Page 80 of Take a Moment

‘We’ll stick as close to the original as we can. You’re on straight after the second note, remember.’

I nod mutely, tap the microphone a couple of times to get a sense of its volume, and take a deep breath to calm my now trembling body.

A piano-like, haunting pling comes from the keyboard, and I start to sing the opening lines, which, with almost no instrumental accompaniment, make me feel very exposed indeed. Momentarily, I’m transported back to the karaoke bar, when my confidence initially wavered. This time I don’t get over it quite so quickly. Having Matt listening to me, I feel like I’m on show. I glance back towards him, and he gives me two huge thumbs up, mouthing ‘go for it’.

I continue my way through the first verse, setting no one and nothing alight, but as the band launch into the chorus, the music and emotion finally consume me, allowing me to lose myself in the song. The band are full of approving expressions and encouraging nods as I move through the song’s climax to the calmer ‘outro’. As they play the closing notes, Matt stands up behind me and whoops and claps, and is quickly joined by all the band members.

‘That was incredible.’ Sammy hops across to me and gives me his friendly slap on the shoulder. ‘You’re a natural. Took you a moment to get going, but once you did…’ He gives an impressed whistle.

‘What he said,’ Matt calls out jovially, as he wanders over and gives me a squeezy sideways hug. ‘How did it feel, Alex?’

I do a quick self-check. The jangling nerves that consumed me before I started to sing have dissipated completely. I’m now feeling surging adrenaline and an unquellable urge to keep going. I look at Sammy hopefully.

‘Can we do another one?’

‘That’s the spirit.’ He gives me another friendly shoulder slap. ‘Right, lads. Let’s put Alex through her paces.’

‘Go for it.’ Matt smiles at me and plants a firm kiss on my lips that, in my heightened state, reverberates through me, feeling like a million fireworks have exploded in my body.

I turn back to the microphone, where I’m handed a lyrics sheet. The band kicks into the intro of another Killers song: ‘Somebody Told Me’. As the pounding music fills the room, I can’t help but move to the beat of the music, and within moments I’m lost again.

An hour and a half later, after some more challenging and less familiar pieces where I needed guidance from the band, we finish up for the evening.

‘That was one of the best nights ever. Thank you so much for organising it.’

I lean over and kiss Matt, who, due to his height, isn’t that much shorter than me in his seated position. He puts his arms round my waist, pulls me onto his lap and kisses me deeply. My whole body tingles in response.

‘All right, break it up. Nobody wants to see that,’ Sammy jokes. ‘Especially when they don’t have a girl of their own to do it with.’

Matt and I pull apart, laughing, and I feel myself redden.

‘Sorry, it must be the music.’

‘I’m just joshing.’ Sammy gives me a cheeky wink. ‘Listen, Alex, that lead vocalist slot is yours if you want it. I know you’ve said you’ve a lot on, but mate, you should not be wasting that voice. Right guys?’

There’s enthusiastic collective agreement from the rest of the band.

I glance at Matt, who simply shrugs, signalling his agreement with the others. What to do? My heart is screaming ‘do it’, but my head knows better: one thing too much and all the dominos could topple. I don’t understand my condition enough yet to know how it will behave. What I do know is that my stamina isn’t what it was.

At the same time, it has been such a buzz being here tonight. I feel so energised. Maybe I’m looking at this all in the wrong way. People who stay focused and determined often fare well. You read inspirational stories like this all the time. I obviously can’t beat my MS, but who’s to say I can’t benefit from this state of mind?

Matt and Sammy are scrutinising my expression, trying to work out what’s going through my mind.

‘What’s the time commitment?’ I ask.

‘Rehearsals once a week – just like this – and gigs most weekends,’ says Sammy.

‘Do you have a backup singer? Just in case?’

‘I’ve been doing the singing recently. Nowhere near as good as you, but I’m well enough received. It would be no problem if you couldn’t make the odd gig.’

I mull this over for a second. ‘OK, how about I join you on a trial basis and we see how it goes?’

‘We’ve got a good one, lads.’ Sammy whoops. ‘Welcome to the band, Alex.’

There’s a collective cheer as the rest of the band members click beer bottles and toast me. I suddenly realise something.

‘Wait, what are you guys called? Who am I joining?’

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