Circling Carousels (4 page)

Candice pounded the pavement all day trying to find even part-time work. She hoped she would find something that would fit in with school hours so she could be there for the children, but having been offered no day work, she was forced to take on work at a nightclub three nights a week in the centre of the city. The lovely staff at the women’s refuge took care of the girls while she was at work, mainly because they thought they were so cute and they loved looking after them. They would be
there anyway in the centre overnight, so it was almost no trouble at all to entertain, feed, and put the girls to bed safely at night. Candice told herself this would only be temporary anyway, and on the second week of her work at the club, she was offered a job at another apparently more upmarket club. With this, position, she was offered a home to live in by a very kind woman in her late forties who seemed to be wealthy and trustworthy enough.

She was Bonnie Leslie, and she told Candice that she frequented nightclubs and restaurants to get ideas for her own club. On occasions, she would find lovely young ladies to employ and teach the ropes of successful business, so they could have the chance at the kind of success she had. She admitted that they would open up to her easily and that she chose those who seemed to need what she referred to as a leg up in life. Candice and Bonnie hit it off straight away. Candice saw her as glamorous, sweet, and caring, like the picture-perfect mother. Physically they were complete polar opposites. Compared with her long blonde locks, Bonnie’s were almost ebony, the darkest chocolate brown, with lovely cascading curls escaping from her up-styled hair. Her clothes were opulent, exquisitely worn, and her makeup was always perfect as though she had it permanently tattooed on her face. She was beautiful, and Candice wanted to be just like her. She so longed for someone to take her under her wing and care for her, like the mother she wished she’d had, and Bonnie seemed like the perfect one to do it. On her gut feelings alone, Candice accepted the job at Bonnie’s club and the offer of accommodation as well.

Candice thought the whole situation was very good, and she went home that night with a feeling that all would be well, that she would provide for her children, and that they would be safe and happy. Part of this feeling was due to the fact that Bonnie told her that she had other gorgeous girls who worked shifts who would be more than happy to take care of Crystal and Sienna while she was working. It all seemed so perfect and so wonderful, and Candice opened up her heart and her arms to the new possibilities and the hope of a new and better life. She was also looking forward to not owing anyone anything,
to being independent, not living off someone else’s wealth, and creating some security of her own, for herself and her girls.

Bonnie told her little bits and pieces about the job at her club, but in Candice’s innocence and naivety, she felt no reason to distrust her. One Monday morning, after Sienna and Crystal went to school, Candice went to Bonnie’s huge house, where she took in girls who needed her help and made them into successful women. There she was given two beautiful rooms in the east wing of the mansion. When Candice walked into Bonnie’s home, through the massive oak doors, she was awestruck. Quite literally her mouth dropped open, and she looked around blinking, lest this be a dream. This was by far the most beautiful place she had ever been inside of! Every space, every wall, every shelf was decorated and adorned by wonderfully fine things, things she had never been able to afford, artwork she could never have hoped to own, and beauty she had never seen in her life.

In her own rooms, where she was left alone to unpack, Candice found all manner of lovely clothing for herself and her girls, every type of makeup, moisturiser, fragrances, and bath salts. The bedding was all of the finest quality, the curtains were made of deep gold velvet, and the bathroom separating her room and that of her daughters was bigger than any she had ever seen. Candice felt she had hit the jackpot here, and there was still the rest of the four-story mansion to see. According to her calculations, there were ten bedrooms in the house and another of the girls who lived there, also in the east wing of this floor, had children almost the same age as Sienna and Crystal. Bonnie assured Candice that she would make firm friends with all the women in the house, because as she put it, she only chose the finest to work for her.

It was Candice’s assumption that the club where they all worked in shifts was somewhere close by and that the staff could walk to and from their employment without needing to use public transport or cars. She simply couldn’t wait until her two girls came home and saw how wonderful their lives were about to become all because of this fantastic lady whom she had met by chance.

Candice wanted to chat with Bonnie about her new job and where the club was. She even wanted to go and have a look at it in daylight if she could, but Bonnie insisted she go have a bubble bath and a rest and then they would have lunch with some of the girls so she could begin to make friends with them. She had to admit that sounded lovely. She went upstairs to her rooms and had a long, luxurious soak, a glass of sparkling water, and some mango and peach slices, which Bonnie brought to her room while she was bathing.

Lunch was lovely, too. She had slept for a little, unintentionally, after she had lay down on the bed just to rest her eyes for a moment. There were platters of meats and seafood, bread sticks, and pastries, and it was all so wonderful to be part of a family scene like this. Bonnie was right; she truly enjoyed the company of the other girls, although they all looked a little tired. She expected they had been working a night shift and needed some more rest before their next one. Each of them had their hair in a similar style to Bonnie’s, and their makeup was absolute perfection, just as hers was. It seemed she had taught them well and that they had wanted to emulate her beauty and example down to the last degree. Candice, too, would have liked to look as good as Bonnie did, and although she was a good number of years older than the other girls, she looked wonderful!

Lunch and a tour of the first three floors of the massive building lasted well into the early afternoon, and afterward, Candice wandered around the rooms just enjoying the beauty of the furnishings. Candice really loved beautiful furniture and drapes, and in this home, every room housed nothing but the best. While she was wandering about, she came upon the lifts again and wanted to finish off what they had started in their tour. Bonnie was called away during the tour, so they never made it to the top floor. Candice’s curiosity wanted to be satisfied. She hopped in the lift and pushed the button to go to the fourth floor. The doors slid open and she stepped out, but found herself disappointed, as she had already seen these rooms. This wasn’t the fourth floor; it was the third, which she had already explored with Bonnie and a couple of the other girls. Getting back into the
lift, she pressed the fourth floor button and the doors slid closed. She felt the lift move a little and then the doors opened again, on the
third
floor. Candice found this very strange, but she got out anyway in search of a staircase that would take her to her desired destination, but although she searched the entire level, she could find no staircase leading up to the next story. There was one that led down, so she walked them slowly and went back to the lounge area to await the arrival of Crystal and Sienna. She figured she’d have a look at the upstairs later.

Chapter 7

T
he school bus stopped about fifty feet from the mansion, and Sienna and Crystal got out. This place was almost as though it were made for Candice and her daughters. Nothing could have been more perfect. Candice had given her girls a note for the bus driver to tell him where they now lived, and behold, they were delivered like parcels to the front door. Can- dice opened the house to them with great flourish, the girls with their mouths wide open and their eyes everywhere at once. In the last few days, they had all had their birthdays, so Sienna and Crystal were now the grand old age of seven years and Candice was twenty-three. Her children were now old enough to under- stand the wonder of such opulence, and they wanted to touch everything but held back because they knew that was the wrong
thing to do in their new home.

Candice led the two of them to their rooms. They were amazed by their perfect room, the wonderful toys, and the pink, lacy spreads on their beds, like something from a little girl’s dream world. As she showed them the bathroom and her room, Candice became aware that they were no longer alone. Just
outside the door stood Bonnie, two other children of about nine or ten, and four other young women who were not working at the time and were home relaxing. They were obviously bursting to meet Sienna and Crystal and get to know the gorgeous human Barbie dolls who would become their close friends and playmates. Crystal and Sienna hid a little behind their mother, but when Candice told them it was quite okay, they ventured out and met each person in turn. As usual, they were an instant hit, and Candice glowed with pride at the beauty of her children and the way they warmed so quickly to the others who just wanted to hug them and touch their golden blonde hair.

They had a wonderful evening of games, food, and hide and seek, and every now and then, they would be joined by a couple of new young residents and a few of the original group would leave. All in all, there were seven girls who worked for Bonnie, and Candice made eight. There were now four children in the house, all female and all very beautiful, just like their mothers. Everyone had exchanged names, and when Candice returned to her room, she wrote them all down, with short descriptions of each of them, so she may have at least some chance of remembering.

Katrina was tall and blonde, a little like Candice, with hair that reached down to her lower back, and Elise was a little shorter with jet-black shoulder-length hair. Jacinta was a redhead, and Candice just loved her beautiful porcelain skin. When she thought there was none who could be more gorgeous, she met Celine, who had pale blue eyes and golden brown hair and an even paler colour. Cindy had dark brown hair and gorgeous dark tan skin, which made Candice feel she may have some Latino bloodlines. Sharon was a pretty little thing with soft blonde curls and fine girlish features.

Finally there was Tamara, who was a shorter but well-toned woman, a bit older than the others, with short brown hair and green eyes. She was the mother of the two girls who had made instantaneous bonds with Sienna and Crystal. Her girls’ names were Dianne and Carly, and they became the main topic of conversation between Candice’s girls for the next week or so as they learned about each other and formed a strong friendship
amongst the four of them. They were two and three years older than the twins, and each of them had rich dark brown hair in soft waves down to their hips. One of the favourite pastimes was brushing and styling each other’s hair, dressing up in their pretty costumes and dresses, and borrowing their mother’s high heels and jewellery to play the part of runway models. They explored the house and played in all the rooms in which they were welcome and even some where they were not. Candice was curious and asked Sienna and Crystal about the top level of the house, but they, too, could not find their way up there. This certainly didn’t worry
them
at all; there was plenty to explore without the top floor, but Candice fully intended to ask Bonnie about the broken lift and what was up on the highest level of the building.

They had been in the house for nearly two weeks. Candice had been watching the other girls, learning the ways of the house and helping out wherever she was able. All of them pitched in to keep the house tidy, but the bulk of the cleaning was professionally performed twice a week by a company employed by Bonnie’s accountant. All their meals were prepared for them by an Italian lady called Maria, and could she ever cook! Each meal was carefully created with the freshest ingredients and portion controlled to the girls liking with lots of fresh salads on the menu and iced tea to quench their thirsts.

After two weeks had passed, Candice began to feel that she should broach the subject of work with Bonnie, as she thought she wasn’t properly pulling her weight in the household, but Bonnie felt it important that she form friendships with the girls and chat with them about their work and what their roles were in the fondly named big house. Despite her belief in the goodness of these people, Candice had started to feel a bit strange about the world she had stumbled into. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she had begun to feel uneasy. So, with a little trepidation, Candice started asking the questions and starting the conversations to find out where the club was and what each of them did. She asked about their odd rostered hours and all the important ins and outs. With Bonnie’s okay, they began telling her about the club she now
belonged
to.