Chapter 15

They were standing by one of the stalls, when there was a voice beside her.

“Excuse me, young lady, but you’re Willow Rose, aren’t you?”

She turned to see a man who looked all the world like a teacher, with a younger wife and a baby in a stroller.

“Yes, I am, sir. You look like a teacher, but not one that I ever had when I was at school here.”

“Well spotted. I am a teacher, but I started at the Clifton School the term after you had gone. This is my wife, Emma, and our daughter, Slade. My name is Harvey Horton, and I remember your papers that I forwarded to Coventry. I wrote that Billie-Jean should do well, and you have done, spectacularly, I may say.”

“So, it was you that told the school the name that Tony gave me. Are you related?”

“He is, or should I say, was, my son, from a previous marriage. He was a vicious little shit and spent time in reform school before ending up in a gutter with a knife in him. He bullied you, didn’t he?”

“He did, sir, and I still have remnants of the scars that he and his minions gave me. My doctor saw them and advised me to sue the Clifton School, but I had moved on. Look, sir. You have just added the one piece that had been missing in my life. Can we buy you nice people lunch, somewhere nice. This is my fiancé, Garry, by the way.”

“Congratulations. It would be a pleasure to have lunch and talk. The closest place is the Star and Dove, just a walk across the park.”

They walked across the park and talked on the way. Willow found out about Harvey becoming the assistant headmaster and now the headmaster. Of course, none of the older students that were there before were still around. Also, hardly any of the teachers. With the years, almost the entire staff had turned over, due to some moving on and others retiring.

He asked about the Blue Coat and was told just how good it was, both academically and artistically. At the restaurant, there was a table for four, and the manager recognised the two of them immediately. When he arrived with the menus, he also had the two latest Toxic Rocks albums, the two latest VivWillow albums, and a copy of the VivWillow in Heaven DVD set, for them to sign. Willow always had a texta in her bag, so signed hers and then gave it to Garry.

“The DVD, sir. Is that yours?”

“It’s the property of the Star. We are a friendly venue and hold special evenings. Nothing the size of that Heaven.”

“Heaven wasn’t a patch on the six places we played that summer. The one on Berlin had been moved to a sporting arena. There must have been ten thousand on the floor, every night for six nights.”

Emma was looking at the cover.

“It says here that it runs for six hours?”

“That’s right, Emma. Vivienne and me playing from after eight to nearly three, every night. It was a lot of fun.”

The manager smiled.

“And gave the girls a lot of good will among the LGTBQ society. I expect that there were a few who tried it on?”

“More than a few, sir. None were as crazy as that DVD on Tart’s Tuesday.”

“If you allow a selfie, later, the meals are on the house. Even yours, Headmaster.”

“You’re a bit old to have been at the school since I’ve been there.”

“Quite right, but my daughter is in third year at the moment, and I’ve seen your picture many times.”

He walked away with their orders and Emma giggled.

“Oh! the fame! My husband recognised by the manager of a gay bar, alongside a couple of famous singers. I have to get him to take a picture of all of us for my scrapbook. Willow, you would be in fifth year. Any plans, other than marriage and more albums.”

“Actually, the marriage is more likely. I’m taking a few years off to get a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree, starting in November. I did a Certificate course which allows me to go straight to Uni without needing the higher levels. It was hard, at the time, but is turning out more convenient than I imagined.”

“Any more big shows?”

“Just the one, Harvey. We’re putting on a charity event at the Coventry City Football ground, at the end of June. It will be me and Vivienne with friends. That’s why Garry and I were here, we’ve been discussing the format. After that, who knows. There’s some talk about us being in an operetta with the English National Opera, but nothing has been set in motion, yet.”

They had a pleasant meal and walked out after several selfies taken with the manager and his daughter, who had been called. Emma and the teen were given the VivWillow Rocks pendants, Emma also got her selfie of the four of them, with Willow holding the baby. Back at the market, Willow and Emma hugged, and Willow hugged Harvey, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you for that note that you sent to Coventry. You have no idea what good it did. There may be a few, from the orchestra here, who may remember Billie-Jean, but as Willow, my life has been brilliant.”

She gave him her business card.

“My email is on this. Send me an address and I’ll get a pair of tickets to you before the big show. It’s in term, so you’ll be able to use them on the Friday and Saturday nights.”

On the drive back to Bourton, Garry looked over at her.

“So, it was that Tony who gave you the scars. Was that when you were still William?”

“How long have you known?”

“The first time we played. You were still a bit too boyish on the keyboard. Since I moved down this way, I looked up the census records to find a young William John living with Wendy and Ashley.”

“And yet you still proposed?”

“I told you, my love. I fell for you that night, and you have become the woman of my dreams. It didn’t matter to me, whether you were a girly-boy or a boyish girl. That fact that you’ve used what little bit of boy you still had to be a leader has been a bonus, and I applaud you for it.”

“So, if I ask you the take me one more time, before you take me home, it wouldn’t be any different?”

“It would be sheer pleasure, my darling, sheer pleasure.”

And it was.

On the drive back to Rising Lane, he looked over to her.

“When did you realise that you wanted to be a girl?”

“About a month after that show. When we did that, I’d only worn a skirt a few days. Miss Russell had brought a girl’s outfit for me, and I thought that it was a good disguise. I fooled the others, why not you?”

He drove for a few more minutes, then spoke.

“I’m not really an only child. I had an older brother, James. He was about four years older than me. I saw him change from being manly to being girly. He hid it from our parents, but couldn’t hide it from me, seeing that we shared a bedroom. A couple of years before you arrived, he got all dressed up to venture out and enjoy the world. He never came back. They found his body two days later. He had been raped and beaten to death. They never caught the culprits, and I don’t think that they tried very hard. It destroyed my parents, who separated with me living with Mum until she went home to Wales. I was living with an aunt when I met you for the first time. I told everyone I was an only child, so that I could keep his secret safe.”

She put her hand on his arm.

“I’m so sorry, darling. Did meeting me raise memories of him?”

“Not really. What it did do was replace my last look of him as he went out, with the look of you working away on the keyboard. You were very good, you know.”

“It was all bravado. That school skirt was the first one I’d worn, and it was the acceptance of Willow in the school that made me happy when I needed the second operation. Both were part of a sexual re-alignment, but needed, as the first was to remove two dead testicles that had never been able to descend, the tubes blocked from a kick I got in primary. I’m glad that you know, but still want me. I feel so comfortable with you, and with you inside me. When I say that I’ll love you until death us do part, it will be heartfelt.”

“We’ll need to get you a proper ring.”

“No rush, love. This one will tell me what we’re planning. You can drive me into London, and we can live at my apartment for a weekend. Before that, though, you can take on some of the organisation for the show. We need to get the others at the school on Thursday evenings. We’ve got enough of our music rehearsed, so, all we need to do is perfect the friends sessions and the ending. Will you be able to come to the rehearsal room on Thursday and we can let the others know which way we’re going.”

“Right. I have the contact details of the band and will talk to them all tonight. I’ll get on to Lee, Cliff, and Ken, if you call Zara. It keeps playing in my head as we talk about it. The Phantom is really in my mind!”

When they stopped at her home, they went inside, and Garry put her bag by the stairs. Wendy took one look at them and enveloped the two of them with hugs and kisses.

“I can see that something momentous happened, but there were no jewellers open. That ring looks like something from a market.”

“It is, Mum, from Bristol. Garry proposed and I accepted. Nothing set, yet. We have a big show to organise, and we may leave things until summer. He’ll be helping me organise the show, as he knows all the performers already. I may be spending a few more weekends at his house, and we’ll be spending the next holiday at the apartment.”

“Well, congratulations to both of you. At least you’re both in the entertainment industry, so there’s no false expectations.”

Garry grinned.

“We may rope her in as an organist with the Rocks and go on tour together.”

When Ashley came home, he was brought up to date and the four of them went to the Punchbowl for dinner, with the two girls touching their wine glasses with the beer glasses of the boys, as they sank a toast to the future, to fame, and to happiness.

Garry and Willow shared a loving kiss as he was about to drive home.

“See you Thursday, my darling. I don’t know how I’ll cope without you until then.”

“It’s only a few days, my love. You could text me and I’ll call back as soon as I can. I love you.”

“I love you, Willow Rose, the sweetest flower in the garden.”

She stood and watched him drive away, then went to close the gate. Walking back to the house, she started humming ‘Her Day’.

On Monday morning, the first day of the second half of term, Willow knocked on the Head’s door as soon as she arrived at the school. When she heard the ‘come in’ she turned the knob and entered.

“Good morning, Willow. What can I do for you today?”

“I’m just giving you an update on the charity show, ma-am.”

“OK, Lay it on me.”

“We will now call it an evening with VivWillow and Friends. I’ve spoken to the football club and he’s happy with it.”

“So, who are the friends?”

“Zara is keen to be part of it, with a new album on the market. We are close to confirming Ken Stroll, the winner of the TV singing show last year, as well as Cliff Jensen, the winner a few years before.”

“Wow! They’re both drawcards.”

“Then we’ll have Lee James, who was the Phantom for four seasons.”

“He has a lovely voice. I suppose that he’ll sing songs from the show.”

“Not in his first appearance. I’m holding that back to a finale. I was talking to Garry Randall on the weekend. He is going to talk to the rest of Toxic Rocks.”

“They will be totally different from the rest of the show, though.”

“Actually, we spoke about dressing the band in school colours to embed them in the orchestra to provide some electric sound to other sections. I was thinking of not having amplifiers but routing the guitars through the PA with the rest of the mix. He told me that they have a sense of the absurd and that may get them on board. When we call Mac out, they’ll be there to back him up.”

“What about the finale?”

“Zara will be the last friend, and I see a duet with her and Vivienne with the Phantom song to the dead father. Then all four of the men appear to sing ‘Music of the Night’, with them in two groups of three. The last bit is when the orchestra play the theme, and they do the big song, building to a crescendo and a sudden end with pyrotechnics. I thought that it would be a neutral finish but theatrical.”

“Theatrical enough that I can see it in my mind. What do you need to achieve all this?”

“Access to the Britannia for the guests when they’re here to rehearse. My security will drive them. I’ll pay for the accommodation, but I’m sure that the school can negotiate a better deal than I can. We’ll need to have them there for the whole week of the show, so we can do a dress rehearsal here, earlier in the week. I’ll organise one friend at a time to rehearse with the orchestra. We could utilise the Vines inside the orchestra to do the electric bits before the Rocks are here, if need be. It was the Rocks who played backing to the recent albums, so they’ve already done the hard work.”

“What about the technical side?”

“I’m thinking that we can rig a huge backscreen for our guys to project on it. My studio has a lot of the video used on their DVDs, as they were recorded there. They can take a still from the Phantom film for the finale.”

“Look, Willow. That all sounds like a great night out. You run along and learn something, and I’ll start talking to some contacts.”

That day went along as usual, with just a few girls noting her new ring, but accepting that it was a token, rather than a commitment. She rang Zara, that evening, and got a firm commitment of being part of the show. Willow asked her if she would be able to join them in the orchestra rehearsal that week, with scores of the songs she wanted to sing.

Garry called her on Wednesday evening, to tell her that the Rocks will be in the show, as it would show them in a totally different light. The other three had confirmed, and Willow asked him if he could schedule them in the school, one a week for the first three weeks of March.

On Thursday, at the orchestra session, she created a bit of a storm as she walked in with Zara, who was warmly welcomed. Howard Bamborough nodded to her and smiled, so she understood that he had been filled in. She got the group quietened.

“Today, I’m moving the goalposts. We have rehearsed enough to fill all the time that Vivienne and I will be singing. The show is now ‘An Evening with VivWillow and Friends’. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been able to attract a few good entertainers to join us. Zara will be part of the last section of the show, including the finale. After Viv and I have opened the show, we’ll call on Lee James to sing a set, mostly with orchestral backing. After another short set of VivWillow, we will call on Ken Stroll, the latest TV winner, to sing a set. The next friend will be Cliff Jensen.”

There was murmuring and a few questions, especially about the need for some electric backing, which they didn’t have. Willow grinned and put her hands up to get quiet.

“I hear you. We need some electric to make this work. For rehearsal purposes, we’ll have the Vines to help out, if needed, but the show will have four guys in the blue and black outfits, embedded in with you. They will come along to back their singer but will provide the electric backing for our other friends, as they’ve done it before, on their recent albums. Our friend, called up before Zara, will be Mac and Toxic Rocks.”

This time the room was almost bedlam. Zara leaned close to Willow.

“Looks like you’ve done it again, my friend.”

“I hope so. I really hope so.”

The door opened and Garry walked in, causing more mayhem. Howard was looking on at this with a smile. Willow nodded to him, and he tapped his baton for quiet, then looked back at the trio.

“You all know Garry. He was with G-Force when we were juniors. He’s now the bass player for the Rocks and has assured me that the band will be happy to be here. What we’ll do, this afternoon, will be to rehearse Zara’s set. She’s brought the scores with her, but I’m certain that you’ve all listened to her albums.”

Garry went to a chair, Willow went to the keyboards, and Zara handed out scores. She had five that she had chosen, and they spent the rest of the session running through them until they were perfect. When they were finished and were packing up, Garry called out.

“Next week, we’ll have Ken Stroll with us, then Lee, with Cliff in revision week. After the holiday, I’ll be here with the band on Thursdays. It won’t need a rehearsal with Mac until near the show, but we’ll be able to add to other parts of the show. The other friends will be joining us for the Thursdays in June, with all of us here during the week of the show. I’m sure the Head will want us to perform it in the theatre for the school, one afternoon.”

As they were leaving the room, Howard Bamborough shook Garry’s hand and told him that he had done well for himself. At the entrance, Willow and Garry had a kiss that caused a flutter among the orchestra members going that way. He told her that they were going to London on the weekend, and that he would pick her up at home, Friday. Garry took Zara to the hotel, while Sebastian took Willow home.

On Friday, she had been home about twenty minutes when Garry drove in. She told him that they would be having dinner at the Punchbowl and then she was free for the weekend. Her parents arrived in one of the Range Rovers, and they were soon off to the Punchbowl. Later on, her bag joined his in the back of his Alfa, and they set off for London. Having been there before, although it was just outside, he knew where to go. They dropped their bags inside the door and went to the parking station, where Willow had the boom card and showed him the two vacant spots.

They walked back to the apartment, arms around each other, and went in to take the bags up to Number Four. Inside, with the lights on, he looked around.

“Nice. Well fitted out. Kitchen through there?”

“And another door to stairs to the attic, with fully fitted bedroom and sitting room.”

“What else?”

“Bedroom through here.”

She opened the door, and he followed her in. An hour later, they came out, naked, to pick up the bags. In the morning, they showered and dressed, the contents of his bag now hanging in the wardrobe or taking up space in spare drawers. They went down to the restaurant for breakfast, with Carlo looking after them. When they had eaten, they went back up to brush their teeth and freshen up. Garry had looked up a nearby jeweller, so they walked, hand in hand, along Foley Street and then through to Fitzroy Street and along that until they arrived at Agnes Jewellers. There was more silver than gold, but they did find a single diamond on a simple gold band which was just elegant, rather than over the top.

With the market ring replaced, they considered themselves properly engaged. They strolled back along Fitzroy Street and then through to the Goodge Street tube station, taking the train to Embankment, going up to the street level and then walking along the river to Westminster. They had a look in the Abbey, joking about having their marriage there.

After that, they walked across the Waterloo Bridge to the Waterloo tube station, taking a train back to Goodge Street. They had a solid lunch at Gaucho and went back to the apartment to talk more about the show, their future, and to go to bed.

They were cuddled together, resting, when Garry declared that he loved the apartment, the location, and that Willow had been very clever to find it. In the morning, they bundled the sheets and pillowcases in the plastic bag, taking it down and having breakfast with the other two couples, who Garry had met before. The ring attracted squeals and hugs from Alicia and Hazel. Ted wanted to know if Willow’s plans had changed and was assured that she was determined to see the three-year course through.

Garry said that he was likely to be on tour with the Rocks that summer, with the USA pencilled in from the middle of July. That led to more questions, as he had been with G-Force the last time they had seen him. The process of events that led him to be playing in one of the biggest bands around was discussed. They had a long breakfast and then they went up to gather up what they were leaving with and walked to the parking station to get his car.

At home, she kissed him and picked her bag up. He gave her a wave as he drove out of the property, with a promise to see her on Thursday. When she went inside, her mother gave a squeal when she saw the diamond ring and hugged her daughter.

“So, the market ring was just a stopgap, was it?”

“Yes Mum. We got this one from a place near the apartment.”

“You actually went outside?”

“For a little while. The first weekend with him I found out that the album that affected you did the same to me, in the right situation. I wonder if there are a lot of women ready to give birth at the moment.”

The next few weeks flew by, with three Thursdays a real joy for the orchestra, accompanying the other three men and perfecting their sets. For Willow, it was time spent with Garry, who was now acting as her assistant director. For Howard Bamborough, it was a novelty and a privilege to conduct three well-known singers. The last week was revision week, so things were fairly easy going.

In that week there was another statement for the February sales. Album and DVD sales brought her two point two-seven, and, after costs and commission, she had one point eight-five. She got Peter to put two million in the business account.

The weekends were spent in various ways. For one, the couple went to Bourton; another was spent moving things around at the design studio, with Garry sleeping with Willow in her room. He made friends with Tiger and was much better for her to cling to. Another weekend saw the four of them in London on the Friday evening, as Ashley had a strategy meeting with the party officials. Wendy got to know more about her prospective son-in-law, and they bonded well.

The final week of term was, of course, exam week. It went as they always did, some stress, some joy, and a relief at the end. Garry had organised the whole show to be at the school on Monday, and the orchestra was happy to spend a couple of days working through the entire show without the rest of the students being there.

On Sunday, the couple went in to set up the orchestra seating on the stage, pulling the rostrum apart and relocating it. Willow had written out the score for the finale, after some input from Lee, who thought that it would look good. She added it behind the rest of the mass of scores that they had accumulated on the stands. She put the two Yamahas with a swivel seat between them, one to be set to piano and the other to organ. There were three extra seats in the back of the orchestra, with fifty-watt amps behind them, and a drum kit set up. When they were happy with things, they locked up and went to Rising Lane to join Ashley and some donors for a barbeque.

Marianne Gregory © 2025