by EgmontOriginals (c)
Lucille and Mo touched the bricks outside the entrance in farewell as they left the building where they'd worked knowing they'd not return there again.
Sue and others would be in from noon next day to pack everything for the removers to shift to MagWorld. Lucille had explained to Sue that she'd not be around on Monday to allow Sue to freedom to settle her staff in without feeling Lucille was looking over her shoulder.
"
FashionUP
is yours again sweetie. As publisher I intend to have no more hands-on involvement in production, unless I'm specifically requested to assist in a particular manner."
"However I will attend as a consultant to the initial pre-issue planning meeting and the final pre-production meeting of each issue if I am available, but won't expect any of those scheduled meetings to be deferred unless I make a request to the contrary."
The two women hugged, the slightly younger one feeling confident in her position in which she'd almost failed.
Lucille on the other hand was confident she now had a competent and confident person in the editor's chair who would be loyal and not be afraid to seek help when needed; she now regarded Sue as something of a protégé although not having shaped her from the beginning.
She decided the technique would be applied to others if suffering a similar crisis in their job development, having learned that willing people respond quickly to leadership encouragement.
Mo went off to get her hair done. Lucille went to MagWorld by taxi wondering if she'd ever learn to drive. She thought no, it would require a steep learning curve; she was hopeless about things such as setting channels of the TV, even when shown and the appearance of electronic devices in business including computers made her feel uncustomary deficient.
She still much preferred her mechanical adding machine and anyway, she was much too busy to learn to drive a car, wasn't she? Suddenly she pictured herself in a black car and being driven by a guy in a chauffer's hat! That's the way she'd go – a call on demand service rather than lease a vehicle and hire her own chauffeur, but first she needed to reduce her debt and raise her personal income.
"Stop here please."
After paying the fare Lucille straightened up, not having a clue why she was stopping before arriving at her planned destination except it was connected to her thoughts, but which though? He last thought had been about not having a chauffeur and earning more money. Neither of those appeared appropriate here but she knew to just let it drift – sometimes it happened, other times it didn't or perhaps she just missed identifying it.
"Thank God these second sight experiences are rare," she thought.
Nothing happened.
Oh well, she was within easy walking distance of her new headquarters Lucille decided.
She was almost outside the restaurant that Marcello and Ghita simply called Woo-loo Italian. Perhaps that's why she liked the couple, solid, down to earth people who lived focused to cook and entertain and they had a particular type of humor that appealed to Lucille. For example, they thought it a joke to shorten Wooloomooloo to Woo-loo and the couple wasn't worried that the word 'loo' for toilet or restroom was growing in popularity.
"Hi lovely girl," Ghita called, leaning on the bar talking to a couple in their mid-fifties drinking coffee (the café was not open, but the door was).
"Coffee?"
Ghita simply turned her head and yelled, "Lucia one mild coffee, touch of milk, one ham sandwich no butter and without crusts."
"Hello Sandra."
"It's Lucille you attempting to recognize our regulars by their order."
She then introduced Lucille to Meg and Archie Ryan, who operated a blood test sample collection service they operated on contact, using a van. Meg was blown away to learn that she was meeting fashion publishing guru Lucille Lightfoot and the three women promptly bored Archie by talking clothes.
Lucille asked Meg where they lived.
"Three streets over," she said pointing. "Just up from Jason's Warehouse that has just had a huge makeover and is called MogWorld."
"MagWorld which stands for magazine world," Ghita yawned. "It's Lucille's empire."
"You own that and spent all that money?" Archie asked, into the conversation at last.
"Technically the bank owns it as it's mostly the bank's money but it's where I begin work on Monday trying to keep the wolf from the door. Call in on Monday fortnight and I'll show you around and we'll have coffee – you come too, Ghita."
"Aren't we getting some rather classy new people in this neighborhood," Ghita smirked. "Marcello and I have been here twelve years and this is the first time any business has invited us to visit them."
"Well Monday week at 10:00 then. Lovely to meet you Meg, Archie," Lucille said, blowing a kiss towards Ghita who winked.
As she reached the door Lucille heard Ghita say, "She's booked the entire restaurant from 9:00 this evening as it's the opening of MagWorld. For an American, she's a really lovely woman."
Lucille smiled and walked on, not realizing she'd just met the couple who'd end their working days before retirement in ten years, spending almost all those ten years being Lucille's on-call driver at the wheel of a 1960s black Chrysler limo she'd import for them. It was the same model that she used to ride with Mrs Graham who was wealthy enough to house her chauffeur and his family on her estate.
Although never talking about this to anyone, Lucille didn't believe she had second sight which enabled her to sense events that would affect her.
She connected it to something else, but took great care not to dwell on it. The former orphan was called to Mrs Graham's bedside on the eve of her death – the extended family very hostile because they though the cranky old lady would give away the family jewels.
As it happened, Lucille was not mentioned in the will and the private nurse confirmed to the family after Lucille's bedside visit, "Mrs Graham held Lucille's hand and gazed at her and said she'd been so pleased that Lucille was happy in Australia and intended applying for permission to stay there. That's all that was said."
One of the nieces asked was the nurse sure that's all that occurred.
"Yes although when Lucille was almost at the door Mrs Graham called Lucille and the young woman turned and Mrs Graham said, 'I'll always watch over you; you are never to feel you are alone'."
"What an odd thing to say," Mrs Graham's sister said. "We've been here hours; when do you think it will happen, nurse?"
The nurse, who'd been given Lucille's address in Australia, wrote to her and mentioned that conversation with those relatives after detailing Mrs Graham's passing and burial.
Arriving at MagWorld, Lucille was greeted by absolute chaos but was not perturbed because these were professional people engaged in hanging decorations, preparing for the entertainment and music and organizing the catering.
They were also under tight contracts with a specific performance section, arranged by the very much slimmer Chrissie who was performing her growing responsibilities with competence and enthusiasm. There were financial penalties if the arena was not perfectly presented by the arrival of the first guests from 7:00.
The excitement was building within Lucille and she felt in need of release – a big row with someone might help as there was no time to go for a fast and long walk.
She was in her office, a foot on her desk removing a stocking when the door burst open and in flew Tony.
"God, ooops, sorry," he blurted, backing off towards the door.
"Don't be a silly boy; close the door and come and talk. Lock it if you don't want us disturbed – you have the approvals, yes?"
"Y-yes," Tony stammered. "Lock it you said?"
Lucille shrugged, placing her other leg on the desk, this time displaying her lacy panties. "Only if you wish."
