Page 26 of Not My Greek Wedding

‘At least ten years,’ says Bryn as he sips his drink. ‘I used to work for him,’ he reveals. ‘That was before I made it big myself in the property business. Oh yes, he has competition now.’ He laughs. ‘I have a portfolio of hundreds of houses now, best in the business, I am. I?—’

‘And what do you do, Ash?’ asks Irene, cutting him off in mid-flow.

‘I’m a musician,’ he tells us. ‘I used to be in a band, but I sing solo now, write songs and the like. In between gigs, I work in a theatre bar.’

‘Which is still being involved in the industry, I guess,’ says Lulu.

‘Exactly, and we get discounted tickets to watch the shows.’ He grins.

‘Talking of performers,’ Lulu tells Ash. ‘Mia here has a great singing voice. In fact, we are here to watch her sing on the karaoke shortly.’

‘Really, well I will look forward to hearing you sing,’ says Ash.

We chat for a while, and I chastise myself for taking an instant dislike to Bryn. I have never been one to judge a person too quickly, as none of us are perfect. I remind myself that hemust be okay deep down, or surely Owen wouldn’t be friends with him, would he?

The conversation continues until the first karaoke singer of the evening steps up to the stage at the front of the restaurant, and does a pretty decent rendition of ‘Pretty Woman’ that has everyone clapping and singing along.

‘That song reminds me of a someone I once went out with,’ says Bryn. ‘Now she was arealpretty woman.’ He grins. ‘She was a nutter though. Never did trust me if I went out alone, and I wouldn’t mind but I only cheated on her the once when I was drunk as a skunk on a stag do.’ He laughs. ‘Which doesn’t really count in my book.’ He shrugs.

Ash raises his eyebrow as I sit with my mouth open. It seems I am constantly re-assessing my opinion of this guy.

I don’t have time to respond as my name is called up and it is my turn on the karaoke. For some reason, I feel a little nervous as I haven’t sung in public for a while. Maybe Dad’s right, I ought to do it more often or I will become out of practice at facing an audience. Use it or lose it.

The bar seems to have filled up in the last half hour, and my friends whoop and cheer in anticipation as I reach for the microphone.

As is usually the case, once I start to sing, the nerves disappear and I can’t see a single person in the room. The uplifting ballad seems to have people mesmerised, conversations stalling, as they give me their full attention. And then comes the bit that thrills me the most as the song concludes.

I thank the audience as I soak up the rapturous applause, the whistles, the confirmation that my voice is as good as I believe it to be. And it feels wonderful.

Bryn is on his feet shouting, ‘You go, girl, that was bloody magical.’

Maybe he isn’t so bad after all.

Walking back to the table, I pass tables of people clapping and telling me how much they enjoyed it.

‘You really are very good,’ says Ash kindly. ‘Maybe I should write a song for you.’

‘I’m very flattered.’ I smile, feeling pleased by his comment.

‘Amazing,’ Lulu says as she squeezes me in a hug.

‘Well, well. You have come a long way since the days of singing in the bedroom,’ Irene comments with a smile. ‘That was bloomin’ fantastic. Girls Aloud would be lucky to have you now.’

‘I don’t think they are together anymore, Irene. They must be in their forties, surely,’ Patsy says, laughing.

I am on a high as I say take a seat, and the sound of another song fills the bar.

‘Good job he’s not a bad singer,’ says Patsy. ‘Imagine having to follow you.’ She gives me a nudge.

Just then, I hear the deep thrust of an engine outside the bar, and glance over at a silver Porsche. There’s a bloke in sunglasses in the driver’s seat, with the roof down, and I notice a few women cast a glance his way. I recognise Christos immediately as he lifts his sunglasses and waves over.

At that precise moment, Bryn congratulates me again, before pulling me in for a hug, and kissing me squarely on the lips. I am so shocked it takes me a second or two to push him off.

The sound of the throaty engine can be heard once more, as I watch Christos make his way along the street.

We have another drink, and I find myself wondering if Christos might have come into the bar when he saw me? Who am I kidding though? He was obviously off somewhere, and was just waving over when he spotted us all.

Even so, it was the wrong moment for Bryn to have moved in for a kiss, I think frustratedly, and I find myself hoping that Christos doesn’t think we are a thing.

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