Thirteen Letters. Chapter Nine.

The day finally arrived, my first day at work, I was nervous, it was good of Maxine to let us settle down, our own little family. She had thought of everything, right down to the nannies, Claire, Jenny, Katrina, Martyn, Jools, Christine, Gary, Diane, Janet, Deana, Mal and Josie. Those mentioned, they are trusted people that Maxine had worked with in the present and the past, good honest, hardworking people, worth their weight in salt. They were all offered various jobs around the garden and house, from cleaning, to gardening, and looking after the twins. Their wages were all the same, £100,000 a year, they all had families of their own and they between them chose when and what they would like to do, their hours were 100% flexible, all Maxine asked of them was that they did seven days a month, they would arrange with Lisa, what she wanted done, but all of them were able to work on their own initiative or if Lisa didn’t, want or need anyone on a particular day, she would let them all know by a single text to all their works mobile. This no work, did not affect their pay, it stayed the same. Lisa’s new Staff, they all came with excellent references, for they always gave 110% so Lisa and I trusted them, because Maxine did. 

David had picked me up in the car and had taken me to the recording studio, I hadn’t expected to see cameras there, I thought it was all just going to be behind closed doors, I had learnt my lines to the songs she has asked me to, even though she had told me, “You will not be singing,” How was that going to work? I wondered, but by now I had learnt not to worry, she had reassured me many times, “I have your best interest at heart.”

I sang some songs in the recording studio, and then we all went to a different venue, it was huge! I estimate at least 10,000 people were in there when we arrive. There was a band playing, and it all sounded awesome.

I was allowed to settle my nerves, and after thirty minutes, Maxine went out and introduced me to them all, they were expecting me. They cheered, clapped and whistled. Everything was ready, I already had on the clothes, and had brought with me the other two changes of clothes that I would be changing into, in the two intervals that Maxine had chosen and then the music started to play and the song. My microphone wasn’t on, as I was informed it wouldn’t be. This was where my acting would come into play. I knew when I was to look down, look at the camera, hold on to the microphone with my right hand, with my left hand raised, it was fabulous!

After the concert, I was on a high. I met the backing singers, and at the buffet it was explained to me, how it would all pan out.

There is a new technique, that they will be using, so even close up looking at my lips, it looks like I am singing, but in fact I am not, it’s all computer-generated. Maxine said, “The real singer is one of the backing singers, and at least once in filming the camera will go to him, and with that he will be paid huge royalties and his name will be mentioned and when Maxine is singing, the real singer will also be shown too as one of the backing singers, for in some of the songs we will be singing together. None of the computer-generated information would be passed on to the general public. As far as they are concerned, Paul Anderson is singing.

Later on, back at Maxine’s office, she explained to me in a bit more detail, she told me, “I knew what I wanted to do, but wasn’t sure how to get it done, so I contacted the world renowned, of tech, Steve James, Steve explained to me, ‘There will be three cameras on Paul when he is singing, from the front, and from the left and right hand side of him as he sings, and with that, he can then at the touch of buttons, synchronised his mouth pattern to any song,’ this same applies to you too when you singing Maxine.” Steve informed me the tech is called, TechPrint or TP as it copies the lip pattern of the mouth. I was very impressed and looked forward to seeing the finished video. I would never sing live, and as part of my contract was not allowed to sing outside the home.        

The following week, was the first time that we were going to do the cooking in front of the live studio audience. I had chosen the chef who I wanted to cook with me, I had heard that Maxine wasn’t keen on him, it was Gordon Ramsay! Before he went on air, Maxine had a meeting with Gordon, she asked him, “Do you want to do the show?” Informed him what she wanted from the show, the format would generally be the same, there was to be no swearing, no blasphemy, just beautifully prepared food in a family, friendly light-hearted manner, vegetarian meals for Paul and meat dishes for Maxine, his pay would be a million a year, easy money really. Twenty people sitting randomly in the audience, would also be given food. The audience would be different each time, this way giving others a chance to enjoy the ambience.

With the audience in front of us, and the camera behind us, Gordon on the right with me in the middle and Maxine on my left. Maxine never spoke. Gordon would always offer us a small bowl of water for each of us to wash our hands, and we always did. That bowl of water would then be discarded, and the other bowls of water that was just under the table on the shelf, would be moved for the next part. Gordon, would do the same thing next and he would get the same response, every single time; he would offer me a crisp white apron to put over my head, I would look at him amazed and say, “I’ve just had my hair done, I’m not putting that over my head,” So I didn’t. then, Gordon would offer another apron to Maxine, who would point to her huge massive curly wig, meaning no chance! So, defeated he would start the food. Maxine had three curly wigs one black, the other dark brown and the third gray the colour of her own hair.

Gordon would do the food together, but separately, he would surprise us each time, with what he was cooking and would give us things to do like peel, chop, stir etc. we loved it. Gordon would ask the friendly audience questions and the microphone would be nearby and as hands were raised, we would all hear their replies. Some in the audience would ask me questions too, they were hungry for information about us both. I would informed them, “One day there will be an interview, here in this room, and we will answer all your questions.”

The food always smelt wonderful, and I would sometimes try to sneak something to nibble, when I thought he wasn’t looking. I usually got caught. At first Maxine wasn’t keen on Gordon, but by the following year, she had told me, “He’s grown on me, I really didn’t like him at first, but I do now.” That was nice to hear, for Maxine was always fair, and ready to give a person a second chance, for his reputation had gone before him.

When the food was finished, I was never allowed to eat with a fork or a spoon, it always had to be with my hands, hence the other bowl of water came into play, to wash my fingertips in, and then dry my hands into a clean white cotton tea towel. If Gordon had cooked mixed rice, I was still able to eat it with my fingertips or using a fork or spoon I would put the beautiful rice onto iceberg lettuce and eat it that way. He is the best chef, ever!

Twenty white dishes, would then be handed to the audience, for them to also enjoy the meal that they had just watched Gordon make. At the end, there was a table for the used dishes to be placed for the next trimonthly offering. They would be collected and washed and placed in the cupboard, along with the forks or spoons.