Mary immediately went on the defensive. Not only did she want to avoid a stoppage in the work going on in the storage area below, she perceived a potential threat to Seren’s arrival in the morning and that would not do. She suddenly remembered something: “How’s the time? Did you mention having to collect Sally from Norton’s.”

“Oh my gosh! I got completely side-tracked, I’m definitely going to be late now. Sorry Brian, have to dash, mwah!” she pecked him on the cheek. “Thank you so much for the opportunity, you won’t regret it.” Pam missed his beetroot blush as she turned to Mary: “I’m trusting you with my precious child, please take care of my baby.”

“Call you tomorrow Brian,” Pam threw, over her shoulder as she hit the button to open the exit door and headed for the stairs while unzipping her purse to fish out her car-keys. Her final words getting lost as the door clicked shut behind her.

“You need to be getting along home too Brian,” said Mary. “You know Mrs Stevens will have dinner all ready to serve at bang-on six-thirty, with it being a Friday.”

“And what a long, good, Friday it has been Ms Wilson. One of our more exciting I think,” and with that he winked at her, took his coat from the rack and made his way down to the car-park.

“Yes,” thought Mary as she slipped a small tape measure from the top drawer of her desk, closed the files on her computer, logged out and shut down. “I can see Mrs Petty’s getting you all excited. I wonder when you are going to tell Mrs Stevens about her?”

She locked the desk drawer, dropped the small key into her purse, took at out a much larger key and turned the lock on the entrance door from the inside. After returning the key to her purse which she now swung over her shoulder, Mary collected her coat, made her way through the back door and called down: “Either of you girls left anything up stairs?”

When both answered: “No, Ms Wilson,” she closed and locked the back door from the top of the stairs and carefully picked her way down to where Julie and Seren were now surrounded by more empty boxes than full ones. “My, you have got on well. Now Seren, come here girl, stand up straight and hold your arms out wide.”

Pamela was cursing herself as she sat in the snails’ race of cars crawling towards the exit barriers of the car-park. Some so loaded with weekend shopping, it looked like they were carrying their homes with them. She took a quick slug of semi-flat coke from the plastic bottle in her cup-holder, preparing to slither out into the Friday rush-hour traffic. By the time she was next but one to slip her ticket and raise the barrier, Pam had looked at her watch so many times she’d slipped it off her wrist and into her pocket, fearing an accident otherwise.

Almost as frequently, Sally was making furtive glances through the window of Norton’s Newsagents, checking her mother was not pulled-up outside. It had not been Sally’s most efficient evening. Cross checking her tallies, she found so many mess-ups she ended up trashing half her night’s work and starting over. Thankfully, it being Friday, Mr Norton was kept busy at the till and hadn’t noticed everything being done twice. He had noticed that Sally seemed unusually distracted, but didn’t know her distraction had a name, Joseph!

Sally didn’t know her distraction now also had a second name, Seren! She did know a picture of her elder brother, dancing in a mini-dress, tights and heels, was locked firmly in the centre of her mind. And even if it faded, she had only to glance at an identical picture, locked firmly on the screen of her phone, to refresh the memory. Sally didn’t know yet what she might do with it, but she knew the picture had value, she could feel the weight it added to her mobile as she fingered it in her pocket.

Like most little sisters, Sally loved her elder brother, but unlike most little sisters, she didn’t look up to him. Partly because physically, he looked up to her as she was an inch taller. A situation strangely reversed, she remembered, when she’d led him out to the car in his heels. Well, in her heels actually, though they did fit him exceptionally well. Sally had no idea how well they fit her, as she had only worn them those few minutes in the shoe shop, at her mother’s insistence on buying them for her. The deal Sally’d had to make to get her new ‘Tracker’ hiking boots.

No, Sally loved her brother, but she also found him really, really annoying. He was always making such a big deal about being the elder, but what was 11 months? She was an August baby, he was a September child. In England, the school year starts first week of September and your year is determined by your age on the first Monday of that month, so although almost a year apart in age, the education system registers Joseph and Sally in the same year. In fact, at their old school, in the old town, they were not only in the same year, but even in the same class, at least, to begin with.

The day they started senior school, she was eleven and he’d just turned twelve the day before, he was like a proper big brother, all protective and making it clear he was looking out for her. But within weeks he’d turned into an asshole, always trying to put her down, calling her “little sis” or “baby” in front of her friends. Making comments like: “are you sure you’re old enough for that?”

She knew he was just showing off in front of his mates and that was what boys did, but he’d started to bring the behaviour home. Trying to insinuate himself as the older, and more mature, in his mother’s eyes and always telling the neighbours, callers and just about anyone that would listen, how he was: “looking after his little sis.” If they went to town together, he would say he was: “taking her to town.” If they went home together, he would say he was: “making sure little sis got home safe.”

It had got to the point where even the neighbours started saying things like: “now you keep hold of your brother’s hand, little one.” Or: “you make sure to do as he tells you.” Worst of all was running in to a neighbour when she was with her friends at the mall. “Does your brother know you’re out here on your own little girl.” Argh, how embarrassing can it get!

Well, Joseph did take it one step further. One step too far as it turned out. Like all girls, Sally and her school friends all went to the loo in one big gaggle and were just coming back into the corridor together, as Joseph came by with the gang he tagged on the tail of. “I hope you got one of the older girls to make sure you wiped properly and didn’t get your blouse caught up in your panties,” he quipped.

It wasn’t that funny, but the timing was perfect. Even worse, Sally blushed as red as a sunburnt tomato using ketchup for lotion. The guys laughed, the girls giggled, Joseph grinned wide and Sally didn’t remember anything more except a twitch of her shoulder and a sudden sharp pain in her right hand. Until she saw Joseph stretched out on the floor, eyes closed and ketchup all over his nose.

Sally got moved to a separate class and Joseph’s quips died down for a while, but he still took every opportunity to make it known she was “little sis,” both at home and at school. And it seemed even more important now that he realised she was not only taller, but stronger than him too.

Everything official though, still runs on birth date and whether it’s school, after-school club, youth club or even mum’s orders, Joseph is always put first with Sally behind. Sometimes she even has to follow what he tells her and my, does he take every opportunity to the max. “Well Joseph my boy, here we are in a brand new town, looking for a brand new school and you, mom and me are the only three who know what’s what.

“This picture might be just the lever I need to bring about a little swing in the balance of seniority. After all, as I’m bigger, tougher and stronger, it’s only common sense that you should be following me.”

It was primarily a constant drift onto this train of thought, and how to bring it about, that distracted Sally enough to keep messing up her newspaper tallies. But there was also something else nagging in the back of her head. It had to do with that picture, that vision, of her brother dressed as a girl. He was dressed in her clothes, clothes she’d hardly worn. But one thing she knew for sure, he looked a whole lot better in them than she did.

She didn’t mind her brother being pretty. She thought it was pretty funny if truth be told. But it did worry her that he was so much prettier than her. She liked being stronger, she didn’t want to be girly, not in the slightest. And clearly, she also didn’t want to be the younger sister. But in the back of her mind a new worry was forming, that much, much worse than being younger, would to be considered as the ugly sister!

Finally the papers were finished and the tallies all cross checked, it was twenty-five past six, thank goodness her mother was late. She glanced again through the shop window just as Pamela pulled-up outside. Sally collected her things, strode to the door of the shop and chimed her goodbyes to Mr Norton.

Pam, touching the spot on her shoulder where Mr Stevens had so recently rubbed, was having a naughty little thought about her new boss. She jumped, when Sally suddenly launched into the backseat and asked: “Where’s Joseph?”

Brian Stevens decided to leave his car in the drive rather than wrestle with the garage up-and-over. All the way home, he’d been picturing Pam in the various poses she’d struck during the interview, and especially her bottom wiggling dash from the office. He tap-danced to the house, humming as he climbed the front step. He could smell dinner the moment he opened the door and a female voice called from the kitchen: “Perfect timing love, I’m just about ready to serve.”

Brian hung his suit jacket in the cloakroom and as he washed his hands, gave himself a jaunty wink in the mirror and turned his cheek to check there was no lipstick where he’d been kissed. He made his way to the dining table, still humming. Close behind came a wheeled trolley laden with steaming pots, bowls and tureens, pushed by the wonderful lady who ran his life and currently, the second most important woman in his world. “Anything exciting at the shop today dear?” asked Mrs Stevens.

Hey everybody, am back from my travels n I guess folks took note I was away as I got less comments n PMs on the last chapter, although all those I did get were lovely again thank you. Y’all still bein so nice to me. Well, here’s the fifth slice n I’m sorry, but it’s still Friday…. Take care my baby.

Joseph blushed. He’d completely forgotten what he was wearing under his tights and dress and suddenly had a renewed awareness of the tight lacy fabric caressing the tender areas of his body. “Thank goodness Ms Wilson never measured down there,” he thought with a shudder.

Seren Dee Petty: Chapter 5

Brian Stevens decided to leave his car in the drive rather than wrestle with the garage up-and-over. All the way home, he’d been picturing Pam in the various poses she’d struck during the interview, and especially her bottom wiggling dash from the office. He tap-danced to the house, humming as he climbed the front step. He could smell dinner the moment he opened the door and a female voice called from the kitchen: “Perfect timing love, I’m just about ready to serve.”

Brian hung his suit jacket in the cloakroom and as he washed his hands, gave himself a jaunty wink in the mirror and turned his cheek to check there was no lipstick where he’d been kissed. He made his way to the dining table, still humming. Close behind came a wheeled trolley laden with steaming pots, bowls and tureens, pushed by the wonderful lady who ran his life and currently, the second most important woman in his world. “Anything exciting at the shop today dear?” asked Mrs Stevens.

“The new holiday stock arrived at last, talk about cutting it fine, put poor Mary into a real tizzy.”

“Yes, she called to let me know Julie wouldn’t be home for dinner, guessed you would forget to tell me,” admonished Mrs Stevens. “She said that they were working late and would eat at the food court with a new girl called Seven?”

“Seren, lovely child, came from Maiden Helps. Um, sorry about that,” Brian apologised. “I’m trying to keep Seren and Julie together for as long as possible, in the hope they become friends, I think she could be a good influence on her.”

“Since when has Julie been influenced by anything except her own thoughts, you know you can’t force friendships at that age Brian. In fact trying is more likely to result in the opposite.”

“Oh I realise that, but they seem to be getting on like a house on fire so I thought a little bit of free time together, in addition to working under pressure tonight and tomorrow, might help cement a bond that was already starting to form.”

“You haven’t got Julie going in again in the morning? I won’t have you overworking that girl. Sometimes, Brian, I think you forget she’s only ten.”

“Yeah, ten going on twenty! Anyway, she’s going to be eleven soon. It wasn’t my idea though, not tonight or tomorrow. When the temp girls didn’t turn up this afternoon I think Julie pretty much forced her way into it without giving Mary any option but to agree. I’m just so pleased Mary was able to persuade the agency to send Seren over, she’s turned out to be a pretty good find and really took the pressure off.”

“And what’s so special about her that makes you want to manipulate Julie into gallivanting around the mall with a teenage girl from Maiden Helps. You know what those girls are like, I thought we weren’t going to use them anymore.”

“We weren’t but this late delivery put us in a real bind we had no choice. Anyway, Seren’s not like the usual type of girl they have there. First off, she’s new in town which I guess is why she went to the agency in the first place and second, I’m pretty sure she’s not a teenager.”

“Come off it Brian, you’ve got to be at least fifteen to sign up to Maiden Helps,” said Mrs Stevens, who by now had put china plate, piled high with a large serving of pork, apple sauce, mashed potato, peas, cauliflower, carrots and onion gravy on the ‘Cats n Kittens’ place-mat in front of Brian. He, in turn, had half-filed her wine glass with a supermarket Cabernet and three-quarters filled his own.

Waving a carrot on the end of his fork, Brian said: “Oh, she had the make-up, shoes and legs of a teen, but I suspect the girl buried beneath is not much older than Julie. The agency was pretty reluctant to send her over, they probably guessed she was underage and wouldn’t have taken her on, but there’s a sickness going round apparently and she was the only girl they had available.”

“Hmm, lazyitis seems to be the sickness afflicting most of the teen-girls I see hanging around the mall. I think they catch it from mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with leather-clad louts, either that or from their piercings and tattoos. So, what is it about this dolled-up, underage fraudster that you think could be such a good influence on Julie?”

“Well, she’s a girly girl if you know what I mean. Imagine, turning up for manual labour in a mini-dress, tights and heels, with painted nails and full-on make-up, it was almost funny. I know you try your best, and you know how much I love you for it, but I just worry that Julie’s growing up short on female influence and if these two can become friends, well, maybe some of that femininity will rub off.”

Mrs Stevens reached over and took Brian’s hand. “You know that I love the two of you to bits and it’s beautiful watching how you pull each other along through the tough days. I try to do the best for Julie, but there is no way I can ever replace her mother and she and I have an understanding on that. As for her femininity, you worry too much. It’ll happen soon enough and when she’s got breasts peaking over her t-shirt and boys loitering in the driveway, you’ll soon be wishing she was back in her work boots and jeans, climbing trees and catching rabbits.

“It sounds to me like it’s Seren you need to worry about,” said Mrs Stevens. “That slap and mini-dress might well have been a disguise, if she was trying to con her way into the agency, and that suggests she’s desperate for money or trying to prove a point to somebody. Either way, she’s in a position of weakness and if there is anyone who knows how to sniff out and exploit weaknesses, it’s your own delightful darling daughter Julie.”

“Mmm, that was lovely,” mumbled Brian, slouching back from his empty plate and playing back this afternoon’s interview through his mind. He couldn’t recall noticing a single sign of weakness in Mrs Petty, much the opposite in fact. Except, he suddenly realised, whenever they mentioned Seren.

“So,” said Brian, leaning decisively forward as Mrs Steven’s swallowed her last mouthful. “What’s for desert?”

As Pamela pulled-up outside, Sally collected her things, strode to the door of the shop and chimed her goodbyes to Mr Norton. Pam, touching the spot on her shoulder where Mr Stevens had so recently rubbed, was having a naughty little thought about her new boss. She jumped, when Sally suddenly launched into the backseat and asked: “Where’s Joseph?”

“Joseph’s working,” answered Pamela. Pleased that at least Sally’s first words weren’t an angry complaint at her lateness, but disappointed they were not an excited enquiry as to how her interview had gone.

“You mean that lazy wimp’s got himself a job,” sneered Sally.

“Now, now,” said Pam. “That’s uncalled for and unfair, but yes. He’s working through until seven this evening and starts again at seven-thirty in the morning.”

Sally knew her comment was unfair, but she was miffed. Landing the job at Norton’s had been her first step to turning the tables on her brother, proving that she was the strong, responsible child in the family and he should be cow-towing to her, not her to him. She tried to blag her way into a paper round when she saw the ad in the window last Saturday, but Mr Norton was adamant she was too young. He was impressed enough though, by her keenness to work and her persistence in trying to convince him to take her on, that he gave her a temporary desk job.

This was her first week and tonight’s distractions aside, she’d already got the hang of it. Working four pm until six, Monday through Friday, tallying all the morning and evening newspapers. Deliveries, shop sales, returns, orders, remainders, the lot. “Her first week!” Sally suddenly realised she’d forgotten to pick up her pay. She’d have to pop in for it tomorrow as she had some serious spending planned for Saturday. “So where’s this job then.”

“What?” asked Pam.

“Joseph’s new job, where’s he working?”

“Oh, at the mall.”

“What, at one of those fast food places? Does he have to wear a silly hat?”

“Um, no,” stalled Pam.

“No what? No to the hat, or the fast foooooo Wait a minute! When did he have time to go home, get changed out of his Gladys rags, get back to the mall, get a job and start work? Come on mum, I’m not stupid. What’s he really doing?”

“What do you mean, Gladys rags?”

“Well, come on mum, he was looking a right Gladys the last time I saw him. No, actually, more like a rabbit in the headlights when you dropped me off at Norton’s. I bet he was absolutely petrified the whole time he was waiting in the car-park for you to come back from your interview. Interview! Sorry mum I completely forgot, how’d it go?”

“It went great! I got asked all the questions I’d prepared for, there were no tricks and they seemed interested in my ideas. Brian, ahem, Mr Stevens, was really nice and helpful, and I think he likes me.”

“So-o-o?”

“So you are looking at the new external sales manager for Steven’s Fashions, starting Monday, nine o’clock sharp.”

“That’s brilliant mum, well done. Wow, we’ve really hit this town with a bang haven’t we? Hardly been here a week, and we’ve all got jobs. So, tell me about ‘BRIAN’!”

“You met him the other day, remember, when we were shopping, the sales director?”

“Oh, him! I can’t say I took to him on first meeting.”

“No, I noticed a bit of edge between you. But he’s not like that really, he’s been very welcoming, encouraging, like he wants to give you every chance to show your best. He’s helpful, kind, was ever so understanding about Seren, seems to laugh a lot and there’s obviously a lot of mutual respect between him and Ms Wilson, the shop manager.”

“Who’s Seren?”

“Ahh….”

“Ahh what? Ahh-tissue? Ahh-bracadabra? Ahh-funny thing happened on the way to the forum? Ahh-oh my god! It’s Joseph isn’t it? Isn’t it? Brian saw Joseph in his Gladys rags and you introduced him as a girl! Wow, cool! Who did you say he, sorry, who did you say she-e was? Oh, I’m sorry I missed this, it must have been hilarious.”

“It wasn’t funny at all actually, it was very nerve wracking. Brian was in the car-park when we got there and came straight over. We didn’t have any time to think. I didn’t want Joseph embarrassed by outing him to Brian and I was worried it might affect the interview, so I said the first thing that came into my head.”

“Oh it is funny, believe me. Joseph is so never gonna hear the end of this. But why Seren, where did she spring from?”

“It was something Isla had said when I was giving her a lift earlier today. I didn’t get the whole story, sort of tuned out, you know, but it was to do with somebody called Seren and the fact that it means star. So, having just heard all about her, Seren was the first name on my lips when Brian surprised us.”

“So who is she, a cousin or something? We need to get our stories straight so you better tell me exactly what you said to Brian.”

“That’s the big problem,” sniffed Pam.

“What do you mean, big problem? I hardly recognised Joseph in that get-up and he’s my brother. Clean all that make-up off, put him back in baggy trousers, add the surly attitude and Brian’ll never put two and two together.”

“His name’s Mr Stevens to you, and what I said was: ‘This is my second daughter Seren!’ So now do you see the problem?”

“Second daughter?”

“Pardon?”

“You said you introduced him as your second daughter.”

“Well he’d already met you, hadn’t he?”

“So I’m the first daughter and Seren’s the second daughter, right?”

“Well yes, that is the order he met you.”

Sally smiled a wicked little smile deep inside as she thought: “Yeah mum, but that’s not what it means. If Brian thinks Seren is the second daughter, then he’ll assume she’s the younger, which means he’ll assume I’m the elder. I need to keep Seren around long enough to establish the new hierarchy. New town, new order. How does it feel? Bloody brilliant. Nice one mum.”

“Hey!” burst Sally, suddenly giggling. “This new job, is it Joseph’s, or Seren’s?”

“Ahh…”

Ms Wilson closed and locked the back door from the top of the stairs and carefully picked her way down to where Julie and Seren were now surrounded by more empty boxes than full ones. “My, you have got on well. Now Seren, come here girl, stand up straight and hold your arms out wide.”

Joseph stood as straight as a rake and spread his arms according to instructions, while Ms Wilson wrapped her tape around him at several points, calling out numbers for Julie to note in her pad. He’d been measured a couple of times before and was dreading Ms Wilson taking his inside-leg. But thankfully she never did, the ordeal was quickly over and Joseph was neither told, nor asked, what the measurements for.

“Ok girls, that will about do for tonight,” said Ms Wilson. “Finish off the box you’ve started, then come up to the shop. Mr Stevens is kindly paying for us to have supper in the food court, so we’ll go out through the front.” With that, Ms Wilson pressed a button opening a door Joseph hadn’t previously noticed, before stepping into the service lift and rising to the floor above.

“When she says the food court, does she mean like, in the mall?” asked Joseph.

“Well, duh!” Julie gurned. “Of course she means in the mall.”

“But won’t there be like lots of people there,” said Joseph, beginning to absorb some of Julie’s inflections and speech patterns into his own phrasing, as well as unconsciously adopting some of her hand movements.

“Actually it won’t be too busy just after seven, the tea-time crowd will have left, the shop assistants will still be working since it’s late shopping on Fridays and the cinema crowd won’t come out of the first evening shows for another hour. Why, who’re you afraid might recognise you?”

“No-one, why?”

“Well, you’re sort of in disguise aren’t you, little girl dressed teeny-bopper?”

“Ok, I admit it ok, I’m not fifteen. But nor am I a little girl.”

“Well you called me a little girl,” pouted Julie.

“Yes, I did and I’m sorry. We’d only just met and you are quite small, but now I can see you’re smarter and much more mature than my sister. But I’m at least as old as you are.” Joseph figured he was probably a year or two older, but he didn’t want to push the point in case Julie demanded to see his birth certificate or passport as evidence. Anyway, he didn’t really know how old she was, and neither of them was ready to state their age, in case they’d misjudged the other and ended up being embarrassed, or even worse, junior!

“That’s ok, I am small, like you! So let’s just agree that we’re pretty close together on age, ok?”

“Yeah, we’re pretty close on age,” agreed Joseph.

Julie smiled at what she saw as a significant victory. She was good at guessing ages, that’s why she’d first picked Seren as being under fifteen. But ten-year-old Julie could equally see that Seren was older than her, by at least a year, and that difference could be as much as a school. She would never have guessed the truth though, that while she was soon to be eleven, Seren was already more than half-way to fourteen!

“Are you rich?” asked Julie as they rode the lift.

“I don’t think so,” answered a very tired Joseph. “What makes you ask?”

“Ms Wilson’s driving us both home after we’ve eaten and says we live in the same area. Well, where we live is pretty posh, so, unless you’re like staff at one of the big houses, then there must be money somewhere.”

“Oh, you mean the house.”

“The house?”

“Yeah, mum came down here a few weeks back after she saw the house on the internet. It must’ve turned out physically to be like, same as in hyperspace, coz she decided to buy it and we all moved in just over a week ago.”

“So you are rich then?” reasoned Julie.

“Not really, not day to day rich. We just came into some money and it had to be spent on property.” Joseph glossed over the details, hoping Julie would be too tired to dig deeper. He wasn’t ready to get into the whole deal of what happened to his father. First off, he was only just getting to know her second, he wasn’t sure if he could get through it without bursting into tears and third, he didn’t know if he was comfortable with talking about his dad while wearing a dress, tights and soft lacy underwear.

Joseph blushed. He’d completely forgotten what he was wearing under his tights and dress and suddenly had a renewed awareness of the tight lacy fabric caressing the tender areas of his body. “Thank goodness Ms Wilson never measured down there,” he thought with a shudder.

“Cold?” asked Ms Wilson as she locked the front door of the shop.

“Just tired,” Joseph answered, looking at his reflection in the dark shop window, then noticing the food court behind him and a smattering of patrons drinking coffee and eating chips. He’d walked right through the shop without realising and was now, at this very moment, standing in the full glare of a public shopping centre in a green flowery mini-dress, black tights and two-inch heels.

“Come on Seren, let’s go and grab some food, I’m starving,” beamed Julie, taking his hand and dragging him away from the window. Crumpling Mr Stevens’ generous  £40 offering in her other mitt as they ran, as fast as Joe’s heels would allow them, to the food counters across the mall.

Mary Wilson strolled gently to the seating area, found a clean, vacant table in a slightly secluded spot and took out her mobile phone. She tapped into her contacts, selected Mrs Spinney and, as the number dialled, unfolded the sheet of notepaper bearing Seren’s measurements.

“Hello, Mable? Mary here. No, no, everything’s fine. Yes the stock did finally arrive and we’re well on the way to getting it all sorted, just a bit to finish up in the morning. So, how’s the ulcer? And what about the ogre who carries it around in his stomach? Well you tell him from me he’d get more sympathy if I stopped seeing him in the queue at the burger van in Park Street. I know? And I bet you never thought it could be dreamed in that colour, let alone actually dyed. No, apparently she’s stuck with it for at least three weeks.

“Well, look, I’m sorry it’s so late but I was hoping if I gave you the details now you could get started first thing in the morning. Yes, for the shop, you’ve got a couple of our standard issues with you there I hope. Yes, well, I’ve got a new girl, started tonight actually. She’ll be working in the warehouse first thing but probably in the shop by about ten. Ok, eleven then. No, I’ve already done that, I can give them to you right now over the phone. Have you got a pen and paper?”

After a brief pause, Mary read the numbers from the pad to Mable Spinney who wrote them down like a human fax machine. “Yes, she is small Mable. That’s why I wanted to let you know tonight rather than the morning. Give you more time. Seren. No Seren, like seven but an r instead of a v. It means star I believe. Yes very pretty. Even prettier. Great Mable, so we’ll see you tomorrow morning, between ten and eleven, uniform in hand.”