Chapter 1
I was one of those people who were considered to be born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth. I had all the hallmarks of an upper-class upbringing. My father was something to do with the Council in Swindon. He had been in charge of the Broome Manor Golf Club until the council leased it to a private company. That was in twenty fourteen. He was kept on for two years to train up the new administration and watch his beloved public course become a money-making concern. He had reached the age of fifty-five in twenty sixteen and took early retirement.
I was born in first year of the new millennium. My mother was a teacher, so, every weekday, my father would drop me off at the Busy Bees childcare on his way to the golf club. When I started primary, my mother would walk me from our house in Westlecot Road, along The Mall, to the Commonweal School, where she taught. It didn’t sink in with me until I was eight or nine, just how lucky I was. Up until then, I had played with my friends on our road, been to birthday parties, had parties of my own, and generally thought that this was how life should be.
As I moved into the secondary part of Commonweal, I began to realise that there was a wider world out there. I started to take more attention with news programs, I started to read things online, and grew up a lot. What it didn’t do, however, was to give me any impetus to learn how to live when I left school. I was in a secure family. I was well fed, well clothed, and well loved – at least by my mother. Any future was just that – in the future.
This all changed after I had taken the final exams. My parents had decided to take a holiday after my father retired. I was sixteen and was considered to be able to look after myself. My mother had taught me basic cooking and keeping my room clean, so I wasn’t too concerned when they drove away in the first week of the summer holidays.
I was in the house, alone, waiting for the notification of how I had done in the exams. I made sure that I was clean, tidy, and well fed. I spent some of the time in the Swindon Railway Museum, as I always had a love of trains, with a good layout at home. My results arrived, telling me that I had passed, but not well enough to apply for further education, unless I went for a trade-based course. I, of course, had no idea of what that entailed. I had expected to live with my parents until they died and then I could live on their savings until I died.
Two days later, I was playing a computer game when the front doorbell rang. I ignored it as I was close to moving up a level. When it rang again and there was a hammering on the door, I put the controller down and went to see who had interrupted me. It was a policeman, with a policewoman.
“Hedley Pearson?”
“That’s me. What’s the problem?”
“Can we come in, sir. I’m afraid we have some bad news.”
I let them in and took them through to the kitchen. I asked them if they wanted a drink, but they both declined and asked me to sit down.
“We’re sorry to tell you, Hedley, but your parents were in the eastern part of France, this morning. They were in a hilly area and were hit, head-on, by an out-of-control truck. I’m afraid they both died immediately.”
I found it hard to breath and the policewoman brought me some water and put her arm around my shoulders as I strived to take it all in. Thoughts raced through my mind. I was sad that my mother wasn’t coming home. Not so sad about my father, as he hadn’t been much more than a wallet to tap. I fleetingly thought that I might be taken away to be looked after, then decided that I had this house to live in, some food to cook, and I was sixteen. Surely, I could spend my life here, being able to live a quiet, and sedentary, life.
“What happens now?”
“I believe that you are sixteen, is that correct?”
“I am.”
“You are not going to be bothered by social services unless you apply for help. You know that you can ride a small scooter, but not get a car licence for a year. Do you have a job?”
I shook my head and he carried on.
“Do you have any relatives who we can contact for you?”
“I have a much older sister, who married a Canadian and went there to live. I have never heard from her. There is an uncle, a brother of my mother. I have only ever seen him at the odd funeral or wedding. My father considers him to be working class.”
He asked for the details, and I gave them as he wrote them down.
“I’ll make some calls. WPC Stevens will make you a cup of tea or coffee if you want. I won’t be long.”
He went out to their squad car, while WPC Stevens put the kettle on and found a couple of mugs and the coffee jar. I sat there, trying to get my thoughts in order. Did they have insurance? When can I access the bank accounts? Where can I sell the jewellery that Dad had bought for Mum?
I was handed the mug of coffee and sipped at it.
“It’s a bit sweet.”
“That’s what you need right now. It brings the body back to normal. Do you have a girlfriend that we can talk to?”
“Not at the moment. I’ve been out with a few from school, but nothing long term. I can look after myself. My mother trained me well and I can cook and clean up all right. A bit slow with laundry, though. We have a cleaning service in for the house, and a gardening service for the outside. I should be able to carry on. What happens about their bodies and stuff?”
“The car will be written off by the French. Their bodies will be put into the hands of an undertaker. You’ll have to talk to your Uncle about which one. They will ship the bodies by road, along with what personal items that can be salvaged from the wreck. You’re in for a tough time, Hedley.”
“What about funds? I have enough to last me until the time they were due home.”
“You can’t do anything about that until the death certificates are issued. There has to be a coronial investigation, and it depends on which one of your parents died first, as that may have an effect on the wills. It will all take some weeks, so you had better talk to your Uncle.”
They stayed with me until my Uncle Don arrived. I wasn’t sure what I should say to him, and he was a little cold. I knew why.
“So, Hedley. The lazy little layabout now has to start looking after himself. It’s about time you grew up. Your mother would never listen, no, she mollycoddled you all your life. I gather that you expect to live here like a grand homeowner. I can tell you that you will have to get a job in the next few weeks. I might be able to offer you one, but it will be a lowly one, you have no people skills whatsoever.”
“I can live here. There’ll be enough money.”
“Let me put you right, young Hedley. Your father had a good job, and your mother had a good job, true, but both of them added together do not add up to pay for this house and their lifestyle. I expect that when the dust settles, you’ll be left with very little.”
When he left me, confirming his contact details and telling me that he would arrange the undertaker and the funeral, I sat and thought about what he said. Surely there will be plenty of money.
That night, when I went to bed, it didn’t feel like an adventure to be alone in the house. It just felt like I was alone. I sleepwalked through the next few days, until Uncle Don rang to tell me that my parents remains had arrived in the local undertaker, and that there would be a double funeral in a week. He said that he had spoken to my sister, but she wouldn’t be coming over for the funeral.
I still had some food and money, hardly eating anything since the news, and not going anywhere. To be frank, I was in a funk and feeling abandoned. The undertaker sent a car for me on the day of the funeral. I had tried to dress properly and had even had a shower. The church was full of Mums’ colleagues from the school, and the council sent along a few representatives. Other than me and Uncle Don with his family, there were no other relatives, although I was certain that Dad had mentioned his family, many times.
Afterwards, I was taken home to find a couple of guys at the front door, waiting for me.
“Mister Pearson?”
“Yes. What do you want? I’ve just buried my parents.”
“That’s why we’re here. We’re from your parent’s bank. This house has a large mortgage on it and we’re here to ask you if you have any funds to continue to pay each month.”
“There must be a mistake. We own the house.”
“Sorry, sir. We have a copy of the papers for you to look at. If there are no payments inside thirty days, we will have to change the locks after we have evicted you.”
They put the papers in my hand and got into their car, driving back onto the road. I stood there with the papers in my hand. Inside the house, I rang Uncle Don. He told me that he would come over and look at the paperwork. I just sat there, my brain overloaded, until he rang the bell. When he looked at the papers, he snorted.
“That’s how he funded his lifestyle, Hedley. The house is worth over two million and it has an outstanding mortgage of nearly that on it. You will have to move out or be kicked out.”
When he left, I started thinking about what I could sell. I thought about it until the following Monday, then looked in my mothers’ things, finding her jewellery box. I put it in a bag and went to catch a bus into the city. When I showed it to a jeweller, expecting to have it valued at several thousand pounds, he snapped it shut and gave it back to me.
“Next time you steal a jewellery box, son, do some research first. Every item in there may look nice, but it’s all paste. If you want to sell it, I need identity and then I’ll give you a hundred for the lot.”
I hadn’t been home long, tears in my eyes, when the doorbell went. I was starting dread the sound. It was a couple of guys in overalls.
“Mister Pearson?”
“That’s me.”
“Are your parents at home?”
“I buried them a week ago. They were killed in a car accident in France.”
“Ah. That makes it awkward, lad. We are here to repossess the cars. They are on lease and the payment is now two months in arrears. Can you give us the keys, so we don’t have to damage them?”
I went into the kitchen and got the keys for Mums’ Audi, and Dad’s Jaguar. They had taken the Mercedes estate when they went on holiday. I went back to the men with the keys.
“What about the MGB?”
“But my father bought that for me for when I turn seventeen!”
“Sorry, son. He leased it. The keys, please.”
I went to my bedroom and took the keys out of my bedside drawer, taking them back to the door and giving them to him. They thanked me and I stood there, crying, while they loaded all three cars onto a transporter, only giving me a receipt so that I could cancel the insurances.
They drove away and I slid down the door frame and started bawling my eyes out. Over the next week, the people who had leased Dad the furniture arrived with a pantechnicon, taking every scrap of furniture in the house. I had to empty wardrobes, drawers, and cupboards before they carried them out. All I had to sleep in was my sleeping bag that had been bought for a school camp. My parent’s clothes were on the floor of their bedroom, and mine were scattered in my room. All I had left of mine was my train set.
That lasted another two days. The cleaning service came by to demand back payments. When I couldn’t give them what they wanted, they looked around to see what they could take in lieu. I had to sit on the floor and cry some more as it was dismantled, packed into boxes, and taken away, just leaving the base board. I hadn’t cried like this in my life.
They must have left the door open when they left, as I was still sitting there when I heard Uncle Don calling out, his voice echoing in the empty house. When he found me, he sat on the floor beside me.
“Ready to get a job now, Hedley?”
I snuffled and nodded.
“Pack what you need, you’re going to live with us for a while. The room isn’t big, but you will be fed. I’m going to give you some work at my shop. It won’t be in front of the public but will be something I think you can manage. I only live five minutes from the business, by push bike, and I have one that you can use. I do have one bit of good news for you. Your mother had taken out an insurance policy after you had been born, and it has been paid, automatically, from her salary. I was told about the payments by the school and have contacted the insurance company. There will be a payout when we submit the policy. She may have hidden it in the house. The bank will also release her money to you. It isn’t a lot, but it’s more than you have now.”
I found a case and packed what I needed, with him overseeing my packing. I left the sleeping bag there but had another bag with my toiletries and personal items. My computer had already been taken, along with my game unit, so I was certainly travelling light.
We pulled the door closed and he drove me to his house, where I was shown a small bedroom and put my things away. Uncle Don and Aunt Jean were going to go back to the house and search through my mothers’ things to see if they could find the insurance policy. The contents of my fathers’ study was on the floor in that empty room, so it may be there. I told them about the paste jewels before they left, and Uncle Don said a word I had last heard in the schoolyard.
I settled in the small house while they were away. It wasn’t a patch on where I had lived, but it was cosy and, I expect, paid for. They came back with the policy, found among my mothers’ things. They also gave me the cash that had returned in the belongings that had come back from France.
The next day, I was taken to where I would be working. He was the manager of a Krispy Kreme outlet in the Designer Outlet Village, in a development of part of the old railway works. My job, starting tomorrow, would be for me to go to the shop for eight in the morning, and put out the boxes of product for sale during the day when the doors opened at ten. I had an access card to get into the Village, and spent some time with him and his salesgirls, looking at what went where. I would also have to go into the Village before they closed to the public at eight in the evening, and clean the shop, putting away the unsold product so that it can be put out again the next morning. I had to make note of use-by dates so that nothing out of date was offered to the public.
It was, he said, easy work, but only four hours a day, seven days a week, with just the public holidays when the Village was shut. I expect that he didn’t think I would last. I vowed to show him what I was made of until any money from the insurance came through.
Starting the next morning, I rode the bike in and locked it in the bike rack outside the Village. The pass got me in, and I worked in the shop, putting things out as required. There was one group of boxes that had reached the use-by, so I set these aside and added new stock out of the last delivery. The advertising said that product was made new, every day, and I could see that we had yesterday’s things in the front, with anything more than two days old being given to the sales staff or binned. I could see, already, that it would take a keen mind to ensure that not too much was ordered, and not too little either.
When the girls came in, they told me that I had done a good job. When the doors of the Village opened to the public, I took a long walk around the site, making the vow that I would do that every day, to get me fit. I had spent too long sitting at the computer or gaming consol.
I had an early lunch at the food area and then walked next door to the Steam Museum. I had a yearly pass, so it didn’t cost me anything. I spent the afternoon there, then went back to the Village for tea. I wandered until just before eight, going to the shop to put things away and clean out the area. Several other shopkeepers said hello to me as I worked. At ten, I had finished and cycled back to the house, letting myself in with the key I had been given.
I slept well, waking with the alarm and having a light breakfast before doing it all over again. It took two days before I realised that I needed something to do with the middle of the day. I went to the employment exchange to see what I could see. I didn’t see anything but went back every few days to look at the boards.
It was a couple of weeks, and just before the start of the new school term, before there was a notice for a casual cleaner, with flexible hours, during school days at the Swindon and Wilts Technical College. I went to the counter and got a referral to go and see them, which I did, that afternoon. That evening, when I went back after cleaning the shop, I told Uncle Don that I would be cleaning in the Tech School during the day, from two to six, five days a week. I think he was surprised.
I did this as soon as the term started, eight to ten at the shop, exercise, and lunch in the Village, cycling to the College for work between two and six. Back to the Village for tea and work in the shop between eight and ten. As the year went towards Christmas, I got fitter and more able to do the work. I was only a casual but working forty- eight hours a week. I didn’t miss a day. When the school term ended, I was kept on, to help out with general maintenance up until Christmas, when I had two days off.
My Uncle was very impressed with my work ethic. I was given some small things for Christmas, and I bought some things for them from the shops as I wandered around. I was starting to be recognised by other shopkeepers and began to acquire some skills with my interaction with them. I was even able to talk normally to the shop girls. As our shop was open ten hours a day, the girls worked overlapping shifts, with there being double staff between twelve and six, so I got to meet all of them.
My mothers’ insurance policy was paid out directly to me in January, as stated in the policy, so didn’t get put into her estate. It was enough for me to move from living with my relatives. The payment was substantial, enough for me to buy a house outright, and that’s what I did. I bought a near-new house in the garden suburb of the Tadpole Garden Village. It was a very nice house on Rackham Street, on the southern edge, with three bedrooms and garaging for two cars. The garage only held my scooter, which I had bought in November, getting my licence, and passing the test on days I wasn’t needed in the college. It was an easy ride from the house to the Village, and I now had a parking pass.
I took my time with the furnishings, starting out with a kitchen suite and a bedroom suite from a reasonably priced store. There was one thing certain, and that was that I was never going to fall into the snob trap that my father had let destroy his family and all my feelings for him. Everything I bought, I bought with cash or by my debit card. There would be nothing superfluous, nothing for show, and nothing I can’t afford at the time. That’s why I kept the scooter as I passed seventeen and could have bought a car.
I was seeing my uncle regularly and was often at their house on the weekends for a roast lunch. We became friends, rather than relatives, and he told me that my mother had left me a gift, in a safe deposit, which he would give me on my eighteenth birthday, as she had intended to do, herself. That was what a key he had found among her things was. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, but he said that I would be happy with it.
So, I kept working at the two jobs through the first six months of the year, arriving at my birthday. I was invited to attend a small party at my Uncles home, and I rode there on the Saturday, after the two hours at the Village. We had lunch and they gave me birthday cards with shopping vouchers in. Finally, my Uncle pulled out a large and bulky envelope. On the outside was the words, in my mothers’ writing. ‘To my Darling son, Hedley, on the occasion of becoming an adult.’ It actually made me cry. My aunt comforted me as I allowed myself to let my pent-up sadness come out. I cried for my mother, and the loss I had kept at bay.
Inside the envelope was a letter and a jewellery box, the one I had tried to sell and put back. Uncle Don explained.
“When we went into the house before the locks were changed, we pulled out all of your fathers’ clothes to take to the op-shop. We made sure that we looked in all your mothers’ things. As I told you, I had found a key to a safe deposit box, and this envelope was in it.”
“But that’s the one I took to the jewellers. They told me it was all fake and I took it home again.”
“We found that one and it went to the op-shop with her clothes. No. This one is identical, and I’ve had a sneak look. Open it and see for yourself.”
I did so, and saw the identical jewels, but much brighter. I decided, there and then, that were not going to be sold, no matter how hard my life became. I read the letter, where she apologised for mothering me, but explained how I was her last chance at having another baby, and that I had been everything to her. She admitted that she knew of my fathers’ faults and had the jewels copied in case he tried to sell them to pay off debts. It ended with her telling me that she loved me and to make the best of my life. I expect that it had been put away, in case of her death. I know that Don had found an insurance policy on both of them that had been cancelled a few years before, due to no payment.
I hugged them both and silently thanked my mother. Her belief in me and her love was almost overwhelming.
Marianne Gregory © 2024
Chapter 2
A couple of weeks after my birthday party, I was sent a letter telling me that the College was moving to contract cleaners in the next term and gave me a contact number if I wanted to apply to work for them. I had enough experience now to know that they worked you all hours, paid a pittance and were very picky about your work.
That was one job down. I could get by, just, on what Uncle Don paid me, but I’d have to start looking around for something else. I’d talk to the Steam Museum, but most of their internal work was done by volunteers. No. I needed something that paid. The summer break had been good, as it gave me free time in the middle of the day. Sometimes I would go home and do my housework or garden, what little there was, but I would often do a couple of turns around the Village.
It was funny how long that took me, some days. There were shop assistants with time on their hands, standing at the doorways and happy to share a word with a familiar face. They all knew what I did in Krispy Kreme by now, and some would go there in the lunch period for an instant sugar hit, something I did, but not often. I would be given the out-of-date stock with a very sweet shake.
There was one girl at the sports outfit store who I spoke to a bit. Abigail was a fit young lady who had looked after me when I bought a pair of sneakers for working and walking. She sometimes volunteered with the walking group who came to the Village three days a week, and they often ended their walk at the Krispy Kreme, just before opening time, to put back any calories that they had walked off. I was almost ready to ask her out, but I was working seven evenings a week, starting as she was finishing.
One day, I was finishing off setting up for a new day and talking to the girls getting ready to sell our slice of heaven, when Uncle Don turned up, asking me to go and wash my hands, then come back. I did as he asked, and he led me to an area I had never been before. It was the office where the Village was administered. I was wondering whether I had done anything wrong but was happier when the Village Manager shook me by the hand and asked me how I was.
“Hedley, Don has brought you here because there’s something we both think that you’re ready for. As you know, we have a small team of assistants who help the public find their way around and also help with shops that are doing special events. One of them, Otto, is retiring next week and we’re asking if you would take the job.”
I knew Otto, and had spoken to him, as I had with all the concierges. I was a little overwhelmed by the suggestion that I could do something so public.
“What about my job with you, Uncle Don?”
“It’s summer holidays, lad. I can get any number of young fourth formers to do that work. No, Hedley, I won’t stand in your way if you move onwards.”
“Can you tell me the hours?”
“You will work the full opening times, five days a week, with Tuesday and Wednesday off. That means a fifty-hour week. If there’s a holiday on the day you should be working, you will get paid for it at your normal rate. All work after six is on overtime. If there’s a special event happening and you need to be in on your days off, you’ll get overtime for those. The job entails you standing at the kiosk in the area you look after, handing out maps and answering questions.”
“Otto has been working the boutique area. Will that be my place.”
“It will. If you say that you’ll do it, we can pair you with him for his last week, then start the next week as the man who has the answers to everything. I’ve stood in a few times, and you have no idea what people ask you. Telling them where to go is the easiest part.”
I looked at Don and he nodded as he smiled.
“I’ll do it. Thank you for the opportunity. I won’t let you down.”
“I’m sure you won’t, Hedley. A lot of the shopkeepers have asked me who was going to take over from Otto, and most of them suggested you. You have made a lot of friends in the Village.”
Don left us to organise the paperwork, putting me on the payroll. He needed my government numbers, and I was also measured for my new uniform. Before I was set free, I was taken to the special entrance I would be using, that came into the locker rooms and toilets that the concierges and security men used.
He left me with a couple of the security men, who showed me the CCTV control room. I had never realised that I had been under such constant surveillance. One of the operators told me that it was good to meet me in person, seeing how often he had seen me on the screens. They gave me a small radio unit and clip-on microphone. They also had a new earbud for me to put in my locker when I took over. We spent a little time with me wearing the unit and listening to the constant chatter.
“There are a few rules. Keep the microphone muted, we don’t need to hear you peeing. If someone asks you something you can’t answer, unmute the microphone and get them to repeat it. We will look up the answer on the computer. You just look as if you’re thinking about it, and we’ll give you the information. We expect that you can tell them how to get to every shop and the eating area. If there is an alarm, unmute and keep it that way until the alarm is over. That way, you can tell us something on the run. The conversations in your bud will let you know what’s going on over the entire site. You’ll get used to it pretty quickly.”
They showed me where the radios were kept on charge, and mine would be marked ‘Hedley’ when I started. I gave them back the unit and put the bud in a pocket. I walked back into the retail area in wonder, now knowing that I was being watched. It was hard not to give them a wave.
I strolled along my usual path, with a lot of the store managers asking me if I had taken the job. When I told them that I would start after Otto had retired, several of the women gave me a hug and welcomed me to the village proper. When I got to Abigail, she didn’t just hug me but gave me a kiss.
“I hope that you have Tuesday and Wednesday off, Hedley. Now you can ask me out.”
“I would love to, Abigail. I have a week doubling with Otto, then I’ll have the next two days off before I start on my own. I hope that I can be as good as he has been, I’ve never done something so public before.”
“You’ll be great, Hedley. Just be the person that we see every day and you can’t go wrong.”
She gave me another quick kiss and went to serve a customer. I carried on in a bit of a daze. I worked my usual times up to Monday night, Uncle Don telling me that I had better get used to having a couple of days off. On Tuesday morning, I didn’t have the alarm on and slept late, cleaning up after breakfast and wondering what I would fill the day with. I went into Swindon and walked the city area, making note of all the cafés and restaurants, cinemas, and theatres that I could take Abigail to. I picked up fliers for upcoming events and made sure that I knew the nearby parking areas.
On Thursday, I arrived at the new entrance at nine, to give myself time to try on the uniform and look presentable. Otto was there, with a twinkle in his eye. He gave me a man-hug and helped me put the uniform on. It was really just a hard-wearing suit and comfortable shoes, with the radio clipped to the waistband, the microphone behind the lapel, and the bud in the ear.
I followed his lead as we tested the comms, and we went into the Village. We made sure that we were now on mute, and he spoke about the good years he had spent doing this job. At his station, there was small desk and a seat. In a drawer, there were maps of the Village and some fliers for various outlet events. We sorted out those that had passed and put them in a bin.
“Now, young Hedley, we take a walk as the retailers are opening, have a chat and find out if they have anything for the coming week that we should know about.”
It took us until about half past ten to see everyone and get back to the desk, to answer our first questions of the day. When we got to half past twelve, he pulled out a sign which said, ‘Gone for lunch, be back at one’, and went to the eating area to get something. It wasn’t as long as I had usually taken, but I would get used to it. It would also stop me dithering over what I wanted to get. Later in the afternoon, we put out the sign, ‘Gone for tea, be back at six’. At closing time, we put everything away and headed back to the locker room to change. Otto told me that it had been good how I was accepted by the shop owners and managers, and the few questions I had been asked we answered in a properly helpful manner.
Over the next four days, we did it all again. The weekend was very busy, as usual, and he let me do almost everything, going off to say his goodbyes to the salespeople. On Monday, we gathered in the administration area at five thirty, to give him a going away present and a round of hugs and handshakes. For the first time, from then until closing time, I was master of my own little world.
As I was tidying up, Abigail visited me.
“In charge now, Hedley?”
“Certainly am, Abigail. Just me to keep the clamouring masses under control.”
“Have you thought about where you’re taking me?”
I had a flier in my pocket, along with two tickets for the show on Wednesday evening. It was a local band who were breaking into the charts, and the tickets were very hard to get. She put her hands either side of my head and gave me a proper kiss. I said that I had a scooter, and she said that she had a car, so I gave her my address to pick me up. She said that she would be early, so I could take her to a place she knew, and we could eat before the show.
I spent most of Tuesday cleaning the house and making sure that it was fit for inspection. I hadn’t had a real visitor before. Not even my uncle and aunt, as I had never had the free time to entertain. I was on tenterhooks all day Wednesday and she was true to her word, arriving early. She pulled up in the driveway a little after two, and I let her in. I got her a drink and she sipped it as I showed her the house, the back garden, and then we were upstairs, in my bedroom.
“So, you live here, all alone?”
“Yes, I was able to buy it with money from my mothers’ insurance, after my parents were killed in a car crash, a bit over two years ago.”
“So, nobody is liable to walk in if we go to bed, then?”
“The only ones likely to knock on the door would be witnessers.”
“Then we won’t let them witness anything, will we. Are you a virgin?”
“Yes. I had a very cloistered upbringing, and since then there’s been no time except work time.”
“I thought so. You have that scared look in your eyes, right now. I’m not a virgin, but don’t let that put you off. I can tell you what to do. Don’t worry, it’ll all be all right.”
As we were talking, she was disrobing both of us. When we were naked, we held each other close. Well, as close as the thing that had grown between us would allow. I lost my virginity with a girl who knew just what she wanted, and what I needed. We were so successful, we rested, cuddled together, and did it again, a lot slower.
She drove me to the place she had picked for dinner, and we had a nice meal before going to park close to the theatre. During the show we danced with a lot of others in the aisles. When we got back to the house, we made love again before she left me, a smile on her face, and I needed to change the sheets before I could get to sleep.
It was lucky that I had put the alarm on for Thursday morning, as I didn’t want to get out of bed. But beggars can’t be choosers, so I had a shower, breakfast, and got dressed to ride into the Village and start my first full week on the job. It was odd, seeing Abigail in the familiar place and knowing that we had been to bed together. She just gave me a bright smile, a peck on the lips and we carried on as usual.
I worked through the week without any problems, and we arranged for her to come to my place on Tuesday morning, without any planned outing. She arrived, we went to bed, and she didn’t leave until Wednesday evening, phoning for take-aways when we wanted to eat. By the time she left, we had agreed that she would move in the next week. She reminded me of my mother, not in any physical way. No, she had that forceful air that some teachers have twenty-four seven. We did go out for a walk on Wednesday morning, so that I had some recovery time, and we explored some of the nearby streets, which she declared would be a good circuit for our morning runs.
So, the following Tuesday, she turned up in a van and we moved her things into the house, where they fitted, or behind the scooter if they didn’t. She had a bunch of clothing and underwear to go into the bedroom, and my bathroom now sported a shelf full of cosmetics. My nearly empty shampoo went into the bin and was replaced by a sweeter smelling one and a conditioner. I had got some supplies in, so cooked us lunch before she drove us in the van to where she had borrowed it, introduced me to her friend, and we left in her car, which now went into the second garage. We didn’t get out of bed until Wednesday lunchtime.
Over that session, my lust became love. Now, we could both get up together and get ready for work. It was so new, so different, and so right. She drove us to the Village, where she was a little earlier than usual, but I needed to get the uniform on and check that I had everything I needed. When we went home, that night, she told me that she had negotiated with her store manager to open up and tidy up before opening time.
We settled down like an old married couple, reducing our sex to just once a day. The job worked well for me. I was able to answer the questions, give sage advice when asked what store would suit the teenage girls that were asking, and I also was able to help out with crowd control when some of the stores had special events which required organised entry.
As the time passed, I was happier than I had ever been. We hosted my uncle and aunt for a dinner one Wednesday and it went well. They were happy for me. As the weeks went by, I became more than just a helper in the Village, I became a trusted employee and friend to many. Willing to lend a hand anytime, happy to stand in for other concierges if they needed time off. We got into October, and I was getting ready for my day, when I saw a notice in my locker. It was for a general meeting after the close that night. When I saw Abigail, I asked her if she was having a meeting and she said she wasn’t but would wait with me until mine was over.
At eight, we gathered in the eating area, as the other shopkeepers were leaving. The meeting was about the Spooktacular for Halloween. We would be having a four-day event, with a spider hunt for the kiddies, and the shops would be having their own specials. There would be a crew coming in, overnight, to spray fake spiderwebs and hang pumpkins with battery-powered LED lights in them. We concierges were to be wearing spooky outfits for the four days. The list was read out, and I was down to be ‘Deadly Hedley’ with an exaggerated undertakers outfit, which would be supplied.
Abigail could hardly stop giggling on the drive home, calling me ‘Dead head’ a few times. That night I produced one head that certainly wasn’t dead. The next day, she found out that she was set to play a witch during the four days. We both found out that we would be bringing the costumes home and were expected to arrive in character each day. As it got closer to the event, we concierges were given more information, along with a big bunch of informative leaflets. When I took the costume out to the car, Abigail already had hers hanging in the back.
In the morning, we dressed in character, and Abigail gave my face a ‘deadpan’ effect, then did hers with creepy eyes and an exaggerated lip line, accentuated by a long black wig that she had obtained. We got a few funny looks from other car drivers as we went to work. When we arrived, it was to a different place, with festooned webs, hanging lanterns, skeletons, and most of the shop staff in costume. Today, we would be inundated with children and stressed mothers.
It all went as expected and was a lot of fun. The other three days went as well, with the actual Halloween day the highlight, with a big party in the eating area and prizes given out. I spent all the time trying to sound like the tall guy from the Addams Family, with a lot of laughter. Abigail slightly altered her make-up to look like the wife and would come over and be suitably sexy.
When the event was over, and we had taken our costumes back to a now normal village, the manager came out to me and we went to the sports shop, where he gave the two of us a Village voucher for being such good sports. That’s when he told us that we would be seconded to help out when Santa visited. I asked him where I stood with the Santa event.
“Right there, at Santa’s Grotto, looking good in your outfit. Abigail will be able to tell you how to make it work for you and do your make-up in the morning. You’ll have plenty of time to get into character, and your day won’t start until Santa arrives, at eleven. You will finish each day at five and can go home. I’ve already cleared it with Abigails’ manager.”
Later in the day, I found out who was going to play Santa. It was one of the security team with the body to suit the job. I asked him if he had done it before, and about having a bloke playing a helper.
“Done the job a few times, Hedley. It’s a good gig if you stay focussed on the kiddies. The little beggars get into the strangest places. We have had guys playing a helper in the past. Most do it as a panto dame, all exaggeration and queer voice, to make it fun. I remember one that nailed the feminine persona, and he went on to be on TV a year later, in that show with Danny La Rue. You play it as feel most comfortable with. To do the dame, you need to be a comedian, to do it femme, you need to believe in yourself. I just sit there and go ho ho ho a lot. Money for jam.”
I spoke to Abigail about in when we were in bed. She thought that making me female would be easier than making me funny. As we were into November, we had about six weeks to transform me.
The first thing I did was to look up pictures of the other years, in the Village files. The costume was not something that I thought I would look good in, but Abigail took a picture of me naked, and then used a program on her computer to see how I looked in it, then to alter my hair and the make-up until we were both surprised at the result.
Working where we did, Abigail was able to shop at the lingerie outlets to get shapers for me. When she dressed me in them and I looked in the mirror, I was amazed at the difference they made to my shape. She measured me and gave those measurements to admin for the costume. In the third week of November, I had an appointment with her favourite salon. She had let them know why I was there.
If I wasn’t with Abigail, I would never have thought about doing this. If I hadn’t generated the person that I now was, from the wimp I had been, I wouldn’t have even considered submitting my body to the process of being made hairless. I was told that one thing makes people think that you’re a girl, beyond a bubble butt and boobs, is make-up and earrings. So, I walked out of there hairless, and with a stud in each ear. I had a wig in a bag, similar to hers.
I can’t pretend that I didn’t feel different, that, somehow, these changes were creating a new Hedley. Abigail must have been reading my thoughts because she smiled.
“Way to go Medley, we’ll make a babe of you yet.”
We had done most of the things we could, without the costume. One day, when we left the Village, Abigail had a garment bag and a shoe shop bag. She hung the garment bag in my side of the wardrobe. When I queried that, she told me that I’ll know the answers on Tuesday. I could hardly think as we worked through the weekend, and I was not looking forward to our days off.
On Tuesday morning, Abigail was extra attentive with me and made sure I washed my hair twice before we dried it and put a skull cap on me. I had to shave twice to show a smooth face. She gave me the shapers I had worn before. The gaffe to hold me in and give me a bubble butt, the panties to hide the gaffe, the corset to thin my waist, and the bra with inserts to give me boobs.
What came next was new, a pair of stockings that made my legs look wonderful and would have made my hair stand on end, had I still had some. They were attached to suspenders that were hooked to the corset, and she opened the shoe box to give me red shoes with a three-inch block heel, which had straps around the ankle. When I stood up, I nearly fell over, and she had me walking up and down the upper corridor to get used to them.
I thought that things couldn’t make me feel more different, but there was more to come.
Marianne Gregory © 2024
Chapter 3
Abigail appraised my movements and told me to take shorter steps with my feet trying to follow a straight line. Then I had to lose my slouch that the weight of the breasts were forcing on me. We worked on all of these until I walked correctly, with my head high and my shoulders back. That was a whole new feeling.
I had been wearing the underwear for an hour by now, and she then added a layer with a slip, that seemed to slither over my body. The dress came out of the bag now. It was a slippery fabric, and I had to step into it for her to pull it up and zip it up. I was now trapped in it, as there was no way I could reach behind me.
I had to walk the walk once more, to feel the skirt brushing against my legs. She took pity on me then, and we went down to the kitchen for a cup of tea. That was something new as I had to negotiate the stairs in heels. After the tea, she kept me sitting in the kitchen while she went to fetch her cosmetics. I had to sit and hold my head still while she put a cloth over my top and did things to my face, and then fitted the wig. That was when I really wanted to see what I looked like. Was I a clown or a possible woman?
I still wasn’t allowed to know, as she had a small box of false nails and a bottle of glue. She attached the nails and then painted them red to match the dress, ‘and the lipstick’ which I could taste.
“There’s one thing we didn’t get. You need a bit of bling; we’ll have to get you some jewellery.”
“There’s a box with my mothers’ gems in my wardrobe.”
We went upstairs, with it being very odd to climb stairs on tiptoe. I pulled out the box and opened it, she gasped.
“These are beautiful, they must be worth a fortune.”
“They’re insured for forty thousand. My mother was a very elegant lady when she dressed up.”
I had my studs replaced by a pair of gold drops, and a gold necklace added to my throat. Her rings didn’t fit my fingers, but there was a shop in the Village that sold cheap look-alikes. It was only then that I saw myself in the mirror.
“You know. I do think we’ve made a start. Can I get properly dressed now?”
“We’re not wasting all that time. I’ve got a red bag, so we’re going out.”
“I can’t go out like this!”
“In another few weeks, you’ll be at Santas’ Grotto, looking even sexier than this. No, you have to take a big breath and face the great outdoors. I have a coat that you can wear while we travel, but I think it’s time to show the Village what we have created. We can get you the rings while we’re there.”
I really needed a pee, I was getting so scared, but she told me that it was good for me to do it here, as the first time like a woman. With the gaffe, I had to prise the panties down as far as the stocking tops and sit down, using toilet paper to dry, then pull the panties up again. It was very difficult with my long nails but made me be extra careful and slowed my movements.
In the garage, she opened up her car and made me get in, and out several times before I was proficient in sitting, then swivelling with my knees together and pulling the skirt with me. There was an old mirror that had come with her things, and she set it so I could see myself getting out, giving me a very nice view of my panties for the first few times.
She drove us to the Village, and I was getting more worried about this, the closer we got. She made me talk to her as we went, getting me to alter my voice. She parked and I was very slow getting out of the car. Abigail was patient with me and locked the car when I was standing up, so that I couldn’t dive back in. This was it; I was committed.
As we walked towards the entrance, I saw our reflection in the glass doors. Abigail was in slacks, and I was in a dress. We looked like a couple, with her the man. Inside, nobody burst out laughing as we made our way to the food area. I found a seat while she got a couple of drinks to give me time to calm my racing heart. We were sitting there when Jonas, our prospective Santa, came by on his rounds. Abigail spoke to him.
“Hi Jonas, how are you today?”
“All right, Abby. You’re a glutton for punishment, being here on your day off. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”
“Jonas, meet Medley, the other one of your pair of helpers this Christmas.”
“Medley? Hedley? Bloody hell girl, if the two of you are in the helpers outfits, the Grotto is going to be the place where the blokes gather this year.”
He laughed.
“Marty, on the screens, just asked me to ask you if you’re single.”
“Marty is a nice boy, but I know he’s married, so tell him that he doesn’t stand a chance.”
Jonas went off, chuckling, and Abigail stared at me.
“What’s wrong, has the wig slipped?”
“It’s not the wig that slipped, darling, it’s the mind under it. Do you realise how that conversation sounded. You were in the zone, and it was scary to watch. Your voice was a natural and you said what any girl would say. If you’ve finished your drink, we’ll go and check our lipstick before we wander.”
She was holding my hand when we entered the toilets. It was a good thing that these were just walk-ins, if there had been a door, I would have baulked. We both used the cubicles and washed our hands before checking our lips. I found that the bag she had given me had all sorts of things I never thought I would be carrying around. There was, though, my wallet in there, open so I could just reach in to extract money or my cards.
We strolled, arm in arm, looking at the shop displays, until we reached the jewellery man. He didn’t bat an eyelid as I tried several rings, finding at least one for every finger. They weren’t expensive so I paid him cash, keeping the rings on. He gave me my change and told me that I deserved a good man to buy me the real thing.
We were walking along, our coats open in the warmer interior, when we came to my usual beat, the boutique section. When we arrived at one of the more affordable shops, the manager was standing outside.
“Hello, Abigail. I see that your friend is wearing that dress you bought. I didn’t say anything at the time, but I wondered if it was for someone else, seeing that it wasn’t your usual style.”
“Monique, this is Medley, and today is her first time out in the Village.”
“Hello, Medley, welcome to the Village. Wait a moment.”
She dashed to her counter and scribbled something on a notepad, then came back.
“Sorry about that. We’re having a fashion display in the spring, and the printers wanted me to tell them what to call it. You just gave it to me. It will be called the ‘Medley of First Times’ as everything will be new and girly. Would you strut the catwalk for me, Medley?”
“I don’t think that would be appropriate, Monique.”
“Why not? You would look good in anything I put on your back.”
“Because I will have to be regulating the crowd, like I was doing last Saturday with your winter sale.”
“Hedley was doing that.”
She looked at me more closely as Abigail was trying hard to suppress a giggle.
“Is that you, Hedley? I heard that the two of you were going to be Santas’ Helpers, but it never crossed my mind that you would do it so completely feminine. You had me totally fooled. I tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll talk to the admin and see if we can’t deck you out in one of our best dresses and be the hostess and describe the clothing. This is a Hedley, or should I say, Medley, that will be a hit with the public. Look, come on in and we’ll try on a few things while I take some pictures.”
So, we went into the store where I had to remove the coat and pose for a few pictures. Abigail helped me change as I was outfitted in several different dresses, and a few skirt and blouse outfits, with pictures being taken. I had never been the subject of such attention since my mother had gone, but it was a different attention. It was me, being appreciated for how I looked, not as the subject of a mothers’ love.
There was one skirt and blouse outfit that everyone ‘oohed’ over, and I was wearing it when we left, the dress in one of the shop bags. The skirt was tight and red, so the shoes remained, and the blouse was black satin. Monique had given them to me as my fee for providing her with the name of the fashion show and the prospect of being her announcer if the management allowed it.
By the time we had walked past the shops, looking at more displays and commenting on the styles, I was fluid in my movements and had totally forgotten that I was a man under all these clothes. We spoke to a number of sales staff who knew Abigail and accepted that I was her friend Medley, though most were calling me Melody. In fact, it got so that she was introducing me as Melody as we walked on.
“How are you going, Melody. No more fears?”
“Not anymore, my love. I think that we’ll slay them in the aisles come Grotto time.”
We were near the eating area again, ready to get some lunch, when the Village Manager came up to us and offered to buy us lunch if we would sit and listen to a proposal that he had. We sat down, told him what we wanted, and he went off to get it.
“I wonder what he wants, Melody?”
“So, do I. Maybe he has another crazy scheme with me dressed as the Loch Ness Monster, for the New Year Monster Sales.”
“I doubt it. He would have you as Dracula, or a bug-eyed green thing from space. He does have a vivid imagination. I suppose you need that to be successful in his job.”
When he came back with a tray, we ate our meal with just the occasional questions about how we were getting on. We did confirm that we were living together and that my appearance as Melody was in training for the Grotto gig.
“Monique gave me the heads up after you left her shop. She told me that she wants you to be the announcer for her fashion show in the spring. I’m happy to let that happen, and I had a word with your manager, Abigail, to release you to help out as well. When you had that black wig on for Halloween, you look so alike that I want to pair you for other events. I’ve already spoken to the costume supplier for the Grotto and asked them for the two costumes to be in the sizes that Monique gave me. I thought that shorter wigs would work better with kiddies, some do like to hang on to long hair. I’ll organise human hair wigs if you’re happy with that.”
We both nodded.
“For Easter, I’m going to get a couple of professionals in to do fluffy bunnies, but I’d like the two of you to dress like Alice in Wonderland and act as their helpers. You know the sort of thing – a child talks to the bunny, who whispers in your ear, then you tell the child the answer. We’ll have an Easter Egg hunt as well. Your manager is happy to release you for these events, and we’ll pay you as Village staff for those periods, Abigail.”
“What about me, sir?”
“Melody. I can hardly call you Hedley dressed like that. Melody, I want you both to attend a drama school for a while. It will just be a few hours a week until Christmas, to give you more skills in acting out your parts for the public. You’ll have to attend them as Melody, so I’m going to organise a uniform for you so that you can do your normal job as Melody Pearson. When you both are doing these special things, you’ll be paid at the same rate that we pay other actors for shows. Things like the Halloween are internal things, but if we do Easter, for example, as a sponsored event by a chocolate company, you’ll be on a higher rate. What do you say?”
What could I say after Abigail smiled, and agreed, wholeheartedly. When he left us to go and organise things, we sat in silence for a little while until Abigail spoke.
“What I like about this place is the steam locomotive on display. When I was younger, I was a real tomboy and loved the old pictures of steam trains. My father took me on a few heritage lines, and I would lean out the window smelling the engine and the steam. I wanted a train set but only got dolls. I used to dream of tying my dolls to a train track, so they got squashed. I suppose you had a train set?”
“I did. It’s hard to talk about but I guess that you should know.”
I sat and gathered my thoughts. I had never had anyone to talk to about the hardest time of my life.
“I was raised in a big house on Westlecot Road. My father was, supposedly, a big cheese with the council, and my mother was a teacher at Commonweal School, where I went from primary to the exams. I was home, alone, while they were in France on a motoring holiday. They never came home, except in a box. They were killed in a head on with a truck.”
Abigail reached over and put her hand over mine.
“I was a spoilt brat who never even thought about work, happy with a computer and a game station. After the police advised me of my parents deaths, things just unravelled. My father had lived beyond his means, and I had to watch as the cars were repossessed, including the MGB that he said he had bought for me when I was old enough. Then it was the bank giving me a few weeks until they changed the locks, and then the furniture all went, including my bed. I was in a house with a sleeping bag and my train set when the cleaning service wanted paying. When they left, I still had the sleeping bag. I cried so much during those weeks.”
“Oh! You poor thing. That would break most people.”
“I was totally broken. That’s when Uncle Don stepped in. He is my mothers’ brother, and the manager of the Krispy Kreme here. He gave me somewhere to live and the job in his shop. Before that, he called me a layabout. I don’t think that he thought that I would last a week, let alone a couple of years. So, I was determined to make something of myself and be a man. Now I’m sitting here in a skirt and heels thinking about what I’ll need to wear to be Alice.”
“You’re man enough for me, Hedley, and as Melody, you’re my Best Friend Forever. We’re going to have a different future to many, but I can see us making good.”
“I want to kiss you, but it wouldn’t look right. Maybe, we can stand up and hug like women. That will hold me until we get home.”
We stood and hugged.
“I still like steam trains, though.”
“So, do I. I’ve got a yearly ticket to the museum, next door. Fancy a stroll in the past?”
We took our shopping hags to the car, then walked to the museum and spent a couple of hours looking at the exhibits. We were approached, several times, by volunteers asking us if there was anything we wanted to know, something I hadn’t experienced when I was there before. We went back through the Village to her car and drove home. There, we carefully took off our clothes, mine taking a lot longer than it used to, and kissed properly, lipstick to lipstick, before we spent most of the evening in bed, exploring each other in an entirely new way.
We were side by side, holding hands, when she whispered.
“When we first met, I told you that I wasn’t a virgin. Physically I wasn’t, as I had sex toys, some used by girlfriends when I was at school. Mentally, all I wanted was to have a man inside me and you were to be that man. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much, nor did I expect to fall in love so quickly and deeply. I know I’m not a lesbian, but with you as Melody, it is like you are everything rolled into one. You’re my man, yet you’re also my girlfriend. Is that crazy?”
“Not crazy at all. While we’re being serious; will you marry me? I promise to be a good husband, and father if we’re lucky enough. If we have triplets, we can work them into the act as we juggle them.”
“Yes. And no, you can’t use my babies as props. Get some balls if you want to juggle.”
We cuddled and giggled so hard we had to take turns at the toilet. Then we had a sandwich for tea, and I cleansed my face before we went back to bed to see if we could make triplets. I’ll show her who has the balls!
On Thursday, we went into work as usual. We were given an address to go to for our drama classes. We were both allowed to leave at six, every weeknight until the Grotto started, to be taught how to be good with kids, and to exaggerate when we were going to do things like the Easter event. We had lessons on how to act when you’re working with another who isn’t supposed to talk, like Santa, or the Easter Bunny. At the beginning of December, I was given my new uniform.
It was a royal blue pencil skirt, with a black blouse and a royal blue jacket with my new badge as Melody Pearson. The shoes were low heels and cushioned for standing most of the day. I had a supply of stockings and tights, and the kit included cosmetics and a shoulder length black wig. By this time, word had gone around that Hedley was now Melody for the Grotto season, and a lot of the shopkeepers were very supportive. From then on, until Christmas Day, I was expected to work as Melody, both as a concierge, and then in the Grotto. We bought me some nighties, so that I was Melody all the time, spending my days off in character.
In the middle of December, we were in the Village salon, for a make-over and to try on our costumes. I was waxed, again, and they used some semi-permanent make-up so that I would get through the Grotto experience without too much trouble. The costume wasn’t too sexy; the kiddies wouldn’t appreciate that, but the very short skirt on the outfit, combined with the sheer black tights and three-inch heels made sure that the fathers enjoyed their day at the Grotto. We were made up to look like sisters, along with the same wigs, glued on so that little fingers wouldn’t pull them off.
We did three sessions a day. Ten to twelve, two to four, and six to eight. The last was specifically for the bigger children. It was a lot of fun, but tiring, and we were certainly Santas’ Helpers when Jonas got a bit over it. Our last session, on Christmas Eve, was a hoot, as many teenage lads wanted a present and a Christmas kiss from the helpers. We stayed in character on Christmas Day, when we had a lunch party for all those workers who had nowhere else to go, along with a group from the local homeless refuge. I got my bum pinched, more than once, on that occasion.
At home, we gave each other presents that afternoon. My uncle and aunt had been at the lunch, and I had given them something then. It was the first time they had properly seen me in character. Uncle Don had seen me in the Village in my uniform but hadn’t twigged that it was me. Abigail and I had the whole time until New Years Day to rest.
On that day, we were in early, giving back the Helpers outfits, and being fitted out with good dresses to work the crowds with the sales. Abigail had a quick lesson on working the comms, and then she was outside Moniques boutique, regulating entry, while I was further along at an up-market boutique, doing the same. The boutiques had supplied the dresses and shoes. During that time, we were told that our drama teacher had been in to see our Helper performance and wanted us for the local drama society summer season.
By the end of January, we were both so in demand that our normal jobs were taken over by someone else and Abigail was now on the Village payroll. We worked on doors for sales, we escorted groups around the fashion shops, we entertained children in the playground. We were having fun and earning good money. When spring came around, the fashion show and the Easter Egg Hunt were only a few weeks apart.
With the fashion show, we alternated the commentary as there were ten shows a day, almost continuous. We were dressed identically, so that the casual observer would think it was the same person. Monique was over the moon with the sales volume, and we were allowed to keep the outfits as well as getting a bonus. When we did these events, I stayed as Melody for the duration, but went back to Hedley on normal days, having given back the concierge outfit.
For the Easter event, we had a couple from the drama school as bunnies, while we were outfitted as a sort of Alice in Wonderland but dressed a little more sexily for the fathers. It was sponsored by a chocolate company, and we had more easter eggs than you could count. We worked up a show for the little ones, to send them off searching for hidden eggs. It was a laugh, with one of us asking if there was anything the children wanted, and then doing the ‘What was that you said, Mister Bunny?’ I expect that half of our audience would be chucking up or sprouting pimples after we had done with them and sent them home with their booty.
We did take a day off to have a Spring Wedding at the Registry Office with a small group at a local pub afterwards. We had no time for a proper honeymoon, though, as we were needed in rehearsals for the drama season, as well as our continuing Village work. When Uncle Don told me to slow down one day, I told him that I would when the bubble burst, and not before.
Marianne Gregory © 2024
Chapter 4
As we moved into the summer season, the main sales at the Village were swimwear and we weren’t needed so much. We spent that time with the drama group. The first show we did was a stage version, greatly edited, of ‘Some Like it Hot’ as a farce. It went down well, and then we worked on another show where we played a married couple. That was the one where we were seen by an agent from London.
She didn’t talk to us until she had come back for our third show of the season, where I played Mrs. Doubtfire. That was when we were invited to have a drink with her, at the hotel bar. She spoke about the two of us being ideal as new faces on TV. I, for one, wasn’t keen on shifting. I was born and bred in Swindon, and it was all I needed. Abigail was enraptured by the thought of being famous. What messed it up was when I went to the bar with the agent to help carry the next round back, she spoke to me.
“You do know that you’re the one I want. You have a real future in TV. Your wife is good but will never be picked as a leading lady.”
That did not sit well with me, so we finished our drinks and spoke some more. I told her that we would think about it. The next day, at rehearsal, I told the drama teacher and Abigail what had been said to me.
“I am not happy with what she said. If we’re signed up, it will be as a couple.”
“I agree my love. As far as I’m concerned, she can stick her offer where the sun don’t shine. That has taken the gloss off this acting lark for me. I get a lot more enjoyment doing the shows at the Village. I’m happy here, with you.”
“Look. If the two of you want to reduce your involvement with us on stage, I can’t say that I’m pleased, but I fully understand. You are giving our other actors tips that they wouldn’t usually have. It is improving their skills, which then improves our own productions. If we can carry on, as we’re doing, I’ll be with you all the way.”
We organised a meeting with the Village Manager and spoke to him about new things to liven up the place. We suggested small dramatic events, which could be taken up by any shop that was interested. An example was that we could do a Shakespeare play, heavily edited, with the stores offering period clothing at a big discount or dressing in period outfits. Another one could be short snippets of Gilbert and Sullivan. That was our first outing, doing some scenes from ‘Pirates of Penzance’.
We had a small area next to the steam train and we had a screen with the lyrics shown. We had a soundtrack, did a bit of dialogue and then a song, with the audience singing along. I played more than one character, in a sort of universal costume, only changing hats for different parts as we went on. We were bolstered by other members of the drama group. Some of the shopgirls dressed like pirates, and some like eighteenth century ladies. It wasn’t hard to do but was a laugh. The Manager told us that we needed a name for the troupe, if we had more members, and Abigail told him that we would be the ‘Layabouts’.
We ended up doing one show a month, along with the normal work that returned with the autumn sales season. As we pulled in more of the drama group, we also found that we were seeing a lot of the same people in the audience at every show. There was a hiatus in February of the following year for Abigail when she gave birth to our daughter. We had done the Grotto, with me and another girl from the salon, and I had done the January sales. Abigail had been able to do Halloween, but we were two of three witches around a cauldron. Of course, this being the Village, we had the punters sitting in the cauldron with photos being taken with us cackling behind them.
With the start of fatherhood, I was more Hedley than Melody. I stopped wearing female clothes at home and went back to pyjamas instead of a nightie. We started doing more shows where I played male parts. When we did events at the Village where I needed to be female, I would change at the Village. Abigail came back to work when Samantha was six months old, and she was left in the Village creche while we worked.
While Abigail was in her third trimester, I had taken my driving test to upgrade from a scooter licence to a car and traded her car for something more family friendly. I also sold the scooter through the newspaper. We were as much in love as we could be, with a bit left over for Samantha. We knew that there would be bad times, when she was teething and had colic. But we were looking forward to adding to our number when the time was right.
Things moved forward and we hardly saw the changes that were occurring. The drama group used our shows to put new members into the spotlight without a huge production. Then another big shopping centre wanted us to perform for them. We built small sections of stage so we could use them to fit whatever space we had been given, so needed a van to move them around.
Needing somewhere to store a van led to the leasing of a commercial unit, where we also stored the accumulating costumes that we were using. Then, we started getting requests to appear at fairs and country shows, so the van was sign written with ‘The Layabouts’ and a logo of a reclining boy and girl, holding hands.
With all the new work, we both resigned from the Village, but continued to help out when we could. We were both regarded as ‘Villagers’ and were welcomed when we turned up for the special days and events. Even if we weren’t getting paid, we were creating a connection that the ‘Layabouts’ could benefit from.
I was finding myself working more as the manager of the operation, with Abigail acting as the secretary and booking agent. The Village, and other shopping centres, were now paying us a set amount for each show. The Village helped us buy radio mics that were patched into the public address, and other places followed suit with the set-up. We then had to buy an amplifier and speakers to use in the open at fairs.
A year on, and we were working closely with the drama group, and had gained the attention of the newspapers. They even started writing reviews on our shopping centre performances. There were a couple of good writers in the group, who started writing original short shows. We did reviews and short plays for the adults. The children’s shows became our breakthrough events, though.
It started at the Village, like much of what we did. We were asked to present a special children’s show on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. It was designed to bring the parents into the complex on the slowest days of the week, and did so, brilliantly. We blatantly ripped off characters from fairy tales, cartoons, and TV shows. Some changes were made to stay away from litigation, but the kiddies knew who they were looking at, they could see past the subterfuge.
We ended up doing three sessions a day with those shows, often with fifty or sixty children. Many came along regularly, which meant that the parent became familiar with the Village and the various shops. Of course, we were visited by people from other venues, so ended up doing children’s shows at other centres. It helped that we could use the costumes across the range of places, as well as having enough talent on hand to be in more than one place at once. Then we were asked to perform these at fetes and school events, so becoming a complete business.
By this time, we were the drama groups biggest employer, and there had been agents and talent scouts sniffing around. We registered the ‘Layabout’s Agency’ and signed everyone up, and they all signed an agreement that the agency would take ten percent of their earnings.
This started to give a return, about two years in, when some of our actors were asked to appear in local TV productions first, followed by national shows. Most of our children’s show cast were snapped up by the TV channels to appear as the characters for promotions.
I was run off my feet managing the businesses, and Abigail now had an office to go to, in one corner of the commercial building, with another girl to help. We now had two vans and two children, as Abigail had a second daughter, Caroline. We had set up the office with a play area and proper facilities for them, until Samantha would go into school. I had flashbacks of my time in childcare, and no daughter of mine was going to be abandoned every weekday like I was.
The agency now leased an office near the city centre, where I spent a lot of time. We now had a second family car, paid for, that I used. We had become a respected entity, now handling actors who were local, but had never been in the ‘Layabouts’. I had no need to act, as a man or a woman, and flung myself into the work with joy. It wasn’t physical, but mental, and I realised that I had been a layabout at school, never reaching my potential.
I investigated and found a course where I could go for a degree in Business Studies but would need to achieve the higher school qualification that I had not taken. With the businesses running smoothly, I worked with a tutor to do my higher certificate, passing in the following year. I now had a much better work ethic, as well as a reason to succeed.
I started the Business Studies course and worked hard at it, some of it being made easier because of the experience I already had. I left my secretary to do the day-to-day things and was available whenever something important came up. Just over two years later, I graduated with my certificate.
The ‘Layabouts’ were getting continuous work around the local area, and Abigail had left the running of that part of the business to her secretary to concentrate on Samantha, about to start primary, and Caroline, now close to four. We also now had our son, Phillip, and had decided that this was enough. We were now earning enough through both businesses to pay our actors, taking ten percent back, as well as covering expenses and paying ourselves a small, but liveable, wage.
We were cruising along when I got a phone call from a very large company, involved in TV, film, and looking after their actors. It was a humungous version of us, and they asked me to see them in London, if I could. I wondered if it was going to be a deal where they would have the ‘Layabouts’ providing a TV show. That was an exciting thought.
We left the children with my Aunt for the day, something she was always happy to help with, and drove into London for the meeting, finding a park and then going into the imposing reception area.
“Can I help you?”
“Mister and Mrs. Pearson to see Mister Harrison.”
“Oh yes, Mister Harrison is expecting you. If you take a seat, someone will be down to escort you. The offices are a bit of a rabbit warren, I’m afraid.”
We sat and looked around at the pictures of various stars on the walls. It was only a couple of minutes before a smartly dressed girl exited the lift and came over to us with a big smile.
“You must be the Pearsons. I’m Candace Saunders and I’m the PA for Joel Harrison. It’s so good to see the people that have been hot topics around these offices lately.”
She led us to the lift, and we got out on the fifth floor, with her leading us through corridors until we arrived at an office door. She opened it.
“Joel, the Pearsons are here for their appointment.”
She ushered us in, and a middle-aged man came around his desk to welcome us, with handshakes. He ushered us to some comfortable chairs by a window that looked out on the city skyline. He asked us what we wanted to drink, and Candace went off to organise it.
“You’re probably wondering why I’ve asked you to come to this meeting. For the past couple of years, we have been watching the growth of the ‘Layabouts’ group. I have to tell you that we’ve been impressed with how it’s grown and diversified. We have had some from this office go to a lot of the shows and they have all brought back glowing reports.”
Candace opened the door and another girl brought in a tray, handing around the drinks. Candace sat by the desk and opened up a notebook.
“I’ve just told these good people how impressed we’ve been with their operation, Candi. Do the two of you mind if Candi takes notes? I’m about to put forward a proposal.”
We both said that it was all right and took a sip of our drinks, worrying what his proposal might be.
“I’ll cut to the chase, straight away. This company likes the model that you have developed in Swindon, and would like to roll it out nationally, using local drama groups, as you have, with a core of our employees, that is actors on our books, to lead each area. We know that you do not have the finance or organisation to do this yourselves, and that is where we come in.”
Abigail put her drink down and reached out to take my hand.
“We are prepared to make you an offer for the business name of the ‘Layabouts’ and the logo, taking it over as a part of this company, along with all the plant and equipment. We will also make you a second offer for your talent agency and all the clients, bringing them under our umbrella.”
Abigail was gripping my hand almost hard enough to hurt, but I just smiled.
“What sort of figures are we looking at? And what would happen with all the venues we now play at?”
“We intend to keep things running exactly as they are for the foreseeable future, just mirroring your model in more places with new talent. We may use some of your existing group to teach the new people.”
Then he quoted the two figures that he was prepared to pay.
“We do, of course, must confirm that the two of you are the only principals of the two businesses, and we will have to ask you to sign an agreement not to start a new business that mirrors the old one. That would be for a five-year period.”
“That’s a very generous offer, Mister Harrison.”
“Look. I’m Joel. Can I call you Abigail and Hedley?”
“I repeat, Joel. That’s a generous offer. We do need to discuss this with all the stakeholders first. We’ll have to have a meeting with the core of the drama group and talk to some of our long-term clients. We will never sell out without them all knowing what’s happening. Just about every place that we play are friends, which is one of the ways that we have found the success that we’ve had.”
“I appreciate that, Hedley. It’s that image of local involvement that we want to foster around the country. Not only will it put us at the forefront of a lot of peoples’ minds, but it will also give us a talent pool unlike anything in the industry. We don’t want to take your ideas without you, and your friends, being happy with their future prospects.”
“We’ll get back to you as soon as we’ve spoken to the others. Give us a couple of weeks. The offer is tempting but we do need to fully process it before agreeing.”
We stood and shook hands and then Candace showed us the way back to the ground floor. We walked back to the car, hand in hand, and it wasn’t until we were in the car before Abigail spoke.
“Did I hear right? The two figures he quoted would be enough for us to live our lives without needing to do anything else.”
“You know, my love, that’s not our way. When I was a teenager, I would have bitten his hand off to have that kind of money. We will have to declare it as income and pay tax, but, yes, it will be substantial. My first thought is buying a new house, somewhere close to good schools, for our little ones. If we do the deal quickly, we could be somewhere before Samantha starts primary.”
“What about the one you went to? They could go through to the exams at the same place.”
“That’s an idea. We can look at any houses in the area that may be for sale. We won’t need to go into the Village anymore unless we’re going there as visiting characters at the different events. It will allow us to have a rest.”
“It will allow you to stop for a while! You haven’t had more than a couple of days, now and then, in the last five years. The success of the ‘Layabouts’ is your making, my darling, and if it allows us a good future, I’m all for taking the offers.”
We drove back to collect our little ones and take them home. When my aunt wanted to know what the news was, we just told her that we had things to work through. It was good to be back to normal, getting the children fed and then getting our own meal. We threw out ideas to each other as we lay in bed, almost too excited to sleep.
The next day, we went to see the drama teacher and asked her if she could organise a meeting with all our core actors and stagehands, as there was something good that we needed to talk about. Two evenings later, there was a big crowd in the theatre, along with our two secretaries. I stood up and told them the facts, that we had been made an offer for the two businesses and that they would all come under the umbrella of the big company if we sold. Hardly anyone was against it, after the implications of national exposure was discussed. We told them that the agency would be closed, but all the staff and clients would remain as part of the new agency, with a lot more benefits with paid expenses and the like. The meeting ended on a high.
The day after, I called the Village and organised a meeting with the Village Manager that afternoon. When we arrived, he greeted us warmly.
“Abigail and Hedley, it’s good to see you both. What can I help you with?’
I explained what the future may hold and that it would just be new managers of the ‘Layabouts’ with the shows carrying on as before.
“So, that will leave the two of you free as birds? Have you thought about what you will do afterwards?”
“We plan to move to an area where our family can go to school together. I was brought up in Westlecot Road and went to Commonweal for my entire schooling. We will not be allowed to start anything in opposition to ‘Layabouts’.”
“I am going to tell you something, strictly between us, at the moment. I am up for retirement in a couple of years. Your name, Hedley, has been bandied around at board level as a likely replacement in this seat. You have the skills, you have the drive, and you have the backing of the entire Village should you take it on. On top of that, Don now tells me that you have the Business Studies certificate, the only thing that would have held you back.”
He sat back as I tried to take it in. It was Abigail who spoke first.
“That would be wonderful, sir. It will give us time to move and resettle, then take a break. If it’s offered, he agrees.”
I laughed.
“I love it when you’re forceful, my darling. It’s how you got under my defences when we first met. Yes, I’ll take the job on if it’s offered. The Village gave me a new life once before. No! It’s given me a new life more than once. The place is part of me, so if I can be part of the place, I’ll be happy.”
We shook hands and we left him, with me in deep thought about anything I would do differently if I was in charge. We collected the children from the creche and walked through the place, meeting some of the shop managers and old friends. The children had lots of hugs, and we were all eating ice cream in the eating area when Abigail took a moment from making sure the children didn’t spread it everywhere.
“You do realise, my love, that we can get a decent sized house, with the children getting their own rooms when they’re old enough. There may also be a room for a train set for Phillip. Who knows, we may let him play with it sometimes.”
That decided me. I hadn’t realised how much I had missed my old layout, or how much it had been part of my breakdown. Building up a new one would take time, and would be, I decided, therapeutic.
The following week we were back in Joels’ office, signing away our two companies and also an agreement to not go into competition for five years. In return, along with our countersigned copies, we sat while the money was transferred to our personal account. They now had the companies, the plant and equipment, the leases and the two employees, along with the two working accounts.
We went to the real estate agents and found a house in walking distance to the Commonweal School, on the northern side of the school. It was on The Mall, with not much parking at the front, but access to a lane behind, with good garaging. It was semi-detached, but was a long house on a long block, and plenty big enough for us. On the other side of the lane was the big sports field for the school. We were able to register Samantha for primary, with my mother still remembered with respect. They would even take Caroline in at the same time, to see how she went. That would leave only Phillip with Abigail when I started a new job.
We could afford to buy a lot of new furniture, and, once we had the keys, we filled the extra rooms with it. We moved our things from Rackham Street and put it on the market, selling it inside a month. We had looked after it and it was the sort of house that up-and-coming couples wanted. It had done me well, and it had been where our family was conceived. It was sad when we closed the door for the last time, but we did have a new beginning to look forward to.
After we had settled in, we took the family for outings until the girls started school. We spent a couple of weeks in Devon, staying in Torquay at a good hotel, spending time on the beach, visiting the Paignton Zoo and riding the steam train from Paignton to Dartmouth several times. The girls loved the views from the train and Phillip had a big smile when he smelled the steam. He was a chip off of two blocks.
We did get a good-sized baseboard, and built a new layout, over a year or more, just as we had built our lives and our family - together. By the time I started work as the new Village Manager, we even let Phillip play with it.
Marianne Gregory © 2024