“No, that bit when she said about your mam’s hair being chestnut coloured.”
“Did she?” Hazel frowned. “Perhaps she got mixed up. My mam was blonde.”
“But my mam had lovely red hair, didn’t she? Why would my mam be dancing with your dad, and why would Mrs Wilson think she was your mam?”
“Oh, you worry too much. Our parents were all friends together weren’t they? Perhaps they all went dancing and swapped partners for the dances. It’s not too difficult to work it out, is it?”
Eunice shrugged. “Perhaps you’re right, but I’m not sure...”
Hazel realised her friend was making a mountain out of a molehill as usual and decided to change the subject. “I can’t wait to see what this modelling job will be like.”
“Aren’t you anxious about meeting the other girls? They might all be pompous stuck-up sorts like Mrs Wilson.”
“She isn’t stuck up. She’s just reserved. I’m sure the models will be just like us.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure. My mam said the girls would probably be from the upper classes because she couldn’t see a woman like Mrs Wilson employing the likes of us.”
“Well, she’s employing me, isn’t she?” Hazel felt a little peeved that her Aunty Audrey had said such a thing.
“I hope they aren’t all snobbish types.” Eunice gave her a sideways glance. “You’d hate that, wouldn’t you?”
“Well, I won’t know what I’ll think about them until I meet them, will I?”
“Aren’t you nervous at all?”
Hazel shook her head.
“Then, you’re a braver man than me, Gunga Din!” Eunice misquoted a poem the girls had read in school.
“I’m not brave, Eunice.” She pressed her friend’s arm with her fingers. “I’m scared stiff I’ll make a hash of things, and the other girls will hate me, but this is an opportunity of a lifetime for me. My mam said if I do well, the newspapers might take interest and if they do, the world could be my oyster.”
“And then you’d be the Queen of Sheba lapping it up, I suppose.”
“A girl can dream, can’t she?” Hazel giggled. “Just think, I could be in those magazines Mam buys.”
“Don’t forget your friends when you get to be rich and famous, will you?” Eunice said her words in a light-hearted tone, but Hazel could hear the note of doubt creeping through.
“I’ll never leave you behind, Eunice. Don’t you worry about that. We’ll be friends forever.”
“I hope you’re right, love. I don’t know what I’d do without you to keep me sane. Promise you’ll never leave me. I’d be lost without you.”
“Same here. I promise.” Hazel thought she’d better change the subject again before Eunice became maudlin. “Will you wear the dress we made for you, tomorrow night?”
“Yes, I washed and pressed it after wearing it last week. Mam got me some new shoes to go with it. You’ll like them. They’re pink patent courts and have navy bows on the front. They squash my toes if I’m honest, but I daren’t tell my mam she bought the wrong size. She thought she was doing something nice for me and I didn’t want to burst her bubble. I’m sure they’ll soften up and fit better, in time.”
“They sound lovely. I’ll be wearing my work shoes, but I’ll give them an extra polish.” She lifted her foot to show the worn black leather shoes with small heels. “That’s the first thing I’ll buy with my next lot of savings.”
“You’ll be able to save faster now you have that modelling job. Will Mrs Wilson pay well, do you think?”
Hazel shrugged. “I didn’t think to ask, but anything extra will help. Mam and Dad said I could keep whatever I earned from modelling, so that was a surprise.”
“I wish I could get a second job and earn my own money. My allowance doesn’t go far and I had to save for weeks to get this done at the salon in town.” She pated her short waves gently.
“I could have a word with Mrs Wilson, if you like.”
“She wouldn’t want me parading around in her posh frocks. I don’t imagine she’ll sell many after folks see what I look like in them.”
“Don’t put yourself down, Eunice!” Hazel felt exasperated with her friend. “Plenty of women have figures like yours. Mrs Wilson would have to display dresses on curvy girls as well.”
“But they don’t all have faces like mine that would curdle milk.”
“Eunice Simpson, will you just stop it!” Hazel whirled to face her friend. “You can look as pretty as a picture if you put your mind to it. Remember how pretty I made you look with your mam’s makeup the other week. Now you have that stylish hairstyle as well! You are not ugly or fat! Will you get that through your silly head?”
Eunice stared at the ground as she continued walking. “It doesn’t matter how often you tell me, Hazel. It doesn’t change the facts. I’m as plain as the plain in a plain teacake and if you can’t see that my wobbly bits are made of fat, then you need your eyes testing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my eyes, but yours might need spectacles.” Hazel wasn’t about to give up on her friend. “You only got a couple of spots this month and if you’d used a bit of pancake foundation, no one would have noticed them. As for your curves, I’d give anything to have a chest like yours. Mine is a flat as a flatiron and I’m told lads like girls with some flesh around the chest area.”
Eunice looked up quickly. “Hazel Harris! What a thing to say!”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Hazel giggled.
“Who told you that?”
Hazel shrugged. She couldn’t remember where she’d heard it, but the phrase had struck a chord with her. She remembered thinking that Glenn might not like her as much when he discovered she didn’t have as full a chest as most lads were supposed to prefer.
“Then I suppose I’ll count my blessings.” Eunice jiggled her chest. “Both of them, eh?”
Both girls burst into fits of giggling.
“Oh, you are a one, Eunice!”
Chapter 9 – Warnings
The dusky pink gown made of fine chiffon now hung on the front of her wardrobe. She touched the floaty fabric and shivered with anticipation. She had tried it on a couple of times, in the shop, and knew she looked like a film star in the bias cut style. Mrs Wilson had told her so. The dress skimmed her curves, accentuating all the right places, and seemed to dance around her calves at the hem. Eunice thought the colour might clash with her hair and eyes when she first saw it but had admitted she was envious of the dress.
“Who cares if you look like a strawberry stick of rock from top to bottom?” Eunice had quipped. “I’d look like a pink blancmange in something like that!”
Hazel felt a touch guilty when she’d dragged her friend into the shop when she decided to buy the dress. Poor Eunice would never be able to afford anything like it. Her parents took every penny she earned at the bakery and gave her a few shillings back to spend on herself.
Hazel’s parents were more generous. They could afford to be. Her dad was a supervisor at Sykes’s mill in Horbury. Money was not as tight in the Harris family as it was in Eunice’s household. The Simpsons had seven mouths to feed and only two full wage earners. The middle boy, Walter, was apprenticed to the bus company. He was learning to be a mechanic but wouldn’t earn much until he’d served his time. Hazel’s family had two earners and she had only one younger sibling. Norman would be fourteen in September, and was desperate to leave school as soon as he could. With three wages coming into the house, the Harris family would be considered quite well off in the neighbourhood. She might even get an increase in her allowance after Christmas, if her brother found a job straight away.
She glanced at the dress again and felt her heart-rate increase. With the modelling work, she might soon be able to buy more dresses like this one. She would have to make sure she did a good job for Mrs Wilson, so she might be asked again. Everything was changing for her and it had all started with meeting Glenn. If it hadn’t been for him, she would never have found the
nerve to buy the dress. If she hadn’t bought the dress, she wouldn’t have become friendly with Mrs Wilson and wouldn’t be getting anxious about the fashion show. She shuddered. She would have to find the courage to do what was expected of her. Looking at the dress, she knew that wearing clothes like that would help to boost her confidence. The modelling would be easy if all the dresses were like the one hanging on her wardrobe.
Hazel reached for her new underwear. She had treated herself to the French knickers and matching camisole when Mrs Wilson pointed out the need for discreet foundation garments under the flimsy dress. She couldn’t spoil the line of the dress by wearing the bulky bloomers and petticoats she usually wore for work.
She rolled on her stockings and hooked them securely with the suspenders on her knickers. The bedroom mirror told her she looked a pretty picture, despite the curling pins in her hair. She had a fleeting thought that she might look just like this for Glenn on their honeymoon. He would want to touch the silky underwear and kiss her. She knew he would treat her like a precious and delicate princess and she would have all those familiar sensations running through her body. She sighed and hugged herself before glancing at the clock on her small mantle above the tiny fire-grate. She would have to hurry. She didn’t want to keep poor Eunice waiting.
She took out the curling pins from her hair and brushed it well, making the red-gold waves shine. Pressing the waves close to her head she gently teased some finger curls around her face. Adding a touch of rouge to her lips and cheeks, she reached for a small pot she kept on her dresser. The Vaseline and soot paste was home made, and she carefully smeared some on the tips of her eyelashes. When she looked again at her reflection, she was pleased.
Eunice always told her she didn’t need to use makeup, but she was on a mission this evening. Glenn had only ever seen her during the daytime, either at work or on her way home. She’d always been dressed in plain cotton shirt-dresses, her thick woollen coat, and a headscarf, as most working women would wear. Tonight, he would be in for a treat.
The late April day had been pleasantly warm but the evening would probably turn chilly. She had hoped she wouldn’t need to hide her beautiful dress under a coat. She’d imagined the dress would make her stand out in the crowd and didn’t want to spoil the initial impact by covering the whole thing because she might be cold. She decided to use her shawl for warmth.
She wiped her hands on her towel and reached for the stylish gown, taking it off the hanger with the greatest of care. She wriggled into it and smoothed the skirts down with her hands. Adjusting the paler pink bow at the neck, she twirled in front of her long bedroom mirror watching the skirt lift around her knees. She couldn’t wait for Glenn to see her in the dress.
She picked up her purse and the cream knitted wrap. Throwing the shawl around her shoulders, she clattered down the stairs in her black shoes. She’d given them an extra polish earlier so they wouldn’t look out of place with the new dress.
“Wow, Sis!” Norman was knelt by the front door scraping dried mud from his boots onto a newspaper. “I didn’t recognise you!”
Hazel grinned. If her own brother was impressed, she knew her efforts to look good would bowl Glenn over, and her insides did a flip just thinking about his response to seeing her.
“Let’s have a look at you, then!” her mother called from the parlour.
Reluctantly, Hazel put her head around the door. “I have to get going, I’m late already, and Eunice will be waiting.”
“Two more minutes won’t make any difference, lass,” her father’s voice sounded jovial. “Let your old dad see this dress you’ve been talking about.”
She stepped into the gloomy room. The sun was shining outside, but you’d never know it was daytime in the dark parlour. The heavy curtains were pulled across the windows to save the good furniture from fading in the sunlight. The new blackout linings deepened the gloom.
“What do you think, Dad?” She twirled slowly, trying to keep the floaty hem from exposing her knees.
“My goodness, girl!” her mother got to her feet. “You look like that Greta Garbo, only prettier.”
“Oh, Mam!” Hazel felt her cheeks growing hot. She hoped she hadn’t overdone it with the makeup. She glanced at her father. “Will I do, Dad?”
“You put me in mind of the first day I saw your mother.” Her dad’s eyes looked glassy, and he blinked a few times. “You’ll take care to stay close to Eunice, won’t you? I don’t want any of those young men to get ideas. I know you’re too young for them kind of capers, but looking as you do, the poor chaps will be hard pressed to leave you alone, I’ll be willing to bet. Just you be careful and keep your wits about you, mind!”
“Now, Donald!” Martha patted her husband’s shoulder. “Our Hazel is a sensible girl. We can trust her to behave.”
“I’d better go.” Hazel couldn’t wait to get out. Her guilty conscience was threatening to swamp her.
She saw her dad lift his hand and he seemed about to say something, but her mother pushed her out of the door. “You go have fun, love. Mind you get home before ten, though.”
“Martha!” her dad called. “Tell her to be home by ten.”
“I just did!” her mother called over her shoulder and then turned back to Hazel. “Get on, now, before Eunice thinks you’re not coming.”
Hazel skipped from the terraced house and hurried to the end of the street. Eunice was waiting, impatiently pacing back and forth on the path near the church in her blue cotton dress and new pink shoes.
“Where have you been?” Eunice took Hazel’s arm and began to march her down the path at the side of the graveyard. “I thought your dad might have changed his mind about letting you come out.”
“I think he nearly did, but Mam shoved me out the door before he could say anything. Where’s your Ray?”
“He went on ahead. He didn’t want to wait for you. Said he had people to meet, you know how it is with blokes.”
Hazel was disappointed that Raymond hadn’t waited for her. She had hoped to impress him with her dress and get a feel for how a young man would react to the sight of her wearing it.
“You look a picture.” Eunice turned to look at Hazel as they walked. “You were right about that dress. It makes you look older than nineteen, but it makes you seem, oh, what’s the right word?” Eunice paused to think for a second. “Sophisticated! That’s what I mean.”
“Oh, Eunice!” Hazel giggled. “You look lovely too.” Hazel searched for something nice to say about her friend’s cotton dress. “I was right about the colour, wasn’t I? That shade of blue brings out the colour in your eyes. You have very pretty eyes and your new hairstyle sets everything off to perfection.”
“Go on with you!” Eunice pushed her arm gently. “We both know I’ll always be the daisy to your rose. However much you try to flatter me, I’ll never be the one the boys will pick to dance with them. I’ll be an eternal wallflower.” Eunice turned down her lips making a face. “Can’t help looking like the back end of a bus, can I?”
“Don’t put yourself down like that. You have some lovely features, and your hair is lovely. The new style sets off your face. You look like you might have stepped out of the salon a few minutes ago. Well done for managing to style it so prettily.”
“Do you think so?” Eunice touched her shorter hair and blushed.
“Now, if you wore a bit of makeup, like I showed you, to emphasis your good points even more, you’d soon have the boys flocking around you.”
“What if I don’t want them to flock around me? What would I want a boy for, anyway? All they want is to get into your knickers, and I wouldn’t stand for any of that nonsense!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Glenn isn’t like that and I’m sure your Kenny isn’t either.”
“You must be daft as well as blind, Hazel.” Eunice squeezed Hazel’s arm. “They are all like that! Don’t you forget, I’ve got an older brother, and our Raymond is always warning me what la
ds want from the lasses.”
“Well, maybe the lasses want the same thing sometimes!” Hazel dared to say flippantly.
Eunice stopped and turned a shocked face to Hazel. “You can’t mean that!”
“Why not? Wait until you’ve been kissed by a man who thinks the world of you. You’ll soon change your mind when a man sets your heart racing. Has Kenny tried to kiss you yet?”
Eunice shook her head but didn’t say anything.
They resumed walking with an awkward silence between them, but after a few seconds, Eunice giggled. “Does Glenn Bradshaw set your heart racing?”
Hazel laughed and threw an arm around her friend. “Like the clappers!”
“Then you’d better keep your hand on your ha’penny, or you’ll be getting more than you bargained for when you bought that dress.”
“What do you mean?” Hazel had an idea what her friend was alluding to but chose to play the innocent.
“You know what I mean, Hazel Harris!” Eunice grinned. “That fine dress won’t fit you for long if you let Glenn get inside your knickers.”
“Who says I’m going to let him anywhere near my underwear?” Hazel tried a snooty expression but burst into a fit of nervous giggling.
Eunice lowered her voice. “I asked our Ray about what happens in the bedroom when a lass and a lad get married.”
Hazel moved closer as they walked arm in arm. “Did he tell you?” She was fascinated.
Eunice gave a self-important nod of her head. “He did, but he also told me that it doesn’t only happen in the bedroom, and I’m to be careful because that’s how babies are made! You be careful too! That’s all I’m saying.”
“Really!” Hazel was surprised. “I didn’t know that.” She felt uneasy to be so ignorant of such a thing. “Did your brother really tell you all that?”
Eunice nodded emphatically.
“Well, you can’t leave it there, Eunice Simpson!” Hazel was eager to know more. “Tell me more about it!”
Her friend leant her head closer. “Well, at first he said it was a subject best left to our mam to tell me about. Then I had to point out that our mam would never discuss anything like that with me until the night before my wedding, and that isn’t going to happen anytime soon, is it?”
Happiness for Hazel Page 8