Chapter 3

Cyril told her that it would be our pleasure to be close to the project until we had installed competent workers who could carry on. He even offered to alternate with me, as I had so many other sites around the country that I was needed at. That was a revelation, as he had become office-bound lately. We discussed what the contract between us should look like, and Janet walked us to our car.

“I have to thank you both for coming. I’ll get our lawyers to write up a contract to allow you initial command of recruiting our new workers. We’ll also edit our own charter to include worker representatives. This project was mine to make or break. My husband is the real financial power behind me but insisted that me and my children find out for ourselves if we can make a success of it. Those two that were against spending on facilities are cousins of cousins on his side. He does have a lot of rich relatives. The other one is married to one of his cousins. The five of us that were already amenable to what you proposed are from my side of the family, and from a more working-class stock.”

She gave us both a hug and we left.

“How about lunch before we head back to the office, Jenny?”

“I don’t mind, Cyril, what do you have in mind, nothing too flash, I hope.”

We went to a restaurant, overlooking the river, and had a nice meal, with a glass of wine. The waiter helped me into my seat and Cyril was very attentive as we talked about what happened this morning.

“You do realise, Jenny, that this project is going to take a bit of work but could be something that will lift our Union. It’s could take months, I know, so, if you know of anyone in the country who can take over your current job, I’m happy to let you bring them in. You’re going to spend a lot of time, here, to make it all work.”

“There are a couple of good organisers who are representatives on boards. I’ll get some appointments and see if any would like to work in Head Office. I think that we will need someone in Bernice’s seat for a while. She was going to talk to the others about maternity leave while we’re out. While we’re having a big shake-up, I could talk to some of our members about becoming office organiser. If Bernice comes back, I think that you’ll need a full-time secretary by then.”

He smiled and reached over to touch my arm.

“Jenny, you have been a good worker for the Union. After this all blows over, I want you to think about taking my place. Today has shown me that I’m weighed down by the baggage of my years and the effects of my own experiences. You’ve shown me a new way of things, and it looks good. It’s getting close to my own retirement, just a couple of years, but I had been afraid of thinking about it. Tom and Alf have a few more years in them, so there will still be some old guard in the place.”

At the end of the meal, we made a toast to the future, and he drove us back to the office. I didn’t have to ask why he kept glancing my way. I knew, now, that he fully accepted me as Jenny, no second thoughts, and that he was treating me as he would his wife. It made me more aware of sitting there, in the passenger seat, looking down at my skirt and stockinged legs, with the weight of my breasts supported by a lace bra. I didn’t have to worry about being outed, any longer. This man knew that I wasn’t a woman but treated me as if I had been one all my life. It was a very sobering thought.

That afternoon I went through the member records again, in the light of what I now knew. There was one particular girl. Working at a site a bit further north, who I had met several times. She had good qualifications but was also a very good Organiser. On the off chance, I rang her on her mobile. Luckily, she answered.

“Suzi, it’s Jen from the Union Head Office. Do you have a few moments to talk.”

“Sure thing, Jen, we’re on a break now. You sound a little different, a bit quieter than I remember.”

“Things are changing, Suzi. You’ll know why when I see you. You have been contacted in the last few days about a new site that we are involved in.”

“That place! I’ve heard a lot of bad things about there.”

“That’s all history. I was there, this morning, and had a meeting with the new management. There are no workers on the site, and we are going to be involved in supplying a workforce from our Union. It may not end up as a closed site, but it should be a lot better than it used to be. Now, I’m ringing because they are going to need a top-rate Organiser, who will also be a Board Member, and I thought of you.”

“Wow! That’s out of left field, Jen. Can I think about it? It would mean moving the family further south.”

“Take as long as you like, they won’t be operating for a couple of months. They are offering a relocation package, and I should think that the first ones in will have a lot to do. The whole place has been run down and a lot of the tools are rusty from being left in the open. I will also be looking for a good storeman and a male Organiser. The possibilities there are huge.”

“That’s interesting. My husband is a storeman in a manufacturing engineers. If they’ll take on the two of us, that would be brilliant. Would we be able to come down and talk to the bosses?”

“Let me know when you’re free and I’ll arrange a meeting. We still have to sign the agreement so it’s not yet official.”

We spoke some more and then she had to return to the workplace. I then rang a man I had worked with, in Glasgow. He had taken my place as a Board Representative, and I had a lot of respect for his abilities.

“Albert, it’s Jensen Goodfellow. How are you, today.”

“Fair to middling, Jen. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“We are starting a big project, and I am going to be spending a lot of my time out on a new site, as a consultant. I was wondering if you’d fancy a shift to Head Office to take over my job as the Business Unification Manager. It’s basically the membership officer and means visiting all the sites to keep our guys, and the various managers, happy. It pays well, you get a company car, and the only downside is that you have to come and live in the Midlands.”

“That’s where my wife comes from. She would love to move south again. How much time do I have to decide?”

“Things are moving pretty quickly, but I reckon that we have a month to settle you in. If you’re happy with it, let me know and I’ll get Cyril to send you an official offer. You never know, we may come up and deliver it ourselves.”

“Right. Thank you for thinking of me. I’ll talk to my wife tonight, and let you know. Taking over from you here was great, but working out of Head Office is a huge leap.”

When I put the phone down, Bernice was looking steadily at me.

“Are you resigning, then?”

“No, Bernice. What we did this morning has huge consequences. I have been asked to lead our input with this new project, which will mean me spending a lot of time on the east coast. Over lunch, Cyril asked me to organise someone to take this seat, because there are other avenues, further on, that he wants me to take. Now, did you talk to the others?”

“Yes, I did. There’s no problems with maternity leave if I fall pregnant, and they told me that there would be a place for me when I return. All I have to do, now, is to time my cycles with the nights my hubby isn’t playing darts, and I may score a bullseye. You said that you would be spending time there? You’ll have to remain as Jenny for some months to come, then?”

“That’s correct. By the time this is all finished I may never want to return to my old self.”

“That’s good. You will be popping in, from time to time, I hope.”

“I certainly will. I may be more of a free spirit, for a while, and there will be things that I will need to do with Cyril before we settle back down. On top of that, there may be some sessions for Tracy. She said that she’ll have news on that by the end of the week. How were the girls at lunch?”

“All good, they asked where you were and I told them that you had to be away, as that was a big part of your job. Tracy was being very cagey, though. I think that she has a big meeting in the morning. What’s this Albert like?

“He is a very nice man, with a lot of people skills, which is why I chose him to take over when I was headhunted for this job. You’ll like him, for the few months that you’ll be working with him. When you’re off, we’ll have to find someone as good as you. That’s going to be the hardest task of all!”

That evening, I waited until our girls were in bed, then told Carol about my day.

“All right, Jenny. Let me get this straight. Over the next few months, you will be going off to the coast most days to oversee someone else’s site, as well as recruiting workers for them. There’ll be a new B.U.M in your seat, and then a new secretary taking over from Bernice. Then, sometime after that, you will take over from Cyril as the Leader of the Union and will have Bernice as your secretary when she finishes maternity leave. All of this needs you to remain as Jenny.”

“That’s it, in a nutshell, yes.”

“Will you want to have operations to become a woman, or will you keep your appendage?”

“Keep it, I wouldn’t part with it for the world. We’re both enjoying it too much.”

“How about breast implants or hormones?”

“Maybe for the first, never for the second.”

“What about modelling?”

“That’s still up in the air. We may know more by the end of the week. What would you say if Tracy gets work for our daughters?”

“As long as it doesn’t cut into their schooling, it would be a good experience for them, as well as putting some money in the bank for their tertiary studies.”

We kissed, lipstick to lipstick, and then lost all interest in the late-night television.

On Wednesday, I finalised an itinerary to make a tour of the northern sites, starting Monday. I would be away the whole week. I was going as Jenny, so needed to arrange a shopping trip to add to my wardrobe, seeing that I would be changing every day. In the past, I only took a bag with a weeks’ worth of socks and jocks, and a few shirts, plus a spare pair of trousers, in case I got them wet or too dirty.

Tracy wasn’t at the girls lunch, and the others said that she was very busy. She was there on Thursday and gave me an envelope to open when I was home. On Thursday afternoon, Suzi and then Albert, got back to me to say that they were both very interested. I told them both that I would see them next week and talk through things. I let Cyril know what was happening and told him that I would need Friday off, to collect up needed supplies for my time away, as a woman. He laughed and told me that I deserved it, then gave me the original credit card back, telling me that there was still four hundred Euro on it, and that my bonus would be in my pay at the end of the month.

I was very good and waited until we had finished dinner before opening the envelope. It contained a picture from the first session, with me in the evening make-up and looking coy. It had been overprinted with the name of a lipstick brand and a picture of a lipstick aimed at my lips. The wording said, “Don’t be coy, use our new range and make your evenings zing!”

There was another picture, with the two models on the beach, with Carol and our girls, splashing in the water, all in their bikinis. It simply had the brand logo and the words “Any time at the beach is a fun time in our swimwear!” It was brilliant, nothing else needed to be said. There was a note from Tracy, telling us that these were from a couple of new advertising campaigns. Stapled to the note was a cheque that made me feel quite dizzy, along with a print-out of the amounts for us and the girls. The girls squealed when they looked at the pictures. Carol just gripped my hand as I showed her the cheque.

“It really is real, then. We can bank this when we’re in town, tomorrow, and transfer the two amounts into the girls accounts from ours. Then we go shopping for you.”

She turned to the girls.

“Now, how about you not taking this picture to school and waving it around, tomorrow. Don’t you think that it would be really cool to wait until that picture appears in a magazine? You’ll be targets if you brag, but cool kids if you wait.”

They thought about it, then both grinned. Cathy laughed.

“I want to be cool, Mum. It would be good to have a secret life. It would fill in the times that I’m unhappy with school. We did get some ribbing when we showed the others the file of pictures, and I still don’t think they really believed us.”

“Right, then. We are going shopping tomorrow, and we’ll get a frame for this picture, so we can start a shelf of pictures of our famous modelling daughters. Now, go finish your homework and then you can watch some cartoons for a while.”

On Friday morning, Carol took the girls to school while I made myself presentable for a bit of serious shopping. I was waiting, outside, when she came back. The first place we went was the salon, where I was booked in for a check-up after lunch, and they were shown the pictures, with a promise that we would sign the adverts when they were published.

Then it was on to the bank, where I stood to one side while Carol organised where the cheque money would go. We had a lovely morning in the shops. One thing I insisted on was some packs of cheap tights, saying that it was lovely wearing good stockings, I was going to be going onto sites, where there could be possibilities of sparks. I added a couple of midi skirts, in hard wearing denim, and a couple of pairs of jeans that I could wear with my work boots. Carol pointed out that I could just change the work boots for heeled boots and would be totally good.

We maxed out the Union card and put a bit onto our own by lunch. We put our bags into the car and went to the food court for something to eat. While we were sitting, a couple of middle-aged gents tried to chat us up, a first for me. Carol was able to let them down lightly. I listened intently on the words she was using, as I may have to use them, myself, when I was away.

After lunch, we went back to the salon, where they removed the breast forms and went all over my body to make sure everything was still good. It was suggested that I should come back, in a few weeks, and undergo a new product that they were getting in, something called electrolysis removal of any facial hairs. For now, though, I was in for another waxing on my face. After I was re-assembled, they also declared that I was looking after my studs, and that it was now time to go shopping for decent earrings.

That took some of the afternoon, with us getting me some silver drops and hoops. I wore a pair of drops out of the shop, and the feeling of them touching my neck was odd but empowering. We picked up the girls from school and my new look caused comment. They had been wearing studs since they were six or seven, but now wanted drops like Auntie Jenny’s. They were promised a shopping trip in the morning.

The girls were shaking their heads to make their new drops bang against their necks when we bumped into one of Carol’s friends, with her daughter. Of course, that led to going to a café for some lunch. I decided that I should just tell her who I was, as she knew everything about us and being a non-existent sister-in-law wouldn’t work. She was incredulous but took a good look at me and declared that there were a lot of similarities with the old Jensen, but I was a lot better looking, now. Carol told her that the situation had been forced on me, for work, but that it was a lot of fun while I was Jennifer.

When we parted, she gave us both a hug, woman to woman, and we arranged to get together, the following weekend when I was back in town. That afternoon, we picked up some dress bags so I could just hang some things in the back of the car. I also got a new, and very pink, hold-all for my smalls and cosmetics. Back home, I spent a bit of the weekend learning how to care for my new clothes.

I rang the number that Janet had given me.

“Janet, it’s Jenny from the Union. I believe that you had said that there would be a relocation package for the first new workers. I have a meeting with a girl who would be a good Organiser and Board Member. Can you please tell me what you have in mind, in regard to housing?”

“Yes, Jenny. It’s nice to see that you’re thinking about us on the weekend. Horace, who you met, is a developer, and he bought up four rows of terrace houses in the town. They had been meant to be demolished to make way for a supermarket, but the deal fell through. He has restored one row and is working on the rest. He’ll have another row ready before we need them. They have a row of lockups, two streets away, with enough for each house. He will sell them to the business or rent them to the workers. He has access to finance if they want to settle down and buy.”

“Thank you, Janet. I’ll keep that in mind while I’m away. I’ll be spending a week north, visiting a number of sites. I’ll talk to our Organisers at each place, to get them to ask around our members who may want to come south. I’ll give you a call when I’m back, I might have some people to see you.”

“That’ll be good, Janet. We have a team cleaning the facilities. They needed special suits and breathing apparatus, but the place is looking better. I got in touch with the welding equipment supplier, and he has taken away the worst of the sets to be overhauled. We didn’t realise that the gas supplier had been in and repossessed all of the cylinders and are negotiating with them to supply us when we get going again. Your input, during the week, has made me realise that there’s a lot more to operating again than I first thought. Alex and Tina are newly energised, they have got sets of overalls and are cleaning out the locker rooms, canteens, and storage areas. Your talk has got them fired up. I’m looking forward to working with you as we get closer to re-opening. It’s odd, but when I spoke to my main client, and mentioned that N.U.M.B. will be our main Union, they were happy to sign the contract and we need to be in production in eight weeks. I was given their specifications and have spoken to the metal supplier, putting in an order for tonnage, with the first delivery the week before.”

“Congratulations, Janet. You’re really taking the bull by the horns. I’ll talk to you when I get back.”

When I sat back, I thought about what she had said. The fact that our Union was enough for her to get a contract signed was wonderful. I knew we had a good reputation around the site owners, so I suppose the client may be someone who is also working with other sites we look after. We weren’t the biggest Union around, but we did punch above our weight when it came to keeping production running smoothly.

Saturday night, we explored my new, smooth, skin and it was quite wonderful. Sunday, we did another market, and I loaded the car after lunch. I was heading north, so that I could start my visits early Monday morning. I kissed Carol and the girls, and we had special hugs. I drove away in a mist of love which was new. On the back seat was a new coat that I had bought, in the morning, as well as a wool scarf – just in case I had a cold night or two.

On Sunday evening, I had my evening meal in the hotel. It wasn’t one that I had used before, but one I did have a client card for, as it had been one of a chain I had stayed in when I was working the rigs, and Jen Goodfellow was on their database. It wasn’t as good as the one I usually used, but I didn’t want to go somewhere that they knew the old me. I had two calls on Monday morning, in sites where I would need to wear boots and have my hard hat. Then another in the afternoon, needing the same gear. I had built in a window of opportunity to go back to the hotel and change before seeing Suzi, as we met in her Organisers office, and only went onto the site if there were any problems.

The morning calls were as expected, my calls were with guys who were amazed at my new look, but generally accepting. I told them that I needed to be like this to present us as a female-friendly union to a new customer. I told them to speak to our members and see if there’s any who would come further south. In every case, I had to explain that the site would be nothing like it used to be. I left some cards for them to hand out if anyone was interested.

The afternoon call was the same, and then I went to the hotel to change and pack, checking out. When I got to see Suzi, she had to sit down as I walked in.

“Jen, is this you, now!”

I explained how I was standing there in a skirt and heels and asked her not to let on if she came south. We spoke about how her site was working and she told me that her husband would come south if he was also taken on, as it would be closer to his folks, and further from her mother. I told her about the newly restored terrace houses, with a lockup. She said that they were living in a pokey flat, and even a two-up two-down house would be better. We picked Thursday, the following week, where I would meet them at the site if they both took a day off. She told me that she had a couple of others who would join her, should she say the word. I left some of my cards and told her the likely time that they would be wanted to start.

When I left her, I went further north to another hotel. Tuesday and Wednesday were similar. Most of the Organisers I met were good with me, and those that weren’t were happy when I told them that it would be a guy who would be replacing me before the next visits were needed. I had arranged to meet with Albert at a restaurant, with his wife, instead of going to his site, which I knew would be running like clockwork, so I had some calls to make, in Glasgow, before going to the hotel and made myself ready to go out for a meal.

One of the dresses I had bought, on the Friday, was a simple sheath, the hem just above my knees. I made extra care with the underwear and wore my corset and stockings for the first time this week. I had graduated to two-inch heels and was pretty good with them. I was sitting at the table when they came in. I stood and went to meet them.

“Raylene and Albert, it’s so nice to see you both, again. The table’s over here.”

The waiters fussed around to help us ladies get seated again and we ordered a bottle of red to go with our meal. This restaurant specialised in red meat, and I knew they both liked to eat heartily.

“So, Jen, is it Jenny now?”

“Yes, Albert, at least for a while. We have to blame Cyril for this. He told a new client that we had good female welders, and I was volunteered to give a demonstration. It worked out that I didn’t have to weld, but I’m going to be working, on and off, at the new site as a consultant. I have to recruit a complete workforce, so will not be able to carry on as I was, as Jenny is the gal for the job, or so Cyril thinks.”

Raylene spoke, for the first time.

“You do make a believable woman, Jen, but is your heart in it? What does your family think of this change?”

“Raylene, I feel empowered as a woman. It’s intoxicating, at times. I’ve made lots of calls, so far, this week, and there have only been a few who would rather be working with a guy. They were all sites where we don’t have women welders. Carol and I have entered a new phase in our relationship, and my girls want me to stay this way for ever, a having two mummies are better than one.”

We ordered and made inconsequential talk as we ate. When we got to the cheese and coffee, I asked my question.

“Have you thought about my question, Albert?”

“Yes, we’ve talked about it. Will there be help with finding a place to live, and will the Union help with relocation?”

“They did both for me when I took the job on. There will be a company car and a fuel card. Do you have any desire for a new job, Raylene?”

“Yes, I would. I’d like to take some time to get back with my family, but I used to be a PA and would like to find somewhere which would take me on.”

“How would the two of you feel about working together? Bernice is planning to start a family and would be taking maternity leave. I don’t expect to need her replacement for eight or nine months, but whoever takes over her seat will be permanent. When she comes back, she’ll be my secretary.”

Albert looked at me.

“Your secretary? What else is happening?”

“Cyril is starting to think about retiring. I was told that in a year, or so, I’ll be the Head of the Union. I know that I’ll be a lot more hands-on than he has been lately, so will need Bernice to help me. Of course, Raylene, if Bernice goes back into her old seat, you could always work with me as my PA. If this new site project takes off, I expect that we’ll have more enquiries about running sites. I know that if we run sites as well as Albert has been doing here, we’ll be getting a reputation. I do expect some flak from the other unions, but we’ll have to face that as it come.”

“That does it! We’re with you, Jenny. When I had met you, before, I always thought that you were too soft to be a Union Organiser, but watching my man do things the same way, I see now what you’re really doing. You think like a woman, and always have. You aren’t soft, just caring. It’s taken a while, but it’s been wonderful to see Albert acting the same. If there’s an eventual job in Head Office for both of us, it’s a no-brainer.”

Marianne Gregory © 2024