Forsythe Saga - You did what? – Part 1
[Authors Note] This part (and the next one) was written in the First Person. Later parts of this tale are written in the Third Person.

The process of going to an interview for a new job is stressful at the best of times but when… when you are doing it for the first time and as a total and absolute fraud is really daunting.

When I saw all the others waiting to be interviewed for the job I almost turned tail and ran for the hills. They were all wearing business suits. All of the three other women in the room were perfectly made up and … well, nigh on perfect. Their flawless complexions could have from a fashion magazine such as Vogue. The six men were all identikit clones in suits with hair just the right length, all freshly shaven and nothing out of place that would really distinguish them from the person sitting right next to them. Even their ties were almost the same shade of non-committal blue. Ugh!

The men were all sitting bolt upright and to a man had their briefcases perched on their knees. It looked slightly comical. The women were more relaxed but again, they all echoed ‘I am not different’. They were reading a selection of newspapers and magazines. It was obvious that they were trying to make an impression but to whom? Apart from the rest of us, there was no one from the company around to impress.

I, on the other hand was dressed almost casually. Well, the position was just for two months and to be honest, I didn’t possess a business suit let alone the mandatory black heels and briefcase, a flawless complexion and the seemingly mandatory, poker face.

Once my panic had subsided a bit, I sat down and waited my turn. There were nine people before me so I got a chance to observe them. None wanted to make eye contact with anyone else. They all stared at me when I came into the ante-room but averted their gaze within a few seconds. I was obviously not up to their standards so I’d been dismissed as a viable competitor in less time that it takes to blink an eye. More than one raised their eyes in dismay and one almost burst out laughing. I was expecting something like that so it didn’t faze me one little bit.

---

Let me introduce myself, I’m Maxine Saunders. Until yesterday, I was Thomas Saunders. I’m only here because of some bad luck on my part and a sister who was about as reliable as a cockerel is in laying eggs.

A few days ago, I’d been driving her car when it was rear ended at a set of traffic lights. What made it worse was that I’d just collected it from the body shop where the damage from where she’d hit a bollard had been repaired. When she saw the damage to her ‘little baby’ she went ballistic. It was all my fault despite the fact that I had been stationary when the accident happened and the other driver had admitted that he was at fault and would be paying for the repair.

No matter what I or our mother said could make her change her mind. She got so worked up with me, that she fell off her impossibly high heels and badly sprained her ankle. I got the blame for that as well. She was the one wearing the heels but that didn’t make any difference in her eyes. Everything was my fault and I’d be made to pay for it dearly if she had her way.

The other thing, was that she was going to be out of action for at least a week. Well, that’s what she said that the Doctor at the local Hospital had said.

Retribution was not long in coming my way once she’d returned from A&E with Mum.

“You can go to my job interview for me!” she proclaimed.

Mum laughed but said nothing.

Dawn, my sister was adamant that as it was all my fault, I should go to the interview in her place. I protested but after a bit, Mum took her side.

In the end, I somewhat reluctantly agreed to go in her place. Well, I had been wearing Dawn’s clothes for years and had been out with her as her sister ‘Maxine’ many times in the past so it wasn’t too far-fetched, for me to take her place given our history. That was all a bit of fun but this time it was serious, deadly serious.

The job advert said that it was for someone to cover for the incumbent who was away on maternity leave. It was for just two or three months but the job had obviously attracted a lot of interest. It seemed that having worked for a former ‘Young Businesswoman of the Year’ was a good thing to have on your CV.

Add to that the fact that I was currently between jobs and my fate was sealed.

My last real job had ended when the company moved their production to Thailand. Since then I’d had a few temporary jobs but nothing even remotely permanent or even the least bit interesting. To be perfectly honest, I was somewhat lost as to what to do next.

Dawn was on the surface, rather different to me. She’d failed her ‘A’ levels but had gone to college and got some good grades last summer. She said that she was off to University and aiming get a Law Degree. She imagined herself as a tough barrister. Well, that’s what she’d tell anyone who’d listen.

The downside to that was that she was had become a bit of a party animal during her time in the sixth form. Her partying had been to blame for her failing her ‘A’ levels in the first place and had only gotten worse since she’d left college.

She was off to some club or party when I broke the news to her about her car. That was why she was wearing really high heels and a lot of bling and very little in the way of clothes.

To me, the two things, being a Lawyer and a party girl really didn’t mix but hey, once she got an idea in her head, there really was no shifting it. A year ago, she’d said that she was taking her year off to party before getting down to studying again in the Autumn. My reaction to that was ‘yeah right, pull the other one, it has bells on it’. I really doubted that she’d take up her place at University at the end of Summer. This was why I was surprised when she announced that she’d got this interview. It made me wonder if our Mother hadn’t done a bit of prodding but no one was letting on.

---

Back to the present and well, here I was, waiting for an interview to a job that I wasn’t qualified for, posing as a woman, and dressed if the other candidates were anything to go by, totally inappropriately. I knew that there was no chance that I’d get the job. But I was here and she wasn’t.

I did afford a little smile to myself. My dear sister Dawn was under the impression that I was pretending to be her. Well, that was the intention to begin with but Mum had other ideas.

She’d taken me aside not long after I’d reluctantly agreed to pretend to be Dawn and said in no uncertain terms,

“You will not pretend to be your sister. That is a fraud. If you go, then go as Maxine.”

Mum was adamant and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“It wasn’t your fault that you got rear ended so give her a dose of her own medicine and go to the interview as Maxine. If you don’t get the job then all she needs to know is that you didn’t get the job,” said Mum as she laid down the law.

After some thought, I went along with it.
The remote possibility of me getting the job just didn’t come up. We both knew that it wasn’t going to happen.

---

I’d arrived at the location for the interview and signed in. Then I surprised the woman who was managing the event by presenting her with my CV.

“My sister was due to come but has had an accident and is unable to attend. I came in her place.”

After a bit of bluster, the woman relented and agreed that I should be interviewed but I’d have to wait until the very last interview slot. I could have bailed out right then but I decided that as I was here, I’d do it. I didn’t have anything else to do so I sat down and waited.

As I sat there waiting to be called into the interview room, I was confident that there was no way in hell that I would get the job so it appeared that there was light at the end of the tunnel and it would not be long before Dawn would get off my back and life could return to normal. My reason for being confident about not getting the job was that I was going to reveal my true identity as soon as I could. Then I’d not waste anyone’s time, or as little of it as possible.

After what seemed an eternity, my name was called. With a bit of a sigh, I stood up and went into the interview room to meet my fate. I was sure that I wouldn’t be here much longer.

---

Sally Jameson was not as I’d imagined her to be. She was frankly a real looker but one glance told me that there was a steel core to her. The ‘don’t mess with me’ warning signs were everywhere. That made my escape plan even more important.

“Thank you for coming Ms Saunders. I hope you have not had to wait too long?”

I was just trying to work out if what she’d said was a statement or a question when she continued.

“It is nice to see someone who isn’t trying to be a man,” she said smiling.

If I’d been eating or drinking something, I would have choked.

She carried on.

“Why is it that people think that to be successful you have to dress like a man?”

“Ms Jameson, I am a man.”

She laughed and smiled at me.

“I guessed that the moment you came in. Why not sit down, relax, take a deep breath and tell me how and why you are here?”

I spent the next few minutes telling her everything. When I was done, I stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve told you everything so I don’t want to take up any more of your valuable time.”

She smiled.

“Please don't go. I rather like you and your attitude. You obviously have a good mind. It is very refreshing. I’ve sat here all afternoon listening to so much claptrap and ‘MBA 101’ bullshit that I’m sick of it. I’d like to carry on talking if that is ok with you?”

I felt like my… well, I didn’t know what to feel so I sat down again.

“Maxine, you really are a breath of fresh air. Being perfectly honest, none of the other candidates even came close to you.”

“I… I don’t understand?”

Sally smiled.

“What would you say if I offered you a job? As Maxine, naturally.”

I was even more dumbfounded. When I managed to get some semblance of coherent thought together, I said,

“I’d think you are stark raving mad.”

She laughed.
“That is the right answer to a different question. Well, eould you accept the job?”

She’d cornered me. There was no escape.

“I don’t know. I n… I never thought that I’d even have a chance given how I look compared to everyone else and that I’m clearly an impostor and totally unsuitable for the job you were advertising.”

Sally laughed again.

“That’s why you are the perfect person for the job I have in mind for you. What do you say? Yes or no?”

“My sister will probably want to kill me on the spot when she finds out but, what the heck, yes!”

Sally smiled as she stood up and came around the desk. She took my hand and shook it.

“You will be perfect. I just know it.”

I was still in a state of shock.

“I… I’ll try not to let you down.”

“Good. Now, shall we go to dinner to celebrate?”

For once, I was totally lost for words so I just nodded my head to accept her offer

---

It was very late that night when a Taxi dropped me off at home. I was slightly drunk. Not with alcohol but with happiness. I not only had a job but I felt good about myself for the first time in a long time.

My euphoria was short lived. Dawn was waiting for me with a look of hated on her face.

“What do you mean you got the job? That is my job,” she said angrily when I told her the news.

“No Dawn, I applied for the job as Maxine not Dawn. Mum knows. She suggested that I do it.”

“Why? Why did you do this to me? Having that job would have done wonders for my CV,” wailed my sister.

“Yes, and so did at every one of the other applicants. You would not have stood a chance with all the others who were interviewed. More than one of them had an MBA. I went into the interview with no illusions. Ms Jameson clocked me in a flash. She is one very sharp cookie.”

I was telling a bit of a fib but it helped smooth things over a bit.

“How did you get the job then?” asked Dawn standing there in front of me with her hands on her hips. She had this ‘I am going to get to the bottom of this’, look on her face.

“I honestly don’t know. As I said, she clocked me so I told her why I was there and…”

Before I could continue, Dawn interrupted.

“You told her about me?”

“Yes. I told her everything including why you could not be there. She laughed when I mentioned your accident with your heels. She laughed and told me that she’d done the very same thing in the past.”

“But you still haven’t told me how you got the job?”

“To be honest Sis, I don’t have a clue. I was just being myself and bang, she offered me the job. Well… not the job that was advertised but a very different one.”

She gave me the ‘I do not believe a word you are telling me’ look.

“That was hours ago. Where have you been since?”

“That is my business. You aren’t Mum.”

As if someone had said ‘cue’, Mum appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Well, Maxine, exactly where have you been?”

Bang went my hopes that she’d be on my side.

I sighed.

“I went out for a meal.”

“With her I suppose?” said Dawn in a very sarcastic tone.

“Yes. She invited me. We discussed my duties and other things.”

“Other things! Like getting into bed with her?” exclaimed Dawn.

“Dawn, enough!” said Mum almost shouting.

We both looked at her.

“Dawn, you asked for this. You could have gone to the interview but you were more concerned about not standing out due to your ankle, you wouldn’t go. Maxine went and managed to land a job she was not trying to land and you are getting uppity?”

Mum glared at Dawn.

“You got what you asked for.”

Then she turned to me.

“As for you, young lady? Your problems are just beginning. Now both of you, off to bed and we can talk again in the morning.”

When Mum spoke like that, we knew not to argue with her.

---

Dawn had calmed down quite a bit the following morning. Even so, she was still rather pissed off with me. Mum was just pleased as punch. She’d never had a problem with me dressing up as a girl. She’d always wanted another daughter and then I came along to spoil her grand plan.

The bigger problem was me. I’d always treated being Maxine as a bit of a game. Now it was for real and that was … well a bit daunting. I’d tossed and turned for much of the night trying to work out what I should do. Should I cut and run or go with it and live life a bit on the edge? I was still trying to decide as I sat down for breakfast the following morning.

Mum noticed that I wasn’t saying very much.

“Second thoughts darling?”

I nodded.
“Second, third, fourth and fifth thoughts. It is a big step you know. Being Maxine full time is a hell of a change from just the odd day or night,” said Mum quietly.

“HE,” she said pointedly, “can do it for a few months,” chimed in Dawn.

I glared at her.

“It isn’t just for a few months. Well if it all pans out that is,” I said quietly.

Dawn sprayed tea all over the table and glared at me.

“You didn’t say that last night?”

“Shh darling,” said Mum.
“And Dawn, get a cloth to clear up this mess.”

Dawn glowered at me again but stood up and got a cloth from the sink.

“What changed?” asked Mum

“The job advert said it was for a stand-in during maternity leave?”

“Yes, it was. However, after I told Sally who I was and we got talking, she mentioned another role that would be ideal for me. In the end, I said yes to her offer but with a few conditions,” I replied looking at my sister.

“That certainly makes a difference,” said Mum as she put her hand on mine.

I nodded.
“That’s why I have the weekend to think things over. That is one of the conditions we agreed on.”

“Oh goody,” said Dawn is a slightly sarcastic tone.
“The Faux Prima Donna will be around all weekend! Don’t forget that Dave is coming over tonight.”

Dave was her off, on, off, on boyfriend. He didn’t really like me for some reason. I thought he was a loser so I guess the feeling was pretty mutual. All he cared about was his blinged-up and stupidly loud clapped out Honda Civic and getting into bed with Dawn as often as possible. His latest bit of car bling was Yellow Wheels. I thought they looked silly on a Matt Black car but what did I know eh?

“I think that Maxine and I should go visit your Gran tonight. She needs cheering up,” suggested Mum. I didn’t object because of Dave. He’d have a great time slagging me off. He normally did that when we had the misfortune to meet. He thought I wasn’t a real man because I didn’t have a one or two-track mind and only think about sex and cars. Given my experiences of the previous day and how I was dressed now, he may have been right.

---

My Gran was a lovely old woman. She’d been a bit of a swinger in the 1960’s. She’d often told me that she’d worked at the Biba store in Kensington when it first opened. If you hadn’t been seen there then you weren’t a cool dude. Some of the pictures of her with the celebs of the day were fantastic. Many of the pictures were signed by people such as Twiggy, Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield. I liked my Grandmother and she doted on Maxine. She said that I reminded her of herself in the late 1960’s.

Once I’d explained about my job offer, Gran gave me her blessing and proceeded to tell us about a lover that she’d had in ’69. He was like me, a cross-dresser who was a relative of a celebrity artist from the 1930’s. The artist, a woman who lived as a man, had a series of women lovers and entertained royalty.

I didn’t believe her until I looked up the name of the artist on the Sunday morning. When I saw some of her work, I dashed downstairs with my Laptop to show Mum.

“Look at this?” I said to her.

Mum looked at the screen and shrieked.

“That is the picture that your Gran has on her wall.”
She sat down probably before she fell down.

“I’d heard that story before but I never believed it. Wow!”

The artist’s name was Gluck. Gran was indeed quite a woman.
“That picture could be valuable. I hope she has it insured,” I remarked.

“I’ll make sure it is when I visit her next week.”

I sat back in deep thought.

“Penny for them my dear?”

“Oh…!”
“I was just thinking that Gran had quite an exciting time back in the day.”

Mum grinned.
“Apparently he was a bit of a wild child at times. She used to send me to sleep singing ‘Wild Thing’ by Jimmy Hendrix. Apparently, I was a really terrible as a two-year old.”

Then she hugged me.

“Go where your heart says. If that says go forward as Maxine then you have my backing and despite Dawn’s bluster, I think that she is slightly envious of you. After all, you got off your backside and got yourself a job.”

“Thanks Mum. Yes, I’m going to do it. That story Gran told us yesterday decided it for me. She had no regrets about going and doing all sorts of crazy things.”

Mum gave me an even bigger hug.

“In that case Maxine, we need to get you ready for tomorrow. What on earth are you going to wear?”

I shook my head.

“I need to make a phone call and then I’ll be picked up tomorrow.”

I looked around. Dawn was nowhere to be seen.

“We didn’t only go to dinner, we went shopping. I’ll have a complete wardrobe ready for me by tomorrow lunchtime. My boss helped me pick out a complete set of clothes. All I need to do is let her know ‘yes or no’ and if it is a yes then the clothes we selected will be purchased. And before you ask, it is coming out of my salary which is not half bad.”

“What is not half bad my girl?”

“Thirty-eight grand a year for starters,” I replied hoping that I’d kept my obvious excitement at earning such a salary out of my voice.

Mum just grinned back at me.

“You don’t do things by halves do you darling?”

“It wasn’t like that. If I was to accept the job offer, I’d be going away on business tomorrow night. A bit of forethought and all that?”

Mum just grinned back at me.

“But… what about your driving license and bank and… everything?”

“Mum,” I said taking hold of her hand

“Firstly, I’ll be on a six-week trial. Nothing needs to be done until after that. I’ll have a company credit card to use during that period and I don’t think I’ll need my driving license just yet.”

Mum gave me a look that I’d seen many times before. It was her ‘yeah, pull the other one’ look.

“Mum, I’m not going into this with my eyes closed. I know the risks but I know deep down that I need to do this. If I don’t then I will regret it for the rest of my life.”

Mum smiled.
“I’ll be here for you and if I have any say in the matter, so will Dawn. She’ll get over whatever it is she is feeling at the moment, she always does.”

I picked up my phone and went outside to make a call before I burst into tears.

---

After lunch, Mum took charge and made sure that my eyebrows, nails and skin were properly looked after. I called a halt to her plucking when she wanted to tidy up my nasal hair. I did that bit myself. I did have limits even for my Mother!

Later on, I went out for a walk with our dog, a lovable Irish Wolfhound called Shamus or rather he pulled and I held onto the lead. But, we had a nice time. It gave me a chance to get out of the house and be alone for a while.

When I returned home, I went up to my bedroom to take a shower.

As I walked into my room, I immediately felt that there was something not quite right. I opened my wardrobe and got a shock. It was almost empty.

My drawers were likewise, virtually empty. I almost blew my top but then I saw the wisdom of what had been done. If I was going to have a new wardrobe then I’d need space to put them.

The problem was that I was not going to be here to use the newly created space. The one thing that I’d forgotten to tell my family was that I was going to be based in Chichester. Commuting from where we lived in Trowbridge was not practical even though we lived less than a five-minute walk away from the town’s railway station.

I knew that I’d have to tell Mum sooner or later but when? I could not decide how to do it but I knew that it had to be done.

My chance came over tea that evening.

“Mum, about my clothes?”

She smiled at me.

“They are all bagged up and stored up in the loft,” she replied.

“Thanks… but…”

I took a deep breath and said,
“But I won’t be living here.”

“Eh? You went for the interview in Bristol and that is just a train ride away.”

“I did and that is true. But… The department that I’ll be working in is in Chichester,” I said telling her the party line that I’d agreed with my boss. The less that my family knew of my real job the better at this point in time.

“Oh,” was all that Mum could say.

“Where will you live?” asked Mum when she’d had a moment to think.

“The company is renting a flat for me.”

“That’s a lot of trouble to go to for just a few months, isn’t it?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I thought so too but that is what the boss wants. Apparently, a lot of the other candidates for this job really only wanted to work in Bristol or London where there is another office. Besides, Dawn will be glad to see the back of me, won’t she? I’ll wager that she moves into my room by Tuesday evening…”

“That is no way to talk about your sister even if it is true.”

I smiled.

Mum just looked at me. Then she raised an eyebrow and laughed.

“Thomas always did have this knack of coming up trumps. It seems that Maxine has not lost it. I’m proud of you darling.”

---

The following morning Mum was up early to make sure that I went off to work in what she called a ‘presentable’ state. It was her way of making sure that I fledged the nest and didn’t fall flat on my face.

I know she meant well and Mum was being just like any other Mum but there were times when I wanted to say ‘enough’ but I didn’t.

Right on time at midday, a white BMW X5 pulled up outside our fairly modest home.

“I need to go now Mum,” I said as I gave her a quick hug.

I didn’t wait for an answer but picked up my two small bags and headed for the car.

I put my bags on the back seat and opened the passenger door to get in. Then I paused and looked back at Mum. I saw a small tear running down her cheek. I gave her a smile and a wave. Then I got in the car.

As we drove down the road towards the station, I looked back and saw Mum standing on the doorstep.

“Second thoughts?” asked my new boss, Sally Jameson who was driving the car.

“Yes and no, don’t stop, I’m ready for this, whatever this turns out to be and even if I fall flat on my face doing so.”

I looked over towards her. She was smiling.

“That’s what I saw in you the moment that you walked into the interview. Keep that up and you won’t go far wrong in life,” she replied with a grin on her face.

[to be continued]