Meet the New Caroline Pritchard/The Centre of Attraction (Storycuts)

In 'Meet the New Caroline Pritchard', Caroline Pritchard thinks her boyfriend Richard is going off her. And she's addicted to makeover shows on the television - imagine if that could happen to her! That would surely solve everything. And then her dream comes true - she is selected by a magazine for a makeover. As she is having her set of 'Before' photographs taken, she is secretly glad Richard is away. Although she doubts he is where he said he would be, this gives her the chance to have her makeover completed! Hairstyles, facials, and many beauty treatments later, Caroline is a new woman - ready to present herself to Richard. But will he like the new Caroline? And more importantly, will she still like him?

In 'The Centre of Attraction', Mel Salter is peacefully painting in the town square when his landscape is ruined by the arrival of Bertha Conway. She introduces herself and orders sangria. Mel is all the more irritated when Bertha returns the following day with her needlework - at siesta time, when he usually relies on the plaza to be empty as the locals rest for a few hours of the afternoon. But then Mel catches sight of her work, and is astounded by its beauty. And soon finds that the source of his irritation may not be that much of a nuisance after all...

Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection Summer Promise and Other Stories.