“Will you stand still!” Steff snapped.
“Soz.”
She fiddled with my dress again before stepping back, “Done.”

I looked at my reflection in her wardrobe mirror, a strange beast looked back at me, well not strange weird rather something not quite right.

“What do you reckon?”
“It exposes a lot,” I mentioned fingering the low cut neck line.
“You wear a bikini.”
“Not the same.”
“And those cycling suit things don't exactly hide anything,” she added.
Hmm, she's got me there, but even so, “At least the girls are covered, not like this.”
“What about your Kostüm, thats hardly subtle and you'll be up on the stage anyway.”

I should perhaps explain a bit. Its only a fortnight until my next appearance with BlauHase, of course Stefan and the guys play all the time, 'Erdbeere's' appearances are reserved for the bigger gigs. And whilst borrowing from my sister’s wardrobe of Gothy stuff might work in a back street club, for the Rheinhalle in Bonn with a proper stage and lighting, well a bit more effort is required. Not only that but I'm actually getting paid in real Geld too hence the new frock and its not exactly the sort of occasion Gerta and Dotty cater for.

“It'll look different when you've got your hair and warpaint on,” my self appointed stylist opined.

Well that's true I guess, I haven't even got shoes on at the moment – damn shoes!

I made a slow twirl to look at my rear, “You sure this bustle thing is okay?”
“Sure,” she stated.

The dress? Well its actually a recycled wedding dress that Steff has altered a bit and dyed a sort of dark pink. Altered, well its now quite, er knicker skimming at the front whilst retaining the original bustle business and floor sweeping train. The top is quite fitted, its a sweetheart neckline which is balanced a bit by the short puffy sleeves.

“It'll look fine Gab, what shoes are you wearing?”
“Er not sure,” I admitted.
“Tell you what would look really cool, remember those stilettos in that shop in Koblenz, like a platform with a spike heel?”
“I do have to walk you know.”
“Not far and you're on stage for what, an hour?”
“Give or take.”
“You dying your hair?”
“Not sure.”
“It'd be a bit weird if you turn up without your trademark colour.”
“I actually like being blonde,” I pointed out, “It’s taken like six months to get it grown out to this.”
“You can get temporary wash out colours.”
“Hmm, maybe.”
“Well I reckon it'd look cool, do your hair all big, dramatic makeup, no one'll recognise you.”
“Isn't that defeating things?”
“Depends whether you want to be recognised.”

Well there is that.
 
“There you are,” Dad observed when I got back from Steff's.
“Here I am,” I agreed.
“When do you get off college in December?”
“December? What for?”
“Yes December, do you have the dates or not?”
“Keep your hair on,” I dug into my college bag to get my notebook out.
“Lets see, dur de dur de dur,” I flicked through the pages to find the timetable, “Here we are, last day is Thursday fourteenth – wow we don't go back until the eigth!”
“Hmm, that works.”
“What works?”
“Apollinaris are stumping up for a couple of team training camps,”
“Training camps?”
“They're pretty keen on building on Canada, we're getting a bigger budget and they're stumping up for some team building and performance camps.”
“Cool, I guess. So where're we going, Mayen?”
“Bit more exciting than that, we're looking at Austria in December then Tenerife for a week before Easter.
“Wow!” I allowed.
“It doesn't come for free though kiddo.”
“There had to be a catch,” I sighed.
“Its not too onerous, a bit of promo stuff.”
“And?”
“They're talking about a TV advert.”
“Really?”
“They're keen to capitalise on your Rainbow jerseys.”

I guess I couldn't blame them for that, they've stumped up a fair bit of dosh to support the teams the last few years with few demands, I guess its time we repaid our dues.

“So when do we go to Austria?”
“Well now I have your dates I can confirm things but essentially we'll be there the week before Christmas.”
 
“So what do you reckon,” I asked my confidant and adopted sister.
“To what?”
“Well duh, dyeing my hair?” i had just spent five minutes telling her about my dress fitting with Steff.
She shrugged, “Go for it, its not like its not been pink for most of the year is it?”
“It was only supposed to be for the prom.”
“You could always wear a wig.”
“Its an idea,” I agreed before changing the subject, “Dad mentioned these training camps?”
She perked up a bit, “Yeah, sounds cool.”
I chortled, “Cool, very good Mand.”
“Huh?”
“Cool? It'll be flippin' cold in Austria in December.”
“It's cold everywhere in December.”
“Yeah, I suppose there'll be Glühwein on tap,” I mentioned with a waggle of eyebrows.
“Talking of which, you lot doing the Christmas market this year?”
“Think so, might be a bit difficult fitting it in with everything else mind.” I paused then wiggled my hand at her, “What do you reckon?”
“Not bad, this green really isn't working for me though,” she presented her own nails.
“It does look a bit tweenie,” I agreed, “You going to see your Mum this year?”
“After last year?”
“Thought you'd got over that?”
“We've agreed to disagree, doesn't mean I want to spend time with her.”
“Guess not.”

It must be awkward at times for her, oh don't get me wrong she gets included with everything the Bond clan do, but she's not really one of the family. I'm pretty sure that it weighs on her that she's quite beholden to the Rents financially, especially since the BC funding runs out in the New Year, with the new regime its unlikely to be extended either. Uncertain times indeed.
 
“What's with the trainers?” Max asked as I slid into the seat beside him.
“Comfort,” I told him as our chauffeur set us off towards the autobahn.
“Looks a bit weird,” he advised.

Max von Strechau, fashion critic! Well to be honest I have to agree, runners with a smart skirt and hose does look a bit weird but I have got appropriate footwear in my bag to change into. Mum's idea after I complained about aching feet every time i've got home this week.

“We meeting later?”
“Not today, got to get back, training then I'm going up to have dinner with the Preiser's.”
“Oh well, what about tomorrow?”
“What about it?”
“You want to get pizza or something?”
“What about Garde?”
“Give it a miss for a week.”

Which would be okay except I'm supposed to be covering for Hannah this week.

“Can't, I'm in charge this week, why the sudden desire to feed me?”
“Can't I treat my girlfriend without a reason?”
“Hmm, I'm free after, like half seven, you could pick me up?”
“Could do, where'd you want to eat?”
“Not bothered, not pizza though,” I dictated.
“Pommes and Würst?”
“Don't push it.”

There were snorts from the front seats, one of the hazzards of car sharing to college.
 
“Bit late for that,” Elise suggested slipping into the seat next to me.
“Oh hi Ellie, oh its finished, just checking the spelling, how many s's in vorgefasst?”
“Two I think.”
“That's alright then, thats what I've put, it just didn't look right.”
“Langenscheidt's are my best friend, I'm terrible at spelling,” she admitted.
“I'm usually pretty good, its English I'm bad at.”
“Thought you used to live there?”
“Yeah, I'm alright speaking, its just writing stuff, some words are spelt the same but mean completely different things.”
“That used to get me too,” she agreed.
“Good morning everyone,” we were interrupted by Lisbet's voice as she joined us in the lecture theatre.

A round of mumbled greetings were returned, a couple of latecomers slipped in before our 'leader' returned to the door and closed it – woe betide anyone arriving now.

“So, first things, hopefully you've all got your Braun essays? Kurt, can you collect them for me please, today we'll have a general look at different areas of management, what they have in common and whether some of these less traditional areas can offer anything to more core management disciplines.”

She paused to uncap her board marker.

“So what are these other management types, Arsen?”
“Erm, in a shop?”
“So retail management,” Lisbet scrawled on the board, “Maria?”
“The arts.”
“Good, Gaby, another please.”
“Sport?” well it was pretty obvious to me.
“Very good, so we might split both of these down further, venue, team or group and then individual,” Frau Olafsdottir added these to the wipe board. “More?”
“What about the governing bodies,” Kurt suggested.
“Excellent, so we might include things like the Bundesliga, trade associations, any more?”
“Hobby groups?” I offered.
“You are thinking things like Karneval clubs?”
“I guess so, could be stamps or travelling, anything really.”
“So leisure groups in general. That it?”
“What about unions?” Frank suggested.
“Similar to the trade but we'll put it up, that everything?” there being no further student input she continued, “Okay so what do all of these have in common?”

Just another day in Business studies.

 
Maddy Bell © 29.11.2018