The minister began the meeting.
Aisha looked over Faye’s shoulder.
‘What?’ Faye mouthed, and Aisha signalled with a nod to the back of the hall where Rav Malik stood with his meaty arms crossed across his huge chest.
‘Is that him?’ Aisha whispered.
Faye blushed, looking away quickly. Those huge arms had recently pinned her to the ground on Black Sands Beach; those wide, muscular thighs had parted hers and thrust between them, making her lose herself in an ecstasy she had never known. Faye’s heart started pounding. ‘Yeah,’ she whispered.
‘He’s fit.’ Aisha turned back round to look at Rav. ‘Jesus. He’s huge.’
Faye elbowed her. ‘Shh.’ She was mortified and wished she could sink into the ground. What if someone from the village had seen her and Rav having sex at the beach? Oh god. How had she and Rav thought it was a good idea to throw all caution to the wind in the way that they did?
Someone at the back of the hall called out.
‘Ma customers aren’t happy with it. More and more unsuitable bands going on the list, aye. Village is going to be full of layabouts an’ hippies, mark my words!’ one of the shopkeepers exclaimed.
‘I asked Mr Malik to be here with us, as I thought many of you would have questions about the festival,’ the minister explained. ‘Perhaps he can provide more information?’
Rav made his way to the front of the hall; Faye caught his eye as he walked past her, and he shot her a quick smile. Just for a moment, there were only the two of them in the community centre, and Faye was vividly reminded of the way it felt when Rav kissed her. She didn’t allow herself to think about the rest of it, because she knew she would blush so deeply that everyone would notice.
‘Hi. I’m Rav. I’m the promoter organising Abercolme Rocks.’ He stood at the front of the hall, planting his feet confidently slightly apart and resuming the stance with his arms crossed over his chest. Faye couldn’t look at him without getting a lump in her throat; his sheer animal magnetism made her eyes glaze over; instantly, she felt herself getting wet, just listening to his deep, sonorous voice. ‘Thanks for having me here today. I know some of you have concerns about the festival and that you haven’t had anything like it here before, so I thought I’d come and give you some information and answer any questions you might have.’
‘Why do we have to have a music festival here at all? We were perfectly happy without one.’ Mrs Kennedy, in her seventies,with a flowered scarf knotted around her head and dressed in a fleece of indeterminate colour, stood up and flicked her hand dismissively at Rav. ‘Ah don’t know who ye spoke to, to get permission in the first place, aye. Nobody wants ye here.’
‘Well, you can take it up with the council. They put out a tender for a festival and my company won it; it’s part of their regeneration project. I’ve produced a lot of festivals and music tours all over the world. I can promise you that this will be a good opportunity for Abercolme. Your businesses will benefit – accommodation, taxis, catering, retail; and I’m going to be creating some temporary jobs in terms of site services.’ He opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. ‘Honestly, I know it’s new, but you’re going to find that this helps Abercolme rather than hinders it. I promise,’ he replied politely.
There was a general murmur, neither positive nor negative in tone.
‘So, we’ve got some amazing bands on the schedule: Science Fiction Pulp Novel, Dal Riada, Green Apple: Red Apple, Kollectiv and Call of Sirens so far. Tickets are selling really well, but we have limited them to five thousand because of the space in the castle grounds,’ he continued.
‘It’s going to ruin the castle! That’s ancient, ye know. That’s our heritage. We don’t want hippies runnin’ around it with no clothes on, spray-painting the stone, breaking things. It isn’t respectful.’ Mrs Kennedy wasn’t going to let it go, clearly.
Rav smiled nicely and nodded, waiting for her to finish. ‘Of course, I understand your concerns. I will say that a festival audience for an event like Abercolme Rocks will be responsible people who love good music. I imagine there will be quite a few parents bringing children. It’s a pleasant outdoor festival event that starts in the afternoon and finishes around eleven, so won’t keep anyone up too late into the night.’ Rav ran his hand through his hair. Faye liked the way his fringe fell in his eyes.
‘We will have proper security attached to the event. We’ll be holding the festival in the castle grounds, away from the main building; people will not be allowed access to the castle for the duration of the festival,’ he continued.
Rav’s tone never wavered from a practised, steady pleasantness; he had a grounded, in-control energy that Faye found unutterably sexy, but she also sensed his frustration under the professional veneer. It couldn’t have been the first time he’d had to deal with a difficult crowd, and Faye supposed that diplomacy was part of an event manager’s skill set. Yet, she noticed that his left hand was clenched into a fist. As Rav caught her eye, he smiled subtly, knowing that she’d noticed his tell, and stretched out his fingers, returning his hand to his side. Looking at his clenched fist also made Faye even more turned on than she had been already; the suggestion of the brute force he commanded made her bite her lip with desire. She wanted him again, wanted to be completely overwhelmed by that muscled, heavy body. Held down, penetrated, possessed totally.
‘All necessary risk assessments have been done. I think, if you came along, you’d enjoy it.’ Rav twinkled a sweet smile at Mrs Kennedy, and Faye was amazed to see her look slightly mollified.
‘Well, I still don’t like it, but I see I’ve not got much of a choice, aye,’ the woman muttered and sat down.
‘Tell you what, you can have two free tickets so you can come and see for yourself. How would that be?’
Faye snorted with laughter and coughed to disguise it.
‘Get on with ye! I wouldn’t want to come.’ Mrs Kennedy sounded scandalised, and Faye wished she could see her face from where she was sitting.
‘All right. Well, if you change your mind, let me know,’ Rav said. ‘In fact, if anyone’s not sure about the festival, come andtalk to me about it. And I’m happy to provide free tickets to anyone here who would like to come.’
‘Right. Thank you, Mr Malik.’ The minister stepped forward. ‘I’m sure we’re all very excited about what will be a wonderful new event in the village. If anyone has any more questions for Mr Malik, please do ask him, or I believe he is going to leave some leaflets with contact details, if you’d like to phone or email him.’
Rav nodded. Faye watched him, wondering whether to approach him and say something. But what would she say?
Everyone started filing out of the village hall.
At that moment, the village door banged open, blown by a sudden wind. Faye, Rav and the minister looked around in surprise at the rain which had come out of nowhere.
