The Studio

Chapter 1

Life After Rachael

Revision 5

Contents

Return to England

Red Cairn Farm

Megan

Kim’s Accident

Verity

Megan’s Rehearsal

Dawn’s Rehearsal

Verity at Red Cairn

Competition Day

Vicki’s Act

Progress in Carcassonne

Emma

Crispin

Michelle

Michelle’s Flight

The Whole Hog

End of The Studio Chapter 1: Life After Rachael

Return to England

Monday 6^th January 1997 

 This was not the plan. He was not meant to come back to England. But then, Alex was not meant to have turned the world upside down and maybe this is just where he had landed. 

But he was back in England and on his own, and that meant that Damon now had time to think, which also meant time to drink.

And not just the time, but the energy, composure and attitude as he soaked in the peace and quiet alone at the hotel bar. This could easily turn into a downward alcoholic spiral, but the plan was taking shape and the odd drink or three would help eliminate unwanted trains of thought.

He'd already considered and rejected the idea of living in London. The hustle bustle speed noise and electric atmosphere made for excitement, but not for creativity and it was creativity that he was aiming for. He'd enjoyed writing those last few songs with Adam in an attempt to recover from the shock of Alex ‘leaving the band’, and the plan was to do a bit more composing while he considered the future.

Red Cairn Farm

The estate agents all looked the same as he drifted from one to another, pulling the odd file out here and there. Perhaps what he was looking for was just a large house. Maybe enough space for Adam and Gordon as well if they decided to come back from France, although there was also an outside chance that they'd just stay there. But if he included Gordon, he’d need to make room for the two of three girls that he would inevitably have in tow. 

The agent was lurking behind the desk as Damon rifled through the brochures reading the cover before thumbing through it. Fitzbrigands Manor. Man! This was huge – bigger than huge, that’s got to be the biggest house in the entire country, surely! But no price. 

“I'm sorry Sir, but that is no longer on the market. Sorry, but I don't know why that file is still out there”

Hmmm. No longer available. That sounds different to ‘sold’

“No longer available? Why?”

“There's a lot of work needed, and no-one seems prepared to get a full survey done to quantify it. That place is so big that it would take several weeks or even months just to survey and cost accordingly”

Hmmm. Yeah, but how about having a place like that! That would give room for….. oh wow! And that could even change the face of the industry, and is that too ambitious? We left Uni to take a year out playing. Now twelve years later we’re back. No, its not too ambitious. And if it fails? Back on the road maybe. New line-up? Maybe Adam as well. Its an open book. But it needs doing properly. It needs thinking through and I need somewhere to think. Maybe write some stuff. Yes, new material, new band….

Now, Red Cairn Farm. Farm? Maybe. He looked through the pages. Single storey residence. Large barn. Half a mile from the road. That should be peaceful. Particularly if the farm isn’t actually operating right now. Available immediately for six months only. 

“Why just six months?”

“A sad case I’m ‘fraid. The old farmer passed away, and his son suffered an accident not long afterwards. He expects to be fully recovered in a few months and then pick up farming again. However, he was hoping to get some income just to keep himself going. Maybe someone wants to use the barn as a warehouse”

He accepted the offer of a lift from the agent to go over there and take a look, taking particular interest as they passed the Barley Mow pub. Oh good! But how much farther? 

“Yeah. I’m quite interested in the barn” as they checked out the accommodation. A bit of cleaning, bit of washing. Clearly the son had left in a hurry. But maybe tidying up would do him a favour for when he got back. This was a disappointment for the agent. The sort of thing that would put people off completely and the state of the barn farther reduced his spirits. But not Damon’s. No way was the barn available for storing anything – because it was already half full. 

But for Damon, this was perfect and six months was long enough – especially if he could find the keys to the tele-handler.

Fitzbrigands Manor played on his mind as he moved what few things he possessed from the van into the farm. This was remote enough, but if the manor was really in the middle of nowhere, like in the middle of a country estate, it would be even more inspiring for composing. It was definitely ancient, but how much would something like that be worth? And how much work was actually needed? Only one way to find out.

That evening the hotel phoned him with a message. He’d not really paid too much attention to the girl who did everything. He’d assumed rather rashly that she was the owners daughter and that he and his wife, this daughter and her husband ran the whole thing between them. 

“I’ve got a message for you” she’d said “But if its what I hope it is you’re going to have to promise to take me out in it or I’m not giving you the message”

This was a strange game. And Damon was concerned about this. There were four of them in that little team. All happy and earning a crust together. Him rocking that boat could be a disaster – like Alex rocked his boat

“Whatever it is, I’m sure we can come to some deal”

“Ok. Well, the message is from Lovells in Bristol…”

“Oh, hey! that’s not about my new car is it!”
 “Could be. If its an Aston Martin. And that’s why you have to take me out in it. I can’t see me ever getting another chance. They’re just fantastic”

His new car was available for collection. Wow, at last. Now, how do I drive a van and a car at the same time? 

“What about a slightly different plan. I’ve got to get it back here”

“Oh, I thought we had a deal!”

“Yes. But I’ve got to get up there and get it back here. So what about you drive up with me in my van and then you drive the car back. They’re a bit feisty if you’re not used to cars like that. But easy on the gas you should be ok”

There was a silence from the other end

“Are you serious?”
 “Sure. I can’t drive a van and a car back. And cabs and buses and trains are all a bit random”

And he wasn’t keen on leaving the van in an HGV park in Bristol.

The salesman warned her to be careful. Too hard on the accelerator and you could pass out with the G force. Too hard on the brake and the guy behind could easily pole-axe you. So far, this wasn’t sounding like the once in a lifetime treat she has built herself up for. But once she was behind the wheel and it was moving, she started to calm down. Just a little. And it was wonderful.

It wasn’t that hard to drive. She stopped to get coffee at the first motorway service station and now coming back to the car seemed so much more relaxed. Apart from the looks from almost every guy in the car park. She was much more confident now and with a slightly heavier right foot it bellowed its way out to the third lane. Roof down, hair flayed out behind her and a grin from ear to ear. This evening she’d deliver it back to Damon at Red Cairn Farm. He’d drive her back to the hotel as she had originally planned. 

They stopped outside the front door and reluctantly she extracted herself from the dream. She gave him a hug as he stood passively watching her partner approaching from the hallway. She turned away and instead squeezed the life out of him. “One day. One day, we’re going to get one of these”

That was the way Damon wanted it. The four of them back as their little team. He didn’t need a full time girlfriend anyway. And certainly not one that only wanted him for his car. Another happy ending, and maybe he would now be able to leave the past behind.

Next task was to find that manor house. He remembered the village name from the withdrawn brochure and toured around for an hour. This certainly was remote, with the odd village here and there. But he also knew it was off the main lanes. Maybe he’d have to leave the car and do a bit of trespassing. But in fact, it wasn’t that hard. He called in to the Olde Belle for a pint of lunch and Rosie the landlady completed the task

“Take the lane across from here, follow it all the way to the end, turn right and follow that until it does a U bend left going steeply up the hill. Go straight on there and you can’t miss it”

‘Can’t miss it!’ famous last words! But sure enough, he couldn’t miss it. It was huge, even by manor house standards. It was bigger than huge, it was enormous. He stopped on the rise looking down towards it. 4 floors high including the windows in the roof. Square towers on each corner. A dozen windows each side of what looked like the main door in the central section, a wing on each side with a lower wing adjoining it at the far side of the terrace. The farther wing seemed to be abandoned with the doorway completely bricked up, but even that adaptation looked old. But the rest of it looked liveable. He lost sight of it as he curved round a hillock bouncing from pothole to pothole along what once would have been the driveway, stopping beside a fairly new mid grey Bentley which was the only other car there. 

His second pull on the bell rope was eventually answered by a harassed looking sleight lady of at least 55 with a puzzled, enquiring look.

He wished her good afternoon and requested to speak with the Gentleman of the Manor

“I doubt if that is possible” she said inviting him in “He really isn’t well. But perhaps her ladyship could help you”

Lady Patricia introduced herself and led him into the original drawing room where they were joined by tea and biscuits. She explained that, yes, the Manor had been put on the market as it was really too much for her and Albert to look after or need. The issue however was that no-one had ever catalogued all the issues with the building like the various leaks in the roof and without even the slightest idea on what repairs would cost, buyers were non-existent. She was now trying to come to terms with the idea that they’d have to stay here until either the place crumbled around them or they both passed on. Damon tried to keep her doing most of the talking and they seemed to be getting on very well together. She even confided that the estate had been providing increasingly less revenue and she did not relish the thought of living the rest of her life in the hope that the end would come before the money ran out. But she was still very proud of the building and offered to take him on a short tour of the older parts. Perhaps he’d be interested in some of the history, although due to her 84 years he would have to be patient and not expect to move too quickly.

Damon was in no hurry and especially when they descended to the original vaults and cellars that dated back 600 years. She was enthusiastic about it saying she’d always lived there although it had passed into her control rather unexpectedly 40 years previously when her father and brother were both killed.

“So, there you are Mr Lehrer. In principle I am not averse to selling. In fact it would be a weight of my mind. However I have no idea on even how to establish a price that is reasonable or even achievable. And without a full survey, I regret that I am at a loss”

Damon reiterated his interest “But, we’ll need to think of something innovative, because I can see a full survey costing a huge amount even just to get a room by room assessment. I’ll have a think and see what I can come up with”

And, if she was relying on income from the estate which was decreasing, she may well be completely snookered if the building deteriorated.

Megan

In the village near Red Cairn Farm, Megan had missed out. For some incomprehensible reason her mother had taken the view that completing her project was more important than walking the streets knocking on doors looking for sponsorship. Ok ,she'd agreed that new equipment for the school labs was important, and that running a sponsored competition was a good way to start to address that, but there were other people raising money. There were no other people writing up her project. 

And now, at least a week later than everyone else, every door she knocked on gave the same answer. Yes they'd love to help her, but they had already contributed to one or other entry already. 

She walked past all the houses and all the way out of the village past the Barley Mow and perched forlornly on a field gate to have a think. 

Who was left? Where would the others not have gone? Most of the farms would be covered by the kids that lived there. Where was so far out of the way they wouldn't have gone? 

Red Cairn Farm, that's where. And maybe Aaron would sympathise because she'd taken the trouble to walk that extra half mile off the road. 

The sky had closed in and it was beginning to rain as she reached the yard and it was disconcerting. The agricultural machinery looked like it hadn’t moved for weeks with grass growing up around the wheels of low equipment. Maybe the place was deserted? But no, the lights were on and there was a smart convertible partially hidden behind an outbuilding. Timidly she rapped on the door. Gently at first, and then more determinedly. 

The guy who opened it was much younger than she had expected, and looked a lot less like a farmer than she had expected. And was certainly not Aaron. He smiled at her with gentle eyes as he leaned casually on the door frame. 

“H.. Hi” she stammered suddenly not sure of what to say. She wasn’t expecting a stranger. Everyone knew everyone else in this village. And she knew everyone who lived there. Didn’t she? Every other house she'd just asked the simple question, but here she was off guard and flustered. 

“Hi” he returned “I'm Damon”

“Megan…”she exclaimed, not expecting to have to introduce herself “…hi, I was hoping you might be interested in ....”

A clap of thunder nearly overhead cut the sentence short. Lightening lit up the darkening sky and almost instantly the rain lashed down. 

“Come in out of the rain” he offered 

She hesitated. She didn't know him. She'd not seen him before, not anywhere around but the second thunderclap made her jump and she stumbled right into the hall as he swung the door behind her

“A drink, maybe? While you're here. You won't be wanting to go out in that anyway. Coffee? Tea? Coke? Squash? I'd offer you something alcoholic, but that might be a bit adventurous”

That all seemed straight down the line! She followed him into the front room as he stoked the fire with a couple of large logs, turning then to the fridge that was next to the settee and finding her a can of Pepsi. That was strange too! A fridge in the living room. But what a good idea!

“Now. What was it you hoped I might be interested in?” he asked slowly as he sat down inviting her to sit on the wide armchair opposite.

She screwed up her face wondering just where to begin. 

“The school needs to buy new equipment for is domestic science and chemistry labs. So they're having a sponsored competition”

Damon looked puzzled prompting her to explain. “It's a competition so there's a prize for the winner. But its also supposed to be sponsored as well to raise money”

“So you're looking for a sponsor”

“That's right”

“Would this be a primary sponsor you’re looking for? Is it a major event? So how much did you have in mind?”

“Its major for me and my friends! But it's only me that needs sponsored”

“Oh I see. So you're not looking for thousands of pounds to fund the whole show?”

“Oh my goodness, no. Its being organised by our music teacher and its in the hall. No. Its just me that needs sponsored so that I can enter. If I can raise the entry fee then my mum says she'll put in a fiver from her company”

“Ah. Sorry. I had the wrong end of the stick. I thought maybe you were looking for a corporate sponsor who would then take advantage of the advertising opportunity. And that's not really me. So how much do you want altogether?”

“The two pounds entry fee would be a good start”

“But then there's the sponsorship money. How much have other people given you?, 

“So far.. .. well. Nothing. I've been round the whole village but everyone else seems to have got there first”

“Now I understand. That's why you've ventured out to this remote place. It's a last resort, right? But why did you leave it so late. You sound like this is quite important to you”

“My mum said I had to finish my project work first. Said it was more important and that others would be raising money for the lab”

“I see. Mum probably has a point”

She nodded in reluctant agreement. Damon dipped deep into his pocket and put the handful of coins on the coffee table. He selected two pounds and pushed them towards her 

“And now you need to tell me how much you want”

“Whatever you think you can afford? I’d be grateful for anything”

He got up from the settee and plucked his jacket from the chair in the corner 

“What sort of competition is this?” he asked casually rummaging in his jacket pocket 

“It's a music competition. I'm singing two songs”

“Music! Oh, that's good. And which school is this?”

She caught a glimpse of the wad of notes that he now had in his hand and was counting out 

“There's a hundred. Is that suitable?”

“Oh my goodness! No! I mean yes! I mean no! That's far too generous! If I went home with that much my mum would wonder what I'd been up to!”

“Really! What sort of reputation have you got, then?”

“Oi! That’s not fair! …”

“Ok. How much do you think everyone else will have got?”
 “I doubt if many have got more than twenty. But I’d be very happy with even half that. I'm sure a lot of kids will be around four or five anyway”

He suggested that she take fifty, but the storm intensified and the sound of thunder interrupted the discussion. The subject was clearly contentious and he felt she was becoming unnecessarily nervous. Instead he moved the conversation to be about her – what subjects she liked, what the teachers were like, where the school was and if it was difficult having her schoolfriends living in far flung villages. 

Megan had settled down now and seemed to be enjoying her drink and chat in front of the roaring fire while the storm howled outside.

“I really must be getting back. My mum will start getting worried”

“Ok. Are we agreed on fifty?”
 “Oh Damon. I know you’re trying to be generous. But it really would get me into trouble”

So with her pepsi can now empty and with twenty five pounds and her two pounds entry fee safely zipped in her blazer pocket, she got up to go 

“I would be more worried about you going out in that storm. You'll get soaked through and that uniform of yours won't dry before tomorrow’s school”

“But I can't stay here all night!”

“Of course not. I'll take you home in the car”

“Emm. I'm not sure about that”

“Now what’s the problem!” he asked with a level of exasperation

“Oh, its just….”

“Megan. Brain in gear. I expect you're thinking about getting into a car with some strange guy...”

She nodded guiltily 

“... and I appreciate that guys don't come much stranger than me. But think about it this way. You're already in a remote farmhouse in the middle of a thunderstorm. If you screamed as loud as you can you might not be heard twenty yards away never mind half a mile to the pub. If anything was going to happen to you, it already would have”

“That doesn't make me feel any better”

“But it does explain why you’ll be absolutely fine. Come on. Car. Now”

Her mum looked her up and down as she appeared in the hall. 

“You're not soaked to the skin?”

“No. I got a lift back. It's like a monsoon out there”

“But did you find any sponsors?”

“Mhmm. I found one. And that's enough. I thought no one would have gone all the way out to Red Cairn and I was right”

“But Walter and Aaron aren't there just now?”

“Yeah! As I found out!”

Megan described her visit to Damon and as expected mum was less than happy, saying that the next day she'd drop in at Red Cairn and check out this Damon fella. She made her living visiting the farmers of the area helping them with grant applications, subsidies, tax forms and other unintelligible financial bureaucracy. And that would be a good excuse to just drop in.

Kim’s Accident

But events overtook her the next day and time to go to see Damon was fast running out. Maybe that's what she was thinking about, or maybe she was looking to see if there was any livestock in the yard. Maybe she was just distracted by something else. But whatever it was, one moment she was slowing for the slope down to the yard, the next there was an eight ton baler reversing from a barn door. She braked. She swerved. The car hit a stone gate post and stopped while she flew forwards then back bouncing her head off the B pillar. 

The farmhand came over but seeing her slumped backwards, he ran to the farmhouse to call an ambulance. 

Meanwhile at the school, Miss Scarretti was trying to introduce the bad news gently. Additional responsibilities were unexpectedly moving her way and her warning was that it was probable that she would no longer have time to organise the music competition. 

Megan was mortified. After all her effort! Her song choice, her rehearsal, her sponsorship and she was really looking forward to it. And now? And what of Damon? He'd been so kind and understanding and generous and she now felt like she'd obtained his money under false pretences. 

That afternoon she got off the bus early at the end of his lane and walked morosely along. She could hear the sound of a guitar drifting out through the open window as she knocked. 

The music stopped and Damon appeared at the door. She smiled weakly and held out the twenty five pounds he’d given her

“It looks like it's not going to happen” she said sadly “but I can't give you the other two back yet because I've already given that in”

She stepped into the front room uninvited as he pulled a cold Coke from the fridge for her 

“Miss is going to be too busy” she explained. 

They talked about the possibilities. And the songs that Megan was intending to sing and who else she knew that had already entered. 

“Maybe you could organise it” he said 

“Me! I've no idea where to even start!”

He pulled a sheet of music score from the folio on the settee and drew some vertical lines. He added the names of some of the people she'd just mentioned down the left hand side crafting if roughly into a matrix. Band name, contact, type of music, have they paid..... 

Megan gazed at it blankly. It seemed simple. Set up the matrix and then just fill it in. Then all she'd need was a running order for the day itself. 

She started to think more positively about it and the possibility of offering to help, if Miss might find some time in addition to her recent new commitments. 

But soon it was overdue for Megan to be home. She accepted his offer of a lift and by the time they'd got back to her house she’d convinced herself she could at least make the offer. This was going to be even more exciting and so many ideas swirled around her head as she bounded out of the car, stopped dead and immediately turned back 

“Mums car isn't here!”

He joined her by the door as she fumbled for her key. 

Inside it was clear that Kim had not been home. There was no sign of her, or of cooking, but the phone had a flashing light on it. 

She pressed play without really considering it 

“If tha's there, Meg, ah has tell thee that tha’s ma's bin took t’ospital. Sorry t'ave t tell ’e this”

And that was the end of the message as well as Megan's smile and any impending sense of confidence or fun. 

Damon put his arms around her as she stood there, transfixed. He hadn't touched her before not wanting to give a false impression, but now she was very much alone and lost little girl who just needed looking after and that started with a comforting cuddle. Her head was spinning as she quietly accepted this offer of support as he phoned the hospital.

“I think we should go over there and find out what’s happened” he said having now confirmed that she was indeed there “Maybe you can see her”

But Damon was also sure that she wouldn't be coming home that evening, not having just been admitted. 

The injury was classed as minor, but Kim immediately went into a panic as Megan approached the bed. How did she get here. Who had told her. How was she getting home. Who would look after her. So many questions! There was no contingency plan. She wasn't expecting to be away from home, but now, the magnitude of the problem overwhelmed her and she fell back against the pillow. 

Megan held her hand and tried to explain everything that had happened although she looked increasingly confused. She tried to sit forward but very quickly fell back instead 

Megan bit her lip and tried to be brave. 

“Megan, your mummy needs to get as much rest as she can. Sometimes it's difficult to sleep in hospital because of all the different emergencies that crop up with the other patients. Your best contribution right now would be to make sure she's not worrying about you”

“Mummy, don't you worry about me. Damon is looking after me just great and you’ll probably be out tomorrow or Thursday”

Damon tried to reassure her by introducing himself and saying where he was staying. He wrote down two phone numbers for the farmhouse and his car and said if she needed anything just to call him. But Kim still couldn't help but be concerned. He'd tried. He'd made every effort and in his view it was better that she knew the situation rather than think that her little girl was all alone and fending for herself. 

Next on the agenda was food. He tried to keep Megan talking over dinner in the third rate Italian that happened to be closest on their route home. But the conversation had skewed to be particularly one sided and was turning in to the Spanish Inquisition. 

Are you ok in the house on your own? Are you ok getting to school? Have you got your bus fare? What about lunch tomorrow? 

But the major issue was not just all of these it was

“Damon, I haven't even started any of my homework”

“Ok. Tonight we'll drop by your house. You pick up the few things you need for overnight and tomorrow at school, and then you can stay at the farm. I'll make sure you get up in time, get breakfast and make sure you’re ready and then I'll take you to school and explain to your teacher”

The next afternoon, she went back to her house on the off chance that her father had returned from the moor. She wrote him a short note about where she was and the phone number in case he came back in the next few days. Then as Damon had suggested she listened to all the phone messages and rang them all up just to say that Mrs Taylor had had an accident and she'd get in touch as soon as she was back home. 

She walked slowly over to Damon’s farmhouse. It was all so different. She was concerned about her mum and thinking that maybe if she asked nicely Damon would take her over to see her again. And all of that simply eclipsed any nervousness about Damon.

He asked how school was and then ushered her through to the kitchen. 

“I phoned the hospital earlier and your mum is recovering well. She’s got a nasty lump on the side of her head but if she continues to progress she’ll be allowed out tomorrow. So what I suggest is that we go over there to see her and after that we find somewhere nice for dinner. But before that, we’ve got some homework to catch up on”

Homework with Damon helping was.. .. different. It wasn’t clinical and forced like when her mum helped her. This just took on a completely different angle. Like in maths, he showed her a way of organising the side columns for her working out so that she could go back and check easily if the end result looked wrong. 

“Its really useful doing it this way if you need to explain it to someone else. Like when the guys in the band wanted to know where the rest of the takings had gone, or I had to argue the case with the hotel we were staying in. Or your teacher asks you how you ever came up with that answer!”

And now with a practical example of what use it was, it suddenly acquired some interest.

He also threw in random comments on her geography about incidents that were loosely relevant about when he had been touring with the band, and all too soon it was time to go and see mum.

Kim was sitting up and seemed pleased to see both of them, especially when Megan had all the right answers about school and homework and eating properly. Megan again insisted that nothing untoward was happening and Kim was beginning to accept that maybe she was just too suspicious. 

They found a restaurant that was more to Damon’s liking. The previous evening he’d just taken the first likely candidate, but now he felt that Megan was less likely to think she’d been kidnapped if he headed for the town centre. Talk was mainly about organising the competition and it quickly became apparent that Miss was going to be of very little help and that the task was more difficult than expected because most of the participants were either disorganised or unreliable or both.

The work was scheduled to continued after school the next day but Miss was definitely struggling to find any time at all. Damon was not intent on doing it all himself. It wasn’t that hard, just repetitive admin made interesting by the different loonys you had to track down and talk to to fill in the boxes. But he was loathed to disappoint Megan. Not only would that be the other half of her world falling apart, but she’d feel that she personally had failed. 

And Kim was being discharged.

She had decided to take Damon up on his offer of coming over to collect her even though they didn’t really know each other. She’d phoned him when she was finally confident of being released and found the journey delightfully exhilarating despite still having the remnants of a throbbing pain in her head. She could see that Damon was actively trying to avoid the potholes and broken surfaces and accepted without question his suggestion that they go back to the farm rather than her house. That was where Megan would be headed and it was questionable who would get there first but also because he wanted to show her the competition matrix that Megan was working on. The last part was because Damon had planned to cook dinner because going out again sounded far too serious and Kim would be better off with less excitement. 

It was a wonderful evening. Kim was stunned by Damon’s cooking, and nearly as stunned by the organisational task that Megan had taken on that was all laid out on a large double bed in a spare bedroom.

Back in the living room Kim had recovered sufficiently to veto Megan’s request for a large vodka and coke like her mum’s but had relented on a glass of cider. 

“Don’t worry about Megan” he’d said as he almost pushed Kim into the car to take her home “I’ll sort her out tomorrow morning so that you don’t have to get up early and tomorrow afternoon, she’ll be back home with you after school”

But he’d also decided two other important things - one was that the solution to the competition was some professional admin support and the second was that he did not want a ready made little family even if it included a delightfully dependent 15 year old.

Verity

“We’ll send one of our managers over to see you and discuss your exact requirements” the agency had suggested unsurprisingly unhelpfully

“Or” contested Damon “you could just send round a competent admin person and we can just get the job done”

He explained that the farm could be quite difficult to find and instead suggested that he book a table for lunch in her name and then he would easily find her in the Barley Mow. 

Verity introduced herself and apologised that she knew nothing at all about the assignment except that it might not be full time, which, she said, suited her. She was in the final stages of her MBA and liked having time each week to work on her thesis. But Damon was finding this quite hard. She was pretty, attentive, intelligent and having lunch with him and it felt more like a date than an interview. They talked mainly about her because Damon kept asking questions. But she wasn’t complaining because she wasn’t being interrupted by contrary opinions

“Ok” he said eventually “What this is really all about is a school music competition. It was part way through being organised when the circumstances changed. My intention, with you, is to rescue it so that all the kids aren't disappointed. In addition to that, they were all supposed to get themselves sponsored for entering to raise money for new school equipment and if it's cancelled they'd have to give it all back - and its unlikely that any of them would remember accurately who gave it to them”

She leaned more attentively across the table as he described the matrix that he’d started with Megan using a large paper serviette marked very loosely into columns.. 

“Ok” she said now joining in as she thought she'd got the idea “So you’ve got Band Name, Contact name, Phone number, a column for when they were contacted to check they’re still coming?”

“So what about have they paid their entry fee….”

“Good idea. Exactly! And then what instruments are they playing, like do they need a piano or a backing violin or something”

She looked quizzical 

“So that we can schedule the evening without heaving equipment like grand pianos around more than necessary. Also might like to think about the sequence of appearance and put that in the table as well”

“Sounds fun”

“It should be”

They went back to the farmhouse and shuffled the bedroom furniture into a makeshift office. She tipped out the shoebox that Megan had given Damon containing all the little notes and pieces of paper that Miss Scarretti had given her from her original attempt so that Verity could assemble it into a working matrix. 

That Friday, Verity went out to dinner in a small bistro with a girl friend of hers and surprised herself just how much she oozed enthusiasm

“I guess so…” she heard herself responding “But the guy I’m working for is just absolutely gorgeous. And not just that! Usually, there’s a whole office full of people and here there’s just me and him”

“Just you and him? In a remote farm? Sounds like it might not be all work”

So far, so good. But invention and innovation was needed next. The information that was missing was not easy to find and rather than isolated with Damon at a remote farmhouse Verity found herself sitting at a very public desk in the school music block entrance hall hoping that the poster she had designed would encourage the gaps in her matrix to show up and fill themselves in. 

She'd set most of this up herself as Damon had explained that he had some pressing business elsewhere and would she mind just continuing in the same way as they’d discussed. She knew what they were trying to achieve and they’d catch up in a few days. 

And with that under control, Damon’s priority business was with Lady Patricia. He liked her. She was a gentle old lady who had managed to retain her sense of perspective, reality and humour despite the increasing adversity. He had a plan, at least parts of a plan. 

“Have you thought about where you’d move to if you sold the Manor?” he’d asked her as she poured tea for him. She had been pleased to see him. It gave her the opportunity to talk about it to someone who understood and was interested and that at the very least made it so much clearer in her own head 

“Its beginning to sound like you have some kind of plan” she questioned suspiciously

Yes, he’d admitted. But its all got to be part of the same plan. And that means it had to be what Patricia wanted. Except that she didn’t know either what she wanted, or what was possible. But this option sounded like it was worth exploring, and South West France had a much more appealing climate. She didn’t know what Damon’s plan was. He seemed to be feeding it in one step at a time which is not the way she would have preferred. But since she didn’t know what her perfect solution would be, it was worth going along with Damon’s ideas just to find out.

At the chateau, Chantelle had sorted everything out for him and was wonderfully helpful. Maybe she just liked him. Maybe it was in return for her amazing trip to Milan. But now it was time to load up. Albert was looking forward to it. He’d not been across the channel for many years and had been brushing up his rusty French. And while a journey of over 500 miles might have been daunting, the trip would be chauffeur driven. Unless Albert decided he’d like a turn at the wheel, Damon would drive all the way down to Carcassonne. Then he’d leave the Bentley with them so that they could take short trips out to explore the countryside at their leisure. So far it was all going well, and they’d just see if this is what they’d like to get used to. 

They were first to board the ferry, having been signalled to a lane on their own in the marshalling yard. This was not so much that they were the only Bentley as that it would be easier to park it next to the lift if there were no other cars around as Albert would be unable to climb the steep stairs. And that also meant that they were early into the restaurant for a very leisurely dinner.

Damon wasn’t aiming to stay long. Just install Patricia and Albert in the chateau hotel, and then take Chantelle out for the evening so that it might be easier to call in a favour or two should the need arise.

Megan’s Rehearsal

Megan was helping Verity as much as she could, tracking down the assorted missing persons and trying to make some sense of the never ending changes in personnel line-up that some of the bands seemed to have. She was meeting lots of people she’d never come across before and was surprised that there were so many people she didn’t know in the school. Verity was trying hard to keep track of it all and spent her time talking to Meg when her information gathering desk was otherwise deserted. 

Meg told her about the songs she intended to sing and it was Verity that asked where she was rehearsing and if Damon was helping her, he being a musician after all. But Meg hadn’t seen Damon for several days as Verity had largely taken over from him and it was Verity that was reporting back on the progress, or lack of it.

But the recent events around her mum being in hospital and her father not returning from the moor gave it an alternative significance. This competition meant more to Megan than anyone could possibly have guessed. Since its inception it had grown into something else and it wasn’t all about winning. No, the opportunity that it offered was significantly more important than winning.

“Rehearsal Megan? Yes, you can come over here to practice, if that’s what you want. So long as your mum isn’t going to go ape about it. There is something here that you may be interested in. Why don’t you invite your mum along as well so she can have a look. And she might be less suspicious”

They all had a drink in the living room before Damon led them over to the barn. Both looked nervously around as they followed him through the short zig-zag maze of straw bales opening out into the central auditorium. 

The bales were floor to roof around the sides with only a few in the centre made into makeshift benches with a travel blanket on top to make it a little less scratchy. Then at the other end there was a raised section, perhaps 5 feet high, made of even more straw bales with a plywood surface on it constructed into a stage. She gazed towards it. She could see 6 huge speakers at the outer extremes and a number of microphone stands scattered spread across it. 

“If you’re going to perform on stage you need to get in a bit of practice. Its not exactly like watching yourself in the mirror”

Megan tagged along with her mouth appearing to fall open unable to speak as Damon powered up the amps and handed her a microphone. 

“Ok?”

He set the music she’d given him on the keyboard and played the introduction stopping short of the vocal section

“Ok? And this time straight in, yeah?”

Damon let her run through the whole song before pulling three cans of coke from the on-stage fridge. He motioned like he was going to throw it to them but instead sat down on the stage beside Megan with their legs dangling over the edge

“What do you think?” she asked tentatively shifting her gaze between Damon and her mum.

“I think the song is a bit aggressive. But you sang it well” suggested Kim not wanting to be too negative

“I think, as a first run-through, its ok” corrected Damon

“Just ok!”

The big sigh said as much as her crestfallen look and they sat in silence for a few minutes as the caffeine helped her recover.

“So…. What do I need to do? Should we try again”

The long pause did not bode well

“Ok. Lets try a little more up-tempo this time”

Without words Damon’s face told her that this attempt was no better 

“Listen, Megan. I’ll help you as much as you want me to, but the decisions have to be yours”

She smiled weakly “Yes, but you’re the professional. You know about this stuff. I should be taking all the advice I can get”

But that was enough excitement for one evening. Megan was a little downbeat but the big success was that her mum was now convinced that Damon really was just a quietly spoken professional musician with no malice in him whatsoever. 

It was the next day that Damon and Megan sat back down on the edge of the stage

“So how much do you want to win this?”

Megan bit her bottom lip thinking about this. The competition had grown into something bigger over the last few weeks. To begin with she’d entered because everyone else was. Then she’d picked up on helping with the organisation, although that was mainly Verity now. But it was more than that. She knew her father had been back to the house a couple of times but hadn’t stayed longer than to re-equip and certainly not long enough to see her in the last four months. And she had begun to resent it more than ever as Damon had started to fill that gap.

“I need to take part” she said quietly “even if I don’t win. But I don’t want to come last either. That would really destroy me because I know I’m better than that. I need to be impressive even if I’m not the best. I need to be noticed. People need to listen. But I’ve heard some of the others and I’m quite hopeful”

“Ok Megan” he replied turning towards her “Its like this. Your voice could win. But your song won’t. And that’s for two reasons. One - its quite weak. I appreciate you’ve transposed the genders, but it was written by a wimp who was too timid to tell her what he really thought. The song as a whole, the melody, the arrangement - its too gentle for the words. To be impressive you need something more powerful, more of an anthem, and two - its really well known and people expect it to be sung in a certain way because that’s what they’re used to”

“Oh Damon! But I chose that song especially”

“Meg, I’ve gotta be straight with you”

“Yes” she whispered “And I like that. But that song. It was for my father and he might even be there”

“Your dad? Its not exactly a love song!”
 “Exactly”

“Ok” he conceded slipping his arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze “And that’s why you need to be impressive? Ok. I’ve got an idea or two, but we need to look at your stage act as well. You look lovely in that school uniform, but I think something slightly different might be more appropriate if you’re looking for impact. How you look will have as much impact on the audience and even if its not scored separately by the judges it will influence them”
 “Thanks. That’s a bit more hopeful”

“The other thing is that how you look will have an impact on how you feel. And that will get you into the right frame of mind...”

“I’m not far off the frame of mind. And you've got some ideas, right?”

“I think you need something dark. Not entirely sinister, but dark, like a dark secret. This isn’t a song to be sung in a pretty colourful summer dress”

“Like black jeans maybe, and a tee shirt?”
 “Maybe. But you’d look like a biker. I’m thinking black dress. Sleeveless, low cut, maybe halter neck but with contrasting blouse underneath, pale yellow, maybe baby blue chiffon, teal maybe, if it sparkled. And knee high boots so that you look like you mean business. I’m thinking devil black for the venom in your first song, but softer top for a bit of reconciliation in your second”

“Maybe mum could take me into town on Saturday and I might find something”

“How about I find something? I’ve a couple of ideas of where to start looking, if you’d like me to? Ok. So I’ll need some measurements”

“Measurements!”

“Yes. If I’m going to get you a dress I need to measure you. So I need bust, waist, hip, waist to hip, waist to the edge of embarrassment and waist to knee and knee to ankle and shoe size. Ok? Now I can take these, or you can do it yourself”

Thursday afternoon, and she trudged over to Damon’s barn. She’d been busy this week. Some schoolwork, some housework helping out her mum in return for her tacit approval of her being at Damon’s barn quite so much. She was looking forward to the rehearsal but still disappointed that he hadn't been more encouraging about her song choice. A different song wouldn’t have the words she wanted to say. But she’d given him the numbers he wanted, so now she was interested to see what he had in mind.

She managed to raise a smile in return for his as she saw him just finishing off the stage setup. 

“I was thinking about your song choice” he said as he handed her a folded music score

 “I’m not very good at reading music” as she scanned it quickly

“Ok, but what about the lyric”

“Wow”

“Do you want to try it?”
 “Sure. I’ve not ever heard it before, so I may need a few attempts”

“I’ll play it through first. Then we’ll try the lyrics and get that in sync. Then we can have a look at presentation and see what you think of the whole act”

“The sentiment is stronger than my first song, but the more I think about it the more appropriate it is”

“Your choice. But sometimes you need to be brave. If you’re going to make a point, do it full on. It's also got the potential for a significantly more ambitious stage performance”

“You mean, like, what I'm wearing?”

“Yes, and I’m doing something about that. But not just that. Its how you behave on stage. Its how you move. You can’t just stand still centre stage with a microphone and expect to get the most impact out of this. You can’t sing these words standing still. Lets see what you make of it.”

She took the mic and he played the intro. Then the whole song, then counted her in. She stood centre stage swaying a bit, but still trying to read the score and concentrate on the music.

“So do you prefer this song?”

Cue Fire and Ice by Within Temptation 

“Yes. Its way more powerful. But Damon, that’s what I need”

“Ok, lets try it again”

This time she poured more into it. She walked to the side of the stage and back. She remembered some of the words and looked out at the fictitious audience instead of the score. She felt she was performing an act, not just singing a song and the smile had returned to her face

“Better?”

“Oh yes. But I think I can give it more. I just don’t know what”

Do you want to see how I think it could be done?”

“Mmhmmm. Yes please!”

“This is what I think it could look like – but its only an idea and its only if you want to and its all open to adaptation because its you not me up there on stage”

He slung a guitar over his neck and headed for the hidden side stage 

“Gina will be introducing the acts...”

“Who?”

“Gina... Miss Scarretti”

“I didn’t know her first name. We all call her Ice Cream”

“Ok, but she’ll say something like “next on is Megan Taylor from form 4B. And you’ll say – I’d like to sing Fire and Ice. Hope you like it”

“All sounds a bit flat”

“Yes. Which is why you should think about something different. So you play Gina and I’m playing you. Ok?. Except I want your intro as Meg T from 4B. It’s a bit more catchy. A bit more music industry. Ok?. Go anytime after I disappear behind this bale”

She waited a whole long 10 seconds “Next up” she said in as boring a voice as she could muster “is Meg T from 4 B...”

But almost before she had finished Damon had leapt out from the side flats five of six feet above the stage with a deafening G chord bounding from the speakers and opening the lyrics even as he landed. He strutted furiously across the stage, directing the words venomously towards her, pleading for an explanation as though it was all her fault. He strutted menacingly across the stage and back, all the while fixing Megan with a vicious stare, returning with the second verse and finishing mid stage left 

“Thankyou ladies and gentlemen. My second song for you tonight is The Way You Want It, originally by Fair Warning, but this has my little twist on it”

This too was something of an anthem and the vocals hung in the air as he finished with a deep bow. Megan’s eyes had glazed over 

“Wow Damon! Now I see how you’re such a success. But do you think I can do that?”

“Do you think you can do it. Do you want to?”

“Yes. Well, maybe. But I’d definitely like to try”

Now it was her turn. Damon stayed stage right well out of the way and opened with his G chord as she bounded onto the stage trying to keep the pace and move around and avoid tripping over the cables, joins in the plywood and extra microphones.

“Wow…Wow” she repeated catching her breath “that’s … that’s what I need! But I need more practice”

It was the following Wednesday that she was back on the straw bales. Shed done a dozen rehearsals during the week and was looking forward to seeing what Damon would come up with. Maybe he was thinking long flowing gown with a hint of wizardry. Maybe a curve hugging pencil skirt to make her look a little older.

She’d run through her two songs again but wasn’t feeling quite as confident as she’d hoped she would by this stage. She stopped and watched Damon cross the floor towards her with a polythene dress cover draped over his arm and carrying a pair of black boots.

“Is that for me?” she asked excitedly

“Yes. So. Dress off please”

She looked at him nervously questioning 

“Oh, Come on, Meg. If anything was going to happen to you in that direction, it would’ve already”

Slowly she unbuttoned her dress and let it fall to the floor as he handed her a delicately pastel peach chiffon blouse. She buttoned it up as he held up her new dress against her checking the size

“I think that underskirt will have to go too. It’ll be far too long but in the circumstances we’ll leave that till after you get this on….”

Megan had always wanted a little black dress. She thought it would be sophisticated although she hadn’t considered which events she might go to that were sufficiently sophisticated to justify it. But what he now put over her head was… was something else. There wasn’t much of it with its short flared skirt, low cut neckline and nearly sleeveless top. But it was a dress and despite being little and black, it was surprisingly heavy.. And, oh my! It was all leather. She slipped into it losing her underskirt and tingling as the cold fabric touched her legs. It was way shorter than her father would approve of and now with the knee high black boots she felt completely different as Damon zipped it up at the back. Her confidence soared, she felt great – Maybe she could do this after all!

“I was going to get you stiletto boots but if you decided on a dramatic entrance like from that second hay bale you might just nail yourself to the stage”

With her body now safely hiding under a full complement of clothes again, she felt she ought to be ready for her big entrance, but looking down and seeing how much of her legs was exposed, she wasn’t entirely convinced. Damon followed her gaze 

“The entrance?” he questioned as she nodded “That’s one of the reasons for the leather. It’ll hardly lift at all because of its weight. But you’re right, cotton would be an issue without a tight underskirt and that would be too constricting. Velvet or satin might have been ok, but they would make you feel more sophisticated. This should make you feel more aggressive”

The song had to be sung like she meant it and now she felt up to doing just that. 

He moved over to the keyboard to play Gina as she slipped behind the side flat. She leapt onto the stage before he’d finished his intro taking him by surprise and blasting G minor instead. It hardly mattered. She flew straight into the chorus adding that as an extra before the first verse. It set the scene. And that is what it was all about.

“♪ Where’s the love we once had, our destiny’s unsure…. ”

By the second verse she wasn’t just angry, Megan was seething and it showed as the infuriated words spurted out as she dipped and flowed, stomping across the stage.

She finished breathless and elated. The act had got to her and she’d got to the act. Damon lifted her up and sat her on the piano stool “Song two. Less venom. Just as powerful”

But Damon wasn’t entirely happy. Another run through, a few changes an improvement. 

“Not sure” he said as she stopped, grateful for the breather “I think we should try a different song. Lets see if it works better for you. I mean for what you want to say.

He handed her a new score and played it through. Then again, and again.

Cue The Way You Want It by Fair Warning

Megan was exhausted but fully convinced now that this is what she’d been aiming for all along without really knowing it. Now she knew she could do this. More practice was needed, but she could come over to the barn anytime and with that, her confidence would only improve. It would be impressive, it would be noticed. It might not win but that didn’t matter. It might not win, but she would.
 

Dawn’s Rehearsal

Megan was buzzing at school. The competition was one of the main topics of conversation and within her circle was being treated more as a concert with the objective of raising funds for the Labs rather than being secretive about their expectations and progress in a competition.

But not all the contestants were faring quite so well. Wendy, Olivia, Rosine and Dawn calling themselves The Word were discussing how much their act was not going to plan

“It's not sounding the way I want it to” Dawn said “I've played it on the piano here in school, and its nowhere near right. I've tried every option on my keyboard and it still isn't right. And I don't know how to fix it”

The conversation continued at the gate as Kim dropped by to pick Megan up since she was passing anyway and lent a sympathetic ear to their woes

“And we’re rehearsing in about two square feet of space in Rosine’s garage. Its so much less than ideal because there really is very little space. We pushed all the garden stuff as far out of the way as it will go and that gave us enough room to play, but then her dad put some vintage car in there, after all our work clearing it! Now there’s absolutely no room for any other movement and that’s going to be a definite negative. It makes me think we should just give up if we can’t do a proper rehearsal”

“Have you thought about asking Damon if you can use his barn?” suggested Kim “Maybe Meg could put in a word for you?”

“I could…. But I don't like to. He's been so generous helping me like he has. I don’t want to push my luck or appear greedy. But he’s really cool. You should just phone him. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll ask him for you. Ok?”

The four of them huddled around the phone in Rosine’s front room. 

She dialled the number and they all went quiet waiting for the answer 

“What are you going to say?” whispered Wendy loudly 

“I don’t know. I'll just have to wing it”

“Is that Damon?”

“Yes”

“Damon. My name's Rosine, but you won't know me....”

“Fabulous! I just love getting phoned up by girls I don't know!”

That was probably the last thing she was expecting him to say and she hesitated not knowing how to continue from that 

“….So what is it I can do for you?”

“Well, I was talking to Megan's mum, you know Kim, and she said that you've moved in to Red Cairn Farm as Old Walter and Aaron aren't there for a while and we wondered if you were using the big barn?”

“Actually, yes. Yes I am. Do you want to rent a barn?”

“Kind of. We were hoping you might let us borrow it”

“That could prove a bit of a problem, Rosine”

“Oh dear. I didn’t realise you were using it. It all sounded so perfect when Kim suggested it”

“It does depend what you want to do. But I’ve made some changes to the barn. Not the structure and the roof or anything. I mean, the sides still all point upwards, but inside its not really suitable for storing anything like maybe a herd of cows right now. In that respect its not really a barn”

“But there’s a big space in the middle isn’t there!”

“Oh yes, but the big doors are all blocked with hay bales and getting anything in and out is an issue. What is you want to store? Maybe I could change the layout a bit and let you have one end. How much space do you need?”

“Well, where we’re rehearsing at the moment there’s not enough room to swing a cat never mind practice our act and we just need somewhere bigger”

“Is this for the school competition?… .. Oh, I see. That’s completely different. I thought maybe you had a flock of sheep that you needed to keep from running away. Why did you choose somewhere so small as your studio?

“Well, it dads garage really, but now he's put a car in there so there's no room., 

"What? Put a car in the garage. That's novel" 

"Yes. He says it will get wet if it stays outside" 

"Surely he can't have realised that only recently?" 

"Well, no, I guess not. But he's only just got this one" 

"Yes but getting wet applies to all cars, not just this one. Did his previous one not get wet, outside?" 

"Oohhh. I'm getting confused now" 

"It's not just that you’re so damned bad that he's trying to get rid of you altogether and keeping his car dry is just an excuse?" 

"How rude! I should think not! We think we're pretty good. We're in with a good chance of winning" 

"Not without somewhere to rehearse" 

"Well yes. Thats why we want to borrow your barn" 

"Right. So you were rehearsing in a garage. But some dude suddenly realised that if he left his car outside it would get wet in this part of the world, so he wants to put it in your rehearsal studio to keep dry. So that venue is no longer available. I see. Ok, when do you want to come over and take a look. You might think it's not suitable" 

"Oh, it’ll have to be after school. What about quarter to five tomorrow?" 

"Tomorrow? Sure. The sooner you find out the better. Otherwise you might be outside. And you know what might happen? No? You might get wet" 

Result!

The girls by now had almost completely dissolved into giggles. Partly the excitement and partly the bizarre and partly that this guy sounded completely off the wall. But the date was set.

Wendy managed to complain most as they walked up from the village. But then she was their vocalist. They’d dropped in at Rosine’s to pick up their instruments and Dawn had her little Accadia keyboard in its carry sack on her back.

Wendy rapped on the door and they waited in silence with only the barely audible muffled sound coming from the direction of the barn. 

Damon invited them in and handed out some cans as the girls introduced themselves. 

"I'm Rosine. It's me that phoned you up. And this is ..." 

"What do you play, Rosine. I take it that you’re not just an all girl female harmony band singing a-cappella?" 

"No. We do play as well! I'm on bass. Olivia is on lead guitar. Dawn is on keyboard and Wendy is vocals" 

“Ok. Got a drink? There’s some chocolate in the fridge over in the barn for anyone suffering from extreme famine. So lets see if this is going to be suitable for you”

This was new. Not the sort of welcome they’d get from any of the regular farmers.

He led them over the yard to the side barn door and they exchanged nervous glances as they weaved through the double S bend through the straw bales

“Welcome…. To the Studio” boomed Megan over the microphone from the stage as they emerged from the zig-zag.

Wow!. Different? Was it ever! As they all stopped dead and just stared, looking round at the auditorium

“Struth!” breathed Dawn as she started to recover, scrambling up the steps onto the stage “Now I can see how a flock of sheep might not fit in”

Megan broke into her reserve song just to demonstrate the equipment, winding up the volume on the foot pedal as they covered their ears, but then helped them recover from their initial shock by helping them set up. 

Their first run-through was a bit static, probably caused by the constricted space in Rosine’s garage, but the third round saw them moving around the stage a lot more. 

“Careful now!” called Damon and they suddenly stopped at the interruption “Girls. I appreciate that you’re trying to move around as much as possible. But if you’re rehearsing for a particular stage, it might be smaller than this – or bigger – and you need to practice for the space you’re going to have. Maybe I’ll put some hay bales up there, but right now its marked with white tape”

That was the most encouraging comment they’d had and it raised their spirits and confidence all the way through till their next visit. This barn studio was awesome enough, but now there was helpful advice as well.

They were all buzzing now as they ran through their set for the umpteenth time. Maybe they didn’t need this level of practice, but the elation they got from just playing on that stage in the studio just made them all want to go back again and again.

But Dawn still had her problem with her solo and although every other thing was going so much better, this was just stuck exactly the way it was before.

“I know what you mean about not wanting to be an imposition, but Megan, can you ask Damon for me. Pleeese! I mean, you know him better than me”

“Ask Damon what?” said Damon coming up right behind her making her jump

“Oh! Damon! You startled me!”

“There!” exclaimed Megan “I told you Damon would be around if you needed him”

“Meg said you might be willing to help me, but I’m sorry to be a nuisance”

“How could someone as gorgeous as you be a nuisance?”

He listened to Dawn's description of the issue as the others crowded round in anticipation. It wasn't a song Damon had played before but he listened to her as he scanned the music that was on her stand. This was amazing as well. Here he was taking time out with them and seemed genuinely interested. 

“So what’s wrong with it? Sounds pretty good to me”

“Its just… its just not impressive. It needs to be bigger, just more of it. Oh Damon, its so hard to explain”

He leaned over her checking a few settings. He reached both arms around her like he was going to give her a bear hug from behind or maybe just a cuddle, but instead played a few bars. He frowned at it, changed a setting and tried again to no avail. At the third attempt he decided to concede and stood back up.

“Its your position on the stage that’s the problem”

“What? Like, it’s the acoustics? How is that going to…..”

But without warning he simply put his hands round her hips and lifted her still in her sitting position, clean off the stool carrying her across the stage and depositing her on the music stool at the far side as the others gasped in amazement

“You need to be over here instead”

She looked all around not really believing what was happening until he removed the cover revealing the most amazing Korg synthesiser 

“Try that” he smiled as he powered up and tweaked a couple of settings. She gazed at it, mesmerised for a few moments, then played it through with an increasing grin that spread from ear to ear. The whole atmosphere of the place was so electric that none of this seemed particularly out of place as she finished, spinning round to face him, now with her jaw hanging open in amazement.

“Better? Or does it need more depth?”
“Can it get more depth? That’s what I’ve been trying to achieve for weeks!”

“More depth Dawn? If that’s what you’re looking for? Ok.”

Damon wound up the reverb and echo delay and she started again

“That's awesome! That's it! That’s what I want it to sound like!” as the notes bounced round the stage reverberating back at her from all directions.

“It sure is a whole lot better now, Dawn” said Wendy 

“Thanks for the encouragement babe! But Damon, how do I do that. I've tried so many combinations?”

The possibility of a breakthrough here raised the atmosphere to another level but Damon was shaking his head

“What you need, is one of these. Your little machine simply can't do it. You've outgrown its capabilities. You need something more sophisticated than your little Accadia”

Dawn tried again and with an increasing tempo and increasing confidence she raced through the solo sequence stopping abruptly ahead of the vocals. 

“’k” said Wendy “now you've got your answer, now all you need is to get your dad to buy you one of those”

“Hmmm. He's been pretty good, but I can't see that happening. Damon, how much does one of these cost?”

“This ones is quite new. I bought it in Germany last year. But converting from Deutschmarks, maybe three thousand pounds. A bit more maybe, three and a half?”

“Wow! My Accadia only cost sixty quid!”

'“2 per cent” said Wendy “that’s why that is 98% better. You just proved that. And I can't see your plan B working either”

“Plan B?”

“Yeah. Selling Rosine's body to Damon”

“Hey! You sell your own body. Leave mine out of it”

“O Rosine, surely you'd help out. It's for the benefit of the whole band”

“That's very generous, Wendy, but I'm not in the market for buying any part of Rosine - mind, body or soul”

Dawn drooped. But at least she’d found the answer, even if it sounded terminal

“I guess I’ll just have to compose something else. Something I can actually play, but the song needs something bigger than that. Oh! Its all so disappointing!”

She turned disconsolately towards Damon and found him smiling gently towards her

“I said, you need one of these. And there’s one here. I'm mainly working with an N264 and guitar stuff just now so I’ll survive without it. So, Dawn, you can borrow this one till after the competition”

“What! A three grand keyboard!”

But it was big and relatively heavy and while Damon did not have room for everyone in his car, he had space to take Dawn home with the Korg projecting precariously out above the windscreen of the convertible.

No one was more surprised than her dad as he watched them pull up outside his house. He’d heard the car burbling along from the end of the road and met her with a suspicious look

“Just wait till you hear it dad. Its not just awesome - its truly cosmic”

Verity’s next review meeting was due and she couldn’t remember ever having had such a laid-back, fun assignment as she headed for the Barley Mow. She could happily work for this client all year, although she was already recklessly thinking that her relationship with her Gerald might not survive.

Damon hadn’t been around that much. And he seemed to have so many other things on his mind. Like one time she was at the farmhouse and Damon was in some deep conversation in French. Verity had no idea what it was about. Her French was non-existent, but it was nothing to do with her assignment so maybe it didn’t matter.

But it mattered to Damon and he was making significant progress with the plan, not least in defining the next part of it immediately before it was needed.

Lady Patricia and Albert were revelling in their new found leisure. Without a care in the world with all accommodation and meals taken care of in this posh château hotel they both felt 10 years younger, and Patricia in particular had thought only minimally about the Manor since she’d arrived.

“Yes…” she was saying to Damon “…I’ve been thinking about you and how well your suggestion is working out. I think I was following my instinct before, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. The way I’m looking at it is this. The value of the Manor, and in fact the whole estate, has to take the cost of renovation into account, and the estate agents agreed that any buyer was likely to look at it that way. So in order to work out what that might be, I’d need a full survey. Damon, can you imagine a full survey of Fitzbrigands! It would take years, and cost, well, who knows. And then that would only be an estimate. The danger is that it wouldn’t actually raise enough to sustain Albert and myself for the duration, if you follow my meaning. Now, with your option I’m guaranteed enough to live on – forgive me, but its like a pension. Of course there’s nothing left at the end. But Quentin has more than enough money of his own without needing an inheritance from us. We did subsidise him when he was getting started so its not as if we’ve not helped him at all. And he’s already said the chances of him returning from New Zealand are minimal, so it seems unreasonable to lumber him with a crumbling ancient pile at some point in the future”

“I was hoping you’d see it something like that. Especially if you leave the tax office to calculate the inheritance tax. Although there is another option that I was thinking about if France wasn’t suiting you. And that is that you move to a restricted part of the house, on a long lease while I use the other bits. As you know, I’m particularly interested in the vaults because of the acoustics for our music”

“Oh, I see! Music! I wondered what the fascination for the vaults was. I thought maybe you had a vintage wine collection. You know I don’t know much about modern music, Its Mozart and Chopin all the way for me”

This looked like it might actually work. Fitzbrigands Manor needed a huge amount of work doing to it. But it had been standing for three hundred years and parts of it for over five hundred. And it didn’t look like it would fall down any time soon. Then there was always the possibility that the people who had looked at it had overestimated the work, or estimated it for restoration using mediaeval crafts rather than modern methods. And in any case, if it did fall down, the bit he really wanted was the vaults, and they’d been sunk into the ground for over half a millennium.

Verity at Red Cairn 

Another week, another review and Verity couldn’t wait yet again. There were only a few gaps left in her table, so that was success to report, and if Damon was going to pepper the meeting with his previous humour of puns and innuendo on the names the bands had chosen for themselves, and maybe some rash comments on how some of this would be handled by the teacher who was compèring, this was going to be epic.. Like what reaction could they expect for the ‘Geriatric Dead Spunk Collective’?

She went straight to the Barley Mow from her hallway desk at school and perched on a high stool at the bar on her own. She’d done her prep for the meeting and now took time to reflect on the other different aspects of her life. Her probably soon to be ex-boyfriend, her thesis for her MBA, this bizarre assignment for an ex rock star that had become a cross between having fun and going back to school. She now found herself admitting that the more they worked together the more she got to like him. But he likes me too, she told herself and then tried to distance that train of thought by thinking instead about her thesis. Except now she got to thinking she could change the theme slightly to include this assignment. It was different. Her professor would probably never have encountered anything like this before and that might give her the edge against the hundred other submissions he’d have to trawl through.

Damon's car burbled along through the village. He was in two minds whether to go home and sort it out before meeting Verity or stop at the Mow early and sort out home tomorrow. Spotting Verity's car swung the balance.

“You’re early!” she beamed

“Not as early as you”

What! Oh my, its started already

“I came straight from school”

“Really? What happened to your uniform?”

She tried to bypass that comment “I didn’t see the point in going home just to turn round and come back out again”

“I think I question the sense in going home at least twice every day”

But they did manage some sensible review of the completed chart and even managed to write a schedule of the events and final issues between now and the competition itself. The discussion was constructive over another drink, until the landlady asked them if they needed a menu. If they were eating they would be better in the smaller back room that she was trying to reserve as a restaurant. That, she said, would be quieter because the Young Farmers were due in and that would certainly get noisy if not downright rowdy. 

But their conversation had moved on from the concert setup and was much more about her. It made her feel rather special having this guy sit attentively across from her listening as she bubbled on. He prompted her with a few ‘ifs’ and ‘sos’ and ‘ands’ and the obvious continuation would be to continue all this by having dinner with him as well. And she wasn’t due anywhere else that evening.

The starter was served with a belated wine list that Damon scanned through. 

“Would you like wine with the main course? There's a nicely aged Viognier here which would be worth trying, but you also need to remember you need to drive home”

“Do I?”

“No”

Verity had now lost track of how many drinks she'd had. There was the one she had to start with, then another when Damon arrived. Or was there two before that? Then something else and wine and then.... she must have had more than that because she’d ordered up a liqueur after dessert and she seldom had either of these unless she’d had too much to drink to start with. Not that she’d lost the plot, she was perfectly aware of the situation. It was just that she was having such a wonderful time. She was buzzing, she was tingling like maybe she’d just love it to continue forever. Being with him like this was electrifying.

The small back restaurant room at the pub became deserted as the noise level from the bar was now making conversation increasingly difficult and their heads got closer and closer together until they were almost touching. She was losing concentration until they…. Kissed. Was that what made her head hurt, or was that just the alcohol or maybe the anticipation? 

It wasn’t late when they got back to the farmhouse. The walk had started well, but clouds had blocked out the cold moonlight and it got increasingly dark as horizontal rain stabbed into their faces. Damon took off his coat and put it round her, which was an unexpected chivalrous gesture that delayed them just enough to be caught in a much worse downpour only a few steps from the farmhouse. 

They fell in through the front door and stood shivering in the living room. Alcohol seemed to be the antidote to precision but a handful of fire lighters and half a bucket of kindling soon had a blaze roaring up the chimney. The effect was immediate as Damon poured two more drinks. 

“You’re shivering. You should take your wet clothes off” said Damon as the heat from the fire lifted the chill from the room, but the consensus was that his clothes were wet as well and the task should be equally shared. 

They had both known where this was heading from when they ordered the wine. But the exact details were all a last minute improvisation. And no, she didn’t have to drive home.

“That's a pretty nifty way of making sure you get to work of time” Damon commented as he served breakfast in the kitchen. But he was right. Even after waking late, she was at work on time and was now bending over the large chart she'd created. 

“I've got another session booked at the school for this afternoon” she said in response to his studying the few blank squares “But this is the last day so it will be the last one”

“Hmm. Better not have too much liquid lunch when we go to pick up the cars”
 

Competition Day

And finally, it was Saturday. She never worked Saturdays. But this was the culmination of so much effort, hard work, intuition, initiative, innovation and pure guesswork that there was no way she was going to miss it. Of course Damon would be there and she was trying not to look forward to that too much. This, after all, may be the last time they’d see each other- the end of the assignment.

The day had come around all too quickly for most of the contestants. Some were wishing there was more rehearsal time, some wondering why they hadn’t done more rehearsals and some just keen to get the whole thing over with. And a few were actually looking forward to performing on stage.

Damon was looking forward to it and also to getting it finished. It had taken far more time than he had expected, but maybe some of that was just wanting to spend time with Verity. And Megan. And Dawn. They were good. Somehow they needed to be given a chance. But the industry was viscous. They were young, naïve, innocent. Damon could make the introductions, but they’d just get ripped off – in more ways than one.

Verity however had very mixed emotions. It was the culmination of the biggest thing she’d ever attempted. It was certainly one of those things that if you knew what was going to be involved you’d never have started. But one step at a time and encouragement and help from Damon - and the kids were great too, well most of them. But then one day on from here it would all be over and that would mean going back to ordinary secretarial admin assignments – filing, answering phones, making coffee for project meetings. And worst of all – no Damon. Or was it that bad? She didn’t really see a future for them together. It was just he was fun and exciting to be with and generous and funny and just everything she should be looking for in a guy. And they’d slept together too. But maybe the excitement and glamour would fade as quickly as it had arrived, and without this assignment to hold them together….? She hadn’t actually fallen out with Gerald and she’d invited him to be there. Maybe she’d just hold on to the memory and forget her rock superstar. Or could she. She’d never had an assignment like this, with people like him. It was all beyond her imagination before it had begun. And now, in a mere 11 hours it would be over. Maybe she could use it for her thesis and scrap everything she’d already done. Maybe she could ask Damon to help her. Or maybe that would just prolong the inevitable.

Lunchtime, and she sat quietly with Damon in the Barley Mow checking through the running order and compiling a final checklist – were the judges there. Is Tommy there as shepherd dog to round up the next act, is Gina there, at what point exactly do they hand the show over to her and their part would end. End! Oh my. But I don’t want it to end….

Cue The Reign by Tarja

Over at the school, the hall was filling up. Damon silently questioned the ethics of the business model – charge the performers by calling it a competition – get them to contribute sponsorship funding because it was in aid of the school, charge the audience for attending and get the venue free because it was a school hall!

Everyone who was meant to be there was there - at least for the start, and Verity went back stage to make sure that Tommy was lining up the next acts as Gina Scarretti opened the show. 

Tommy, however, had his part all sorted and Verity moved on again. This time to calm the nerves of those waiting for their turn and as the competition progressed, that nervousness only increased as they now began to hear what they were up against if they still expected to win. 

Front of house, Damon had a few loose ends of his own to sort out. But he also found time to listen to some of the acts. As expected the quality was variable, but five guys calling themselves Buzzard were certainly worth spending time on, especially the drummer who seemed to have amassed more hi-hats, tom-toms, cymbals and skins than Damon had seen on one drum kit for a very long time.

He wandered out through the rear door heading for the back stage entrance. He’d like to just sit and listen, but he’d got the show this far and the professional musician in him dictated that it was more important to make sure that Verity was ok and that the show went as smoothly as possible. Everyone was excited, everyone was buzzing. It was all going to be perfect because everyone involved wanted it to - until…. 

There by the back door, sitting forlorn on the cold stone step was a pale blue polka dot dress with a year 8 crying somewhere inside it. 

Her friend was losing patience “Come on Vicki. I’ve gotta go. I don’t want to miss my slot and you’re on after me. We’ve gotta get back!”

“You go on – I’ll see if I can be some help” he said as Tommy and Verity finally found their next act.

He sat down on the opposite end of the step and waited a few moments 

“Now” he opened very quietly “has it all gone wrong already or do we still have time to sort it out?”

He passed her a clean tissue. Progress! She'd accepted the gift, paltry as it was. 

“Come on, I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is. There's ways round most issues if we just look at it the right way”

She took a very deep breath 

“I'm due on to sing my song, maybe now. But my mum isn't here”

“Well if she misses it, you can sing to her as a special show at home this evening”

“No, no. She already heard it. She's playing the piano”

“Ah. I see. So your accompanist isn't here yet. Right. Come on let's see what we can do”

She glanced over incredulously “Do! There’s nothing we can do!”

“Well maybe we can try anyway”

She let him pull her up and lead her quickly back into the building to find Tommy who was already looking for her. 

“Come on Vicki – you’re on next”

“Miss her out, Tommy. There's an issue here. Move to whoever is after her and we'll slot her back in later. I’ll get Verity to update the judges just as this act finishes”

“Can you do that?...”

Back outside in the fresh air he led her over to the cafe. They were busy with their preparations for the interval, but managed to find her something fizzy that managed to calm her just a little. 

“We've bought a little time. We'll get you a slot in the second half”

“Yes, but what if my mum isn't here at all”

“We'll need to find someone else to play that piano for you”

“But that'll be too hard. Singing with a new pianist for the first time”

“I agree it's tough. Ok plan B. What song are you singing”

“Blue Moon with Heartache then Love Will Find You”

“Blue Moon - That's quite a sad song. But I do know it, if you'd like me to play? If mum isn't here”

“But we can't even practice. The piano is on stage”

Some of this was true. The grand piano was centre stage, and would be pushed aside shortly to make way for a year 9 choir. 

“I know there's loads of instruments in the gym”

“Yes, that’s where the second half bands equipment is. We could borrow one”

“But they're all guitars and violins. There won’t be any pianos, they’re too big. Although there's at least one great big double base”

“Yes! Yes Vicki, and a Korg Z1 that’s needed later”

“A what?”

“Come on, lets go borrow it”

“But will they let you?”

“If we ask nicely enough”

It wasn't just the guitars that were electric in the gymnasium. It was also the atmosphere that accompanied nervous singers and bands awaiting their turn. They were all on strict instruction to be ready with their instruments two acts before their turn, and the ambience was fragile. 

They found Wendy who showed them where their kit was and ten minutes later Vicki was out on the playing field with a new musician and a keyboard on battery. 

She now saw some real hope as he ran through the music and she accepted the few changes he had suggested. Ten minutes later and two more runs had a smile back on her face as hope had returned.

Half time was looming and Damon had a different job to do. 

Gina was about to adjourn and send everyone through to the cafe for refreshments when Damon caught her attention from across the stage with a microphone in his hand. 

He switched in “Thankyou Gina, and I think everyone will agree that this has been an amazing first half to the competition. If the second half is anywhere near this standard we are in for a full sized epic event. But events like this don’t happen by themselves. They take a huge amount of organisation and in this case it would never have happened without the monumental efforts from a special someone”

He pulled Verity out onto the stage from where Tommy had positioned her

“Verity's normal job is in taking on admin assignments as a temp for an agency. Little did she know what she'd walked into when we first met six short weeks ago. Verity, in normal circumstances, I'd say thankyou by presenting you with an enormous bouquet. But this event is nowhere near normal so today you get this instead. Yes, it's a picture of the bouquet that I'm not going to give you”

She looked dismayed, forlorn and slightly bemused as the audience burst out laughing and he helped her turn the photo towards them so that they could see it

“But” he continued “the reason for this is not that you don’t deserve it because you totally do. It's the same reason I'm doing this now rather than at the end of the show and that's because I know that your boyfriend – Gerald. Where are you? Thankyou. Gerald is whisking you away for a surprise long weekend break straight after the show ends and so you won’t be around to enjoy the flowers which would stay in his car till Tuesday. And because you’re on a short timescale to catch your flight we’re doing this presentation now”

Verity was close to tears now as tumultuous applause broke out as Damon finished 

“The bouquet will be delivered to you as soon as you get back. But you can keep the picture”

Vicki’s Act

Now into the second half, Tommy’s question was simple. Do you want me to move that thumping great piano to centre stage for Victoria and then heave it all the way back again five minutes later? Somehow Damon sensed that there was a hint to the answer hiding in the tone of the question. 

“We’ll live with it where it is”

“But we need to be able to see each other. For....for cues and things - don’t we?”

“Oh, we will”

Vicki took centre stage as Gina introduced her. The track was about a once happy girl who became lonely and she looked very much the desolate abandoned individual with the accompaniment coming from way over stage right. It was a sad song and applause was muted but only because they were waiting for part two. 

Damon had hitched back the stage curtain and now led her over to the piano. Without warning he lifted her up sitting her on the far end of it. This track needed more communication, they had to be able to see each other and now she understood how that was going to happen as Damon introduced her next track. 

She sang it perfectly, not even interrupted by seeing that her mum had finally arrived and was watching intently from only a few feet away at the front of the hall. Damon faded out and let her close the song a-capella. By then she had tears rolling down her cheeks as Damon lifted her down. But instead of a centre stage bow she buried herself in him with the broadest of smiles spreading through the tears before recovering and thanking the audience.

Damon walked with her down the front of house steps to her mum as Tommy hustled the next band on to take their place. 

“But I was offered an extra shift” mum opened to Damon’s accusing look “it's nearly 15 pounds”

But Damon was in no mood for pleasantries or platitudes 

“That song was for you, Mrs Sans. Think on't”

Now alone in the crowd with her daughter, she sank mortified onto an ushers chair in the side isle with her despondency broken only by a rather raucous hillbilly act from some guys whose main aim seemed to be goofing about.

Megan’s Refusal

And now it was Megan's turn. She'd rehearsed. She had the moves. She knew to stay away from the edge of the stage with that dress. By peeking out from the side curtain she could see that her mum and her father were both there as Gina started the introduction. And now there was no time left to panic. Damon was on the far side of the stage at his Korg keyboard ready to move forward and blasted out the opening G minor chord. Gasps of surprise rattled round the audience as she  leapt down onto the stage powering into the chorus and crouching down as she landed like at eagle that had failed to catch its prey.

She'd worked herself up to the ferocity, she strutted across the stage towards Damon at the keyboard, she spun rather than turned, she flashed demons of hate from her sideways glance at the audience mellowing to an impassioned plea as she pounded through the verses sometimes focussing on Damon and sometimes on her father just to remind herself how she got here as if maybe it was all his fault. She blasted the words into the microphone like she was threatening to bite its head off- “Closer to insanity, buries me alive. Where’s the love we once had …… in silence I hold on - for you and I...”– 

Tears were in free flow. She managed to get the hem of that heavy skirt to rise fractionally as she spun round giving herself yet another dimension. She’d worked herself up into a frenzy and finished gasping for breath. She'd done what she set out to. It was the act she’d needed. This was the last chance for her father. If he failed to take this hint they were finished. 

She paused for the hall to quieten down before raising the mic again. “That song was specifically for someone in the hall today. And Simon Westfield, if you think it was you you're sadly mistaken. My next song this afternoon is ' The Dream is Still Alive'. Hope you like it”

Damon ran through the intro while she waited centre stage with her head bowed. It was so much less venomous so much more considered, so much more hope for the future than retribution for the past and the songs seemed to complement each other while the little black dress was being seen in two lights as a more demour Megan powered through to the end of the anthem. She finished with the mic held high as if howling at the moon while the accompaniment paused abruptly and she paused dramatically before her deep bow on an end chord.

The applause was tumultuous, but no encore was planned and Tommy wasn’t making any exceptions. 

She left the stage to front of house and Damon let her find her own way to her parents to whatever response they cared to give. For his part, he was more interested in seeing how Dawn would perform with his keyboard. Her band was ok. Not great, they'd never make it professionally. But Dawn might, if she wanted to. And to Damon her solo was the highlight of the afternoon. 

Tommy’s last band was on stage. He'd looked around to make sure that there wasn't anyone else still waiting their turn and the judges were making their final deliberations 

Gina was centre stage now. There was, she was saying, no specific prize in this competition for the most emotional performance but if there was, then Megan Taylor would take that by a small margin from Victoria Sans. Damon was pleased, but he wasn't through with Vicki yet. He made his way down to where she was sitting and touched her mums arm to attract attention 

He looked directly through her eyes for a moment 

“There may be another occasion when your little girl desperately wants something, works hard for it, puts everything she’s got in to it, relies on you for support and crashes to the ground in flames when it all falls apart because you decide that all of that is worth less than an extra shift. Well when that happens take this out of where ever you care to hide it and decide to look after your little girl properly instead”

He thrust a twenty into her open handbag and walked off leaving her no chance to respond. Maybe it wasn't his place to lecture parents. Their priorities were different from his. Like he had twenty quid, maybe she didn't. But there were still bedrock values. And trust, honouring responsibility and keeping your word were three of them. 

Having now commented on a number of acts, the results were being announced. Gina started with third place and then second...

“But there is no doubt, and by unanimous decision, with the best vocals and a show-stopping stage performance the best overall performance this afternoon was from ….. Megan Taylor. so it is with great.....”

“Miss Scaretti. Miss Scaretti, I'm sorry to interrupt. And to throw a spanner in the works, but you'll have to revise that decision....”

Meg had grabbed the free roving microphone and with her experience at Damon’s barn she knew how to switch it in as she headed slowly back towards the stage, still among the audience in the central aisle 

“you see…” she continued now paused conspicuously in the centre of the auditorium “... my sole intention this afternoon was to take part. I was here to make a point - to make a statement. And in order to make sure that I did that, I took all the help I could get. I took advice on the song choice, the arrangement, my image on stage, my stage act and my presentation all from a hugely successful professional musician. I have also been involved in the organisation of this event working with Verity and Miss Scarretti and I know how hard so many of the acts have worked, how much effort they really put in rehearsing in front rooms and garages and in the park, coming up with their own ideas and running on hope and adrenalin. I did everything I could to achieve my own objective but as far as I’m concerned the professional help I got was an unfair advantage in this competition. I’m so sorry and I know a hundred pounds is a huge prize, but I’m unable to accept the first place. I must insist that I withdraw from the competition because the prize is more deserved by someone who did it by themselves. So I think that Buzzard, the second place act on your list should be promoted to first place because they are so much more deserving than me for the gold medal”

An excited murmur rumbled round the hall as Gina turned towards her judging team for inspiration, but Bill Taylor heard only silence. That act was directed at him! The passion, the venom, the love turned to hate. He turned, devastated, towards his wife “I didn't know she was doing this ...”she defended 

And the second song too -'But not every single moment can stand the test of time ... But the dream is still alive’ – And.. And that is hope for the future. The first song was a bullet to the brain. Mortified. Was he really that bad a person? But the second? Was there still hope? 

But there was certainly more than hope for Dawn, as she picked up the prize for best solo supported by her group.

He watched Megan wend her way around the front of the audience holding back tears of adrenalin to head back to her family, looking every inch the star of the show. Shimmering leather, high heeled knee high boots, incongruous pastel blouse, largely hidden apart form the sleeves, age 15 going on 35. 

He watched Vicki’s mum holding her arm. He watched the rest of the audience shuffle out through the doors. Rosine and Wendy were dancing in the central isle just to have been mentioned and Gina was packing up her papers. She’d made a few thankyous to close the show. One for Tommy as stage manager and one for Megan who had insisted that the show go on despite the minimal help that she would get and one for him. She probably didn’t know his full contribution, or that he’d paid for it all including the increased prize money. But maybe it didn’t matter

“You should take up teaching” Gina was saying to him 

“Teaching? No I don’t think so. Its too thankless”
 “But the kids get on so well with you and you’re so good with them”

“Yeah. But I’d get too involved. I don’t think I’d get on very well with the parents. And good with the kids! Not sure how long that would last”

especially with the provocative antics of Wendy and Rosine. Even helping Megan change into her leather dress! But it was over now and it had been a success. But, no, he had other things to do. Sorting out Lady Patricia was one of them. 

Progress in Carcassonne

His covert conversations with Chantelle were encouraging. He’d now convinced himself that one or other of his plans would work, largely because of Lady Patricia’s financial uncertainty. And all of those plans involve him moving into the manor.

At Chantelle’s suggestion, he'd spoken to Lady Patricia on a couple of occasions and life as hotel residents seemed to be suiting them perfectly. She was also ok with him using the vaults and the main building if that's what he really wanted as she had restricted her own use of the manor to only a few rooms in the East Wing except when entertaining, although social activity had sadly diminished recently as Albert’s health had declined. 

Damon decided to move in. Red Cairn would run for another couple of months and he surely didn't need two rural addresses? But things had to move on and an overlap was a good idea with the various uncertainties.

Setting up a studio would be huge fun. Gordon and Adam had also agreed that this would be an interesting new direction for them. Adam had agreed straight away, but Gordon was unconvinced until Damon suggested that he take on the sales role and that Germany and Australia would be good starting target markets. That meant he’d continue travelling although he wasn’t so keen on Damon’s comment that he continued travelling purely so that the various girls he’d been with wouldn’t catch up with him.

Of course there was a lot to do, but it could be broken down into manageable chunks, or if not manageable at least understandable. 

Like, build a studio or two in the vaults. Find half a dozen bedrooms that were actually inhabitable for the band to stay in. Hire a cook and someone on the domestic side of accommodation and start recording. But he'd also need a geek, a computer expert to sort out the technical end . . And with all that, he could do with some admin help like Verity just to make sure that progress was visible. He’d dealt with thousands of people while the band was touring and they were all different, but this meant recruitment and that was something else that was new to Damon.

Janice opened the door for him and he invited himself in. She was nervous about the future and hardly managed to hide it. Down in the kitchen he managed to explain the plan. Colin had now joined them and they waited in trepidation for whatever bad news was coming their way. They knew the Lady and Viscount had moved to France. They knew the estate was making less money and they knew Stuart Bailey the estate manager was equally worried.

“Its not exactly secret, but I’d appreciate it not being discussed widely. But put simply, Patricia and Albert do not have the energy to revitalise the estate or the money to restore the building. They’re both concerned that their available funds will run out before they do and that, for people who have lived the life of privilege must be really scary”

“We know! We have nowhere to go, Mr Lehrer. We’ve always lived here as well as work here. And because board and lodging has always been included, wages have been lower. And we certainly don’t have the savings to go and buy a house”

“Janice, I appreciate that. And we’ll see what the best plan is. But right now I don’t want you to go anywhere. The legal stuff hasn’t happened yet, but the deal with her ladyship is that she swaps the manor for what is in effect a pension. A pension that is guaranteed to provide for her as long as she lasts. In return, I get the manor and its estate. The only estimate I have is that repairs to the building would be somewhere north of five million pounds. Its unlikely to be worth that much, but I think that estimate was a finger in the air by some luddite intent on preserving mediaeval witchcraft.

So Janice, I’d like you to stay on as housekeeper as you were. Colin, there’s plenty for you to do if you want – gardener maybe? Maybe a bit of chauffeuring? Maybe just some help in hiring some guys to start on the worst of the structural problems. And I’m sure we can find somewhere in the grounds that maybe isn’t used or needs a bit of work and we’ll turn that into your own place so that its yours even when you retire. Me? I want to turn the vaults into a recording studio. The acoustics are phenomenal”

They looked blankly at him with some disbelief

“Of course, there is still a chance that Lady Patricia comes back, but if she does, the plan remains. She would use the small suite that she has been using, and I’d use the rest – or as much of it as is practical if her assessment of the roof is anywhere near accurate”

“That all sounds so unbelievable. There’s so much hope in there for the future”

“Jan, I think those prayers of yours are being answered. So, Mr Lehrer, you’ll be moving in?”

“Yes, and please call me Damon. And until I do and start to get a handle on things, there’ll be a lull in activity. That would be a good time to see if there’s any property on the existing estate that you’d like as your own. That’ll give you better confidence for the future. Of course you can stay in the main house as long as you like, but if it all goes to plan it may get quite busy. And us musician types don’t keep to regular working hours”

The next day he was back and met with a whole host of co-operation. A key to the door, tea and home made cake, and Janice sat down with him to describe which rooms were entirely habitable – and which were not. This assessment seemed nowhere near as bad as he’d been led to believe, and while he didn’t want to defraud the Lady in any way, the alternative was for him simply to rent the cellars from her and a realistic price for that would be way short of the cost of repairs. And there was no guarantee of continuity. With the pension idea she had no worries in the world. It may be a good deal for him, but, no, it was a good deal for her – her circumstances being very different from his.

The more Damon listened to the acoustics in the vaults the more he was convinced it was ideal. Well, ideal apart from being in a state of disrepair that was quite simply incalculable. Just the surveying costs to establish the scope of the problem would cost more than most people would be prepared to spend. But the vaults! Yes, the acoustics in those vaults was awesome and that was the specific attraction. 

He wasn't sure what equipment he'd need - he'd never done this before, but simple logic dictated what he'd need for a studio - mixing desk, microphones, input cables recording playback, a decent set of speakers….. Yes he knew about all that stuff. Then he'd need some kind of computer for mixing in the adverts and shipping out the finished product. And that meant a computer specialist. And that was next. 

This was an urban sort of search. Guys like that wouldn't be found on farms. He didn’t need to go as far as London or even Bristol - which all now meant that he was alone again, back in a town instead of the quiet inspirational Red Cairn Farm. And that meant more thinking time as well as more drinking time. And his thoughts returned uninvited to why he left France.
 

Emma

Now in central Edencombe, he was suddenly unclear on what kind of bar this was. More than just a pub - dark, smokey, low rather than harsh music, even though it was still early. Sure it was dark, but the echoes round the large room suggested that he was pretty much on his own in the shadows. He made out a slouched figure in the corner as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness. Surely there must be a light switch around here somewhere. Or maybe it just wasn’t open yet. Half past six, most pubs were open by then, surely?

Light spilled in from the side door as two guys entered from the street, and soon followed by a few more, visible largely from the stab of daylight that accompanied them and then made out in silhouette once you knew they were there. Yes, this joint was filling up, but exclusively with male customers that looked like every variety of misfit and loner. He heard the giggle of a couple of girls, but they’d appeared from the rear door, not the street. Ok, so he’d had a few drinks already. Well, actually, a few more that a few, but not more than he could handle having had quite some practice over many years. He was still standing and still thinking straight, so he reckoned a few more were in order. 

A group of deprived suits hustled in furtively looking around to see who might recognise them and he heard far eastern accents as the group whispered loudly to the girls. Another flash of light from the door enabled him to make out a portly gentleman with rolled up sleeves talking in low, but aggressive terms to one of the girls ending with him giving her a hefty shove across the room. She recovered her balance as she approached his table. 

“Hi” she said with little conviction but with the lilt of an Irish accent. “And how can we entertain you this evening?”

Ah, so that’s the kind of bar this is. That’s the trouble with a new town. You don’t know your way around and sometimes you land up in places you might not go to if you knew, especially if you’ve had a few. But he didn’t know, he had had a few and here he was.

“So, what do you have on offer?” he said flatly

“Anything you want”

“Anything?” he responded equally flatly

“Yes” she said more hesitantly

He paused. Clearly thinking. She watched him as best she could in the smokiness which he was now getting used to. This scared her. Most guys just went straight ahead and gave a good hint

“I, I stay front of house.. .. usually, but I’m happy to make the suitable introductions.”

She waited a few moments “Maybe I could get you another drink? No. Ok, what kind of girl would you like me to introduce you to”

Another pause 

“I mean, most guys have their preferences”

“You. I’d like you to introduce me to you”

“But, I’m only front of house” she said getting increasingly nervous

“So, supposing I only wanted to talk” he asked in a subdued, almost sad tone “some guys do, don’t they”

“Yes, but I can’t stay long”

He motioned her to sit down and lightly touched her hand in case she hadn’t seen the sign. “What’s the hurry, its not busy”

“No, but that means the boss will notice more”

“So what does it take for you to stay a little longer, just to talk?”

“I’m sorry, sir, but my job is to encourage clients”

“I see. And just talking isn’t adding to the profits. Ok, so suppose I order up a bottle of champagne – if you help me drink it”

“I shouldn’t say this, but careful now, sir. Champagne in here is £86 a bottle”

“Ok. We’ll have two”

“Really!”

“No, or maybe. Just one after the other”

Finally she managed a little smile as she returned with the bottle and two glasses. She’d only just sat down when the portly gentleman approached the table

“Emma” she got up and moved a pace from the table, but he could still hear them

“Emma. You’re supposed to be making introductions. What’s that on the table?” his voice was critical bordering on fierce 

“Zak, that’s champagne. He’s already paying more than if I introduced him to Debbie”

“Ok. But only till we get busy”

“Does Debbie know that?” he asked as she sat down again

“Know what?”
 “That her body is less expensive than a glass of wine”

Emma was lost for words and took a sip from her glass

“Somehow, I get the impression that you’re not really that keen on working here”

“Not really. But that’s not the point. I’m sure you’ve got a tale to tell, now that you’ve got a listening ear”

But he continued on the previous tack “So I’m guessing you’re Irish, and from the accent somewhere south. Waterford?”

“Yes. That’s impressive. Do you know Ireland well?”
 “No, I’ve been there quite a few times but never got as much out of town to the real Ireland in the countryside as I’d have liked”

“The countryside is beautiful, but there’s no work”
 “Yes, rural economies have all taken a bit of a pasting recently. But its got to be pretty bad to end up working in a place like this”

“Don’t. Don’t go there. I don’t have much choice”

“We always have a choice. So there must be something else. I know, you’re in love with Zak?”

“No way. You’ve no idea. He’s cruel and heartless, and vicious. No, forget I said that. And don’t trick me into saying things like that again. Its not fair”

“Ok. Look, there’s a door over there. And a whole big world outside. Why don’t we both just walk on through it right now”

“Listen, I don’t know who you are. But I can’t do that”

“And you’re about to tell me why not”

“Because.. Because.. Why are you doing this to me? You’re making me think of things I’m trying to forget. You’re cruel and heartless just like..”

“No, No Emma. I’m not. I’m kind and thoughtful and gentle and generous. At least I was, and now I’m trying as hard as I can to recover from my one time of being horrible and heartless that’s eating away at me. But you were about to tell me why you can’t just walk out.”

She turned to glare at him. Distain, bordering on hate was welling up inside her

“Because in a small room back there, there’s a small case. And in that case are all the things I possess in the whole world. And I can’t leave it behind, and I can’t get past Zak if I’m carrying it. Apart from I have no money, not a single penny. I’d starve and freeze within the day. Are you happy now? Now you’ve reminded me of everything I was trying to forget”

“But surely you get paid?”
 “Yes, but there are deductions. Yes, for rent and food and, and for bad behaviour”
 “Bad behaviour?”

“Yes, and I’ll probably get one for getting cross with you just now”

“This is hardly ideal. I mean for someone with the nouse to escape from the agricultural depression to land up in a worse place”

She turned to him with tears forming in her eyes that beginning to trickle down her face

“Please. I don’t need you to rub it in”

“Maybe I could help you”
 “Help me?”

“Yes. You get a rope, or a ball of string or something like that. Then one evening after dark, say 9 o’clock, you lower your case out the window to the courtyard at the back and I’ll catch it. Then I’ll come in here and I’ll hustle you out just as the place is getting busy”

“Oh don’t be silly! We’d never get away with it”
 “Why not. What could go wrong?”

“Emma! Are you making introductions or just sitting around”

“I’m selling champagne, Zak”

“I gotta go now”

“I’ll be back tomorrow”

The next day he spent mulling over a few plans. A new phase in his life was starting, but he had to figure out how it was going to work and where. He also had to finalise the previous phase in his life, and to that, Emma was key. Or maybe he could find someone else. His efforts in the West Country had clarified so many things. But not this one and Emma ticked all the boxes. 

He made it down to Zaks around 8.30 and moseyed in with a group of Chinese all jabbering loudly and incomprehensibly. He spotted Emma and headed over towards her quite quickly. Too quick really, as the eastern gentlemen noticed the movement and twitched round nervously. But it was smokier than before as he chose a table in the opposite corner to them.

Emma spotted him too, and took a long circuit over to his corner. 

“I didn’t think you’d come back”

“I guess I didn’t either” he replied

“But you don’t want the services of this place”

“No but I came to see you and you didn’t give me your number”

“We’re not allowed to do that. I told you”

“Sure – get a bottle of champagne, and that should keep Zak off your back for a few minutes”

Emma returned with the bottle and two glasses. ‘Come over here and sit on my knee, he said flatly. Emma looked quizzically, but complied 

“Its only natural. One move on from before” he whispered “and this way no-one will ask any questions. Now, what I said yesterday. Did you think about it?”

“Yes, but then I thought its just a dream. I don’t even know your name. And I know I’m in the frying pan, but I could land up in the fire”

“Or, you get off the stove altogether”

“But why. Why would you do this. You hardly know me. I mean, I do believe in love at first sight, but we haven’t even seen each other properly”

“I know that too. Its too smoky. And, sorry but I’m not in love with you, and I’m certainly not expecting you to be in love with me”

“No? I don’t even know you. So why?”

“Emma! Are you sat on your bum again!”

“I’ll be right there Zak. I gotta go”

“Do you want me to come back? and we’ll do this plan? Emma, sometimes you have to decide who to trust and who to leave behind”

“Emma!”

“Tuesday. If I come back you’ll know I’m serious about this, not just fooling around”

“Only if you promise to tell me why”

“No promises, just good intentions. And remember, I only wanted to talk”

And he’d gone, hidden amongst the stag party that had just arrived.

Chrissie at the estate agents was as helpful as he’d expected. There was, she said, a lovely first floor, two bedroomed flat in Swallow Lake district, and another, a bit more quirky in Eastlands. Both immediately available, although that also applied to almost all the other property that she had on her books. The economic downturn was biting and the effects were everywhere.

He met her the next day for a viewing. The quirky one was 6 floors up, originally the caretakers flat at the top of a multi-storey car park. The car park, she said, is disused. Actually, its due for demolition. Its safe enough, its just the owners want to redevelop the site so I have to warn you I don’t know how long you’d be able to stay there. That’s why its on a month by month basis and hasn’t gone already despite the price”

He said little, just the odd encouraging yes or no, or hmm until they got back to her office.

“I'll take both of them”

Chrissie reiterated the warnings about subletting 

“Yes” he said “but to do that I'd need to find a client who was prepared to pay me more than I'm paying you. And clients are hard to find anyway”

Yes, she agreed, but she had to make sure. And his comments about being joined by a colleague of his seemed to go down well, especially as he added “And I don't want them cluttering up my flat if I can avoid it. Especially if there’s girls that look like you in the pubs and clubs around this town”

And so a bit of shopping later, everything was pretty much ready. 

He moved into his new flat 6 floors up and spent most of his time thinking about his plan. It was adventurous, different, risky. But it would be very different from being on the road in the band, even if it was still in the music industry.

But he continually drifted his thoughts back to Emma. Maybe she was the right person, or maybe not. And maybe it didn’t matter – she didn’t need to be perfect. But that wasn't going to help the music industry. Maybe he should concentrate on figuring out the details of his plan. Maybe. Or maybe he could actually do both. They were, he convinced himself, complimentary. And Emma might just close out the previous phase as he knew he needed to do.

From the car park flat, he looked out across the whole of the town centre. Yes, this place was ‘quirky’ to use the agents word. Downright weird would be another description. The only way in was via the lift on a special access key. Which also meant that it was the only way out. Maybe, he mused, he should install a zip wire, just in case of emergency. 

But also from there he could see most of the way down East Street and the estate of Victorian terraces that bordered it. A small sign dangling at a rather strange angle from its hooks above a door caught his eye, It was a lit by a single light bulb and he reckoned it might say Gerald something. Sounded like it might be like Zak's, but surely there were off-beat bars in this town that were not the front for dens of ill repute.

Gerrard was a long lean poofter, queer as the day is long and bent as a nine bob note. He greeted Damon from behind the bar like a long lost brother in the otherwise deserted basement bar. It was better lit than Zak's, and cleaner and less smoky. And as far as he could see there were no hookers hanging out behind threadbare curtains and certainly no front of house hostesses because, in fact, the place was completely deserted. Gerrard did not do food. And he seemed quite sincere in saying that on several evenings recently he had nearly died of famine as he was unable to leave the bar of an evening. 

The next night, Damon bought a large pizza and fries and headed down to share it with him, just to prove that common chivalry was still, well, common. This went down well with Gerrard, especially as Damon spent the rest of the evening spending money at the bar. They talked about the floor layout and why it was deserted and what if anything Gerrard was intending to use the stage for. He had no intention of turning it into a gay bar. There were, he admitted, few enough gays in this town as well as few enough customers and taking a sub set of both of these was a recipe for disaster. Damon politely suggested a few inexpensive improvements, like straightening the sign outside and making the name clearer, putting a brighter light in the doorway and taking the gingham tablecloths off the tables so that it looked less like a teashop. But still being deserted, Damon found it an ideal haunt to consider the details of his plan with the availability of an infinite supply of beer, even if Gerrard needed to be educated on his choice of whisky.

Tuesday saw Damon back at Zak's. He'd checked out the entrance to the rear courtyard, and now knew exactly what the escape plan was. 

Emma happened to be near the door as he slid in under cover of three city type suits. 

“I didn't believe you'd come back”

“I guessed that. You said that last time”

She smiled, nervously “But I got the rope, just in case”

“Ok let's go. It takes six minutes from here to the rear yard. But I'll only wait there ten minutes. If you don't want to do this, just don't”

It was less than twenty minutes later that they were both near the door. The guys who burst through it next were clearly two of the three sheets to the wind already, and he hustled her under his coat and out into the fresh rain. She'd had to put her own coat in her case to avoid suspicion, and within minutes, she was soaked. He'd tried to shield her but the swirling wind made it impossible and the only good news was that they did not appear to be being followed. 

“Where are we going?” she asked more nervously than she'd intended as he opened the car door for her 

“Your flat”

“My flat? I haven’t got a flat. You mean your flat?”

“No, your flat. My flat is way up there in that building you can just see. Your flat is over in Swallow Lake”

Far from being kidnapped for whatever purpose to a remote location, they pulled up a few minutes later outside a new block of apartments. He unlocked the door and ushered her in, placing her small case on the bed in the larger bedroom. 

“It's lovely. But who's is it”

“Emma, I have no idea. Well, no idea who owns it. What I do know is it's rented from Jacksons the estate agent. A girl called Chrissie is the contact, and the rents prepaid for six months. And it's in your name”

She stood, stunned, not knowing what to do next as he put the keys down on the sideboard. 

She picked up the rent agreement with her name on the front page 

“How do you know my name?”

“It is Emma, isn't it”

“Yes, but the rest of it”

“Oh, I phoned Zak and asked him”

“You can't have! You didn't really!”

“No, I phoned the place and a girl answered. I asked to speak to Emma Fitzpatrick”

“Emma who?”

“Just a name I picked out of the air that sounded vaguely Irish. Anyway she said there wasn't an Emma Fitzpatrick. She said there's an Emma O'Kiernan but she’s not around just now. I think that’s the standard answer cos you’re not allowed to take personal calls. Anyway, I said, no matter, must have the wrong number”

Emma shook her head. “I'm not sure I'm believing all this”

“Maybe a cup of coffee would help And get that wet dress off”

She gave him an ‘I knew that’s what this as about’ look which encouraged him to continue “Emma, you don’t want to catch a cold. I’m sure you’ve got another one in you case”

She pushed the bedroom door closed while she changed and then, still confused but now dryer, followed him through to the kitchen. She looked around noticing that there seemed to be a fair bit of food lying around. Coffee, biscuits, some fruit and vegetables, and even some milk in the fridge.

“That's about it” he said waving his hand around at the flat “You already found your bedroom, you've got the bathroom through there and the second bedroom here, this living room, and that's it. And there’s some food in the fridge”

“So, so what happens now” she'd asked with increasing hesitation 

“That's largely up to you. I'd suggest you chill out and try to calm down. There’s a couple of cans in the fridge, and then start looking for a job tomorrow. I'll catch up with you sometime. Oh, and I put fifty quid in the drawer for you in case you need to buy anything, like if you don’t like the food I got you or you need to get to an interview”

“But aren't you staying? I kind of assumed you would be to get something back for all this”

“Oh. No. . .. But don't get me wrong. I think you're lovely. You’re much more attractive outside that bar where I can see you than hiding in the shadows. But, I can't. I just can't stay. I would like to. But, you know, for everything you want and do there are consequences. And sometimes these consequences are things you want to avoid more than you want the thing in the first place”

Emma was crestfallen “I. I . I was kind of building myself up to this, and…. “

He simply stood where he was, just looking at her 

“The last thing I want is that you simply trade one form of captivity for another. But, Emma, I’d love a cuddle”

She slipped her arms around him and pressed her head into his shoulder “Thankyou. I don't know what else I can say”

“You don't need to say anything. I'll catch up with you tomorrow, just to make sure you're all right”

Emma hadn’t cooked anything in all the months she’d been at Zaks, and it seemed to be taking much longer than she had remembered it should. Part of it might be that her thoughts kept drifting off. She was still intrigued by what his motive might be. But she kept telling herself that she should be thankful for everything so far. There may be a catch, but she couldn’t figure it out. After all, she could just take that 50 pounds from the drawer, walk out and disappear. She checked the door in a sudden panic that she might be locked in, but no, the rest of the world lay just 3 inches from where she was standing. 

The phone rang early afternoon making her jump. She was concentrating on writing some notes to herself about what kind of job she was able to do, but still with some disbelief that she was actually free to do this. The advert she’d replied to asked for cocktail waitresses. Little did she know then what dark secrets lurked behind that job title. But she managed to get to the phone before the caller hung up
 “Hi Emma, Its Damon. How you doing?”
 “I’m ok”
 “Just ok?”
 “Sorry, Damon. Hey, you never told me your name before!”

“It didn’t seem necessary. But you’re sounding a bit upset”
 “I’ve been making some notes about me and what kind of work I can do”

“But that shouldn’t upset you. There must be something else”. 

“No – I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done. Its like a new lease of life – Or maybe just a whole new life”

“Emma, I can hear a ‘but’ in there”

“Oh Damon. Its just, I left something behind. I guess I was excited as well as trying to be secretive in a rush in case someone needed to use my room”

“Oh Emma! That’s sad. I guess pretty much everything you brought with you had some significance”

“Yes, But Damon. Its so silly. Its my teddy bear”

“What, from when you were a little girl?”
 “Yes”

“Well, did you have any real friends in there? Maybe they could get it for you”

“There’s Debbie, we got on really well together, but there’s no way of contacting her. You know you can’t get through on the phone”
 “Emm. I’m so sorry”

“Look, maybe we could meet up this evening. Just for a drink – or maybe two. Give you something to look forward to”

“I’d like that Damon. And I will be looking forward to it”

“Can you take a walk down to Gerrards. Its in East Street just a hundred yards down from the square. About 8? I’ve got a couple of things to do after work before that”

Seven o’clock saw him hanging around Zak’s front door. He was waiting for the Chinese guys to show up, and sure enough he wasn’t disappointed. He snuck in behind them, and slipped onto the darker table in the alcove as they continued in to be greeted warmly by Zak already counting the Yuan signs. 

“Hi, I’m Fliss” said a soft voice almost invisible in the dark “What can I get you this evening? Just a drink, or perhaps there’s something more I could do for you?”               

“Hi Fliss. I can’t see you too well, but from your voice I’m certain you’re drop dead gorgeous. But actually, I’d really like to spend a little time with Debbie, if she’s not busy”

“Thankyou, I don’t think she’s busy. Can I get you a drink while I find her for you?”

“I’ll take a small scotch with half water. Keep the change”

“Oh. Thankyou so much. And Debbie will be ever so pleased someone is asking specially for her”

It was a few minutes before she reappeared. It gave him enough time to check out where the other punters were, just in case a rapid exit was required. A shaft of light burst through the door just as she returned and introduced Debbie. But just during the light flash he could see she was looking more nervous than was normal for a girl in her position.

He took a sip from his drink as she sat down

“Have you got a drink, Debbie”
 “No, I’m ok”

“Sorry, I should have got you one. Never mind, you can share mine”

“Now, what would you like me to do for you this evening?”

“Just a little of you time, Debbie. You know the game”

“Really?”

She took his hand and led him along the corridor away from the main room

“My room’s just down here”

“Thanks Debbie. But can we go to Emma’s room instead”

She hesitated “I guess so”

She closed the door behind them

“You’re the guy that was with Emma before she disappeared aren’t you”

“Maybe. But don’t go saying that too loud please”

“So? What do you want with me? You must know Zak’s hopping mad. No-one ever just disappeared out of here before”

“I’m looking for something”

“Something of Emma’s?”

“Yes. Listen, I only need a little co-operation. It won’t get you into trouble, believe me”

Debbie sat down on the bed. “What do you want me to do?”

“You can check these drawers if you like. Check they’re all completely empty”

She checked each of the drawers in the dressing table, then moved over beside him 

“We’re being too quiet” she whispered “Its suspicious”

Damon pushed her gently onto the bed and wrestled with her a bit, without getting too involved

“That’s better” she whispered.

“Ok” he said “Now I’m going to lift you up so you can see on top of the wardrobe”

But no, there was nothing there, as they lost balance and tumbled back onto the bed, laughing

“That’s a bit more like it” Debbie whispered

“I’m going to lift the bed. I want you to look underneath it”

“Don’t drop it on me will you!”

But Damon did drop it, straight after she was out of the way. It crashed to the floor causing Debbie to burst out laughing “Do I get to say that’s a bit noisy”

Damon, laughed too “Maybe sometime we’ll get this balance right”

He slipped off the bed into the small gap in front of the wardrobe but was unable to reach the back. He tried picking it up but it looked as though maybe it had sunk into the floorboards over the decades it had been there.

“Do you want me to fall on the floor with you?” she asked

“Only if your arms are longer than mine” as she tumbled over on top of him anyway.

But the hanging rail in the wardrobe was loose and completely free with a bit of violent persuasion. That did reach the back beneath the wardrobe and Damon eased out the mouse trap that then snapped shut onto the pole. Trying again, jackpot, But there was something else down there as well, he extracted them and slipped them under his coat while Debbie lay on the bed singing quietly to herself. She reached out a hand and helped him get back up.

“Ouch, he said. There’s not much space down there at all”

“Yes, I thought that too”

But the smile was draining from her face.

“Zak will probably dock my wages for this” she said with a note of resignation

“Can’t see why? Debbie, I said I wouldn’t be causing you any trouble. Look, what’s the standard rate?”

“Forty pounds”

“Ok” 

He counted it out and then another twenty 

“Debbie, Fliss doesn’t know me from Abraham. What she did was introduce us. We came through to a room…”
 “But why this room, Why not mine?”
 “You can say the punter was getting a bit frisky and you didn’t want your clothes to be littered all down the corridor”

She laughed again “Ok so we diverted in here, knowing it would be empty”

“That’s right. Then you give him the forty. Just like any other customer. I mean, you wouldn’t normally go into details of exactly what you did get up to”

“No. I guess not. Listen. You look after Emma”

“Its not like that Debbie. I’ve given her a base, but she’s on her own now. Its not as if we’re an item or anything”

“I just guessed you were. I mean, if you’re not, what’s your angle?”

“I’ve got reasons. When I think about it, actually I’m doing this for me, more than her”

Debbie looked blank as he continued “Maybe if you ever get time off from here, she’ll explain it to you”

“’Spect we’ll lose track of each other before then. That’ll be a shame. But first we gotta get you out of here”

She tugged his arm and snuggled into him as they headed back across the main bar

“Zak’s over by the far door” he whispered

“Hey”, she said slightly too loudly “You gotta come back soon. Its not often I have that much fun. I’m meant to be working!”

Now back outside, he had just enough time to buy Gerrard a pizza before heading towards the Basement.

Emma arrived just after him, looking more relaxed, if still a bit down as they sat at a table farthest away from the entrance

“How’s the flat?” he asked

“Its great. The really great thing, you know, is being able to get up from your chair and just walk straight out into the outside world. But, Damon, I’m thinking over and over again that there must be a catch”

He looked at her blankly innocent, invoking her to continue

“I mean, if you just wanted me, we’d have moved into your flat, so its not that. So apart from that I’m guessing that you’ll leave me in that flat for a while then you’ll demand that I do something for you in return. And that could be something nasty and illegal and that scares me. But apart from that I’m out of ideas”

“If you really thought that, you’d have taken that 50 pounds and moved out with nothing to lose”

Damon got up and returned with another round of drinks 

“I didn't want to tell you although I think I'm going to have to. But there is a price for this”

“And what's that. What do I have to do” she asked hoping suddenly that the answer didn't involve drug smuggling or even something worse.

“Emma, what you have to do…”he leaned seriously across the table as she too leaned forward in anticipated fear “…what you have to do” he whispered “is promise that you won't ever tell anyone else”

“Is that all? No honey trap?”

“Yes, that's all”

“Then, yes. I. I promise”

He leaned back with a big sigh 

“That's good. Because I think I have to tell you anyway. You see, if I don't, you'll worry forever what the reason is, and that will defeat the objective”

The bar had filled up a bit, but despite the background rumble of conversations, it was quiet enough in their nook. There were quite a few people in the bar now. It was good and Damon wondered if any of his dozen ideas had contributed to the upturn. He was pleased for Gerrard as only a few days ago there were only two people in here. But Emma was leaning on the table with anticipation 

“Then are you going to tell me?”

“Oh! Nearly forgot. I've got a present for you”

She sat up from the table in surprise 

“Two actually. But they're not really presents, because they both belong to you in the first place”

She laughed “Damon, you're making my head hurt with all these riddles”

He pulled the teddy bear from his coat that he'd hung over the back of his chair. She gasped, and checked it's left paw. 

“It's Bear. And it's definitely mine. See that fur is missing. Apparently I chewed that the moment it was given to me to see if it was edible”

“Is that what you call him 'Bear'?”

“Yes. I wasn’t understanding what names were when I got him, so he's always called just ‘Bear’. But how did you find him?”

Damon related the tale leaving out most of the detail. 

“But Zak must have gone open!”

“I don't think so, I hope not. I just gave Debbie the regular rate to give to Zak, and she was going to say it was just another punter. But here, you should have this as well. He handed her the red purse. She opened it disbelievingly. 

“It is yours, I opened to make sure it didn't belong to some other random girl, but it has your driving licence in it”. 

“Oh, you star! I thought Zak had taken it. I'd already decide I’d never see it again”

“And there's still a few punts in there as well, for when you make it back to Ireland”

She leaned across the table and gave him a kiss. Then sat back. 

“This is more stuff I can't believe you're doing. It should make me happy but its only making me more nervous”

“Which is why I need to tell you”

He sank half his beer and leaned on the table towards her as she smiled in anticipation

“You see, I'm a musician. Until recently there were four of us in a rock band”

“Really! You must have been really successful. That's a nice car you've got”

“Thankyou, Often I’d be driving the van with all the gear in it. But yes, we did all right. We'd just finished a dozen gigs in Germany, Austria and a bit of Eastern Europe, and we were all slumped around chilling in this hotel in the French Haute-Alps over near the Italian border. I was thinking about where we should go next because we hadn’t been to the far east for a while. I remember saying to Adam it was time to do our set. We played every day. Usually we had a gig set up. But if not we’d play somewhere random. Sometimes it was the hotel, even if they didn’t ask us to, or sometimes we’d just set up in the town square or in the local park and just jam out for an hour before we got in a couple of drinks before dinner. I went out to the pool looking for Alex. He was the front man, the lead singer, and something of an eccentric. Our main keyboard player, Adam, insisted that he was just an extrovert but he was definitely a whole lot dafter than that. But he was always good fun. It's strange, some bands you hear about they all hate each other with a vengeance and the longer they’re together the more they loathe the sight of each other, but we played together, travelled together, lived and breathed together for way over ten years and were still each other's best friends. Of course we fell out every now and then, but that's the thing with best friends, they can get back together and change the plan or make compromises and continue on as best friends. Anyway, this evening, I go out to the garden and Gordon, he's bass guitar, he’s in the swimming pool fooling around with a couple of girls. He is always with a girl, except when he is with two girls. So I'm still reflecting on him with these two bikinis and I go round the hedge from the pool and there’s Alex. Hanging by his neck from a tree. Well, I stop dead and just stare. And then I shout to Gordon, and he can tell from the tone that something’s up. And he's there with the two girls just behind. It's Alex I say, as if he couldn't recognise him himself. He's dead. 

Well, that all killed the atmosphere, the fooling around, and we didn't make the set or dinner that night. The three of us just sat at the bar all lined up with our own drinks silently in front of us like three Scotsmen with their hauf ‘n’ a hauf. 

Cue Motel Blues by Alvin Lee

The next day we left there and went to a hotel we knew in the hills overlooking St Tropez. After a couple of days of not much, we started to get together and discuss what we wanted to do. Obviously we couldn't just carry on so there was talk of solo careers and just retiring, and maybe some collaboration with other guys. Maybe we would find a girl to front the band and we came up with a few names, people we knew. And after about a week we started to feel more positive. I remember saying to them one evening in the bar that Alex was always frenetic, always doing something crazy and on the go. Like he was never one for just hanging around. That was the first time we'd even thought about laughing, and it was the start of us feeling more positive. Gordon started fooling with every girl he could see again, Adam and me spent some time composing new stuff, and trying to make it up-beat rather than morose. And that's when I met Rachael. She was nowhere near as pretty as you, but she was bouncy and independent and flirty and could often be rather outrageous. At first we spent a lot of time together, but not all the time. She still went off to various soirees and things, she went all the way down to the harbour and joined whoever was cruising or hosting a yacht party that day. She was well known, but strangely, not that well liked. I think that may be because she never hosted anything herself and was seen as something of a free-loader. 

The band had been invited to this European award show in Milan. You know the kind of thing where there are two top groups and two hundred others invited all to make the place look important. I told her about it and I thought I'd made it clear I was expecting her to go with me, and Adam and Gordon had girls they'd latched onto as well. But the day before, I bumped into her in the foyer with her flight bag. She was on her way to Barcelona for Count somebody's birthday party. I said what about Milan, and she just said she couldn't miss Count somebody's birthday this year, she'd made it to the last six, and if she missed this she might not be invited next year, and walked off. 

I was fuming. I was hopping mad. Emma you have no idea! I was still in shock from Alex. And I was at the stage where I was hopping mad with him for doing this to us. What did he think he was playing at, breaking up the band like that? It was our livelihood. It was what we did. It was what we loved doing. We all depended on each other. And now her.

I knew Chantelle the receptionist quite well. She usually doubled as the waitress that always served us at dinner, and she was over the moon at being invited to Milan. We had a whale of a time. It was just so great to be with someone who didn’t take anything too seriously, held on to me like I was a life belt in the Atlantic and was constantly bubbly just to get a glimpse of life on the red carpet. But when we got back I was still mad. I was disappointed too, not just in Rachael, but in me for letting it happen. The band’s whole success had depended on me getting it right. I did the management, I did the bookings and the tours and the invoicing and the driving and everything else and I got it right. And now here I was getting screwed over 2like a Dutch wife right left and centre and not even noticing - till now. 

I got the key for her room from Chantelle and went up there. In the wardrobe, there's racks, like whole racks of designer dresses and skirts, blouses and jeans. Most of them were still wrapped. They'd never been opened, and it was only then that I thought to check with my bank. And there they were, not just thousands of francs, hundreds of thousands of francs from my account. It seems she'd phoned the bank claiming to be my secretary and got them to send out a new credit card, which she then proceeded to use. I brought the van round to the side door, and over several trips I loaded up. They were mine. I paid for them, even if I didn't want them, but then she didn't want them either or she'd have unwrapped them. I checked out, saying I had to return to England on business, although I’m sure Chantelle knew the score. And I made sure that they knew I wasn't picking up any more bills. 

Adam told me what happened after that. It seems that she spent four days in Spain, and then came back with some guy who was a racing driver of some sort. She didn't actually check much in her room for about ten days and I'd left all the less expensive dresses and all the jeans so maybe she didn't notice, or more likely was too worried to say anything. So by this time the hotel is beginning to get a bit concerned about payment, and suggested that if she couldn't pay her bill she should find someone who could. Well, no one was prepared to bail her out, so rather than have her arrested, which would have lost them the money anyway, they set her to work. In the kitchen, in the dining rooms, as a chamber maid. Suddenly, the people she'd been partying with she was now cleaning their toilet. Apparently she was working 14 hours a day, sleeping 7 and crying for the whole of the other three. 

Adam and Gordon were probably most stunned. How could their friend, who had always had a good word for everybody, suddenly do this? But, Emma, everyone has their breaking point, even if they get consumed by guilt afterwards. And that’s the point. It's my guilt that I need to redress, and that's why I need to help someone like you, as a penance for being so bad”

But the tale had reduced Emma to tears. They streamed down her face as she made no effort to stop them or stem the flow. 

“But Damon, she deserved it. And the others must have agreed or they would have come to her rescue and paid the bill for her”

“Maybe, but that will never make up for what I did to her. Emma, every situation has winners and losers. You just have to accept that in this case, it's you that’s the winner”

Emma dried her eyes, pondering. Was it really that simple? No drugs? No explosives or firearms, or sealed notes delivered to some satanic cult leader? They moved on in search of food to a bistro delicatessen that Damon reckoned was as quirky as his flat. Maybe that’s the way things were in this town. Talk was mainly about her and how she was going to find a job. 

“No matter” said Damon “There’s time. You just need to keep trying and something will turn up” 

Crispin

The downturn in the jobs market may have been adversely affecting Emma, but it was playing straight towards Damon. Tracking down computer people who were out of work was fairly straightforward. The issue he faced was that it was such a wide field that it was only after a dozen conversations that he had learned enough to define what it was that he was looking for and the next call was sounding more promising 

“I've never majored on sound files before. But they’re really quite interesting. And you want to transmit them. Like through a modem?”

“Yes, that's the plan. They'd be normal tracks like on a cassette mixed in with some voice overs. But that shouldn't be a problem. Telephone wires were designed for voices”

“Not quite, Damon. The stuff you're talking about would be in computer format not voice format and that means it would be digitised into data”

“So is that a problem?”

“It shouldn't be a problem, but it is different”

 That evening in Gerrards, Crispin listened attentively nodding from time to time as Damon described his concept 

“Wow! That is definitely out the box. I'm pretty sure that no one has ever done that before. But that's not to say it can't be done. All the bits you need exist. But I’ve never heard of them being put together in that way”

“But we could try?” said Damon 

Crispin considered himself hired with a brief of rounding up the various components, assembling them into a system and making them all work together. This, he said, would be best done at his flat where he had some test equipment. And when it was working they'd take it down to the studio and try to connect it to the gear down there. 

“Except” Damon warned “there is no kit down there yet. I need to make sure this bit will work first before shelling out on studio gear. Its seriously expensive”

Crispin was shaking his head “wow, Damon! This sure is off the wall but I can't see why not. Right now I can’t see any reason for this not to work. Even if we have to write an interface or two. I'm looking forward to this!”

And Damon was too. He was totally ignorant of the technicalities, but Crispin sounded like he knew what he was doing.

Damon went to get another round, but the bar had filled up a bit and Gerrard was scurrying around trying to pour at least two drinks at once. 

He didn’t want to waste time standing alone waiting at the bar when he could be having a useful design discussion with Crispin and decided to return to the bar when it wasn’t quite so busy. 

He’d only just sat down with several apologies when Emma arrived uninvited, but then, it was a public bar. 

“Hi, I thought if you were still in town you’d be down here”

He introduced them and continued his technical conversation. Emma listened briefly while keeping a check on the bar activity and decided there was more chance if she was actually there.

“When you get served, get two jugs in for me and Crispin as well, please”

Ten minutes later she was still there and Damon joined her 

“I'll be going round there and pulling it myself and no mistake”

“You've done that before?”

“Sure. That's what I've been looking for. Bar work, or supermarket or clerking. I'm not a brain surgeon you know”

“Hey Gerrard! D'you need a hand?” Damon shouted down the bar 

“He sure does!” came the reply from a voice that wasn’t Gerrard somewhere at that end 

“Go for it. Just do it. What's to lose?”

Damon took her coat and she slipped round to the business side of the counter 

“I'll take that” she said announcing her arrival just as Gerrard asked for £12.74. A 20 was offered, but Gerrard was already trying to take an order from another customer. 

£7 26 change she said opening the till and moving on

“Pint and a half of Guinness”

“There y'are. And a shamrock on top and a love heart for yer lady”

“You'll be pulling all the Guinness if you’re going to draw hearts and flowers as well” said Gerrard noticing the art work, but Emma just took that as a confirmation that he was grateful for the help. 

Crispin bailed out around 10.30 but Damon felt that he'd been working since maybe 8 that morning and now leaned back in his chair with a new pint. The bar cleared down around 11.30 and Emma started to wipe the tables 

“It's probably not the best job for your girlfriend” said Gerrard “you'd never be able to go out”

“She's not really my girlfriend. More, a bit like a sister. But she does need a job, and you look like you need some help here”

“It's not like this every night”

“No, but you need to be able to do better than just you. What would have happened if you'd had to change a barrel”

“I did” cut in Emma “and you need to get another IPA on order sharpish”

“Be optimistic. Business will pick up, and not all bar staff would draw hearts on the top of Guinness jugs. And if there's no one in the bar, then you'll have someone to talk to or maybe nip out to get the pizza. I’ll help you out Gerrard. I’ll pay her wages for the first two weeks and if its not working for both of you, we’ll have to think again”

Damon phoned her the following week to make sure she was all right. The job at Gerrards was perfect, business was picking up and she sounded as happy as she ever had. She didn't need any more money, the flat was paid up for the next few months and this could now be ticked off his list. She was free to make her own way now and they both knew how she would have ended up if she'd stayed at Zak's place. 

This was supposed to redress the balance. After all, he’d left probably 20 thousand pounds worth of clothes in Rachael’s room. Maybe she’d sell them to buy her way out. And Emma had a new life and now it was his turn

Now he could concentrate on the manor and the future rather than being haunted by the past. 

His call to Lady Patricia confirmed that life as hotel residents was continuing to suit them and for Damon that was enough to persuade himself to take the next steps. He wasn’t going to do this all by himself. Ok, so Adam was going to handle the studio setup, but the manor house itself would need a huge amount of attention.
 

Michelle

Work was endlessly boring. She had decided that all work was boring. And the only thing that broke the boredom was the frustration. Frustration when some donut brain muddled up the files she’d just spent yesterday afternoon sorting out. Worse than that, her brain was becoming numb through lack of exercise. No responsibility, no initiative. Suppression and disillusionment. But that’s the life of a junior clerk – I suppose. And she could tell that breaking point was not far away. Take a break? or explode? That is the choice. Exploding in the office would probably result in no job, but the next question was, would the satisfaction of exploding at everyone else be worth the stress caused by the inevitable destitution. I’m going to lunch, she called to her supervisor, but was too wound up to wait for consent, especially since it would have involved caveats, like have you finished this, or when will you be doing that.

Outside, the fresher air calmed her mind a little. Of course, she had a job. That was a plus point she mused trying to be positive. And she got paid, that was another plus point. But surely there was more to life than this. And Pete would hear soon about whether he was accepted for the Army. He probably would - he’d be an ideal asset to the infantry - as cannon fodder - and that might be an upheaval as well. So the stability of a job, even her job, would be a benefit, at least in the short term. Secretly she was pleased that she’d come to the sensible conclusion even though she now found herself walking aimlessly towards the side door of The Wheatsheaf. It wasn’t her regular territory, but today, with the light drizzle adding impetus to the negatives, maybe just one – why not?

She perched on a stool at the bar and ordered a vodka and coke. There was a half empty beer just down from there. She looked at it wondering if, in fact, maybe it was actually half full, and came to the conclusion that it belonged to the guy who was on the public phone which hung in a half booth at the end of the bar near the door just behind her.

Cue The Heart of the Summer by Fair Warning

She looked around the rest of the bar. Quiet. Maybe folks had stayed in their offices because of the rain, but it meant that she could hear the guy on the phone. He looked vaguely familiar, a bit older than her guessing at early thirties, nicely dressed, quality tailoring, smart and thin enough to indicate he wasn’t usually found in a bar with a beer jug at lunchtime. 

“….Yes, yes, I know I asked you for some numbers. But I was expecting phone numbers of girls who’d be interested in this job. Yes, I appreciate that they’re available. And yes I know I can’t give you a very detailed description of the work involved…. Two hundred quid! Just for the numbers of half a dozen random girls who may or may not either want or be capable of the job! Listen dude, if I wanted the numbers of  half a dozen available girls I’d check out the phone box on the corner. At least I’d know what to expect!….”

She burst out laughing. Sometimes, just one end of a conversation was more amusing than hearing both sides. 

“….No, But you can get me on this number for the next half hour”

He hung up and returned to the bar.

“It’s catch 22”he said without introduction. “You get so busy you need to get some help, then it’s so convoluted trying to hire someone, you think you’d be better off just getting on with it yourself”

The phone rang and he stepped back to answer it 

“Yes, of course. Admin, typing, letters, filing, answering the phone, keeping diary, yes, yes, it includes reminding me it’s my wife’s birthday, or it would if I had a wife. Oh! If you must”

He hung up again with a big sigh as he turned to her. 

“Sorry. Would you mind just keeping an eye on that drink, I’ve needed a widdle since before I came in”. 

He disappeared through the door before she could reply. Well, no introductions, but comedy club was in town, and she felt so much better, even before she took a sip from her glass.

The phone rang again while she was still concentrating on calming down and it took her by surprise. Reawakening, she jumped off the stool. It continued to ring. Answer it? Should do really. 

“Hello”

“Is Mr Lehrer there, it’s about his secretarial vacancy?”

“I’m terribly sorry, but the position has just been filled”

“It’s what!”

“But thankyou for all your trouble”

She hung up and perched back on her stool just as he returned.

“Thanks” he opened “that Patrick down there is a devil for clearing glasses if you don’t keep a close eye on it”

She tried to put on her prettiest smile 

“That’s ok. I was sitting here anyway. But it sounds like you need a new secretary and you’ve hit a bit of trouble”

“Yes, hit is right, like running smack into a brick wall. These agents are so pedantic. They want to know every little detail about the job spec but that’s only so that they can tell you how perfect a match it is to the one person they’ve got on their books. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong place”

“But its just a secretarial job, isn’t it?”

“Why? You’re not a recruitment agent are you?”

“Me? No, No. Just.. .. Interested”

“Ok. I think it starts as admin. But then I think it would expand quite quickly into everything else we’re trying to do. You know, if she was the only one in the office she’d have to sort out the tradesmen who show up to do all the work. And I think that would depend on her capability. Its quite difficult to describe but I think the way I see it is that there’s a lot to be done. I could do it all but that would take much longer. So she’d do as much as she could from both a time and capability perspective and I’d pick up the rest, especially regarding capability. And if its just down to time, then I’d get someone else as well.

What I probably need is a PA. Either that or a small army. Actually, just describing it to you has made it so much clearer to me, so I thank you for that. You understood what I’m looking for, didn’t you?”

“I think so…”

“.... But getting a recruitment consultant to understand that is verging on the impossible”

She laughed lightly and bit her lip in trepidation

“Sounds really interesting”

“It is. Varied, interesting, responsible. Maybe its too much for a secretary. Maybe that’s the problem.…”

“I don’t think so. You just said it was variable enough to suit the person. Actually..” she paused involuntarily taking a moment to try to stop herself saying the next bit “it sounds really like the kind of thing I’d like to apply for”

She held her breathe realising what she just heard herself say 

“Really? I thought you’d be a model, or film actress or something”

“No, I’m doing the admin in an accounts office at the moment. It’s mainly filing. But I’m very organised”

“But you’ve not been a PA before?”

“No, but….”she cut off short as she had just noticed the time on his watch as she glanced down at the bar to avoid his gaze, and gasped “Oh my goodness!”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, but I should be back in my office already and its fifteen minutes walk”

“Well, what time do you finish? We could meet up after you finish work. Could you be back in here at say 5.30? Just for a chat? I mean, I don’t know anything about you, and you don’t know anything about the job, or me. So there’s no promises. But if you’ve got the enthusiasm, that’s a good start”

Elated, she hustled herself back and tore into the filing with a renewed vengeance. Once it was complete, she’d be able to tell everyone that if they took it out they should put it back correctly. While it was spread all over the floor and shelves, that kind of talk would fall on very deaf ears. And the possibility of this other job, whatever it was, was a motivation fuelled by hope. She tried to concentrate on what questions to ask, and what experience she might have that she could mention. And maybe if there were any types of business she wouldn’t want to work in like maybe slave trading, or debt recovery. 

But suddenly she was interrupted to stand in for one of the secretaries on the third floor. Wow what an opportunity as she climbed the stairs, and so timely! And what a disappointment when she found that the secretarial task concerned was making coffee for a project meeting. Maybe secretarial work wasn’t all she’d imagined!

Back at the filing she made steady progress. It wasn’t so bad when you could actually see the difference as some shelves became visible and the cabinet started to look populated. And then when Audrey asked her for a file and she was able to say it was in the filing cabinet where it was meant to be rather than as part of some bizarre random access system that took up a significant part of the available floor space. 

She hardly noticed everyone else leave, one by one they’d all gone home. She looked at the clock. Oh my. It was already 5.15. She scrambled to get her coat 

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“But it’s going home time”

“Not for you. You were late back from lunch, and you went early as well. You’ll stay here till half past five young lady”

“But I can’t! I’m supposed to be meeting someone”

“Well, if he won’t wait a few minutes for you, he’s not worth it in the first place”

“But...”

“No buts.”

She felt she was going to explode again. Everything was going only too well. Now! She gazed out through the window. Maybe I could phone him. She grabbed the phone book and fearfully scanned down through the pubs. She dialled, but no, no reply. Oh come on! There must be someone there. Its a bar for goodness sake! But, hold on! If there’s no one in the bar, then he wasn’t there. Maybe this opportunity didn’t exist after all. Now she felt deflated as well as wound up. Fancy being kept in after school. Sorry, work. It was like being a kid again. 

She slipped her coat on and watched the second hand close in on the top of the dial. 

Ready to go! How fast would could she go in that short skirt and those medium heels? Of course she tried to look her best at work but it was diametrically opposed to running gear. 

Top of the hour! And she bolted through the door with a disapproving hmphh from Audrey. She skipped down the road abandoning the idea of avoiding the puddles and letting her hair fly in the wind caused by the pace. She darted in to the Wheatsheaf though the side door and stopped abruptly. Somehow, she was expecting him to be on the barstool she’d left him on, like a tortoise with no legs, but instead there were half a dozen guys joking loudly with jugs in their hands. One of them turned to her, sensing she was looking at them

“You looking for us?”

“No”

“Pity”

“No, I was expecting someone to be here”

“You’re ok babe – we’re here”

She smiled limply and moved farther into the bar to look

“If you don’t find him, remember, we’re all still here. There’s a choice of six of us!”

Her mind raced. Maybe Audrey was right about if he can’t wait a few minutes. She checked round the corner, then turned back. Oh my! Over there! He smiled encouragingly from a small table on the far wall and she sank onto the chair opposite him gasping from lack of air and a surplus of adrenalin.

“You ok?”

“Yes. I just had to hurry” she gasped catching her breath “I needed to finish something. Sorry I’m late. I know, its not a good start”

“No” he conceded “But no matter, it shows a certain commitment, and then some enthusiasm for this new venture. But I was busy on something else anyway”

She nodded thinking, yes, but if you weren’t you wouldn’t need me, but comprehensively failed to say that.

She shuffled involuntarily in her chair. Her coat was wet. Her tights were wet, her hair was everywhere as well as being wet.

“Listen, if you want to pop out to the ladies room for a few minutes and come back in again, that’s ok with me. I’ll clear away some of this paperwork and now I know you’re really going to show up, I’ll get you a drink”

She looked at him in mild disbelief and smiled, now just slightly more relaxed

Back at the table, she took a longer than she’d planned sip from her glass. He waited till she’d put it back on the table

“So you know I’m looking for some secretarial help with my business, and I know you might be interested. Beyond that, I’m afraid I know nothing. Maybe you’d like to tell me something about yourself”

She drew a deep breath, feeling just marginally more confident now, partly because she wasn’t sitting in a puddle and partly because he’d waited for her

“Where to start? My name is Michelle..”

“Mich? Shell? Shelly?”

“No, just Michelle” she retorted thinking quickly that she’d have to start as she meant to go on. She could moderate later but this was her big chance. Come on Michelle, don’t fluff it now. 

“I’m 20 years old and live with my dad on the Southfield Estate. Right now I’m working for Simmons the Accountants in West Street as an admin assistant. Mostly I’ve been filing, but along the way I’ve tried to redesign the layout so its easier for everyone to put things back properly so that my life is not just clearing up their mess for the next decade”

“Anything else at work. Do you answer the phone? Take messages?”

“Yes, Yes, and make the tea, and coffee, and make sure there enough biscuits in the drawer. We have to buy our own tea and biscuits, so I look after the kitty. We all pay in weekly, except those that try to skive off”

“….and then you chase them up?”

“That’s right”

“Do you do much organising?”

She frowned trying to think so he continued “Like setting up meetings and finding a time when everyone can make it. That sort of thing?”

“I have done. And taking minutes, although as far as I know no-one ever read them”

He smiled at that answer. She was of course right, but it was the childlike innocence of mentioning it

“I guess you went to school. Did you get any qualifications?”

“Oh yes. I’ve got 8 O’s and A level English, Geography and Maths!”

“But you decided against uni?”

“Yes” she said heaving a big sigh “I got accepted to Bristol and Southampton, but my dad had a serious accident at work and I had to pass on that to look after him”

“Does he need a lot of attention? “

“Not as much now, but he still can’t work. That’s why I had to take the job at Simmons. Otherwise we’d be living on benefits, and that … well… “

“I see, and that’s why you think you could take on something more, well, challenging?”

“Yes. I know I’m capable of so much more, but there’s not much opportunity there”

She paused and watched him contemplating

“Back at school…” she continued. She didn’t want to talk about school. She thought it made her sound like a kid, but maybe on balance it might help “…Back at school” she repeated “there weren’t many clubs. You know, after school activities. Most of the kids just wanted to get out of there as fast as they could. I started a drama group. We put on a couple of plays that were well received. Well, by parents at least”

“And what was your role?”

“I was the producer”

“Did you like doing that?”
“Yes. Up until then I’d assumed that everyone always wanted to be in control. But they don’t. Most of the kids just wanted to be told what to do”

“And you? Do you like being told what to do?”
 “I’m ok with it. But I like to know why I’m doing it. I like being helpful. I want to contribute. And its not easy doing that if the objective hasn’t been explained”

“You don’t think that if the objective were explained, you’d just argue that there was a better way of doing it”

“I might do, if I think there’s a better way, But, if the plan is thought through beforehand…”

“And are you good at thinking plans through?”
 “Oh! I’d like to think so, but maybe you’re right. Maybe sometimes I’d just throw a spanner in the works”

“I didn’t say that. Ok. But not everyone can think logically. Can you”

“The other club I started at school was a chess club. I put together a league and we played after class on Wednesdays”
 “Sounds good. How’d it go?”

“Not well. …”

“But if you’d thought it through, surely it would have been brilliant?”

“I suppose so” she conceded suddenly feeling a little cornered. “It folded after the first term because the guys didn’t like losing to a girl, and they said the only reason I’d set it up was so that I could beat them and make them look foolish”

“And you didn’t see that coming?”

“No. I guess not. I didn’t expect them all to lose”

“Ok. But you suggested to me at lunchtime that you’d like to work with me. What led you to that decision?”

“I overheard you on the phone. I didn’t mean to. It just, well, happened. You were clearly having some difficulty, and weren’t getting much help. But you still retained your sense of humour and were trying to explain it all. And I thought, that’s the kind of guy I want to work for. You see, in my office, there’s never any fun and no-one is ever asked what they think”

“I thought you just said you’d redesigned the filing system?”
 “Yes, but I wasn’t asked to, and I haven’t told anyone yet”

“So you won’t get any credit for it either”
 “No, but if it makes my life easier then it will be worth it anyway”

The guys at the bar had become quite a bit noisier. They’d been joined by another group and it looked like a full sized stag night might be emerging. 

“It’s getting harder to talk here, Michelle. What about adjourning to the Three Frogs. There’s a good restaurant there. Maybe we could continue over dinner? Or do you need to get back to see to your dad?”

“Yes, I mean no. Oh. I’m trying to concentrate on getting the answer right, and it is harder with that background. And no, I don’t need to get back till 10. Then he needs his eye drops. He says he can do it himself, but if I catch him trying, I see most of it just trickling down his face”

She took hold of his arm as they passed the guys by the door 

“Sorry. I just felt more secure like that. Sometimes when guys get together like that they can be a bit scary”

“This is true”

She held back subconsciously as they got to his car 

“You’re not nervous are you?”

“Oh! Sorry. I….”

“We can walk if you prefer. It’s only about fifteen minutes, but then I’d have to walk back to pick the car up”

She bit her bottom lip 

“Listen, if we’re going to work together, you’re going to have to trust me”

He paused and then continued “and I’m going to have to make sure that your trust is not misplaced”

She took hold of the door to steady herself. It was substantially lower than anything she’d been in before with a fairly poor view of the road ahead, but also with the soft luxury of leather armchairs as seats. She looked around the cabin. The soft glow from the dials. A lot of switches. A deep tunnel separating them 

“What’s that?” she asked 

“That’s a phone”

He picked it up and handed it to her. Looking at it like that, yes it seemed to be a phone, with the keypad numbers set into the handset. 

“So any time you feel unsafe just pick it up and dial 999”

She looked over at him, both hands on the wheel, concentrating on the traffic, and looking for the turning 

“I don’t think I’ll need to do that” she said suddenly feeling a little foolish.

Check through to here v5

They talked idly about pubs. Food to her was clearly just a necessity, and she was unfamiliar with the up market restaurants. He, on the other hand, treated eating as a social event, and an opportunity to discuss issues of a work or domestic nature in a more convivial atmosphere. Food was on their table before the conversation about the job picked up again. Surely, she thought to herself, he must be interested in her for this job, or he wouldn’t take her to dinner. Or maybe he’s just interested in her. After all, he had said he thought she might be a movie star. She studied his face for any giveaway signs. Ok so he was 10 years older than her, well, maybe even a couple more than that. And ok, this was quite an expensive place to eat. He was clearly quite well off with that convertible, and, looking at the prices on the menu, this was going to cost about a week’s worth of her wages. And if it was really just her he was interested in, what would she do? Age apart, this could even be a good deal.

But he returned to the subject of the job. 

“One of the reasons I was finding the agents rather difficult is that they wanted me to define exactly what I needed. And the thing is, I don’t really know”

“But you know you need help?”

“Yes, and that’s a start. I need someone who can file things correctly, find them again when they’re needed. I need someone who can keep a diary and keep track of events that are supposed to be happening. I need someone who can answer the phone, and then either sort out whatever it is, or take enough information to find the answer and then phone them back. I need someone who is proactively helpful. It’s not just an answering service. I need someone who can help keep track of the status of orders as they come in, the progress through the production steps of our products and then ship it out. And then keep track of the invoicing and payment”

“There’s quite a lot in there! But it sounds really varied.. .. and interesting”

“I expect it will be. However... it’s a new company. We’re only just starting. In some ways that makes it a big risk. Anyone joining us will have to give up their current job, but might find that we wind the whole thing up as a failure in a year’s time. Or it could be viewed as a huge opportunity”

“Ok” she said hesitantly “So how many people have you got so far”

“4. And two probable recruits. But two of them are domestic staff”

“It’s certainly not just filing all day long”

“For sure. We’ll also be doing some renovation to the building, so we need to keep track of all that work as well”

She pushed back on her chair 

“Wow! No wonder you need some help! How many people do you think you’ll need for all this!?”

“I think it’s more that the pace will be dictated by the people we’ve got”

Coffee came and went and Damon decided to call it a day. 

“So, after all that, are you still interested? I think you should take a break and think about it. I expect you’ll come up with some questions. Maybe you could phone me tomorrow. I’ll drop you off at your house, if you like”

That night Michelle just lay awake thinking about it, replaying the whole bizarre episode. He’d made no real pass at her. Maybe it was just the work he wanted her for. And that wasn’t a problem. But he was easy to get along with. She thought that maybe they could think alike, get on the same wavelength. But this job was huge. How was she supposed to do all that? There’s a max of 25 hours in the day, and she had to fit in some sleep somewhere as well!

Next morning, dad reminded her that he had his new girlfriend coming round for dinner, and then there was the stark reality of another whole day arranging bits of paper into a widely used sequence. But it went till lunchtime before she managed to find some space for herself near a phone. She retrieved the precious note and nervously dialled the number. It rang for ages before it was answered. 

“Adam”

That took her by surprise. She had steeled herself not to be too excited or nervous or hesitant, but that threw her 

“Sorry?”

“This is Adam. Who are you? You still there?”

“Yes, I was wanting Damon”

“No real surprise there. A couple of years ago, half the female population of Malaysia was wanting Damon”

“Sorry?”

“Well, he’s currently stuck part way down a spiral staircase wedged between a mixing desk and a stone wall”

She pulled the phone away from her ear, hardly believing what she’d just heard

“He’s what! Is he likely to get unstuck?” she heard herself ask 

“I hope so. It’s the shortcut to the loo, so I don’t want him stuck there forever”

She burst out laughing 

“I’m glad you find it funny. I was just on my way out to find a couple of lengths of timber to use as props. Maybe if I can support the desk, he can crawl out underneath. Can I get him to call you? Or can you call back in maybe an hour?”

She hurried back to her office requesting a late, if shorter, lunch break, and down in the Wheatsheaf, she tried again 

“Damon”

“Oh, thank the stars for that! Are you all right, I heard you’d got stuck”

“Oh, hi Michelle. Yes. I’m fine. A few scrapes and bruises, but at least we didn’t drop it. Did you manage to think at all about the situation?”

“Yes, and I’m ever so excited about pursuing the opportunity. Does it still exist? Did you think about me at all?”

“Yes. I thought about you a lot. So you’re still interested?”

“Certainly am” she replied hoping to exude as much enthusiasm as she felt.

“Ok. Are you around after work? We should have another chat, and I can tell you what we are aiming to achieve, and where you would fit in”
 “Oh wow. Sounds fabulous”

“That’s because at the moment it is, at least in the literal sense. We could meet in the same pub as last time. That’s quite near your office isn’t it?”

“Five thirty? I don’t get out of work till 5.15”

“Ok. But don’t stress about it. Not that I’ll be able to wait all night for you”

“Oh” she said sounding disappointed at the seemingly negative threat

“Well, yes. I’ll get chucked out at 11. Its closing time”

“Oh! You!”

“See you later”

Elated again, she returned to filing. Maybe there was a real job. And he’d teased her. That had to be a good sign. And his colleague Adam sounded like he had a sense of humour as well. Maybe there were risks, but what didn’t have its risks?

This time there was no stag party forming near the door and Damon perched himself on the same bar stool as before. 

it wasn’t busy and a group of girls were chatting intensely in the middle of the room. Damon watched them, wondering what they did for a living. How, he thought, do you reach people who aren’t actively looking for a new job, but would be tempted to move if they knew about the opportunity, without attracting a veritable flood of applications that would take so long to send out the rejection letters there’d be no time to do the interviews.

The group seemed to be breaking up. Maybe just a swift half on the way home, just as Michelle let a chilly breeze sneak in through the door.

He turned to see if it was her, but she was distracted by the group leaving

“Hey, Hi Ali”

“Oh,! Hi Michelle. Sorry, we’re just going. Hey, but where were you yesterday?”
 “Me? I was at the Three Frogs most of the evening. Why?”

“Three Frogs! That’s posh. But it was Pete’s leaving do”

“What! My Pete?”
 “Well, not sure about that, but that Pete anyway”
 “When’s he going”

“Hasn’t he told you?”

“No”

“But he’s already gone. Left this morning”

Michelle looked dumbfounded

“Surely you knew? His papers got sent through last week, except his mum threw them in the trash. She’s never been keen on him going. Might have been a mistake but Pete didn’t think so. So yesterday he got a phone call asking why he hadn’t replied, and they said he should show up on time anyway. So he phoned a few people and we all went down the Eagle”

“No-one told me. But he’s ok. I mean, you saw him last night”

“Em, yeah. “

“What d’you mean, ‘em yeah’?”

“Well, we all got pretty ratted, and he was so mad with his mum we didn’t dare let him go home in case he took her apart”

“So you….”

“Em, yeah he stayed with me instead.. .. I mean, like, you weren’t there, and he’s probably not going to be around for at least a year. And we didn’t want him to think .. ..”

“You slept with my Pete on his last day, because no one told me. Ali! How could you? You’re meant to be my best friend”

“I am, Michelle. I just did what you would have done if you’d been there. That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?”

“Ali – Are you coming or what?” was the shout from outside

“Gotta dash Michelle. I’ll see you later”

“Not if I see you first!”

The slam of the door left the bar strangely silent. The girls had gone, and the atmosphere had gone with them. Michelle felt desolate, and very, very alone. She’d been left out, abandoned just when it mattered. She looked around remembering she was supposed to be meeting Damon, and found him right behind her perched on the second nearest stool. Enthusiasm of every kind seemed to have disappeared with Ali and the ‘Hi Damon’ greeting sounded washed out as she just remained standing in the same place.

“Friends are for lots of things. Helping you out is one of them, and standing in for you if you can’t make it is another. Not sure I’m quite with Ali on how far you should stretch that point though”

Her vodka and coke had arrived and she drank most of it, mostly unintentionally.

“Not the best entrance into an interview” she apologised, but he bypassed the negatives

“How long have you got this evening?”

“Till 10, I guess”

“Ok, so in the circumstances, I suggest a change of plan”

“Three Frogs again?”

“No, what I want to do is…“ 

he pulled her arm gently towards him and continued mysteriously “What I want to do is, take you for a long drive in the car. All the way to the other side of Elfinford, right out into the remotest part of the county. And then…and then. I can show you the Studio. That’s the offices where we’ll be working”

She heaved a big sigh, and relaxed just a little

“Damon, you have got to be the world’s biggest tease. How does anyone know if you’re being serious or not?”

“I’m always serious. Just sometimes its in a flippant sort of way. Do you want to do that and talk in the car maybe? Or we can just go to the Three Frogs. It really is your choice”

“Is the office really in the middle of nowhere?”

“No, its way more remote than the middle of nowhere. But I’d like you to see it”

They wound their way onto the bypass, and were soon zipping along leaving Edencombe behind as Damon started to explain.

“So, what I want to do this evening is to tell you what our company does, and to show you the office. And then if you like both of these, then we can formalise a deal. You ok with that?”

“Sure”

“I just thought it would be more of a distraction, in the circumstances”

“Thanks. That’s really sweet of you. I’m ok. Really. I’m just, well, disappointed. In my work, in Pete, in Ali. In me as well I guess. But I expect he had a good time with Ali”

“Sure you’re ok?”
 “Yeah. I’m ok.. Pete and me were going out sort of off and on. It was just a shock. But it also makes me cross that we can’t take personal calls at work. There ought to be exceptions”

“I guess so. But every company has its own peculiarities. Its ways of working, or the way we do things round here. If you join us, you’ll be able to contribute to creating these as the best way to achieve our particular objectives”

“All sounds great so far”

“So maybe you’d like to know something about the company?”

“Oh, yes please” she burbled emerging from her runaway train of thought. “If you still think I’m in with a chance. I don’t think I’m making the best impression”

“Actually, I think you are. You’ve had a couple of personal upsets and you never know when they’re going to happen except usually its at the most inopportune moment. But you’re displaying remarkable honesty, trust and resilience”

“And you’re being very forgiving. I was just being me”

“So maybe you’d like to know a few things about me. My name is Damon. I’ve spent the last dozen years running round in ever decreasing circles performing on stage in every country of the world as one quarter of a rock band”

He watched as her eyes widened.

“You must have been really successful – you know, big car, expensive restaurant, and all around the world”

“I guess so. And now I’m lucky enough to be sitting just across from the prettiest girl I’ve ever met”

“So is this just a polite way of saying that this is about something else. That there isn’t really a job?”

“No, its just a bonus. Listen Michelle. You’re a drop dead gorgeous 20 year old. I’m a world travelled, world weary 34 year old. That is: you’re just 3 years more than half my age. You’ve got a great deal of living to do. Getting around, having fun, being young and impetuous, if not downright rash. Me? I think I may have missed that bit out. But trying to catch up on that by running around with girls half my age is not on my agenda. Now, my colleague and friend Gordon is diametrically opposite. He will do everything with anything that has suitable anatomy without exception and with no qualms whatsoever, and I would recommend to all my friends that are of the female species that they give him a very wide berth indeed. But that’s not me. I have a mission and I intend to stay focussed on it. I’ll explain what it is, and someday I might even tell you why I need to do this. So I want to take you all the way over to the Studio and then you can see what we’re trying to achieve. Hopefully, we’ll find some food there, and maybe catch a couple of drinks. Then I’ll take you home to look after your dad? Ok as a plan?”

“Lets do it?”

Cue Every Note by Mystery

He sat back in his chair with a widening smile 

“Now let’s both just try to relax. I don’t want you getting up tight about all this, you know, a job interview is quite like a first date. You’re both trying to find out enough about each other to know if it’s worth meeting up again. And then it’s about finding out if you have what it takes to build a future together. Let’s try not to get the two too mixed up…”

This guy was something else. Just a job? She could easily let almost anything happen with not too much encouragement

“… Anyway, we think we’ve come up with a product that no one else has thought of. Not to say they couldn’t, just they haven’t yet. So it’s imperative that you don’t go discussing it or describing it to anyone. There’s always a chance that the five degrees of separation leads directly to someone who could copy us, and they’d gain an advantage by not making the mistakes we’ll inevitably make in the early days. 

One thing you told me yesterday is that you like music. And this is totally music based”

“Oh wow! I didn’t realise that”

“What we’re going to do is put together playlists in different genres, and collect the whole thing as a playable file on a computer. We’re going to insert tags at certain points which will link to local adverts. Then the whole thing would be broadcast as a radio program but without any human intervention”

“So DJs are redundant”

“Not so much, it’s more that a station with an existing licence would be able to broadcast all night while incurring only minimal expense. And it means that they could introduce a minor channel on a secondary frequency, say concentrating on heavy metal to augment their existing station”

“So will you be using normal top 20 songs?”

“No, we want to minimise royalty costs. We already own a massive library that we’ve written and played ourselves, but what we intend to do is fill in the gaps by attracting minor unsigned bands to work with us and make the recordings we need for specific contracts”

Michelle’s eyes widened as he described the plan. Karen, although not officially joined yet, would scour the clubs and pubs of Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester looking for the right bands, Adam would be in charge of recording. A contract computer geek called Crispin would create the files and be responsible for transmitting them to the customers, Gordon is the sales department and me, Damon is everything else, especially organisation. And, that’s where you come in.

The lanes had got narrower now but just as the road snaked left, they veered off bouncing onto what amounted to a farm track. 

“Next on the shopping list is a decent 4x4. This car is going to get wrecked with much more like this” 

They’d slowed suspiciously to a crawl before he continued

“In a second or two, over on the right…” he said as they reached the brow of the hill and she started feeling nervous again “… you’ll see what used to be a grand Manor House, but henceforth will be called the Studio” 

“Is that it!? Damon! Is that our office! It’s massive. It’s humongous . It’s .. It’s.. It’s the biggest building I’ve ever seen. How much of it have we got? You don’t own it though, do you? Do you! Its not all yours is it?”

“We’ll use all of it, and not yet” he smiled hopefully. “I’ve got a deal on the table and I’m 70% sure it will be accepted”

 “But you surely don’t need anything that big. I mean, no one does, do they?”

“Well, someone must have, or they wouldn’t have built it. But wait till you hear the acoustics in the original cellars. They date back to the 14^th century and are absolutely solid. Its awesome. That’s what’s so special about this place”

“I’ll show you round as much as you want to see” he said as they drew up at the door

“What do you mean ‘as much’? I want to see all of it!?”

“Well, you remember I said we’d need to do some renovation....”

“Oh my goodness. I see. Yes. The more we look round, the more work we’ll find”

“Exactly”

He led her through the entrance hall as she gazed up to the chandelier hanging from two floors above them and tried to count the light bulbs, 50? or 60? or… And the murals on the ceiling. They passed the wide staircase that curved up two floors and instead headed down the narrower flight following the smell of food cooking. 

Janice welcomed them to the kitchen as they pushed the door open and Michelle was relieved that there was actually someone else in the building.

Damon explained that Janice was the housekeeper. She’d been working there for Lady Patricia, and it made sense to keep her on. Her husband Colin was there too, currently trying to sort out the garden. 

“But you’ll need a team of, oh I don’t know how many”

“Thirty years ago” reminisced Janice “we had over forty domestic staff here, and four full time gardeners. And there were estate managers and farm workers and I don’t know who all else”

Janice pulled a steak and kidney pie from the oven and cooked some vegetables as she tried to answer all Michelle’s questions about the history and hey-day of the house 

“And what’s through the door” Michelle was asking “is it just a cupboard of something?”

“It’s an ‘or something’ “Damon replied “Looking at the layout and the architecture from the outside, it ought to lead to the West Wing”

“But” broke in Janice “we don’t talk about it. Lady Patricia never told anyone much about it, and maybe because she didn’t know herself. She took over the house in the mid 40s, but back in 1876 something happened, no one seems to know what, but as a result, the West Wing was completely sealed up, and no one has been in there since. 

“That’s over a hundred years ago! It’s not haunted, is it?” Michelle asked with equal excitement and foreboding. 

“Not as far as I know. I’ve never seen any signs of that kind of activity, but in a place this old, there’s bound to have been some mis-deeds along the way”

“Never mind the ghosts, Michelle, I’ll show you the swimming pool! At least it will be once we get it cleaned up”

But back upstairs, Adam was wrestling with an audio speaker the size of a small van. Damon moved to help him edge it towards the stairs, and slowly they manoeuvred it down towards the vaults. The sound of the phone ringing from a nearby room broke the scuffling of their efforts and Michelle broke away to answer it 

“Hello”

“Hi, who’s that?”

“It’s Michelle”

“Who?. Whatever. Look I need you to do me a favour. It’s Gordon here. I’m in Melbourne and I need a flight to Perth. I can’t book it because I’ve checked my bag in and it’s got my wallet in it”

“If I change my flight they can divert the bag, but I haven’t got the cash and my cards are in my case.”

“Ok. So do you want me to get hold of someone to change your flight?”

“Yes”

“Who?”

“Call the Quantas main desk in Melbourne airport. Change the flight for Gordon McPhearson from Adelaide to Perth. You’ll need to pay for it, but – I assume you’re in the office? 

“Yes, I think so”

“Well there should be a credit card in the top right hand drawer.. And if you’re feeling kind, I need somewhere to stay in Perth, there’s a good hotel called the Western Ocean. Call me back on this number …..”. 

Michelle frowned and phoned directory enquiries. 

It took nearly half an hour to get through on the international lines, but Gordon answered straight away when that number rang. She explained the changes, and plonked herself onto the large leather chair that was conveniently placed at the desk. She let her head fall back – oh my. What have I just done? What have I got myself into? But there was no denying that it was more exciting than filing in the accounts office.

With Gordon sorted, she went back to the entrance hall. Muffled sounds could still be heard coming from the open door to the spiral staircase near the front door. She followed the voices and found them with the speaker at a narrow doorway. Grab an end called Adam, as Damon ducked underneath it to the other side. She put her hands under it and – nothing. She couldn’t even move it, never mind lift it. 

“Ok” said Damon “you duck round this side, and I’ll get your end. Your job is to commentate on exactly how much clearance we’ve got top, left, right and underneath.”

She watched as Damon lifted it effortlessly and held it balanced against the doorpost as Adam changed position. That, she reflected to herself, is strong. 

She raced out the running commentary sounding like it was the final furlong at Aintree - top no problem, left inch and a half, right 4 inches, left up to 3, right down to 2. Adam, lift an inch to clear the floor, right side half an inch - and with the speaker in position, they adjourned, nodding in satisfaction to each other. 

“Head for the bar” said Adam. 

“Could do worse” agreed Damon and she tagged along beside them, through a winding passage to another staircase and back up one flight. 

“The swimming pool is down at that end” said Damon waving his arm to the right “At least it will be when we get it cleaned and back into commission”

“And this...” announced Adam “...is the bar”

She looked at the empty room. Maybe it was the original ballroom or drawing room but now devoid of furniture except for a few glasses lying on the floor near the patio doors at the far side

“Vodka and Coke?” offered Damon and Adam poured it from an area of floor brimming with bottles and cans.

“The plan is to have the bar along this wall here, and the seating around here. Might have some alcoves for better intimacy. Over there left of the patio doors will be a small stage, just in case anyone gets the urge to entertain, and then there’ll be a few small tables in the middle. We’re looking to create something of a village atmosphere, with the pub, that is this bar, being the centre of activity”. 

Michelle looked around doubtfully. Was there any part of this that was complete yet? And all these plans! They’d be expensive. Damon had already warned that the whole thing could flop and this, looking round again, looked like a distinct possibility.

“Guys! Its going to cost a fortune to do all this!” she exclaimed but Adam was unperturbed picking up the thread more seriously

“Yes. Yes it is. And that’s why we’ve separated out the building from the rest of the company. That way if there’s a major issue with it we can relocate the studio equipment and carry on somewhere else, using all the rest of the plan and the resources”

“That’s right. But just to confirm what you were thinking, Gordon and Adam weren’t prepared to take a risk on the building”

“No,” continued Adam “I’m ok with half a million reserved for the setup and first year of the studio operation, but I don’t want to be pouring money into a black hole that I have no control over. Gordon’s in the same bag”

“But that’s cool. You see, I think this can be done”

“And if it can, its fantastic” enthused Adam “You need to hear those acoustics down there”

“But, its me that’s taking that on” finished Damon

“But” she questioned “you guys don’t seem to have fallen out over it?”
 “No, its pure business. Everyone has their own perspective of risk, and their own view of how much they’re prepared to take, and how much money they’re prepared to put in”

“And then the profit – if there is any – will be divided depending on how much each of us has put in. Its like a shareholding but not so formal”

Adam went to refresh the drinks.

“Did you answer that phone earlier?” he asked as he came back “Anything important”

“It was Gordon”

“He’s in Adelaide, right?”

“No, he’s in Melbourne. His wallet was on its way to Adelaide, but he wanted to go to Perth instead”

They both looked across at her with their combined gaze suggesting she continued

“So I changed his ticket to Perth and booked him into the Western Ocean, and got him a transfer from the airport. So I’m hoping he’s sorted”
 “Otherwise he’ll land up in Alice Springs, or some other dire hole”

“Have you been there?” asked Michelle, 

“Yeah” drawled Adam “We played there once. That was enough for me. This place is remote. That place! It’s a thousand miles of desert from the nearest ranch”

“So, are you still interested in working with us?” Damon asked speculatively as a non sequitur

“I certainly am. This is an opportunity not to be missed. This whole setup is just, just surreal! And I can’t quite believe its all happening to me!”

“You” said Adam severely wagging an accusing finger at her “Need certifying”

“But it will be fun”

They talked on for some time, till Damon noticed the time, its getting late Michelle, I need to get you back before its your dads eyedrop time.

“You going out? I was hoping you’d help me that other speaker so I can get on with cabling in the morning”

“It’ll take a couple of hours to get Michelle home and then back again”

Silence prevailed for the first time that evening

“How about you take my car. D’you think you’d find your way?”

“I.. .. I guess so. I’ve only had two drinks, so I should be ok.”
 “You’ll be fine. Just take it easy. I’ll get you an offer letter as soon as I can. Clearly, you’ll have to quit working at Simmons”

“Oh wow! Thankyou. I can’t wait”

The car was scary. Chances are no-one ever saw an Aston Martin driven so slowly. Thankfully back at her house she heard voices in the living room as she unlocked the front door. 

Her dad was sitting comfortably on the settee with his arm comfortably around the shoulders of a pleasantly plus size lady of roughly his age. He introduced them, but she seemed either perplexed or cross, or maybe both.

“It’s very nice to meet you” she said. Then turning to him “but you’ve only got two bedrooms here Reg? And you invited me to stay. Were you not expecting Michelle back tonight?”

“I’m not sure where else I was meant to be?” she commented innocently 

“Well, Pete’s maybe” he said clutching at straws 

“Pete! Dad. He’s already left to join the army. But dad, have you had your eye drops yet”

“Yes thankyou dear. Sheila’s done that already”

Michelle was cross now. She didn’t need to come back at all, and now she was, although completely unintentionally, causing trouble. 

“I need to be in work early tomorrow, she offered as a line to a quick exit. I’ll see you in the morning” she said as she headed for the stairs.

“Why you cheeky monkey, you” she heard Sheila say. She didn’t sound mad, in fact she sounded quite the opposite. But, she reasoned with herself, that would get her off the hook. He was now giving her no choice except to sleep with him and that meant she didn’t have to take responsibility for the choice. 

Michelle was up early the next day, but was surprised to see an envelope on the mat in the hall. Surely Damon hadn’t. .. Well, yes he had. There it was, a short note inviting her to start as soon as possible on a variety of tasks which would be as wide ranging as her available time and capability permitted. And there was no salary mentioned, except to say that her net available income would be significantly in excess of her current income. 

So there was no conclusive details at all. But then, she argued, he’d already explained that he didn’t know exactly what was needed, except that what was needed was someone who was trusting, capable, adaptable and not least, flexible.

So ok, she wasn’t sure what it all meant, but he’d been true to his word up till now, and he’d said she’d have to trust him, and she wanted to work there, and she wanted to leave Simmons accounts office. Of course it was a risk. But, no, it was such an opportunity. And with only a few people in the company, her contribution would be more welcome and more useful. It certainly looked like there was a real job, but if there wasn’t and it was just Damon, that wouldn’t be a disaster anyway. Why wouldn’t she?

Armed with her offer letter that detailed virtually nothing, she wrote her resignation, and took it into Audrey’s office. 

“Leaving! Don’t you like us any more?” retorted Audrey appearing to take it personally 

“Yes of course I do, but it’s just that I’ve had an offer I really can’t turn down”

“Which is?”

“Which is to be the PA to the CEO of a new company with a completely novel concept working in the music industry”

“Humph. You mean, more interesting than an accounts office. I take it it’s more money”

“Significantly, and a much broader range of duties”

“And when do you expect to start?”

“As soon as I can. There’s no one in the job at the moment and they’re struggling a bit. I’m on a week’s notice, so that would be next Wednesday.”

“Hmm” Audrey frowned “but you’ve got three days leave left to take. So that could bring it forward to this Friday. If…” Audrey raised her head to look more directly at her over her horn rimmed spectacles “….that would help you? And of course, if that filing task is finished”

“Sounds like you’re quite keen to see the back of me!” retorted Michelle ungratefully 

Audrey looked hurt “My dear Michelle, nothing could be farther from the truth. But you will find that in most cases, when you’ve decided to do something, you should just get on and do it. And if you’re presented with something which is inevitable, you should make the most of it, even if you don’t like it. Now, I’m assuming you’ll be having a leaving do. The Wheatsheaf would be a good venue. And I’ll set that up for this Friday. HR may not be able to work that quickly. Do you think it would be better to delay until we can formally issue your P45?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. The guys I’ll be working for are in the music business and don’t really care much for formality. They’re too focussed on getting the job done”

“Sounds to me like you’ll fit in well there” said Audrey with just a glimmer of a smile. 

But now leaving Audrey’s office, she felt empty, hollow, and alone. She was unsettled and felt very much in some strange limbo floating somewhere between the undefined and the intangible. But at lunch time, she phoned Damon. He agreed to meet her after work, but also asked if she could do him a favour. He had a 4x4 reserved and could she pop round to the dealer, collect the keys and then park the one she wasn’t using outside in the street so that they could pick it up later on. 

They had dinner again in the Three Frogs, and discussed the long list of tasks that were looming to get the renovations underway, and another equally long list to get the studio operational. But it also meant she had a brand new Range Rover to drive into work the next day.

Thursday evening she worked late to make sure she got finished and then she sat at home pondering how to approach this whole thing, and trying to develop her own view of where to start. She explained to her dad that she’d found a new job, and that she’d be late back the following evening. But he seemed more concerned about whether Sheila would be dropping in, knowing the way he’d tricked her last time. 

Finally she finished the reorganisation of the filing system. Audrey invited her to give a short talk and demonstration of how it worked, and then almost immediately embarrassed her with a leaving present and a reminder invitation to the whole department to join them at the Wheatsheaf. 

A small group of them walked down together, with Audrey opening the door. But instead of continuing in she stopped abruptly. Oh my! On my goodness! 

“What’s up Aud?”

“It’s Damon Lehrer!”

She took a leap forward and headed straight for Damon 

“Damon? Damon Lehrer isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. But it’s unusual for me to be recognised”

“Oh. You must have a drink with me. I’m about to set up a tab”

“I’ve already got one, tab that is – but you carry on anyway”

Michelle was busy with some of her non-work friends. Alison was there with half a dozen others, and she hadn’t noticed that Audrey was sitting down with Damon 

“You must tell me what happened to Alex”

“There’s no more to it than has already been published, really. Alex had been becoming more unstable over a period of maybe a couple of years. That day, he just blew a fuse somewhere and bang. That was the end of that”

“But surely that can’t be the end of the Chameleons?”

“We were all in shock for a while. Clearly we couldn’t just carry on. So the three of us are shifting sideways a bit, still working in music but not directly performing on stage. Although, we still owe IMD a live album”

“Hopefully that gig will be in this country?”

“I expect so, but we’ve not got any plans yet. Like, do we replace Alex, do we change format and get a female vocalist. Maybe we just play as a trio. I don’t know”

“Well, when the tickets are released, you really must let me know. Oh and any chance of an autograph?”

Just about then, Michelle broke loose from her friends and was looking for Audrey to see what the financial arrangements were, or to put it another way, who was picking up the bill. Her face lit up when she saw Damon and headed his way, but Audrey was first to speak 

“Oh Michelle you’ll never guess who’s in the pub with us tonight”

“No, I probably won’t” she replied as she reached Damon. He stood up, squeezed her hand and Michelle was both elated and surprised as he gave her a very quick kiss on the lips. 

Audrey looked on is astonishment 

“I take it you two know each other already!” she exclaimed with mounting disappointment. 

“Yes” she nodded “But I didn’t know you two knew each other”

“We don’t. We just met” said Damon

“Oh. Damon, this is Audrey, my old boss. And Audrey, this is Damon, my new boss” she introduced

“But, Michelle, I had no idea you’d be working for Damon Lehrer. Of course I recognised him as soon as we got here”

Michelle looked blank 

“Damon. Damon Lehrer” she continued expecting to elicit some acknowledgement 

“Damon Lehrer from the Chameleons!”

“Oh” she said flatly before it had sunk in “Oh! Wow. Damon. I knew you used to be in a band, and I knew it had to be successful and famous band. But you never told me which one!”

“Well, now you know” he grinned. And that set the mood. Audrey was elated that she’d met one of her rock idols, Damon was getting on famously with Michelle’s ex work colleagues and Michelle was happy because everyone else was getting on well together and she wasn’t pulled and torn between groups. Damon spent some time with her friends. They all got on well, it seemed, even Ali, but he was concerned that there wasn’t a single one of them he’d consider employing. It made him value Michelle even more, even though, he told himself on more than one occasion, she hadn’t even started yet. 

The party wound down as the bar announced closing time. Damon watched from a distance as Michelle’s friends drifted off leaving her with three of the guys. He’d noticed them earlier when they appeared to be trying to make some progress with Alison, but Michelle, Damon knew, was in no fit state to defend herself. Rather rashly, he decided that she was not really aware of what she was getting herself into, but he also knew that he didn’t want to put all this effort into someone who was already pregnant. No, he decided, it was time to intervene. He nudged Adam and nodded his head in her direction. Silently, they moved over towards her. The guys protested as Damon took hold of Michelle’s hand and pulled her up

“Party’s over guys. Come on” he slipped an arm around her and she hung around his neck. Adam, helped half carry, half haul her to the Range Rover, while keeping the protesting guys at bay. 

She awoke late but decided to wait for the relocation of the steam hammer that had taken up residence inside her head before she tried to lift it from the pillow. Slowly she gained a little consciousness. This bed was so comfy, and the soft white sheet and duvet were.. .. not hers. Her bed was a pastel shade of pink all over. Reality started to shake in. She was not at home, sat up with a start, and immediately collapsed back down as the room spun around. She looked around. Bad move. Moving her eyes was not painless. She didn’t even know which door was out, or where the other two went. She closed her eyes and told herself there’s nothing she could do about it now as soothing birdsong drifted in through the window. Birdsong! Where she lived it would be the traffic song and maybe the odd train. She tried to remember who she was with last, and a few details of the evening returned to her, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Oh dear. I do hope I haven’t done anything so silly as to blow it.

She tried to doze for a while but drifted in and out of sleep, or was it consciousness. And when she finally came round again, the whole thing wasn’t quite so much of a shock. 

Holding her head to stop it falling off, she climbed out of bed and looked out of the window. Fields! And sheep. Oh my. And look, there’s my dress hung over the back of that chair. She checked out the rest of her clothes, and found she was still wearing most of them. That didn’t add up for any of the friends she could think of. Then again, they all lived in town, not out here on the farm. 

Eventually she tried the first door. Bathroom. Cold Water. Oh my! That was a mistake. But with a wash and a comb through her hair, and her dress back on, she decided she could make it as far as the hall and walked slowly along steadying herself on the wall. Stairs. Down rather than up she told herself. Now! This was more familiar. Yes. This will be the bar at some point, and this the dining hall, and along here? Yes! The main stair case and chandelier were still just as epic. She found the stairs down to the kitchen following the sweet scent of coffee, and a cheery 

“Good morning pet. You finally surfaced?”

“Oh my, Thankyou” she replied weakly as Janice edged a large mug towards her 

“Oh, yes, young lady. You were definitely the worse for wear last night”

“Yes, I’m sorry”

“Oh no. Don’t be. No worse than my own daughter on many an occasion. But at least the boys were with you”

She looked questioningly “Yes. I hate to think what would have happened to you if they’d not brought you back here. They’re lovely young men don’t you think. I was so pleased when they took over this house from Lady Patricia. But lets see, what about some breakfast”

“Oh, no thanks Janice. Its very kind, but I think I’ll wait until my tummy isn’t outside-in any more. Oh my! What are Damon and Adam going to think of me now!”

“Oh, they’ll be fine. Its not as if they’re teetotal themselves!”

“Except I have no idea what happened last night”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about it. The boys brought you home, as I said. And then I found you a spare room, I helped you into bed and put your dress on a chair so’s it didn’t get too creased through the night. You know, some people can be so funny when you try to do too much for them, but I try to do my best. Anyway you’re looking as lovely as ever again”

“I can’t think so! But Janice, what were you still up at that time for. It must’ve been well gone midnight?”

“Oh dear, yes, I’ve got so much to do. I’ll let you into a secret. I’m so worried about it all, I can’t hardly sleep. I get up in the middle of the night sometimes and try to get things done”

“Surely not! Damon’s been so understanding with me”

“Well, maybe. But I can’t afford for him to think I can’t cope. I mean! We’ve got nowhere else to live. Oh my. I try not even to imagine being homeless, even though Damon’s said he’ll help us”

“Well, in that case he will. He’s like that”

“But I keep thinking back a few, yes a good few years and there were forty something staff. And now there’s only me and Colin, and we’re not getting any younger”

“Well, if Damon’s plans work out, there’ll be a few more staff around quite soon. He’s not going to expect you to do everything yourself. I’m sure he won’t”

Janice had sat forlornly down at the table as Michelle continued sympathetically 

“Look, Janice, when I get started, I’ll find some time to come and help you”

“Would you really. Oh that is kind. Of course it would help if I knew what the plan was”

But there was no plan, just an outline concept that needed a huge amount of work to turn into reality. She followed her thoughts back to where the speaker had got stuck on the staircase and found Damon and Adam. 

‘Hi’ they both said in an exaggerated whisper. She plonked herself on a chair and promptly got in the way as they heaved an amp with a dozen trailing cables in towards the corner she was in. Damon leant on the mixing desk and Adam sat on the speaker 

“That was a good night. Those girls you worked with can’t half put it away”

“I haven’t been out with them before, I always thought they were rather boring. Until yesterday”

She dropped her head into her hands 

“I’m sorry I got out of line”

“No, Not at all” said Adam “Some of the girls we worked with in Oz got out of line every night, and were often way worse than that, then again, they’d had the practice”

“No problem, Michelle. It’s only natural. But towards the end, in the pub, three guys, there was Simon, and Olly and another. They were making a serious attempt at undressing you. I guessed that that wasn’t on your agenda”

“Oh! No, But, I should have thought of that. They did that to Ali at a party a couple of months ago. And then one time before that they completely undressed Nancy and stole her clothes. Then they took her back to her house, dropped her outside and rang the doorbell. How she explained all of that to her mum, I don’t know”

“Well, it’s good to see you don’t hang out with a boring crowd”

Michelle groaned “oh, thankyou for rescuing me”

“I think…” Damon started 

“…only sometimes…” Adam interjected

“…that you should grab your coat and take a bit of fresh air. Just a slow walk around the garden will start to clear your head, and then after lunch, you’ll be in a fit state to do something, even of its only to go home”

“We’ll be through here by half past twelve” said Adam “You can join us for lunch if you like, or keep your own company. Your choice”.

She drifted out of the front door and round the West side. That wing certainly looked closed up. The windows were bricked over and there was something like a large porch but with a brick wall in place of a door where the entrance should have been. Maybe this was the original grand entrance. Farther round, she crossed the lawn, although it looked like it was sprouting assorted weeds, or maybe they were wild flowers, that fell away gently from the house all the way down to what looked like a swamp. Her breathing was less erratic now as she got to the lake and gazed out across it through the reeds. Gentle raindrops were bouncing on the surface and reflecting rainbow colours as the sunlight diffracted through them. It was magical. And Adam and Damon were confirmed more as big brothers than some sort of omnipresent threat.

She walked to the bridge at the far end of the lake and along the south side. From the rise she could see the church spire poking its tip above the trees in the distance. She was beginning to brighten up as she headed back across the lawn when her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a tractor and it soon drew up beside her. 

“Are you Colin? she asked 

“Yes, and how would you know that?”

“I was talking to your wife earlier. Are you the gardener?” 

“I’m doing some gardening. But I don’t know if I’m officially the gardener. Its all a bit chaotic around here since Lady Patricia left”

“You seem to be doing a good job of it” she complimented, although she’d be the first to admit she didn’t know the first thing about gardening.

“Why thankyou for that, but there’s so much more I could do if I only knew what was wanted”

“If I find out, I’ll let you know”

Back in the kitchen her wet coat hung up to dry, a freshly baked loaf was being sliced for sandwiches. And she was beginning to get her appetite back 

“What’s planned for this afternoon”? she asked 

“I’m going to finish wiring that amp” said Adam 

“Well, Gordon got that deal he flew to Perth for, so now we’ve got to deliver. What about you?” 

She shrugged, 

“Don’t know. I didn’t have anything planned, but now I’m out here, I have even less planned”.

“Well, we did try to take you home”

“Yes, we drove over to your place, but we weren’t sure exactly which house it was in the block. So we wanted to check it out first”. 

“Oh there were people there, and still awake, just not answering the door”

“Can’t imagine they heard”

“Well they were making a fair bit of noise”

“There wasn’t an argument, or a fight going on.?”

“Oh no, quite the opposite. More the kind of noise you’d expect if they were in bed together”

Michelle’s jaw fell open and Adam leaned a finger on it to close it back up again. 

“Eventually someone opened a window, but we decided you’d be better off here”

“Because we’ve got Janice to look after you”

“But you can go home any time you like. Well, any time you feel up to driving. You should take the 4x4 again. That way, Adam and me can get that studio sorted. We’re going to need it”

It was late afternoon when she decided she was fit to go home. She’d spent the time exploring the building, making a number of lists of things that would be needed, or needed to be done, and had come to realise, that doing everything was a non-starter. Not just that, but doing the whole of one thing, then the next could take years, so the only option was to start a small part of each thing. This would be more complicated, but, she guessed, would show tangible results earlier. Like, one whole bedroom done, and then the next. That would be usable. Having all the carpets replaced wouldn’t really achieve anything. 

“Wanderer returns” complained her dad crossly as she unlocked the door “and where do you think you’ve been?”

“I told you I was going to be late”

“Yeah, but not a whole day late!”

“My friends brought me home, but there was some problem”

Sheila appeared from the living room 

“Do’ know” she said “But there was two blokes turned up after midnight lookin’ for ye’. Asked if you lived ere. I to’d em to naff off”

“Tha’s got a key ha’n’t ye’ ?”

“Anyhow, Sheil’s here for dinner. Ye can help me cook it”

Dinner with Sheila was uncomfortable 

“You didn’t make it back last night. Is‘t normal for you?”

“No, not really. Quite exceptional. But it was a special occasion”

“Hmphh excuse really”

“It was my leaving do. I’m moving jobs…”

But neither of them showed any interest 

Slowly her dad and Sheila got more and more drunk, and with it more and more embarrassing, to say nothing of offensive, if, she reflected, she was deflated enough to take offence.

That night she slept fitfully with a pillow over her ears. Both her dad and Sheila were larger than average by some considerable margin, and Michelle knew he only had a standard sized double bed in his room. The final straw was when one or other of them fell out with a thump and a crash that woke her up making her jump to alertness before figuring out what the noise was and eventually falling back to sleep again as the adrenalin subsided. But not before she resolved to phone Damon in the morning and ask to go back to the studio. 

“You off somewhere?” her dad asked as she put her case down on the hall after breakfast. 

“Yes, I’m going to work, and there’s a good chance I won’t be back for a few days”

“Few days! What kind of work is that where you’re away for days on end?”

“It’s my new job. Remember? Friday I had my leaving do. Now I start my new job”

“Humph. Sorts one problem though. Means Sheila can use your room again”

“Oh that’s great, dad. I haven’t even moved out yet and you’re already moving a lodger in!”

“When d’ye thin’ ye’l be back?”

“You mean, how long can Sheila stay in my room – I don’t know. I haven’t gone yet”

She slammed the door behind her not wanting this to escalate into a full scale argument. 

Damon was only too pleased to see her and they adjourned to the kitchen for coffee and cake.

“Yes” he said after listening to her tale of woe “when we were touring with the band, we were on 7 days a week. We didn’t think of it as work, because we were all just doing what we loved doing, playing music, entertaining, composing new stuff. And to us, this is the same. It’s something we really want to do, so we tend not to take time off. To us that would be like taking time off from having fun”

She sat quietly opposite them across the table, relaxed, secure. She felt she was with friends and cupped her hands around the coffee mug as Damon continued

“Good news” he announced 

“And bad”, added Adam. “Gordon sealed that deal in Perth. The down side is we may not have enough tracks. Apparently it’s got to have a significant jazz focus”

“Is that what you were discussing when I butted in?”

“Yes, and we’re not really jazz musicians although I guess we could?”

“No!” said Adam rather definitively shaking his head in disapproval of the idea “We moved on from playing partial scales and discords on a bent horn”

“But” continued Damon “Karen has identified a jazz quintet based in Chester. She’s pretty sure they’re unsigned and she thinks they’d accept an invitation, if they got one. So I’ve given her the ok to suggest they come down here and lay town a few tracks”

“But that means we need to start getting this place sorted out a bit sharpish!” Michelle responded with reality starting to dawn on her “And how long have we got? We can’t do everything”

“True. And about 6 weeks total, so we need to get that quintet down here in maybe 2 to 4. But it gives us a good focus, so we need to identify the priorities”

“Does it! I’ve not the foggiest clue on where to start!”

“Well, one thing’s for sure. We’re going to need a studio. So my priority is getting it wired up” said Adam. And that was helpful, because it got Michelle thinking of where she could begin. Like maybe accommodation, and that meant meals and snacks and cleaning and drinks and bar and her mind charged off in several directions at once, not least that although she thought she’d be doing a lot of the organisation, she would also have a significant say in what was needing to be done. And that could not be farther from her job in the accounts office.

“You did drama at school didn’t you?” asked Damon after Adam had gone. She nodded. 

“Ok, you see drama is all about pretend. When you’re on stage you have to pretend you’re someone else and behave and think like them. And this is the same. We’ve got this band coming down so I want you to pretend you’re in that band. You arrive here. I want you to walk through what you ask, where you go, what you want to know, what you expect to be provided – everything from a notepad and pen, or a rehearsal room to a bed for the night and breakfast in the morning. That will give us a list of things we need to sort out before they arrive”

“That makes sense. But what if I miss something”

“Once you’ve made your list, Adam and me will play at being in that band. You will meet us, and we’ll see what questions we come up with, and if they’re not on your list we’ll add them in.”

Michelle set to work with a pencil and a piece of paper. Within quarter of an hour, this had grown to eight pieces of paper, each with a separate heading. By the end of the morning the headings had been crossed out and replaced several times as the list expanded. Some of them had been combined and the random list of activities was already looking impossible when she checked in with Damon at lunchtime. 

He listened attentively as she talked it through becoming more despondent at the impossibility of it all. He looked at her smiling silently for a few moments

“Michelle, before we started this there were two ways of doing it. One way would be to drip feed each activity, keeping secret the long list of subsequent activities and knock on effects, so that at the end everyone says that if they had known this was where they were trying to get to, they wouldn’t have dared start. 

The second was to explain the objective and make the activities plain, both the initial tasks and the subsequent knock on effects. But in doing that we need to have the confidence that, although it looks daunting, its not impossible. You may have found that Audrey back at Simmons used the first of these. My choice was the second, because she was a manager and I’m not. I don’t want to tell you what to do each day, check your progress, tell you off when you go wrong. No, I’m a leader. I want to give you the freedom to achieve this objective any way you like. I want to work with you, help you, discuss priorities, help you recover if you go wrong and if its better that I do something than you, then that’s ok too. This is a team game, not master and servant. We’re going to work together without keeping secrets from each other, especially when we make a mistake. I want you to be happy here, even if it looks like it’s the north face of the Eiger we’re trying to get to the top of”

She gazed across the table at him. She had a hundred and one emotions spinning in her head. This was going to be a roller coaster, but was it going to be fun? You bet it was! And Damon… don’t go there she told herself. He’s right. He’s 14 years older than you.. But farther discussion was stifled by Janice slipping in almost unnoticed looking like she might have seen a ghost

“Adam says you might have your first band coming down in two weeks time?” she said raising her stress level from seriously concerned to panic

“Yes, that’s the plan, Jan, but we need to get some things sorted out before then. The first of these is the studio. Without that there’s no point in them being here. The second is we need to make a start on the accommodation and facilities here”

Janice looked even worse at that news. 

“But, Karen says that there are loads of really good bands around, and that we should get a wiggle on. Now, whatever happens, it will have a knock on impact on you, because the more people we have around here the more work will be coming your way”

“Damon, I know” she interrupted “And I’ll do my best, but..”

“I know you will, Jan. But, listen, no one’s expecting you to do everything by yourself. Michelle’s working on a big long list of all sorts of things we need to sort out. And when that’s ready, we need to put a timescale against everything and then see when we can get things done. When we’ve done that we need to have a chat with you to see how many people you’re going to need, and when, in order to keep the show on the road”

“Oh! Oh my!! So I might be getting some help?”

“Oh, definitely. It’s just a matter of when, but I think we’ll all need to work quite quickly on recruitment if things are going to start to happen next month. Maybe you could have a think about any local people that might want to work here. Like I think you’ll need help in the kitchen to cover from breakfast all the way through to dinner, and in looking after the rooms, it will be like a small hotel, but with an invited guest list. I guess that’s a bit like the old days of the country house?”

“Yes, I suppose it is, if you look at it that way. So I should start looking straight away?” she said brightening up 

Damon thought for a couple of seconds 

“Yes. I can’t see you needing less than two people almost immediately, one in the kitchen and one on cleaning. Actually, we could do with a full time cleaner just to help with the renovation. That would be a third. But you also need to remember that the more people you have, the more time you need to spend looking after them, and the less time you have to do things yourself”

“Well, I can think of a number of names already. Girls that would want some extra cash”

“That’s good, but can you also think of what shifts they might need to work, and where they’d stay, or how they’d get here. Walking all the way from the village is ok in the summer, but…”

“Oh yes”, cut in Michelle “But if they’re going to live in, that would push the room count up from 5 to 8. That’s the number of bedrooms we need to sort out immediately”

“Damon, do you want me to come and tell you when I’ve had a good think?”
 “Yes. But, Jan, we need to talk to Michelle as well because whatever you come up with will have an effect on what she’s doing, and what she’s doing will impact you, and Michelle will be talking to Karen to get the up to date plan from her”

Michelle retired to the room nearest the front door where the solitary desk stood lonely in the centre. This is what Gordon had described as the office, and the desk was the only clue. But really! There would need to be a lot more to it than just a desk with her sitting at it.

She started organising her lists. Patterns started to appear. Connections between different issues. No point is fitting a carpet just to have the floor taken up to fit some wires for something. But maybe the builder would know that.

Michelle was lost in her own thoughts as she walked out into the hall and almost missed Damon asking 

“Is setting up your office on your list?”

“No”

“What about my office and Adams office?

“No, not yet. And I’m sure there’s loads of other things that will be joining the list”

“Yes” he agreed quite flatly.

And as an opportunity to add to all that, now, thought Michelle, would be a good time to ask about staying here

“Damon” she started immediately raising his suspicion, but was thwarted by Adam. 

“Hey Dame’. Oh hello Michelle” he leant over towards her and gave her a quick kiss 

“Are you going to kiss me every time we meet” she asked out of pure surprise, but tinged with apprehension although inside she was really a little excited and quietly pleased 

“No” he said slowly “Only the first time we meet each day. But that doesn’t prevent you returning the compliment”

“Hey Michelle, don’t you need to be getting home about now. Oh dear, its already gone 9. 30”. 

“Its ok. Dads girlfriend is there doing what needs”

“Well, you can always just stay here. That room you used last night is still there”

“Yeah, like the 100 others we’ve got. Hey Damon, just imagine what it would be like if we had so many bands down here that they were all taken”

Adam continued to speculate and describe the dream, while Damon mainly listened and she could see he was in deep thought mode. 

She got up to leave about 10.30 

“G’night, little baby” said Adam, and Damon just raised a short hand in a wave 

‘Little baby’ indeed. That could be taken as derogatory, but actually, it brought a smile to her face. These guys were great. Ok, so sometimes they made her feel younger than she’d like, but they were both fantastic and she felt completely safe. 

Morning, and this was the day she thought she’d be starting work for Damon as the smell of bacon and coffee lured her down to the kitchens although she’d already done a week’s work just yesterday. And after breakfast, she and Damon talked through the list. 

“Now” he said “we’d better get a wiggle on and get some of this started, so we need some priorities” just as Adam bundled in. 

“If you ask me, my priority would be to get the bar built”

“Yeah, but we didn’t ask you”

“Fair enough, I just came to let you know that Crispin is around this morning, he’s in his cave”

“Cave?”

“He’s commandeered a room next to the vaults. He’s got a shed load of equipment in there, but I have no idea what all these screens, wires, flashing lights and everything else is all about. He did offer to tell me, but I said I thought it better to leave it all to him. He’s the expert. Maybe we’ll get involved if it doesn’t work”

“ So what I think, Michelle” he continued as Adam disappeared “is that you phone Karen. Find out when these jazz guys can get down here like next week. Then book them into the Olde Belle or somewhere for a couple of days. That will give ourselves some time. We get this first recoding sorted and we’ll be clearer about how to do it after that”

Damon left her with his next top half dozen things to do, but also gave her the latitude to include anything she specifically thought of as a priority. Her task now was to start tracking down some suppliers and place some orders, but first she headed off to talk to Janice about getting some more staff. 

Colin was in the kitchen when she got there, and he was still looking for some help on what he should be doing. Michelle listened for a while. 

“I think” she said eventually “that you should start trying to sort out that lawn. Then maybe clear some paths around the lakeside. But the main thing is to get some help. Go hire someone to help get the garden back under control before it’s too late. And if you need to buy something,,, I mean, last time we talked you were saying you really needed lawn weed killer. Either just buy it and I’ll get the money back for you from Damon, or I’ll raise an order. Or I’ll just go on out and buy it, if you point me in the direction of the right shop”

Janice seemed relieved by this. Presumably she was getting the backlash of Colin’s uncertainty. She told Janice to go hire two people, but to also think about more. And so she had started. Was this what being a PA was about? She thought not, but it was headed in a straight line towards good fun. Quite apart from how surprised she was at herself for being so self-assured and definitive,

Tuesday saw her headed into town to the stationary supplier. She’d been rash enough to make another suggestion. That, if they had a couple of giant white boards, they could mark up the progress of all these things and be able to see at a glance if there was a problem. You get two types of pens she’d explained, one you need a wet cloth to wipe clear, and the other needs just a dry cloth. So you can mark out the background lines and spaces and dates and months and things, and then update it using the dry pens which are easily rubbed out and changed. 

Damon had listened attentively to the sum total of the worlds knowledge of whiteboards, and in the end just said “Ok. Go buy some. Use the credit card that lives in the desk”

And while you’re in town, check out office equipment. Yes, I thought you could establish your office here, and mine would be just next door. That connecting door will be useful too. We’ll put Adam along the corridor nearer the stairs to the studios and also nearer the bar. Then we need a couple of filing cabinets, a desk for you – make it a large one, a couple of good chairs, some guest chairs a meeting table, and chairs, a couple of low settees and a coffee table, a coffee pot. Oh, and a beer fridge. Got that?”

Beer Fridge? Oh what! “Yes”

“Good, oh get one of those new data projector things as well, and 2 high spec pcs and a good printer. No, I’ll find Crispin and ask him to get that computer stuff”. 

At first Michelle was nervous. These things were expensive. She wasn’t used to spending money except for an occasional dress and a vodka or two at weekends. And the weekly shopping.

But these desks cost as much as the weekly shop – each!. And computers! Well. She had a look and was very quickly grateful that that task had been given to Crispin. There was a bewildering choice and she had little idea what they did. She knew that they could be used for accounting but had no experience of them. The accounts office at Simmons was all ledgers and sharp pencils. But her bravado returned as she remembered how she got this job in the first place. Damon had sent her to get stuff - not just look at it or investigate it or research the cheapest option. And that meant taking advice from the office supplies expert and ticking off her list.

Back at the Studio, she was keen to start marking up her progress charts, but first she had to contact more suppliers. 

This however, was altogether harder. Like the driveway specialist. She asked if he would like to come over and survey the project, but for some reason he seemed reluctant to do that.

“I really do think it would be best if you could look at this project. You might even suggest some stuff we’ve not thought of”

“Ok” he said “But if I just get a few details, I’ll be able to give you an estimate. What surface do you want on your drive?”

“Just normal tar, I think”

“You think? Not cobble stones, they’re very in vogue, or paving slabs? “

“No, I’m pretty sure tar would be best”

“Ok, but if it’s a fairly short driveway, then it’s a lot of equipment to get parked close by”

“I don’t think that will be a problem”

“Ok so how long is your drive?”

“I don’t know”

“It’s difficult to give you an idea of price without knowing how big the job is”

“Oh, it’s big”

“And what is it made of at the moment, is it a new house?”

“No, it’s a very old house”

“So it already has a driveway?”

“Yes, but it’s full of potholes”

“But you don’t know how big it is?”

“Very big”

“Ok madam, But we need to get an estimate of how big this job is. So how many cars could you fit on it, two? Three? More than that?”

“What? On the whole drive? Oh way more than that. Dozens. Maybe a hundred. At least”

“How many! Ok so how wide is it?”

“It only needs to be just one car wide, well one van wide”

“So, one van width, but…. But how long? Ok More than 3 cars. And what’s at the side of it”

“Just a grass verge on one side”

“And the other, is that the house?”

“No, that’s a meadow. With sheep in it”

“Is there a fence?”

“No, but I think the drive will be safe enough. I don’t think sheep eat tar. But it will need some passing places”

“Need what?”

“Passing places. If it’s only one car wide. In case someone comes the other way, it needs passing places”

“I’m so sorry, but I really need to know how long this driveway is, I am getting so confused”

“And me. Just a sec. Damon, how long is the drive? Right, Damon says it’s just under a mile. A few more than 1700 yards. Oh, he says don’t forget the car park. We need that surfaced as well”

“A mile! That’s a whole road! And how big is this car park?”

Michelle counted up out loud so he could hear “Five or six to the right of the front entrance. A good eight to ten outside the lounge the other side, and then maybe another 10 opposite, maybe twelve. Oh, and its wide enough to turn round without going backwards, so we might get four or five at each side if we wanted”

“Oh my. Is there a chance I could come over and look at this, so I get a clearer picture?”

Strangely, Michelle said to herself, that’s where I started. 

The boy in the carpet shop was no better.

‘Yeah, if you’re doing eight bedrooms and 4 reception and two offices, sounds to me like you’d be as well just do the whole house”

“Whole house! I should think not”

“Why not?”

“It’s too big to do in one go. Its huge”

“Well yes, with eight bedrooms it must be huge”

“Oh no, that’s not huge. That’s just big. This place is huge”

“Ok, do you want flooring in the dining room”

“Yes”

“What floor is there at the moment”

“A worn out carpet with a few loose rugs on top. I think there’s floorboards underneath”

“And how big is it”

“Very big”

“Ok how long? 13 14?”

“Just over 15”

“Ok, and wide?”

“Ten. Maybe eleven”

“So 15 x 11. That’s not really so big”

“It looks pretty big to me”

“Well yes, but lots of dining rooms are over 11 feet wide”

“Sorry? No…”

“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to be critical”

“No, not that. You said 11 feet. It’s not feet, it’s yards”

“What? Your dining room is 45 feet long”

“Just over. I said it was big but you didn’t believe me”

“Ah that’s why I thought your bedrooms were real small” 

Everything was more positive when she finally got through to the third aqua-servicing number she rang. No she did not want a swimming pool built, and no she did not want a Jacuzzi installed. No, she had said, the pool is already here but hasn’t been used for maybe 3 or 4 years. The first thing it needs is checking out. 

“Does it work? Have I switched on the pumps? No I haven’t! I’ve no idea where the switch is, or what it would sound like or look like if it was working!”

The guy at the other end of the line sounded a bit older, but she could hear that he’d burst into a sort of chuckle. 

“Ok” he’d said “you need me to come over and see what’s what. Then I can check what’s working, what’s not and then what you need to do. And then I’ll tell you what services we can provide to get everything up and running, then making sure it all stays that way”. 

Michelle breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe it wasn’t all going to be such a struggle.

Despite the frantic pace, it was Thursday when it all kicked off, so it was just as well that she’d spent Wednesday drawing her white board chart. Despite her attempt at scheduling, the swimming pool guy turned up early. She left him investigating the vagaries of the East wing plumbing to return to her office only to find the carpet man disappearing up the stairs with Damon. The five minute chat that the swimming pool guy wanted with her turned into nearly an hour and as he was leaving the furniture van showed up from the office suppliers. That suddenly made the hall completely impassable, and until Adam extracted himself from the inside of a mixing desk, it was likely to stay that way. Then the driveway surveyor arrived. Despite the crossed wires on the phone, he seemed professional enough, and, having seen it, now had a precise description of what was needed. Lunchtime seemed to have come and gone without her and Michelle retired from the whirlwind to the bar. 

But no sooner had she taken a sip than she thought she heard a voice. Someone calling Hello, perhaps? 

“Was that someone shouting hello?” she asked Damon. Oh, I guess I’d better go and find out. Standing on the outside of the barricade in the hall was a young guy, tall and thin and wearing working overalls with a pencil behind his ear. 

“Hi! Is the drawbridge not working?” he asked with half a laugh

“No” she replied wondering what was next on today’s agenda “Since the moat was filled in we rely on furniture instead”

He squeeeezed around the side and shook her hand 

“You wouldn’t be the Lady of the house, would you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh, I don’t know. So you are?”

“I guess so, and you are”

“Hal. Hal Lewis. I know this is a bit cheeky, but I overheard in the pub that you were thinking of installing a bar in one of your rooms. Is that right?”

“Yes”

“Well, I’m a chippie. I’m time served and everything, but I’m just starting out on my own, and I was hoping you would consider me for the work”

She sighed again and ran her fingers through her hair

“We haven’t even started on that yet because we haven’t thought out what we need”

“Maybe I could help you with that as well. I was working for Masons the Shopfitters until recently and installed quite a few bars with them”

“Well, since you’re here, you may as well take a look”

Damon was nowhere to be seen when they got to the bar room. 

“This is the room we have in mind. I think the intention is to have glasses and optics and stuff all along that wall, the bar here, and then install some bench type seating along this wall here. Adam was talking about some curved seats to make sort of alcoves as well. We might put a small raised stage over there, but not blocking the doors to the veranda”

“Jeez! When most people install a bar at home it’s a couple of feet long max with space for two whisky bottles and four glasses. What you’re looking for is a full sized pub”

“That’s right” she said nodding “That’s exactly what we have in mind”

“I suppose I should have guessed. Where other folk want a bar in their front room, you guys need something in keeping with the size of the house, right?”

“That’s about it. Maybe it could have like a curved end on it near the door, just to save it from being square with sharp corners?”
 “So I’d need to draw a plan before I can get a quote out to you”

“That’s ok. But we’re really looking to get started quite soon”

 “So you’re only starting out on your own?” Damon asked following the introductions

“And you’re working in this area?”

Michelle looked quizzical

“You see, Michelle, most work gets done on recommendation in this area. So if someone, like a chippie, does a bad job or overcharges or is impolite, word gets round and work dries up. And if you’re just getting started, you can’t afford for that to happen”

He turned to Hal “Right?”

Hal nodded, “that’s pretty much it”

“But I’m just a bit nervous about spending a lot of time drawing a plan” said Damon “when we don’t really know what we need. I’ve never worked behind a bar, so I don’t know what you need to take into consideration”

“Like?”

“Like, where should you put the glass-washer and the sink so as not to get in the way of serving. And how wide does it need to be”

“Like, if you had a fat barmaid?” asked Hal

“There’s no chance of that” said Damon flatly “Why would I hire a fat barmaid when there’s dozens of pretty ones I could have instead. So, when can you start?”

“Damon, we don’t even have a price yet”

“So how’s Hal supposed to give us a price when we don’t know what we want him to build?”

“That’s why we need a plan, isn’t it?”

“And then we’d have to visualise what the plan would look like when it was built. When we can just get Hal, here, to put something together and we can have a look before he does any permanent damage, like screw it to the floor. And he won’t overcharge us, or do a bad job, because he can’t afford to. Right?”

“Right”

Michelle looked blank

“Michelle, babe, we just went through all of that”

 “Hmm. There does seem to be a bit of a problem trying to get things started.

I was talking to a guy about a driveway earlier this week. He asked how wide I wanted it, and I said enough for one car. So he said how long do I want it, two cars, three maybe. I said, but that would only be thirty or forty feet. He said, that that’s quite a long driveway, and I said no way. He said, so how long do you want it, and I said all the way from the road to the house”

“How far’s that?”

“About twenty minutes walk. He didn’t phone back”

Hal laughed “I think you’ll get that a lot. This place is amazing, it’s just on a different scale to anything else. And this bar’s the same”

“So what do you think? I think it needs a proper design”

“It’s a big job. And not to be sniffed at. But design takes time, and that’s time when I’m not earning. I was thinking you’d have a better idea of what you wanted”

He sat down, looking rather despondent. “I guess I had built up hopes when I built up the courage to just drop in on you guys. But this is much more complicated. Maybe you need pictures or brochures or whatever, it’s a whole public house refit, only starting from scratch”

“So why don’t you start by putting something together without it being permanent. Just a frame and a top. Then we can see how big it really is and maybe move it around and see how it would look in the room. And that will serve to help us get our ideas together. In other words, see if Adam likes it”

“But Damon, what cost do you want me to put on my chart?”

Hal looked on as though he was taking a keen interest in this part

“Suppose” Damon said turning back to Hal again “Suppose we agree a rate for working on time and materials for the first couple of days. That will be enough to create something and we can like it, dislike it, change it from there if its just loosely screwed together. And it gives Hal a chance to get a feel for what the finished article would look like so he can put together a proper cost.

Hal was nodding approval

Michelle was puzzled “So why don’t we just do this time and materials thing for the whole job?”
 “Because, its not in our interests, and, I guess, Hal would prefer not to as well. If he just continues on a day rate, his income from the job may well increase if the job goes over the time estimates, but only at the same rate as he’d get for the next job anyway. If he defines a fixed cost there’s an incentive to outperform, to get finished early. Because if he finishes early, his profit margin goes up from this job, and he gets to the next job sooner. And from our perspective, we get the job finished earlier”

“I can start tomorrow?” he offered speculatively. Which was the same day as Adam got the basic eight track studio working.

Oh my! she breathed wondering just where she was. If yesterday’s events set the pace I don’t know how long I’ll survive! But it wasn’t long before they took a fresh turn. 

She realised that with all the excitement and the fun, which she reflected, was starting work around 7 in the morning and running straight though till about midnight, if she included time spent in the bar discussing the plans, she hadn’t actually found time to go home. She’d taken up residence in the room she’d originally woken up in. 

But now her dad was on the phone, which only prompted the question of why he hadn’t phoned sooner? But the long and the short of it was that he was wondering when she was coming home, if at all! Or, as she rephrased it for him, if he could move Sheila into her room. 

And while the question took her by surprise, she should have predicted it. 

But now she felt like she’d been evicted and despite everything else she felt hollow. Maybe she deserved it, not going home for, how long was it? But she was crestfallen as she put the phone down and drifted out into the main hall.

“You ok? No, no you’re not are you?”

She turned to Damon as he appeared from the kitchen stairs

“Damon, you know you and Adam stay here”

“Well, yes. We’ve nowhere else to go. Seems a bit silly staying in a hotel when there’s a hundred odd rooms here”

“Yes,” she whispered. 

She felt nervous, and really cheeky asking this but, she steeled herself for an unpredictable response, here goes. 

“Damon, do you think I could stay here too”

He stopped walking just by the foot of the main stairway. 

“I thought you already did, now that your dad’s new girlfriend is sorting him out”

But now even more the situation was sinking in. She’d lived at that house for nearly 21 years. And ok so she hadn’t been home for a few days. And her mum had lived there too. It’s the only home she knew, and now…. Her voice faltered 

“yes, yes he has, and she can do that instead of me. But, but, but” she stuttered having trouble getting the next words out.
 “But…”  ‘he wants to give her my room’ is what she wanted to say, but something in her subconscious changed it to
 “… I feel like a bit of a gooseberry there at the moment”
 Damon moved close to her and folded his arms round her. “That’s not quite the whole story, is it?” he said quietly
 “No. Its not a very big house” she managed a thin smile as she relaxed into his hug
 “I’m sorry” she whispered “I guess it’s just another thing that’s changing. I suppose I had to move out at some point. Its just strange I wasn’t there when it happened”
 He could see little tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes in the light from the chandelier. 

“Ok” he said quietly with a hint of encouragement “Change of plan. The plan, Michelle, is nothing if not agile”

He released the cuddle to judge the reaction but she stayed close pressing into his side. He took her hand, spun her round to face the stairways and led her up to the first floor.
 “There are only three rooms you’re not moving into. One of them is the suite Janice and Colin use, the second is Adams and the other is mine. But, hey, that leaves another 97 or so”
 She smiled, her confidence beginning to return, buoyed up by Damon’s obvious support
 “So, what would be a nice room for Michelle” he thought out loud as they walked along the corridor. 

“What about one of the towers. This one here, north east corner of the central wing” 

The room was large, with a commanding view up the driveway and to the forest beyond the sheep meadow, then from the opposite window, a view for miles down the valley across the woods to the farmyards and meadows beyond. There was a side door, and Michelle opened it gingerly. The spiral staircase took her up a level where there was a small bathroom off the staircase, and another large room above the first. 

“So? What’s your impression of this? If you wanted to you could use this bedroom here and turn the one below into a living room, and there’s a bathroom here too. And I think if you go up from here to get out onto the roof of the tower. Possibly ideal for sunbathing. Given some sunshine of course”

“That would be quite a lot of work!”

“Yes, but there’s going to be a shedload going on anyway. You just decide what you want, and get it on to your list. Then when we get a builder on site we’ll point him in that direction. Maybe that chippie of yours can do it when he’s finished the bar. In the meantime, you can always just use the room you’re already in”

That evening in the soon-to-be bar, Damon broke from the normal excited light hearted, conversation as Adam refilled the glasses

“Michelle, I’m glad you talked to me about your room today. Its nice being able to help you when something like that happens”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be an imposition”
 “Not at all. All jobs develop. But maybe around here they’re going to evolve a whole lot quicker than anywhere else. Adam and me want you to be as much help as possible, and take on as much as you can. But as you’ve already discovered, if you live in the office you can’t go home to escape from work”

The next few days saw real progress. Hal had got the idea and was busy putting a loose wooden structure together so that the design could evolve around something tangible. Driveway man’s quote came in, and the carpet man dropped a roll of samples on her desk when she wasn’t there.

She’d lugged the sample roll down to the bar, but conversation was around building the bar. Hal had invited his girlfriend along to give an alternative female perspective and there was another evening gone.

Builders were proving slightly more difficult. They all seemed to want to know exactly what she wanted doing. And she didn’t know. Eventually she found a less impetuous candidate. He was heading to retirement age and was clearly not going to do all the work himself, but Michelle liked him because he offered advice on what was difficult and what was relatively straightforward. He explained the way his industry worked in that part of the country with most of the tradesmen and craftsmen working for themselves, contracting to a number of different companies to make sure they had continuity of employment, and that while he couldn’t do everything, he knew people who could.

He arrived in Michelle’s office and waited patiently for her to finish her phone call. They stopped a number of times on their way up the main staircase to the third floor to examine a few ripples in the walls and structures. Michelle explained what she thought was needed. 

“We need to make sure the rooms are good enough to live in. See this one here has some problems with the ceiling… “

“…Yes. Looks like you’ve got a leaky roof that’s causing that”

“Yes. There’s dozens of leaks in the roof, but I’m told that most of them are quite minor. Just a slate or tile or whatever else was meant to be up there keeping the weather out. But we’ve got a roofer up there sorting that out. That’s how we can start down here… so we need proper light fittings and bathrooms all working. And here, what I think we want is for this room to be turned into two bathrooms, one for each of the rooms either side of it.

“So you’d need a door cutting?”

“well yes, unless its occupied by ghosts who wouldn’t need one”

“Hmmm.”

He looked at her quizzically “What I’d like to do,” he said slowly “is to spend a couple of days in your office working this out”

“My office? Not your office?”

“No, your office. That way I can get answers to all the silly questions straight away and we can work out together what you really want”

“Ok”

“But first, I’d like to get a man on site to stick numbers on all the doors so we know what we’re talking about”

“Ok”

“And the sooner we work out where to start the sooner I can get men started”

“I know where I want to start – The north east tower”

She spent some time watching as Len examined the first few rooms on her list and added his notes to the ones he’d made for the tower. 

He helped her identify some rooms that she could use to start with giving her the initial 8 she needed, and all of a sudden she felt that the pressure had subsided.

He said he’d start getting men on site as they became available from their current work, and things would start to ramp up in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, he’d make detailed notes about each room which would speed things up and she could agree the plan ahead of the work starting. And not just that, but he could provide a better cost estimate. 

Within days he had two guys on site, checking the rooms that were said to be habitable and while there were still a lot of damp stains on the ceilings, the roofer seemed to be clearing a lot of the issues. The work was underway. If Len was as good as his word, the pressure for completion would fade into the background.

Now, she felt she was finally under control. Gordon had the first deal in the bag and it looked like it might expand to a global group deal and the jazz quintet were booked to come down for recording.

She stood back from her board reviewing the progress. Driveway, Bar, Bedrooms, her room, the offices… row after row of stuff that was going on. And a few more at the bottom that Damon had added to do with waveform software and computers and networks that she was quite happy to know nothing about.

Adam’s studio finally complete, Michelle helped move equipment into place, test the microphones and now all the speakers spoke when expected, all the input meters fluctuated in time to the background noise and Crispin finally had something to test his new rig against. She made various noises around the studio as Adam checked the impact at his end and at least superficially, it all seemed to be working.

They re-arranged the furniture in the rooms designated as offices near the front entrance and that small task made such a difference. Now it looked like there might be a business opening up here. Len asked them to check out the rooms he had completed and were ready to occupy and they checked out progress on the bar which was nearing completion.

Progress and excitement were both now tangible and it was time for their first band to arrive.

The next bonus was that the noise from the builders was not continuous. Somewhere up there they managed to find some tasks that did not require banging seven barrels out of something unrelentingly solid and Adam was able to take advantage of those lulls to do some actual recording.

The quintet had arrived and had spent quite some time rehearsing despite the external noise. 

They were excited to have been invited and even more pleased to find that catering, accommodation and even drinks were all provided. Adam was impressed by their professionalism in the studio and conceded that they were good musicians despite having little time for that kind of music.

Damon voiced a couple of fake adverts and included them as a test through Crispin’s computer system and almost surprisingly, their first programme was finished. Everyone was pleased with the result. Damon thanked them and paid them and said he hoped to see them again soon, although Adam wasn’t so sure about that last bit.

The next task was to get it transmitted to the customer, but that could wait until Gordon had agreement and had finalised the price and in the meantime Adam, Damon and Michelle retired to the bar to discuss the success. Hal had now completed the work and it looked stunning. Adam played barman and they tested the chairs and tables and optics with a certain level of self-satisfaction. Michelle sat at a table in the middle of the room turning round and back on her chair several times looking at every part of the transformation. She was so sceptical when she’d seen this room for the first time and Adam had referred to it as the bar. Now it was. What other minor miracles could they make happen?

 This whole crazy scheme had made such amazing progress. There were bedrooms to sleep in, a dining hall with tables in, a cook in the kitchen and assorted tradesmen either started or scheduled. And a bar. The audio programme they’d completed had been a lot more work than expected, but they also has a lot more material than they needed and it also appeared that Crispin had his side of things completely under control. And most surprising of all – she was right in the middle of this roller coaster.

Another week rocked in and with the tradesmen came the noise. It was getting difficult to concentrate on anything. In addition, the first group had been and gone and some quiet time was needed to review the situation and reconsider the priorities.

Early evening, and she waited for Damon in the bar. It was quieter there, being farther away from the main work. Except that the bar was different.

“Hmmm” mused Damon as he wandered in clearly thinking about something else

“yes” its not quite the same”

“I think the way the bar was, symbolised the whole concept” said Adam “But with all this sawdust everywhere it needs to symbolise something else”

“Maybe we should call it The Caterpillar. When the builders leave it might morph into something wonderful”

Michelle’s Flight

But Damon looked unusually worried as he poured a beer and sat down. Adam was close behind and noticed too, but they didn’t have long to wait. 

“Talking to Druze a few minutes ago”

Adam perked up “Good. Is he joining us?”

“Not yet. I haven’t asked him. Actually, I think we need to get a bit more organised before we extend any invitations like that. We need to know exactly where we’re going and how its going to work before we can try to figure out how anyone like that would fit in and what they would do that we can’t do or don’t have time for. But its a thought. No, he’s been in a bit of a downward spiral for a couple of weeks and now he’s verging on depressed”

“That’s not good. He can get quite unpredictable when he gets like that”

“Yes, and in that respect he’s not too unlike Alex”

Michelle was looking perplexed. She’d never heard of Druze but he – or maybe she! – was clearly a friend of theirs. Or Alex

“Druze Lazenby” enlightened Damon 

She continued to look blank

“You’ve heard of The Druze Militia? Well that’s his band”

Yes, of course she had. They were one of the top groups in the alternative charts, but she kept forgetting that Damon and Adam actually knew people like that whereas she would only know him from the picture on an album cover. 

“So what’s up with him. And you seem concerned about him”

“It’s the scene he’s in. It’s finally got to him. He threw a party at the weekend. He thought it would cheer him up. But it turned out as the usual thing, two friends and fifty hangers on”

“Yeah, but Damon, that’s normal...”

“Then at the end when everyone was meant to go home and all Druze wants is to be left alone to sleep off his excess booze and there’s not one but three girls demanding to know why he doesn’t like them anymore and what they’ve done wrong...”

Michelle was looking very perplexed as Damon looked in her direction 

“...... All because he’d said he didn’t want to sleep with them – any of them”

“But that’s not so unusual either – or maybe they just didn’t know that”

“I know how they feel” she whispered to herself but Damon had caught the change in her face

“I guess they didn’t, but that just shows they were free loaders and that’s what’s upset him. Michelle, girls like that can be dangerous. You never can tell when they’ll embellish the event just a bit and try to sell the story to Das Bild or the Daily Mirror, or show up two months later with a pillow stuffed down their pants claiming free food for their baby for the next twenty years. Quite apart from him having a dose of the dogs that he’s picked up somewhere, probably from some other freeloader that he doesn’t want to pass on to anyone else”

“Well that shows he’s a nice kind of guy” joined Michelle 

“Yes Michelle. He’s a really nice guy. But this industry just sometimes stresses him out. If he was with folks that understood that, he’d be fine. But with fifty random gate-crashers, no chance”

There was a rumble like thunder from the first floor as a few more tons of masonry joined the skip outside. 

“I thought they’d gone for the day!”

“What about we go and see him?” said Adam after the noise subsided “Just a couple of friends and no wasters. And it would give us some time to think”

“Hmmm, yes without getting wound up by this constant row, although I’m sure it’s all very necessary, but I thought we might at least get the evening off”

In preparation, Damon took Michelle to see Len and Hal making sure that they could carry on, on their own

“Its ok Damon. I’m sure I can cope for a couple of days” protested Michelle.

Damon looked blankly back at her “don’t you want to come?”

“Me!”

“Yes. But you don’t have to”

“But I don’t know him”

“And you won’t get to know him if you just stay here”

“But there’s so much to do”

“Yes. And a lot of it has started. So we’ll get a better idea of what we need to do when we see the progress after a couple of days”

“Can I really!”

“Of course you can. But we might not leave it behind completely. Sitting quietly on a plane with nowhere to go is an ideal opportunity to talk things through and just see what everyone really thinks. And if you were part of that discussion, you’d have a better idea of where we’re trying to get to”

A small flight bag was all that was needed. Damon had told her that nightwear, bikini and sundress were the essentials and anything else was extra.

Bristol airport, and Michelle had never flown anywhere. She remembered going on holiday with her parents a long time ago, but it wasn’t an annual event and more often she simply spent a few days with her aunt, who was really just a family friend. 

The hop to Heathrow was over almost as soon as it had started and she was glad that she was with someone who knew their way around. The terminal building was heaving with queues of people with cases and bags snaking every which way across the available floor space.

Air France was something completely different. She felt quite self-conscious as all eyes seemed to be on her as they boarded the flight ahead of the vast majority of the crowd at the gate. The plane was much bigger and the stewardess was bringing a snack and a drink. Again she was glad she was with people who had done this before. How much did it cost? Or was it free? Could you ask for anything that wasn’t offered? Could you get two drinks from the trolley? It was all so new, but easy when you knew how.

The next surprise was that the conversation was mainly about her. Was she really enjoying herself? Was she glad she’d joined them? Did she really think that she’d leave her Eagle friends behind? Did she think they’d get more done if they found someone else as well to join them? Don’t be disappointed if Druze doesn’t hit on you. He doesn’t want to be responsible for spreading anything nasty….

“Fasten your seatbelt”

““Yes” Damon said “and hold on to your head. This place is notorious….”

The plane banked sharply and descended steeply across the Mediterranean lining up the runway, losing a thousand feet as it hit an air pocket. And suddenly the second flight of her life was over. 

The heat hit her as they left their taxi at the marina quayside.

“We’re looking for the Lazy B” Damon had asked the harbour master, who pointed them at an open rib that was waiting near the office. 

Damon climbed aboard and swung his case into the floor. She looked at the gap between the jetty and the side of the boat hesitating and wondering what would happen if she slipped on that rounded inflated side. Damon watched her hesitation and chuckled at her short squeak as Adam lifted her clean off the jetty and swung her over for Damon to catch. But then, she mused, how else would a young lady retain decorum in a short day dress if she had to board a slippery boat with round rubber sides? And that was that little problem solved in true Damon style.

She’d never been on a plane before. Now she’d been on two. And she’d never been on a speedboat before and now here she was planeing across the sea headed for goodness only knows where.. She knew they were headed for Druze’s yacht, but that didn’t help her. Yachts came in all sizes and most shapes so long as it was pointed at the front end, and now she could see that this one, quietly bobbing at anchor a mile off shore was decidedly impressive. It wasn’t huge like the size of a cruise liner, but it had three levels of portholes. And the one person on board had lunch ready. 

Damon introduced her as their business partner, the one that makes everything happen, but he also emphasised that they were there just to chill out and make sure that he chilled out too. 

Chatter after lunch was about old friends. Michelle listened for a while.

“...but did you know” Druze was saying “that after you left some of the guys did some checking too. Yeah, and you remember Goran Ellman? Yeah, well Rachael had pinched his spare key and clocked up nearly four thousand miles in that rare Montiverdi of his – all uninsured as well!….”

But these were people she hadn’t known and probably never would and she took the opportunity to withdraw to the sun lounger on the foredeck She reflected on the past few weeks and looked around wondering what was next and how did this all happen. How could she ever have imagined only a few weeks ago that she’d be the personal guest of a rock megastar on his luxury yacht.

“I don’t want you getting bored” she heard Druze say before realising he was talking to her. “Have you ever been on a jet-ski?”

No she hadn’t, and now she was about to take to her third previously untried form of transport. 

“Druze, I’m so sorry, but I’ve never even seen a jet-ski before. Doesn’t it need snow?” she said with mounting excitement “But I’d love to try”

“No, no snow. That would be a snow-mobile. But ok. It’s a bit like a motorcycle on water. I’ll take you out first, then you can drive while I’m on the back then if that’s ok you’re solo. Right?”

He sat close in behind her on their second trip out. His hands were on hers on the controls and while it looked like maybe he’d done this sort of demo before she felt like maybe she’d just melt. It was so gentle and intimate and all too soon she  got the hang of it. Now she was solo as he powered up the other ski. 

“I’ll come out with you” he was saying “just in case you wipe out and need rescued”

This was really the sort of thing she would have expected Damon to say. And maybe he was quite like him and maybe that’s how they were such good friends and why Damon was taking all this time out to look after him.

The jet-ski was wonderful. Bouncing around criss-crossing their wakes. It was new, exciting, wet and surprisingly exhausting as they returned to the yacht for some light refreshment joining Damon on the sun deck as Adam and Druze decided to do some fishing. 

“Maybe” Damon opened without moving from his lounger “Maybe you’d like to talk about your salary, Michelle. I said we’d do that when we got a spare moment and right now I think we might have”

Wow! What a place to talk about getting paid as well!

“Yes, you’re right. I’ve not actually transferred very much money into your account. But I am keeping track of what I owe you. At the moment your salary is in Switzerland. That way you haven’t paid tax on it. And unless you bring the money into England you won’t”

“Wow! My own Swizz bank account”
 “No, its still in my account. Or rather its in the company account. That’s the one Adam and Gordon and me have created to finance the project”
 “oh – never mind”

“But its all in your best interests. There’s more than a million dollars in that account and that means it qualifies for an even better interest rate. And your share of it, small as it is, is benefitting from that. That will stop if we sent it to your account at Nat West and you’d lose out. So as long as you don’t need it, its better staying where it is. Which is why you might think you’re only getting £500 a month

“That’s ok. Sounds sensible. But it would be nice to know how much it is”

“Ok. You need to agree and if you’ve got a major issue with this we can go back and discuss it with Adam but what we’ve agreed so far is this. Its in three parts, ok? So I took the amount that Audrey told me you were getting paid before and doubled it. That didn’t sound very much, so I used a factor of 2.5 instead of 2.…”

Michelle jumped and gasped not wanting to interrupt him. How much? Of course his letter said she’d have more that she had before, but that’s huge!

“...but you’re also staying at the Studio so….”
 Oh my I hope its not a huge deduction! I never thought of that. ,

“...that’s a bit of a bonus on top”

Oh my so maybe I don’t need paid at all. Everything’s already included. And if we get the pool finished and…

“….But the big deal that I agreed with Adam is that you should be on 3% bonus. So is all that ok?”

He finally raised his head and turned towards her

“Wow! Damon! Thankyou so much. I wasn’t expecting that. Because if I stay at the Studio I won’t need to spend much at all, except for clothes”
 “Exactly, which is another reason for keeping the money where it is. Its off-shore at the moment and that means its avoiding tax. If you don’t need more than the tax limit you should avoid it altogether. May be worth thinking about a trip to Paris just to buy clothes. It could be cheaper overall if you use the Swiss account”

Damon sounded as though he knew about this. But then, maybe he did with his experience earning a lot of money in every country of the world. So this is another case of trust Damon and continue. 

She lay back trying to digest this new information and still trying to figure out how she got to be here.

Druze and Adams intention was to catch dinner, but now, half an hour later, the plan had changed. They were going ashore rather than starve.

They docked on the outer harbour and chatted quietly as they walked to a restaurant that Damon knew in an alley on the steeper part of the hill. It was awesome. The food in the Three Frogs was great but this was another level. The wine flowed with no regard whatsoever for the cost and Michelle started to wonder if any of them would remember their way back or even if that was supposed to be her job.

Midnight had disappeared into the rear view mirror before they thought about heading back. But it all seemed to be much farther and took much longer. Adam and Druze had broken into a harmony chorus and that sounded great too, or maybe that was just a side effect of the alcohol. The song went quiet as they entered the marina with each of them shushing the others so that the harbour master didn’t suspect that any of them was unfit to sail. Quite irrespective of the fact that it was nearly 1 o’clock in the morning and he’d have long gone home to bed. The harmony was replaced with the uneven noise of out of time foot steps as the 4 of them staggered along the quay reminding each other to try not to fall in. She suddenly wondered if any of them would try to break into her cabin that night and shocked herself at the thought that maybe they’d only invited her along for just that purpose. Surely not! Damon had already covered that, and if he or Adam…. But actually, I’ll just play it as it comes, either way.

Back on board Damon broke open four bottles of Cortigiana while Druze insisted that they couldn’t stay where they were. She managed to climb up to the cockpit without spilling too much of his beer and watched him fire up the engines. Apparently, it was against the harbour rules to moor there all night and they’d have to go somewhere else. Although, Michelle mused, its already gone half past one and no-one else would be coming in at that time anyway. Druze closed one eye to try to prevent himself seeing double and slowly cast off, turned the boat round and heading out to sea as she stayed with him for no better reason than she’d never been in the cockpit of a cruiser before. Adam headed for his cabin feeling slightly ill while Druze weighed the anchor about a mile offshore and Damon finally found them

“How d’you end up with such a gorgeous PA, Damon?”

“Don’t really know, Druze. I just met her in a pub. I mean, I was looking for one and I had this useless agent on the job. Then I just bumped in to Michelle one lunchtime”

“Maybe I need to hang out in more pubs at lunchtimes”
 “I don’t usually. This was an exception”

“I don’t either. I usually wait till the evening” included Michelle

“Yes its funny, this agent was so enthusiastic in the morning, and during lunch when I met Michelle and then I never heard from him again”
 “You didn’t phone him, did you Michelle” slurred Druze mischievously 

“No NO! He phoned me. I mean, he phoned the pub. While Damon was in the loo!”

“And you? You told him not to bother, right? NO, no, no. That’s too outrageous” Druze teased

But Michelle had gone a hundred shades of red and it wasn’t all alcohol

“Michelle? You didn’t did you?”
 Tears welled in her eyes. Truth was not necessarily sacrosanct in her world, but this was the first time she’d been this excited, elated, drunk and alone with Damon since...since...since.. She nodded nervously. Why was she admitting this. This could signal the end of everything.

“Really!!!”

She nodded again. Druze stumbled in surprise and Damon paused looking ever so directly at her

“Wow! That’s epic”

He grabbed hold of her and kissed her much much more than the tap he gave her every morning

“That’s mega! That is the best way I’ve ever heard of getting the job you want”

“Damon, I told you she was something else”

But the beer seemed to have vanished and Damon said he was going to his cabin and suggested that she do the same. No, no he corrected, go to your cabin, not do the same as me and go to my cabin. Druze however didn’t make it to his cabin and crashed out instead on the captains chair in the cockpit. 

Silence pervaded the yacht till late next morning. Her head spiralled her to sleep. So many things to think about, so much had happened, and was happening. And no-one was knocking on her door. Thank goodness. It’s the wrong time and place and…

By 11.30 the guys had all recovered enough to think about serious activity and she herself did not feel nearly as bad as she had after her leaving do and was even feeling up to eating breakfast. She replayed the evening through in her head wondering if maybe Damon and Druze wouldn’t remember too much about it either.

Over the chaotic brunch the three guys decided that the afternoon activity was to teach Michelle water-skiing. Druze gave a demonstration with Damon driving the jet ski as tow boat and now with everyone joining in, Adam was driver, Damon was pillion but facing backwards so that he could coach her and Druze was on jet-ski 2 to follow and help her get back up, or even help her get up in the first place. As imagined, it was hilarious with all of them in the water on so many occasions. And she was loving the attention from Druze as he steadied her ready for take-off before climbing out of the water and back onto his own ski for the pursuit, only to stop and go round again the next time she wiped out a few seconds later.

By mid afternoon the previous evening’s alcohol was wearing off and hunger was setting in. 

Druze headed back towards the marina. 

“Café time” 

They sat quietly with coffee and patisserie watching the passers by. No-one was in a rush to do anything active

“Walk anybody?” asked Druze eventually

“Sure” replied Adam “ So long as it doesn’t interfere with my recovery ahead of this evenings dinner”

They sauntered along the promenade in the warm sunshine, the three boys talking about life after Rachael had been exposed and Michelle reflecting on just how much coffee and cake had cost Damon – and there were only 4 of them! They made it to the next café and stopped for a rest. But no sooner had they sat down than a bottle of wine arrived and that set the pace for the rest of the evening. 

“You wouldn’t know most of these people” suggested Druze

“No” she said doubtfully “And I’m thinking I should be glad I don’t”

“Its not so bad, Michelle. Every industry has its share of villains and heroes. But you need to learn how to recognise them”
 “I’d say there was another category, Damon. Freeloaders. Hangers on that don’t contribute a single thing. But I think after all these years I’m beginning to recognise them”

Then it was back to that amazing restaurant and go round again like yesterday, with the extra walk improving their appetite. 

Then stagger back to the yacht as before, cast off as before and finished with four bottles of Italian beer from the fridge – as before. This seemed to be the plan. This was Damon introducing some consistency in the company of good friends – and no free-loaders.

Final day and there was more loafing around and sunbathing after sleeping off the excesses. Then a frantic attack on water sports redressed the balance around lunchtime. But time was pressing on and reluctantly Michelle packed her mall case. She could now fully understand why girls like Rachael hung out here, and also why guys like Druze would get fed up with them. She felt herself wanting to stay, but she also flet she wanted to get back. Going around this loop every day could easily get boring and aimless. There was so much more to achieve back at the Studio and maybe Druze would invite her back sometime.

On the quayside a lost looking group was milling around looking for the next cruise party, but they gave them a wide berth to catch a cab for their flight home. 

“Y’all don’t need an invite to come back” called Druze as they climbed into the car “That’s you too, Michelle. Just phone me to make sure I’m here”

Druze was back to his old self. He thanked her for coming with them as it wouldn’t have been anything like the same fun without her. And especially he’d said deliberately to her because the girl there was there because she was just one of the boys not because she was a girl. It kind of made sense. 

They hadn’t talked to Druze about their business activities, but as they were thanking him for inviting them and his hospitality – even though, she was sure, they’d invited themselves and Damon had paid for anything and everything that needed paid for. 

“We’re changing direction” Damon had said “we’ve moved into a big house. It’s in the middle of nowhere and it’s got just farmland all around. It’s a great atmosphere for composing”

“I will definitely be showing up there one day soon”

Which Michelle thought was rather nice. He’d assumed he’d be welcome any time without an invitation; which he was.

The flight back seemed a bit like back to work. They talked through some details of the plan that both Adam and Damon had clearly been thinking about throughout the trip. And yet again she couldn’t believe that this surreal whirlwind included her.

“I knew there was something special about you” Damon said just as they were landing “I couldn’t figure out before whatever happened to that agent”

Maybe this had set her bar a bit higher, but now he knew and he didn’t seem at all cross about it. And she felt so much better now that he knew.

They transferred over to terminal 1 for their flight back to Bristol, strangely looking forward to getting home even though the whole trip had been epic. 

Cancelled 

“Cancelled! Why? Not just delayed?”

Damon and Adam made a dash for the phone booths. That was the commodity that would be in most demand any second now as the rest of the people booked on that plane started to show up. There were a couple of hotel numbers posted on the wall but Damon drew a blank. There seemed to be quite a few cancellations that evening and the nearest hotels were all full. Adam was on a different tack. He’d phoned H3 Charter and yes, they would be only too pleased to help them get home. 

“H3” he said to Damon with a grin as he hung up and vacated the booth to whoever thought they were next in the queue. 

“It’s on your account, so all you need to do is settle up, then make it over to the gate before it leaves and then not drink too much so that you can drive us all home”
 “Thanks Adam. Is that all?”

“I’ll get the bags”

“Ok. Michelle, do you want to come along with me. I’ll introduce you. They’re useful guys to know”

Over at the charter office, Hannah was looking decidedly jaded. It had already been a long day and there was a certain disappointment in being less than fully booked when there were so many flight cancellations. But the sight of Damon heading her way brought a tired smile to her face. 

“Long time no see!”

Damon made the introductions and broke into general chat about water under the bridge since their last encounter until the phone rang

“You get that Hannah. It might be another customer”

“Another two? Ok. Yes we can do that. Ok Adam”

Hannah hung up the phone only then realising how much time they’d taken 

“Oh my! We still need to settle up! And I need to tell Julian about those extra two that are joining us and I need to come too, and we don’t want to miss the take-off slot...”

“Michelle, can you do that while we do the bill”

Michelle quickly found gate H3. The door was open and the security guard farther along the hall had given her a suspicious look but left it at that. Julian was checking the outside of the aircraft but he listened and nodded that he’d understood while continuing to concentrate on his checks. She helped him position the short flight of steps and sank into a chair in the spacious cabin. It was like a large armchair but with a seat belt and she sat and looked around while he headed for the cockpit to do the pre-flight on-board checks. 

“Help yourself to a drink” he had said “or you can wait till Hannah gets here”

But Michelle saw no reason to wait for Hannah when she could have a better look on her own. – and pour a larger measure.

Meanwhile Adam had found a spare trolley and was stacking the bags onto it 

“Were you headed for Bristol?” a girl right beside him was asking “have you found another flight? Do you know if there’d be room for us. Oh my! I’ve got my final assessment first thing tomorrow. Its really important!”

“Train?”

“Yeah leaves in three minutes”

“Forget it. No way. It’s miles from here… Yeah, sorry did you find another flight?”

Adam was unphased by the exchange of doom between the girl and her friends. 

“Trouble is, the train starts from here so it’ll probably leave on time. Everywhere else it’ll be late, but not here” he replied commenting on her side conversation before returning to her first question “How many in your party?” he asked with no sense of panic 

“12. But I think they’ve all bolted for the train except the two of us”

“Two? I think there’ll be room for two. But I need to check. This’ll only take a second” he said by way of excusing himself jumping the queue for the phone. 

“Thanks” he said only a few seconds later “But you’ll have to get a move on. Gate H3. Wont take you 10 minutes. But you’ve only got fifteen. It’ll leave right on time”

“Wow! Thanks. Where do we get a ticket?”

“You won’t have time for that. Just get on down there right now”

He watched the girl collect her friend. Strangely, she looked familiar

“I don’t know” he heard her say to her “I haven’t got any details, but it’s my only chance so let’s do it” as they disappeared, fleeing down the corridor. Ok, so maybe they don’t need to go quite that quickly as he loaded up Michelle’s and Damon’s bags .

 “Are you the extra two?” asked Julian as they bundled through the door out onto the tarmac 

“Yes” they guessed as he escorted them towards the steps. 

“Helicopter! Jen! A helicopter! It’ll cost a fortune!”

But they were there now and on board and sitting down and.... 

“Jen! What on earth are you going here?”

“Michelle! Where did you come from?”

“I’m just on my way home. And Ali! What’s going on?”

“Oh. Are you the stewardess on this flight”

“No, that’ll be Hannah. She’ll be along any minute. She’s just finishing off the flight details in the office. I’m just on my way home”

“Like us. We’ve been in Paris for the weekend. We found this dead cheap deal. ...”

Michelle listened to the tale of the cheap deal. The consensus was that it was ok, but just ok and none of them seemed in any rush to do it again any time soon. The deal only came with two large rooms, but they reckoned that there could be one for the guys and the other for the girls. Except not everyone was agreed on that and there was some interesting activity after the lights went out. So much so that the two extra passengers here now had spent most of that morning trying to catch up on lost sleep lying on the grass at the side of the Seine. 

“And this! We didn’t know it was a helicopter. We’ll be completely wiped out!”

But Adam had arrived and was passing the bags up to Michelle to stack in the side store. She made the introductions as he dropped into the seat next to her just as Damon and Hannah arrived to complete the group. 

He recognised Alison from their brief encounter in the Wheatsheaf and Michelle’s leaving party but immediately Hannah started her safety briefing before moving forward to the co-pilot seat for take-off.

“I’ll be back to serve drinks and snacks as soon as we’re at cruising height”

“I’ll have another vodka and coke please Hannah” Michelle said politely but sounding so much in control

“So how come you’re here as well?” reiterated Alison

“I’m just on my way home, just like you”
 “But you haven’t been in Paris as well?”

“No, we were all in Cannes, or just offshore. We had the most fabulous time. Jet skiing, swimming, snorkelling, water skiing, oh and this fantastic restaurant hidden away in the back streets”

“So how come you can suddenly afford all that? asked a bewildered and terminally jealous Alison.

“I’m not sure I can!”

“I think you probably can”         

“You think so, Damon? I know you set me on a good salary, but its not up to this, is it”
 “Maybe not this year, but your cost of living should be lower than it was. I guess it depends on how quickly everything takes off – if at all. I think you might be surprised at just how quickly your percentage becomes significant”

“Is that why you and Adam work 7 days a week 12 hours a day?”

“Partly. But also because we enjoy it”

“Do you work those hours as well, Michelle?”

“Oh no” replied Adam with a laugh “Michelle works 7 days a week 18 hours a day”

“But you’ll be in the Eagle for Pete next Wednesday. He’s got a two day pass already”

“I don’t think so, Ali.”

“But he’ll be looking forward to seeing you”

“No, Ali. He’ll be looking forward to getting ratted and then diving between the sheets with someone. But he won’t care who it is and it doesn’t need to be me. In fact it definitely won’t be. I’ve…. I’ve got so much to do and I really can’t spare the time. Its an investment for the future”

“So why aren’t you working this weekend?”
 “This is work. We’re so busy back at the Studio that we had to get off-site to take some time to reflect. And we spent time with a prospective employee” answered Damon on her behalf.

“Work! It doesn’t sound like it!”
 “Yeah. We had a strategic planning meeting on the flight out” Adam managed to say with a straight face “and a detail meeting on the way back”

“Damon, how many people are in your company?” asked Jen, still perplexed

“Five. Unless Janice has hired anyone else”

“And can anyone apply?”
 “I guess so. But we’re only recruiting for very specific jobs right now. Like cleaning and cooking. We’re only going to expand as much as we need to to meet demand, and we’ll learn as we go along. Adam, I’m thinking Keith DeSantis rather than Druze?”

“Keith DeSantis?” asked Michelle

“Keith. He’s a bit of an all-rounder. He’s spent quite some time setting up major gigs and tours as a promotor. We worked with him in Oz and he set some stuff up for us in South America. But I think his main skill is behind the mixing desk, although sometimes he forgets that”

“I don’t disagree. But until I get maxed out we should keep the costs down”

“Yes. But I’ll see if I can find out what he’s up to at the moment. Just in case everything kicks off. We ought to know what our options are”

The flight was coming to an end and fear of the bill registered on Alison’s face. 

“Its ok” Adam was saying as Hannah suggested that they all fastened their seat belts for landing “Michelle will pick up your share. After all, she’s your friend even if it was me that invited you”

What! Was Adam teasing? Was this all part of the roller coaster? But at least she’d convinced Alison that she would not be making the trip to the Eagle. And Adam had convinced her that she could afford to pay for Alisons helicopter flight.

The Whole Hog

Back in the Studio office, the euphoria over the success of their holiday was short lived. Gordon’s phone call was not good news. For sure the customer was more than pleased with what they’d supplied but it now appeared that their intention was to use this programme in various locations throughout the world with only the adverts changing, which by the very nature of the design they were able to do for themselves. This was hardly the plan! The original structure and business plan were based on a single location assumption with Gordon supplying the same program to various broadcasters with only the adverts changing. That, however, was not going to happen.

They knew that some stations had broadcast licences in adjacent towns but what they’d missed is that most stations were owned by, or were affiliated to, major conglomerates and it was one of those holding companies that had snapped up their first attempt.

Damon was seriously annoyed with himself for failing to foresee this, and it was with some trepidation that Michelle headed for the bar. The conversation that lunchtime was going to be serious. It was about the future of the company. But she also knew that one option would be to wind the whole thing up and that would be the end.

Adam too had been talking to Karen. Out there in the streets, she’d said, there was so much talent available. And he and Damon were in pole position for taking advantage of it

“She really thinks we’re missing a trick. And with this new development, she might just be right. We need to sit down for an hour and go through it specifically as an option. She is so sure its a definite possibility”

“Ok. What about now?”

“And you’ll be joining us?” 

“Damon! I’d really like to. Its just…. With everything else going on….”
 “I know, but this could affect everything, our whole direction”

“Oh wow! I mean I’d like to.. Do you want me to take minutes or something?”

“Actually, I want you to join in. But now you mention it, its probably worth bringing a note pad - just in case there’s anything exceptional”

Her first question in her head was whether to ramp down all the building work considering that their entire business model was invalid. It would never make any money, and that at least solved the mystery of why no-one else was doing this.

But the option of giving up had not been mentioned and she certainly didn’t want to introduce it and Damon was more up-beat than she had expected.

They moved into the old private dining room. It was lavishly wood panelled with a huge solid table down the middle, large green leather upholstered chairs were placed carefully along each side, with one at each end. She remembered seeing something like many years ago when her aunt was looking after her while her mum was ill. They’d gone to a mansion in the middle of this big country park with woodland walks, and a children’s playground, and a flower garden with roses and low hedges you could easily trip over. But there were ‘do not touch’ signs everywhere and it had all seemed a bit irrelevant. Now it was all amazingly real as she pulled out the chair next to Adam and sank into it. She opened a new page of her notebook and raised her head in anticipation. But Damon was peering into the cupboard at the far side of the room. He slid a can of beer across to Adam 

“Beer?” he offered Michelle “or Pepsi? I think there’s Fanta in here as well somewhere”

This wasn’t like the stuffy formal nervous meetings she’d occasionally taken minutes at when she was with Simmons Accounting.

“Oh, and Michelle” he opened before sitting down “ can you remind me to get Janice to restock this fridge please”

So ok, everything they’d done so far could come crashing down any second now, but the priority was to make sure the fridge got restocked with beer! That, she thought, must set the standard! She raised a relaxed smile. Now more than ever she was looking forward to everything. She pushed back in the chair. These guys weren’t going to give up. This was going to be awesome. Manic, but awesome 

“Yes, Adam continued “she reckons she’s found ten or twelve bands already that are up there with the best. And that’s compared to the current singles and album charts. So, her angle is that we should record a whole album when they’re down here anyway”

“Ok, to be clear. We still invite bands down here, but instead of just taking out the couple of tracks we want to fill gaps in the playlist, we record a whole album. Ok. And....?”

“And release it, I guess” completed Adam “If we’re not going to release it, we might as well not bother”

“But that turns us into a full sized production house”

“And what’s the problem with that” Michelle asked looking desperately for an opportunity to join in 

“What’s the problem? So we produce an album. Then we need to get it pressed, then distributed, and promoted and get it onto radio playlists and then….”

“…. And then, the fans and the bands themselves would expect a tour, and live gigs, and all that is at least ten to twelve orders of magnitude more than we were planning” finished Damon

Although, Michelle noticed, Adam didn’t look phased.

“But if we’ve already done the hard work, like in finding the talent in the first place…” Michelle persisted

“…Which was the objective. If you remember, we wanted to find these acts, and then they’d get included on our playlist and that would give them the airplay they need to be noticed.. And then what? Someone else signs them and makes a truckload?”

“So with this alternative we could mentor these bands, to make them even better and we already know how much money there is in top bands”

“Yes, if you can stick to the successful ones” criticised Damon

“Yeah” continued Adam “But where the likes of IMD go wrong is that they pour money into losers, and the successful bands subsidise that”

“But if we only took on the best ones and binned the second rate….”

“That’s a bit harsh”

“Ok, but the music business is harsh”

He looked across at Michelle

“And what do you think”

“Me!”

“Yes, you. You might have a more independent view”

“Ok. Well….” she started nervously. She couldn’t remember being asked for her opinion like this before 

“Well... As I understand it, Karen is finding these bands anyway. Now, you guys know about music, and the industry and what’s good and what’s bad. You’ve been there, you’re megastars, so you probably know the pitfalls. But you were aiming at just one sector which is radio, and it seems to me to be the one part of the industry that you’ve least experience of”

Adam and Damon looked across the table at each other, then both turned towards her. She shrank back “Sorry, but… but you did ask”

“Yes” said Damon slowly “I did ask. Adam?”

“I’m with Michelle. She’s hit the nail on the head. Its looking like we really don’t know enough about running a radio station, or creating programmes. We’re making it up as we go along because we think this concept of ours is new, so no-one else knows any better either. But its looking like there’s no money in it which is why no-one else is doing it”

Damon was nodding “But it also depends on whether those bands of Karen’s are as good as she thinks. So maybe we need to tell her to restrict her attention to unsigned bands so we can really pick up the whole thing. But, do we know enough about distribution?”

“We’ve not done much distribution ourselves. Or pressing. But we do know about it….”

Oh my, she thought as they boys continued exploring the problems. It all sounded terminally negative. Like, if there were that many issues, why bother. Oh my, what have I started? 

The discussion was charging on into late-afternoon and her lists that were of utmost importance only a few hours ago, looked now like they could become inconsequential. How important would they be if the whole picture was changing. But then, surely, she argued with herself, the work on the building needed to be done anyway if there was going to be any sort of business there at all – which was now beginning to look like a possible maybe at best. 

The discussion continued through dinner and in to the bar that evening. She had wanted to discuss her priorities, but this conversation was much more exciting. 

The guys were slowing down now, and it was only then that she realised what a frenetic pace they moved at. 

“Ok” said Damon looking like the discussion might be about to close for the evening “We’ve proved the Studio, Adam, and its as epic as we thought it would be. We’ve proved we can get things done, like setting up the office and the computers and getting the renovation started so we’ve all got somewhere to live. Michelle’s proved its all possible. So, my inclination is to go for it”

Michelle held her breath. go? Into what?

“If we do, its going to be even bigger, even better and even more exciting than before”

“And riskier” suggested Damon looking directly at Adam “First question is : are you still in? I think Gordon will bail out”

“Oh, no doubt on both counts Damon. I agree. I think Gordon will chicken out. But I’m in. I want to see that studio buzzing. I think we’re clearer now. We knew we’d make some mistakes, we just didn’t know what. Now we know its the whole hog or bust. My half million to setup is still there – its not doing anything else sat in Switzerland – but only if you’re with me. I’m not going on my own”

“I’m still in. My half million is still in that pot for the first year. So, How about we both up by a two hundred and fifty and buy Gordon out? Then if there’s anything useful for him to do we just pay him?”

“Do we need to put extra in? We could just give Gordon his five hundred K back. Its not as if we’re burning through it at any pace. Ok so we bought the kit. All we do now is pay Janice and Michelle and that’s it. That’s hardly going to eat 70 grand a month”

“But the building’s costing a lot” added Michelle

“Yes. But that’s purely down to Damon. He’s got a different pot for that. Its a potential black hole I’m not investing in”
 “Yes” added Damon “and that’s good. It separates out the building from the studios in case one or other hits terminal trouble”

“Ok. No increased commitment at this ….”

“Its not that I won’t” interrupted Adam “its that its not necessary at this point. When it becomes necessary we’ll have a much better idea of whether it needs a quarter or if it needs another two, and if its still worth it. And that’s a conversation we need to have then, not now”

Michelle watched passively as these two best friends talked business with no prospect whatsoever of falling out over it. Each of them respected that the other would make their own decisions and there was no other expectation as Damon raised issues and Adam found solutions. It was exhausting just keeping the drinks topped up, watching and listening, adding the odd comment here and there just to stay involved until Adam turned towards her rather unexpectedly

“So the next question is: Are you still in little baby?”

She gasped and hesitated “Yes. Yes” she gasped as if maybe he’d produced a diamond ring

“Ok. That pretty much assures success, don’t you think Damon?”

“Guys! I want to work with you. I’ve never even heard of anything as mega as this before. I want this whole thing to succeed just as much as you do”

“Are you sure?” Damon asked the next morning

“Sure I’m sure. Damon, you know this is more than just a job to me. Its being part of something that could change the whole industry and even make it a better place, especially for younger artists. But at the end of the day, I’m just an employee. I haven’t got a million pounds invested in this. All I can give you is time and energy”
 He wrapped his arms around her “No. You can also give us confidence and encouragement. And like Adam said, that just about ensures success”

She squeezed him in response “That just sets the bar higher”

They tracked down Adam in the studio to ask the same question

“Changed you mind over night?”

“No way. We’re gonna make this work. Michelle will see to that! But this wiring’s not quite right” he continued without taking his eyes off the controls. “Not sure what, but some channels are not responding properly. Still, doesn’t matter right now”

“Ok, but we need to fix it sometime soon. But you’re right. Right now we need to figure out what else we need and who else we need”

“Yes….” said Michelle hoping she could contribute sensibly “… if Karen is finding the acts, and we’ve already got the recording studio and the catering side of things, we need to get the music out there”

“Yeah. And that’s one of the bits we don’t know too much about”
 “We know a bit. We could use Australian Music Distribution like we did with the Chameleons”

“That would be expensive, Adam. They took a master and pressed a million copies. What we’re looking at is producing a new master maybe every day and pressing a thousand copies”
 “Ok, but there are guys out there that do that”
 “And can we trust them? This is a cutthroat business”

“Can we do it ourselves?” asked Michelle tentatively

Adam shook his head but Damon considered it

“You mean buy the kit – mastering, pressing, copying, set up our own distribution network – world wide?”

“We’d be better staying with guys who already do this for independents. And when we get too big we….”
 “….Do a takeover!” interrupted Michelle

Damon gave her a squeeze “Don’t you start getting carried away as well as him over there”

“Hey! That’s unfair. Its me that’s been trying to keep this reeled in”

“Ok. So Adam, can you take a look round the likely candidates and see if anyone would be suitable to work with us in copy and distribution. I think we should aim for maybe six or eight weeks to get ourselves sorted out. We can’t do wholesale recording with the renovation going on. And I’m going to go and see Lady Patricia and get something definite on this building before I pour too much more money into it”

“Are we definitely going for it?” Michelle asked excitedly after Adam had gone

“No, not definitely. We need to keep a sense of realism. We’ve got a plan. But as I said before, its nothing if not agile. We’ll see what Adam comes up with on distribution and make sure her Ladyship isn’t going to do anything silly and then make a final decision. But Michelle, can you ramp up the building work because I think this is going to work”

Michelle was now fairly sure that the decision was made, but she was confused. She leaned forward in her chair looking more directly at Damon

“There’s one thing I don’t understand. You spent most of that whole discussion raising issues and problems. It was just one after the other, even when Adam gave you a solution, you came up with something else. Then, finally, you just lifted your head up and said ‘yep! Lets do it”

“I thought you’d be excited!”

“I am! For sure! Because I think it’s the right thing to do because it makes best use of the people Karen finds and the studio Adams building and should get the best return for all the effort you’re putting in”

“Only if we can find enough bands to justify it. Just because it’s the right thing to do doesn’t make it feasible or affordable or profitable. Only when you identify what can go wrong and start putting a pounds sign on it can you decide if you should continue. Blind faith can so easily throw good money after bad”
 “So….. That was just you identifying the issues so that we know what might go wrong..”
 “….And build it in to the plan, and put a cost on rectifying it, and include it in the timescales”

“I think Adam felt he was being put through the mill”
 “Well, he deserves to be milled every now and then. But we need answers to all the questions, and we had most of them straight away. Its all about identifying the risks so we can avoid them”

End of The Studio Chapter 1: Life After Rachael

End of The Studio Chapter 1

Life After Rachael

Next is The Studio Chapter 2

Loose Ends