The Wages, An Illustrated Story | 11. Masterstroke | A Lot of Advice

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At the centre of the drawing, Crystal is seated in a restaurant, touching her plate of food with her fork. The translucent sleeves of her Gunnie Sax dress let the light shine over her skin. Her face is framed by her long golden hair, and her dark eyes glower sidelong with suspicion toward Mark. Only his hands gesture into the drawing from the left edge of the frame, held as if he is expanding on an important statement. At right, Brandy's hands enter the frame, and are pressed into the tabletop like she is listening with rapt attention. The table is covered in coffee cups, water and wine glasses, a small vase of flowers, a little jug for cream, and an ashtray. Crystal is the tidiest with her meal. Mark's fork is on the table while he gestures. Brandy's meal is in chaos with crumbs on the table, and her fork is dropped at an angle above her plate. Behind crystal, light sketches drawn in black-and-white show other patrons of the restaurant in their nineteen-seventies-era finery. A man with a mustache has a shirt with a long collar, and a man with long hair and a beard wears a blazer with elbow-patches. Three women have long straight hair or stylish hats. Their poise sets the tone of a fancy luncheon.

“I was looking forward to some off-time before rehearsal, not a lot of advice,” said Crystal, who kept annoying me more each minute.

“Four hours is a pretty long lunch if you don’t have anything to talk about,” I said.

“I find people who are wide open to ideas attractive!” Mark said. “Crystal is right. Afternoon diversions are fun but you have to grab lifetime opportunities when you see them. I’m not going to insist that Crystal has to drag herself out with Brandy and I while we plan to take over the world.”

“I think I better tag along anyway,” said Crystal.

Over lunch Mark exclaimed, “I am so grateful to be part of something this exciting! Two gorgeous young women stepping into their lives in the music business, with a hit on their hands already. Beautiful Brandy needs to stick with a man blessed with a positive spirit like mine. I’ll keep the negative-Nancys away, so the good things keep coming up for her!”

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