Chapter 2

The girl on the desk at Archway Orthodontics (Jenny's ortho, and now also Carol's) got quite a surprise when the four girls walking into reception. While she had met Jenny twice before, and knew who she was, this was ALL FOUR members of the group!

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" asked the girl, trying to stay as composed as possible.

Jenny smiled, showing off her lovely metal brackets. "I think you probably know who we are, don't you. Anyway, we have a double appointment booked with David, under my name - Jenny Stevens - just in case you've forgotten!"

The girl on reception smiled back, revealing that she too had a nice set of metal on her teeth. "Yes, that's fine. Would you like to go through to the waiting room?"

"We can certainly do that, but I reckon you'd better get your phone out first, something tells me that you know exactly who we are, and would absolutely LOVE to take a selfie with us. Would I be right?"

"You don't mind me doing that?"

"Not a problem, but if you post it online, be a bit 'curious' of why all four of us are here together, will you? It will be a bit of fun for our fans to get wound up a bit! They'll find out the full truth probably next week.... Ok, ladies, let's get ourselves in front of the 'Archway Orthodontics' sign..."

With the selfie taken, the four of them went and sat in the waiting room.

"Tell you what" said Dianne, "This is a bit nicer than my previous ortho's place!"

"I have no doubt about it! I'm guessing you went to an NHS ortho as a teen... this is what you get with Private Practice! Although it DOES cost a bit more.... you sure you're going to be able to afford to get braces here?" said Jenny, teasing.

"Hmm, difficult choice: three new drumkits, or get braces? Which should I go for?" replied Dianne, which raised a chuckle from the others. "I mean, for Linda, it's gonna be more like 5 new guitars or braces! So what's your ortho like then?".

"David is a really nice guy, and so's his assistant." said Jenny.

"I'll agree with Jenny: when I came here for a new retainer, it was a MUCH nicer experience than when I was at school. You're seeming to be pretty calm about all this, Dianne, you ok there?"

"A bit nervous, but I think now I've accepted that I'm actually doing this, I'm feeling better. And I'll be honest, having you guys with me - and all of you getting braces too - is making me feel a lot better!"

"Well, it's alright for all of you," said Linda, "at least you have SOME previous experience of braces, this is something 100% new for me!"

"Well, you DID get looked at by an ortho when we were in Korea!"

"True, but there was never any plans on getting graces there. This time I know I'm going to get braces, one way or another, and it's not gonna be clear aligners, is it?"

"Yeah, sorry about that!" said Jenny. "But on a more positive note, it's not only gonna look totally awesome with all four of us in braces, but when we team up with Northern Girls, there's gonna be EIGHT of us!

Chapter 3

"Hello there, Jenny, would you like to come through?" asked Angela - David Bright's assistant - who had just come in the room. She suddenly froze as she recognised the other three girls. Yes, she had met Carol before, when she had come in to get, and then collect, her retainer, so she was easy to recognise. Angela's brain worked fast, realising that if there was FOUR of them together, it was very possible that the other two might be Dianne and Linda: she quickly scanned her memories, and confirmed what she thought, and a huge smile came to her face.

"Hello Angela, you already know Carol... this is Dianne, and this is Linda.... although I have a feeling you already worked that out!" said Jenny.

"Yeah, ummm, wow, all four of you! What brings ALL of you here today then?" she asked as she led them back into the surgery.

"Oh, just listen in when we explain things to David!" replied Jenny.

As Angela took them into the surgery, she announced to David: "We seem to have all four members of CJDL with us today!".

David turned to see the four newcomers. "Jenny, nice to see you again, Carol too... erm..."

"Linda and Dianne" said Angela.

"And Linda and Dianne, nice to meet you too. Come and sit down, and tell me exactly why all of you are here today! I just noticed that you actually booked a double session..."

The four of them sat down, as did David. "Come on, Angela, do join us, I know you want to hear what's going on!" said Jenny. Angela looked at David, who motioned for her to join them all.

"So, you remember a little while ago I told you that we were over in Korea - that's when my bracket fell off!"

"Ah yes..."

"So not only did the lovely lady ortho fix my bracket, she took a quick look at all of us...."

"Ok.. do go on..."

"Unsurprisingly, she was happy with my progress, and she was very happy with Carols teeth too. Whilst she explained that Linda's teeth weren't quite perfect, they were plenty good enough. However, Dianne has some rather bigger issues. Dianne, maybe better for you to explain..."

"Well, I had quite a bit of braces treatment when I was younger. I had bad buck teeth, and started off with some twin-blocks and headgear, then had metal braces, elastics and so on. At the end of it all, my teeth actually looked pretty good. Until about a year or so ago, that is. My dentist explained that it was caused by my wisdom teeth coming in: there was enough space for them at the top, but not at the bottom, and that I should probably have my wisdom teeth removed. And if I wanted my teeth fixing, I'd inevitably need braces again."

"Have you had your wisdom teeth removed yet?" asked David.

"No, I'm still filled with wisdom!" joked Dianne.

"Ah, ok. That all makes sense. But I do have a question for you: why have all FOUR of you come in? I'm sort-of guessing you're here to support Dianne? So why did you book a double appointment?"

"Ah, right, yes. Yes, not only are we here to support her today, but we want to support her through her treatment: we ALL want to have braces!"

"You ALL want braces?" said David, rather surprised. To the side, Angela was smiling: she was trying to imagine what 'CJDL in metal braces' would look like!

"Yes. I mean, I already have them...." said Jenny.

"And I'm thinking that you could fit me with braces again, so they could work as my retainers" added Carol.

"And whilst I wasn't originally planning on getting my teeth fixed, if it helps Dianne feel better with HER treatment, then I'm up for it too!" said Linda.

"Yeah, I definitely need braces....." said Dianne. "Let me tell you a bit more: there's a Canadian group that we're going to go on tour with later in the year, and one of them needed braces, so the other three of them got braces to support her. As Jenny said out in the waiting room: it's going to look pretty awesome having all eight of us on stage in braces!"

Davis smiled: he finally understood what this was all about. "It sounds like I need to have a look at all of you then: Jenny, you're due for your regular check-up anyway, so we'll get you into some fresh ligatures, then I'll look at the rest of you too. How about we start with Jenny then Carol. Then Linda, and do Dianne last: from what you say, you're probably going to to need the most detailed treatment! And Angela, while I look at these ladies, maybe you can go and do some panoramic x=rays?"

"Of course. Who should I do first?" asked Angela.

"Why not start with.... erm, Linda, wasn't it? Then she'll be ready for me to examine. Then do Dianne."

Linda was slightly upset that she wouldn't get to see Jenny's braces in detail, but went with Angela, who took her along the corridor and into a small room. Amongst the many bits in there was a white machine mounted on a big pole that was braced against the wall, with a big arm on top in an inverted 'U' shape.

"Ok, Linda, let me put a disposable mouthpiece on the machine...". Mounted from the top of the 'U' was a frame that had a certain similarity to the machine you put your head into at the opticians, when they need to examine your eyes closely. "You need to rest your forehead here.... hold on, let me take it up a bit...". She pressed some buttons to adjust the height of the unit, so Linda could stand at it better. "That's right, now hold these two handles here, they'll help you to stay still. Now gently bite down on this bit. Perfect!" Linda wriggled a bit, to get a bit more comfortable.

"Are you ok there?" asked Angela. Linda used a hand to give a thumbs up. Angela walked to the far end of the room where a screen was mounted on the wall, and clicked the mouse a few times. A sort of panel, the size of a thick pad of A4 paper moved quickly around in front of her face, then slowly returned the same way as it took the x-ray.

"Ok, all done!" said Angela. Linda stopped biting on the plastic piece, and stepped out of the machine, and over to Angela.

"That me?" she asked, looking at the images on the screen. Whilst Linda had seen pictures online that showed a 'flat' picture of all of someone's teeth, this one was in full 3D.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, isn't it? Here, let me show you...". Using her mouse, she rotated the 3-D view of Linda's jaws, letting her see how her teeth were in her jaws: it was just as if it were a picture of a skeleton's mouth.

"Wow, that is amazing!". Linda could see her teeth, with their roots, as well as the bones of her jaws, all shaded to give an amazingly realistic view.

"We can also zoom in to get more detail..." explained Angela, showing Linda her molars and roots in her jaw.

"Looks like I have long roots" commented Linda.

"Yes, and whilst I'm not the expert, I'd say they are looking really good, so no reason you can't have braces. Ok, let me just save everything, and remove that 'bite-stick', then we can go and see how Jenny is getting on."


In the meantime, David asked Jenny to sit in the treatment chair, which he reclined back, such that Jenny was lying more in her back. "Feel free to come and watch: as long as you don't actually get in the way, stand where you like..."

David fitted plastic lip spreaders into her mouth, and took a look around her teeth. "Yes, everything is looking good! Let's get your old ligatures off, then remove your archwires..."

David picked up a tool with a pointed but hooked end and used it to deftly remove all of Jenny's old ligatures, removed her two archwires, then took another look in her mouth. Next he sat the chair up. "You know where the floss is, do go and have a good floss!".

"You know, ladies, this is one of the best bits of coming to the ortho: getting to easily and properly floss your teeth!"

"While you do that, have a think about what colour ligatures you'd like me to put on."

"Oh," said Jenny, as she walked across to the sink, "show Dianne and Carol what you've got, they can choose today!"

Normally, Angela would have got out the selection of ligatures for him, but she was taking X-rays of Linda, so he got up, and got them from the drawer himself, and showed Dianne and Carol.

Both of them were quite familiar with ligatures, both having had braces as teens. For them, there were two questions: a mix of colours or all the same? And WHICH colour(s)?

"You know, I reckon it's time she went pink!" said Carol.

"Yeah, nice and bright... how about THIS one?" said Dianne.

"Mmm, yes, good choice!"

It didn't take too long for Jenny to floss her teeth. "Pink? Yeah, why not, not done pink before, usually shied away from it." Then she saw what Dianne and Linda had chosen. "Yes, that IS a bright pink, isn't it, but what the heck!". She was about to sit in the chair again, when David interrupted her.

"I was thinking that now might be a good time to scan your teeth again, just to update your records, and for that, I'll need Angela's help: so while we wait for her, why don't I take a look at your teeth, Carol?"

"Sure, no problem" she replied sitting in the chair. As David reclined it, she asked "do you want me to remove my retainers?"

"No, leave them in please, I'd like to check their fit...". With Carol reclined, he fitted another lip-spreader into her mouth, and started with a general look around Carol's mouth, then - having quickly referred to his dental records - specifically at the tooth which had needed moving. Next, David put his fingers into Carol's mouth, and gently pulled down her upper retainer. Next he took out her lower retainer "As I suspected, they've got slightly looser, I'll tighten them both in a moment.

With her retainers removed, David had a good look at Carol's teeth. "That canine looks to be in just the right place now, it just needs time for the bone to fully heal now, so keep on wearing the retainers for the moment... and something tells me that won't be a problem for you. Ok, let's make a few tweaks...". David picked up Carol's top retainer, and used some shiny stainless steel pliers to slightly bend the adams clasps and other wires so that they held on like they used to originally. He then put it back into Carol's mouth, where it seated with a nice 'click'. "Does that feel ok, Carol?" he asked.

Carol could feel that there was a tiny bit more pressure from the wires now, but it wasn't a problem, so she nodded.

"That's good, let me do your other retainer now." Once more he bent the wires a tiny bit, and put it back into her mouth, then removed the spreaders. For Carol the effect was a bit like removing then refitting a body harness: they seemed to fit in place a bit more positively.

"I'm assuming you've had no problems with your retainers?"

"Well, apart from the lisp to start with, no. My mouth is so used to them now that it feels odd when I take them out! And no speech problems, or singing either!"

"Ah, that's good news. Ah, they're back!". Angela had just walked back into the room with Linda.

"Oh, did I miss Jenny?"

"Nah, I'm not actually done yet, David needs Angela to help him scan my teeth. He just removed my ligs and archwires so I could have a floss, so took a look at Carol in the meantime."

Angela heard what Jenny had said, so went and got the scanning machine ready.

"Tell you what, Carol, as you're already in the seat, why don't I scan you first? I want to scan you all anyway."

"Yeah, no problems with that. I guess I need to take out my retainers?"

"Please!"

Carol put her fingers into her mouth, and pulled down on her top retainer: with the clasps and wires being a little tighter, she needed to apply a little more force, then the same with her lower one.

Angela passed the scanning wand over to David, who started to scan Carols teeth: as he did so, an image of Carol's teeth appeared on the screen. With the scanning done, he had a careful look at the image. "Yes, that looks fine!"

"You seemed to do that a lot quicker than last time!" commented Carol.

"Yes, I've been reading some helpful articles that gave some useful hint's and tips. The initial scanning actually takes a tiny bit longer, but I don't seem to need as much re-scanning to fill in any gaps I missed. Angela, can you get up Carol's previous scans of her upper teeth, and superimpose the new one?"

"Ah, yes, so you can see the movement of her canine....". About 30 seconds later, she had two images on screen, and spent a few moments moving and zooming them. At last she was able to alternate between the two images: all of her other teeth remained in the smae place, but you could see a small movement of her canine: originally it was slightly out of line, now it was nicely in place.

"Ok, Carol, that's all looking good. Jenny, would you like to swap places with Carol?".

With Jenny sat in the chair, and reclined, David started by scanning Jenny's teeth, as everyone watched the images appeared on the screens. David took a few moments to look at the scan: "Yes, you're doing very well.... ok, lets refit your archwire and new ligatures." Pink ligatures, of coures!.

"Oh, yes, nice colour!" said Linda "Who chose it?"

"We did!" said Carol.

"I had a feeling it maybe wasn't Jenny! But I will admit, it does look 'very Jenny'!"

A few minutes later, with all her ligatures fitted, Jenny took a look in the mirror, and smiled. "Definitely bright, but I do like it!"



[958/3]

Good job @sparky

I'm enjoying the continuation of the CJDL series of stories. Maybe someday I'll get around to listing them all together in TheArchive.

The nice thing for doing the writing is that the story-verse already exists, so I can quickly dive into the story....

In case anyone isn't sure, the timeline here pretty much continues after the Carol storyline....

Don't worry about the continuity errors, most pros don't use databases either and they make all kinds of mistakes. Much more important is the prose and characterization, and you're doing very well there, as per usual.

Maybe Mike will be pleasantly surprised by Dianne getting braces and it will bring them closer together...

Chapter 7

Carol got out of the treatment chair, and spent a minute looking at her new metallic smile. Already, memories were returning as the brackets caught on the inside of her cheeks. The first time she had braces, she was younger, and she was so much more self-conscious of her appearance. What an irony: as a teen pop icon she was less bothered by her looks compared to when she was a teenager. Back then, having braces was a really big deal, whilst this time around, it was closer to 'meh!'... Besides, she wasn't alone: within a couple of hours, she would be just one of a group of four girls, all in braces with pink ligatures!

Memories also started to come back about the hassles of cleaning your teeth with braces. However, she had one thing that Jenny reckoned would make her experience a LOT more pleasant: a water pik. She's already tried it out, cleaning between her teeth: how had her parents deprived her of such a useful device when she was a teen in braces?

It was now Linda's turn to sit in the chair: like Carol, she would not be getting molar bands, but she did, however, have 2 extras lined up for her: 2 micro-screws needed. For this, she would need a local anaesthetic.

"So, which would you prefer?" asked David. "You have a choice of 'just a little prick'?, or 'I just need to stab you with a 3 inch steel needle'? Completely your choice!". Clearly not a tactic he would have used with younger patients, but he knew that the four adult girls were all pretty chilled, and enjoyed a bit of humour.

"Stab her! Stab her!" called out Jenny.

"Can I just have the 'little prick' please?" replied Linda

"While this kicks in" said David, injecting the lidocaine into her upper jaw, where he needed to install the micro-screws, "I'll start doing your brackets, plus I can glue on the buttons too."

With the injections done, he leaned Linda back in the chair, fitting a clean lip-spreader. Next he acid etched the outsides of all the relevant teeth, plus the insides of the two molars that would have buttons. Then, it pretty much the same way he had done with Carol, he fitted the metal brackets to her teeth: glue, bracket, shine light, repeat.

"Ok" said David, prodding the inside of her mouth with a sharp needle-like device. "Hopefully you can't feel that?"

Linda shook her head, and grunted a 'no' as best she could with the lip-spreader in her mouth. David picked up his high-speed dentists drill, and fitted a small drill bit that Angela had just passed him. 'Bzzzt' went the drill as he tested that it was working. After referring to her x-rays on the screen, he put the 'work end' of the drill into Linda's mouth, spent a moment lining it up, then 'bzzzt! bzzzzzt!'. Then a short pause, and another 'bzzzzzzt'.

"Hopefully that's the drilling done, I'm hoping you felt nothing? So, next I need to install these tiny screws, which shouldn't take long" said David, showing everyone the screws. "By the way, if you ever feel that either of the screws has become loose, get in touch straight away. It probably won't happen, but best to be aware."

Having fitted the two screws into Linda's mouth, he then fitted the two buttons to the insides of her two molars, then cut a couple of short lengths of 'powerchain', and hooked them between the buttons and mini-screws. "If these bits of elastic come off - possible when you're eating - then I'll give you some spares, and a little tool, and you can try to put a new one on. If you have problems, then just ring up, and we'll slip you in, it will only take a minute to do it here. Ok, let's fit your archwires and ligatures - something tells me you'll also be having the neon yellow ones?"

"But of course!" said Carol, "We wouldn't want her to stand out from the crowd, would we?"

Fitting the archwire took a little longer: whilst Carol's brackets all perfectly lined up, such that the archwires applied as little pressure as possible to her already 'perfect' teeth, Linda's teeth actually needed to be moved. With the archwires in place, David fitted her ligatures, and clipped the excess archwire off.

Having braces was, of course, a brand new experience for Linda: unlike the others, she had never had braces before, so she spent a little while looking at her new smile in the mirror that Angela had passed her.

"You know, the braces suit you!" said Jenny.



(3124/12)

Chapter 9

After Jenny took a look at Dianne's braces, Jenny suggested that they should post pictures of the four of them online.

"Not in this headgear you aren't!" said Dianne quite emphatically!

"Aww, Dianne, such a spoilsport..." replied Jenny with a big smile. "Tell you what, let's start with a picture of me, then we can do some pics of you guys."

Dianne took a picture of Jenny, then Jenny did pics of the rest of them, then got Angela to take one of all four of them. She started by posting the closeup picture of her mouth, without any comment. Very quickly they got a few comments.

"Ah, Jenny's got new ligs..."

"They are bright!"

.. and that sort of thing.

The four girls were chatting with David and Angela (this is PRIVATE orthodontics: you pay loads, and if there's still time, you get to have a nice chat!). A few minutes later, Jenny posted a similar picture of Carol.

"Hey, that's not Jenny..."

"Well, who is it then?"

"I'd say Linda"

"Nah, that's not Linda, looks more like Carol to me"

"But Carol has retainers..."

Then the third one, of Linda.

"Now THAT looks like Linda. I bet Jenny is playing with photoshop!"

Then the one of Dianne...

"Well, Dianne needs braces..."

"They are playing with us...."

By this point, the chat was starting to get busy. Finally, Jenny posted the four pictures of each of them, full-face and smiling, showing off their braces. This one definitely confused everyone.

"Ok, time to put you out of your misery...." posted Jenny, along with the picture of ALL of them.

"No way!"

"What's going on?"

"They ALL have braces?"

"Like the bright colour though! All the same!"

"So, today was the day for Dianne to get braced, and the rest of us decided that we needed to support her... so we ALL now have braces!" posted Jenny.

"Don't you DARE mention the headgear!" said Dianne.

"Don't worry, you can do that in your own time. You'll have to come clean at some point, and it's not really THAT bad, honest. I've been there!"



[3747/14]

Chapter 11


"Hey, Paige, Eleanor from the fan club is coming over on Saturday and Sunday, want to join us, it could be useful?" asked Dianne. Paige knew that they were asking Eleanor over for more than a social event.

"I can make Saturday... Family luch on Sunday, doesn't happen that often, so I daren't miss it, if I don't want to get written out of mum and dad's wills!!"

"Oh good. Either dress smart-ish, or bring something nice with you: we're going out for dinner."

"Oh nice!"



[4152/16]

Chapter 12


It was a little after 2pm on the Saturday when the doorbell rang: Eleanor had decided to come over after lunch. Callum answered the door.

"Hey, Eleanor, great to see you, come on in! The girls are working on something down in the music room. Want a coffee?"

"Oh, yes please! Boy, the roads are busy today, so a coffee will be VERY nice! My bag's in the car, shall I bring it in now?". Eleanor was looking around: from outside she had realised that the house was fairly big and impressive, and the inside was similar.

"Yes, if you like... I can show you up to your room. I'll be in the kitchen - making your coffee - which is through THERE... just drop your bag here, and come on through."

Eleanor went out and got her bag, which she left in the hall, then joined Callum in the kitchen.

"Nice place.... Dianne jokingly called it 'CJDL Mansion' when she called me, and from what I can see, it's not that far off..."

"Yeah, we have eight bedrooms, although one of them's a small office at the moment, and an acre or so out the back. The main reason we bought it was because of the music room: the previous owner had an informal recording studio built, although we don't do that, we just use it as a very nice rehearsal space. Anyway, do you like your coffee black or white? Sugar?"

"White with one sugar, please...". The coffee making machine was gurgling away, making the second of two coffees, and Callum added milk and sugar to the first. When the second one was done, he led her back to the hall, putting the two coffees on the table. He then grabbed Eleanor's bag, and led her upstairs.

"So, your room is this way" explained Callum, as they went right at the top of the stairs. "That's Jenny's room... then there's Dianne's...". Finally they reached an open door. "You're in here."

"Thanks. Where's the bathroom?"

"Ensuite, that door over there. Just leave your bag for the moment, you'll have plenty of time later."

"Ok, just need to go in there a moment..." explained Eleanor, popping in to use the loo. Callum waited outside the room, and didn't have to wait too long.

"Come on, let's go meet everyone else!". Callum took Eleanor downstairs, then along the corridor to the music room. With the music room's door closed, you could hear just a bit of noise: the room had been well designed to keep the noise in. Callum opened the door: the four girls were actively working on a new song, so were able to stop pretty quickly.

"Hey, Eleanor!" shouted out Linda. "Come on over and say hello!". As Eleanor walked towards them, she saw Dianne sitting at the drums, wearing headgear, and couldn't help staring at her. She knew as well as all the other fans that all four of them had braces, but they hadn't said anything about Dianne wearing headgear!

"Yeah, it's headgear, have a good stare!" said Dianne. The comment was made half-jokingly: whilst she was pretty relaxed about it in close company, she was still a bit embarrassed about it when someone new saw her in it. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that, should I? I'm still getting used to it. I will admit that my respect for Jenny went up hugely when I started wearing this!"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have stared like that in the first place, it's just strange seeing an adult in it. My little sister had headgear for a bit, she hated it, only ever wore it at home, and even then, not if we had visitors. How's it feel? I'm guessing you must be pretty used to it by now..."

"Used to it, yes. Still self-conscious of it though. The stupid thing is that I had headgear when I had my first lot of braces, over 10 years ago, so you'd think I'd be ok with it!" replied Dianne.

"Yeah, she's a LOT more relaxed about it than when she first got it." commented Jenny.

"So, you all have braces now... what's the REAL story behind that then?" asked Eleanor.

Jenny explained how the three other girls in Northern Girls had got braces to support Meg. "So, We all decided to do the same for Dianne!"

"So, Carol, I'm assuming your braces aren't really doing anything?"

"That's right, just acting as retainers."

"Ok, Jenny already has braces, so what about you, Linda? Your teeth always looked ok."

"They weren't all that bad, actually, but I do have a slight issue. Although I wouldn't have bothered getting them if it weren't for wanting to support Dianne. So, we're gonna be 8 girls, onstage, in braces!" said Linda.

"That is going to be worth seeing!"

"Well, I think Eleanor deserves to be allowed to take a selfie with us four," suggested Jenny, "You know, maybe it's time for you to go public with your headgear: what do you think, Dianne?"

Dianne gave Jenny a bit of a dirty look. "Look, Dianne, one day someone will catch you in a picture, maybe in the background without you realising it. That's the whole reason I went public about mine: it was done on MY terms... I was in control."

"I'm not really convinced..." said Dianne. Eleanor was about to say something, but realised that it would be better to just leave it to the girls.

"You know, Dianne, it's not really THAT big a deal. Hell, I remember when you had bright pink hair for a while..." said Carol.

"Yeah, well THAT was a fashion statement!"

"So make THIS a fashion statement too!" suggested Linda. "Hey, I have an idea: when Eleanor posts the picture, she could ask others who have headgear to post pics of themselves - in their headgear - to show their support..."

"I'll bet no one will...." commented Dianne, still being a bit negative.

"You won't know if you don't try, and I'll bet they will!!" said Linda, being far more positive.

In the end, Dianne let Eleanor take a picture of them all, with Dianne in her headgear. Of course, the fans were a little surprised, but with Jenny having historically 'set the trend', there were no negative comments, and a small number of fans DID post selfies with headgear.

So, what were you guys playing, I didn't recognise it."

"We've been writing quite a bit of new stuff, you'll probably spot of few changes of style, because Linda has been writing some of the songs... So we're practising the stuff we're pretty happy with, and actively working on some others. Plus we've been working on some songs for all eight of us to play: Northern Girls are coming over again in a couple of weeks, so we want to have something to work on with them!"

For the next hour or so, Eleanor watched and listened as the four girls continued to work on some of their new stuff.


[4498/18]

Chapter 14


"Paige, would you like to stay with us too, please?" asked Brian. They had finished their tea and cakes, and Brian needed to talk with Eleanor... and Paige it seemed. The others left the lounge to go back to the music room.

"So, Eleanor, you like the idea of working with us then?"

Eleanor was smiling again. This was a BIG decision for her to take: she needed to go and have a chat with her parents for a bit of a sanity-check, but she had a good feeling about things. Of course, a lot would depend on how much they would offer her. "Yes, the idea appeals a lot. It would be quite a change..."

"I was a little hesitant when they offered ME a job," commented Paige, "but, if I'm honest, it's the best thing I ever did.". Brian had asked her to share her experiences with Eleanor: they had substantial plans for the fan-club, which would need someone working full-time. They knew Eleanor did a good - and more importantly, conscientious - job, had always seemed very able to do whatever they asked her to do, and they had no doubt that she would be able to get up to speed very quickly with any new stuff. "Yes, you'll end up working weekends... I mean, I'm sort-of working this weekend, but don't worry, there's plenty of flexibility, take days off in the week. Much of the time you'll be able to do a lot of your stuff from home, at a time that's good for you. But when we're touring, or do other stuff, you'll have to accept that your normal life just goes on hold. I mean, when we went up to Birmingham at zero notice and the girls played with Darkest Knights, well that was just full-on and crazy, but it was so much fun at the same time!"

Paige and Eleanor chatted for a few more minutes, and as they did so, Brian felt even more so that Eleanor would be a really good fit for the team.

"So..." said Brian. "Paige and I took a guess at the sort of salary you're on now, so if I were to offer you this much..." and he mentioned a figure, that was probably about 25% higher than what they thought Eleanor was probably on now. "... then I hope we can persuade you to join us."

Paige looked at Brian, as she realised that the amount he had said was more than she was paid. Quite a nice amount more.

"Of course, the problem with offering you that much is that it's more than we pay Paige. So Paige, you've been with us a while now, and everyone agrees that not only do you fit in really well, and you do a great job, we'd all be sad if you were to leave us, so how about I pay you the same amount as Eleanor too? Whilst she's not as experienced, she is a bit older, so all in all, I'd say that's fair..."

Paige smiled: this was completely unexpected, and the extra money would come in very useful. "Thank you, Brian!" said Paige.

"So, Eleanor ignoring everything else, is the money good enough for you?"

"Oh, the money is absolutely fine, it's definitely more than I'm on now. It's all just a bit of a shock that you're offering this to me, I need to think about it, and speak with mum and dad, get their take on it."

"Of course, and I have no doubt they will warn you all about getting involved in the pop industry! And yes, who knows where we will be in 5 years time, but you could say that about many 'more stable' business these days! They are very welcome to call me for a chat, if that helps. But on the other hand, the job IS for you, not them!"

They talked a bit more about the practical aspects, like making sure she updated her car insurance for business use, and getting her a laptop.. all assuming she wanted to join them, of course.

"Well, Eleanor, it's been nice to be able to meet you in a more relaxed environment. I hope you enjoy the rest of this weekend!". Paige took her back to the music room. As they walked in, the girls stopped playing.

"How did it go?" asked Carol.

"Yeah, fine, I just need to have a think: as I told Mr Stevens, it's a big decision for me..."

"Absolutely, but for goodness sake, call him Brian will you! So, we've got an hour or two before we need to get ready to go out: would you like a proper look around the 'CJDL Mansions'?". Jenny smiled as she called the house 'CJDL Mansions': whilst the house was a reasonable size, to be quite honest, it was nowhere NEAR big enough to be a mansion. Or creepy enough!


[4855/20]

I know it's time to get on an post another episode when there's already another TEN threads above this one!!!!   

--------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16

Mike turned up around half an hour later: Dianne went over to him and gave him a welcoming kiss, although Linda could see that their interaction wasn't as 'friendly' a kiss as you might have expected.

"So, had a good afternoon?" he asked.

"Yes, actually. Eleanor has come up with an interesting idea: doing karaoke on-stage with some of the road crew..."

"I could see a few of them liking that idea, although don't limit it, I bet some of your other support staff, like the ladies that do your hair and makeup, might also be good." suggested Mike. "You ladies need so many extra staff compared to us men! So, what you been up to?"

"Well, earlier we were working on some new stuff, but we were just doing a bit of 'karaoke', with Paige and Eleanor providing the vocals! Hey, want to join us for a quick song?"

"Yeah, why not!" Luckily there were still 2 drum kits in the room, one acoustic, one electric. Whilst Dianne tended to use the electric kit, sometimes the others would use the acoustic set, for example, if Dianne was coaching one of the others.


"Hey, Callum, what's the time?" asked Carol when they finished the song.

"Hmm, I would say it's time to stop playing, and go get ready: I know how long you lot can take when we're going out!"

"Cheeky bugger!" said Jenny.

"How is it cheeky, when it's true? Look, I can be showered and dressed and ready in maybe 20 minutes: I can't remember the last time it took you less than an hour!". Jenny glared at her brother, but at the same time knew that he was absolutely right! But she had longer hair than him. And if they were going out, her makeup needed to be 'just right'. And it takes AGES to choose all the accessories - ear rings and that sort of thing! For a moment, she had a very strange and worrying vision in her mind: Callum with long hair, dressed up in a cute dress, with earrings, necklace, bracelet and so on. She quickly cleared her mind!


So, 4 girls in braces: it was an amazing sight when they all smiled at once. Whilst Dianne had been wearing her lower lip bumper, headgear and elastics earlier on, there was NO WAY that she wanted to wear them when going out for a meal! So she just looked like the other three girls, with a simple mouth full of metal braces. Everyone had dressed up reasonably smartly, the ladies probably more so than the men, and they were now all in the mood to go out for a meal together: it had been a while since so many of them had got together to do so, so it was a bit of a special occasion.
 
In total, there were 12 of them (4 girls, 3 boyfriends, 2 parents, and 3 others!), so Lisa - that's Jenny and Callum's mum - had ordered two large taxis to take them to the restaurant (and bring them back later). The restaurant was one of those slightly-up-market ones, not in the town centre, so it was suitably quiet and discrete, allowing them to have a reasonably interruption free evening. Yes, one table nearby was a family with two teenage kids, a boy and a girl. The boy, probably about 16, was definitely looking over at the table of 12, and was whispering to his younger sister.

Dianne spotted them, so got up, and quietly went over to the kids. "Hi, guys! Something says to me that you think you know who we are....". The boy had a big smile on his face. "So, I'm Dianne, does that help you confirm who we are?" The boy nodded: he was too star-struck to actually say anything! "Look, you are both very welcome to come over for a minute or two and say hello, and I'll bet you'd love to take a selfie or two, wouldn't you?"

"Yes please.... mum, can we? Please?". He looked pleadingly at his mum and dad.

"Go on, but don't be a nuisance!". Two very happy teenagers went over to the CJDL table, and the girls introduced themselves. "And this is my dad and mum, they are our managers. And this is my brother, Callum. Hey, you a member of our fan club?"

"No, I'm not..."

"Shame on you, you should join: so this is Eleanor, she actually runs the fan club!"

"Hello..." said the girl.

"You should join up, we're planning to do a whole load of new stuff" explained Eleanor. With a couple of selfies taken, two very happy teenagers returned to their table.

"You guys are just too nice to your fans!" commented Eleanor.

"Yes, I know," replied Dianne, "but when you see smiles like those, two or three minutes of our time is a very small price to pay!"


[5415/22]

Chapter 18


With a couple of sandwiches and the scones (along with butter & jam), and a fresh cup of tea, they went back to the lounge.

"So, did you tell the others yet?"

"No, I guess I should..."

"And then what about the fans? And the press, for that matter? You need to be in control of the news. We could just do a live stream..."

Dianne finished messaging the rest of the team. "So, you really reckon we should do a live stream? Like now?"

"Why not? And DON'T worry if you start to get emotional, it will just show that you're human, like the rest of us. I'll do everything, and I'll ask you questions..."

CJDL had proven so many times now that being in control of their news, and being proactive, was the best way to do things. It stopped so much speculation, which meant they had a lot less stress in their lives. Good or bad, they knew it wasn't worth hiding stuff, it WOULD be found out.

Dianne took a sip of her tea. "Now?"

"Why not, we can start by letting them watch us eat our sarnies, and putting jam on the scones!"

Linda had a quick sip of her tea, then got out the tripod, and set it up to hold her phone. Next, she got her tablet, logged into their stream, and put up a message to say they would be streaming soon. Same on the phone, but she initiated the stream, leaving it on the "stream will start in 5 minutes" message.

They both started eating their sandwiches, as Linda watched the countdown on her tablet.

"Ok, you ready?" she asked.

"Bit late now...."

"Hi everyone!" she said as the stream started. "Tell you what, these sarnies are good.... Ok, let's start with the 'rules for todays stream'. First of all, it's just Dianne and me here, and I have a tablet, so it's no use going mad on the chat, we won't be able to keep up... so if someone else has asked a question, don't let's have another 50 of you asking the same thing!"

Carol had a quick look at the comments, which, mainly because the number of people watching was still quite small, she was actually able to keep up with. Lots of hearts being posted, and a couple of people asking what the stream was about.

"Someone is asking why we're streaming... well, we do have an announcement to make in a few minutes, but Dianne and I thought you could all drool and watch us eating the scones we just made!"

Dianne picked up the plate with the scones on, and cut it in half, then spread some butter on both bits. Linda opened the jam, and passed it over, letting Dianne dig in, and get some jam for the scone...

"Tell you what," said Dianne, "I'm VERY impressed with Linda's baking skills. They look yummy....". She took a bite of the scone. "Oh my god, this is delicious!"

"I bet they're all gonna want the recipe now... I'll try to remember to post it for you all."

They spent the next couple of minutes finishing their sandwiches, and eating a scone each. By now the number of viewers had gone up. Dianne's phone beeped.

"Ah, hi Jenny and Ben... they just joined us!" said Dianne, waving. They both had some tea to clear their mouths.

"Ok, thank you all for joining us. Ok, first a message aimed at the TV and press guys: you are very welcome to use the contents of this stream in your news, you know the normal terms and conditions, copyright CJDL and all that stuff."

"So, Dianne, I believe you have an announcement to make?" prompted Linda.

Dianne paused a moment, and took a breath. "I just need to tell you all that Mike and I have split up...". Linda and Dianne sat silently as the comments went wild, a combination of shock, plus sending love to Dianne.

"Ok, so you and Mike have split up..." said Linda. "Did you guys have a big argument or something?"

"No, not at all... I guess we just 'fell out of love' with each other. We've been chatting through things the last couple of weeks, and finally took the decision to split up last night."

"Oh, no.... it sounds very civilised, but I'm sure it still hurts?"

"It does! Look, can I just make one thing clear: Mike is NOT at fault in any way, so please, no nastiness towards Mike!" There were tears in Dianne's eyes.

Linda passed a tissue over, then took Dianne's hand. "There's a LOT of love for you coming through on the chat...."

"Thank you all so much!".

"I just saw a question wizz by, it was something we talked about earlier... how you first met Mike. That's if you're ok talking about it..."

Dianne smiled. "That's fine. So, we need to go back to just after our first major tour, so several months before Linda here started to work with us. Jenny had met Ben, then a couple of weeks later Carol and I went around to Jenny's to work on some new stuff: that was the Saturday when Carol, me and Ben were in the audience at the pub, and Jenny did THAT song with Three Play."

"I've seen videos of it..."

"Yeah, so you have to imagine the scene, a load of people into rock, and this girl comes on the stage in a white frilly dress, not to mention the headgear! Then takes Dave's guitar, and plays a blatant rock song. So, later that night, Jenny told Ben who she REALLY was..."

"Hey, how did Ben react - he must have been a bit surprised?"

"He just took it in his stride. I mean, you know Ben, he's just a normal guy, but isn't phased by our strange life... I guess that's why Ben and Jenny just work. Anyway, back to MY story..."

"Sorry, yeah, go on..."

"So, following day, we all went over to 'the mansion' for lunch, and in the evening we three met up with Three Play, told THEM who we were, and ended up jamming together. Over the following couple of weeks, we all got together a few times, then we all had a meeting at Jenny's: so Dave, Johnny and Mike, Jenny and me. Carol, Brian and Lisa were on zoom, and we we talking about whether Three Play needed a manager, whether they wanted to go into the recording studio and so on. So I'm sat there, eyeing up Mike..."

"My imagination is going crazy... go on..."

"Well, you have to admit, he IS pretty good looking. So yeah, with both of us playing drums, we'd practiced together a bit, and I DID kinda fancy him,. So there I was, looking at him, and Jenny looks at me, accuses me of looking at Mike like a forlorn puppy, and pretty much TELLS me to invite him to the pub..."

"Which I'm guessing you did?"

"Of course. It was the first time we'd been together but alone, if you see what I mean."

"Yeah... I'm just so sad for you that it didn't work out so good..."

"I'm not going to complain, Mike was actually a great person to be with, and he understood our lifestyle to a greater extent than most people would... Yeah, I'm gonna miss him: Mike, if you're watching this: THANK YOU! Thank you for some really great memories!"

There was a bit of a pause. "Maybe time to move on: there's a few people here asking how you... well we, both of us... are getting on with our braces? And properly describe what we have."

"Must I?"


[5940/24]

Chapter 20

Dianne was actually smiling. "I enjoyed that, it was fun!"

"You didn't mind about the question about how you and Mike got together then?"

"No. As I said, I don't really have bad feelings towards Mike."

"So, what next?"

"Well, I had been thinking about going over to 'the mansion' tonight. Wanna come with me?"

"Yeah, why not. Need to tidy up, and quickly get packed, not forgetting to leave a note for Joan." Joan was an older lady who went to all four girls places once or twice a week, to keep their places tidy.


A couple of hours later they were back at 'the mansion', and after quickly unpacking, and chatting with Brian, Lisa and Callum, headed down to the music room.

"You know, it's been a while since just you and I had the chance to play together like this" commented Dianne. "Hey, want to have a go on the drums?" Whilst Linda had learnt the basics of drumming and a lot more about keyboards at college, she had spent pretty much all of her time with the guitars, and unlike many others enjoyed playing bass as much as the more normal 6-string guitars.

"Sounds like fun..." Linda sat at the acoustic drum set, while Dianne was at the electric set. "Hey, weren't you going to get a new drumkit sometime?"

"Yup, it's on order, should arrive early this week!"

"Oh, nice. So what's going to be different?"

"To be honest, probably not a lot. I tried it out in a shop, and it seemed to be a bit more 'responsive'... I'll be able to do some really delicate stuff that I don't seem to be able to here. And a few new 'voices' too. Luckily the interface isn't that different from this one... Oh yeah, comes with a small keyboard too, which lets you trigger stuff like gongs and so on from the keyboard."

"Ah, right, a musical keyboard, I was thinking of a PC keyboard!"

Linda started to play a very simple rhythm on the drums, and Dianne joined in on the bass: whilst they both had the ability to 'play a tune', they had both spent a lot of their time setting down a 'backing beat' with the drums or the bass, and that's what they did now.

As they played, Dianne called out a few ideas for Linda to try on the drums, which Linda enjoyed trying.

"Hey ladies... you seem to be playing the wrong instruments!" said Callum with a smile as he came into the music room. "Mind you, it IS sounding good!"

"Some join us if you like..."

"Yeah, why not!". Whilst Callum was nowhere near as good a musician as any of the girls, he did enjoy jamming with them occasionally.



[6561/26]

Chapter 22

About 40 minutes later, Linda's phone rang: it was Fiona calling back.

"Hi Linda, it's Fiona..." said a voice that sounded pretty friendly.

"Hi Fiona, thanks for calling back. I guess you've had time to have a chat with your manager?"

"Oh, yes, and he was pleasantly surprised to hear that you had called me directly. More importantly, we both think that we should get together with you all, and talk things through."

"Absolutely!" replied Linda. As she was talking, she was walking back to the music room where everyone else was. "So, would you like us to come to you, or you're both very welcome to come here..."

"Well, my place here is a bit small... I don't suppose you guys happen to live in a large mansion, do you?"

"Not quite THAT big, but plenty of space for you to join us!"

"Ok, so where are you?". Linda explained roughly where they were. "Oh, that's not too bad, it's only about 20 minutes from here. When's good to come over?"

By now Linda was sat on one of the settees, next to Brian.

"Hold on a second!" She put the phone on speaker. "Brian, it's Fiona on the phone: I suggested that she could come over here with her manager to talk with us all... when's a good time?"

"Hello again, Fiona, Brian here, I'm the band's manager. To be honest, you can come any time you like..."

"Ok, in that case, why don't we come straight over? We'll be coming over separately, and my manager, Jim, will take a bit longer to get to you."

"Sure, you got something to take a note of the address...?"


After receiving the first call from Linda, Fiona had spoken with her manager, then spent some time reading up about CJDL. Whilst there wasn't a lot of details available, she saw about the two copyright cases that CJDL had been involved with, and that they had been solved amicably. She also read that Jenny especially was quite a vocal supporter of artists rights regarding copyright, which possibly explained Jenny's earlier positive attitude.

She was very interested to hear what ideas they had: her career had slowed down a bit in the last 3 or 4 years, and a boost right now would be very welcome, especially if it was from a band like CJDL who seemed to be doing really well.

Jenny had mentioned a tour, and it didn't take long for her to find out that, in a few months time, CJDL were planning on doing a joint European tour with a Canadian band: one or two guest appearances at their UK appearances would be rather nice, and might up her approval ratings... and that would mean the posibility of a new single to go with it.

She also briefly read about CJDL's visit to Korea: they certainly seemed to enjoy working with other people.


While they waited for Fiona and her manager to arrive, they organised cups of tea and coffee (come on, it's England, that what the English DO!) and went and waited in the music room. It wasn't long before the doorbell rang.

"I guess it's probably better if I go and meet her, as I'm the one who knows her!". She walked back into the main part of the house, and opened the front door. "Hi, Fiona, lovely to see you - sorry about the circumstances though! Come on in!"

"Hello Linda, you are looking good! Nice house...."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? Sadly it's not mine, it's owned by the otehrs, plus Brian and Lisa... they're Jenny's parents, as well as being our managers. Anyway, we're all down in the music room..."

"Music room? Sounds nice!"

"It is actually, it's a lovely place to rehearse in." As Linda took her into the music room, she could see Fiona's eyes light up.

"Wow, this is nice.... I guess you can stay here too, in the house?"

"Yeah, so much better than having to rent a rehearsal space and travel every day. Anyway, let me introduce everyone. So, this is Brian and Lisa, our managers - and Jenny's dad and mum. Jenny. Carol. Dianne... so we four make up CJDL. Then we have Callum - he's Jenny's brother, and looks after technical stuff - and looks after us more generally. And finally this is Paige, she does all sorts of stuff to help us out. Hey, did you see the Netflix series about our trip to Korea? Paige did most of the camera work for that! Everyone, this is Fiona!"

After introductions, Callum poured her a cup of coffee from the still hot cafetiere.

"So, do you do any recording here?" asked Fiona.

"The previous owner used to, but no, we just rehearse here. It's so nice being able to just 'live' here while we're working on new stuff though." explained Jenny.

"I see you have a tour coming up, so I'm guessing you're working on some new stuff?"

"Definitely. We'll be in the recording studios in.... two weeks time, isn't it?" replied Linda.

While they spoke, Dianne noticed that Fiona was looking at them all. Well, not Paige or Callum. Or Brian or Lisa for that matter. Just the girls. Looking at their faces. Dianne smiled, letting Fiona get a good clear view of her braces.

"Fiona, can I start by apologising again for stealing your lovely lyrics! I loved 'Escape the City' when you released it, so I don't know how I didn't spot what I'd done!" said Dianne apologetically.

"Well, you know what they say: 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', so I guess I should be very flattered by the fact that you used my words. I listened to your song on the way over, and I must admit, the words fitted the song so nicely. So, I am very happy to accept your apology, thank you! And thank you all for not trying to 'wriggle out' of what's happened."

"I guess I'll need to speak with your manager" said Brian, "but it goes without saying that we will pay you suitable copyrights. However, I believe the girls have some ideas they want to share."

"Fiona..." said Jenny, "before we start coming out with ideas, maybe I should ask a very fundament question: what do YOU want? What's important to YOU?"

"Well, on the phone earlier you made a rather hard hitting comment - actually it was a question - but it kinda summarises everything."

"Oh, which bit was that then?"

"You asked 'how's your music career doing right now?'"

"Ah, yes, that one... sorry to have been so blunt!"

"That's fine, but it rather concentrated my mind. Yes, things HAVE been rather quiet recently, and I'll be blunt too: I could do with a bit of a boost, so any ideas you have would be appreciated. I would love to release a new single, but without 'a bit of assistance' I don't imagine it would do too well."

Jenny picked up a piece of paper. "Funnily enough, top of my list was 'Joint Single'. You've probably realised that we quite enjoy working with other artists, so a joint single would be a lot of fun for us to do. However, from a purely practical perspective, I don't think we'll be able to do anything with you until after our tour. Right now we're working on a load of stuff for our new album, and we're in the studios in a couple of weeks time to record it, then it's gonna be full-on tour prep with Northern Girls until the tour starts. However...."

"I'm ok with waiting a bit, so what's the 'however'?"

"Second on my list was some sort of 'come sing with us on the tour'. So, a bit further down the list is 'TV appearance to talk copyright': if we do something to stir up interest, then maybe you sing 'Get Working' with us, or we sing 'Escape the city' with you.... or even both!"

Fiona smiled: these were great ideas, all of which would make her more visible, and visibility equals performance opportunities equals income. "So, I know you have a big European tour, I'm assuming you'll be doing a few UK dates?"

"Well, in effect we'll be starting with a UK tour" explained Linda. "A couple of nights at the O2, then around the country, including Scotland, Wales, and we're hoping maybe even Ireland. Not forgetting Leicester..."

"Leicester?" asked Fiona.

"Yeah, my sister lives there: we've never played Leicester and I promised we'd do a full gig there for her!" explained Carol.

"So, after that, around Europe, then finish with a couple of nights at Wembley Arena. So there's gonna be plenty of chances for you to come and appear with us without having to go abroad." suggested Linda. She knew that Fiona's main following was in the UK.

"Ok. Jenny, you mentioned TV..."

"Yeah, so with a new album coming out, and a tour happening soon, we'll be able to get onto TV quite easily. If we add in a 'copyright controversy' into the mix, there's a few more possible appearances!"

"You probably haven't heard about what happened as a result of Jenny sueing 'Young and Easy' when they stole some of her music. She ended up working with them, then we all invaded one of their stage shows as 'the copyright police', which was great fun! Hey, you could do that to us! But Jenny went on TV with them a couple of times, talked and sang with them, did them all a lot of good."

It was then that the doorbell rang again. "Sounds like your manager just arrived" said  Linda starting to get up. "What did you say his name was?"

"Stuart."

"Ah, yes, I remember now, I'll go let him in: would one of you like to get the kettle on again?". Linda had met Stuart when she had toured with Fiona a couple of years ago.


[7010/28]

Chapter 24

They had all decided to 'park' the copyright claim for a few weeks, to let the four girls get their new album recorded, and then Brian called a very short press conference (without the girls) to simply announce that they had received a copyright claim against the band's recent single - 'Get Working'- and that they were already in tough with Fiona Lewis' management with a view to discussing a suitable settlement. All of which was 100% technically true, just a few weeks out of date!!

This conveniently lead to a TV chat show appearance a week later, where the four girls and Fiona discussed the whole topic of copyright, and then they sang 'Get Working' with Fiona on lead vocals: the press reports were VERY favourable, both about the way the whole thing had been handled, but especially praising the performance.


Also, one day sometime about now, Jenny walked into the kitchen, where everyone else had also just arrived to grab some lunchtime sandwiches.

"Umm, need to run an idea past you all.... Actually TWO ideas..." said Jenny.

"Yeah, go on..." replied Carol.

"Well, I've been talking with dad. And Ben. And we were wondering how you'd feel about Ben joining 'the management team', maybe with a view of him taking over as our manager in the longer term, if things work out..."

"Wow, that's a bit out the blue..." said Linda.

"Not really... well not for me and Ben, it's something we've been chatting about for a while, and he thinks he up for it. Our thought was that he's going to on the tour with me anyway, so why not work with mum and dad, and learn about what the role entails, and help them do stuff. Let's be honest, there's gonna be plenty to do on the tour" explained Jenny.

"In concept, I'm ok, I have a lot of time for Ben, he's surprisingly level-headed and sensible" replied Dianne. "My only question is whether he's actually up to the job, but I guess he and we will all know when he's been part of the team for a bit."

"Oh, right, yeah. He's not gonna want to do it if he's not feeling up to the job. Ok, let's split it into two bits: are we ok with Ben becoming a full-time member of the team? And if things go right, any worries about him taking over as our manager? The first one needs to happen  reasonably soon, the second is quite a bit away."

"What's your mum and dad think?"

"Dad has said that he's like to hand over the reins at some point, but he needs to be sure we've got the right person, and he likes Ben, he thinks it will work. The tour will give him a chance to see how well Ben can cope too."

"I must admit that I'd feel a LOT happier if Ben was actually married to you... you got a date for it yet?"

"I have, and I can pretty much guarantee that we'll be hitched by the end of the tour. Which nicely leads me on to the second idea....."



[7258/30]

Yes, many seeds are being planted. Some may grow bigger, some may never happen. The 'Dianne' thread will pause soon, to be taken over by a bit of Linda's story... I was going to write up the TV appearance, but decided that getting braces into it might be hard. However, when the Canadian girls join them, they can have a much more fun interview with all 8 of them!

Chapter 26

"Ladies, it's good to see you all again! I've not heard from any of you, so I'm assuming none of you have had any problems?" asked David.

4 girls with beaming metal smiles looked at David. "No, I think we've been ok. Even Dianne seems to have coped ok with all the metalwork you gave her!" commented Jenny.

"Oh, good. So, I guess the important things I need to do is see how Dianne and Linda are getting on with their treatments. But why don't we start by taking out all of your old ligatures and archwires, so you can all have a good brush and floss. Knowing Jenny, I'm sure she has encouraged you all to bring your toothbrushes along today?"

"I treated us to a set of 4 new toothbrushes, and a fresh tube of toothpaste" said Dianne, taking them out of her bag.

"Ok, well, Dianne, why don't I start with you....". Dianne got into the chair, which David reclined. Before removing the ligatures, he took a quick look at her teeth and braces. "Ok, now can I ask you to remove your headgear and lip-bumper, and pass them over to Angela?" Davis watched as Dianne took them out, her elastics too, then looked again at her teeth. "You seem to be managing to keep your teeth well cleaned, so well done..."

"I persuaded her to get herself a water-pik, like I have..." said Jenny. David deftly removed all the ligatures, and then the archwire. Clearly Angela had been warned what was about to happen, as she had line up 4 metal trays, each with one of the girls names on. She had already placed Dianne's facebow and lip-bumper into the first one, and now added her two archwires.

"There's some floss over at the sink too" said Angela, "help yourself."

"Oh, my, I'd almost forgotten how much easier it is to floss without the wire in the way!" commented Dianne, as she started to brush her teeth. Linda was next in the seat.

"Mmm, you've been cleaning yours well too. How have you managed with the two screws in your palate?"

"Oh, annoying as hell to start with, and the brackets hurt my cheeks the first week or so, but I almost forget about them now. But as Dianne just said, flossing isn't easy!" David started by removing the elastics between the buttons on Linda's two molars, and the two mini-screws. After that, he removed the yellow ligs from her teeth, finally taking out her archwires, which he passed to Angela. After she had been sat up, she got out of the seat and joined Dianne at the sink.

"You know, it's not that often I get to treat so many patients at the same time!" commented David. "Yes, I'll often have a mum or dad with two children. I even have a mum with two daughters being treated. But for together is quite rare. I mean, I can treat you individually, if you prefer..."

"That would be SOOO boring!" said Jenny. "Go on Carol, you go next...."

"Well, I'm assuming your 'treatment' has been pretty uneventful..." said David.

"Absolutely. No pain or discomfort, except for the brackets digging into my cheeks: it's that sort of thing that you forget from your earlier treatment" commented Carol.

"And, like Linda and Dianne, you are brushing well" commented David as he removed her ligs and archwires. "Ok, Jenny, your turn... I KNOW your teeth will be beatuful and clean, they always are!". Jenny got into the chair, where her ligs were removed.

"Oh, that feels nice" said Dianne, returning from giving her teeth a good floss between the teeth, and then a brush. With Dianne replacing Jenny in the chair, he proceeded to do a scan of Dianne's teeth, so he could compare it to the initial visit.

"I think we should take some pics for our fans" suggested Linda, who had just returned from flossing brushing her teeth. She got her camera from her bag, and went over to Dianne, still in the chair, being scanned. She expected Dianne to try and stop her taking pictures, but she actually said nothing, so she took a wide angle of Dianne in the chair, then got closer, then took a couple of pics of the scan on the screen.

"I guess I should let you take some close-ups, shouldn't I?" said Dianne once the scanning was done. It was interesting how Dianne's attitude to her braces had change over the past weeks: before getting them, she was very apprehensive, but now she seemed to have fully accepted them, being very chilled about pictures being taken.

The girls gathered around as David showed them all Dianne's progress on the screen: you could see slight movement of her lower teeth. "Something tells me that you've been wearing your headgear and elastics quite a bit, your lowers have been moving well. I hope you took some painkillers before you came, because I'm going to upgrade your archwires to something slightly bigger, which is likely to cause a bit of soreness"

"Oooh, yes, I remember that many months ago!" commented Jenny.

"But otherwise, keep doing what you're doing. So, are you all having matching ligatures again? If so, what colour are you going for this time?"

"Funnily enough, we talked about that on the way here." said Carol. "When we go on tour, we'll need you to give is something a bit special - in fact, we may bring in the four ladies from Northern Girls, to get their ligatures changed for the tour too. But this time we'd like to go with that blue neon colour you had last time, if you still have enough?"

Angela went and got the ligatures out. "These?" she asked.

"Yep, they're the ones!"

"That fine, we've got plenty of them!"

Dianne sat patiently as David fitted her with new archwires, and add the ligatures. No pain yet, but she remembered back to when she was a teen, and how the aching or soreness would usually take an hour to kick in.

----

"Ok, Linda, cam I take a look at you now, please?". Linda got into the char, and opened her mouth, letting Jenny take some pictures. Then, David scanned Linda's teeth.

"I'm not expecting anywhere near as much movement from your teeth, but I'm hoping that those two molars have started to rotate...let's take a look... Ah, excellent, it's not a lot, but if you look carefully you can see a slight change." David refitted the same archwires to Linda's teeth, holding them in place with fresh neon blue ligatures, then, after checking that the two mini-screws were still secure in her palate, fitted the two small lengths of powerchain between them and the buttons on the inside of her teeth.

"If you want, you can come in sooner for a 5 minute appointment, and I can just change those elastic powerchains I just put in... the elastic looses its stretch fairly quickly, so changing them would help yout two molars to rotate a little quicker. Your choice... just phone reception. I can often squeeze a 5 minute appointment in the same day too."

"Ok, I'll keep that in mind. You done with me?"

"Yes, I am. Who wants to go next?"

"I will..." offered Jenny. David lay Jenny back, then scanned her teeth.

"Well, as expected, just a tiny bit of movement. To be honest, there's not a lot left to do to your teeth, so maybe between now and next time you can take a close look at your teeth to see if you're happy. If there's anything you think needs doing, then we can discuss it.... after all, from what you said last time, you're not actually desperate to get them off, are you?"

"No... something tells me I'll be done in... about 5 months, when the tour is over!". David fitted her archwires back, held in with more of the bright blue ligatures.

"Ok, Carol, just you to do! I won't bother to scan your teeth, as I'm assuming that nothing has moved."

"No, not that I have noticed."

"It's not very often that a patient goes from having retainers and straight teeth, back to having metal braces." David leaned Carol back, and re-fitted her archwires and new blue ligatures.

"Angela, would you like to take a couple of group pictures, like you did last time?" asked Linda

"Sure... You know, I love it when you guys come in, it's so much more fun than most people!"

As Linda posted the pics of them all with their new bright neon blue ligatures, Jenny asked David "So, when's your next patient due in?"

David checked the computer. "In principle, as soon as you go, they already checked in."

"So, who are they? As in age and sex?"

"Her name is Mari, and she's 16. She'll be with her mum, I guess"

"Can we wait here and surprise her? We'll go as soon as we've said 'hello'?" asked Jenny.

David smiled. He knew Jenny well, having treated her for over a year now, and knew that they would probably relax Mari, who he remembered was often a little nervous.


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> I'm looking forward to what they do with the cereal ad campaign,

They will have a bit of fun with that!

> and how the tour goes with Northern Girls.

All I know is that the girls will be quite exhausted after the tour, and some of will be going 'dark' for a bit... but that is ANOTHER story to be told.

So, back to this story...

================

Chapter 27

So, this chapter is a short "round-up" chapter, before I move the story to another thread, "Linda"... where we'll be looking at things from Linda's perspective.

So, here's a list of stuff that happened over the next week or so:

- When they got back from the orthodontist's, Dianne's new drumkit had arrived. So that kept Dianne busy for a bit, what with setting it right, discovering what clever stuff it could do, and setting up a load of 'user profiles' so the others could press a couple of buttons and have their own setups available.

- They went on TV with Fiona, and talked about their copyright issues.

- Linda and Callum went to the airport to meet Yu-Eye: she was staying at 'the mansion' with the others. They gave her a gentle first day, to let her body and brain get used to the time shift, but after that, she started working with the girls, getting them ready to go into the recording studios.

- Following earlier discussions between Brian and Andrew Fisher from BD Media Production, a man with a camera started joining them to video what they were up to. He set up several cameras in the music room to capture them as they rehearsed, plus followed them around a bit with a more portable camera. For the moment, the filming was quite low key, but once the girls started rehearsing with Northern Girls, he would do more. Of course, on tour, he would be with the girls quite a lot: whilst they could easily use the front-of house recordings for their actual performances, what the fans would REALLY want to see is the girls backstage, at the hotels, and whilst travelling.


We'll see a lot more in the next story, as I said, from Linda's perspective.


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