006

The next afternoon, with a heavy heart, Jill lugged her suitcase to the town hall. There was the meeting point, they would all be picked up by a bus and brought to the villa.

A few of the other nine girls were already there when she arrived, and a camera crew was there to film the departure from Lakeside and arrival at the villa.

One by one the rest of the girls trundled in. To her delight, Jill spotted Mandy among the stragglers, and she immediately came up to her and gave her a happily hug.

"Glad you're here too, I don't feel so alone," she said, and Jill nodded.

"Yes, I'm happy too."

They stood there in silence and waited for the bus to arrive. Jill, meanwhile, let her gaze wander over the other girls, who were dancing around, chattering excitedly.

"Well, that could be something," Jill sighed to herself, already annoyed. She fervently hoped there wouldn't be shared rooms, she couldn't stand a whole flock of those affected geese.

Finally the bus pulled up, the driver put away their luggage and one after the other they got on. Jill sat right next to Mandy, she seemed to be the only calm and sane woman in this chicken coop.

An assistant who had been patiently waiting for all the girls to be present walked down the aisle and handed each girl a form.

»We still need your personal data, among other things for the insurance. So please fill out the sheet carefully and legibly, I'll collect it in a moment.'

With a low murmur, the girls began to fill in the required information on the piece of paper. Jill quickly scribbled her name, address, date of birth, and a few other things on the paper. She hesitated at the field labeled "Occupation." Under no circumstances could she write that she was a police officer, nobody was allowed to find out. She thought for a moment, then spontaneously entered "cashier". It was an average, common job and no one would think anything of it. The less noticeable she was, the better.

After a while the man walked back through the bus and collected the leaves, after which it finally started.

The drive took almost an hour, and eventually they reached a large mansion just outside a small town called Oceanview. A few cars were already parked in front of it, all expensive and elegant cars, obviously they weren't the only ones in the house.

They got out, grabbed their bags and then went inside, eight girls leading the way excitedly and giggling, Mandy and Jill following quietly and reservedly.

Inside, Jill looked around. They were in a larger entrance hall, a staircase led upstairs, and several doors branched off at the front and sides.

'All right ladies, leave your bags and come in here for a moment,' Harriet's voice shrilled through the hall.

They followed her into a spacious, luxuriously furnished living room. Floor-to-ceiling windows let in plenty of light, and outside, a swimming pool shimmered in the sun. There were several white plastic lounge chairs around the pool, and a gazebo and tool shed could be seen at the back of the spacious, manicured garden.

A couple of the girls squeaked in delight, Jill looked at Mandy, they both rolled their eyes in amusement.

Behind Harriet, Jill spotted Mick Fairgate on the couch, grinning happily, Craig Peters leaning against the fireplace, face impassive.

'So you're going to be staying with us here at the villa for the next few weeks, and don't think it's going to be a relaxing holiday,' explained Harriet. “There will be daily training sessions, in between there will be photo shoots, and some of you may also get commissions for fashion shows. Camera crews will also be present sporadically to film additional footage for the shows. So the whole thing is hard work and not a pony farm. Anyone who doesn't follow along or tries to duck can pack their bags right away, we won't take personal sensibilities into account.'

The girls had stopped giggling and were staring at Harriet in silence.

»You still have rest time today and tomorrow to get used to it, after that it starts. The room layout is as follows: Here on the ground floor there is this living room, a kitchen and a dining room, which can also be used as a lounge. You can use the pool and the terrace outside at any time in your free time. You have to take care of yourself, that means shopping and cooking, nobody is served. You are also responsible for cleaning yourself, because we do not have any cleaning staff either. There is also an equipment room down here and a room that we use for running training. The crew sleeps at the top, your rooms are on the first floor. They're twin rooms, so you can agree now who wants to live with whom, and then go upstairs and unpack your things.'

Immediately a wild tumult broke out among the girls, and heated discussions about room allocation broke out. Jill and Mandy looked at each other quickly, nodded to each other inconspicuously and disappeared into the hall. They quickly grabbed their suitcases and climbed the stairs, taking a look in every room.

"There's only one room with a balcony," Mandy said, looking questioningly at Jill.

"Then it's ours now," Jill grinned, and before long they were slumped contentedly onto the plush beds.

One by one the others trudged upstairs and Mandy ducked her head. "This is bound to cause trouble," she said anxiously, but Jill waved her off.

"It's your own fault, if they take forever to come to an agreement, they're at a disadvantage."

In fact, a little later a somewhat chubby brunette with a large bust appeared in the doorway, a redhead stood behind her and peered over her shoulder.

"Hey, why do you guys have the room with the balcony?" the brunette asked angrily, glaring at Jill and Mandy.

"Quite simply because we were here first," Jill said kindly, smiling at the girl. "But that

does n't work, I think we should draw lots."

And you're welcome to draw whatever you want, we're unpacking our bags now.”

Calmly, Jill got up and started putting her things in the dresser.

The brunette glared at her. "You think you can get away with anything, don't you?" she spat out. 'Not enough that you knocked me down on the catwalk and almost spoiled my appearance, now you're grabbing the best room as well. But you won't get far here, I'm telling you, you'd better get back to your farm, you oaf.”

In slow motion, Jill turned to her and grinned. 'So I'm a tramp, yes? If I remember correctly, you were the one who fell over her own feet.'

The girl gasped a few times in disgust, but couldn't get a sound out. Then she spun angrily and left with the redhead in tow, but not without loudly slamming the door behind her.

"Oh dear, I think they were pretty angry," Mandy murmured, and made a depressed face.

Jill looked at her seriously. “Honestly, I don't give a damn. I'm sorry for bumping into her, but I don't let anyone scold me. It's enough if I have to put up with all the other circus around here, I don't need the bitching from these wannabe divas."

"You're right, I find this whole behavior pretty silly too. Still, I don't really want to make enemies because we all have to get along for a while,' Mandy pointed out.

"Don't worry, they'll calm down," Jill smiled, "as long as we understand each other."