Chapter 341.
Despite his anxiety about what sort of person Mrs Brookshaw was, and what demands she would make of him, he slept well that night and was up early Thursday morning. It was the beginning of December, but fortunately the weather was bright and sunny, and though there was a bite in the air, there was little wind. He showered, put on his red hot pants pageboy outfit, and presented himself in the breakfast room. Several of the staff were sitting at the big table. Cassandra was relaxing in an armchair, sipping coffee.
“Good boy!” she smiled. “All ready to go, I see. What would you like for breakfast?”
He opted for cereal and pancakes. Eating reminded him of lunch.
“Miss? Will I be taking a packed lunch?”
“Oh, no… Too much fuss. We’ll go to the canteen. You can have whatever you want. With a bit of luck…”
“Will I see Bobby?”
“That’s what I was going to say. If we can, we’ll organise it so you’ll be able to see your friend.”
“Great!”
“Oh, and this is for you. Doreen got it for you.” She handed him a little pink belt-purse. “You can keep your money safe, or a tissue. She put your gloves in there too.”
“Ooh, thanks…”
“Doreen and Lucille will be doing the photography. Lucille?”
Lucille was sitting opposite him.
“We may ask you to pose, but otherwise you can just be natural. Anyway, Serena will be in charge of the locations, so just do what she tells you. There’ll be people you know there, and we’ll have plenty of time. Also, I’m sure our little shoot will attract an audience. Other people might be snapping away, but just ignore them, okay?”
“Sure. Of course.” He couldn’t suppress a smile of satisfaction. “So will I have many new outfits?”
“Well, several, I think,” said Cassandra. “Most of the pageboy things may be just variations of the original. But don’t be disappointed. We have to give our clients a choice of styles and colours, naturally. Then some will want one outfit for when you’re working around the house, another for parties, another for going out, and so on. Miss Brookshaw was primarily thinking of you as her maid, but when I showed her a photo of you as a pageboy she was so impressed, and amazed at your versatility.”
“I think I prefer being a pageboy…”
Cassandra laughed. “I’d noticed. You love those swanky shorts, don’t you?”
Tim grinned. Yes, He rather be a pageboy any day than dressed as a girl. The female attention was addictive.
“Well he does look so cool in them,” remarked Lucille, with a romantic sigh. “Such a heartthrob!”
Tim liked that. He bestowed on her what he imagined was a devastating smile. He simply couldn’t help being such a babe magnet…
“Well thank goodness it’s a nice day,” smiled Cassandra, looking out of the window. “Mild too, for the time of year.” She looked at her watch. “You guys should get going soon. Let me know how things go, won’t you?”
“Yes, mum,” said Serena. She exchanged glances with Cassandra. What they weren’t telling him was that Connie Brookshaw was going to pay them a visit, probably sometime in the afternoon, when he would be modelling a couple of her creations. He’d never met her, nor seen a picture, so she would pose as a horsey visitor. But she wanted to see her new maid in the flesh.
To Tim’s disappointment, Serena wasn’t taking the Porsche. Instead the four of them were going in Lucille’s estate, into which the various outfits and props had already been loaded.
“Oh, sorry Tim,” said Serena, with mock sympathy, “I know you love my car…”
“Work hard and you might have one of your own one day,” remarked Doreen.
“No, I just like this one,” said Tim, sadly.
“Okay – pretend it is yours,” laughed Lucille. “Go on – I’ll take a quick snap.”
It was a quick drive – there wasn’t much on the road that morning – and by eight they were in reception. Miss Poole came out to greet them.
“You’re here nice and early. It’s a lovely day for it. Tim, you look so smart today. Love the new red shorts. Are you looking forward to it?”
Tim nodded enthusiastically.
“He’s in his element,” said Serena, with a wink. “Aren’t you, Master Painter?”
Tim looked puzzled, and everyone laughed.
“Ah, yes,” quipped Miss Poole. “The TFC’s going to be out in force today…”
“TFC…?” repeated Doreen.
“The Tim Fan Club, dear. Really, you should make it official. Would you like that, Tim?”
He looked startled. “My own fan club? Really…?”
Everyone laughed again.
“I think Miss Poole was joking, Tim,” said Lucille.
“Was I? I’m not sure. You realise, Tim, that since the wedding your image is all over social media? Why doesn’t one of you ladies work with his Facebook profile, or get him on TikTok or something, so he can show off all his outfits more widely? I’m surprised you hadn’t thought of it. Would you like that, Tim? Yes, of course you would. I’ll talk to Cassandra. We could link it to ESDS. It would be good for Tim and good for us.”
“It’s an idea…” said Serena, thoughtfully.
“Anyway, you should get on. Where are you going to start?”
“We thought around the new stables, said Serena. We’ll head up there and take a couple of test photos to see what they look like.”
Ten minutes later Tim, watched closely by a couple of girls who had come to saddle their ponies, but had been distracted by his appearance, was posing in one of the upper paddocks, one foot on a mounting block, looking like some sort of pioneer. To tell the truth, had he worn that one outfit all day he would have attracted all the attention he could have wished for. But there were plenty of others in the back of Lucille’s car…