Page 124 of Rock Out Together
“So, shall we get on?” I repeated when nobody spoke.
“Yes! Let’s get going!” Joel cried out, taking a swig from his beer and hopping up from his seat. He fetched his bass guitar from inside the house, reappearing within minutes and handing Luke his acoustic guitar. Benny pulled his drumsticks from his back pocket, twirled them in the air before beginning to tap them on the edge of the blazing fire pit. As I studied the instruments, I realised I recognised them.
“Are you still using the instruments you were years ago?” I asked, unable to believe they were the same ones. All three of the men nodded their heads at me. “Wow.” I was stunned. With all of the money at their disposal and they still had the same, worn instruments from when I’d known them. I recognised the groove in Luke’s guitar from when he’d dropped it during one of our practice sessions.
“We only use them for writing songs now though,” Luke muttered, offering up the information when he realised I was still staring. I nodded, leaning towards him as Benny and Joel messed around.
“What exactly do you need me for?” I asked.
“We need your input in a few songs and it’d be great if you could add some female vocals to them as well, so that if we ever want a female in the band again, there’s a place for her in it,” he replied, his implication not lost on me as his gaze bore into mine. Did they want me back in the band? I shook my head.
“You know I can’t do that and I have a life here. I’m just helping you out. That’s it,” I told him.
“Sure. Let’s get to work,” he agreed, not convincing me at all that he was going to drop it but it was better to move on. They began to play some of the songs that they were creating for their new album and I had to admit, they were really good. These guys had morphed into incredible musicians in the past few years, even more so than they had been before. Talent was always inside of them. I was just glad to witness their transformation into something spectacular. I offered a few ideas to interject in a few places and sang a few vocalisations for them to see if it worked with a female voice. I knew what Luke was trying to do and it was an experience I knew I’d never forget, but it wasn’t my reality anymore.
Singing with them was the most fun thing I’d done in a long time and it made me crave that feeling of being my old self once more. I threw myself into it, laughing along with them when they cracked jokes, making a few of my ownalong the way. I found Luke stayed by my side almost the entire evening, only leaving once or twice to the toilet or to fetch notes he’d forgotten to bring with him. The song we finished on was a particularly tough one to figure out decent female vocals for as the men had not envisioned it being sung with a female. I tried a few different ways to add to it, when suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I explained it to them before trying it out. By changing the timing slightly and doing a kind of relay with my vocals and the others, it worked beautifully.
I squealed with delight at the outcome, flinging my arms around Luke’s neck and pulling him in for an embrace. As I pulled back, he stopped me and before I knew it, his lips were on mine, claiming me.
“Woooooo!” Joel shouted, reminding me he was there. I pushed Luke away. Why would he do that? Here? Now?
“We’re not here for that. I think we’re done for the night,” I informed him, needing to put space between us. Luke’s face dropped but he didn’t say anything. He nodded his head as I said my goodbyes to Benny and Joel. They all trailed after me in silence as I headed back inside and made my way to the front door. I glanced back at them, knowing I had ruined the night with my reaction but I didn’t care. I couldn’t allow Luke to draw me back in again, just to leave me behind.
seven
. . .
Luke
“What are you waiting for?”
I turned to Benny when he said that, my eyebrows raised in question.
“What do you mean?” I queried, dragging my fingers through my hair. Benny came up to me and shoved my shoulder, making me take a step back. I stared at him in surprise. “Hey!”
“Are you stupid?” he retorted, crossing his arms across his chest. “You need to go after her! The whole point of coming up with The Plan was to remind her of who she was when she was with us and for you to get your feelings across to her without scaring her off, but you went and kissed her like the bloody idiot you are! Now she’s gone so you need to go after her and get things sorted out between you both.”
Both Joel and I gaped at him, unused to Benny being theone to tell anyone off. I gulped as I thought on his words, nodding my head slowly.
“You’re right. I’ll go find her,” I acquiesced, grabbing a jacket from the hangers by the door.
“And get her to tell you the truth while you’re at it! Whatever she’s hiding isn’t doing either of you any good and it’s disrupting our dynamic, so get it sorted. Alright?” Benny ordered, a smile dancing around his lips so I knew he meant it with a good heart. I nodded at him, spared a quick glance at Joel, then headed out.
Grateful I knew where she lived, I made short work of getting there, taking as many short cuts as I could remember from the years I’d lived there before the band had gotten big. There were fewer streetlights than I recalled, causing me to stumble in some places. Cursing as I fell against an open doorway, I bumped into a young man who instantly moved to hit me, stopping short when he took a good look at my face.
“You’re the singer from Midnight Kiss! I love you guys!” he exclaimed, drawing the attention of his friends. They all came over as I greeted them, shifting from side to side as they all talked at me, taking no notice of me when I said I had to go. I apologised to the man I’d bumped into and began to walk away.
“Hey man, where are you going? We were talking!” one of the friends shouted. I shrugged my shoulders, turning to wave goodbye.
“I told you I have to go. Come to my next gig and I’ll buy you a drink to make up for it, alright?”
I heard them shouting in glee at the invitation for a drink with the singer of Midnight Kiss and rolled my eyes as I strode away from them. I had a feeling I’d regret that one later but for now, it got rid of them. I usually loved to spend time with the fans except for when they were drunk, then they were never much fun. I’d have to keep my fingers crossed they’d forget about the interaction, as unlikely as that might be. I continued on until I came across the small house Kate had led me to the other night. There was a light on inside, indicating she was there. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Raising a hand, I knocked loudly. I heard movement, then a small light came on overhead to light up the entrance. Kate opened the door, watching me silently as she waited for me to speak.
“Kate, can I come in please? We need to talk.”
She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, but then stood to the side and pushed the door open wider so I could go inside. I stepped into the house, following her into the living room and sat down in the chair she gestured to. Sitting opposite me, she clasped her hands in front of her.
