Chapter 3

Work was going to have to take a back seat at least for a while, or until this all got sorted out anyway. If the trouble that Val had been experiencing was any indication, work was likely to be even worse.

She phoned up and asked to speak to the floor manager.

"It's Angie." she said, waiting to hear a "who?" on the other end of the line, but instead, she heard a muffled "oh shit, not her too..."

"Don't tell me you've got it too?" The idea that many of the folk at work had been changed from male to female or vice-versa, nearly made Angie fall off her seat, but Robert, the manager, qualified his fears. "Half the bloody factory is off today. I can't do without you too."

"I'm sorry Rob, but it's women's trouble for me." She wasn't lying; she'd just bent the truth somewhat.

"Women's troubles?"

"I can spell it out for you if you'd like..." she said innocently. There was a short pause, during which time, the sound of a small coin dropping could almost be heard.

"Er, I don't think that's necessary, thank you. How long do you think you'll be away?"

"Not sure. Not long I hope. I feel as though..."

"Just get back as soon as you can, okay?" said Rob, cutting Angie short before she got too graphic, ending by wishing her well and she heard the word "Fuck!" probably exclaimed followed by several exclamation marks, not just one as he put the phone down.

Next on the list of to do jobs — see Lynn...

I've been expecting you." said Lynn. "Perhaps not this soon, but I was expecting you."

"I hoped you might be." said Angie, stepping over the threshold and walking straight into the kitchen. "I hope I'm not disturbing."

"Your predicament: yes. You? No."

"I am glad. I'm worried about Val."

"She's not taking this well I assume."

"No. I was told that there was a spell cast to stop people concerning themselves with who I have become, but I'm sure that's not working on Val."

"She knows?"

"No, but she will."

"You're not going to tell her?"

"Lynn, I'm worried, really worried. In all the years that we've been together, I've never seen her like this. Yesterday is one I'd rather forget. We hardly spoke and she seems, well, really 'out there'. I just know it's all this that's causing it." She stood up and gestured down her body, sitting down heavily onto the chair.

Lynn rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Have you two had sex since you changed?" she asked. Angie blushed, the glow almost dazzling.

"We-ell..."

"Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Did Val enjoy it?"

"I should think so. She shouted 'Yippee kiyay motherf... ' I mean um, yes." said Angie, her voice trailing off into something barely audible as the colour rose like a fog on her cheeks, unable to look Lynn in the eye.

"And you think all this with her started after that?" said Lynn, trying to stifle a laugh after Angie showed her discomfort.

"Absolutely! I had a shower, went downstairs and she was as she put it, 'out of sorts'. Since then, it's been difficult to get more than two words out of her, but I'm going to put that right."

"You are? How?"

"I'm going to tell her what's happened, that's how." said Angie, bashing the table with her balled fist. "That way, if she thinks it's her that's the problem, she'll know it wasn't."

"You can't do that." said Lynn. "She's not supposed to know for a reason."

"And that is?"

"Well, it's for your protection. It er, means that she will accept you the way you are and it may affect the magic."

"But that's not working is it?"

"Apparently not." Lynn conceded.

"Although it's not my doing, it's me that's causing the trouble and me that can put it right. I love her too much to see her suffer anymore. If I stand the chance of losing her, it won't be because of some foolish bloody fairy Godfather getting everything all to cock."

"Fairy Godfather?"

"Yeah, or at least, that's what they called themselves."

"More than one?"

"Two of them." said Angie. "All that popping in and out of the bathroom unannounced... It was most embarrassing."

"I see..." said Lynn. "Can you hold off telling Val until tomorrow?"

"I think so. What are you going to do?"

"Just you leave that to me. I'll get this sorted out." said Lynn. There was a look of grim determination on her face and Angie could see at once that it wasn't a good idea to mess with a woman on a mission.

Tomorrow it was then.

The next day, Val had woken up and found Angie spooned against her. It was as if Angie had lit the blue touch paper and Val went absolutely mental.

"Get off me... Stay on your own side... Don't touch me." It was all Angie could do not to break down there and then. Val in the meantime had grabbed her clothes and thundered out of the bedroom, muttering and grumbling.

Angie was about to run after her, throwing the duvet back, but stopped in her tracks, sat naked on the bed, tears rolling down her face, barely able to believe that Val, her best friend, her lover and soul-mate, had just been so nasty. It was most unlike her.

What made things worse was there was no goodbye, no sharing a cuppa before she went and the first Angie knew that Val had left was the sound of the front door as it was closed and none to quietly at that. Angie was straight onto the phone to speak to Lynn, but there was no reply and she sat at the table, alone in the kitchen just worried to death that the whole thing had gone tits-up so to speak and there was nothing she could do about it.

Lynn was angry after Angie had left. It wasn't so much that the spells had gone awry, but that they had gone awry around her daughter. Anyone else, it would just have been a case of "there, there" and other soothing sounds to help the poor unfortunate person get used to things the way they were going to be from now on.

It wasn't like there weren't mistakes. After all, all fairy Godmothers and Godfathers for that matter have training to go through. None of them automatically know how to do stuff, like the vampires in Buffy seem to. One minute they're ordinary folk then they become vampires and suddenly they know karate and kung fu. Being a fairy Godmother, or Godfather for that matter takes time, patience and practice — lots of practice.

No, the mistakes she could handle, but not when it involved her daughter.

Don was in his office, sweat beading on his brow.

"Why does she have to come today? Why at all and so damned early too" he said, wringing his hands on the desk in front of him.

"Your boys screwed up, that's why." said Lynn, having entered the office silently.

"Oh God, you're here!" said Don almost jumping off his seat.

"I most certainly am." said Lynn sitting primly on a chair in front of Don's desk.

"How did you know?" he asked then his forehead wrinkled. "Er, just which screw-up are we talking about?"

"The subtle change of sex? That poor lad is my daughter's fiancé, that's which." she said calmly and matter-of-factly.

"You mean... ?"

"I do."

"Oh shit!"

"Shit indeed." said Lynn solemnly.

"You're going to have to put this right double quick." said Lynn, her expression dangerous to say the least. Don seemed to think so anyway and slid his chair back a ways, mopping his brow again.

"We told him it would take a couple of months." said Don.

"Poppycock!" said Lynn. "You know as well as I do that if he stays in that body for too long, it will start to take over. He will lose his masculinity as his brain readjusts to the new environment. If you wait that long, all that he was will be lost and even changing him back won't bring him back, it'll bring something or rather someone who might look like him, but it won't be him. You get this sorted out before my daughter decides to do something stupid and I have to come and do something equally stupid to you."

She leant across the desk menacingly. "I can still do that you know." Don's eyes went wide with fright and Lynn wasn't required to elucidate.

"Yes, yes... of course. Right away." he muttered, flustered and beginning a whole new chapter on worry.

"I'm glad we understand one another. It's been nice talking to you, Don. Good day." she said urbanely and Don became even more flustered, knowing full well that if she wanted to, she could turn him into a toadstool or something even less attractive.

Cedric and Stephen stood before Don's desk within moments of Lynn's exit.

"Now listen you two. You both screwed up and unless you want to be replacing the teeth of snot-nosed whiny kids with money for the rest of eternity or worse, I suggest you listen and listen good." said Don with as much malice as he could muster. "That guy you changed is the fiancé of the daughter of Lynneth Alleyn."

"Not the Lynneth Alleyn surely?" said Stephen, his face going whiter than hospital sheets and his eyes bulging.

"The very same."

"Oh dear."

"Who's Lynneth Alleyn?" asked Cedric. Both Don and Stephen looked at the little man, mouths open, incredulous. The fact that Cedric had no idea who the woman was prompted name-calling that is not normally heard in polite company.

"Lynneth Alleyn was only the fairy Godmother to Cinderella." said Stephen (but only after he and Don had finished calling him those other names).

"I thought she was a myth."

"She's very real." said Don, sitting behind his desk. "And even though she's retired from the game now, she still carries a lot of weight round these parts, not to mention the magical abilities."

"I didn't think she would still have any of that." said Stephen. "I would have thought she'd have relinquished that upon her retirement."

"Tell you what," said Don brightly. "Why don't you test her out?" The skinny man flinched and lost what small amount of colour he had regained since learning of Val's mum's real identity.

"You're going to have to undo what you did." said Don.

"But what are we supposed to do? It hasn't even been a full week, let alone the two months."

"You're going to put it all right is what you're going to do."

Stephen sucked through his teeth. "That's complicated even for you, Don. I certainly wouldn't attempt it and I wouldn't even give Cedric here the responsibility of posting a letter, let alone something like that." Cedric was about to say something but thought better of it.