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By the time we got a few songs into the set, I evaporated. I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing. It was all part of me and outside of me at the same time. Whether we were fantastic or were shit, I had no idea.
Then, suddenly, it was the last song. I didn’t want the gig to end. I’d have played all night, until my fingers bled and I had no voice left. I just needed to be part of this.
The song finished and people screamed for an encore. People I’d not even realised were in the room. So many more than I’d ever expected. I wasn’t sure about the protocol, if we could even keep playing. I looked to the spot where Alex had been standing. He was still there and he gave a nod.
After conferring with Pete and Ferdie, we decided to do some of the old standards we’d been practising. It was either that or repeat some of our own songs because that’s all the material we had.
I walked off stage buzzing. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. The world was a marvellous place and I was right in the centre of it. The music still flowed through my body, like it’d not stopped. I couldn’t stand still. I went to the bar to get a drink and was mobbed. It was a small mob, just a few people really, but they all raved about how wonderful we were.
When I got free of them, I searched around the room, not sure what I was looking for. Until I saw him. Alex.
Alex
The set had gone even better than I’d expected. In just the few weeks since they last played, Dee’s band had improved beyond recognition. The raw power remained but it’d become directed and focused. The band was more cohesive too. I’d made a smart decision.
By the end of the night, they’d won the crowd over. Dee was the woman every man fantasised about. Pete had been an idiot, telling her to show more cleavage. Any fool could see that she had the perfect balance, hot but with a certain aloofness at the same time. She didn’t need to flaunt it or work it too hard. Just the way she swung her hips as she played or the way she gazed out at the audience was enough to make every man hard.
As she moved away from the bar, she caught my eye. For once, she didn’t look away. She walked towards me but Sally intervened, wanting to talk to me about the bands.
“Ask me about it when I come in tomorrow,” I said, trying to brush her aside.
She didn’t move though. “We need to settle this now,” she said. “The opening band says we paid them wrong. They are getting all antsy about it. And they say the other bands drank their rider.”
She gripped hold of my arm, clutching me tight.
“And that’s what I pay you to do. If you can’t figure it out, I’ll get someone else to do the job.” I unwrapped her fingers and ignored the pained look on her face. I had no time for her complaints.
By the time I got rid of her, Dee had gone. I figured she was backstage, so I followed her there. Halfway though, I hesitated. It was better to let her come to me. As much as I wanted to deny it, this thing between us was tangible. It smouldered beneath the surface of everything we did.
It’d be a helluva challenge to get her to change her mind about me but she was worth the effort. I’d have to work slowly and carefully though or she’d kill me.
When I got backstage, Holden and Carlie were chatting to Dee. That worried me. What would she say to them if they asked about me? She wasn’t the type to badmouth someone behind their back but she also wasn’t the type to hold back.
Pete and Ferdie sprawled on the couches, making themselves comfortable. I walked over to join in the conversation. There was no awkward silence, no indication that they’d been talking about me.
Dee leaned against the edge of the table and, when she saw me, she shuffled a little as though to make room for me to sit. I stood apart, though. I didn’t want to force things. For once in my life, I was unsure of myself.
When Carlie and Holden went to the bar, she turned to me.
“I’ve been working on the song,” she said.
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s good.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “It’s a bit crap.”
“They always are. Start with crap and turn it into something. Once you have the basics down, you have something to work with.”
