I wanted no part of the sex scene. Even if I had to work at Kmart, I would not sell myself again in a hurry. I never wanted to hear the name Kate for as long as I lived. I was very happy and, in time, I learnt to stop anticipating the worst, I learnt to trust again. Ben was happy to reconnect with me, and thankfully he thought I hadn’t changed. I had missed him so much, letters and the occasional visit he made to me while in Sydney had always kept the flame alive for me. So I took time to enjoy seeing old friends, walking on the beach, going to aerobics and even getting driving lessons and basically just being normal for a change. As the saying goes, I was happier than a pig in mud.
My youngest brothers had decided to move back to Mum now that she was without Jeffrey. Mum was so overjoyed that her family was close again that she moved near to Ben and me in Brisbane. I could see no harm in it. Ben, on the other hand, could smell trouble looming.
I found a lovely three-bedroom house to rent within Mum’s budget. It was ten minutes from where Ben and I lived. I put up the deposit and paid rent in advance to try to help her. For the first two weeks we went over almost every night for dinner. Once Ben even cooked for her at our house.
Mum had begun treating Ben with a bit more affection now that she could see he was a permanent fixture in my life. But Ben refused to forget the past, even though it was my past not his. All the animosity and siding with Jeffrey were still so raw in his mind. He insisted on holding a grudge.
Norm, my old friend from Gala Records, had proved to be very helpful in finding me work. I started as a public relations person at a night club, hilarious considering I was still only seventeen. During the day he would take me to a music studio where he had a friend who taught me how to work sound boards and mixing machines. At the nightclub my tasks were very simple: I had to make sure everyone in the members’ room was having a good time and I had to coordinate special functions. For example, celebrities’ birthdays or a night where football players could let their hair down after a game. I loved my job. Whenever Norm had a big name band in town he would bring them into our club and he would introduce me as his daughter. I got to meet anyone and everyone, then the following day, Norm would take me away with the band on his yacht.
Life was good for me. I wish I could say the same for Ben—he didn’t seem as happy-go-lucky any more. I put it down to the fact that his brother came to stay for what started out as two weeks but ended up being two months. When I couldn’t stomach his cradle-snatching jokes any longer, I went and stayed with my mother. Mum was also happy for the financial support and groceries I gave her, as she was trying to survive on Dad’s and the government’s handouts to raise my brothers.
My colourful life gave Mum something to be proud of. I knew Mum was sleeping with Norm, but I knew it wasn’t serious. But then again so were all his other indiscretions and most of his followers were my age or younger. His theory was a bottle of Jack Daniel’s can make a girl look a lot older.
One evening some of the big wigs from the local radio station came into the club with Norm. I sat in on one of their conversations, and learnt they wanted to interview an American band that was touring, and were trying to organise some promotions. Norm seemed to ignore their question.
‘Have any of you met my gorgeous daughter, Annika?’
I entertained them for the rest of the evening with drinks cards and all the other perks of my job. I always went out of the way for any of Norm’s contacts, which is why he always brought his big name people to our club. I even made it a point to dance with every single one of his friends, which went over very well.
Norm could see how naturally I slipped into the role of hostess with his VIPs, so he decided to start paying me to do his job. As prestigious as working at the nightclub was it barely covered my expenses, so the idea of paying me to do what I was already doing for free was a giant bonus.
While I loved hanging out with Norm and the crew at Gala, I was really only there to meet musicians so that I could get some dancing gigs to pay the bills. So Norm’s offer was a straight salary to meet, greet and entertain visiting entertainers. I played friendly and showed them around but left the seedy stuff to Norm. It was a perfect job for me, and it worked well for Norm’s liver as well. I never did drink, so I could be relied upon to stay in my right mind and last the distance when bands wanted to party into the wee hours of the morning. Unlike Norm, I could then get up again in the morning with a fresh head to take them to early morning radio appearances and interviews, now that I was old enough to have a driver’s licence.
These were definitely my halcyon days beyond the red door.
22
There’s Something Different About You