Dancing in the Dark Pt. 06

I don't remember drinking half a bottle of Armagnac.

Eventually I woke myself from my torpor but had no motivation to do anything other than drink the other half of the bottle but was interrupted by a call from Wendy.

"Jason, I've just come away from Jenna's, I understand you were parked outside all night, was that the brightest thing to do?"

I wasn't going to take any of her shit, not in the mood that I was... not forgetting half a bottle of Armagnac.

"Fuck off Wendy, I wasn't going to get to speak to her or talk to her if I stayed away. In any case, I just stayed in my car all night and didn't make any attempt to go to the house. I at least got to see her and speak to her, albeit briefly, before she told me to leave her alone. Did you see or speak to her?"

"I didn't see her, she would only speak to me through the door..."

"That's probably because she didn't want you to see the bruises... someone beat her up but she didn't say who. Anyway, what did she say?"

"She said that she was all right and would come home in a few days. I asked what had happened to cause her to break up with you but she just started crying and said nothing and then Jenna came and led her away and told me to go. So I did."

"Do you trust Jenna?

She didn't answer straight away which told me a lot.

"I don't know. She's been a good friend to Georgie prior to you coming on the scene but I always felt she was trying to be involved in Georgie's life too much... she was always hanging around. That all changed when you came into her life so maybe Jenna is taking the opportunity to resume that role and going to block us. Hopefully when Georgie comes back home I can get some sense out of her without Jenna getting in the way."

I felt that Wendy was forgetting something.

"I'm sorry Wendy, but her 'home' is here now... at least it was meant to be."

There was a big sigh.

"Yeah, I get that but don't get your hopes up."

"Yeah, message received. I'm going to ring Jenna and see if I can get anything out of her."

"Good luck with that."

We disconnected the call and I sat and looked at my phone for a while as I summoned up the courage to be rebuffed again. I called Jenna, half-expecting it to go to voicemail, so was a bit surprised when she answered and appeared to be in a reasonable mood.

"Hi Jason, your car is a bit too bloody obvious parked in a street like this, did you have a good night?"

"Ha bloody ha! Look, I know you will tell me to go away but I think you have Georgie's best interests at heart and hope you think that I do as well. Will you answer some questions for me because I am struggling to understand how we've gone from where we were to now in the space of 2 days?"

There was silence and then a sigh.

"She asked me not to say anything to you but I'm not sure she's thinking straight at the moment. I'll not answer anything that I think betrays a confidence or invades her privacy."

I let out a breath that I'd been holding in.

"OK, thank you. I'll try to do it in some sort of chronological order because it seems to have started after I cocked up the conversation about the proposal... was she really that pissed off about it, or just punishing me with silence?"

She laughed hollowly.

"That seems like a lifetime away now. Yes, she was pissed off with you but had forgiven you by the morning and was going to leave you dangling until the evening when she would call you and make up. But she got a message about 6.00 pm and was angry when she looked at it but then went outside in the garden to make a call. I have no idea what was said other than her voice was raised as I could hear that much out in the kitchen. She said she had to go out to meet someone but didn't look best pleased. She was in a shitty mood when she came back and when I reminded her to call you she said 'he can fuck right off' but gave no further explanation."

"Is that why you said she was not in a good place that evening when you messaged or had she been drinking and / or doing some shit?"

"More than usual, especially later in the evening. You know her, she normally doesn't like to get shit-faced because she doesn't like the feeling the following morning. No, she was not in a good place because of you."

"But not because of the proposal? Interesting but not helpful much if she didn't say what it really was. Was that why you made the comment when I said I trusted her? Were you thinking that she might go off with someone just to get back at me? Was that why you mentioned about the chasers... she might hook up with one... or both of them?"

The promo still from the video appeared in my mind and I had to swallow hard to keep the Armagnac down.

There was a pause and maybe Jenna was weighing up whether she would break Georgie's confidence if she said anything.

"I thought it was a possibility. These two guys turned up and started hanging with our group and I heard them ask Georgie whether she was the trans-dancer that people were talking about, they kept on saying things about how beautiful she was and no one would know she wasn't a cis girl. As soon as I heard the word cis... most men would have said 'normal'... that I knew they were chasers especially when they started buying all her drinks and tried to separate her from the group by standing between her and us and gently edging away."

"How was she responding... was she flattered, happy to have them near her... was she flirting with them."

"I wouldn't say flirting but she wasn't trying to get away. I did pull her away at one point and tell her they were chasers and she should careful because not all chasers want to fuck a trans girl, some want to fuck a trans girl and then beat her up."

"How do you know so much about chasers... I'd never heard about them until last evening as Georgie had never mentioned them?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Georgie said you trans-blind, I just didn't think I assimilated so well."

The realisation hit me.

"Oh, Jenna I am so sorry... I didn't know and Georgie never said..."

I chuckled and hoped she wasn't offended.

"... no one would know you weren't a cis girl."

She gave a short laugh and I breathed a sigh of relief because I didn't want to piss her off.

"So are the chasers the ones who beat her up?"

"I don't know and before you ask, she says she doesn't know either."

"Do you believe her?"

There was a pause. Was she worried about revealing confidences again?

"Funnily enough I do because she was the one who wanted to go to the police because she felt like she had been drugged. I said if she hadn't got a suspect then what could they do? The party was in a big marquee so there wasn't any CCTV to look back over."

That fell into my possible scenario but I was incensed.

"Drugged! Did no one in the group not see it happen, or Georgie start to act strange, get more out of it, falling asleep? If you were worried about her why weren't you more vigilant."

Jenna was obviously angry at my question, or possibly feeling guilty and her voice was sharp.

"Now look here, I'm not Georgie's keeper and while we do look after each other there comes a time when we're having a good time for ourselves. I had hooked up with someone and left. The party was winding down at that point and I told Georgie and Dom to get an Uber back as I was going back to my hookup's place. Georgie seemed OK with that and went to say goodbye to a few people but according to Dom, she never came back and Dom assumed she had hooked up with the chasers. We rang around the following morning to see if anyone had seen her leave or knew where she was but she turned up about 10.00 and said she had woken up on a park bench with no idea how she got there... and before you ask I do believe her. If she knew who the assailant was she would have gone to the police... especially as she thought she'd been raped...OHH Fuck..."

Raped!

Well the video purported to show her having sex... but not on the night of the party.

Jenna clammed up and wouldn't say any more.

"Come on Jenna, the cats out of the bag now. Had she... been raped... had sex and how would she know if she had sex and whether it was rape?"

Jenna's sarcasm was obvious.

"For fuck sake just listen to yourself! You think that a pre-op trans girl doesn't know whether they've had a cock in their arse, or a cis girl doesn't know if she's been fucked in the pussy? Georgie said you were big and she would feel it for hours, if not days."

I was mortified.

"Yeah, well... sorry... not thinking straight. The idea that someone raped Georgie makes me sick to my stomach. I just want to find the fucker and kill him, especially if he's the one who beat her up. How is she by the way?"

Jenna's tone was sympathetic.

"Her ribs are sore but she's more worried that her nose is broken and she'll have to have it done again."

I guess I wouldn't be kissing those owiees better.

"Anyway, had she... been raped... I mean?"

The pause was longer this time and then Jenna sighed.

"Oh Fuck, she'll hate me for this!... She was sore and asked me to check as she was sure she'd been penetrated but she wasn't bruised or torn which would be a usual sign of rape. There were no external deposits but if he'd used a condom then there wouldn't be. Any lube would have disappeared by the time I looked, so there was no way to tell. It could have been as a result of the beating."

I didn't answer for a while. I felt like the world had just fallen further onto my shoulders. It looked like Georgie had consensual sex with someone but wasn't admitting to it, even to Jenna... and was planning to have more, otherwise why had she taken the prep-kit? The only question I had was, if the guy had hit her why was she going back to have more sex with him? She wasn't into BDSM and anyway the bruises I'd seen were way more than what I would expect in such a relationship.

"Thank you for being honest with me Jenna. You don't have to tell Georgie that you told me as it doesn't look like I'll be speaking to her anytime soon, so can't drop you in it."

"No worries, I'm just sorry that the perfect poster couple for a trans-cis relationship fell apart, just like that."

"Yeah, about that. What happened between her coming back that morning and you passing on the message that she had said it was 'over' before she came round to pick up her stuff that evening?"

"The video! Someone sent her a link that afternoon and she was completely and utterly devastated after just looking at the first shot of it... "

I jumped in, giving away information that I wasn't sure of.

"I don't think it's her, it was filmed on Tuesday, so it couldn't be her."

There was a pause and Jenna's voice was puzzled.

"Of course it's not her, but she's convinced it's you!"

Chapter 48

Me?

"Wait... what... what is this video? What am I doing in it?"

Jenna scoffed.

"What, you're saying that you don't know anything about it? She was completely devastated so it must have been something pretty horrible, but to be honest she did not show it to me. I suggested that she needed to talk to you about it, so you could explain it, but she said it needed no explanation."

I started to do what I do when I'm excited by my chain of thoughts and start to process everything verbally.

"Wait... wait... she gets sent a video of me doing something horrible and a day later a video of her... err... doing something horrible gets sent to me... no, not sent but delivered in a gift wrap with a bow on top of it. I do not believe in coincidences so in my mind this points right back at Sophie."

"Sophie? You know Sophie? What's she got to do with it?"

"Umm... possibly... is it the same Sophie? Dancer... used to be Georgie's partner when they were young and before Georgie transitioned."

Jenna's voice was hesitant.

"Could be... pretty, dark haired, quite petite?"

"Yeah, could be the same one. How do you know her?"

"She had been at a party last week, she's not on campus but came with her boyfriend who is studying something nerdish in computers... excuse an economics and politics student for not knowing what the nerds do. She came over to say hello but Georgie got upset and there was finger pointing and heated words but I didn't hear what actually was said but I could tell that neither of them were happy. I asked Georgie about her and all she said was 'she used my dead name, I told her to fuck off'."

"What the fuck is a 'dead name'?"

There was a pause.

"Jesus, Jason! You have been in a relationship with Georgie for how many months and you don't know what a 'dead name' is?"

"Hey, she is just a wonderful person to me. A gorgeous, funny, sexy, interesting person who happens be trans and who I love... and the sex is... was... fantastic. We don't... didn't... have a trans-cis relationship, we had a relationship."

There was a bit of a sob at the other end and Jenna's voice was thick when she replied quietly.

"We so have to get you two back together.... Anyway, a 'dead name' is what you were called before transitioning... so in Georgie's case it would be 'George' but most people who transition pick a completely different name... mine was 'Jordan'... I kept the first letter because I had lots of monogrammed stuff that I didn't want to throw away. The use of a 'dead name' by cis people is often seen as an insult but some of the high-profile trans people like Caitlyn Jenner say it discourages the haters if you don't get wound up about it and embrace it."

"Perhaps Sophie did it deliberately to provoke Georgie. A question... was the boyfriend one of the chasers?"

"No, they were tall guys and he's a bit of a weed."

"Was one of the chasers called Justin, that's Sophie's current dance partner by the way?"

"Could have been but I never got introduced. I guess Georgie would have recognised him and they wouldn't have been asking if she was the trans dance girl."

"No, good point... Umm... Jenna... I know we've got well past the point you are comfortable with invading Georgie's privacy but... do you think there is anyway back for us? Does she show any regret for the position she has taken."

There was another long pause and I didn't push for an answer.

"Err... I think you need to give her time... and maybe if you can clear up the video thing it would go a long way to help get her back with you."

"Thanks for your honesty. I've got an expert looking at the video of her that was given to me, who has told me that it was produced 5 days ago at a time she was unlikely to be indulging in a spit-roast with two guys, which is why I think it can't be her and has been faked. However, is there any chance you can send me a copy or a link of the one of me so I can get the same analysis done?"

Jenna was quiet again for a while. I was warming to her as a friend to Georgie, and me. Her voice was pained.

"A spit-roast! How horrible!... that could not have been pleasant viewing to see the person you love involved in something like that! It's bad enough seeing someone you love with someone else in a wonderful relationship that is so right, but to be confronted with some sleazy image like that... urghh!"

A revelation hit me which might explain Wendy's feeling that Jenna was maybe a bit too involved in Georgie's life.

I kept my voice calm and empathetic.

"You love her, don't you?"

There was a long pause and I could hear her sobbing in the background. She was sniffling when she finally replied.

"Yes... but she sees me as only a friend and I saw how right you two are for each other from the moment we first met. We have to find a way...!"

"Thank you, Jenna, you're a wonderful person and I'd give you a big kiss and a cuddle if I was with you... platonically of course. I'm sorry you can't have your heart's desire but I can't have mine at the moment either. Try and get the video link if you can as it will help point to who was behind this. All I have to do then is sort out the question of the prep kit and maybe we can make some sense out of all this."

"What about her prep kit?"

I hesitated to answer as the accusation of Georgie having sex with somebody was something she may not take kindly too.

"Umm... she took it with her when you came to collect her stuff last night. To me that... err... looks like... umm!"

I could hear the humour in Jenna's voice which I thought was misplaced. Big time!

"You thought she was going to have sex with someone... well can I give you a bit of information that should put your confused heart in a slightly better place. She asked me to get her HRT stuff off the bathroom mirror shelf and I just grabbed everything there... including her prep kit."

My heart started beating faster as the import of what Jenna had said... Georgie wasn't fucking someone else!

"She hadn't planned to take it? She wasn't going have sex with some new lover?"

"No, Jason, you silly man. She still loves you like crazy but is confused by the video and whatever happened at the meeting on Thursday afternoon."

Chapter 49

My spirits were lifted by the conversation with Jenna.

Georgie wasn't planning on having sex with someone else!

She still loved me!

There was hope when before there seemed very little.

I needed to reevaluate the puzzle as the prep kit had skewed my thinking especially when the new knowledge of the second video was added in. It seemed too coincidental that there were two videos in circulation; one showing Georgie having sex and the other of me... presumably also engaging in sex. If I was in a sex video then I knew it had to be fake as I had never appeared in one... as far as I knew! I couldn't think of any occasion when I might have appeared in one unknowingly and anyway, I don't think Georgie would get agitated by something that happened before we got together.

If it wasn't a sex video I couldn't think of a subject that I had been involved in that would get Georgie wound up.

Me ill-treating animals? Never happened!

Me appearing at an anti-LGBTQ rally? Never happened!

Me dancing with someone else? Never happened!

I pondered the last one for a long time as it would probably be the one that would worry Georgie the most, especially after her comment about me dancing with Sophie because she had a cunt. I wondered how easy it would be to fake such a video.

I was pretty confident that the one of Georgie was a fake as I had seen articles about how frequently it was happening with faces being superimposed on other bodies. This thought prompted me to bite the bullet and I finally summoned up the courage to look at the whole video. I was confident I would be able to tell by the body whether it was Georgie or not and it did not take me long to know that it was definitely not Georgie. This girl had bigger tits and scars under the boobs where her implants had been inserted, a much bigger cock but her arse was nowhere near as gorgeous as Georgie's.

Apart from those problems she was a dead ringer!

I regretted not having looked at the video before as it would have put my mind at rest a lot earlier. I felt like things were looking up especially with the knowledge of the prep kit.

I rang Greg as I hoped we could short circuit what he was doing.

"Hi JC, sorry I've not got back to you but I've been doing family Sunday things."

Shit! I hadn't realised it was Sunday.

"That's OK Greg, I was just ringing to say I know a bit more about the video... it's a fake. I've checked and the face has been superimposed on another body."

Greg cleared his throat and I could tell by his voice that he was trying to be discrete.

"I'm assuming that you can make that statement because... err... you know the real body and that this therefore is a lot more personal than just a 'friend'"

"Umm... yes, it's my girlfriend... well the face is."

Is voice then became very brusque.