Chapter 5

Dinner was interesting. The meal was normal food, but very well prepared and slightly spiced. The talk was lively, with the soccer match described in all its lurid detail. It looked as if Anthony had been successful with his visual retort to his ex. It also looked like he had been successful with Monica, as they sat together and shared quiet asides. Clive and Janice were not so together, but I could see her becoming used to his attention.

In the end, it was only me in the Bentley. Gerald was taking Tracey home, via a gaming arcade. The other four were going to a nightclub in the Cayenne. We took the long way home, stopping off at his apartment so I could see my old picture and make use of his bed. I still got home before any of the others, and was sitting in the kitchen with a cocoa when Tracey came in.

It took her five minutes to take her clothes off and put on a nightie and dressing gown to join me, as I made her a cup.

“Thank you, Trixie. That was a very interesting afternoon. Gerry is picking me up in the morning, or, should I say, later today. It’s been a while since I felt easy enough with a guy for sex. He may be young, but he’s certainly virile. The arcade he took me to was fantastic. We played point-and-shoot games, and we ended up in a draw. It’s been a while since I last played and had forgotten how much fun it is.”

“Did you play a lot?”

“It was either that or drinking when I was at uni, so I stayed sober and sharpened my reflexes. Gerry wasn’t far off with his thesis, just needed a nudge in the right direction. I think he’ll get an honours, but probably a second, like me. He did tell me that there was likely to be a position coming up in the Solon Brothers organisation. I think he is very close to the goings-on, even if he doesn’t work there yet.”

“Susan told me that it was either that or working with the real estate firm.”

“Gerry doesn’t want to work with his father. I think that if he’s given the choice, he’ll jump to the Brothers. Are the others in bed?”

“No, it’s just you and I at the moment. They went off to a night club, so I doubt if we’ll see them before morning. That Tony is a hunk, isn’t he?”

“Oh, yes, and I think that Monica is smitten. Janice and Clive seemed to get along as well, seeing that they’re both about the same age. This has been an amazing day. I think that I’ll head for my bed.”

We stood and hugged, then she took her cup with her as she left. I rinsed mine out and went up to my own room. I didn’t hear the others come in during the night. In fact, they didn’t come in until Gerald had picked Tracey up. I was sitting in the lounge with my laptop when the Cayenne stopped outside, and they all got out. They were all dressed as I had last seen them but looked a little dishevelled. The two couples stood in tight embraces with very long kisses, before the girls turned towards the house and the boys got back into the car to drive away.

They were giggling as they went up to their rooms and that was the last that I saw of them until dinner time. I spent much of the morning at the easel, finishing the picture of the Solon furniture. I made the two figures more intimate. I made myself ready and Walter picked me up in the sportscar to go out for lunch.

We had fish and chips, in the early afternoon, while looking at the sea at Brighton. It was good, a quiet time together without any deadline or pressure. He spoke about the next shoot. He was trying to get the buyers to go with a range of winter coats in merino wool from New Zealand. He took a chip from my bag and offered it to me to eat. As I bit it, he got on one knee.

“With this chip, I thee wed. Where will we go for our honeymoon?”

I held out my lunch with the fish on top.

“Your plaice or mine?”

Still giggling, we went into an open jewellers and he bought me a ring. He didn’t have to formally propose, as we already knew that we would be together. I put the ring on my engagement finger, then surprised him by telling him to pick something for himself. He was looking at the cheaper items when I told the jeweller to bring out the better rings. In the end, he liked a gold band with an inlay of opal. I paid for it, and we walked out with our rings glinting in the sunlight. We went back to London, and he dropped me off, kissing me and saying that he would see me in the morning.

Janice and Monica were up and about. We were thinking about cooking something when Gerald brought Tracey back. We coerced him into coming to the Volunteer with us. We all squeezed into his car to go the short distance. We had a light meal and let him go, as we were going to walk back to the house. On the way, I found out that the two girls had gone to a hotel with the guys, getting to bed about three in the morning. Janice was a little quiet, and I took that as the concept of losing her virginity was weighing on her mind.

When it was time for bed, I quietly asked her if I could help.

“I don’t think so, but thanks for offering. What’s done is done and can never be reversed.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Not at first, and then I was filled with wonderful feelings. Clive was a virgin as well, and he nearly passed out when he saw the blood. He thought that he had injured me. I felt really sorry for him, as he’s such a nice boy.”

“Did he use a condom?”

“Yes, he did, both times.”

“You went back for more?”

“Of course I did. I wanted to see if I would get those feelings back again.”

“Did you?”

“I sure did, and it was even better without the initial pain.”

“Then why do you look so sad?”

“I promised my mum that I would save myself for my husband.”

“How do you know that Clive isn’t that man? You only met him yesterday and let yourself go with him. He didn’t look like a boy who would have forced you.”

“You’re right. I haven’t had much experience, so it may be that he will be my forever man. He does have a good job with lots of advancement prospects. Thank you, Trixie. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Next morning, the three of us went to the office, to start creating our own futures. Walter kept himself busy typing emails and searching the internet. Janice and I pulled our desks around so we could see both computer screens and started looking through the actual photos that Moira had left for us. When we picked one that we thought worked, we brought up the digital version and turned it into part of the range and adding an ordering ID from the list we had been given. Monica was looking at the floorplans of the larger stores and working out the fashion show plans.

We worked like this for two weeks, sometimes into the evening. When we had the website content finished, we added the wording from the long list that the advertising department had come up with, adding our own contributions. Walter had not been with us for some of the second week, as he, and the head buyer, had flown to New Zealand to talk to suppliers and look at the products.

Moira brought a magazine in for us to look at. There, in full colour was a close-up of me, one of the two of us when we had arrived and one of us trying to suck each other’s faces off. The short article asked if one of the most eligible boys in town had finally met his match. With that part of the story proved, I think the girls may have believed me about the two hours of torrid sex.

The third week, we laid out the campaign to Moira, along with the fashion show plans and the timetable for those events. We took a break, and just worked through the complete shoot database, printing off the ones we thought could be used later on, if needed. We did print the best ones of the three of us, for ourselves.

On the Thursday, Moira told us that the campaign had been approved, and that she wanted Monica and I to take the portable hard drive to the Southampton office, so that we could take Marilyn and her crew through the details. We could go down whenever we wanted and come back sometime the week after. Janice was allowed to join us, if she wanted. She gave me a company debit card for our expenses. That evening, I booked the three of into the Premier, from Friday evening to Wednesday morning. On Friday, before we left, I rang Marilyn to tell her we were on our way.

When we arrived in Southampton, we booked in and walked to the office, pointing out all of the well-known sights to Janice, who had never been here before. At the office, it didn’t take long to get Marilyn and her team up to speed with what we had created. We told them that we would still be around on Monday and Tuesday if they needed us.

We had a good time, with some rest and recreation. We spent some time in the office on Saturday as the girls were starting to upload. We took Janice to the Angel, we took Monica’s parents out for a meal, had a good look at the Brothers store in New Quay, with Monica talking to the manager to make sure that what she had planned was possible. We even spent a lot of Sunday night in the Edge, which opened Janice’s eyes to a lifestyle she had never experienced. All in all, it was a good visit, and productive as well. We were in the office, looking at the finished campaign, when Marilyn sent it live. All we had to do now was wait and see what developed.

What developed was the website almost failing from the volume, and the IT guys having to add another server. The fashion shows and the unveiling of the new areas followed in quick succession. The three of us were joined by the other three and given our curl back, so that we could walk the runway in the stores. It was hectic for nearly a month, not giving us much time with our menfolk. Walter had his head down organising our next shoot, and I was with the girls in hotels all around the country.

Eventually, the Spring collection had made its mark, and had made a lot of money for the Brothers. We spent another two weeks working on the Summer collection, and then we were off, once more. This time flying to Auckland for the first leg of the next shoot. It was into May when we left, and the shoot was planned to only be three weeks so we could be back in time for the launch of the Summer collection. In Auckland, it was Autumn, and we were welcomed by the supplier that was based in the North Island. We had a local crew with extra models, all with the curl. Our two photographers had come with us, so we would have a ‘look’ that would follow the previous shoot. We didn’t have to go far out of Auckland to get to the scenic views that had been chosen, and the pictures for the Autumn collection were finished in ten days. This collection was mainly an addition to the normal lines in the stores, so we didn’t have a huge number of outfits to model.

We flew from Auckland to Queenstown, where we were surrounded by snowcapped mountains, to shoot the Winter collection, which was warm coats and jackets, as well as knit dresses, and sweaters, all in merino wool. For this, it was just the three of us, and we were taken to various places with wonderful backdrops. I knew that when we got the stock in the stores, I would be buying some for myself. I did buy some in Queenstown, where the range was sold in the better hotels and a couple of outlets in the town.

During the time away, Walter was equal with his time for us, but we did find the odd time to be alone. I took a lot of pictures on my phone, transferring them to the laptop when I could. When we flew back to London, we did it in shorter hops. First was from Queenstown to Melbourne, then on to Singapore for a few days, where we had bespoke outfits made in the Indian Quarter. Then it was a single flight to London, where it was lovely and warm.

Our June was taken up with our curls back, repeating the fashion shows with the Summer collection. When they were finished, the Brothers allowed us a couple of weeks off. Janice caught up with Clive, Monica caught up with Tony, and I spent some lovely days with Walter in his apartment. It was during this time that he was up for his birthday.

We had a party in the family home, with us all glammed up. I was taken there by Tony when he picked up Monica. I had my painting in a bag. It was a lovely party, as his parents had pulled out all the stops. The look on his face when his mother gave her present to him was priceless. He had tears in his eyes when he hugged her, and more tears after I had given him the one that I had brought. Frederick roared with laughter when he saw it, and the Brothers were very taken with the detail of the furniture, both giving me hugs. I had brought a bag of my things, and stayed at the mansion for four days, and four wonderful nights.

By the time that Walter took me home, I was being considered one of the family, with Walter no longer the black sheep. Susan was teaching me how to knit, while chiding my mother for not teaching me when I was young. She took me to meet some of her friends, and I think that my standing as a model in the magazines that they read was enough to overcome my lowly status. I didn’t like many of them, but, as Susan reminded me, they were the ones who bought the clothes and the paintings.

The following week, Janice and I were bridesmaids for Jemma’s wedding, with Tracey as Maid of Honour. The event was quite highbrow, and a pair of recognisable models in her party went well. The reception went late, and we were booked into the hotel. Clive, Gerald, and Walter were our plus ones, so we all slept late the next day. Gerald had graduated, with a better result than he had expected, and proposed to Tracey after seeing the way the wedding went.

Back in the office, we worked on the Autumn and Winter campaigns. With it being less products, it didn’t take long to get the two presentations together. We were told that we would need to put on fashion shows at as many shops as we could, presenting the Autumn collection and also giving a preview of the Winter one. This would be at all the large stores, as well as the main ones that had come across with the take-over of Hook. We wouldn’t be having a shoot until next year, so our lives slowed down.

Monica went off to visit all of the small stores to sort out the fashion shows, and Walter went into meetings with the buyers to talk about the suppliers for the next year. The Hokem products had sold well, in both the spring and summer, and the Brothers were hoping that the move to New Zealand outfits would be accepted as well. The brand acceptance meant that they could start looking at good European suppliers, rather than better Asian ones.

Moira told Janice and I to take a break but be ready to come in with a day notice. We both spent our time in the house, painting. I had a lot of ideas but went to see the gallery about what he would like me to do. He wanted scenes with well-dressed girls as it was coming up to Christmas again. The only break I had was to go to the Solon AGM and meeting up with Marilyn to listen to the reports. The Financial Officer told the gathering about the take-over of the Hook and Hokem stores and the successful launch of the product line in the Solon outlets, with some pictures from the shoot shown on the screen behind him. I hadn’t followed the share price, and we were both shocked when he told us the current price, almost double from when we had been given ours.

I started on a series of pictures, all using the scenes that I had photographed over the two shoots. Once I got into the swing, they all went quickly. I used the six of us from the first shoot, plus Tracey, and put us in similar clothes to the first shoot, adding a few guys scattered around, with the Solon boys as my models. They would only be recognised if you knew them, but I think all the girls would be easily spotted if you read the magazines.

At the beginning of September, we started the fashion shows. They were just a single day, each, with the shops advertising them in the weeks prior. It was good fun, meeting some new people and catching up with the ones who had transferred across to the Solon branding.

We finished these by the end of October, and I had thirty pictures ready for the gallery early in November. I asked Walter if he could bring his mother over to check them out before I took them in. As I showed them to her, she wanted four. One each with her sons easily recognised, and one that just had the four of us girls in a New Zealand setting, but with summer outfits on. I had expected this and gave them to her. I had deliberately painted the one with Walter to have me in, the one with Gerald having Tracey, and the one with Anthony having Monica predominant. I kept back one that Clive and Janice were in to give to them.

She took pictures of them all and Walter took her, and the four paintings, home. I had bought a lot of bubble wrap and packaged up the rest of the twenty-five pictures, taking them to the gallery. He was very happy to see them and thought that they would sell well. He wanted to put up a card with my details on, so I told him where I worked and what I did beside paint. I told him that a lot of the scenes were from the photo shoots I had been on, and the three, most recognisable, girls were us three main models from the Solon Brothers collections. He put a selling price of two and a half thousand on each one and I went home again wondering if they would be as popular as the ones last year. I took the one for Janice to the framers.

What I didn’t expect was having almost half of the collection being sold in the first week of showing. It all became clear after Walter told me that Susan had sent the Brothers some pictures and told them where they were going to be shown. When I was next in the London store, I went to the Hokem department. On the wall was a large photo of the Holborn mural, and two of my paintings, along with an actual full-size picture of us from the Spanish shoot. The girls in the department all wanted selfies with me standing in front of the display. I found out that all the big stores now had a small display, with those where the Hook store being closed having the picture of the old store mural.

The advertising was stepped up, with full pages in some prestigious magazines. Eventually, one of the magazines wanted to run a story on the three of us. Luckily, they only spoke to my parents in Plymouth, who told them about their young daughter. The details from when I started at Hook were now all about Trixie. I couldn’t see any of my old schoolfriends reading the sort of magazine the article was in, and I was only one of three.

Walter and I became settled as a couple. The sex was always good and the companionship even better. We started talking about a wedding, which the other girls picked up on and it became a topic of conversation. Should we do church, or in the garden of his family home? Should I wear white or make a statement with some other colour? Should all my bridesmaids wear a matching colour or not? In the end, we set a date in the next summer, after we had done the next shoot and had the Spring and Summer collections under our belts. Susan suggested that it might be a good opportunity to add a bridal collection to the Hokem range.

At the end of the year, the Brothers bought out our contracts from Yvonne and we became part of the Solon family, as all their employees were thought of. It made no difference to our salary, it just meant that the Brothers saved a bit by not paying the premium that was Yvonne’s cut. We would be spending time in meetings and have some input into the following year’s collections. We also would be going around the country talking to the shop assistants and having focus group meetings with interested customers.

For Christmas, Janice was going to spend it with Clive and his parents. I had her painting framed and gave it to her for Christmas. Tracey was invited to join me and Monica at the house, so we made sure that everything was locked up and I took us there, a few days before. It was a good time, and I even got presents from Freddy and Susan. She had told me not to bother because of the paintings I had given her. These were now nicely framed and given to the two brothers to put on their walls when they moved into their own places, hint, hint. Walter had already seen the one she gave him. She, and Freddy, were keeping the other one with just us girls in, as an investment, she said.

It was an even happier occasion when Tony proposed to Monica. That lunch that Walter had organised was moving the family in directions that none of us expected. That was the last straw for Susan. She made it clear that there would be a triple ceremony, in a big marquee in the garden, with it all done properly. That was one question answered. I could see it being a very big society occasion, probably with journalists and both sides of the Solon family being together. It made it even more important to get the dresses right, so we didn’t clash. We would have to toss a coin to see which one wore white.

Marianne Gregory © 2024