Page 42 of Never Too Late to Date

A couple of them must be approaching seventy, in fact, but, to be fair, they still looked OK, although she was seeing it from the perspective of a sixty-year-old woman herself, rather than the person she’d been back then. Anyone in their twenties would definitely see them as old men. She fixed their young faces in her mind.

For a moment, it was as if the time since she’d last seen the band had melted away. Here they all were again, playing the same roles, professionally and personally. But if Jake thought she was going to flirt with him, or worse, he had another think coming. They might not have changed that much in the intervening period, still carving out their groove on the road, but she sure had. Was it a bad idea to try and recreate that time? Should she just have accepted it was over? It was rather too late now.

She got the feeling that Frank was listening in to the whole conversation too, even though he was chatting away to the sound engineer. That man had always had eyes and ears in the back of his head. She just hoped he hadn’t heard her mention Christian. Throwing any sort of bone to Frank to toy with was dangerous.

‘So that’s me. What about you, Jake? Marriage, kids?’

‘Oh, no. Always going to be a rolling stone, me. Never in one place for long enough to lay down roots.’

Suzie nodded. She believed him. It was one of the many reasons she’d jacked the whole thing in years ago. A permanent life on the road had never really appealed. She’d seen it ruin friendships and watched numerous relationships go down the tubes. ‘What goes on tour, stays on tour’ never worked as far as she could see. It would always seep out somewhere and infect real life. There were too many temptations, too much freedom for anything other than the toughest of unions to survive. And once you brought kids into the mix, it made it even more difficult. She’d never regret having her sons; they were far more precious to her than a long singing career could ever have been.

‘Well, it’s lovely to catch up with you all. Let’s have a beer sometime after one of the shows.’

The Jake smile was firmly back in place.

‘Sure. I’d like that.’

Suzie decided to test out her theory about big ears.

‘What number dressing room am I in, Frank?’

He turned so quickly, he must have been listening.

‘Number three. Your favourite number. You always had dressing room three.’

How the hell, and more importantly, why on earth had he remembered that?’

There was a slightly creepy side to Frank that was coming back to her. He had a knack of bursting in on you just as you were getting dressed, too, something she’d have to watch out for.

The dress rehearsal hadn’t gone brilliantly; there were a few missed cues and a couple of duff notes, but that had cheered her up no end. It was an old showbiz superstition: bad rehearsal, good performance. The set list had been agreed a couple of weeks back, and each of the acts had half an hour in the spotlight.

Her little slice of fame was a mix of her own stuff, rock-infused numbers alongside the pop tunes, plus a few female-focused standards of the time such as Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ and Madonna’s ‘Holiday’. Most of the audience would be tourists or expats, so it was good to keep the mood upbeat. The house band had gone through everything with her, Frank watching like a hawk.

The middle of the show was her spot. Juice had been given top billing, which was fair enough as they obviously still had a fanbase; she wouldn’t have wanted the pressure of closing anyway.

Along with another boyband from way back and a couple of solo male artistes, one of whom she’d once done a duet with, she was pleased to see another female act on the bill, two women called Carol and Teresa, who went under the name Peaches. She’d shared a dressing room with them a few times on the gigging circuit, and she’d make sure to catch up with them later and watch their set, right at the start of the show.

Changed, ready and waiting for Giannis to walk through the door, she felt a tiny bud of excitement starting to build inside her, along with the terrifying thought that she’d be on stage in a couple of hours. A swift knock told her he’d arrived.

‘Come in!’

But it was Frank who opened the door and lounged back against the doorframe.

‘Ah, I see you’re already dressed. I was just coming to warn you.’

And see if you could catch me out, thought Suzie.

‘Warn me about what?’

‘That we haven’t got long to go until the concert starts. And to see if you needed anything?’

‘No, I’m fine, thanks.’

Giannis appeared in the doorway behind Frank, towering over the promoter by a good foot.

‘Mama! I’m here.’

Frank reluctantly moved out of the way to let the other man pass. Giannis gave her a quick hug and kissed her on both cheeks. Frank’s expression was one of bewilderment. The boys had taken their father’s surname, so the other name for the hotel booking, Giannis Ioannides, wouldn’t have meant anything to him, while she’d used Suzie Sessions. The promoter’s face was a picture as he looked back and forth between the two of them.