Chapter 5

Thursday 19 May 2022

At the end of the next day, Larissa got the cab from work to Steph’s place since she’d left her bike at Steph’s place on Tuesday. She popped into the office to say hello to everyone, and she hadn’t got in the door at all before she was hugged by Suzy.

“Oh Larissa,” is all she said, and she just cried. Why? “Oh everything. What you said and did Monday night, so perfect. Steph losing her baby, so sad, but you doing it with her, and sending Julian to get Xander, what an example you are for us. Then what you looked like last night, a fairy tale. You and Layna, wow. And Layna told me what you said, and what she achieved.” She shook her head. “It’s overwhelming, you know.”

Larissa smiled. She looked up from Suzy, and the entire team was lined up in a row looking at her.

Today it had been a bit hard to live with the ramifications of the night before. At the airport, early in the morning, she’d seen footage of them doing the red carpet on TV in the background while they checked in. A teenage girl had approached them while they waiting to board, starstruck after watching the coverage, asking if they could sign her boarding pass.

When she’d got to uni, they’d all stared at her, shaking their heads. Before one of her lectures, one of the girls had connected her phone to the projector and shown a tweet someone published showing her teaching the dance to Michelle, and then walking the carpet. She remembered doing that, and enjoying the experience, but it was still hard to relate to the two beautiful elegant women shown on the screen. The other girls had been blown away by the transformation. Well, she kind of had been herself. Fortunately they were just showing that little sequence on the carpet when she remembered to walk like a model. Well, like a woman with a dildo up her ass, she’d complained to Jo, much to Jo’s amusement. No one had said anything about it to her while she was working until right at the end when another teenage girl had spent Larissa’s whole visit to their dog with her jaw on the floor, unable to believe that it was Larissa in the flesh.

“Well, it was ... unusual. I sure hope I don’t have to do it very often. And last night wasn’t cheap. But come on, everyone, who’s the real magician. Give Jo a cheer!”

Layna had appeared, and she dragged Jo out of her corner, and they did, to her embarrassment. Larissa went over to her, and took her hands, and said, “Jo, I know that I never really try, and never thought that I could, but last night a former Miss Australia asked me how I am not a supermodel. I know that’s the only look that would work for me, not like Layna, but wow, you nailed it. It really mattered last night too. Thanks.”

That was very meaningful for Jo, she could see.

“Anyway, everyone, I’m on the way to see Steph, but I really dropped in to find out how Suzy went on Monday night. What are you all lined up for?”

“Larissa,” Chez said, “when you invited Layna to go with you last night, I figured that it was a waste of time. But this morning, when Layna got back here, she was telling us all the contacts she made last night - an awesome night. And then she told us what you said!”

Larissa shrugged. “I figured it would be useful for you all. There’s nothing like networking, and a few people said to me it was very intense last night, because of such a long gap due to covid. But I’m glad you’re all happy. And as for what I said ... all old stuff except for sticking the knife into Scomo. Which was pretty safe ground last night, really.”

“Well, wasn’t the war on alcohol new?” Layna asked.

“Oh, yes. I escalated that a bit. I just wanted people to think about that more.”

Layna laughed. “Oh, it made them think, alright. And I put it to the team this morning, and they all signed up. No sex after alcohol.”

She looked at them in surprise, and got back a bunch of serious looks. Yep, they weren’t doing this lightly. “Well, thanks! I hope your love lives are better for it. Ours are, hey, Sweetie?”

They all laughed for that. The intensity of Julian and Larissa’s love life had become quite the team entertainment while they were all camping in New Zealand, though Suzy and Nathan were sure chasing them. Tui and Marty hadn’t backed off either, but they were more subtle about it. “Well, that reminds me about Suzy. How did you go Monday night?”

Everyone was looking at Suzy, who got shy and embarrassed. “Oh, come on, Suzy!”

She shrugged. “Well, once we get to the dinner on Monday night, which I told you all about, Nathan dared me to get blindfolded like Larissa and said I won if I still had it on when Larissa finished her talk. So I said he was on, but damn, it’s nearly the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Doing the night like that! But I had to win!”

Oh this was going be good. “What did you win?”

Suzy grinned, and so did Nathan. “Loser gets to go down on the other one at a party we’re going to tomorrow night.”

She got cheers for that, and then Suzy told them more about the experience of being blindfolded. She was still going when Larissa headed off to see Steph after kissing Julian hard.

Steph let her in and held her really tight. “Welcome back, and I heard all about how you slayed them last night, well done!”

“Thanks, but how are you doing?”

Steph frowned. “Well, it’s an answer in two parts. I’m physically pretty good. The labour went well, and my recovery is good, and I’m still breastfeeding, so that makes one usual problem of stillbirth not a thing. And Xander and I talked about it, and I just dived straight back into work, and we restored the web sites, and I processed all the messages, and gave appropriate responses, and it’s all good. And then there’s the other answer, my heart and my soul. No, it’s going to take a long time for me to be really good; it really hurts. Xander made me promise to keep talking about it, and mum and dad and his mum and dad and Ross and Amelia have promised me that they’re here for the long haul, which is truly lovely. And I’ve stopped for several cries today. But I feel as though I will be fine. Because someone had such a sure hand guiding me through all that.”

Xander nodded, from behind Steph. “Yes. Someone did. Someone went beyond the call of duty for a sister and a friend in so many ways. We know you didn’t do it to be recognised, and you’d do it for friends or sisters who weren’t anywhere near as close. Because you’re you. But we still feel like there’s something we should be able to do to tell you just how much we appreciate what you did for us, for Steph. But you know something? When I realised I was stuck up in Sydney for a week, I just knew something was going to go wrong for Steph, but not what. I prayed that whatever happened, Jesus would wrap Steph up in his love. And we think that he did, in a very particular way.”

“Umm, thanks.” Larissa said. She’d have to think about that one. “I know you appreciate it,” Larissa said quietly. “You don’t need to do more than that. What else is there to do? One day it’ll be me going through it, and somehow there’ll be a drama. Or Asha. And then it’ll be your turn.”

“We promise,” Steph said. “We’re here for that. And family first, right. We have to believe in it even more than ever before, and we do. And mum and dad are here.”

Steph let go and then she was wrapped up a new hug, from Sophie and also James. “Thank you for looking after Steph and Xander for us,” Sophie said. “When you rang me, I thought back to your excitement that day that Steph told us all, and the emergency dancing on the lawn, and thought, wild horses couldn’t part you from Steph through that process. I was sad that I wasn’t here for it, but really glad that you were.”

“Wow, thanks. I was just glad I could help. Family, you know? I talked about that last night.”

“I know!” Steph exclaimed. “There were two Patreon members there last night, I was chatting to them about it today. They loved what you said. A big impression. And mum, have you seen the photos? Your daughter is a paid up member of the supermodel club.”