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

– no, Nooradine’s – idea?”
    “ Sod off!” she yells back. “Anyway…do you like the song?” she wiggles her papers. “This is what this session is about.” She takes a final sip of the shake. “Not my oh-so-very-classy Monday look.”
    “ The song’s great, but it’s a solo. Where’s Matt’s portion, if any?”
    “ I didn’t feel like the song would translate well if sung by a daft prick,” she answers, very nonchalantly, I may add. “Maybe the next one.”
    Matt didn ’t leave things in such a great state between him and Lucia – no apology, but that was no real surprise. Going to Lloyd and Callia about this was also a wrong move on his part and it didn’t accomplish anything. She’s the lead producer of Beesly & Matt, so he will have to work for them both. “Lucia…” I warn her.
    “ I’ll say the next one, Marcus. So back off, alright?” she warns. Her phone rings this time. “I’m still in the middle of my brooding phase,” she adds before picking up.
    Nice going idiot! “I’ll shut up now.”
    “ You do that,” she whispers back, covering her phone. “Hi, Kathie. Is it lunchtime already?” She raises an eyebrow. “I certainly need a… No… Really?” Now I want to know what’s going on too. Her facial expression has suddenly changed; she’s just lit up. She gets up, still on the phone. “I’ll be right down!” she says, ready to leave the room. “Greg is back!” she tells me all excited.
    “ Greg?” I ask and follow her of her office. “No, really; who the fuck is that bloke?”
     
    Gregory McMullan. I never made the connection before. Kathie McMullan, Callia and Lloyd’s executive assistant, is his younger sister. Who knew? Not me. I have could handle the hugs and kisses; Lucia has hugged almost everybody in this building at some point since I’ve been here. The oohs and the aahs were all girls’ chit-chat to me But Greg and Lucia didn’t hug. They embraced and he never completely let her go. I’m certain he’s still embracing her in the dance studio right now. I left. It’s a place for business and I have work to do. I was not jealous.
    On her way down to meet him, in the elevator, I saw her checking herself in the mirrors for the first time today, trying to fix her hair, straightening out her white, cotton, knee-length tube dress. She seemed so happy. When we arrived in the dance studio, Lucia still hadn ’t told me who we were there to greet. She ran – yes, ran – toward a man next to Kathie: a tall, lean, but very fit bloke who looks a lot like McMullan, one of the best choreographers in the business. He smiled and almost laughed when he saw her.
    “ Yeobo [7] !” he said then widely opened his arms to her. And then started the never-ending embrace with “his sweet”, as he called her.
    “ You’re back early! What happened?” she asked him.
    “ Lulu, have you indulged yourself in a bit binge drinking last night?” he asked and kissed her on the tip of her nose. “I’m sure Noor is ready to sell her fishes right now.”
    They both laughed. Inside jokes – fantastic! I’m not jealous. I got closer and said hello to Kathie then turned to Greg.
    “ McMullan, fancy meeting you here.” Not really. I offered my hand.
    Greg released “Lulu” but kept her close, leaving one hand on her lower back. The other was shaking mine.
    “ Grant, I’ve heard you were down here,” he said very seriously.  He looked at Lucia and lowered his face closer to hers. Was he going to kiss her? No. She softly pushed his face, laughing.
    “ I look horrid today.”
    “ Museoun [8] you? Please, this is not even a possibility,” he told her, touching her cheek. Back to me, “Has Marsh been behaving himself? Or has he been his usual unpleasant self?”
    What no “quit it” for him? Flirting with a hung-over woman was obviously not desperate if you looked like Greg.
    “ He’s been –”
    “ A real dickhead and I’ve been busy as hell. But who cares! How