Lyre

by Helen Harper

  ‘Nice?’ He reached out and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. ‘Don’t fight for nice. Fight for amazing. For fabulous. Put your life on the line and battle to the death for glorious. Otherwise what’s the point of being here at all?’ He shook his head. ‘Don’t settle for nice.’

  She stared at him. ‘Why the hell do you want someone else to write lyrics for you?’

  He laughed. Yuri took a step towards him and raised herself up on her tiptoes so her eyes were level with his. ‘You’re nice.’

  ‘I don’t want to be nice.’

  ‘Prove it,’ she whispered.

  He cupped her face in his hands. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘If it’s too hard to be glorious…’ her teasing, albeit also slightly tremulous, voice trailed off.

  ‘Will magical suffice?’ he asked softly.

  She opened her mouth to answer but he didn’t give her a chance, his lips descending on hers. A streak of warmth ran down Yuri’s body from her mouth all the way to her toes. Coherent thought fled her brain and the music and sound of chatter around her dimmed into the background. Ozzy deepened the kiss, curving one arm round her back. Forgetting she was still holding the plastic cup, Yuri leaned in towards him, crushing it between heir bodies. She ignored the spreading wetness, and the insistent voice in the back of her mind telling her she was crazy, and focused purely on him. It wasn’t until someone pushed behind her in a bid to get past that they finally broke apart, then stood staring at each other.

  Out of breath and her pulse racing, Yuri licked her lips. ‘That was…’

  ‘Nice?’

  She shook her head and dived right in. ‘Amazing. Fabulous. Glorious.’

  He didn’t smile, merely stared right into her soul. ‘Magical.’

  *

  It was late when the pair of them finally ventured back into the night air. The neighbours’ leniency was giving way and, after three separate requests to keep the noise down, it was becoming clear it was time to pack up and go. The red cocktail had done a number on various revelers, evidenced by several pools of scarlet vomit in the patch of garden outside. Side-stepping them and shivering in the night air, Yuri smiled shyly up at Oz. He pulled her close. It had been a long time since she’d felt this content.

  ‘Ozzy!’ From across the road a hand waved frantically from the passenger side of a beat-up Ford Escort. ‘Want a lift?’

  ‘Only if you have room for two,’ he called back.

  A face appeared, taking Yuri in with one sweeping glance. ‘It’s the kung fu meister!’ His face creased. ‘No, kung fu meistress, I mean.’

  ‘Mate, kung fu is Chinese. Yuri’s from Japan.’

  He slapped his forehead. ‘I’m an idiot. My apologies, Japanese Yuri. There’s plenty of room.’

  ‘Is that Bryan?’ Yuri asked, not sure if she was remembering correctly.

  ‘Yeah, you know him?’

  ‘Not really. I met him on my first day.’ Thinking of Sibyl’s warning, her shoulders tightened. ‘Maybe we should walk. He looks a bit young to drive.’

  ‘And a bit crazy,’ Ozzy agreed as they walked over to the car. ‘But that’s his brother behind the wheel.’

  ‘If his brother was at the party…’

  ‘It’s okay, Yuri. He’s nineteen so I think he’s past the whole getting pissed thing. Apparently the novelty wears off once you’re legal. Not that we’d be able to appreciate that though.’

  Startled, Yuri blinked at him. ‘Do you mean you’re drunk?’

  He grinned. ‘Only on love.’

  She took in a deep breath as her heart thudded against her ribcage.

  ‘What?’ he teased. ‘No answer?’

  ‘Get a move on!’ Bryan shouted from the car. ‘Just because you’re in lurve doesn’t mean you need to walk like a pair of old biddies!’

  From a few doors down the street a porch light was turned on and a door opened. A furious looking man poked his head out.

  ‘You kids need to shut up!’

  Bryan opened his mouth to shout back but Ozzy stopped him. ‘Chill, mate. We’re here.’

  ‘Get in the back before the geek patrol calls the pigs.’

  Ozzy opened the car door and gestured Yuri inside, sweeping out a bow before him. ‘Your chariot awaits.’

  She shook her head. ‘No. I think we’d better walk.’

  ‘It’s too late,’ he said gently. ‘You’ve already found me so you can’t pretend to be invisible any more.’

  She shook her head again. ‘No, it’s not that. I just…’ Yuri chewed her lip. ‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

  ‘S’alright, Ozzy’s friend,’ Bryan’s brother called from the front. ‘I’m as sober as a judge.’

  ‘Come on, Yuri,’ Ozzy urged. ‘You were stifling a yawn five minutes ago.’

  ‘No,’ she said adamantly. ‘In fact, no-one should be in the car. Let’s all walk. Then I can get to know, uh, Bryan better.’

  ‘Fuck that,’ Bryan muttered. ‘No offence, Japanese Yuri but my feet hurt.’

  ‘Hey!’ Brittani swayed up. ‘Is there room for one more?’

  ‘Right now, there’s room for a fucking carload,’ he grumbled.

  ‘No, Brittani, don’t,’ Yuri protested.

  She staggered slightly and frowned. ‘Don’ think I can walk,’ she slurred.

  Ozzy was watching Yuri closely. ‘We’ll pass, thanks, Bry’,’ he said. ‘Brittani can take the ride.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don’t go shagging in anyone’s front fucking lawn though. Come on, Brit.’

  She lurched round to the open door then fell inside with a loud thump onto the backseat. Her short skirt was riding high up her thighs so Ozzy leaned in and pulled her upright.

  ‘You fucking vomit, Brittani, and I’ll kill you,’ Bryan muttered.

  ‘She vomits and you’re on clean up duty,’ his brother said to him.

  He craned his neck back out of the window. ‘We could leave her and still fit you two in,’ he told them hopefully.

  ‘Nah, we’re good,’ Ozzy replied.

  Filled with foreboding, Yuri gazed down at the semi-conscious girl. ‘Brittani, at least put a seatbelt on.’

  She moaned in response. Ozzy leaned back in and clipped it in place. He smiled back at Yuri. ‘She’ll be fine. Sore head tomorrow but she only lives a few streets away.’

  ‘I don’t…’

  ‘Shh,’ he said, placing a finger against her lips. ‘It’d be more dangerous if she tried to walk. She’ll only end up falling into the path of a car or something stupid.’

  ‘Shut the door already!’ Bryan called.

  Ozzy stepped back, carefully closing the car door. The engine revved and they drove off, leaving both Yuri and him standing by the side of the pavement. He cocked his head towards her. ‘What’s up?’ he asked softly.

  She shrugged uncomfortably, debating whether to tell him about Sibyl. Eventually deciding he’d think she was completely loopy, she instead demurred. ‘We had a lovely walk here. I just wanted to repeat it.’

  ‘And that’s why you didn’t want to Brittani to cadge a lift either?’

  ‘Er, I think she might still be sick,’ she prevaricated. ‘Bryan doesn’t seem like the forgiving sort.’

  He laughed. ‘Prob…’

  He was interrupted by a squeal of tires and a horrific crunching sound that seemed to reverberate down the entire street. Yuri’s heart dropped. She stared at him wide-eyed with dread while panic flooded his face. Both of them, as well as a few other minglers, began sprinting down in the direction of the sound. The neighbour who’d been complaining about the noise slammed open his front door and started shoving his feet into a pair of shoes while pulling on a threadbare dressing-gown. Other houses began to light up as more people came out to investigate. As Yuri ran past she could see several people on phones, dialing 999. Fear rippled through her, serving only to make her speed up even faster. Regardless, Ozzy still quickly outstripped her. By the time she reached the wreck
age there was already a cluster of people round the car, several pulling out Bryan from one side and his brother from the other.

  Aghast, she looked around at the scene. The front bonnet was crumpled like an accordion and there was shattered glass and twisted metal everywhere. As far as she could tell, the car had smashed into a lamppost. Ozzy and a man she didn’t recognize were pulling at the back door, trying to get to Brittani. Yuri couldn’t see her at all but there was dark viscous blood smeared against the broken side window. She started to run over to help when she saw the huge great hulking figure silhouetted against another lamppost up ahead. A cloud of misty breath snorted forth from him.

  ‘I want her skull!’ he bellowed.

  Yuri froze. There were more shouts and cries surrounding the car and a screech of metal as someone else managed to kick in the far door. No-one was even glancing at the muscular monster barely fifty metres away.

  ‘Give me her skull!’ He lifted up one massive foot and slammed it back down onto the cement. The ground shook underneath.

  Far off in the distance, sirens began to sound. He snarled, bunching up his gigantic fists. He took a step forward, bloodshot bulging eyes becoming visible as more houses lit up the dark street. It didn’t matter how many doors opened, however, nobody seemed to notice him. Screaming fear ripped through Yuri.

  ‘We have to run,’ she shouted. ‘Everyone you have to run!’

  A couple of heads turned in her direction. ‘She’s right,’ someone said by her side. ‘The car might explode.’

  ‘No,’ she moaned. ‘The giant…’

  ‘She’s in shock. Come sit down, dear.’

  The monster’s head swiveled in her direction. Someone took hold of her arm. She tried to shake them off but they were insistent, pulling her away from the twisted heap of the car. Unable to rip her eyes away from the vast figure filling the street that only she seemed able to able to see, she saw him raise up one tree trunk of an arm and point in her direction.

  ‘I’ll be seeing you later,’ he grunted. Then he twisted round and was gone.

  Struggling for breath, Yuri gulped in air, her chest rising and falling in unalterable panic.

  ‘Ozzy,’ she gasped. ‘Ozzy!’

  There was a sudden hush. ‘I know, Yuri,’ he said, his voice dulled with pain.

  She looked over, following his gaze. Slumped down in the backseat, a lethal shard of glass penetrating from her throat, were the lifeless eyes of Brittani. The sirens screamed louder, flashing blue lights appearing at the far end of the road.

  ‘Finally,’ a woman muttered.

  Ozzy shook his head, unable or unwilling to take his eyes away from Brittani. ‘It’s too late.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  LONDON, 2014

  Yuri had barely been sitting on her chair for ten seconds when it started.

  ‘Hello, darling,’ Judy purred, draping himself over her cubicle divider and laying her head on his arm. ‘Is he as fabulously gorgeous in the flesh as he is on film?’

  ‘Get lost,’ she said amiably.

  Her eyes widened dramatically. ‘You’re not going to tell me he’s actually only five feet tall, are you? Please,’ she begged, ‘he has to be at least taller than Tom Cruise.’

  She gazed at her in exasperation. ‘He’s not an object, you know. What does it matter whether he’s tall or not?’

  A slow smile curved across Judy’s face. ‘Yuri Tateno. You’re smitten.’

  Her cheeks coloured. ‘No, I’m not.’

  She jabbed a finger at her. ‘Yes, you are. You’ve fallen for the rock star. Miss ‘I only date men with PhDs’ has got the squirmies for a musician who left school when he was sixteen.’

  ‘He was seventeen,’ she snapped, then realised her mistake as Judy’s eyes widened in delight. ‘And besides, when I did say that about dating? I go out with lots of different men.’

  Her eyebrows raised. ‘Oh, yes? What was it you said about the last one?’ She tapped her mouth thoughtfully. ‘That if you had a penny for every dumb thing he said you’d be able to fill a sock and smack him round the head with it?’

  Yuri looked away. ‘He was a special case.’

  ‘Really,’ Judy drawled, sarcasm dripping so obviously from her voice that it was almost pooling into Yuri’s desk tidy. ‘And the one before that? Ben?’

  ‘He was obsessed with his phone. I don’t need to spend time with someone who thinks checking his email is more important than talking to me when I’m right in front of him.’

  ‘Alistair?’

  Yuri scowled. ‘He spent too much time at the gym.’

  ‘You’ve been holding out for Mr. Right. Who, apparently, is also every teen girl’s wet dream.’

  ‘I’ve got work to do.’ Yuri immediately started tapping furiously on her keyboard. It was somewhat unfortunate that she’d not yet turned her computer on.

  Judy leaned further in. ‘Did Oz put out?’

  ‘I am not having this conversation with you. It’s incredibly unprofessional.’

  ‘Yuri! There you are!’ Cam’s floated from the other side of the office. He walked over with purpose and joined Judy. ‘Tell me all the juicy gossip from last night?’

  ‘And when’s the photo shoot?’ Judy asked eagerly.

  Yuri rolled her eyes. ‘Today,’ she muttered, her cheeks warming at the thought of seeing him again.

  Cam nudged Judy and winked. ‘Our little Yuri is playing coy. You know what that means.’

  ‘Cameron, sweetie, she’s only mortal. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that kind of action? He’s on my cheat list.’

  ‘Cheat list?’

  ‘Pre-agreed with hubby. He has five. I have five.’ Judy licked her lips. ‘And guess who’s on top?’

  Cam snorted. ‘No wonder you want to know when the photo shoot is. Are you thinking of tagging along?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t tag. I stalk.’

  He laughed. ‘Unfortunately, darling, unless you’ve morphed into a supermodel overnight, I don’t think you’re going to get much joy from that corner.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Yuri, get your arse in here,’ Don yelled from his office.

  ‘Anais Arletti,’ Cam said under his breath. ‘And don’t say I don’t ever help you.’

  ‘No!’ Judy breathed.

  ‘It’s true.’

  ‘What?’ Baffled, Yuri glanced at both of them.

  Cam tutted. ‘You need to pay more attention to Twitter.’

  ‘Yuri!’ Don yelled again.

  She got to her feet, frowning.

  ‘Is there photographic evidence?’ Judy asked.

  ‘Au natural, mon ami.’

  Throwing the pair of them intensely suspicious looks, Yuri left them to it. An uneasy feeling was starting up in her gut.

  ‘I don’t have all day.’ Don glared at her.

  ‘Sorry,’ she muttered, moving past him and into his office. She perched on the chair and hoped he wasn’t about to say what she thought he was.

  ‘When’s the shoot?’

  ‘This afternoon. I’m going to do the interview straight afterwards.’

  Don rubbed his hands together. ‘Excellent. This is perfectly timed. Did you get an answer from his people about the relationship question?’

  ‘Um…’

  ‘Either way, it doesn’t matter,’ he said dismissively. ‘All bets are off. You need to find out exactly what happened after the gig last night.’

  Her worst fears confirmed, Yuri stared at him. ‘Anais Arletti,’ she whispered.

  Barely noting her reaction, Don nodded. ‘Indeed. I’m pleased to see you’re taking an interest in your subject. Have you seen the photo?’

  Yuri couldn’t speak. Her body felt frozen, apart from the odd stab of pain deep in her chest.

  ‘Yuri?’ Don prompted impatiently.

  She raised her eyes up to his face, focusing on the greasy spot just to the left of his nose. Mutely, she shook her head.

  ‘Hm.’ He frowned at her
as if displeased, then swung his monitor towards her. The screen was filled with a shirtless Oz and half-naked woman. In glorious heart-breaking technicolour, her almost bare breasts were inches away from his mouth. From the angle of the photo, it looked like he was about he was about to bite. The dark gleam in his eyes suggested desire and lasciviousness in equal measures. Yuri swallowed and looked away.

  ‘She’s only been in town for a few days. As I’m sure you already know, she was fired from the set of that Austen film. It seems she’s in no hurry to get back to the States though. Now we know why.’ Don pulled his computer back towards him and tapped on the keyboard. ‘You must press him for an answer on this, Yuri. We need details. If those two are together, they’ll be the biggest power couple since the Beckhams. Get him to commit. Be pushy but not rude. If they get hitched, we will still want to bid for the wedding photos. Don’t mess that up for us.’

  She clenched her fists. ‘Okay,’ she answered quietly. What else was there to say?

  Don beamed at her. ‘Excellent.’ He clicked on his mouse and focused back on the screen.

  Yuri stood up, moving towards the door, her shoulders stiff and painful.

  ‘Yuri?’ There was an odd note in his voice. She paused. ‘What can you tell me about this?’

  Turning her head, she looked back at him. His jaw was tight and his eyes were trained on her. Confused, her eyes darted towards the monitor. It was a photo of her walking nervously into Nemesis.

  ‘I…’ she stammered.

  ‘You were there? In the audience?’

  ‘Not exactly.’

  Don folded his arms.

  ‘I was backstage,’ she whispered.

  ‘At whose behest?’

  Yuri stared at him.

  ‘If you’re going to tell me that Oz O’Connor invited you to watch his set and you missed the after-party and what happened with Arletti…’ His voice was grim.

  ‘I wasn’t invited to the party. I left when the band came off.’

  ‘Did you even try to gain entrance?’

  Yuri had no sensible answer. How could she tell her boss that she’d been so flustered by Oz and his words that she’d needed to escape from the constricted chaos of the club?