by Naomi Davies
It turned out that Mrs. Makin was just as forthright as Ed, in her conversation. She spent much of the preshow time warning Anne about Ed and not to rush into things. She also mentioned some of his old girlfriends who were totally unsuitable in her opinion.
“But I like you. You are a much better prospect than all the others.”
“Well that’s good to know, I think.” Anne hardly had anything else she could say.
The play started. It was a one act farce that went round and round in ever more complex circles. Ed’s sister, Fiona, played the innocent and totally smitten love interest of the lead male character. For her part this involved a lot of kissing of all the other characters. The play was quite rude, but also very funny, and for the last ten minutes it was complete mayhem. The small audience rose to their feet at the end and applauded for a long time.
“That was brilliant. I can’t believe how good your sister is. And all that kissing. She must be exhausted.”
“She warned me about the kissing thing. It was a good show wasn’t it?” Ed was pleased with Anne’s reaction.
“Shall we wait to see her? She will only be about ten minutes.” Ed wanted to congratulate his sister and let her know how well he thought she had done, in her part in the play.
“Yes let’s do that.” Anne was getting drawn into Ed’s family and it seemed like the most natural thing to do. Why should she resist? She knew there must be lots of solid reasons to be careful, but she couldn’t think of any right now. As an only child, she loved being in this family setting, something she had missed since her parents had died.
Fiona eventually appeared and hugged her mum and Ed.
“This is Anne, you met her a couple of weeks ago, at Mandeville.”
“Hi Anne, of course I remember. Did you enjoy the show?” They hugged briefly.
“I loved it; you must be worn out with all that kissing.” Anne and Fiona laughed.
“What are we doing?” Fiona asked Ed.
“I’ve got to take Anne home and then I’ll be home after that.” Ed explained.
“OK, I’ll take mum home. See you later. Nice to meet you again Anne.”
“You too, Fiona. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.” Anne replied.
They made their way to Ed’s car and got in.
“Your family is lovely, Ed.” Anne said.
“They are the best. Thanks.” Ed was chuffed.
“Yes they are. Now we have a problem, or at least, you have a problem.” Anne turned to face Ed. Ed looked back at Anne slightly concerned, not knowing what was coming next.
“I want to hear your song and I want to hear it tonight. I haven’t been able to get your music out of my head all day. So, either we collect another CD from your house, or you sing it to me live.”
“Really? Boy you are a tough cookie. It’s not even a good song. The first half is just instrumental. Then the song part is only a couple of verses and a chorus. It’s nothing much.” Ed was very unsure about it.
“I can’t sing it to you live. I wouldn’t get through it.”
“That’s what I thought.” Anne was determined.
Ed drove to his mum’s home, which was an old cottage with its own drive. His sister and mum had not made it back yet. He popped into his house and came out a minute later with a guitar in its case and a handful of other things.
“Just remember when we get back to your house, that you asked for this.”
“I know, I know.” Anne smiled and snuggled up to Ed as he drove the ten miles to her house in West London. She was enjoying herself. They hadn’t spoken a word for the whole journey. Anne was mile by mile falling in love with Ed. She had never known anyone who was so singularly devoted to her. She had been denying it to herself but the last twenty four hours had shown her how Ed was. He was honest in his devotion to her and yet had no expectation of receiving any love back from her. He had no agenda that would force Anne to love him. And yet he still loved her for who she was.
Ed loved feeling Anne snuggling into him, although he nearly lost control of the car a couple of times on the journey. He wasn’t going to give up Anne’s hugging him for anything. He did however become more and more worried about the song he had recorded. He wasn’t worried about the quality or standard of songwriting. It was the lyrics that really worried him. Anne would either love them or hate them.
“One last time, you are sure you want to go through with this?” Ed was really panicking now.
“Of course I am sure. I figure that somewhere in the song is something about me. Why wouldn’t I want to hear it?” Anne was getting overexcited.
“Oh, you think you are somehow part of this song. Well I’m sorry to disappoint you. You have completely got the wrong end of the stick.”
For a moment Anne doubted her resolve.
“Nope, let’s do it. If I am not in the song somewhere, then you will have to write that song. In the meantime, come on. I can’t wait any longer.” Anne was pulling Ed towards the front door of her house.
“Hey, don’t pull me over now.” Ed made out that he was in danger.
“No chance of that, don’t be so delicate.” Anne laughed freely like she was a bit light headed.
She unlocked the door.
“Shall I make us a coffee?” Ed asked.
“Not a chance! Get a move on.”
“OK. Now my voice isn’t great and I need to work on the arrangement.” Anne just glared at Ed as if to say ‘Get on with it!’
“I’ll put in on. By the way, there might be a little bit about you in it.”
Ed selected track three and sat down opposite Anne. He stared directly at her with the same expression he had used on the day of the first Kovergirls concert. He hardly blinked as the guitar and bass music started up with a medium tempo. He looked at Anne as the intro repeated with more instruments coming in. He tried to stand up.
“Don’t you dare move!” said Anne. She loved the music. The anticipation of the song part was almost unbearable. Eventually after two and a half minutes she heard Ed’s voice singing out clearly and wonderfully on top of the music. It was a strong powerful tenor voice with a slight break in it at the end of each line.
Anne looked across to Ed and smiled. He looked back at her, with a mixture of total love and abject terror.
I Don’t Like You – Ed Makin
Verse One
Without hope I saw you across a crowded room
With nothing to lose I went out on a limb
With an empty heart and a lonely soul I sought some help from you
With a broken body I came across the room
Verse Two
Without expectation from me, you met me in my need
With nothing to gain you went out on a limb
With an open heart and an easy smile you gave yourself to me.
In your wholeness you came across the room
Chorus
I don’t like you, I love you.
I won’t hurt you, I’ll care for you
I don’t like you, I love you.
You can heal me body and soul.
The chorus repeated and then the music faded out. Anne slowly got out of her chair and took hold of Ed’s face with her hands. She kissed him briefly on the lips and then looked at him. Then she kissed him again with a fervour that shocked him. He fell back in the sofa and Anne fell on top of him kissing him passionately and holding him tightly. Anne was completely taken over with love and desire for Ed that she could barely control herself. After five minutes of what could have been mistaken for a world championship wrestling match, she sat up on top of him and just looked into his eyes.
“I’m guessing you liked it.” Ed was smiling and red faced.
Anne’s response was to kiss Ed once more until they both had to stop and take in some air. Anne was smiling and looked stunning in her highly disheveled state. Ed was completely taken off guard and just kept on looking into Anne’s eyes.
“I’m sorry Ed. I lost control.”
“Yes you did, I noticed that myself.” Ed was laughing now and Anne was trying to get back to being cool and calm.
“That song, how did you write it? It was lovely.” Anne did up some loose buttons.
“It was the easiest one I have ever written. I’m glad you liked it.” Ed checked that his leg was still attached properly.
“Like it? It was amazing!” It was like the perfect song for us.” She couldn’t remember undoing her belt but she did it back up anyway.
“That’s why I wrote it. It was all about us.”
Anne and Ed talked for a while and then Ed left to drive home.
“My mum has me on a curfew of midnight. She gets worried if I don’t go home.”
“Your mum is great Ed. You should look after her.”
“I do. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Speak soon.” Anne had nearly recovered after losing control of her emotions. She saw Ed off and then rang Sandy.
Sandy picked up the phone after a few rings. Anne was ready.
“Guess What?”
Sandy screamed at the top of her voice. Paulo could be heard coming in to the room to find out what the problem was. Sandy explained that there was no problem. Paulo reminded Sandy that he was still making it up to her for his lying to her.
“I’ve got to go. Speak tomorrow.” Said Sandy, just before slamming the phone down.
“Yes we will.” Smiled Anne to herself. It had been quite a day.
Chapter Nine
Anne had forgotten that the following day was a Sunday and that she had a rehearsal all afternoon with the Kovergirls. She also realised that she didn’t know Ed’s mobile number. She couldn’t call him. This didn’t really matter, because at nine o’clock on the dot, Ed rang her.
“Hiya sexy. I thought I would write you another song.” Were his first words to her.
“Only kidding Anne, but I’m on a bit of a high after last night, so thanks.”
“Hi Ed. I am too. You were great. I can’t get that song out of my head.” Anne was a bit dumbstruck even though she had a lot she wanted to say. She told Ed about the afternoon rehearsal and they agreed that he could sit and listen at the back, as long as he behaved himself. Ed offered to pick her up.
Anne hadn’t properly thought through the whole sitting at the back of the hall idea. In the event it was a major distraction for all five members of the band. Carlos was walking around trying to listen and kept eyeing up Ed suspiciously. Anne was distracted because of Ed’s presence, pure and simple. Gail, Kate, Naze and Narinda kept asking questions and making comments in between songs.
“I’ll go and get a coffee. I’ll be back in an hour.” Ed could see that his being there was a bad idea.
“Good idea, Thanks.” Said a slightly Flustered Anne. Ed left quickly and Gail put her guitar down to come over to Anne.
“Come on. I promise that we will all play better, if you give us the whole story about you and Ed. You have got to admit that it is a bit sudden. One minute you are doing him a favour and then the next moment you bring him in as your latest boyfriend.” Gail really wanted to know. Carlos walked out in disgust muttering something in Spanish.
Anne found the story easy to tell and, as she went through it all,she began to see how much she had enjoyed getting to know Ed and helping him out with the music. She also realised that she never ever allowed people to get really close to her. Giorgio had been a great ‘trophy’ boyfriend, but he had never touched her heart. The mixture of the music sessions and Ed’s bluntness had let him see inside her heart from day one. Having satisfied the girls in the band with the five minute version of how she had fallen in love with Ed, they duly went back to running through their songs. Anne felt a peace and an ease with her life that she had never had before. How could a broken and injured man do that to her?
About six o’clock Ed came back in to the rehearsal room, to find the girls packing up.
“So you are a song writer Ed?” Gail was first to pounce.
“Well you know, I can write when I feel inspired.”
“Could I inspire you?”
“Sorry Gail, you missed your chance.” Ed was smiling. Anne was blushing and Gail went away wishing she could meet a man of her own who would write her a song.
On the way home Ed and Anne picked up a takeaway and went back to Anne’s house to enjoy the evening together. After feeling very old while watching the Antiques Roadshow together on television, Anne wanted to ask Ed a question that had been troubling her. But she was extremely embarrassed about asking it. She turned the television off and put the remote down.
“Eeeeeeddddd?” Anne said this with an up and down and back up tone to her voice. It was a bit like when a child has an awkward question to ask a parent and they are not sure of their reaction, or even if it is right to ask the question. Let alone if it will upset them or even receive a satisfactory answer.
“I know what you are thinking Anne.” Said Ed.
“No you don’t, how can you?” Replied Anne. She decided not to ask after all. It was too difficult.
“I know you better than you think. Plus it’s one of the things I was warned about in hospital. You want to know what my missing leg looks like.” Said Ed.
“Well, yes I do, but I hate myself for wanting to know. I am so shallow and thoughtless that I can’t believe it.” Anne could barely look Ed in the eye.
“You are not shallow, you are like everyone else, and you just need to know.”
With that said Ed stood up, removed his trousers and his prosthetic leg. He also took off his jacket and T-shirt to reveal a tanned body of iron with a very high mileage. He stood balancing on his good leg in front of Anne. He was only wearing his boxers.
“What do you think?” Ed’s right leg was missing from just above the knee.
Anne was welling up with tears, mainly of embarrassment, but she also had tears of love and concern for Ed.
“I just wanted to know, I’m very sorry to have asked.”
“I’ve also got some wounds here on my side and some here hidden by my hair. How do I look?” Ed pointed out the scars of war on his body. Anne looked at Ed in the eyes and could not speak. They both needed a lot more time to get to know each other. She kissed him briefly on the lips and hugged him.
“Is there anything else you want to see?” Ed pretended to start removing his boxer shorts.
“No!” Anne screamed and laughed out loud at the same time. She covered her face with her hands.
“OK have it your own way. We’ve got plenty of time. We’ll take things slowly. And before you ask, as I know you will, I am fully functional as far as I know, but it hasn’t been put to the test since I was blown up.”
Chapter Ten
The authorities at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital had not been informed of the policy about officers’ leaving celebrations. If they did know about it, they chose to ignore it anyway. As a result of this oversight, Colonel Hatch had been informed that his presence was needed, on a particular Saturday night in July, to receive a special commendation for years of service. The arrangements were set up by a committee, headed up by Sergeant Edward Makin. He spent many hours with his committee, inviting the hundreds of servicemen and women who had been helped by the Colonel over the years. There were a lot of them. About ninety percent of those invited said that they would be coming. So on Saturday 6th July 2013 the stage was set for the biggest leaving do ever.
Ed’s team had put together a set of fifteen acts made up of men and women who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Colonel’s time. There were singers, dancers, comedians and some specialist acts. The last twenty minutes was a special set from the Kovergirls. Ed was lined up to provide the lead vocals for the last of the Kovergirls songs.
The arena was full of family friends and well-wishers. In total, more than one and a half thousand people packed themselves into the place. The set list was perfect and it went down a storm with the audience. When, at the end, Anne struck up the opening cho
rds to Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’, there was a huge cheer. Although Ed was singing the song, he was almost drowned out by the crowd singing along with him. It was quite a moment and Ed looked over towards Anne as they performed the song. He blew her a kiss and she laughed back while playing the keyboards. Gail came in with the searing guitar solo and then the whole ensemble came on to the stage to finish off the song together.
After the applause had died down, Colonel Hatch came on to the stage to a tumultuous reception. He was in his usual, immaculate, Colonel’s uniform and had his medals pinned to his left breast pocket.
He reluctantly took the microphone and waited for silence.
“You men and women are my rewards, Thank you.” Was all he could say.
Chapter Eleven
Later the next evening, as Anne and Ed snuggled up on the sofa, listening to some music, they went over the day’s events and especially the concert and the accolades that the Colonel had received. Anne asked Ed what the Colonel had said to him afterwards. Ed said that the Colonel had told him he had better make sure that he takes good care of Anne, as he would never find someone more caring.