“Do you at least know what size you are?”
“26 waist, 32 leg,” Rory replied quickly.
“Ugh.” Gemma grinned. “You are impossibly slim. I’m a size 12 now, and if I don’t watch it, I’ll be up to 14 before too long.” Gemma expected a witty comment back from Rory, but when she turned back, she saw a softness in Rory’s face.
“You are perfect as you are.” Rory reached a hand out to Gemma and trailed a finger over her hip. “Just perfect.”
The moment stretched between them for longer than it should between friends. Desperate to move on from the genuine possibility of dragging Rory into a changing room and snogging the stuffing out of her, she grabbed a couple of pairs of jeans and pushed Rory towards the changing rooms. For a moment they stood gazing at each other as men walked past them into the male changing area.
“Um where do I go?” Rory’s brows were furrowed, and she looked pale. “I’m not sure I can use this changing room, but the women’s is on a different floor.”
Gemma poked her head around the divider and looked at the space before her.
“They are individual cubicles. You should be okay.”
Rory took the jeans from Gemma’s arms and held them like a shield as she walked into the changing room. Gemma pulled her phone out to check Instagram as she thought Rory would be some time getting changed, but almost as soon as she’d opened the app, Rory came flying back out of the changing room, grabbed Gemma’s hand and marched her across the department. With a quick look behind her, Rory shoved the jeans, which were still folded, onto a shelf and dragged Gemma from the shop. Gemma wanted to ask what was wrong but was too winded from walking fast to catch up with Rory. Eventually, they were back outside the department store, and Rory finally slowed down.
For several minutes they stood near a bench in silence. Gemma finally captured Rory’s chin with her fingers and pulled her face around to hers. “What happened?”
Rory’s face hardened for a moment before she slumped forward. Her eyes filled with tears, and she blinked several times as if to clear her vision.
“They told me… the woman in the changing room said they’re for ‘Men only’ and told me I was a woman and needed to use the female changing rooms.” Pain radiated from Rory, and Gemma’s heart clenched before anger took over her. She was all for marching into the shop and telling the woman just what she thought of her. Her intentions must have crossed her face because Rory gripped her arms.
“No.” Her voice held a warning. “Gemma, no, you are not going to march in there and cause a scene.”
Gemma vibrated with anger for a few seconds more before taking a deep breath and letting the anger subside out of her.
“But that’s not right.” Gemma wanted to stamp her foot but then realised she probably looked like a toddler having a tantrum. “If the cubicles are individual, I don’t see the issue.”
“Look, I just want to go home, is that okay?” Rory’s voice was pained.
Gemma was about to argue but then thought better of it. They would accomplish nothing if Rory was grumpy and feeling out of sorts.
“Look, why don’t we get coffee and take a breather and then look again.”
Gemma pulled Rory into a coffee shop and waited until they both had a coffee in front of them before trying the conversation again.
“Perhaps we chose the wrong shop?” Gemma suggested.
“Or perhaps this is all a waste of time and it’s the universe giving me a signal.”
Rory slumped in her chair and fiddled with a sugar packet. Gemma shuffled her chair around to sit next to her friend. She hated seeing Rory so defeated.
“Hey.” She took Rory’s hand and linked their fingers. “Don’t let one person upset you. That was one woman in one shop. I’m sure that we will find somewhere to help us.”
“Us?” Rory’s eyes darted up from the sugar packet she was fiddling with. For a moment, she looked like the teenager Gemma had once known. But instead of being the annoying younger friend, Gemma felt like she was the mature, grown up one. Seeing Rory like this, so unsure of herself, was heartbreaking.
“Yes, us.” She squeezed Rory’s fingers again. “I said I’d support you and help you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
For a moment she held Rory’s hand with one hand and held her coffee with the other. Her friend at work had said that Rory might experience mood swings, that the frustration with who she was would leach out into the world. Gemma was determined not to let her push her away.
“So, we’re looking at the gym tomorrow. Do you need anything for that, or have you got workout clothes?”
Rory scrunched her brow in thought for a moment. “I have leggings and Lycra shorts,” she grimaced. “I don’t really like wearing them. Maybe that’s why I’ve not been in the gym for a while.”
“Well, let’s go to a sports shop and grab you some workout gear. Also, I think I need some new trainers if I’m going to join you for some sessions.”
“You really don’t need to do that,” Rory bumped Gemma with her shoulder. “Like I said, you’re pretty perfect as you are.”
