Wild Girl

Chapter 1: The Dream Job

I'm going to tell you a story about what were possibly the best moments of my life. I'm not going to reveal my real identify, though, so let's say my name is Olivia Johnson. I graduated from Birmingham University in June 1981 with a degree in marketing. I was 21 and looking for a job and a new flat, but that didn't come soon enough.

I was back living with my parents and after living on my own for four years at uni, going back with my parents just didn't feel too "grown-up". I wanted to be free and live my own life and my parents still had old fashion ideas of how a young lady should behave.

It was my friend Giovanna who told The Berrows about me. Apparently, they were looking for someone to help them promote the band of Giovanna's boyfriend while they were on tour. I remember that afternoon, Giovanna and I were high school classmates and she knew I was looking for a job in anything related to marketing, she called me to tell me all about it one afternoon.

- I already told the managers about you. They are currently out the UK , but Mike is going to call you tomorrow for an interview

- Alright, thank you so much, Gio! (that was my nickname for her )

Giovanna and I quickly clicked because of our latin heritages. Gio has Italian heritage, while I have Spanish heritage on my mum's side, we were both brunettes with brown eyes and were huge fans of Science-Fiction.

Michael called me at around noon and asked me questions about my education and my skills, he must have been very impressed, because he offered me the job at the spot, or maybe he was just desperate. He told me that my job was basically to assist Paul and his sister, Amanda in anything they need, also I would help them promote the band by calling venues, radio stations and anything I could think of. I already knew I was going to love this job. Michael asked me when I could start, and I told him right away.

- Do you have a passport? - he asked me

- Yes, I do.

- Go home then and pack. A taxi is going to pick you up at around 6am tomorrow.

- Where am I going?

- Sri Lanka

- What? That's like...in Asia, isn't?

- Yes, near India.

I was shocked. I only had been outside of the UK a couple of times before and all those were to go to Spain to visit my mum's family there but I never thought in a million of years, I was going to Sri Lanka.

I hung up with Mike and quickly told my parents, but they were not as supportive as I wanted.

- Are you going to Asia with some band? Are you mad? - asked my dad

- Yes, I am.

- You should stay and find another job here in Birmingham. - said my mum

Here we go... my parents were still treating me like a child, but I wasn't! I was fucking 21! I wasn't going to have any of it.

- I am going to Sri Lanka tomorrow, whether you like it or not. - I finally said

After that I went to my room and packed my stuff. I wasn't sure how long we would stay there so I packed clothes for about 2 weeks.

I tried to sleep before the flight but I couldn't, I was too excited! Also, a bit scared, I had no idea what to expect, this wasn't only my first job after graduating, but also my first trip outside of the UK without my parents. I was terrified.

I arrived at the airport near 7am. There I met two members of the band, Nick Rhodes and Andy Taylor who were on my same flight. The boys quickly caught my attention, especially Nick who I found very cute even with all the makeup on.

We chatted a bit during the flight and they told me all about their band and I was quite impressed. Apparently, I was living under a rock because I never heard of them before, except for Giovanna occasionally mentioning them because they used to play at the club where she met Roger. I never had seen Roger so I was curious to find out how he looked.

- Do you want to listen to our new record? - asked me Nick

- Sure.

Nick had a Sony walkman with the cassette of their latest album "Rio". He shared his headphones with me and I have to say that I really loved it. Their music was so edgy and fun, it was like anything I heard before. I think in that moment, they gained a new fan.