Watching Willow Watts (12 page)

Struggling to get the dress
up and over her now-giant bottom, she wiggled boulder boobs into the fabric then reached back to zip it up. Success – although she could barely breathe! She cinched in the belt along her narrow waist and then, almost afraid to look, turned to face the mirror again. The sheath hugged her curves as if it had been made for her, and the red set off her now pale complexion perfectly. The two mounds jutting out from her chest and perky protruding bottom were beyond bizarre, but with her hair, make-up and dress, it all kind of worked.

Willow
took a breath – barely – and made her way down the stairs.

‘
What do you think?’ she asked
Jay, who was sitting on the sofa flipping through a yellowed magazine.

Jay nodded slowly, a grin spreading on his face. He strode over and drew her – or her boob, anyway – up against him. ‘Brilliant, baby. Bloody brilliant.’

Stepping back, he
scanned her critically, then touched a lock of her hair. ‘Turn around for me.’

Cheeks flushing under his scrutiny, Willow did a little spin, noticing Jay eyeing her ginormous buttocks.

‘
All padding, hu
h? Well, hopefully not for long.’ Jay produced another bag packed full of Lordy’s finest offerings. ‘Here, get this down you.’

Willow’s stomach turned as she took in the congealed grease coating a sausage roll. She was still over-full from her earlier feeding, and she could barely breathe let alone eat in this tight get-up. ‘Jay, I just . . .’ She stopped as he raised his eyebrows at her. ‘Okay, let me change and I’ll tuck in.’

‘
No, no, n
o.’ Jay wagged his finger. ‘No changing. You need to get used to wearing this all day, every day. You
are
Marilyn. It’s your brand.’

‘
My brand?’

Jay steered her over to the sofa and handed her a greasy piece of fish so fried it felt like rubber. ‘Yes, your brand. Lady Gaga wouldn’t leave home without something crazy on, and it has to be the same for you. Anytime you go out, you need to dress up. Hell, it’s probably best if you wear this whether you leave the house or not. Anyway, you look
fantastic
now.’ He leaned in toward her, his breath tickling her ear again.

‘
Once you finish eating, we’re going to do a walkabout. And you’re going to tell everyone you felt Marilyn’s spirit urging you to transform yourself.’

Willow stared. ‘What?’

‘
I know it sounds silly,’ Jay said
, taking her hand. ‘But these people are dying to hear that kind of thing.’

‘
I’m not sure
,’ Willow said slowly. ‘It’s one thing to dress up in all this and play to people who already think I’m Marilyn. But I don’t want to
lie
.’

An
unreadable look flashed into Jay’s eyes, but then his face softened and he pulled her toward him. ‘I understand, baby, I do. But remember, your fans want to hear this.’ He stroked her arm. ‘Look, if you’re not comfortable saying anything, I don’t mind telling people. As your agent, I have to do what’s best for you and your future.’ He paused, brown eyes sad. ‘But if you don’t trust me, maybe it’s best we go our separate ways.’

Willow thought of her father next door
. . . and of his pale, anxious face if she had to tell him about the shop. That couldn’t happen – not in a million years. She needed Jay to help her get money, and if Jay thought it best to say she’d been chatting to Marilyn, so be it. ‘Okay.’

‘
Brilliant, baby
.’ Jay smiled and put an arm around her, drawing her closer. Willow rested her head on his chest, breathing in the spicy scent. Jay was an industry professional, she reminded herself. He knew what he was doing.

Pulling
back, Jay ran a finger across her cheek. ‘Just put these on’ – he thrust a pair of red pumps at her – ‘and we’ll start off your walkabout next door.’

Willow slipped her feet into the shoes, taking a few experimental steps toward the shop’s entrance. It had been ages since she’d worn high heels and with her massive buttocks, she didn’t need anything else to unbalance her. She flung open the door, flushing as every eye swung in her direction and a collective ‘awwwww’ went up from the packed room. God, she hadn’t realised how busy it was in here.

From behind the register, Betts cl
apped a hand to her chest. ‘Amazing! You look just like Marilyn now.’

Hardly, Willow thought, trying not to grin – but at least
Betts appreciated the new look. Willow scanned the room for her father, spotting him beside a skinny woman in a sari. His eyebrows were raised in surprise.

‘
That’s certainly a change,’ he said. ‘But, er, it’s lovely,’ he added, catching Betts’s stern look in his direction.

‘
Marilyn communicated her desire that Willow begin altering her appearance to match her inner transformation,’ Jay piped up behind her. ‘Isn’t that right?’

There was an exp
ectant silence as the group awaited her answer.

‘
Well . . . yes,’ Willow said finally. ‘Sort of.’ But the last bit of her sentence was swallowed up as the crowd’s excited murmur grew. Before she could even blink, flashes went off in her face as people captured her new image.

‘
New Marilyn! Over here! Tell us exactly what you heard! Did she say anything else? Was it suicide or murder? Marilyn!’

Excited punters fired
questions at her and Willow took a step backwards, bumping up against the solid form of Jay. Thank God he was here.

Jay
held up his hands against the onslaught. ‘That’s all we can tell you for now. But tomorrow afternoon on the village green, Marilyn reincarnate will take to the stage, performing a classic. Hope to see you there.’ He grabbed Willow’s arm and pushed her back into the house, closing the adjoining door and locking it behind them.

Willow sagged against Jay
. ‘Thank you.’

‘
No problem. That’s what I’m here for, and you’ll get used to it in time, too. Now, about this concert.’

Yes, what was that about? ‘Jay, I’m not
sure I’m ready for a concert quite yet.’ She
did
want to kick off this whole thing quickly, but she was kind of surprised he hadn’t consulted her first. Wasn’t she meant to be the client? Willow nibbled a nail, quickly lowering her hand as Jay flashed a disapproving look her way. Maybe this was how things worked in the entertainment industry.

‘
You have to be ready, now that we’ve already announced it. You don’t want to let down your fans, do you?’

‘
No, of course not.’ Or my father, she added silently. ‘
I just want to make sure I’m prepared. I’ll need a lot of practise.’ That was an understatement.

‘
No-one said this would be easy.’ Jay looked at his watch
. ‘Now, come on. Let’s go get to as many media outlets as we can, so they can put this on the six o’clock news.’ He turned to face her, eyes serious. ‘It’s not just about keeping the momentum going, Willow. We need to step it up. Once the media get wind that Marilyn herself is communicating with you, every weirdo within the bloody solar system will be here in a heartbeat. And we’ll make sure they get wind of it, don’t worry.’

CHAPTER NINE

‘
WHOA!’ PAULA’S EYEBROWS FLEW UP when she spotted Willow at the salon the next morning. She hung up the phone and came around the counter, then yanked on a platinum curl.

‘
Ouch,
’ Willow yelped, rubbing her scalp. It was still tender from the bleaching session the day before.

‘
So it isn’t a wig.’ Paula’s eyes narrowed. ‘I beg you for years – years! – to do something different. And then when you decide to do
this
, you don’t even come to me? What, now that you have an agent, you’re too good for RockIt?’ She smiled to show she was kidding, but Willow spotted a trace of hurt in her friend’s eyes.

‘
No,
of course not. Jay tried to get me in here, but he said there was a queue out the door. And he wanted to do it fast to get things started, you know? I’m sorry.’ Willow bit her lip, thinking how strange it was that she hadn’t seen her friend since signing with Jay. She’d rung to tell her the news, but Paula was so busy with the salon and Willow was so engulfed by being Marilyn, neither had a spare second to meet up.

Paula sniffed, pretending to be miffed. ‘When do I get to see this agent? I can’t believe you haven’t had him round yet for inspection.’

‘
I’ll try to bring him by soon. He’s just been really busy getting things sorted.’ Willow smiled, thinking of Jay’s chocolate-coloured eyes and that intense expression on his face when he talked about her career.

‘
So . . .
spill! Have you two snogged yet?’

‘
Well, yes
,’ Willow mumbled, cheeks flushing as she recalled their earlier embrace.

‘
Ooooh! Details, please!
’ Paula leaned closer, and Willow gulped. As wonderful as the kiss had been, she didn’t have the headspace right now to deal with Paula’s probable interrogation:
was it better or worse than Alex? Do you really like him? Are you going to sleep with him?
Her brain hurt just thinking about it.

‘
It was nice,’ Willow responded, making a big show of looking at her watch, before remembering she’d removed it. A battered old Timex didn’t exactly scream Marilyn Monroe. ‘I’d better get moving. Jay wants to do a final run-through before the concert this afternoon.’

‘
God, he’s really going for it, isn’t he?’ Paula eyed her outfit. Today, Willow was wearing a mothball-scented pink satin dress, which flowed in a column to the ground. Hugging –
strangling
– her figure, walking was more like a shuffle. ‘Well, I must say, as annoyed as I am that you didn’t come here, he did a good job on your makeover. Love the bum.’

‘
I know.’ Willow grimaced
. ‘But don’t you think this is all a bit much?’

‘
No! Not for Marilyn.
I mean, if you’re going to do it, you’ve really got to
do
it. It is surreal, I’ll give you that. But like I said, if I were you, I’d be there with bells on. Or breasts. Or butt.’ Paula laughed but her eyes were wistful and for a second, Willow felt guilty again this was happening to her, not her friend. But the one thing Willow had learned in the past few years was this: you could never control which direction your life would take.

Unfortunately.

A few minutes later, Willow was on
the way home to meet Jay, her palms sweaty at the thought of the concert ahead. Last night, she’d run through the lyrics until they were seared into her brain and listened to MP3 after MP3 of Marilyn singing. In the bedroom’s narrow confines, Willow had felt beyond ridiculous jiggling around and shaking loo-roll booty. How on earth would she get up in front of a crowd and do it? A crowd that now thought she had a direct line to Marilyn?

Jay’s muscular form was waiting for her in front of the cottage. ‘Hey, baby. Where have you been?’ He pushed up his suit sleeve to examine his watch. ‘I’ve convinced Simpson to lend us the village sound system, and he’s going to set up everything over on the green. We’ve got to hurry and run through your routine.’ After following her into the living room, he handed over a paper bag full of – her stomach turned – packets of Mrs Lemmon’s homemade shortbread biscuits; the stuff she offered for free up at the off-licence, because nobody ever willingly paid for them.

‘
Got these for you
,’ Jay said. ‘Eat a few now to keep up your energy.’

She’d have just one or two to keep him happy, Willow thought, risking her teeth as she bit into the rock-hard ‘treat’. After chewing for what felt like forever, she swallowed down the chalk-like lump.

‘
Should we get started?’ she asked, trying to encourage saliva back into her mouth. It appeared to have fled in horror.

Jay nodded, then pressed a button on his phone. The song
I Wanna Be Loved By You
blared through the tinny speakers.

‘
All you need to do is mouth the words, move your hips, and smile. Not hard.’ His voice was encouraging, but his eyes narrowed as he focused in on her. ‘Go on.’

‘
Okay.’ Willow’s
heart beat quickly as she tore her eyes away from his. God, she hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed.
Right, here we go.
The music started, and Willow counted down until she came in. Mouthing along to the music, she waggled her hips and leaned her sizeable bust forward, even risking a little spin. This wasn’t so terrible! In fact – wiggle, wiggle – all that practice must have paid off, because she was nailing the words.

‘
Stop, stop.’ Jay turned off the music and Willow halted mid-swivel.

‘
Not too bad, baby. But you need to
really
throw your hips into it.’ He came up behind her, putting his hands on her waist. Through the satin, she could feel their warmth seeping into her skin and her cheeks got even redder. That same spicy scent floated around her and she shook her head.
Focus.