So the "CJDL Story" now switches from Dianne over to Linda.

There was a short "Linda story" a bit ago, not quite sure which storyverse that happened in. It might have been this one, either sometime between the past and now, or maybe it's in the future, I'm not sure. It was a very short relationship with a guy that Linda had met at the supermarket, so doesn't have a major effect on this story..

So, the four members of CJDL are all now braced: they just got their ligs changed, and are currently sporting some bright neon-blue ones. The girls are working hard on songs for the new album, and Linda's story will follow them whilst recording the new album, plus working with Northern Girls, preparing for their big European tour.

The first thing the new story will be covering will be their copyright issue with Fiona Lewis... if you remember, Dianne 'stole' several lines of lyrics for Fiona's song, and as well as simply recompensing her, have suggested some 'joint ventures' to boost Fiona's singing career.

Chapter 2

So, the tour dates have been pretty much fully worked out, and the tickets for the UK, being the first of the dates, already went on sale. As promised, the fan club members had tickets reserved for them, allowing any of them who wanted to go (and could afford it, tickets weren't cheap!) to go. It goes without saying that there has recently been a large number of new fan club members!

It's a couple of days later, and they've all just had breakfast together.

"Linda can you spare a minute?" asked Brian.

"Sure...". Linda went with Brian into his office.

"I've actually got a few bits to chat with you about."

"You sound like the headmaster, about to tell me, one of your pupils, off!".

Brian laughed. "No, nothing bad. It's probably closer to an 'informal annual appraisal'." he replied, smiling. "So why don't I start by asking  how thing are with you, the girls, the band, the rest of us...."

Linda thought a moment. "You know, things are actually pretty good! We all still seem to get on well, despite how much time we spend together. There's no nastiness, and I really feel part of the group, and not like a 'new girl'."

"I think they feel good about you too: you've definitely contributed your share over the last few months. So, you should have got your 'back-pay' from the girls by now, is that all ok?"

"Very much so, it's actually quite a bit more than I expected!"

"Yes, we did quite well on the last tour, despite it being a short one. By the way, if you need help with finding suitable 'wealth management' consultants, then do ask. To be honest, you need to look after whet you earn now carefully, it may need to last you a while. Got any plans for it yet?"

"Yes, I'm seriously looking for a new flat, or maybe even a house. Where I am now is rented, and while it's nice, I could do with a slightly bigger place."

"Well, again, if you need recommendations for solicitors and so on, ask. Which actually brings us nicely to the thing I really need to talk to you about..."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"Well, as you know, this house is jointly owned by Jenny, Carol and Dianne, along with me and Lisa. We were wondering if you were at all interested in 'investing' in the house too?"

"You think I'm THAT rich?"

"No, not yet, but this next tour is going to bring in quite a bit of money, for all of you, probably more than you realise. And I'm not suggesting a massive lump sum. Whilst we own this house outright, the girls actually have mortgages on their own houses."

"So what you proposing then?"

"Well, as you know, we currently use one of the bedrooms as an office for Callum and Paige. We'd like to turn it back into a bedroom again, so we'd like to build an outside extension, with office space, plus some storage space. If you're interested, then you would pay for that work, and use that as your first investment. In addition, the fund we have for property maintenance is getting a bit low, so you can also contribute to that..."

"And how much would you be talking about?"

"Not really sure yet, for now I'm just asking if you're interested. Clearly we'll need to get the place valued, so we can fairly decide what your share will be, but we'll get that all checked by a solicitor, and we can be very open about all the costs. There's no real rush, I'm not really going to have time to pursue it properly till after the tour, but if you're interested, then I can get the ball rolling on getting the new offices designed and then costed. So take your time, think about it. Maybe have a chat with the others."

"Yeah ok. In principle I do like the idea, but I do need to have a proper think about it."

"Sure. Hey, by the way, thank you for your help with that copyright issue: your knowing Fiona was so useful!"

"Yeah, I feel really bad for Dianne, it's a writer's worst nightmare! You know, Fiona made a comment on the show, about solicitors and managers speaking, almost ignoring the artists: in so many cases it feels like the only people who REALLY make money out of copyright issues are the lawyers. Ok, yes, I can understand that sometimes things can be very 'grey', but when you've simply screwed up, why don't more people just admit to it, and work out a solution. Dianne had a lot of guts to own up on the chat show you know, with so many people looking on - she has my respect for that!"

"Couldn't agree more! So, you looking forward to the tour? I know there's still a lot to do!"

"Yes, it's gonna be a lot more work than the last tour. I'm really looking forward to working with Northern Girls again. And, of course, Yu-Eye arrives tomorrow. It will be interesting working with someone new, but we got on well over in Korea, and we've exchanged a few emails since too. I think she'll do us a lot of good. Is anyone going to collecting her?"

"Callum was going to go. Join him if you like!"

"Sure, that could be fun, as long as I don't get spotted."

"If noone is expecting you to be there, then you're less likely to be seen! Just don't smile too much, or you might give the game away: there can't be THAT many people with blue braces!"


So the following afternoon, Linda and Callum went up to Heathrow late afternoon to meet Yu-Eye. She was staying at 'the mansion' with the girls for the next two to three weeks, while they worked on then recorded their new material. After that, she was planning on being a tourist for a couple of weeks!


[1/487]

So far, the 4 CJDL girls have had pink and now blue ligatures. When they go on tour, there will be EIGHT of them in braces.

The big question is: how will they do their ligs?

- everyone in the same, single, colour?
- each has a single colour, 8 different colours for 8 different girls?
- some sort of mix of colours?
- rainbow?

Whilst they are performing, there will be cameras able to do great closeups, so they clearly want to show off their braces to their fans.

(Of course, they'll be in England for a couple of weeks at the start of their tour, giving them a chance to visit their ortho and change their ligs before moving on to Europe)

It's interesting that we would often think "you must go back to your own ortho to get your ligs changed", but when you are in their situation (ie money is not REALLY a big problem!), it would be VERY possible to organise local ortho visits, especially as you're not asking those ortho's to do any actual treatment, but just swap out some little bits of rubber!

Maybe they need an ortho as part of their tour entourage, and change the ligs during the show!!!!

Yes, very good point. Maybe they can get Ben to do it for them....



Chapter 4


Thursday: Linda was actually quite excited, as it had been a while since she had actually managed to meet up with some of the people she was at college with: yes, she HAD been busy the last 6 months, but her whole life had changed - mainly for the better - and she had been doing so many other things. Like flying off to Korea. Or going up to Birmingham at a moment's notice! And writing new songs, including the first OST for that new anime.

"Guys, I hope you won't mind, but we'll need to finish a bit early tonight."

"Oh, some secret fella you've not told us about asked you out on a date?".

Linda smiled. "No, not quite as exciting, I'm meeting up with a group of friends from college I've not seen for a bit."

"Oh, ok... nothing wrong with that! Anyone we'd remember?"

"I doubt it, they're from my year, and who ever remembers kids from 'the year below'?

"Yeah, that's so true!"

So, that afternoon Linda had specifically asked the girls to take a slight break from recording, and quickly run through HER songs, so she could record them, and play them to Mary and the others that evening. After they finished for the day, she had gone home, back to her own place, to get some different clothes, then organised an Uber to get her to The Ship. The Ship is a pub, and that means they sell alcohol. And she intended to drink some. And you can't drive if you've been drinking. So the taxi was an obvious choice.

In terms of her looks, she had very specifically made sure she wasn't too 'glam' tonight, which was actually reasonably easy. The problem was that, if she dressed up too much, she might attract attention, and might get noticed as being who she was in her 'daytime job'. Yes, she would be very open with her college friends about who she was - to be honest, they all knew she was Linda Jacobson anyway, they all knew she used to do music at college, so if they had heard any pop news, they would know that she was now a member of a very big pop group.

So, I realise that I've never really described Linda, have I? Linda is 5ft 7in tall, the tallest of the four of the girls by a whole inch! Her hair is a pretty non-descript brown colour, to a little below her shoulders, which allows her to do various things with it. Typically, when she was 'on show', she would have her hair down, maybe clipped back at the sides a bit to keep it out of her face, which meant that by simply putting it up in some way, it could help to stop people instantly recognise her. When she was at college, her hair was a lot shorter, and she had been thinking recently whether to have it cut.... that was a decision for another day, for now she had simply tied it up in a 'messy bun'. She added a simple pair of blue earrings, to match the rather bright blue ligatures she had on her braces.

Again, when she was 'on show' she tended to wear quite a bit of fairly bold makeup: she had learned from the others that this worked a lot better for pictures and videos. When at 'The Mansion' working, she would wear very little makeup. Tonight she had a bit of a goth look about her, with dark eye makeup - definitely not something that a member of a girl band would want to wear!

Linda's wardrobe still consisted mainly of her older, pre-CJDL clothes: for the last tour, she was not a band member, so didn't need anything especially fancy, and although she had bought a few more 'upmarket' outfits since, she knew that she would need to go out and get quite a few more before they went on tour. Linda specifically chose some of her older clothes tonight, to help her 'blend in': an old Iron Maiden tour t-shirt and jeans. She left her 'band phone' at home, and almost forgot to take her 'braces kit' with her - which went into a fairly plain shoulder bag. She checked herself in the mirror before leaving: yes, hopefully she wasn't TOO recognisable.

A message popped up on her phone, to tell her that her taxi was nearly there, so she went out to meet it. Twelve minutes later it dropped her off outside 'The Ship'.

She was a little apprehensive as she went in: whilst she probably knew everyone who would be there tonight, she'd not actually met up with any of them since... well, since she had become a member of a certain very well known girl band. She just hoped that they would remember the Linda they used to know, and not get silly because of who she had become.

She walked into the pub, looking around to see who was there: she had specifically NOT come too early, so that hopefully she would easily spot the group. As she looked around, she saw someone wave, a face she recognised, so walked over.

"Hey there, Vivian!" Another couple of faces turned around. "Samantha! It's great to see you all. Mary's obviously not here yet?" There were also two guys with them.

"Linda! Mary said you'd be coming tonight, it's so good to see you!"

"I guess I'd better go get a drink... anyone need another yet? No? Ok, I'll be back in a moment!". She went over to the bar, where she had to wait a few minutes to get served. As she was getting her drink, Mary arrived, and came over to the bar. "What you fancy?" Linda asked her.

"You sure?". Linda nodded. "Oh, thanks... a half of Poreni lager for me, and a pint of the 'Old Oak' for Ross." Mary had been going out with Ross now for a couple of years, and Linda was surprised that he STILL hadn't proposed to Mary. With the drinks paid for, they returned to the table.

"So, who is everyone?" asked Linda.

"Well, this is my boyfriend Alex" said Vivian, "and that's Sam's fiance, Richard".

"Oh, Sam, congrats on that! So guys, I'm Linda, I was at college with these guys. Alex, why do you look familiar?"

"Oh, I was in the year above you guys."

"Ah, ok, so did you know Jenny Stevens, Dianne Fox or Carol Danvers then?"

Alex smiled. "Yes, vaguely."

"Ah, ok..."

"So, I hear you have joined them?" said Alex.

"Yes. I started by simply 'working' for them, as a session musician, and after going into the studios with them, and then touring with them, they asked me to join them as a full member."

"So, what's it like being a mega pop-star then?" asked Vivian. Clearly they all knew about Linda having joined CJDL, but were still talking to her like 'the Linda they all knew'.

"To be brutally honest, I don't really know yet. Since I've joined them, we've not actually done a lot of stuff publicly. Ok, so we went to Korea as CJDL, that was fun, and we played support for Darkest Knights for 3 nights... Oh, yeah, we were on TV just recently too..."

"I just love the way you just throw out the name 'Darkest Knights' as if they are some sort of local South London band" commented Vivian.

"They are actually really nice guys... So, anyone else coming to join us?" asked Linda.

"Yes, Terry, Rob and Zac should be here soon.... Hey, did I just see braces in your mouth there?"

Linda smiled, showing off her silver smile. Well, more of a blue and silver smile! "Yep, I got braces a few weeks ago, partly because I need them, and partly to support Dianne."

"To support Dianne?"

"Yeah, she had braces when she was at school, but her teeth got screwed up by her wisdom teeth, and she was unsure about getting them again, so we all got them to support her!"

"Uh?"

"Well, Dianne was feeling a bit unsure... hey, scrub that... a LOT unsure about getting braces. Of course, Jenny already had braces, and Carol was wearing a retainer again, so it was easy for her to switch back to braces. I actually borderline need them too, so got these, and between us we persuaded Dianne to get herself into braces too."

"I DO like the blue, it's very bold! So there'll be four of you on stage in braces for your tour?"

"No, there'll actually be EIGHT of us...", and Linda explained about the joint tour, and how Northern Girls all had braces too.

"Oh, look, Terry's here..." said Mary, as one girl and two guys came over to them and said hello. Two of them sat down, the other went to the bar.

"Hi Linda, nice to see you again" said Terry. Linda recognised Rob and Terry (a girl), but didn't know the other guy.

"Hey Terry. So I recognise Rob, but who is this handsome fellow?" asked Linda.

"Linda, meet Zac, he's a friend of Rob's" replied Terry.

"Hi Zac! How do you know these guys then?"

"Oh, I was in the year below at the college... Rob and I were in a couple of the college clubs together."

"Ah, right. So what do you do now then?" asked Linda.

"I'm a graphic artist..."

"Oh, ok, so what sort of graphic artist stuff do you do then?"

"I started off doing stuff for web sites, but I also do stuff for corporate advertising, in all sorts of media. What about you then?".

"Oh, I'm a musician and singer, I'm in a band and perform and write songs" replied Linda, deciding to have a bit of fun: it was clear that, from his question, noone had told him anything about Linda, and what she did now.

"Oh, what sort of music do you do?"

"What sort of music do you like?"

"I'm into all sorts of indi-rock, and a few other types. Went and saw BabyMetal a few months ago, they were good!"

"BabyMetal, I'm SOOO jealous: I was hoping to see them, but I wasn't around at the right time. Any music you don't like?" Linda omitted to say that the reason she couldn't watch BabyMetal was because she was actually halfway around the world in Korea at the time!

"Hmmm, not too keen on girl bands, I guess. So what sort of band is yours then?"

"Oh..." Linda turned to Mary. "Would you call the band I'm in a 'girl band'?"

"Yes, I think so.... Sorry!" replied Mary.

"It's a girl band. Although their music style did get a bit 'rockier' just before I started working with them... in fact, it was part of the reason I did."

Zac was looking slightly awkward. "Erm, should I know the band you're with?"

"Good question... Mary?"

"Oh, I should hope he does. I mean, you guys don't exactly hide from the press! And especially after what happened a couple of weeks ago." Mary was referring to their appearance on a primetime TV chat show with Fiona, where they had talked about their copyright issues, then sung together.

"Seems like you should know us then....". Linda was enjoying having a bit of fun with Zac, and all the others were watching on with big smile, not giving the game away.

Zac had spotted the smiles, and realised that Linda was playing with him. "Ok, so which girl band are you with then?"

Linda smiled, showing off her silver brackets on her lovely teeth. "So, I'm Linda Jacobson, and I'm the 'L' of 'CJDL'.... Alex over there knew the other three when they were at Croydon College: they were in the year above most of us."

"You're kidding me, aren't you?" Zac was clearly a bit surprised.

"No, not at all... I did music when I was at college, then another year at Music School. After that I was a session musician, did all sorts of stuff like films, adverts, as well as doing backing guitars and vocals for a few well known artists. Then one day I got a call from my agent, asking if I would like to work with a girl band for a few weeks: I ended up working for CJD for about 6 months, went into the studios with them, then toured with them... I only properly joined the band at the end of that tour. So I am indeed now a full member of CJDL!"

"In that case, what is a girl from a band like CJDL doing out with us here tonight?"

"Because I wanted to have an evening out with a few friends I've been neglecting for the last few months!" Linda smiled at Zac.



[7/1194]

Chapter 6

So, they were in the studios again on the Friday, before taking the weekend off. Whilst they managed to record one more song in the morning, Linda had told the others about her new song, and despite Linda's lack of sleep, they actually spent some time in the afternoon working on it. The others had really liked the idea of how the song started off gentle, and ended up full-on rock, and wanted to record it while they were in the studios.

Also with them in the studios was a camera-lady (Paula) and her assistant (Sanjay) who worked for BD Media Production: that was the company which had taken all the video they had recorded when in Korea, and made the 3 programs out of it. This time, whilst the girls would be taking bits of video too, BD Media had provided a cameraman - in fact a lady - who would be filming them not only on tour, but also in the lead up to the tour. And while actually ON tour, there may well be a second cameraman working with them too!

So, our cameraman had been filming the girls in the recording studios, and the assistant had been coordinating getting audio recordings of what they did in the studios, as well as making sure the camera's remote mic was in a useful place at all times. He also had a couple of portable audio recorders to use as well.

Whilst our girls were used to Paige and Callum filming them, it had taken them a day or two to get used to Paula and Sanjay: the good news is that they had both done something similar before, and were very good at keeping out of the way!


By the time they eventually finished on the Friday, Linda was a bit exhausted, and she was glad to finally get back home again. And when I say home, I mean her own flat. Her lovely cleaning lady had been and tidied up, as well as making sure there was some fresh milk in the fridge, and a few other bits. For the last several weeks, she had been spending the weekdays at 'the mansion', and just the weekends at her flat, so having someone who could come in to keep an eye on things was so essential. Maybe next week, when they were again going to be in the recording studios, she might decide to spend a few more nights in her own bed. The good news is that the week after, when they finished recording, they were all taking a week off. One of the many things Linda needed to do was to go shopping for some new clothes, for when they were on tour. While they were rehearsing & recording, it didn't really matter what they wore. She had a few 'decent' clothes: she's worn those for example over in Korea, and when they were up in Birmingham and Leicester, and on TV, but if they were going to be on the road for 3 months plus, she needed a load more!

Anyway, back to tonight... Linda was really pleased with her new song: created on Thursday night, mainly written in the early hours this morning, and worked on during the day, it had come together well. Yu-Eye's input had been very positive too: in a very short time, the four girls had come to trust Yu-Eye's abilities. They would need to work on the song a bit more next week, and they would hopefully record it ... so from first ideas to recorded in under a week - not bad going!

Linda was in her lounge, drinking a cup of hot milk - and to be honest, about ready to fall asleep - when her phone rang: it was her mum.

"Hi Mum!"

"Hi Sweetheart! Just thought I'd double-check that you were still planning on coming over for lunch tomorrow?"

"Oh, 100% definitely, assuming I can get up in time!" She quickly explained that they had been recording all week, plus she's had close to no sleep last night. "I'll call you just before I leave, but I'm definitely coming. It's gonna be nice to have a tiny break, and do something a bit different. Is Tommy going to be there?" Tommy, or Thomas to give him his full name, was Linda's elder brother.

Hmm, maybe time to tell you (= invent!!) a bit more about Linda. So, she's currently 24, a year younger that the others in the band, her brother is 3 years older, at 27. They used to live in Sutton (so it was easy to get to college over in Croydon), but her parents had moved out to the Epsom area 4 years ago. Tommy had left home the year before they moved: he works in Brighton, so it's not that hard for him to travel back home to visit their parents. Oh, and has a girlfriend.

Linda's rented apartment was down in Purley, just a couple of miles from Croydon: with a good train service to London, it was a good (and relatively cheap) place to be to get into London and other places when she was a session musician. As we discovered earlier, Linda would like to buy a place, slightly bigger, maybe even a house (to be honest, she rather likes the place that Jenny lives, and would be happy to find something similar!), but she hasn't really had the time to start looking. She doesn't even know yet where she wants to live.

When Linda finally fell asleep, she felt pretty good about life: there was absolutely no doubt left in her mind that she really WAS a member of CJDL, and no longer 'the new girl'. Choosing Yu-Eye to produce their album had been absolutely the correct decision. And she had just written a song that EVERYONE seemed to like. And tomorrow, she's be seeing her mum, dad, and brother.!


[9/1830]

Chapter 8

They finished recording their last track late on the Wednesday evening, which gave Yu-Eye 2 days of full studio time that she and the recording engineer could use to edit down their recordings. Whilst the studio wouldn't free after that, the engineer was booked to spend up to another week working elsewhere on the editting with Yu-Eye.

Linda had slept at her own place for the last few nights: it was good to be at her own place. But, whilst the recording was now all done, there were many other things to discuss, so they had agreed to all stay at the house on the Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Thursday morning - so a week after the evening out with her friends - Linda called up Mary, to see if she, and any of the others, would like to meet up again, completely on Linda. They decided that the following Tuesday could be a good evening to meet up, and that Mary would ring around the others, and persuade them to come. Linda didn't say anything about recording the 'Friends' song as she wanted to surprise them all by playing them the final version when they were all together.

Amongst the many things that happened on the Thursday was meeting with the couple who would both be dancing and working out the choreography for the dance group. Whilst much of the time, the four (or eight) girls would be playing instruments, and thus unable to dance, there would be two or three opportunities when they could get Northern Girls to be their 'backing band' allowing them to sing... and possibly dance along with the dancers.

They had cleared part of the music room, and had spent a couple of hours demonstrating their abilities: the two weeks of dance training over in Korea had been so worth it!


Friday morning, as Linda awoke, she remembered having a strange dream: she was standing next to a large and beautiful horse: mainly chestnut, but with a few small white patches on it's face. It was being a bit feisty, and despite knowing close to nothing about horses, she went over to it, said a few gentle words and stroked it, and it calmed right down.

Someone then helped her to get up onto the horse, which she did surprisingly easily. Then someone got on behind her. Putting their hands gently around her, their voice said "Don't worry, I'm with you all the way. Now, today, you're going to lead the others..." She looked around, and saw a group of other riders on horse... they looked vaguely familiar. She gently picked up the reins, and shook them: the horse seemed to know exactly what she wanted, and rode off, leading the others. After riding down a path through some woods, they came out into a field, with a path leading across it. They soon came to the far edge of the field, where there was a hedge, and the horse wasn't slowing down: if anything, it was going faster! "It's ok, just trust your ride....." said the voice behind her. The horse effortlessly jumped over the hedge, landing smoothly. Next, Linda saw a small stream ahead: without being told this time, she decided to just 'trust her ride', and with almost no effort, they were over the stream. After that was open country, and she shook the reins, telling the horse to speed up, which it did.... it was one of those glorious sunny days, with her hair streaming behind her in the breeze.... and that was when she had woken up.

She remembered that she'd had another very similar dream a bit ago, except that time she hadn't felt brave enough to talk to the horse... she had felt decidedly nervous. But, like today, someone else was with her, behind her, encouraging her. That time one of the other riders had led the group, with Linda at the back of the group, but with the encouragement of the voice behind her, she managed to control her ride, having a nice time, and ended up feeling good about herself.

She wondered why she had had these two similar dreams, and realised that on both times, the night before she had been feeling quite worried and apprehensive about the upcoming tour. This tour was different in many ways from the previous tour. For a start, she was now actually part of the group, so she would be very much more 'on public view'. And it was going to be quite a long tour, more specifically, she was going to be away from home, away from England, for some time. Away from familiarity. And, of couse, they would be playing several of the songs she had written. Including 'Friends', which she would be starting off, completely unaccompanied: mix in a few stage nerves, and it was a disaster asking to happen.

Linda felt that the dream was trying to say something to her, if only 'don't worry, you'll be ok!'. If nothing else, her worries from last night had gone, and she was feeling a load more positive about the upcoming tour, even though there was still so much to work out.


Mary called back on the Friday, mid-afternoon. Almost everyone was up for getting together again...

"Terry says she's not going to be able make it on Tuesday. However, last time Jane wasn't able to come along, so would it be ok to invite her? I'm sure she'd love to see you again!"

"No problem with that, sure, invite her along!"

"So, how's the recording going?" asked Mary.

"We've actually finished: the whole new album is done. I'll tell you all more about it next week....". of course, Linda gave nothing away, wanting to keep it all - including playing them 'Friends', which they had inspired - a secret and a surprise.

Whilst 'Northern Girls' weren't due to arrive for another week or so, there was still a lot to be done, so they were all doing stuff at the 'mansion' on the Saturday, then on Sunday morning, they all went along to Jenny's church.

The following week they had decided to have a bit of time off: 'the calm before the storm' if you like. So Linda was actually at home on the Monday. Mid-morning, Brian had received a call from David in A&R at their record company, so Brian had arranged a conference call for them all: Yu-Eye had sent David early mixes of their recording sessions, and he had some feedback. For a start, he felt that there were too many tracks for the album, and that two of the tracks didn't really 'fit' with the others, so would they be ok with them not being included? And if they were, would they be interested in letting another of their artists use one of those songs?

With that agreed, Linda got a bit of a shock...

"So, that 'Friends' track - absolutely love it! How would you feel about it being the group's next single?" asked David.

"You kidding me?" replied Linda.

"Not at all... why?"

"Well, I only wrote it the week before last..."

"And it sounds like it was written with a LOT of feeling... Plus it has a very 'fresh' feeling to it's style, and we all think it will do well."

Ok, let's be realistic, this is CJDL we're talking about: it would be a MAJOR shock to everyone if it didn't at least chart in the top 5, and it would most likely hit number 1. From Linda's perspective, she would earn the same whether it was her song, or whether one of the others had written it - all royaties were split 4 ways. But this was the first song that SHE had written for the group completely on her own. It would be HER number one!

So, it was agreed that it would be their next single, and it would be released the week before their tour started. They could video one of their rehearsals as the initial video, but then replace it with a live performance from their tour.


With the conference call finished, Linda realised that this bit of news rather changed what she'd be telling her friends on Tuesday. In fact, she felt it should be a fancier celebration completely. Linda remembered a while ago when they all went out for a meal at a nice restaurant, where they had their own dining room upstairs: it wasn't cheap, but it was rather nice.

She called Dianne. "Hey, Dianne, remember a few months ago we all went out to that nice French restaurant... can you remember its name?"

"Wasn't it 'Le Pavillion Bistro', or similar?"

"Yes, I think you're right!"

"Looking to take a fella there, are you?"

"Actually, no... I was going to take my friends out, to kinda thank them for inspiring me to write 'Friends', and was thinking that taking them out for an Indian meal wasn't really good enough... so decided it would be nice to give them a REAL treat. Hey, what you doing tomorrow night, want to come along too?"

"Well, I'm not doing anything.... you sure you want me along?"

"Of course, and I have no doubt the others will enjoy meeting you. Hey, do remember a guy called... erm... Alex? He was in your year at college."

"Name's not instantly ringing a bell, but maybe I'll recognise him when I see him. So, if we're going to 'Le Pavillion', I'm assuming we're dressing up a bit?"

Good point, and yes! I'd better let Mary know, so she can tell everyone. Of course, I need to confirm if they have space for us first! Do you think I should organise taxis to get us there... we'll be meeting in Croydon again."

"If you REALLY want to impress them, why not see if you can get a Limo? It's a Tuesday, so they probably won't charge you all that much..."

Linda smiled: yes, a limo WOULD be fun!


[11/2582]

All EIGHT girls, don't you mean?

Chapter 9

Linda called the restaurant.

"Hi, this is Linda, I'm with CJDL, the pop group.". Whilst she wouldn't normally use her position to 'get favours', sometimes 'needs must'! "Look, last month we had a great meal at your place, so a couple of questions: are you open tomorrow? Can you fit in 12 of us? And any chance we could use the upstairs room like we did before?"

The voice on the phone said 'yes' to all three questions... "No problems! We'll look forward to seeing you again tomorrow at about 8 o'clock!". Linda suspected had it been later in the week, she may have had issues, but Tuesdays are always quiet for restaurants.

Next, she had a word with Brian, then called the company they had used several times for cars, mini-coaches and limos. Yes, they could provide a large limo that would fit 12 of them in.

Finally, she called Mary.

"Hey, Linda, I guess you're gonna give me details for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, although there's a slight change of plan, which I'm sure you'll all like, but it does mean that everyone will need to be dressed reasonably smartly... so no jeans, T-shirts or scruffy trainers.... Feel free to dress up as nice as you like!"

"Ooooh, this is sounding good, what's going on, Linda?"

"My surprise... all will be revealed tomorrow. So, meet at 'The Ship' sometime between 7 and 7:30 - drinks on me, of course - we'll be going off to the restaurant soon after 7:30, so tell people not to be late!"

Mary tried to pump Linda for more information, but Linda managed to stand her ground, not telling Mary a thing.

------

Linda got a call from Jimmy, who would be their driver for the evening: she arranged with him that he would arrive outside the pub a little after 7:30: it would take about 20 minutes to get to the restaurant, so they would be there by 8.

Linda's Uber arrived, and they went and collected Dianne. Like Linda, she had dressed up 'like a pop star': they were definitely going to have fun this evening.

"No headgear tonight then?" asked Linda, clearly joking.

"No thank you, not even my lip-bumper!" replied Dianne.

"Now you've got them, you seem to be getting on ok with having braces.." commented Linda.

"Yeah, once again I seem to have accepted braces as part of who I am for the moment. But that's no excuse for any of you to get them off! How's your treatment going?"

"Gently but surely."

"Any problems with your tad's?"

"No, my tongue is used to where they are, and the attached elastics too. Hey, give me a proper look at your mouth...". Linda spent a moment looking at Dianne's teeth. "You know, they are doing well, I can definitely see a difference!".

"Yeah, I don't normally notice it, but I took a look at my 'before' pics the other day, and I can already see a slight difference. What with your support, and seeing my progress, I'm actually feeling a lot more positive about them!"

"Hey, remember to bring your braces kit?" asked Linda.

"But of course! I did manage to forget it one evening at the weekend though, so ended up doing what I could with just swishing around..."

Linda was glad that Dianne was feeling better about having braces: she seemed to be very good about wearing her upper facebow and lip-bumper in private, and she knew that Dianne would appreciate having nice straight teeth again.

"Hey, I wonder how the Northern Girls are getting on with their braces?"

"Good point. I hope they keep them for the tour. I mean, having eight of us in braces would be a great talking point!"

The taxi pulled up outside the pub: the journey had been very smooth, so Linda made sure to give the driver a good tip. As they got out of the car, a few eyes turned to look at them: as I said, they were VERY dressed up this evening! Even more eyes turned as they went into the pub, and walked up to the bar. As they did so, Linda looked around the bar: it was still quiet, and she didn't see any of her friends there yet. Linda recognised the guy who had served them before, so smiled at him, letting him see her braces.... maybe it would help him to remember her.

"Hi, can I set up a tab? I've got a few friends coming in soon...." asked Linda, passing her credit card over to him.

"Sure, no problem! What would you like to drink?"

"You have any bottles of bubbly?"

"Prosecco?"

"Anything nicer?": Linda wanted to give her friends a bit of a treat.

The barman went out the back, returning with a cold bottle, telling Linda the (fairly high) price.

"That's fine, hopefully you have a couple more, I'm sure we'll need them! And a dozen glasses?". The barman, realising that this was a quick and high-value sale, was very helpful, even getting one of the other bar staff to take the glasses over to a table for them.

As they walked over to their table - actually one of three next to each other - they could see people looking at them, pointing, whispering. Whilst it wasn't yet 7pm, there were a couple of dozen people in the pub. 

"Hey, fancy doing a bit of band PR?" suggested Linda.

"Yeah, why not!" replied Dianne. Linda stood up, then picked up the second - and as yet unopened - bottle of bubbly, banging it down loudly on the table a couple of times. The pub went almost silent.

"If I can have your attention for a moment!? Now, we're noticing a lot whispering behind hands and pointing.... and the pointing seems to be at us two. Yes, I'm Linda, and this is Dianne, we're half of CJDL. So that's 5 points for each of our names, and a bonus 5 points if you got the 'CJDL' right too.... but if you only said 'CJD', then I reckon that has to be 5 points OFF!"

Linda's light-hearted words raised a few smiles and giggles around the room.

"Look, we're waiting for our old college friends to arrive... we were both at Croydon College - Dianne was in the year above me...  so in the meantime, if you'd like to come over and say 'hello', even take a selfie, then that fine with us!"

"Don't forget the bar staff!" said Dianne.

"Good point there, Dianne: bar staff, get yourselves organised, and we'll come over to you for a picture. I'm sure your boss won't complain at the free publicity!"


[15/3051]

Chapter 11


Finally, the limo stopped. "Ok, ladies, we have arrived" said James over the intercom system. He got out and opened the limo's door, letting them all get out. Linda walked over to the door of the restaurant, where the 'Maitre d'' was waiting.

"Good evening madam. Good evening everyone. I'm assuming this is the Jacobson party?"

"That's right!"

"Please, come in, and follow Jules up to the private dining room...". Linda's friends were clearly surprised by how up-market the place was, and clearly NOT the sort of place any of them might normally come to. Mind you, if we were honest, Linda would have been equally shocked a mere 12 months ago.


As they entered the private dining room, other members of staff helped everone to sit down. Linda made sure she was opposite Zac. Dianne was a couple of seats along from her.

"There's no prices on the menu..." Linda heard someone commenting.

"Yes, that's because if you can afford to eat here, then the prices don't really matter!" replied Linda with a slight smile. "So, I hope none of you had any food before coming out, as I was planning on us having 3 courses... and I warn you, the desserts here are seriously nice! Choose what you like, and feel free to experiment, all the food here is good! I'll order some wine for us all, but if you'd prefer a beer, or something else, then just let one of the staff know."

By now, Linda's friends were realising that Linda was giving them a serious treat tonight, so there must be a good reason - but what?

While everyone decided what they wanted from the menu, Linda had connected her phone to the bluetooth of the 'entertainment system' in the room. The waiter went around taking their food order.


"Ok, so I'm guessing you want to know why I've invited you all to join me here tonight. Well, it's a bit of a 'thank-you' to be honest. We've been in the recording studios the last couple of weeks... We actually finished recording our new album last Wednesday. Plus we ended up recording one extra song that we hadn't originally intended to. So, while we wait for our starters to arrive, here's a couple of our new songs, the first one is called 'Elegant Lady': I did the initial writing for it, but Jenny, Dianne and Carol all helped to 'tweak' it too. You are the first people outside of us and the record company to hear it, although the final version might be a tiny bit different, by the time our producer has finished with it!"

Everyone listened silently as the three songs played, then clapped and cheered, clearly enjoying them. The staff took that as a cue to bring in their starters.


"So," continued Linda when most of them had finished their starters, "we were in our first week of recording, the Thursday before last, when I joined you guys for dinner. And you may remember these....". Linda pulled out the notes she had taken that evening, as they had worked out words that meant 'friends'. "You'll remember I kinda 'took a trip to mars' or maybe it was over the pacific somewhere.... anyway, I was thinking about friends, and how important you guys are to me. And you all helped think of more words that mean friends, so these are the notes I took, plus a few extra bits I added." She put the notes onto the table for everyone to see.

"When I got home, I had a cup of hot milk, but couldn't settle, as I had words and a tune starting to buzz around in my head. So, I went downstairs into our music room, and started working on the song." She pulled out more bits of paper, and passed them around. "These are the notes I made. It was rather late when I .....". Linda paused momentarily to work out what to say.

"When she fell asleep!" interrupted Dianne, to a round of laughter. "It seems that Callum - that's Jenny's brother - went in at around 5am, to find Linda slumped over the desk, sleeping! She couldn't even pull an all-nighter!". There was more laughter and a little bit of jeering as well as clapping.

"Yeah, ok, guilty, I fell asleep! In my defense, I'd had a pretty big - and nice - meal earlier in the evening! So, yeah, I managed to get a few hours sleep, and then it was back into the studios...."

"I think you were probably running on coffee that morning, weren't you?" retorted Dianne. All of this was, of course, 100% in jest. But also true. As Linda continued to talk, the staff had come in, and were taking away the dirty plates from their starters.

"You're probably right! So later on the Friday I explained the song to the others, and we started to play it, then after the weekend - where I caught up on my sleep - we spent Monday morning working on the song again, and recorded it in the afternoon."

"I should add," said Dianne, "Linda had explained to us what the song was all about, and we all thought it was a great song, and so wanted to 'make it work'."

Linda smiled: noone had actually said that to her. "So, you guys inspired me to write that song: I bet you'd like to hear it?". There was a big shout of 'yeah!'. They loved the fact that Linda had incorporated all of their names into the song somewhere. After playing the song, Linda continued. "But that wasn't the end of the story: yesterday morning our manager, Brian, had a call from the record company, which turned into a conference call with us all there. The first thing they explained was that they felt that the album was actually 2 songs too long, and there were two songs that didn't quite fit, so that was a pretty easy decision, wasn't it, Dianne?"

"Yeah, it's always hard to 'let go' of any song, but they are hoping to let one of their other artists use one of those songs. But the more important bit is the next bit, that I can see Linda is bursting to tell you..."

"Yeah, they asked us how we would feel about 'Friends' being our next single!". There was a big cheer from everyone. "And that's when I decided that I needed to do something a bit extra special for you guys tonight! Oh, and you'll all be listed as 'inspired by' for the song!"

Just then, the staff arrived with their main courses...



[17/3421]

Chapter 13


Linda had thoroughly enjoyed being able to treat her friends last night. Not cheap, but you can't really put a £ value on friends, can you?

Linda had stayed with Dianne until lunchtime, then got an Uber back to her place. Hmm, that was something she really must start doing after they came off tour: look for a nicer place to live. Somewhere with a bit more space for a start.

Linda's personal phone rang: a number was displayed, but she didn't recognise it.

"Hello?" she said, a bit warily.

"Hello, I'm hoping that I'm speaking to Linda Jacobson?"

"Who is this?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Trevor Nelson, I work for 'Behind the Pipes Productions', we're the production company that makes TV shows like 'Singer Behind the Mask'. Are you alone, and can you spare me 5 to 10 minutes of your time?". Linda was at home, very alone, and was in the middle of doing close to nothing.

"Ummm... yes, and probably..." replied a slightly disbelieving Linda, worrying that this could be some sort of prank call.

"Now, before I go any further, I suspect that you are very wary of my calling like this, thinking it may be a prank, or maybe I'm from the press. So, do you have internet access there? I'd like you to check us out, and call me back..."

"Yes, I have internet access...."

"Ok, so go and google 'Singer Behind the Mask', and find out who it's made by, then go to the website, our website. Down the bottom of the page is a 'Contact Us' link, which will give our main phone number: call that public number, and just ask for me. Tilly is on reception today, so she will answer your call, and as soon as you say that you want to speak to me, she will NOT ask who you are. While you're speaking to her, feel free to ask any questions about me or the company.... Does that all make sense? I really hope you'll call me, because I have a proposal that you might be interested in...."

Linda realised that Trevor had been in this situation before: anyone in a similar position to Linda would be quite apprehensive, especially when getting a call on their personal phone.

Did he say 'Singer Behind the Mask'? But surely everyone on that show was either a non-pro singer, or a bit of a has-been.... Well, Linda wasn't busy, and you never know, if she was asked to perform on Singer Behind the Mask', it could be an interesting experience!

"Ok, sure, give me a few minutes will you?"

"Oh, take as long as you need. Just ask for me, Trevor Nelson, when you call.... I'll say goodbye for now, and look forward to your return call."

Linda went over and grabbed her tablet, and googled 'who makes Singer Behind the Mask', to discover it was indeed 'Behind the Pipes Productions'. She scrolled down, and selected 'Contact Us': the next page listed their address, emails, and phone numbers.

Over on her phone she called the main phone number. "Good morning, 'Behind the Pipes Productions'. I'm Tilly, how can I help you today?"

Well, so far so good.

"Hi... I'd like to speak to Trevor Nelson... but before you put me through, can you tell me what it is that he does there?"

"Of course I can. Our company produces many shows, some of which involve members of the public, and some that involve professionals. Trevor is what we call one of our 'Talent Managers', he's responsible for finding people to take part in our shows. Does that help?" asked Tilly.

Linda was quite impressed with both her friendly manner, as well as the simple way she had answered her question. "Yes, it does, thanks Tilly!"

"Would you like me to put you through to him now?"

"Yes please!"

"Half a moment..." The line went silent for a moment.

"Hello... Trevor Nelson!"

"Hello, it's Linda Jacobson here...."

"Hi, Linda, thank you so much for calling back. Ok, so, I just need to check that you're alone there, and that no-one can overhear you?"

"Don't worry, I'm 'home alone' today! So what's with all the mystery?"

"Ok, I'm sure you have heard of the TV show 'Singer Behind the Mask'. Well, it's the time of year when we start to look for people to come on the show...."

"Yeah, about that. Aren't all the singers either non-pro's or 'singers from years ago'? I don't think I fit either of those right now!"

"Historically you would be right, but this time we were thinking that it might be fun to see if we could persuade a couple of 'current stars' onto the show. Clearly you'll be suitably recompensed."

"Ok, I can see that would be interesting for the viewers... and the panel too. But I'm not sure I'll be able to help, we're about to go on a major tour..."

"Absolutely, and I'm very aware of that. But, as I understand it, your tour ends near the end of September?"

"Yes, about the third week of September..."

"We'll not be starting the actual recording until the third week of October, although there will be stuff to do in the weeks before. The recording takes somewhere between two and three weeks. So, plenty of time after your tour finishes... I'm hoping that could work for you?"

"Yes, I guess so... And it airs...?"

"Usually in January. Now, before we go any further, I do need to explain a few 'ground rules'. First of all, just because we are talking now doesn't guarantee that we'll actually want you on the show: we're currently researching who might be interested and available. We need to have loads of internal discussions before we make the final choice. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, makes a lot of sense. I guess we'd sign contracts once you've decided?"

"That's right. However, in the meantime, I'd like to meet up with you, get you to sign an NDA, and talk some more. I'm sure you've read that everything we do has to be so secret, so the names of our performers don't get out. It's also very important that you don't tell anyone. Yes, if you have a boyfriend or similar that you really MUST tell, then that's ok, but they'll need to sign an NDA too. And if you need a professional legal representative to look at the contract, that's fine too, they are already covered by so many laws that stop them leaking anything! But, if anyone else finds out that you even MIGHT be on the show, then we'll have to drop you. It's a royal pain in the butt, but we have to do it!"

"I've read a couple of those articles about the show, sounds like a secret military operation, but I can understand why."

"Yes, it does feel a bit like that at times. So, the big question: are you at all interested in being on the show??". To be honest, that's what Linda had been thinking about for the last couple of minutes.

"I think so. I probably need to think about it a bit more... you said about meeting up: I'd like to do that, understand more about what would actually be involved."

"That sounds good to me. How busy are you in the next few weeks? Can you find a slot for me?  I'll do my best to fit in with you..."

"Well, next week things start to get busy, what about this week? Maybe even tomorrow?"

"Yes, I can manage tomorrow. Let me text you an address: it will be a very anonymous office in a very anonymous building. And please do anything and everything you can to minimise anyone recognising you."

Linda was lucky that, without all the 'glam' like she had worn last night, she looked surprisingly plain and anonymous, which was really nice for her if she wanted to go out in public.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm pretty good at that! What time? And roughly where?"

"Hmm, we have a couple of places we use in London... roughly where are you?"

"I'm in the Croydon area, and I have a car.."

"Oh, excellent, one of the places is in Surbiton, I'd guess at under an hour away from you. So what time would be good for you?"

"Any time after say... 11am...."

"Ok, let me go and check when the office is available. There is parking in front of the building... I'm hoping you don't drive a Roller or something else that's a bit obvious?"

"No, my Skoda is pretty anonymous!"

"Excellent! Look, Linda, thank you very much for your time, I appreciate it, and I'll look forward to meeting with you tomorrow.... And in the meantime, you have both my office number as well as the mobile number I initially called you from, so any issues, please call."


Linda sat down to think for a bit. Yes, being on 'Singer Behind the Mask' could be a LOT of fun. Plus it wouldn't hurt her singing career! Although she'd read that it could be a bit lonely whilst actually doing it all. And then she'd need to keep it all a secret from everyone until January. OMG, she would SO want to tell the other three, but wouldn't be able to say a thing to them!


About an hour later she got a text, suggesting 11am, no more than an hour for the meeting, and giving an address. Linda texted back to accept.


[19/3785]

Chapter 15


Linda had dressed quite simply today: no false eyelashes like the other night, just a minimum of makeup. Hair held back in a simple ponytail with an elastic hairband. Jeans. T-shirt. Trainers. And, rather perversely, a pink 'CJD' hoodie that had been left over from the last tour! (With the band's name having changed, they were now pretty worthless, but heck, give it ten years and they could become collectors items!)

Linda parked her car: the building was in a not-so-modern bit of Surbiton and looked a bit dingy, but clean, and she could see that would help in making things a bit more 'anonymous'. She walked to the front door, where there was a paper note taped to the door: "Behind the Pipes Productions - ring top bell!". She did so, and very quickly she saw someone coming down the stairs. They opened the door to her, removing the sign at the same time.

"Hello Linda, come on in, I'm Trevor...". She followed Trevor upstairs, and into a small office, where a lady - Linda guessed her to be in her thirties - was waiting. "This is Viv, she and I are one of a handful of people who not only select but also know the identities of our celebrities."

"Hi, Linda, really nice to meet you - and I do like the irony of the hoody!" said Viv, offering a hand. "I hope you're ok with instant coffee..." she added. There was a kettle, some cups, coffee, milk, and a small crate - obviously to hold everything - on the side. It was instantly clear that both Trevor and Viv were completely at ease dealing with someone like Linda: they must have met a LOT of very well known people over the last few years.

"So, before we go in deep with the NDA, let me explain a little about how things work, and what we'll need of you. I've also got a couple of videos that have been recorded by previous contestants, which try to explain what things will feel like for you. Oh, and ask us questions at any time!"

Trever and Viv explained about the way the show was filmed, about needing information for clues, and then about the costumes. "I don't suppose you've had any thoughts about the sort of character you would want to be?"

"Well, not a lot... but I was hoping for something relatively light-weight, so I'd be able to move about a bit, maybe dance a bit. And something that's slightly... well... 'cute'!"

Trevor and Viv smiled. "Ok, well, we can show you a few costume ideas in a moment. First, can we show you these videos, to help you understand what you'll be letting yourself in for?"

The two videos were by well-known ex-competitors, and they didn't pull any punches. They included words and phrases like 'tiring', 'ruthless', 'expect to get bored, very bored', 'early starts, late finishes', 'you can only talk to your partner, and maybe 6 others at most, and then only when you're alone', 'you have to be completely covered up at all times' and 'it feels like a top secret military compound'. The final two comments were rather more positive: 'an amazing fun challenge!' and 'but I'm SOOO glad I did it, it was an amazing experience, so worth it!'.

"So, have we scared you off? Or are you still interested?" asked Viv. "We're both hoping the latter: it would be such fun to have a current pop star like you on the show. I mean, you'll have just come off tour, so they'll never think that anyone like you would ever be able too come on the show!"

"You know, that's so true, and I think that's what seals it for me. Teasing your judges and the audience would be such fun!"

Linda read the NDA: it was very simple and to the point: basically say NOTHING! With the NDA signed, they started talking about other things: what sort of music she would feel happy singing. Some of her life history, so they could start to work on 'clues'. They even took her basic measurements, then showed her some concept art of a few of the possible costumes. Linda rather liked the 'Miss Pig' costume.

"Hey, don't suppose you have some sort of 'Ninja' costume do you?" asked Linda, thinking aloud.

"No, but I do like the idea!".

They chatted more.

"So, about your 'appearance fees'.... " started Trevor.

"Yeah, about that," interrupted Linda. "I get the feeling that, because of my 'status', you might be looking to offer me more than the others, to persuade me to come on board. But I don't think that's right, if anyone were to find out, it could get awkward for everyone. I'm sure you guys have a standard fee you pay, and I'll be ok with that."

"You're sure?"

"Yup! By the way, how DID you get hold of my number?"

"Oh, that was me..." said Viv. "A friend of mine knows Callum Stevens, so I spun her a story about wanting to ask you about someone you might have worked with, background for a new show."

Linda smiled. "Nice idea, and yeah, I can appreciate that Callum would be ok giving you my number for that."


She went and sat down in her car. Oh my goodness! What HAD she just agreed to? Yes, ok, she appreciated that it still might not happen for a load of reasons, but wow, it would be such fun to do it. It was just unfortunate that she wouldn't be able to tell ANYONE a thing - that was going to be the hardest bit.