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.
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