The Marionette

Chris lifted the little wooden control bar.

The marionette rose from the bedroom floor.

She stretched her tiny arms toward the ceiling, then spun in a graceful circle. Her little skirt floated around her knees before settling again.

Chris smiled.

“There you are.”

The marionette curtsied.

“Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon.”

When the women were just in my dreams, they could be flings or dating coaches or whatever and they complemented my real-life dates with women. Having my women be in the real world, the women I’ve grown up with, some of them since kindergarten, and having them so devoted to me, there’s no question.

Old acquaintances provide more than just memories, they bring in new acquaintances.

Chapter Three:
Brutal Training

Devyn did not believe in easing Valerie into anything.

Mark Lansing never wanted to stand out. He was perfectly happy disappearing into a football huddle with the rest of the team until one play made him the talk of the town. Thrust into a spotlight he never wanted, every choice can reshape his future, and every decision could transform him in ways he never believed possible. Mark’s destiny will be determined on the field … assuming he can figure out how to dress the part.

Home at ten-thirty. Emily pays the cab while I get the keys. Inside, the house quiet - Jenna on the sofa with her phone, the monitor on the coffee table showing Theo's breathing steady and slow.

"He went down at nine," Jenna says. "Took the bottle fine."

Emily thanks her and counts out cash and I wait by the door. When Jenna's gone Emily sets the monitor to low and looks at the stairs.

"He'll wake in a few hours," she says. Not a complaint. Just the math of it, working out what the night holds. She takes her shoes off at the bottom of the stairs.

---

CHAPTER 4
“Anyway, what did Lynn say, Julia?”

I looked at her as she composed her thoughts, someone who had just shared the most literally horrendous personal information, and asked myself exactly how self-absorbed I must be. All of this was entirely down to me, in the end. Not Mary, not work, just me I wondered if there might be a way of rebottling the genie, for all of the very few seconds it took me to realise how stupidly unrealistic that thought was.

“Lynn? Oh, don’t worry. She didn’t spot a bra strap, or some unwiped mascara”

< It all started as the holiday from hell.

We were going on a three week holiday
to a villa in the hills of Spain away from the
tourist areas so that we could practice our
Spanish. We had been learning Spanish at
night school and we had decided to try to
speak only Spanish whilst we were on holiday.

It all started well until we were caught in
a traffic hold up on the M25. We therefore
arrived at Gatwick with only minutes to go
until the last check in time.

The moment lasted about four seconds.

The Sisters

By Jenny with a G

Chris was already at school when Lily arrived.

That was not unusual.

Chris was usually there before almost everyone, sitting on the wooden bench outside the library with a backpack tucked close beside one foot. Teachers passed with coffee cups and key rings. The custodian pushed a cart down the hallway. Students came in laughing, yawning, arguing, complaining about homework, and never wondered why Chris always seemed to be waiting before the day had even begun.

Lily noticed.

Lily noticed most things about Chris.

Part 3 A Penny for them

We had the next three days to film the rest of the Friday story. On Tuesday morning, very early, we were filmed coming out of a door onto the street. The door had ‘Head Office’ on a sign over it. We all then went next door into an actual beauty salon which had the sign ‘Heavenly Bodies – Look like an Angel’.

Back in the industrial building I was shown a set I had not seen before. It was a mock-up of a salon, complete with hair-washing station, make-up station and a proper salon bed with adjustable height.