Chapter 2

We hugged and air kissed, then went through to the dining room. We had a table in full view of everybody and got a lot of looks when we were seated. Monica gave me a potted history of the shoots that she had been in since I last saw her, and I gave her a potted history of my own recent past. We were into the main course when she said something that changed the situation.

“Do you know any places I can live in London? Someone called Yvonne from an agency there has bought out my contract with the agency here.”

“Let me see what I can find out when we finish this.”

My mind was racing as I finished the main course and pulled my phone out of my bag. Janice would have been back at work for a few days, so may have some news. When she answered we exchanged pleasantries and then I broached the subject.

“Janice, have you heard anything about a new model called Monica?”

“You really have second sight, Trixie. Yvonne has me working on the storyboards for the shoot that we’ll be on. There’ll be you, me, and this Monica. We’ll be doing both the spring and summer ranges for Solon Brothers and will be going to sunny Spain for three weeks, then to Florence for another two. What makes me laugh is that they’ve resurrected your old ‘Girl with a Curl’ tagline. I thought that your old company owned that.”

“Has Yvonne done anything about getting somewhere for Monica to live?”

“Actually, she’ll be staying with us, Jemma got engaged over the holiday and has moved in with her guy. Why do you ask?”

“Because I’m sitting at a meal table in my hotel in Southampton with Monica sitting opposite me. If you look in the old catalogues that you’ve saved, you’ll find her in them. The old company has been bought by Solon and so they’ve also bought the rights to the taglines. I expect that a couple of years since we used that one would make it almost new for a lot of the customers. Tell Yvonne that I’ll bring Monica with me when I get back. I may be a few more days to let her organise herself.”

Monica was looking at me with big eyes as I hung up.

“OK, Trixie. You obviously have a lot more information than I have been given.”

“You, me, and Janice will be the three main models in a photo shoot in Spain and then Florence. The old company has been bought by Solon Brothers that we will be working with. I expect that there may be a lot of new Hokem outfits to show. You’ll be staying with Janice and me in a share house with another girl who works in the city. She’s called Tracey and is very nice. Janice is the daughter of the Hastings store owner and also works as a graphic artist, like me. The house is in Tottenham, near the Tottenham Hale station. Now, how much time do you need to be ready to leave town?”

“I’ve been living with my parents since I took up the modelling. They’ve been sending a car for me. Give me a day to sort out what I want to take, and I can leave.”

“All right! I’ll arrange to check out the day after tomorrow, and I’ll come and pick you up. My car will need some things rearranged to make room, but it will be the easiest way to get you to your new home.”

“That will be wonderful! If you come around tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have the main things packed, and will just have an overnight bag when we leave.”

She pulled a notepad from her bag and wrote the address on it. Seeing that I wasn’t driving, and that she was taking a taxi, we finished our meal and retired to the bar for a few drinks and a more detailed catch up. We talked about the old days when I first turned up in the office, and all the things that had gone on since. By the time she called for her taxi, we had returned to being the best of friends who had gone to the Isle of Wight for that photo shoot.

Back in my room, I got ready for bed and looked up the address she had given me. It was on Cranbury Avenue and on the way from the city to the M3, the northern motorway. It took me a while to go to sleep, thinking about likely scenarios and trying to foresee pitfalls. I was sure that Yvonne had been privy to the buy-out some six months before. It would mean that she was a favoured agency, I didn’t look at the magazines enough to have seen her previous campaigns. I got out of bed and looked the agency up, finding that she had been the main agency for Solon for over five years. With that sorted, I had a pee and went back to bed and a sound sleep.

Next morning, I put on my running outfit and went up to the hotel gym for a workout on the walking machine, followed by a session rowing. Sweating profusely, I went back to my room to shower, then dressed to go down for breakfast. I ate well, spending a while thinking. I seemed to be doing a lot of that these days.

To me, the progression of my near future looked positive. When we got to London and I was finally signed on to the agency, the three of us will be off to somewhere sunny to start the photo shoot, no doubt sporting draped curls for the campaign. When I thought more about this, I realised that this may be another situation where I was the catalyst. I wondered if I should haggle when I was made an offer.

I could see the logic behind the plans. Solon Brothers wanted to launch the Hokem outfits as their own, so who else to show them off but two of the youngest models from the original range. Hook customers would relate to the clothes, rather than get upset about the closure of the old stores. Solon had their own payment portal, which would be offered to new customers at a reduced interest. It had symmetry that appealed to my sense of order.

In the afternoon, I went to pick up Monica’s larger cases, repacking the car with them on the bottom. Most of my clothes, especially the new ones, were on hangers hooked on the rear grab handles. I met her parents, who were very happy to see me, having known about me from the earlier days. We had afternoon tea and told them about the likely events for the first half of the year. Both Monica and I expected that we would be touring the big stores with fashion parades once the campaign had been launched. They had a collection of the old catalogues, which they wanted me to sign, and I pointed out the look that they were likely to see in the new adverts.

They wanted me to share their farewell dinner with Monica, so we got into their car and went to the Rockstone pub, where I had the pork trio. It was a happy time, and we promised to be good when we were off galivanting around the world. I thought that being good was something I might enjoy, as long as it was with the right guy. Now, that came out of the blue!

So far, my life had been almost sexless. I had looked at the girls while I grew up, but a lot of that was looking at how they dressed and carried themselves. While I was working in Southampton, I had been too busy to think about sex, and had danced with both men and women at the club. Since my operation, I had been using the dilator as instructed, without any sexual feelings. Maybe I was trying to stop myself getting any pleasure. I decided that I would look for a sex shop when we were back in London and get something more realistic and vibrated.

We made the arrangement for me to pick Monica up around nine, and I went back to the hotel. I looked up adult shops near the house and found one which offered mail delivery. I called up the catalogue and ordered a vibrating dildo on-line, paying for it and giving the address. That saved me from having to go into a shop in person. I smiled as I went off to sleep. The future was going to be very different.

Next morning, Monica and I were heading for London by ten, with her leaving her hometown for the first time. She was a little frightened by the break from her roots, and I tried to calm her down. Having someone she knew would help her find her feet. We arrived at the house in the early afternoon, and I let us in. Janice had left a note for us, and I took Monica to her new bedroom. Jemma had left the bed and other furnishings, and Monica had packed her own bed linen, so we had her bed made up quickly.

I was careful putting my things away. Monica put her own things away, then I took her to the Volunteer for an early dinner. It was too cold to show her the park, but I did point it out to her as a good place to jog. When Janice arrived home, we sat around as she made herself a meal. Tracey was still on holiday and would be back next week. Janice had brought home the early storyboards, and we discussed the shoot. In this, Monica was the acknowledged expert, having done more shoots in the open. My own experience was mainly in studios. Janice told me that we would be having a conference on Monday, at the agency.

The next day, I took Monica around the area, to the Tottenham Hale shops and tube station. It was bright enough to walk a bit of the park. When we got back, there was a small parcel on the front step, addressed to me. I picked it up and took it to my room, thinking that it might be an interesting night.

We made lunch from the supplies we had brought back with us, and then we went back to the station and took the tube into the city, where we did the tourist trail. There was more than enough places for us to see, so that one afternoon was just a quick look. We went into the city every day until Monday came around, with Janice joining us on the weekend. By that time, Monica was getting used to being here and away from home. I was, by this time, getting used to my new toy, and had managed to have a small orgasm when I closed my eyes and thought hard about a man making love to me. That was something else that I didn’t have any experience with, letting someone use my body had never been an idea I had ever contemplated.

On Monday morning, the three of us went into the city on the tube. When we arrived, Yvonne took Monica and I into her office.

“Welcome to the agency. What we need to do is to get you both under contract. We have a meeting with our clients, today, and you will be meeting them. It will be their products that you’ll be wearing on the shoot.”

She put papers in front of us and looked at us with anticipation. I read through mine and then asked my questions.

“Yvonne, I see you have me on a standard contract, similar to the one I signed when we did the catalogue pictures. Over the holiday period, I found out that Solon Brothers had brought Hook Holdings, so taking all of the Hook and Hokem operation. Janice mentioned that she was doing storyboards for the shoot, which featured the ‘girl with the curl’. Now, if I’m not mistaken, Monica and I are going to be featured as the original models for the similar pictures we did for Hook. It looks as if we two are integral to the shoot. Don’t you think that we deserve something better than a standard contract?”

She tried to look stern, then laughed.

“Just testing, Trixie. Never allow me to play poker with you. Give me those. Here are a couple more.”

I looked at mine and it was far more generous. I took the offered pen and signed. Monica signed hers and the Yvonne countersigned. We were now employed.

“You’re right. Solon had spoken to me about their plans a few months ago. After meeting you and seeing the catalogues, I pitched that ‘Curl’ shoot to the client, and they saw it as a way to introduce themselves to the Hook customers as well as launching the new products. You’ll be meeting the clients later. First thing is for the two of you to pop along to our doctor for a check-up. Here’s his card, he’s just along the street. I’ll see you when you get back.”

We left the agency, and I led Monica to the doctor’s office. We had an appointment, and the receptionist took Monica’s details. She went in for her check-up first. I read old magazines until she came out and then I was called in.

“Hello, Trixie. How are you going?”

“All right, doctor. Nothing to grumble about.”

“We’ll just do the usual for new talent at the agency, then take some blood and urine. We already have your other details.”

The examination was quick, and he drew blood. Then I went behind the screen and peed into a bottle. When I went back out, we went back to the agency. I was told to sit with the receptionist until the clients arrived, and then to talk to them while the receptionist found Yvonne. Yvonne took Monica off for a tour.

I was sitting with the receptionist, and we were talking about the more famous models that had worked for the agency, when the main door opened, and three guys came in. The receptionist had met them all before.

“Good morning, gentlemen. I’ll give Yvonne a call. Why don’t you have a word with Trixie Southby, here, while you wait. Trixie, these gentlemen are Arthur Solon, Alphonse Solon and Walter Solon. Gentlemen, Trixie is going to be on the shoot for you.”

One of them held his hand out.

“Good to meet you, Trixie. I’m Arthur. I’ve studied those catalogues that you did with Hook. The advertising leapt off the pages and grabbed you by the throat. I was impressed.”

The oldest one came forward.

“I’m Alphonse. I agree with my brother. That campaign was brilliant, as was the one with all the franchisee sites. It was that which made us sit up and take notice. The idea that we might be able to acquire over thirty shops in some places we had no presence was too good to let go. That’s when we first spoke to Robert Hook. It took him until he was sick to get back to us with an interest in selling, though.”

Then the youngest one put his hand out, taking mine in a gentler grip.

“Hello, Trixie. I’m Walter, or Cousin Wally to these two. Unlike them, I wasn’t brought up steeped in the family business. I’ve only come to be part of it last year. My skill is in graphic arts, and I was very impressed with the catalogues and then the website. Robert told us that you were responsible for the look of both.”

“I was, sir. I was originally employed as a graphic artist and given the permission to improve the original output.”

“None of this ‘sir’ business, Trixie. We don’t stand on ceremony at Solon Brothers. Please call me Wally. Last month I looked at some of the stores and every one of them had a mural. They told me that you painted them as well.”

“That’s correct, Wally. I drove around the countryside doing the pictures that the shop owners wanted. It will be sad when some of them close to be added to your bigger stores.”

“Never fear, I have put our best photographer out to record them all for posterity. They will become part of our own heritage. I envisage a large photo to be displayed at the new sections.”

It was only when Yvonne and Monica arrived that I realised that Wally was still holding my hand. He only let go when Yvonne led us all through to the conference room. We found seats, with Wally making sure that he sat next to me, and Yvonne opened up the meeting.

“You have now met Trixie, and this is Monica and Janice. Monica was with Trixie at Hook and appeared on those catalogues. Janice came into the fashion business due to seeing one of Trixie’s early paintings. Her mother has the Hook outlet in Hastings, so she has a strong background in retailing fashion. These three will be your main models. You did ask for them to be in the early twenties range.”

Alphonse responded.

“Yvonne, you have done your usual good job. When we first thought about this shoot, we would have been happy with regular models, but having two that graced the Hokem pages over the last few years will be more than we could have hoped for. It will be interesting to see how the ‘Curl’ tagline will run. It has a cadence to it and the originator should get a medal.”

Monica laughed.

“That was Trixie. She came up with all the wording after she started with us. It was a breath of fresh air that we needed.”

The three men smiled, two being polite, and one that I could see that was almost worship. Yvonne then got Janice to run through the storyboards and the talk came down to the logistics of the shoot. When the decisions had been made, the brothers told us that we would be having lunch with them, in the executive dining room of their London store. Yvonne said that she had work to see to, so it was us three models who went to the store with them. Somehow, Janice and Monica were in one car with Arthur and Alphonse, while I was alone with Wally in a much sportier vehicle.

“Trixie, when I was shown those catalogues, I never thought that I would get to meet the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. You shone out of the pages. I suppose you have guys woo you.”

“I’ve been too busy for guys, Wally. The work we needed to do for Hook, over the lockdowns, and then going all over the country with the murals, has taken all my hours up to the end of last year. I suppose that being a good catch, you have a string of girls, or even a wife?”

“Why don’t we stop beating around the bush, Trixie. I have had girlfriends but never knew what love was until I saw your pictures. You are more lovely in person, as well as being very talented. I would offer to show you my etchings except that I would guess that yours would be better.”

“I don’t do etchings, Wally. I have just one picture at home, the rest have all been sold through galleries. I work in oils. Are you coming with us on the shoot?”

“I didn’t intend to, but I will if you don’t mind.”

“I think I’d like that, Walter.”

He took us into the underground carpark and then to a reserved space. The others were getting out of the other car as we arrived. Walter came around to my side and helped me stand, something that I found difficult from such a low seat. He kept hold of my hand as we followed the others to the lifts. Alphonse inserted a card, and we were lifted to a floor that didn’t have a number next to the light.

When we stepped out, it seemed as if we had been transported to another world. The décor was oriental, the furnishings covered in wonderful cushions, and the carvings on the table and chair legs had crouched lions as the feet. We went to another room that was much more modern, with a long table covered in a white cloth and adorned with silver, from the cutlery to the tureens and candlesticks. A smiling man in a chef outfit helped Monica and Janice to be seated while Walter did the service for me.

Over the course of a wonderful meal, we three got to know the brothers through the history of the company. We were told that the original Solon was from Egypt and came to England in Queen Victoria’s reign. He had opened a small dress shop, with his experience as a tailor and his knowledge of materials and colours that were not usual in the black, neck to ankle, days.

He had two sons, who came into the business after the first war, and they set about employing seamstresses who had lost husbands in France, expanding the business. Both of the brothers had one son and a daughter, each. One son carried on with expanding the business, while the other son became involved in real estate, finding new sites for the company. The daughters married well and had a life away from the business. Arthur and Alphonse were fourth generation, having been born in the seventies. As the families grew, so did the areas of expertise, leading to the wider product range that the shops carried. Walter was from the real estate side and was fifth generation, born a couple of years before me. He had only joined the company last year, after graduating with an arts degree. He wasn’t a board member, just family, but Arthur said that he would move onto the board once there was a vacancy.

I asked about the furnishings in the other room and was told that it had all been collected by the original Solon in his trips back to his homeland once he had enough money. It had all graced his home until he died. Arthur smiled when he said that they all lived in more modern homes, so the room was mainly a museum to the originator. I asked if I could take a picture before we left, as I thought it would make a great background for a picture. That was allowed and I took a couple of pictures on the way back to the lift.

We went down to the women’s wear level, and they showed us around the huge area, with a part hidden by hoardings. We went behind to see a Hokem range, all spring wear. I looked at a label and it read ‘Hokem partywear by Solon’. Arthur saw me look.

“These are some of the range that you’ll be modelling. The website will have every part of the range on it, and we won’t open this section until the site goes live. That’s why the shoot is so long. We could have done it all with green screen but decided that there’s nothing like the real thing in the background. You three will be working with our main photographer, and there’ll be three other models working with another one, to allow us to cover the range. If the website works well, we will organise fashion shows at several of the bigger stores.”

Before we left, Monica asked for directions to the toilets and the three of us went to powder our noses. We were at the mirrors when she spoke.

“Looks like you have an admirer, Trixie. The looks that Walter gives you would turn me to jelly if he had been looking my way.”

“I know. He told me that he fell in love with my pictures in the catalogues when he saw them. I know that there are some guys who would use those pictures to pleasure themselves, but I thank that he may have meant it seriously. He’s coming on the shoot with us.”

Both girls laughed. Janice grinned.

“That means that we’ll have to keep you occupied in the warm evenings, unless there are other guys who are hunks as well.”

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 3

Walter drove us back to the agency in the bigger car, with me in the front and the others in the back. Before I got out, he gave me his business card and I told him my mobile number, which he entered into his own phone, ‘so we can coordinate the shoot details’. I stood on the pavement, and we watched him drive away. Janice laughed.

“I wonder if there are more like that at home?”

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the arts room, working on the storyboards and getting our minds in tune with how the shoot would progress. We were booked on a flight out of Heathrow on Thursday, and Yvonne told us that we had a salon session on Tuesday and would be spending Wednesday evening at the airport hotel for an early flight next morning. The salon was at a shopping centre, so I could take the others there in my car. Wednesday, we would be picked up to go to the hotel.

When we got back to the house, Tracey was there and was introduced to Monica, then told that she would be alone for about five weeks while the three of us were off in the sun. On Tuesday, we had a clean through and packed our main cases for the trip, just leaving our overnight ones for the hotel. At the salon, we were given the works, from top to toe. By the time we were finished, we definitely looked like three models. We all had new hairstyles with a distinct curl hanging on one side, with the stylist having pictures from the catalogues to work to.

Back at the house, Tracey wanted pictures of us that she could show Jemma when she saw her at work. Then we went to the Volunteer for a meal. Wednesday was our tidying up, final packing and trying to remember everything day, with the agency sending a minibus for us. We loaded up and then went to pick up the other three models on the way to the airport. Janice had met them all, so was able to smooth the introductions. I could see that there could be some friction with a couple of strangers hogging the limelight, so explained that Monica and I had been in the original campaign that we would be emulating with this shoot. They had all been given the treatment, with their own curls. I think that there were a few pictures taken of the six of us as we had our dinner in the hotel.

The flight was good, and we arrived in Barcelona to be picked up by three drivers who loaded up our luggage and took us south to the Grand Hotel Rey Don Jaime, a little to the south and next to a lovely pine forest. It was a large building, with an attached restaurant, the Torre Barona. We had three twin rooms, with Monica and I sharing one with Janice sharing with one of the other models. The drivers had told us that we were having a meeting the following morning and to relax for the rest of the day. We explored the hotel, with Janice and I pleased to see that they had an art gallery.

Our bikinis had their time in the sun at the hotel pool, and it was good to feel the warmth on your face. During the course of the day, we were joined by others in the crew. The two photographers both had lighting assistants, there were three make-up artists and one hairdresser, there to make sure our locks remained good as we would not be changing the overall look. We knew that we would have local drivers and transport and that there were arrangements in place for us to have clear spaces at different attractions. Walter was the last to arrive, armed with a big briefcase with the shooting schedule and all the local contacts. We all had a big table at the Torre Barona that evening and got to know each other. Walter told me that he had replaced the intended supervisor, so had been busy getting up to speed with the shoot details.

The three weeks sped by, with us spending time looking great in various tourist attractions. We did bikini and beachwear shots at the hotel pool, with the old tower in the background, as well as at the beach, where we splashed around in the sea. There were evening sessions in the pine forest in flowing gowns, time in the great churches in our Sunday best, and we even had a day at the airport, looking like first-class passengers about to fly to wonderful destinations. We had one full day at the Moll D’Espanya, where we were photographed on a luxury yacht and also in the arched viewing passage in the aquarium. That was a long day for us, as we finished it with a fleet of luxury sportscars at the GTRent establishment. We did get the Sundays to ourselves, which I spent downloading all the pictures I had taken onto my trusty laptop. There would be a lot of ideas for future paintings.

When we flew out to Florence, we were picked up by a coach driver, who took us to the Villa Cora, a lovely old building with great charm. Our time there was spent in great churches, at the Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi Galleries, and several different Piazzas with wonderful buildings as backdrops.

I could see the campaign in my mind. Wear the new-look Hokem by Solon and go to places that you could only dream of. Walter told me that the ‘Girls with Curls’ were going be shown as successful ladies who lunched in scenic places, swam in the Med, dined in five-star restaurants, and saw the world. It would attract the new generation of women who had survived Covid and thought that they could take on anything. It was almost a recreation of the feeling after the first war and the flapper period. A lot of the outfits were modern versions of the slinky looks and exposed legs of that period. It was a concept that Robert could never have considered.

The whole time we were away, Walter was the perfect gentleman, the one who was the boss of the shoot and the one to go to with any questions. He may have spent a little more time with me as one of the lead models, but he never made any untoward moves. At our final Sunday dinner in Florence, one of the photographers raised his glass and proposed a toast to Walter as the best director he had ever worked with. At that table, Walter was sitting between Monica and I, and we both leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek while everyone cheered.

When the meal was finishing up, he asked Janice and I to join him in the bar as there was something he wanted to discuss with us. We sat at an alcove and clinked glasses to a job well done.

“Ladies. The photographers have been sending the best pictures back to head office after every day, to let them know what we were achieving against the plans. My cousins are very happy with how things have progressed and have told me that I am to be in charge of future shoots. They have elevated me to board level as an associate. I have input but no voting rights.”

We congratulated him on that, then he got a little more serious.

“I am in charge of the putting these sessions into an advertising campaign. I will have to run it by the board but have been given the authority to put together a team. I have spoken to Yvonne by phone and have asked her if I can buy the time of the two of you until the launch. Like me, you two are graphic artists and I think we can do something that will be prizeworthy. That will fill your time before you’re needed on the catwalk for the shows.”

We were stunned. To be able to steer the shoot to the final launch will be a feather in our caps. When we didn’t say anything, he carried on.

“You’ll get your salary from the agency, but I will organise for you to have parking spaces and also you will have Solon Brothers ID and employee discount cards. The lunches are free for the staff. There is an office which we can use, on the floor below the one you were at for the meal. It’s equipped with computers, printers and will have the latest software. What do you think?”

“Do you have oversight? A director in charge of advertising?”

“We do, her name is Moira.”

“Right. Moira should have the say about which picture is used from a proposal we put forward to her, before it goes to the board. I don’t want to be accused of pushing myself to the front, every model should be given equal possibility to star. All six of us worked hard on this trip, and I think that you could pick any one of us and build a campaign around her.”

“That’s good. Moira will be talking to us as soon as we get together. I have to tell you, I always thought that models were paid too much to stand around looking beautiful. These past few weeks have shown me just how hard the job is. Especially having to repeat shots without blowing up.”

Janice had been quiet up to now but asked her question.

“Let me get this right. We will be working at the Solon building and will still be paid by the agency. What happens once the Spring Season is launched?”

“You do the Summer Season campaign, as well as modelling as required in the bigger stores. Then we go off and do the Autumn Season, with the Winter one possibly added on. After that, perhaps we may be putting the campaigns into some sort of order, then, next year, we do it all again. By that time, I expect that you might be Solon employees full time and we’ll buy your contracts from the agency. That will likely include Monica, if this campaign is a success. We’ll need the three of you as the face of the store.”

We had a drink to the future and Janice said that she needed to get to bed, giving me a wink as she left. I was here, sitting with Walter, in a bar, late in the evening. We were quiet for a moment, then he reached over and took my hand in his.

“Trixie, it has been wonderful to be seeing you every day for the past five weeks. It has been hard for me to equal out my time as I’ve wanted to drag you away and be alone. It has been a big learning curve for me, and I think that the experience has been good. It will be even better with you working with me. Perhaps I might be able to take you out for dinner, some time.”

“I’d like that, Walter. I know that we’ll be working hard on the campaign, my own experience with Hook and Hokem will help, but that was only small exposure until we went live with the internet. We had small adverts in magazines, but Solon have full page ones in the front-line magazines. It will be a different world.”

We sat for a little while longer, until I said that I needed my own sleep as I would need to pack in the morning. We both stood and he took my hand and led me outside, in the warm evening and a half a moon looking down on us. He bent to kiss me, and I put my arms around his neck. I’ve read about toe-curlers, and this was up to the description. He pulled me to him as we kissed again. I pulled away.

“Goodnight, Walter. We have a plane to catch.”

“Goodnight, sweet Trixie. I’ll see you at breakfast.”

He stood and watched me as I went back inside. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked. I could also feel the dampness in my groin. I think that my hormones were reaching full potential.

Monica gave me an old-fashioned look when I got to the room.

“Nothing happened! We talked about taking the shoot to the campaign launch.”

“By the look on your face, he must have kissed you.”

“Did it show? He did, actually, but that was as far as it went.”

“About time too! He’s been giving you lustful looks for the whole shoot. I don’t know where he got the self-control. Most men would have given in weeks ago.”

I got myself cleansed and moisturised, used the ensuite and got ready for bed. As I put the light out and started to doze, a small voice game out of the dark.

“As long as I get to be a bridesmaid, Trixie.”

I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

We all met for breakfast, then brought our luggage to the lobby. I had picked up a very nice Italian leather coat in the city, which I thought I may need once we were back in London. It was a bit of a shock to leave the relative warmth of Italy and go back to the cold of mid-February. A minibus took the photographers and their assistants, while Walter was collected by a car with a company driver. All of us models and dressers were in another minibus to go on a tour to drop everyone off. At least the heater was working, but I was getting tired of sitting on a hard seat by the time we arrived in Tottenham.

We took our luggage to our rooms, freshened up, and met in the kitchen to bring Monica up to speed with what had been discussed the previous evening. Her part in the future was still up in the air, but I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be for long. Janice rang Yvonne to tell her we were home. She put it on speaker so we could all hear.

“Yvonne, it’s Janice, calling to let you know that the shoot has finished and we’re home safely.”

“That’s good. I don’t have anything for you three for the moment. Solon have spoken to me about reserving you all for their own use for a while. Why don’t the three of you take the rest of the week off and I’ll get back to you once I have definite news.”

“Thanks for that, we need a rest after all that hard work. Can we get our hair back to normal?”

“If you want. Solon may want to have the curl back in place for their fashion shows. I’ll give you a call at the end of the week.”

Janice then rang the salon to make an appointment for all three of us, Wednesday afternoon.

We spent the rest of the day unpacking and putting away our things. There was very little for laundry as we had been well serviced by the hotels. We had enough in the kitchen to make breakfast, so, as soon as Tracey got home, we all went off to the Volunteer for dinner, telling her about our adventures in the sun. We found out that Jemma had set a date for her wedding and had asked for Janice and me to be bridesmaids, details to follow later.

Tuesday, we did some shopping for essentials, and I sat with my laptop and organised the pictures I had taken into themed groups for painting ideas. In the afternoon, I set up my easel with a canvas and sketched out a picture showing the Egyptian furnishings in the Solon building. On a whim, I added the figures of Walter and I in silhouette against a background window.

Wednesday, we all had new hairstyles, taking away the curl for the moment. We took my car, then went off to Greenwich for a visit, somewhere that Monica wanted to see. It was good to be away from the bustle of the city, beside beautiful buildings without a camera crew recording your every move. Mind you, I think that there may have been a few tourists who took pictures of the three of us, just in case we were famous.

While we were having afternoon tea in a café, my mobile rang. It was Walter, asking if the three of us could go to the Solon building at ten, next day, for a meeting. He gave me a number for the barrier at the management section on the car park, and asked if I could ring him when we arrived. I wrote it in my notebook, and we finished the call.

That evening, Monica and I cooked the evening meal. It was almost like being back in Southampton. Tracey told us that we could open a restaurant. Janice and Tracey did the washing up and we all sat in the lounge to talk. It was getting to be like a family.

On Thursday morning, we took extra care with our appearances, and I drove us to the Solon building. At the barrier, I punched in the number and parked. We sat in the car while I rang Walter. He told us to go to the lift and press the button under the one without a number. When we stepped out of the lift, it was into a large, open-plan, office with guys and girls at desks. Walter was there to welcome us and led us to a meeting room, where a woman in her forties was waiting for us. She rose as we walked in, and we were all introduced to Moira, the advertising director.

The meeting was interesting. Moira had already chosen three piles of photos from the shoot. One was her ‘definitely use’, one was her ‘probably use’, and one was her ‘maybe’ pile. She had several taglines that her group had already brainstormed around ‘girls with curls who buy Hokem by Solon.’ It was very productive, with me having experience from the catalogues, Janice having experience from her time selling, Monica having experience with seeing previous shoots that had made it into magazines. Between us, we impressed Moira with our level-headed comments. Walter was left in the dust as far as a lot of it was concerned but did make comments that I thought showed more knowledge of dresses than was usual.

We had a break for lunch in the company canteen, which was really good. When we finished, Moira took us to a large office where she ruled the roost, showing us where we would be working from. We had a ‘cell’, with four desks, all with computers.

“These computers are linked to a dedicated server with all the publishing software you may need. They are internet enabled but are locked out of social media sites. When you have created the campaigns, you will put them on a portable drive and bring them to me to authorise. After that, I take over the placement of adverts and will send a copy, by courier, to Marilyn and her team in Southampton to create the website pages. They will already have a full listing of the products and prices, along with the suppliers pictures, so will create the on-line catalogue with the front and rear pictures and an order number. This server has every picture taken during the shoot, so you can browse them to see if there are any that can be used beyond the ones I’ve already chosen.”

Walter smiled.

“The biggest desk is mine, as I will be also planning the following season’s shoots, after seeing what the supplier has in store for us. Alphonse has spoken to Yvonne and you girls will start with us, here, Monday at nine. Is that all right with you?”

We nodded and all gave him and Moira a hug. She took us back to her own desk, where she had three lanyards with our photo ID and a barcode.

“The barcode gets you into the carpark. There will be the one marked space on Monday with ‘Model Parking’. It also gets you into the employee entrance should you come in on foot. On top of that, it is your company discount card. We expect you to be here at least six hours a day, but your start and finish times are flexible, as long as you put in thirty-six hours a week. The others in the office are on staggered nine-day fortnights. Any questions?”

We had no questions at the moment and sat at the other three desks to open up the computers and see what we had to work with. Moira showed us the different publishing and graphic packages we had to use. It was all up to the moment and the server was very fast. Janice and I both experimented with a picture while Monica looked on to see how we did it.

We spent a half an hour working with the various packages, adding from the text that Moira had left with us. She had a look at what we ended up with and laughed.

“You’ve just done what a newbie would take a week doing. I think that I’m going to enjoy working with you. I’ll see you Monday morning.”

Janice and Monica went off to powder their noses and Walter took the opportunity to ask me out on Friday evening. When I said that he could pick me up at seven, he smiled and gave me a hug. The three of us went down to the garage and I drove us home. The others must have seen Walter hugging me, as they gave me a bit of cheek on the way. I had to tell them that we were going out on Friday evening. That shut them up!

On Friday, I worked on the picture that I had started earlier in the week, sketching in more detail and then using oils to create the colours. I had it close to finished by the time I needed to start getting ready for my date. I had to pinch myself to believe that I was awake. Me, going out on an actual date with a guy! Not just a simple guy, but one who is likely to be pretty well off, although that had yet to be proved.

He had said that it would be dinner and dancing, so I wore one of the Hokem creations that I had picked up in the Plymouth sale, one that was the forerunner to the current range of twenties recreations. I had shiny stockings and a pair of heels that I had bought in Italy and would wear the faux fur that we had got for the agency Christmas party. I thought about a large bag with flats and a nightie but ended up with a clutch to match the dress.

When he arrived, Janice was downstairs and let him in. He was carrying a bunch of flowers which she took and put into a vase in the lounge. When I made my appearance, his face lit up and we said our farewells to the assembled girls and went out to where his Bentley was parked. He helped me to sit and pulled the seatbelt out for me, then went around to the drivers’ side and got in. The car didn’t just start, it almost purred as we pulled away, with the faces of the others at the front window.

“This is a nice car.”

“I think so. It was my father’s, and he gave it to me when I graduated from uni. The sports car is my everyday vehicle, but this is the one when I want to impress.”

“Walter, you don’t have to try and impress me. I know you too well and am impressed enough. Mind you, it would have been difficult to get into the sports car in this dress.”

“You look beautiful. Is that one of the new line?”

“It’s one of the Hokem range from a couple of years ago and shows the direction towards what we were modelling.”

“Keep that under your hat if anyone asks you about it. Be vague and let them think that it could be from the new range. Where we’re going, there may be paparazzi on the lookout for celebrities.”

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 4

We arrived at what looked like a mansion in Kensington. A valet helped me out of the car and drove it away to be parked after giving Walter a token. Walter took me by the arm, and we went inside. It had been totally rebuilt inside, with a proper cloakroom where I checked my fur, and he checked his overcoat. We went through a set of doors on one side of sweeping stairs, to a large dining room and were shown to our table.

He had been right, as we had several pictures taken of us before we were even seated. The photographer waited until Walter had placed our drinks order before coming over and asking who I was.

“The beautiful lady is Trixie Southby, one of the models for the new range of fashion being launched by Solon Brothers for Spring. She is wearing Hokem, the name of the suppliers. If you followed the business papers, you would know that Solon Brothers has bought the Hook and Hokem company, with the thirty stores that they had. If you contact our advertising department, I’m sure that you will get a ticket to the big fashion show which we will be organising for the launch.”

The photographer thanked him, took a close-up of me, and left us to our meal as the drinks were being brought out. I did notice that the photographer had obviously known who Walter was.

“So, Mister Solon. How many girls have you brought here before to have a photographer know who you are?”

He laughed and raised his glass.

“None as beautiful as you, dear Trixie. Unlike the previous girls, I rather think that our pictures will be in the social pages by the end of next week. He has never taken a close-up of my guest before. I’m sure that Moira will be getting a call to find out your background. Now, have a look at the menu and see if there’s anything you like.”

We ordered and talked about the launch. He thought that Monica was going to be allowed to organise the various fashion shows at the other stores, based on what was finalised for London. It would be something that he thought she would be good at. I found out more about his earlier days. His father was in real estate and would be talking to the Hook franchise owners about purchasing their stores, so allowing some to finish paying Robert. Walter admitted that he didn’t want to follow in the footsteps as he was more creative, so went for his Arts Degree. His father hadn’t been totally happy but had supported him in his wishes.

We were at the dessert stage, and I was toying with telling him that I had been a boy until I worked in the Southampton office. His face tightened and I could see him fighting with himself.

“Trixie. There is something I have to tell you that may destroy our relationship. Whatever you think afterwards, please remain friends.”

“Nothing will come between us as friends, Walter.”

“When I was young, I wasn’t very mannish. My father tried everything to get me interested in contact sports. My older brother was good at everything, and I worshipped him, but never wanted to emulate him. The arts course was my lifeline. While I was at the university, I was going out with a nice girl. We had a lot in common and had fun. She was from a very well-connected family, and they were adamant that we would be adding to the family line. They spoke to father and forced me to go for tests to prove that I would be a productive husband.”

“I think that I can see where this is going.”

“You’ll be right. The tests showed that I was deficient in the sperm department and unlikely to be a father. She dropped me like a hot potato and married a rugby player. Last I heard, he had given her a son as well as more than a few bruises, but her family was happy.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“You don’t mind!”

His face lit up and I reached over and took his hand.

“As long as you don’t mind that I don’t have a womb.”

He started laughing and we giggled together.

“Taken away or never had?”

“Never had. I grew up as a boy and only transitioned last year. Those pictures that you fell in love with was a boy in a dress.”

He could hardly control his giggling, and I sat back as he took a drink and regained some sense of decorum. The waiter came to take away our plates and Walter asked for the bill. When he had paid, we went up the stairs to the ballroom. We were holding hands as we entered and joined the throng on the dance floor, with his arms around my waist and mine around his neck. He nuzzled my neck and whispered in my ear.

“You are the best-looking boy I’ve had the pleasure to know.”

“And you, sir, are the most handsome eunuch in the room.”

“We will have to talk about our early days, I expect that we’ll have a lot in common. Did you look at girls for their dresses as well as I did?”

“I did, and then I started painting those dresses.”

“I was getting work experience in the Southampton store a couple of years ago and bought a painting full of gorgeous dresses at a gallery there. I think it might have been wishful thinking on my part, but it gives me peace when I look at it.”

“Five hundred pounds and signed ‘T.S.’ I expect.”

“How on earth did you know?”

“It’s one of the last three of my early works. I sold lots at the Plymouth market and took the last three to Southampton. The gallery had about a dozen of my later works, but they were much more expensive.”

“They didn’t have the masses of dresses, though.”

“No. I did ten like the old ones for a gallery here, summer scenes with pretty ladies which all sold before Christmas. They all sold for about five times what you paid.”

“So, I have an original Trixie Southby on my wall. That means that I can look at it and feel closer to you than ever before.”

“You can’t get much closer than we are at the moment.”

“You’re right. Have I told you that I love you?”

“You did tell me that you loved my picture. Does this mean that you have embraced reality?”

“You have me there, darling. I love you, Trixie, even more now we have bared our souls.”

“I think that I can feel your love, my darling. Do we have to keep on dancing when there are other things we can be doing?”

We stood still and kissed, only stopping by the sound of a camera whirring. He took my hand, and we went back downstairs to collect our coats and ask for the car to be brought to the door. I took the opportunity to go and freshen up and add a little lube. His apartment was overlooking the Thames, and his bed was inviting. We took our time and I found out that the dilator and the dildo were way behind in second place when it came to pleasure. I didn’t have to imagine anything, and he didn’t have to worry about feeling less than manly.

He dropped me off at the house just after midnight, and I was able to get to my room without bothering the other girls. When I undressed for the second time that evening, I smiled as I thought about our lovemaking and our admissions. I had fallen for a girly-boy, who had also fallen for a girl who was a boy. Our coupling had been gentle, yet robust, and we had shared orgasms, both knowing that there could never be an unfortunate outcome. That, alone, allowed us the freedom to be as adventurous as we could ever want.

I slept late and the others were finishing breakfast when I came down.

“Who had a good night, then?”

“I did. How about you girls?”

“Oh. The usual, you know. Janice washed her hair, Tracey worked on her nails, and I just read a sexy paperback. How was the meal?”

“The meal was good, the place was amazing, we were photographed for the social pages, danced, and then went to his place for two hours of torrid sex.”

They all chuckled.

“Now what really happened.”

“I’m not telling you anymore if you don’t believe me. Anyway, he’s picking us all up at twelve and taking us for lunch. Even you, Tracey, as he thinks that having a full house of beautiful girls on his arm will give him brownie points.”

That put the cat among the pigeons, as it was almost ten. I had my breakfast as they all went to their rooms to get ready. I hadn’t told them that we were going to a country pub, close to his family home, and that his family would be joining us in a neutral zone.

When he pulled up in the Bentley, I was in the front and the three girls were in the back, after Tracey was introduced to him. He took us to a place near Windsor, and the carpark was littered with other expensive vehicles. As we went in, we saw a long table with four people already sitting, with one waving to us. Walter held my hand as we approached.

“May I introduce Trixie Southby, my leading model and girlfriend. We also have Monica and Janice, who are also models in the new Spring and Summer launch, and Tracey, who lives in a share house with them and works in the city as a financial analyst. Girls, the man and woman are my parents, Frederick and Susan Solon, while these two hulks are my more athletic brothers, Anthony is older, and Gerald is younger. They must have been granted some genes that bypassed me.”

Frederick stood and came to us, shaking his son’s hand, then giving each of us a hug.

“When Walter said that he may bring along a few friends, I never thought that he would turn up with such a bevy of beauty. Why don’t you all take a seat, this meal is on me.”

While he was talking, the two brothers quietly moved so that the other girls had to sit flanking them. Walter and I sat next to his parents with me next to his mother. His father went to the bar after asking us what we wanted to drink, and Susan put her hand on my arm.

“So, you’re the girl who has taken my son’s heart. I could see it as you walked in, so natural as a couple.”

“We feel natural together. He did tell me about his problems and I’m sorry for him, but it doesn’t change the way we feel about each other.”

“It’s all right, Trixie. I have my other two sons who will be giving me grandchildren. It looks like they’re trying to find a wife as we speak.”

I looked along the table to see my three friends in deep conversation with the two boys, oblivious to what was going on around them.

“Are they both following the real estate path?”

“No. Anthony is in the company business, but Gerald is a whizz with figures, and after Walter broke the mold, we have allowed him to do an accountancy course in uni. He graduates this year. He may end up in the company as our finance officer, or he may join the brothers in their financial side. It all depends on his degree.”

“You seem to have a very successful family, down both lines.”

“We have been lucky. What do your own family do?”

“My parents have an acreage south of Plymouth, growing flowers for the flower market. They wanted me to join them, but I became a graphic artist, although not with a degree.”

“I’ve been told about your talent. I believe that you were the one whose output brought your employer to the attention of the Brothers. They were happy to get a new line of clothing and thirty shops in one hit. It was an expensive purchase, but much cheaper than looking for suppliers and finding new shops to open.”

“It was good for Robert Hook and allows him to retire to a warmer climate. It looks as if everyone came out of the process better off. I wondered if the old Head Office would be closed, but it seems to have come through as the website centre for the whole group.”

“Did you come out better off?”

“Robert did give me a bonus for our work through the lockdowns and my input into the on-line site. I was out of the old company well before the end of last year and hadn’t spent much time in the office for almost a year before that.”

“What were you doing?”

“I was going around all the shops that survived Covid, painting murals.”

“I saw the one in the Holborn shop. I went to see what the brothers had taken on. It was lovely, and such an interesting take on the familiar scene. You are very talented.”

Frederick came back with a tray of drinks, then went off for another tray. When he sat down, he looked at his wife, who nodded.

“So, Walter. I’ve been told that you did well overseas, with these lovely ladies. Alphonse has put you in charge of the campaigns, I believe.”

“Not totally, Dad. We have to run it by Moira and get overall authority from the board. Janice, Monica, Trixie, and I have a cell with four desks with a dedicated server. We will develop the Spring campaign over the next couple of weeks, with both Janice and Trixie being graphic artists, I think we’ll be well within deadline. Monica will be planning the fashion shows. After that, we will move on to the summer launch and then we’ll be planning the next big shoot. I’m thinking of New Zealand for the Winter shoot. There’ll be snow on the Southern mountains then, and there are lots of good places. The whole range is being promoted as the clothes you buy when you’re successful and travel, without breaking the bank. So far, I think that the range the girls wore in the last shoot fitted that brief magnificently.”

“That must have been fun, you and three lovely ladies in the sun.”

“Actually, there was five of us guys and ten lovely ladies if you include the crew. There were six lovely models and they all worked hard for the five weeks. We’re going through all the pictures, but I know that there’ll be a lot unused, this time. We may end up with some that can be scattered through the website.”

“There was a time when I never thought I’d say this. I’m proud of you, my son.”

Walter got up and went to give his father a hug. I could see the glint of tears in his eyes. His mother stood to envelope him in her arms. It was quite a charged family moment. We all had a good lunch, and the talk was good, with Walter’s brothers being pulled into general conversation. One thing that stood out to me was how well Gerald and Tracey were getting on. Anthony was sharing his time between Janice and Monica.

As it reached the stage where we were sitting with drink and the table had been cleared, Anthony looked along the table.

“Dad. These two lovely ladies have agreed to come with me to see the football match. It’s a women’s game and they’re keen to experience it. I’ll bring them to the house when it’s over, in time for dinner.”

Frederick nodded and the three of them stood, thanked him for lunch and left. I looked out of the window as they got into a Porsche Cayenne and left the carpark. Susan was watching as well.

“They’ll be perfectly safe with Tony. He is the perfect gentleman. If he has eyes on one, I know that he’ll have a suitable friend at that match who will make up the foursome. That won’t be until after his ex-girlfriend sees him there with his arms around two models. She plays in one of the teams and is almost a chunky as he is. She dropped him a couple of weeks ago for being too easy-going. She would out-drink us all, combined, and had the vocabulary of a porn movie. I don’t know what he saw in her. All she saw in him was money.”

“That makes her sound like a monster.”

“Not a scary monster, just one who would squash any man smaller than Tony. She’s not even the most butch one on the team.”

“It sounds as if Walter will be taking us home a lot later than I thought.”

“That’s right. I like you, and so does Freddy. In fact, we like all four of you. You are all lovely, hardworking, talented, and qualified. Walter, dear. If you follow us to the house, you can show Trixie around. I’m sure that there will be a lot to interest her. Gerald and Tracey can come with us. When Tony brings the others back, you can take them all home again after dinner.”

The smile on Walter’s face said it all. He was back in the arms of his family, with both his brothers interested in the girls he had brought to lunch, and his girlfriend winning approval from his parents. We went out to the carpark and Tracey got in the back of a Roller with Gerald while we got in the Bentley.

“That went well!”

“Trixie. That is the understatement of the century. I never thought that my father would approve of my life choices, let alone say that he was proud of me. The Brothers may have kept him up to date with how the shoot went and that they were giving me more responsibility. I could say that it was the best day of my life, but that happened yesterday.”

“You really are an old smoothie. I didn’t expect to end up at your family pile for dinner.”

“One thing you need to know about all the Solon family, is that they plan for every eventuality. If you hadn’t clicked with Mother, we may have been heading back to London.”

“I think that she appreciated you bringing a group of ‘lovely, hardworking, talented, and qualified’ girls to lunch. That’s her words, not mine. If it was brownie points you were after, you have banked enough to last you a few months.”

“I hope that I have banked enough, with you, to last a lot longer than that.”

I pondered on that as we followed the Roller through the gates of an imposing driveway, and then some way further to the house. It wasn’t a stately home, but still in the Georgian style and big enough. We stopped behind the Roller and got out, leaving the keys in so that a suited man could take it to be parked. A maid held the doors open as we went in. If I hadn’t realised that the Solon families were loaded, it was brought home to me now. Frederick took Walter off for a talk, man to man, while Gerald and Tracey disappeared up the sweeping staircase.

“Don’t worry about her, Trixie. Gerald has had some problems with his thesis, and I think that Tracey is the girl to get him over the bump. I doubt that we’ll see the two of them until the dinner gong. Now, there’s something I need your advice on.”

She led me through to a room which was obviously her own domain, with very feminine furnishings with needlework on the table and a knitting bag beside a comfortable chair.

“Have you seen the painting that Walter brought back from his time in Southampton. I wondered at his thinking at the time, but he has said that it gives him peace.”

“No, I haven’t, but when he described it, I knew what it was.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“It is one of three works that I took to Southampton when I moved there. I used to paint them when I lived in Plymouth and sold them to tourists at the market.”

“Interesting. You seem even more talented than I thought. Before Christmas, I bought a painting at a gallery in London. I often look around galleries to see what emerging artists I like. This one is similar, but a lot more refined.”

She reached behind an armchair and brought out the picture.

“I was thinking that it may be nice to give to Walter for his birthday, in May.”

“Did you look closely at the signature?”

“It says ‘Trixie’, is that you?”

“That’s one of ten I painted in November for that gallery. I think that Walter will be ecstatic if you give him that.”

“Oh, my! I’ll have to keep it well hidden then. How often do you have pictures there?”

“That was the first big delivery, and I haven’t had time, with Christmas and the photo shoot, to build up another bank for them. I had finished working for Hook in October, and didn’t start with the agency until January, so had time for painting. I don’t know how I’ll go while working on getting the Spring collection together. If I devote my weekends to painting, Walter will just have to be alone for a couple of days a week. We will be working in the office, together, for the weekdays, so it shouldn’t be too hard on him.”

“Don’t you be too sure of that. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and I think he’ll need to see you every day or else explode.”

She pressed a button, and a maid came in. Susan ordered tea and cake, and we sat at a small table, no doubt only there for such an occasion. When the tea and cakes were put on the table, we sipped and nibbled, with me following her lead on how to act, while talking about things. I found out that she had been working at a rival real estate firm when she met her Freddy at a clearance auction, where they were both looking for good furniture to dress houses due for auction. Her ladylike manners were, she said, acquired over her years of marriage and her mixing with others of that particular breeding. When we had finished, she led me back out and through to a sunroom where Frederick and Walter were sitting in comfortable silence with a bottle of whiskey on the table between them.

“Walter, don’t you think that you should take Trixie on a tour around the house? The garden is starting to get the spring shoots.”

Walter stood and took my hand to give me the grand tour.

“I have a plan, my love, to kiss you in every room.”

“Sounds good to me.”

So, we kissed in the drawing room, the dining room, and the main hall. The cooks were startled when he kissed me in the kitchen and giggled at the sight. One called ‘Way to go, Wally!’ and they all laughed. We kissed in the billiard room, and then went upstairs to kiss on the landing, before going into his bedroom to kiss. We didn’t see the garden that day and needed to use his bathroom to wash the smell of sex off of us.

When we went back downstairs in the drawing room, Gerald and Tracey also looked freshly showered and Tracey gave me a wink. I gave her a hug.

“Did you manage to help Gerald with his thesis?”

“I did. I graduated from the same course and gave him some pointers on multiplication theory and practice.”

“More than once, I think.”

The door opened, and Anthony walked in, holding Monica’s hand, while a lad we hadn’t seen before was holding Janices’.

“Hello, you guys. This is Clive, he works in our office with me.”

Tracey and I were introduced to Clive, who gave each of us a hug.

Gerald looked at Anthony.

“How was the game?”

“The score was three-two to them. It was a brutal game, with one of our team being sent off. I think that she had seen something on the sidelines that made her mad.”

The gong sounded for dinner. I was starting to really like the family, they were rich and powerful but were still down to earth and played games with the mind. I would have to be sharp-witted if I was to be part of it.

Marianne Gregory © 2024

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

Chapter 6

I didn’t get a big chunk of time for painting in the year that followed. It was a few hours here and there. We were now on normal working hours in the office, and I was spending most weekends with Walter in the apartment. I ended up getting another easel and setting it up, along with a set of brushes and paints. He would sit with his paperwork while I painted. He was taking his responsibilities very seriously. Whenever he was away, talking to suppliers with the buyers, or checking out sites for photo shoots, I would sleep at the house and paint there, so having several pictures on the go at any one time.

This year, I was doing scenic pictures from my photos, with a bit of artistic licence. The open-air ones were almost impressionist, while the ones with buildings were more realistic and took a lot of time. In all of them, I added just two figures, a man and a woman, usually seen from the rear, admiring the view or taking a photo.

I did two that I was going to keep for myself. They were views of Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown. The basis was a photo taken from the hotel room, of the lake with the snow-covered mountains behind it. The original picture was through a window, but I turned them into a view from a terrace with one where Walter is taking a picture of me with the view behind me. The other had our roles reversed, and I was taking a picture of Walter.

Janice was also painting when she could and had built quite a nice collection. I took her into the gallery with them and introduced her. He wanted them all and took her details. A few weeks later, she started getting money into her account, about fifteen hundred a painting, and she was over the moon.

Our February photo shoot for the Spring collection was all in Italy, taking in Rome and Naples. The new range had a lot of sandy-pink and these were highlighted when we spent time at Pompeii. This time, it was just the three of us with the obligatory curl, with the one photographer and lighting guy. We girls had the one make-up artist and a hairdresser, so it was a smaller, but well-oiled professional group. Now that the cat was well and truly out of the bag, Walter and I were in one room, while Janice and Monica shared. We did the shoot in ten days.

We were back in the office in our team area, working on the campaign during March and into April, while Walter was working on the Summer shoot. That was to be all in Monaco, during the Grand Prix week in May, and we would all be staying on a yacht owned by one of Alphonse’s friends. The ‘girl with a curl’ was really going places and the surveys that the Brothers had set up showed that the core purchasers were successful businesswomen, who often did go overseas for work purposes. I had the feeling that it made a change from the usual ‘power suit’.

The shoot in Monaco was amazing. We did a lot of shots against wonderful buildings and in the lobby of the casino. Some days were in and around the Marina, but the best time was at the Grand Prix. We had a range of good casual wear for that, with many cars and race drivers being in the pictures. The tiny remnant of boy in me was thrilled to be on pit lane of the greatest race of all, even if the sound of a car starting up made me jump. Walter was there to hold me. We went into a jeweller in Monaco and bought our wedding bands.

After the Summer collection campaign had been finalised and sent to Marilyn, it was time to work on the weddings. Susan had a lot of the logistics already sorted out. The marquee had been ordered, along with the tables, chairs, food, drink, flowers, celebrant, and band. All that remained was small details – like dresses, order of the services, how we were going to be bridesmaids at one wedding and the bride for another.

We had a meeting at the mansion to work it all out, staying overnight. The house had enough bedrooms for the three of us to have separate rooms on the night before the weddings. Susan was adamant that the bride must not be seen before she walks the aisle. This meant that two of us would have to stay in the house while the first wedding happened, which we fiercely complained about. She agreed, after much talking, and the arrangements were settled.

The weddings would take place on the Sunday. Anthony, as the oldest, would marry Monica first, at eleven in the morning. Tracey and I would be in normal dresses. There would be a buffet lunch, and then Walter and I would tie the knot at two in the afternoon. There would be drinks and nibbles, then Gerald and Tracey would marry at five, followed by a dinner. Each couple would stay in their wedding outfits after their vows, and all would change after the dinner, to be ready to leave, in three limousines, after the speeches and dancing.

Our parents would be housed in a hotel in Windsor and would have cars pick them up and take them back. Walter proved that he had been busy when he brought out a catalogue from a wedding dress maker in Paris. He dropped the bombshell that he had spoken to the Solon Brothers, who had agreed that a range of wedding dresses would be added to the Hokem lines. We would be going to Paris to pick our dresses and be fitted, with the three dresses then going on show in the front windows of the London store. The groom’s suits were to be supplied by a new addition to the bridal range in store, and also be displayed next to the dresses. His work got him a hug and a kiss from the three of us and one from Susan.

He also told us that our honeymoons were also paid for by the Brothers, as long as we took them in New Zealand, with us girls modelling the next Autumn and Winter range. We would be allowed an extra week when the crew had gone home, with each couple picking where they wanted to stay. It would be the first time Tracey would model, and the first shoot that Tony and Gerry had been on.

The other big news that weekend, was that Gerald had been taken on in the finance department, on the same floor as our office, and that Tracey had left her job, to work with him after the honeymoon. I suppose that, as a Solon, she would have to be part of the family. That made me stop and think that I would be family as well, with Tracey and Monica as sisters in law.

We three chose which dresses we liked, with Walter emailing the supplier with our sizes and choices. They weren’t great billowy things, almost classic floor-length evening dresses without trains, and suitable for very elegant occasions. In that, we were thinking about those who may buy them later. I had chosen one in dusky blue, Monica was in white, while Tracey went for ivory. It would make me stand out in the group pictures, something that I never thought I would want, but blue is for a boy, isn’t it?

We were in Paris on the following weekend and had our fittings. Janice and Jemma had scored the spots as bridesmaids for each of us, with them choosing something that fitted in with the three colours. We flew back with our dresses in our bags. Two weeks after that, we had the wedding extravaganza. The marquee was big enough for all the families, friends, work colleagues, and the chosen magazine that would have us glorified in print, for a fee. Clive had been chosen as Best Man for each of the three brothers, to keep things within reason. It took a lot of persuading for Susan to come down from the eight that she wanted in each party.

The wedding day was a hoot! We had used separate bedrooms as instructed, with Monica getting the treatment first, with our make-up artist doing her in a bold look, with the rest of us more muted. We had all been to the salon on Friday to get smoothed and a hairdo, with each of us having a small hanging curl. I know, we were doing it for the media and for future advertising, but it would cement our places with the Brothers. Her wedding to a very smart Anthony was lovely and there was a lot of weeping and smiling.

After the buffet, I was outfitted in my gown and given a stronger make-up look, to join Walter, now resplendent in his wedding suit, in our own wedding. While the drinks and nibbles were happening, Tracey was off to have her own transformation to marry Gerald at five. We all retired to our husband’s bedrooms to change for the dinner, while the guests talked among themselves in the mansion. For me, it did include a celebratory session in bed, before we showered and changed into our going-away outfits. From the look of the others, we hadn’t been alone.

My parents were amazed at the wealth that I had married into, as was Tracey’s and Monica’s. All three couples had been photographed all day, with two of us girls in three different outfits. The marquee had been transformed into a dining room, with the caterers having their own kitchen in a truck. The dinner was a lot of fun, with the speeches kept to a minimum. Frederick gave a single speech which covered all three of his sons, and Clive, as Best Man, gave a short speech and proposed a toast to the bridesmaids, followed by a proposal of marriage to Janice. Alphonse gave a short speech in which he thanked us girls for our contribution to the company and announced that we all would be ambassadors of the Solon Brothers brand. The band set up and some of the tables moved so that we could do our group bridal waltz and then there was general dancing.

At the end of a long day, we were whisked off in three limousines which had already had our bags in, curtesy of the mansion staff. As befitting the status of the family, there were no trailing cans or painted slogans on the cars. All three couples were spending the night in the Dorchester, and our flight to New Zealand was the following evening, with a minibus picking us up at the hotel.

We flew Emirates business class via Dubai, and we had a whole day there before the overnight flight to Melbourne and another flight to Auckland. Janice and the crew would be arriving in two days to start the shoot, so we did some sightseeing first. When we started the shoot, Tracey was quick to pick up the methods and the outfits were lovely, moving on from the flapper look of the previous year and following the pseudo-sixties looks that the Summer collection had introduced.

For the Winter collection, we stayed in Christchurch, now rebuilt from the earthquake. This time we were taken to Mount Cook and the Fox Glacier by helicopter. When I saw the pictures, we could have been in the Himalayas. Janice and the crew flew out of Christchurch to go home, while the other two couples went back to Auckland for a week of touring the North Island. Walter and I went back to Queenstown, where we did all the tourist things and had a wonderful time.

When we got back to London, I moved out of the share house and went to live with Walter in the apartment. Both Tracey and Monica were moving to live with their husbands, both having bought apartments in the city, thanks to their contacts in the real estate business and the same trust account from their grandfather that had allowed Walter to be independent. We all paid enough in for Janice to be able to live in the house until her wedding to Clive, which, she told me, wouldn’t be too long now.

Life in the office had a different vibe, as we were all now part of the family. The four of us were travelling around the country visiting stores and hosting small fashion events. While at home, I put together another couple of dozen paintings to take to the gallery. We had missed the AGM, having been away, but Tracey was keeping up with the financial situation and kept me informed with the share price fluctuations. At the end of August, I was surprised when my broker emailed me to tell me that I had received a dividend on my shares, the first that Solon had paid out since before the pandemic. It was only 15p, but my seventy-odd thousand shares brought me a very nice return. I had enough in my account to add to it and buy a few more shares.

After the marriage, we had traded the Galaxy and Walter’s sports car on a Lexus that we could both drive, seeing that the apartment only had the two parking spots. When we were getting closer to the end of the year, Walter and I took it down to Plymouth to stay with my parents for a while. I had sent them enough money to put a bigger bed in my old room, but the decorations remained somewhat girly.

Walter help Dad with the flowers and told me, later, that he loved to be among the gorgeous blooms in the greenhouses. Mum and I went off to the shops some days, but on others, I helped Dad out as well. It all led to a conversation about their future. Dad wanted to sell the business and downsize to a cottage and a small garden, so we told them that we would put the family real estate people onto it and get them a range of places to look at.

One of the very interesting results of the marriages was that Arthur and Alphonce were taking a lot of time with the three brothers. Neither of them had sired sons, just daughters, and there had been a distinct possibility that the family line would die out. All three of the brothers were given non-voting board positions and also had executive responsibilities on top of their normal work. It would be a good ten years before Tony, Walter, and Gerald became ‘The Solon Brothers’ but it was firming to be a distinct possibility. As the oldest son, Tony would inherit the family mansion, and both Walter and Gerald started to look for somewhere grander than the apartments, not in a rush, but keeping an eye out for a good deal.

By the time we all gathered at the mansion for Christmas, all two dozen of my paintings had sold, and had averaged nearly three thousand each, adding around seventy thousand to my bank balance. I spent fifty thousand buying Solon shares at around two pounds fifty each, bringing my holding to just over a hundred thousand shares.

Walter and I started getting invitations to swanky events, some from business contacts, and some from my modelling fame. We often saw the other two couples at these events. We did all get together for the wedding of Janice and Clive. Theirs was more traditional, in a church with a reception at a hotel. She had the advantage of being able to have another two models as bridesmaids, with me being the Maid of Honour. The three brothers stood with Clive with Tony as Best Man.

They went off to Italy for their honeymoon, without a camera crew following them around. Clive worked in his family hotel business now, having left the real estate company. His family owned fifteen hotels and was doing very well. Janice gave up modelling and her job at the Brothers to start a family. She did whisper to me on the morning of the wedding that it had already started. I went and helped her clean out our old home in Tottenham, it had been good for us, but we had all moved on. Both Tracey and Jemma told her that she could have their share of the bond money when it was finalised.

During the year, other departments in the store were getting out of the ruts that Covid had imposed. The menswear was getting in more youthful styles, the kitchenware department started regular cooking demonstrations using the modern electrical appliances, all seeing what the addition of the new Hokem range was doing for customer numbers. This was all improving the store popularity, bottom line and market value. Gerald told me that all of the small stores that had been rebranded were doing a lot better than they had been.

One of the other things that I hadn’t foreseen was that Walter started using my second easel as his own. He put a big pin-board on it and pinned up sheets of paper. He did have a background of graphic arts, but he had not drawn a thing since I knew him. The odd thing was that what he drew were dresses, with some being very stylish.

“This is what I used to do when I was younger. It got me into trouble with my father. It’s why I loved that early painting of yours and love the later one I got for my birthday.”

“You know, you’re very good. Why don’t you put some into a folder and talk to the suppliers to see if they can turn the drawings into dresses.”

He smiled at the thought and started designing dresses, obviously something that he had wanted to do in his teens but had suppressed it to please the family. When we flew to our preferred supplier in Italy, they suggested that we set up a design studio and make some money when the range became popular.

They made some examples from his designs, and I started wearing them. I was getting good comments when I was seen out and about. We discussed the implications and then registered Soxie Clothing with the two of us as the directors. Then we both started designing, with him teaching me the finer points of dressmaking, something that I hadn’t been taught, and something that his girlfriend at uni had taught him. I would draw a dress; he would refine it into a marketable and makeable product. Then we took the finished articles to the manufacturer. They would put the Soxie label on it and then it was offered to Solon Brothers as a new range, without us being disclosed as the designers.

The buyers liked what they saw, and we tried to stay cool when the next year’s shoots were proposed. The Spring and Summer collections would have about half of the items as the new Soxie outfits. That accelerated our need for a house of our own, as the apartment was getting cramped. We found one in Essex, only just outside the city, which we put a deposit on. I was able to put in my half share and we moved there in November. It wasn’t a mansion, but wasn’t a cottage, either. Oak House was Georgian, with four bedrooms and high ceilings. What clinched the deal was that it had a big outbuilding that the previous owner had used as a sculpture studio. After we had moved in, we sold the apartment which almost paid off the mortgage.

We had Christmas at the mansion, as usual, and it was a happy time. Both Tracey and Monica announced that they were pregnant, and that the ultrasounds looked like boys. Gerry and Tony were getting deeper into the running of the stores, and Tony had been given a place on the board when a previous director retired.

For New Year, we had a housewarming party at Oak House. It wasn’t big enough for everyone to have a separate bedroom, so we set up camp beds in the studio, with screens for privacy. It did have heating, a toilet and kitchenette so the ones who were out there were happy enough. We hadn’t set it up as our design studio, yet, and the easels and drawing boards were packed away in a corner with covers on.

We had the Spring and Summer shoots in late January and into February. I had three professional models with me, and the curl had disappeared. This time, we found the sun in Africa with many pictures having wild animals from the safari parks. We left the organising of the advertising to Moira and her team, as both Janice and Monica had left to enjoy their impending motherhood.

After the shoot, Walter and I took time off to set up our design studio, with desks, computers, the easels and new drafting boards. We added a couple of big printers and employed a local seamstress to make samples from the paper designs that we could produce. This allowed us to see what the real thing would wear like before sending them to the manufacturer. Later in the year, we became godparents to little Harry, Janice and Clive’s firstborn.

Around Easter, we moved my parents to a small cottage with a garden and all the amenities nearby. With Oak House and my share portfolio as collateral, we got a second mortgage to buy the flower farm, getting a young couple who had not long graduated from an agricultural college to live in the house as managers, without a single delivery to the flower market being missed, Walter and I doing the work in the interim.

Over the year, I alternated with dress drawings and painting, still using the scenic pictures I had on the laptop as the basis. I was still out visiting the stores, often with Walter, as our ‘ambassadorial responsibilities’ now outweighed our office work. Walter was given a full seat on the board in July, and we had received enough outfits from our suppliers to have a photo shoot in England that summer, for the following year collections. Following on with that, it was decided that the Autumn and Winter collections would also be shot at home, making the Autumn one a very tight deadline.

Towards the end of the year, I had another thirty pictures for the gallery. We were getting a regular income from every dress that bore the Soxie label. It wasn’t huge, individually, but with every Solon store carrying the label, as well as the manufacturer selling to stores across Europe, we were doing well. The pictures didn’t sell quickly, but they did sell, with my account growing by three thousand with each sale.

Also, in the second half of the year, Tracey had a son, with Jemma and her husband as godparents. Monica had baby Allen and wanted us to be godparents. Before Christmas, I resigned from the Solon business to be a wife and a busy dress inventor. Walter was now just on the board and working in our own business.

The Christmas at the mansion was as good as ever, with Susan quizzing me about how I filled my days. I told her that I was concentrating on painting and redecorating Oak House, as well as looking at the flower business every now and then. The secrecy around the Soxie Designs was smashed in the next year, as there had been pressure on our manufacturer to have a place in the summer fashion shows.

Walter and I went up-market with designs over the first three months, and we were present at the first fashion show when our haute-couture range went on the catwalk. We couldn’t stay secret as the Solon buyers were there as well. It led us to being open with the family and having a meeting at the mansion. We hadn’t really realised what we had created. We had a successful flower business, and now a fashion design studio that was selling outfits into most of the European Union.

Freddy was amazed that Walter had done all of it after thinking that he wasn’t manly enough in his younger days. I often wondered what he would have done if he had embraced his other self. No doubt he may have been ejected from the family.

As I now sit in my lounge at Oak House, I look at the paintings on the wall, most of them I had painted myself. Again, I look at the picture of the five of us in Southampton, in the park, in our jogging outfits. That was the moment my life started to change, the day that I spoke of my secret wish. It all goes to show, that your wishes can come true, and you can be successful, even if the journey takes you down a gentler path. I should know, having taken that route myself.

Marianne Gregory © 2024