things can go horribly wrong during the gig. Like the time we played at a particularly raucous wedding where Tom nearly caused a riot by getting stuck in the second verse of ‘Love Shack’ when he forgot the words for the male vocal part and kept missing the link into the breakdown section. We ended up going round in circles several times until Jack jumped in and brought it to an end. After that, we made it band policy to always rehearse, no matter what.
We took a break between rehearsing sets one and two and Tom produced a tin-foiled parcel from his rucksack while Charlie made coffee.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have cake!’ Tom announced, as we crowded round to witness the unwrapping.
‘Please tell me it’s your mother’s amazing Christmas cake,’ Wren said, clapping her hands and whooping when the slab of rich fruitcake nestled within pale marzipan and pure white royal icing was revealed.
‘The very same,’ Tom grinned. ‘Enjoy!’
I wandered over to the jade-green sofa and checked my phone for messages. I was scrolling through my emails when Jack flopped down beside me.
‘So.’
‘So what?’
He patted my knee. ‘So tell me about this guy.’
One look at him confirmed my worst fears. Glancing at Wren, who was engaged in animated debate with Tom, I felt my heart sink. ‘When did she tell you?’
‘Yesterday, after she’d seen you.’
‘Wonderful.’
‘She’s just concerned about you.’
My hackles were rising. ‘Yes, well I wish she’d keep her concerns to herself.’
‘Hey, chill. As far as I know, she’s only told me. And Sophie, obviously. But that’s all.’
‘Oh, that’s OK then. Only half of my friends know about it.’
‘A yearlong search, eh?’
I fixed my eyes on my mobile. ‘Yup.’
Jack gave me a gentle nudge. ‘I think it’s a good thing.’
‘You do?’
‘Definitely. For one thing it’ll take your mind off declaring your undying love to Charlie last week.’
‘She told you that, too?’
‘Nope. That was Charlie.’ Jack’s smile was warm and comforting, despite the sense of rising panic within me. ‘You deserve to be happy, Rom. And if searching for the weirdo in the Christmas Market is going to bring you happiness then I reckon you should go for it. Even if it makes you look like a desperado. Besides, it’ll give His Charlieness food for thought.’
This threw me. ‘What do you mean by that?’
Jack leaned in and kissed my cheek. ‘Never you mind. Just follow your heart, Rom. And be careful, yeah?’
Knowing that Wren had blabbed the details of my plan to Jack and Sophie was annoying, but as I thought about it, I realised that sooner or later all my friends needed to know. If I was going to do this properly, I needed to be loud and proud about it right from the off. As I was mulling this over, Charlie looked up from the far side of the room and caught my eye, causing my heart to perform a somersault. His smile was so quick even a slow-motion camera would have struggled to catch it, but at least it was a smile.
That night, Uncle Dudley sent me a text imbued with so much enthusiasm I could feel it emitting from my handset.
Meet us at Furnace End Car Boot, 6am tomorrow
LOTS to tell! Xx
The next morning, my uncle was waiting impatiently by the gate in the dark when I arrived at the muddy field, chunky red torch illuminating his bright red cheeks, thick woollen scarf and tweed flat cap. Together we started to walk up the steep path towards the hulking shadows of cars and vans in the darkness of the field beyond.
‘No Auntie Mags this morning?’ I asked, my breath rising in white clouds as I spoke.
‘She’s in the car with Elvis and the heater on. Says they’re not getting out till the doughnut van opens at seven. You know your auntie. Likes her home comforts too much to fully appreciate the joys of car booting.’
Car booters were laying out their stalls as a surprising number of people milled around.
‘I thought we’d be the
We took a break between rehearsing sets one and two and Tom produced a tin-foiled parcel from his rucksack while Charlie made coffee.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have cake!’ Tom announced, as we crowded round to witness the unwrapping.
‘Please tell me it’s your mother’s amazing Christmas cake,’ Wren said, clapping her hands and whooping when the slab of rich fruitcake nestled within pale marzipan and pure white royal icing was revealed.
‘The very same,’ Tom grinned. ‘Enjoy!’
I wandered over to the jade-green sofa and checked my phone for messages. I was scrolling through my emails when Jack flopped down beside me.
‘So.’
‘So what?’
He patted my knee. ‘So tell me about this guy.’
One look at him confirmed my worst fears. Glancing at Wren, who was engaged in animated debate with Tom, I felt my heart sink. ‘When did she tell you?’
‘Yesterday, after she’d seen you.’
‘Wonderful.’
‘She’s just concerned about you.’
My hackles were rising. ‘Yes, well I wish she’d keep her concerns to herself.’
‘Hey, chill. As far as I know, she’s only told me. And Sophie, obviously. But that’s all.’
‘Oh, that’s OK then. Only half of my friends know about it.’
‘A yearlong search, eh?’
I fixed my eyes on my mobile. ‘Yup.’
Jack gave me a gentle nudge. ‘I think it’s a good thing.’
‘You do?’
‘Definitely. For one thing it’ll take your mind off declaring your undying love to Charlie last week.’
‘She told you that, too?’
‘Nope. That was Charlie.’ Jack’s smile was warm and comforting, despite the sense of rising panic within me. ‘You deserve to be happy, Rom. And if searching for the weirdo in the Christmas Market is going to bring you happiness then I reckon you should go for it. Even if it makes you look like a desperado. Besides, it’ll give His Charlieness food for thought.’
This threw me. ‘What do you mean by that?’
Jack leaned in and kissed my cheek. ‘Never you mind. Just follow your heart, Rom. And be careful, yeah?’
Knowing that Wren had blabbed the details of my plan to Jack and Sophie was annoying, but as I thought about it, I realised that sooner or later all my friends needed to know. If I was going to do this properly, I needed to be loud and proud about it right from the off. As I was mulling this over, Charlie looked up from the far side of the room and caught my eye, causing my heart to perform a somersault. His smile was so quick even a slow-motion camera would have struggled to catch it, but at least it was a smile.
That night, Uncle Dudley sent me a text imbued with so much enthusiasm I could feel it emitting from my handset.
Meet us at Furnace End Car Boot, 6am tomorrow
LOTS to tell! Xx
The next morning, my uncle was waiting impatiently by the gate in the dark when I arrived at the muddy field, chunky red torch illuminating his bright red cheeks, thick woollen scarf and tweed flat cap. Together we started to walk up the steep path towards the hulking shadows of cars and vans in the darkness of the field beyond.
‘No Auntie Mags this morning?’ I asked, my breath rising in white clouds as I spoke.
‘She’s in the car with Elvis and the heater on. Says they’re not getting out till the doughnut van opens at seven. You know your auntie. Likes her home comforts too much to fully appreciate the joys of car booting.’
Car booters were laying out their stalls as a surprising number of people milled around.
‘I thought we’d be the
Similar Books
