AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I kinda gathered,” she said and there was humour in it.
Her eyes twinkled as she stared at me, and I saw David again. Saw David Faverley’s daughter in front of me.
Take care of her, Carl. Take care of my little girl.
“What were you saying?” she said, and she was nervous, I could see the tremor in her hands, despite the smile.
Give it a fucking minute, man. Give it a fucking minute.
I’m in love with that girl, Carl. I’m in love with her.
David’s face. Take care of my little girl, Carl.
I took another breath. Stayed quiet.
“You said you needed something. Do you need me to do something? What is it?”
My boss’s little girl. As if things weren’t complicated enough already.
I looked at her as I put the car back into gear, flicked theindicator.
And then I selected the audio control on the dash, smirking as the Rocky theme started up.
“I need you to sing for me,” I said.
She was perplexed for a moment, trying to figure out what voodoo I was spouting. Trying to figure me out, her pretty mouth opening and closing as she wrestled with words.
“It’s part of the programme,” I said, pulling out onto the road. “Everyone sings for me, no exceptions.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“No.”
“The Rocky theme?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to sing the Rocky theme? Now?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
At least she asked. Most don’t. “Music changes state, music changes mood, it’s an anchor you can use for performance. Singing lowers inhibitions, makes those walls come down, pushes you out of your comfort zone. And that’s what’s needed, Katie, in a training schedule like ours. You need to be flexible, adaptable, confident, and immediate. Not afraid to pushthrough barriers.”
I didn’t rule out that she’d baulk and show off, like Verity. Fully expected her to hum a little, sing in a little mousey voice that I could barely hear, but as seemed to be the case more often than not, little blue-eyed Katie Serena surprised me.
She launched into song, loud and clear, and she wasn’t half bad.
She laughed when I joined in, and together we drowned out the stereo, and she was air punching, giggling through the vocals, and I air punched, too. One hand off the steering wheel, as other drivers stared in at us. I didn’t care.
She was breathless by the time we’d finished, relaxing into her seat with a smile on her face. Tension gone, at least for the time being.
“That was fun,” she said. “I love Rocky.”
“You do?”
“He’s the underdog, right? Rises up against the odds. Eye of the tiger.” She flicked her hair from her face. “Yeah, I love Rocky.”
