Chapter 16
Linda put the phone into its car holder, and checked the time: good, it was only 11:45. The meeting had been a good one, and they hadn't wasted much time, so she was nicely ahead of schedule. She had already worked out where to park, so put the destination into Google Maps: 17 minutes.
By the time she had actually found a space in the multi-story car park, and walked back to the exit, it was still not even 12:15... meaning that she could have a nice relaxed walk to where she was meeting Zac.
Linda had officially been a 'pop star' for several months now, and was pretty good at dealing with people - like they had at the pub the other evening. So why was she feeling so nervous? As she was walking along, she realised that she had been subconsciously running her tongue over her braces. It was strange: if you had told her even six months ago that she would be wearing braces now, she would have laughed at you. Yes, her teeth weren't actually perfect, but they were well above average, so why would she ever need braces? Yet, she hadn't hesitated to get them to support Dianne.
The experience so far had been quite mixed. On the down side, it took AGES to brush them, and she needed to do that several times a day. Yes, Jenny had suggested she go get a water pik, but for some reason she hadn't done so yet. Also on the down side, they had initially made her cheeks sore, but that was no longer an issue. The TADs had been a lot easier to cope with than she'd thought they might.
On the positive side, she DID like they way she looked with the braces: they didn't make her feel shy or awkward at all. Funnily enough, once Dianne had actually got her braces (and remembering that she had a lip-bumper and a facebow as well), she was ok too. Whilst she would not wear the headgear out in public (or at the recording studios!), she was fine about wearing it when they rehearsed back at 'the mansion'.
Linda had by now got to the place they were having lunch, and she was just looking through the window to see if Zac was there, when a voice slightly surpised her.
"Linda?" asked Zac. She turned to see Zac looking at her, with a smile on his face. She smiled back, with a nice silver smile
"Ah, so that's why I couldn't see you inside!" she replied. Her heart missed a beat as she looked at Zac: he was actually pretty good looking, with nice straight white teeth, and a rather nice haircut too. Not mentioning his lovely warm voice.
"Shall we go in?" he suggested, smiling at Linda's comment about the hoodie. They joined the short queue at the counter. "Don't worry about the prices on the menu, have whatever you want!" said Zac, referring to the menus on Tuesday that had no prices - and would have been rather a lot more than the prices in here, if they HAD had prices!
"Oh, in that case, do they do 30 day hung steak sarnies?" joked Linda.
"I think they might do roast beef!" replied Zac. Zac too had been a bit apprehensive about meeting Linda again, after all, she was pretty much a mega-star in a girl group that had just had yet another number one hit.
They both got sandwiches and a cake, along with a coffee, and sat down. It was strange: whilst she could now afford to go fancy places like they had the other night, Linda actually felt very relaxed sitting and having a sandwich in a simple cafe like this.
She leant towards Zac and said very quietly: "Look a couple of simple ground-rules...". She was thinking about the earlier meeting. "First of all, there's a lot going on, and even more about to go on, planning for our tour and so on: please don't ask about any of it, it's not something we want to get out pre-tour. And second, no talking in public about who I am, and what I actually do..."
"But what about the hoodie?" replied Zac quietly. "It's a bit of a giveaway!"
"What about my hoodie?" said Linda in a more normal voice. "Cost me 45 quid when I saw them up in Wembley! Actually, no, I think it was 47! It was the last night of their tour, the one when Jenny proposed to Ben!". Of course, the joke was that Linda HAD been there, albeit side-stage, when Jenny had serenaded Ben then proposed!
"You were actually THERE that night?" said Zac, playing along. "That must have been fun!". By now, Linda was smiling, giving Zac a close-up of her braces, complete with bits of bread and meat stuck in them.
"Yeah, me and what... twelve thousand other fans! So look, you know about me, tell me more about you... like what you actually do?...". With the ice broken, Linda was starting to relax, and she hoped that by getting Zac to talk about himself, then he might relax too.
"Well, as I said the other night, I'm a graphic designer. I'm working on an ad campaign for a new brand of makeup."
"Interesting. So are we talking ads for magazines, or videos for TV?"
"Both. We only just started on it, so coming up with general concepts. Is it going to be three hunky guys with a female model? Or something more 'normal'? After that, we design both the static and moving images..."
"So, how far do you get involved with the whole thing? As in... are you there when the do the filming or photos?". Of course, Linda had recently been involved with the cereals adverts, so was aware of the sort of things that happened.
"Sometime, yes, depends on the customer and so on. That's one of the things I like about what I do, Not only do I get to worth with the team on the initial ideas, we get to see it right the way through until we have the videos or pictures."
"Sounds like you really enjoy what you do: you're putting what you learned at college to great use."
"Probably no different from you," replied Zac, watching what he said. "you've used what you did at college too."
"I guess I have, haven't I? So you been where you are for long? And is it a big company?"
"Same place I started working for out of college. It's actually pretty small, there's just over a dozen of us in total... that's including a couple of 'general office people' plus the boss and his wife. Hey, how many people at where you 'work'? Obviously there's the four of you..."
"Well, Jenny's mum and dad are 'the bosses', but her brother also works for us, and two others. Of course, when we run a 'big event' there's a shed-load more!" I think they were both enjoying talking about what Linda did without making it obvious. "Before that I was working more as a 'contractor', often working with a fairly small team, but on a few occasions there would be over 50 people involved" added Linda, referring to her session work.
"So, you working today?" asked Zac.
"No, still on a few days off. We're waiting for the 'Canadian team' to arrive, which is next week: once they get here, we've got a LOT of work to do". Linda had explained at the dinner that their tour would be a joint one, with all 8 of them playing together, so they needed to write some new songs for them all. She paused. "It's nice to finally be able to talk to you alone...".
By now, Linda had become aware that Zac seemed to be quite attentive, looking at her, but as she smiled once more, she spotted his eyes look down briefly, as if he was looking at her mouth. Which made her smile even more, as she realised that he must be looking at her braces. Whilst she could have made a comment, she felt that it could be awkward for both of them in such a public place. So she said nothing. Hopefully there would be an occasion in the future when she could find out more.
"Yes, it was a bit crazy the other night, everyone wanting to talk. Hey, it was nice to meet Dianne by the way, she's pretty chilled too. Do I gather that she's single at the moment? I read that she split up with her last boyfriend..."
"You HAVE been doing your research, haven't you?"
"Well, I need to understand what I might be getting involved with..." That comment sounded good to Linda: not only was he wanting to meet for lunch today, he was looking ahead.
"So, yes, Dianne and I are both single at the moment..."
"So how long since you last dated then?" asked Zac.
"That's a good one. At least before I..." She was about to say 'joined CJD', but thought better about it. ".. before I joined the new company. And a bit before that. Let's say a couple of years. I mean, I've been out on plenty of 'social occasions', just not had someone special."
"And are you ready yet to....?"
"If the right person comes along, maybe..."
They both ate a bit more, and drank their drinks.
"So, would you like to 'get together' again sometime?" suggested Zac.
"That could be fun. What sort of things do you like doing then?" asked Linda.
"Well, I spend too much time watching TV and playing games, but in the summer I like being able to get out on my bike. Hey, you got a bike?"
"I do, but I have no idea what state it's in. It's in my shed, and I haven't used it for a year or more... But, if you're going to suggest going out for a bike ride, I'll make sure it's working!"
"Yes, I was going to suggest a bike ride..."
"But where? I know there's a few parks nearby, but they are all rather small..."
"Yeah... I just tend to throw the bike on the car, and head out somewhere like Addington, there's some nice places out that way. Of if you'd like to start easier, there's always South Norwood Park. You up for it then? I guess the big question is if you can get your bike ready in time?"
"Well, I've seen a couple of bike shops near where I live, and I've got the rest of today and all of tomorrow to get it sorted, that's assuming you're thinking about this weekend.". It had been a while since Linda had been out on her bike: she used to use it a lot before she got her car, for generally getting around, plus occasionally going out for a ride. The idea of going for a bike ride with Zac had two things going for it: the bike ride itself, and spending some quality time with Zac. Linda was finding that she felt quite comfortable talking with Zac, and had decided that she would like to get to know him better.
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