Chapter 15

Another town, another radio station: the 8 girls had squeezed into a radio studio at one of the many radio stations in Birmingham. Tonight, they would be playing the NEC. Of course, the last time CJDL had been there, it was at very short notice, to play support for Darkest Knights.

"So, we are joined today in the studios by the members of 'Eight girls with Braces'.. good afternoon everyone!"

"Hi" said Taylor. "Hey there" added Jenny.

"So, you started your tour a little over a week ago at the O2 in London, tonight you'll be at the NEC: I know it's early days, but how's the tour going so far?"

"Well, thanks to the hard work that EVERYONE has put in - and I'm including all the backstage team here too - we were pretty well prepared, so things have been going amazingly well" said Taylor.

"Absolutely!" added Carol. "One thing I'd say is that our two bands have become a LOT closer, if only because we're spending a lot more time together just 'chilling', and going shopping, and that sort of stuff!"

"You go out shopping?"

"Well, noone else is going to get the stuff we need, are they?"

"I guess so, but don't you get recognised?"

"Yes, of course we do, but it's not a big deal. Ok, so shopping takes three times as long for us as it might for you guys, but it's always fun to say 'hi' to a few of our fans." added Carol.

"It tends to be their fans, rather than ours..." added Taylor, "we're not quite as well known in England as they are! But it's getting better!"

"So, you both have new albums out, and also singles... any plans for any sort of 'joint' album: I understand you play together quite a bit as part of your performance."

"Yes, we are recording all of our performances, and then probably when we've finished the UK part of the tour, we'll get a joint album put together" replied Jenny.

"I've not actually heard any of your joint songs yet, but I've read good reports, and I'm looking forward to hearing them tonight. So, Jenny, your - CJDL - album is at number 8, and your single is at number 4... and I believe you finally have a video for it... why so long for the video?"

"Well, the single was only written when we were already recording the album. Then of course the record company needed to select it... by which time we were full-on rehearsing and planning for the tour."

"Ok... so where was the video recorded... looked to be a large place."

"Yeah, it was at the O2, we did it the afternoon of our second performance there"

"It looked to me like you had fun doing it!"

"Well, apart from the around 30 different takes, it was. We came up with a load of ideas, some never made it into the video. I was glad we managed to get the Northern Girls involved!"

"So, you're currently at number 4, where are you hoping it will be in this week's charts?"

"Well, number ONE of course!. And I'm hoping these guys might make it to number 2..."

"Do I detect a bit of inter-band rivalry here?". The girls laughed.

"But of course, but very friendly rivalry" replied Taylor, "but it's ok, we're planning on making number one NEXT week!"

"Tell you what," said Jenny, "as long as we get number 1 this week, we'll ask everyone to stream Northern Girl's single instead of ours, we'd really love them to have a UK number 1 too!"

"So CJDL's new single is called 'Friends': I've listened to the lyrics, and I'm assuming there must be a story behind the song?"

"That'll be me then!" said Linda, and she explained the back-story behind the song. "The nice thing is that we can easily change the names in the song when we sing it, if we want to include someone new!"

"So, Linda, someone said that song-writing is something fairly new for you...."

"Yes, I did a little bit of writing at college, but as a session musician, I just played what others wrote. Yeah, I guess I dabbled a bit, but mainly for fun. And then I met Jenny, and she pushed me to write a worship song, and with a bit of 'special help', I ended up writing two worship songs. After that, I realised that I COULD actually write songs, I just needed to have something to write about. Jenny... well, Carol and Dianne too... have encouraged me a lot."

"I'll be honest, it's nice to have someone else in the band to bounce ideas off. Linda's music background is different from ours, she likes more 'rocky' music, and it shows in what she writes." commented Jenny.

"You don't worry that it's taking CJDL in a different direction?"

"If we stand still, we'll stagnate. We NEED to change and adapt, and go in that different direction. It happened once already when I met Ben, and I was inspired to change our music style for our previous album, so it's happened again, because of Linda. And I think our fans seem to appreciate that."

"Ok. Now, the band name... 'Eight girls with Braces'.. for those who haven't yet seen these ladies, I guess I should explain that all EIGHT of them have nice shiny braces on their teeth, with an amazing mix of brightly coloured 'ligatures' to go with them..."

"What, there are people who have never seen us?" joked Linda.

"Maybe just one or two. So, what's the story, briefly?"

Dianne explained that, even though Jenny had been wearing braces for a while, including wearing her headgear not only out in public, but on stage too, she had felt rather awkward about getting braces. She explained how she had worn braces as a teen, but needed them again because of her wisdom teeth. She went on to explain how everyone had rallied around, and offered to get braces to support her.

"So, Carol, Linda, you don't actually need them?"

"Well," said Carol, "I had started wearing retainers again: one of my teeth had moved out of line a tiny bit. But getting braces was no big deal, I'd had them before."

"And Linda?"

"It turns out that I had a very slight issue, and while I wouldn't have bothered getting braces for it, I felt I needed to support Dianne, so I got them too!"

"So that explains you four, but what about the four of you in Northern girls? Were you inspired by what CJDL had done?"

"To be honest, we weren't aware of CJDL when we got braces, but Meg had been going on about wanting to have her teeth fixed, but didn't didn't like the idea of being seen with braces out in public... and we're in the public gaze a lot in Canada!"

"So, Meg, anything specific? I can understand to some extent, I had braces as a teen, and wasn't over-keen on them."

"Well, I'm not like Taylor: she fronts us, and enjoys all the attention, but I'm not wanting that sort of attention. So, one day, they all suggested they'd get them too. For me! I will admit, I was very touched by their gesture."

"So Kate, Erin, you didn't need braces?"

"No. I had them as a kid, but for me it wasn't really a big deal... several friends had them too." said Kate.

"Never had them before," explained Erin, "but I had a few friends who did and they were ok with them, so decided to go mad, and say yes."

"Ok, so you all have braces... what sort of reactions have you had?"

"Well, the press of course like to make a big deal about them," explained Dianne, "but most of the fans have no issue, and many with braces have said that they love the fact that it was great that we had them too."

"Dianne just mentioned about the press, it was actually a press photographer we know who made an off-the-cuff comment about 'Eight girls with braces - that would be a sight to see...' that inspired the band's name!" said Linda.

"Does it feel strange for those of you who don't actually NEED braces?"

"It was at first, but it's a bit like glasses: people, kids especially, used to hate having to wear them, but now, they're a big fashion accessory, and kids even wear fake glasses. So why not with braces? I have heard that a few... erm, let's call them 'enthusiasts'... have fake braces, but what's the big deal? Glasses were also hated by kids, but now they are so much more 'ok'. It's just harder to get braces, a bit more expensive."

"What did your orthodontist say when you asked for braces that you didn't need?"

"She checked us out, just like she checked out Meg, to make sure we didn't have any issues. We had explained that we wanted to support Meg, and she knew who we are, so there really wasn't an issue."

"One thing I remember about braces was having to brush them every time you ate anything... how you all getting on with that?"

"Water Pics!" said Jenny, "best invention for braces ever. And those tiny brushes for when you're out and about!"

"Yeah, but it's still a bit annoying having to carry a toothbrush and toothpaste with you to do it. The ladies loo gets busy when we all go out together!" said Carol.


They talked a little more, then the radio host said "Ok, well, it's time to go over to Tony, to find out about this week's chart, and of course, find out if either of CJDL or Northern Girls have made it to that all-important number 1 position. Tony, over to you!"

With the microphones now off, the host asked "you all ok with what we chatted about?"

"Not a problem!" replied Taylor.

Tony went through the bottom half of the top 20, playing two up-and-coming songs, then went through the top 10, playing short extracts of the songs.

"So, at number three, we have....." He left a huge pause... "At number three, it's.... Jason Summers.....".

He played the song. "Ok, so two records left, and I can think of two bands who I haven't mentioned yet, could they be the two?... let's find out after a short break!", and he went to an advert break.

In the studio, there was a LOT of excitement. It was so unlikely that either of them had dropped out of the top 20 completely, so who was it at number one?"

The adverts ended, and Tony did a quick rundown of the chart so far. "Normally, I'd do that just before playing the number one, but things are a bit more interesting today. So, at number two, up four places, it's.... 'Good to be home' from the Canadian band Northern Girls!"

Back in the studio with the many girls, they realised that if Northern Girls were at number two, then CJDL MUST be at number one. There was a lot of excitement, Linda was actually starting to cry tears of joy.

"So, Northern girls are at number two... hey, let's just see what they think of that..." He turned up the mics of the other studios, where there was a lot of cheering. "So, that leaves just one song, and there's only one song that it could be... it is, of course, CJDL, with their new single, Friends....", and the song played.

"Well, congratulations to BOTH of you! Back to you Jimmy, I get the feeling you have something more to talk to CJDL and Northern Girls about!"

"Yes, indeed, thank you Tony. So, Taylor, Meg, Erin and Kate: you're at number two in the UK charts, how does that feel?"

"Well, we've had several number ones over in Canada, but this is the best we've ever done in the English charts. Although it WOULD be nice to get to number one.... it's just that there seems to be another band there stopping us!"

"I'd better add that Taylor had a big smile on her face when she said that! So, Jenny, you guys have another number one..."

"Yes, but more importantly, this is Linda's first number one here in the UK: she wrote that song!" The girls all cheered.

"I'm hoping those are tears of joy there, Linda?" asked Jimmy.

"Yes, they are... you know, a couple of years ago, my life plan simply said 'play music and have fun'. There was nothing there about 'join a big girl band' or 'write a number one hit single'... it's all a bit overwhelming to be honest!"

"What she means is..." added Carol, "that she's an amazing song-writer, and deserves it!"

"But remember," added Jenny, "go buy or stream the Northern Girls single, we want to see THEM at number one next week!"



[14/2243]

Chapter 17

If you remember back to the 'Jenny' story, when she had her long hair cut, you will remember that Jenny became an ambassador for 'Wigs for Teens', and occasionally gets to make someone's day by delivering a wig to a cancer patient. Jenny had been in touch with the charity, suggesting that, if she was able, she would be very willing to 'make deliveries' while they were on tour.

So, tonight, the gig is at Leeds, and a cluster of coincidences came together: A girl called Ruth, who recently had cancer treatment and had lost her hair was coming to the performance with a few friends... Ruth and several of her friends were fan club members... and it was her 18th birthday... and Jenny was asked if she could deliver her wig. Now, when a wig is delivered, it needs to be cut to suit the wearer... and of course, they just happened to have a trained hairdresser on the tour with them, so things fell into place nicely.

Of course, they wanted it to be a surprise. They had already upgraded Ruth's and her friend's tickets to VIP ones, as well as give them access to the VIP lounge. 'Be there between 6:00 and 6:15, and we'll try and organise something for you' was the message that her older sister Julie received.

Eleanor, as fan club secretary, was down in the VIP lounge at 6pm, ready for their arrival. At five past, her phone beeped with a text, to tell her that the group of six had just arrived. She walked over towards the entrance, where she saw a group of six girls.

"Hello! Are you by any chance Julie, Ruth and friends?" asked Eleanor. The fact that one of the girls was wearing a lovely fun hat to hide her head hepled.

"Yes we are..."

"Well, I'm Eleanor, I'm the secretary of the fan club... I was the one who has been emailing Julie to organise your upgrades for today. First of all, Ruth, let me give you this...." She passed Ruth a birthday card, and when Ruth opened it, she found that it had been signed by the eight girls, and a few others. As she realised this, a huge smile came to her face.

"Oh, wow... amazing!" she said, showing the card to her friends.

Next, Eleanor pinned an '18 today!' rosette onto Ruth.

"Well, that's not all. We've arranged a special room for you, with some bubbly, and a few gifts from the team... follow me!"

Inside the room there wasn't just bubbly and a load of specially signed shirts an so on, but there was a 2-man camera crew for the local TV station, and a journalist from the local paper. Oh, yeah, Jenny was waiting there too, along with their hairdresser. Eleanor arranged it such that Ruth was the first to go into the room.

"Hey, Ruth! Happy 18th Birthday!" said Jenny. Ruth suddenly let out a huge scream, as she recognised Jenny. Then a second.

"Oh, wow! No way!" she said. As the other five came into the room, they realised what the noise was about. Jenny and Eleanor passed them glasses of bubbly.

"So..." said Jenny, "I'm very honoured to meet you, Ruth. Your sister has told us about you battling cancer, and when we discovered you were coming here tonight, AND that it's your birthday, well, we just had to do something! Now, over here, the band... in fact both bands... have been busy signing some stuff for you. Tere's tour shirts for everyone, but a few more special bits for you...". As they looked at the gifts, Paige, as well as the others, took pictures, and Jenny made sure that the girls got loads of selfies with her.

"Actually, there's another reason I'm here, a much more important reason. I don't know if you realised, but I'm actually an ambassador for the charity 'Wigs for Teens', which means that I sometimes get the absolutely amazing job of delivering specially made wigs to people like you, who are so deserving of having one!"

Mary, the band's hairdresser, brought out the wig for Ruth, on a head-form, and put it onto the table.

"So, a few weeks ago, someone measured up your head, and the amazing team at 'Wigs for Teens' have made this for you! And I believe Paige is going to show you a special message from the team who made this for you." Paige played the short video on her tablet.

"So, this is Mary, our hairdresser, and she would like to work with you to make the final touches..." Over the next 30 minutes, Mary cut Ruth's new hair: it really suited her. Afterwards, as the TV crew interviewed Ruth and Jenny, a door at the back of the room opened, and seven girls walked quietly in. Ruth's friends could see them, but Ruth was looking the wrong way.

Carol walked around to where Ruth could see her. "Wow, amazing, that looks really nice!" she said, commenting on Ruth's new hair. As Ruth turned and saw her, she smiled. "Happy 18th, Ruth!" she added. At that point, Ruth spotted the others, and let out another scream of joy.

"Look, we can't stay too long, we need to get ready for the performance" said Taylor, "but when Jenny explained what was going on, well, we all decided that we just had to come and meet you!"

----

It was the middle of the performance, a couple of hours later.

"Many of you will know that I'm an ambassador for the charity 'Wigs for Teens'," explained Jenny, as a few pictures relating to the charity came up on the big screen, "and one of the things I get to do is the privilege of making someone's day by turning up and delivering a wig to a most worthy teen. So, earlier tonight before the performance, I got the opportunity to make someone's day. In fact, it's their 18th birthday today too, so I get the feeling that the lady concerned, Ruth, will never forget this day... here, take a look at this..."

A short video played: it showed Ruth's initial reactions, a short extract from the interview showing her in her new hairstyle, and ended with her reaction to when the other band members walked in.

"'Wigs for Teens' is an amazing charity, and I'm so proud to be able to help them. But making all the wigs is an expensive job, so I'm hoping you guys might help out: on the way out, you'll see a load of people with collecting buckets... I don't care if it's only 10p or it's 10 pounds, every little helps! Oh, and by the way, Happy 18th Birthday, Ruth!"

The crowd gave a big cheer.




[16/2522]

Chapter 19


The girls were back in their dressing room, having a bit of a relax.

"I get the feeling that you might have been a bit harsh on Joshua earlier" said Jenny.

"Yeah, maybe I was, but he... well, his attitude just annoyed me! Think I should go and apologise to him?"

"Wouldn't hurt, would it? Might make him a bit more chilled for tonight."

Linda got up, and walked to Joshua's dressing room. One of the privileges of being 'the band' was that you didn't actually ever need to knock on a door, and you certainly didn't have to wait to be invited in.

Linda gently knocked on his door, and went straight in. What she saw completely shocked her. Whilst his manager wasn't there, Joshua was.

"What the F*ck?" said Linda. Without a moments thought, she got her phone out, and took some pictures, then called Ben. He picked up pretty quickly.

"Ben, get yourself down to Joshua's dressing room like right now, if not quicker! And if you see his manager on the way, get his ass in here too!" She saw Joshua about to touch what was on the table. "No! Don't you DARE touch that!". Ben heard the comment, and quickly realised that Linda really DID need him there asap.

Ben arrived about 30 seconds later, quickly followed by the other 3 girls: his manager took a bit longer.

"Oh, sh*t!" said Ben, as he walked in, and saw what was going on.

Joshua had a bit of rubber tubing around his arm, and on the table was a loaded syringe, plus other drug-related bits.

"Don't worry, I've taken some pictures. And there's no way he's guesting with us tonight!" said Linda.

"No problems with that, Linda." said Ben. He turned to Joshua: "Look, you have to understand that we have a very strict 'no drugs' policy, so anything stronger than ibuprofen is a no-no. It's in the contract, so your out." He turned to the girls. "So, what do we do now?"

"I'm thinking there's three options here: there's the nuclear one; then there's the carpet-bombing one, then there's a 'maybe everyone wins one'..." suggested Linda.

"Do explain..."

"The nuclear option: we call the police: there's plenty of evidence here that they'd have no option but to book him!"

"Ohh, nasty, that'll screw up his career a little!" said Dianne.

"Yeah, and probably not do US a huge amount of good, for a variety of reasons."

"Yeah, true, so then there's the lesser option, although I'm not really sure if it would be any less harsh. No police, but I have some pictures on my phone, it would be very easy to post them to social media. Still probably not do him many favours."

"Not nice either. So, what you thinking as the third option?"

Linda turned to Joshua's manager. "You get him into rehab. Today! Not tomorrow, but today! Followed by a suitable press-release tomorrow... 'Joshua has gone in to rehab to address a recurring drug abuse issue...' would probably work ok. It's looks kinda good for him as it shows he's trying to do something positive about it. And it's good for us, as we wouldn't need to be involved."

"I think Joshua would be willing to go with your third option, wouldn't you?" said his manager.

"Look, Joshua, whilst doing drugs might seem like a solution, honestly, it isn't. We manage without them." said Linda.

"How? This sort of life can be bloody stressful..."

"Well, for a start, we have each other. And then, we have our fans. Hey, have you ever bothered to actually MEET your fans? And I don't mean 'shake hands' or 'do a selfie', I mean sit down and talk to them, make them feel important. I'll be honest, that's the only drug *I* need!"


10 minutes later, and back on stage, Ben addresses the crew: "Ok, everyone, listen up. Our guest for tonight will NOT be appearing with the girls, let's just call it 'personal and health reasons': please do NOT repeat anything you may have seen or heard earlier in his dressing room, it's 'being dealt with', and in a way that hopefully won't come back and bite us. So we need to remove his two songs from the running order. I'll let you know if we want to put something else in to fill the gap later. Thanks guys!"


So, that night they played without their guest: whilst his appearance hadn't been officially announced, there were rumours online. The band said nothing about his lack of appearance, and the following day one of the big stories in the papers was 'Joshua heads for rehab... again!'



[18/2853]

Every broken Bone is nasty as hell and fucking hurts.. Have a good and quick recovery and don't rely totally in the pysios.. the Main and Most unkomfortable Part ist Up to you..

P.s: great Story as Always, poor Linda Bit hopefully she could be on Stage partially!

Chapter 22


"RTA. Female, mid 20s, fully responsive. Has a suspected fractured or broken tibia / fibula. Her name is Linda" said the paramedic as the A&E staff approached to take Linda.

"I'm Dianne by the way, can I go with her?"

"Sure, come on through!"

In the background, David had a quick word with a couple of the nurses. "Ok, so I just told them who you are, I'm guessing you're not going to want loads of screaming fans annoying you! Anyway, once I have my trolley back, I'll be going, but I'll have a quick word with reception. I'm sure Linda will be ok soon!"

"Thanks, David, can't thank you guys enough!"

The staff moved Linda onto a hospital trolley. "Hello Linda, how are you feeling?"

"Well, I could really do with some more of the 'happy gas' to kill the leg pain again! Otherwise I'm pretty ok!"

"Good!" Like the paramedic, she too checked her vitals, and took notes. "Let me see if there's a doctor free who can check your leg, then we'll get you something for the pain."

Luckily, things in A&E were quiet. A doctor checked Linda's leg, and was happy for her to have more 'happy gas', plus some other pain-killers. "Ok, we're going to take you to x-ray, see exactly what the problem is. Dianne, you're welcome to join us!". Dianne followed as they took Linda, on the trolley, through some doors.

"So, you guys are supposed to be playing the arena tonight, aren't you? If I'm honest, I don't think Linda's gonna be in a fit state. You gonna have to cancel the gig?" said the nurse, making conversation as she pushed Linda along a corridor towards the X-Ray department.

"I hope not, otherwise there's gonna be a lot of disappointed fans out there. I suspect they'll have asked Kate to stand in for Linda, it's an obvious thing to do. Of course, I need to get there pretty quickly to join them, but Linda is more important to me right now. So, how long is the X-Rays gonna take?"

"Well, I'm not seeing a queue, so hopefully we can go straight in. Can you just wait here with Linda a moment, while I go have a word...."

----

When they returned from X-Ray, Paige and Lisa had arrived, and were waiting.

"You ok?" asked Lisa.

"I'm fine. When I saw her x-ray, I could see a small fracture, but heck, I'm not an expert!"

"Luckily I am an expert!" said the doctor who had checked Linda before. "And you are 100% right, a small fracture to the lower part of her tibula... not that small makes it any less painful though!" The doctor spent a couple of minutes explaining what would happen, including the, by now, fairly obvious fact that Linda needed to have her leg put into plaster.

"Look, Dianne, you need to get back to the Arena! I've told our taxi to wait for you, dark blue taxi just outside, he knows who you are!"

"Yeah, ok. Linda... look after yourself!"

"I will, and thanks for staying with me, Dianne!"

----

As Dianne walked into the stage entrance of the arena, she checked the time: she was surprised to see that it was actually only 7:50.. so currently 20 minutes late starting.

"Oh, Dianne, thank goodness you're here" said Ben as she walked in to their dressing room. "Linda ok?"

"Yeah, broken leg... well, technically just fractured, and the happy gas is keeping her quiet! She was going to get it put in plaster when I left. So what's the plan of action?"

"Well, Kate has said she'll cover for Linda. We're working on the running order, taking out things like Linda's Riffs and Gimme Cereals. Oh, the advert too."

"I guess that means we'll be losing 'Friends' too? That's a shame..."

"Yeah to that too, it's gonna be hard without Linda!"

".... so what about the opening?"

"Working on that."

"OK. Anyone told the audience what's going on?"

"Not yet, we wanted to wait till you got here, so we'd know timescales."

"In that case, I should go talk to them..." suggested Dianne.

"Hmmm, not actually such a stupid idea, you know more about what happened..."


[22/3352]

Chapter 24

"Ok, so I've just come off the phone from the insurance company" explained Brian. It was the following morning. "They were a bit worried when I started to explain what happened, but relaxed when I explained that not only didn't we cancel last night, we're continuing the tour as normal. In fact, they became quite helpful. We need to get formal official documentation to explain what happened, but after that, any 'reasonable costs incurred as a result' will be covered. So, what does Linda need?"

"Well, a comfortable wheelchair for starters!" said Linda.

After last night's show several of the stage crew had organised a slightly more 'portable' version of what Linda had sat on when they pushed her onstage: a platform on wheels, on which they had 'attached' in a typical stage-crew way a chair and a stool: Linda's left leg was plastered half-way up her thigh, so she either had to stand, or sit with her leg supported. They had included suitable padding to make it a little more comfortable. Whilst it gave them an easy way to move Linda, it was neither elegant, nor especially comfortable for Linda. Yes, Linda  also had crutches, which she could use for relatively short distances, but the 'wheels' were a lot easier to move her around the arena, as well as back to the hotel.

After getting Linda to her room last night, Paige had offered to stay with her.

"I can get the settee made up..." suggested Paige.

"Nah, you seen the size of this bed? You can have this side!" replied Linda. Having Paige there with her was a godsend: she helped her use the bathroom, and get into bed.

Paige woke up first: it took her a moment to remember where she was... in bed with Linda. As she looked over at Linda, she could see her sleeping peaceful face. Linda's mouth was slightly open, allowing Paige to see a few of the multi-coloured ligatures that were in her shiny steel brackets. Paige remembered back to the first time she had met Linda: she had just joined the band at the start of a 2-week try-out. She was there primarily to provide the band with an extra guitar player: if you remember that far back, Jenny had met Ben, and had been inspired to write a rather different style of music for CJD, influenced by the Indie Rock that Ben liked.

As we now know, Linda's music tastes were even rockier, and it hadn't been long before Linda was actually working with the girls on the music, helping them to make it even better. As a result of all that, Linda had been invited to actually join the band. Since then, she had possibly become the band's most important member: having found her song-writing ability, her songs were changing the band's music style again, and following some vocal coaching, she now had quite an amazing singing voice, one that she rightly used to open their show.

Not that Linda was likely thinking about any of that as she lay there, sleeping peacefully, with Paige watching.

Later on, Lisa had come and helped Linda get washed and dressed, then have breakfast. And join everyone else in their large suite. So, back to where we were....

"I don't think getting a wheelchair for you will be an issue"

"Linda's going to need an 'assistant' of some sort: the rest of us are busy enough, she needs someone to push her around, get her stuff and so on. Not that big an ask...."

"No, Paige, you're quite right there..." replied Brian, making notes.

"We could do with a comfy chair for her to use on stage, we can't assume the venues will have one." suggested Jenny.

"Actually, a settee like this would work better..." commented Linda. "My leg is surprisingly comfy like this, and I have space for my guitar." Linda was leaning back into the corner of the a medium-sized settee, with her leg up on it.

"Is THAT settee actually comfortable enough for you?" asked Lisa, "Or do you need something better?"

"This one is surprisingly comfy. But we can't just nick it!"

"No, but I'll bet they have spares lurking somewhere, and could be persuaded to sell us one. Saves having to go out and buy one...." said Lisa.

They chatted a bit more.

"Ok, Ben, can you go see about a wheelchair? Paige, can you find an assistant, I'm sure there must be an agency in Aberdeen who can provide someone. I'm sure the hotel can provide you both some ideas of where to go. And Lisa, maybe you can go procure a settee?"

The room phone went, Ben answered it. "Ok, leave it with us..." "Seems the press are gathering outside, sounds like we should go say hello! Linda, you up for it?"

"Yeah, should be a laugh. Someone get my crutches, I see a good photo op!"

Sorting out the press was easy: they were just wanting the story and some pics to go with it. They got a bit more, because they made a couple of Dianne's pictures available to them too.

Getting a suitable wheelchair wasn't a biggie either, a local wheelchair specialist was very helpful, and agreed to send their technician over with a new wheelchair, along with a few 'extras' they could look at... like a drinks holder and a food tray! And a pair of rather more up-market - and no doubt more comfortable - crutches.

As for the assistant for Linda, Paige called a local agency, and explained what they were looking for. "So, how long will you need this person for?" they asked.

"Initially maybe just a few days, to cover us here in Aberdeen then while we're down in Glasgow. If they get on with Linda, and are interested in travelling, could be longer...."

"Ok, well I actually have someone in mind, might fit in nicely, let me give her a call". They discussed hourly rates, and other stuff.

"Don't worry about expenses, we'll provide hotel, meals and so on, they won't be out of pocket." said Paige.

Paige got a call back about 15 minutes later. "So, I have a lady called Ziggy Starr who is available, maybe you'd like to call her and arrange the practicalities directly with her. She'll need you to sign her timesheets every day, and we'll need your details and bank or card details to set up your account. By the way, she suggested it might make more sense to whatsapp videocall her....

Paige made the call, and smiled when she saw Ziggy: she had lovely bright pink hair, and a big smile with discrete metal braces. And a small number of piercings. She guessed her to be in her early 20s.

"Umm, I hope my appearance is ok. I have some tats as well..." explained Ziggy, talking with a soft Scottish accent.

"Oh, definitely not a problem, and the girls will LOVE your hair! Mind you, Erin might get a tiny bit jealous!"

"Girls? Your client - Linda, isn't it - has children?"

Paige laughed at the concept. "I sometimes think they are, the way they sometimes behave. Your boss obviously hasn't given you all the details."

"No, he said you'd fill me in!"

"Ok, couple of quick questions first: will it be a problem for you to be away from home?"

"Not really. How long you talking?"

"Well, if you and Linda get on, could be several weeks. You got a passport?"

"International travel?"

"Well, we'll be off to Dublin and Belfast in a week or so..."

"Ok, so who ARE you guys?". Paige was feeling good about Ziggy: she was bouncy, self-assured and had a good pleasant attitude.

"I think you're gonna like this: Linda is Linda Jacobson, she's one of the members of CJDL. She was in a car accident yesterday..."

"Oh, my, yes, I saw something about that on the news earlier... she ok?"

"Generally ok, but she's got her leg in plaster, and needs someone to help her, push her around in a wheelchair, peel her the occasional grape maybe. So, is it going to be an issue for you to work with 8 pop stars, and a load of other 'hangers-on'?"
 
Ziggy smiled. "Am I allowed to say that this job might be the best ever?"

"Of course you can. Ok, so why don't you get yourself sorted out, then get a taxi to the hotel, we'll pay you back for the taxi, of course. Don't expect to be back home till gone midnight tonight though... and don't worry, it might sound like a long day, but you'll have plenty of time to relax. And we'll feed you. Oh, do you have any black jeans or trousers you can bring, just in case? We can talk about everything else when you get here... Maybe let me know when you're almost here."

"Sure, but WHICH hotel you at?"

"Sorry, it's the big Posh Hotel, right next to the arena!"


[24/3499]

Chapter 26

There had been a lot of talking done over lunch, bouncing around ideas about what they could do in the performance to help Linda. After lunch and a short 'go clean your braces' break, they headed off to the venue, which is where Ziggy discovered how long the backstage corridors in such places could be!

"Let me borrow Ziggy for a few minutes" said Paige, "I'll show her the stage, so she knows what's what."  The stage crew had all turned up early today too. Paige showed Ziggy around, introducing her to the stage crew. "If you need help, just ask these guys... and guys, please help if Ziggy asks." Paige spotted that the settee had already arrived, and was on stage.

"One of the big bits for Linda will be the opening: I have no idea what people are planning, but I'm betting it's going to not only involve you bring Linda on in her wheelchair, but the dancers making it look amazingly good! So, you ok with eveything up here?"

"Yeah, it's similar to when I used to play, just a LOT bigger and a lot less clutter. There's no wedges, so I'm guessing you guys use in-ears?". They chatted as they went back to where Linda was.

"Ok, your ladyship," said Paige sarcastically to Linda when back in the dressing room, "probably need to get you on stage and let you get working!"


As Ziggy pushed Linda onto the stage, the stage crew had gathered there and were applauding. "I'm gonna say thank you now, as I know I'm gonna need a bit of extra help from you all over the next couple of weeks! So let me explain: I'm on drugs for a couple of days to kill off any pain. Also I'm supposed to stay completely off my leg for a few days, just rest it. After that, I'll see how it goes. I've got crutches and am ok using them, it's just that they are slow, so I got this 'sportscar with driver' to get around quicker..." she pointed at the chair and Ziggy.

The dancers and others arrived on stage. "Hi Linda... OK everyone, so we chatted with Linda over lunch: we have a few ideas we would like to try out for the opener" explained Liam - the lead dancer and primary choreographer - to the stage crew, "a lot is going to depend on what Linda is able to do." Liam had a chat with Ziggy, explaining what he would need her to do: basically wheel Linda onto the stage, and stop at the right place: they were planning on doing the rest!

A little over an hour and a half later, the dancers, Linda and Ziggy worked out what they would be doing, not just for the opening, but other important bits, so called the other 7 onto the stage to do a full rehearsal of the opening and the other bits. And a soundcheck while they were at it!

"OK," said Paige as they all got up onto the stage, "Whilst Linda has been relaxing up here on the stage with our dancers, we've been working hard reading social media... It seems there's a small group of fans outside, would love to meet you all, especially Linda. Want me and Eleanor to go out and get them ready?"

"Yeah, ok, but don't rush, I think we'll be here a bit longer" said Linda.

----

"Hi Paige, it's Paula here, from BD Media..."

"Oh, hi there, Paula, you going to be able to join us in Aberdeen?"

"Yup. Sanjay and I are booked on the five past four flight, gets in about quarter to six. How far's the hotel from the airport?"

"About 5 minutes, you could almost walk there! Ok, I'll organise rooms for you both. How long to staying with us?"

"Well, we were originally going to meet up with you for Manchester, so we're planning to stay with you now for the rest of the UK part of the tour."

"Yeah, makes sense. Ping me when you're on the ground, and in the meantime, I'll sort out rooms here and in Glasgow. See you both later!"

BD Media is, of course, the team doing the 'fly on the wall' documentary. Whilst Paula and Sanjay had been with the girls in London, then the next couple of cities, the original plan was to join up again in Manchester: interesting because they were due to play a large stadium, and it was felt worthwhile to be there to see the girls reactions. But Linda's accident had changed things. Luckily, Paige had been switched on enough to do a bit of filming on her camera, so there would probably be enough footage.

Paige called the hotel reception, to organise 2 rooms, to discover that the hotel was full, so she called Tara, the lady who did on-stage camera at their performances: she remembered that Tara was in a twin room.

"Hey, Tara, need a bit of a favour..."

"Go on..."

"Remember Paula from BD Media? She needs a bed for the night, but the hotel is full, so I was wondering..."

"Hey, of course I know Paula, and sure, she can share my room. When's she getting here?"

"About six..."

"Oh, no problem, I'll not need to be next door till about 7..."

"Thanks, Tara! You're a life-saver!". All Paige needed to do now was find a bed for Sanjay.


----

Paige and Eleanor went outside and found the group of fans: there was just over 20 of them.

"Hi everyone! You all coming along tonight?" asked Paige. Paige, having been one of Jenny's 'superfans' was very used to dealing with and chatting to the girl's fans, and quite a few knew her name. "I'm Paige, and this is Eleanor: if you recognise her name, it's 'coz she runs the fan club!". The fans were all talking together, so no one could hear a thing. "Ok, quieten down, and I'll explains what's been going on. So, as you probably saw on the news, Dianne and Linda were in a car accident yesterday, on the way back here. A van went into the side of their taxi. Dianne was fine, maybe a tiny bit shaken, but no physical injuries. Linda was on the side the van hit: she has a couple of minor cuts, but the big thing is that she's fractured her leg, down the bottom, near the ankle. The paramedics, nurses and doctors apparently looked after her well, and she now has her leg in plaster up to here... She's on painkillers, and needs to stay off the leg for up to a week. So, she now has a nice wheelchair, plus someone to push her around."

There were a few questions from the fans, which Paige answered.

"So, Linda has been working hard with the dancers, working out ways to let her do various bits of the performance tonight... like the opening number. They have things pretty well sorted, and at the moment all eight girls are running through the practicalities of things in the show that involve Linda. But, good news for you, is that Linda really wants to come out and see you guys... so do the others for that matter! So, be patient, and they'll be here to see you. Just be aware that Linda has been working hard, so she's likely to be a bit tired... so be nice to her!"

Elaine opened a box she had with them. "We thought that, being such loyal fans, you deserved something a bit special: these are keyrings that have been specially signed by the four girls!". This was something that they had done in the first few days of the tour, for their fans who 'went the extra mile', like these fans. It wasn't anything expensive, but they WERE personally signed by each of the girls, and not generally on sale. As she gave out the keyrings, the fans seemed very grateful for their gifts.

While they waited, they chatted. One of the fans asked Paige "So how did you two get involved with the band then?"

Paige smiled. "So, when I was still at college, one of my friends invited a small group of us to the park: it seems that she had met Jenny, and we were invited to meet Jenny in the park. We were the small group that went on to be 'Jenny's Superfans', we did all sorts of things for her, which was really great, plus we got to know Jenny: she's actually a really nice, and amazingly normal person... all the girls are, actually. Anyway, when I was about to finish college, they asked me if I wanted to work for the band, as a sort of PA. So I work with their manager, helping to get stuff done. For example, I organised getting Ziggy, the girl who is pushing Linda around in her wheelchair. Elaine, I'll let you tell them your story..."

"Well, several years ago, a friend and I decided to set up a fan club for CJD. Then the three girls spotted it, and gave their blessing, so I was running the official fan club in my spare time, from my bedroom. Then a few months ago, they asked if I would be interested in doing it full time... So here I am... working full time for the band! I also help out with getting and selling all the merch... you know, the t-shirts and posters... oh, and keyrings!

"So, when Linda, and the others, appear, don't get over-excited: I can promise they want to meet you guys as much as you want to meet them, and they will be happy to chat with you all, and do selfies and so on!"

It was almost 30 minutes later when Paige's phone buzzed. 'We'll be with you in a few minutes!' said the message from Linda.

----

Inside, they had pretty much worked out what Linda would be doing during the show tonight: it would no doubt get refined over the next few performances, and changed again as Linda became more mobile.

"Right, Ziggy, let's get ready to go and meet our fans. Hey, Liam, why don't you guys join us, I'm sure they would like to meet you guys, and I'll be honest, after what we just did today, it's pretty clear how important you are to the show!" Linda messaged Paige to tell her they were on the way. Of course, by the time they had gone along the long backstage corridors, then had to turn around because there wasn't a lift there, it was about 10 minutes before they managed to escape the building. The others had said they would join her in about 15 minutes, but for now, they knew that the fans wanted to really meet Linda. So Linda, pushed by Ziggy, and accompanied by the dancers, left the building.

"Ah, they're over there!" said Ziggy. All of this was new for Ziggy. The initial excitement of meeting the 8 pop stars has subsided, but this was something different, and Ziggy was quite excited to be involved. "They look to be well behaved!" said Ziggy as they got closer.

"Yeah, Paige and Eleanor will have been chatting with them, calming them down. We're in no rush, we have plenty of time to spend with them, and I must admit, I still find it fun to meet our fans. At the end of the day, they are the reason we do this job!" explained Linda. "Hey everyone, it's good to see you! Hey, which one of you is Trudy?"

"Erm, that's me, am I in trouble?" said a petite girl.

"No! And who is Andy?"

"Me!" said a boy...

"I just want to say thank you both for the nice messages you guys posted online! You see, we DO read what you guys post!" The two fans had big smiles on their faces. "So, let me introduce a few people... first of all, this lady behind me is Ziggy: she started working for us... must be all of four hours ago! She's here to push me around, and carry my stuff, as I seem to be a bit immobilised right now! Now THESE guys are our dance team, lead by Liam! Without these guys not only would our show be nowhere near as good, but now I have my leg in plaster, they are going to use their skills to help me perform for you all! Go on, introduce yourselves!"

Over the next 10 minutes, Paige organised the fans asking questions, which Linda was very happy to answer. Some were about what had happened to her, others were more general.

"Hey, I have an idea.. would you guys be up for a bit of fun? Liam: I'm thinking that you guys could teach our lovely fans a simple dance... what do we all think?" Both the fans and the dancers liked the idea. "Go on, Ziggy, you too! And Paige and Eleanor!"

When the other band members came out about five minutes later, they were both surprised and amused to see what was going on. "You guys look to be having fun!" said Jenny. "Hi everyone, I'm Jenny..." The others then introduced themselves.

"So, we thought it would be fun to teach them a dance... You guys should join in!" said Linda. She watched as almost 25 fans, 7 band members, 6 dancers and 4 others were learning a new dance. "Ok, Ziggy, want to move me back a bit, I want to get a video of this!"


[26/3867]

I bet that Ziggy is going to be a proper Crew member soon.

So, my thinking is that Ziggy will be there for Linda for the next 6 weeks, while she is in her cast, but yes, I have a feeling that they might enjoy her company, and keep her on for the rest of the tour. Longer term, it would be harder, as she lives 'way up north'!

Also think that Ziggy gets a Chance to show her Musical skills maybe as "pre-band" and she is sure quite talented 

I already have her lined up for one musical spot, but who knows, crew karaoke maybe as well? She can certainly sing / play with the girls backstage, also when they are travelling in their bus. Her musical tastes are somewhere between Northern Girls and Darkest Knights... so probably not THAT different to Linda!

Any suggestions for Ziggy's involvement always welcome.