She nods, looking around. ‘Well, he better still be here; he has my cigarettes. Oh, there he is! DARREN! HONEY! FANCY A SONG? ED’S GOING TO JOIN US.’
Darren nods and waves over at me while the other guests start to applaud and cheer.
‘Go, Eddie,’ Lauren yells, while Graham sticks his thumb up. At least, I think it’s his thumb.
‘You see that piano?’ Ashleigh asks, pointing to the corner ofthe room. ‘You play that. Tara has some guitars in her music room.’
She jumps up and runs out the door to retrieve the guitars while I’m left speechless and panicking. I down my drink and consider fleeing but it’s too late. Tara is now ushering everyone through from various parts of the house and I’m trapped. I walk to the back of the room and say hi to Darren while his wife brings through two guitars. Behind her, I see Kate, standing beside Dolly, with her mouth open. I know how she feels.
‘Well, you lovely people, it turns out that Ed and I both studied at the same university, and he plays piano, so I thought we’d have a song.’
Oh, just kill me now. I sit down at the piano and hope that either the lid won’t open or that a second piano falls on top of me. It’s one thing playing for fun and entirely another playing with professional musicians, no matter how tipsy they are.
‘What shall we play, Ed?’ Ashleigh asks as she fixes her guitar strap. ‘What do you know?’
‘Jingle Bells?’
She laughs. ‘How about something for your girlfriend?’
I look at Kate. ‘“One More Day”,’ I reply, without hesitation. I must have played that on the piano a hundred times because it’s one of Kate’s favourite songs.
‘You got it,’ Ashleigh says before counting us in.
My nerves initially get the better of me, so we start over, but I know this song like the back of my hand. As I play, I can picture Kate, sitting beside me at the piano– sometimes just listening to me sing and sometimes singing along in a key vastly different to the one I was playing, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was making her happy, just like it does right now.
As we finish, I look over at Kate and I see that she’s applauding harder and louder than everyone else.
Darren leans in. ‘Great job, dude. You killed it.’
‘He sure did,’ Ashleigh agrees, giving me a hug. ‘You surprised the shit out of me, Ed!’
‘I surprised myself,’ I reply, laughing. ‘Thanks for letting me play with you.’
‘Which one’s your girlfriend?’ Ashleigh asks.
‘Woman with the red hair, leather trousers,’ I say. ‘That’s Kate. If you can say hi, I’d really appreciate it.’
‘You got it,’ she replies. ‘I’ll get us both a drink, though she looks like she might need a double.’
Kate
My hands still stinging from my rapturous applause, I try to process what I’ve just witnessed. Even as Ashleigh frickin’ Mason walks towards me with a glass of Prosecco, I can’t take my eyes off Ed. He was unbelievable.
‘Your boyfriend plays beautifully,’ she says, handing me the drink. ‘If I didn’t play myself, I’d hire him in a heartbeat.’
‘You’re Ashleigh Mason,’ I tell her, like she doesn’t already know. ‘Why. . . how. . . I mean Ed never plays in public. I always said he should but—’
‘My fault,’ she replies. ‘I tend to get up and sing when I’ve had a few. I’m afraid Ed just got dragged into it. He should play more, though, I agree.’
‘This is so bizarre,’ I say laughing. ‘Sorry, I’m usually far more composed– and, well, sober.’
She laughs. ‘Don’t worry. I’m two drinks away from dancing on that nice coffee table. Oh, Ed says you guys saw me at Glastonbury last year?’
‘We did. Though I first saw you about six years ago supporting Regina Spektor and I’m trying very hard to be cool here and not just tell you how much I love you.’
‘Well, I think I love you more,’ she replies, downing her wine. ‘Oh, here he is! I was just telling your lovely girlfriend howamazing you are.’
Ed smiles. ‘I’m still stunned that happened. My students will never believe me.’
