Page 119 of Rock Out Together
I went to see her the next day at the restaurant but she wasn’t available. It was the same the day after. When it came to Friday and the third day in a row of not being able to see her, I knew she was avoiding me and I was getting really narked off by it. To release the frustration building up inside of me, I began writing a new song.
Thankfully, what with having all the time to ourselves to concentrate for a change, I managed to crank out the bare bones for the song in no time at all. Benny and Joel helpedme and by the time it came to our gig on Saturday night, I knew we would be able to play it. I just needed Kate to hear it. Reaching into my wallet for the card Ted Castle had given me, I called the number on it. He answered after four rings.
“Hello, Ted Castle speaking. How can I help?” came his deep baritone voice.
“Hi Ted. It’s Luke here from Midnight Kiss,” I announced, letting him splutter his greetings out before continuing. “I was hoping I could ask you for a favour.”
“Sure, of course. What do you need?” he asked.
“Err,” I tapped my fingers on the kitchen counter as I moved about. “The manager you have there, Kate? Is she going to be working when we play?”
There was a pause on the other end.
“No. Can I help with anything?”
“Is there any way you could get her to be there? It’s really important that she is,” I informed him, hoping he would sense the urgency in my tone. Another pause. I was starting to think the line had gone dead when he spoke again.
“I will try, Luke, but I’m not making any promises. She was quite adamant that she wouldn’t be at the shows.”
My heart sank but I prayed that the new owner of the venue would be able to pull it out of the bag for me.
“I’m putting my faith in you, Ted. Help me with this and the gig will be half price for you,” I said, hearing the outraged muttering of my band mates behind me but I waved them off. Ted agreed to do his best and I hung up. Turning to Benny and Joel, I explained the situation to them.
“It’s the only way to try and get Kate there. Then we canperform the song for her and see if it makes a difference. Alright? It’s not like we can’t live without half the money just this once,” I told them, gazing pointedly at them. When they acquiesced, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, we just needed Kate to be there.
Saturday night.
We waited in our designated changing room as the venue filled up. The patrons had already been starting to enter when we arrived, surprising me that we had so many supporters there. I had to remember that they saw us as musicians now and not the up and coming band trying to break out that we once were.
I paced back and forth, nervous energy keeping me from standing still. Benny watched me quietly, but not Joel. He groaned, leaning back lazily in his chair, his eyes on me.
“Will you stand still already?” he groused. “You’re making me feel sick.”
I paused, running a hand through my tousled hair. I winced at what it must look like.
“Sorry, mate. I’m just…what if she doesn’t show?” I asked, aware of how pathetic I must sound to him. To them both. I’d told them the truth about my feelings for Kate at long last after they kept pestering me about why I needed to write this song and have her hear it as much as I did. I shouldn’t have worried, it turned out it was obvious to them from the very start. So much for trying to not let it ruin our friendships and the band. All it had ruined was my chances with Kate. Well, not any more.
“She’ll show,” Joel stated in a matter of fact tone. “I’m pretty sure she’s still in love with you too.”
I opened my mouth to reply but there was a knock on the door. Ted Castle poked his head around the door and gave us a wide smile.
“Are you ready gents? You’re up!”
With one last final glance at my friends, I followed the older man out towards the stage. We made our way to the side of the stage as Ted went on to announce us. I peered past the curtain blocking the crowds’ view of us, searching for that one brunette I wanted to find. My heart sank in my chest when I couldn’t locate her, hoping it was because I just couldn’t see her. There were a lot of people in the bar. Standing room only by the looks of it. At the cue, I ran on stage with Benny and Joel, launching straight into our first song.
The crowd went wild. Grinning, I soaked up the atmosphere. This was, and always would be, one of the best feelings in the world. When the first song was over, I gave a huge shout out to everyone in the room. I introduced myself, Benny on drums and Joel on bass guitar. The women screamed as loud as they could while the men drank pint after pint, giving them the courage to dance with any available women they could persuade to do so. I poured everything I had into that set, the sweat pouring off me within minutes as I bounced around on stage.
After an hour, we had a short break and I gratefully took the pint of water that was held out for me.
“Thanks,” I gasped, swigging the drink back in huge gulps.
“No problem.”
I stopped drinking, looking sharply at the person who’d handed me the water. Kate. She was standing in front of me, a vision of perfection. Her long dark hair was flowing loosely about her shoulders, she had applied a small amount of make up, and she wore figure hugging jeans with a pale yellow top. She was drop dead gorgeous, but that wasn’t what had me transfixed. She was wearing a small silver robin on a necklace, the same one I had given to her for her last birthday with us. When she realised what I was staring at, her hand clasped around it, hiding it from view.
“You still wear it,” I commented, unsure of what else to say. She nodded her head, her eyes cast down as though she couldn’t look up at me.
“Yeah,” she mumbled. I took another swig of the water I still held.
