The Hedge Pt. 06

"If you sign today, I will send the original by courier but email a copy to them, so they could send the money by bank transfer tomorrow or the day after and I will transfer it to you soon after that, is that okay with you Arianne... oh and do you have a business account?"

"Not for this yet, I will go and open one when I leave here and call you with the details later, now let me see the contract please."

Lauren passed her a folder, she opened it and started to read, while Alexis held up her arms up to the woman, who picked her up for a cuddle. There was a lot of small print, which when asked Lauren explained about minimum sales and when she would be eligible for royalties.

She signed it and took back her daughter, her new agent made a copy for her to keep, then they shook hands and a jubilant Alice left. As she already had two accounts with the bank, opening 'Arianne Grey Enterprises' was quite easily and quickly done, she noted the account details and went home to call Lauren to give her the details.

The family celebrated that night, Aaron and Vicky arrived after going home from work to change and drive back to Red-ice, before they all went out for a very good dinner, which the new author was paying for. There was some personal fun with the four of them and some toys, in the lounge after Alexis's bedtime but it didn't go on too long as three of them had to go to work the following morning.

Lauren called on Wednesday morning to tell Alice that the money had been transferred into 'Arianne's' new bank account. She thanked her and said 'goodbye' and checked her account online to see nine thousand pounds had appeared.

"I'm an author!" she cried and picked Alexis up and danced around the room with the laughing girl.

Alice completed part two of the story five days later (she still called it that as it would not be a book in her mind until all three parts were put together) and edited it to her own satisfaction and on the thirtieth, she drove with Alexis to Anna White's house with it to be proof read.

"Come in Arianne and Alexis too, would you like a cup of tea and some juice for her?"

"Thank you Anna that would be very nice."

They talked while the drinks were being made and the little girl found a ball which she was rolling around the floor. All three went back to the lounge to sit in comfort or play on the floor.

"The birth and the hard rehabilitation work shows her character and the introduction of her old/new friend could produce some very interesting possibilities" Anna said.

"There is a lot more of her in the last part, no actually there's a lot less of her..." Alice added mysteriously.

She gave the woman a cheque for two hundred pounds for her work on the first part (at twenty pounds and hour) and got up to leave.

"I look forward to it Arianne" Anna replied as Alice and Alexis walked out.

68.

On the third of March, Alice collected part two and paid Anna another two hundred pounds.

"Again I've made quite a few cuts to get the page count down to about eighty-five so that your total is going to stay around two hundred and fifty pages."

She spent three days doing the revisions she then took a short break for a few more before starting on part three, the final part of 'A Struggle for Love'. She was getting the hang of this story writing and was enjoying it, working from her notes and the voice recordings, her biggest problem was where to end book one.

She wanted to introduce Ashley's troubled character at the start of part four but not in the third one, so decided to end it as Vicky and Aaron's characters fly off to Tenerife on their honeymoon. Hopefully the readers would want to continue with the story from there in 'A Fight for Love'.

There was not much happening with Aaron and Vicky or Ashley and Andy, the weather was bad a lot of the time with gales, some snow and plenty of rain. For that reason, Sharon couldn't do anything in the garden but they discussed what to do with the paddock, as keeping a few sheep or goats would be quite an expensive thing to do.

In the end, they decided to turn it into an allotment and grow as much of their own fruit and vegetables as possible. Arron came over to have a conference with them on his way home from work one day and laid out what would be involved to create a half acre allotment.

"If you find a local farmer who would come and plough it for you, before the end of winter, that would be good and maybe sell the big mower and buy a big cultivator to turn the ground over and break it up for sowing in the spring. Make a list of what you would like to grow but if you do this you will have to buy a much bigger freezer to fill up for the winter.

On the twenty-third, Alice delivered part three of 'A Struggle for Love' to Anna. She decided to wait until it had been proof read before she did anything about the next book, taking time out to exercise, train and play with Alexis and read her stories and start to teach her to read.

Four days later, after a phone call from Anna, she collected the final part and paid her for her work. Alice correlated all three parts into one book and set the printer to make a hard copy of it while she read the whole book herself from start to finish, this took five days.

On Friday the third of March, Ashley completed the Veterinary Support Assistant course and applied to take the online exam. She was excited as she told Andy and then the 'Family' but did not want to celebrate until she had passed the exam the following week. She spent the time revising all the work she had done over and over again to memorise as much as possible for the live exam.

Alice wanted Anna to review the whole book, now it was completed, so she delivered it on the sixth and collected it again on the ninth. There were a few minor corrections but they were soon done, then Alice delivered the completed manuscript to Lauren Henderson on Friday afternoon.

Her agent took it home to read over the weekend and sent Arianne Grey's first book 'A Struggle for Love' to the publishers by courier on Monday morning.

That same Friday evening, Ashley sat before her computer and logged in to start her online exam, feeling confident but still a little nervous. There was a time limit for each question to try and stop people from cheating by looking the answers up in their notes. It took an hour to complete and the result would be in her account in one weeks' time and could be downloaded and filed.

Alice decided that she was not going to start the second book for a while, at least until the first was published. Her next project was the paddock/allotment, she had the measurements of it from the estate agent's details when they bought the house. She researched for local farms and made a few phone calls and found one that was willing to come and plough it for her, for a hundred pounds cash.

He arrived at the back entrance at nine am the next day and Alice had walked with Alexis, down to the bottom of the garden and climbed over the fence to open the back gate to let the tractor in. The farmer looked at the plot and said,

"I won't be able to plough right up to the edges but I can turn over the rest in about an hour."

"Thank you, I'll keep an eye out for you finishing and come out and pay you then" she replied and went back over the fence and stood with Alexis on her hip, watching him start ploughing.

It took him just over the hour to turn over the whole plot, Alice left her daughter in the playpen this time and went down the garden and paid him in cash, as was agreed. She bolted the gate and looked at what he had done before returning to the house.

'Aaron said that I wouldn't need the ride-on lawnmower now but I know how much Redi loves to ride it so we will keep it but we will definitely need some sort of cultivator for Roni to break up the soil in a few weeks before we can plant anything' she thought and headed for the computer again.

She found one that she liked that seemed to be able to do the job and sent Aaron a text with a link to the website and asked his opinion as he would be the one using it (she hoped). He replied during his lunch break that he thought it would be suitable and asked if she was selling the mower. When she replied with a negative, he told her that she needed to buy another storage shed and security lock for it.

She ordered the Bertolini BT400 rear-tine rotary cultivator for thirteen hundred pounds, including tax and delivery straight away. Then ordered a metal, apex roofed, eight by ten feet shed, with a four feet wide doorway for three hundred and seventy pounds delivered and fitted, plus another security padlock.

When Sharon arrived home from work, Alice told her what she had done and for how much.

"You haven't sold the motor mower have you?" Sharon asked, concerned.

"No my dear, I haven't sold your favourite outdoor toy" she replied and laughed at the relieved expression on her wife's face.

That evening when Ashley arrived home from work she checked her emails as she had been every evening since her exam. At last she had one from the online college and eagerly opened it to see that she was advised to log on to the site to see her results. She did this and screamed, bringing her mother running in panic.

"LOOK Mum! Look what I've scored... ninety eight percent average!!"

She hugged her mother, laughed, cried and kissed her on the lips, shocking her but she didn't care as she danced her around the dining room and Susanwas laughing too. She called Andy first then Sharon and finally Aaron to tell them her news and they all congratulated her. She was so happy that 'Buzz' had a very good workout that night in her bed.

The cultivator arrived two days later and had to be stored in the garage until the shed was delivered three days after that and assembled by two men, who bolted it to the paved area next to the lawnmower shed. On Sunday Aaron and Vicky came for lunch so that he could familiarise himself with the machine (or have a play, as Vicky put it).

When he was finished, he put it in the new shed and locked it up as he would not be using it for a few weeks yet, when the buried grass in the allotment had died.

He asked Alice to see if the farmer had any manure for sale and if so, could he deliver it through the allotment gate. He would spread it and the big compost heap over as much of the allotment as possible over the next few weeks, they would be better organised the following year.

Doctor Morris enquired to the secure nursing facility where Martin Baxter was being held, as to his condition and was told that there had been no changes so far, he passed the information on to Ashley who informed Sharon to tell the 'Family'.

Alice started on the new book 'A Fight for Love' on the twenty-fourth of March, following the same format as for the first one. The farmer a delivered ton of manure which was dumped on the end of the ploughed part of the allotment, a few feet inside the back gate.

Aaron stopped by for an hour of loading a wheelbarrow with it and spreading it starting at the farthest point, which was nearest the front of the house, every night after work. Sharon complained about the smell but he explained that as soon as it was spread with their own compost heap, he would use the cultivator to turn it over, burying the smell.

He could move ten barrow-loads in the hour and spent two hours on the weekend until it was all spread. After a couple of days rest and massages with aromatherapy oil from Alice and Sharon and the accompanying lovemaking, he was ready to use the cultivator.

Alice had employed a company to come and fit a gate in the fence separating the bottom of the garden from the allotment, opposite the sheds so that Aaron would have easy access with the cultivator. It took a weekend and all five evenings to break up and turn over the ploughed area, leaving a small but finely tilled field.

Alice and Sharon had started a lot of trays of seeds in the big greenhouse, most of which would be planted in the allotment. Cabbages, cauliflowers, courgettes, sweetcorn and butternut squash, would all go in the plot, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers would stay in the greenhouse. Onions, beetroot, potatoes, parsnips, swede, peas, runner and climbing French beans would all be planted directly in the soil.

Now the cultivator was in its own shed, there was space in the garage for a new big chest freezer which Alice ordered ready to freeze their winter supply of fruit and vegetables. She also ordered some fruit bushes to replace the shrubs in the garden plus two apple trees that should fruit the following year.

With all this going on she had completely forgotten about the rest of her advance for 'A Struggle for Love', so when Lauren called her on the twenty-eighth to say that it had arrived and she had transferred Arianne's share into her business account, she was pleasantly surprised.

It was fifteen thousand pounds (the remaining sixty percent) minus Lauren's ten percent (which was one thousand, five hundred pounds), leaving her thirteen thousand, five hundred pounds. Add the nine thousand, from the first advance, it gave her a total of twenty-two thousand five hundred pounds.

She had the prospect of receiving the same amounts from the second book to look forward to but she also had to consider her income tax and national insurance payments.

"Do you think I should get an accountant?" she asked Sharon later.

"You need to be writing not wracking your brain over nasty things like taxes etc." was the firm reply.

She researched and chose a well recommended one, called them on the Monday and made an appointment to go and see them the following morning. She was happy with the interview and signed up with them, giving them her details.

A couple of days later, Alice received another call from Lauren.

"Hello Arianne, I just have some information for you... 'A Struggle for Love' is in the shops and the publishers and I are setting up some advertising and a few book signings for you in a couple of weeks."

"Tha... that is wonderful news Lauren, I never even thought about any of that" Alice replied, feeling shocked.

"Your books will not sell themselves, you know and I have to earn my commission so the more the public know about you and your books, the more you will sell, which will generate money for all of us" Lauren explained.

"It's funny, my partner gave me a gold plated pen, quite some time ago, saying that I should use it at my future book signings. I laughed it off as I had no thoughts of writing anything more than a shopping list or Christmas cards at the time."

"He must be a visionary because soon you will be doing just that Arianne."

Alice did not inform her that her partner was in fact female, her private life was going to stay exactly that, as far as she was concerned.

The tenth of May was a big day for Vicky, it was her twenty-first birthday and there was going to be a party at Redice on the Friday as it was Andy's first rest day of two and Vicky wanted all of the family to attend, including him and Ashley.

Things were under way with Alice and Sharon doing a lot of the cooking but then Lauren called to say that Arianne was booked for two book signings on the Saturday, one at the local WH Smith's at nine am and another at a well-known book shop in another part of the town at two pm. There would also be another on Monday at four pm.

Alice had mixed emotions over this information, she was happy to be able to promote her book but didn't want to turn up to the first signing with a possible hangover after the party. She had to make quite a few phone calls to get everything and everyone moved to the Saturday night.

The one unfortunate result was that Andy would have to go home as he would be working the next morning. There was almost an argument between him and Ashley as she said that because he had to go, she would too but he reiterated that he had promised to let her do whatever she wanted with her 'Family' so she should stay and have fun with them as Vicky would never have another twenty-first party.

Alice arrived at WH Smiths as 'Arianne Grey', Lauren was there to meet her and introduce her to the branch manager. She had seen the posters advertising her visit and the title of her book in the front window, and was still amazed that this was all for her.

She was offered and accepted a cup of coffee and was led to a large desk with piles hardback editions of her book 'A Struggle for Love' on it. She sat on the chair and took out her gold pen and the first few customers stepped up to the desk to have their books signed by the author.

She spoke to each customer and wrote a short message to each one and signed it, handed it to them and thanked them for buying it. She spent two hours there and signed about a hundred books, which surprised her, until Lauren explained about the extent of the advertising that had been done prior to that morning.

She thought that she might go home for lunch but Lauren took her for a long lunch with some retailers and distributors to promote sales with them. The second signing at two pm followed the same format as the first and when it was over, Alice felt exhausted but pleased.

Lauren dropped her off in the Agency's car park and they hugged, then Alice got into her car and drove home. When she arrived at five 'o clock, Sharon had everything for the party under control so she kissed her and Alexis and went for a long soak in the bath.

She finally dressed and put her make-up on and came downstairs to fine Ashley and Doctor Andy had already arrived. Alice kissed them both and sent Sharon upstairs to get ready before the birthday girl and her husband arrived. When she returned, dressed in a green mini-dress that really showed off her legs and figure to good advantage, music was playing and everyone had a drink.

Vicky and Aaron arrived, she was wearing a blue silk blouse and a flared mini shirt. She hugged and kissed everyone and he kissed them all too except Andy of course, they shook hands and laughed when Sharon made comment about them not kissing.

They talked and danced, Ashley asked about the allotment and Aaron walked with her and Andy down the garden to view it over the fence.

"How are the two of them going to eat all the produce that this could grow Aaron?" Andy asked.

"They have a big chest freezer to keep their winter food supply in and they will be supplying Vicky and me too, in exchange for the time I spend working the plot. I am going to convert my vegetable plot into fruit bushes and trees, which will keep all four, sorry five of us going during the summer and we will be freezing some for the winter and Vicky wants to try making wine out of some of the excess fruit and veg."

The food was a sit down four course meal, which was served early so that Alexis could sit with them. There were buffet style snacks laid out later for anyone to nibble once the table had been cleared and the dishwasher had been loaded and started.

Alice had made the cake with Sharon's help and it was the redhead that insisted that there be a full twenty-one candles on it, which the birthday girl blew out with one breath to a round of applause.

At nine-thirty Andy announced that he had to leave as he had to start work at seven the following morning. There was a short discussion between him and Ashley because she still wanted to go home too.

"This is your 'Family' and you should stay and enjoy yourself with them, as I have told you before. You can do whatever you want with them, I don't mind as long as you come back to me" he told her firmly.

"But-but..." she stammered.

"You have a very nice 'But' and I hope to play with it on Saturday night so go and play, with my blessing" and he slapped her nice 'but'.

He kissed her and then the other women, getting his ass squeezed by a grinning Sharon so he squeezed hers too and making her squeak happily and then had his cock squeezed by the slightly tipsy Vicky but he left her ass alone as she was a married woman, although she seemed disappointed not to be groped.