{"id":267,"date":"2011-10-20T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2011-10-20T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/?page_id=267"},"modified":"2013-07-10T08:14:02","modified_gmt":"2013-07-10T08:14:02","slug":"267-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/?page_id=267","title":{"rendered":"The Brunette Bombshell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Brunette<\/a>
\nContents<\/p>\n

1 \u2013 Rainy Night In London \u2013 Tabloid Reporter Thrown In At The Deep End
\n2 \u2013 Tabloid Journalist Becomes Brunette Bombshell
\n3 \u2013 The Glitterati Enjoy Party In London Nightclub
\n4 \u2013 Talkabout With Sadie The Tabloid Columnist
\n5 \u2013 Thousands Of Women Go Brunette Crazy
\n6 \u2013 Tabloid Hack Is A Magnet For Trouble
\n7 \u2013 Reporter Hits City Streets In Rainy Photo-Shoot
\n8 \u2013 Tea Total Journalist Judges Cocktail Contest
\n9 \u2013 Celebrities Let Their Hair Down At Salon Event
\n10 \u2013 Salon Owner Launches New Magazine<\/p>\n

CHAPTER ONE<\/p>\n

Rainy Night In London \u2014 Tabloid Reporter Thrown In At The Deep End<\/h2>\n

I shielded myself with my umbrella and hurried across the busy London street in the pouring rain. The lights from the shops reflected on the wet pavement, and at five\u2013thirty in the evening, everyone seemed to be hurrying home from work while I was starting out on a whole new adventure.
\n     A hundred thoughts were racing through my mind. I\u2019d hardly had a chance to think what I was going to write when I\u2019d told my editor, Jamieson, I\u2019d accept the assignment. But I\u2019d come up with something. I would.
\n     I\u2019d always wanted to be a journalist. And for the past year I\u2019d been working as a freelance reporter in the stressed out, deadline crushing, editorial department of a London tabloid. It was my job to write the small filler features for the paper \u2014 and to stay sane at the same time.
\n     So when one of the regular columnists quit, (to work for a newspaper in New York), leaving our paper in the lurch with a deadline looming, I was thrown in at the deep end and sent to the one business I truly adored.
\n     Most nights after work I peered across the street at the upmarket hairdressing salon in the heart of the city. It was always busy with the celebrities who frequented it. The prices were completely outrageous, but if you wanted star\u2013studded glamour, this was the place to go. I planned that one day I\u2019d blow a week\u2019s wages or more on having my hair done there. A girl can dream, huh? Living as a single girl in London, with a flat in the city centre, was quite expensive, and although I wasn\u2019t poor, I didn\u2019t make enough to be able to splash out on something like this.
\n     So you can imagine my excitement when Jamieson sent me to write the salon\u2019s editorial feature for the tabloid\u2019s Talkabout column. A celebrity launch party for a new range of hair colouring was in the pipeline, and I was sent to write the opening feature. The celebrity launch feature would follow next week.
\n     I\u2019d love to say that Jamieson offered me the job because I\u2019m one of his top journalists, but this wouldn\u2019t be true. He\u2019d given me the chance because he had no one else to cover it, and I was reliable. I never missed a deadline, and this feature had to go into the paper by nine tonight, ready for the next day\u2019s issue. Advertising revenue was involved, and although Jamieson was the editor, he often had to accommodate the advertising manager\u2019s requirements for editorial space.
\n     Besides, Talkabout was popular \u2014 a newsy, fashion, beauty, nightlife, gossipy column that balanced the hard news features.
\n     All I had to do was prove to Jamieson he\u2019d picked the right person for the job. I planned to make this work.
\n     However, like most things in my life, it didn\u2019t run according to plan. For a start, it was raining, so I was drenched by the time I arrived outside the salon, which was owned by the overly demanding Cosmo (a renowned hairdressing entrepreneur who could make any woman look great).
\n     Cosmo had put a lot of effort and marketing into creating a new range of hair colours to transform the average brunette into a sultry bombshell.
\n     I\u2019d heard that Cosmo was gorgeous \u2014 a dramatic looking Londoner. Tall and handsome was totally my type, though currently I had an occasional and unrealistic crush on Jamieson. He was in his early thirties, tall, brown haired, and with a male swimmers build (a wedge on long legs) though the only swimming he did was with the media sharks. Jamieson had no idea that every time he handed me an assignment my heart thundered nervously. I was sure the effect of Jamieson would wear off, though in the past few months it hadn\u2019t even waned. I needed to get out more. Out in a social sense, not chasing up stories and meeting deadline after deadline.
\n     As arranged, a press photographer was waiting for me outside the salon, sheltering under one of the canopies in the cold, winter rain.
\n     \u2018Jamieson says he\u2019s given you the Talkabout column,\u2019 said the photographer. \u2018Congratulations, but I think this is going to be a fiery one.\u2019
\n     I was going to ask him why, when I heard shouting coming from inside the salon.
\n     \u2018Cosmo\u2019s not happy,\u2019 he said.
\n     \u2018What\u2019s happened?\u2019 I said.
\n     \u2018His campaign model decided to ditch the whole idea of working with him on the launch of his new range to take up a movie offer.\u2019
\n     \u2018Where does that leave us?\u2019
\n     \u2018I had a word with Cosmo\u2019s assistant. She says the launch is still going ahead. They\u2019re looking for a model replacement. So I\u2019ll take some pics of the salon, and Cosmo with the products, that sort of thing. We can still run with it.\u2019
\n     I nodded, and what seemed like a torrent of rain ran off my umbrella down the back of my black mackintosh coat, soaking the ends of my long, dark hair.
\n     I cursed inwardly.
\n     \u2018You look fine,\u2019 he said, which was kind of him.
\n     I looked anything but fine, with barely a touch of mascara and a slick of lip gloss. My coat was reasonably smart, but I was wearing practical rather than stylish clothes \u2014 black trousers, dark shoe boots, white open neck blouse and black jumper that showed the collar and long white cuffs of the shirt. My bag contained my laptop, voice recorder, and a small camera for my photo\u2013journalism work.
\n     The press photographer opened the door and we went inside.
\n     Walking into the salon was daunting. I\u2019d washed my hair that morning, but now it was bedraggled. I\u2019d often been told that my silky brown hair was an asset, but it certainly wasn\u2019t tonight.
\n     A salon assistant took my coat and umbrella. I shrugged the strap of my laptop bag up on my shoulder, but felt even more exposed in this glamorous environment. I was trim enough, if a little bit on the slim side. Long hours working for the press often meant meals were skipped, and there was a lot of running around, but I guess you could say it kept me lean.
\n     The salon was white, cream and silver with subtle spotlights, and the occasional exotic plant. A modern classic salon. Several members of staff were circulating around a man in his early thirties that I rightly assumed was Cosmo.
\n     He saw us immediately, and aquamarine blue eyes viewed us sceptically. At least, viewed me sceptically. I figured it was my wet bedraggled look that caught his attention.
\n     The staff stepped aside, became quiet, as if knowing when to leave Cosmo alone. They watched him approach me. He was tall, broad shouldered, with dark hair that looked like an advertisement \u2014 glossy, long and sexy on top, cut shorter at the sides and back, but still long enough to run your hands through. He moved as if he had lean muscle below his dark designer suit. I thought he had a taut six\u2013pack under his shirt.
\n     I could see myself in one of the mirrors. Weirdly, my hair had a shine to it. Probably it was the spotlights at a flattering angle. I did have naturally shiny hair, although I never bothered with it. No products, colourants, or anything like that had been near it in years. Shampoo and a lick of conditioner was all I used. I even trimmed the ends myself because it was long enough to pull around the front so that I could cut it. It was several inches below mid shoulder length.
\n     Cosmo was gaining ground, never taking his eyes off me.
\n     I started to feel uncomfortable and glanced at the photographer who seemed as bemused as me regarding Cosmo\u2019s fascination.
\n     \u2018Who are you?\u2019 Cosmo said to me in a voice that was rich, sexy and manly. Which kind of summed up Cosmo.
\n     \u2018She\u2019s the new Talkabout columnist,\u2019 said the photographer, filling in for my hesitation. \u2018We\u2019re here to cover the feature.\u2019
\n     Cosmo nodded, acknowledging the photographer, but kept his focus on me.
\n     \u2018What\u2019s your name?\u2019 Cosmo said to me.
\n     \u2018Sadie.\u2019
\n     \u2018Sadie? Hmm. How old are you?\u2019
\n     \u2018Twenty\u2013six.\u2019
\n     Cosmo nodded, and moved closer, circling me with intense interest. As I\u2019m only five foot five in my shoe boot heels, he looked down at me and my hair.
\n     \u2018Who does your hair?\u2019 he said, as if it puzzled him.
\n     \u2018No one. I do it myself.\u2019
\n     A gasp erupted from the staff.
\n     Cosmo cast them a look. Not a word was said.
\n     \u2018What products do you use?\u2019 he said, studying my hair.
\n     \u2018Shampoo\u2026and conditioner.\u2019 I added the conditioner, but I hardly ever bothered using it, especially as I always seemed to be in a hurry to get showered and off to work in the newspaper.
\n     \u2018What brands do you favour?\u2019 he said.
\n     I almost smiled, thinking how he\u2019d react if I told him I bought whatever smelled nice from the supermarket, what I wasn\u2019t allergic to, and was often enticed to buy the shampoo and get the conditioner in a two for one deal.
\n     \u2018It varies,\u2019 I said, avoiding the details. I didn\u2019t want to risk the staff hyperventilating.
\n     He gazed down at my face. \u2018You have beautiful pale creamy skin. Who does your facials?\u2019
\n     \u2018No facials.\u2019
\n     Another gasp from the staff.
\n     \u2018What products do you use?\u2019
\n     \u2018Soap and water \u2014\u2019
\n     A major gasp and pursed lips from the staff.
\n     \u2018And moisturiser.\u2019
\n     \u2018What brand?\u2019 said Cosmo.
\n     \u2018A supermarket brand.\u2019
\n     The gasps were descanted with disapproving muttering that under other circumstances I\u2019d have found offensive.
\n     \u2018Fascinating,\u2019 said Cosmo.
\n     Soap, water, bargain supermarket moisturiser. Lucky dip shampoo. What was fascinating about that?
\n     The photographer jumped to my rescue. \u2018Can I take the photographs of you with some of your hair colour products?\u2019 he said to Cosmo. The tone of his voice wasn\u2019t asking. He was hinting he wanted to get on with taking the pictures.
\n     Cosmo blinked. \u2018Eh, yes. We have them set up over there. The colours are only created in the salon. They\u2019re not commercially distributed yet. Women come in and have their hair coloured by us.\u2019
\n     An area of the salon had a table displaying his new range of brunette colours on palettes and posters.
\n     Cosmo stood with his colour range while the photographer snapped numerous pictures, ensuring he had enough for us to create the feature.
\n     \u2018Do you have anyone in mind for your new model?\u2019 the photographer said.
\n     Cosmo looked straight at me. \u2018Maybe.\u2019
\n     The photographer checked his watch. Another photo assignment was looming.
\n     \u2018If you\u2019d like to go, that\u2019s fine,\u2019 said Cosmo. \u2018But I\u2019ll keep Sadie.\u2019
\n     Keep me?
\n     \u2018We have to chat about the editorial for the feature,\u2019 Cosmo said to the photographer, throwing me a glance that didn\u2019t match his words.
\n     \u2018I\u2019ll wait,\u2019 said the photographer, and sat down on one of the sofas.
\n     \u2018Great,\u2019 said Cosmo. \u2018You can take some photographs of Sadie\u2019s hair once we\u2019re done with it.\u2019
\n     Before I could think about this, Cosmo said to me, \u2018You\u2019re a tabloid reporter?\u2019 His tone implied he found this unusual.
\n     \u2018Yes.\u2019
\n     \u2018Ever done any modelling?\u2019
\n     \u2018I\u2019m five foot three on a good day.\u2019
\n     Cosmo laughed.
\n     \u2018Hair modelling or facial work?\u2019 he said.
\n     I laughed at his suggestion that I was in that type of league. \u2018No.\u2019
\n     \u2018Sit down over here.\u2019
\n     I sat in one of the hairdressing chairs and watched Cosmo fuss with my hair in the mirror.
\n     \u2018We\u2019ll give you a quick wash and then see how it looks.\u2019
\n     There was no option to say no, and before I could object, my hair was being speed washed by one of the staff.
\n     Cosmo came over. \u2018Run a\u2026let me see\u2026yes, a dark vermillion shine rinse through Sadie\u2019s hair. That\u2019ll bring out the bronze lustre,\u2019 he said.
\n     A salon customer ID card was written with my name at the top \u2014 Sadie followed by the shine rinse used \u2014 vermillion. Sadie Vermillion it said. I felt like I had a whole new identity.
\n     Whatever they poured on my hair smelled delicious. This was massaged right to the ends of my hair for a few minutes, and then rinsed thoroughly. A tension headache that I\u2019d had all day was washed away with it.
\n     My hair was towel dried. Then one of the stylists, armed with scissors, snipped the ends of my hair in a blunt cut that evened out any stray ends I hadn\u2019t quite cut precisely. It was blow dried smooth as silk but with plenty of volume.
\n     \u2018Perfect,\u2019 said Cosmo, running his hands through my hair, holding it up to admire the shine under the spotlights. At his touch my heart softened and any refusal wafted into pleasure at having him feel my hair.
\n     \u2018Can you take photographs of Sadie\u2019s hair for the feature?\u2019 Cosmo said to the photographer.
\n     \u2018Yes,\u2019 he said, adjusting the camera and focussing on my hair.
\n     \u2018I don\u2019t want to be pictured in the feature,\u2019 I said.
\n     \u2018We\u2019ll hide your face,\u2019 said Cosmo, \u2018no one will recognise you.\u2019
\n     The photographer nodded. \u2018This could work out well for you,\u2019 he whispered to me while pretending to adjust his camera for the shots. \u2018Go along with it. I\u2019ll make sure your face isn\u2019t seen in any of the pics.\u2019
\n     \u2018Okay, but don\u2019t tell Jamieson or the others at the paper,\u2019 I whispered.
\n     The photographer winked. \u2018Tell them what?\u2019 he said, and started taking the pictures.
\n     \u2018Shake your hair,\u2019 said Cosmo.
\n     I did.
\n     All the shots were carefully angled to show my hair and not my face. My identity was hidden.
\n     The photographer then uploaded a selection of the pictures on to my laptop.
\n     \u2018That\u2019s a great shot,\u2019 said Cosmo, pointing at one that made my hair look like something out of a glossy magazine. \u2018Use that one.\u2019
\n     And so we did. The photographer and I chose several other pictures of Cosmo and the salon.
\n     \u2018I\u2019ll e\u2013mail them to Jamieson,\u2019 I said.
\n     \u2018Brilliant,\u2019 said the photographer, checking his watch. \u2018I\u2019ve another couple of assignments,\u2019 he said to me.
\n     \u2018I need to do the interview for the feature,\u2019 I said. \u2018But thanks for your help.\u2019
\n     He winked at me again, and then left me to talk to Cosmo.
\n     We sat together on a sofa having tea and coffee while the world of the salon circled busily around us. No one approached us. It seemed an unspoken rule that when Cosmo was entertaining he was not to be interrupted.
\n     I took my voice recorder out of my laptop bag. \u2018Can I start by asking you about the details of the hair colours?\u2019
\n     Cosmo handed me a press release. \u2018All the background details are on here. Word it however you like.\u2019
\n     I liked that he trusted me. This was rare. Most people were wary of what a journalist would write about them and wanted to know what was going to be printed in the paper.
\n     Several top celebrities had been named as customers in the press release, and this would help make it newsworthy for the paper.
\n     \u2018Thank you for allowing your hair to be featured,\u2019 said Cosmo.
\n     \u2018I still can\u2019t believe you talked me into it,\u2019 I said, taking a sip of tea. \u2018I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll find a proper model in time for the launch next week. But we\u2019ll run with this opening feature.\u2019
\n     \u2018Be my model.\u2019
\n     \u2018What?\u2019
\n     Cosmo put his coffee cup down. \u2018I see something in you that I believe has potential. You\u2019ve got an exciting, contemporary, everywoman quality. You\u2019d be the perfect brunette bombshell.\u2019
\n     I laughed. \u2018I really don\u2019t think so.\u2019
\n     \u2018I\u2019m never wrong when it comes to things like this,\u2019 he said.
\n     \u2018But I\u2019m a newspaper journalist. I\u2019m not model material.\u2019
\n     \u2018Look at you tonight. You were soaked to the skin and tired. Your career is often a hard and thankless one. I\u2019m offering you more money than you could ever make from journalism. And it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s glamorous, you\u2019d step into a whole world of celebrity.\u2019
\n     \u2018I\u2019ve always wanted to be a journalist.\u2019
\n     \u2018Do both. A journalist by day, and the brunette bombshell by night.\u2019
\n     A feeling of excitement charged through me as he said this. I was tempted. I was.
\n     \u2018I\u2019ll pay you to model in the advertisements for the magazines and posters. We won\u2019t show your face, only a glimpse of your eyes. No one, not even your editor, will ever know it\u2019s you.\u2019 He paused. \u2018We can do this, Sadie. Come on, be daring. Take the money. Take the chance to do something completely crazy.\u2019
\n     And so I said, \u2018Yes.\u2019
\n     I thought for a moment he was going to lift me up and swing me around when I agreed.
\n     He stood up and motioned to his staff to come over.
\n     \u2018Sadie is going to be our brunette bombshell, but no one must know that she\u2019s secretly a tabloid reporter.\u2019
\n     The staff seemed delighted to be in on the secret, as if getting one over on the press.
\n     \u2018Of course,\u2019 said Cosmo. \u2018I\u2019ll add my special colours to your hair. They won\u2019t harm your hair\u2019s condition.\u2019
\n     I nodded, but wondered how I\u2019d disguise my new look at the newspaper office.
\n     Already ahead of me, Cosmo said, \u2018Wear your hair up at work. Give yourself a severe swept back chignon. Anyone who knows you will think you\u2019ve got a new style without arousing suspicion.\u2019
\n     This seemed like a plan.
\n     Cosmo leaned close. \u2018I\u2019m guessing you don\u2019t have a man in your life at the moment.\u2019
\n     \u2018You can tell that from my hair?\u2019
\n     \u2018I can sense how a woman feels,\u2019 he said.
\n     He was right. I\u2019d been so busy with work my social life had fizzled out. Maybe that\u2019s why I had a crush on Jamieson.
\n     \u2018Let\u2019s colour your hair,\u2019 said Cosmo, leading me over to the hairdressing chair.
\n     \u2018Right now?\u2019
\n     \u2018Yes. You\u2019re going to love it.\u2019
\n     \u2018My editor needs a photograph of me for the newspaper column,\u2019 I said. \u2018Could you take one before I have my hair coloured?\u2019
\n     \u2018I\u2019ll put your hair up in a chignon for your new reporter look,\u2019 said Cosmo. \u2018It\u2019ll fit in with you changing your hair at work.\u2019
\n     Cosmo pinned my hair back sleek and smooth. He used my camera to take a picture. I downloaded it to my laptop. It was the closest to flattering we could manage with my severe up do and minimum make up. But it was fine. I actually looked like a city girl reporter, a columnist. Very tidy and sharp.
\n     Whatever the previous columnist had written was to be scrapped and replaced with a few fillers I always had on hand. So all that was needed to run the column was the salon feature.
\n     While Cosmo and his colourists worked their magic on my hair, I wrote the feature on my laptop and e\u2013mailed it to Jamieson, along with the photographs, and a copy of my signature \u2014 Sadie, for the column\u2019s heading.
\n     A few minutes later, Jamieson phoned me.
\n     \u2018I\u2019m going to run with the pics you chose for the hair colour feature. But there\u2019s no name for the model.\u2019
\n     \u2018They\u2019re keeping that a secret,\u2019 I said. \u2018It\u2019s part of Cosmo\u2019s marketing plan.\u2019
\n     \u2018Fair enough,\u2019 said Jamieson. \u2018The mystery lady it is.\u2019
\n     I was sure that later tonight, when common sense hit me, I\u2019d wonder what the hell I\u2019d got myself into. But for now, I was running with the plan. This could work. It could.
\n     I\u2019d always wanted to be daring, but I was never the outlandish sort. I was reliable. Now I was twice as reliable. The paper could depend on me meeting those deadlines and keeping the Talkabout column as popular as ever, hopefully. And Cosmo could rely on me being his brunette bombshell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contents 1 \u2013 Rainy Night In London \u2013 Tabloid Reporter Thrown In At The Deep End 2 \u2013 Tabloid Journalist Becomes Brunette Bombshell 3 \u2013 The Glitterati Enjoy Party In London Nightclub 4 \u2013 Talkabout With Sadie The Tabloid Columnist 5 \u2013 Thousands Of Women Go Brunette Crazy 6 \u2013 Tabloid Hack Is A Magnet … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":260,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-267","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/267\/revisions\/664"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.de-annblack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}