Chapter 14

Maude stayed sitting at her desk, and the other two took seats, with Willow on the chesterfield. The door opened and Kelly ushered a young woman in. Willow rose and gave her a welcoming hug, feeling the girl trembling as she did so.

“Come and sit down next to me. The lady behind the desk is Dame Mordaunt Modelle, the other is Janice, her PA. You’ve already met Kelly, or our receptionist and Jill of all things. I’m Willow Randall, so relax, sit down and tell us how you came to be here with us.”

The girl sat on the chesterfield, gulped a couple of times, and spoke.

“My name is Marian Johnson. My father used to be the member, over twenty years ago. I used to work on air, with his radio station. I took the Brighton electorate from Labour by a small majority. I’m married, with a daughter called Angelina, and a husband called Ken. I thought that I was destined to be warming the back bench for a few years until this afternoon, when The PM’s PA told me to report here to Mrs. Randall.”

Maude smiled.

“Welcome to the office of Culture, Media, and Sports, Marian. In this office, we go by first names. I’m Maude, that’s Janice, my PA, and you’ve met Kelly. Willow will be your immediate superior, with you and Janice working together. We were given a lot of extra duties today, so you’re a welcome to help us.”

“Thank you, Dame – Maude. My mother was a great fan of yours, and I have been to a lot of Willows’ shows when she played in London. It’s an honour to be sitting here with you. I never thought that I would be given an important job.”

“It’s important, because we’re an important office. Janice was going to split her time between us, but now she can give you the information needed for Willow to operate. There’s a small desk in Willows’ office for you to use, but I expect that, with what she’ll be doing, you’ll hardly get the seat warm. Kelly, can you organise letterhead and cards for Marian?”

“Will do, Maude. I’ll get her the stationery for both of them. Embossed diaries and badges to wear in the field. Marian, show me your ID, please.”

She looked at it.

“We’ll need to update this to give her unlimited access to this complex. How do you take your tea and coffee, Marian?”

“Black tea, no coffee, thanks. I never thought that I would be made so comfortable, thank you all for everything.”

“Is that why you were trembling?”

“Actually, walking in the meet the two most famous women in the House, I was more fearful than when I was in the campaign.”

Maude laughed.

“See, Kelly and Janice, your fame precedes you.”

They laughed and Marian had the colour coming back into her cheeks. Willow smiled.

“Shall I book seats for all of us for dinner?”

“I’ll be there, what about you three? Willow owns a building with a restaurant as a tenant. I’ve heard that it’s one of the best Italian places in town. Partners allowed if they feel lonely.”

Marian grinned.

“Ken is at home, looking after Angie. I’m in a hotel until I can find somewhere to live.”

Willow put her hand on her shoulder.

“I have a spare room in my apartment, above the restaurant. There’s spare clothes that you can use. Garry and I use the downstairs room, and the spare is a floor above. You could make it your base if we’re working close together.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden.”

“We’re going to be in close proximity for five years, Marian. If we’re going to be cheek to jowl for that time, we’d better get any problems out of the way. The bedroom is big enough for the two of you. There’s enough space to add a crib or a small bed. Have a look, tonight, and see what you think.”

Willow rang the restaurant and booked a big table for them, with enough seats for others, as well as the drivers and security. Janice called downstairs and asked for two cars with the security for both Maude and Willow, plus three others. They closed up the office and went down to the entrance where two cars were lined up. Maude told the drivers and security that they would be getting dinner, tonight, and then taking Janice and Kelly home, and Marian to her hotel. She and Janice got into one, with the other three in the back of the other.

Willow told her driver the address, and the security man radioed it to his partner in the other car. When they arrived at Foley Street, they parked with ‘official government business’ cards on the dashboard, and all went into the restaurant. Carlo greeted them warmly.

“Greetings, distinguished guests. Garry is already at your table, downstairs. Your parents and the professors are there as well. Are there any more to come?”

“No, Carlo. This is it. I’ll just lead them down and then pop upstairs. You can take orders while I’m away. It’s all on my card. Dame Mordaunt is very keen to taste your dishes.”

She led them all down to the cellar, where Ashley introduced the others. Willow and Marion said that they would be back soon, and went outside to the other door, where Marian was taken up to Apartment Four and shown the upper level.

“There’s the kitchen that we came through should you need to heat up a drink during the night. Laundry is taken down to Carlo in big plastic bags and delivered back to the landing. There’s the ensuite and the decent sitting room if you want to set up a small bed. How old is your little one?”

“She’s four and named after your friend in Summer Rose. She loves having the DVD on the TV and dancing to it. This is a wonderful offer, Willow. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, Marian. We will be working closely over the next few years. I learned what I was supposed to be doing, today, and we’ll be very busy over the next few months. I expect that we’ll be in a meeting with the King, or his secretary, very soon, as we need to arrange the Variety Performance.”

Marion stared at her.

“Surely, you jest?”

Willow laughed.

“I jest not, milady. That’s just one of our tasks left over from the last term, which Maude passed to me. If you’re happy to stay here while you’re in London, it will make it easier for our driver and security. We have our own car and will be picked up in the mornings. Dad has his car as well, so the transport office knows all the details about here as well.”

“Your father, he’s a Minister as well?”

“Yes. He’s been Business and Trade for two terms already. Let’s go and join them for a meal. Remember one thing, Marian. We’re all just human beings, some with more responsibilities than others, but all just other people under the pomp. You’re an elected MP, just like Dad, Maude and me, so you have your place at the table. Which my stomach is telling me we should be sitting at.”

She gave Marion the apartment and outer door keys and they went back down to the dinner table. The dinner was good, and everyone relaxed, even the drivers and security. Willow found out that her fathers’ detail had often eaten with the Roses and told her pair to let the rest of her team know that it would be open house whenever they brought her home.

Marian was asked what her husband did for a living.

“He’s an accountant. He studied at the LSE and now has an office in Brighton. I met him as he was auditing the books for my fathers’ business. His name is Ken, Ken Johnson.”

Tom put his head up.

“Tall and lanky, and graduated in thirty-one, with honours.”

“Yes. Did you know him?”

“I set the exams for the LSE. I was at the graduation ceremony. I remembered a tall lad who did very well. That’s a very hard course to get such good marks for. I’m glad he has settled down.”

“I’ll tell him that I met you.”

Maude giggled.

“Why don’t you send him a picture, dear? Horace can take it with your phone. Come on folks, let’s get all the famous people together for Marian to commemorate her first day as an MP.”

They lined up by the wall of the restaurant. Willow and Maude together, Ashly beside Maude, Garry beside Willow, Marion beside Garry, and Tom beside Ashley. Horace, Maudes’ driver, took the picture on Marians’ phone, as Kelly and Janice took pictures for themselves.

Marian composed a text – ‘Dining with my boss tonight. Will send new address in London tomorrow. Love, Mar.’ She attached the picture and sent it off. Ten minutes later, the phone chirruped. Maude leaned over and picked it up, winking at Marian, and putting it on speaker.

“Hello, Marian, is that some sort of prank picture?”

“Good evening, young man. We don’t do pranks in the Government.”

“Who’s that?”

“I’m Dame Mordaunt Modelle, young man.”

“Don’t give me that! She’s a Government Minister, not someone who would be eating with a new MP.”

“Have you ever watched the film, ‘Blood on the Prairie?’ Terrible plot, but one line in it that I was happy repeating for seventeen takes. It goes, ‘I’m a dame, cowboy, and I don’t take kindly to being unbelieved.” Such Shakespearian prose, don’t you think? Marian has been added to my office, as the assistant to Willow Randall. I’ll let you speak to her now.”

She passed the phone to a blushing Marian, who took it off speaker and got up to move away before talking to her husband. When she came back to her seat, she was smiling.

“He thought I was joking, but I listed everyone in the photo and told him what they did. He did say, Tom, that the final exam was the hardest he ever had but asked me to thank you for making him think.”

“That’s what we try to do. I’m glad that he carried on thinking. So, you’re likely to be a neighbour for a few years?”

“Willow has offered her second suite for me to use. It will be good to have friends around as I get used to the job. Perhaps Ken can bring our daughter up instead of me going down to Brighton, and we can make a weekend of it.”

Willow smiled.

“I’ve paid for extra car parking, Marian. It’s a secure park the other side of Langham. I’ll give you a card tomorrow. You could take Angie to the British Museum and see the famous things, unless we have other places to be. I was advised that there are sporting fixtures on weekends, and we are the Ministry of Sport.”

“Right. Ken can take Angie around. She’ll want to go to the Natural History Museum to see dinosaurs.”

Willow grinned as she looked at Maude.

‘Talking about dinosaurs. Maude, is there anything we should know about meeting the press tomorrow?”

“Let me deal with them, unless the PM throws you to the wolves.”

“I’ve faced them before, especially when we were on tour. I was thinking of writing a best-seller, with a full list of questions that should be asked, with an ‘enter victims’ name here’.”

“I know what you mean. It does get up your nose at times. I was in a film where we had to go to Australia to film in Queensland. The tropical forests were supposed to be the Amazon. We got off the plane in Brisbane, and the first question they asked was ‘How did you find Queensland?’ The leading man just said, ‘I didn’t have to, the pilot knew the way.’ That was another bloody awful film, which I seem to have made several.”

At the end of the evening, Maudes’ driver took her home, after telling Willow to get Marian settled first, before going to the office. Willows’ driver took Kelly and Janice, while Ashleys’ took Marian to her hotel. The family sat for a while longer at the table, with another bottle of wine.

“So, my darling, how was your first day as an MP?”

“If it stays as crazy as today, I doubt that I’ll last a month!”

“It does improve, as you get used to it. Maude is a good person, and everyone loves her, even if she does pull a joke, now and then. You’ll be good for her, as you take over a lot of her workload. That Marian is a nice person.”

“She is. The first time I gave her a hug, she was shaking like a tree in a gale. She has fitted in with us, and I think that we’ll do well. I have to sort some barney out with the Proms people, and I’m told that I’m organising the Variety Performance in November.”

“That’s the one to concentrate on, love. It will be easier for you, as you do have access to a lot of the stars they like. I believe that the younger prince was keen on ‘Garreth’ but has moved on to ‘Cauldron’ as he got into his teens. Janice will be organising an appointment soon, and you can start work on it.”

Willow and Garry went off to bed, and she told him some of the days’ events. The next morning, they were having breakfast when her car arrived, with Marian and her bags. Garry and the driver took the bags upstairs and came back down.

“Marian says she’ll be down when she’s unpacked. Do you want a cup of tea or coffee, guys.?”

The two sat with them while they waited for Marian to come down. Willow discovered that her driver was Morrie, while her security team were Peter and Jack for inner city trips, and Elaine and Shelley for visits outside the city, where they could lead Willow into strange toilets. Today was Peter, who had been on her fathers’ detail in his first term. He was often allocated to new members, so he said, because he was easier going than the older security guys, many who were ex-army.

When Marian was ready, Willow dashed upstairs to brush her teeth, gave Garry a kiss, and they were off to Whitehall. Today, Willows’ ID tag got them through to the office, and they went into their own room. Janice came in with a list of appointments that she has made for Willow, with the trip to Clarence House for the next Monday, followed by a trip to the Albert Hall to talk to the management about the royal show, as well as the thing about new music.

She also had a new ID tag for Marian, which would get her into the office area for Cabinet Members, as well as a new diary for her, filled in with already organised appointments and a list of places that she would have to organise a visit. There was also an encrypted phone for her.

“This is for you to use for official business only. It can’t be monitored by anyone but certain government officials, and that’s good if you get kidnapped. Offer the phone to your kidnappers if they want to make a demand. It will give away the location, so the heavies can come and rescue you.”

Willow and Marian sat and worked through the list that they had to organise. Many of the organisations were ones that Willow already knew from her time in the business. They had a list ready to work on by lunch, for which they went, with the others, down to the Members Dining Room.

After the lunch, it was the meeting with the press. They were taken into the Commons and sat on the government side, with the press sitting on the opposition side. Their seats were the ones that they would use when the House was sitting, with Willow and Marian sitting behind Maude. The PM took control and asked for the questions for the Cabinet Members first.

After that, it was time to talk to the new members, with Willow getting the bulk of the questions, which she answered as she could. The PM let it go for a while, and then stood.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Our team has a lot of work to get started on. I’m sure that you’ll be contacted when we have things to say. We do need to start governing the country. Thank you for your attention. The ushers will take you out. I want to talk to my team before I send them back to their offices.”

They all sat and talked among themselves until they were alone, and the doors were shut.

“Friends. This is where we do the work that the public see and comment on. I ask you, please treat this space with the respect it deserves. No mad speeches, no throwing popcorn at other members’ heads. Don’t laugh, it has happened. When we sit here, instead of people asking questions on the other side, there’ll be the opposition, and the cross benches. The opposition try to be just that. Do not give them ammunition to attack us, treat them with respect and they’ll show themselves up as enemies of the country, which will give us more terms in the future. I look forward to working with you all.”

Back in the office, Maude told Willow that she had the next couple of days to show Marian around her own businesses, and Monday was the start of real work. Their new business cards had been delivered, hot from the government printers. Marian called down to the garage for their car, and they picked up their things and left. Morrie was outside with the car, and Peter held the door for them.

As they pulled away, Willow gave Morrie the address and turned to Marian.

“We’re going to my main business. It’s Red Wolf Management, the agency that I joined when I joined the Rocks. We’ll set them a task which may make this better for us before next Monday and the meeting about the Variety Performance.”

When they arrived and had parked outside, Willow told the two men to come in and get a cup of tea. They walked into the reception, where Willow was hugged.

“Welcome home, Boss. I see you have your own hunks, where’s Garry?”

“These two are my official driver and one of my security detail. I’m going to see Sue, so point them at the lunchroom and let them wander.”

They went into the back office and Sue sat them on chairs.

“How are you, Willow. I hear that you’re now an MP.”

“I am, and so is Marian, here. She got in at Brighton and has been allocated to me. I’m now the Under Secretary to the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport. I’ve brought Marian to get contacts here so she can talk to you easily over the next five years. While I show her around, I would like to set the office a task. On Monday, we have an appointment at Clarence House to talk about the Royal Variety Performance. I would like you to do some research on the likely artists that they want to see and find contacts for those that aren’t on our list. I’ve been told that one act that’s likely to come up is ‘Cauldron’.”

“There’s a teenage lad in the family, so no wonder. Right, Willow, I’ll get on it.”

Willow and Marian gave Sue their new cards, telling her that all official business went to Marian. Willow then showed her around the building, being hugged by most of the girls. They stood behind Helen as she brought up the spreadsheet of all the clients, and where they were at the moment. Marian was amazed.

“This is fantastic. How many are you tracking?”

“Around two hundred and sixty, now, in seven countries. That’s their home countries, we track them on tours in almost every country in the world.”

In Tomasina’s office, she told them that the business was on track to pass the three billion mark that year. After that, they rounded up their companions and headed for Watford.

“We have two recording studios. The one at Watford used to be the rehearsal building for Toxic Rocks. We built a studio inside the original building, big enough to record a complete orchestra, or even a ballet company with the orchestra with them. Sarah was the first girl that I employed in Leicester and brought her down here, with Josh and Sydney. The others that work there are all from the Leicester studio, which takes graduates from the Blue Coat School in Coventry, where I did my schooling. We funded a full recording and post-production suite with proceeds from our records and the cut from the ‘Magic Laptop’ productions.”

At the studio, Peter went in and had a quick look before letting the others in.

“I had to go first, Willow. It looked like an old factory, not like the last place.”

“It was left that way to deter vandals, Peter. Come on through and have a good look.”

They could hear music coming from the speakers in the control room. Willow grinned.

“That sounds like ‘Third Rating’, I can tell Geoff’s guitar work anywhere.”

They went into the control room and Sydney greeted them, giving Willow a hug.

“What can we do for you, today, Willow?”

“Sydney, these gentlemen are my driver and security, and this lady is Marian, my Government PA. I’m now attached to the Cabinet office for Culture, Media and Sport. I’m showing Marian some of the things from my past that will be useful over the next few years. We’re seeing the Kings’ PA on Monday, to talk about the Variety show, and I may bring all of the cast here to make a recording beforehand, to run it by his office.”

“Sounds good. Sarah will be finished in a little while, I’ll let you look on and think about the old days.”

Marian looked at the control room.

“I thought my desk at the radio station was trick, but this is like a space mission! What are those guys doing on those screens?”

“There’s a lot of cameras in the studio, all able to be controlled. If you look at the big screen over Sarah’s head, you’ll see the current vision. Those guys can choose the vision they want. It allows us to produce a DVD on the run, only needing the credits to be added for a saleable product. We encourage everyone who use the studio to play as if they were on stage, without stopping every couple of minutes. It gives the product that live feel, because it really is live.”

“Some of those in the band used to be with you.”

“Geoff, the lead guitar, was in G-Force, the first time I played on a stage. The others are all from the second band that developed into Summer Rose.”

Peter went off to look around the building, both inside and out. The others watched on as ‘Third Rating’ finished the set and relaxed. Sarah turned to them.

“Hello, famous MP, Willow.”

“Hi, Sarah. This is Marian, she’s also an MP, for Brighton. I’m showing her around because the two of us are working with Dame Mordaunt, the Minister for Culture, Media, and Sport. One of the first things we have to organise is the Variety Performance, and we’re looking at the studio with the thought of recording the cast that we get, as a way to get a DVD to show the King, and to help the TV to know what to expect.”

“Sounds like a good plan. The band is having a break, and then we’ll be recording again. Do you want to go in and say hello?”

“That will be good. Come on, Marian, meet some of the old band.”

They spent twenty minutes, with both of them getting hugs and chatting about what was happening. Willow warned them that they may be playing in front of Royalty. When they left the band to carry on, Peter commented on the attention to detail with the entrances and lack of any other ways in. Seeing that it was at the end of the afternoon, Willow directed Morrie to the steakhouse, where that had a meal and the two men opened up about typical pitfalls for new members. They were dropped off at the apartment and told Morrie to pick them up at half past eight in the morning, and that they would be going to Leicester.

Marianne Gregor © 2025