Chapter 19
Victoria
Things were looking up for Victoria. It had been a week and a half since her first voice-to-voice phone call with JB, and she found herself looking forward to those calls every single night.
Understandably, Juicy_Babe didn’t share many personal details about her life, and Victoria neither pried nor offered much information about herself.
Meeting people online could be dangerous.
Speaking of Denton Heights, Rowena was over the moon that Victoria might go to the winter masquerade ball.
In a recent phone call, Victoria emphasized the word might several times, but Rowena didn’t seem to hear.
She offered the room in her home where Victoria often crashed after parties, the room that currently held a bunch of her shit that she had to figure out what to do with.
She wasn’t staying in Indy much longer, that was for sure.
Knowing she had to make a change, she got brave and called that BDSM-friendly therapist in Denton Heights, the one Madison and Shanice went to.
Thankfully, Dr. Sumner was set up for online Zoom meetings, and Victoria had already had two really good sessions with her so far.
Of course, she’d gone right for the mommy-abandonment issues.
But Victoria had been the one to bring it up, after all.
And for that, she had Juicy_Babe to thank for nudging her in that train of thought.
Also in the vein of making a change, Victoria signed up to help Tillman at the Linen Works job.
She wasn’t going to be on the permanent crew or anything, just a hired laborer for that one store setup in Springfield.
Tillman said if Victoria wanted to do the work on a more regular basis, that would mean applying and then interviewing with someone at corporate.
Victoria rode as a passenger in Tillman’s car as they drove the four hours or so to Springfield, Illinois, that morning.
It was now late afternoon, and the two of them, along with about eight other crew members, labored to install shelving units, racks, standalone bins, and displays for the new store.
Victoria was assigned to shadow Tillman on the multi-day job, which ended on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Victoria was impressed with Tillman. He was a confident and capable leader. It was obvious this particular crew had worked together before and knew the drill.
Their ten-hour day had two more hours left, and then they’d find takeout and head to a local motel for the night.
Victoria held up the side panel for the next shelving unit as Tillman used an impact driver to fasten it to the base.
“I haven’t done this much physical labor since the army,” Victoria said.
Tillman laughed. “How are you holding up?”
“Fine, actually,” Victoria said, hustling to get the back panel in place. “But I know I’ll be sore tomorrow.”
Tillman motioned toward the retired couple working on the standalone bins. “They will be, too. You know they live out of that RV in the parking lot. They travel to the Linen Works jobs and also do seasonal work at Christmas and throughout the year.”
“No fucking way,” Victoria said wide-eyed. The couple had to be in their late fifties. “A nomadic life. Maybe that’s for me.”
“Nah,” Tillman said as he worked his way around fastening the back panel.
“That’s for retirement. Right now, I want to be settled.
A house. Wife. Kids, maybe.” He finished fastening the panel and sat back on his heels.
“Vic, I want to be a husband, you know? With a family and backyard barbecues?” His sigh was so long and deep that Victoria’s heart went out to him.
“Break?”
“Yeah,” Tillman said and grabbed two seltzer waters from the cooler.
They headed to a windowless back room that looked like a break room or something and sat on the floor.
“I called corporate,” Tillman said. “Their health insurance won’t cover top surgery or hormone therapy. It doesn’t cover any kind of gender-affirming care at all. Not even therapists.”
“That sucks,” Victoria said. She hadn’t thought about the cost of transitioning. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Tillman looked up. He seemed utterly defeated. “I don’t want to end up taking that street T garbage. I want the real testosterone, prescribed by a doctor, with the proper dosing and a goddamned plan. Fuck! I need the world to give me a break, man. I got dealt some weird cards.”
Victoria chuckled in solidarity.
“I may have to find another job,” Tillman said. “But where? I guess I’ll just have to win the lottery.”
“You and me both.”
“So, what are you going to do post-tase?” It was a clear change in subject, and that was okay.
“No clue,” Victoria said. She’d rejected the idea of following Erin and Robby to Colorado. Erin needed a fresh start, not a reminder of the family shit. “I’m, uh, kind of talking with someone.”
“Oh, yeah?” Tillman’s voice perked up. “Wait. A love interest or a therapist?”
Victoria burst out laughing. “Okay, you got me. I am doing some online sessions with a therapist, trying to figure out my shit, but I meant that I’m talking to a woman every night who I really like. She’s intelligent and funny and makes me think.”
“And?”
“I mean, it’s nothing beyond friendship right now, but I met her on Kinks, and we talk every night on the phone.”
“Every night? Nice,” Tillman said. “Where does she live, or haven’t you gotten that far yet?”
“Eastern time zone is all I know.”
“Oh, lord, that could be anywhere.”
“Right? I don’t want to push,” Victoria said. “You know, I’ve always thought of myself as a lone wolf or something. I never needed anybody permanent, just casual relationships, the physical kind. But…”
“That’s not sustaining you anymore?”
“No. It’s not,” Victoria said. “Maybe I want those things you want, too. A home, wife, not sure about kids, but something stable. But…do I, though? I don’t want to be stuck.”
“You don’t have to decide right now.” Tillman laughed. “Do you at least know what she looks like?”
Victoria shook her head.
“Oh, lord, Vic. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
The ding of an incoming text came in. It was Rowena.
Rowena: What day are you coming home? Tell me so I can have your room ready. Minjung is a planner, and she’s bugging me about it. LOL.
An idea swooped in from the great beyond. Yes, this could work. This could majorly work. She excused herself, saying she had to make a call, and headed out the back door into the cold evening air. She tapped Rowena’s number.
“Are you on your way?” Rowena joked.
“No,” Victoria said seriously. She launched into Tillman’s situation and his insurance dilemma. As she was talking, she kind of felt bad about stomping all over Tillman’s privacy, but it was for the greater good. If it worked, that is.
“Of course our insurance plans cover gender affirming care. That was something I had to convince my father to implement. It took a while, but he finally saw the value in providing care for everyone.”
“You can be very persuasive, Rowena.”
“I also got him to extend maternity leave for both parents.”
“Wow, Tyttle Foods is paving the way, isn’t it?” Victoria said. “So what would Brian need to do about getting a job at the Cincinnati plant?”
“Obviously, he would have to submit an online application first. If that passes muster, then he’d go through the interviewing process like everyone else,” Rowena said. “There are no guarantees, Vic. I stay out of the hiring process.”
“I get it,” Victoria said. “I’ll let him know about it. He can decide what he wants to do. For all I know, he might want to stay in Indy.”
“Let me say this in encouragement, though,” Rowena said. “Tyttle Foods is always looking for qualified maintenance people.”
“I’ll tell him. He’s a supervisor here. Really seems to know his stuff. Thank you.”
“So, what’s keeping you in Indy, Vic? Your family shoots you with taser guns, I hear.”
“Shut up,” Victoria said with a laugh. She evaded the question by saying, “Maybe I will come to the ball. Get me a ticket. And one for Tillman. I’ll pay you back.”
There was a relieved sigh on the other end of the phone. For all her posturing, Rowena had a big heart and truly cared for Victoria and their friendship. “I’m glad you’re coming home.”
“Yeah, we’ll see how that goes,” Victoria said. “It may be a short visit.”
“No one here is still upset with you, Vic,” Rowena said.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Victoria said. “Look, my break is over. I have to get back to it.”
“The date you’ll get here?”
“I’ll figure it out and get back to you asap.”
“Come home.”
“Gotta go,” Victoria said and ended the call.
She hustled back into the building and shivered.
“Cold out there?” Tillman asked, still looking down in the dumps.
“Yeah.” Victoria rubbed her arms for warmth. She then launched into the crux of her phone call with Rowena, apologizing for sharing personal information with her friend, but Tillman waved it off.
“Tyttle Foods? I’ll check out the company later tonight when we get to the motel. And, seriously? They have insurance to cover my transition?”
Victoria nodded. “Yes, I remember her talking about it a while back.”
“This is too good to be true.”
“Look, I have an idea,” Victoria said. “Come home with me to Denton Heights. You can meet Rowena, maybe even have an interview at the plant. It won’t be with her.
She says she’s not part of the hiring process, but she might be able to expedite an interview, you know?
And we can go to the masquerade ball, have fun.
Meet some of the people? And…I can make amends. ”
“Oh, wow, you’re ready for that?”
“I don’t know, but I need to try, and it would be helpful to have a supportive friend with me.” Victoria raised her eyebrows and grinned. She was trying to guilt Tillman good-naturedly into going.
“Normally, I’d say that I’d think about it, but I’m leaning way over to ‘yes.’”