Stand in Wife

It was Friday night and Brian and his friend Kate had settled in to watch a movie, it was kinda their bi-weekly ritual, meet up after work, go shopping for snacks then go back to Brian’s place, order takeout and watch a film.

To some it might seem like an odd arrangement, Brian was in his mid-thirties, a little less hair on his head and a little more weight around his waist than he would like. He worked as an IT technician at a big bank down town and it was there that he had met Kate. She worked in marketing and had gotten talking to Brian one afternoon when she had a problem with her PC which required Brian being at her work station for an extended period of time. It was there that she found out that they had similar taste in movies and literature and their friendship had blossomed from there.

Happy to Help

Sarah Collins was in an unenviable situation. A recent university graduate, she was enjoying her time in London so much that she didn’t want to return home once her studying was done but the same could not be said of her flatmate and she had moved out as soon as term was finished.

Sarah had managed to rent a studio flat on the outskirts of the city but what was left of her student loan was fast running out and she had been unsuccessful in finding a graduate role so far. Now she was faced with being unable to make rent at the end of the month and having to return home to her parents.

With time running out she had been applying to anything and everything just hoping to get a role to pay the bills. Any interviews she had been granted had all ended the same way, she lacked experience, 

“How can I lack experience for an entry position?” she sighed as she lay back on her bed.

As she picked up her phone to check her emails she noticed the missed call and message on her voicemail, it had been from the manager of the local supermarket offering her an interview for that afternoon. It may not have been the ideal role but Sarah was desperate and responded saying that she would be able to make it.

Playing Their Game

I want to tell you a story about my girlfriend, well she was my girlfriend and her name was Trixie.

I met Trixie while we were both at university, she was studying economics while I was doing a law degree. We met at a mutual friend’s house party and hit it off straight away.

I guess you could have called us stereotypical ‘rockers’ I kept my hair long and had a long beard, I was rarely seen out of a band tee with blue denims and my old faithful leather biker jacket. I still remember what she was wearing the first night we met, a black PVC bra with a mesh top over it, ripped black leggings with a black mini skirt and big black boots. Her hair was dark and curly and it cascaded over her shoulders, she was a busty Goth goddess and if there is such a thing as love at first sight I think I found it.

I’ll spare you the boring details but as I said we hit it off and spent the night together, after that we were pretty much inseparable for the remainder of uni, we did all the parties, all the club nights, we did drugs and drank to excess, we stayed up late and missed many morning lectures, man she and I lived a wild life, she was a wild girl and in the bedroom? Well she was something else or maybe someone else would be a better turn of phrase.

What Friends Are For

It was about 1PM one Saturday afternoon when Jessica arrived back at her flat, she had been out jogging after playing some tennis in the morning. Her lean body was attired in leggings and a crop top, her long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail.

It was here that she happened upon her flatmate Shannon, who had not been awake when she had left for her run.

“Oh you’re finally awake then?” she asked

“Yeah” yawned Shannon “been up a little while, you have a nice run?”

“Yes I did actually, maybe if you got out of bed before midday at a weekend you’d be able to join me sometime”

“Pass, anyway, I’ve been busy here”

“Oh really?” Jessica enquired mockingly, “Busy sleeping in then lounging around in your ratty old dressing gown eating tortilla chips?”

“Breakfast of champions don’t ya know, anyway don’t knock it until you’ve tried it”

Into Hiding

I’d like to say I should’ve seen it coming but I really don’t think many people would have.

I was in my mid-twenties and had been seeing Jeremy for about three years when I lost my job as an office manager for a reputable chain pub, just a downturn in business was the reason they had given me. I was well prepared for the drudgery of the old job hunt when Jeremy talked me into a different course of action.

We had been living together for most of our relationship and we had no secrets so Jeremy knew that it was my lifelong dream to own my own little bakery specialising in cupcakes. I’d make them every weekend, everyone I knew loved them, I’d even had a stall at the farmers market for a couple of months last summer and done very well but I always worried about if I could make enough money doing this to pay my bills. This time Jeremy convinced me that I could.

I put all my efforts into setting up my new venture, I drew up a business plan, looked at premises I even began designing my logo “Steph’s Sweets” the name makes me feel sick now. You see it wasn’t meant to be. When I met with business advisers I was refused my start up loan, apparently it was just too high risk, the chances of an independent cake shop succeeding in the area were too low and I simply didn’t have enough collateral to secure the financing I needed.

I was heartbroken, I spent that evening crying into my wine and soaking through three of Jeremy’s shirts. I’d barely even registered when he told me that he’d fix this somehow.

A New Roll

“Ugh, they’re even camped out on this side” sighed Lizzie as she gazed out at the gathered paparazzo that had congregated around the service entrance of the hotel she was currently holed up in.

You would think Lizzie Knox would be used to it by now but the constant media scrutiny she was constantly under would drive anyone to frustration. Lizzie had been thrust into the public spotlight about ten years ago when the fresh faced teen had made it big by competing on a popular television talent show. Seven hit albums, four box office smashes and her own clothing line later, it was pretty hard for Lizzie to go anywhere unnoticed.

“Give it a rest Liz, you know that’s their job, whinging about them isn’t going to make them disappear”, As Lizzie’s boyfriend the paparazzi nuisance wasn’t a bed of roses for Tom either but the only thing worse than the crafty snappers was his superstar girlfriend moaning about it.

“But we’re on holiday Tom, I don’t want to spend the entire time stuck up here in the hotel room”

“Then you probably shouldn’t have told that talk show guy that you were sooo psyched to get to ride some roller coasters on your vacation, they were waiting for us at the airport!”

Lizzie playfully threw a cushion at Tom who batted it down.

“Why don’t we just make a run for it?” suggested Tom. “We can barge through, get in the car and be on our way to the theme park in no time”.

“It’s fine for you, throw on a cap and shades and no-one could tell you from Larry”

“What can I say? I just blend right in”.

“Oh and like you don’t remember what happened last time, we lasted about 20 minutes in the line for the boat ride when we were spotted, swamped and then had to spend the rest of the day being ushered in and out of rides, with about fifty bodyguards around us and everyone was yelling and…”

“You’re being melodramatic!” Interrupted Tom, “It wasn’t fifty it was more like eight and no-one was yelling, people love you, you know that”.

 “I know” pouted Lizzie “I just wish I could go and enjoy things like regular people sometimes”

“That’s the price of fame hun, the millions of dollars, the houses, the cars, they all come at a price”

“I know, I know, I just wish I could do regular stuff once in a while you know?”

“I know babe, hey why don’t we order room service and see what films they have?” asked Tom hoping that a film and some ice-cream would placate his little diva. Lizzie hated the nickname but realised she had some tendencies to be a little bit of a handful to deal with.

“Ok but I’m picking!” giggled Lizzie, her mood noticeably lifting at the prospect at spending some quality time with her fella.

Tom picked up the remote and started flicking through the hotel movie guide while Lizzie got on the phone to room service.

“Hey they have my latest masterpiece on here!” shouted Tom, he was referring to ‘Zombie Renegade’ a film released earlier in the year that he had worked on. Tom was a talented SFX makeup guy and it was doing his thing where he’d actually met Lizzie. He had worked on her first movie – ‘My babysitter fought a werewolf!’ and they had hit it off instantly. Truth be told it was his makeup skills that helped him stay incognito so often when visiting Lizzie. Sure he’d appeared in his fair share of tabloid rags while out with his girlfriend but the wig and moustache he kept in his bag worked a lot better than a simple ball cap and sunglasses.

“Yeah that was great the first three times we watched it and your commentary was sooo interesting” replied Lizzie. It was Tom’s turn to throw a pillow.

Lizzie settled on a film and when room service arrived they settled down to start watching.

“You know, if you looked like her you could go anywhere” Tom said nodding towards the door as the waitress left.

“Huh?” replied Lizzie “I didn’t get a good look at her, what did she look like?”

“Pretty average, that’s what I’m saying if you looked pretty average, you would be able to go anywhere and not have people following you everywhere”.

“Yeah but I don’t look pretty average, Tom and I doubt I ever will. Anyway let’s not get into this again, let’s just watch the film okay?”

As they watched the film Tom’s mind kept working and when it was done he had another question for Lizzie.

A Busman's Holiday

Vanessa slouched against the wall of the elevator as the doors closed. It was almost 11pm and she was only just getting in after another long day of seemingly endless negotiations. She had been sent out of town to secure the Carlton account a little over two weeks ago and she was getting tired of the lack of progress. She kicked off her heels as she tilted her head back and sighed, she had about 5 hours before she had to be up and back at the office fighting for this damned account, as she let herself into her hotel room she plopped herself down on the bed and dug into the overly warm salad that had probably been sitting on the convenience store shelf all day. She wouldn’t have minded getting some fast food on the way in but she couldn’t afford to turn up to work looking bloated or with a greasy complexion, not that she ever had that problem, at 120lbs Vanessa carried herself very professionally with wavy chocolate hair that cascaded past her shoulders and halfway down her back. Having had her fill of her unappealing dinner Vanessa decided to disrobe and remove her makeup, she could shower in the morning. It would help wake her up. And with that she went to sleep.

Her alarm angrily roused her from her slumber and Vanessa trudged to the shower still half asleep. As she lathered her toned body she heard a knock on the door and a call “Housekeeping?”

Wholesale Changes

I have a story to tell. It’s not a fun story for me to recall but I’m sure it’s one that you will be interested in. It’s a story of how I lost everything, my girlfriend, my home, my job – everything.

First let me give you a little history, my name was Mike, still is, guess I didn’t lose everything heh. I was working a sales job in the city, it wasn’t the best job ever but it paid well and afforded me plenty of disposable income. I wish I’d have used more of it.

I had been dating my girlfriend Lauren for about two years, we were pretty serious, I mean I wasn’t about to propose or anything and we weren’t living together but I guess we were in love, she really made me happy.

As for my living situation, I was sharing a house with a guy named Chris, just outside the city. The rent was more than affordable seeing as the landlady was Chris’s mother. I was paying about the same as I would for a studio flat in the same area and Chris was an okay guy, a bit quiet maybe and Lauren always felt really awkward around him, I probably should’ve listened to her.

So it all started one Sunday, Lauren and I had arrived back at my place after spending Friday and Saturday nights at her place. It wasn’t unusual to find Chris in the living room watching TV and that’s where we found him that Sunday. What was unusual though was the radically different appearance of the man.