The trio sat down in the otherwise empty room and took a proper look around. Other than the situationally-specific posters, one of which showed very static front and back photos of naked girls, one aged about six, one around ten or eleven and another about fourteen, the kinds of pictures you might expect to see in a medical text book, with meat cuts marked on their bodies, presumably to show the difference depending on age, and another which urged potential meat-girls “Know Your Rights!” with a slogan underneath in large, red letters which took up most of the rest of the poster declaring “Until The Chop, You Can Still Say Stop!”, there really was not anything to mark it out from any other waiting room in a doctor’s surgery, a dental clinic or, for that matter, a council building.

Having completed and signed the form, Josh gamely picked up and flicked through one of the stacks of magazines but there was nothing that would have interested him even if they had not been half a year or more out of date so instead he took out his phone to help pass the time while the girls chatted quietly to each other, with Amelia asking lots of questions about the cooking process itself and the pair discussing which girl on the poster looked the tastiest.

Just as they were concluding that the middle girl probably looked the tastiest over all, a conclusion that Josh could not help smiling at, suspecting that the two eleven year olds may be ever so slightly biased, but that the older girl had a very nice rump and the little one was just too cute and was therefore bound to taste sweet, they were joined in the room by two more girls who looked enough alike to be sisters and a woman who was most likely their mum. With polite smiles of acknowledgement, they sat down opposite and the woman began to frown at the clipboard she had been given.

The girl were both very pretty with long, straight hair that could probably be described as either dark blonde or light brown depending on the lighting. The older girl, who Samantha estimated to be fourteen or fifteen wore hers in a thick plait while the younger girl who was two or three years younger had hers loose but tucked back behind her ears. Both were dressed in the uniform of the local girls-only secondary school.

“Excuse me,” the woman leaned forward and addressed Josh, “sorry to bother you, but did you do a separate form for both of yours or put them on the same one? I’ve been given two sheets but they did seem to be a little stuck together so I’m not sure if that was a mistake, or perhaps there’s a spare in case I make a mistake? I did notice downstairs but the lady at the desk didn’t seem especially approachable so I didn’t like to ask!”

“Something of an understatement!” Josh chuckled at the description, “But sorry, I don’t know. Only one of these is actually mind, the other’s just along for moral support.”

“Oh, sorry!”the woman looked mortified, “I didn’t realise! Sorry again!” she turned to the girls, both of whom assured her there was nothing to be sorry about.

“If you mistake me for a meat-girl then it just means I look tasty!” Amelia informed her with a grin. “So I’ll take it as a compliment!” The woman thanked them, looking incredibly relieved.

“To answer your question,” Josh mused, “I’d say do a form for each of them. If you could have just done then one then doing two shouldn’t be that big a deal but if you were meant to do separate ones and you put them both on the same one then you’re sure to get an ear-bashing about it!”

“True!” the woman nodded, seeming reassured. “Thank you.” Josh smiled and went back to looking at his phone but Samantha, considering the ice now broken, decided to try chatting to the newcomers.

“Are you going to be Christmas dinner too?” she asked brightly. “I am!”

“Oh that sounds nice!” the younger girl grinned. “But no, we’ve got family coming over from Australia next week and we’re going to have a big party! All out aunts and uncles and cousins and everyone are coming!”

“Oh wow!” Samantha gushed, genuinely excited for them. “How are you going to be cooked?”

“On the spit!” the older girl informed her with pride and excitement. “And two of our Australian cousins are cooking too, in the oven. But they’re getting registered over there.”

“Oh like the girls from America when Sidney’s opened?” Amelia observed knowledgeably.

“That’s right!” the older girl beamed and her sister nodded. “Should be a lot of good meat to go around!” All four girls giggled and the parents exchanged knowing smiles of amusement. Before they could exchange names, a middle-aged woman in a smart suit with a far friendlier demeanour than the receptionist came through the connecting door.

“Samantha Martin?” she smiled, reading from her own clipboard. Samantha leapt to her feet waving enthusiastically. “Okay!” the woman chuckled. “Do you have your consent form?” Samantha looked puzzled for a moment but Josh stood up.

“This?” Josh asked, offering his clipboard.

“Perfect!” the woman smiled. “We do ask that the candidate be interviewed alone,” she explained apologetically to Josh, “to ensure they feel empowered to give honest answers. There are CCTV cameras in every office, however, for safeguarding purposes.”

“That’s fine.” Josh nodded. “Amelia and I will wait here. Go on,” he smiled encouragingly at Samantha, “have fun!” Cheerfully, Samantha went through the door that the woman was holding open then accompanied how down the corridor to one of the offices. With her friend gone, Amelia shifted closer to him.

“Thank you for letting me come for Christmas.” she smiled sweetly up at him. “It’s very kind of you!”

“It’s a pleasure!” Josh smiled at her, thinking how pretty she looked and blaming the environments for the ideas and images that seemed to be coming unbidden into his imagination. “Should be a fun day!”

“Samantha was telling me about the pictures you took of her as a turkey!” she giggled. “I’m looking forward to seeing those!” Just then, another official appeared, leading Josh to wonder exactly how many people did work in this department, calling for the other girls.


To be continued...