This Could Have Been Our Song!: A coulda woulda shoulda ballad by Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba

stamp of approval.
    “ Her place is very homey, very nice indeed. And Noor is…” I answer, looking Lucia straight in the eyes.
    “ See! Straight from the horse’s mouth,” she says. “Let’s go. We’ll talk on the way,” she adds, taking her hand.
    “ Thank you, Luce,” Beesly finally says and they both leave the room. Time to speak to Matt and know what the hell is going on.
     
    Matt signals me as soon as he notices my presence in the studio. I think he wants me to press the intercom. When he sees that I’m not doing it, he leaves the room. He’s all jolly and excited when he enters the studio. I guess leaving your ball and chain behind is supposed to make you feel this way.
    “ Smoke break?” he asks.
    Why does he look so happy? It ’s pissing me off.
    “ I don’t smoke and I don’t need a break.” I open the door. “We need to talk, Matt.” I tilt my head to Lee. “In private.”
    “ Alright. Let’s go then.”
    “ We’ll be back in bit, Lee,” I tell him and close the door.
    We silently walk to the elevator. Matt turns to me and tries on a smile. No, mate! Not what I feel like doing. I think he ’s finally realizing that something is wrong. By the time we get to my office, he has his famous game face on. It’s show time.
    “ Love the songs, mate. And Lee was doing a fantastic job there,” he says.
    “ Are you joking? Lucia and I wrote those for you weeks ago and you couldn’t stand them!”
    He seems surprised. “Must be the new arrangements – you or Lee.”
    Seriously? “No, no changes; just you being a bigger dick thank usual.” I walk closer to him. “The biggest you have ever been. Are you going completely mad?”
    “ Listen, about Beesly –”
    “ Stop, Matt! You beg me to come here and save your precious album. You’re jerking us around for weeks and then you decide to go off to become an actor! And with all this you can’t even bring your own wife. She was crying; you made her cry for no reason! So just stop!”
    Matt stares me down for a while before saying, “Is this about Lucia?”
    “ You mean the only person who gave a damn and has been taking all your crap like a pro, while I’ve been hiding behind friendship? She booked the G Band for you,” I tell him.
    “ Yeah, Marcus, she did her job. Wow, I thought you already shagged her,” he smirks back.
    I may have deserved that one, but Lucia didn ’t. “You are a real class act. She’s taking your wife in. You know, taking care of her while you’re in Vancouver doing God-knows-what with Linda.”
    A very confused Matt takes out his phone. Ringing Beesly, I presume. “Where the bloody hell are you?” he asks. I can hear Beesly’s voice and see his expression changing. “Why? You could stay at the hotel…or go back to LA… Beesly, this is a no. I don’t want you to… Beesly?… Beesly?” he shuts off his phone. “She fucking hung up on me!” He yells. Uh-oh. His hands are shaking; he’s dialing the number again. Nothing! She must have turned off her phone. She’s coming back here anyway. “That’s her fault!” he tells me. “She turned her against me.”
    “ By caring about her when you only cared about yourself?” I say. I shake my head; pure denial. “It’s just never your fault.”
    “ That little –”
    “ Shut the fuck up, Matt, and grow up!” I tell Matt. I walk to the door and open it. “This will be our last time working together. No more rescuing.” I leave the office with Matt walking behind me. We stop in front of the elevator. “You messed up! Fix it! But leave Lucia out of it…mate,” I say as the elevator doors are opening.
     
    “Would you quit staring!” Lucia tells me for the fifth time today. She presses her fingers to her forehead. This is the third time in the past week that she’s shown up with what appears to be a hangover. What have she and Beesly been up to? And what’s with the thick Londoner accent? And all I can say about her hair is that it’s a