Thirteen Letters. Chapter Eighteen.

Here is an update on the people that helped Paul, on the morning that he had the dream, in their own words.

“My name is Olive from the hair salon, I had come out of a violent marriage, strangers had been very kind to me. I had escaped, with just the clothes on my back. I have known, before I had got help, what it meant to have nothing. I am a good honest, hardworking woman, and I needed, someone to help me and believe me. Eventually that is what happened, but it had taken awhile.

I always said, I would never turn away anyone who asked me for help. That morning when Paul came in, he looked a sorry sight, he told me that he had, ‘No money.’ I did everything he asked me to do, and more by using the very best shampoos and conditioners. I wanted him to leave feeling like a King!

My good deeds before that day and after was, that Paul came into my salon, and he said, “Do you remember me?” I replied, “Yes, I do, I have bought all your songs, my favourite one is, ‘Praise you in the Storm,’ for I can relate to those words.”

Paul then handed me an envelope and said, “I would like to give you this as a massive thank you, for that morning when I walked into your salon.” He said, “Open it,” I opened the envelope and inside the, “Thank you card, for your kindness,” Was a cheque in my name, but I didn’t know the amount, so I looked back at Paul and he said, “It is for five million pounds.” With a huge smile on his face he said, “Shut up the salon and go and deposit it.”

I hadn’t had any lunch, I kissed him on the cheek and said, “God bless you, thank you SO much.” I finished Sylvia’s hair, and my other three assistants finished their client’s hair. I closed the shop up that same day. I paid my lovely three faithful assistants, one hundred and fifty thousand pounds each. Their hard work, and dedication had paid off. I sold my salon and moved to Alcudia, there I opened a small salon, and work there twice a week, for about three hours a day.”

Next to give his account in his own words is Mr Jones, a lovely Welsh man.

“Over a series of four nights I had had dreams, that seemed to carry on from the night before, in my life I had never experienced anything like this before. After the fourth dream, which was on the Monday morning. My dream was broken when, a man walked in dressed like Buttons from Cinderella and said, “This is a special delivery for Paul Anderson, he will be here tomorrow morning.” He carefully gave me the suit; it was in its cover and also a golden envelope with a red seal on the back. The quirky man dressed up like Buttons added, “In here is his shirt size it must be white and his shoe size too, they must be black, use both from your store.” It was a good job I had dreamt it all before, as I’d never had anyone walk into my store dressed like that before or since.”

“I hung up the beautiful suit in its cover in the back room, so that it was safe and I opened the sealed envelope. I got the shoes and shirt ready; it was strange and I did wonder if Paul Anderson would walk in tomorrow morning. I thought, who is this Paul Anderson, is he famous? I hadn’t heard of him, but if he was young, then that would be why. I did come to the conclusion, IF he did walk in tomorrow, then he Must be a very Special person. I didn’t know what he looked like, but he would tell me, “I have come to try on my suit.” No one came into the store, then as sure as eggs is eggs, a man with old clothes came in, he had beautiful very long blond hair, and as soon as he opened his mouth and said those words, it brought a shiver down my spine!”

“I sprang into action and told him, “I will go and get it from the back room,” My heart was racing, it was fantastic, it was surreal, it was like I was IN my own dream, as per instructions, I held back on the shoes and shirt, till after the suit was tried on. “

“What a transformation, when he came from the changing room. I told him, “You look amazing sir,” Then I gave him the shoes and the shirt to put on, when he emerged, it was like a different person, from when he first walked into my store.”

“I didn’t ask, how he knew about the suit, for I assumed, dressed the way he did, he must have had some sort of a dream too. I asked Mr Anderson, “Do you want me to put your other clothes in a bag?” He replied, “Yes please.” I folded them all up as best as I could, and added his worn-out shoes too. It did seem, the start of a brand-new life for him, and in my heart of hearts I wished him well.”

“That all happened eight years ago, to the day, when he walked in again. He held out his hand and gave me a firm hand shake. He asked, “Do you remember me?” I replied, “I certainly do.” He gave me an identical golden envelope with a red seal on the back, and added, “Here is the keys to the classical car you have always wanted, it is outside and inside the envelope is a cheque for you and also plane tickets for your holiday to Paderborn.”

“That was SO spot on! Everything was, the car, the holiday, I had made friends with a family there when I was a lad, and I had wanted to go back and visit. Mr Anderson asked me to, “Open the envelope.” I couldn’t possibly imagine what was inside, maybe it was spending money for the trip? How wrong I was, it was a cheque for five million pounds!! I hoped I wasn’t still dreaming.”

“Mr Anderson said, “It was for your kind reassuring words, that I would get the job.” Mr Anderson carried on, “Shut up shop today, put your money in the bank, go and do all that you have always wanted to do.”

I replied, “Dreams really do come true, for today, I can finish off doing what I have always wanted to do, it is my time to shine, thank you, Mr Anderson.”

“I left a thank you note on the front door, for my loyal customers to go next door, where I left details, for them to be well cared for. I made sure my five other Staff, had plenty to retire too, with immediate effect.”

Finally, Paul went back to see Beth, and here she is, in her own words.

“I’ve met some amazing people in my line of work, all rich, some very snooty, rude people, who seem to look down on me. Not everyone is like that though, there are some wonderful, very nice customers, who are a pleasure to serve. I am a professional and have worked in this shop for many years. Over the years I have seen everything, for the filthy rich by birth, to those who had just won the lottery! I will never forget the day when Paul and Maxine walked in. They just stood out, he was very handsome, and didn’t speak, I did at first wonder if he was deaf without speech? Maxine was dressed in a green and pink tie and dyed dress; he wore a smart crisp suit. He was tall, she was not. I have learnt in my line of work, never to judge, for you just can’t tell a book by its cover, for they could be one of the richest couples in the world! You just never know.”

“I know now her name is Maxine, did all the talking, she asked me, “What is the most expensive, tinniest, nose diamond in the store?” I was excited, as I thought of the bonus that Head Quarters would give me from that single sale alone. I unlocked the cabinet behind me and (the doors were locked secretly) she looked at it and then what she said next, my heart sank, right down to my toes, for she said, “Can you donate this to us, and when he is famous, it will be a best seller, you won’t be able to sell enough of them?”

“I thought OH DEAR, TWO NUTTERS!!! But she had the kindest eyes. I was brought up, to look into people’s eyes, and SO much can be gained from that. I was torn, and a massive argument went on in my heart and mind. What if she was right? What if she was wrong? My job would be on the line, for instant dismissal, and bad references. I would never be able to repay the company, I would never be able to repay that amount of money back. But, and it’s a big but, what would happen if I gave her a, once in a life time change?”

“She seemed, cool, calm, collected, and quietly confident. I decided to throw caution to the wind and donate it to her! But she didn’t stop there, she wanted MORE! I had started, so I might as well finish, and included the beautiful, fine, best quality black leather for his wrist and neck. And without paying a penny they walked out of the shop. I didn’t have regret, and hoped I wouldn’t live to regret my actions, for we weren’t robbed, I had freely given it to them.”

“The Stock controller, my Manager, Head Quarters went mad when I told them what I had done! Within the companies, I made headline news. I was ordered to, “Go home, without a month’s pay, while we discuss how to discipline you,” In hindsight, I did feel silly, how could I have been a MUG. Scam artists, they are SO good at what they do, and this I had never seen before. It was circulated in our internal newsletter, to be aware of this latest scam. I became a laughing stock.”

“Timing was everything, or so it seemed, and the day before I was due for my disciplinary, Maxine had sent a cheque, and it had cleared on that actual day, for five times the amount of the, precious jewellery, that I had given away. In her accompanying letter, she had stated, “One fifth of this money is to be given to Beth, and she is to be reinstated in her job.”

“The Director of the company himself came to my home. He explained everything to me and added, “Here is the one fifth from Maxine Jasmin-Green and we have decided to give you another month’s off with full pay.” I thanked him and said, “I would like to come back to work and can I have the money instead of the time off?” He replied, “Of course.” So, that month I had three wages, two from work and one from Maxine.” It turned out I had the last laugh.

“Then nine years and six months after I had first met Paul and Maxine in the store, Paul came in again, he was on his own. He had indeed become a big star, the song that he sang became my favourite, ‘Forever On Your Side, sung by Needtobreathe, I could definatly relate to the words in that song.”

Paul came up to me at the counter and said, “Can I have a word?” I asked Grace, “Can you take over please?” She said, “Yes, of course.” We are used to having celebrities in the store. We went to the side, by the staff door entrance. Paul said, “If you could choose any item in this store for yourself, what would it be?” I replied, “The exact same nose ring that you have, since it was made known that you got it from here, we have sold out, every time they come in, we can’t sell them fast enough!” Paul said, “Go and get it, for I have just bought it for you.” With Grace as our witness, Paul bought it for me, just like that. I felt SO blessed.”

“Paul said, “Can we go back over there?” We walked back to the Staff door and Paul said, “Thank you for believing in Maxine and me, your kindness to us both has never been forgotten, we would like to give you this,” He gave me a silver-coloured envelope, with a silver-coloured seal on the back. He asked me to, “Open it.” My hands were shaking as I removed the seal. My lips parted as I saw the cheque, that was inside the, ‘Thank you, card. It was a cheque in my name for …. Ten million pounds! I couldn’t believe it. He said, “You can leave today or whenever you like.”

“I decided to work for the next twenty-eight days, so another staff member could be trained, then in the City I set up my own business selling beautiful flowers, now I work three days a week.”

“I bought a lovely home, in Kirchbichl. All my blessings seem to come at once, thank you Paul and Maxine.”