N.B. Spellings (if correct) are in UK English. All the characters in this story are fictitious, any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. The author neither condones or endorses any of the activities detailed in this story, which could well be illegal in certain jurisdictions. I'm adding (for legal reasons) that apparently if you're under-age you mustn't read this, so if that's the case go away and grow up.

Author's Note.

Unlike the first time this story was posted, I'm not desperately scratching away with my Quill in order to keep a few chapters ahead of my readers, for those who stay the course it's 86 chapters long, and I've recently had former readers bug me for those last six, but I thought with a total repost more people could follow the entire adventure, only this time to it's conclusion.

If or when readers from the old days find this story, please drop me a line, Chris can pass forward your email to me without attaching it to your comments posted about the story.

Okay here are Chapters 21 to 25

Chapter 21

We hear some of Igor's thoughts about securing the family's future, and his reflections on both his daughters careers, meanwhile Marta has another new scheme.

As Igor drove away from the station heading for the first work site he needed to visit that day, he began to flesh out the seed of an idea which he had been considering. Most of the properties nearer the centre of town were only ever rented, as was the house they lived in, ownership rarely changed hands, but in some of the nearby streets there were houses or bungalows for sale; he decided to look into that market, and get an idea of the prices.

With his practical knowledge of building and maintenance, plus his contact with many staff at his company who would always be willing for some extra earnings, it could be possible to buy a run down dwelling at a good price. After some refurbishment he could sell or rent it out to ensure the girls nest egg grew in real terms, or was secured in bricks and mortar.

Svetlana meanwhile had been getting settled in to her new city life, working for two days in one school, with Wednesdays off, then two days at the other, and most Sundays free.

Many afternoons after school, some evenings, and all of Saturday were taken up with girls from the Studio desperate to gain the necessary linguistic skills to advance their careers by staring in videos having an English dialogue. It had also escaped into the rumour mill, this story about another 'secret project' where only the girls with a good conversational grasp of spoken English, and the ability to write in the language could take part.

Despite the fact her city accommodation was free and the Studio paid handsomely for her time both for the lessons that were gratis to the schools, and for her to teach any of the models at other times, the girls parents were also coming up with backhanders to ensure their own daughters could get the most convenient time slots to suit their needs. As if this wasn't enough she also got a free lunch on four days a week at the schools, so the rent she paid for her own flat, plus a payment to her neighbour to look after it and forward her mail were now only a minor expense.

Many Studio staff were now returning from late summer holidays, which was common in the down time following their models return to school, but slowly work picked up as all the tasks to repair, replace, and restock happened. The skeleton staff gradually came back to full strength, and then at weekends and during the odd evening, girls would arrive for shoots to ensure there was a stock of unreleased sets in reserve ready for their patrons.

Anna, often with Marta's assistance, continued running tests on the beta forum, and as her speed and skills increased, the various dummy member persona's upped the pace and become more challenging until Anna resorted trying out first the temporary ban facility, and then the total ban option so they could determine that those features worked as they had planned.

Another change was happening to all the family, they were getting real social lives, this was especially true for the sisters, who apart from their eight Studio friends at the same school, also had others they mixed with, Marta with her boyfriend, along with her chess and folk dancing class, and Anna with her drama group. Anna had also toyed with the idea of learning to play a keyboard or to try out a guitar, but as the only slot for piano tuition clashed with drama club meetings, she opted to take lessons for acoustic guitar.

About a month before there'd been an effusive letter from the Studio accompanying one of their regular payment cheques, and Anna had quipped how the boys, Marta and herself should each have a bicycle, as well a car for their dad. Her father's job had provided him with a smart MPV, but he'd kept in mind her remark, knowing of Anna's hope the money from her modelling should benefit the whole family, and that Marta held the same views.

Having spoken first with Ella he got home early on Thursday, taking the whole family out to a bicycle shop he had seen and enquired about. The shop advised removable training wheels for the boys but Anna and Marta thought they'd die of embarrassment if they had to go out like that. The owner suggested they try out a couple of old second hand bikes in the yard behind his store for a while, to see if they had the balance instead of risking their practice ride on brand new cycles.

The wily businessman had a lady staff member assist each of the girls in turn, and soon both sisters were able to cycle around the yard unaided, if a little bit wobbly. A very happy man cashed up the till that evening having rounded off the day with four bike sales, plus the family had bought safety helmets and a whole bunch of accessories.

Marta was especially pleased with this turn of events because Karl was a keen cyclist, but this was not her only thought, her mind was a maelstrom churning over all the data and feedback she had been receiving from Alina. At times it felt like there was a glimpse of clarity among all the competing bits of information, as if she realised there was some concept or idea lurking just out of reach.

That evening she was feeling the discomfort of her period, and took one of the pain pills before retiring to her room early, sitting up in bed listening to some soothing classical music, with a blank notebook and pen hoping some mental exercise would help.

She started making lists, data, facts about the models and the Studio, she had sorted through this stuff so often she knew most of the important figures but the Studio business laptop sat ready on the bedside table to provide any information she couldn't recall.

She could see her thoughts were going around in circles without any progress so she just closed her eyes for a while to meditate and focus on the music to restore her calm.

When Marta had first enquired why even the most popular models didn't release more than seven or eight photo sets per year, she was told that if they exceeded a certain limit for any one model, they got to a point of diminishing returns caused by over exposure.

Sure individual members brought far more than that number of sets per year, but they liked variety, each having their own preferences for the girls whose sets they collected.

The studio output covered that stage in a girls life from the innocence of late girlhood through the early budding at the onset of puberty, and followed that path to highlight her emerging adolescent radiance through her formative teenage years.

This blossoming of a girl into a young woman was a fleeting process that was captured and recorded for those who most admired this wonder of nature, as it could never be recaptured, for despite the best copywriters efforts to sell cosmetics, true beauty did not come out of a jar. That window of opportunity to explore those few brief transformative years was finite, and the development of each girl would follow it's own course.

The outcome was that some girls held the appeal of the site members longer than others, and Marta was trying to find a way by which her sister could gain the greatest benefits; that some of the other girls might also profit from the plan that was evolving in her mind was to her simply a side issue.

Now the plan had clicked into place, she quickly made some notes, shut-down the laptop and was overcome by a feeling of contentment at having resolved a problem that had at the outset seemed irreconcilable. Regardless of how the other models faired at the Studio she was confident her plan would ensure her sister's successful future, after-all, concern for her family always came first.

The next morning the boys were firmly told they could not cycle to school, they could use their bikes in the back garden, and when it was felt they were skilful enough one or other of their sisters would accompany them to the park – if they were good.

All day Marta was in two minds whether to tell her sister about the scheme she had been working on the previous night, but rushing through breakfast, then meeting up with Eve on the way to the station meant there was no time when they were alone in private to discuss the outcome of her cogitations. Eventually Marta concluded she needed to check with Dmitri and Ivan if her idea held any merit, as there could be reasons why the Studio might think of her idea as unworkable.

Later that day as they waved Eve off at the corner Marta asked if Anna would be OK doing the model forum practice by herself that afternoon, as she wanted to run an idea past a few people at the Studio. She explained to her sister she was uncertain if she was just being silly or if it was a thing that would work, but she would tell Anna about it later when she knew the reaction from the Studio.

After a quick greeting, and a snack, Marta loaded her backpack before heading off to the Studio, where first she found Karl to tell him about her bicycle, arranging to speak again later with a view to planning a bike ride on Sunday.

Next she went to see Dmitri.

When Marta explained her idea to him, he called it 'time dilation' whereby instead of photographing say seven sets in one chronological year, and posting them in roughly the same time frame, they could take twelve to sixteen sets over one year & release them over a period of two years. Thus it could cause a model's career to last twice as long, but it would mean as time progressed although they would amass a large backlog of stock sets, there would be no way to react to any feedback from the forum because the “future” material had already been recorded.

He could see some virtue in the basic idea as it capitalised on capturing that essence their audience desired, but he said they should go and talk with Ivan to hash out any pitfalls that could arise from taking this course of action.

The discussion lasted for some time, the idea had points both for and against, until Marta came up with a variant on the plan suggesting that half of the material could be held back for a few years, so the girl could be seen to 'grow-up' in real time, thus being able to react to member feedback, then at a stage when a model's career began to wane, a fresh back catalogue of unreleased stock of her younger images could then restart her career for a second time around with new material, and a new revenue stream.

This would have the effect of the same girl 'growing-up' twice so an eight year old starting out could have a career lasting until she was fourteen, then after a short break the reserve image sets that had been held back would provide an income for another six years as she progressed through high school and university, and by then their audience would've been swelled by a host of new members.

The strategy that a model could be recycled, but in a fresh format after five or six years, was something that appealed to Ivan, like a gallery showing a retrospective, though it did represent a longer term investment, and he wanted to begin slowly with just a few of the most popular girls to start with, then build the scheme up bit by bit over several years.

He reasoned that it was only an extension of what they did now, in saving summer stock to release when the majority of his models who lived further away were less available to work when school had resumed after the holidays. An initial investment involved in Studio time and resources would increase, but he didn't feel the models or their parents would object to doubling the number of shoots during their Studio visits, as they would “banking stock” towards their children's future, a sort of pension available in maybe five years time.

On further reflection he saw another advantage in that almost all of their most popular and dedicated girls ended up moving to be near the Studio, and would be readily available to shoot additional “set aside” material during the time when the studio had both the time, and the capacity to take advantage of this scheme.

All the staff got paid every week, regardless of how busy or slack the workload, this would maximise the careers of his best models, and utilise the studio space that had previously sat idle on many days during the school terms.

The final deciding factor for Ivan was Marta's “Midas touch” so far, nearly every suggestion she made was a winner, the girls success rate was phenomenal, which was why his own personal reputation was at an all time high with the directors. It was due to several of her recent initiatives that the company turnover was increasing by sufficient margins for him to go ahead with this latest brainwave.

Thus the idea which they decided to call “future stock banking” came into being.

Due to the length of their discourse he called up a cab to ensure Marta wasn't late home for supper by relying the trains which would be busy at this time of day.

Sitting around the table that evening Ella had for once an interesting story to tell, earlier in the week a lady from the catering company had phoned asking if she could call in and visit Ella, and she had been around that morning.

It seemed that several people who had attended their garden party had been unaware of Ella's contribution to the baked food, and had called the company about future occasions when they would require a professional catering company, asking specifically if they could include the same 'rustic range' of cakes and pies which they had enjoyed at that event.

The upshot was the woman didn't want a constant supply of baked goods, but wanted to be able to offer the service as a special addition to their normal range for select clients.

Ella loved to cook, especially baking, and she was very good at it, but she felt unable to make any commitments until she had spoken to Igor and her children.

Igor said how proud he was to have such a talented wife, and pleased that others had seen fit to recognise one of her many skills, a look passed between them and Ella actually blushed.

The overwhelming response was that if it was something she would enjoy, she should go ahead and do it, but on her own terms. With such support Ella knew it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up, and she felt it was only right that her splendid and well appointed new kitchen, the heart of the home should more often be filled with the smell of baking.

Greg usually unconcerned with things the grown-ups were talking about had been all ears, and made plain his worry that other people would eat all his mum's cakes, after all the laughter had died down Ella told him whenever she was baking, her growing boys would always be the first on her list, as they could check each batch of cakes. At the end of the meal Marta suggested the boys go and watch one of their favourite cartoons, as everyone else at the table guessed this meant there was Studio business to be discussed.

Marta introduced the topic by relating that how in the beginning Anna had been concerned that she only had a possible span of four years as a model, then she spoke about how there was a limit to the number of sets members would buy of a single model in any one year. She illustrated this by the fact that having done three photo shoots and two videos over the course of two months, it was felt that 'Natasha' should take a break to allow demand to build up again, before planning any further new releases.

It was only novelty value and the level of current forum interest that caused the Studio to release such a volume of one girl in only two months.

She then went on to talk about the plan of “future stock banking” and how this could go on to provide a significant extension to Anna's earnings when she reappeared after the time when they had expected her work at the Studio to end.

Anna was keen to squeeze out every last detail of the talk that had taken place earlier, and was fairly buzzing with excitement.

“So if there are enough picture sets I can be famous for a second time round, so why cant we do lots and lots so 'Natasha' can go round more times?”

Thinking about it Marta could see no reason, other than the Studio's willingness to provide the time and facilities over and above what had already been tentatively agreed upon.

With no more to add the family meeting ended and Marta went to her room to phone Karl about cycling on Sunday. They spoke for long enough that she needed to put her phone on charge afterwards, but the plan was he would come round, then they would make a route linking some of the local parks, not travelling too far as cycling was new to Marta.

The evening progressed with the girls reviewing Anna's forum session, then they both cleared their homework assignments for the weekend so they were free to pursue their own agendas, Marta wanted to return to the notes she made the night before, this time focusing on the hobbies and skills of some of the local girls, Alina said most of the models had replied now, so they needed review, and next was to work on the members wish list.

Anna wanted to put a few last touches to her 'New models FAQ' that she had been working on, for although she was a relatively new hand herself, her inquisitive nature and the researches she had been involved in when helping her sister meant she knew a great deal about many aspects of a web based model agency.

She intended to ask Valya to look at it, and maybe pass it to others on the staff who helped new girls to see if they had any additional tips or advice, then they could give them out to new girls when they started modelling.

Igor's week had been busy since dropping off their friends at the station on Monday, he now also had a mobile phone supplied by his company, and he had been doing research of his own on the local property market. The economy of Kiev may have appeared vibrant in comparison to the rest of the country, but he had discovered that even with the limited housing market of properties for sale, the information he had managed to glean indicated more people currently wanted to sell than buy.

This situation was ideal from his point of view as prices were depressed.

He had systematically visited numerous property agents during his rounds during the week giving them each details of the types of housing that would interest him, and leaving his new cell phone number.

Taking his daughters previous advice to heart about looking and feeling the part helped, as the people he dealt with, saw the suit, cell phone, and the new MPV, and assumed as he wanted them to, that he was one of the new breed of well healed property developers.

He wasn't in that league yet, but given the right start; he was willing to roll up his sleeves with a good work crew to make it happen.

Although naturally risk averse, his studies had led him to the conclusion that the one area of the market that had been least hit, were those people wealthy enough to afford the largest family homes, but they wanted to be able to move straight in, not suffer the delays of any refurbishment work needed for a house in need of repairs.

The points in his favour were his knowledge of building work, access to a pool of skilled labour who would be keen for some additional income, and the trade deals he could make for materials from contacts made in his new job. The downside was the initial cost at this level in the market, and getting organised to reduce any delays in the work needed, then the final hurdle would be a quick sale at the right price.

If he could get all these things right, the girls money would be safe and he could increase their funds to repeat the exercise, but a problem with any stage of the deal, and they would be in limbo, at best holding on to break even. He would wait to see what turned up, not rush into things with the first likely prospect, and he would involve the girls, they had earned the money sitting in that account, so he felt it only right they should be consulted.

He remembered back to that fateful day they had gone to the auditions, his shock and outrage when Ivan had told him about the nature of the pictures, he could laugh now, but at the time he had been so close to punching him.

Ivan had handled the situation well, restoring calm, explaining how often the girls really had fun as it pandered to their youthful sense of rebellion and exhibitionism, but in a safe way, as they always had their mother or some other member of the family to watch over them the whole time.

The albums had been a revelation, despite the talk of nudity he hadn't known what to expect, fearing that perhaps it would be sleazy or sordid, some kind of pornography with young girls. He felt blessed married to Ella, they shared a closeness and the physical side of their relationship had always been active, but it somehow felt odd as they sat together at the table viewing these revealing photos together.

Ivan had used some flowery words, but the pictures spoke for themselves, once you looked past the fantasy backgrounds and dazzling costumes, it came down to the girls; other fathers daughters. Looking at the girls eyes he didn't see fear or despair, they each seemed to twinkle with fun and mischief, on the other hand as each set progressed the girls held nothing back, all was on display, but not in a crude or graphic way, it was as if they were saying look at me because I'm proud of my developing body.

When Ivan stepped out, they spoke briefly before Anna ran across the hallway, between them they tried to let her down gently, but Anna knew her own mind and was determined to audition, to become a model, not put off by the second album, but seeing it as a guide, and announcing she would become more popular than the most successful current model.

His eyes became moist as he thought back to how Anna had been so sensitive to his feelings of discomfort, saying how she was not bothered about being naked, and how people went to nude beaches all of the time. He recalled her enthusiasm as she went off down the hall for her test pictures, and now four months on she was achieving her goal.

He had been so proud that she had remained firmly grounded throughout, and had sought ways to include her elder sister, and it was pleasing that they were all doing well in school, now all his children were learning English, even he and Ella were picking up more words.

Thinking back to when Ella had badly sprained her ankle, his last concern at the time had been about Anna's second impending trip to the Studio, but Marta had shown courage and determination in the way she'd stepped in to guarantee that nothing would cause her little sister's career to be harmed as a consequence of that accident.

Ever since that time he realised she was not just Anna's 'honorary manager' but that she had real skills in solving problems, and now his eldest daughter was actually being paid big money in her role as a consultant, and more recently for writing scripts.

Their lives during this time had been like some fantasy story, and no one could tell what uncertainties lay in the future, but as head of the family it was his responsibility to ensure like in any good fairytale that his family lived happily ever after.

When reading the start of Chapter 22 you need to imagine the menacing 'Jaws' theme music playing over the first few sentences.

Chapter 22

Research at the Studio, Marta's day out with Karl, and some intimate research to aid Anna.

In an office building on another continent wheels were slowly grinding into motion, for something Igor had said to his daughters would presciently come to pass, someone would eventually notice the passage of all that money.

Men in suits working for a TLA (Three Letter Agency) had been collating data and sifting reports about many thousands of small regular money transfers, all funnelling towards a few banks located in former eastern block states. Their machinations would take some time to mature, so leaving that thought in the back of your mind we return to follow the lives of our main players.

Saturday morning saw the girls once again at the Studio, though they weren't expected to show up, it had become a constant feature of their lives recently, and they'd gained many friends there. Weekends during term time tended to be busy with those girls living outside of a comfortable commuting distance sometimes leaving school early on a Friday if they'd been able to obtain a slot in the schedule for one of the studios, and all the staff would be there to see to it there was a smooth throughput of models, to avoid wasting any time.

With the demand for spaces each studio would be dressed ready for shooting still sets, or for videos, this could run from ten in the morning through to eight or nine at night, then during the course of the week the background scenery and props would be changed ready for the following weekend.

At present it was the case that the studios weren't often used during the week, but with Marta's latest idea, local models would be able to come in after school and use half of the studios working with the scenery that had been set for the previous weekend while the other studios were redressed, then swap over so then those others could then be redone.

These changes would not impact the staff too much, other than those in the photographic department, and the ladies who did the hair and make-up, but as part of their earnings came from bonuses, that was something she was sure Ivan could work out, as these new banking pictures would only make money at some future time.

Anna found Valya loading her make-up trolley in her office come stock room, and lent a hand while catching up on all the news. They went to studio five where the backdrop was painted to look like a building site, there was even a half finished 'brick' wall made from blocks of polystyrene that looked realistic, and builders tools and ladders for props.

Earlier in the week Anna had visited a small shop in the parade near her house which sold newspapers and magazines with a list of five American titles and one magazine from the UK that she knew could be found in the city centre. At first the shopkeeper had thought it was just some childish prank, but then when she gave her address he realised she must be one of the daughters of that new family a few roads away, whose father had the main financial paper plus one of the popular dailies delivered to their house.

When he checked and found they were available from his distributor and told the girl how expensive these imports would be, unconcerned at the cost she just offered to pay him in advance, stating she might increase the order later if her friends wanted their own copies.

With a mischievous smile Anna related the tale, and then told her about her sister's latest scheme, meaning that Valya could find herself working afternoons on weekdays during school terms. When they had the make-up table arranged to Valya's satisfaction, Anna got out a copy of the FAQ she had printed off, explaining how she hoped for some feedback from Valya, and from some of the other staff, as to any points she might have forgotten.

When the first model of the morning arrived with her mum, Valya made the introductions as she got started on the girl's make-up, after chatting briefly, Anna left to locate Marta.

Virtually everyone came in to work on the weekends when studios were busy, as they could take three or four days off during the week, the exception being the construction team who only had a couple of people on at weekends for emergencies, then a full crew during the week who would be busy from Monday to Friday.

Due to this schedule Marta was ensconced in her office reviewing with Alina, the information gained from questionnaires that had been sent out to all the models regarding their hobbies, skills, and interests, and also about any of the clubs they belonged to.

Alina, no doubt with help from Dmitri, had collated all the information into a database in order they could cross reference the details, and quickly find what they were looking for.

Marta had already started to highlight a few entries, as several of the girls took dance classes, and one girl was taking ballet, there were also a number of budding gymnasts.

With their grace of movement there was scope for some future video ideas even without an English dialogue, but with a music track, so that wouldn't be an issue anyway, also the costumes or leotards could be fine for photo shoots as well.

She noted that there were quite a number of the older girls living near more rural areas that went horse riding, nice tight outfits with a possibility of a location shoot in stables or outdoors next summer. She also saw that skate boarding and roller blading came up among the hobbies, and that had promise for videos if they could find a private location.

Apart from swimming or perhaps tennis, most of the other sports represented were team games that wouldn't lend themselves to the kind of scenarios that would be credible in her eyes. Three girls had listed camping as an interest, and she could imagine it had some potential for fun, she would think about that. One girl listed painting, which could lead to an excellent messy video and stills shoot indoors in the studio, but when she saw one entry for stamp collecting, she said to Alina that this girl maybe needed to get out more.

On finding two girls having an interest in creative writing, Marta thought they could be enlisted to put forward future script plots, saying as how she didn't have a monopoly on good ideas. Her next discovery were two girls who claimed to be reasonably proficient in several languages including English, cross checking she found they both lived at resort towns on the Black sea coast popular with foreign visitors.

Sorting through the last dozen or so girls listed Marta let out a whoop of joy, saying how it seemed the best had been saved till last. “A juggler, we must check to see if that circus backdrop and tent that Anna used in her second set is still available, that would be a perfect match, I'm sure we could combine a photo shoot and a video for that girl.”

The other girl that had caught her attention listed 'amateur magician' as her main hobby.

“This absolutely has to be a video, can't you just hear the line 'my clothes are about to disappear', and I'm certain there has to be loads of funny dialogue we can think up for a magic show, in fact I'm going to phone her to see if she can speak any English.”

Marta called the contact number, and when she confirmed she was speaking to the girl's mother, she asked to talk with the model in question.

Anna came in, and seeing her sister was busy caught up with Alina, saying how good she was looking, which pleased Alina, who admitted she had lost a few kilos recently, as she'd been going to the gym. This remark lead Anna to point out that a gym workout would be a great theme for one of their videos, which brought the discussion round to the reviews Alina and Marta had been doing that morning.

When at last Marta finished her call she told the others about the girl she'd been speaking to, and the arrangement she had suggested to her.

Their magician lived in a town that was a full days train journey each way, so weekend trips to the studio were out of the question, but Marta said the girl should find a local English teacher, to prepare for doing at least two videos next summer. It should not prove difficult finding a teacher, as they had a reasonable tourist trade where she lived, and a tutor would understand how this could be good for her in presenting a show to foreigners.

Marta added a few more lines about this latest find to the memo she was going to send to Ivan, then the three of them batted round a few final ideas for current research, one being to work up a similar database on the 'wish lists' from the forum, then the sisters packed up for the morning.

Before they had moved to Kiev, they had to be circumspect about their change in fortune so as to avoid notice, but now in the city, and living in an affluent district, the girls had a weekly allowance, they could spend as they pleased. They knew the funds were available if they wanted to make a large purchase but, despite temptations their needs were fairly modest, though they loved to shop for new clothes each week.

Many people would not understand the luxury of going out to buy something new, your own, the fact nobody else had worn it, and it didn't need to be repaired or washed first.

They rode the Metro, stopping off at home first to swap backpacks, then continuing their journey, eating lunch at the café near the International School, tuning in to conversations on adjoining tables where some American students were sitting.

On a few occasions during past visits they had considered asking to join a table to try out their skills with real English or American students, but were unsure if they'd be welcome.

It was still a great novelty going into the type of shop where previously it would have been a disappointing fantasy just to look in through the window at the colourful displays, now they were really living the dream, free to buy whatever they wanted.

They found a store that just sold underwear aimed at the teenage market, and both girls wanted to get some more grown-up, and pretty panties, or in Marta's case bra and panty sets to expand their wardrobes. The school they attended did not have a uniform, though there were guidelines as to what was acceptable, so they also went on to other stores to buy some new skirts, though foremost in Marta's mind was finding some outfits that would look good when she went out on dates with Karl.

When Anna got home she carefully removed the tags, and put away her new clothes, then opened her underwear drawer to sort it out and add her new purchases. She now had a nice selection of soft cotton panties, pastels, white with flowers or cartoon characters she still loved, and now some with fancy lace panels, and edging. At the back of the drawer she found the last of her old pairs which she'd meant to throw out, worn thin, more grey than white, with the elastic about to give up the ghost, she dropped them in her waste basket; new life, new girl, new clothes.

Marta in her own room was performing a similar ritual, though lacking the cartoons, in fact some of her new undergarments on reflection now seemed rather too daring, besides the more prosaic items she had now acquired several thongs.

She had yet to find the opportunity or courage to wear them, maybe owning them made her feel more 'grown-up', but that was partly the problem, her feelings and emotions these days were all over the place, on the surface she appeared placid to most people around her, but her mum and sister could often see through to the underlying maelstrom of mood changes, teenage angst, the fleeting uncertainties she still sometimes harboured.

Her thoughts moved on to her date tomorrow with Karl, she was relieved her period was over, she was always nervous people would know, for the last day, she had been using slim panty liners as the flow had tapered off, though when she was with Karl she often felt her emotions caused her to become wet enough to be at risk of soaking right through the gusset of her underwear.

Since starting at her new school, she had followed with interest the experiences and exploits the other girls had with their boyfriends, city girls definitely came across as more knowledgeable, with a greater confidence and sophistication than she had been aware of in her old school.

Her new range of reading material both foreign and domestic, had brought with it a realisation that girls the world over faced the same problems, with the changes they went through, and in dealing with relationships.

Giving a mental shrug she pulled herself together and marshalled the facts, she was well read about her body and about dealing with boyfriends, she now had a supportive peer group, and then there was her mum, Alina and Valya who had all helped, but most of all she had her younger sister, although Anna was even less experienced than Marta, she felt that standing together they could take on the world.

On Sunday morning it was in fact Anna that persuaded her to wear a thong with the jeans she had chosen in order to avoid any visible panty lines, which might be obvious while she was riding her new bike through the city parks, then it was a matter of deciding which top to wear. Karl arrived a little early, and soon they were on their way, after a brief look at the route he had pencilled in on a city map.

Anna spent the day looking after her brothers in between revision for school and reading foreign magazines, at which she was now becoming quite fluent, rarely needing to refer to her ever present dictionary. She'd spoken to Svetlana at the beginning of the week about finding some English books suitable for her brothers, and Svetlana left a message with her mum, that the large book store she dealt with in town were chasing up that request so hopefully some new titles should be arriving shortly to maintain the boys interest.

The fine late September weather was perfect for Marta's day out, and Karl was thoughtful not to go too fast or too long between breaks in view of her novice cycling status, taking time to show her many points of note on their route. She realized he must have spent a long time planning their day out, as the stops at park benches, or sat below shady trees allowed him to point out various landmarks that would interest her.

She was glad their conversation flowed running from one topic to another, not halting and stilted like when they first met, though he did seem a little hesitant at initiating any kissing though Marta sensed he was just as keen as she was. After the first amorous bout of the day, the awkwardness passed, and they kissed often and held one another at some of the quieter locations throughout the day.

Karl saw an ice cream vendor displaying a wide selection of flavours that was too good to pass up, Marta asked for strawberry and Karl chose mint chocolate chip. They sat on the grass enjoying their ices, when Karl offered Marta a taste of his ice cream, her immediate thought was someone else has licked that, then almost laughed at herself for being so silly, as they had spent half the morning swapping tongues anyway.

When they had finished their ices Marta pointed out a little on Karl's chin which she licked off, he then did the same for her, which ended in them rolling about on the grass kissing and playing about, during their horse play Marta became aware of Karl's hard member. She was unsure whether to be wary or proud that she had caused this condition, though on reflection he had not been pushy, or taken things faster than she was prepared to go.

A little later they brushed themselves down and continued their tour, where he took her to another park that had several tables with chequered tops, two of which were occupied by people playing chess, together with some other silent observers they followed the play.

They stood to watch one match to it's conclusion then moved on, en-route they saw many statues the city was famous for, most were historical or mythical, but there were a few that displayed the whimsy and humour of the more modern artists who had made them.

At Taras Shevchenko Boulevard all traffic was banned at weekends, but they could walk along wheeling their bikes, when they reached Maidan, they were treated to the sight of numerous street performers and animal handlers, and many families were out and about for a weekend stroll.

They stopped to buy Kvas from one of the street vendors with a big yellow and blue tank on a street corner, shortly after Marta needed to use a nearby public toilet which turned out to be of the squat variety, though often even when there were toilet bowls there was rarely a toilet seat, and never any paper which was why she always carried some tissues.

Marta was very aware of the evidence of her own arousal from all the kissing and close physical contact, and decided to use one of her thin panty liners to avoid the possibility of any wetness seeping through her jeans, as she didn't want any embarrassing incident to spoil such a great day out.

Towards the end of their day out, in the late afternoon sunshine they were laying on the grass together when Karl expressed his concern as to Marta's well being, and whether the distance of the ride had been too long. Marta assured him she had not been fatigued by their cycling trip, but when he offered to massage her legs she agreed both nervous and excited at the same time. His strong hands rubbing and caressing her legs made her thankful of her earlier decision about using a panty liner for she was now definitely wet.

Amazingly Karl picked up on Marta's conflicting emotions when he had advanced to massage her thighs and he didn't allow his hands to wander too high, however much he would like to, he realised it would be too much too soon. To defuse what might become an awkward situation he released the leg he was currently working on and surprised her with a sudden tickle attack to the bare skin exposed at her waist line. The laughter followed by a reprise attack made for a very nice transition to further cuddling and more kissing.

Marta was safely delivered home just before six o'clock, just in time for her supper as had been agreed, neither teen wishing to be late and give her parents a reason to curtail the two of them from dating. Karl had been asked that morning if he would like to join them in the evening for a meal, but he'd cried off stating that he needed that time to revise, so as to make up for not working during the day, though by now he also had something else that urgently needed taking care of - probably twice!

As they sat down to eat Igor struggled with mixed emotions about his Marta dating, she may be smart, but she was still so young and inexperienced, she seemed to sparkle with joy from her outing today, yet he still considered if he should reinforce the little discussion he had with Karl about respecting his daughter. The aroma of food his wife was setting on the table distracted him from that train of thought, the happy banter between his children as the two girls helped dish up food for their younger brothers brought a smile to his face.

The meal was peppered with the boys talking of how they had practised cycling on the lawn in the back garden, so as not to feel left out by their older sister out all day on her new bike, then Anna spoke of what she had been doing when not supervising the boys.

At a lull in the conversation Ella announced she had come to a decision about the offer from the catering company, she would relish the opportunity to pursue a favourite interest and get paid to boot. Anna joked she ought to get Marta to check on any agreements or contracts to ensure they were worded correctly, which raised a laugh, but as with many items in their conversation this private joke went over the boys heads.

After helping their mother clear up, Anna said she and Marta should get their stuff ready for school in the morning, and have an early night. What she really wanted was a detailed account of Marta's date, and in truth Marta was just as keen to share the details of her latest wonderful day with her sister. School stuff was just an excuse, that was done, and in their packs, and Marta gave a full report of the time she had spent with Karl to her eager audience of one.

As they were undressing so their could share a bath and continue to revel in Marta's new exploits, Anna wanted to know more about how the excitement made her sister wet 'down there' as it had only really happened to her once when she was confronted by the shock of the number of people viewing her first photo set.

Marta admitted to not having given it a lot of thought before now, but she supposed it was a gradual thing that had started probably when she was Ann's age, as the hormones that Valya had spoken of started the changes in her body, breasts starting to bud and then hair starting to appear. She had seen as she was developing the increase, and changes in how wet she got, especially as she became more aware of boys, and as her vulva developed it was necessary to be particular about personal hygiene when she got all hot and bothered.

Anna was insistent to get all the details as it could be important for her pictures, and Marta said how in truth although the Vaseline ruse was reasonable, her own wetness varied, but was now often more cloudy than clear leaving a whitish deposit in her panties.

This turn of the conversation caused Anna to ask if she could look for herself before they got into the bath.

Marta felt somewhat embarrassed, and self conscious, sitting on the edge of the bath with her legs akimbo as her sister sat on the floor giving her a close-up examination, although she also considered it her sisterly duty to help Anna, undecided if this was a health class, biology homework, or model research!

Anna paused her finger just shy of her sisters pussy, and looked up seeking permission, Marta just shrugged and told her to go for it. Anna wiped her finger along between her sisters fuller more crinkled lips gathering up some of the moisture there, looking at it closely then testing it between finger and thumb, sort of slippery and sticky at the same time. Moving even closer she took a sniff, it was difficult for her to label, it was similar to her own pussy but in a way stronger, and somehow it reminded her of the school changing room, but then musky wasn't yet a word in her vocabulary.

Anna's curiosity temporarily satiated, Marta pulled her sister up from the floor, Anna thanked her, after a brief hug both girls stepped into the bath topped with a layer of bubbles, and laced with a generous helping of scented oils, where the talk was about boys in general and one in particular, then finally they got around to washing each others hair.

Meanwhile a few kilometres away, with thoughts of Marta's body still on his mind lay a red faced Karl, and now the urgency of his need had been for the moment temporarily quelled, his mind started to drift, thinking how he came to his current situation.

With both parents working and being an only child, they were relatively well off, so when he had shown an interest in computers his parents indulged him, aside from his technical interest, there had likewise been his pastimes of gaming and chess for which there were many outlets on the internet.

It had been though regularly chatting on a locally based technical forum, and from talking about how he had been studying computer languages that out of the blue he got the offer of a job from a geek working at the Studio.

Though neither Karl or his folks had been aware of the nature of the company's business, it was a genuine offer, with arrangements to take the relevant collage courses needed for the IT industry. Leaving school early to take the placement was a no-brainer, being able to step straight into the type of career he wanted, with his employer arranging for his additional further education was a dream come true that even his parents recognised, in this climate it would be foolish to pass up on such an opportunity.

He had started at the office that Easter, and about an hour after the introductions Dmitri had sat him down for a one to one talk about system security and confidentiality, then he had been told how the company 'product' was picture sets of young girls.

He had been shocked that this might be some sort of child-porn operation, but then he was shown the web site, and he realised they actually produced picture sets that were teasing, and not blatant in that they were quite elegant and artistic, and yes many of the girls also caused him to get a boner, but hell that was just one more reason to like the job.

When anyone enquired about his new job he only talked about the technical aspects of the work until either their eyes glazed over with boredom, or they joined in talking of html code, CC+ and other related topics.

After that little diversion of how Karl came on the scene we return to the girls.

For those people who have never been poor, it can be hard to imagine how many simple changes a rise in circumstances can bring about, previously the girls would never have thought of washing their hair at night, for fear that going to bed with damp hair could bring about a cold or illness, but now they could actually use a hair drier, something they had simply never owned before. After helping each other in drying their hair they tidied up the bathroom before retiring to their respective rooms, with Marta thinking of indulging in the same exercise Karl had been pursuing himself that evening.

Chapter 23

Marta goes on a surprising date, while Eve gets to join Anna on a forum practice session.

(US – UK definitions, UK purse = ladies wallet for notes and coins, USA purse = UK handbag) end of lesson on with the story.

Newspaper deliveries were not common, but living as they did in a relatively affluent area the local news agent had a sufficient number of households that wished to receive their morning papers to read over breakfast or during the commute into work. Along with their father's newspapers were the five American titles and one UK magazine which Anna had ordered the week before, having got the idea when she saw her mum had a woman's weekly magazine delivered on Tuesdays. Marta and Anna pounced on the pile covering the doormat, impatient to scan the indexes for interesting articles, it was irrelevant that the issues were over a fortnight out of date, they were current enough for their own purposes.

By the time Marta had her English lesson in the afternoon, several of the other girls had seen, or at least heard of the foreign magazines and were dying to look through them, the boys in their class feigned indifference until seeing that they featured various hot teenage girls. When Svetlana came in she soon restored a semblance of order to the classroom, then gained a lot of interest from the boys by stating how there were many foreign sports or car magazines available from shops in the city centre, then about the joy of reading so many classic books in their original native tongue, and not to forget all those better job or travel opportunities available to anybody with a good grasp of English.

As Marta went around the class assisting, most of the girls were surprised at the ready availability of the magazines, but apart from the other Studio girls present, they were unwilling to pay the inflated price charged for these exotic imports.

The week progressed without any major incident, Ella called the catering company and the terms were tentatively agreed upon, in that she would get sufficient warning of upcoming events where they wanted her baking, and a scale of prices, with the company providing the majority of ingredients plus any additional cookware she would require.

Igor received a few leads on properties, but on viewing them he declined to make any offers, sure if he waited the right prospect would show up, in the mean time he would be patient, and keep his powder dry, looking into other issues needed for such a project.

With his new job, and the contacts it provided, he was aware of the various official channels he would need to deal with when it came to permits and inspections relating to the repair and refurbishment of buildings, and what was expected in the way of bribes.

To his surprise he found there was less corruption and greed in the city than in his old home town, and often the deals were quicker, more straight forward and honest.

The Studio was a hive of activity, as software needed to run the 'talk to the models forum' had been through various beta test stages, and was deemed ready to run when they had a sufficient number of girls set up with the language skills and training so that they could announce a launch date. This freed up some of the IT staff to finally look into the issue about offering members higher resolution photo sets that had been held back until now.

Ivan's successful meeting at the beginning of September with the directors who owned the Studio, and a raft of other Studios running teen and pre-teen web sites, meant he'd been given an open mandate to press ahead with all of the proposals he had currently tabled.

In the same way that Ivan had pressed of late for 'best practice' to be introduced throughout his own Studio, the directors were looking to their other operations to take on board some of these recent changes that had caused Ivan's handsome boost in turnover.

It was no coincidence the new business park where they had located the Studio which he managed was also the place where Kiev's largest, and most high tech internet service provider was situated, but the cost of leasing the modern prestige buildings in the current climate caused several of the nearby units to remain unoccupied since it's completion.

In discussion with Dmitri, Boris and a few others, arrangements were now being made to lease a unit to house a server farm able to host the entire network of companies within their group. With the budget available, it was to be state of the art, massive storage, high speed fibre optic links, raid arrays to prevent data loss, plus it could all be controlled remotely by each of the Studios using the facility. Conveniently it was also in an adjacent building, though in theory it should run autonomously without the need for staff to be on hand on a daily basis.

Boris being by nature paranoid, wanted all the equipment to be delivered during the next extended holiday weekend, in order to ensure the minimum number of people were aware the building was even in use. To humour the man Ivan agreed, not realising at the time it was possibly one of the wisest decisions he would ever make.

Following on from her meeting with Marta on Saturday, Alina had made up a long list of photo-set, and video opportunity proposals, based on the research data into the models interests and hobbies. Now Alina returned to her work of trying to discover if there were links between how often any particular model was featured in discussions on the members forum, and her rise and fall in terms of sales. This was one of the earliest projects she had worked on, but then it got sidelined by the stream of ideas for which Marta wanted data. Unfortunately it transpired that the sales either matched the interest shown in real time or with such a slight lag, that the source data didn't provide that much in the way of useful information.

The next task Marta thought they should investigate, was to plan various themes for a number of future Studio projects, based on a wish list extracted from the comments made by members on the forum that were within the bounds of the material for which they were currently well known. They had also talked about making a second list of member wishes, that Ivan could pass on to sister Studios, that were outside the limits of the type of photo shoots they covered with their own models.

Most afternoons Anna continued with the forum practice sessions, which improved her responses and the speed of her replies, but it also honed the skills of the team of pretend clients, who were expecting a few more models to join in the training programme shortly.

With all the various changes taking place at the Studio, memos letters and e-mails were being shot off in every direction, but the one of most interest, was the official invitation for Anna to be part of the first batch from their locally based models to initiate their scheme that Marta had suggested, that of 'future stock banking'.

Eight of the top models had been selected to start with, as the staff involved reorganised their term time work rotas around this new enterprise, in order to run sessions after school and on through early evening. A few more girls would be given the opportunity to join later, in the coming weeks, after any problems were aired out in the pilot project.

Ivan had worked out a scheme where the photographers and make-up staff that worked with each model would get paid a slightly higher premium on current set sales now, to benefit from their additional workload, then a smaller percentage at a later time when the work from the 'future stock banking' was released.

Meanwhile in the IT dept Karl's working week was centred around his college classes held on two evenings a week, his time in the office was spent assisting whoever had the largest or most urgent current project. Being lowest on the totem his two days off each week were the most subject to change, the whims of other senior staff taking precedence. Unfortunately he would be working during the coming weekend being off on Wednesday and Friday, so having first checked with Ella if it was OK, he waited outside the school gates on that Friday afternoon to surprise Marta with a trip to the cinema, then to go for a meal afterwards.

Marta in animated conversation with Anna and Eve as they headed off towards the Metro station was unaware of Karl's presence in the press of pupils leaving the gate until her sister gave a squeal at seeing his sudden appearance. Many of the other students from her classes saw Marta embraced by, and then kissing the handsome older boy, this was bound to increase her kudos as well as being grist for the rumour mill over the coming weeks.

After hearing his plans, and that her mother had been informed, she put her purse and phone into a small handbag which she normally kept in her pack, then Eve and her sister kindly offered to take home her school back-pack. The gossip and speculation had already began as the two teens walked away holding hands, as Karl informed Marta of the films available, showing at the afternoon matinee.

Karl was pleased that his unexpected arrival had been so well received, and even how she had introduced him to some of her nearby friends as “Karl my boyfriend I told you about”, which made him smile and swell with pride. Reviewing the limited choice of films on offer Marta hesitantly asked if he would object to the romantic comedy, in preference to an action adventure film. Karl had the sense to agree, seeing as it was the type of show that would most likely set her in the right frame of mind on a date, even though he would have preferred the alternative choice of film.

Marta did comment if she had known they were going out she would have gone home to get changed, as she was just wearing her school clothes, and he said then it wouldn't have been a surprise. “Anyway I would go out with you even if you were not wearing clothes,..no I mean, you don't need to get dressed up.”

Karl stumbled through his Freudian slip becoming more flustered and red faced.

He was saved from blundering on by a grinning Marta pulling his face to hers for a long kiss, then she playfully admonished him for being naughty, but inside she was exhilarated that he had made such an admission.

The showing at the cinema was sparsely attended, so they had no trouble finding seats in the middle of an empty row near the back, where they settled down with their soft drinks and a large box of popcorn. Searching for the popcorn box in the dark gave them an initial excuse for wandering hands that got lost en-route, but soon the dull film was forgotten as their focus was only on each other, the popcorn now spilled across the floor.

When Marta realised the hand roaming above her waist had stalled from making further progress she suspected the reason was her father's dire warnings for Karl to be respectful. She was certain that Karl's magic fingers wanted to head north, and for a while agonised over her own desires, then placing her hand over his moved it upwards to her breast, giving him tacit permission to explore over her clothing.

When the lights came up both teens were in an agitated state, Marta went off to the toilet to freshen up and repair her make-up, while Karl stood in the foyer with his jacket over his arm shielding an erection that he wished would subside for a while, in fact if the film had been any longer he had been fearful of an even more embarrassing occurrence.

Leaving the gloom of the cinema and emerging into the late afternoon sunlight the glances between the pair of them were at first a little awkward, having progressed to a new level of intimacy, until Marta broke the tension by saying she wouldn't get her dad to break any of his bones – yet.

Laughing she shoved him then ran off and dodged behind an group of small statues that adorned that part of the plaza, the chase was on as there ensued a game of evasion, until Marta nearly bumped into a cluster of street people who had gathered hoping for a few coins from those revellers who would be out later in the evening.

Marta froze for a moment, then Karl took her arm and lead her off, she was now feeling a sense of guilt for the popcorn they had so carelessly wasted earlier, and thought about the meal they would have shortly, saddened by the fact even if she had emptied her purse it would do little to really aid all those unfortunate souls, it was a situation repeated across the city and the country.

Anna and Eve had been left as the focus when Marta had departed with Karl, though Eve as a model knew the truth, Anna spun the line that her sister had met Karl through some other people that she played chess with, and they had been going out together for some weeks. When they got off the Metro they giggled together about the interest this had stirred as they walked home, Anna invited Eve round, whispering how she could sit in on a forum practice session. Eve's brief call home using Anna's mobile phone got her mother's approval, so the girls passed their normal parting place continuing to Anna's house, where they joined the boys at the kitchen table for a snack before going upstairs to her bedroom.

Of course the model forum was now an open secret amongst those models that lived in the city which was the reason all Svetlana's evening tuition sessions were double or triple booked with girls willing to have group lessons rather than no lesson at all. Some models had also resorted to seeking out additional lessons with alternate tutors to cram as many hours a week as they could manage.

As most girls were multilingual or at least bi-lingual to start with, they had the mind set for learning this new skill. The issue where most of them struggled was in learning a different character set in reading and writing the language, then there was also the problem that there were two ways of spelling so many words. They became used to this issue which came up when reading materials from two countries, but it had been agreed that when writing they themselves would use the simpler and more logical American spellings.

The Studio, and the networked group it was a part of, had been started by some wealthy backers with some radical ideas, their whole ethos based on quality, which they believed could only be achieved with happy healthy models in the right settings. Apart from first class health care, it was impressed upon the girls and their parents that the girls needed good school grades, for they needed a career beyond modelling.

Anna fired up her 'work' laptop, then logged onto the 'in house' part of the Studio network and soon found there were five people ready for her session today, playing the part of site members. First Eve just observed how Anna interacted with the exchanges on screen, then asked if she could join in, Anna agreed, she then typed a message to tell the others that Kasia, Eve's model persona, had joined them and would like to take part.

As the system automatically added each members or models name preceding their text, Eve added a K before each entry she made so they could tell which were from her, and which were really from Natasha. Eve was of course slower, but she was able to keep up with most of the banter and type reasonable replies, although her spelling and grammar needed more practice. They unwittingly ran past the practice time Anna usually spent each afternoon, and it was a message on screen headed with Dmitri's member persona that called the session to an end, thanking Eve for her participation, and suggesting she came in over the weekend, in order that he could set her up with a laptop so she could join in from home herself.

Eve was buzzing with excitement that she had been bumped up the queue to join in the training for the model forum, hugging and thanking Anna for helping her get this super opportunity, saying how pleased her parents would be on hearing the news.

They went down to they kitchen to get fresh drinks, to see that the boys were out in the garden on their bikes going around a course they had set out using some road cones their father had brought home. Eve said her younger brother, who the boys knew from school was also mad keen to play on his bike whenever possible, and they talked about taking all three over to the park some time soon. Returning to Anna's room the girls lay on the bed reading some of the foreign magazines that had arrived that week, with Eve saying how she would also go to the local shop, to place an order for the two titles she liked best.

When it was time for Eve to go home she hugged Anna, once again thanking her and saying they should get together more often after school, and perhaps take turns as the host, besides Eve had an internet connection so they could both join in a training session at either house.

Supper seemed strange that evening with an empty chair, and Anna noted that her father looked somehow bothered, until her mum told him off, saying how Karl had promised he would bring Marta home by eight o'clock, and he was a good reliable boy, and how their daughter was a sensible girl, and to stop needlessly fretting.

After this rebuke, normal meal time chatter started up again around the table, with the boys interrupting one another in order to tell their father about the new English books Anna had brought home, ones that her teacher had found for them. Igor asked Anna how much they owed Svetlana for the books, but Anna told him they were a gift because she considered their family had been solely responsible for her recent change of fortunes.

Igor nodded and thought to himself that many people had benefited directly, and indirectly from both his girls becoming involved with the Studio, pondering that fact he wondered about all the many other models and their families, all the money they earned and spent, plus all the people employed, and local businesses the Studio supported. He couldn't help harking back to his previous dark thoughts that eventually someone would take notice and poke their nose in where it wasn't wanted.

“Earth to Daddy, if you don't finish your dinner mum won't let you have any fruit pie.”

First his wife, now Anna having a go at him, he lunged forward as if to bite her wagging finger, much to the delight of the boys, as Anna quickly withdrew the offending digit.

Now he was back joining in, Greg talked about how well they rode around the obstacle course they had set up in the garden, and asking if their dad could take off the stabilisers.

He said he would check how well they could ride over the weekend, and maybe he would raise the training wheels higher for now, but they hadn't had the bikes long enough to take them off yet.

Ella insisted it was Igor's turn to bathe the boys that night, and read to them, which was a task they had always shared, with all four of their children bringing them up, but mainly she didn't want him hovering near the front door ready to terrify young Karl, for she had faith that the two teens would show up shortly before tonight's agreed curfew.

A short distance down the road by 'their bench' in the park, stood the two teens in question held in close embrace for their last serious kiss of the evening. Karl's hands this time were now lower than Marta's waist, pressing them together, leaving her in no doubt of his condition, which she had been aware of, at least visually since leaving the cinema.

It was only with difficulty she restrained herself from pushing back with equal enthusiasm, for it had been a super date, starting with a wonderfully romantic gesture, to surprise her at school gate, whisking her away in front of all her classmates.

With all the kissing Marta wondered that her lips and tongue weren't twice their normal size, but on reflection she was very conscious of her other lips, and they felt very wet and swollen. Stepping back she was able to focus on Karl's face, her eyes widening, as she quickly delved into her bag retrieving a tissue, reaching up to his face, embarrassed, Marta explained he was now wearing more of her make-up than she was. Karl once again felt like a small boy out with his mum, memories of her licking a hanky to clean his dirty face.

Anna was reading through the recently delivered English books at the kitchen table with her mum, as Ella was making an effort to keep up, trying to keep pace with the boys progress, when they heard the front door close.

They were at first shocked as Marta entered the kitchen crying – but then they could see she wasn't upset, they were happy tears.

With her mum and sister fussing over her, she wiped her face blew her nose, and then they sat at the table with some freshly made fruit tea as Marta's tale unfolded.

Mostly for her mums benefit she told of how Karl surprised her at school, then glossed over any revealing details of their time spent in the cinema or about the meal after, and got to the point where she and Karl had stopped to kiss near the park.

“Well we stood there kissing for a while and he was being all romantic, then I saw he had some of my make-up on his face, it was sort of embarrassing, so I told him, and cleaned it off for him. You know how Valya helped me with make-up, and I've always hated all the marks left from when I had chickenpox when I was little – but now my make-up was all in a mess and I knew Karl could see them all close up, then I started crying.”

“He asked me why I was upset, so I said about the scars, and how he wouldn't want to go out with me, nobody would.” she sniffed for a bit then continued, “Those little marks, he said, are just part of the story of my Marta who was ill as a little girl, I see them in the same way I see the laughter lines around the eyes of someone who is always happy, and I feel very proud and lucky you agreed to be my girlfriend.”

Igor missed the story, and came into the kitchen to find three weeping females.

Getting the wrong idea, his first thought was to comfort his daughter, while his second was where he could bury the little shit who had hurt her.

Ella looked up and could read her husbands face.

“No Igor, these are happy tears, Marta's okay, Karl didn't do anything to upset her, in fact the reverse is true – he's made her see the marks from her chickenpox for what they are, just a little part of who she is, not the disfigurement she has always imagined them to be.”

Father and daughter hugged tightly, “So I don't need to hurt him?”

“No Daddy, he made me open my eyes, I may not like the marks, but they are a little bit of me, like Karl has a mark on his leg from an old cycling accident, it's just stuff about our past that makes us who we are.”

“How do you know about a scar on his leg?”

“Daddy!!”

“Daddy!!”

“Igor!!”

Chapter 24

Marta's medical from the 'twilight zone' followed by Igor's big idea.

Needless to say after such a momentous evening the two girls were eager to beat a hasty retreat, wishing to share further sisterly secrets together. Marta stood at the bathroom sink washing her face, then using the cleanser Valya had supplied, while Anna started to fill their bath.

They waited as it filled, Marta not wishing to raise her voice due to the volume made by the tumbling steaming water, so they got undressed, while anticipating slipping into the deep foamy luxuriant tub. Anna joked it was getting to be a habit bathing together again just like in their old apartment. But two girls in one tub was where the similarity ended, for this bath was new and shiny, no one got the tap end as they were mounted on the side, and the hot water seemed limitless, nowadays it was from choice rather than necessity.

As Marta gathered up their clothes to put in the hamper, she held up the panties she had been wearing, and related to Anna a comment from one of the coarse older girls at school that she had overheard. “You know you've had a hot date, if when you get home you can throw your panties at the wall and they stick there.”

Anna gasped and then asked if this were true, but Marta said it was just that girl's crude humour, although for just a moment she was tempted to to see what would happen if she tried it.

Slowly soaping themselves as they languished in the deep water, Marta related the x-rated version of her cinema visit, and how exciting it had been as Karl had played with her breasts through just two thin layers of fabric, how it had made her nipples grow, and how gently he had stroked them, and how in turn it had made her wet, agitated and aroused.

Eventually as the complete story of the evening's activities wound down Anna thought she noticed a rhythmic twitching to Marta's right shoulder visible above the suds.

“Marta are you,... you know... doing it?”

If both girls didn't already resemble lobsters from their hot bath, Marta's blush would have been seen, but the girls never lied to one another, Marta admitted she was, and she would probably do it some more when she went to bed.

A few kilometres away Karl was also thinking about what an amazing date it had been, he had progressed to fondling Marta's tits, reliving how firm and soft and wonderful they had felt, and to think how hesitant he had been. Making out in the cinema, and longing to touch her, but worried of her rejection if he pushed things too far. When she had grasped his hand, he was sure he had blown it, but when she allowed him to move up and caress her he had nearly come in his pants, it took several deep breaths to calm himself down and get his brain working.

Don't screw up, calm down, after his pep talk with Dmitri, he did the nerd thing, to find further advice on-line, he recognised much for the crap it was, but some blogs contained a few pearls of wisdom, listen to the girl, watch her reactions, be gentle and slow.

He was equally shocked towards the end of their date, to discover the depth of Marta's insecurities, the way the marks left from a childhood illness upset her to the point she almost considered this as a deformity. He recalled the weekend Marta's family had the big garden party, he had missed it, helping his neighbour take her little girl to the hospital, the mother had been so concerned there would be an ugly scar, but the doctor had quelled her fears, saying it would fade as she grew up, leaving her a story, and so on, and this had been his inspiration to reassure Marta that her hated marks were insignificant to him.

He had seen her home to her front door, it was weird, that she was crying and smiling, but she thanked him for a wonderful date, saying she would pop into the office during the weekend so they could have lunch together, damn, thinking of her he was hard yet again.

Ella waited until everyone had started their breakfast on the Saturday morning before she went into the study to make her phone call, doubting anyone would notice her absence from the kitchen. She had slept badly, it had not been till the wee small hours that she had resolved to phone Valya, hoping she could provide the information that she wanted.

“Hello, Valya? It's Ella, I hope I haven't phoned too early, but I need some advice.”

Ella went on to give what details she knew of her daughter's date the previous evening, then told Valya of the pivotal moment when Karl seeing Marta devoid of make-up had dismissed those chickenpox scars as a trivial thing that was just part of the history of his girlfriend, and how much it had shaken the girl to find an attitude counter to her own long held convictions.

“Your helping with the make-up lifted a barrier, she at last got past her shyness giving her

the confidence to deal with people and share her ideas. Now young Karl has shown her the real problem was always inside her head rather than on her face, and I'm concerned that she might let her feelings for her knight in shining armour override her good sense.”

“Ella if you are thinking that a doctors visit might be wise, I can tell you that most of the models here are advised to go on the pill when their periods start, it makes them regular, so they can arrange shoots without a surprise bout of cramps or an unpredictable period arriving just when they are booked for a shoot. Secondly we are talking about attractive girls who are not lacking in self confidence so their mums are happy to have one less thing to worry about, I'll phone the private doctors practice used by the Studio for you, and find out when they can see her.”

Ella had only just returned to the kitchen when the phone rang, it was a novelty and a great convenience having so many phones around the house. It was Magda, Eve's mum, phoning to say how grateful she was for Anna's help in getting Eve pushed forward in the queue to join the model forum, and to ask if Greg and Peter would like to join Victor, her son, as she was planning to visit the zoo today, the boys on hearing the news relayed by their mum were very keen to join their school friend, and 'Aunty Magda' for a day out.

With the air of secrecy that hung about regarding all mention of Studio business, the girls just assumed the two mothers had met at the local school gate, still not realising that the women were both cognisant that all three daughters were connected through the Studio.

They were amused to think they had one over on the adults, but that wasn't the case.

Shortly after Magda and Victor turned up Valya called informing Ella that the doctor could see Marta that morning, providing she could accompany her due to the nature of the visit. A few words with Magda confirmed she was happy to take the three boys herself, as Ella now had a sudden unexpected appointment, with warnings to behave, the boys were off.

With Igor gone, and now with the boys out of the house, Ella bent the truth a little, saying how Marta was due for a routine medical check-up, just like Anna had, and as all the girls working at the Studio were booked in for. Marta was not keen to have an examination, as she had heard from Anna how embarrassing and personal her visit had been, even if you accepted the surroundings were so much nicer than those the state provided.

Ella brooked no argument, saying such thorough private medical care was an important bonus of being employed at the Studio, and it would be foolish not to take advantage of such a wonderful benefit. Knowing her mother wouldn't be swayed, she went back to her room to change, washing again her most intimate places just in case it really was as bad as Anna's visit, then swapping out the fancy underwear she had chosen that morning, for something more plain and conservative.

The girls had planned to spend at least part of their day at the Studio, Marta hoping that a chance to have lunch with Karl had not been scuppered, when they arrived, Anna went off to their office, while Marta and Ella went to see Tanya to pick up a letter of introduction, and directions to the medical practice.

As if Marta were not nervous enough, she was informed the doctor was running late, so the dentist would be able to give her a check-up first. She thought sarcastically how things were getting better and better, fortunately the dentist was brief and friendly, praising her for how well she looked after her teeth.

The dental examination had at least taken her mind off the main event, and the doctor was ready to see her almost straight afterwards. When she was shown in her mother went in with her, Marta couldn't decide if this made the coming ordeal even more embarrassing.

At least it was a lady doctor, after the introductions, she asked Ella for a synopsis of any significant issues regarding Marta's medical history, saying they could transfer records from their previous doctor later. Confirming Marta's age, she was weighed and measured, then she had Marta hop up on the couch to listen to her heart and lungs.

Just as Marta was beginning to think this visit wasn't too bad the doctor spoke up.

“My speciality Marta is gynaecology, that means I deal with women's health issues, mostly about their reproductive systems. Have you reached menarche yet?” At Marta's blank look the doctor explained the question. “ Sorry that is the medical term for a young woman starting her periods, so have you started yet?”

Uncomfortable and red faced she replied, “Yes.”

“So can you tell me when you had your first period, and have you had any since.”

Marta asked her mum for her backpack, then pulled out a small diary, and related all the details the doctor had asked for.

“I'm glad to see you keep proper track of your cycle Marta, though it is most irregular for a young woman to be so regular if you will forgive the pun, many girls have no clue during the first few years, the timing can be very variable. Almost all the girls referred from your company seek to go on the pill to regularise their cycles as soon as their periods start.”

Ella joined in to say how it seemed to be hereditary in her family for the women to be regular right from the beginning. The doctor then asked even more embarrassing stuff about the nature and length of her periods which Marta thought gross, but she was nearly floored when the doctor asked if she was engaging in sexual intercourse.

Marta wanting to bury her face in her hands, stuttering, replied she had never done more than kiss a boy; she was not going to mention letting one touch her boobs.

After all those awful questions things were not getting any better as the doctor announced she would do a breast exam and show Marta how she should perform self-exams on herself each month. Aside from the fact she was the living manikin for this demonstration, Marta tried to look at the exercise from a detached practical and scientific viewpoint.

With that horror over she was allowed to replace her bra and blouse, only to be asked to slip off her panties and scoot round to place her ankles into metal brackets the doctor had just fixed to the end of the table. Apart from the ground opening to swallow her up, she could think of no means of escape, removing her panties she grasped them tightly in one hand, her knuckles white as she laid back down staring at the ceiling while the doctor arranged her feet in the stirrups.

She felt the comforting presence of her mum holding her other hand as the snap of rubber gloves sounded from the end of the exam table. “I'm just going to open you up a little with a small speculum, so I can see inside, you may feel a slight discomfort.”

Marta remained silent and grit her teeth, sure this was the worst day of her life, this was so undignified, she felt like... she didn't know what she felt like, she just wanted it to be over.

An eternity later when the indignity of all the prodding, poking and finally wiping was over, her legs were released, and she could at last replace her underwear. Desperately not wanting to look anyone in the eye at that moment her gaze alighted on a blood pressure cuff in one of the glass cabinets, thinking in her current state she would make it explode.

When they were once more seated in front of the doctors desk, the lady smiled at Marta saying how it was always a bit of a shock having your first 'gyno' exam, and if it made her feel any better, she expected neither her mum nor herself as a doctor found it easy even after having been there many times. Her mum squeezed her hand as she spoke up agreeing with the doctor, saying even after having four children it still felt embarrassing.

Referring to her notes then looking to Ella the doctor continued, “I'm pleased to say that Marta is well within where she should be on the growth charts, and everything appears to be in fine working order, are there any questions either of you would like to ask me?”

“Yes, can we put Marta on the pill?”

Marta was sure she couldn't of heard what she just heard, someone would say something in a moment that would confirm her ears were playing tricks.

“Of course that presents no problems, normally one waits for the end of a cycle to start on a pack, but with your daughter being so regular, it would be possible to count through, and start at the pill due for that day in her cycle.”

Had she just fallen down a rabbit hole, was it possible for the day to become any more weird, her mum and the doctor talking about 'THE PILL', that was for girls who were “doing it”, who didn't want to get pregnant!

The conversation carried on around her, with Marta almost in a daze, in fact on leaving Marta nearly left her backpack behind, they had to sit in an empty room near the attached pharmacy, as they awaited the prescription paperwork for the first four months supplies to be sorted out. Make notes she was told, of any disagreeable effects from taking the pills, this must be a dream, she would wake up soon and vow not to eat pickles again late at night.

“Marta, of all the changes that have happened in the last six months, my getting closer to you and your sister, is one of the best,... I wasn't as close to my mother when I went through puberty, I got a pack of pads, and a short lecture on what to expect. I tried to do better for you two, and I'm glad we've been able to talk more about these personal issues recently. From what I've seen and heard of Karl, he appears to have many good qualities, but I worry, it's what mums do.”

“What I'm trying to say is teenagers can easily get carried away, I won't ask you to make any promises, but I will ask that you think long and hard before you become too attached to any boy, be it Karl or anyone else. I want you to see these pills as a sign of the trust I'm showing in you, not a flagrant licence to behave like some street girl, more a sort of insurance policy – you don't want to be an under-age mum, and I certainly feel I'm still too young to be a grandmother.”

When the papers showed up mother and daughter were sat holding hands as Marta had given Ella the full version of how things had been progressing with Karl, after all it would be hard to have a day more embarrassing than the one so far, so she felt it only right to justify the faith her mum had shown in her. Just when Marta thought she had run out of shocked, her mum went on to give advice on the care and handling of teenage boyfriends.

Walking back to the Metro station Marta said it was like her mum knew how well the dates had gone, and how much she really liked Karl, to which her mum replied, “I always knew how much that boy was getting to you, after all - I do the laundry!”

People turned to look as Marta gave a squeal, and for the nth time that day turned red.

Marta had called the Studio just before they left the medical centre, asking for Karl's extension, telling him she had to make an unexpected trip out with her mum, and would he be up for a late lunch, if he hadn't already eaten. Karl was pleased to hear from her, saying how worried he was about her after last night, how he felt helpless with a crying girl, even if they were happy tears. Marta said how he had done her a big favour, in that she now had a better outlook on an issue she had previously obsessed over, she closed the call saying they would talk more later.

They arrived at the Studio smiling, which turned to laughter as Ella ended up tipping out her handbag in search of her pass, which had escaped into the lining of the bag, once found Marta suggested her mum should treat herself to a new handbag or two, or maybe she and Anna could take her clothes shopping, as she deserved some more new outfits.

Ella had some paperwork from the medical centre to leave with Tanya and she was also hoping to have a word with Valya, whereas Marta was just keen to speak to her sister before having lunch with Karl. Marta hurried quickly through the IT department with a wave or greeting to those that saw her, reaching her office, closed the door to speak in private to her sister. Around the open plan office heads poked up from above the dividers, at the sudden squeals and exclamations emanating from the glazed office where the two girls were in rapt conversation, there were a few raised eyebrows or shrugs then people returned to their work.

Ella gave the papers to Tanya saying how it had been Marta's first 'ladies' exam, getting a knowing and sympathetic look from the woman, also Ella wanted to know if Valya was about, and if she would be free for a brief chat. Tanya made a call then gave the phone to Ella, who soon went off to Valya's little hide away. The two women hugged, Ella thanking her for pulling whatever strings that were necessary to make this mornings appointment at such short notice, then went on to say how the visit had drawn them even closer, and how Marta had confided in her with regard to details of her personal life.

In another part of the city Igor had been out to troubleshoot a job that threatened to go pear shaped, as the manager running that team was off sick, and he had volunteered to keep watch on the site pro-tem to get things back on track.

He enjoyed his new employment, in that it was full of challenges where he was able to use his extensive practical experience, which had not gone unnoticed by his new boss.

Driving home from a new direction, he became temporarily lost and pulled over to check the map, orienting himself he then located the cut through he needed, but ended stopping a few roads short on seeing a for-sale notice. Now having gained some experience, he studied the property, and the plot, the agency was not one he had visited, and there were tall weeds at the base of the battered sign, this had been on the market for some time.

The substantial house on the corner plot was looking very shabby, and the once tended grounds were overgrown, he paced the two sides of the property to gauge the size, then saw there was also a small bungalow which appeared to be included in the plot as well.

Going back to the car he grabbed his clipboard to make notes, also he knew nobody would challenge him being on the grounds if he was carrying one, looking through the windows that were un-shuttered he was pleased to see the deteriorated nature of the interior was also mostly superficial. After stepping back to check the roof and the general fabric of the house, he then did the same for the bungalow.

With the girls significant bank account, and their current earnings he pondered how much of a loan he could raise, and how quickly he could restore and sell the main building, the bungalow, he had other plans for. During his frequent visits to property agents he'd been looking for a dilapidated house, while also keeping in touch with the prices of those having been well maintained, ready to live in houses towards this end of the market.

Igor started to make a number of phone calls, he wasn't keen to break the law, but his ideas only involved a slight nudge when no one was looking. This didn't mean he wasn't averse to stacking the deck in his favour, first he'd visit the agent, merely looking around generally through their listings, not paying any undue attention to this house but noting the asking price, then a trip to the bank to look into some short term finance.

The weekend so far had been full of contrasts for the family, the boys had enjoyed their day at the zoo with their friend and his mum, Marta was amazed she had survived without dying of shock or embarrassment, though lunchtime onwards was more what she thought of as normal, and Anna had been asked to introduce some of the models with progressing skills in English, to the concept of their 'talk to the models forum.'

Ella was glad of the tough decision she had made that morning, and how it had caused Marta to open up to her, and that her daughter had said she did want to keep dating Karl, but knew how she wouldn't be ready any time soon to go all the way.

It was easy getting the weary boys to bed early on Saturday, then Igor had hinted to the others he had reason to call a family meeting that night, but neither Ella or the girls could guess why. Later sitting around the kitchen table, they sipped fruit tea, apart from Igor who had a mug of coffee. He opened by saying that a few weeks ago he'd had an idea, at Marta's raised eyebrows, he tussled her hair saying he was allowed to have ideas as well, then went on to describe his thoughts about finding a safe method of investing the girls money to ensure their future well-being.

Anna said she had heard stories from the other girls, of models they knew whose parents were living on what their daughters earned, without putting aside any savings.

Igor replied that Ivan had also told him of similar salutatory tales of reckless behaviour, and he feared for how those families would cope when the girl's career came to an end.

“I thought about buying property, but it's money you've earned between you, so when I've explained the idea the decision is yours, but I think my logic is sound. If, and it's a big if, should we decide to go ahead and invest your money in property, whatever happens to the state of the economy, any building you own will still be there. Now for the tricky bit, although the market in housing is depressed at the moment, this is good because prices are low, we want to invest wisely, but the area of the market that is still buoyant covers mostly the larger sized family homes.”

“Do you mean like this house”, Anna asked.

“No love, I'm talking about the grand houses that business executives would live in.”

“But if a house is that special, how can we afford it, and how will this help us.”

“That's a good question Marta, these rich people, can put the money on the table, and they want to move in straight away, and this is where we can find our advantage, there are a few large empty properties on the market that aren't moving because they need a lot of repair work. My original idea had been to buy, then lease, to earn a regular income from a property you would still own at the end of the day, but now looking at how things stand the plan has changed.”

“To get a house of the size we need, we would have to pay more than we have available, so today when I saw the ideal prospect, I asked at the bank if with the money we have on deposit, and a charge on the property if we could we get a short term loan or a mortgage.

As they say, money goes to money, now we are rich they are happy to help us, at my old bank they wouldn't spit on me if I were to catch fire.”

Ella could see the suppressed rage and hurt in her husband's eyes thinking back to how they were always cowered down in their old situation, never to make a fuss or raise your voice lest you find yourself on the street, she reached out, placing her hand on his arm.

Igor smiled and continued, “The house I saw is nearby, though it looks shabby it is sound, but if think it has been on the market for a long time, so that is in our favour, and with a few weeks work, maybe a month at the outside, it would look totally different. I can easily find the labour from the men I work with, and I can get any materials at the best price, also I know which officials I need to speak to. So if the numbers work out the plan would be to buy it, then restore it so it looks really smart, and then pick another agent who will know how find us the right buyer to make a fast sale.”

“Do it Daddy!”, “Yes, do it”, agreed Marta.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes”, Yelled Marta, “You never gamble Daddy, if you say it can work, we believe in you.”

Chapter 25

Igor finds a 'brother', starts a game of hard ball, and bonds with Karl, nothing exciting, but this chapter lays the groundwork for the next chapter that is action packed.

Igor was feeling loved, and smothered, as he stood there hugged by his wife and two daughters, who showed such boundless faith in him, he prayed he would not let them down. A planning session ensued, with Marta grabbing her laptop and starting a spread-sheet, Igor was not really conversant with all this technology stuff, but he soon saw how when she changed one entry, the whole thing recalculated itself, oh for bright kids.

While she played with the numbers he'd given her, he made a discreet phone call, giving the go ahead for a little night shift job he had spoken about with a few of the most stalwart and reliable guys on his team at work, checking of course they had the correct address.

He turned to find Anna had followed him and her broad grin meant she must have heard the mischief of phase one, before the evening was out his devious daughters had added to the plot, and thought of a few new avenues to secure 'their house' for the lowest price.

Despite a late night the girls were up early, and soon both were busy on their respective school-work laptops, checking things out using the web as Marta started a database to supplement her existing spreadsheet. A hectic productive day just like many other days for the two sisters, except Marta had a slight change of routine that morning, she checked the dates twice, then went to confirm it with her mum, then she popped the blister pack part way along the row selecting today's little pill, washing it down with a glass of water.

Well, she didn't feel any different, she had listened to all the doctor said, and read all the paperwork and another small booklet provided, therefore knowing she was not protected for at the least one full cycle, not that it was important, because she wasn't ready.

The only two people who knew were her mum and Anna, and Marta felt it should stay that way, something even more personal and secret than even having her period.

As much as Marta was progressing with her knowledge of computers, she still found cause to call Karl twice, and managed to stay on topic for part of the time. It was unfortunate that Karl had night school two evenings a week, and Marta had after school activities twice a week meaning she got home a bit later, leaving Tuesdays and Fridays as the only days they both had free time during the week. They sometimes got to study together on a Tuesday, but she hoped they would get to date again on Friday or over the weekend.

After lunch the family went down the road to the park, Igor wanting to see how well his sons coped cycling over the slightly rougher turf of the large open space, proudly watching his four children riding together on their brightly coloured bikes. While taking in the idyllic scene of happy children at play Ella mentioned she had been over to the catering company during the week, as they were going to provide her with some additional cookware.

She had bumped into George who had been running the team at their event, and he'd told Ella how they now always distributed the leftovers at whichever park or hangout was nearest to the job. He was amused that his boss thought the company was being more efficient, as he was spending less, because now they filled fewer commercial waste bins.

Arm in arm smiling, Igor was thinking this was what family life should be like, he saw all the kids near the far edge of the park come to a stop, it was Anna answering her phone, next they were all heading back at full pelt. Magda and her husband Yuri had invited the family over for a barbecue, failing to get an answer on their home number, they had called Anna's mobile. Borrowing Anna's phone Ella called back and was told come as you are, and not to bother bringing anything.

If they hadn't become such good friends Ella would have worried, but still turning up empty handed was unthinkable, having her mind on baking this week, the kids had eaten many of the results but had missed the rich fruit cake she had placed at the back of the cupboard, they also had a bottle of wine they could take. This was the first social event they had been invited to in,.... No, Ella couldn't recall.

While the children were putting away their bikes Ella pulled Igor off to their room, saying she needed a quiet word, then informed him that Magda's daughter Eve was also a model at the Studio, but that their collective daughters thought each mum was unaware of the others connection with the Studio, thinking the only link was via meeting their sons who, like their daughters shared common schools. Igor was amused that the women enjoyed this intrigue, but made no comment.

It was not much more than a hundred metres walk to the pleasant house only a little smaller than their own, and soon after the introductions the party distilled into four groups. Igor and Yuri by the flaming embers burning meat, the ladies fussing in the kitchen, noisy boys running around the lawn, and giggling girls whispering behind cupped hands at the table. Beer in hand as Yuri passed on the mysteries of outdoor cooking, something Igor had never tried, he revised his earlier opinion, this was how to spend a family weekend.

During their chat Yuri said how he was the manager of large painting and decorators wholesalers, to which Igor replied mentioning the name of the company he had just joined, of course Yuri asked how he found the job. “Ivan introduced me, .....”

The two stood there looking sheepish, “Ella said we have something in common,” he said glancing towards the table, “the girls apparently think their mums only know each other due to the boys sharing a school, and our wives for their own reasons have decided to keep it that way.”

“So do both your girls.......”, “Well no, not exactly, Anna our younger daughter went for an audition back in May, anyway it's a long story but now Marta is involved as well, but not as a model.”

“I know this one don't tell me, the genius older sister of one of the models at the Studio who has been shaking things up,” “Ah, the grapevine has been busy.”

“Did it weird you out when you first saw those albums?”

“I was knocked sideways at first, I came so close to decking Ivan you wouldn't believe it.”

The men shared their feelings together as they hadn't been able to with anyone else, and a bond grew that evening, both sensing they had in effect found a brother, a kindred spirit joined in a fellowship of understanding, as only fathers can who are looking out for their daughters.

That evening under cover of darkness phase one began, for when on the Saturday he had sat down with his wife and daughters to unveil the idea of investing their current savings, he had been given wholehearted support and encouragement, he felt humbled by the unwavering faith they expressed in him, and so the game was on.

Having cleared a gap in his rounds on Monday, he again visited the property agent, only this time making a similar enquiry as he had at the others he'd been to, the person he spoke to presented a number of options, which he looked at then rejected, until the house he had seen was shown. Igor feigned a mild interest, then asked how long it had been on the market, knowing he could easily be found out in a lie, the agent admitted the house had been empty, and on the market for the past seven months.

Further probing revealed that the owner was unprepared to fund the legal expenses to have the land divided in order to sell the house and bungalow separately, and up till now nobody had wanted to buy the pair, also people in this sector of the market wanted to move straight in. Igor made like he was thinking about it for a while, then he asked what else was available, but of course all the other listings were of no interest.

At the prospect of seeing that his best potential client for weeks was ready to leave, the man suggested that it could at least be worth visiting the house to get a better idea about it's merits. Igor made a show of checking his watch then asking how long it would take to get there, and on the assurance it was only a fifteen minute drive Igor agreed.

Finding the keys he would need, they stepped outside, Igor insisted they take his vehicle, and he would drop the man back afterwards, mainly because his scheming daughters with their interest in drama and stage sets had arranged a scene on his front passenger seat, Igor told the man to move that stuff to the back seats to make space.

That 'stuff' was a box of folders, tagged with the names of major cities at home and abroad, also titles that suggested lots of property dealings, to make out that their dad was an important player who he would want to deal with. Igor asked for directions, and soon he was able to view for himself how badly the house had faired over the course of a single night, the three labourers he had picked had done very well, very well indeed.

Igor surveyed the new additions, staining around the downpipes, gave the impression of damage and leaks, a few windows he had noted were cracked and in need of replacement were now smashed, there was graffiti on the walls, but Igor knew it was water colours, and there were broken roof tiles in evidence nearby, though the agent wouldn't know that they had not come from the roof above. Builders rubble had been dumped on the drive, and the lads had even found a bent supermarket trolley to add to the detritus.

The agent realised they should have kept a closer eye on the place, but there had been so little interest shown with the state of the economy, it hadn't been visited for some months, concerned he could see this sale slipping away, he thought it best to get inside to where the ravages of time would be less apparent. Igor was pleased to see the guys had used the broken panes to gain entry, and using some dirty water had left some puddles, with stains on the ceilings above to make it look like the roof was unsound, there were also some rusty coloured puddles by some of the radiators, but looking beyond the 'scene painting' Igor was well pleased with the condition of the house.

Dismayed at how the building had gone down hill, there was a glimmer of hope when the potential client with a shrug said he supposed they had better look at the bungalow as they were already here. Apart from graffiti the bungalow had only received minor attention as it was unlikely to have much impact on the price, and Igor could see that everything about it was ideal for his plans.

On the journey back to the office the agent was dejected that the viewing had gone so badly, thinking if the vendor had split the site as advised, he could have sold the individual properties long ago, but now he saw the chances of any sale would continue to diminish over time.

Pulling up to let the agent retreat back to his office Igor left the smallest flicker of hope, asking once again the current price, as if it had slipped his mind, then of course shook his head wishing him luck suggesting it would be hard to get two thirds of that sum with all the work needed on repairs.

With a few well placed phone calls to contacts in the local administration, he had a name and details of the owner, a few more discreet enquiries, aided by some banknotes, and he had enough information to know the man would have to sell soon due to some debts that were accruing interest. As he'd always told the girls, look for every advantage, in this case it was a little slight of hand, together with important knowledge about the vendor.

That morning at school, Anna when swapping books saw the a light blinking on the phone in her backpack, as the ring tone had to be switched off during classes. At lunchtime she found two missed calls, one from the Studio and one from her mum, calling home her mum discreetly said there was an appointment set up for Wednesday after school, not knowing who might be able to overhear the conversation at the other end.

That also explained the other call, it was obviously about the additional picture sets for the scheme her sister had thought up, and Anna wanted to take full advantage, banking as many sets as could be arranged. Aside from the money which was very nice, in that it provided many new things for all her family, Anna liked the friendly competition among the girls she had met, and she enjoyed the modelling itself. She thought it was funny being famous half way around the world and at the same time be an ordinary schoolgirl.

During her English lesson that day Svetlana announced that every few weeks she would be giving away several popular children's books to those pupils who had shown the most improvement, she passed round some books, front covers showing characters they were familiar with, but the books were all printed in English, they would be a challenge to read.

Anna considered she would be ineligible to take part, and suspected her Studio friends would scoop the prizes, as they had the motivation. She might have gone out to buy them herself if she were not so busy what with her school work, modelling, and now helping her dad with ideas for the house he was looking at.

The absentee owner of said house, who now lived several hundred kilometres away, had just received a call from the agent tasked with the sale, passing on the news about the state of disrepair and vandalism. Each question only brought more bad tidings, asking why the house had not been visited for so many months he was informed, this had been the first interest shown in all that time. Then he was told the agent agreed with the property developer who had viewed the house that it's value had now decreased, and if money wasn't spent soon to make repairs with the condition of the roof it could become derelict.

Back on the road between site visits, Igor found he was not far from the commercial area near the river where the regional depot that Yuri ran was located, he decided to call in to see if his new friend had time for a chat and a coffee. His visit was welcomed and they talked as he was shown around, Igor said how his company used various trade outlets to buy paint, but he would see about bringing in some business, so their discussion ran on.

On Tuesday Karl knocked off early, he was going to Marta's to help with some new project and staying on for supper, he was surprised when Anna greeting him at the door, pulled his face down and soundly kissed him, seeing the confused look Anna said it was to thank him for helping Marta on Friday, then coming down from upstairs, Marta kissed him like she really meant it, his afternoon was going very well so far.

The girls had set up 'The House Project' in the study, where Nana Olga & Gramps had stayed, but now the sofa-bed was back to being a sofa, and a sturdy work table was placed end on to one wall so the two laptops sitting there could remain plugged in, and connected to the internet. Both girls explained about their dad's idea, and Marta showed him a big horizontal bar chart she had made to sort the various jobs in the correct order, covered with bits of sticky coloured paper.

The geek inside couldn't help it, he was sure there was some software to do that, chatting away to other geeks online he found what Marta needed, a nice Gantt chart easy and interactive, just like the spreadsheets he had taught her about, earning him another kiss.

It was surprising how much the girls had learned about building and maintenance listening to their dad or helping him with the odd little private job over the past few years, so with Karl's knowledge the girls redesigned the stuff they had been working on, to make the most of all the computer's bells and whistles.

Igor got home to find his wife and sons in the kitchen with some of their new books spread across the table with an English radio station on in the background, he recognised the station as the BBC, from the UK, Ella was dividing her attention between watching the stove, and helping the boys. After greeting them he went to wash-up and change, then in the study found a hive of activity, three busy bees, two stopped to run over and kiss him, but fortunately he got a more formal, if decidedly nervous “Hello sir.” together with a handshake from Karl.

At Anna's anxious enquiry as to if he had made an offer for the house yet, he said it was a waiting game to see who blinked first, they didn't have to buy this house, although it was an ideal opportunity. By now the owner was probably aware someone had shown at least a passing interest, and he had learned this man needed to raise some money, so he would sit tight for a little while, hopefully the agent would call and they could negotiate from a position of strength. Karl asked Marta in a stage whisper if her dad played chess or poker, which was the cause of laughter, as Ella came in to hustle everyone to come and eat.

During the banter around the meal table Karl said to Marta that her mum was a better cook than his, but not to say a word when she met his parents, Ella who took pride in her skills in the kitchen was encouraged to note the boy was planning to introduce Marta to his family. Greg and Peter were quick to mention their mum made the best cakes in the world, but then they were both pleased with their mum's recent increase in production.

Since their late lunch on Saturday Karl had spoken to Marta several times, and she was always on his mind, walking home from work the day before he'd bumped into one of his old classmates who lived nearby, not that they were really friends or had anything much in common. When the lad said he had seen him in town on Friday, and asked who the fit looking bird was, Karl had been proud to state he had been taking out his girlfriend Marta,

earlier he had related the encounter much to her delight, she seemed to glow from hearing the tale, kissing him with a passion, until Anna started to make coughing noises.

After the meal Anna volunteered to help clear up, and offered to get the boys off to bed later, and although Marta joked about checking Anna's temperature to see if she was okay, she was grateful to her sister taking over kitchen duty that evening. This gave Karl and Marta the opportunity to show her dad all the work they been sorting out on the laptop, having been interrupted by the call to eat.

Igor could follow how the database thing cross referenced information, but was at a loss as to how anyone could set one up from scratch, on the other hand he was impressed by the simplicity of spreadsheets, with their little formulas hidden in the boxes. Amount of materials in one box, unit cost in the next, press a button and there's the total, much like he did now manually in crowded messy notepads, but without the scratching out when the numbers changed. Aside from the house project he could see how this could relate to his everyday activities at work in all manner of ways.

Ella looked up from the grocery list she was writing, Marta having asked if she wanted tea as she was making drinks, curious at her daughter's amused expression, only to be told it was regarding the male bonding going on in the other room. Apparently Karl was teaching her dad how he could use a computer to help in his new job. In an effort to demonstrate to her mum how useful computers were, she gave an example of how the list she was working on could be typed in once and saved, just to print out again as needed, but only having to fill in the quantities for the things she wanted that week.

An hour or so later, never having used anything more complicated than a power tool on site, Igor was convinced in his new managerial role, he needed to re-skill and up his game in order to succeed in his new position. Having been shown what his daughters laptop machines were capable of, he asked about how much one would cost loaded with the programmes he had been shown. Karl reasoned he should speak to Dmitri, as he and Boris were always purchasing new kit, and they would be able to advise him on what to get, and where to find the best deal.

Marta had remained lingering in the background, aware that Karl's talking to her father concerning a geek subject, enabled her boyfriend to overcome his usual reticence, hoping that the previous awkwardness between them would diminish as her father got to know Karl and appreciate he was more mature than he had been given credit for.

The next day at work Karl spoke about Igor's needs, and Dmitri said there was no need to buy a new machine, just search though the local small adds, many people were trying to raise money by selling off equipment, then as a training exercise Karl could clear out the dross, then load the programmes needed. Within a few minuets of looking Karl found that there were so many people selling equipment that it was a buyers market, quickly finding several good bargains, noting the numbers for the best ones.

Wondering if, given time to reflect, Igor was still as keen as the night before, Karl made the call, when he put the phone down, he found he had a lunchtime date, unfortunately it was with Marta's dad, he wanted them to go together to see one of the sellers, and he needed Karl's expert opinion. He was dropped back at the office with a fairly recent model laptop, after being treated to a Deli lunch for his troubles.

Later that afternoon he was shocked to be allowed entry into the 'inner sanctum' of the department, as the laptop PC would be a useful training run, as Boris passed on his esoteric knowledge of computer forensics. Following the guru's instructions he was able to see the porn folders and other personal information the prior owner had so carefully deleted before the sale. Deleting didn't remove anything for those who knew how and where to look, then he was taught how to eliminate all of the records as if they had never existed by correctly wiping the data, and over-writing. The lessons continued until the machine was de-fagged and optimised, with the security and virus protection beefed-up, and many of the operating system flaws addressed, it was now running far better than it had done when it first came out of the box.

It had been quite a revelation for young Karl to find that a supposedly clean second hand computer could reveal so many secrets of it's previous owner, who had thought they were all safely removed. He decided any kit he got rid of in the future would be sans hard drive, that would be going under the hammer – quite literally.

Having to get across town to evening classes, he arranged to leave Igor's new toy in reception for him to pick up later, while still a little wary of the large man he was glad they had seemed to connect on some level, and last night as he was leaving Marta had thanked him for making the effort to help her dad. It was great having a girlfriend at last, he just wished they could spend more time together – alone.

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For the next installment of the A New Model is Discovered franchize, see Chapters 26 through 30.

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