Page 13 of Never Too Late
The recording session next morning went remarkably well, considering Steph hadn’t slept much. She had had a broken night filled with thoughts of Ethan: how he used to be, as compared to how he was now, and how things might turn out between them. By the time the session started, her mind was partly on the job and partly on what Ethan had said to her after breakfast. Put simply, he had told her quite harshly that he had slept on it and that his life was his own and he would behave any way he wished. If she wanted the relationship to progress, she would just have to accept that. Stifling her disappointment and hurt, her reply had been short and to the point.
‘I made my position clear last night. The choice was yours and you’ve chosen to stay as you are. I told you I don’t want a relationship with the new Ethan so, as far as I’m concerned, it’s all over between us.’ Taking a deep breath, she had then asked the question that had been burning her up all night. ‘Does this mean I should start looking for a new job?’
His response had been reassuring, at least in the short term. ‘You’re good at your job, very good. I wouldn’t want to lose you. Let’s just hope that things don’t get weird between us.’ He paused for thought. ‘Probably just as well if we don’t say anything to anybody here about this. Okay?’
‘Okay by me.’
As she waited for Keith and Johnny to come down to the studio, Steph busied herself playing with the equipment, some of it familiar, some brand new. With the experience she had already accumulated, she soon sorted out how it all worked and set about making the usual preparations for a recording session but, as she worked, she was turning things over and over in her head.
So this was how their three-year relationship had ended; with a whimper rather than a bang. It felt somehow unreal. A short conversation and that was that; no pyrotechnics, no tears, no visible heartache on either side, whatever she might be feeling on the inside. To a neutral onlooker, nothing had changed. They were both still living in the guest apartment, they would be in close daily contact, and they would still be working together. What the neutral onlooker couldn’t see was the cold void this had left in her stomach. Things had been building to a head, yes, but there had still been a part of her that had been hoping he would do the right thing and make the choice to return to being the man she had fallen for. But such was not the case, and the extra complication now was whether she was going to be able to carry on working with the man she had once loved. Only time would tell.
Keith and Johnny, unaware of the turmoil going on inside her head, came along as promised and performed two brand new numbers. Without a keyboard and a bass player, it sounded a bit hollow, but the underlying melodies were catchy and Keith’s lyrics and his voice, remarkably moving. The very good news was that Keith didn’t once try to put his foot down or call the shots. Hopefully this was a good sign for the future of the band. After the two men had gone off for a coffee, she and Ethan added a pretty good approximation of a bass track to the first song and she played around, improvising the sort of accompaniment on the keyboard that she thought Vince might have produced. By the time Keith and Johnny reappeared just before lunch, Ethan was able to play them the result of their efforts and it was greeted with what looked and sounded like genuine enthusiasm.
‘Ethan, Steph, that’s brilliant!’ Keith glanced across at Johnny. ‘What do you think, Johnny?’
‘Amazing. Steph, you play so well. It was almost like hearing Vince himself. I’ll be honest, it gave me goosebumps.’
‘It could do with some backing singers and, of course, a real bass track, but you could have a winner here.’ Ethan was sounding equally enthusiastic.
‘What do you think Ben will make of it?’ Steph’s cheeks were still blushing at the compliments.
‘First we’ve got to get him to listen to it.’ Keith shook his head slowly. ‘He’s still seriously uptight and I’m desperate not to frighten him off. We’re going to have to take it one step at a time.’
‘Why don’t we try to get him down here on his own one of these days?’ Steph was thinking out loud, but she saw both men nod in unison.
‘That’s a good idea. Why don’t you or Ethan talk to him, but take it easy with him?’ Keith sounded animated. ‘Maybe suggest he comes and plays you something? And then when you’ve got him here, you could let him hear this. See what he says.’
‘I think it’s a great idea, but it won’t be easy.’ Johnny caught Steph’s eye. ‘It’s like fly fishing. You’ve got to drop the fly and let it float past the trout, attracting its attention in the hope that it’ll bite, but without scaring it off. Go ahead and try, but tread carefully.’
Lunch was marred by an argument between Denver and his sister. It had all been going very smoothly, with everybody agreeing that Donatella’s homemade lasagne was excellent, when Steph heard raised voices at the far end of the table. It appeared that Sky had taken exception to something her brother had said.
‘So Mum and Dad gave me a car for my birthday, so what?’ She was staring him down. ‘I didn’t ask for it. It was a present. Have you got that? A present, an unsolicited gift. All right?’
‘Unsolicited!’ Denver almost spat the word. ‘You’re always scrounging off Mum and Dad.’
‘Me… scrounging?’ Sky’s voice went up a couple of octaves. ‘There’s only one scrounger around here and it’s you. Maybe if you got yourself a real job instead of pretending you can make it as a singer…’
‘Iammaking it as a singer. I bet I make a damn sight more than you do.’
‘Maybe, but you also spend ten times as much as I do.’
‘Hey, calm down, you two. We’re trying to have a nice quiet lunch here.’ Keith raised both hands to the heavens. ‘Couldn’t you justpretendto get along while we’re here. It’s going to be our anniversary in a few days’ time. Let’s try and make it a happy one.’
‘Your anniversary, not mine.’ Denver’s voice was a snarl, and Steph saw Keith’s face flush.
‘What the hell’s that supposed to mean, Den?’ Keith stared hard at his son.
‘You know exactly what I mean.’
‘Oh, just grow up, will you.’ The expression on Keith’s face was one of disbelief and barely concealed anger.
Denver stood up so sharply that his chair fell over backwards. Flinging his napkin onto the tabletop, he turned and disappeared back into the house. There was silence around the table for several seconds before Willow got to her feet and hurried off after him. Sky took a big swig of water and Tom wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. Steph dropped her head and hastened to finish her lasagne, determined to get away from a family tiff that was none of her business. Presumably Denver’s anger stemmed from the fact that his own mother had only been married to his father for a matter of months. Steph was still eating when she heard Faye’s voice.
‘Sorry, everybody. You’ll have to excuse Denver. He’s been under a lot of pressure lately. He’ll calm down.’
Steph carried on eating, wondering what sort of pressure the rich son of a mega-rich father might have. She was just finishing her food and reaching for her glass of wine when Keith stood up.
‘Sorry, guys. I think it’s time I spoke to my son. Enjoy the rest of your meal. Ethan, Steph, why don’t you take the afternoon off, and we’ll meet back in the studio later on, say five, five thirty?’
