Chapter 27

Katie woke us the next morning with a tray of coffee, pushing the door open with her foot and calling out “it’s time to get up Poppy.”

“Oh, thanks sweetie,” Poppy said sleepily as she took a mug off the tray.

“I need more sleep,” Belle muttered against my chest.

“Well it’s ok for you to stay in bed, but Poppy needs to get up, unless you need the day off, I could tell school you’re still feeling rubbish from yesterday.”

“That’s ok, I’m fine now.”

Katie sat on the edge of the bed, “I feel awful about running out on you last night.”

“It’s ok really,” Poppy replied as she sat up in bed to drink her coffee, “you were frightened because you’ve never been in our position, and to be honest, that’s a good thing at our age, we shouldn’t have to confront death.”

“Help me to help you, what should I do next time you get like you were last night.”

“You could do exactly what Alex did, just lie there and let us cuddle up to you. He didn’t speak, just left us to our thoughts, and we were soon fast asleep.”

“Ohh, was that all, I feel so stupid now.”

“Well don’t feel stupid. Another thing you could have done is talk to us, you didn’t need to say anything useful or profound, just listen and even ask questions about what we were feeling, but don’t feel bad, because really, we’re all just making this up as we go along.”

“Ok, what about you Belle, what can I do to help you.”

“You could kiss me, that would be nice.”

“Haha, I can definitely do that.”

“And tonight,” Poppy said while Katie kissed Belle, “we can all sleep together, and Jenny can have Alex back.”

“That will be nice.”

“I can’t promise we won’t cry a bit.”

“I’ll be ready this time.”

“I know you will,” Poppy replied, pulling Katie across the bed to kiss her.

“Err, do you mind,” I called out, “if you’re going to make out, I’ll vacate the bed.”

“We don’t mind you watching,” Poppy said.

“I’ll kiss you while Poppy kisses Katie,” Belle said quietly.

“And that would be lovely, honestly, but they’ve got to get ready for school, and you’ve got to get ready for work, we’ve got four meetings today.”

“Four!”

“Yes, two with different people at my publishers, one with Lois, my editor, and one with my marketing officer.”

“Wow, and are all of them with important people, should I dress posh then?”

“Not posh, but smart.”

“Can I have a quick shower first,” she asked her sisters, “then can one of you do my hair in buns, I can never get them level if I do them myself.”

“Of course,” Katie said lovingly, “I’ll do your hair and makeup after you’ve got dressed.”

“Thank you, I feel like I’m having a job interview or something, my tummy is all fluttery.”

“No, that’s all the food you ate yesterday.”

“Oh god yes, I’m going to break the toilet when I have a poo.”

“Well don’t use ours then,” Katie called out as Belle ran into their bathroom, Belle naturally dropped her pyjama bottoms, showed us her bare arse and carried on into the bathroom.

As the door slammed Katie rolled off me and into Poppy’s arms, “we really need to be getting ready for school,” she said as Poppy kissed her.

“We’ve got until Belle finishes in the bathroom.”

I slipped out of the bed and made for the door, where I bumped into Jenny, “are they OK?”

“Right now they’re fine,” I whispered, “let’s go chat in our room, Katie and Poppy have a little making up to do.”

“Ahh, ok, so how were they last night?” Jenny asked as I started to pull out my clothes for the day.

“Still crying a little bit when I got there, they just wanted someone to cuddle for a while, but Katie didn’t understand that, she does now though, so they’ll be fine.”

“That’s all, just cuddle?”

“Yep, and to be there if they wanted to talk, but they didn’t talk, they just cuddled up to me and fell asleep.”

“Awww, that’s lovely, I’d have liked to see that.”

“Belle had her Spongebob pyjamas on, she looked so sweet.”

“So, what’s on the cards for today?”

“Belle and I are off to Bloomsbury for a series of meetings, one of them is about funding Poppy’s charity. It would have been nice for her to be there, but Belle will provide a decent insight. I think I’ll take her to the British Museum Cafe for a spot of lunch.”

“Ahh, that’ll be lovely. I’m in the West End today, plotting the lay of the land for Friday’s raid.”

“Oh shit yes, we’ll be driving back from York then.”

“Yes, and don’t remind any of them, I don’t want the girls worrying. So anyway, if you have an idea when you’ll be having lunch, and I’m free, I may pop across to the British Museum, it’s not far from Friday’s location.”

I found my phone and checked my day’s schedule, “all being well, we’ll be in the museum at 1:30, does that sound good?”

Jenny checked her phone, “that sounds fine, pending any disasters, I’ll see you then, now I’ve got to run, early briefing today.”

We kissed quickly and she left me to get ready.

I dressed in a white Ralph Lauren Oxford and cream chinos, with a dark blue v-neck sweater. I avoid wearing suits and ties at all costs unless absolutely necessary.

As I was making coffee Poppy and Katie dashed into the kitchen, they each took a drink of orange juice straight from the carton and ran for the door.

“Can’t hang around dad, we’ll be late,” Poppy called back, “we’ll get something to eat at school, we promise. Have a good day with Belle, she’ll be down in a minute.”

As the echo from the door slamming subsided I heard feet on the stairs, “the coffee’s ready,” I called out, “do you want pancakes?”

“Yes please,” Belle replied from the doorway, I looked up and my jaw dropped.

“Is it too much? It’s too much isn’t it, I’ll go wash it all off,” she said, turning towards the stairs.

“Come back Belle, let me look at you properly.”

She turned back and stepped properly into the kitchen, damn she looked beautiful, not what I expected when I said dress smart, but Poppy knows what she’s doing, and Belle looked perfect, she wouldn’t fit in a bank, but in the creative industry all she’s missing is piercings and tattoos.

She was wearing her Mary Jane shoes, still super shiny, black knee socks, a black skirt that I think was Katie’s, they must have taken it in at the waist, a dark green polo shirt with a black cardigan, she was wearing a lot of makeup, cream foundation and a little bronzer to her cheeks. Belle’s lips were a very dark green and they’d applied jade eyeshadow. Her hair was tied into a tight bun either side of her head.

Like I said, not conventional, but she looked gorgeous.

“It’s too much, tell me, I won’t be upset, I told Katie she was going too far...”

“Shush, you look perfect.”

“Really, but you went all quiet, you looked shocked.”

“Surprised, I was surprised is all, you don’t wear much makeup normally.”

“That’s because Poppy told me I don’t need to, now they’ve done this to me,” she replied, pointing at her face.

“And I’ll thank her later, because you look amazing.”

“Can you take some photos please, so I can remember this look for later, because I love it.”

I fetched my phone and carefully took several photos, the best couple I sent to Poppy and Katie’s phones, then I sent a message to Jenny.

‘Be prepared for a quite different Belle at lunch, her sisters have done her makeup.’

‘Oh my god!’ she replied, ‘what have they done to her?’

‘You’ll find out at lunch.’

As we were drinking our coffee, Belle being super careful not to smudge her lipstick, we heard the front gate opening.

“Oh, that’ll be Helen,” I said.

“Oh really, I’ll go meet her at the door, see if she likes my new look.”

“I can’t see how she wouldn’t,” I replied.

Belle put her mug down and dashed for the door as she heard the key turn, I could see her in the hallway mirror standing proud, ready to greet Helen.

“Oh my god!” Helen cried out as she saw Belle, “you look amazing, who did this for you.”

“It was mostly Katie.”

“I need them to do my makeup for my next shoot.”

“I’m so glad you like it, I was worried it might be too much.”

Helen helped herself to coffee as Belle sat opposite me to finish hers.

“What time is Ernie due,” Helen asked as she sipped her coffee.

“Around 9 I think, he’s coming to measure up first, then he’ll go to the lumber yard, I think Jeremy is coming this morning for the stuff in the hall and the bags of Tammy’s clothes.”

Belle grabbed my sleeve, “the box,” she hissed between clenched teeth.

“Let’s go upstairs,” I said to Helen, “I’ll walk you through the plans in case Ernie asks”.

“I’ll load the dishwasher and set it going,” Belle said.

I led Helen into the bedroom, “what’s the matter,” Helen asked, “I thought you were showing me what you wanted done to the spare room.”

“It’s something we found there,” I replied.

Helen sat down heavily on the bed, “oh fuck, I forgot about that, did anyone see what’s in there?”

“Belle and I saw some of it.”

“Oh shit, does she hate me?”

“Far from it,” I told her.

“What about you, did you see the pictures of mum?”

“Some of them, why didn’t you tell me you’d done porn, I thought you said the pussy shots were the worst you’d done.”

Helen put a hand on my arm, she was nervous, this was very unlike her, “it was towards the end, when I was getting really sick of the industry, but I needed the money. How far did you get in the box?”

“We stopped after the first magazine with mum in, Belle wants to see more, but she doesn’t want to see any of the illegal child porn.”

“Oh my god, I’d actually forgotten about all that, because I knew just where to look for mum, I ignored all of that.”

“Ok, so how about we get rid of all the stuff that isn’t you or mum, cut it out and burn it, then Belle can look at the rest.”

“Err, right at the bottom, and the DVD, they’re my porn.”

“Ok, so take them away if you don’t want anyone to see them.”

“I’m in two minds, I’d like the girls to watch them, but I also don’t. I definitely don’t want Nita seeing any of it.”

“Is it just straight porn?”

“Yeah, me and two men in the magazine; me, a man and his wife on the DVD.”

“There’s nothing bad or degrading in there?”

“No, it’s just straight sex, a bit of slapping, and I’m DPd in the magazine, but it’s all ok for Belle and the others to see. I just don’t want them to see me differently because I’ve done porn, even if it’s just one film and one magazine.”

“I’m sure they won’t see you any differently. Belle was fascinated, she kept touching the pages, over your pussy, and where mum was penetrated.”

“Interesting,” Helen replied.

“She definitely likes looking at pretty girls.”

“She is a girl of very refined tastes.”

“So it’s ok for the girls to look through this box, after we’ve taken out the illegal shit.”

“Definitely, I think one of the magazines has a girl and, err, her pets shall we say.”

“Oh fuck, we’ll definitely burn those pages.”

With that sorted I gave Helen a very quick run through of what we wanted Ernie to do in the spare room, three desks, shelves, drawers, pinboards, better lights.

“Do you want me to paint the walls? This cream is a bit dull, I think peach is a better colour for a work room, more calming.”

“Do whatever you think is best,” I replied.

“I always do,” Helen replied with a smile.

“Come on dad, we’ll be late for your meeting!” Belle cried from downstairs.

“My PA, she drives me hard,” I laughed.

I grabbed my briefcase from the hall, we both kissed Helen at the door and dashed across the park to the station, just in time to catch the District Line to Earls Court, where we’d swap to the Piccadilly Line to Russell Square.

Belle had a small green leather satchel on a shoulder strap, “where did you get that bag?” I asked.

“It’s Katie’s, it’s a perfect match for my eyeshadow apparently, I needed something to hold my notepad and pens.”

“You don’t really need to take notes, you know, I’ll record everything on my phone.”

“I want to do it, this is all work experience for me, I’ve not done any school work for so long, I need to learn to pay attention, and take notes as the teacher talks, if I make mistakes we can check with your recording. I’ve got the iPad as well, so I can look even more professional.”

“Mmm the flowery pink cover maybe isn’t ultra professional.”

She stuck her tongue out, “I’m professional, but with my own personality.”

“You certainly are,” the train slowed, I checked the stop, “OK, here we are, it’s about a 10 minute walk from here to the office.”

“I’m glad I’m wearing these shoes then, Katie wanted me to wear heels.”

“I’m glad you’re wearing comfy shoes, we’ll be doing quite a bit of walking today.”

“I like walking with you, especially when we’re holding hands.”

“Ahh, we can’t do that today, PA’s don’t generally hold their boss’s hands, at least not in public, anyway.”

“Oh yes, I’m forgetting myself already.”

Belle stopped to look around the station, “I’ve not been in this one before, is this the station that’s so deep there’s only lifts.”

“There are stairs, but you wouldn’t want to be climbing up them, there’s about 175 steps I think.”

“Nope, don’t fancy going up them, maybe I’ll run down them later, on our way home.”

We waited in the queue for one of the three huge lifts, when it was our turn to cram in Belle squashed in close to me, she held my hand tightly through the slow journey up to the surface.

“Ahh, sorry about crushing your hand like that, I get a bit nervous in tight spaces like that with so many people, maybe it’s best if I do use the stairs on the way back.”

“Are you ok now?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied cheerfully, “Ohh a Costa, can we get a hot chocolate, have we got time?”

I checked my watch, we had 45 minutes, “of course, we’ve got time.”

We took a table by the window, overlooking Russell Square gardens. Belle looked around the area while she used my teaspoon to eat the cream and sprinkles from the top of her hot chocolate.

“So, where’s the office?”

“See that really fancy stone building with the flags over the doorway?”

“In there,” she said excitedly.

“Unfortunately not, that’s a really expensive hotel, my publisher is behind that hotel.”

“Aww, at least the staff are close to this nice park.”

“Oh yes, it’s lovely in summer, all the staff around here usually spend their lunch hour in the park.”

“If I worked here I’d sunbathe topless, because I don’t want annoying tan-lines. Poppy once told me that tan-lines are a sign you’re not proud enough of your body to let other people see it. I’m proud of my body. I bet Helen didn’t have tan-lines when she was modelling full time.”

“Ahh, Helen’s a redhead, she rarely goes out in the sun without plenty of sunscreen.”

“Ha yes, of course.”

“And you can be as proud of your body as you like, but there are certain places where you really shouldn’t remove all your clothes, parks in central London are usually not ideal topless sunbathing spots.”

“Maybe, we’ll see when I come here next summer as your full time PA.”

I laughed as she gave me a stern look, defying me to say she wouldn’t be my full time PA.

“OK, but I’m not paying your bail if you get arrested.”

“I’ll come with Poppy, everyone will look at her first, and I’ll grab my clothes and hide.”

“Very good plan, but don’t be so sure about people seeing Poppy first, you really are beautiful you know,” I checked my watch, “drink up, we’d better get going.”

Belle picked up her big mug and drank the rest of her hot chocolate in one go. I pointed at her nose and smiled; she crossed her eyes to look at her nose.

“Ahh shit, why does that always happen to me,” she cried as she dashed off to the toilet to wipe her nose and fix her makeup.

Despite my earlier comment Belle held my hand as we walked through the park towards the office, “what you said earlier, about me being beautiful, were you just trying to make me feel better?”

“Nope, you are beautiful, and Poppy agrees with me.”

“I’m not so sure, Poppy and Katie are so pretty.”

“And this goes back to something Jenny and I were talking about, you three are so different to most pretty girls who always seem to compete to be the prettiest, you and your sisters are just the opposite.”

“I suppose spending the last year without a mirror to look in, so we looked at each other rather than ourselves. Also, I lived with Poppy and Flower, how was I supposed to compete with those two to look up to?”

“OK, but just so you know, I think you’re beautiful, with or without makeup.”

Belle gave my hand a squeeze, “thanks dad, that means a lot.”

Belle looked up at the hotel as waited for a taxi to pass, “will the hotel we stay in tomorrow be as fancy as this one?”

“I don’t know, Helen is sorting it for us, if she likes it though, it’s probably fairly posh. We’ll ask her when we get home.”

We walked down the side of the hotel and took the first street on the left, the office was a four-story building in the middle of a long Georgian terrace, each building had a broad doorway flanked by imposing stone pillars, some even had a doorman.

“Oh, these are still pretty fancy, will I be ok dressed like this.”

“I wouldn’t have let you leave the house like that if you weren’t, come on, once you meet the receptionist, you’ll feel better,” I reassured her as I pushed the intercom.

Inside we were greeted warmly by the pretty receptionist, “ahh Mr Harrison, it’s been a while since we’ve seen you.”

“Good morning Paige, I’m glad you’re in today, my daughter Belle is worried she’s not going to fit in here.”

Paige stepped around her desk to shake Belle’s hand, showing Belle the full extent of her outfit, artfully ripped t-shirt and jeans, well worn 14-hole Doc Marten boots, black nail polish and blue hair.

“I’d heard rumours that you had a family now, where did you find such a pretty girl?”

“Would you believe me if I said I found this one in Kings Cross Station?”

“Are you likely to say you found her in Kings Cross?” Paige replied.

“He is, because that’s where I was living at the time. I’m Poppy’s girlfriend.”

“Poppy, she’s the girl Lois met isn’t she, Lois was very impressed with her.”

“Yes, Poppy was the first girl I adopted, then there’s Katie, her parents have moved abroad and it didn’t seem fair to have her change schools just before her GCSEs, so she moved in, and then we went in search of Belle to complete our family.”

“That’s amazing, so were you on the streets long Belle?”

“Over a year, most of that time Poppy kept me safe, then some bad men did horrible things to Poppy and I was left with another girl, she was nice, but not as brave as Poppy, and we moved into an empty office in Kings Cross underground.”

“A year, I’m impressed, not many people last that long and stay healthy.”

“Poppy was on the streets for over three years, we think, and she’s the most beautiful girl in the world. Were you on the streets long?”

“How do you know I was on the streets?” Paige asked, impressed.

“You’ve just got an air of someone who’s had to struggle, I think it’s your eyes.”

“I wasn’t homeless long, just a few weeks after my mum kicked me out when I was 15, I found a shelter in Charing Cross, then this big guy called Jeremy found a family for me.”

“Jeremy! You know him? He saved Poppy’s life twice, then Alex saved her life, for such a goddess she needed saving a lot, but she’s worth saving. What was your name back then Paige, I’ll tell Jeremy we’ve seen you.”

“I was Paige back then as well, Paige Anders.”

Belle pulled out her notebook and wrote Paige’s name in neat round letters followed by a little heart.

“So, Tara is running a little late, can I get you both a drink?”

“I’d love a coffee,” I replied, “what about you, Belle.”

Belle opened her iPad and sighed, “I hope this doesn’t throw the whole day out.”

Paige gave me a look, “Belle is my PA today, she’s overplaying her role slightly.”

“Drink, Belle?” I asked again.

“Do you have hot chocolate?”

“We do, I’ll be back in a minute,” Paige said as we moved to the sofa by the lifts.

“I like her,” Belle said as she settled down on the soft leather sofa, she pulled out her iPad, “well, seeing as I pretended to use this before, I may as well do it properly, what’s our schedule today?”

“Ok, first off we’re seeing Tara, she’s my agent.”

“What’s an agent do?”

“She represents my interests, she negotiates my fees, and licences my books with publishers abroad, handles the film rights, arranges my marketing, TV and radio interviews, all things like that.”

“So, what would a PA do for you if Tara does all that?”

“A PA would manage my correspondence, and probably take the marketing aspects away from Tara.”

“Do you think I’d be able to do that?”

“I thought you were looking at doing social care, to work in a care environment.”

“I’m both female and a teenager, so I’m allowed to change my mind,” she replied, a little exasperated, “anyway, if I was your PA I’d be taking care of you, and that’s all I want to do really, look after someone else.”

“Well, once you finish your GCSEs we’ll see if you want to go on to do A-Levels or work for me.”

Paige appeared then with two drinks, a coffee for me, and a proper hot chocolate with cream and sprinkles for Belle.

“Oh wow, I just expected something in a plastic cup from a vending machine.”

“Normally that’s what you’d get, but when my favourite author is in town we pull out all the stops.”

“Oh, when does your favourite author get here,” Belle deadpanned.

“Soon, so you’d better drink up so I can tidy the reception,” Paige laughed as she stepped back to her desk.

“So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day, we’ve got four meetings altogether you said,” Belle asked as she put her mug down.

“Next is Lois at 11:30, she’s my editor.”

“Oh yes, Poppy mentioned her, what’s an editor do?”

“She reads my books to find any plot mistakes, any scenes that may need to be tidied up, or even removed if they’re unnecessary, she also passes the finished book to a proof reader to sort out any niggly spelling or grammar mistakes.”

“That sounds like a fun job, being paid to read books.”

“She has to read them extra carefully though.”

“Mmm, yes, maybe that’s not so fun. OK, so what’s next after Lois?”

“We’re going to meet Jenny for lunch.”

“Oooh, she’ll see me looking like this, will she be OK?”

“I can’t see why not, it’s not like you’ve gone to school plastered in makeup.”

“Ok, I don’t know why I’m panicking. So, after lunch?”

“We’re meeting Tom, he’s my publisher, we’re talking about my upcoming projects, then we’re meeting Esther, she’s the company’s charity co-ordinator.”

“Is that about Poppy’s charity?”

“Actually, it’s about Poppy & Belle, that’s what we’ve decided to call the charity.”

“Oh, why?”

“Because you’re going to be just as involved, you’ve got shared experiences, and you can use that knowledge to help people, so it’s hardly fair to just use Poppy as the figurehead.”

“But she’s much kinder than I am.”

“All evidence suggests that isn’t true, you gave away much of the money she gave you, and you want to pay to help Flower, even giving the money you won from me and Helen yesterday to Jeremy.”

“Yeah, but that’s different. I was just passing on my good fortune.”

“It’s no different, you could have kept the money and no-one would have blamed you for it, instead you passed it onto others in need. You also want to work in care, or at least care for me, that’s the least selfish career path anyone could take. So yes, you’re as kind as Poppy and fully deserve to have your name used as part of the charity name.”

Belle was quiet for a while before she turned to me, “you know, I’ve never really thought of myself as my own person, I’ve always thought I kind of belonged to someone, I was my mum & dad’s little girl, then I was my granny’s little girl, then I was lost for a while before I became Poppy’s girlfriend, even if I was only her girlfriend in my own mind, now I’m your daughter, but I am my own person, aren’t I? If I want to, I can make my own decisions about things.”

“Of course you can, within reason, as there’s stuff you can only do when you’re 18. And to reassure you, Belle, you are definitely your own person, with your own style, your own personality, and your own opinions, and those three traits combine to make an incredibly unique and likeable person.”

Belle moved closer to me on the sofa and held my hand, “I need to build my self-confidence I think, until I do I’ll keep holding your hand, because I feel safe with you.”

“That’s OK, just remember you look more like my daughter than my PA if you’re holding my hand.”

“My first decision today is that I don’t care what I look like, I want to hold your hand for a bit.”

“Hey Alex,” Paige called over a few minutes later, “Tara’s ready for you, she’s moved office now, third floor, down the back on the left.”

I led Belle down the corridor behind Paige’s desk and up three flights of stairs, “better for you than using the lift,” I said as we reached the third floor landing.

“At least there weren’t 175 steps or whatever,” Belle replied.

Belle stepped around me and led me down to the back of the building, where she knocked sharply on Tara’s door, pushing it open when Tara called out.

“Hey Alex,” I heard, “oh, you’re not Alex.”

“No, I’m not, I’m his PA Belle.”

“Actually, she’s my daughter,” I laughed as I followed Belle into the room, “working as my PA until she starts back at school next week.”

Tara, a tall, dark-haired woman in her late forties, waved us to her meeting table, “ahh yes, I’ve been hearing about your new family, tell me everything while I make coffee.”

Belle summarised the last few weeks for Tara while I pulled the papers I needed out of my case.

“How do you like your coffee Belle?” Tara asked as she riffled through a basket of coffee pods.

“White no sugar please, do you have any biscuits?”

“I do,” Tara replied, putting a tin of chocolate biscuits on the table.

“That’s dangerous,” I said, “Belle will probably eat them all.”

Belle slapped my leg, and now I know how Katie felt when Belle slapped her, it really hurts, “I can behave when I want to.”

“Do you want some ointment for that leg? That sounded like quite a slap.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I like you,” Tara said, pushing the biscuit tin over to Belle.

“Thank you,” Belle said as she deliberated over which biscuit to take, “sorry, I didn’t mean to slap you that hard, I guess real PAs are not supposed to slap their bosses.”

“Not normally,” I replied, reaching across and taking a caramel wafer.

“So, what have you got for me today,” Tara asked as she unwrapped her biscuit.

“Lois asked Poppy to write a kind of memoir about her time on the streets,” I told her.

“So it’s true, Poppy was homeless.”

“Oh yes, it’s all true,” Belle replied, “I was with her for a year of that time.”

“And you saved her life, Alex,” Tara said.

“He did, the specifics are quite horrible, but Poppy would have died if Alex hadn’t found her and taken her into his home.”

“So Poppy is putting together a book about her life,” Tara said.

“Well yes, Belle is going to help, they’ve put together a quick outline for you,” I pushed a few photocopied sheets across the table, “the plan is to explain just how easy it is for someone to become homeless, and then how hard it is to escape from the life.”

“We’ll tell some funny stories, because it’s not always grim on the streets. Mostly it is, but we had a lot of fun. There’s some stuff we probably won’t talk about, because, well...”

“Some stuff the girls end up doing isn’t something they want to think about,” I offered.

“What he said...” Belle said.

“Ok, I can understand that.”

“We also thought we could talk to some of the girls me and Poppy lived with, or met. Whilst I was lucky, I didn’t do drugs or anything, I was like everyone’s little sister and they protected me, a lot of girls, and boys, use drugs on the streets, so we’ll talk to a guy we know who’s a real life saint and he helps the girls get off drugs, and drink, and other stuff. We might send a photographer round to take some photos of the places we slept, and the people.”

“And the money from the book will go to the Poppy & Belle Foundation we’re setting up,” I added.

“This is brilliant, I can definitely work with this to get the ball rolling on marketing.”