Part 14 Very Bad Penny!

As the room filled people started finding their seats and we went with the organisers to the head table.

The guy next to me sounded startled.

“You are sitting in Julians’ seat, is he not coming?”

“Never fear. All will come good as the night progresses. This is the first one of these that we have organised and there are a few wrinkles to be ironed out.”

He seemed happier and Sam got up to the microphone, made sure it was on and then started the proceedings.

Part 12 Penny and the Penthouse

Andrew had given us Sam for the rest of the day. Sam was very happy to drive us around. He was still on a high after filming the last couple of scenes. I wondered if he may be a bit of a sadist himself given the chance.

Problem was that he didn’t have the body for this game; actually, he carried two bodies around of his own.

Part 10 Penny and the Black Swan

Tanya went off to work the scene with the rest of the girls and I went to find Sam. I explained to him what I wanted, and he said it would be easy enough. He went off to collect up his equipment while I went off to make-up to get a better face.

Part 8 Another Penny for them

In my room I undressed and hung the dress on a hanger to take into work on Monday. I put the underwear in the hamper and took off the gaff, flushing the pipe through with some water. I followed through with things I had been told and totally cleaned my face before having a shower, putting on a nightie and dropping into bed to sleep like a new-born baby.

That description was apt because I was up to have a pee several times before I finally pulled the curtains back to let the morning light, no, the early afternoon light in.

Part 6 A Penny in the Slot

After finishing our filming on Thursday, I was walking out of the place in my black outfit, fully made up with red nails and great hair.

Paula laughed.

“Hey, we all look fabulous. Why don’t we all get ahead of tomorrow nights’ filming by going out on the town? I know a little dance club where we can relax.”

So, we were all driven into town and dropped off outside a restaurant, the drivers saying they would pick us up on Saturday evening for the club scene.

Part 4 The Penny Drops

The concert was good, a local band who were just starting to get some attention. What worried me was the attention that the two of us got! We had several guys try it on with Tanya and a couple even tried to chat me up!

This was not the ‘me’ that I knew. That me was the predator, not the prey, and it was a very strange feeling. I tried hard to be graceful in my deflection of their advances and Tanya told me that I was doing well.

Oddly, she also remarked.

Part 2. In for a Penny

Over the next few days, I took it easy and tidied up my apartment and did my laundry. The day of my first shoot I was out front when the car arrived. The driver was one of the cameramen from the previous session and he was bright and cheerful as he drove me to the industrial park and the studio.

I didn’t really know what to expect after the lit bed in the apartment so, when we went in, I was surprised. There were several sets; three of them bedrooms with big beds and one was an office with desks and all the right equipment.

Chapter 5

We went out for shopping, moving around between the three cities and never using the same supermarket more than once every three months. We had our weekends off and went out on our own. We listened, we filtered, and we built up a knowledge of the gangs, both criminal and right-wing. Whenever we had a new name, we added it to the filter list, so enlarging the database.

Chapter 3

After we had stored our things and had a quick look around outside, we went over to the bigger farmhouse to help get the lunch. Apart from the three of us, there were only three others there, with Magnus, the Unit Leader, telling us that the others were all in the field.

He introduced Nora and Petra, the communications expert and the ‘dresser’. The first thing that surprised us was that when he introduced us, he gave us different names. I was Alex, Matilda was Mary, and Hortense was now Hope.

Chapter 1

Before I get into telling you my story, I really need to tell you a little bit about my ancestors. It does have a bit of a bearing on what happened later, as some revolves around my given name. Many years back, my grandfather was born in Scotland. When he was a toddler, his parents moved to London, where my great-grandfather had a new job to go to. It was working for an import / export business, with the main business importing butter from New Zealand.

Chapter 12

On our way home, we spoke about setting down roots of our own and talked about places where we would like to live. When our contract expired, we would lose the use of the apartment unless we re-signed, so would need to get a place of our own. Of course, by then we would have over four million in our banks. We had only splashed out on the car and a few trinkets, and our expenses were all paid for by the employers when we travelled.

Chapter 10

The week was full on. We had Jerry take us to the appointments every day. We dressed in our special clothes, which usually lasted until after the interview and were then changed for outfits that their photographer had been supplied with. I started out every day as Zoe, but many of the pictures were me looking like someone else. Several wanted me to look like other current models, but we drew the line on that as being unethical.

Chapter 8

It was nice to be outside and together again after the weekend. The pizza place was clean and smelt good, but the prices on the menu made my eyes water.

“I’ve never paid thirty pounds for a pizza before, or fifteen for a glass of wine!”

“This is Knightsbridge, love, with the most expensive shopping area in England across the road. We can afford this now, so order what you want and to hell with the cost.”

“I think I’ll like the salmon one, that’s a bit different to what we get in Braintree.”

Chapter 6

I put the nightie on and went to the toilet, washed my hands and got into bed. I laid there for a while, thinking about the day. I had spent almost the whole day following orders. When to smile, when to look bored, when to look haughty. There was quite a number of times I was asked that last one.

Chapter 4

A middle-aged lady came out with our meals. As she set the soup down, she looked closely at me.

“Well, I never. Are you raiding the history books, Yvonne? This one looks like Zoe when she was starting out. I had a picture of her during that time in my room at university. We all wanted to be Zoe Hamilton, but I could never be tall, red, or skinny, enough.”

“She’ll be working for the same outfit, Jill. She has her first shoot in a couple of days.”

Chapter 2

Friday morning, I was awake and dressed early. During breakfast, Mum spoke about the pictures.

“How did you feel about the last ones, love, with you in a dress. I have to say that you looked every inch a model.”

Chapter 10

From Australia I went to Dubai, which was just recovering from the Iran conflict. Many other players were worried about the venue, so I had an easy run to win the singles and another thousand points. My old sponsors had seen my return and had spoken to me about my plans. When I told them that I was in it for some years to come, I was back on the gear supply and was on a decent cash amount as well, seeing that I was in the top five at the moment.

Chapter 8

With the next day clear, we took our time with breakfast and then the two of us wore our special dresses to walk to the venue to spend most of the day doing our duty for our sponsors, posing for pictures, signing brand new clothing and talking to fans, many who had seen that interview and were interested in my story. I held nothing back. There were a few who looked at me angrily, but the two men from our clothing sponsor were big enough to have them leave us alone.

Chapter 6

The crowds were back, and the atmosphere had turned up a notch. This all made me feel alive. There were hundreds of fans here today to see us play. The other three doubles teams were specialists, while the other six singles players were all highly ranked. I knew that Tony was right, there would be no shame going down today, but we had worked hard enough to give it a good go.