Chapter 375.
Connie knew exactly who it was. She opened the door, and put a finger to her lips. She spoke in a whisper.
“Good morning, Esther. How lovely to see you after all this time.” She embraced her, the stood back. “Goodness, you’re a young woman now. You’re even prettier. Yes, he’s here. I hope you like his new pageboy costume. Robyn? You’ve explained everything?”
“Yes. She’s been fully prepped.”
“Esther dear, you understand, right? Not the slightest hint of ridicule. We have to maintain the charade for as long as possible.”
“Of course, Mrs Brookshaw. I can’t wait to see him…”
She led them into the living room.
“Tim? Look who’s here.”
She ushered Esther forward. Tim stared in horror.
“Hello Tim. Remember me? The wedding… I’m Esther.”
She was playing her part well. Her face showed not the slightest sign of surprise.
“E-Esther…?”
“The girl with the balloon. Remember?”
“The girl with the b-balloon…”
“At the wedding, yeah? Remember? I just managed to get a selfie with you, then I had to leave. I’d been wondering who you were. Everyone was talking about the pageboy. You looked so cool. I mean, most of the people there were like, fairly boring, but you would have stood out anywhere. I was, like, too shy to approach you. Finally I found your friend, Ms Egerton, and she filled me in a bit. Mum was telling me, like, “Esther! We have to go!” But I was determined to see you so I headed over. There was this like, massive bunch of balloons. The perfect prop. I nicked a big pink one, got my selfie, and then I had to like leave without really being able to talk to you or anything. Since then I’ve been wondering whether I’d ever get to see you again.”
“Y-you have…?”
“Yeah. Then it turns out you’re here, with Robyn and aunt Connie. I call her aunt, though she’s not really. But we used to live, like, next door in Fleetford. And Robyn says, yeah, that’s Tim. He’s working for my mum at the moment on some sort of, like, contract or something. So I like begged to be allowed to visit and eventually mum gave in. I hope you don’t mind…”
Tim’s terror was abating, now. This girl seemed okay, actually. Quite nice in fact…
“No, course not. I was wondering who you were, actually… The girl in the pink dress…”
“Oh, yeah… That pink dress. It was just for the wedding. I wouldn’t normally… Do you like this one? Guess what? It came from the same place you get your outfits! True! I pestered my mum till she finally took me there, and then that nice lady persuaded her to get it for me.”
“It’s really cool. It looks great on you!”
“Thanks… Yeah, latex is so cool, right? Like what your friend there’s wearing…”
“Kit?”
“That young lady. Kit, is it? Now that’s just amazing. It must have cost a fortune!”
Kit smiled and made a face that said, “maybe, but it was worth it…”
“But your new outfit… It’s really fab, yeah? Even cooler than the one you wore to the wedding. The vest top…that’s latex too, yeah? And the jokey message… I love it. You’re so lucky to have all this great stuff to model. Do you get to choose it yourself, or…”
Wow. This girl really appreciated stuff. He decided he had to take some of the credit.
“Yeah, well see I work for this agency, and we all, like, share our opinions. So yeah, I have a say. I’m glad you like our taste.”
“Oh, Tim, I do. I hate all this conservative stuff everyone wears. Guys too. So boring. You’re the first bloke I’ve seen who’s prepared to break the mould…”
Tim could absorb any amount of this sort of flattery. His remaining doubts, and his crumbling defences, collapsed completely.
“Yeah, well, see, I don’t really care what some people think. Personally all that concerns me is what I want to wear, how I feel, and if others want to criticise it doesn’t concern me. I feel I’m making a statement…”
“Do you have any other events lined up? Please let me know if you do.. I’d love to be there as well. I was feeling a bit anti-social at that wedding. There were none of my friends there. I wish I’d found you earlier. We could have had some fun…”
“We could! Look, er, Esther…Sorry I didn’t recognise you straight away just now…”
“No probs…”
“Esther, excuse me interrupting… I can see you and Tim have a lot to talk about… But before we go any further I should introduce you to everyone.”
Whilst Connie was doing the introductions, Tim nervously checked himself in the mirror, and adjusted his cap. Yeah, he looked good. Cool. It was amazing how many girls seemed to be attracted to him since he had started being a pageboy. Being a boot boy was okay, quite sexy, but some of those girls… Well, he felt they were just using him, having fun at his expense. But now every female he met seemed genuinely interested in him. It felt good. He put his hands on his hips, glanced at the mirror, and struck a pose which he supposed would be irresistible to any woman. And indeed, as he did so, it seemed everyone in the room turned to admire him.
Well, they had. It was in response to Frieda’s remark. She’d caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye.
“Look at him now,” she’d murmured, “preening himself…”
Bridget suppressed a snigger. “He likes you, Esther. The dress was a stroke of genius, by the way. He’s already started showing off. Make the most of it, won’t you?”
“Yes, Bridget. I’ll do my best.”
“Esther, show them the selfies you took at the wedding.”
“Okay.” She scrolled through the photos on her phone for them to see. “Look, I found this pink balloon which just matched the frills on his pants. It seemed so appropriate, so I gave it to him to hold.”
“That’s hilarious,” smiled Frieda. “He looks so sweet.”
“He would like balloons,” laughed Maxine. “Pity you didn’t bring one today.”
“Oh, wait a minute,” said Connie. “That’s an idea. I have some giant ones tucked away somewhere. Shall I see if I can find one?”
“It would be great prop for shoot,” remarked Kit.
“Wouldn’t it, though. I’ll be back in a minute.”
She returned with a box of balloons and a pump. The ladies riffled through them. But Esther dived in and pulled one out.
“It has to be this one!”
“Of course! Tim, darling…? Can we have a couple more snaps? For Esther…?
“Sure. No probs. And I’d like one of her, too.”
“Oh, would you…?” said Connie, with a smile.
Tim blushed. “Yeah… Why not? She’s pretty cool herself…”
“Okay. That's a fair exchange. We'll do yours first, right here. Then we'll take hers in the big living room. But first let us get this balloon inflated.”
“Balloon?”
“Esther chose it. I think balloons are going to be your trademark from now on…”