Page 40 of Never Too Late to Date

‘Sure.’

Her son was meeting up with an old uni friend who lived in Athens. He needed some downtime, and, if she was being honest, she was keen to see Frank and the others for the first time on her own. It would help her to think herself into performing mode.

After a restless night, Suzie pulled on a pair of her oldest jeans and a stripy T-shirt. No one got dressed up for rehearsals, and she didn’t want to appear as if she was trying too hard.

The car arrived to take her to the venue bang on time. She could get used to being ferried around. But her heart was in her mouth when she rang the bell at the performers’ entrance. She was shown into the back of the auditorium by a harassed member of staff and left on her own.

The elegance and size of the space took her breath away. Rows of red velvet-covered seats stretched all the way to the stage, where plenty of people were milling about, the sound of a guitar being tuned a tiny touch of familiarity.

Suzie straightened her shoulders and walked down the aisle towards a man who had his back to her but was nevertheless instantly recognisable.

Something made him turn just as she reached him.

‘Suzie! Baby, you’re here.’

He held out his arms, and she had no choice but to be enfolded in them.

‘Frank! It’s so good to see you.’

Chapter Ten

‘You too, darlin’. You’re a sight for sore eyes, that’s for sure.’

His barrow-boy patter hadn’t changed at all, and neither had his way of looking every woman up and down as if he was sizing them up for a new outfit. He always made her want to hand him a tape measure and be done with it.

He’d aged in a much more obvious way than her, and it wasn’t that she was bigging herself up. His hair was almost totally white, and his face was gaunt. He might have thought that tight leather-look jeans and a black T-shirt overlaid with plenty of silver jewellery was a youthful look, but all it did was emphasise his small frame. What was considered wiry back in the day had become skinny.

She’d often noticed it with British men. They went one way or the other. Thin legs and flat bottoms or ruddy faces and big guts, neither of which was particularly attractive. However hollow his face looked, Frank’s unnerving smile was still in play; the smile she’d learnt often meant trouble ahead. He finally released her from his clutches, and it was her turn to be scrutinised.

‘You don’t look a day over thirty.’

Now he was going in for over-the-top flattery, or rather outright bullshit. Fifty she’d take as a compliment, but thirty was ridiculous. She needed to change the subject.

‘Is anyone else here?’

‘No, no, you’re the first. It’s only the tech crew on stage.’

As he spoke, a commotion at the back of the auditorium let her know someone else had indeed arrived. Or judging by the noise, quite a few people.

Juice, a former boyband, whose lead singer, Jake, she’d once had an ill-advised snog with, came bounding down the aisle. They were now a troupe of middle-aged men, carrying their own equipment in cases and mainly wearing cowboy hats.

‘Suze!’

A man picked her up and twirled her round. It could well be Jake, but she really didn’t have a clue. It had been nearly forty years, and she could barely recall him anyway, whereas Frank’s face was one you didn’t, or more accurately couldn’t, forget.

‘We heard you’d be here. Where have you been hiding yourself away all these years?’

Back on solid ground after Jake put her down again, Suzie pulled herself up to her full height, which meant she was still dwarfed by the man above her.

‘Not hiding anywhere, honest, just living.’

‘Okaaay.’

The man with the cowboy hat shading his eyes seemed rather surprised by her sharp response. Had she been a bit of a walkover back then? Happy-go-lucky Suze who went with the flow? One of the lads, always up for a beer and a laugh, with a ready smile on her face? She’d been so young, the details were hard to recall. But perhaps there was some truth in the image of herself back then.

Not that she’d slept around, although she could have mistakenly given the impression that she might. There was plenty of opportunity; they were all young and starting out, and the need to decompress after a gig was real, however you decided to relax. The fact that she was choosy had undoubtedly made her more of a target for the likes of Jake and Frank, who’d seen her as a challenge.

It had been a different story with Christian. From the moment she’d met him, she’d known he was someone she should keep at arm’s length – and she’d failed miserably on all counts. He’d not treated her as one of the lads, far from it. So far from it she couldn’t allow herself to go there. She hoped her neck wasn’t about to go red and betray the warmth that had rushed through her body and was swiftly making its way towards her face, at the mere thought of his hands on her body.