“See you when you get back in a month or so Josie, enjoy your holiday with Jack, but whatever you do make sure that you don’t come back pregnant.” I joked with my sister as she left to go away for a long holiday with her boyfriend, Jack.”

"Thanks Joey, I’ll try to avoid that but I still intend to have a good time. Take care of things while I am away, and let me know if anything comes up.We’re going up in to the mountains and reception will not be wonderful, so there may be times when toucan’t reach me, just leave a message and I’ll pick it up when I can.”

When they had twin babies, my parents thought it would be cute if we had similar names, so I was called Joseph (Joey) Leslie and my sister Josephine (Josie) Lesley. If we got unto mischief or were making too much noise when we were children, Mum used used to shout out to us "Jo, stop that, settle down, so that she could tell us off without particularly blaming either of us.”

Although we grew up with our own sets of friends and with our own personalities, we were always quite close as brother and sister and were very comfortable in each other’s company, had many shared interests and looked out for each other much more than most siblings. As near as it could be for gender-different twins we were almost identical in looks too, and when dressed casually we were often mistaken for each other, at least until she started to develop in puberty, when the differences became more obvious, and she developed into a very attractive young woman.

When it was time for university we even signed up for the same course in ancient history and archaeology, intending to later make careers in museum administration. The first year we had to stay in the Halls of Residence, which were gender segregated, the first time we had really been apart since we were children. After that with a few roommates we shared a flat for the rest of our time there, shared many friends and experiences, each of us going out occasionally with the friends of the other, and she and I were often referred to as Jo#1 and Jo#2. We probably knew more about each other than most siblings, how the other thought and how they would react in certain situations.

While we were away at Uni, Mum and Dad had decided to go and live in France, and had bought a run-down old farmhouse next to the Dordogne in Lot- et-Garonne that they were renovating and improving, and intended to settle there in semi-retirement after it was all completed. We liked and wanted to stay in the family house where we had grown up, so Josie and I took a formal lease from them, and moved in together.

After Uni, we found that the market for our talents and qualifications was limited, there were very few vacancies for the jobs we were looking for as they were the type that people had a great interest in and stayed with throughout their career. We shared the costs of the house and made ends meet by taking on any sort of temporary work to keep the money coming in, burger flipping, gardening, pizza delivery and shelf-stacking for me, and temporary secretarial or care assistant jobs for Josie. Even in these more enlightened times jobs still had a strong gender bias, but they kept us going while we were trying to get something more fulfilling.

Josie had only been away a few days when, checking her mail, I came across an invitation for her to attend for interview as an assistant curator at the local County Heritage Museum, one of the many applications she had made a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, although I had applied too, there was no invitation for me, we were very similarly qualified and I grudgingly assumed that, as with many public bodies, they were trying to up the gender balance and appoint more females. Knowing that she would want to seriously try for this appointment I tried to phone Josie to let her know the good news so she could come back for the interview, but she was up in the wilds of the mountains and forests and must be somewhere in a signal-free area, have her phone turned off, or a dead battery. I tried many times to get through without success and was on the point of calling the museum to apologise for her when she finally returned my call.

"Hi Sis, you will be delighted to know that you have an interview for that curator job at the museum next Friday, can you get back for it?”

"Damn and double-damn, I won’t be able to make it, Jack’s car broke a suspension spring on one of the mountain tracks and is in the garage waiting for a new one to be delivered. That’s what happens when you take your eyes off the road to look at the view, and don’t see the potholes and dangers on the road ahead. When the spring broke broke the car rolled into a ditch, threw me around as I wasn’t wearing my seat belt, and I’ve broken my ankle. I have to keep it rested so travel on buses is out of the question, we just have to wait until the car is fixed.”

“Sorry to hear that, are you ok otherwise, and did Jack get hurt too ?

"Yea, I am ok, or at least will be, and Jack got away with just a couple of bruises and scratches.”

“I’ll give the museum a call for you to see if they can reschedule, as I know how much you would like the job.”

“Usually these interviews are with a panel of people, the museum director, some of the trustees, and sometimes exhibition sponsors, it is difficult to get them all together so I doubt if they will agree, but can you try please?”

Rather than phone them, I thought that I had more chance if I went to see them to explain and decided to leave it until later in the afternoon when I had to go into town anyway for my shift in the burger bar. The job was not exciting or challenging and paid just over the minimum wage, but it kept me busy and helped to pay the bills. For the first time that I could remember I was jealous of Josie and the opportunity that she now had to get the sort of job that we had both been hoping for.

Before I left for work and to go to the museum I was surprised when I had another call from Josie.

“Hi Joey, I’ve been thinking about how to get to the interview and I have had an idea, please just listen for a minute before saying no. You can do the interview for me, we did the same course and know the same things, you should just breeze through it.”

"I didn’t get invited, they chose you and that’s who they would want to see.”

“You're not listening, I didn’t say that you should go instead of me, I said that you should go for me, if I have to spell it out I mean go as me.”

"You must be joking, in case you haven’t noticed over the years, I am male and you are female we look nothing like each other, it would never work.”

"What do you mean ‘we look nothing like each other’? When we were kids you were often mistaken for me and vice-versa. If you remember a couple of times we swapped Halloween costumes, you dressed as Maid Marion while I was Robin Hood or at Christmas as the Fairy and the Elf, nobody noticed the difference.”

"That was a long time ago, we have both changed a lot since then, it wouldn’t be the same, and we would never get away with that sort of thing now.”

“Although there are obvious differences, you are still about the same size as me, your skin is still quite smooth and not too hairy, your hair is long enough to be styled, with the right clothes and make-up you could pass as a reasonable copy of the real me, but obviously not as good-looking.”

“I you keep being cheeky like that, you stand no chance of convincing me to help. If I agree to this, and that is a big if, there is no way I could turn myself into a believable copy of you in a few days.”

"I’m not that flakey, I realise that you will need a lot of help. Do you remember Susie from college, she set up and runs a beauty salon business across the city? If I gave her a call I’m sure that she will be delighted to help, you always got on with her, and she likes you. When she stops laughing she will see it as a challenge to her skills. Please Joey, this could be an important step for me. You only have to do the interview and if we are successful just delay the starting of work until I can get back.”

"You owe me big time for this Sis, but if you get a decently paid job, I may be able to stop working at the burger bar and look for something more appropriate. Give Susie a call, see what she says, and if she will help I will give it a try.”

A half-hour later I heard a car pull into the drive and opened the door to find a grinning Susie carrying a huge holdall.

“Hi Susie, I didn’t know you were coming, Josie hasn’t called me back to tell me.”

"That’s because she thought that you would chicken out when you had time to think about it. Let me come in Joey, it’s cold out here, and we’ll talk through what needs to be done.”

"I’m not sure Susie, I have thought about it and I’m sure that I will look stupid and make a complete fool of myself.”

‘Hey, I’m the best beautician in town, even if I am blowing my own trumpet, if I can’t make you look presentable as an imitation of Josie, I’l eat…my mascara wand. Go upstairs take off all your clothes, put on just a dressing gown and we’ll have a look to see what I have to work with.”

If I didn’t know Susie Really well, including times when I went ‘skinny-dipping’ with Josie’s friends, I would not have been comfortable facing her in just a dressing gown. But I stripped completely and just followed her when she said to drop the dressing gown too.

"Hmm, not too bad, you are still quite slim and not too hairy, but we can soon sort that out. Have a close shave of your face, then I’ll come up with you and smear your back and the back of your thighs with Nair and leave you to do all the other hairy bits, arms, legs, chest and stomach.Leave it all on for 10 minutes, have a good shower afterwards, use Josie’s body scrub and exfoliating brush to clean it all off, then wash your hair using her shampoo and conditioner.”

An hour later I shyly made my way downstairs where Susie was waiting for me.

“That’s an awful lot better, it will do for now, but you are still not fit to go on the beach in a bikini."she said afterwards with a big grin.

"Josie told me to have a rummage through her stuff to find something for you to wear, just put on the panties so I don’t have to look at your dangly bits anymore, and if you know what I mean, tuck yourself back between your legs before pulling them up tight.”

"Do I really need to do all this Susie, I thought it would just be a matter of trying on some clothes?”

"If we are going to do this properly you have to start at the inside and work outwards. Try this bra for size and if it is ok I have some inserts to use to give you a bit more shape, then put your dressing gown back on again and I’ll see what I can do with your hair.”

Soon she had lightly trimmed my hair to give it the shape she wanted and set it in rollers. “While that is drying off, let’s have a look at your nails. My god, they are awful, I know you do gardening but they are terrible, there is not a lot I can do with them as they are. I thought I might find that so I have got some acrylic add-ons with me. Lets get them on and we can shape them and get some polish on, and while they are drying I’ll see what I can do with your toenails too. After what seemed forever, she was satisfied and turned her attention to my face.

"I need to trim and shape your eyebrows, I’ll not go too mad, they will still look ok when you go back to being Joey.” After trimming them short she waxed them to shape and cleaned up the edges. “That will do for now. If this all works out ok, we’’ll do a full wax face-mask tomorrow to exfoliate, but you are ok today for just putting the make-up on as you are.”

She opened up a huge case with a tray of all sorts of creams, cosmetics in a rainbow of colours, and sat for a few moments looking at me and then looking at the tray.

“I’m sure that you have watched Josie doing her face many times, and sat there making all sorts of sarcastic comments, like my brothers have to me, well now it’s payback time for all that. I’ll talk you through everything I am doing, but pay attention, I can’t do this for you every day.”

"What do you mean every day, I will only be doing this one time on Friday.”

"You must be joking, do you think you can pass as a girl with just a half-day session with me, you need to stay as a girl for the rest of the week until Friday, get used to the clothes, practice your makeup and the way you walk and talk, and you might just about be passable. Sit still, watch, listen and remember.”

I had a rough idea of what she was doing having sat and chatted to Josie many times when she was getting ready, but I soon learned that it was like turning the ignition on and thinking you knew how to drive a car, there were all sorts of subtleties and techniques that I hadn’t even thought of, and when she was finished and satisfied my mind was buzzing with everything she had said and demonstrated.

“Get yourself properly dressed, I’ve picked out a skirt and top for you a fresh pack of tights and the biggest pair of Josie’s shoes I can find. I’ll just take out the rollers and brush out your hair and then we can see the finished result, You can go and look at yourself in the full length mirror on her wardrobe.”

I quickly put on all the things she had laid out for me and stood up to make my way upstairs.

“Are you sure that these clothes are the right size , they fit really tight to me.”

“They are exactly as they should be, girl’s clothes fit a lot more snugly than the sloppy things that boys wear, we like to emphasise our figures.”

The shoes only had a low chunky heel but were still strange enough for me to totter up the stairs to the bedroom. When I saw my reflection I was amazed, looking back at me was the image of Josie, only with a shorter hair style. "I would never have believed it Susie, you are a miracle worker, Josie may be right, this could possibly work.”

"You’ve only just started, we may have got the look right Joey, but there is a lot more to do before you can pass as Josie in public. Walking up the stairs even in those low heels, you were very ungainly, you need to get used to walking in heels and to change your gait, put one foot directly in front of the other it will give a bit more sway to your hips, and hold your shoulders back otherwise your arms will keep brushing against the sides of your breasts.”

“ Stop criticising, you have 20-odd years to get used to all this, I have only had a couple of hours.”

“I have to go back to the salon for a while, you need to practice walking around, try to remember how Josie moves, how she stands, how she moves her arms and hands, copy her mannerisms. When I get back I want you to be moving and acting much more naturally as a girl.”

"I was just going to get cleaned up and changed for work, so there is not much point you coming back later.”

"I hope you are joking, we’ve spent a lot of time and effort getting you to look like that, you don’t want to waste all that do you? Phone in saying you are feeling unwell, this is far more important, unless of course you want to go into work as you are now.”

"I can’t go in looking like this, I know I have to get used to acting like a girl, but my life wouldn’t be worth living if I turned up there with boobs and wearing a skirt.”

“You have no choice really, if you are going to pull this off you have to be Josie 24 hours a day. I’ll be back in about 3 hours, and I will expect you to be a lot more believable."

She picked up with her bag and most of her things, left me a cosmetic bag with all the makeup items she had used, gave me a goodbye girly hug and was off. I was in a state of confusion, she had come in, done what she had to do, and rushed off, it was if a whirlwind had turned my life upside down without giving me time to think about what I was doing.

I did as I had been told for the rest of the day, walking around, going up and down the stairs, even going to check out Josie’s shoes to find a pair with a higher heel, if I was going to do this, I had to learn to do it properly. The hardest part to get realistic was my voice, so I practised using the voice recorder on my phone making mock call conversations, until I found something reasonably believable. It was impossible to lift the pitch too much without it sounding totally false, but calling to memory all the times I had been out with Josie and her friends, I softened my accent, changed to a more sing-song tone and used a lot more feminine words and phrases. I didn’t really sound much like Josie, but it was near enough if I told people that I had a sore throat and apologised for the husky voice.

Tired out with all the mental efforts and stress i was just sitting down to a refreshing coffee and piece of cake when I heard someone at the front door. I was in a panic, was I ready for anyone to see me, would I be read as a man in a skirt? I looked out of the window and saw that it was just a delivery courier. Thinking that those guys run on automatic and don’t really relate to anybody I decided that I had to meet someone for the first time as a girl, and he was probably one of the safest tests for me. I took a deep breath and opened the door to him.

"Good afternoon, parcel for Miss Jo Johnson, is that you?”

"Yes it is, do I need to sign for it?" I asked giving him a big smile He handed me one of those electronic note books and the pen stick, but I can never do a decent signature on them at the best of times, and it ended up as a swirly scrawl, which actually looked quite feminine and a bit like Josie’s. A quick “thank you very much Miss, have a good day."and he was off, It had not been a big problem at all. I put the parcel to one side for later and sat down to finish my coffee.

I spent a bit more time moving around, as Susie had suggested, and was getting used to walking in the heels when I saw her car arrive back in our drive. I opened the door to welcome her with a smile and a cheek kiss and a big hug. "I was wondering how long you were going to be, come on in.” I greeted her using my new voice.

"I’m glad you are taking this seriously Jo, and incidentally, for the duration of this little performance you are now called Jo, the feminine version without the ‘e’, I like the voice and I see that you have graduated to proper heels, i am impressed, I thought you might have decided not to do it.”

“I’ve been working hard at it, and even answered to door to a courier who seemed to just accept me as another one of his delivery customers. That convinced me that this might work so I kept at it and it seems to be going ok. That reminds me, I haven’t checked the parcel yet, I was surprised that it came addressed to Jo, not Josie, I was a bit curious, but she doesn’t like me opening her mail”

‘It’s ok, it’s for you, I ordered something for you, express delivery, but didn’t expect it to arrive before I got here, go and open it.”

I soon had the parcel open took the lid of the box inside to discover what looked like large wobbly breasts.

"I thought this morning that the inserts I gave you would do, but they are really just enhancements to push up smaller natural breasts and are not really big enough for your frame or to match Josie. These forms which I ordered for you are much more realistic. Take your top and bra off and lie down and I will see how they look on you."When she put them on my chest they felt cold but she told me to hold them in place with my hands while they warmed up a bit.

"Ok just stand up and take your hands away."I found that the forms stayed in place and I could feel the weight of them pulling on my skin. “They look fine, put your bra and top back on and we’ll just check that everything sits right. That’s an awful lot better, what do you think?”

"It feels weird, as if they are pulling me forward, i don’t know if I can get used to them.”

"You will have to get used to them, they are in place now until after your interview. The glue on them needs a special solvent to release it and I am keeping that, You are, literally, stuck with them now, Just try to arch your back a bit more and push your shoulders back, that should help to balance out the weight of the breasts.”

"But I need to go in to work, I can’t go in like this.”

"I told you, you need to be Jo 24 hours a day. This is a gamble, if it works out, and you get the job for Josie, it will all be worthwhile, you can always find another job that pays the same as flipping burgers. Just call and tell them that you now have a full-time long-term job, they will easily get somebody to replace you. You are now reasonably believable, grab a coat, we are going out for a walk, down at the park.”

"What if we see someone who knows me and I get recognised, I will be a laughing stock.”

“Look in a mirror, you are the spitting image of Josie. The courier guy didn’t recognise you, did he? You will be going for interview in a couple of days time, you have to get used to meeting people, or you have no chance of pulling it off. Let’s get out and show the world the new you, put on a coat and don’t forget your bag.“

To be continued

Even after spending most of the day in a skirt and heels, there were lots of strange sensations as we walked arms linked around the local park, the skirt brushing against my legs, the cool breeze which I normally didn’t feel in trousers, the bounce of the breasts, the hair blowing onto my cheeks and even the clicking of my heels on the pavement. Susie was constantly talking to me and asking me questions, especially when we were within earshot of passers-by, forcing me to reply in my Jo voice.

"You are doing great Jo, but you are looking stressed, let’s go in and get a coffee and have a break.” she said as she dragged me into a café. "There is no table service in here, you will have to go to the counter to get served, get me a cappuccino and a cream eclair and whatever you want, I am off to the Ladies.”

I picked up a tray and our order and was just turning to go to find a table when the counter assistant called me back. "Hi, it’s Josie isn’t it. I’m Karen Collins, we were in class at school together, remember. Since I got married I am officially Karen Baker, but when he left me I started to re-use my maiden name again.”

"Of course I remember you Karen, I just didn’t recognise you, I call myself Jo now.” I quickly replied, trying to remember what she had looked like and racking my brain to try to recall something about her. We had shared some classes, but Josie and her were in a lot more together and knew each other a lot better than I did. “You've changed a lot, your hair was always a lot longer, I used to be so jealous of you.”

"You too Jo, I wasn’t sure if it was you at first I don’t know what it is, but you look a bit different, a lot more stylish if I may say so. Since we all left school and you went off to university I hardly ever see any of the friends we all had. I had barely left school when I got pregnant, we got married, but were both far too young, but he just couldn’t settle down and left me with a lovely little daughter Marianne. Looking smart and taking care of myself is the least of my concerns now, it is a bit of a struggle sometimes, which is why I am working here.”

“After school Joey and I went off to university and mixing in with a different crowd of people our habits change a bit, and obviously we are both a bit older, but we have managed to stay single until now. Anyway Karen, you have other customers waiting, I better let you get on. It has been nice having a bit of a catch-up, now I know you are here I may come in for a chat sometime when you are not so busy. Bye.” I turned to see Susie at one of the window tables and hurried to join her.”

"It couldn’t have worked out better if I had planned it. I heard most of your conversation and you did very well, not only did you sound like a girl, but the way you were talking with your hands too, and the things you were saying were just like two girls would talk. Karen thought you were Josie, and they must have spent a lot of time together in classes. This is all working out much better than I expected. Go and say goodbye to Karen then let’s get you home and freshen up and we will go out for a meal.”

“What do I need to do now, before we go out Susie.?”

"What do you think, you must start making these decisions yourself ?”

"Freshen up my makeup and brush my hair?”

"Part of the way there, go and change out of the skirt and top, raid Josie’s wardrobe and find a dress that fits.”

"What about you, do you need to go home to change too?’’

"No, I am ok, but you need to be over-feminine to make up for any little discrepancies, I think that after all these years I won’t have any problems.”

I didn’t want anything too figure-hugging or which would be too revealing and picked out a navy shift with white piping on the collar ,half-cuffs, and hem, paired it with a pair of 2” blue heels and went down for Susie’s approval.

"You have good taste, that suits you, but keep that for your interview, see if there is something else you like, we don’t want to get any stains on that one.”

I changed into mirror image of that dress, white with blue piping, freshened up my makeup, picked up my bag and coat and we were off. While I had been doing all that, Susie had booked a table at a country hotel just outside of town, as she felt that any chance meeting with someone who knew me was enough for one day. I was struck by the more attentive and pleasant way I was treated by the waiters and waitresses, who seemed to make more of an effort to impress me than I had felt when I had been there before as Joey, but maybe that was because I was making more of an effort to be pleasant to them.

After an excellent meal and a glass of wine we decided to call it a night, Susie had to get back home. She dropped me off at the house, with a promise, or was that a threat, to come back late morning the next day to continue with my 'finishing school’.

"Get yourself cleaned of all your makeup, smooth some moisturiser on your face and go to bed wearing the nightdress I have left out for you.”

"What on earth do I need to wear a nightie for, who is going to see me?”

"I keep telling you, you have to be in the female mindset 24 hours a day, waking up wearing your nightdress and with breasts, you should automatically go into girl mode. Don’t argue, just do as you are told. Goodnight, see you tomorrow Jo.”

I slept fitfully that night, between trying to find a comfortable sleeping position that didn’t rub or push on the breasts, and with my mind buzzing with all the things I had gone through that day, I was awake more than I was asleep.

The following two days were a lot more of the same, gradually drawing me into feeling natural and comfortable acting as Jo. We went on several shopping trips, mainly for groceries as between Josie’s outfits and the few essential bits of underwear that Susie insisted I buy as my own, I only needed the basics for the few days I would be covering for her. But mainly it was just walking around, mixing and talking with people in cafés and bars, getting used to talking in a more feminine style.

“You know what Jo, you are doing a lot better than I expected, not only do you look the part but you seem relaxed and comfortable, you should have no problems at the interview, just remember, you are Josie as far as anyone can tell, and you should just sail through it all.

On Thursday evening after her shop was closed to customers and the other staff had left I was taken to Susie’s salon to get me ready for the next day’s interview at the museum.

“This is your very first makeover Jo, so just relax and let me work my magic. When there is something you need to know I will tell you, other than that I will treat you and chat away to you exactly the same as all my other clients. After I have washed your hair, I am going to tint it to match Josie’s colour and then set it up in rollers like I did the other day.”

“Does it not feel strange to you to be doing all this to me?”

“Believe me, you are not the first person to come in here as a man and leave looking like a woman, in fact I have some regulars that come in every month before they go to spend some time away as their other self. I see that your nails are still in good condition, I will just clean them and freshen them up while your hair is drying.”

“Is that it, I am taking up a lot of your time.”

“You still have a lot to learn, that is only the start. You still have an exfoliating face mask to go through and then it’s a full makeup session. What you have been wearing is fine for general daytime use, but for your interview you need to be much more subtle and professional.”

"That is as good as it is going to get Jo, go home, have a good rest so you are fresh for your interview, give it your best shot, and hopefully you will land the job for Josie. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon for you to tell me how you got on, just call round here to the salon.”

Friday morning I was up early, showered, made-up, hair brushed out, wearing my navy dress and heels, grabbed my handbag , called a taxi and set off for the interview, thinking to myself ‘MY navy dress and heels, MY handbag’ I had come a long way in a few days.

On arrival at the museum, I was surprised that there was nobody else waiting for interview or leaving and was called into the directors office almost immediately. I was glad of that as it meant that I wouldn’t be sitting there nervously thinking about how things could go wrong. I was expecting to be facing a middle-aged frumpy battle-axe but was pleasantly surprised to see a casually dressed attractive woman in her late thirties with a pleasant welcoming smile.

“Good afternoon Josephine, or may I call you Josie or Jo, I’m Jacqui McGregor, the museum director, thank you for coming in. You are our final interview of the day and unfortunately my other panel member has been called away for a personal emergency, so it will just be a one-to-one today.

"I prefer Jo, only my mother ever called me Josephine.” I quickly replied which brought a smile to her face

"To save wasting time for both you and me, the job role has changed from that advertised. Rather than being based in the museum as a general assistant, setting up displays, guiding school parties, and generally dealing with our visitors, for at least a year, possibly up to three, you will be working ‘in the field’ on an archaeological dig. Are you still interested?”

"In principle that sounds ideal, as part of my course at university I took part in two investigative digs, nothing highly significant, hard work out in the elements, but really enjoyable, instructive and enlightening.”

“Ok, before I tell you more, tell me about yourself, obviously most will be in your CV, but it’s nice to hear it from you personally.”

As most of our life, background, and education were common it was easy for me to give my history slightly tailored to suit any differences between me and Josie.”

"Excellent Jo, you seem to fit the job available quite well, and you speak and express yourself confidently. You are by far the best candidate we have seen.”

"Thank you for that Ms McGregor. Please tell me a bit more about what the job would entail.”

”The original vacancy was more as a museum-based assistant curator, dealing with the public, conservation and suchlike but something has come up to change that. This is confidential and I need you to commit to keeping it secret until an official announcement next week.”

"Obviously, if I cannot be trusted to keep something secret for a few days, I do not deserve an opportunity to work with you.”

“A farmer with land bordering the estuary was levelling one of his fields and digging into a bank when his JCB scraped along what has turned out to be stone building walls. According to the farmer, whose family have owned the property for many generations, the land has only ever been used as a pasture because with the slopes and rocky outcrops it has not been suitable for cultivation. We have had an aerial ground-penetrating scan carried out and it indicates what appears to be an extensive network of buildings. In the chronicles of the Roman occupation there are references to a major port in this area, Ostia Septentrionalis, Ostia of the North, named after Ostia, the ancient principal port of Rome, and we think we have found it. After the Romans defeated the rising by Boudicca, they moved a large force into this area to keep the local population under control and established Ostia Septentrionalis as the main port for bringing in their supplies”

"Wow, sounds exciting, if you are right it could be a major find and would bring a lot more much-needed tourists to the area. As well as the knowledge that would be gained it would really help to put the town on the map.”

"You sound as excited about it as we are, which is why, subject to checking your references, I am offering you the job of being the Museum’s on-site representative, working alongside Professor Carter and his Archaeological research team from the University. Carter and his team will be keeping all the official records and issuing all the research papers of any discoveries, but, as the County is funding the dig alongside various government and charity grants, we want our own records of the more personal aspects, the people involved, and the various processes carried out. If the find is as extensive as we hope, this is a long-term project, a year or more on site finding out what we have got, and then working out how to allow access to it and developing it as a visitor attraction. How does that appeal to you.”

“That sounds an amazing opportunity, Ms McGregor, it sounds exactly what I am looking for, and obviously between my official duties, I would like to assist Professor Carter and his team with the dig.”

"If you are going to be working on my team, please just call me Jacqui. I will make you an official offer in the next few days, and look forward to having you on my team. Have you any more questions?”

“If it’s not inappropriate I do have one. My brother Joey applied for the position too, he has the same qualifications and experience as me, and is very disappointed that he was not invited to an interview. Is there any reason I can tell him to soften his chagrin.”

“I did see his CV and he was on the list for interview and was a distinct possibility. However when the discovery of Ostia was made, it was realised that this could turn into a quite high-profile appointment. Although here at the museum, from me down, there is a high proportion of female staff, that is not so across the county heritage department and sites in general. especially at senior level, and it was felt by the ‘powers that be’ that the public face of the project should be female. Otherwise it was probably a toss-up between you and him.”

I left on cloud nine, delighted that I had been successful and couldn’t wait to tell Susie.

“The interview went really well, I just have to wait for the official confirmation of the job offer. It is an amazing opportunity, and will be a brilliant feather in my cap.”

"That is brilliant news Jo, but before you get too excited don’t forget that you went for the interview for the job that Josie applied for and that is who it will be offered to.” Susie quickly brought me back down to earth.

"But it is a dream career opportunity I would love to do it as Joey.“

“That’s not going to happen, Josie made the application, as far as the museum are concerned Josie was interviewed and offered the job, and they wanted a female for the role, they will not take kindly to having been deceived. You better tell Josie the good news.”

"Hi Sis, you’ve got the job, and it will be amazing, I only wish that I could have got it for myself, but apparently that was never on the cards, it will mean working on a major investigative dig on what could turn out to be the most significant roman site in the county.”

Instead of the squeals of delight that I expected, she burst out crying. “I would love to be involved in something like that, it sounds exactly what I was looking for, but it will not be possible in my condition.”

"What do you mean, a broken ankle will soon heal and will not stop you working on site?”

"It’s not that, I’ve just had it confirmed that I am 2 months pregnant. Spending time on my hands and knees scraping away exposing stonework will not really be too good for me, and I wouldn’t be able to see the project all the way through.”

"I don’t know whether to say congratulations about the baby or commiserations about not being able to take up the job.”

“The job can wait, at the moment the baby is more important.”

"It’s an amazing opportunity Josie, you would be in at the beginning of what could be a major find.”

"If it is so fantastic why not ask if they will let you take my place.”

“I might do that. I will think about it for the next few days until I get official confirmation, and leave the decision until you get back and we can have a talk. When are you getting back?”

“I won’t be back for a couple of weeks, we are going to see Jack’s parents to let them know about the baby, but if you need to talk just give me a call, we are sticking to the main roads and towns so I should always have a cell signal.”

“I hope it all goes well with Jack’s family, like with me it will be a bit of a shock for them.”

"Before I forget, how did you get on pretending to be me, you’ll have to email some photos of you dressed up.”

"Susie has been great, she really helped me and has had me wearing your clothes and makeup for the last few days to get used to them before the interview. We have even been out and about a few times, and everyone just seemed to accept me as you.”

"That’s amazing, you will have to let me see you dressed up when I get back.”

"Don’t hold your breath, this is all ending now. Bye love, take care.”

"Did you catch that conversation Susie, after all your efforts with me, she doesn’t even want the job anymore because she is pregnant. I’ve had enough, I’m going to change out of all of this and clean my face, put on jeans and a t-shirt and then go out and get drunk. Do you want to join me?”

"I have a better idea, why don’t we go out with you as you are now, it seems a waste to just forget about your time as Jo. Freshen up your make-up, I will raid Josie’s wardrobe for something more suitable for you for a girls’ casual night out, we can go out to a country pub where it is unlikely that anyone will know us, and talk through all the possibilities.”

“Why not, I think this is all a dream and am worried that when I wake up I will find that none of this happened. I can at least stay in the dream for a few more hours.”

I thought that I would let you relax a little so I have dug out some trousers, a smock top which will hide your lack of hips and curvy bottom, and some flats, it should all be comfortable, it’s casual enough without being too sloppy. Go and change, get your coat and bag and let’s go.”

I was more relaxed than my first time out, the stress of the interview was over, I had successfully passed as Josie and got her an amazing job offer and felt totally at ease with Susie. We enjoyed an excellent meal and bottle of wine, generally chatting about people we knew and places we had been and I was enjoying my night out.

"Right, down to business.” Susie started off after our table was cleared and we had ordered more wine. "As I see it you have several options.

#1 You can call the Museum as Josie and tell them that you have changed your mind and that the job on offer is not what you are looking for.
#2 You can convince Josie that it is too good an opportunity for her to turn down and suggest that she does not have her baby.
#3 You can call the Museum as Josie, tell them that you are pregnant and that you are unable to accept their offer but that your brother Joey who has similar qualifications and background is interested and would like to be considered, even if they prefer a female for the job.
#4 You can be open with them and tell them that you went for interview pretending to be your sister, but that everything you told them was your experience and attitudes, and you would like to be offered the job as Joey.
# 5 You may not like this, take the job and work as Jo for the duration of the project.

Personally, I can’t see #1 to #4 having a successful outcome.The museum will feel as if they have been cheated and will not trust you.”

"And I cannot see #5 working either. Even if it was something I was prepared to do, working and living, pretending to be Jo, I don’t think I could get away with it. An hour getting interviewed is one thing, but working closely with colleagues, and socialising with them for several years is in a different league altogether. The other big point is how do I explain Joey’s disappearance for such a long time?”

"Since we came in here, you have been to the bar for drinks, you have ordered your meal and chatted with the waitress, you have been to the Ladies and talked with someone in there, and you have sat and chatted with me for over an hour in full view and hearing of other customers. Has anyone looked at you or said anything to you to suggest that they consider you to be anything other than just another girl here for a quiet night out? You are a natural, and will easily pass as Jo. The more you do it, the more it will become second nature and you will be even better at it, you need have no worries on that score.”

"But it will mean that I have to be Jo 24/7, totally living, looking, and acting, as a female. That is not me, that is not something that I want to do.”

"It is up to you, it all depends on how much you want this job, but I see it as the only option that has any chance of working for you. You have given up your job in the burger bar so just spend some time as Jo, there is nothing to stop you trying it over the weekend and next week. If you want you can come and work in my salon, nothing too difficult, just tidying up, running errands, making coffee for the clients, sweeping up all the hair cuttings, things like that. it will put you in a totally female environment, and if you can get through that it might help to convince you how realistic you are.”

"What about your clients, what would they think if they realised that I am really a man.”

"Don’t let that worry you, most women are used to male hairdressers being gay, or appearing to be gay and effeminate, in fact many prefer that, they feel safer. They will just shrug it off and have a giggle about you later with their friends.”

"Ok, I’ll give that a try while I am deciding what to do about the museum and until I can have another talk with Josie. What time do you want me there, and how do you want me to look.”

"We open at 9:00 so get there about 8:30 so I can make sure that you are presentable. Just wear the skirt and top that you used yesterday, and the flats you have on now, you won’t want to be standing in heels all day, and make-up just as you are now. You can change into one of our uniforms when you get there. Let’s get you home, you need a good nights sleep after all your stress today.”

Susie dropped me off at home, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and a goodnight girl hug, and waited until I went into the house before driving off. Rather than just quickly throwing off my clothes and climbing into bed, it was suddenly a good half-hour operation, I was under strict instructions from her to brush out my hair and then tie it back, clean off all my makeup and apply night cream moisturiser. I took off and hung up my dress, dropped my bra into the wash basket and put on the nightdress I had been wearing since all this started, with the breast forms still attached to me, it just felt the natural thing to do, then did my cleaning ritual and soon dropped off into a deep sleep, with constant dreams of living my life as Jo.

To be continued.

I needed to get up early to get ready for my new role in life as a hairdresser’s assistant, actually more of a dogsbody and gofer, but it would only be for a few days and I was looking forward to stating there, it would be a change from sweating over the grill in the burger bar. Because of where I would be working, Susie had told me to wear full make-up and to make sure my hair looked good, it was to be expected in a beauty salon. As I would be wearing a uniform skirt blouse and tunic I just put on a simple skirt and top and comfortable flat shoes for my journey in.

I was just about to climb into my car when I had second thoughts, what if I had an accident or was stopped by the police? It could all get too embarrassing to explain why my licence and insurance listed me as Joseph and I was dressed as Jo, so I locked the car and walked down to the end of the road to the bus stop. I hadn’t been on a bus for years and hadn’t been alone in public as Jo without Susie to support me, so I was a bit uncertain and nervous, but the bus driver hardly gave me a glance, he was more concerned with taking my money and giving me a ticket. The bus was quite full and there were few spare seats, so I ended up sitting next to another girl, about my age.

"I think I know you, did you go to Redhill school? I think you were in the year above me. I’m Jen Collins, you probably remember my sister Karen.”

“Actually I met Karen the other day at the café in the park and we had a bit of a chat, I must go back there to spend a bit more time catching up, she sounded like she was a bit down and would welcome a friendly face.”

"She would like that. When she got married and had her baby, Marianne, the scumbag she was with packed up and went away, saying family life was not for him, leaving her to pick up the pieces. She does not have much of a life outside of work and Marianne, I’m sure that she would appreciate it.”

"I’ll definitely do that then. Anyway, Jen this is my stop, It’s been nice chatting to you, I’ll probably see you on the bus sometime, take care. My name is Jo Johnson by the way.”

Normally I am not much of a chatterbox making smalltalk with people I don’t know, but it just seemed easier to blend in as Jo than it would have been as Joey, and the way Jen just accepted me gave me a lot of confidence for the day ahead. When I arrived, Susie had already opened up and was waiting for me.

"Hi Jo, welcome to my salon, I have left a uniform skirt and top and tunic out for you, go and get changed and we’ll get you ready for when the others arrive.”

"There you are you’ll do, I’ll just put a couple of side combs in for you to keep your hair off your face, it’s not really long enough yet to tie it back neatly, and you will be all set to go, just relax and act as if this is just like any other day” and you will have no problems.”

“Hi girls, this is Jo Johnson, she will be helping out for a few days. any odds and ends you need doing just ask her, she is not trained at all, so don’t let her anywhere near a pair of scissors or clients’ hair. Jo, that is Zara, Sally, Ella, Kim, and Helen. Your first job, while they settle in and get sorted is to make the coffee, all white with no sugar.”

I soon settled in and was kept busy keeping the place tidy and clean, making tea and coffee for the clients, fetching and carrying for the stylists, who were a friendly group, and the day soon passed, without anyone seeming to pick up on the real me, but I was glad when it was time to go home. Wearing the uniform skirt and top, had been no problem and was actually quite comfortable, but standing up all day was a lot more tiring than I had expected, I was glad that Susie had told me to wear flats rather than heels.

“You’ve done well today Jo, the girls all like you and you have fitted in well with them, they are always glad when they have someone to do all the odd jobs for them when they get on with what they have been trained to do. I take it that you will be coming back again tomorrow, you’ll find it easier and less stressful knowing that you are accepted as just another one of the girls, get yourself off home and have a relaxing night.”

As I got on the bus on the way home, I heard a shout."Jo I’m up at the back come and join me.”

"Oh hi, Jen, I wouldn’t have seen you there. What sort of a day have you had? “

"Just run of the mill, mainly the usual boring office stuff, what about you?”

"Well, it was my first day in a new job, only temporary but I am helping out in "Susie’s Hair & Beauty.”

"Oh, I know that, but I have never used them, can you book me in for after work on Friday, I have a hot date and want to look my best to be ready for anything, if you know what I mean.” she said , with a cheeky grin.”

"I’ll have a look at the book and see I they can fit you in and let you know, give me your number. If you speak to Karen, tell her you met me and that I will be in touch soon to arrange to meet up. I get off here, see you again Jen.”

I got in, changed into leggings and a wooly jumper to lounge around in, raided the freezer and threw a bolognese in the microwave, and settled down for a quiet relaxing night. Although it had been a tiring day, I had enjoyed myself with the girls at work, mixed in well with them and the clients, and was surprised how smoothly it had all gone. I was beginning to believe that Susie was right and that I could possibly survive for a while living and working as Jo.

The meeting up and chats on the bus with Jen became a regular thing and we were getting on well, and within a couple of days I knew more about her and Karen that I did about many of the boys I had been at University with for three years. She was a natural chatterbox and I found her friendly and easy to talk to, it passed the time on the bus journeys.

I was quickly part of the furniture at work and was treated the same as any of the girls, and in the occasional slack period they gave me a bit of training in basic nail care and shampooing the clients hair for them, I was beginning to feel useful and comfortable in the role.

I has booked Jen in for late Friday afternoon to get her hair styled and I did her nails while she gave me all the details of the boy she was dating. She was really excited about her date and never stopped talking about it while I was working on her. She went away happily to get ready for her night out looking a lot more glamorous and attractive than her normal workday style. Susie was happy that I had brought in a new client and I felt quite pleased with myself..

When I got home, there was a letter addressed to Josephine Johnson, an official offer of appointment from the Museum, and a note from couriers that there was a parcel left behind the gate to the back garden. It was now decision time, one way or another I had to deal with the letter from the museum. I really needed to talk with Josie to make sure that she had not changed her mind and tried several times to get through to her, but could only get her answer service, so left a message for her to call me back and rang Susie instead.

"Susie, can you come round or I can come to you, I need to talk.”

"Can it wait until tomorrow, we can find time to go out for a chat or can you come here, I am in the middle of something and would rather not leave.”

"It is official now, Jo is due to start at the Museum on Monday week, I can’t get hold of her and I am panicking.”

“Calm down, until you speak to Josie there is not much we can talk about, other than to reassure you that I am really pleased with the way you have blended in with the girls in the salon and are getting on quite naturally with Jen that came in to see you today.”

"Be honest with me, have any of the girls noticed anything odd about me or said anything to you?”

"As far as they are concerned, you are Jo and just another girl in the salon. Believe me, if they had any suspicions about you, you would know, they are not backward at criticising people they don’t get on with.. Speak to Josie to see what she wants to do. By the way, did you get a parcel delivery today?”

”Yes Susie I did, but I haven’t opened it yet, is it another order from you?”

“When we were out the other evening and you were wearing trousers it was a bit obvious that you don’t have a girlish figure, your hips are too narrow and your bottom too flat. Nothing wrong with that, but you will have heard comments about women asking ‘does my bum look big in this’ and many would welcome not being so hippy, but you have the opposite problem. I ordered you a few pairs off padded briefs to give you a bit more shape, put one on tomorrow over your normal panties and you will notice the difference, particularly with the quite tight uniform skirt. See you in the morning, and don’t worry.”

In the morning I followed Susie’s suggestion and wore the shaper briefs and felt comfortable enough to try on a pair if trousers. I was surprised how much better they fitted, hugging the hips and bottom a lot more firmly, and felt confident wearing them to go to work. I saw a rather tired looking Jen in our normal place at the back of the bus, and went to join her.

I don’t have to ask how it went last night, you are grinning like a cat that has got the cream, but you are looking a bit tired, naughty girl !”

"Thank the girls in the salon for me, I felt really confident when I was out on the date and had a great time, feeling good about yourself really makes a difference in how you get on with people. You are looking very nice today, it is the first time I have seen you in trousers, they really suit you, you have the figure for them, tight trousers always make my bum look big.”

When I got to the salon and changed into my uniform the skirt fitted a lot better too, Susie had been right once again, I don’t think I could have got this far without all her help.

"Has Josie rang you back yet?"asked Susie when she had an opportunity to be alone with me.

“Not yet, I have left voicemails and texts, but she hasn’t replied.”

“Don't’ worry, you only got the job offer yesterday, they won’t expect a reply in the post until Tuesday, you still have plenty of time to sort things out. By the way, those padded panties are doing their job, they have given you a nice feminine backside and hips, still slim but girl-slim rather than boy-shape. You really look the part.”

Eventually later that afternoon Josie called me, and could hardly contain her excitement.

"Oh Joey, you should see Jack’s parents house it must have cost a fortune, apparently they are quite wealthy, his father owns a few businesses. When we told them about the baby, they were shocked at first, ‘I thought you young people knew all about the facts of life, why were you not taking precautions?’, and all sorts of comments like that, but when they got over the shock they were delighted for us, and are already planning for an early wedding before the baby shows too much.”

"Don’t you think this is all a bit of a rush. I know that you and Jack have been together through the university years but you are still young, are you sure that you want to do this or is it just because you are carrying a baby?”

"We were talking about it for a while but decided to have a bit of a career first, but now there is no going back. We are really looking forward to life together with our baby, and maybe more. Jack will be joining his father’s business and will be earning enough to support us and the baby, I will be a stay-at-home wife and mother, at least for a few years”

‘Damn, there goes one of my options."I muttered to myself realising that there was no way that she was going to give up the baby for a career with the museum.”

"Josie, I’m delighted for you and we can talk about this again, but I really need to discuss the job offer from the museum with you.”

"I am not interested in that anymore, when I get back I will tell them that I am no longer on the market as I am having a baby and that it would not be fair to lumber them with all the hassle and costs of maternity leave and benefits. They will understand, and will probably be glad that I found out before I started with them.”

"It’s a shame, it’s something that you have worked towards for all your time at university, the job is amazing and could lead to a long and successful career, The salary and benefit package is a lot better than I was expecting, I only wish that they had offered me the opportunity.”

"Why don’t you go for it if you are so keen, call them and tell them about me and see if they will take you instead.”

"There is a problem with that, apparently as a condition of some of the grants and sponsorship that are paying for the project, the project coordinator has to be female, it is all to to with equal-opportunities and promotion of women into positions of responsibility. its totally wrong but the job is just not open to Joey.”

"From what I have seen in the photos you sent nobody will know any different if you take the job and work as me. If Susie has been confident enough to take you out in public you must be pretty good with the voice and mannerisms and things too.”

“But it would mean living totally as you for a few years, what is supposed to have happened to me, I can’t just disappear from the face of the earth?”

"You have been talking to your friends for ages about taking some time off to do a grand tour of a lot of the historic archaeological sites around the world, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Petra, Knossos, Pompeii, Carthage and lots of others. Say that you have won some money on the lottery and are taking the opportunity for a trip of a lifetime, everyone will be so jealous, but will believe you.”

"Then there is all the official stuff, tax, national insurance, bank accounts, driving licence and things like that.”

"That is even easier, you just become me until you find a way to sort documents out for yourself. I will not be working and will have no need for unemployment benefits, so I can just fade away officially for a while. Do I have to do all your thinking for you?”

"I’ll never get away with it, one day at the interview was easy, but I don’t know if I could keep it up for two or three years, and don’t think I want to live as a woman for that long.”

"Just think about it, before you do anything rash, it’s all up to you, but whatever you decide I’ll do everything I can to support you.”

“ Ok Josie, one way or the other I will sort things out here, you just take care, and don’t worry about me, it would not be good for your baby..”

“Thanks for that. You know what, you haven’t said anything like that to me for ages, living as a woman is bringing out a nicer side of you.”

I needed to clear my head and get my thoughts together and went out for a walk in the park, sitting watching the swans and ducks on the lake always helped to relax me. Passing the café, I decided to pop in to see if Karen was about and was met with a big smile from her.

"Hi Jo, Jen told me that she had met you on the bus a few times and that you would be in touch, it is great to see you again. I am just getting ready to close up, have a coffee while you are waiting and then we can sit and have a chat when all the customers have gone.”

She soon closed the door, tidied up and brought over some freshly-brewed coffee and a selection of cakes.

"Just help yourself to what you fancy, take some home if you want, we make them fresh every day and if you don’t want them they will only go in the bin. What have you been up to lately Jo, give me all the gossip?”

"I have been helping out in my friends hairdressers shop for a few days while I am waiting for the outcome of a job I have applied for, ‘Susie’s Hair and Beauty’, do you know it. “

"Jen told me that she had been in for a makeover on Friday and suggested that I try it, but I can’t really afford those little luxuries, every spare penny I have goes on Marianne.”

“Let me have a word with Susie, I am sure that we can sort something out for you, it will do you good to have a bit of ‘me-time’, I know that Jen felt a lot better after her sessions with us.”

"That is so kind, but I’m not playing for sympathy, I stand on my own two feet.”

"I didn’t mean it like that, you deserve a bit of pampering, and having friends in the right places is what life is all about. Your main job is being a good mother to Marianne, but you should have a bit of time for yourself as well, and a couple of hours in the salon will do your confidence a world of wonders.”

"I tell you what, Jen is coming over to mine tonight, she knows I can’t get out much so she comes round when she can, why not join us?”

"If you’re sure that I am not interrupting your family time, I would love to, is about 7:30 ok? Give me your address and I will see you there later.”

As I walked home I was beginning to clear my head, a night with Karen and Jen would be a good test of whether I could really fit in with female company. When we were at university I often went out with Josie and her friends and was used to the general social chit-chat without feeling awkward or out of the conversations, even when the drifted into discussing periods and feminine hygiene and benefits of various types of underwear. They made very few allowances for me, although a lot of the more lurid details about times with their boyfriends were left until I was not around. At first some of their chat had embarrassed me, but I soon realised that they were just talking about things that were important to them.

Remembering what Susie had told me at the start of all this about needing to emphasise my femininity more than most girls who had a lifetime of experiences and learning how to behave, I decided to wear a skirt and blouse rather than something more casual, even though it was just to be a night in at Karen’s. I styled my hair and freshened my make-up and was soon ready to go. As Josie had given me her permission, I dug out her driving licence, put it in my purse and decided to drive to Karen’s as it would be a lot easier than taking two buses. Also it would be a lot safer going back home rather than having to deal with drunks and unwanted attention as a lone woman on a late night bus.

"Oh, Jo, you are looking so smart, you have made an effort, you make me feel a bit dowdy and lazy sitting here in my leggings and jumper.”

"Why don’t you treat this as a bit of a night out with the girls, go and put on a bit of slap and something more dressy, I will listen out for Marianne and take care of her if she wakes up and starts crying.”

“That sounds like fun if you don’t mind me leaving you, Jen should be here soon anyway.”

She soon came back looking much more her age, rather than a worn-out mum, having put on a figure-hugging dress and full make-up.”

"That’s a lot better, you are gorgeous when you make an effort, I know that you don’t want to waste too much time when you are only going to work, but a little bit of mascara, eye-liner and lipstick would give you a lot more confidence dealing with your customers.”

"Wow,"gasped Jen when she arrived, "Just look at you two, I didn’t know that this was supposed to be a dressy do.”

"We just thought that it was about time that Karen was ‘Karen’, rather than ‘Marianne’s mum’, I have brought a couple of bottles of wine and some popcorn, crisps, chocolates and stuff, let’s all have a night out, but in the house.”

We had a really enjoyable evening, reminiscing about our school days, Karen going through the highs and lows of her marriage, separation, and the struggles of being a single-mum, Jen giving us a rough outline of her Friday night out, me telling them about my (or rather Josie’s) time at university, the interview and job offer from the museum and how Joey was thinking about going off on a gap year or two. I really fitted in and was comfortable with the girls, they just accepted me as Jo.

“Thank you so much for coming round see Karen, the night has really brightened her up, she gets a bit lonely sometimes and needs to be pushed to make an effort. I try my best with her but a fresh face has made all the difference. We will have to do this again if that is ok with you."Jen told me as I was driving her home.

"I enjoyed it too, it is a long while since I have been out with the girls. Maybe next time, we will see if we can get a babysitter for Marianne and take Karen out somewhere.”

I got home , kicked off my shoes and sat down with a glass of wine, and came to a decision. I had passed the test I had set for myself and was going to to accept the job offer and become Jo for the immediate future.

To be continued.

After sleeping on it, my mind had not changed, I was going to become Jo for as long as the project went on, but I needed to ‘bite the bullet’ before I changed my mind, and phoned in to the salon.

"Hi Susie, is it ok if I am in a bit later coming in this morning, I have decided to take up the offer to Jo from the museum, and need to call them and sort it out. I will tell you all about it when I come in.”

"That’s fine Jo, I thought that you would come to that decision, you were so excited about the job, it is a wonderful opportunity for you, get in touch with the museum to confirm what you are going to do and I’ll see you later. The other girls will miss you, they have got used to having you around, but you have to do what you think is best for you. Just go for it girl, and don’t forget that is what you are now, you have to be committed to this.”

As soon as I ended the call to Susie, I took a deep breath and rang the museum before I had time to reconsider my decision.

"Good morning Jacqui, thank you very much for the job offer, although I knew it would be coming it was still reassuring to see it in writing. Everything is more than adequate, in fact even better than I expected, I will be delighted to accept, I am really looking forward to getting started as soon as possible and working alongside you and your team.”

“I’m really looking forward to you joining us and getting involved with this exciting project up at Ostia. Pop in sometime and I will tell you a lot more about what exactly we expect of you, what your duties will be and who you will be working alongside. We can go through the formalities, signing the forms, getting photos for your ID and the normal Health & Safety induction and things like that. I am a bit busy today, but tomorrow late afternoon looks good, is that fine with you?”

"That’s fine, see you about four, I’m really looking forward to joining you, and the sooner the better.”

I sat down for a while to settle my nerves before making my way to the salon and just got on with my work as normal until Susie and I were able to get together at lunchtime at the little deli/café next door.

"What convinced you to make the decision then, you seemed unsure, and it will mean a lot of changes for you. You will have to commit to being a girl full-time while the project is going on, you will have to look like a girl, act like a girl, and be prepared to be treated as a girl. I think that you will manage it, but are you certain that you can?”

"As a test of how convincing and passable I am, I had a night in with Jen and her sister Karen, you remember her from the café in the park, and I just mixed in with them and it felt almost like being with Josie and her friends at university, but even more so. Whilst I still don’t feel totally natural as a girl, I am comfortable with it and I think I will grow into it in time and not even think about what I am doing. I need to finish a bit early tomorrow, I am going to the museum to complete the paperwork and things, if you are happy with that.”

“Just get on with it Jo, and don’t worry. I suppose I had better start calling you Jo all the time now if that is who you are going to be for the next few years.”

"I have agreed with Josie that I will be temporarily taking over her ID as far as the authorities are concerned, and I will be using her identity, for tax, social security, official documents and things like that, she is just going to fade into the background as a stay-at-home mum. As far as anyone is concerned Joey is off travelling the world ‘finding himself’ and visiting most of the worlds major heritage sites and will be away for a long time. I will give it a short time as a trial and if it looks like it is going to be for the long-term I’ll have to do something to sort out the legal and official issues.”

"I am so pleased for you, you deserve it all, welcome to the world of womanhood, and if you need any help or advice, just give me a call, I’ll always be here for you. Come on now, let’s get back to the salon, for the next four days you are still going to be working for me.”

Now I had made my decision, I was much more at ease and just accepted myself as female and promised to be as natural and normal as any other girl, I had to banish all thoughts as Joey from my mind and just get on with life as Jo.

The discussions with Jacqui went well, the more she told me about the role I would have, the more excited I became and the happier I was with the decision I had made. She then presented me with the contract of employment with all the usual restrictions and responsibilities. I eagerly signed, feeling strange, as for the first time, with a loopy girly script, I had legally committed myself as Jo Johnson.

The next few days, after sorting things out at the museum, quickly passed in a blur. Friday afternoon, before I finished in the salon, Susie and the girls gave me a complete makeover, hair styled in soft waves, a full facial including getting my eyebrows thinned and shaped a lot more than they had done previously, my nails shaped and polished and my legs and arms waxed, not forgetting getting my ears pierced and fitted with studs, before taking me out for a farewell drink. I had only been with them all for a couple of weeks but felt that I knew them as friends and promised to call in to see them occasionally.

I saw Jen as I got on the bus and as I sat down next to her, she opened her local newspaper and pointed to a photo of me and Jacqui. Included in a feature publicising the roman finds and the project to find out exactly what was there and what could be done with it. When taking my photo for my ID badge, there had been a few more of the pair of us together welcoming me to the team, and Jacqui had obviously decided to include one of them in the press release.

"Hey, just look at you, you are now famous, at least in this town, it is a super photo of you. When you told us about your new job, you never mentioned that it is as important as this, you have done really well for yourself girl. If we can get a babysitter for Marianne how about you, me, and Karen going out tonight to celebrate.”

A few phone calls later and it was all arranged, their mum would look after Marianne, letting Karen have a rare night out.

When I got home I realised that I did not have a lot of choice of what to wear, most of the clothes I had been using were Josie’s. Now that I was committed for the next two or three years, I needed to get a lot more of my own and would have to do some serious shopping. It would hit my credit card quite hard, but with my new salary I would be able to cope with it.

I had quick shower, taking care not to splash my hair or face, so as not to ruin the work of the girls in the salon, powdered myself dry and decided to wear the blue and white dress that I had worn for my interview, but only after putting on the sexiest bra and pantie set that I had bought, and of course a clean padded-pantie to give me a fuller shape. If I was going to be Jo, i wanted to do it properly. All ready for my night out I called a taxi so that we could all have a bit of a drink and collected Jen and Karen on the way.

“Hi girls, you are both looking gorgeous tonight, you really must make an effort more often Karen, you look a different person.”

“Well, I knew that you would be dressed to kill and I couldn’t be shown up by you could I?”

I had decided to treat them to a meal at a little Greek restaurant which served traditional food and as we walked in we were welcomed by a grinning waiter, oozing professional mediterranean charm.

“Good evening beautiful ladies, you are lighting up my restaurant, I am Costas and it will be my pleasure to serve you tonight.” he greeted us in a smooth Greek voice, although later we heard him talking to the barman in a very strong local accent, we didn’t believe that he had ever been anywhere near Greece in his life, but he was good fun and very attentive.

The traditional starters of Dolmas ( stuffed vine leaves ) and Kolokythokeftedes (aubergine fritters) along with Tarmasalata (fish roe dip) and Tzatziki (Yoghurt cucumber and garlic dip) on a sharing platter went down a treat as the others had never had any of them before. We all ordered different main courses, Moussaka for Karen, Souvlaki (meat skewers) for Jen, and Seared Red Mullet for me, so that we could all try a bit of each of the selections. We all chose to finish of with Baclava, a gorgeous desert of filo pastry on honey and ground mixed nuts. Since I was paying for the meals the girls bought a couple of bottles of Assyrtiko, a white wine from Santorini to go with it all.

After all the meals had been served and tables cleared, the chef and waiters led all the customers in the Sirtaki (Zorba’s Dance) and a series of other traditional dances to finish off the night. Costas made sure that he was always with me or Karen and it felt strange, but comforting, to have his arm around my waist as we danced. We all had a super meal and an enjoyable time, particularly Karen as it was a rarity for her to go out. I was celebrating starting at the museum, Karen was celebrating being one of the girls again rather than a mum, Jen was just celebrating as young single girls like to do, but it was soon time for the taxi to take us all home again.

We dropped Karen off so that she could let her mum go back home, then Jen suggested that the two of us went onto a club. However I wasn’t sure that I was yet ready to go into the meat market of a night club and face the prospect of being approached by men. I might be looking and acting like a girl, but my brain was still definitely male, so I told her that I had to get back home too which disappointed her a bit but I promised that maybe next time I would go with her. She brightened up a bit when I told her that I needed to do major shopping for some new outfits over the weekend and asked if she would like to come with me to help me choose, which cheered her up again, and we arranged to meet in town Saturday lunchtime.

I had a long restful sleep and woke up feeling ready to go shopping with Jen, I had made my decisions and had now just got to get into the spirit of things in my new life as Jo. As Josie had told me, she couldn’t make decisions for me any longer and I had to learn to stand on my own two feet.

I didn’t really need to shave as I was not particularly hairy, but a close shave and moisturise soon had me ready to apply a light daytime make up, put on a clean set of undies and deciding what to wear. As I would be trying on clothes I decided that a skirt and top would be easier for changing that jeans, so I raided Josie’s wardrobe again and found a plain mid-thigh denim skirt which fitted me really well, and paired it with a loose cotton top which would also be easier to take off and put on again.

I moved all my bits and pieces into a casual shoulder bag which went better with my outfit than the formal one I had been using, thinking to myself that there were too many choices to take into consideration as a girl, what goes together, what suits me, the last thing on the list was ‘what is comfortable’.

When I met Jen in town she was raring to go.

"What are you after Jo? I know most of the decent shops, give me an idea of what you are looking for and I’ll work out the best place to start.”

"Most of my stuff is from when I was at university, and is probably too casual or sloppy for work. I need a couple of dresses, skirts and blouses for more formal times at work, some trousers and tops for normal daytime wear, and some jeans and heavy jumpers for when I am working out on site. That will be a good start and we will see if we come across anything else on the way.”

"I’m glad it will all be going on your credit card, not mine, I love shopping but have to do it in small doses, not on a big splurge like this. Come on , let’s get started, i am going to enjoy this.”

The next three hours was a mad rush from shop to shop, trying on a lot, buying some, giving a lot back to the sales assistants. Jen’s enthusiasm was beginning to rub off on me, and by the time we had found everything I needed, and a lot more that I hadn’t realised was necessary, we were both exhausted and sat down in the food court of the mall for a bit of a rest, some coffee, and a lunch.

She never stopped chattering away all through lunch.The date that I had helped Jen get ready for in the salon had turned into a regular thing by now, and she took great delight in telling me all the details at length and how wonderful her boyfriend was.

Most of the time when Joey was out with his mates, any discussion on girlfriends and how they were getting on was usually met with a big grin, a knowing wink and not much more, but Jen insisted on sharing an awful lot more that she should and I was beginning to get a bit uncomfortable. When I had been out with Josie and her friends at university, they did have long discussions about their boyfriends but kept the more intimate stuff for when they sent me to the bar for drinks, changing the subject when I returned. With Jen, I soon realised that I was now included in these discussions and would have to get used to them.

I dropped Jen off at her house and made my way home to unpack all the bags I had collected on the way. I packed away most of Josie’s stuff back in her room, except for the few bits and pieces that I wanted to keep using, like the dress I had worn for the interview and its mirror twin, and moved all my new stuff into the wardrobe and drawers that were now spare. Although I would not be using anything, I left some of Joey’s stuff where it was, just in case it was ever needed in a hurry.

The rest of the weekend I just relaxed and tried to plan out what I would need to do in my new job, and Monday morning soon came around when it would all become my new reality.

I was not sure whether I would be sent immediately to the dig site or whether I would be in the museum all day, meeting my new colleagues and getting instructed in my duties, so I decided on dress trousers, a loose blouse, and 3” heels to start with, but took a set of site clothes with me just in case.

"Hello, I’m Jo Johnson, I am starting here this morning.” I introduced myself to the receptionist with a big smile.

‘Oh Hi, I’m Michelle, pleased to meet you. Ms McGregor is expecting you, so just go straight through, up the stairs and it is the first on the right. Get yourself settled in and we can have a coffee and chat later.”

"Thanks so much Michelle, I’ll find out what I am doing first, depending on that, I’ll see you later.”

I quickly made my way up to Jacqui’s office, knocked on the open-door, and she waved me to sit down while she ended a phone call.

"Good Morning Jacqui, where do we start?”

"We are still trying to sort out exactly who does what, and when, on this project. For the moment, there is a desk for you in the next office along the corridor, sharing the room with Laura Lambton, our Head Curator. You will find on your desk a couple of files telling you more about the project and what they have already found. Get yourself familiar with it all and we will talk later. I have asked Laura to introduce you to everyone and show you where things are. I need to rush, I have a meeting with one of the project sponsors, trying to squeeze a bit more money out of them, so can’t keep them waiting. See you later.”

I easily found Laura and my new office, introduced myself, hung my coat on the stand and my bag on my chair and settled down for a chat with her.

"Don’t get too comfortable Jo, we have more important things to do, follow me and I’ll show you where the kitchenette is and we can grab a coffee and then have a chat.” I decided that I would enjoy sharing the office with her, she seemed to be very pleasant and easy-going.

"Tell me about yourself Jo, are you local?”

"Yes, born and bred about just a couple of miles away, went to the local comprehensive school, 3 years at university and now I find myself here. I share a house with my brother, Joey, But he has gone off touring the world on a gap year, or two, so I will have the house all to myself. This is my first real job since graduating, but I have been doing casual stuff to pay the bills, temping and such like, and am really looking forward to doing a proper job that I have trained for.”

"You’ll find that we are quite an informal sociable group here. I know that you will be out at the site a lot but we’ll make sure you are in the loop if we are planning anything. In some ways I would have liked to do what you will be doing, but the thought of cold wet autumn and winter days on site getting my clothes and hands really grubby does not appeal to me, but Jacqui says that you have done it before and are looking forward to it.”

"Eventually when the dig is finished and everything, I would like to be included in the team setting up the exhibition that will follow on from it, and maybe be involved in running it, that is unless I decide that I like being outside in the cold and wet making the discoveries in the future.”

We were interrupted by a lively tune of an incoming call on Laura’s phone, which she passed to me after answering it.

"It’s Jacqui for you, she hasn’t got your number programmed into her phone yet.”

"Hi Jacqui, what can I do for you?”

"I am going out to the dig site with Howard Shepherd, the CEO of a major construction company who is already one of our funding patrons. He wants to have a look at what has been found so far and he wants to meet our on-site representative, ie. you. I think I’ve convinced him to put his hand deeper into his pocket, but he just needs a final nudge. Get yourself out here as soon as you can, and make sure that you have a decent pair of boots on, it is a typical messy dig site.”

"I’m on my way, should be there in about 20 minutes.”

I soon arrived on site, put on my safety boots, hi-vis jacket and hard hat, that luckily I had decided to bring with me in the car, and I was ready to go and find Jacqui and Mr Shepherd.

"There you are Jo, come and meet Howard Shepherd, who is a major supporter of this project.” Jacqui called over to me.

"Pleased to meet you Mr Shepherd, I’m really excited to be involved in this dig, it could be very good for the area as well as filling in a lot of gaps in our local history.”

"If we are going to be involved on this together, please call me Howard. Along with the other funders we need you to be our eyes and ears on site, so we all need to give each other mutual respect, there is to be no ‘us and them’. Let’s go and see what the dig team have been up to.”

We spent an hour or so looking around the site. There had not yet been much excavation, the time had mainly been spent setting up the facilities for the dig team, The main items of interest were the aerial ground scans, which showed the possibility of an extensive network of buildings and paths down to the estuary. We were just about to leave when a familiar figure joined us.

“Good afternoon Professor, let me introduce everybody."said Jacqui taking the lead.

“Hello Richard, let me introduce everyone. This is Howard Shepherd who is supporting us with funding along with the grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and this is Jo Johnson, who will be the county’s representative on the project, and Professor Richard Carter who is the lead archaeologist.”

"Pleased to meet you all, particularly you Howard, I am really glad of the support you are giving us."replied the Professor, giving him a firm handshake

He then turned to me and smiled.

“Jo Johnson? Were you not in some of my lectures at the University? If I remember correctly your brother was also in the study group and was involved in one of my digs. What is he up to now?”

"As he has not found anything suitable yet, he has gone off for a gap year touring major archaeological sites around the world. He would have loved to be involved with this dig too, but never mind.”

"As I recall he always was a bit of a free spirit, so that does not surprise me.”

As soon as I said that I realised that I had now burned all my bridges, there was no way that ‘Jo’ could disappear and ‘Joey’ come back into the picture to take over.

I was suddenly startled by a camera flash and stepped back.

‘Don’t be shy Jo, when I am doing things like this I like pictures for our company blog and sometimes for our website, so usually have a photographer with me, no publicity is bad for you. Come back here and we will get a proper group photo taken.” Howard gently grabbed my arm and tugged me into the centre of the group.

I arranged with Professor Carter to return to the site on Wednesday to meet with him and his site team leader, Jake, to go through everything in detail and, as it was now late afternoon I just went directly home rather than returning to the museum.

I kicked off my shoes, flopped down on the sofa and tried to relax. Although the day had gone well, I had constantly been on edge, wary of being discovered. I thought again about having told Laura in the office, and Jacqui and the others at the site ,about Joey, and realised that I needed to keep my personal life as vague as possible, the more people knew about me, the higher would be the chance of something going wrong.

I was just about to go and change my clothes and get out of the body shaper and relax, when the doorbell rang.

"Hi Josie, a courier left a parcel for you this morning.” said Maggie Watkins, one of my neighbours, who had only recently moved in, as she passed me a large brown envelope.

"Thanks Maggie, sorry about that. I have just started work today and forgot I had placed an order. Next time I will arrange for it to be collected down at the depot. To save confusion with someone I am working with everybody is just calling me Jo now.”

"Don’t worry about it, I am usually at home and am quite happy to take things in for you. Besides, I read in the papers about your new job, and it sounds really exciting.”

"Come in and we’ll have a cup of tea and some cake while I tell you all about it.”

I told Maggie all about what had been found at the dig and what I would be doing and we chatted about all sorts of general things about what was going on in the neighbourhood. I thought to myself that this was the longest conversation with any of the neighbours that I had for a very long time, and that, as Jo, I would probably be involved with them an awful lot more.

"Where is Joey, I haven’t seen him around for a few days, is he on holiday somewhere?”

"Sort of, he has taken a year or so off and is touring around the world.”

‘Sally Williams’ son, Jack, did that, he came back a totally different person, much more confident and sociable, I hope Joey enjoys it as much. Anyway I have enjoyed our chat but I better be getting back. As you are on your own, feel free to call around if you are feeling lonely or need someone to talk to.”

As she left I thought that it was another person that I had lied to about Joey, and although she was a pleasant woman and a good neighbour, she was a chatterbox, and I was sure that half the neighbourhood would know what was going on within a couple of days. I also realised that I could not switch out of character as Jo, I always had to be prepared for someone, particularly Maggie, calling at the door. Jo would have to stay full time for the duration, no removing the breast forms or dressing casually in my Joey’s sloppy jeans and t-shirts, there was no escaping back to life as Joey for me in the near future.

To be continued.

I soon settled in at the museum, Laura was particularly helpful in telling me who was who, what their roles were, and how the museum operated. Marianne was a lot more open and useful in telling me who were the ‘good guys’ and who to watch out for. She was quite a gossip and, over coffee breaks, I soon knew more than I really wanted to or needed to know about most of my colleagues.

A few days later Marianne rushed into my office to see me, wearing a huge smile and obviously extremely excited.

"Have you seen your emails yet Jo?”

"No, why, is there something important.”

“I wouldn’t be in here if it wasn’t, open up your computer quickly and look at the mail from Jacqui, forwarding the message from Howard Shepherd of Infrastructure Construction, and go to the link in blue.”

There I was in the photo grinning like a ‘Cheshire Cat’ alongside Jacqui, Howard, and Professor Carter in the news section of the IC website, with a long description of the project and how IC were pleased and proud to be associated with it and the knowledgeable and experienced team that would be carrying out the investigation. There was even an individual photo of each of us and what our roles would be.

“That is brilliant Jo, you are definitely now the public face of the dig at Ostia, mixing with a university professor, the CEO of a large company and the museum director, You are a dark horse, I bet you never expected that all this would take off so quickly.”

“To be honest Marianne, it is all happening a bit too fast for me, I can’t take it all in sometimes.”

“ Look, just go with it, it can’t harm your career. Make the most of your time in the spotlight, you seem to be the flavour of the month, you never know how long it will last.”

“Jo, can you pop into my office please.” a phone call from Jacqui interrupted us.

"I’ve just seen the article and photo on the IC website, did you know they were doing it Jacqui?”

"They did ask, and I think it is a brilliant idea, we need to talk about this. Can you pull together something similar for our website, and maybe a weekly blog, keeping everyone up to date with what is happening on site.”

"It’s an awful photo, I am grinning like an idiot.”

"Don’t be silly, you look exactly how I want our image to be, young, attractive, enthusiastic, and you are quite photogenic. If you cannot manage to set it up, go and have a chat with Darren Gibson who does our PR, he will sort you out with the programs and tell you how to use them. After that it will be up to you to keep it all up to date. I don’t want it to be the normal stuffy image that people have of museum staff, i want you to present a youthful vibrant image to get younger people involved with the project so that when it is all completed and we open a specialist museum highlighting the background and findings that they will all be keen to visit.”

"Does it have to be me fronting it, can’t Darren just set it up and update it with information that i feed him?”

"I’ve just said to you that we want a young vibrant image for this project, you are ideal for it. Besides, being the public face of this project has always been part of your job description. Are you saying that you can’t handle it?”

"OK, I’ll sort it all out, it has just come as a bit of a surprise how high-profile my role will be.”

Rather than jump straight in with the blog, I went out to the dig site to have a bit of time to myself to think about how I would approach this and handle my image being constantly put out on the internet in a blog, or even a vlog as Jacqui had told me she preferred. The more that was out there about me, the more likely it would be that someone would put two and two together and realise that I was Joey not Jo. However, I had to accept that I did not really have a choice, if I wanted to keep this job it was something that I would have to do.

“ Hi Jack, how’s it going, anything exciting happening on site yet?”

“Not a lot of progress has been made on site that would be of general public interest, until the dig gets down to archaeological levels it will all appear slow and boring to the general public.”

“Is it ok for me to go and take a few photos of the dig team, down on their hands and knees using trowels to carefully move and sift the top soil. To you archaeologists it is the boring phase of the project, but to the general public it is exciting to see that something is happening. In case you have not heard, the sponsors, the council and the museum want to really go for a high public profile on this project. I have been press-ganged into being the public face for the more personal aspects, although obviously the Professor, you, and the university team will front the academic side of it all.”

“We have heard, and some of the guys on site have already seen the IC website news page and made comments about them doing all the work and others getting the glory. A bit of a show of some of the real work and the team involved wouldn’t do any harm.”

“I understand that, on other projects I have been where they are. Where’s a good place to start?”

“If you go up to the top of the site, they are just starting to expose the top of the foundation walls of one of the buildings, you might be able to get a few decent photos of where they are at.”

As Jack had said, it was still at a very early stage, but the team were happy to pose for a few photos against the background of a line of stone foundations. Sifting in my mind how I could make this interesting for the blog, I went to see Darren about setting it all up.

Walking into his office, i was surprised to see a smart-but-casually-dressed quite attractive young man in his late twenties with a pleasant smile. “Hi Darren, I’m Jo and I am working on the Ostia Septentrionalis project, has Jacqui McGregor had a word with you about helping me set up a vlog?”

"She called me about an hour ago, I have been expecting you to come over to see me. Now I’ve seen you I can understand why she wants you to be the public image for this project, she is definitely trying for the youth interest and you will have an appeal to both boys and girls.The boys will follow you because they will find you attractive and cute, and the girls because they will be able to relate to you, and all of them because you are young and you can talk to them in language that they will understand. How ‘tech savvy’ are you, how basic do I need to start to start off with the instructions?”

I blushed at his description of me as attractive and cute, but said nothing, I was still uncomfortable with comments about my looks, I was not used to so many compliments growing up as Joey.

“I know my way around computers, most of the usual programs needed for my Uni course, a few on-line games, social media and things like that, but I have never set up a blog. and don’t know where to start.”

Darren showed me a couple of programs that were much more professional and flexible than the ones most personal bloggers used, took me through how to set them up and manipulate things and gave me a lot of tips on presentation techniques.

"Apart from making sure that you have an appropriate backdrop, probably an image of the site, preferably a video, keep it simple. don’t use technical or academic language, or if you have to, explain what you mean in plain English. Go through your recording at least twice to edit out any coughs or throat-clearing, or especially any photobombing by other people on the site, before you upload it onto the news page of the museum website. When you get anything of special interest, put it up on Youtube, if you don’t know how, come and see me again.”

"Thank you so much Darren, you have been a big help. I’ll definitely come back when I have done my first vlog to let you critique it before it goes live, if that is ok.”

"Anytime you like, just give me a call, I’ll be glad to help. I am just about finished for the afternoon, do you fancy a quick drink to round off a busy day? There is a decent pub, The Woodman’s Arms, just round the corner, and I promise I will not talk shop.”

Thinking to myself “How would Josie react”, I agreed go with him. He went to the bar to get a couple of beers, and came back with a pint for him but just a half for me, another reminder of my new role in life. He was pleasant company and seemed to be interested in me and how I was settling in at my new job, asking about my time at university and an hour or so passed quite quickly. I was relaxed with him and surprised myself by hoping that we could do this again sometime.

I soon set off for home, pulled onto the drive and was just about to go in when I heard my name being called and turned around to see Maggie from over the road.

"I’m glad to see you Jo. After our chat the other day, I bookmarked ‘Ostia Septentrionalis”’and have seen the post from Infrastructure Construction and your photo etc. This is so exciting, I have never known anyone in the public eye before, why not come over and tell me a bit more about it all?”

"Give me some time to get out of my work clothes and clean up and I will be over in about a half-hour, ok?” She seemed so excited about it that I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I just wanted to get in, put on some casual clothes sit down and relax.

I quickly stripped, had a wash, freshened up my makeup and, since it was a warm evening, put on a light floating flowery skirt and peasant top and popped over to Maggie’s. She had already prepared scones with jam and cream, cake, biscuits and tea and was obviously in the mood for a long chat.

"It must be most interesting having a job like yours, I just work as a receptionist at the doctors and it can be so routine and boring sometimes, I envy young girls like you, you have so many more opportunities than I did my day. Most of the girls I was at school with became secretaries/typists, shop assistants or worked on production in the clothing factories, the lucky ones became nurses, which gave them a chance to meet and marry doctors.”

“You are not that much older than me, I’m sure that you could’ve done many things.”

"Times and attitudes change quickly. For many girls, when I was your age, it did not matter which job you got, it was only something you did to earn enough to keep you going until you married and had a family. Quite rightly, you all want to have a worthwhile career nowadays.”

"What about you Maggie, I’m ashamed to say that in the time since you moved here I have never said much more than hello to you when we passed in the street.”

"Life is a bit like that nowadays, everybody is so busy and wrapped up in their own lives that there is no time for anyone else."

She quickly ran through her life story school, marriage, divorce, no family and how she now spent her time.

"Anyway that is enough about me, tell me about this wonderful job of yours and the people you will be working with.”

Actually, talking with Maggie, who was a keen and interested listener gave me a lot of tips as to what to include on my website and vlog. Somethings really sparked her interest, such as what we knew about the roman occupation of Ostia Septentrionalis and how it was an important trading post, but how little we knew about what life was like for the people there at the time, it seemed that she and many like her would prefer to hear about personal details rather than obscure artefacts that we would turn up.

I enjoyed my evening with Maggie, she was so sociable and easy to talk with and was genuinely interested in what I was doing but it was soon time to go back home.

"Thank you so much for coming over, I have enjoyed myself this evening. During the days I have plenty to keep me occupied, work, lots of friends, and places to go, but everyone has their own lives and evenings can get a bit lonely sometimes. Anytime you want to unwind or share problems just come over. Let me know when you have set up your vlog and updated the museum website, I’ll be one of your first followers.”

She surprised me by giving me a goodbye hug and peck on the cheek. Even when I used to go out with Josie and her friends, I was never included in their round of goodbyes, it was strictly a females-only thing, I was not invited to join in, I supposed that I would now have to get used to being hugged more often, women were much more demonstrative with each other than men.

At work the next day I started on my vlog and opened an ‘Ostia Septentrionalis’ page on the museum website and pulled together the photos I had taken of the dig team and what they had found. Before I uploaded it all, I went to see Darren again to make sure that I had used the programs correctly and not done anything silly. As had been instructed to me, I had written the reports in a friendly chatty style rather than a more formal manner, so as to appeal to the youth target market. I was really just introducing myself and the project as there was not a lot of factual content on findings or discoveries to reveal yet, but I added a bit of background general detail about the lives of the Roman traders, settlers, and soldiers to try to generate a bit of interest..

We went through the report and before I could stop him Darren hit the ‘post’ key and it was all uploaded. “You can read through and re-edit these things until the cows come home, but you will be replacing it all next week, it is not as if it is a great work of literature that will be read for many many years, although it is pretty good and I like the style. Just continue like that and you will do alright, let’s see how many views and likes you generate.”

“Thanks for that Darren, you have been a big help, I couldn’t have done it without you, let me buy you lunch as payback, we can go down to the Woodman’s Arms and see what they have on if you have time.”

"I always have time for the Woodman’s, especially with you.” he replied with a smile, causing me to blush a little, he kept having this effect on me.

As we were leaving afterwards, he turned to me hesitantly “Would you like to go out properly with me sometime, rather than just work lunches and drinks, I am enjoying our little chats and it is always nice to go out with an attractive girl.”, causing me to blush even deeper.

"Of course I would love to, but let’s leave it for a while, I am still finding my feet at the museum and am quite worn out when I get back home, and will not be the best of company. That is not a brush-off by the way, I am looking forward to it.”

"Don’t leave it too long Jo, I might get snapped up by someone else.” he said as he went back to his office, leaving me with a smile on my face.

I thought to myself ‘What are you doing, you have only been acting as a girl for a few weeks and are already flirting and arranging dates, slow down Jo.’

When I arrived back at the office, Laura had a serious look on her face. “Jacqui has been looking for you and has said that she wants to see you in her office as soon as you turn up.” I hung up my coat and bag, knocked on her door, and warily went in.

"Ah, Jo, I see that you have been busy and already posted to the website and vlog. It would have been polite to let me see it before it was posted.” she said scowling at me.

"I’m sorry it was all uploaded by me by mistake, I meant to show it to you first.” I didn’t want to blame Darren as I appreciated what he had done for me, and, surprisingly, didn’t want to ruin the chances of a date with him.

"Water under the bridge Jo, don’t worry, I am actually very impressed with what you have done, it is exactly the approach I wanted you to take, and both the vlog and the web page are getting a lot of hits and likes, keep up the high standard you have set for yourself.” her scowl had changed to a friendly big smile.

"Go and spend a few days on site, get to know the dig staff and volunteers, you need to keep the human interest side going. Leave all the academic stuff to the Professor and his team, you concentrate on the personal touches, that is your target audience. As and when they make any significant findings you should obviously report that, but don’t forget about the people behind the finds. It might help to get to know them all if you actually spend some time down on your hands and knees with a trowel, getting your hands dirty with them, but I will leave that up to you. Well done Jo, keep it up.”

Back in the office, Laura had already been for coffees for us and sat down for a chat.

"How did it all go down with Jacqui, she seemed a bit surprised that you had posted it all without showing it to anybody.”

"I thought at first that she was tearing me off a strip, but she then said that she was very impressed with what i had done, and to keep on doing it. I didn’t mean to post it without showing her, but Darren just leaned across me and hit the ‘post’ button when I wasn’t looking.”

"What, Darren the hunk? You have only been here a few days and are already making a play for him, you don’t waste any time.”

"It’s not like that, he helped me set it all up and looked at my posts before uploading them, and we went for lunch and a drink as a thank you, but that is all.”

“Lunch and a drink! I bet he asked you out again and you have agreed. The look on your face says that I am right, As I said, you don’t waste any time, go for it girl, a lot of the other girls have been trying to get their claws into him!”

Later, I managed to get back into the house without being spotted by Maggie and was sitting with a coffee when the phone rang disturbing my peace and quiet.

Hi Jo, it’s Karen. Jen saw your vlog and told me about it and I’ve just had a look, you are amazing, you really come across well and explain things clearly. Do you fancy coming round sometime and telling me a bit more about what you are doing, I am very interested to find out about Ostia Septentrionalis, I have never heard about it before. Pop round tonight if you want, don’t worry about getting changed or anything, just come as you are.”

"Ok , give me an hour, I do need to get out of my work clothes and freshen up, but I will not be going mad like the last time I came.”

"I was glad to get out of the tight jeans and top I had worn for work, I was not totally used yet
to how snug all girls’ clothes fitted and felt a bit constricted. Funnily the only thing I did not feel squeezed by was the bra, which most girls never stopped complaining about, I was glad of the support it gave me.

A quick wash, refresh of my makeup and a brush of my hair into a loose style, slipping into a light summer skirt and top and I was soon on my way.

When I arrived, I wasn’t really too surprised to see Jen there as well, and after quick friendly welcoming hugs we sat down with a glass of wine to tell them what I had been up to. After looking at the blog and web page and telling them how I had prepared it all with Darren’s help, Jen butted in.”

"Who is this Darren then, tell us a bit more about him?”

"He is just someone who helped me set everything up , he does our PR and information sheets.”

"What’s he like then?” Jen kept pushing for more details

"I don’t know too much about him, other than that he is 28, good-looking, in fact my office mate Laura calls him ‘The Hunk’, single, and he is quite pleasant to be with and I have been out for a drink with him.”

"That all sounds great, when are you seeing him again.?”

"We have a sort of loose date arranged, no definite time set, we’ll see how it goes.”

"Don’t leave it too long, if he is that good he won’t be free too long. From the sound of him, if you don’t want him, pass him over to me.” which caused us all to burst into a fit of giggles.

“Jen, you’re as bad as Laura in the office, I’ve only met the guy twice and you are all trying to marry me off. As it is, I will be working at the dig site for the next few days and will probably be too tired to be good company anyway, maybe we’ll get together next week sometime.”

When I got back home, I sat and thought about Jen and Karen who were becoming very good friends, we got on well together and enjoyed each other’s company, it was particularly good for Karen to have a social life outside house and home, and working in the café. It was a change for me as well. since leaving university I had not had any really close friends. There were people down at the pub I could have a drink with, talk football, girls, and cars but that was as far as it went. In the short time that I had met Jen and Karen I already knew more about their lives problems and feelings than about the lives of anyone else, other than Josie.

The next few days on the site I really threw myself into the archaeological activities. The dig team were concentrating on the small part of the site already exposed by the people who had made the discovery, and had enough hands to do the immediate work, so I was assigned to filtering through the spoil heaps already created by the farmers. The first day was fairly uneventful and tedious, but the next I unearthed a couple of mud-caked old pots and an item of jewellery. These were cleaned up by the team looking after the artefacts, but they turned out to be medieval rather than roman, but at least it was a start. That is the way it goes with archeological digs, you go down through several layers before finding artefacts from earlier periods the deeper you go.

It did give me though a bit of a spark to include in my vlog some details of accidental finds when actually hoping for something else, and how the site staff can work for hours without finding anything until, all of a sudden, something magical is uncovered. It also gave me a chance to show me working on the dig to show that I was not just there as a monitor and reporter.

“I’ve just watched your vlog. That’s a wonderful view of you Jo, bending over and scraping away at the ground.” joked Josie when she called me that night. You really fill those tight jeans.”

“In case you are wondering, it is not all me, I do need a bit of help to give me a half-decent figure.”

“Well, anyone seeing that image should have no doubts that you are a girl, you are really settling into the role like a hand in a glove.”

“The way it looks Jo is going to be around for at least a couple of years, if not longer, so I am just trying to get used to it.”

“I have to rush, I can hear dragon-in-law coming, I’ll give you a call in a few days, bye for now.”

That made me realise what I had committed to and I sat brooding for a while about where my future was headed.

I was now adjusting more and more to life as a girl and was accepted by everybody at work and in my social life as Jo. It was now time to meet with my sister to make sure about what her plans were before I got deeper and deeper into living and working as Jo.

‘Hi Josie, can we meet up for a chat, there are a few things we need to agree on.”

“ I can’t talk at the moment, I will call you back later.” she replied, obviously within earshot of someone she did not want to overhear our conversation.

When she eventually rang back I sensed that something was wrong. she was not the lively bubbly person that I had last spoken to .

"Are you alright, you sound a bit on edge? What happened to all the wonderful excitement of your new life with Jack, you haven’t had a row have you?”.”

"I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

“Josie, as I said before, can we meet up I need to have a talk with you?”

"It’s a bit difficult, can we not just chat on the phone.”

"You have me worried now, no, we really must meet. To save problems about us being seen together, we need to meet away from here and from the sound of it away from Jack and his folks.”

"I can’t do today or tomorrow, but the following day is fine, find a place about halfway between us and text me the details.”

I wanted to make an impact impression on Josie and so took extra time and care getting myself ready to meet her. The previous night I had washed and conditioned my, hair, blow dried it almost dry and put it up in rollers the same way that Susie had, put on a toning face mask while I was doing my nails, and used waxing strips to clean up the odd hairs on my legs and arms.

I wanted to look smart casual but feminine so I brushed out my hair into soft waves, with a barrette high at the back to hold the top in place, but just left the sides hanging loose, and applied my make up very subtly, not too over the top. I quickly dressed in a lilac floral summer skirt and plain white Broderie Anglaise gypsy top and white sandals with a slight wedge sole, and was ready to present myself for the first time as Jo to my sister.

I walked into the hotel where we had arranged to meet and saw Josie already there sitting at a corner table. She looked up in surprise when I walked over to her table and sat down opposite her and was silent for a while as she took it all in and had to catch her breath.

"OMG, look at you Jo, apart from the hair style it is almost like looking in a mirror. Actually I really like your hair like that, I might get mine done the same. Susie told me that she had done a good job on you, but I never imagined that you would look so convincing.”

"Just stop gabbling and calm down Josie, let me order some drinks and then we need to have a proper talk.”

I called over a waiter and ordered a white wine spritzer for me and a diet cola for Josie, she had been advised that although she was only in the early stages of her pregnancy that alcohol should be avoided.

"There are some things I need to talk to you about, but first, tell me what is wrong, you seemed so tense on the phone the other day. Are you having second thoughts about Jack?”

"No, definitely not, Jack is fine, in fact better than fine, he is amazing. It’s his folks that are the problem, particularly his mother, she is so controlling and dominating. She wants to know everything I am doing and where I am going, and even has someone following me most of the time, for my security they say. I only managed to get away to see you today by telling them that I had an appointment with my obstetrician about the baby.”

"Is there anything I can do to help?”

"Now I have seen you, I think there might be. I need a bit of breathing space while I sort out what I want to do about his parents. I can arrange to spend a few days with Ellie, one of the gang from university, if you can cover for me. I will tell Jack and his folks that I need to come back home to sort out a few things with you about the house and get some of my stuff. If we can get our hair done in similar styles anyone following me would not be able to easily tell the difference between us. Can you do that for me please?”

“Of course, I will do anything I can to help you. However there could be a problem. I am getting on well at work, and as part of my job I am posting a vlog every week updating people about what is going on on site. It tends to be mainly local viewers but this could turn into a major discovery and I will be more high profile. We need to get a story together in case anyone spots that there are two identical Josephine Johnsons living totally separate lives.”

"Hmm, let me have a think about that. Now tell me all about how Susie turned you into the spitting image of me, how you have adjusted to your new life as a girl, and about this job of yours that should have been mine.”

I gave her all the details of Susie transforming and coaching me, meeting up and becoming friends with Karen and Jen, all the activity at the museum and the dig site and the people involved, including my sorting out the vlog and website updates with Darren.

"Are you comfortable with all this, Jo seems to be taking you over.”

"At first I was embarrassed and a bit awkward, convinced that I would soon be discovered, but the longer it goes on the more at ease I am, and I just get on with things and don’t even think about it too much.”

"Wow, you have been a busy girl haven’t you, tell me more about Darren, he sounds a lot more interesting than the the dig.”

"What is it with all you girls, Karen, Jen, Laura and now you, are all trying to get me paired of with him, don’t forget who I really am."

"Come off it Jo, you are stunning, you look and act as a girl, and you even talk like one now, just accept what you now are, at least for the next few years, and enjoy it all. There are not many boys who get the opportunity that you have to experience life on the fair side.”

‘Keep your voice down Josie, someone might hear you.”

“I’ve been thinking Jo. Everyone has been told that Joey is away seeing the world for a while so I will tell Jack and his family that he has asked his cousin to house sit for him while he and I are away and that she is working on the archaeological project. Mum is a twin and I can tell Jack and his folks that you are Auntie Jane’s daughter, who also happens to be called Josephine, a traditional name in our wider family. That way there will be no problems when you meet the family, or if they do come across your vlog.”

"“This is getting confusing, there are too many of us called Jo, you Josie, me Joey, me Josephine or Jo, and now cousin Jo.

"That’s the whole point, we will never use the wrong name by mistake, but it might help if you keep using the name ‘Jo’ on your vlog, that way it differentiates between us a bit more.”

"Ok, that might work, and will not be a problem.”

"Right, change of subject Jo. Assuming I can sort out how to get myself out of the control clutches of Jack’s parents, we want to arrange a wedding date, and it will be soon, before the baby shows too much. I was going to ask you as Joey to escort me down the aisle with Dad to give me away, but I suppose that I will now have to ask you as Jo to be my Chief Bridesmaid, are you up for it?”

"Does that mean that Dad and Mum will be coming over for the wedding and for Dad to give you away? They will have to know about what I am doing and agree to go along with it.”

"Mum will not be a problem, she always thought that we looked so alike anyway and sometimes found it hard to tell which one of us was which. Dad will go along with whatever Mum tells him.”

"Ok let’s sort out how we are going to cover for those few days when you want to escape to get your thoughts together about his parents.

That was soon all agreed for the next weekend, so there would be no problem with anyone following me spotting me going into work. As we were leaving she gave me a big hug and kiss, looked me in the eyes and gave me a gentle warning, "Take care Sis, you have to be much more aware of people around you, particularly men, you are much more vulnerable as Jo than you were as Joey.”

I had just arrived home and was going to get changed when Maggie came over and knocked on the door.

"Hi Jo, are you doing anything special at the moment or can you spare a bit of time.”

Although I just wanted to relax for a while, I didn’t want to turn her down. "No I’m ok Maggie, how can I help?”

"As it is such a nice day, I invited a few friends around and we are sitting in the back garden having some snacks and a natter. Would you like to join us?”

"Will I not be in the way, after all they are all your friends and I wouldn’t want to intrude?s”

"Actually, and please do not take this the wrong way, I do have an ulterior motive. As a group we often go out for the day together to visit historic sites, National Trust Houses, English Heritage sites and ruins, and things like that. Most of us have seen your vlog and are really interested and have started following you. It would be wonderful if they could meet you, and you could maybe tell us a little bit more about what is going on. I hope you can come over because I have to admit that I have exaggerated how friendly we are, and have told them that we often get together for a chat, it is nice to be able to say you know somebody a bit famous. I’m sorry for that.”

“Don’t worry about that Maggie, we all tend to blow our own trumpet occasionally. Just give me a couple of minutes and I will be over. Now, do not blow up how important you think I am, I am just a small cog in the wheel, I am not the world’s expert.”

I freshened up, brushed my hair, re-applied my lipstick and made my way over to Maggie’s. I was surprised to find that the ‘few friends’ actually meant a group of eight sitting on garden lounger chairs around a weathered oak table, plus a couple of their husbands, who were probably acting as the drivers, and were standing apart from the main group further down the garden.

Maggie quickly did the introductions. I was surprised at the mix of people from Jane and Emma who were in their early thirties through to Elizabeth and Mary who were well into their seventies.

"From what you have said on your vlog, it is going to take a while before you find anything really exciting, am I right?” Emma started the conversation with the openness and enthusiasm of youth, most of the others were being more reserved and polite.

"You’re right, when you watch ‘Time Team’ or similar programmes on TV, they seem to instantly find what they are looking for, but it is not very often like that, there is usually a lot of boring hard work getting down to the historic levels before we can start getting excited.”

"Tell us more about Ostia Septentrionalis, please, I have lived here all my life and have never heard of it?” Maggie took back control of her groups questions.

The conversation kept on about the dig, my role, and how I had got the job, for the next two hours until it was time for some of them to leave, all of them being really grateful for the time I had spent with them and the things I had described and soon there were only Emma and Jane left with Maggie and me, they had deliberately hung back to talk to me.

“On ‘Time Team’ and suchlike, they usually have some volunteers in addition to the professionals and the usual teams of students working on the digs as part of their courses. Do you need any more up at Ostia Septentrionalis? Emma and I would be interested if you do.We both studied history at Uni, mainly medieval and later, rather than Roman, but we did a bit on it and we also worked on a dig as part of an investigative project at a 16th century manor house ruin”

.”How much time do you have to spare?”

"The company we were working for closed down their plant in this area and we were made redundant with quite a decent payout. At the moment we are having a bit of a sabbatical, so really we have a lot of free time. it will be good to get back into doing something useful and interesting.”

"Oh, thanks Jane, that is not really my responsibility but I can ask the right people for you, I’m sure that they will welcome your help. I must warn you that as volunteers you will get a lot of the boring jobs, but at least you will be able to see what is happening. Give me your phone numbers and I will let you know.”

We all said our goodbyes and went home. I had enjoyed my time with them all, but I was glad to get back, close the door, and just sit and relax and think about Josie and her problems.

“Hi Susie, can we meet for a drink or a coffee or something, I need to sort something out and you could be a big help.”

"Glad to help of course. Meet me at the pub near to the salon tomorrow after work, say 6:00, is that ok”

At the site the next morning I asked Jake, the dig team leader, about Emma and Jane’s offers of volunteering at the site.”

"Glad to have them on the team, the more we have the sooner we can get down to the interesting stuff. With the experience they already have, if they want, I can take them on as paid staff, rather than just as volunteers, they could probably supervise some of the raw students we have here. The money is not very good but at least it will be something.”

“Thanks Jake, I’ll let them know and see when they can start.”

“Hi Emma, good news, you are on the team. Even better news, if you want you can get paid for it, not much but at least it will keep you in food and drink. Because you have done this sort of thing before, you will not be starting right at the bottom of the pile, you will actually be looking after other volunteers and the untrained students doing the donkey work.”

“That’s brilliant, when do we start?”

“Tomorrow if you want. Can you make your own way to site or do you want me to pick you up?”

"Just for tomorrow, until we know where we are and what we are doing, can you pick us up, after that we can look after ourselves. Thank you so much, I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll let Jane know what is happening.”

After work I drove into town to meet Susie at the salon.

"If I’d known that you would be coming in your jeans and tee-shirt that you have been wearing on site all day, I would have suggested meeting somewhere further from the salon, being out with a scruff is not good for my professional image.” she joked as she gave me a welcome hug."Now, what is your problem and how can I help?”

I told her about Josie's problems with Jack’s mother and how I had offered to take her place while she had a bit of a break.

"The main problem is our different hairstyles, one or both of us is going to have to change so that I can easily be mistaken for her.”

“Have you got any recent photos of her that I can look at to consider what can be done.”

I pulled up some photos on my phone that I had taken when we had met and Susie spent a few minutes looking through them and over at me.

"Luckily Josie’s hair is not too long, just touching her shoulders but it is a few inches longer than yours. Either she needs to get hers trimmed a bit, which she will probably not want to do as she will want it as long as possible for the wedding, or we give you some extensions. They are expensive but you only really need them at the back, your hair on top and at the sides is not really noticeably shorter. If I slightly restyle both of you, I reckon most people will not be able to tell the difference.”

"Can you talk it through with her and tell her exactly what she has to do, and when she sends a photo of the finished style you can do the same for me.”

After a long chat between them, Susie handed me back my phone and told me that it was all sorted and that If I went to the salon after work on Friday, she would copy Josie’s new style onto me.

We stayed and chatted for a while for me to update Susie on what I had been doing, she had not seen the vlog, but promised to start following me.

"What about how you are settling in as Jo? Looking at you and listening to you now, it is like you have always been a girl, there are not many traces of Joey left.”

"When we started this, i decided that I was going to have to do this properly 24/7. all Joey’s stuff is packed away, I am totally immersed in Jo, even in the house I dress and act as Jo. I have friends neighbours and work colleagues who only know me as Jo. In my mind Joey is somewhere in South America at the moment. When you first started on me I was embarrassed and worried, but now I am quite comfortable as I now am and just get on with my life as Jo.”

"That’s good that you are not feeling awkward, but don’t forget who you are.”

The next morning I picked up Emma and Jane, drove them to the site, took their photos to add to the list of people on the vlog, left them to be given their tasks by Jake, and went back to the museum to update everything and prepare a report on progress for Jacqui. At the end of the afternoon when I returned to site to take them home they were still fired up by their day at the dig, and insisted on stopping off for a drink on the way home as a thank you to me.

I was finding that I was relaxed in the company of women and seemed to fit in with them and their interests. Other than Darren, who I was still casually dating with, all my friends were now women and they just accepted me as Jo and as far as they were concerned I was just another girl. At Uni, I had often been out as the only male with Josie and her friends and was made welcome in their company, but this was different now. Not only was I totally included in their conversations, but was now an active equal with them and was chatting away as easily as they did.

On Friday afternoon the way home I stopped off at the salon for Susie to work her magic.

"Josie sent me some photos after her visit to the hairdressers yesterday. She only had a light trim, and set but it was enough to let me do your hair in the same style without all the bother and expense of extensions, and last time I tinted your hair to match hers, so we should not be too long doing this.” Unfortunately Susie’s definition of ‘not too long’ and mine were totally different. She cut set and styled my hair, and completely changed my makeup style to match Josie’s, as she was a lot heavier with the eyeliner, shadow and mascara than I was in my day-to-day work image. Three hours later we were ready to leave .

"We can’t just waste the last three hours Jo, it’s too late to go home and prepare a meal, do you fancy stopping off for something to eat?”

"That sounds good to me, but it is my treat as a thank you for what you have done for me. However I am still in my work clothes. jeans and casual top, i am not really dressed to go anyway.”

"Attagirl Jo, you are now really becoming one of us, worrying about how you are dressed. Don’t worry, we still have your uniform outfit in the cupboard, it is a bit plain and characterless, but at least it is clean and tidy. Go and get changed.”

We stopped off at a local fish restaurant and enjoyed a smoked salmon starter, followed by Sea Bass and seasonal veg, and a Cranachan dessert, all very healthy other than the indulgence of the cream in the dessert. Susie was extremely good company and as we left she insisted that she would like to meet up with Josie sometime to talk about everything we were doing.

"As you know, tomorrow, i am going trade places with Josie. We are going to meet in a motorway service station, go to the rest room and exchange clothes and swap identities in case she is being followed, come with me if you want to, it might even help to look like it is a chance meeting.”

“Sounds like fun, I need to go into the salon first thing to sort a few things out but after that I would love to join you, it all seems very undercover, a bit like a spy drama.”

Josie had given me a list of clothes, accessories and beauty products that she felt she needed as she had only taken enough for a couple of weeks trip up country. Now that she was living at Jack’s she needed a lot more of her stuff and when I got home I spent an hour or so sorting through her things and packing a suitcase for her.

I was looking forward to seeing her again and went to bed eagerly anticipating our little adventure trying to get her out of the clutches of Jack’s family.

To be continued.

In the morning I applied my makeup and did my hair in the Josie style, before tying it into a high ponytail as Susie had taught me yesterday, thinking that I preferred the lighter makeup touch that I normally used. We had agreed that we would dress in very different styles to make it obvious to anyone following Josie which one of us was which, she was going to dress quite classic but I was to be casual and carefree. I dressed in a floral calf-length summer skirt and gypsy top, scarfed fedora hat, large sunglasses and sandals. packed my essentials in a small bag carried in a patterned canvas tote bag and was ready to go to our rendezvous with Josie.

I picked Susie up at the salon on the way and she took a quick look at me and burst out laughing.

“I like the 1960s flower-child look, I know you said you were going to dress casual and carefree, but I didn’t expect that.”

"i actually quite like this look, do you think I could wear this outfit for work."I replied, joking back with her.

We set off and soon arrived at the motorway services as agreed. Josie's car was already there so I parked next to it and transferred her suitcase to my car, which she would be using for the few days that she was away and we walked into the restaurant.

We saw her right away and pretending we were surprised to see her went over to greet her, putting on a show for anyone who might be watching her.

“Josie, fancy bumping into you here, haven’t seen you for ages. Are you in a rush or have you got time for a catch up? Can we join you or are you with anyone?"Susie said giving her a big hug, “This is my sister Sally, I don’t think you have met.”

As we were talking Josie gave a roll of her eyes and a nod of the head in the direction of a man sitting a few tables away to indicate that he was the one following her, warning us to be careful with what we said. I kept in the background of the conversation letting Susie and Josie catch up with everything that they had been doing since they last met.

When it was time to leave, and after Susie took a few ‘selfies’ of the three of us we stopped off in the Ladies restroom and while Susie kept watch Josie and I went into adjacent cubicles and swapped the clothes between us. When we came out, Josie rearranged her hair, put on the fedora and sunglasses, swapped our bags and contents, then Susie and her left to go to my car and drive away.

A few minutes later having brushed out my hair to match Josie’s , I touched up my makeup and admired myself in her white sleeved chiffon blouse and royal blue pencil skirt, feeling very sophisticated before I left too. I went to the shop to get some snacks giving the girls a chance to get clear and noticed that as I got into Josie’s car to drive home that I was being tailed, so our ruse had worked. As I pulled into my drive, I saw a car stopped just up the road, which pulled away as I went into the house.

"Hi Josie, that worked wonderfully, your tail followed me back to the house and is no doubt on the phone now confirming that I arrived here without any problems.”

“Ok I m having a long chat with Susie in a station cafeteria, before she gets the train home. She has done an amazing job on you, I am not surprised that my tail believed he was following me.”

"Great. Have a relaxing weekend with Ellie, and sort out what you want to do, and we’ll repeat the performance on Monday morning. Tell Susie to give me a call when she is on the train and I will pick her up at the station and take her home.”

"That’s brilliant, I haven’t had so much fun for ages, I think I could enjoy being a spy.” Susie giggled as I drove her home.

“Come round for dinner tomorrow, my treat as a thank you, you played a blinder today.”

Sunday morning I just dressed casual in my denim mini-skirt and spaghetti-strap top and made a trip to the shops to stock up for Susie’s visit, gave the house a quick tidy up and clean and was soon ready. I had felt really comfortable in the loose flowing ‘flower-power’ skirt that I had worn yesterday and decided to go back to to the shopping centre to see if I could find something similar. I was now used to browsing the racks in the stores and it did not take long to find what I was looking for, a skirt in a similar mid-calf style to Josie’s, but in a random geometric pattern rather than a floral print, and an ivory cap-sleeved cotton gypsy top to go with it, a perfect combination for a warm spring day.

I prepared our meal, a chicken lasagne with home-made focaccia, made up a tossed salad to go with it, put a couple of bottles of Chenin blanc in the fridge to chill, changed into my new skirt and top, freshened my make-up and was eagerly waiting for Susie. Looking out of the window for her, there was no sign of a strange car in the street, it seemed that my watchdog had been called off for the weekend.

"Hi Jo, or should I call you Josie just in case anyone is listening in, you are looking really summery today, that style definitely suits you.”

“Glad you could make it Susie. I like this style, it is really comfortable and so feminine. As you said when we started all this, I need to over-emphasise my femininity just to compensate for any minor male traces still in me.”

"There are virtually none of those left now, I can’t even picture you as Joey anymore. Anyway, let’s forget all that, and just enjoy our evening together. I had a good chat with Josie on the journey back yesterday and she told me all about the problems with Jack’s mother, and I have an idea.”

"Ok, do tell, I haven’t come up with anything yet. Let’s discuss it over dinner, just give me a few minutes to serve up.”

“She needs to get Jack away from the influence of his mother and have a good talk with him about her concerns. What does Jack do for a living, is there a chance he could get away for a few weeks.”

"He normally works from home, he develops web sites and specialist computer programs, he started doing it for his father’s companies, but then turned it into a commercial concern, and according to Josie, he is very successful at it. I suppose he could work online from anywhere, what are you thinking?”

"Why don’t they go over to your parents’ place in France for a few weeks. They can tell Jack’s folks that they need to discuss wedding plans with them. They can turn it into a bit of a holiday too, after all, it is a while since she has seen them and they have never met Jack.”

"That sounds great to me, after dinner I’ll phone Josie and see what she thinks.”

"Josie, I’m with Susie and she has had a super idea. We think that you need to spend some time with Jack, sorting things out between you, without the domineering presence of his mother. Why not go over to visit Mum and Dad for a few weeks? It will be good for them to meet Jack and to see you again. I believe it is a very picturesque rural area where they are, on the banks of the Dordogne, and you and Jackcan have a relaxing holiday time together.”

"That’s better than anything I have thought of yet. I have been trying to think of a gentle excuse to get him away from home, that should not upset anybody.”

"Are you still on for going back to Jack’s tomorrow or do you need to spend a bit more time with Ellie?”

"No, after that suggestion, I am now much happier, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, same place and we will do the reverse swap. Bye”

"She really liked your idea Susie, thank you so much. I am going to change over with her tomorrow, she can go back to Jack’s, get him to agree, and make the arrangements.”

"Glad to be of help. Anyway, it is time I was leaving, keep in touch and let me know what is going on.”

As we were having a goodbye hug on the doorstep, i noticed that the watcher’s car was back, obviously checking that nobody was staying the night with me. As Susie drove away, the other car pulled away too in the opposite direction, obviously satisfied that I was behaving myself.

In the morning, I dressed in my favourite blue dress of Josie’s that I had worn for the interview as she wanted to have that with her, and left for the rendezvous, followed closely all the way by the watcher. As I was driving, i thought to myself ‘I can understand why she is worried, i couldn’t live in a goldfish bowl like that.’ and was glad for her that she may have found a way to get away from Jack’s mother.

Before I went into the restaurant I gave her a call to make sure that she was ok and she told me that she had spoken to Jack and he had agreed to go to France with her to meet Mum and Dad.

I had expected to see Josie wearing my flower-power outfit, but she had dressed in white capri pants, a floral tunic top and a baseball cap, with her hair in a ponytail. I walked past her straight into the Ladies and she soon followed me. We quickly exchanged clothes, restyled our hair, she passed me a bag containing my clothes and I left first to go to move her suitcase back into her car. I was glad to see the watcher follow her out a few minutes later and drive off after her.

With my hair tied back and with my makeup at its usual subtle level rather than at Josie’s more intensive styled I changed into my work clothes, and a lot later than normal I went out to the site to see if there had been any progress. I found that Emma and Jane had settled in well and had taken over my investigation of the spoil heaps .They had unearthed a few more medieval coins and a brooch and torc necklace from the viking era, which still needed to be cleaned up, but at least it was something for me to show and talk about on my vlog,

The main dig around the building structures were taking place in two locations, one where a section of wall had been exposed by the farmers and one down by the estuary high-waterline. At both locations they were still working down the wall lines and whilst exposing some decent stonework, there was nothing yet that would excite the general public. so I went back to the girls to get them to do a video interview with me about their finds for the vlog, which really pleased them and they insisted that I let them know right away after it was posted.

Back in the office later, I finished the vlog and website News update, showed them to Jacqui who liked what I had done and posted them up. I was really beginning to get to grips with the computer technology.

Once again, as I got back home, Maggie called me over, she must have heard the car and seen me arrive.

"Hi Jo, that was a great interview with Emma and Jane on your vlog, I’m so glad that you got them involved up at the dig. Do you fancy a cup of tea while you can tell me more about what they found?”

"Let me go home get changed and cleaned up and I will be over in about 20 minutes.”

I cleaned up, brushed out my hair and tied it back in a high ponytail, changed into a light summer dress and was soon sitting with Maggie in her garden enjoying her home-made scones and a cup of tea.

"Jane has been on to me, she is so thrilled about being on your vlog, and is really grateful for you getting her the job on the dig.”

“Oh, it’s all my pleasure Maggie, her and Emma have settled in well up there and are doing a good job.”

"I forgot to mention it to you earlier, but I happened to notice a car parked up the street quite a lot over the last few days, and the man in it seemed to be keeping an eye on your house, is everything ok?”

"Thanks for that, er…, it was someone looking for Joey for some reason, he was very persistent, but I think he has probably realised that he is off on his travels and it is a waste of time for him to keep looking for him. I don’t expect him to be back, but if you see the car again, please let me know.”

We didn’t have a neighbourhood-watch scheme in place, but Maggie was just as effective, any strange noises and she was at her window or door keeping an eye on things.

"I will do that. now tell me more about what you are finding at the dig, I am getting really involved with watching your vlogs, but I am sure that there is more going on than you are telling everyone.”

Maggie was pleasant enough company, but she was obviously a bit lonely and was glad of someone to talk to, so I stayed for a couple of hours before making my way back home.

On Friday, I got a call from Josie just as I was about to leave for work.

"Hi Jo, just to let you know Jack and I are now at Dover and are about to get on the ferry to France to go to Mum and Dad’s place. Jack kept asking me about my trip home, and in the end I told him all about you, what you were doing and how you helped me. At first he didn’t really believe me, but when I showed him the photos of us together, he burst out laughing ‘ Wow, what a guy, or should I say girl, if ever you get tired of me, just pass me onto Jo.’ He has promised not to say anything to his parents, or anyone else, but he would like to meet you sometime when we get back. Just in case either of us let it slip talking to Mum and Dad are you ok if I tell them about your life as my cousin Jo? Apart from them wanting to get all the personal stuff out of the way, I am sure that they will be proud of the success you are making of your life and will want to follow your vlog.”

"I suppose they will have to be told sometime, especially with the wedding coming up and me being your Chief Bridesmaid. Let me know how you get on.”

On arriving at the dig site, I was told that they had a successful morning and went to find Professor Carter for more details,

"Good Morning Jo, we are in exciting times. On the first building being excavated, we are now down to floor level and in getting there have begun to find traces of the Roman occupation, coins, small items of jewellery and lots of pottery shards from amphoras, large jugs for transporting wine and olive oil. They are exciting finds for us as now there is no doubt that we have found a Roman site, now we just have to prove that it is in fact Ostia Septentrionalis and not just a villa and outbuildings, although even that would be a wonderful discovery.”

In the hope of personally finding something of interest I joined the dig team at the building clearing away and sifting through the debris that had collected over the centuries. It was my lucky day.

"Professor, what do you thing of this."I asked, carefully handing him what appeared to be a small sword, deeply encrusted with mud and rust from being buried for hundreds of years.

"We’ll have to get it cleaned up so that we can have a good look at it, but it appears to be a Gladius, the typical short battle sword of the Roman army. Show me exactly where you found it, and we’’ll get a team sifting through everything carefully. Other than the extent of the buildings themselves, this could be our best find to date. Well uncovered Jo.”

Before sending it off for a deep clean using specialist solvents, the Gladius was given a quick gentle wash on site and I managed to get a few photos of it and some of the other recent finds to publish. The rest of the day was spent updating Jacqui on how things were progressing and preparing my vlog.

Rather than just a plain account of what had been found, I included a lot of personal details of a typical life of a Roman soldier and explained that many of them were not even from Rome. When they conquered territories, the people in those countries added to the ranks of the army and in many divisions, only the main commanders were true Romans. As it was an exciting day for us all , my vlog was a lot longer than usual and to enhance the story of the short sword, I described many of the battle techniques that they adopted, the Phalynx, the Testudo and the Hollow square, and how each man protected those by his side as well as defending themselves, and tried to bring it all to life for my followers.

The vlog following was gradually increasing and seemed to be attracting over half of the town, but that included many students and academics from elsewhere as well as locals. Jacqui was particularly impressed with how well it was all going.

"Jo, your vlog is so watchable and is appealing to many people that would not normally show any interest in such things. In fact we have had an enquiry from the local TV station news programme, Anglia East, they want to do an interview with you at the site, seeing what you have found and talking to the people involved.”

"Shouldn’t that be Professor Carter’s job, I don’t want to tread on his toes, he is the main lead on the project?”

"Normally yes, but he is content to deal with all the academic presentations, he says he is not comfortable in front of cameras. At the university, as you know, he comes across forceful and knowledgeable, but he says that he is camera-shy and tends to dry-up and mumble. The other thing is that you are much more telegenic, young, attractive, and enthusiastic, generally much more appealing to the general public, and it is you that the TV station want to use.”

"When I started working at the museum I had assumed that it would be a back-of-house role, where I could remain unimportant and almost unknown and unrecognised, but between the vlog and now with the proposed TV appearance it has become anything but. I am normally a shy person and am not used to being so publicly high-profile, I am not sure if a TV appearance would suit me.”

"Don’t be silly Jo, have you seen how many followers your vlog has got and some of the very complimentary comments. People out there relate to your easy-going and chatty presentation style, you have nothing to worry about, enjoy it while you have the opportunity.”

‘OK. I’ll do this one, but if I am not comfortable there will not be another”

I just could net bring myself to tell her that the reason I was so uncertain was nothing to do with the interview and the cameras, or talking about the project, My main worry was that the more my image was ‘out there’, the more chance there was that someone would realise who I really was.

As it happened the TV interviewer and crew were so easy to work with. I walked them around the site, explaining what people were doing, what we had found and answering their questions. They already had a prepared draft for the interview, but as I showed and told them things, I could see the director, Jim Marshall making lots of notes and changes to his script. When Jim was working away reorganising everything, the interviewer, Carol Cameron, who I knew and recognised from her regular appearance on the local news, settled me down and advised me on how to change my makeup to suit the cameras and the lights. nothing too drastic, after all I was being introduced as the council’s site coordinator and my image was to be as if I was getting dirty digging on site all day, and could not be expected to be a glamour-puss model.

Before the interview The director ran through with Carol the changes he had made, the questions to ask and which locations he wanted us to visit showing the most interesting aspects of what we had found and discovered’

“I am here today on the site of the archaeological dig at what is known as Ostia Septentrionalis, with Jo Johnson, who many of you may recognise from her excellent vlog, which is keeping us amused educated and informed about this project. Jo, can you please give us a brief outline of what you are expecting to find, and what you already have, that indicates you are going in the right direction.”

I had expected a quick five minute discussion but even without many retakes, along with some camera shots of the site the whole process took almost two hours.

"Is it always like this Carol, we only ever see quick interviews on the news and I didn’t realise how much time and effort goes into it all?”

"This was quite quick, considering what we are intending to do. It was helped that we only had two retakes, you made it easy, you are a natural in front of the camera.”

"What do you mean, ‘considering what we are intending to do’ , I thought this was just a short interview to fill in time on the local news slot.”

“That was the intention, but when the director saw what you were doing and how easily and well you talked about it all, he added a few things and now has more than enough to follow that up with a mini documentary showing a lot more details. Obviously, for that we will need you to come into the studio to help us present it, if that is ok.”

"Oh, crikey, this is getting worse,”, I thought “if it goes on like this and I keep getting more and more in the public eye someone is bound to work out what I am doing.”

To be continued.

After the tension of the interview on a very warm day, I was glad to get home, jump into the shower and clean myself down. It was an opportunity to get out of the skinny jeans and clinging top that I had worn for work on the site and get into a nice cool flowing sundress. I was brushing out my hair and putting it into a messy bun to keep it off my face when the doorbell rang.

"Hi Jo,” Maggie greeted me, “I have a few of my friends over and we are about to watch your interview together. Have you had a chance to see it yet? I had a quick look while it was recording, and then thought it would be good for us all to see it together. I am learning to not rush you, I gave you a bit of time to get cleaned and changed before coming over to see you. Can you come?”

I was thinking that Maggie was beginning to be a bit of a stalker, being a close friend of the well-known personality that I was now becoming. In her eyes that gave her a bit of status in the community, but I felt that I needed to go along with it all and be sociable.

"I’d love to, thanks for asking me, I’ll just put on some shoes, a bit of makeup, brush out my hair and I’ll be straight over.”

It was her normal group with a few more that I didn’t recognise, but they all seemed to know each other. The interview was actually the main local news story of the day, a lot longer than I thought it would be. After thad finished they all gave me a clap and came over to congratulate me, firing lots of questions at me.

"You were brilliant. A lot of these interviews are a bit stuffy and boring, but you have a way of keeping everyone interested, and even in your work clothes to still managed to look attractive. you should do more stuff like that. I’m glad that they didn’t want to interview me, even though I was there in the background for some of the shots of the dig team at work.” Emma congratulated me.

"Actually, they only used a tiny bit of the complete interview, and are pulling together a half-hour documentary with a lot more of the shots, and with me in the studio discussing it with Carol Cameron. That will need a bit of editing so it will be a few weeks before it is broadcast.”

"What was it like working with Carol, she always seems ever so pleasant when she is on TV.”

"She was really good, keeping me relaxed and nudging me in the right direction, she even helped me change my makeup so that I would look better for the cameras.”

I was definitely the centre of attention and was never given a moment to myself when I was with them. However, I was now totally comfortable in being with a crowd of women, even in close quarters to them and in long conversations, I was just totally accepted as another woman amongst them. I had noticed on the video of the interview that I was now even adopting a lot of feminine gestures, using my hands a lot when talking, using more facial expressions, and gently brushing my hair from my face with my fingers. Jo had almost completely taken over from my previous life as Joey.

As I was leaving, Maggie pulled me aside. “Thank you for coming over to talk to us Jo, I really appreciate it. Can I ask you a really big favour?”

"No harm in asking, depending what it is I might agree.”

"Our group that goes and visits historic buildings are going over to the Lynn Museum at the weekend to see the reconstructed Seahenge (*), do you know it?”

"Of course, it is the bronze age timber circle found buried in the tidal belt of the beach at Holme-next-the-Sea, a few years ago, I’ve not actually seen it though.”

"Would you like to come with us and act as our group’s personal expert guide and explain about it to us? You seem so knowledgable and you explain things in a way that is easy to understand.”

"Actually, i would love to come with you, I have been meaning to visit it for some time. I wouldn’t call myself an expert on it though, I probably do not know much more about it than you do.”

I checked my phone for messages as I walked back over the road to home and saw that I had missed a WhatsApp message from Josie, so made myself a coffee and sat down for a video chat with her.

"Hi Josie, I got your message, I take it that you have arrived at Mum and Dad’s ok.”

"Yea, we had a good drive down on the Autoroutes, they cost a bit for the tolls, but save an awful lot of time.”

"How are Mum and Dad?”

"They’re fine, they have been very busy on renovating the place and it is looking good. I must say that you are looking good too, I love that dress, it suits you, is it new?”

"Now that I am living full time as Jo, I have needed to get a lot more stuff. I will never complain to you again about how full your wardrobes and drawers are.”

"It is all part of being a girl Jo, get used to it. I have told Mum about what you are doing and once she got over the shock, and had a look at your vlogs, she is now desperate to see you and have a chat.”

“Josie, is that Joey you are talking to?” I heard Mum’s voice in the background just before she came into view sitting next to Josie.

"Hello Joey, or as Josie insists I must now call you Jo, just like when you and her were younger. Stand up and let me have a good look at you.”

I stood up gave her a twirl which actually flared out the skirt of my dress in a very feminine way, brushed the skirt behind me as I sat down, and tucked my loose hair back behind my ears.

"What do you think Mum? Are you shocked to see me like this.”

Josie did warn me, and I have seen your videos, but you are even more like her than I expected, and just as beautiful. You seem to be settling in to your new life and are doing well at your work, but are you sure that you are ok with all this, I mean, it is not normal is it?”

"Mum, the opportunity to work for the museum at the dig was just too much to turn down. Ok, it means for a few years that I have to wear skirts and makeup, but I have adjusted to all that now, and getting dressed like this has just become routine. I was embarrassed at first, but I am now over that, everybody just sees me and accepts me as Jo. In a way I am actually enjoying my life at the moment, I have made lots of friends as Jo, more than I ever had as Joey, and get on with people a lot more comfortably.”

"Just make sure that you stay in control and that Jo does not totally take over your life, remember who you really are. Are you going to come over to see me and let me meet my new daughter or do I have to wait until Josie’s wedding?”

"It’s difficult Mum, I obviously cannot use my passport.”

“That’s no problem,"Josie interrupted, "we are coming back at the end of next week, you can use mine, you look as near to the photo in it as I do.”

"I’ll think about it and see if I can fit in a visit. All of you take care, bye for now.”

It was not something I had been looking forward to, but my talk with Mum went ok, no hysterics or “What have you done to yourself?”, however I thought that the first time meeting my Dad would not be as smooth.

Saturday morning, I was up bright and early, brushed out my hair and tied it up high at the back, applied a light makeup, put on my short denim skirt and a lemon puff-sleeved sweetheart top, and open sandals, picked up my woven tote bag, and went over to Maggie’s to meet the rest of the girls for our day out.

As there were ten of us squeezed into two cars, it was not a particularly comfortable journey, but we arrived safely at the museum in King’s Lynn. As there was a big group of us I thought it best to let the museum staff know what we were doing so that we didn’t disrupt other visitors.

"That’s fine we often get that problem when tour buses arrive. We are not too busy at the moment. If you wander around in smaller groups in the other exhibitions, we can arrange to close the Seahenge gallery when you are in there. If you don’t mind me asking, are you Jo Johnson from the Ostia dig?”

"I have been caught out, but I am not here today in any official capacity. I am just here with a group of friends who have roped me in to give them the benefit of what little I know about Seahenge. Just because I am reporting on the dig they look on me as some sort of expert on all things archaeological.”

Our group were soon in the gallery where the preserved original timbers had been re-erected as they were found in the mud and sand. After we all had a quick look around at the general displays and information boards, they gathered around me and I gave them a bit of a background to how Seahenge, or Holme 1 to give it it’s official name, was constructed about 3000 years earlier, and how it survived without total decay preserved in the waterlogged mud and peat that covered it over the centuries.The girls were quiet throughout my general introduction but then followed up with lots of questions about why it was built, what was it’s purpose and who were the people that constructed it.

“The bottom line, is that we will never know, there are lots of theories, all we know for certain is when it was constructed, Carbon-dating of some of the timbers gives us a very good idea of when the trees were cut down for the construction.

I changed the subject describing how it had been difficult and time consuming to uncover and remove the timbers as they were located in the tidal belt of the beach and work could only be carried out for a few hours each day around low tide, relating it to some of the areas we had started to work on at Ostia Septentrionalis. There we had seen evidence from the aerial scans of what appeared to be pier props leading from the beach, down to the estuary, and the problems they had at Holme and how they overcame them would be useful starting points for our own excavation work.

When I had finished and the girls were gathering around congratulating me, I was approached by an official-looking forty-something woman dressed formally in a pants suit, blouse and court shoes who I had noticed standing in the gallery doorway during our session.

‘“Let me introduce myself Jo, I am Jean Metcalfe, the Director and Head Curator here, can I have a few words with you please if I can tear you away from your friends? One of the staff recognised you from your TV appearance and vlogs, and told me that you were going to make a presentation to your friends. I have been trying to get one of our staff to do something similar to your vlog, but they are all camera-shy. Would you consider doing something like that for us here?”

"Thank you for asking, but I am quite heavily committed at Ostia Septentrionalis, besides I am not sure how my director would feel about it.”

"I know Jacqui quite well, and am sure that she would have no objection but I will clear it with her if you are interested.”

"If I agree, and Jacqui doesn’t have a problem I can do a one-off for you then we can see how it goes. I have an idea assuming I can get everyone to agree. Why not film me doing a repeat of what I have just been doing with my friends, including the question and answer sessions with them and I will do a direct-to-camera introduction and wrap-up to go with it, how does that sound?”

"Actually that sounds brilliant, check it out with your friends, and I will go to get our video camera and sound recorder. If you all have time, we can close the gallery a little bit early and film it when the public have left.”

I told Maggie and the girls what we were proposing and they were all up for it.

"Ok everybody this is just a trial to see how it all comes across. Just act natural and ask the questions you did before, no need to put on posh voices or play up to the camera, just be yourselves. If this works ok you might have to do it again with a professional film crew.”

It was all set up and we soon had completed the talk and my intro and wrap-up and we left the museum to find somewhere to get something to eat. The girls were still on a buzz with the thought of being on a video presentation and vlog, and there was a lot of excited chatter in the café and in the cars on the way home.

Again we all stopped off at Maggie’s, she was enjoying being the hub of all these new experiences and was glad to play hostess once again. The Lynn Museum had sent me a link to a raw draft of the presentation and we all sat down in anticipation to watch it. There were lots of excited shrieks of ‘Oooo, just look at me there’ and such like, but it got a very good reception.

"Before I get on to the museum, you have the chance to ask them cut any bits out where you don’t like how the camera has caught you. Otherwise I’ll tell them to post it on their website.” There were no problems, so I phoned Jean at the museum and told her to load it up and everyone went home happy to watch it all again with their families.

I phoned around to Josie, and my various colleagues and friends to let them know and for the rest of the evening, my phone never stopped ringing with everyone wanting to talk about it.

Monday morning I got a text from Jacqui, ‘Please come into the office rather than going to site, we need to talk’. With some concerns I made my way to her office, but rather than an uncomfortable discussion that I expected, I was greeted with a big smile from her as she introduced me to another visitor in with us.

“Jo, this is Charles McNaughton, the Chairman of the County Council Cultural and Leisure committee.”

"Glad to meet you at last Jo, I’ve heard a lot about the work you are doing and over the weekend I have been reviewing your vlogs and the presentation you gave on Saturday at the Lynn Museum. I will be discussing this with my committee colleagues when we next meet, but I wanted to see how you would react first. Since Saturday your presentation on Seahenge has already had more views than the Lynn Museum normally get in a month, it is going viral amongst people that already follow your vlog and they are sharing it with their friends. You are sparking a lot of interest in our heritage and culture.”

"That’s really good, we have a lot of rich history in this area, and local people should know about it.”

"If you agree, I would like you to visit several more of the county’s museum and heritage sites, not just the ones we run, but others too, pick out what you think is interesting and do similar presentations.”

“I have two questions. Can I use the same format, with the same group of people, it wouldn’t be as natural using actors following a script.”

"You are more expert at these presentations than I am, if that is what you want it is not a problem.”

"Secondly, I don’t want this to interfere with my work at Ostia Septentrionalis. Unless Jacqui thinks differently, I would only want to do it at most one day each week.”

There is no rush, for a while we have needed to get all our museums a higher profile, another few weeks will make no difference.”

"I have another suggestion, I am appearing on a documentary special with Anglia East about Ostia Septentrionalis. How about if I talk them into filming the presentations as a basis for a series of programmes, it would be much more professionally done. Obviously you would have the rights to show the programmes either directly on your website or via a link to theirs.”

"Talk to them, see what they think, if they are interested fair enough, if not we could still get it privately professionally done, and we would like that to include a professionally filmed rerun of your Seahenge visit.”

I was in the TV studio later in the week for the programme already filmed about Ostia Septentrionalis. Rather than the casual appearance I had in the site interview, before going into the studio, I spent a lot of time in the make-up room. Obviously with the strong lighting and close-up shots this was a lot heavier and more dramatic than I would normally use, but it all went with the more formal full-sleeved above-the-knee dress that I had chosen to wear.

This was a much slicker affair than the interview on site, with a prepared script and question&answer sessions and took most of the day with run-throughs, the actual programme filming, and re-takes. By the time it was all over I was feeling a bit uncomfortable with the glare of the studio lighting and the heavy make up they had applied to me, and was glad to go back to the Green room afterwards with Carol and Jim, and just relax.

Over a glass of wine I opened up my laptop and showed them the presentation at the Lynn Museum telling them them about Charles McNaughton’s suggestion of me doing a series of similar presentations at the various sites around the county and my idea that they might want to run with it and take care of the production.

"I like that,” replied Jim, “I think we could make that work, it would be a good local interest topic. Let me have a chat with the producers and the production team, after all we are a commercial station and it would need to be marketable to our advertisers.”

Jim went off for a while to discuss it with his colleagues, and came back beaming. It was all agreed so I left them to arrange schedules with Charles McNaughton and the various museum teams for me and the programme researchers to visit to see what was of interest, and on the way home I phoned to break the news to Maggie.

"Maggie, can you get the girls together again, there is something I need to discuss, I will tell you all about it when I get there. Don’t bother doing your normal cakes and sandwiches, I will bring something over with me.”

When I arrived they all gave me questioning looks, and could hardly wait for me to sit down and explain why I had asked Maggie to get them together.

"Ok girls, there is good news, better news and wonderful news.” I tried to drag it out a bit to build up the dramatic effect, they they were all desperate know what I had to tell them.

"I did the studio interview with Carol at Anglia East and we discussed the full edited version of the site filming at Ostia Septentrionalis with Emma and Jane in it in the background. The programme will be aired next Tuesday, so don’t forget to set your recorders, you might want to keep a copy to show your family and friends.”

"What about our visit to Lynn Museum.” Maggie asked, she was really looking forward to seeing herself on screen.

“The video of our visit to see Seahenge is already up on the Museum website, and those of you who want to see the finished article should have a look at it.”

"Now for why I called you’ll here. The County Council want me to do a series of similar visits to other places in the area in the same format as the visit to Seahenge, and I insisted that you all continue to be the crowd that I am conducting the presentation to.”

There was a gasp of surprise and amazement and looks of excitement from them all.

"The icing on the cake is that the filming, production, and direction will be with the Anglia East team for a series they will be broadcasting, you will all be on TV. It will be like you being regulars on ‘Gogglebox’, you will all have the chance to have your say. Obviously there will be some payment for your appearances, but that is still to be negotiated.”

There was stunned silence for several seconds while it all sank in, before Jane and Emma rushed over to give me a big hug.

"Thank you so much, it was so good of you to think of us and get us included. I for one, will be the first in the queue to sign up to it.” gushed Emma. She was followed by all the others, none of them seemed to be camera shy or worried about any reaction from their family or friends, it was to be one of the most exciting experiences of their lives.

The rest of the evening most of the discussion was about the likely filming dates and where we would be visiting as they all wanted to make sure that they had their hair done and look their best. "Don’t forget that you are just a normal set of women, having a day out, they will want you to look your usual selves, not like you have just come out of a beauty parlour, and you just have to behave naturally, no playing up to the cameras.”

They all left in really high spirits desperate for me to confirm dates to them. I went back home to have a quiet think about what I had committed to. It had all started with me taking on a low-key backroom job at the museum which had now mushroomed into me being a presenter of a series of TV programmes, albeit only intended to be screened locally, based on visits around the county heritage sites. It was getting more and more difficult to unravel myself from a life as Jo, with all the likelihood that questions about my background would start to surface and the whole thing could be blown apart.

To be continued.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahenge
https://www.explorenorfolkuk.co.uk/seahenge.html

I woke the next morning still thinking that it was amazing that I was just accepted by everyone as Jo and thought about my performance at the TV interview, which I quickly rewatched. There was no side of Joey that remained, the way I looked, talked and gestured just came across as ‘Girl’ no matter how hard I looked, Jo had taken over my life.

After the surreal experience of the tv interview it was back to reality the following day. It was overcast, grey and miserable, not ideal for being on hands and knees scraping away at damp earth, but the team were enthusiastic and kept on working until interrupted by a sharp heavy downpour which caused us all to run for shelter.

Instead just wasting time, waiting, I took several photos of the soaked team passing the time in the site hut and the views through the windows of the rain bouncing in the puddles already forming. I thought that the scenes of us all hiding in the huts waiting for the rain to stop would be a good subject for my vlog. Rather than showing the glamorous exciting side of an archaeologists life highlighting the discoveries, which I normally tried to do, it would let people know the difficulties and hardship that we also had to endure.

When the downpour finally ended we all went back to our stations to start again. Whilst the rain had held us up and created poor conditions for us to work in, we were surprised to find that it had helped us too. It had washed and loosened a lot of the debris and detritus showing the quality of the ruin walls already exposed, and turning the ground within the building into a slurry, which fortunately we we able to pump out. More photos were taken for my vlog of us all trying to clear up the site before getting back down to remove more soil layers.

When all the slurry had gone, the pump filters were checked and several small items were found, rings, brooches, dress pins, and general domestic items. We were obviously now very near the building floor level where it would be expected to find such things. Sections of stone floor slabs were soon exposed and cleared and we now had the basic structure of our first building on full view. This really lifted the spirits of the team who were a bit down after the torrential rain, and reignited their enthusiasm.

As I was still a bit damp and dirty from working on the muddy site, rather than filming my vlog on site as I normally did, I went home had a long shower to freshen me up, and warm me up. After drying myself off and dusting with talc, I got dressed casually in leggings and a chunky wool roll-neck top , brewed a pot of tea and sat down to do my daily report. Within minutes of posting it, I was getting comments back thanking me for showing the harsher realities of life on a dig, mainly from other archaeologists. It was different to what I normally did, but seemed to go down well with the general public too.

I had just finished when I heard someone at the door and went to answer it. I was taken aback to see Josie there, particularly when she suddenly grabbed me in a bear hug and somehow pushed me back into the house holding back her tears.”

"What’s the matter Josie, come in and sit down and tell me what is going on.”

"It’s that bitch of a mother of Jack’s. We got back from France, and it was like the Spanish Inquisition, ‘Where have you been’, ‘Who have you seen?’, ‘What have you done?’, ‘Have you made wedding arrangements without involving me?’, ‘Are you trying to drive a wedge between my son and I?’, ‘Who do you think you are?’. It wasn’t just out of interest, she is trying to control everything I do. She just can’t bear to not to be at the centre of things, dictating everything she thinks I should be doing.”

"Calm down Josie, One thing at a time. let me get you a coffee first, or do you want something stronger?”

"Coffee will be fine for now, just give me a minute to compose myself while you make it.”

"What does Jack think about all this? Does he know how you feel about living with his family.”

"I’ve told him that I cannot live with his mother anymore, he has to decide between his mother and the family wealth, or me, it is up to him to make a move now. I also told him that if the watcher she had used to spy on me a few weeks ago is seen anywhere near me that it will all be over between us, and if we decide to go ahead and get married that she will have no say in any of the arrangements, and may not even be welcome at the wedding.”

"Look, this is your house as well as mine, you have to stay here while this is all sorted. Let me get your room tidied while you go and have a soak in the bath or a shower to help you relax, then we will talk a bit more.”

While she was in the shower, I quickly tidied up her room, which I had been using as a bit of a storage area, and changed the bedding.

"Have you got any stuff to hang up and put away?”

"No, I left everything there, I just grabbed my coat and bag and hurried out. It is just as well that I still have most of my stuff left here. There’s nothing that I will desperately need still over there.”

I left her to get dressed as I raided the freezer for something for dinner for us, Shepherds Pie and Green Beans, put in a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to get quickly chilled and set the dinner table, ready for when she had sorted herself out.

"How were things in France, were you and Jack ok with Mum and Dad?”

"It was brilliant, we were so relaxed and where it is located is so romantic. Jack got on well with Mum and Dad and it was a shame that we had to come back. I could have just stayed there.”

"What are you going to do now, have you made any plans yet?”

"It depends on Jack. If he is not willing to move out of the family home and get somewhere with me, I will probably go back over to France, Mum and Dad will be glad to see me. The house is liveable in now, although the renovations are still only half done. I can help them out until the baby starts getting in the way and slowing me down.”

"What about money, I am working as you now, so you obviously cannot get a job or claim welfare benefits?”

"Hopefully it will not come to that, Jack will come to his senses and we will sort something out.”

"Just ask if you need any help, although my salary is not wonderful, I got a bit of a fee for the TV appearance and the Museum video and can spare you some to tide you over. The TV people want me to do a lot more shows, so that should keep us going for a while. So there are no worries on that front.”

"Thanks, Jo, I know that we have always been close as sister and brother, but I think we will be even closer now as sisters.”

We continued to sit and talk until the early hours until we both needed to get to our beds, about my job that Josie could have had, about Maggie and her friends, Susie, Karen and Jen, about Mum and Dad, and a lot about Jack. It was obvious that she was still deeply in love with him, it was just his mother that was the problem.

I slept really well, helped by the wine we had drunk whilst chatting, and wandered into the kitchen in my nightie to get breakfast as was my habit. An hour later as I was just about to get ready for work, Josie made an appearance.”

"God, you look rough, did you not sleep very well?”

"Not really, I tossed and turned most of the night, my mind was all over the place.”

"Will you be ok if I go off to work? If you are worried, I can take the day off.”

“No you are ok, just get on with things you normally would, I need to go back to bed anyway and try to get a bit more sleep.”

"Until we get our stories straight, try not to let Maggie over the road see you, she is ok , but misses nothing and is a bit lonely. If she sees you at the window, she is likely to pop over to ask how you, or I, are feeling.”

When I arrived home again after work, I was staggered to see Maggie sitting happily chatting with Josie.

"I saw the car in the drive all day and thought I saw someone moving around inside, so I popped over to make sure that everything was ok. Your cousin Josie has told me all about her troubles with her fiancé and that she is staying with you until things are sorted out.” Maggie rambled on whilst Josie just looked embarrassed and sheepish.

“Everything will be ok Maggie, thanks for checking up. As you know about her problems, you will realise that she is hiding away here, it will be best if nobody else knows about her, can we keep this between ourselves, please.”

“It is so confusing, you two look so alike and have the same name.”

"Yes, twins run in the family, Joey and me, Mum and my Auntie Kate, Josie’s mother. Josephine has been a traditional family name for several generations now, it is confusing, even for us, especially when we are all together at family gatherings.” I gabbled trying to get my thoughts together. Luckily, Maggie said that she had to get back home, and left us before we dug even deeper holes for ourselves.

"What on earth were you thinking about Josie, letting her see you and inviting her in, if she starts gossiping to people, the whole house of cards will come tumbling down, and my career will be over.”

"When she came over and knocked on the door, I was still a bit drowsy, I didn’t sleep particularly well last night, and just automatically went to see who was there. Without being rude, I couldn’t really stop her coming in. She has been ok though, we just talked about Jack and his Mum, and the baby, and by then I had woken up fully and was careful about what I told her.”

"What is done, is done, we will just have to live with it, stick to the story and see what happens. Because of my vlogs and video and TV appearances, I have to stick with the looks I have got, but just to save confusion can you try to look a bit different so that people know which of us they are talking to, change your hair and makeup just so that we are not almost identical.”

By the time that she had set lots of curls and waves into her hair, cut the front into a fringe and went a lot heavier with the eyeliner and mascara, we were not so alike, still having a family resemblance but easily identifiable as to which was which, she was a bit ‘wild child’ whereas I was more wholesome English-Rose type.

Later I heard her answer her phone, and it was obvious that she was talking to Jack. I discreetly left her alone, going into the kitchen, where I could still hear her conversation.

"Look Jack, I told you that I cannot live in the same house as your mother, either we find a place of our own where we can live our lives without her interfering or that’s it all over. I know that it is asking a lot of you, but honestly if we don’t do that, any marriage we have will not last long, she would always be there being irritating, and separation will be even more painful then than it would be if we just called it off now.”

Her tone softened after he replied. "So it is agreed then, I will make arrangements for us to go back to France to stay for a few months with Mum and Dad. It will not be possible for a few weeks though, you know that they are having all the windows redone and the terrace relaid, their place will be in chaos for a while. I will just stay here with Jo, out of your mother’s way ”

I decided that this was going to lead to a lot of sweet-nothings so went over to see Maggie to give her a bit of space and privacy.

"Thanks for looking over at Josie earlier, she was a bit fraught earlier this morning but it calmed her down having you as a shoulder to cry on for a while.”

"My pleasure, she seems a nice girl, it’s a pity about her future mother-in-law, family squabbles never do any good. She needs to get it out of the way now, these things tend to come to light at weddings when everyone is a bit emotionally-charged, and it would ruin what should be a perfect day.”

"I think she has sorted things out with Jack, but she will be staying here a while longer, so don’t be surprised to see her around, but like I said before, please do not mention it to anyone else.

“ I fully understand, trust me.”

“By the way, I have heard from Anglia East about filming our next visit. It may not be as exciting as Seahenge, but they and the Council want to do a feature on ‘Grime’s Graves’ * the Neolithic flint mine over at Lynford. The programme will be mainly background history of the site rather than a lot of discussions with the team, but there will still be opportunities for you all to get your say. Can you see if you can get everybody together for next Saturday when it is closed to the public?”

"I will keep an eye on Josie for you while you are at work, I know that I am a bit of a gossip, but I promise that her being here is just between the three of us. I am sure that the girls will jump at the chance of another tv appearance, and if they have anything arranged it will all be dropped, but I will check and let you know.”

Back at home, Josie was looking a lot happier and back to her old self.

"I take it that all is now sweetness and light with Jack?”

"‘Of course, he is going to tell his mother that she has to back off, that we are going to France for a while, and that if she cannot control herself that we are going to stay there.”

"Good luck with that is all that I would say. I know that she is a total bitch, but he is still her son and she is used to getting her own way, so don’t push him too far, after all, family is family.”

"I’ve been thinking, I cannot hide away in here for the next few weeks, will there be any problems if I go over to see Susie and spend some time catching up. Besides, I am sure that she will give me a different slant on your conversion from Joey to Jo than you have, and I need a bit of light relief.”

"Good idea, it may help you get your mind together. Keep away from the salon though, the girls in there know me from my time working there as Jo, and it will only confuse things.”

"I still can’t believe how convincing you are and that people just accept you as Jo. Just think, I could have had the sister I always wanted all those years as we grew up. As a brother you were ok , probably better than most, but a sister, especially a twin sister, would have been more fun, we could have done a lot more things together.” she said with a wry smile.

Back at the site the next morning, the team had already been hard at it by the time I arrived. The first building we had been working on was now completely exposed and appeared to be a dwelling place, probably for the site supervisor, as it appeared to be rather small, plain and unadorned. Nevertheless it at least showed what the public would recognise as a home, rather than just a line of stones in the ground, and formed the basis of my next vlog, along with the various artefacts we had found there. However it was an incentive to draft in more students and volunteers to attack a nearby building seen through the aerial scans, which was large enough to be either communal areas for the small garrison that would be there to protect the complex, or a large storeroom. The site was now developing nicely.

"Hi Emma, hi Jane, what are you two up to now?”

"Now that the first house is finished for the time being, we are joining the team down at the pier. Between tides they have exposed some of the pier props, and they seem to be well preserved by the mud, but when the tide comes in most of the work is undone and they get covered in silt again."

“Is there nothing that can be done to keep the waters away while you find out a bit more?”

We are getting one of those temporary coffer dams brought in to hold the waters back until we can see exactly what we have. Today is a Spring Tide, so for the next fortnight before the next one we have a working window that the coffer dam can cope with.”

“That sounds like a good story for the vlog, you two find out what more you can and I will come back in two or three days to film what is going on and interview you. When it is worth doing properly, I will get the Anglia East film crew to come back too, I will try to get you involved with that as well.”

I left the pair of them looking very happy, and went back to the museum to complete my vlog, and passed Jacqui in the corridor outside her office.

"Hi Jo, we are not seeing much of you in here nowadays between your work on site and your programme and vlogs about Seahenge. How are you getting on, are you still happy with what you are doing?”

"I am really enjoying it, but I am getting pulled in different directions and could do with a bit of help occasionally."

"If you know anyone who would be prepared to work on a casual ‘as-and-when’ basis, let me know, I am sure that we can arrange something.”

When I arrived home there was no sign of Josie, so I got cleaned up, changed into casual pants and top and was just starting to prepare dinner when my phone buzzed at me.

"Hi Sis, it’s Josie. I am out with Susie and having a good time with her, chatting and catching up. We fancy going up to The Golden Lion up in Lynn for a meal, do you want to join us?”

"Love to, I haven’t spoken to Susie for a few days, it will be good to get together. Give me time to get ready and get up to Lynn, I will see you in about an hour.” Knowing that it was a decent hotel rather than just a pub, I changed into a smart ivory shift dress and 3"heels and was soon walking in to join them. Josie had kept to her ‘wild child’ look and although we looked related there was no mistaking which one was which.”

"Hi Jo, glad you could join us, I had no idea how well this would work out when I started on you, but you have turned out a letter better than I expected, you are more like Josie than she herself is looking at the moment.” Susie greeted me with a big hug.

Susie and Josie had done most of their catch up earlier on, so dinner conversation was more about me, the dig, my video and tv appearances, and how I found life as a girl. Sitting in the lounge afterwards we were twice interrupted by people coming over to me, asking “Are you the history girl from the TV, can I take a selfie with you.” It really amused the others, seeing my embarrassment and It got even worse when we were approached by a group of lads who came over to chat us up, but they soon backed off when Josie and Susie flashed their engagement rings at them.”

"I didn’t know you were engaged, you never said anything or wear your ring when I was working with you in the salon.” I asked Susie, a bit surprised that she would keep something like that secret.

"I’m not, but I always wear the ring when I go out anywhere, it is a good put down token when I am getting unwelcome attention, and it is easily taken off and put in the bag if I fancy someone.” she smiled as she told us.

It was a good relaxing night out for all of us, particularly Josie, it diverted her from all her brooding about Jack and his Mum.

At university i had been out many times with Josie, Susie and their friends but this time, as Jo, I was a lot more at ease and comfortable in their company. Living as a girl was becoming almost normal and unremarkable for me now and at times my previous life as Joey just locked itself away in the back of my mind.

When we were back at home, I told Josie about needing an assistant on a casual basis.

"Are you up for it? It would let you get on the site for a few weeks and give you something to keep you busy and mentally stimulated. You are still fit enough to work, the baby is not really showing yet and it will give you something interesting to do instead of sitting around all day.”

"Will it not cause bother for you, after all you are working as me with my social security number and tax records and all that?”

"I’ll sort something out, it is just casual employment, so I am sure that there are some loopholes we can use.”

"Great then that is agreed, it will be good to put all that expensive education to some use.”

“The job should’ve been yours so you deserve a bit of involvement. I will have a think about how best you can help me. The Johnson twins are back together as a team, just like when we were younger.

To be continued.

*. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/grimes-grav...

Next morning I went into the museum to have a talk with Jacqui.

"My cousin Josie, don’t worry everyone finds the names confusing, is interested in working with me on a casual basis for a few weeks. She is in early pregnancy and it will be expensive and cause problems if she is taken on officially because of all the maternity rights and payments that would follow from that. I know that the council have all sorts of bureaucratic employment rules, but is there any way that we can get around all that. She has virtually the same qualifications and experience as me and would be a big help. She would love to be involved as she has been fascinated with what she has seen on the vlog and with what I have told her about what we are doing.”

“You’re right Jo. I can’t really put her on the staff, even as a casual worker, but if she is willing to sign up to Professor Carter’s team as a volunteer, I will arrange with him that she is assigned to work alongside you rather than the general archaeological team, I don’t see any problems with him over that. You have made such a good job of what you are doing that I was going to arrange a decent salary increase for you anyway, if you are happy to take that instead of payment to her then I think we should manage to keep the bookkeepers off our backs, how does that sound?”

"That sounds ideal, I am sure that she will be delighted, and I’ll arrange with her that while she is working with me that I will pass on the extra money to her.”

"Next time you are calling in here instead of going to site, bring her in to see me, I would like to meet her, have a chat and see if she is as good as you say she is. Whilst she is not suitable for employment at the moment, you are a rising star and it will not be long before you are enticed away from us, it’s always a sound idea to have a potential replacement lined up.”

“Jacqui, I committed to see this project through, and I will keep to that. I was hoping that perhaps after the dig is complete and a visitor centre is set up, that I could continue as the Museum manger and curator, but by then Josie could be in a position take that on, but you never know what might happen between now and then.”

I gave Josie a call and asked her to meet me at the site, suitably dressed for walking around the dig, and cleared the details with Professor Carter for her to start. When she arrived and after all the induction to the site rules and Health & Safety from Jake the dig team leader, I walked her around the site showing her what we had found and what was proposed.

"What do you think then Josie, are you glad to be here?”

"I have a mix of emotions, excitement at being involved obviously, but also a lot of regret at what I could have been doing if I had not been out in the wilds when you stood in for me at the interview.”

"Make the most of it while you are here, I am sure that you and Jack will sort things out and that you will ‘ride off into the sunset’ and enjoy your life together.”

It was useful having Josie working with me, she became my personal photographer so that instead of my vlog being mainly me talking directly to the camera with a few site photos added, I was now able to include shots of me inspecting the site and talking to some of the dig team, it all made it a bit more personal and less formal.

We were walking down to the shoreline to see how Emma, Jane and the team were getting on with the coffer dam and exposing the pier piles when I heard someone running behind us and turned to see Darren, who had helped me set up the vlog and website.

“Hi Jo, long time no see, how are you getting on?”

“ Oh, hello Darren, i am being kept busy, sorry I have not kept in touch. This is my cousin Josie, she is helping me on site with getting background for the vlog. Josie, this is Darren who was a big help when I first started all this.”

“I have been keeping up to date with the vlog, you are doing great job, you soon picked it up, and you come across really well in front of the camera. I thought that I would come to site to see the progress, but really it was just an excuse to get in touch with you again.”

“Do you want to walk around with us for a while we can chat as we go?”

“Jo, what are you doing Friday? I am going to a formal awards ceremony in Kings Lynn to do with regional heritage projects and was wondering if you could possibly be my ‘plus-one’, otherwise there will be an awkward gap on our table.”

“You should go.” Josie chipped in, “I’ve heard better chat-up lines as an invite, but it will give you a chance to put on a posh frock and let your hair down.” She stared at me, challenging me not to dare turning him down.

“I would love to, thanks for thinking of me Darren. What time do we have to be there?”

“I’ll pick you up at 6:30 if that is ok, I’ll be in a taxi, so we can enjoy the evening a bit more and have a drink. I have to get back to the studio now to complete a project I’m in the middle of, I’ll see you then.” As he left he gave me a quick hug and kiss and walked away with a big smile on his face.

“You are doing well there Sis, he is a bit of alright, and he obviously fancies you. We’ll have to get you glammed up and sorted out with a decent dress, I mean you are a media celebrity now, you have to look the part.”

“When I started out as Jo, I was determined to keep a low profile, quietly getting on with my job, but it is now just snowballing. I am an internet blogger, I am on publicity videos for this site and others, I am occasionally on TV, and now it looks like you have fixed me up with a date. I really like Darren, I have been out with him for after-work drinks but that was just as a friend, this seems a bit more.”

“Just enjoy it all Jo, you are working hard, you have to learn to relax and enjoy yourself a bit too, you cannot just lock yourself away when not at work. For a long time to come, you are a 20-something attractive girl, get out and enjoy it while you can, and start with going out with Darren on Friday.”

We found Emma and Jane down at the shore and introduced them to ‘my cousin’ Josie.They were only too keen to tell us how they were getting while Josie recorded it all.”

“We’ve exposed some of the piles above the tide line and using the same spacing we have been digging in the tidal zone to find more. Once the barrage is in place we will aerial scan to see how far out they go, which will tell us the high-tide water depth and allow us to determine the size of the boats that were able to berth here, which will then tell us how significant a port this was at the time. Once we have found out how long the jetty is we will just record and photograph it all and then let nature take its course and cover it all up again until it is determined what is going to happen here.

“ It always amazes me how much can be interpreted from relatively insignificant finds, a lot of it is guesswork and assumptions, but usually things can be related to finds elsewhere where there is a bit more background knowledge.” I replied, turning to smile at the camera, I was definitely becoming more media savvy.

“Are you coming with us to Grime’s Graves, Josie, Jo is quite good as a knowledgeable tour guide, and we usually have a good day out, and it will be a chance to be on the TV show.” Jane asked her.

“I haven’t been invited, yet, but of course I would love to come. However Jo may not be her normal bright and breezy self, she is going out on Friday to an awards dinner with Darren from your marketing department and will probably be having a late night.” Josie answered her, deliberately spreading gossip to ensure that I couldn’t back out.

“Is that the hunk that has been here a few times asking for you Jo? I wish he was taking me out, he is definitely a bit of alright. He keeps coming back, he is definitely keen on you.”

“He is just a friend, he needed a ‘plus-one’ for the night and thought that I might like to go, that’s all there is to it.”

“Oh, sure, and you expect us to believe that! We’ll see you Saturday at Maggie’s to go to Grime’s Graves, if you manage to get home in time and get some sleep.”

Later, as we were driving over to the Museum for Jacqui and Josie to meet, I pulled over and parked.

“Josie, what did you set me up with Darren for, and why did you have to tell the girls? You know who I really am, any relationship with Darren is doomed to end in misery for one or both of us.”

“Look Jo, you have a lot to learn, just because you are going to dinner with him does not mean that you have to jump into bed with him and plan on having a family. It is a night out with what seems to be a charming, good-looking, and to be blunt, quite hot, young man. It is part of being a girl, don’t forget that with a nice lad you are in control and can set the pace. We need to get you sorted for Friday, you are going to this event with him whether you like to or not, just leave the arrangements to me.”

Back at the museum Josie and Jacqui had a long chat and got on well together. Jacqui was impressed with how Josie came across and with the knowledge she had already picked up on our operations at Ostia and especially when she even offered some suggestions as to how best to present the findings when it was all completed.

“Nice to meet you Josie, I hope all goes well with your baby, and if ever you want to return to work, please give me a call, I’m sure that we can find an opening for you somewhere in the county’s Museum and Heritage organisation.”

On Thursday after work Josie and I went shopping. After 3 or 4 designer shops and trying on at least a dozen dresses, I ended up with a lovely sleeveless calf-length cerise ruffled pencil dress that Josie told me fitted like a dream and really suited me, and was perfect for the image I needed to present

“You’ll knock them all dead in that Sis, you are a media celebrity now and you look the part in that. We need to find you matching shoes and clutch bag, a decent set of sexy undies, you have to play the part from the inside out, and of course some matching shoes with killer heels, at least 4”.”

Back at home I was made to practice walking in the 4” heels she had chosen for me, until I felt comfortable in them, or as comfortable as any other woman is in high heels, and she thought that I was walking correctly and confidently in them. They were the highest shoes I had worn, most of the time for work I was in flats or site boots, and even for my studio appearances I had only worn 2” chunky-heeled slip-ons. When she was happy with all that I was sent up to the bathroom to have a relaxing soak and to make sure that there were no stray hairs anywhere that could be seen, and even where they would definitely not be seen, and to give my hair a good wash and condition.

“While you were upstairs pampering yourself, I have been speaking with Susie. You will have to leave work early tomorrow, you have an appointment with her at 3 o’clock, she is going to get you up like a million dollars and will need a good couple of hours.”

As arranged I turned up at Susie’s beauty parlour, and was given a big welcome by the girls I had worked with when I first became Jo. I didn’t know half of what they were doing to me, Josie had given them full instructions for important things like matching my outfit colour, and that I needed to turn up looking gorgeous and glamorous, but left the rest to their expertise. For the next two hours, my hair was lightly trimmed, rolled up and sprayed and while that was drying into shape, my eyebrows were trimmed, I had two different face masks, why I don’t know, my finger and toe nails were shaped and varnished to match the colour of my dress, and It was finished off with a complete evening-look makeup. After my hair was brushed out in flowing waves I felt a bit like an overdone Barbie doll but Susie and the girls assured me that it was exactly what was required and all I had to do was go home get changed and wait for Darren to call for me.

Back at home I quickly put on my new lacy bra and pantie set, stepped into my dress and pulled it up for Josie to zip me up, stepped into my heels, picked up the clutch bag, had a good look at myself in the mirror, amazed at what a wonderful job Susie and the girls had done on me, and I was ready to go.

“You aren’t getting away that easy, here are my best garnet earrings and pendant set which will just finish you off, then a few photos to send to Mum, some with you all glammed up and a few with you and Darren.”

When Darren arrived he was all dressed up in a smart dinner suit, wing-collar shirt with a bow -tie cummerbund and pocket handkerchief to colour-match with my dress.

“You two are going to wow them all tonight, I just wish I could be there to see you.” Josie chirped as she took a few more photos of the pair of us, “Go out and have a good time, but behave yourselves, not too good a time.”

Our taxi dropped us off across the square from Kings Lynn Town Hall where the awards event was taking place, and with a light bolero over my shoulders we made our way over the market square and into the grand 18c building which also housed the Lynn Museum where Seahenge was on display. After a quick visit by me to the ‘Ladies’ to freshen up, we made our way into the magnificent main function room, which was beautifully decked out to seat about 150 people on tables of eight, all laid with linen tablecloths, silver-plate cutlery and crystal glasses, and found the way to our table.

To my surprise Jacqui and her husband, Rob, were seated next to us, with our group being completed by James Selkirk, The County Director of Heritage Services, and Howard Shepherd, our main sponsor at Ostia with their wives Charlotte and Caroline. The rest of the room was filled with representatives from other museums, The National Trust, English Heritage, the Civic Trust and the great and the good from most organisations and professional design teams in the county involved with heritage or conservation projects. Howard Shepherd played the genial host and introduced everyone to each other and called over a waiter to pass around the wine and fill our glasses.

“Here’s to an enjoyable and successful evening. I must say, gentlemen that we are honoured by the presence of our beautiful wives and partners this evening, we must be the envy of a lot of the men assembled here, let’s ensure that they all have a really pleasant time.” I thought it a bit patronising and sexist, but he meant well and we all just clinked our glasses in a toast.

While we were waiting for the meal to be served our table was approached by a rather suave elderly gentleman. “Please excuse me, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I please have a word with Miss Johnson and steal her away for a few minutes?” Intrigued I went off with him out to the lobby.

“I apologise for interrupting your evening, but I was wondering if you could do us a favour. I’m Marcus Smith, I’m the organiser and MC for the event this evening. We normally have a group of local celebrities to present the awards for the various categories of heritage projects, events and facilities. Unfortunately one of those we were expecting has not turned up due to a family illness, and I was wondering, as many people will know you from your vlog on Ostia, if you will stand in to help us?”

“Are you sure, I am certain that there are a lot more experienced and appropriate people here tonight who would be glad to do the job for you?”

“To be honest, most of the suitable people here have already done the role in the past and it is always nice to have a fresh face, especially one as attractive and pleasant as yours. Unfortunately, yours will be the last category to be awarded, so it may stop you relaxing and enjoying the event, but please say that you will do it.”

“I’m honoured to be asked, of course I am happy to help out. What exactly do I have to do?”

“Nothing too onerous, no speeches or anything, just walk on, announce the winner of the award, shake their hand and walk off, just watch what the earlier people do and follow them in your own way. You talk very well in front of the cameras on your vlog and on TV, just treat this as a bit of the same.”

The others were delighted and amazed when I told them what it was all about, and it kept the conversation flowing during our meal. When everything was cleared away, the formal part of the evening started. There were 10 awards to be presented and Marcus introduced the guest presenters and left them to congratulate the winners for each of the categories. Eventually it was my turn and I made my way to the side of the platform waiting to be introduced.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest to present the final award, although she is a last-minute stand-in, I am sure that with her experience she is more than capable. Most of you will recognise her from her appearances on Anglia East and from her vlogs about Ostia Septentrionalis, I hope I got my tongue around that and pronounced it correctly, if not I’m sure that she will correct me. Please welcome Miss Jo Johnson.”

I was a bit embarrassed as I made my way onto the podium, I was getting a better reception than many of the very worthy award winners.”

“Thank you very much for asking me Marcus, I really appreciate it. The final category is for the most inspirational person, project, or event, something that has triggered interest from the public for all our local heritage projects.” I paused while I carefully opened the envelope and prepared to unfold the paper with the winner’s name. “The winner is…………Oh my god, it’s me.” I was at loss for words and didn’t know how to react, so Marcus came back to the podium and took over.

“Truthfully, ladies and gentlemen, Jo had no idea that this was coming. I got her up onto the stage under false pretences. Since she started doing the vlogs and the programmes about Ostia, and I am not going to try to say the full name again, the visits to Seahenge have more than doubled and we have had so many enquires for school and special-interest groups to visit. I understand that there are more programmes in the pipeline for other museums. I am sure that you will all agree that she is doing a magnificent job in raising the profile of our local history and heritage, please join me in congratulating her.” To a continuing round of applause and handshakes as I passed, Marcus escorted me back to our table.

“Thank you all for allowing me to borrow her and helping to get her here, enjoy the rest of the evening. Congratulations Jo, you thoroughly deserved the award.” He gave me a formal kiss on each cheek and waited for me to sit before leaving us.

“Did you all know about this, particularly you Darren, you could have told me instead of pretending that you wanted me here as your date.”

“Yes,I was asked by Jacqui if I could get you here, but it just gave me the kickstart that I needed to ask you out. Next time, there will be no ulterior motives, it will be purely because I love your company, and being out with someone as attractive as you is good for my ego and street cred.”

“You got out of that hole well Darren,” Jacqui interrupted, “let that be the end of it, you make a wonderful couple, let us all just celebrate for the rest of the night.”

“You are so good with people Jo, if ever you want to look for pastures new, give me a call, I could always use someone like you.” offered Howard, but he was quickly jokingly rebuffed by James Selkirk. “You keep your hands off her Shepherd, she is contracted to us and you will have a fight on your hands if you try anything.”

It was late when we arrived back at the house. Darren put the taxi on hold and walked me to the door. It was an awkward moment while I thought about the normal goodnights knowing that I was really Joey, not Jo, but I decided to throw caution to the wind reached up and put my arms around him and gave him a passionate kiss full on the lips. We were interrupted by the taxi driver calling out ”Do you still want me to wait or are you going in.”

“Thanks for a lovely evening Darren, I’ve really enjoyed myself, but I have to be up early tomorrow, I had better go in.” He gave me another kiss and hug and made his way back to the taxi, looking back to make sure that I got in the house ok.

Josie was standing just behind the door with a big silly smile. “You little teaser you, I thought that you were going to invite him to come in.”

“Come of it Josie, you know that I couldn’t lead him on like that, it’s not fair. Besides, I may be dressing as a girl, but sexually I still prefer girls.”

“That didn’t stop you slobbering all over him, did it. Even the taxi driver was egging you on.”

“I couldn’t let him go away without even a bit of a snog, could I, we’ve had a wonderful evening, he has been the perfect partner for me and I didn’t want to spoil it for him by being too cold.”

“Try and tell me with a straight face that you did not enjoy the snog though, even just a little bit, you really went for it, it wasn’t just a gentle peck on the cheek.”

Let’s go and sit down and kick off these shoes and I will tell you all about the awards, and by the way, I got a special award for inspiring people for my work on Ostia.”

As we needed to not have too late a night we poured a couple of glasses of wine and went up to my room. As I was changing ,cleaning off the makeup and brushing out my hair, I told her all about what had happened and all the compliments that I received, not just about my work, but about how I looked and presented myself. We climbed into bed together, like sisters, and chatted away until we fell asleep.

To be continued.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early. Although we had chatted in bed for a long time, we woke up refreshed and got ourselves ready to meet the film crew from Anglia East at Grimes Graves*. I let Josie go first as I knew that the makeup people would be tidying up my face and hair before the start of the tour and searched through my wardrobe for something smart but casual, ending up with a crisp white sleeveless blouse, black capri pants and leather slip on flats which would be ideal for the rough terrain at the site, Josie just went through her normal routine in her new’ wild-child’ image as her and the rest of the group would appear as just another crowd of visitors and would not need any special presentation.

After a quick light breakfast we went over to Maggie’s to join the others to make our way through the quiet country roads over to Lynford.

“Right girls, rather than just walking the site and discussing things in front of camera, let me take you through it all first, walk the site and go down into the mine, and you can have a think about any questions or comments you may have for when we do the filming. Meanwhile the TV crew can take a few shots of the site and decide where they would like us positioned and where we should stop to have a discussion.”, I introduced them to the historic moonscape with all its bumps and hollows.

After about an hour when the crew had sorted out all the locations they wanted to film us at, and after I had been tidied up by the makeup girl we started the tour.

“Today, we are at the Neolithic site at Grime’s Graves at Lynford. The site had been totally misunderstood through the centuries, and associated with many myths and legends, but it was only relatively recently that the truth about the site was finally clarified. All the hillocks and hollows are not graves, as the name would suggest, but are actually the remains of mine shafts to get down to the black flint beds below the surface to dig out material for making all sorts of cutting tools in the Stone Age. Later we can go down one of the mine shafts, only about 40. feet down, to see how they dug down and created a cavern from which they dug tunnels and niches outwards into the flint beds.”

In many ways it was not as exotic a venue as the Seahenge visit, but the women, wound up with the excitement of being filmed, really threw themselves into it all and came across as enthusiastic and wanting to know more about the people who had created this.

After we eventually completed the filming to the satisfaction of Jim, the director, he took us and his crew for lunch at a nearby country pub and talked the girls through what would happen next.

“For a bunch of amateurs you all did brilliantly, you all looked very interested in what Jo was telling you and asked a lot of sensible questions. You came across naturally as a bunch of friends on a day out. I want you to do exactly the same on the next filming session, which will be at Castle Acre Priory **. I have to go back now to sort out all the editing, so I will leave you to enjoy the rest of your day here. The programme will not be going out until later in the year as one of a series of six, shown weekly, but when we have this shoot all cleaned up I will forward to Jo a link of the preview, so you don’t have to wait that long to see how you all performed. Thanks for coming, I’ll see you all again in a couple of weeks.”

We all stayed there for a while longer, the girls were still excited at being involved and wanted to talk all about it.

Eventually we made our way back home, and after the excitement of the awards ceremony and the filming session I was ready just to relax and be a couch potato for the rest of the weekend. However this was rudely interrupted by a call from Jacqui early on Sunday morning.

“Sorry to spoil your weekend Jo, but you need to get up to Ostia as soon as you can, there has been an exciting discovery, the TV cameras are on their way and we need you for an interview.

“What’s the excitement about, it’s all just routine archeological mundane digging at the moment, we are not down to the really interesting layers yet?”

“I’ll tell you all about it when you get here, but basically a burial chamber has been uncovered and from the artefacts in the grave site it is somebody important.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Josie, get yourself ready to go onto site and look decent, you could well be on camera again. I’ll tell you all about it on the way there.”

“Right Jacqui tell me more about what has been found and why the TV people are here.”

“As I told you on the phone, a burial chamber has been unearthed. They have still not opened the sarcophagus, but from the high-value of the relics surrounding it and the carvings on its lid it would appear to be that of a very high ranking female. The inscriptions need to be properly exposed and translated but they have already read something to the effect of ‘Abs..ndita est a mu..o, rebe..l.o d..ta est’ .which if we have guessed the missing letters correctly is something like ‘hidden from the world, the rebellion is over.’ when translated from the Latin. There is a remote possibility that we have found the remains of Boudicca* or one of her daughters Heanua and Lannosea. After the rebellion was crushed there is no record of what happened to any of them, but at other sites across the Roman empire there are examples of rebel leaders being buried under Roman settlements so as to not allow access a rallying point for their supporters.”

“If I have to give a TV interview, how much of that is pure speculation and how much can I say?”

“Keep it to the basic facts, just say that the research is ongoing but that it looks like it is a high-ranking female from the Roman era.”

I left Josie to gather information for my vlog while I briefed Jim and the rest of the Anglia East team on what had been found, and what they could film. After a quick professional makeover by the TV team I was soon standing next to the burial site, talking to Professor Carter, discussing the discovery while the cameras followed us as we walked around. As I had previously been told, whilst he was in his element standing in front of a crowd in his university lecture halls, he was shy and reticent in front of the camera, so most of the discussions and commentary were led by me, with some of the explanations as to how the chamber was unearthed being given by Emma and Jane.

“Thanks everyone,” said Jim as his crew packed up, “ It might be a struggle getting it on tonight’s show as we work with a skeleton staff on Sundays, but we’ll at least give it a mention and follow it up tomorrow with a feature. Jo are you free to come in for an interview and discussion?”

I looked over at Jacqui who nodded ok, and told me, “It’s more important that you continue to be the public face of the project, Josie is proving quite competent with recording events and Emma and Jane can do the in front of camera discussions, they are almost as comfortable at it as you are, they should manage today’s vlog post without any problems.“ I promised to be at theTV station early afternoon for a run-through.

There was just a brief news item on the discovery that evening, with a photograph of the site area with Professor Carter and me looking towards the exposed grave, most of the shoot was still being processed for my interview on Monday with many more details.

On Monday the studio interview went well, including film of the activities on site and my explanation of the significance of the find, helped by the enthusiasm that the whole programme crew now had for the project, and I was soon on my way back home to settle down in front of the TV with Josie to see how they had pulled it all together.

“Don’t sit down Jo. When I arrived home Maggie caught me and when I told her about the discovery on site she invited us and the rest of the girls over to all watch the interview together, I didn’t have the heart to say no.”

Reluctantly I agreed to go over to Maggie’s with her, it had been a tiring day. Whilst I enjoyed the company of Maggie and her friends and their enthusiastic support for the project at Ostia and for me, there were times when it was all a bit overwhelming and this was one of those times. However, I put on a brave enthusiastic face and went over. Over coffees and Maggie’s home-made cakes after the interview was aired, I was bombarded with questions, ‘How old was the body.’, ‘What was found in the grave alongside the sarcophagus’, ‘Was there any indication of who it was.’ and lots more in a similar vein. Emma and Jane replied to most of the questions as they were in the team that had actually found the grave, and I was glad to let them take the lead.

Back at home later, I sat down for a chat with Josie.

“This is all getting a bit intense for me, Sis, I need a break. Whilst I am enjoying what I am doing on site, it is taking over my life, even when I come home to relax I’m faced with Maggie and her friends who want to spend ages talking about it . I’m thinking of going over to see Mum and Dad. I know that you are going to spend some time over therefore the wedding, so I’ll go over first to let them get to know the new me. Are you ok to work with Jane and Emma on updating the vlog while I’m away?”

“As long as Jacqui is happy for you to do that, it will be no problem for us. If you take your laptop with you, we can send you drafts of our vlog before we post it online in case we are not following your style, we don’t want to lose the interest of all your followers.”

I agreed everything with Jacqui on the condition that if there were any more significant developments I would front the vlog again, from France.

After agreeing with Mum and dad that the house was in a fit condition for me to visit, the following weekend I arrived at Toulouse airport.I breezed through passport control with a cheery smile and “Bonjour Mam’selle, bienvenue en France, bon séjour.” from the border control officer, who glanced at Josie’s passport and waved me through without any problems. In the Arrivals Hall I saw Dad and walked over to him. “ Oh my God Jo, for a second or two there I thought that Josie had come instead of you, you look amazing, you are now allowed to give your dad a big hug. Let’s get you up to Vayrac, we can chat on the way, it’s a two hour journey by the autoroute, and there’s a lot we need to catch up with.”

By the time we arrived at the house, he was quite accepting of what I was doing and why, and in many ways was treating me as he always had treated Josie. As we arrived, Mum came rushing out to greet me, froze for a moment while she took in how I now looked, but then gave me a huge hug and three-cheek kiss in the French fashion. “Come on let’s get you inside Jo and settled in, your dad can take care of you cases.”

“Now you are here Joey, sorry Jo, away from people that know you, do you want to spend some time as Joey.”

“To be honest Mum, I am now adjusted to living as Jo, and changing back for a couple of weeks will only get me confused, apart from the fact that with this hairstyle and the way I now behave, most people would still see me as a girl. I’ll stay looking like a girl, but otherwise please just treat me as normal.”

Although Josie had told them during her visit with Jack about how I had got into the situation of becoming Jo, and as they had been following the vlog and TV appearances, they knew a lot of the details of Ostia, we spent the first few hours catching up. I wanted to get everything out in the open so that I could put it all to the back of my mind and relax for the rest of my stay.

The next two week was calming and relaxing and I was soon in good spirits again. As it was the first time I had been to the area, Dad and Mam delighted in taking me on the tourist trail, down to the amazing village of Rocamadour** built into the cliffs of the gorge; the underground world of the caves of the Gouffre de Padirac***, the reproduced cave at Lascaux**** with its famous prehistoric artwork; the vibrant street market at Martel; and an enjoyable day canoeing on the river Dordogne.

It wasn’t all play though, as well as helping with the refurbishment and redecoration of the house including visits to the local brocantes to choose antique, or at least characterful, furniture, I was keeping in daily contact with what the girls were doing with my vlog on the developments at Ostia. There was no need to have worried, they were doing an excellent job and I decided that until Josie left to settle in to have her baby that I would just let them get on with it and only make an appearance if there were any further significant developments.

By the time I left, Mum and Dad were totally ignoring how I was dressed and my mannerisms and speech and I was accepted as a replacement daughter and introduced to their neighbours and friends, it was so good not to have to think about being exposed as Joey in a skirt.

When I arrived back home I found that Jack had moved in to keep Josie company in my absence and that they, mainly Josie, had made all the arrangements for their wedding and that they were heading over to take my place in Vayrac for a few weeks, before coming back to deal with last minute arrangements for the ceremony.

To avoid any risk of people putting two and two together, Josie had kept behind the camera and doing voice overs, if people saw my twin on screen it would not have taken long for someone to remember that she had a twin brother not a sister. I soon settled back into the routine of presenting my blog and continuing with the TV visits to the area’s historic heritage sites with Maggie and her friends after returning from my holiday looking and feeling happy and refreshed.

While Josie and Jack were over in France I handled the linking with the church and hotel for the wedding and reception, as well as going to the dressmaker for my fittings and adjustments to my Bridesmaid dress, making arrangements with Susie for a beauty regime to get me ready for the big day and to arrange the hen party for Susie and Josie’s other friends to have a good night out.

There was no fast progress on making headway with the sarcophagus and its contents, it was a slow analytical progress and there was not a lot to report, but progress was being made on the site in general.

While I was away, the team working down at the waterside on the remains of the jetty had erected a coffer dam, drained the area around the remaining pillars, and exposed even more piles going a lot further out into the sea, to the extent that even heavy cargo boats of that era would remain afloat even at low tide. It was all adding to the likelihood that Ostia was indeed a major trading post. I arrived early one morning and took an amazing photo of the sun rising shimmering over the exposed damp sand banks glistening off the rotting piles and used it as the backdrop for my vlog of the day report.

Even more of the large building was now exposed and it turned out to be a lot more complicated than earlier thought to be. At one end it appeared relatively basic, but from various portions of amphora and pots found, some still containing traces of their original contents, wine or olive oil it would appear to be a major storehouse. The other end, which was the minor part of the building appeared to be a barracks area. Many personal artefacts had been uncovered along with short battle swords and daggers. This area was more sophisticated, there were remains of underfloor drainage and hypocaust heating networks and patches of mosaic floors, assumed to be to be a guard room protecting the stores. Whilst the store area was of significant interest to Professor Carter and his team, the barracks area was a lot more relevant to my commentary on the life and times of the people that were stationed there.

Again I had the TV crew down to site, and fronted a report on the recent findings. I was worried that the constant reporting on the site would lead to boredom of the viewing public, but Jim, the director, assured me that whenever I made an appearance that the station was inundated with emails, texts and twitter posts congratulating us all on the posts and asking for more. Most of the interest came from people in the local area who were beginning to be proud of the town again, but the find was also beginning to attract more tourist visitors to the area helping to boost the local economy.

Josie and Jack were soon back from France and the next two weeks were hectic with the wedding preparations, visits to the church for a rehearsal, to the hotel to agree the final details of the wedding breakfast and the room decoration, to the printers to collect the ‘order of ceremony’ sheets and table place-cards, to the florists for the bouquets and garlands, and to the dressmakers for the final fittings of the gowns for Josie, me and the flower girls.

Sensibly, I had arranged for the hen party for two days before the wedding, so that we would all be as fresh as daisies on the big day.

Most of the girls were friends from university days, who knew me as Joey, so I was introduced by Josie to everyone as her cousin Jo, and they were told that Joey was enjoying himself away on a gap-year. My only concern going out on their celebrations was that with too much drink inside them that Josie or Susie would let slip my real identity, or even that I would somehow make a big mistake and be exposed and I almost decided to give it a miss. However, Josie convinced me that as her Chief Bridesmaid that I would be expected to be there, and I glammed up with the rest of them, with OTT party makeup, a skimpy short flared dress, bunny ears hairband, party-sash, and 4” heels before joining them.

While the rest of the party really got into the swing of things, had too much to drink and flirted outrageously with any lads that we came across in the bars and club, I used the excuse of having to take care of Josie as my get-out card to hold back on a lot of their activities and keep it all under control. Eventually I managed to get Josie home without any disasters.

When we were finally left on our own she reached over and gave me a big hug. “Thanks so much Jo, I’m really lucky to have a sister like you, I just wish that I had got to know you a lot earlier.”
She slurred in drunken confusion, “I couldn’t have asked for a better girl as my Chief Bridesmaid.”
I made her drink a lot of water hoping that it would help her recover more easily in the morning, took her to her room, stripped her and put her into her nightie, and tucked her into bed, before sorting myself out and then lying awake for a while thinking about what she had said.

In the morning I was up early, bright as a button, glad that I had stayed on fruit juice and soft drinks most of the previous night, I dressed casually, in leggings and a loose top, brushed out my hair, and popped in to check on what state Josie was in. She was snoring away still deep in sleep so I left her alone for an hour or so while I made myself breakfast.

Knowing how delicate she would be feeling, I just made her buttered toast to go with a pot of coffee to bring her round gently. “Get that inside you and when you are back in the world of the living, throw on something casual, we are going for a walk to get some fresh air.

We took along walk around the lake in the park, and felt a lot fresher.

“I’m desperate for a wee, there should be a toilet in that café. Come on, you order some coffees and cake while I sort myself out.” Realising that it was the place Karen worked I foresaw trouble ahead but Josie almost dragged me through the door, despite my attempts to persuade her that it would be better to make our way home and that I didn’t feel like a coffee. To my dismay Karen was behind the counter, and I noticed that she was staring at the pair of us. I reckoned that this was going to be awkward.

While Josie was away in the loo, Karen served another customer before coming over to my table.

“Hi Jo, who’s your friend, it must be family, you are almost twins? It’s a bit slack in here for the moment, the lunchtime rush will not be for another hour or so, I’ll get coffees and cake and come over to join you.”, Karen greeted me with a friendly smile. When she returned, Josie was back sitting next to me, her eyes kept jumping between the two of us, trying to work out who we both were.

Realising that I couldn’t come up with a decent story and that the pretence of being cousins would not stand up to any questions, I made a big decision and decided to be honest with her.

“Karen, I have a big confession to make, can you promise to keep it to yourself?”

“No problem, I’ll not even tell Jen if that’s what you want.”

“I’m not Josie that you were at school with, this is her, Josie this is Karen that you shared classes with.”

“Then who are you, you seem to know an awful lot about what we got up to at school?”

“Josie applied for a job, the job I am doing at the museum and at Ostia, but she couldn’t attend the interview so I went in her place, and got offered the position for her. She then found out that she is expecting and couldn’t take up the offer anyway, so I replaced her and took the job myself, and you know most of the rest of the story. As far as the museum and TV people are concerned although they know me as Jo, on their records I am Josephine, or Josie as you know her.”

“That all sounds believable, and not unreasonable, you are making a really good go of it too, but you haven’t answered the question, who are you really and why couldn’t you use your own name?”

I took a deep breath before answering, toying with the idea of keeping to the story that we were cousins, “I’m actually Joey, her brother.”

“Never in a million years, you are joking, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately not, it wasn’t meant to turn out like this, the hole that I have dug for myself just keeps getting deeper and deeper, even to the extent that tomorrow when Josie gets married, I will be walking behind her as her Chief Bridesmaid.”

“But……you are so feminine, I would never have guessed, when we have had our nights with Jen you have just been another one of the girls, the way you talk about things, and obviously dress and act you just come across as a girl. If it’s not too rude, have you always been transgender.”

“I don’t think of myself as transgender, I am just playing a role as Josie to keep what has turned out to be an amazing job, I have only been Jo since I went for the interview. I tried to avoid coming in here today as I foresaw this conversation, but Josie almost dragged me through the door, I’m sorry if I have embarrassed you.”

“Not at all, I’m just amazed and surprised, not embarrassed. Anyway your secret is safe with me, as far as I’m concerned you are my friend Jo, and always will be as long as that is what you want, even now that you have told me I still see you as Jo, there is not a trace of boy in you.”

“Thanks for being so understanding Karen. It looks like your customers are starting to arrive, we’ll let you get on. Have a think about what I have told you, I’ll give you a call in a couple of days, after the wedding, to arrange to meet up and have a proper conversation.”

With both of us deep in thought about what had just happened it was virtually a silent walk back to home before we felt able to have a discussion.

“I’m sorry about that Jo, I didn’t realise why you didn’t want to go in the café. However it didn’t go too badly, Karen seemed a nice friendly girl, but can you trust her to keep it to herself?”

“I am sure that I can, in a way it is a bit of a relief that that she just accepted it, but after a lot of problems she has had in her life it probably doesn’t rank as a major issue. However it has made me think that sooner or later I will have to have the same conversation with Jacqui at the museum and I am not sure she and our employers they will be as understanding and accepting.”

* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boudicca
** https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/castle-acre...
*** https://www.northofthedordogne.com/rocamadour.php
**** https://www.lascaux-dordogne.com/en/lascaux-cave
***** https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/natural-her...

To be continued.

All of the issues with Karen were forgotten as we immersed into preparations for the wedding. We went to the airport to pick up Mum and Dad, taking them home to get them settled into their old room.When they first saw us together in the arrivals hall their eyes were darting between us as if trying to work out which of us was which, but gave us both massive hugs anyway.

After settling down all the rest of the conversation was about the plans for the wedding, who was coming and who they needed to know about. Because of the problems with Jack’s Mum, her and his father were to be the only family members from his side, and my Auntie Jane and cousin Lizzie the only near relative we had from our side. The rest of the guests were friends of Josie and Jack, with Darren as my plus-one.

We left Dad to settle in and Lizzie, Mum, and I went to the salon for Susie and her team to work their magic on us with facials and hairdos, although Susie was going to come to the house tomorrow to tidy us up again and do our make-up. A while later we went home and got dressed to go out with the family.

To allow them meet each other before the ceremony and reception we had arranged for a dinner the night before for both sets of parents to get to know each other, but Jack’s mum didn’t want to know, she was still smarting from being told that if Jack had to choose between her and Josie there was only ever going to be one winner. We were joined by Auntie Jane and Lizzie for a quiet family dinner. They had been told all about me, and Lizzie had been catching up with my vlogs, so they seemed to accept me without too much bother once they got over the initial surprise at how I now looked and acted. Most of the chatter was obviously about the wedding, but in a quiet moment when we both went to the loo, Lizzie wanted to know all about my life as Jo, how I felt as a girl, and whether I had any regrets.

“I know it must seem strange Lizzie, but my life as Joey was drifting without going anywhere. As Jo I have a wonderful job, a successful career on TV, a lot of good friends and, if I wanted it, a potential boyfriend, although I am playing that quite cool at the moment, my life is a lot happier.”

“Good luck to you is all I can say, Mum and I were shocked when we first heard, but having seen your vlogs and how successfully you come across, we’re pleased that you are making a success of your life and accept you as you now are.”

The morning of the wedding, Susie came over early, starting with Mum and refreshing her hair and makeup, before attending to me.

My hair had been streaked and tinted the day before, so she just worked away with her curling brush to form ringlets which were then pulled into a sophisticated up-do, woven with a band of artificial primroses as a garland. After she had finished with me, she left me to get myself dressed and for her to spend a lot more time with Josie.

Not long before we were due to leave, I took my dress off the hanger and held it up to have a good look, I had never imagined this moment would come when I would be escorting Josie down the aisle as her sister and Chief Bridesmaid and pondered on how my life was now totally changed. I called in Mum to lace me into my tight body shaper and help me into my dress, a pale cerise, almost pink, full-length satin grecian-style gown gathered under the bust, with a fine lace bodice infill, stepped into the matching satin covered 4” heels and stared at myself in the mirror.

“Oh you look absolutely beautiful darling, but remember you are not the star attraction today, just keep in the background and let Josie have her moments of glory in the limelight.”

There was no chance of that, when I went in to see if Josie needed any last minute help, I saw that Susie had done an amazing job, and along with her gorgeous silk off-the-shoulder full-skirted dress and train, she was like a fairy-tail princess. I was on the point of bursting into tears, when Josie took my hand.

“Come on Jo it’s showtime, let’s collect my bouquet and your posy, get in the cars, me with Dad and you with the flower girls and make our way to the church. We’re already a bit late, Jack will be getting nervous.”

We stood at the entrance to the church while I fussed around Josie’s dress and train, tidying it up after the trip in the car, until I gave the nod to the usher and the background organist stopped what he was playing and burst into Wagner’s Wedding March (Here comes the bride) and we processed down to the altar, where I collected Josie’s bouquet and went back to my seat with the young flower girls.

When the vicar asked ‘Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace’, I was half-expecting Jack’s Mum to make a scene. I glanced across at her but, although looks from her to the couple could kill, thankfully she bit her tongue and remained silent.

Josie, Jack, Bob his best man, and I went into the vestry to sign the wedding register, before re-emerging and processing through the congregation with me on Bob’s arm, followed by the flower girls, the parents and family, then the rest of the guests, to the other traditional wedding march by Mendelssohn. Although they had not had formal invitations I was pleased to see Jacqui, Emma and Jane from the Museum alongside Jen and Karen in the rear pews near the entrance with Darren. I quickly broke off while the photographer and the guests were taking photos of the happy couple together, to invite them back to the reception and to be part of the group photos, before spending a lot of time in front of the camera.

Fortunately there were no formal roles for Jack’s Mum and Dad at the reception, and no opportunity for them to make a fuss, although the atmosphere around them could be cut with a knife, despite Mum and dad trying without success to engage them in conversation.As soon as the meal and formalities were over they made an early departure, saying goodbye to their son, but pointedly ignoring Josie. I just hoped that it would not spoil the day for them.

I was having a wonderful time, dancing mainly with Darren, but had the first dance with Bob before he went of to his friends. I was getting a bit tired and footsore after spending the day in 4” heels, left Darren to talk to Mum and Dad and went over to chat for a while with the girls from work.

“You’re looking gorgeous today Jo, you should dump all those frumpy clothes you wear for site and glam up a bit more often.” Emma was the first to welcome me.

“I couldn’t agree more,” added Jacqui, “but I don’t think those shoes would last very long on site.”

I chatted them for a while before getting back to my duties looking after Josie, but as I left I took Jacqui aside for a few minutes.

“Jacqui, are you in the office on Monday, there is something I need to talk to you about, but this is not the time nor the place.”

“No business today Jo, just you enjoy yourself, I’m in all day Monday and will keep my diary free for as long as you need.”

The celebrations went on until the early hours after Josie and Jack went up to their room for their private celebrations.

Later back at home with Mum and Dad, I changed into a casual skirt and top, glad to get out of the dress, the tight body-shaper and especially the shoes.

“You did well today Jo, I had so many compliments on what beautiful and well-brought-up girls Josie and you are, I am so proud of what you are doing.”

“No embarrassing questions about where your niece Jo suddenly appeared from came up then?”

“Not at all, nobody would have believed me anyway if I had told them the truth.”

Josie and Jack left early the following morning for their honeymoon in the Seychelles and later I dropped Mum and Dad back at the airport for their return to Vayrac, suddenly all alone with my private thoughts.

Rather than sitting moping all day, I gave Karen a call to see if was ok to pop round to finish telling her my story. It was a sunny and warm afternoon so we decided to walk down by the river, giving Marianne an outing in her pushchair, finding a bench in the sun to sit for a chat.

“Sorry about springing that on you the other day, I felt that you deserved to know the truth when you pushed me into a corner asking questions.”

“I still find it hard to believe, I mean just look at you, but it’s your business not mine.”

“Are we still ok as friends, the times with you and Jen have helped me a lot to settle in?”

“Don’t be daft of course we are ok, but it’s only fair that if you are to spend time with Jen and me that she knows too. Think about it and now give me the full story about how it all started and how you feel about it.”

I went through the full story again, including my doubts and confusion. “I don’t really know how I feel about it Karen, to be honest it is at the back of my mind, most of the time I just get on with life at work and home doing what every other girl does, Joey rarely comes into my thoughts.”

“I asked the other day if you were transgender, there seems to be a lot of reports in the papers magazines and TV recently and except for a few fanatics, it seems to be tolerated, even if not fully understood by most people.”

“A lot of transgender people, cross-dressers and transexuals, say that they have felt that they were really a girl in a boy’s body for as long as they could remember. I have never felt like that, and apart from a few dress-up games with Josie and at Halloween I never felt that way, but since I started work as Jo, I feel more and more like this is how I am meant to be.”

“Do they know about you at work?”

“Not yet, but I have arranged to see the Museum director tomorrow and unless I get cold feet, I intend to be honest with her too. I don’t know what will happen after that. There are two problems, how they will react to me living as a woman, and also the fact that I got the job under false pretences with false credentials.”

“I’m no expert, but from what I’ve read, most big companies and councils nowadays have equality and diversity policies, and will probably find a way around it. In my opinion you are the image of the Ostia project and the spin-offs on Anglia East, you are too high-profile for them to make a big fuss about it. There may need to be a lot of bureaucratic jiggery-pokery but they’d be daft to get rid of you.”

“Thanks so much for that, you have given me a lot more confidence to face Jacqui tomorrow.”

“Good luck with that and the sooner you get together with Jen and me and let her into your secret the better. She’ll be ok with it, I’m sure, she thinks what you are doing at Ostia and on TV is amazing and really likes your company. Anyway, now let’s talk about something more interesting, have you got any photos of the wedding, I would love to see again how Josie and you turned out?”

Having had the discussion with Karen gave me a lot more confidence for when I went in to see Jacqui the next day.

“Good morning Jo, I know that you want to discuss something with me, but a couple of things from me before you start.”

“Ok, go ahead.”

“Firstly I want to say thank you for inviting us back to the wedding reception, to be honest we planned on just going to the church to see how you and Josie looked. You were both gorgeous, and it all went off ever so well.

Secondly, down to business. Your vlogs and TV appearances have really sparked an interest locally, most of the county museums are reporting large increases in visitor numbers, and many of the hotels and guest houses are much fuller than they normally would be at this time of the year. Not only are you generating interest in Ostia, but the local economy is benefitting too. The senior management are really pleased with what you are doing, and I have had a pat on the back for realising and developing your potential. So it’s feathers in both of our caps, so keep it up. Now what can I do for you?”

“This is difficult so please let me explain.”

“After what I have just said, you are not thinking of quitting are you?”

"Far from it I am really happy with what I am doing, but there is a problem we need to talk about. As I said, this is difficult so please let me ramble on without stopping me with questions.”

“Go on, you have got me intrigued.”

“The problem, in a nutshell, is that I am not who you think I am. When you invited the real Josie for interview she was injured and couldn’t make it back in time. She asked if I could do the interview for her as we look a lot alike, and you offered me, pretending to be Josie, the position. She then found out that she was pregnant and was no longer able to take up your offer. It was too good an opportunity to pass by, so we agreed that I would take the job instead, as I am equally qualified. I am sorry if this causes too many problems, I will understand if you feel let down and cheated, and if you need to sack me I’ll have to live with that.”

“I wasn’t expecting that, I thought that you were going to quit. I need to have a talk with HR, but if there is a way to get round this and keep you here that is what I would prefer to do. I must say though that I am dismayed that it has got this far without you being able to be honest with me. What about the real Josie, has she been working officially anywhere?”

”No, just the volunteer role on site up at Ostia, but nothing official with tax or National Insurance (Social Security) records, The details you have for me are hers, so officially she has been employed here. I told you that she was my cousin, but she is actually my twin sister, that is why we look so alike.”

"As I said, I am sure that we can sort this out, give me your real details and NI number and leave it with me “

This was the moment of truth, burning what bridges I had left. “That is another problem, I am not really Jo either, I am not Josie’s sister, actually I’m her brother Joey. I applied for the position too but was not invited to interview as you were looking for a female. Josie got a friend to coach me into looking and acting as a girl for the interview and helped make me presentable as female. Since starting here I have been living full-time as a girl, quite successfully, as you have seen on TV and at the wedding. ”

Jacqui went quiet and stared at me looking me up and down, deep in thought, before eventually collecting her thoughts together.

“I am absolutely staggered, I find hard to believe, I take it that this is the whole truth now and that you are not playing some sort of game with me.”

“I am not playing games, why should I, you know everything that you need to know that affects my job here.”

“You say that you are living 24/7 as Jo, does that mean that you are transgender?”

“Before I prepared for the interview here, the thought of living or even just dressing as a girl had never entered my head, but over the last few months I have settled into life as Jo, and most people accept me as Jo including friends and neighbours. In many ways I have now become accustomed to being Jo, and it would seem strange to go back to being Joey. Whether that makes me transgender I’m not sure, all I know is that I would like to continue working here and at Ostia, and if that means I have to officially become Jo, then so be it. I hope that I have not shocked or embarrassed you.”

“Staggered confused and amazed, yes, shocked and embarrassed, no. You are not the first gay or trans person that I have known, so any feelings like that are behind me. To be honest, I think this may be more of a problem to resolve than you falsifying employment records. Officially the council has a quite flexible anti-discrimination policy and it would not normally be a problem. I have recently been to an HR seminar on transgender laws and policy and know that it is not an issue in principle. However, I believe that you would have to declare yourself to be transgender and change your official NI records, tax, and other legal documents. You can’t be totally officially listed as female and get a Gender-Recognition certificate until you have lived as a female for two years, but there is nothing to stop you changing your name to Jo, or whatever you prefer, and getting most of your documents listing you as female.”

“ What happens now?”

“Get on with your job as normal, one way or another we should be able to sort this out, I and my bosses are very pleased with what you have done and would hate to see you go. For the moment this is confidential between me and you, and obviously the director of HR, who I will discuss this with. I will get back to you as soon as I can, but meanwhile do not worry too much about it.”

I immediately left to go to site, I wanted to be somewhere that I could clear my head and be distracted by something more interesting.

When I arrived back at Ostia, there was no opportunity to think things through, there was so much bustle and excitement. I went looking for Jake, Emma, or Jane, to find out what was going on , and found the girls at the top of the site looking into an excavation pit

“Hi Jo, you have picked the right time to turn up again. We had thought that we had found the extent of the first building exposed at the top of the hill, but when they were levelling the ground around it there were signs of another building adjacent to it not far away. It didn’t show up on the aerial survey for some reason, but using ground level scanners now show it to be much larger than its neighbour. They have dug down at one corner and from the odds and ends that they have already recovered and the quality of a small area of the mosaic floor it looks like a much more important building. At the moment the suggestion is that this is the base commander’s villa and the building next door is the servants’ quarters. Let’s have a look and see if there is anything that you could show and talk about on your vlog.” Emma eagerly led me over to the top of the site

There was definitely a buzz about the site, Professor Carter and Jake were in deep discussion as they walked up towards us and they waved us over to join them.

“This could be a big story for your vlog and website. Obviously you need to use all the usual caveats, ‘still under investigation’, ‘it is believed that’, ‘still to be confirmed’, and all sorts of phrases like that, but we believe that this is going to turn out to be the major draw for the public when the dig is completed and the site opens to the public. However this looks like a substantial quality building, the home of the base commander or some sort of regional governor. Have you ever been to Chedworth Roman villa in Gloucestershire? This place could be a lot more significant than that, both from an academic historic and cultural point of view but also as a public attraction.”

“ I have been to Chedworth once on a field trip from university. It is amazing how they have enclosed it to allow the public in via raised platforms to look down on the extensive decorative mosaic floor, do you really think that something like that could be done here?”

“That’s not down to me, my job is the academic research, recording, and interpretation of what we find here, what happens afterwards is a decision for your museum authorities to make, but I think it would be foolish if, even in these frugal times, they didn’t start to plan a budget for this, That’s your job, to generate so much interest and enthusiasm that the accountants don’t waste an opportunity to really put this place on the map.”

“I know that you are not over-keen on appearing in front of the cameras, but if I put a short review on my vlog and arrange to get the Anglia East camera team here in a week or so, will you do an interview with me to tell of the significance of this find and the site in general?”

“You’re right it is not really my thing, but this could be so major, and even I am excited about it, that I will agree this time, but don’t make a habit of asking me?”

As Josie was away on honeymoon, with the help of Jane and Emma, I filmed a short intro piece for the vlog and for a brief discussion with Professor Carter. I then took over behind the camera to let Emma, Jane, and a couple of the volunteer diggers who first scraped away the earth to see the red and green tiles of the mosaic, describe how they all felt when the section of mosaic was first uncovered. Their enthusiasm and delight would go down well when the vlog was uploaded.

I wandered around the rest of the site taking in the work in other areas, particularly the remains of the jetty, when my reverie was disturbed by a call from Jacqui.

“Jo, I need to have a talk with you following our discussion this morning about your personal situation, can you come into the office when you leave site.”

“There is not a major problem is there.”

“Well, yes and no, but I don’t want to talk about it over the phone. But we should be able to sort something out.”

“Ok, we’l leave that until later, but to put you in the picture there has been a major discovery on site but again we can leave that until I get back.” I thought that if she wanted to play cliffhanger games with me, that I would give her back some of her own medicine.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/gloucestershire-cotsw...

To be continued.

I was soon entering Jacqui’s office ready for the worst in response to my coming clean to her about falsifying the job acceptance and about me being really Joey not Josie, but hoping that they had found a way to allow me to stay involved with the Ostia project. She was joined by someone I didn’t recognise, but who was introduced to me as Christine Carnegie, the Director of Human Resources for the county.

“Jo, you have presented us with a bit of a dilemma. In most circumstances anyone obtaining employment under false pretences would be summarily dismissed and probably even prosecuted. However, as I said to you earlier, you are the high-profile public image of Ostia, and very successful at it too, and we are keen for you to continue. However, there are a few changes that have to be made for us not to conflict with council policies or employment law. Christine will now explain in more detail, but consider things carefully before you make any commitments.” Jacqui opened the discussion and invited Christine to continue.

“There are two problems Jo, as you are already aware, impersonating your sister to get the job and falsifying legal records, and how to deal with the transgender aspects of your situation.

Dealing with your employment is bureaucratic but not too difficult, fortunately for you, as Jacqui has just said, everyone is keen to keep you on board. Basically the employment contract with Josephine/Josie will be terminated on the basis of her resignation to start a family. Immediately and seamlessly, you in your own right will be taken on as a replacement. However because of your public image you would be taken on as Jo, or any other female name that you would prefer. Changing the name by which you wish to be known is a simple exercise, and doesn’t even need to be legally confirmed by a deed poll declaration. However again because of your high profile it will be best to do this properly and officially.

With regard to your presentation as a female, this is not an unsurmountable problem for us in principle. The council has a pretty tolerant view of diversity and gender issues and has a non-discriminatory policy, but this has to be balanced with meeting legal and cultural expectations. We will require you to change the gender on all your legal documents, driving licence, passport, National Insurance records, and strongly recommend that you change bank accounts too to avoid any possibility of accusations of money laundering. The tax authorities, HMRC, do not allow gender changes to their records at present so they would continue to list you as male, but address any correspondence to you by whichever title you prefer Miss or Ms.

If you wish to be totally formally considered by us and employed as Jo, you will need to be confirmed as having gender dysphoria which can, but does not necessarily have to, lead eventually to gender re-assignment. Depending on your long-term intentions this does not necessarily imply the application of female hormone treatment or any other feminisation processes, but it will help smooth the waters if there are any future difficulties.

You are not the first transgender employee that we have had to deal with and have learned a lot with the previous cases. We will help whichever ways we can, most of the bureaucracy and form-filling can be handled by my department and our legal team, you will not have to get too involved other than a few signatures on forms.

Obviously there is a lot for you to think about, and I don’t expect an answer immediately, but the sooner it is sorted out the better.”

“Wow, that’s an awful lot to think about. I’ll come back to you tomorrow to let you know how I want to proceed, or if I have any more questions. Thank you for being so understanding flexible and helpful.”

“Take your time, there are some big decisions.” Christine said as she left Jacqui and me.

“Well Jo, it’s all down to you now. If you go ahead with this, nobody else will be told of the changes, as far as the staff here and on site are concerned, you will seamlessly continue as before working as Jo. Go and have a chat with Josie and whoever else you trust and let me know how you want to proceed. As a minimum you need to do a name change quickly so that you can sign an employment contract to get you covered by our employee liability insurance, the rest can wait.”

“Thank you for your support Jacqui, I was half expecting to be sacked. Before I go, changing the subject completely, you need to know what has been happening on site today. Remains have been found which are believed to be a major villa, as important as any other in this country, which when fully uncovered could be the star attraction of the site as a tourist attraction. It will be on my vlog today and on Anglia East next week, but I suggest that the County Cultural and Leisure committee need to be made aware as it could involve major expenditure and grant applications to turn it all into a viable visitor centre after all the investigative and academic work is completed. Let me pull my vlog together for you to assess, and if you think it’s appropriate forward it on.”

Putting my personal situation to the back of my mind for the next couple of hours, I edited the vlog and prepared it for posting before showing it to Jacqui.

“Wow Jo, that looks to be a major find, and you have presented it so well and with great enthusiasm, I can’t believe that the ‘powers that be’ can turn down the opportunity to invest in this. This is exactly why we have bent over backwards to keep you here and have overlooked your deceptions. Post the vlog, I’ll pass it on, and we’ll see what sort of reception it gets.”

I didn’t want to disturb Josie’s honeymoon, but needed to talk my personal situation through with someone to get my thoughts straight, the choice was my Mum and Dad, Susie, or Karen and Jen. Mum and Dad I would leave until later after I had a clear idea of what I was intending to do, and chose to ask Karen and Susie to come round for a drink at the house later as there was something I needed to discuss.

Karen arranged for her mother to babysit Marianne, and I arranged for Susie to pick her up.

“Ok Jo, what’’s up that’’s so important that you need us round urgently,” asked Susie, concerned that a disaster was about to happen.

“Before we start Susie, Karen knows all about my past, how you have helped me, so there are no secrets here. Karen stumbled across my past and we had a long discussion about whether my employers needed to know. After talking it through with her and sleeping on it I decided to come clean to Jacqui my boss, and the council have made some suggestions to me.

The most difficult decision is how long I intend to live as Jo for. Initially it was just to see this project at Ostia through to completion, but I am now considering following on and being involved in the setting up and running of the site when it opens to the public. It has been suggested that I can be re-employed as myself and not as Josie, but that I have to have all my documentation changed to show me as female.”

“There should be no problem there for you, you are living full-time as female, you look female, and an attractive one at that, you sound and come across as female, what difference do a few bits of paper make.” Karen smiled as she re-assured me.”

“So far, so good. However it has been suggested that I declare myself officially as transgender and take hormones to alter my body or even have gender reassignment. That is the worrying thing for me. I’m told that I don’t have to do that, but it would make my life easier if I did. I mean, Karen discovered the real me, so, no disrespect to you Karen, anyone seriously investigating my background would soon know the truth. The more I go down the path the less likely it will be that I will be unmasked or criticised.”

“If you do that, is it reversible, if you change your mind and decide that you want to go back to being Joey does it cause problems.” Susie looked concerned as she asked.

“From what I have read on the internet, the answer is no. Even if I went as far as surgery, which is not on my agenda at the moment, there are still procedures that can be carried out to reverse it, with a fair degree of success.”

“In the end Jo, nobody can make that decision for you. You have to decide whether life as a woman is for you long-term, and if you decide that it is, the more complete you become the easier it will be to accept your new life. If you had asked me 10 or more years ago, I would have advised you not to have such silly ideas and that you ought to accept your life as Joey, whatever that would result in, but nowadays attitudes are changing and people are becoming freer to choose their lifestyles.”

“Thanks Susie, but I am still not sure that I want to go all the way.”

“Leave that aside for the minute, if you are going to be employed as Jo, not as your sister, you need to change your name so signing a contract is fully legal, you need to get your driving licence and passport details changed so you can get about and go over to see your parents, and you need to get your NI records changed to preserve rights to benefits and things like that. I know that when I got married, I had to deal with things like that because I took my husband’s name, it wasn’t too difficult. In fact now that we are divorced I am reversing the changes to go back to my maiden name.” Karen tried to reassure me.

“The council have said that they can arrange all that for me Karen, I think I might start off doing that, leaving any long-term medical decisions until I have thought more about it.”

“Right that’s the big decision made, crack open a bottle of wine and we’ll start the fun bit and decide on your new name.”

“I need to keep my public professional name as Jo, so some variation on that would be essential.”

“If you want to make it easy, there is always Joan, Joy, Joyce, and Jocelyn, although they are not particularly fashionable at the moment, how about Joanne, I have always liked that.”

“That sounds good Karen, I like that it has a ring to it, I can’t use my second forename Leslie or it’s female equivalent Lesley as that is Josie’s middle name, I’ve always liked ‘Louise’. Joanne Louise Johnson it is. Let’s drink to that.”

We spent another couple of hours chatting about life in general before the girls set off for home leaving me to contemplate my future officially as Joanne Louise Johnson.

I headed straight to Jacqui’s office in the morning and found her free.

“Well Jo, have you thought things over.”

“Yes, from now on I will be Joanne Louise, but still go by the name of Jo. Unless you need to be involved, I will not use up your time and will deal with Christine myself, and we’ll see how long it takes to get me an employment contract for you and me to sign.”

“I thought that is what you would do, welcome to the Museum and to your new job as the council’s representative at Ostia, Joanne, I look forward to working with you.” she said with a big grin.

By the end of the week my name had been legally altered by a ‘Change of Gender Deed’ and I was now officially employed as Joanne, and applications had been sent off for my NI, driving licence, and passport details to be changed listing me as female. I had opened bank accounts in my new name and was awaiting confirmation and credit cards. To all intents and purposes, apart from a few physical details I was now Joanne Louise Johnson, female, and looking forward to my new life.

Dealing with my employment at Anglia East was a lot simpler than the bureaucratic change of my records at the museum. For tax reasons I was employed on a ‘talent’ contract through a management company that had been set up for me. The tv company paid my management company and how I dealt with it all after that was down to me and my accountant. All that was needed was for them to list me on their records as Joanne Louise Johnson and for me to sign a replacement contract with my new name. Although they only knew me as Jo and I was always down on their records as female, I decided to be honest with them too. They were totally nonplussed about it all, the entertainment industry has always been quite tolerant of unconventional lifestyles, and they even offered to do a feature on my ‘coming-out’, which I declined as I wanted it all to be as low-key as possible.

When Josie and Jack returned from honeymoon a few days later, we met up at our family home.to tell all about what had happened in the last few weeks. After they told me all about their honeymoon in a romantic lodge on a pontoon jutting out into the clear blue and green waters of the Seychelles, I asked how they were getting on with Jack’s mother since their return.

“I’m sorry to have to say this, and I’ve already said this to Jack, but she is a spiteful interfering old bitch, I cannot live in the same house as her. Jack and I are looking for a place of our own, but because he often does work for his father’s company and there is a lot of money tied up in family trusts, the financial situation is quite confused and our lawyers are trying to get Jack’s trusts and accounts out of their control. Until something is sorted we cannot even start to look for somewhere to live and that’s not going to happen overnight, I’ll just have to bite my tongue and keep out of her way until then.”

“Don’t forget that this is your house as well as mine. If you don’t mind me hanging around and occasionally playing gooseberry, why not move back in here until you sort something out. I know that it’s not ideal for you, but at least you will be away from her.”

“Thanks Jo, I think that we would like that.” She said looking over at Jack who smiled and nodded.

“By the way before I forget, here is your driving licence back I don’t need it anymore, I have one of my own now.” I passed over my newly received licence with my new photo and name.

“Joanne Louise Johnson? And it lists you as female.”

“Yes, it’s all official and legal now. Not just the licence but my passport, NI, and all my employment records. You are now officially unemployed, you resigned from the post at the museum to have your baby, and the job was given to Joanne Louise.”

“Oh,” she said looking concerned, “you might have changed your name and got the Museum to accept you, but you haven’t gone as far as another changes yet have you, I mean physically?”

“Good God, no, there is no need for that at present, although sooner or later I may have to think about that.”

“What about Mum and Dad, do they know yet?”

“Not yet, no. It’s something I will have to do face-to-face, it’s not a subject for a phone call. If I arrange to go and see them, can you cover for me on site for a few days like before?”

“It’ll be a pleasure, it will be good to get back to site and see what progress there has been since I have been away enjoying myself. Jack has a bit of catching up to do on his contracts that have been neglected for the last few weeks, so I need to find something to occupy my time.”

A week later I was back at the cottage in Vayrac with Mum and Dad, my new passport being accepted without any question from the border control desk and my driving licence satisfying the car-hire company.

“Good to see you again Jo, to what do we owe this visit, you were here only a few weeks ago. And we saw each other again at the wedding.”

“There have been a few changes since I was last here.” I handed over my passport for them to look at.

“It says Joanne Louise and lists you as female, is this genuine?” Dad passed it back to me

“It is, I am now officially listed as a female, my records have been changed at the museum and I am now employed as Joanne, rather than as Josephine, and Josie now has her passport and driving licence back.”

“Is it all just bureaucracy or are you…you know what I mean…changing gender?” Mum jumped in with the big question.

“That’s it for the time being, although I am getting deeper and deeper into life as Joanne, and there will come a time when I have to decide to commit, one way or the other.”

“I don’t quite understand why you feel the need to go through all this,” said Dad, “but you will always be our child, whether as a son or as a daughter, and we will love you whatever you decide. How long are you here for?”

“Just a few days to give us all a chance to get our thoughts together and to have a stress-free time as a family. While I am here I will give you a hand with the renovations, my clothes and appearance might be different but I can still do all the things I used to be able to help you with.” I offered to Dad. “By the way, I am not sure what Josie has told you, but her and Jack have moved back into the family home with me. Jack’s mother is being a total bitch and Josie just can’t live in the same house as her anymore.”

I can quite believe that, Melanie was totally distant and cold at the wedding. I did try to talk to her but she wasn’t interested in anything and couldn’t wait to get away, she obviously disapproved of the marriage, Josie, and us. I feel sorry for her husband, Jeremy, he seemed alright and we had quite a chat, but when he went back to her, she was obviously giving him an earful about it, and they left a few minutes later without even a goodbye.”

I stayed with them for a long weekend, helping Dad with some of the heavy work and helping mum out too on the domestic front, giving her a break from acting as a builder’s labourer and ‘chief cook and bottle washer ‘. By the time I left they had accepted my new life, even though they had some reservations about what I was doing, and I promised to try to get over more often.

When I arrived home, I found Josie is a hell of a state, upset and crying.

“What’s Sis, have you and Jack had a bust-up?” I tried to console her and put my arm over her shoulder and pulled her head to rest on my chest.

“No, not at all, he’s been brilliant since we moved back in here, but his bitch of a mother is still causing problems and it affects you more than me.”

“Sitting there in despair is not solving anything, tell me what she has done and we’ll work out how to deal with it.”

“She was so angry after the wedding that she hired that private investigator again to try and dig up some dirt on me that she could use to split up Jack and me. He could find nothing bad about me to use, so he started to look into my family and it didn’t take him long to find out about you, at least that you are not who you say you are, I don’t think at the moment that she has linked you to Joey. His mother has now threatened that unless Jack and I split up that she will go public to the newspapers with everything she has found out and ruin your career.”

“What a bitch, what is her problem with you?, Let me have a think about it, but meantime don’t worry. The thing with blackmailers is that once they reveal things they no longer have a hold over you, so she is not going to be in a rush to call the papers.”

Whilst I was now open with my employers, I was still not ready for any bother that a full public outing would generate, and came up with an idea to keep her quiet, until I felt that the time was right. After considering it for a while I called Jim Marshall at Anglia East.

“Hi Jim I need your help. My sister’s mother-in-law has found out about me and is threatening to expose me as a fraud. I need to find out some dirt on her to use to get her to back off. Do you have any contacts with investigative journalists who could do a bit of digging for me, but who could be trusted to do it all off the record and keep it between us?”

“A journalist that could keep something like that off the front pages is a bit of a rarity, but there is someone we use occasionally that has shown that she can be trusted. Leave it with me for a day or so and I’ll see if I can set something up. String the blackmailer along as best you can, tell her that you are thinking about how to give her what she wants.”

After a restless night sleeping fitfully, thinking about what my life would be like if she carried out her threat, I rose early, leaving Josie and Jack still in bed and went off to Ostia to distract myself and immerse myself is what had happened there in the last few days. I was surprised at how much of the villa floor was now exposed, the mosaic tiling was covered with sheeting to stop the sunlight degrading the vivid colours, but a quick look underneath showed extensive scenes from roman mythology which Professor Carter and his academic team had already identified and recorded. Work was progressing well, exposing trenches following the lines of the perimeter walls of the villa, and the more that was exposed the more the scale of the building became apparent and the more significant it looked.

When Josie turned up later, I already had my vlog presentation sorted in my head and it didn’t take long to film the progress and do the commentary. I had just finished editing it all and posted it up when my phone buzzed at me.

“Hi, is that Jo Johnson?”

“Who’s calling please?”

“I’m Sally Walker, Jim Marshall asked me to contact you to see if I could help you with an investigation. I’m a freelance journalist often used by some of the major nationals when they want some research done for stories that they want to maintain a distance between the articles and their staff reporters. Jim has told me that this is off the books, but I am self-employed and not answerable to editors and I owe him a few favours. Can we meet up and you can tell me what you are looking for? Are you free this evening?”

“That sounds fine, I’ll see you in the Somerset Arms, just outside town at 7:30.”

As it was to be another person who was to get know the truth about me, I wanted to leave no doubt in her mind as to how genuine I was as Joanne, and spent a couple of hours cleaning myself up, doing my hair, makeup and nails, and dressing in a formal rose sheath dress and matching red heels to present as feminine an appearance as possible. Feeling like I was walking into the lion’s den I quickly walked into the main reception lounge of the Somerset Arms to see a friendly young woman, about my own age waving me over.

To be continued.

“Hi , you must be Sally Walker, thanks for coming to talk with me.” I smiled as we shook hands before sitting down.

“I’m intrigued Jo, Jim Marshall did not tell me much about what you want me to do, other than the fact that you need some confidential investigative work done. The main thing that intrigues me is why use a reporter like me rather than a private investigator?”

“When I tell you the problem and a bit more about me I think you’ll appreciate that it is as much about limiting publicity about me as much as finding out about someone else, and it’s the sort of story that newspapers, particularly the ‘red top daily rags’ would love to get their claws into. Let’s order some drinks and I will then give you all the details. Jim told me that I can trust you to keep this confidential, although as a journalist I think that you might find it difficult.”

“Unless you are doing anything criminal this will go no further, although if whatever this is about becomes public knowledge, putting on my journalist hat, I want exclusive rights to your story, is that agreed?”

Although Sally already knew who I was from the vlogs and the tv appearances, that was all she knew, so I related my story about impersonating my sister Josie, starting work at the museum and on site at Ostia, and that now, for personal reasons, someone was threatening to reveal that I was not who I was presenting myself to be and severely damage, if not totally ruin, my career.”

“So, what is the big deal with that, if your employers are happy that the matter is now out in the open and resolved, what is the problem?”

“The big problem is that not only did I pretend to be Josie and take on her identity, but I also pretended to be female, I am in fact Josie’s brother Joey. Although I have now officially changed my name along with my appearance and lifestyle, as you have seen on my vlogs and tv appearances, I am still physically male.”

Sally went silent for a few seconds that seemed like minutes, looking me over and considering how to respond. Before breaking into the conversation again and patting me on the hand.

“Wow, that’s a bit of a shocker, I’d never have guessed and I know some trans-women who are not nearly as passable as you.You won’t be the first tv presenter or high profile person to come out as transgender, and someone being gay hardly even makes news nowadays. After a one-day-wonder splash in the papers it will soon be yesterday’s news and most people will just look on you as the talented attractive woman you have become.”

“I understand what you are saying, but at the moment I would much rather keep it under wraps.
The problem is that my sister’s mother-in-law has for some reason violently taken offence at her son Jack marrying Josie and is determined to split them up, nobody knows why or what is going on in her head, but it is something we all have had to live with. She has had someone do a bit of digging trying to find something she can use against Josie, but when that was unsuccessful they turned their attention to our family and have found out about me. At present all she knows is that there is no cousin Josie and there is no trace of my background, she doesn’t yet seem to know that I am, or was, Joey. She is now saying that unless Josie and Jack break up that she will tell my story to the papers. I don’t think it will take the papers long to get beyond my false identity, find out who I really am, and then they will have a field day. ”

“You’re right, the newshound will very quickly get to the bottom of it, and any attempts at secrecy or outright denial will just encourage them even more. What exactly do you want from me?”

“I want some scandal, personal or professional, about her, her husband, or their families that she would rather the world did not know about, that I can use to counter her blackmail. The husband, Jeremy, is a high-profile businessman in the town, they move in the right social circles, Rotary, Golf Club, on the committees of local charities, and such like, they consider themselves to be amongst the elite of the area and would not like their reputations and status to be shattered. I don’t want them to be ruined, I just want something to make them back off and leave Josie and Jack to get on with their lives.”

“You do realise, don’t you, that even if she agrees to keep quiet, that there is no guarantee that she will not change her mind in the future? Whatever I find out about them, if anything at all, can be better concealed or dealt with given time and your hold over her weakened. I have dealt with investigations where witnesses are bribed to change their story, or financial accounts are laundered to conceal wrongdoings.”

“What do you suggest I do then? I need to do something to stop the blackmail.”

“As I said earlier you would not be the first public figure to come out as gay or transgender, why not be honest and open about your background.”

“Personally I could probably learn to live with that, but it could be extremely embarrassing for the museum and the County authorities. Let’s see what you can find out about Jack’s parents first and we will take it from there.”

“Tell me a bit more about them, let me get off the starting blocks running.”

For the next couple of hours we chatted about Jack’s parents and I told her what little I knew before suggesting that I would ask Jack if he would meet her to provide a lot more details. Sally enthralled me with some of the exposé stories she had uncovered involving sex scandals of leading politicians and famous figures, corruption scandals involving hifi profile business figures, and miscarriages of justice . For someone so young and relatively inexperienced she seemed to have a nose for sniffing out corruption of all sorts and had a well-deserved reputation among her fellow journalists. She had a pleasant easy-going manner which belied her shrewd mind and it was easy to see how she could get people to open up and give her leads for her investigations.

We parted with a hug and a promise to meet in a week, to give me time to talk to Jack to see if he would help, and so that Sally could do some preliminary investigations.

When I got home I told Josie and Jack what I had been up to and had agreed with Sally. Josie thought it was a brilliant idea and the best way to deal with monster-in-law, but Jack had more reservations.

“I know that Mum is being a bitch about all this and that she is trying to control my life and break up Josie and me, but she is still my mother and I don’t want to see her get badly hurt. I’m not sure if I can agree to help by giving away family secrets to your reporter.”

“Look Jack, if I have any choice in the matter I don’t intend to air your family’s dirty linen in public, I just want to use anything we find out as a lever to get her to back off from threatening you, Josie, and me. Unless there is anything seriously criminal, I promise that it will go no further. I know that you and her are not really speaking at the moment, but have a word with your father to get him to try to keep her quiet for the moment until we see what Sally comes up with. Will you meet up with Sally to give her more family background information?

“I’m still not happy, but I suppose that it the best way forward, what does she want to know?”

“To be honest I have no idea where she is going on this, but she is very experienced and adept at turning over stones and discovering things underneath. I know that this will be difficult for you, but before we meet with her in a few days time please try to think of anything that will help, the more she is told the quicker she will be able to dig deeper and hopefully find out something useful.”

For the rest of the week I threw myself into my work on site and tried to put my personal problems to the back of my mind, my change of employment status from Josie to Joanne had gone through without any problems, nobody was aware of what had gone on and I was just treated as I had been before.

There was a lot of activity on site but no exciting new discoveries, so my vlogs were just updates on previous reports.

The sarcophagus had been removed from site for further forensic analysis but buried beneath it a short battle sword with gem-encrusted haft had been found indicating that the grave was that of a high-ranking leader but there was nothing to confirm or deny that this was indeed the grave of Boudicca. More and more of the villa was now being exposed, but as a lot of artefacts were being found and the extent and quality of the floor mosaics were being exposed, progress was extremely careful and slow, but was promising to be of such value and interest that the timescales were less important that the quality of the investigations. The one positive finding had been the the extent of the jetty uncovered or predicted showed that even at the lowest neap tide there was still adequate depth alongside to take the deepest draught cargo ships that were used at the time, reinforcing the theory that Ostia was a major trading post. Whilst Professor Carter and the archaeological team were still very excited at the extent of the finds, there was not a lot to interest the general public on my vlog, so I focussed on the lives of the soldiers and traders who would have lived or been stationed there, which would be more appealing to the likes of my neighbour Maggie and her friends.

Friday evening Sally Walker came round to the house to talk things through with Jack, Josie and me, mainly to try to get more background information from Jack.

“Jack, if this is going to work I need whatever family background history you can give me, not just about your parents, but also any skeletons in the cupboard from way back. Remember that I am working for you, not for a newspaper or magazine, anything I discover will not be made public without your permission, so please do not hold back.” Sally tried to get Jack to open up.

“My father is, or was, a Chartered Accountant dealing with the finances of several mid-range companies, generally in the manufacture of specialist engineering equipment for the construction industry. Over the years, when those companies fell into difficult times and went into receivership or had major cash-flow problems, he bought them out on the cheap and soon built up a substantial business empire. When all put together he became one of the largest private employers in the area.. He is a shrewd sharp businessman and has taken advantage of opportunities as they have come up, and has left several disgruntled former business owners in his wake, but as far as I am aware, he has not been involved in anything illegal.

Before they met and got married, my mother worked as a secretary, but once they got together she gave all that up. Soon after they were married, I came along and since then she has not worked, not even for Dad’s businesses, but has involved herself with all sorts of local charities, and mixing with the ‘county-set’. Again, as you have all seen, she does like to be in control of things and has put a few noses out of joint, figuratively not physically, edging people out of positions they had held for a long time.”

“Make a note of all the companies that your father owns or controls, and all the committees and charities that your mother is involved with and I will see if there is anything unusual going on. What about grandparents and further back?”

“Mum has carried out a lot of research into family history on the ancestry sites and has traced some relatives back as far as the 1600s on her side and 1700s on Dad’s side. Most of it is pretty boring and nondescript. There have been a few instances of cattle or sheep rustling, one of my ancestors was involved with the Luddites* in the early 1800s, another was a leading light in the suffragette movement**. My great-grandfather was a conscientious objector in the Great War(WW1), there is a lot of detail on my mothers account.”

“That might unearth something, give me the account name and password and I’ll have a look into it. Most of those sites offer basic DNA tests and links to close family several generations back, do you know if any of you have been tested ?”

“I know that they have both been tested as this has helped them link to others to trace the family history, as I was only in my teens at the time, they didn’t bother to get me tested.”

H’mm, just for the records I’ll set up an account for you and arrange for a test for both you and Josie. That and the information about the activities of your mother and father should should give me enough to get a flying start. Leave it with me for a while and I’ll see what I can come up with.”

After Jack prepared a list of the information Sally wanted she left us to talk it through amongst the three of us.”

“That wasn’t too bad, was it Jack.” I asked, “On one hand I want her to find something to keep your mother quiet, but I don’t want her to find something that would be too awkward or embarrassing for you.”

“Let’s see what, if anything, she comes up with, we’ll deal with it as it happens. All I know is that I want her to accept Josie and me together.”

I was down on my knees at Ostia working away in a trench to scrape the earth from a section of the main villa floor when I felt a tap on my shoulder and was surprised when I turned around to find a smiling Darren looking down at me.

“Hi Jo, it looks like you’re having fun doing the hard basic work, should I join you down there or do you fancy having a break and going to the site hut for a coffee?”

“A coffee sounds good, give me a hand up, I’ll brush of the dust and we’ll go for a sit down.”

“It’s a while since I’ve seen you, do you fancy going out for a meal and a drink somewhere later in the week, if you’re free anytime?”

I was wary of getting too close to him as sooner or later he would find out the truth about me and it could only lead to a lot of bother for both of us. However he was a nice good-looking young man and I was flattered that he was interested in me.

“I’d love to go out sometime, but I have to warn you that it will only be as friends, I have a lot of issues going on in my life at the moment and until they are sorted out, serious relationships are off the agenda.”

“Fine by me, I enjoy your company, and it’s not as if I am getting bowled over in the rush of other attractive, funny, intelligent, and sort of famous young women fighting for my attention.”

“I’m not sure that that is the best chat-up line I’ve heard but I will take it as a compliment. I’m a bit busy this week, how about Saturday, an early meal followed by a visit to the theatre or cinema. I’ve kicked it off, I’ll now leave to you to sort it out.”

“Are you sure that you want to go through with this.” Josie asked as she sat and watched me putting on my makeup and putting waves into my hair? “You said the other day that you didn’t want to lead Darren on, and here you are, prettying yourself up to go out on a date with him.”

“ I told him when I agreed to go out tonight that it would be as a friend, and that I’m not looking for any romantic relationships at the moment, but he is a lovely lad and I enjoy his company.”

“As long as it is just friends and not ‘friends with benefits’, and he accepts that, everything will be fine, but be careful of letting him go too far.”

“No fear of that, apart from anything else I still would prefer a relationship with a girl, but who would want me as I am now.”

“Careful, you don’t want tears streaking your mascara. Get yourself dressed, he will be here soon.”

Darren was a perfect partner the whole evening, holding doors open for me, remaining standing until I sat and settled, chatting away over dinner, and holding hands as we watched the theatre show. It was a shame when the evening ended and he took me home. As we said goodnight he took me in a clinch and kissed me passionately making my head spin and I found myself responding holding him tight and pressing my hips into his, feeling his excitement, until I came out of my daydream and pulled away, feeling flushed, before quickly going back into the house and waving him goodbye.

“That didn’t sound like just friends to me.” barked Josie as I sat down with her. “You need to make your mind up, either cool it off or tell him all about yourself, it’s not fair on him to string him along like that.”

I went off to bed, sleeping fitfully, trying to rationalise my thoughts about where I wanted my life to go.

I was surprised the following morning to get a call from Jim at Anglia East. “Sorry to disturb your weekend, but can you pop over to see me tomorrow sometime, there is something we would like to talk to you about but it’s not something to discuss on the phone, but don’t worry it is nothing bad.”

Monday morning before going to the Ostia site to prepare my daily vlog, I called in at the TV studios to see what Jim wanted from me, and found him to be accompanied by someone I had not met before.

“Hi Jo, let me introduce you to Charles Mathieson, the regional director of the National Trust, who has come to us with a proposal which may interest you.”

“Jo, I have been following with interest your features on the various cultural and historic sites around Norfolk and have to say that I have been very impressed by the easy-going friendly manner in which you put across the features of interest on your visits. We have quite extensive information on our websites for all the properties we administer, but our market research has fed back to us that for many members of the public the information is seen as a bit dry. As you have shown on your vlogs and on the Anglia East documentaries, you have built-up a lot of interest amongst people who would not normally be interested in taking in all the information.

We are living in a very visual age, with YouTube and similar sites, and realise that if we offer an information package in a format similar to what you have done that it would have a much wider appeal. In a nutshell we would like you to front a series of individual video reviews of all of our properties in the region, not just Norfolk, but Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, all the way from The Wash down to the outskirts of London.”

“The Board at Anglia East have offered to sponsor the production of the videos, using our production team and editing facilities on the proviso that we have broadcast rights of selected edits.” Added Jim. “You would be working with the same crew members that have accompanied you on your visits for us, so it should be a relatively seamless step for you to take. We are also in discussion with national broadcasters to produce a travelogue series, using a nationally known personality as presenter visiting the sites with local media or artistic celebrities, talking to staff members and visitors, interwoven with extracts from the videos. It will however involve significant involvement from you and will impact on how much time you can commit to the Ostia project. Are you up for it, it could be the making of you as a tv presenter?”

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. It does sound a fantastic opportunity, but I am reluctant to give up my involvement at Ostia and do not want to let down the museum who have really brought me along the path to this. I need to have a talk with Jacqui at the museum and her bosses to see if we can work out something.”

“I’m glad you said that,” replied Charles Mathieson, “your loyalty and commitment is to be admired, most people would just grab at the opportunity for advancement and jump ship at the first opportunity.”

“Leave it with me, I need to have a think about whether it is a direction I want my life and career to take, and then go to see Jacqui. I promise to come back to you within a couple of days, if that is ok.”

I spent the rest of the day on site at Ostia updating my vlog and the website, but my mind was constantly drifting to the proposal that had been made to me.

I could hardly wait to get home and talk it through with Josie and Jack, but before I could start Josie had some news of her own.

“We got our DNA test kits today and have already done them and sent them off, the sooner Sally gets going, the sooner it will be that we can sort things out with Jack’s mother.”

“I've got news for you too, I went in to see Jim at the TV station and he made a proposal to me, let me tell you about it.”

When I had finished telling them of the offers made to be, they were silent for a few moments before grinning back at me.

“What is there to think about?” Josie jumped straight in. “It’s an amazing opportunity. I’m sure that it will be a lot better paid than your work at the museum and what you currently do on TV, you will still be involved with historic architecture and artefacts which you are interested in, it all sounds ever so exciting.”

“That’s the problem, the excitement is letting my head run away, while my heart is telling me that I have a wonderful job, or jobs, at the moment doing what a few months ago I considered to be my dream career. Besides, and I know it sounds daft, but I feel that I will be letting down the museum, Jacqui and the county authorities if I just upped and left.”

“That’s easily sorted, I know that the baby is due soon and that will totally change my life, but I am sure that with the help of Emma and Jane, and you looking over our shoulders, that we could carry on your work at Ostia and release you to do the filming.”

“But what about the baby, you don’t want to miss out on all the joys of raising your child do you, and you don’t want to over-exert yourself?”

“Don’t forget it will be several months for the researchers and scriptwriters to get their act together, , and get a window in the lead presenter’s schedule. If you can delay your detailed involvement in the project for a while, I should be recovered enough to do three or four days a week on the vlog, you could do an overview slot on Fridays letting me have a day at home. Don’t forget that the job you are doing is my dream job too and if you go off to do greater things then I could be involved with the setting up and running of the Ostia Experience instead of you. Jack mainly works from home anyway and I’m sure that he could chip in with the childcare. Honestly, with the help of a daycare nanny we will manage, Go for it or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Remember that I also have decisions to make about my future personal life as Joanne or Joey and going higher profile will meAn that someone is likely to do a bit of digging into my background. I’ll sleep on it and go to talk it through with Jacqui tomorrow.”

To be continued.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

**https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsJX10bKz...

“Good morning Jacqui, it’s Jo, can I come in to see see, there is something that we need to discuss.” I made the phone call first thing in the morning before she got involved in other things and before I had a chance to change my mind about telling her that I was thinking about leaving.

“Hi Jo, I’ve got a few meetings and things to sort out this morning, but I’m free later, what time suits you?”

“Are you free for lunch, my treat, it might be better to meet outside of the office?”

“That’s fine, pick me up at the office about 12:30.”

I was out on site for most of the morning and went home to change from my dusty working jeans and cotton top into a clean outfit , a light summer skirt and blouse, refreshing my makeup and tidying up my hair before picking up Jacqui and heading for a delightful old thatched-roof country pub just outside of town. We sat at a corner table looking out over the landscaped gardens, and ordered our drinks and meals.”

“Ok Jo, what is this about, you have got me intrigued?”

“Do you remember that you told me one time that sooner or later I would be offered more opportunities and that you could see me leaving? Well, I have received an offer which I am thinking about, but haven’t made up my mind yet, wanting to see how you would react first.”

“I knew that it would happen sometime but this is earlier than I had expected. Tell me about it.”

I told her about the discussions with Charles Mathieson of the National Trust and the proposals for me to feature is a series of documentaries about their properties and the follow up programmes by Anglia East.

“Sounds brilliant, and I can understand why you are tempted, but you don’t sound too certain about whether to take it up, what is the problem?”

“Two main problems, one personal and the other professional. On the personal side It will be a lot higher public profile which would leave me a lot more exposed to someone investigating my background and exposing me for who I really am. There is already someone effectively blackmailing me and my sister, Josie, they already know that I am not who I pretend to be, although as yet they have not discovered a link to Joey. If this gets out it will be embarrassing, not just for me but for you and the county too.”

“Look, you are now legally Joanne Louise, registered and employed as a female, and as far as I am concerned, that is who you really are. Fair enough, the council might get hit by a few lurid headlines in the gutter press, but it’s not something that can’t be managed and could even be turned to our advantage, waving the flag for our diversity and equality credentials.”

“My other big doubt is that although the prospects of an exciting life as a media personality sounds inviting, I’m not sure if it is really me. Life is already complicated enough with all the attention I get in response to my vlogs and TV programmes, and this would take it to another level. I might be the ‘flavour of the month’ at the moment, but media work like that can be very transitory. When I started working with you, I told you that it was my dream job, what interested me, and what I had been educated and trained for, and that is still there at the back of my mind. I wouldn’t like to think that in two or three years time when my bubble bursts, that I am out on a limb and no longer have a career to look forward to in the heritage field. Meantime I would be leaving you in the lurch after all the opportunities you have given me, but I have some ideas how to get around that.”

“When you started only a few short months ago, you were hesitant and shy about getting involved with fronting the vlogs, but you have grown into the role and come across just as professional, if not more so, than a lot of the established media presenters. Fame and celebrity is what you make of it. Many people seem to get too full of themselves, and think that they are better and deserve more than everybody else. Others use their celebrity status for good, fund-raising for charities campaigning for whatever interests them, but keep their feet firmly on the ground, not letting their heads go up into the clouds. If you keep the friends you already have, and not leave them for the celebrity crowd, they will keep you sane.

You’re right, in the media world if you fly high sooner or later you will fall back to earth with a bump. However there are so many travel and heritage programmes on TV now, hosted by actors, comedians and presenters that enable them to sustain a successful interesting career at a reasonable level without becoming unapproachable superstars. However if you ever decided to give all that up, I guarantee that there would be numerous organisations such as the county museums, National Trust, English Heritage, and special-interest travel companies that would be delighted to take on someone like you. You said that you have some ideas as to how to cover your taking up the offer, I am more interested in that, tell me more about what you are suggesting.”

“Josie is due to have her baby soon, but she has said that once things have settled down she would like to work rather than be a full-time stay-at-home mum. You’ve already seen that she has done a good job of standing in for me when I have been away in France and she gets on well with the people on site. She would love to take over from me, and with the help of Emma and Jane, who are featuring more and more in the vlogs it would be almost a seamless handover. If I accept the offer it will be a few months while the researchers and scriptwriters do their things before I would need to commit a lot of time to the filming schedule, and in the meantime I would be happy I could oversee what they do to make sure that the format remains the same. That may not be what you want to do, you might think that this is an opportunity for a change in approach but it would be an easy transition not having to train up someone totally new to the project. Have a think about it and discuss it with your bosses, no need for an urgent answer, I’m going nowhere for a while yet.”

“I’ll be sorry to see you go, you have shaken things up a lot, for the better. How about your personal situation, if you are going to extend your time as Joanne, you really need to think about your future life. Are you going to commit to being Joanne, take the plunge, and see about starting to transition, at least on hormone treatment to feminise you even more, although you are pretty believable as you are now?”

“You’re right, I have arranged to see a counsellor and medical staff to start hormone therapy, the way my life is going, I don’t think Joey will be coming back anytime and the higher my profile the more I need to be as near to 100% female as possible. It’s not something that I had intended to do when all this started, but over the last few months this is who I have become, Joanne Louise, it’s the life I am now living, and to be honest I am totally comfortable with it and it is now almost natural for me.”

“Whatever you think best Jo, you will always have my support and friendship. Anyway I must be getting back to the museum I have preparations to organise for meetings. After that I will see what I can do about replacing you, if that is what you decide to do.”

Rather than getting changed to go back to site, I just followed Jacqui back to the museum and completed my daily vlog.

“Hi Jo, we haven’t really seen you for ages and had a chance to talk. It’s Laura’s birthday today and a few of us are going for a drink after work, why not join us.” Michelle greeted me as I walked through reception.

“Sounds good to me, the guys on site often go down to the pub at the end of the day, but I am not really part of their social set, they look on me as a bit of an outsider looking on while they do all the hard work. Are you going anywhere special or am I alright dressed like this?”

“You’ll be fine as you are, you are probably better dressed than most of us, it’s just down at The Woodman’s Arms. There will be about a half-dozen of us, but Jim and Bob usually get fed up of our girly chatter quite quickly and won’t stay very long.”

“Ok, see you later, and thanks for asking, I’m looking forward to it.”

It was good to socialise with the girls and catch up on the office gossip again, being onsite so often I was a bit out of the loop of what had been happening to them all. I was bombarded with questions about my the recent discoveries at Ostia and my work at theTV station and it was difficult to keep my offer of a change of career from them, but I didn’t want it to turn into a ‘Jo’ event, it was Laura’s birthday and she deserved to be the centre of attention. Whilst I was totally happy in their company it reminded me that I had been neglecting all my friends that had helped me become settled into my life as Jo.

After a while I noticed that Darren had come in and was having a pint at the bar with Jim and Bob, he caught my eye and gave me a smile and a friendly wave. As the girls got up later to leave for home he came over and joined me, giving me a hug and a peck on the cheek, much to the surprise and envy of the other girls who gave me knowing glances as they left for home.

“Hi Jo, it’s about time we got together again, if you’d like that. There’s a race meeting next Sunday at Fakenham. Even if you are not that mad about horse racing it is an exciting and enjoyable day out, do you fancy it?”

“I’d love to, I was just thinking when I was chatting with the girls that I had been neglecting everyone recently, I have been a bit tied up with life’s problems, I need to get out more. However, there is something that I need to talk to you about first, let’s go out into the beer garden and find a more private spot.” I had decided that I needed to tell him about myself before we got in too deeply.

“Ok Jo, this sounds serious, you are not going to give me the brush-off, are you, you are not seeing someone else?”

Taking a deep breath. I opened up to him.

“Darren, far from it, I really like you and would love to see more of you, but I am going to tell you something about me that may change your opinion of me, and you may want to give me the brush-off. To put it bluntly, I am transgender, I was, in fact still I am, physically male, under all this finery I am not who I appear to be. I will understand if you get up and walk away in disgust betrayal and anger, but please, please, please, do not spread it about. I am trying to be fair with you and do not want to lead you on.”

He went silent for a while, his eyes wandering up and down me, boring into my soul, before replying.

“Jo, I have only ever known you as an attractive, charming, intelligent, and funny girl, and despite what you have just said that is the way that I will always see you. I have no intention of walking away, either now or in the future. As regards keeping its secret, my best friend who I stuck with through all the years from meeting them at primary school has recently transitioned and I understand how difficult it must have been for you to tell me. Although Lorna has fully transitioned she still has a preference for relationships with other girls, but we still remain close friends. There must be something about me that attracts me to people like you and her. Tell me everything.”

I gave him the full story about how it had all started and just steamrollered until, I got to where I was now, beginning the process to become female.

“You are totally different to Lorna, she knew from an early age that inside she was really a girl, but kept it all bottled up until she got older, however you just seem to have had an overnight revelation. Are you sure that it is what you want to do, and that it is not just a convenient path for you to make a successful career. Are you like Lorna, still preferring women, that is if you ever did, or do you think that you will follow the traditional life of a genetic woman and live your life in a female/male relationship.”

“If you had asked me a few months ago, even a few weeks ago, I would have said that I could only see a committed relationship with another female, even after transition, but listening to the girls tonight talking about their husbands and partners, some of it quite lurid and revealing, and remembering I felt with the kisses last time I was out with you I realised that I was relating to them and their emotions. My brain is still in a bit of a muddle, I have a long way to go, but I am definitely heading in the direction of wanting a conventional relationship with a man, and just become like most other women.”

“Ok, thanks for being honest with me, it must have been worrying for you as to how I would react, and considering my feelings. Let’s just continue as we are for the moment and see where it takes us. How about next Sunday’s meeting, are you up for it?”

As we stood up to leave after chatting for a while longer, I instinctively gave him a hug and a kiss which he just accepted as he would have done from any other girl, and I knew that he accepted and was comfortable with what I had told him.

When I got home I was eager to tell Josie about my meeting with Jacqui, and my talk with Darren, but she was quite excited and faster than me, and blurted out “Your reporter friend Sally phoned earlier, she said she needs to talk to Jack about something that she has discovered and will be here in about an hour. What was it you were going to say?”

“Let’s leave it for the moment and get the place tidied and ready for Sally.”

Sally soon arrived, looking quite pleased with herself, and we all sat with a glass of wine eagerly waiting to hear what she had found out.

“Ok Jack, I hope that what I am about to say will not upset you too much, but please hear me out. I think I might have opened a can of worms about your fathers business deals. Until just before you started school your father was a junior partner in a firm of chartered accountants looking after the accounts and tax affairs of a few small engineering companies. He and your mother lived a relatively modest life, can you remember much of what was going on at that time?”

“Not a lot, at that age all I was interested in was my toys, my books and my friends. I do remember that our house was small, with no garden, I and my friends used to use a nearby field next to some factories as our playground. Then, all of a sudden we moved to a much bigger place in it’s own grounds, a long way away, and not long after, maybe a two or three years later, we moved again to where Dad and Mum now live.”

“So that would have been about 1994 and 1997 right?”

“Sounds about right but I’m not definite.”

“As far as you were aware, and it’s a strange question, when you moved were there changes to your lifestyle.”

“I had aways wanted a bike and that first Christmas that was the big surprise present for me, along with more other things than I normally got, it was a shame that I had lost all my old friends, they would have been so jealous of me. In the old house the meals were home-cooked, fresh and wholesome, but when we moved they all seemed to get a lot fancier and exotic, and Mum and Dad seemed to go out a lot more leaving me with child-minders.”

“The reason I am interested in those dates is that they were the first times that your father appeared in the register of directors of any companies, as Company Secretary, responsible for the finances of those businesses. Two of those companies subsequently went Into receivership, owing large debts to their suppliers and causing many of their customers to lose any deposits or advance payments. At the same time there was a sudden upsurge in your families finances. As the businesses were only small family owned and managed companies there were no major investigations into what happened and how the companies got into their situations. It just seemed that they had been badly managed and had overstretched themselves.

I have had a friend, Calvin, who is a forensic accountant who owes me a few favours, look over those company accounts and he can’t understand why there was not a more intensive investigation. Money seemed to be shuffled around between various accounts and ‘consultancy payments' made to shell companies, registered offshore via a tangled web of ownership arrangements. It is difficult to prove, as offshore tax havens thrive on confidentiality and discretion, but there are links from your father to those accounts. It appears that he was milking the finances of those companies until he had built up a substantial nest egg, and then when their finances were shaky he pulled the plug on them in the annual accounts submission to Companies House ( The Government agency for the registration and recording of annual accounts submissions for commercial businesses).”

“You say that you can’t prove this, are you sure?”

“He is pretty definite that if investigated properly it will all come out in the wash, but that is not all.

It seems that he then changed his tactics, using his offshore funds and a holding company he bought into companies, gradually took control of them and then used their assets as collateral to buy other struggling companies rather than lead a company to bankruptcy after draining its finances. There seems to be a whole chain of money shuffling between several companies so that at the times of their annual reports they appeared to be in much better shape than they actually were. Over the years this has continued and he has built up a business empire of many companies which are all interdependent with a tangled web of loans and financial arrangements between them. However the whole business structure is quite fragile and if one business fails the whole house of cards will come tumbling down.”

“That all sounds very unethical and underhand, but is any of it actually illegal?”Jack pushed her to see how much leverage it would give them.

“Not really, although Companies House could give them a really hard time over false accounting. However it would ruin his financial credibility, reputation, and his standing in the community. In addition a lot of his personal finances and the house ownership are closely linked to his businesses and if the companies failed, he and your Mum would be in dire straits, and probably bankrupt and homeless.”

“Have you anything to back up these allegations that I can wave in front of him. If I just threatened to expose him on heresay he would just deny it all, cover his tracks, and shuffle money around offshore so that it could not be reclaimed?”

“All the company accounts are public records, and if the police fraud squads got involved they can easily request bank account details and pull it all together, financially it would ruin him and, by association, your mother as well. If you want to hit him with a record of it all Calvin can provide a short summary of it with a bit of background, but if you want a more detailed analysis there will be a significant fee charged for that. However, as I said before, a lot of his dealings are highly suspect and the police or financial authorities would most likely take on the detailed work to investigate and prove it all, if we reported it to them. Don’t forget, I am a journalist, not an investigator or accountant, and, this could be a major story in the local papers, and with Jo’s contacts at the TV station it could open up the floodgates for more information from the previous owners he squeezed out of the businesses they had built up.”

“Let me have think about it, I just want them to back off, I don’t want to see them ruined, unless it is the only solution.”

“That’s up to you Jack, let me know what you want to do. I’m still investigating your family history, I’ve opened ancestry search accounts in your name, sent off your DNA sample and am still waiting results and feedback, which should be soon. I’ll let you know if it turns up anything useful.We’ll meet again in about a week, by them I should have more information on your family background. ”

When Sally had left, Jack went off to another room to have a think about what Sally had said, leaving me to tell Josie about the events of my day. She quickly took in the prospects for her possible employment at Ostia, and was eagerly looking forward to taking over from me but was more interested in my discussions with Darren.

“Everyone you have told seems to have just accepted you as Jo. It’s an easy thing for them to do, you are just so natural as a girl, not just in your looks, but in the way you conduct yourself and deal with people, to be honest it is sometimes easy to forget your previous life as Joey.

Darren seems to be a nice lad, but don’t push him too quickly or you will frighten him off. From what you say, it doesn’t seem to have put him off you at all, and he was quite keen to see you again at the races on Sunday. Actually that seems as if it might be quite fun, do you fancy a foursome with Jack and me, it might help to smooth any ripples in the waters of your relationship.”

As it was ‘Ladies day’ at the races, it gave Josie and me a chance to dress up in our finery, cocktail dresses ‘fascinator’ hats and heels, although the heels were not really appropriate for walking on the turf in the spectators paddocks, a difficult choice many women have to make. We all really enjoyed ourselves, with a delightful meal in the main restaurant before the races started. A couple of small bets on the early races produced a bit of a return for us, mainly by luck rather than any knowledge of the form, which all went on the big race of the meeting, the last of the day.

As we felt the shuddering of the thundering hooves on the ground as the horses galloped up the final straight, we became more excited when two of our horses were neck to neck as they crossed the finishing line ahead of the rest of the field, giving us enough of a return to pay for our day out together with celebratory hugs and kisses all round.

Mainly because Josie and Jack were with us there was no mention of my situation and my relationship with Darren, as far as all of us, and anyone else near us, were concerned we were just two young couples enjoying each others’ company.

Josie was beginning to feel the effect of her pregnancy and was feeling tired, so her and Jack headed off home, leaving Darren and me to stop for a final drink before driving me home.

As we stood at the door, I was unsure whether my coming out to Jack would change how he would react, but he left me in no doubt when he held in a tight clinch and gave me a quite passionate goodnight kiss. “Goodnight Joanne, let’s get together again soon, I’ve really enjoyed my time with you today.”

I went straight to my room, changed, cleaned my face and went to bed, quickly falling asleep, dreaming about that passionate kiss.

To be continued.

The next week I spent a lot of time onsite at Ostia, things were developing at quite a pace and whilst as always there was a lot to interest and excite the archaeological team, the latest discoveries were also providing me with some amazing shots for my vlog. The sustained dry weather loosened the soil making digging easier, but also allowing the dust to be swept from the newly exposed mosaics and test areas to be thoroughly cleaned to show their vibrant colours and scenes from mythology and family life. The villa in particular must have been the home of a senior military commander or a wealthy merchant managing the provision of supplies to the garrison, and as well as the expensive construction it was yielding up many artefacts that would be expected of a building of such a high status. There was now an extensive collection of personal and household items, jewellery, ivory combs encrusted with jet, fine crockery and silver wine goblets. This was the sort of stuff that my vlog followers would be interested in, the personal details rather than the academic specialist discoveries.

Work on the jetty had been virtually completed, the number and extent of the pier props was recorded and documented and the area left to be consumed again by the waters of The North Sea.
I had an idea to try to make this into an interesting presentation of what to non-historians would be one of the least exciting aspects of The Ostia Experience, when the dig was complete, the archaeologists left site, and a visitor centre opened. It also gave me an excuse to visit Darren at his studio, not that I needed much of an excuse. He looked pleased to see me and welcomed me with a hug and a cheek kiss.

“To what do I owe this pleasure Jo, whilst it is always great to see you, I get the feeling that you have an ulterior motive.”

“Am I becoming that predictable? I have an idea, tell me if it is within your capabilities and the programs you have. When the whole project is finished, I think there should be two records, turned into time-lapse graphic video presentations of the whole project for visitors to the site to get a better understanding of events. The first would record and display the development of Ostia by the Roman invaders, from the first temporary camps, the construction of the jetty to allow building materials to be brought in, the erection of the warehouse and garrison building, and the construction of the main villa, servants house, and all the other various outbuildings which have yet to be uncovered. The second video would follow a similar sequence but would record the archaeological excavations and discoveries. Obviously most of it is not yet available, but the work on the jetty construction is now completed and that could be the first chapter/episode of the story which could be posted on the vlog and the website now, in advance of the rest, to try to maintain public interest. What do you think?”

“I’ve done something similar before, but on a less sophisticated, much smaller, scale. However it will take a lot of chargeable time to set it up and then go through the editing with you. Bounce the idea off Jacqui to make sure that there are funds available and that it is something that will fit in with any exhibition plans and designs that the council may have. Perhaps suggest that we start with the jetty as a trial to see how it will all go down with the authorities. Talk it through with her and if she agrees we can work together on it.”

After a late lunch with Darren which started as a discussion on the video proposals but drifted into more pleasant social chat, discovering each others likes, dislikes, and personal tastes, I made my way to the museum for a chat with Jacqui.

“Jacqui, I know that I have told you that I may not see the project at Ostia through to completion, but I have a proposal that could form part of the exhibition when the site is opened to the public. Obviously it is not my decision, it depends on the exhibition designer’s approach and how the museum and council authorities see the site being developed as a visitor attraction, but let me tell you about the discussions I’ve just had with Darren, and see what you think.”

“That sounds a good proposal Jo, I like it. I think that I can go forward with this, using the jetty development as a test bed, using some of my existing museum exhibition budgets without further approval. Let me talk to Darren to get an idea of the potential cost, and if it goes ahead, I would obviously like you to work it all up with him.”

“Changing the subject, I’ve discussed with Josie the possibility of her taking over from me if I decide to take up the job offer from the National Trust and Anglia East. She is extremely interested, but I still haven’t made up my mind.”

“At the moment this is between you and me, nothing official has been put in place, but please do not drop it on me at the last minute when you do decide. As far as I personally am concerned, I would have no problem with Josie taking your place, but I can’t make any promises.”

A few days later, things had settled down and I prepared myself for my first meeting with a clinical psychologist, to whom I had been referred by my doctor, for assessment of my suitability to start on a transition programme. I took extra care to present myself as normal as any other girl my age, not too heavy with the makeup, and smartly dressed in a plain skirt and blouse, not wishing to look a bit over the top as some transgender girls do. With a great degree of trepidation I entered the consulting rooms to meet the person who would have a major input into the decision as to how quickly I could go ahead.

“ Good morning Joanne, I’m Helen Hartley, Your doctor has referred you to me as a psychologist specialising in gender dysphoria for assessment of your suitability for gender reassignment. If I consider that this is the case and that you should start a transition programme, I will pass you on to a medical specialist who can initiate treatment for you, Start off by telling me about yourself, why you think that you are in the wrong gender and how and why you would like to see your life change.”

I sent the next hour explaining about how my life had changed since I first became Jo, often interrupted by probing questions from Helen for more detailed explanations, at the end of which I nervously waited while she completed her notes before coming to a decision.

“Right Joanne, I am undecided as to whether you are completely dysphoric or whether you have found yourself on a path which does not offer you an easy way to turn back but which offers you significant lifestyle and career benefits. Most transgender people have feelings from an early age that they may be more able to be themselves presenting as a member of the opposite gender. You on the other hand seem to have developed your feeling overnight when a career opportunity came up and had no previous inclinations to be female, other than a few times as a child playing dress-up with your sister, which is not uncommon and very rarely leads to or develops into gender dysphoria.

Whilst not ruling it out in the future, I strongly advise you to seriously consider whether you want to continue down this path. Although it is always possible to reverse a lot of the changes you will go through if you decide that transition is still the best direction for you, doing a u-turn afterwards often leads to subsequent physical or mental problems.

I suggest that we postpone a decision for a month or so, for you to seriously consider your future, take off the rose-tinted glasses about your burgeoning career and your accepting circle of friends and colleagues, and think about the drawbacks as well as the benefits. Obviously you have adapted extremely well to living and working as a woman, a lot more convincingly than many patients that I see, but think seriously about whether it is the true spirit of you or whether you are playing a role. Make another appointment and we’ll consider it all again.”

I left the consulting rooms feeling disappointed that she had postponed any progress, but in a way she was right, I had to consider if there would have been any likelihood of me deciding to go down this path in my life if I hadn’t been enticed by career opportunities, and the easy acceptance by my family, friends and colleagues. Rather than go back to work or go home, I wandered around the town for the rest of the day finding quiet private spots to have a good think without any interruptions or without any influence from anyone else.

Mid-afternoon I was drawn out of my deep thoughts by a call from an excited-sounding Sally Walker.

“Hi Jo, can we meet, I think that I may have found the smoking gun that you are looking for, and we need to talk it through.”

“Tonight should be ok if you are free, let me give Josie a call to see if she and Jack are ok with that.”

“Actually it may be best if it is just the two of us, let’s keep them out of the picture at the moment. Rather than meet somewhere public can you come over to my place, I have all the information to hand here?”

“Text me your details and I’ll see you about 6:30.”

Arriving at Sally’s place I began to understand how successful she must be at her job, it was a penthouse in a modern apartment building overlooking the river in an upmarket district of town, tastefully furnished and decorated in a contemporary fashion, but with a cosy homely feeling rather than the characterless bland style many tenants in such places adopted. We settled down next to the picture window, watching the light clouds drift by over the hills in the distance with a pot of tea and a selection of biscuits.

Thanks for coming over Jo, I thought it best if we met somewhere private and just the two of us, we’ll stick with tea for the moment, you need to keep a clear head over this, maybe some wine later.”

“This sounds ever so mysterious Sally, what have you come up with?”

For the next hour or so I sat utterly astonished, in almost total silence, as Sally related her findings to me, and soon understood why there was a need for secrecy and discretion.

“Wow Sally, you’ve taken me totally by surprise, I think that I need that glass of wine now. I’m amazed at how you’ve managed to dig into the records so deeply. I would have thought that some of the things you have unearthed would be in confidential files.”

“Don’t ask too many questions of how I came across the information, let’s just deal with the facts and what you are going to do about them.”

“I think that I need to go and see Josie’s pompous overbearing mother-in-law and face her with this. Are you free to come with me now, I would like a witness to what I am going to hit her with.

An hour later we were standing at the door to their house, and taking a deep breath I pressed the bell push, hearing the musical chimes inside the house. The door was quickly opened by a scowling Melanie.”

“What do you want, whoever you really are, I don’t think that we have anything to say to each other.” She snapped, standing squarely blocking the doorway, obviously with no intention of inviting us in.

“You couldn’t be more wrong, there is a lot for us to discuss.” I sharply replied, glaring at her, and brushing her aside as I barged my way into the house. Where can we sit down in comfort for a long chat and Is your husband here? I think that he will probably want to hear this too, the full version, not what you choose to tell him later.”

He soon came in to join us from his home office, ruddy-faced and about to burst into aggressive shouting, annoyed at being disturbed.

“You better have a good explanation for bursting in like this, uninvited, I’ve a good mind to call the police.”

“Sit down Jeremy, the police are the last ones that you would want to find out about what I am going to say to you. By the way, this is Sally who has been looking into your background for me and you need to know that this conversation is being recorded.” I had decided that there was no point in being gentle or polite with them.

“The pair of you, particularly you Melanie, have tried to blackmail Josie into breaking off her relationship with Jack and I now understand why. However before we get to that let’s deal with you Jeremy and your sharp, potentially illegal, business practices that have allowed you to live a life of comparative luxury on the back of the misfortune of others that you have cheated and robbed over the years while amassing you business empire.”

“Be careful what you say, you won’t be the first person my lawyers have taken to the cleaners for slander and libel and I’ll be happy to add you to the list.” If anything his face was getting even more flushed with anger and he looked about to get violent.

A forensic accountant has found a path through the tangled web you have spun of business relationships between the various companies in your group and how you came to acquire them. The police fraud squad, HMRC, and Companies House will be delighted if we pass all the information that Sally has discovered.You will be facing at least financial ruin if not imprisonment. Whatever the outcome your lifestyles will be drastically curtailed.”

Sally quickly ran through how companies had been milked of their assets and taken over by Jeremy and his companies, and I watched closely as Jeremy’s face changed from the angry eyes and ruddy cheeks to an ashen worried look until he was snapped out of it by a shrill attack from his wife.

“Whatever have you done Jeremy, I know that your business ethics have always been a bit questionable, but I had no knowledge of anything illegal, there is no way that I am going to lose my house, possessions, and standing in society over this. If this is true you will stand alone on this, I will not be dragged down with you and I will make sure that I get the best lawyers to get me a separation with a hefty settlement.”

“You ungrateful selfish bitch, you were happy enough to live well off the fruits of my businesses without asking too many questions. Let me tell you, if I go down for this, you are going with me, and even if we can sort something out with these two that’s you and me finished, I have had enough of your pompous arrogant manner and the way you deal with people, me included. I remind you that you are listed as a director of all my companies and as such were a signatory to many of the contracts, you are just as responsible as I am for anything unethical or illegal.” He angrily turned on her and was on the point of striking her when I grabbed his wrist to hold him back.

“Calm down, the pair of you, I haven’t got to the best bit yet, your financial shenanigans are not even half of your worries.”

Their expressions changed from anger at each other to puzzled looks, as if to say.’What else have you not told me’.

“A couple of years after you were married, Jeremy was posted to an office about 30 miles away by the accountancy practice he was working for and you moved up there together. You came back a couple of years later, the proud new parents of Jack, your only child, who you were delighted to introduce to your families, friends and colleagues. Correct?”

“So what?” Melanie snapped

“It’s strange but through the ancestry research site you have previously used, Jack’s DNA shows no direct links to that of either of you, you are not his biological parents are you?”

“What difference does that make, we have given him a good home, much better than the uncaring wretch who left him as a newborn outside the door of the house we were staying in would have been able to give him.”

“The difference is that you registered him on his birth certificate with you as his parents. That is a criminal offence, falsifying an official document. You have lied to him for almost thirty years, how do you think he will react to that, particularly seeing how you have treated him lately.”

Squaring her shoulders in an aggressive gesture, she continued. “I’m sure Jack will understand that what we did was in his best interests and this will blow over, tell him if you must.”

“I’m not so sure that he will take it so calmly, and I’m certain that the authorities will take this very seriously. As it happens we found a DNA link to the birth mother, who at the time was a worried 18 year old. Sally has spoken to her and when she realised what she had done, and suffered some post-natal pains she went to see her doctor who reported the abduction of the baby to the police and they still have an open file on the kidnapping. That’s another potential charge against you. Talking to her we have also discovered why you took so violently against Jack getting involved with Josie.“

They were both now looking really worried, beginning to understand that their lives were now hanging by a thread which could snap at any time.

“When you were living away, your brother who was staying with you for a few weeks had a brief affair with your new office junior, the mother of the child you took as your own and raised as Jack. That young girl happened to be Kate, my mum’s cousin. That makes Jack and Josie some sort of cousins or half-cousins. There is nothing illegal in that relationship and we have been told that that it is unlikely to be a close enough DNA match to introduce genetic problems with the baby. However despite what you told Jack, when you got your DNA analysed you also sent off a sample of Jack’s to be checked and it showed this relationship between the families, which you became determined to break up, worried that it would all be uncovered sometime.”

At this point Melanie burst into hysterical tears and withdrew into herself, but Jeremy ignored her, still angry that she had been prepared to let him take all the blame for their financial skullduggery, instead taking on a calm business demeanour and looking intently at us.

“Ok you have got it all wrapped up, a decent lawyer might be able to play games about illegal access to confidential records, but I am not prepared to take that risk. Being blunt, what do you want from us to sweep this under the carpet?”

“When all this started all I wanted was to stop you threatening us and digging into the backgrounds of Josie and me, and let Jack and Josie get on with their lives. However, for all your nastiness and misdeeds over the years you deserve to be punished. I believe that you have a very comfortable property near Limoges in the South of France, and it might solve a lot of problems if you decided to retire early and permanently move over there out of harms way.”

He remained stoney-faced and silent, so I continued.

“That would obviously mean two things. Firstly it goes without saying that this house cannot be left unoccupied, you will transfer the ownership to Jack and Josie who will move in after you leave. Secondly you are not a fit and proper person to be in control of your business empire, and so that your employees do not suffer, you are to transfer all your shareholdings and control of the companies to Jack and ensure a smooth handover. In addition you need to cancel all contracts with the private investigator who has been looking into our backgrounds, get him to handover over all documentation he has and get him to sign a non-disclosure agreement on whatever terms you can agree.”

“And you just expect us to roll over and do as you ask, why should we?” He was now in business negotiation mode trying to minimise any damage.

“What I haven’t mentioned is that Sally here is a well known journalist with a reputation for exposing scandals. Between her newspaper contacts and my involvement with Anglia East this will turn into a high profile exposé, fraud, money laundering, child abduction, falsifying records. We have enough evidence to go public on this without any fear of legal action from you. Your lifestyle and reputation would be ruined. At least with the proposals I have made you can walk away from this with some shred of public reputation left.”

“I know when a battle is lost, I agree with your terms. Will you turn over your evidence to us?

“I’m sorry to be so blunt, but do you think that I am stupid? I believe that you personally will keep to the terms the agreement, but I do not trust Melanie one inch. It will all be kept under lock and key ready to be used if necessary.”

“Melanie and I need to have a long conversation, but I do not see that we have any choice.”

“Ok, but please do not think about trying to cover up any of this, everything we know is on public record, your current company accounts have just been declared so please do not try to shuffle more out of your companies. At this stage we have not been able to break down all the barriers on the offshore accounts, and will take them no further, but everything legally belonging to your companies is to remain exactly where it is.”

“Agreed.”

After that Sally and I left them to stew and sort things out between themselves, and feeling rather self-satisfied called in at a hotel for a drink to celebrate before leaving for home.

“Hi Jo, Jack and I have been wondering where you were, what have you been up to?” Josie greeted me as I flopped down on the armchair facing the pair of them and kicked off my shoes.”

I’ve got some good news for you. Jack’s parents are backing down, dropping any threats against us, and will be no more bother to any of us.”

“What on earth have you done to get them to change their minds?”

Honestly, it will be sensible if you don’t ask too many questions, the less you know the better, let’s just say that I have made them realise the error of their ways. When the dust has all settled down and emotions are not so high, I will tell you a bit more about it. Let’s just say that Jack’s dad would rather that his financial dealings are not looked at too closely.”

You can’t leave it like that, you need to tell us more !”

“Give it a few weeks until you have moved back into Jack’s family home, and Jack has settled into his new role as chairman and CEO of the family businesses and we can talk about this is a calm unemotional manner.”

“What, we can’t move back there, there is no way I can live in the same house as her.”

“You won’t have to, they are retiring to their house near Limoges and will be well out of your way, unless you choose to visit them or let them visit you. Jeremy will spend the next few weeks with Jack going over the operation and finances of the business and then leave Jack totally in charge.”

It had been a long and taxing day, and after s short while I went off to my room, leaving them to discuss their future together under the changed circumstances. As I lay on my bed trying to clear my mind of the events of the day, I realised that following the discussions with Sally that any thoughts about my earlier meeting with Helen Hartley had not even entered my mind and had become less of a worrying issue and not so urgent to resolve.

To be continued.

“Jack’s parents will be retiring to their house near Limoges and will be well out of your way, unless you choose to visit them or let them visit you. Jeremy will spend the next few weeks with Jack going over the operation and finances of the business and then leave Jack totally in charge.” Josie and Jack looked surprised and relieved at how things had changed, but totally puzzled at how I had managed to turn things around.

It had been a long and taxing day, and after a short while I went off to my room, leaving them to discuss their future together under the changed circumstances. As I lay on my bed trying to clear my mind of the events of the day, I realised that following the excitement of the discussions with Sally that any thoughts about my earlier meeting with Helen Hartley about my gender dysphoria had not even entered my mind and had become less of a worrying issue and not so urgent to resolve.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now that the problem with Jack’s parents seemed to be out of the way, I was able to concentrate on my own life and decisions that had to be made, and in many ways they were all interwoven. The main thing which led to the others was how I was going to go forward with my life. I couldn’t really make any decisions about my career or my relationship with Darren, without a decision about whether my future life was to be as Joey or as Joanne, or even as some sort of in-between, a cross-dresser living life totally as a woman but without going through full transition.

Although my gender confusion had all started as a convenient path to a new career, over the year or so I had been living as Jo/Joanne, I had become more and more mentally adjusted to being a woman. I no longer consciously thought about how I was dressed or made up or how my hair was styled, at least no more or any differently. than any other woman, it was just the life I was now living. As Joey I had been quite introverted, uncomfortable in company, particularly male groups, I just never seemed to have the same interests or attitudes as the other guys, but as Joanne I was totally comfortable with all my female friends and colleagues and fitted in with them to the point that even to those that knew the truth I was just another ‘one of the girls’ and was seen and treated as such. There was no discomfort or feelings of intrusion joining in their conversations about families, clothes, interests or relationships, or even female intimate medical problems and sex, although I did not not have much to contribute to the conversation about the more intimate topics,

I was enjoying the attention of Darren and of other men who I met in my daily life, who all regarded me as what I appeared to be, a young attractive confident and extrovert girl, and responded as any other girl my age would do. Darren was a particular area of concern for me though. When I had first told him about my background, he had brushed it off as of little consequence, but whether that would last a lifetime relationship without it becoming a problem sometime I was uncertain. Either I had to accept that I should just concentrate on my careers as a woman and accept that I would never be in a long-term stable relationship and live a lonely personally unfulfilled life, take a risk like any other woman entering a relationship knowing how high the rates are for separation and divorce, or forgetting about life and relationships as Joanne and reverting back to Joey with all the temporary problems that would bring and the unclear path that life would take.

I decided that I needed to have a serious conversation with Darren, even if he had doubts about a future lifetime together, he would give me a good indication of how I would be viewed by other men who may show an interest in me and the prospects of a ‘normal’ life like any other woman. Any decision I came to about that would determine my career choices.

“Hi Darren, can we meet up soon, there is something I need to talk to you about?” I quickly and curtly cut in when he answered his phone

“ If you’re chasing me about progress on the videos, I am working on them as we speak.”

“No this is not about work, it’s personal.”
“Ok, I’m just finishing something off, it’s a nice day, let’s meet in the beer garden at The Woodman’s Arms in half an hour, and you can tell me what is so urgent.”

I arrived to find Darren sitting in a secluded corner of the garden with a tankard of beer for him and
A glass of chilled white wine for me already on the table, and sat down opposite him, rather than beside him as I wanted to see his reaction when I was speaking to him.

“What’s this all about Jo, you look ever so serious and worried?”

“You know that I am still physically male, but I am now seriously considering doing something about that. I have all but decided to start a course of treatment to transition into a female, exactly like your friend Lorna that you told me about. However, unlike her, I am unsure about my sexual orientation, but will most likely look for a male partner rather than a female. I’m not asking for any commitment from you, but would like to know your thoughts on it and whether it will make any difference to our friendship, our relationship, and I would like you to be honest, even if I may not like what you have to say.”

“What you have suggested is not unexpected, although I wasn’t anticipating it yet. Give me a minute to get my thoughts together, I want to make sure that what I have to say comes out right.” He grabbed his tankard and swallowed most of its contents in one gulp before going quiet for a while, leaving me worried that I had been too blunt with him.

“Jo, we are getting very close to each other, but I have been keeping my distance as the thought of sex acts with another man, even such a feminine one as you are, does not appeal to me. I have only ever known you as a girl, and that is how I see you, despite knowing the truth. At the moment I enjoy your company and am very fond of you, but close friendship and the excitement of a bit of foreplay is as far as I am prepared to go at the moment. However if you were to transition, it would be a different matter altogether. When Lorna transitioned I considered taking our friendship to the next level, so obviously have no qualms about having a transgender partner in life, but she made it very clear that she was looking for a relationship with another woman. Obviously any changes in you are not going to happen overnight and a lot could happen between now and when you are complete. If you want a commitment now, I can’t give you anything stronger than I will be surprised if we cannot make it work, but no promises, I don’t want you to go down the path on the basis of a lifetime future together with me. You are a really attractive intelligent fun-loving girl and I would love to have said ‘no problems let’s get on with it.’ I’m sorry if that is not the answer you wanted to hear ”

“From the sound of that reply, you have obviously thought about it as much as me, which reassures me that you are sincere and not just saying things so as not to upset me. However I will be going down the path, as you put it, and I would like you there with me holding my hand on the way.”

He quickly rose from his seat, came round the table and pulled me onto my feet and into a passionate hug, drawing my breath away, unconcerned at all the looks we were getting from the nearby customers. That was the first moment that I really felt fully as a woman and instantly had thoughts of sex with him when I was fully complete, regretting that we not in a position to go there yet.

I could hardly contain my excitement as he came home with me to tell Josie that we had both made important decisions, me finally accepting that my future was female, and Darren intending to go down life’s path with me. We told her that we were in no rush, both of us really wanted me to be fully female in all respects before we married and that it would be a year or so before I could fully transition.

“I’m so pleased for you both Joanne, to be honest it was only a matter of time before you made the decision, it has been getting harder and harder to see you as anything but female, there is none, or very little, of Joey left in you. Most of the people you work with just accept that you are a natural girl and have no reason to doubt you. The same goes for our neighbour Maggie and her friends that you have been doing the filming with, Jen and Karen, and the girls in Susie’s salon. I suggest that you get yourself started on hormones, give it a few months for them to begin to have an effect, and proving to yourself that you have no doubts and then open up to them all, I’m sure that even though they will be surprised, they are so used to you being Joanne that it will make no difference to their friendship. Just wait until Jack gets home, I can hardly wait to tell him the news about you and Darren.”

“How are things between him and his parent’s now?”

“Jack is now referring to them as Jeremy and Melanie, since you told us the truth about his parentage and how they had effectively kidnapped him from his mother, he no longer feels that they deserve to be called Mum and Dad. Despite that, it’s a lot easier now that Melanie has moved over to France to get their house ready for the permanent move and she is unlikely to be returning anytime soon. Now the truth about Jack’s birth is out it has totally taken the wind out of her sails, I don’t expect any more trouble from that direction. Jack is spending an awful lot of time learning the ropes at the business with Jeremy, who is being very professional about the handover and is now talking to Jack a lot more without Melanie sticking her oar in. Jack says that luckily there is an excellent senior management team to support him making the handover a lot less difficult than it could have been. Most of the financial irregularities were down solely to Jeremy, although some of the others had an inkling of what was going on, Jeremy played his cards very close to his chest. Despite the companies being milked over the years the overall situation is not too bad, and Jack reckons a couple of reasonable years will pull everything back onto an even keel.”

The next morning I made an appointment to see my counsellor, Helen Hartley, but I would have to wait a few days until she had an opening in her schedule. Now that I had finally decided that my future was to be Joanne it was frustrating that my treatment couldn’t start right away , but a few days would not make a lot of difference,I had my whole life to look forward to

“Good morning Joanne, I take it that you have come to a final decision and from the glint in your eyes, I assume that means that Joanne is here to stay.’ Helen greeted me as I walked into her consulting room.”

“I’m definite now. I know that you had doubts as to my reasons for wanting to transition, but I am now certain that this is how I want to live my life, as Joanne, as a fully developed woman, or at least as developed as medical techniques can take me.Yes, it did start off as a convenient way to get started in a career that I desperately wanted, but the longer I have lived as Joanne, the more certain I am that this is how I should be. When I am with other women and girls, I just feel so comfortable and natural in their company, I feel act and react no differently to any another woman, I am just being myself.”

“Stating the obvious, no matter how successful your transition could be, you do realise and accept that you can never have children and that may hinder your chances of finding a partner who is prepared to accept that.”

“I have an understanding and caring boyfriend who is more than willing to stand by me. Once my transition is complete we hope to get married, but even if that does not work out, he has shown me that there are kind and tolerant men out there, I do not think that I will many more problems than any other woman in finding a soul-mate and partner, but I will take things as they come.”

“Joanne, I don’t know if you realise you are saying it, but several times you have referred to ‘any other woman’ or ‘another woman”, including yourself with them. That convinces me that you now see yourself a woman. You present well as a natural woman, in looks, the way you move, the gestures you make, and the way you speak and express yourself. I no longer have any reservations about diagnosing you as having gender dysphoria and will issue my formal decision to your GP who will arrange to start you on a course of hormone treatment leading eventually to corrective surgery to make you outwardly what you feel yourself to really be. Welcome to the world of womanhood Joanne, I hope everything turns out as you would like it to and that you have a long and happy life as the woman you are meant to be.”

A week later I was at the surgery with Dr Stewart, and she greeted with a warm smile.

“Joanne, I have received the diagnosis from Dr Hartley, which quite frankly does not surprise me in the least. I would like to give you a quick medical, just to make sure that none of your vital functions have changed since your last one, as Joey, five years ago before you went of to university. Please go behind the screen strip off and put on the smock.

“Ok Joanne just a quick question, your body is already fairly feminine, narrow shoulders, slim chest and waist and a hairless body with smooth skin, you haven’t already been taking any hormones or other treatment have you?”

“No, other than laser treatment to get rid of my body and facial hair, and the normal use of moisturisers on my skin, that’s just the natural me.”

“Your examination was fine, nothing unusual, so I am quite happy to start you on a course of hormone treatment. As I have already seen Dr Hartley’s report I already have everything ready, and unless you are having second thoughts I can give you an injection now to kick start everything and you will need to follow on with pills that I will give you a prescription for, do you want to go ahead?”

“That’s why I am here, yes I am ready for the hormone injection.”

“Ok that’s it done Joanne, please make an appointment for about six weeks time, by then things should be having an effect, and I will give you another check over.”

I dressed and left the surgery on cloud nine, happy that I was now on my way to being what had come to be the real me, Joanne Louise Johnson. I knew that it was psychological but it was as if I could feel the female hormones flowing through my body, changing me forever. Other than my birth this was the most significant event in my life, in many ways it was the start of a rebirth..

I was still on a high the I returned home later, luckily finding Josie alone. She saw the beaming smile on my face and waddled over to greet me with a huge hug.

“I assume that is it then, you are now on the way to womanhood, I am so pleased for you as, to be honest, for the last few months it has been obvious where you were heading. How long before the hormones have any noticeable effect.”

“Not for a while, I am not going to sprout breasts overnight or anything like that. I have another appointment with Dr Stewart in six weeks time for a check-up, she says that by then the hormones should have started to work.”

“Just be thankful that the hormones will never make you go through the way I am feeling now. I am bloated, my breasts feel enormous, I am so tired, and I can’t stop eating boxes of chocolate ice cream, I will be so glad when this baby finally decides to come into the world.”

“When exactly are you due?”

“Anytime really, in fact if anything I am overdue.”

As she sat down again she suddenlyclasped her stomach and gave a shriek of pain.

“Get a towel quickly my waters have just broken, get me to hospital as fast as you can.”

We were soon in the car and on the way with Josie occasionally wincing as she felt the contractions and swearing under her breath. While driving I phoned Jack to tell him to get to the hospital as the baby was coming. But when we arrived he was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed a wheelchair, sat Josie in it and almost ran to the maternity ward. A quick examination and a timing of the contractions soon showed that the baby was on its way and Josie was wheeled into the delivery room with me alongside holding her hand.

While the obstetrician and nurses were fussing around preparing everything Jack rushed in, flushed from running through the hospital worried that he was going miss the birth. I stepped back to let Jack take over comforting Josie, and watched in awe as the baby first started to appear, thinking that sometime in the future the space between my legs would be almost identical to Josie’s, but never able to be put to the same use. The baby was soon delivered and cleaned up and passed to Josie, who smiled adoringly at her, the pain and discomfort now overwhelmed by the feeling of joy and love.

Congratulations Mrs Shepherd you a lovely baby girl, she seems healthy enough but we will take her for a few tests in a moment when you are ready, and you can have a bit of a rest and get cleaned up before you are taken back to the maternity ward”

Looking at Jack she passed the baby to him. “Meet your daddy, Clara Josephine, and he can then pass you on to your Auntie Joanne.” I gently cradled Clara for a few moments, but whether it was already an effect of the hormones, or whether all the time I had spent as Joanne had changed my emotional boundaries, the tears started to roll, knowing that I would never be in Josie’s position, and I had to pass her back to one of the nurses. Leaving Josie and Jack to spend time with each other, I left to go and sit for a while in the main waiting area to collect my thoughts and wipe away my tears.

The looks of joy on the faces of Josie and Jack had really got to me, I needed to be alone with my thoughts, and headed for the park nearby. I sat contemplating a childless future, watching the clouds drifting by, and the ducks and geese flying in to settle on the lake for the night, to try to clear my mind of my confusion, I had conversations in my head again and again,”Am I really doing the right thing”, “It’s not too late to turn back.”, ”’Darren says now that he is prepared to accept me and make a success of out lives together, and not having children is not a big issue for him, but what if he sees our families and friends having children, will he always think the same?” My thoughts were going round in circles.

As I was passing the café, I wondered if Karen was on duty, it was a while since I had seen her and Jen and maybe a chat with her would get my mind back in a sensible place.I stood outside for a few minutes deciding whether to go in, but was nudged on my way by another customer holding the door open for me.”Are you coming in dear?”

I waited while Karen served the other customer before approaching the counter.”

“Hi Jo, I haven’t seen you for a while, go and sit down and I’ll bring you over a coffee and a bun, we can have a catch-up between customers.”

A few minutes late she brought things over and sat down next to me.

“You look a bit down in the dumps, are you having problems?”

“It has been an up and down day really, I don’t want to burden you with my problems.”

‘That’s what friends are for, ‘A burden shared is a burden halved.’ and all that, tell me what’s troubling you.”

“ I have decided to go forward with transition to make me fully female and this morning I went for my kick-start hormone shot.”

“About time too, I’ve been wondering what has been holding you up ! So why are you not happy with that, it’s where your life has been heading for months.”

“That’s not what is worrying me, I was quite elated imagining that I could feel the hormones rushing round my body. However when I got home Josie’s went into labour and I had to rush her into hospital.”

“Did everything go ok, are Josie and her baby alright.”

“ Yes they’re fine, better than fine, she had a lovely little baby girl, Clara Josephine. However when they passed her to me to cradle her, it hit me that I would never be able to have a child of my own.”

“Don’t let that get to you, many couples can’t, or choose not to, have a family, you have an amazing career and I hear that it is going to get even better, count the positives not the negatives.”

“I know that what you are saying is common sense, but when I look at people like you with Marianne and Josie with Clara and despite the niggles and the hard work, seeing the love shining out of your eyes, I can’t help wondering whether I am doing the right thing.”

“If you are that concerned there is always adoption.”

“Without going into details I have recently seen the downsides to raising a child that is not your own, sometimes it is not a problem, other times it does not go well when the facts are revealed. I might change my opinion when things are not so raw, but it’s not something that I am considering at the moment.”

“I’m sorry to be so indelicate but I assume that the hormones have not kicked in yet and that you are still fully functioning, have you considered surrogacy? Think about it while I serve that customer, we’ll continue this in a few minutes.”

“As you so bluntly put it, I believe that I am still fully functioning, but to be honest there has not been a lot of activity lately.”

‘“The same goes for me too, between working here and looking after Marianne and the house, I am so whacked at the end of the day that sex is the last thing on my mind when I climb into bed.” She quickly replied giggling at the thought of previous encounters.

“Surrogacy is not a bad idea, but I am sure that I don’t have a lot of time, before it won’t be possible, I don’t know how to go about finding someone that I can trust to give up the baby and not cause future problems.”

“That should not be a problem, I have someone in mind, just give me a few minutes to think, I’ll go and clear up the tables from the last of the customers while I get my thoughts together.”

Returning a few minutes later, she sat down, holding my hand. “It’s not a problem, I’ll do it for you, if you feel you can trust me.”

To be continued.

Surrogacy is not a bad idea Karen, but I am sure that I don’t have a lot of time, before it won’t be possible, I don’t know how to go about finding someone that I can trust to give up the baby and not cause future problems.”

“That should not be a problem, I have someone in mind, just give me a few minutes to think, I’ll go and clear up the tables from the last of the customers while I get my thoughts together.”

Returning a few minutes later, she sat down, holding my hand. “It’s not a problem, I’ll do it for you, if you feel you can trust me.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“I beg your pardon Karen, did you just say that you would be willing to have a surrogate baby for me?”

“I don’t see why not, you need somebody you can trust, and I quite fancy the idea. Some people have difficult pregnancies and labour, but with Marianne I had no problems all, I enjoyed the whole experience, even the birth went off smoothly without too much difficulty or pain.”

“Leaving aside the emotional questions, what about the practicalities, you will have to give up work for a while, what will you live on.”

“This is not the most stimulating of jobs, I do it because I need to. I could always get another job afterwards. Those things can be sorted out later, let’s deal with the important things first, do you want to do this or not?”

“I would love to do it. Before Josie had her baby today, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but the reality of what I am doing has really hit home to me. It may be my heightened emotions today with the excitement of the injection this morning and then the birth, but the thoughts have now taken me over. It’s a wonderful offer from you, but let’s not rush into it, leave it a few days while we both consider all aspects of it calmly and rationally. Talk it through with Jen and I’ll talk to Josie, I think we both need to consider the potential downsides as well as the benefits for me.”

“You’re right, let’s meet up at the weekend and see if we are both still interested.”

Josie was back home from the hospital with Clara a few days later, and after the baby was settled down for her late afternoon nap, I sat down with Josie for a serious talk about Karen’s offer.

“Seeing you so happy when Clara was born really got me realising that as I go forward with transition, there is little chance that I will ever be able to have a family of my own. There is always the option of adoption, but after seeing the problems caused by Melanie and Jeremy with Jack, I am a bit turned off by that. I was chatting to Karen and told her how I was feeling, and, in a nutshell, she offered to carry a surrogate for me. I can’t make my mind up whether it’s good idea or not, what do you think?”

“Firstly, most of us get to feel bit broody when we see friends with a newborn it’s a natural reaction and you are feeling no different to any other woman. Usually after a glass of wine and a good night’s sleep, the realities and practicalities of life come back and we move on. You have had a few days to think about it calmly, do you still feel the same?”

“ I do, I just see a big void in my future life if I don’t do something about it before it’s too late.”

“Let’s look at the practicalities, what are you going to do about your career, do you still want to go ahead with the work for the National Trust and the follow-on tv series? Obviously having a baby to look after will mean that you really will need to think about how you would juggle those two demands on your time.”

“If we had gone ahead as planned, I had moved on and you took my place at Ostia and the museum, how were you going handle it, and now that you have Clara, do you still want to do that?”

“I had intended to, and once the hormones have calmed down after the birth, I still think that I would like to have a career, which would obviously mean a childcare arrangement for Clara, the same would apply to you. Jack and I are now quite comfortably off, and you are extremely well paid, so the costs of childcare are not a problem.”

“I have been so wrapped up in feeling broody, as you called it, that I hadn’t even considered that far ahead.”

“If you did get Karen pregnant, what is she proposing to do?”

“There will come a time when she has to give up work, which she seemed happy enough to do, I suppose then I will have to support her and Marianne.”

“You haven’t done your site visit and vlog for the last few days, you have been so wrapped up in yourself. Get yourself out there and do your job, and we’ll talk again later when Jack gets home.

The Ostia site was getting a lot more organised now, there would be ongoing investigations for the foreseeable future, on sites like this the boundaries are always being extended as new finds are made, but it was now becoming the time to discuss how it would all be developed as a visitor attraction. I was now quite adept at picking out and recording any important new developments and soon had a vlog update posted. I then called in at Darren’s studio to be met with a welcoming hug.

“To what do I owe this pleasure Jo, is it business or just a social call?”

“A bit of both really, let’s deal with work first. How are you getting on with the video presentation of the jetty area?”

“I’ve fished the video editing, but it now needs you to do the voiceover soundtrack, I’ve drafted a script for the commentary, but obviously you will want to put your imprint on it, let’s run through it and see what you think.”

“That’s amazing Darren, it’s exactly what I had in mind. I’ll come over in the morning and we’ll record the soundtrack, and then take it to show Jacqui.”

“We work well togetherJo, a really good creative team.”

“Actually creating a future is what I also wanted to talk to you about. Josie had her baby the other day, a lovely little girl, Clara Josephine, and in Josie’s words, it got me feeling a bit broody. It also made me realise that I, and you, would not be able to have children

I know that you won’t commit yet to a lifetime together, but I have now started my hormone treatment and in about a year should be able to have the final surgery to make me complete. I have a good friend who has offered to carry a surrogate for me to let me have a family like most other women. If I go ahead with that how do you feel about it, would it make any difference to our relationship.”

“It would make a massive difference, I have been thinking something along the same lines, I think it would just bind us even closer together. If you do this, are you going to be the biological father or is it something that you would expect me to help with?”

“Nothing is definite yet, but I think that I would like it to be my child, it would help me develop a maternal connection, but we will have to see how successful it turns out. If you feel that you want a bloodline child as well we can organise something similar for you in the future.”

“Oh Jo, you have made my day, if it were possible I would throw you across the desk right now and get started on making babies.”

I arrived home to find Josie and Jack sitting waiting for me to return.

“Sit down Jo, we have had a long talk and may have a way round your dilemma, but there are a lot of ifs and maybes.If you still feel that you would like to have a baby; if you want to carry on afterwards with your career; if I still want a career after my mind is clearer when the hormone levels have gone back to normal; if the museum is still prepared to let me replace you; and more importantly if Karen is still willing to go ahead now that she has had time to seriously think about it. We have thought of a practical solution. Any doubts or changes of mind so far?”

“I’m happy so far as long as you and Karen are onboard. Go on, tell me more.”

“We now have a big rambling house with plenty of spare rooms. How about if Karen became a live-in childminder, looking after her Marianne, Clara and your future child. I wouldn’t treat her as an employee, she will become almost one of the family. There are all sorts of rules about payments and expenses to childminders, but if we were to give her free board and lodging and an agreed allowance, it should not fall foul of Social Services guidelines. It would make life easier during her pregnancy, we could have our careers, and Karen would have a better lifestyle, a more fulfilling job, and probably more money in the bank, it could be a good outcome for all of us. Do you think that she will go for it.”

“As you said there are a lot of ifs, but assuming they all turn into positives, I think that she probably will. I said to her that we would meet up this weekend, so let’s go ahead, put it to her and see how she reacts.”

Saturday evening after she finished work and had been home to get cleaned up and changed, Karen arrived at my house with Jen, just in time for dinner. We left the discussions about our proposal until afterwards when we were all sitting with drinks.

“Thanks for coming Karen, before we start are you still prepared to have a baby for me? if you are we would like to make a proposal to you. It’s just a suggestion and you can turn down anything you don’t like.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I had changed my mind, I talked it through with Jen, and she is all for it too, but we need to sort out the details.”

Josie explained everything, as initially the relationship and daytime care of Clara and other roles in the house would need to be agreed between them, and that would still stand whether or not the surrogacy went ahead and was successful.

“Just to be clear, I’ll be in your house as daytime childminder, not as a housekeeper responsible for keeping the place clean and tidy or doing the cooking and other household stuff. I don’t mind mucking in and helping though, just as you would expect from any family living with you. As long as you are happy with that it all sounds OK to me, when do you want me to start.”

“No rush, as and when it suits you. You need to sort things out with your house and work, and Jo and I need a bit of time to organise the job changeover with the museum. Jack and I are already living in the house, it was ready to just walk into, you can move in anytime. Obviously Jen is welcome to visit any time she wants, if you’re living with us as family, she’s family too.”

“Ok I’ll move in fully and start day-caring for Clara at the end of the month, I’ll arrange to rent out my house, furnished, so it will just be my personal stuff that I will be bringing with me. I’ll not sell the house for a while just in case, for whatever reason, things do not work out as smoothly as we all expect.”

Now that we had the issues with Darren and Karen under our belts, the next hurdle was talking with Jacqui and agreeing the handover between myself and Josie at the museum and at Ostia, and a few days later we went in to see her and after exchanging a few pleasantries and talking about Clara, we got down to business.

“Jacqui, I have not confirmed yet with the National Trust or Anglia East that I will do their presentations for them, but that is what I am proposing to do. However I have been having a rethink about a better way for this to work. It may not be a long-term career working in the media like that and I would like to keep my interest in Ostia and archaeology in general. I have a proposal that I would like you to consider.”

“As I have said before, I personally, and the County Museum Service too, will be sorry to lose you, so I am interested in any way we can minimise the disruption of you leaving.”

“What I am proposing is that Josie and I take on a job-share arrangement, in general I would remain involved with the exploration works at Ostia, but Josie would progress the development of the site as a visitor attraction, getting involved with the planning of visitor facilities, publicity, exhibition contents and such-like. Obviously as well as sharing the workload, we would also share the salary, so there would be no additional costs to the museum, other than National Insurance (Social Security) payments. I would limit my other commitments to ensure that I reserve time for Ostia. In addition we can provide cover for each other for holidays, family emergencies particularly any illnesses, we can be quite flexible without any significant disruption to our commitments to you.”

“That sounds reasonable and interesting to me, but obviously I will have to discuss it with Christine Carnegie and the HR team, although I can’t see a problem. I’ll come back to you in a couple of days.”

“Thanks Jacqui, if HR have any problems Josie and I are happy to go and discuss it with them.”

“Putting that away to one side, If you don’t think I am being too nosey, how are things going with you personally?”

“If you remember Christine said that in the event of my background being made public it would be easier for HR to deal with it if I was actually on the path to transition rather than just presenting myself as female. Well, that is now underway I have seen a counsellor and have started on a course of hormone treatment, but it’s far too early for it to have had any obvious effects yet.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so, it is a logical step for you, I’m surprised it has taken you so long to come to terms with who you really are. How about your relationship with Darren, how has he taken to it?”

“He is surprisingly comfortable with it, he has had a previous experience with a friend of his who has gone through transition, but we are not making any firm commitments to each other until I am a lot further along the path.”

“Don’t forget, I want an invitation to the wedding, after all it was me that introduced you to each other.” Jacqui replied with a big smile.

After a visit to Ostia to view the progress, including the uncovering of more minor buildings. stables and a communal bathhouse (Thermae), the early equivalent of a spa and sauna, and updating my vlog, I arrived home to find Karen and Jen sitting chatting with Josie, with Clara cradled in Karen’s arms.

“You haven’t wasted any time bonding with Clara, she seems content enough to be with you Karen.”

“When I make a decision I go for it, and don’t hang about. I had someone round this morning to put it on the rental market, and the potential income will more than pay my mortgage and other commitments. I’ve already, with Jen’s help, brought over a lot of my stuff, so I can start to tidy and clean the house for prospective tenants. The agent reckons I’ll have no problems getting a tenant,
so the sooner the house is ready, the better it will be.”

“Josie, you seem to be getting on with Karen, but if it is all happening too fast we can slow it all down.”

“ No, it’ll fine. Apart from anything else, Jack is spending a lot of time in the office getting to grips with everything, and Karen will be company for me.”

“I had a word with Jacqui today and suggested that we job-share, which will free me to do the media work and allow you to make a career and still spend a lot of formative time with Clara. She seemed to like the idea, but we are waiting for an official reply from HR, but it will probably just be a formality.”

“That sounds brilliant, I get the best of both worlds, the career you pinched from me and time with Clara, I still need a bit of time to get myself sorted out, but can’t wait to get started.”

“Karen, I need to have a private chat with you, let’s go out to the summer house.”

“What’s the problem you don’t want to change our agreement do you?’ She said looking and sounding worried.

“No, nothing like that, I wanted to talk about us having a baby together. I’ve been thinking about it, and although I could still manage to do it the natural physical way, I think that emotionally it may be better to be a bit more detached and clinical, and do it artificially, I could get sperm frozen for the future, but that would involve officialdom but I would rather keep this private between ourselves, what are you thoughts?”

“To be honest, I’ve only ever really known you as Jo, and it would feel strange to me having sex with you, I’m not sure that I could really get my head around it, I think that I will be more comfortable using a syringe to get it all under way.”

“The sooner the better, I’m not sure how long I will still be fully functional and fertile. Get yourself sorted out here with Josie and let me know when the time is appropriate for you. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this, it means so much to me.”

We all stayed for dinner when Jack returned, and afterwards the girls and I went back to our homes.I had just settled in when the doorbell rang and I found Maggie on the doorstep.

“Have you got a few minutes, or are you needing to get your dinner together?’’

“No , it’s ok, I ate at Josie’s, I was just going to settle down with a glass of wine in front of the TV, come in and join me.”

“We haven’t had a chat for a while, and you haven’t been to one of our get-togethers recently, but I saw your vlog today about the bath house and thought that it was time we met up again. I was amazed at the way you described the bath house as much as a social meeting place as somewhere to go to get clean.?

“Very much so, they were quite sophisticated places, underfloor hypocaust heating and drainage, braziers with hot coals to add water to create steam, much like a sauna. People met up there to have a social chat in a relaxed atmosphere, and there was generally a fluid social mix from the different classes of society. The romans were very big on cleanliness, and even the barrack blocks for the troops had sophisticated lavatorium washrooms.”

“That’s so interesting, when the site opens to the public you must show me and the others around with your expert knowledge. What are you up to now, I’ve been following the blog but it’s not the same as the visits you organised with us?”

“There are a few things I need to sort out but I am lined up to do some commentaries on the National Trust sites in the county and nearby, for display at the sites, but also to be turned into a series by Anglia East.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic, is there any chance of using us all again as typical visitors, we all enjoyed the visits with you so much?”

“I’m not sure, the format has been agreed yet, but I will see what I can do. I am still not committed to the project yet, I need to have a discussion first with the Regional Director to clear up a few things.”

“Do you want to talk through your doubts, a problem shared is a problem halved, and all that.”

Sooner or later it would be fair to let Maggie into my secret, and this seemed as good a time as any, so I took a deep breath before starting.

“Maggie, you have been a good friend to me since you got to know me, but there is something important that you don’t know. It may come as a bit of a shock to you, but if I tell you something, it has to remain between us. I don’t mean this nastily but you are a bit of a gossip and very quick to pass news on, will you promise, no matter what, to keep it a secret?’

“To save you embarrassment, do you mean that you are not who you pretend to be, but are in fact Josie’s brother Joey, who is supposed to be off on a gap year touring the world?”

“How long have you known?” I spluttered in shock, almost choking on my drink.

“Remember that time that I called and had a chat with Josie when she was still a bit hung-over and dozy? She said something which let out your secret, She then broke down and told me everything, making me promise to keep it a secret, which I have done. I realise that I like spreading stories and pretending to know more than I actually do, but some things are not meant to be discussed.”

“But since then you have still treated me as Jo, as a woman, don’t you feel embarrassed or awkward.”

“When you were Joey I didn’t particularly know you, so really you have always been Jo to me. You look like a woman, talk like a woman, act like a woman, and join in easily with me and my friends as a woman, why would I not treat you as a woman?”

“Thank you so much Maggie, I was dreading having to tell you. Since you already know the most important part of the story, I’ll fill in the details for you. I am now legally Joanne Louise, that’s what it says on my passport, driving licence, bank records, NI records, now it is all official.”

“If it’s not too rude to ask, does that mean you are going to physically become a woman too, you know, having a sex-change operation or whatever it’s called nowadays.”

“I’m not offended, it was the obvious next question to be expected, although the more polite term nowadays in gender-reassignment. Yes, that is what is planned. I am already taking hormones to help feminise me a bit more and in about a year will have the operation.”

“Well, all I can say is ‘about time too’, there is not trace of masculinity left in you, you are already more feminine that a lot of the women I know. Since you are a public figure, on TV and such like ,are you not worried that your true background will come out sometime.?”

“I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t. I’ll face that bridge when I come to it.”

“Is that what you meant when you said that you had a few things to sort out before you agreed to do the commentaries with the National Trust?"

“That’s my next hurdle to be faced, My family know, a few close friends and my bosses at the museum already know, you now know, I now just need to find out if it will affect my career prospects.”

“They’ll be daft if they cause problems, you are brilliant at your job and you are a lovely person, tell it to them straight and see what happens. Even if your career takes a nosedive, you can still look forward to a happy life fully as a woman”

To be continued.

“That’s my next hurdle to be faced Maggie, My family obviously are aware that I am transgender, a few close friends and my bosses at the museum have already been told who I am and what I am doing, you now know, I now just need to find out if it will affect my career prospects.”

“They’ll be daft if they cause problems, you are brilliant at your job and you are a lovely person, tell it to them straight and see what happens. Even if your career takes a nosedive, you can still look forward to a happy life fully as a woman”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Maggie’s reaction and support gave me confidence to go to see Charles Mathieson, the regional director of the National Trust, a few days later when he had some free time available.

“Good morning Joanne, have you come to sign up to do the reviews for us?”

“In principle yes, but there a a few things we need to discuss first. Talking to Jacqui at the museum has convinced me that I would like to keep some involvement at Ostia, and along with that and other commitments, I would only be available part-time, perhaps three days each week. I don’t see that as a problem, obviously I would need to be involved with reviewing what is to be shown and presenting the information, but the technical side of the filming, writing the scripts, and setting up the camera shots doesn’t need me. It will probably mean a lot of involvement from me at the start, deciding on the formats and content at each of the sites, but the researchers and film crews can do a lot of the background behind-the-scenes work without me.”

“That seems reasonable it’s what I would have expected anyway.”

“Secondly, as you know the programmes I have already presented for Anglia East have involved a group of interested friends who have helped to personalise the visits giving their views on what is interesting to the general public. I would like to find a way to involve them even it it is only as an off-camera test-group for what we are going to show, and perhaps use them as a discussion group on the Anglia East follow-on series. Similarly I suggest that as well as showing the properties we also include pieces on some of the management or volunteer staff at the properties”

“That’s not a problem, so long as their involvement is minimal, the whole point of the filming is to show off what the properties have to offer. You can sort out the details with the production team.”

“Thirdly, and I hope that this does not shock or embarrass you and that it is not the deal-breaker, it is not public knowledge but I am transgender and I do not want to go forward with this if I am going to become a source of embarrassment to the National Trust. Sooner or later, particularly when the TV programmes are aired, someone is going to look into my background and find that I am genetically male, although I am now in the process of transitioning.”

Charles’ eyes widened and his jaw dropped in amazement, but he recovered his normal demeanour almost immediately and smiled at me.

“Oh dear, you really know how to spring surprises, I had no idea and would never have guessed, please tell me more.” replied Charles with a querying look on his face.

We had a long discussion about how I had came to be as I now was, and how I intended my future life to be and he listened with keen interest, not judging me or my actions.

“Are you intending keeping this low-profile. Obviously it will become public knowledge sometime, but we wouldn’t want it to become a source of embarrassment to you or to the organisation.”

“I just want to get on with my life and career like any other woman, I am not, and do not intend to be, a flag-waving Pride-marching tub-thumping campaigner for LGBT rights, but as and when it becomes public knowledge I am not going to deny the truth either.”

“As you are probably aware The National Trust policies recognise and champion inclusivity and diversity among our staff, volunteers, and visitors. In fact in the recent past we requested our staff to wear LGBT rainbow lanyards with their ID badges, and there was a big furore with some of the volunteers refusing to do so and being dismissed, causing a lot of negative reaction in the national press. I personally do not have a problem with you being transgender, you are an eminently suitable person to present the video reviews, and if I am allowed to say so you have an attractive appearance and pleasant lively personality which is the image I would like to see. However I have taken note of your concerns about not wishing to cause us embarrassment, and would like to pass this upstairs to the trustees to get their agreement, which to be honest I see as a formality, is that acceptable to you?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to say anything other than that, When I last spoke to Anglia East they were keen to get on with setting it all up, so I hope to hear from you soon.”

“Thank you for being so open and honest with me, I appreciate that, and I’m sure that the trustees will see that as a positive sign too. I’ll follow it up and get the ball rolling, and would hope to come back to you without much of a delay.”

A week later I received a call from Charles Mathieson. “Joanne, I am pleased to tell you that the trustees are fully supportive of my decision to contract you to do the presentations for us and have authorised me to discuss the details with you and Anglia East to get the project underway. In addition we would like you to be the project manager on our behalf, coordinating the production team and our staff involvement. Obviously I will be keeping oversight of what you all are doing, particularly in relation to any costs attributable to the Trust, and our marketing department from headquarters will have a watching brief to ensure compatibility with our other activities but the details will be down to you. I am really excited about this project and look forward to working with you.”

“Thank you for your support and confidence in me Charles, I will not let you down. I need to sit down somewhere quiet and get my thoughts together before taking it further.”

“”If you need a base to work from, I am sure that we can allocate you office space here in regional headquarter, which will make things easier if you need to discuss anything with me.”

I ended the call in a happy frame of mind, everything had gone a lot better than I expected, not only were the Trust prepared to accept me but they were prepared to back me by giving me overall responsibility for the project.

The next few weeks were hectic, an endless stream of meetings and discussions with Charles and his staff to schedule the order that they wished to prioritise their properties, and with the local management to assess what they considered to be weaknesses in their previous approach to publicising their various properties. I had expected to meet some resistance from the local management, a young media and TV personality rushing in to tell them what they had being doing wrong and failing to move with the times, but was pleasantly surprised at the level of enthusiasm and cooperation that I was receiving. Most of the staff had seen my vlogs and the museum website and were keen for me to help to generate more interest in their properties.

I found the Trust local staff to be committed to what they saw as ‘their’ properties to which they were determined to draw in a wider diversity of visitors. A significant number of visitors were either retirees or people with young children who they were introducing to the delights of some of the most magnificent properties in their area, but there was a significant gap in the range from the late teens through to the forties and fifties, people who had busy working lives and other interests to keep them occupied. It became obvious that that was why I had been selected to front the project to upgrade the information on the websites and at the properties themselves, those people were the future of The National Trust and it was my job to inspire their interest and involvement.

Having formulated the directions we needed to take, the hard work began with Anglia East and their production team to agree a filming schedule and to visit the first properties for the researchers to determine what we felt would most likely appeal to a wide audience and for the camera team to determine where the best shots should be filmed.
.
It was also a busy time at home. Karen moved in with Josie and Jack to look after Clara, which meant that as I being so tied up with the NT project Josie was able to be effectively working full time covering for me at Ostia and dealing with how to take it forward as a visitor attraction, helped a great deal by Jane and Emma.

With everything that was going on, thoughts of my personal situation very much took a backseat, I just got on with my life as a busy working woman, not really noticing how my body was slowly changing. However one morning I felt it was time I removed the breast forms to give my skin a chance to breath and have a good clean as my chest was feeling a little itchy and I noticed that the area around my nipples and breast area was getting quite puffy and sensitive. It suddenly dawned on me that my breasts were beginning to form and that I was on my way to womanhood.

When I had showered and dried off I took a long look at myself in the full length mirror in my bedroom to see if there were any other signs of changes. It may have been wishful thinking or my imagination but but I thought that my waist seemed less fleshy whereas my bottom, like my breasts, seemed to be getting flabbier and more pronounced, altogether beginning to give me a more feminine shape, I expected that before too long I would no longer have any need for the breast forms and the padded briefs.

As it was a weekend and I had no business appointments, I decided leave them off, go natural and put on a fitted dress to see the effect. While no means as full-bodied as I expected and hoped I would eventually end up as a complete woman, there was no doubt that I was female and no longer could there be any possibility of being seen as a man in a dress. I quickly put on my makeup, brushed out my hair which was now shoulder length and beginning to form natural soft waves, and set off to show Josie and get her opinion as to whether I was now changed far enough to forget all about the shape enhancements.

“Hi Jo”, she welcomed me with a hug and a big smile, “you’re looking different today. You’re not using your forms, you’ve dropped down a couple of cup sizes. Are those now the natural you?”

“They are, and the hips too, what do you think?”

“I think that you are turning out beautifully, almost as attractive as your twin sister, although I suggest that you could still do with a bit of help up top, not the full breast forms but some enhancers to give you a bit of extra lift, that’s what I did when I was developing.”

“Is Karen around today, now that I am beginning to change I think that it is time to start trying to get her pregnant, before it is too late and I am no longer able.’

“She’s out down town with Jen shopping, but I am expecting them back soon, I’m keeping an eye on Marianne for her to let them shop in peace .”

“How are things going with you and her, are you getting on ok.”

“No problems at all, I am out most of the day at the museum and Ostia and she is getting on really well with Clara and Marianne is enjoying having a baby sister. In the evenings when Jack is working late and the girls are asleep, she is good company for me, chatting and watching TV, to be honest I am really glad she is here. She has sorted out her old house and has somebody in on a short lease to see how it all turns out, it all seems to be working out for everyone.”

“How is Jack getting on with taking over running the businesses.”

“To be honest we don’t talk to much about it, he says it is better if I don’t know some of the things his father got up to. I do know that there are a lot of things that Sally and her accountant friend did not unearth, and that Jack is working hard to get round the issues or bury them much deeper so that they remain hidden. In fact he is going over to see his father at the end of the week to make sure that there are no more nasties that will be crawling out of the woodwork.”

“How are Jeremy and Melanie facing up to their new life, have they stopped causing you trouble?”

“It’s all very quiet on that front at the moment, Melanie even called me to ask about Clara and how she was settling in. I don’t think that we will ever be really close, but at least there is a calm truce between us, and Jack has had lots of conversations with Jeremy, they seem to be happy with each other.”

“I’ve been thinking about what to do about our house, now that you have moved in here I rattle around in it a bit, and with being so busy at work I am neglecting the upkeep of the house and garden. I’m considering getting myself a smaller more manageable apartment or something like that. I know that it’s the family house where we grew up and that there are a lot of memories there, but are you happy to see it go?"

“”No I agree, I was thinking along the same lines. But instead of getting an apartment, why not move in here, there is plenty of room,. If things work out with the surrogacy with Karen it will mean that everything will be a lot easier to manage and coordinate, and if and when you finally get together with Darren he will be more than welcome too.”

“I appreciate that, but talk it through with Jack, he may feel a bit overwhelmed with all the females wandering around the place, I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable in his own home.”

“There’s Karen and Jen back with a load of bags, they have obviously had a busy morning at the shops.”

“OMG you have changed a bit Jo,” said Jen with her usual bluntness, “is that you natural now, you’re beginning to turn out really well?”

“Why hello to you too Jen, you don’t waste any time getting down to things do you?”

“No offence meant Jo, I’m just surprised to see you like that. You could still do with a bit of help up top though.”

“So Josie has already told me, a while ago I would’ve been embarrassed having this conversation, but I suppose it will be my lot in life in the future, I am beginning to get used to how open and frank discussions are between women, men-talk is much more mundane. Let’s see what you have got for yourselves this morning, that is one thing I have already completely adjusted to, the joys of shopping and showing off the things you have bought.”

After a quick fashion show and a chat over tea and cakes, I took Karen aside to another room for a heart-to-heart.

“As your sister has so bluntly pointed out, I am beginning to see changes to my body, if you are still happy to carry a surrogate baby for me, I think that it is about time that we start things off. I know that we could take a long term view and arrange to store some of my sperm for the future, but I prefer to keep this private and personal between us, are you ready to think about it yet or am I rushing you.”

“Not at all I’m still committed. My period is due in the middle of next week, so maybe we should try from a week or so after that and see what happens.”

“This all sounds so clinical and unemotional and planned out, but I’m sure that if it works out the emotional side will come later.”

“It’s better this way, I would rather that that we kept it clinical, that way we can both bond to the baby without too deep a bond between us. I am happy to do this for you, to help you enjoy the delights and heartaches of motherhood. Let’s rejoin the others, get the shopping put away and we can settle down to relax.”

Two months later everything had settled into place, Joanne had moved in with Josie and Jack and put their family home up for sale, Karen had confirmed that the artificial insemination was successful and that she was now pregnant and that the doctors foresaw no complications other than would normally be expected. Joanne was working with the Anglia East production team and The National Trust on the first projects on their schedule, Josie was working with the planning team on the proposals for the construction and interpretation of the Ostia site and Karen had comfortably settled into a routine of caring for Clara and Marianne. Things were all going smoothly, too smoothly, when one morning Joanne answered a call from a number she did not recognise.

“Good morning, am I speaking to Joanne Johnson?”

“Yes, how can I help?”

“This is Women’s Life magazine, we would like to talk to you about who you really are Joanne, or whoever you truly are?”

In a state of shock and panic I quickly ended the call without any further comment and turned off the phone while I got my thoughts together. I decided to call Sally Walker but saw that there were lots of missed calls from the magazine and realised that I would have to talk to them sooner or later, but not until I had spoken with Sally.

“Hi Sally, it’s Joanne, can we talk?”

“Yes of course, I am working from home and there is nobody else here. You sound worried, what’s up?”

“I’ve just cut off a call and have ignored lots of missed messages and calls from Women’s Life magazine, it sounds like they have discovered my previous life as Joey, what can I do?”

“Firstly calm down they might just be fishing on the basis of a rumour and not have enough to go on to run a story, it’s common practice, I have done things like that myself. Secondly we need to find out how much they know. Ring them back and say your phone battery went dead, do not let them know that you are worried and don’t admit to anything. Get the name and contact details for the reporter and tell them you are in a meeting and can’t speak for long, but that you will ring them back later. I am in the middle of something but can be with you in about an hour and a half to listen in to the call and advise you how to reply to their comments.”

“Hello, this is Joanne Johnson, I’m returning your earlier call, apologies but my phone went dead, what can I do for you?”

“My name is Isabella Carlisle, I am a freelance reporter working on a story for Women’s Life. You are becoming a bit of a celebrity and they have asked me to do a feature on you as a rising star in the media world, an example of successful a young woman can be nowadays. As part of my research I can only find biographical information for the recent past, your childhood seems to be non-existent and I cannot find any birth certificate record for you. However as another mystery in your family, I have found out your cousin Josie has a brother, Joseph or Joey, who seems to have disappeared about the same time that you suddenly came on the picture, can you shed any light on this.”

“I’m not sure what you are getting at. But if you are running a story on my success at Ostia I am quite happy to talk to you about it, but unfortunately I have to go now, I’ve got people waving me over to get on with a meeting. I am out of the country, in France, for the next few days, can we schedule a meeting for the end of the week and I’ll fill in some background for you?”

“Hi Sally, I’ve just spoken to an Isabella Carlisle who is researching the story on me, she didn’t actually say that she knows that I am, or was, really Joey, but if she hasn’t quite got to the bottom it all, she seems to be well on the way.”

“I know Isabella, she is an aggressive, tenacious heartless bitch and will have no qualms about digging deeper, finding your deed poll name change and exposing you in an extremely lurid and tasteless manner. You promised me that if it looked like your background was to be exposed that you would let me break the story before anyone else and get the true facts down in print rather than unfounded gossip and innuendo. I suggest that time has now come. If you agree, come round to stay at my place, we’ll work on the story together and get it out in the public arena before she has an opportunity to sell her story to the magazine and to the red-top national papers. Meantime, do not answer her calls.”

“I agree I will be with you in an hour or so, after I have spoken with Josie and Jacqui, the story will cause almost as many problems for them as it will for me.”

To be continued.

“Isabella Carlisle, is an aggressive, tenacious heartless bitch of journalist and will have no qualms about digging deeper, she will easily find your deed poll name change and expose you in an extremely lurid and tasteless manner, you really should have nothing to do with her.” Sally warned me.

“You promised me that if it looked like your background was to be exposed that you would let me break the story before anyone else and get the true facts down in print rather than unfounded prejudiced gossip and innuendo. I suggest that time has now come. If you agree, come round to stay at my place, we’ll work on the story together and get it out in the public arena before she has an opportunity to sell her story to the magazine and to the red-top national newspapers. Meantime, do not answer any incoming calls from her.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

All my spare time over the next few days was spent with Sally, pulling together a press release and article about my transformation and transition from being Joey and how it turned from being a charade to further a career into something a lot deeper and more personal. It was all done in a rush but it was necessary to get Sally’s article out before the more lurid exposé that would be expected from Isabella Carlisle and Women’s Life magazine. After several drafts and rewrites it was all finished and we were both happy that the article was ready to be sent to a reputable quality newspaper and magazine as well as a copy sent to Anglia East, who had agreed to run the story in parallel with the publication.

“That’s it all ready now Jo, are you still sure that you want to go ahead with this, once I send this off there will be no turning back and you will have no choice other than to face the music that will follow?” Sally asked warily, allowing me an opportunity to say ‘No’.

“To be honest I feel a bit like one of those heroines in the old black and white silent films, tied to a rail track with the roar of an approaching train in the distance, awaiting my doom, waiting for my knight in shining armour to come and rescue me, but it is something that I will have to face up to sooner or later.”

“I’m sure that it will be nowhere as near as bad as that. If it can be said that any national paper or magazine is tolerant to transgender issues, the ones I have chosen are the ones that will tell your story without lurid headlines and in a sympathetic manner. How they actually publish it I will have little control over but I am confident that nothing will be critical of you. What are you going to do about Anglia East?”

“I have already informed Jim Marshall, and he is setting up an interview with me by Carol Cameron. They both already know about me, and I’m certain that it will all be handled in a sensitive sympathetic way.”

“As I told you a few days ago, this will all be a one or two day wonder in the papers and news programmes, trans celebrities are not as big an issue as they were a few years ago, but it might be less stressful for you if you keep a low profile until it all blows over, why not go over to France and stay with your parents for a few days.”

“I’ve already warned Jacqui, the Museum Service, and Charles Mathieson at the NT that my background is to be made public and their press offices are all preparing statements for release when they are approached for comment. I will now set off for the studio to do the interview with Carol Cameron, go home and pack, and then disappear over to Vayrac to Mum and Dad’s place for a week. Thank you so much for your help in all this Sally, I’ll call you tomorrow to see how your discussions with the press have gone. I just hope that we have tweaked the nose of Isabella Carlisle and she realises that she has been wasting her time and that her story has missed the boat.”

As Jim and Carol at Anglia East already knew me so well, it had been easy for them to script a half-hour interview with me, telling my story and more importantly why I had decided to go go public with my personal details, and the interview was soon over. That was the last of my bridges burnt, and feeling that all I could do now was wait until it all went public I made my way home to pack for France to await the reaction.

Mum and Dad were delighted to see me when I arrived at Toulouse airport, they were expecting to see me worried and stressed rather than the relaxed mood I was in. On the way to their house in Vayrac, they asked lots of questions about why I had decided to go public and were particularly critical of Isabella Carlisle and her veiled threats.

“That’s one thing that I do not miss about the UK, the gutter press and their aggressive scandalmongering.” Dad told me. “In France there there are more restrictions relating to invasion of privacy, and besides there is much more expectation by the general public of misbehaviour or inappropriate activities by people in the public eye, and within limits it is expected and does not make the news.”

After a pleasant relaxed few days with Mum and Dad helping with their continuing renovations, which took my mind off whatever was happening back in Norfolk, I received an incoming call from Josie, and with a feeling of unease I answered it.

“Hi Jo, just to let you know that your story went live this morning both in the newspaper that Sally sold it to and also on the local news spot on Anglia East. I’ve had a conversation with Jim at the TV station and he wants to speak to you, so expect a call pretty soon. Apparently they have been inundated with comments from people that have been watching your reports and presentations, most of them are in disbelief but in a positive way. Obviously there are also a few from abusive and critical cranks, but that is to be expected and they are very much in the minority. I’ll sent you links to the TV and newspaper websites and you can judge for yourself, but I don’t think that you will have any significant problems, it should be safe for you to come home.”

I had hardly finished talking with Josie when Jim from Anglia East called me. “Jo, we need you back here, this is the biggest reaction we have had to a news story for ages, we need to do a follow up interview, when can you come in?”

“I came over to France to hide away in case there was a negative reaction to me going public, but Josie has told me that it all seems very positive, so I will probably come back tomorrow and can come in for an interview on the early evening slot. Get the researchers and Carol wound up and the interview prepared and I will call you when I get back to the UK.”

The final call I received later was from Sally Walker. “I’m just off the phone with Isabella Carlisle, I’ll not repeat exactly what she said, I’m too ladylike for that, but suffice to say she was not best pleased with you and me. There was a lot of swearing and ranting about me stealing her story that she had spent a lot of time researching and that the magazine no longer wanted her article as they had been pipped to the post. The names she called you are unrepeatable but I actually quite enjoyed listening to her ravings. The way she tries to humiliate people in her articles is disgusting and it is about time that someone put her in her place, thanks for that. I’ll see you when you get back, and maybe we can write something about the way she threatened you.”

Sally had been right when she had told me that my story would soon blow over, there were a lot more interesting things going on in the world, natural disasters, conflicts, labour unrest and political scandals. Other than with people that knew me personally, I was soon a distant memory and was able to get on with my life as it was before Isabella Carlisle came on the scene. As promised, Sally wrote a follow-up piece detailing how Isabella had threatened to expose me using gossip and innuendo if I did not agree to her terms. That harmed her already dubious reputation leading to many papers and magazines dropping her from their freelance lists and generating a lot of sympathy and tolerance towards me for the smart way that Sally and I had outwitted her.

The other main thing that I needed to address was meeting up with my neighbour Maggie and her friends that had taken part in the vlogs and videos with me, particularly Emma and Jane who had worked very closely with me at Ostia. I wasn’t too concerned with the general public, they could think what they liked about me, but I saw all the women as friends and I had deceived them.

“Maggie, can you call all the girls together, I know that you all will now be aware of the truth about me , and I would like an opportunity to explain, to answer any questions and to take any criticisms from you all about the way I kept the truth from you.”

“It doesn’t really matter to me, we’ve really only known you as Jo, as far as I am concerned that’s who you always were and always will be, I’m sure that the other girls will all think the same. You’ve been a good friend, we’ve had the time of our lives doing the filming with you, there’s no reason for anyone to feel upset or uncomfortable. Anyway you are now going through the process to fully become the woman that we know and love, you might have been a man at one time but that was long ago, you’ve been a woman inside for at least as long as we’ve known you ”

I went over to Maggie’s later to find them all there waiting for me to arrive and was surprised to get a hug and a kiss from every one of them. For the first half-hour or so, I was bombarded with questions, about when my full transition would be, how I felt about it, how long had I wanted to be a woman, how I had so easily convincingly slipped into the role. However after that was all over it was just like any other of our get-togethers, talking about Ostia and the National Trust visits, gossiping about the neighbours, their work colleague, and life in general. Just like with the newspapers my story was soon at the back of their minds and I was just treated as I always had been as Jo.

For the next few months I was extremely busy visiting the National Trust sites, making preparations and filming the video series for them and the associated programmes for Anglia East. Other than the first week or so after the story broke, when it was suggested that I keep a low profile, there were no concerns about my personal situation and surprisingly, considering the age and membership demographic profile of the National Trust membership, there was no significant negative reaction from visitors.

Josie had now taken over from me at the Ostia site, continuing the vlogs and website updates in my place, and getting involved in planning the future operations of the visitor centre, leaving Clara in the capable hands of Karen. The main dig operations at the site were now almost complete, the foundations of several more minor outbuildings had been exposed and there was no ground-penetrating-radar evidence of anything else significant, although like all archaeological sites there would always be further investigations taking place over a wider area.

With all the activity going on I was hardly aware of the constant changes taking place to my body. Obviously the developing breasts were hard to overlook, but the fat distribution from my waist to my bottom only hit me when I had to get some new pairs of trousers to give me a more comfortable fit. Otherwise I was now totally comfortable as a woman, having accepted that it was going be my future.

With all the intense work schedule travelling around the country usually staying away overnight, and attending ante-natal clinics with Karen, I had very little time for a social life, and rarely got to see Darren. I decided that was not fair on him and cleared my diary for a long weekend away with him and gave him a call to meet to make arrangements.

“I’ve been thinking Darren, that I have been neglecting you with everything that is happening at the moment, let’s have a weekend on the town in London, see a show, go to some fancy restaurants, my treat. Are you free this coming weekend?”

“Actually I have commitments, but I would like to see you again to talk through a few things. Can I come round to the house, or meet you in a pub.?”

“Come on round, I’ll order in a takeaway for us.“

“Don’t go to any bother, I can’t stay long, I’ll be there in about half an hour.”

There was something in the tone of his voice that told me something was up, and was quite concerned that maybe he had some serious illness, which was reinforced when he arrived without the normal happy smile on his face and only gave me a quick peck on the cheek rather than a more passionate kiss.

“Sit down Joanne, we need to have a serious talk. You have been so busy recently that we have hardly seen each other, and I am a social animal, I am not comfortable sitting at home watching tv every night. One of my clients invited me for a meal and drink after work a few months ago and I have been seeing her regularly since then. When you first told me that you were transgender, I said that I was comfortable with that but could not commit to a deeper formal relationship at the time and that things could change in the future. I’m sorry, our relationship was a bit whirlwind and we both got caught up in it, but I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching and although I will always have deep feelings for you, I think it best if we go our separate ways.”

“What, you are dumping me for someone you only met a few weeks ago? I thought that you were better than that. Is this because I am transgender?”

“Not really, though I won’t deny that is part of the reason. I accepted you as a woman, I have only ever known you as such. It’s just that spending time with Stephanie, I have realised that your aims in life are different to mine, your career takes first place every time, and when your child is born I will then be in third place at best. I’m so sorry.”

“I think that you had better leave Darren, before I do something that I’ll regret.” I shouted at him, determined that he had to go before I broke down in tears, and waited until he left before sobbing my heart out.

As I was sitting there wallowing in my disappointment, Karen came into the room and saw me wiping my eyes, red from the tears,

“I heard the door close and Darren’s car leave, I take it that you have not had a happy conversation with him.”

“He’s dumped me for someone he only met a few weeks ago, saying that their relationship is not serious but it has made him realise that my aims in life were not his.”

“You really are a woman now Joanne, having been let down by a man. We’ve all been there, me included, at least he’s not leaving you with his baby to look after like Jack did to me. You probably don’t really believe it right now, but tell yourself that it’s his loss, that he doesn’t deserve you, and that you are better off without him. Who needs men, eh?”

“I never thought that I would say this, but you might be right. Most times men are more trouble than they are worth.”

She put her arms around me in a big hug, and held me for a while until I calmed down a bit. To the surprise of both of us, the hug grew into a passionate kiss and intimate cuddling.

“What happened there Karen?. I can understand that I am sexually confused over whether the change in my gender changes my sexual orientation, but I didn’t realise that you had feelings like that for me too.”

“Joanne, since we met in the café you have shown me more consideration and support than my husband ever did, and have helped me get back my self-confidence, self-respect and love of life. I have been afraid to let my feelings for you develop and show, since you seemed to have settled on a future with Darren. I know that this is all sudden, but I think that I am in love with you. Let’s not go mad and rush into things on the rebound but now that it is out in the open, let’s see what happens.”

“Just like you, I have kept my feelings for you hidden. I thought that I was in love with Darren, but the way he has treated me today I now realise that I was just being carried along on a wave of trying to fit in with my new life as a woman.”

Over the next few weeks we grew ever closer, enjoying our moments of intimacy, not unnoticed by Josie and Jack, who discreetly left us alone in the evenings to explore our new relationship.

One evening we were sitting chatting about where we saw our futures, me with a glass of wine, Karen with an apple juice, and I came to a decision.

“It is not long now before your baby is due, it makes life less complicated with you living here to look after the new baby. I’ll help as much as I can, I want to be a mother to the child alongside you.
It was always intended that Darren would be named as the father on your baby’s birth certificate along with you as the mother, but obviously we can’t do that now. I think that we should put my name there, or at least my former name as Joseph.”

“Will that be legal, I mean you have legally changed your name to Joanne and are transitioning.

“I’ll get it checked out, but at the time the sperm was stored I was obviously still fully male and my birth certificate still says male, so I don’t see why not.”

A visit to my solicitor later in the week confirmed that as the sperm donation was listed under my birth name of Joseph, we could go ahead on that basis after going through a few legal somersaults, and I couldn’t wait to tell Karen the news.”

“That’s super news, I wasn’t looking forward to leaving a blank space for the father’s name.”

“I’ve also been thinking about something else, it may shock you but I hope not. After the baby arrives, we will be sharing parenting duties and living together in the same house. When we talked that first night we kissed and cuddled you said that you had had your fill of men, would you like to share your life with another woman. Karen, will you marry me?”

She sat looking at me in stony silence for what seemed like many minutes, but was in reality only a few seconds.”

“We are an awfully mixed up couple Joanne, I never thought that I could fall in love with another woman, and I’m sure that you thought that your life would be as a wife to Darren, but it seems that the baby is bringing us closer together. Of course I will marry you, come here and give me a hug.”

Our hug was cut short when Karen gave a loud yelp.

“Oh my god, I think the magic of the moment has prompted the baby to decide now is the time to come and face the world, get me to the hospital quickly.”

As it was her second child it came very quickly and she told me a lot easier and with less trouble than she had suffered with birthing Marianne, a bonny healthy bouncing baby boy. I was in there with her holding her hand throughout and when the baby was passed to her to cuddle and then over to me, my emotions were all over the place. I was filled with pride at my new son, delight that Karen had come through it all without any trouble, but strangely a pang of regret that I would never be able to go though the procedure myself.

Life settled into a routine, I had completed my series of commentaries on the National Trust properties which were being very well received by the visiting public and TV audiences and while I was considering my next project I was able to spend a lot of time with Karen and baby Harry Joseph. From the programmes for Anglia East, and the commissions from the Trust, I now had quite a substantial bank balance and was in no rush to restart work, and so we decided to go and spend some time over in Vayrac with my parents who were delighted to meet and spend some time with Harry.The renovation of their house was now almost complete and I helped them with the finishing touches, finding furniture and decorative items at the local markets and brocantes for the house and garden.

I was enjoying the relaxed lifestyle and friendly atmosphere and was chatting one day in a local bistro to an English couple, Jim and Meg, who said that they lived nearby.

“Karen and I and our children, Marianne and Harry are staying with my parents, planning our wedding for later in the year.”

“Why don’t you get married at our place, it’s a small old chateau in it’s own grounds. It could be a bit of a swan song for us, we used to do weddings and events regularly, but it’s all getting a bit much for us now, we will be selling up and moving back to England at the end of the season.”

“I’ll see what Karen thinks, and if it’s ok we will come and have a look.”

“Check out the website first, ‘Chateau du lac’ and if it looks interesting pop over anytime, we are usually around.”

“What do you think Karen, neither of us have big families, so there is no need for a big wedding party. The place looks delightful and with the gite barn conversions and mum and dads place we could easily house everyone that we would want to invite?”

A couple of days later, we left the children with Mum and Dad and drove over to ‘Chateau du lac’. The moment we drove through the ornate gates and saw the fairy-tale façade and formal gardens we fell in love with it. It was not massive but was full of charm, with lots of scenic settings for the wedding photos and Jim and Meg were delightful hosts describing the many events they had hosted there over the years since they had bought and refurbished it. We agreed a price on the spot to hire it for our wedding venue, we couldn’t have made a better choice.

“This place is delightful, why on earth are you thinking of leaving.”

“We’ve had our time here. When we first bought the chateau in was neglected and run down and have spent an awful lot of time money and effort refurbishing the house, grounds, and outbuildings, but it is getting too much for us to manage ourselves now that we are in our seventies, it needs younger people with fresh ideas and enthusiasm to stop it going back to the tired rundown place it was when we bought it. It is a thriving business with weddings, business events and special interest party bookings, and the regular holiday lets in the gites.”

A week later we returned with Mum and Dad to show them what we had found, we hadn’t stopped talking about it since our first visit.

“This place is amazing, so romantic, a wonderful wedding venue.” Mum gushed when we had a second look in more detail. “If we keep it to a small wedding, just immediate family and a few select friends, they could all be put up here, and Josie, Jack and Clara could stay with us.”

“Karen and I have been talking and I have an idea as to what do do next. Jim and Meg want to sell this place, and we are thinking about buying it. I have enough money from the sale of the family house, and a decent bank account from my TV work and suchlike. It would get me away from our hometown where too many people know too much about me. It would let you see Harry growing up, and I think that I could expand the business here to include specialist groups organising tours of all the historic sites in the region. What do you think?”

“The decoration and furnishings are a bit bland and dated and need some modernisation but nothing major, and I’ve learned a lot of new skills doing-up our cottage here and would be more than willing to help.” Dad volunteered. “As we have said before, the family house has been given to you and Josie, although I doubt that she would object to her share of the sale proceeds being spent on the Chateau, Jack is well off enough that she will almost certainly let you have most of it, particularly if you allow her lots of holiday visits. But what would you live on, it’s ok having a romantic dream, but this place will need a lot of money to maintain it in good condition.”

“”According to Jim and Meg, the Chateau business pays it’s way at the moment, but it used to do even better when they had more enthusiasm and energy to run events. There are a lot of fly-on-the-wall documentaries on TV in the UK at the moment featuring people buying holiday properties or businesses, renovating properties and things like that. I think that I could talk Anglia East into doing a series following us refurbishing the place coupled with the historic site tours, which should cover a lot of the initial costs until we get ourselves established.”

Three months later we were the proud owners of Chateau du Lac. As is common in France, after Jim and Meg had cleared what furniture and belongings they wanted to take with them back to England, anything left behind came as part of the house sale, so the Chateau was ready quite quickly for us to move into, although we had lots of plans to redecorate and refurbish the house and estate.

As I had expected Anglia East were delighted to be offered the filming opportunities and signed up to do at least two before-and-after programmes on the improvements to the chateau and a series of travelogues on local history visits. The first tour party, other than those previously booked by Jim and Meg, was my ex-neighbour Maggie along with Emma and Jane with some of the girls who had been on the earlier programmes with us. The broadcasts of the travel visits were a huge success and Anglia East commissioned me to do further series in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany which would be enough to keep me busy and generating income for the next few years. As I would be travelling a lot doing the filming of the tours, Karen’s sister Jen who originally get us together, moved over to live with us to help run the business side of things and to help out with the refurbishment and redecoration along with Mum and Dad.

Looking back it was for me, a big stroke of luck when Josie broke her ankle and I had to substitute for her at the job interview. In a short time I had gone from being an almost penniless unemployed ex-student to being a successful TV presenter and personality, and the owner of a magnificent historic property in a beautiful area of France, talk about a lucky break !

The end.