“You both look great, just make sure you avoid the gropers,” he said.
I frowned. “Gropers?”
“It’s a rugby club dinner, so the guys get a bit fresh after a few beers,” Jenny explained.
“Okay, Jenny, just run through the drill with her, and she can work with you on the top table, okay?” he said.
Jenny showed me what to do, explaining how they managed to serve everyone as quickly as possible. She showed me how to serve vegetables, and from which side to approach. She showed me how to clear and carry dirty dishes, and where to take them.
No sooner than she’d finished, the first of the diners started to arrive. There were about one hundred of them; fortunately, their wives and partners accompanied most of the men.
The top table had twenty places. There were four other long tables, each with about twenty place settings. Each table had two waiters or waitresses, so it was not long before we brought out the starters.
It was a hectic time, and many of the men tried to chat me up as I worked. I smiled and flirted gently, explaining that this was my first time. This got the usual response, ‘well I’ll treat you gently then,’ so I smiled as if it was all new to me – which it was.
The drinks flowed, and several of the men were well-oiled by the coffee stage. One man tried to slip his hand up my short skirt, so I threatened to pour scalding coffee over him. He laughed but rapidly removed his hand from my leg.
My legs and feet ached. I noticed that the other girls wore sensible shoes, so I now knew why. My feet looked very good in high heels, but they ached abominably.
We cleared the tables, so then they had some speeches, as the rugby season was now over. They handed out various awards, and afterwards we helped remove some tables, before the disco started. A couple of the guys asked me to join them for the disco, and Jenny shook her head at me from across the room.
“I’m sorry, but I still have work to do, and my boyfriend is due to come and pick me up,” I lied.
By ten o’clock, I collapsed onto a chair in the rest room, and took my shoes off. I massaged my aching feet. Jenny’s Dad came in.
“Well done. You managed very well,” he said, giving me an envelope. “By the way, several of the men wanted you to have a special tip, but all tips go into a pool, so everyone gets fair shares. The organiser wanted you and Jenny to have this for being so charming to all those on the top table.
He gave me a fifty-pound note. I was staggered.
“Thanks,” I stammered. I had made over a hundred pounds in four hours.
Jenny came in.
“Hi, guess who’s in the bar?” she said.
My heart gave a lurch.
“Dave?”
“And Mike.”
I put my shoes back on.
I checked my make up and followed her out, pulling my skirt down a little, as it rode up whenever I sat down.
They were sitting at the bar, each with a pint in front of them. Mike saw Jenny and nudged Dave. He turned and looked our way. He saw me, and his expression will be imprinted on my mind for a very long time. His eyes widened and his mouth opened, and I saw his gaze travel down my body, down my legs to my shoes and back up, resting for some time on my breasts. Then he smiled, and my heart fluttered.
“Hi,” I said, and he gaped at me.
“Why the fuck do you dress like you do at school?”
“Because I don’t want to keep fighting off randy boys who want to pester me,” I said.
He smiled, nodding slowly.
“I can see that, now. Shit. Sandi, you are stunning.”
At that moment, he could have asked me to do anything for him, and I would have done it willingly. He had just made my year. No, he just made my life!
“Drink?”
“How about a long OJ?” I asked.
“Nothing alcoholic?”
“Jenny’s Dad doesn’t need to lose his licence by serving underage girls in his hotel,” I pointed out.
“There is no way anyone will know you are under eighteen.”
“I’m sixteen, and her Dad knows it,” I said. He shrugged and ordered me a drink.
I perched on the stool next to him, and his gaze slid down to take in my long legs.
“Seen enough?” I teased, and he had the grace to go red.
“Sorry, but you have an amazing body.”
You had better believe it. I thought.
I smiled coyly.
“Did you have a busy evening?” he asked.
“Yeah, but we coped,” I said, seeing that Jenny and Mike were engrossed in their own conversation.
“How come I have never noticed you before?”
“Probably because I try hard not to be noticed.”
“Why?”
I shrugged.
“Dave, it is a long and rather sad story, and at the moment I am not prepared to talk about. One day I will, but things are a bit weird for me at the moment.”
He looked at me, and then at my legs again.
“Hey, why don’t we sit at the table over there?” he said, nodding to the table in the window.
“Okay.”
We moved, and sat close together on a soft bench. I felt less precarious, and less on display.
“Sandi, can I ask you a personal question?”
“What?”
“Have you got a boyfriend?”
I shook my head.
He nodded.
“Why not?” he asked, up front. I laughed.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Speak your mind, why don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, but you are too attractive not to have a bloke.”
“Dave, I told you, it’s complicated. I can’t tell you more at the moment, but believe me, I’m not really like other girls.”
“You are far more beautiful than most.”
I almost started to cry, so he could see I was upset. He took my hand, and held it firmly.
“What did I say?”
“Dave, just believe me, you don’t want to get involved with me.”
He stared at me for a while.
“You aren’t gay are you?”
I laughed out loud.
“Oh, if it were that simple,” I said, and he frowned.
“You’ve lost me,” he admitted.
“Dave, let’s go for a walk, and I’ll try to explain,” I said, still not sure whether I should.
We went outside, and the sea breeze was cold. I folded my arms and shivered. He took me to his car and opened the passenger door for me. I got in, so he got in behind the wheel.
“I need to be honest, but you have to realise how hard this is for me. What I tell you now could destroy me, and it will certainly affect how you see me, and I fully expect to have my heart broken too,” I said.
He frowned.
I tried to make some order to my chaotic thought process.
“Sandi. I think I know,” he said, and I looked at him. His face was hardly visible in the dark.
“Go on,” I said, hardly daring to breathe.
“Okay, here’s how. One, you dress like a boy, and you use a deliberately ambiguous name, which could be either. You don’t mix, and as far as I can find out, have few friends. Those who do know you don’t know whether you are a girl or not. I have asked nearly everyone I can think of, and although some think you’re a girl, most aren’t sure.
“I even asked the PE coach, and she was evasive, and I find you are excused all physical activities. Very rare, so this evening, I did a little detective work, and still I have been unable to find anyone who knows you well enough. I started to think that you could be a bloke who was effeminate, but then you walked into the bar, and, shit, you completely shot that theory away.
“But, now I reckon, I know.”
“Yes?”
“You are an hermaphrodite.”
I started to laugh, and then had to stop, as he looked rather hurt.
“Oh Dave, lovely thought, but no. You were on the right track earlier. It doesn’t matter how I tell you, I know that I will fuck us both up for ever.”
He looked at me, still frowning.
“Dave, I was christened Alexander. From the age of six, I knew I should have been a girl. For some years, I’ve been taking female hormones, so am more a girl than a boy now. In a few weeks I will have the first of many surgical procedures that will mean I will be a girl for the rest of my life, but the reality is that legally I am a boy,” I said, sitting back to wait for the fireworks.