CHAPTER 5
“Thanks, love”

“Never a problem, er, woman, if I have that right. I set up this meeting, by the way, so I am keeping people out until I’m sure you’re sound. Whose top?”

“Mary’s. So’s the pendant and, er, the skirt, but the rest is all me and mine”

“You need some T-shirt bras; that one’s showing through. Ready?”

“Do it”

I cut my mike as other faces started to tile the screen, but I left my camera on. Just as Terry started to make the usual introductions, Mary delivered a cup of tea, something we had agreed beforehand. One way of showing domestic normality, we had decided. Terry was nearly at the end of his intro spiel by then.

“Finally, as you will see, we have Ellie Ellison back from tying kangaroos down, and rather crispy round the edges. How much weight have you lost?”

I clicked my mike back on, raising an arm to show how thin it was.

“Traditionally, I should say ‘Not enough’, Boss, but certainly more than I ever expected to”

I knew that lifting an arm would also make my breasts rise, as well as stretching the top’s fabric over my underwear, which was the point. Terry was now in full strategy mode, setting out team and individual priorities, which came down, in essence, to sticking with our regulars, picking a couple of extras each, and then doing the pub-quiz style swapping of papers for a cross-check. We had used the system for years, and it was in two bursts of activity, the first being the preparation of a not-quite-final set of accounts, followed by the deadline-beating race to add in those extras that had only just slipped under the end of the financial year.

Life was simpler out on my bike.

There was the usual problem with video conferences, of course, for those who were in the office could look at each other and know who was doing the looking, who was being looked at. For those of us onscreen, the look was of necessity at the screen, and not at the camera. While I was bloody certain I was being stared at, I couldn’t be sure which pairs of eyes were involved. I was a little adrift, as I knew a large group were in the conference room looking at the rest of us on the big screen, and would no doubt be sharing quiet little comments. Terry wound up his own agenda, and finished with the traditional ‘Any other business’, which was when Sharon Purfleet raised a virtual hand.

“Yes, Sharon?”

“Thanks, Boss. I just wanted to remind people that in two weeks’ time we have our non-Christmas head clearing session in the Hart. We’ve arranged for a cold buffet, but drinks are on yourselves. Or perhaps better not; you know what I mean. Last chance to let your hair down… before the hard yards”

I was certain that the ‘hair’ remark was aimed at me, but didn’t have enough context to know which way it was slanted, jibe or joke. A message came in from Lynn, just for me: stay online after please, as the others dropped out in ones and twos, until it was only the two of us.

“Mary there?”

“Yes. Hang on; I’ll dump the headphones”

I called my wife in, dragging up another chair, and switching to speaker after unplugging the headset.

“Hi, Mary”

“Morning, Lynn. How’s Ray?”

They danced through the usual social formalities, and then Lynn cut directly to the proverbial chase.

“I wasn’t wrong, then, Ellie”

“Seems not, love”

“Doesn’t answer my other question, though: how right was I?”

“From what Terry said, just about bull’s eye”

“Now, this is going to be something I’m sure you’ll hear a lot, if you haven’t already: why didn’t you bloody talk to us? Oh, and the boss is covering the phone for now. No rush. There’s a lot of stuff I suspect, but I’ll, we’ll, hopefully we, if you get me, we’ll talk about that later. How are you, Mary?”

“Wobbly, to be honest. So much inside me, so many memories, and then Ellie’s in front of me, and all my reflexes are going ‘woman’. I’m… No. We’re struggling, and I know what you are thinking, were thinking, that Ellie wouldn’t be back”

“That was… I didn’t know which way it was going to be, Ellie, whether you would just move away, or whether you intended something more permanent. Terry dropped some hints about a couple of women out there”

“Yeah, Lynn. Jacky and Carly. Made me take another look at things, see what I had. Blessings counting, decision tree, all that stuff. Options, essentially. Mary knows full well what I was considering”
“When are you coming back into the office, love?”
“I don’t know, but that little announcement from Sharon threw me. It also tempted me. I could drop in for the do, and I’m not stuck there all day. If it goes wrong, I can just leave, cut and run. It would get the Big Reveal freak show out of the way”

Lynn was nodding.

“Makes sense. I can tee up the boss, just in case”

“Please”

“Got to go now; boss is getting a shedload of diverted calls. Let us know if you need anything, you two”

She cut the call, and I turned to look at my wife.

“There’s one other person I should call, love. Friend of mine I met online”

She paled, and I could just about read her mind.

“No, Mary, not like that. It was a cycling forum. She came out on the site, so I sent her a private message, just to sort of seek advice. And she’s a straight girl”

Once again I could read her mind as she juggled the concept, so I added a little more.

“She’s married to a really nice guy. I’ve met them both on some of the forum rides. He’s French”

I found my mobile and tapped in Sandy’s number.

“Hiya, stranger! You back? How was it?”

“Bloody hot, woman. Yes, I’m at home. Got time for a chat on Teams?”

“Yup. He who must be ignored is at work, though”

“No matter. I’ll send you the link; see you in a few”

I hung up and did the necessary with my laptop, and five minutes later a slender blonde was on screen. Her first words, on spotting how I was dressed, were, “Ah. Wow”

“Sandy Nowak, my wife Mary”

“You’re out, then, Ellie. How does it feel?”

“Frightening, to be honest. Just had a works meeting, online like this”

“Same outfit?”

“Exactly”

“Mary? Mind if I ask you some questions? That said, I should introduce myself properly, strange woman talking to husband and all that. I’m Sandy, my husband Greg is someone I met on a cycling holiday. I was in the South of France trying to clear my head, and, well, we clicked. He was part of my coming out, at the York Rally. I had to talk him out of riding all the way there. That trip, the French one, not York, is something I posted about on our forum, and then Ellie sent me her message, just asking for advice. Anyway, that’s me. Oh, and we did borrow a tandem for our wedding, so I’m almost your namesake”

“Sorry?”

“Give me your answer do… Never mind. Bit of a butterfly mind, me. Anyway, that question: how are you? Not as in you-and-Ellie, that’s the next bit; just you?”

“Um… not really prepared”

“It’s okay, I’m not demanding answers”

“Not what I meant, Sandy. I mean, all of this---we had so many arguments, once, you know, physical changes. I was seeing my husband with extra bits, and it left me, head all over the place. Then I see Ellie at the airport, and I’m seeing some woman, and asking where my husband is, is he still thee, still in her? Unprepared, like I said”

Sandy was nodding.

“Bit different for me. I was read as a girl before I even got on the bus, so I just went with the flow. I met Greg purely by chance, and I am not going into details because you really don’t want me getting soppy. Quick summary: he met me, he fancied me, he found out what I was. I ran away; he caught up with me, and he’s never dropped me since. In a way, that’s a similarity with you two. You married Ellie, and now you’ve found out what she is, but she remains the same person you wed. Just slightly nicer packaging. I like the top, Ellie”

“It’s Mary’s”

“Good taste. Anyway, how can I help?”

“We have a works do coming up, two weeks today”

“That’s handy. We’re on a week’s camping at White Mark. Watlington, just along from Lewknor. Or am I mistaken in guessing that you’re after a bit of moral support? What sort of place?”

“Oh, a pub. There’s a sort of raised area in the bar, where we’ll have some food, but it’s basically just an Innovations pub”

“They the ones who name all their pubs after aircraft?”

“The very ones”

“Which one is this?”

“The Hart”

“I’ll look it up. Now, don’t want to presume again, but riding back would be a bit of a slog”

Mary just nodded.

“I’ll change the spare bed again, Sandy. Thank you”