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...



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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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