Vivienne’s return to London from Paris was rather strange. It was strange in that she actually felt rather naked without the corset wrapped tightly around her body. Even after just a few days, it had started to be part of her. Then there were the brand new two suitcases that held all her purchases. If her daughters could see inside, then they’d probably keel over on the spot. She had spent quite a lot of money but Vivienne had plenty and it wasn’t as if she’d be going shopping in Paris every day or London for much longer.

"Ja… Jacques? What are you doing here?" said a very startled and surprised Vivienne after they'd almost bumped into each other on 'The Strand'.

He smiled back at her. Any worries that she might have had just disappeared in an instant. His smile did that to her. Again!

"Meeting you," he replied.

The sun was just poking its head above the horizon as Vivienne left home the next morning. She had high hopes for the weekend despite not having anywhere to stay for the next few days. The traffic was light at that early hour. It was just before 05:45 when she reached the start of the M3 close to Kempton Park Racecourse. The battery gauge on the dash told her that the battery in her car would get her to the charger at the Supermarket in Wincanton just as she’d planned. She hoped that she could get a late breakfast while the car was also fed but with electrons rather than her choice of Sausage, Bacon, Eggs and Hash Browns all washed down with a large cup of tea.

Vivienne had been nagged by the thought of some dark secret or secrets that Jacques was hiding refused to go away. His good looks and charming personality were tempered by this as yet unanswered question. She preferred to think that someone like him could not be all bad.
This was, of course, complete and utter bollocks naturally… but it sounded rather nice to her.

The Photographer from the Estate Agency, a still wet behind the ears youngster named Neil Thomas, finished packing up his gear and then left Vivienne alone. A job that should have taken under an hour had taken three hours. For some unfathomable reason, he insisted on using a full studio flash rig even in the Bathroom where there really wasn’t the room to swing a cat let alone all the kit that he’d brought with him. From what little he’d said during the visit, he was clearly more used to taking pictures of the very large houses that only the mega rich of Hampstead could afford. Still, it was at their cost not hers. If she wasn’t happy with the promotion material she could take her business to another agency.

The ‘pet funeral’ people came and collected Betty later that day. It was hard for Vivienne to say goodbye to her lovable pet. As they prepared her body for transportation Vivienne realised that they’d not spent one night apart since she’d first came into her life almost nine years before. It really would be strange without the ‘Madness of Queen Betty’ to keep her entertained.

The people that came for her could well have been undertakers. They were dressed in black and spoke reverently in hushed tones about Betty and what Vivienne wanted done with her. After some discussion, Vivienne agreed to be there for Betty's final journey in two days’ time. She expressed that wish as it only felt fitting that Betty deserved a proper send off as thanks for the part she had played in her life these past years.

“That’s the last of the washing on Betty. Want to go for a walk?”

Her lovable companion wagged her tail and looked up at her mistress with doleful eyes.

Vivienne smiled back at her companion.

“Ok then. Go find your lead.”

Betty took off like a rocket only to completely miss the lead that was hanging over the bannister at the bottom of the stairs and thumped into the front door. She bounced off, turned around and grabbed the lead on her way back to her.

Forty-five minutes after they’d met at the services, Vivienne and Maxine said goodbye to each other. Even in that short time, they’d become friends.

“Are you sure that I won’t be a pain in the neck? I’m not exactly a country person.” asked Vivienne.

“Not at all. It will be nice to have some company for the week.”

“And you don’t mind about Betty?”

“Not at all. She seems to like me.”

All was quiet in the house. The Sun had risen well over an hour earlier. The hum of London grew as the city started a new day.

There were two occupants of the house. For one of them this was a day to celebrate. For the other, the prospect of walkies, rabbits to chase and food was normal.

In a bedroom at the front of the three-storey terraced house, Vivienne Carter was wide awake. Today was her sixtieth birthday, plus it was the first day of what she’d been calling her ‘afterlife’. She’d just retired from her job as very senior official at the HMRC in the ‘Collections Department’. The previous day which had been a rather sad occasion. Vivienne, could have carried on working for at least six more years until she qualified for a state pension but she’d had enough of work, commuting and putting up with the incompetence of other people for far too long so she'd decided several months before to call it a day when she turned sixty years of age.

[The day of the funeral]
“Ready darling?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be Mum,” replied Maxine.

“The car is waiting.”

Maxine pulled the heavy veil down over her head. She was dressed head to toe in black. Her dress was black silk and very full. Her whole outfit could have come from the late Victorian era. Long before Adrian had become bedridden, they discussed the funeral and everything in great detail especially what she was going to wear.

“Hello darling,” said Adrian softly.
He was sitting in Maxine’s room waiting for her to come around after her operation.

She didn’t answer straight away.

After a bit, she said,
“It hurts.”

Adrian smiled. Maxine could not see his reaction as her eyes were screwed shut.

He put a control device into her left hand.
“Nurse says to use this to help with the pain.”

Seeing my brother hiding down in the back of the Pickup phased me for a moment but it was only a moment. It would not do to show any favouritism with that almost ever present thorn in my thumb, my brother Walt.

I shook my head before saying,
“Out you get Walt. You know the drill!”

Walt slowly got out of the truck and sat on the floor. I didn’t need to tell him to keep his legs straight but crossed below the knee.

“Boss, shall I get some more cuffs from my vehicle?”

After leaving Maxine’s home in Reigate, Kim travelled by train back to Royston where her car was parked. When she changed trains at Blackfriars, she nearly left the package that Maxine had given her on the train. For a moment, the swore at herself for being so absent minded. Then she laughed at herself. Absentmindedness was a family trait that she’d worked hard to eliminate. Kim wondered if the emotional trials and tribulations of the recent few weeks was finally catching up with her.

[Kim and Garth have just arrived at the factory in Kings Lynn]

“Hi Brian,” said Garth as he walked into his office. Kim followed on behind him.

Brian was in deep thought looking at some schematics. The drawings more than covered his desk.

“Oh, hello Garth.”

Then he saw Kim.

His face brightened up considerably.
“Hello there Kim.”

Then he wiped the smile from his face.

Kim’s mother was speechless. Hearing that her one and only daughter was going to get married had knocked the stuffing out of her.
“But…?” she muttered.
“I’ve arranged for some people to come over for dinner tonight now that you are back from London.”
“Mum, you didn’t ask me if I wanted company and I made it clear that I was only staying for a few days at the most. As it happens, I have things I need to do but not here.”

“Well, we made it,” said Brian as they walked into Terminal 5 at Heathrow a few minutes after 6pm that Saturday Evening.

Kim didn’t say much. She hadn’t had much time alone with Brian since he’d picked her up at her home some three hours earlier. For one thing, her lack of sleep the previous night didn’t help. She wasn’t looking forward to delaying getting to bed for another eight or nine hours especially after being in a crowded aircraft and suffering the horrendously uncomfortable seats.

“Welcome to the company Kim,” said Brian as Kim walked into the building the following Friday Morning.

Kim was a little startled to see the Managing Director, Brian West sitting at the reception desk.

He saw her the look of bewilderment on her face.

26 months later, September – At a bar in a small coastal town in Northern California.
The place was fairly quiet as it was early on a Monday evening. It would get quite rowdy later as the ‘Dallas Cowboys’ were playing at home that night against the 49’ers and the game would be shown on the big screen. Naturally, this being California, most of the locals supported the 49’ers.

Two people were working behind the bar preparing for the night ahead when the door opened and in walked a tall Blonde woman wearing a white blouse, black tight leather trousers and black ankle boots.

“Hello Sean. I’ll have a G & T please but hold the T.”

The barman looked up from the ‘shot’ glass he was drying and saw Ingrid standing in front of him. His face dropped. To him, she looked the spitting image of Marylin Monroe in the ‘Seven Year Itch’. Another words, totally stunning and totally out of place for the clientele of ‘Big Jake’s Famous Bar & Grill’.

Adrian took hold of Maxine’s hands and said,

“It is time,” he said softly.

That was all he needed to say. Both Cliff and Maxine knew what he meant in an instant.

The revelation that Adrian’s life was about to change for the worse shocked Maxine right to her core.

Maxine fled to her room and cried her eyes out. It seemed that her world was crumbling around her. First her mother becoming a lesbian and now Adrian. What would be next.

Adrian was away in Scotland doing on what he called ‘a fact-finding mission’, which left just Cliff and Maxine in the Office when the phone rang.

Maxine saw the caller ID and answered it.
“Oh, hello Mum. What’s up?”

“Why am I asking? Didn’t we speak for nearly an hour at the weekend?”

“No. I don’t think I am busy tomorrow night. It could work out pretty well as I’m due at a meeting in Devon the following day.”

“No, he won’t mind. He’s busy with a different project in Scotland.”

“What time and where and why?”

Maxine was alone the Reigate House. Adrian and Cliff were away in Sheffield looking at a prospective deal. She was dealing with paperwork and the accounts. This was the one part of being in business that she hated but it needed to be done on a regular basis. All the businesses that Lorelei had invested in made regular financial reports. These needed to be collated and various profit and loss projections made. This, along with the expenditure of the business allowed them to see a picture of how things were doing with the business.

Adrian had been very patient with her when he introduced her to the intricacies of doing the books for the many different companies that she and Adrian controlled. What was hard for her at the start was getting to grips with the different requirements of other countries had for business accounting and reporting.