Chapter 9

The afternoon was just wonderful. It was all elegance and flair, juxtaposed with industrial backgrounds. It was during this time that the Vogue reporter cornered me to ask some questions. When she asked what I drove, I told her about the Jensen, so she made sure that I was taken out to it, in my next outfit, for her photographer to take some pictures.

At one point, I was watching some of the London models, up on the steel store, with my two girls, and I noticed how much fun the girls were having, and it was rubbing off on the models. The photographer was snapping away and changing cameras thirteen to the dozen. Bernice was beside me, and she whispered.

“Your girls can spread joy, and it will show in the finished product. I see now that the bikini shot was real and unposed. That’s why they’re going to be so successful.”

“You’re right, it’s something that creeps up on you, the fact that your children are going to outdo you.”

“No-one will out do you, Jen. You’re the same as them, you know, it’s just that you’ve lived with it so long that you can’t see it. I’m going to love working with you, and with Carol and the girls. I can’t see us all living where we are for much longer. They’ll want us down near the big smoke once you’re in Vogue. Here I am, haven’t put my resignation in yet and I’m talking about moving south. I’ll have to talk it over with Ben.”

“What does Ben do for a living?”

“He’s an accountant but is on extended leave because of a slow-down in business.”

“Really? I can’t see accountancies being caught in a down-turn. They’re usually up to their eyeballs in administrations.”

“Gosh! You catch on quick. He was actually given the sack for speaking up about dodgy practices and I’ve been telling lies about it ever since. They blacklisted him and carried on their way. I have expected someone to come and see him about it, but the owner of the business is on the council. Getting out will be good for him.”

“How about him working with us? We’ll need a money man once we get past September. I’ve never seen so much in my life, before.”

“Let’s see how things pan out, he may be able to move on once I’ve left the Union and am home with him. I’ve sometimes wondered just what he’s been doing during the day. Some days I get home and he’s still sitting where I left him with a faraway look.”

I gave her a hug and then was called to take my place in the group.

The afternoon was hard work at times for all of the models. We had to try to look suave and elegant, while the grinders battered our ears. The girls on the grinders had earplugs but they would have shown with us. Finally, Susan and Geraldine called for a stop, so that the workers could go home. The Vogue crew took the opportunity to line up all of the girls, with the machinist in the middle, to take several pictures with and without their hard hats. The reporter took all of their names, and then Janet handed each one an envelope, which looked to me like cash. The girls went off to the changing room to get out of the work clothes, while us models went off to the admin block to get out of the last fabulous gowns we had been wearing.

The photographers had packed up quickly and the crews left in their cars. The Vogue pair thanked us all for a wonderful opportunity. Before I left, with my family, Geraldine invited us to come and stay at her mansion for a few days, to arrive on Wednesday. She told us that it would be a working holiday but wouldn’t expand on that. Annette gave us a wave as she left in one of the buses with the models.

We got into the car, and I drove us home, our girls dozing off before we had gone very far. Carol sat quietly, then started talking.

“I never thought that standing around in good dresses could be so exhausting. We did it, though, and it will be good to see the finished product. Did Geraldine show you the results of that shoot you did in London?”

“Not yet. I’m not pushing things. It will all come clear in September. It may come clearer when we see them next week. Bernice brought up the topic of relocating south. What do think about that?”

“I wouldn’t mind. There’s nothing to keep us where we are except the girls at school. If we move quickly, we may be able to get them into a new school by the beginning of the next term. At least, within a few weeks of the start.”

We were all feeling a bit flat on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday, we went to test drive another car, but didn’t go any further. Wednesday, we packed for a few days and took the Interceptor to Surrey. It was a nice day, and the car ate up the miles. At the mansion, we were welcomed in and shown our rooms. We put our things away and then went help the girls. We had a nice lunch in the dining room, joined by Geraldine’s legal eagle, now introduced as Charles Alexander.

That afternoon he laid it on the line with what he thought we should be doing before September. The move south was high on the agenda, as was the need for us to register a company. It all seemed so easy, the way he explained it. If we had a company, with the two of us as executive directors, and the girls as non-executive directors, the two fashion houses could sign a contract with the company to supply models, Geraldine told us that we were likely to attract new blood to a company that had four Vogue models running it, rather than a businesswoman.

He also explained that, as a business, we could properly employ staff, following the proper laws. It would also give us protection from litigation and enable us to get insured. We could get tax breaks on any property we leased, whether it was an office space, or our own housing. Even cars could be leased by a company, which would allow us to change them every couple of years. He offered to take us through the process and thought that we could have it up and running before September, so making our signing much smoother.

It all looked good to us, so we asked him to get it moving. I could see it as an asset, which could be sold later on as a going concern. He asked us for a name and Carol insisted on ‘Goodfellow’s’. That led me to ask how we were going to pay for this.

Geraldine laughed.

“Miss Gimmee was costing me two million a year. Susan and I will pay the agency three million a year, with each of you and the extra models, earning standard modelling rates for shoots, and bonus payment for advertisements in magazines, with a sliding scale from popular weeklies to top level glossies. When an advert is in overseas magazines, you get a bonus for each magazine – every issue. It won’t be hundreds of thousands but will be in the tens of thousands. We will save money, up front, but you’ll be well off, especially when you factor in the business write-offs. The first three million will be paid on signing, so you’ll be well able to pay, especially if you lease rather than buy. It will be up to you how you use that money.”

I looked at Carol, who was sitting there with her mouth open, and then we both smiled and hugged. We were home safe, the girls had a solid future, and we suddenly needed to look for a house to live in. When I mentioned that, Geraldine said that Horace and Susan would be at dinner, tonight, and real estate was his speciality.

“Besides, you’re now in the realms where you have people to do the hard work.”

Later, that afternoon, we went into the nearest town for a walk, thinking about what we wanted for our next home. Five bedrooms was a definite, as was a large garage. Multiple bathrooms, a good number of reception rooms and a good kitchen went on the list, with a dining room as an extra thought, having never had a dedicated dining room, before. Then we thought about those who were joining us, and an annex was added to the list. The girls looked in shops and wanted to try things on, so we indulged them, returning to the car with bags.

That evening, we had a lovely dinner without Charles, but with Susan and Horace. Horace was full of praise for the site, and how we took it from a wreck to a good working concern, inside a time constraint. He wasn’t happy with the two that had left, but he thought that it was their loss. He mentioned that they hadn’t spoken to him since, and he was actually sleeping better because of that. He had finished the second row of terrace houses and into the third, with every house occupied as it became available.

We took the girls to their room and got them settled, then went back down to talk about our next home. Horace brought up things we hadn’t thought of. Such as distance to the closest schools, security, garden care, housekeeping, and catering. We had been thinking about it just being us with us looking after ourselves. He, and Geraldine, described likely situations where we would have no hope of coping, so we bowed to logic and agreed that Horace would find us something that suited what he knew we would need.

After that, we were shown some photos. Firstly, from my solo shoot, and then early raw results from Saturday. I was interested in the differences between my shoot with Tracy and this solo. The make-up was stunning, and my facial expressions had more life, and the quality of the pictures was much crisper. There was a mix, with different make-up and then different hair styles. Carol looked at them and smiled.

The Saturday set was quite varied. All that we were shown had one or more of the family in. There was a set that I knew Pierre had taken, and the drama was obvious. There was a half a dozen that I suspected were Bobby’s. I pointed to them and commented that it looked as if these had been taken by a lover. Geraldine nodded.

“He was smitten by you, as soon as he met you, and it shows in all his pictures. It will let us use him to get the intimate look, while Pierre can do drama like no other. It does give us options, depending on the message we want to get across. He loves Annette and will marry her as soon as he plucks up the courage to ask her, but he worships you as the first true modelling goddess he’s met.”

The smoke and sparks were dramatic enough, but the ones Pierre had taken seemed to have an extra impact. The different crews didn’t do a bad job, but there was something in the work of these two that made things hit you smack between the eyes. Our girls shone in every shot they were in, looking like kids having fun and loving the attention. Carol stood out as the matriarch in many pictures, the focus around which the other models circled. It was uncanny, I had to admit that the younger models had more sex, more beauty, and more life, but Carol dominated her pictures.

Susan smiled as we went through the pile.

“I’d never thought I’d say this, but it was a pleasure being there and getting involved. These are just the tip of the iceberg, and it’s going to be difficult to pick the ones I’ll use for the launch of the campaign. I’m certain that Geraldine will alternate between Pierre and Bobby with her adverts, and there’s some with just you, Jen, that I want to use for the more expensive gowns, seeing that you’ll be a hit as soon as the magazine is on the newsagents shelves. Vogue has got back to me and they’re more than happy with what their crew took back. They expect the article to be a couple of pages, which will boost our own content amazingly.”

It had been a big day for us, so we made our excuses and went off to bed. The problem was that we couldn’t sleep, so just cuddled, and whispered to each other until Carol’s breathing settled and I followed suit not long after.

Thursday was easier going, with Horace, at breakfast, saying that he’ll get straight onto our housing problem. He had, he said, a few ideas about that but wouldn’t say any more until he had checked them out. He then brought up another thing that needed to be thought about, an agency office. Geraldine said that there was spare space on her floor, in the city, which we could sub-let. It had its own entry and reception, and connecting doors that could be kept shut. She had, she said, been using it for a hairdressing product line that she had sold once it had taken off.

In my head, the staff numbers were ticking up. With the number of people, we would need, that three million wouldn’t go as far as we first thought. I hoped Ben would join us, as we needed someone to make it all work within a budget.

That afternoon, we went with Geraldine, into the city. The Roller had the pull-down seats, and we were quite comfortable, the girls excited at their first visit to London. We looked at the office space and tried to work out how we’d use it. Geraldine asked one of her people to make a drawing of the floor plan, with measurements, for us to work with, later.

The four of us then went for a walk, firstly taking a taxi to Harrods for Carol to see the things I had seen. Then we went to the lingerie store where I got my sexy things, and we bought several bags worth of things for Carol and the girls. Carol and I got matching nighties, in our different sizes, to wear on special occasions, like tonight.

As we spent the day, we talked, and brought the girls into the huge changes that were coming our way. At first, they were upset at the prospect of leaving their friends, but Cathy pointed out that they already had new, older friends with the other models. I assured them that we would find them a school which they could want to go to, even if it was a private school which cost money to send them to. As we discussed a new house to live in, where they had bigger, and separate, rooms, they warmed to the idea.

We got back, in time for Geraldine to finish her business, and take us all back to her place. Horace joined us for dinner, and showed us brochures for several houses, all within ten miles of where we now were. I was staggered at how large, opulent, and expensive these were, as a purchase, but the lease figures made them doable. He explained how the costs would help our tax bottom line if they were leased by the company and we paid a much lesser amount to the company to live there. We chose three that we wanted to see, so he told us he would organise it, for next morning, and would pick us up after breakfast.

The next day we looked at the houses, and over the weekend we looked at more. All seemed too big, but one stood out as useable. The others had hot tubs, gyms, saunas, golf courses, tennis courts and pools. The one we liked was six bedrooms in the main house, all ensuite. It had a six-car garage and a separate annex with two distinct areas. It sat on four acres and the grounds were beautiful. It did have a tennis court, but the surface was artificial so shouldn’t need much maintenance. I liked the office, with all the needed communication access. Carol loved the kitchen with a huge amount of counter space and a massive double oven. The girls loved a room, adjacent to two of the bedrooms, that had been set up as a child’s play and study room. It was able to be leased, furnished, and there was a good school within fifteen minutes’ drive. The best part was that the gardening firm had kept the grounds pristine and would continue to do so for us.

We stayed with Geraldine for another week, exploring the area, signing on with a medical clinic, finding the private school, which the girls liked, which took both primary and secondary pupils. We were assured that they would meet a lot of friends from their new social strata, and I hoped that this didn’t include gangs of ‘mean girls’ from affluent families.

Before we left, we had signed the house lease as directors of the new company that had been set up, and I paid with a cheque from our account, as we hadn’t set up banking in the company name yet. We went home for a couple of weeks to sort out what we would take with us in the move. The house was furnished, but we did have some things that would look all right. There was a large store shed, next to one that housed a ride-on mower, so we could store our leftovers there.

We caught up with Bernice and Ben, and discussed what we were planning. One day, I took the two of them to the house, along with a pile of things in the back. I showed them the annex, which could be big enough for both of them, and explained how they would be employed by our agency, with likely further work looking after other models. Ben became more animated, as I gave him more detail, and started asking questions which I couldn’t answer. They helped me unload the things I had brought and explored the house.

On the way home, we had a good talk about what life would be like after the signing, in September. That’s when I told them that the agency would be paid three million a year and that we had to make everything work inside that budget, including the house, wages, and any cars, as well as an office in the city, with a receptionist. Ben agreed that it was a good number, but that it would take a bit of thought to make sure we had a surplus to fund any unusual expenses. I told him that the family would be earning modelling fees over the top of the payment, so wouldn’t be a drain on the funds.

Towards the end of August, we were asked to attend a meeting at Geraldine’s office, but to leave the children at home. The day before that, Bernice and I popped into the Union Office, to say our goodbyes and to tell them our new contact details. We then saw the agency girls for lunch. Tracy wasn’t there, and they told us that she had been a real bitch lately. I hadn’t had any work from her since the contract had been bought out. She would kick herself when she found out that she could have had use of my services, cheap, when my face appears in the better magazines. Bernice had made up business cards for Goodfellows, which she handed around.

As Bernice and Ben had become regular visitors to the house as we started planning the future, we would leave the girls with Ben, while taking Bernice with us as our PA. She understood that the two of them would get back paid from the company once the signing took place. We hadn’t been told what the meeting was for, and it was a real surprise when we arrived.

The editor from Vogue was there with proofs of the September issue. She gave me a big hug and told me that she was pleased to see me in person, as her photographers had waxed lyrical after the shoot. Between them, Geraldine and Susan had put in four full page adverts – a very healthy income for the magazine. Three were from the site shoot, with one of me, taken by Bobby, cropped to highlight the make-up, but still with grinding sparks showing behind me. The other one of me was from the ones Pierre took, with me in an elegant hairstyle and evening make-up, with no background detail, just the company logo and some writing.

Jennifer’s both had pictures with Carol, the girls and other models. The kicker for us was a two-page article on the shoot, with a lot of pictures showing the crews and the set-ups and talking about the audacity of the concept. This included pictures of Janet, Gerald, and their children, with a note that Gerald was a cousin of both Geraldine and Susan. I was glad to see a picture of all the workers, with the machinist in the middle, all looking stunning in their make-up. In the article, they were all named.

Then there was a two-page article about me, with the main picture having been taken when I showed the photographers around on the Monday. It had me, in my Hi-Vis and hard hat (with Jenny in red letters on the front), standing next to the machinist and wreathed in oily smoke with a big smile on my face. I have to say that I still looked good. The heading was “Is this girl the next big thing?” The writing was thankfully reasonably brief and to the point, and there were a few smaller pictures from the shoot with one showing me next to the Interceptor, posing as the photographer had asked for.

Both Geraldine and Susan thanked me for setting up the shoot, and the magazine editor thought that it had been audacious but would make a few sit up and take notice. She was officially informed that Carol, our girls, and me would be the main models for both businesses, from the first of September, and that bit would be announced as an exclusive in the editorial when that issue hit the newsagents. We showed Bernice the office space we would be using, and she thought that it would be good if Ben worked out of it, while she had the home office as our PA.

When we were leaving, and down in the foyer, the previous model came in with a girl and two guys by her side. She strode to the lift we had just left and pressed the button while inserting her card in the slot. It didn’t work, so I indicated to the others that we should just sit as if we were waiting for a taxi. She strode to the reception and told her, loudly, that the pass card wasn’t working, so there must be something wrong with the lift. The girl suggested that the lift was working perfectly, and it must be her card at fault. She then asked who it was she wanted to see, and was told that Geraldine was expecting her, so to hurry up.

The receptionist looked over to me as she phoned Geraldine, with a faint smile on her face. When she had spoken to Geraldine, she told the model that there wasn’t an appointment for her, and to ring to make one. The model started screaming.

“Look, girly, I’m here to renegotiate my contract. You make that damn lift work for me, now, or I’ll have your job!”

The girl spoke into her phone, again, nodded, and then said the magic words.

“Miss Harrison is in an important conference at the moment with Vogue, and her campaign for the next issue. She said that if you want to talk to her, you know who her lawyers are.”

The model screamed some words that I had last heard in a gale near Scotland and stormed out, her retinue watching her leave. The guys finally caught on and rushed after her, leaving the girl standing with a face that looked about to erupt into a fountain of tears.

I stood and went over to her.

“How on earth did you end up working with a bitch like that?”

“I’ve been her hairdresser for a couple of very hard months. Anyone can see that she’s reached the end of the line here. She promised to take me to the U.S.A., but I don’t think that’s happening. I think that I can consider my employment terminated.”

“Did you do her hair for the last Vogue advert?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Right, come with me.”

I motioned to the others to follow, then led them into the lift and up to Geraldine’s floor. There, I went into the reception and asked the girl if I could have a quick word. She spoke into her phone and Geraldine came out.

“Hello, Judy. Were you with Miss Gimmee? I heard her screaming, I think everyone in the building could hear. What’s up, Jenny?”

“Geraldine, Judy tells me that she did the hair for the last advert that you had. I would like to add her to my staff, along with Annette, if I can. I’ll take over her wages once we sign, but can you cover for me until then, I believe that she’s just had a big shock.”

Geraldine smiled and nodded and then turned to Judy, who seemed to be in shock of having the client talking to her.

“Judy, today is your lucky day. Jenny is our new face of the product, and your previous employer is no longer welcome here. Thanks, Jenny, I hope you never get as strident as you’ve just seen. Let’s make a date for the signing. Judy, follow me, there’s a couple of others here who you must meet. Jenny includes all her people in what’s going on.”

Marianne Gregory © 2024