by Naomi Davies
“You are home late tonight kiddo, did you get held up?” Her mum, Cora, thought it was odd to see her home so late after work.
“I went for a drink with some friends.” Sometimes Clair found it easier to embellish the truth a little when talking to her parents.”
“I don’t know why you go out drinking so much.” Cora started up a standard conversation they had had many times before. Clair didn’t want to partake this time.
“Leave her alone.” Said Clair’s dad, Aaron. “It’s good that she has friends to go out with.
The agenda of the evening changed to sorting out dinner and the three of them went to bed at about eleven o’clock.
About three o’clock the next afternoon Clair’s body was giving her problems. She was nervous and had butterflies in her stomach. Her work rate came to a standstill and she finally gave up doing anything serious by four thirty.
Clay Smith, the office creep, came over to her, carrying a file.
“Finishing early, are you?”
“I’ve got some things to do, so I’m packing up early.” Clair felt guilty, but firmly rebuffed the file that Clay was attempting to draw to her attention.
“I can’t do any more today, sorry. I’ll sort it out Monday.”
“Monday will be too late!” Clay was confused and annoyed.
“You should have thought of that this morning instead of bringing it to me at this time of day.” Clair was shocked at herself for her forthrightness in refusing to help Clay out. But inside, a bit of her was saying ‘Go Girl!’
Without any further explanation she picked up her bag and left Clay standing watching her long legs very closely as she walked towards the lift. He always took any opportunity to follow a girl with his eyes. He wasn’t even subtle with it.
Clair went to the place where Max was going to pick her up at five o’clock. At five fifteen she was still waiting on the corner. A car pulled up and a leering Clay Smith offered her a lift. She refused and felt embarrassed. Clay roared off in his Lexus. Ten minutes later a huge noisy motor bike roared up to her and stopped right next to her. The rider took his helmet off to reveal a smiling Max. He was wearing a Red T-shirt with the slogan ‘This is me on a good day!’ printed in white.
“Hop on!” Clair did not hop on. There was no way that she could just ‘Hop on’. In fact, she had a number of issues to deal with that were stopping her ‘hopping on’. The main issues were as follows.
She was wearing an expensive black business suit.
The skirt of the suit was tiny and extremely short.
Her four inch heels were all she had to wear on her feet.
She had never been on a motor bike in her life.
The thought of riding a motorbike terrified her.
She was expecting to be collected in a car.
“I can’t go on that.” Clair was sure of this.
“Sure you can, look I’ve got a spare helmet.”
“That does not make it any better.”
“What is the problem?” Max was genuinely mystified.
“My clothes are not suitable for riding on a motorbike.”
“I don’t know. I think you would look terrific on a motorbike in that outfit. In fact, I think you would look very sexy.” If Clay Smith had said this she would have filed a complaint for harassment. Coming from Max, it sounded quite funny.
Clair started laughing at the crazy situation. It was the sight of her parents, a hundred metres away and walking ever closer to her, which changed her mind.
“Quick. My mum and dad are coming.” Clair jumped on and ripped the helmet out of Max’s hands and forced it onto her head. It didn’t fit too well because of her hair bun.
“Go! Now! Go!” Her parents were now only five metres away.
As Max roared off she thought she heard her name being called out behind her. She closed her eyes and hoped that she was mistaken and that they hadn’t seen her. She kept her eyes closed tightly for two or three minutes before tentatively opening them and looking around. She was absolutely terrified sitting astride the back of Max’s Motorbike. This was a very different view of West London she was getting today.
It turned out that Max’s riding skills were good and he was a very sensible road user. It was nice to see that this aspect of his character was well formed and sensible, even if nothing else was. It also transpired that Clair was beginning to enjoy her first time on a motorbike. She started to settle down and take in all the sights and sounds of a motor bike ride with Max. The only on-going issue was that her skirt now resembled a belt, and it looked to passers-by that she was only wearing a suit jacket and her high heels. When they stopped at traffic lights, she drew a lot of attention with her classy leggy look on the back of the motorbike.
They eventually pulled into a small car park belonging to a block of six flats. Sandy had just arrived home in her old Citroen Saxo. She smiled at them and then started laughing at the sight of Clair on the bike. She tried to stop laughing but failed miserably. Clair saw the funny side of it too.
“Avert your eyes, Max! I’m getting off!”
“I’m being good, honest.” Max kept his eyes wide open, and looked in his small wing mirror to see Clair pulling her skirt back down. She wiggled around a bit to get her outfit looking good. Clair looked fantastic in her work gear. He wondered what her job was. It didn’t matter right now. He was feasting his eyes on Clair’s curvy body. His heart had been pounding throughout their little motorbike ride. He liked her, that much was sure, but he loved the look of her. She was like an accomplished model or a TV star in one of those CSI programmes. The ones where the amazingly pretty girls always tease the hungry work colleagues, and never seem to fall in love with them.
Ten minutes later, inside Sandy’s flat, the three of them were busy having a drink and talking about Clair’s singing. Clair was drinking plain water with ice, her favourite drink. She was starting to like this brother and sister pairing she had just met. They were not very complicated; they had an easy going relationship.
Sandy was obviously much more organised than she at first appeared. When you spoke to her she came over as a bit dizzy and perhaps a little crazy. Her house, however, was very tidy and everything had its place. The cook books were arranged neatly in the dining room and nothing was placed at an angle other than ninety degrees. All the knick knacks and ornaments were arranged symmetrically within the room.
Max came over as very laid back and easy going. In fact he was so laid back that it seemed that nothing ever happened, unless someone else made it happen. His highly dishevelled brown hair and his thrown together clothes gave him a slightly wild appearance. This was not without its attractions. Most of the men Clair had met were so straight laced that they would stand to attention if you spoke to them.
Together Sandy and Max made an unlikely pair. You would hardly know that they were related, but Clair could see the deep affection they had for each other. This came over in all their conversation and looks. She found it easy to join in with their well-practiced repartee.
“Have you heard from Lionel?” Max asked Sandy.
“No, and I don’t expect to or want to. He’s a complete loser as far as I am concerned!”
“Who’s Lionel?” Clair asked in all innocence.
“Lionel is Sandy’s boyfriend. She caught him in bed with his Ex last week.”
“What?” Clair was shocked.
“I can show you where this all took place if you like.” Max walked towards a door off the living room.
“Stop it Max! Come back here and behave!” Sandy pushed Max onto the sofa and sat down next to him.
“He was my boyfriend, but I chucked him out. I don’t want to talk about this!” Sandy was red faced and angry with Max.
Max started behaving and they turned their attention to their guest. They talked about what a coincidence it was for Clair to meet up with Max. What were the chances of that? Max again related the story to Sandy of how Clair had hijacked the open mike night f
our years earlier.
Clair hardly wanted to talk about her singing. She was enjoying the company so much. Eventually, however, they got down to business. Gail and Anne had decided to start their covers band, so Max’s band was no more after they had fulfilled the next two months of bookings. But Max had the idea of Clair and him making up a duo. This would allow Clair to really bring her improvisational skills to the fore. Max could follow her lead, with his guitar as a simple backdrop.
Having discussed things for an hour Clair agreed to sing with Max’s band for their remaining gigs. The next gig was the following weekend on the Saturday. Gail and Clair would share out the vocals. Rehearsal was this Sunday in an old closed down church in Acton. Clair suddenly began to get very excited with the prospect of singing again. It was what she had been missing. If felt like a lost part of her life was being given back to her. This unexpected opportunity was like a dream come true.
Chapter Six – The Reception Committee
Clair had become distracted. She had met a nice guy called Max and sung with his band in her local pub. Now she had agreed to sing with him next weekend. Sandy and she were already becoming friends and Clair could see them getting very close indeed, if they kept in contact. Clair wondered how close her relationship with Max would become.
Sandy kissed Clair on both cheeks and Max gave her a hug. Clair’s body jumped slightly at this and she looked into Max’s eyes in surprise. She hugged him back.
“Thanks for asking me to sing. I’m very grateful.” Is what Clair actually said. What she really meant to say was ‘I like you, you are different and a bit dangerous, and that could be fun.’ She also told Max that, much as she had enjoyed the ride on his motor bike, she would take a taxi home. Next time she would wear something more appropriate for a motor bike.
It was only as she was dropped off by the taxi outside her parents’ house in Hillingdon, that she started to have some misgivings. She saw a curtain move in the lounge window. A few moments later the front door was open and her mum and dad were there waiting for her. She stopped and looked up the five steps to the front door. This was going to be difficult.
And the following forty minutes were interminable for Clair. If it wasn’t for the love she had for her mum and dad, she would have found it impossible. They had had disagreements in the past, and she still did not always see eye to eye with them. But tonight was a meeting of Clair’s will against her parents.
The motor bike incident had not gone unnoticed. Aaron and Cora Holding had spent the evening fretting at the sight of their daughter getting onto a motor bike and roaring off, without stopping to explain things to them. They could not understand why she would ever get on a motor bike in the first place. Motor bikes were for dirty uncouth people who swore a lot and drank too much.
Clair had always told them the truth, sometimes with some detail omitted, but she decided to be completely truthful with them this evening. Clair went through the events of the night out at the pub. She talked about her singing. Then she talked about her agreeing to perform next week. The biggest shock for them was that she would miss church this week, because she had to rehearse with the band on Sunday.
“But we thought you had given up all the singing. That was good for when you were growing up and as a hobby. But your career is what should come first. You must see that.”
“I do see that. This is nothing to do with my career. This is me wanting to do something that I love to do. I’m not giving up my career, but I want to sing!” Clair found it hard to raise her head to look at them. She knew how hard this was for them to accept.
“But you have finished with all that!”
“Only because that is what you wanted. I have filled my life with studying and working for more than five years. But part of me has always wanted to sing and perform. You know that. Why don’t you come and see me perform? You haven’t heard me for years. You can come and see us next weekend.”
“I don’t want my daughter running off with a scruffy little thug who rides a motor bike and plays in a rock band. You are much better than that!” Aaron Holding had prepared this little speech and had finally delivered it. It sounded so good to him when he had rehearsed it. It sounded hollow now it was out.
“I am not about to run off with anyone. This is about me singing.” Clair was almost sure that this was correct. But she couldn’t get Max out of her head, since she had left him two hours earlier. There was a freedom of attitude and a love of life that he had. It was unique and very infectious.
The evening ended with Clair reheating up her meal that had been made for her, and sitting opposite her mum in the kitchen. Her dad left them alone. Cora Holding was similar to Clair in that she would often sit silently for long periods of time when others were expecting her to speak. So with mother and daughter sitting opposite each other there was not a lot of repartee to be had. Eventually Cora asked the important question.
“What is he like, kiddo?”
Clair felt her face and body go hot as she talked about Max. She had been caught unawares by her mum’s simple question. The conversation came very freely from her and she was surprised at the amount of details she was giving to her mum. Eventually after ten minutes her mum looked into Clair’s eyes, with a tear running down her right cheek.
“You be careful now, don’t rush into anything you can’t undo. Your father will find this very difficult and disappointing if anything becomes of it.”
“Are you OK with it? I mean me singing and things.” Clair thought that was what she meant.
“I am OK with it, as long as it is the right thing for you. I have never heard you talk about a man like you have tonight. I’ve just got to remember that you are twenty five and grown up.”
“But he isn’t a boyfriend or anything. He is a friend and we are playing in a band together.” Clair started feeling hot again for a second or two.
“Are you sure? kiddo”
“I’m completely sure!” Clair thought she was sure. Then she thought that she wasn’t at all sure.
Chapter Seven – The Big Night
On Sunday, Jo went with Clair to the rehearsal. Gail had come up with an idea about having a line of girl singers for some of the songs. So Jo got an invite to sing with the band. Seven long hours of rehearsing later, Max’s band sounded ready for action. Seeing Clair, Jo and Gail singing and moving together with some simple dance moves was great. Max was very excited at the prospect of the concert this weekend.
The concert was a practice run for the Hammersmith dates they had booked later on. So the audience had the potential to be quite large. It was in a proper concert hall rather than a pub. It was definitely a huge step up for the band. On the way home Jo kept singing and saying to herself ‘I’m singing in the band!’ ‘I’m singing in the band!’ It got quite distracting.
The intervening week went by very slowly. On Monday morning Clay Smith greeted Clair with the file she had refused from him on the Friday. She scowled at him and snatched it off him.
“So it wasn’t so urgent after all.” Clay looked Clair up and down before leaving, saying.
“I need it done by lunchtime!”
It took ten minutes for Clair to process the file and make one phone call. The file was back sitting on Clay’s desk by ten o’clock.
Clair managed to block out the oncoming weekend concert for most of the time, and no one really noticed any difference in her. She spent most of her spare time thinking about Max. He was definitely not boyfriend material for her. She agreed with her parents about that. So why couldn’t she remove him from her mind? Why did she wake up having dreamt about him? And why did she start feeling hot and sweaty whenever she talked about him?
At home, Clair’s mum and dad were trying to act as if everything was fine, except perhaps that they kept looking at her more noticeably than before. She wasn’t sure, but she thought that they were occasionally shaking their heads at each other. On Saturday, her dad asked where the concert was being performed.
/> “We will come and hear you sing. Mum says we haven’t heard you sing since your eighteenth birthday.”
“Really?” This was a bit of a surprise to Clair. She hadn’t realised that it had been that long.
“This doesn’t mean that I like it! I just want to hear you sing.” Aaron Holding was trying to let go of his daughter. It was not very easy.
Max offered to collect Clair from home, but she wasn’t ready for her parents to meet him face to face. Then the penny dropped. If they were coming to the concert, a meeting with Max and her parents would be unavoidable. Perhaps that was their plan all along!
Clair told Max that she would make her own way there. They were due to meet at five o’clock for the sound check. Jo was now more excited than Clair at the thought of singing in the band. She kept thumping Clair, and repeatedly saying ‘I’m singing in the band’, over and over again. The sound check went well and Jo finally stopped jumping around like ‘Tigger’ from Winnie the Pooh as she started to get nervous.
Max was wearing a pink T-shirt with the slogan ‘God made me, and then he broke the mould’ printed on it in bright blue.
They were the second support to the main Robbie Williams tribute act. Their set went reasonably well with Gail and Jo overacting and jumping around a bit too much. Clair sang five songs as lead singer and felt completely at home. Max had persuaded Clair to revive the Annie Lennox ‘Why’ performance she had done all those years ago. This was done as an encore to the main set.
Clair left the comfort of the stage and stepped down in front of the expectant audience. As she walked along the aisles, she picked out individuals and sang a line to them. Each line of the song was filled with meaning and emotion that had the audience mesmerised. Clair avoided where her parents were sitting as she walked through the crowd. As she returned to the stage to end the song, there was a standing ovation for her. She was in heaven.