Highly Strung: Prelude Series - Part Three

by Meg Buchanan

  They painstakingly built up the layers. Listening to each as they added it. That feeling of anticipation grew as the recording got closer and closer to finished.

  “Want to record both violins together,” asked Luke when that was all there was left to do.

  “Yeah,” said Isaac. “Better if we play off each other.”

  They plugged in both violins. Stuck their earphones on. Waited for the cue, then went for it.

  “The moment of truth.” Isaac gave Adam his violin and went to the laptop. He hit play and the sound filled the shed. All the layers working together to form a perfect whole. Noah could hear the odd mistake, but overall, it was as close to perfect as a few hours of practice could make it. Everyone else listened silently, but he was pretty sure they could hear the genius of it too.

  Isaac turned off the laptop as the last bars died away.

  “That okay?” he asked.

  “Bloody fantastic,” said Luke. “If that doesn’t get us noticed, nothing will.”

  “We’ve got a problem though,’ said Isaac.

  “What?”

  “Nobody to act as the sound engineer. We’re not going to be able to make it sound like that without one.’

  “That’s a point.”

  “What about this twenty-five-year-old daughter of Natalia’s?” asked Cole.

  Noah shook his head. “She going to be busy. She’s playing with the NZSO for the next month.”

  “I didn’t know the NZSO went in for hip hop.”

  Noah laughed. “Nor did Natalia.”

  “Natalia, then?” asked Luke.

  Noah shook his head again. “You can ask her if you want to. but she’s not talking to me anymore.”

  “How come? I thought you were her favourite,” said Cole.

  Noah shrugged. If she could banish him, there was no way he would make the first move to fix things between them.

  “What about Collins?” Adam put the violin back in its case and lay the bow beside it. “He knows the music. He helped write it, didn’t he?” Adam directed the question at Isaac.

  Isaac nodded. “I’ll ask him. I think he’ll be keen.”

  “So, when are we giving it its first outing?” asked Luke.

  “Not this weekend. After the holidays.” Cole straightened up. “I think we should wait until there’s a really decent crowd at the pub. That gives us a fortnight to make sure it’s perfect.”

  “Agreed?” asked Luke.

  “Yep.”

  Luke stood up and stretched. “So, this weekend we stick to the usual play list?”

  They spent the rest of the week working on ‘Train Wreck’ in the evenings. Noah and Adam filled in days surfing. Collins turned up. He seemed happy to do the sound engineering for them. It all worked out.

  Each time Noah drove from one side of town to the other, he detoured and drove past Natalia’s place. The little pale blue car was always there. Sometimes Lenny’s was too. Sometimes it wasn’t.

  Thursday evening, the last practice for the week. After Cole, Isaac and Luke had finished work the next day, they’d head for Hamilton and all stay in the flat for the weekend and play at the pub Friday and Saturday night. That would give him some distance. It was just too hard with Natalia right around the corner and not being able to see her. He might even go early.

  Luke sat on the edge of the stage. “Maybe we should run through ‘Train Wreck’ on Sunday morning before we come back and make sure everything is right. No one will be in the bar then. It will give us a chance to tweak it.”

  “Yeah, good idea,” said Isaac. “We can check the acoustics. Can you make it?” he asked Collins.

  Collins nodded. “I wouldn’t miss it. What time will you need me?”

  “Eight o’clock?”

  “Eight o’clock it is.” said Collins. “I’ll be there.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  He arrived at the flat just as Tessa got home from work.

  “Good week?” he asked.

  Tessa nodded. “I think I’m going to enjoy being a fashion designer.”

  “Are they letting you design? I thought you were an intern.”

  This time she laughed and shook her head. “No. But they do ask my opinion, and sometimes they even do what I suggest. It’s fun. Creative people are fun. And you should see the fabric they use. It’s beautiful. I’m going to have to shop at flasher stores.”

  “You dress all right.” He flicked the jug on. Nice to talk to Tessa. No angst, no worrying about anyone being too old for anyone else. “Do you want coffee?”

  Tessa nodded. “That’s what Luke said. He likes the short skirts and high heels.” She got the coffee jar off the bench, found a teaspoon. Then sighed. “But I might try something more grown up. A bit classier.”

  He looked at Tessa. She always looked good in a sexy way. All that blonde curly hair and legs up to her armpits. “What’s Luke going to think about that?”

  “Pfft.” She spooned the coffee into the mugs he’d got out. “Even he has to grow up sometime.”

  He didn’t know about that. Luke seemed pretty good at having a good time. The only thing he took seriously was Stadium.

  They wandered into the lounge and turned on the TV.

  Tessa curled up on the couch. “Luke said you met Natalia’s daughter.” She grinned at him over the top of his mug.

  He sat on the chair by the fireplace. “Yeah.”

  “Natalia is the reason you go AWOL isn’t she?”

  He studied his coffee then his flatmate. How did she know that?

  Tessa laughed. “I told you there wasn’t much I didn’t know about you.”

  “How long have you known?”

  Tessa shrugged. “Last year I overheard a phone call. Fuck Natalia is not the way you’d usually talk to your violin teacher when she cancels on you.” Okay, he did talk to her like that sometimes now when she annoyed him. He wouldn’t have tried it a few years ago. “Tell me about this daughter.”

  “She was a bit of a shock.”

  “Twenty-five!” Tessa sipped the coffee.

  “Don’t rub it in.”

  “Was she nice?”

  He nodded and studied the bubbles swirling around the top of the mug. “Seemed to be. And gorgeous. And boy could she play.”

  “So, Luke said. I can’t wait to hear the new sound.”

  “It’s good. But you’ll have to wait until Sunday. We’re saving it for a bigger audience.” Yes, it was nice talking to Tessa. Luke was lucky to have her.

  The others turned up. They ordered in Chinese and then got ready to go to the pub.

  “I’ll come later.” Tessa kissed Luke on the cheek.

  “Yeah. Bring a party with you.”

  “I’ll try.”

  It felt a bit like déjà vu at the pub getting ready. They weren’t changing anything, so they just did what they always did to set up. Everyone seemed a bit flat after practicing ‘Train Wreck’ all week.

  “We should have bitten the bullet and just tried it out tonight,” said Luke. He plugged his mic into the amp the way he’d done for the last year and a bit.

  “No. We need Collins here. I can sing and play the violin. I can’t do the sound engineering too.” Even Isaac just lounged around. Usually he was wired before a performance.

  Noah went over to the bar. He’d get something to liven up tonight. If they kept going this way, they’d bore the crowd to death.

  “Whiskey,” he said to the bartender.

  “A single?” The man reached for a glass.

  Noah pointed at the bottles lined up on the back wall. “A whole bottle. Put it on Harry’s tab.”

  “I’m not sure if Harry is going to wear that.” The man picked up one of the bottles of whiskey.

  Noah took it. “If he objects, tell him he can take it out of our wages.” He took the bottle of whiskey back to the where the others were setting up.

  Noah unscrewed the lid and took a swig.

  “That looks dangerous.” Luke sounde
d like he was considering the whiskey himself.

  “I had to do something to make tonight a bit more interesting.” He wiped the top and handed the bottle to Luke.

  “Okay.” Luke sat on the chair near the mic. “Get some glasses.”

  The night wore on. They slowly got drunker and the music got louder. Noah suspected he was drinking more than the others were, but he needed it. Between Natalia and the boredom of just doing what they’d been doing for the last few years, he needed something to take off the edge. By the end of the night he was wasted.

  The pub emptied out and the bar staff were cleaning up the glasses from the tables and wiping them down.

  “Not a bad crowd for Friday night,” said Luke.

  “Yeah, it went all right.” Cole nodded at Noah. “What are we going to do about him?”

  Luke studied Noah for a moment. “We’ll send him home in a taxi with Tessa. He’s her flatmate. She can deal with him.”

  He could vaguely remember the taxi arriving and Luke helping Tessa feed him into the back seat.

  When they arrived at the flat, the taxi driver helped him out, and Tess handed over her credit card to pay for the ride. Then helped him to the door and stood him up against the wall while she found the key.

  “How did you get so drunk,” she asked as she opened the door.

  Noah shrugged. After the first bottle of whiskey was empty, he’d bought another.

  “Come on. We’ll get some coffee and water into you.”

  “Where are the others?”

  “Packing up. They didn’t think you’d be much use. I think it’s pretty impressive you finished the last set.” He collapsed onto couch. He didn’t remember finishing the last set. He must have been on autopilot. He didn’t remember Luke saying anything to him either, so he must have done all right.

  Why did he get so drunk?

  Natalia. Always Natalia.

  “She won’t have anything to do with me,” he said when Tessa brought in the coffee, water and tablets.

  “Who?”

  “Natalia.”

  “Why?”

  “Eva.”

  Tessa looked puzzled. “The daughter?”

  Noah nodded and had a sip of the coffee. There was a fair chance it would make him sick. He handed it back to Tessa.

  She gave him the glass of water. “See if this goes down better.”

  He tried the water. Nearly as toxic as the coffee.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Natalia says I’m too young for her because Eva is older than me.” He saluted the air with the glass. “So, fuck her.”

  “Fuck who?” asked Tessa.

  “Both of them.” He stood up slowly. “I think I need to go to bed.” He stumbled to the door that led to the passageway.

  “Do you need a bucket?”

  He steadied himself against the architrave. “Probably.”

  He woke a few hours later. Somehow, he’d got to bed. The bucket on the floor beside the bed was empty, and he still felt drunk. Drinking all that whiskey probably wasn’t his best move. It was all Natalia’s fault.

  He moved his head a little. It didn’t hurt. Maybe he’d drunk enough of that coffee and water to avoid a hangover.

  In the light that came through the curtains from the streetlights, he could see his computer sitting on the desk. He might tell Natalia what he thought of her now he could think clearly. He’d been all muddled up this afternoon. Missing her and annoyed at her for sending him away.

  He’d send her an email and lay out his thoughts clearly, so she would understand what she’d done to him.

  He slid off the bed, made it to the desk and sat on the office chair his mum had bought him so he’d have somewhere comfortable to sit when he did assignments.

  He fired up the desktop. Checked Facebook. Nothing interesting. He found Natalia on Messenger. He read the few messages they’d exchanged in the last few weeks. They were all about how the holidays were coming up and how much he looked forward to spending them with her.

  The bitch must have known Eva was coming by the time she got those messages. He scanned her answers. No mention of any Eva. She’d just let him keep thinking she was looking forward to the holidays too.

  He put his fingers on the keys.

  “Remember me?” he typed. “I’m the one you like to fuck when it suits you.”

  He read what he’d typed. Yep. That’s what he meant to say. He pressed enter.

  He sort of expected the three small dots to appear that would tell him Natalia was online, but they didn’t. He looked at the time in the bottom corner. 3:18. Maybe she wouldn’t be online. She’d probably be asleep.

  He studied his message. It was concise. But it needed more.

  His fingers stayed poised over the keys. What else could he say? He knew.

  “I said I loved you and you just said I loved to fuck. Well who taught me that?” He read it through. Yep. That’s what he meant to say too. He pressed enter. He kept writing and fired off a string of messages to Natalia that told her exactly what he thought of her.

  Next morning, he woke up and eyed the computer sitting innocently on the desk. Too much to hope that he’d only dreamed he’d sent those messages. He hauled himself out of bed and touched the keyboard. It was still on and Facebook still open. He checked for the messages.

  They were there. It hadn’t been a dream and worse, the little blue writing at the bottom said they’d been seen by Natalia an hour ago and she hadn’t responded.

  He rubbed his chin with his hand. No point deleting them now.

  Fuck. If things were bad before, he’d just made them worse. Coming back from those messages would be impossible.

  He needed paracetamol and water, then more sleep. He might try to avoid having to play at the pub for five hours with a hangover. And when he woke up again he’d think about how to fix the messages.

  He headed to the bathroom to get the pills then the kitchen to get a jug of water. He snuck around. No one else was awake yet. He could see Isaac on the mattress in the lounge again.

  He went back to his room, took the paracetomol and had plenty of water, then lay on his bed. Maybe those messages were a good thing. Maybe he should stick with his plan to forget Natalia and get on with life before he ruined everything. Playing with Stadium last night so drunk he couldn’t remember much of it probably wasn’t his best move either. Tonight, he might not drink.

  Chapter Fourteen

  By mid-afternoon, he felt human. They did the gig at the pub. It went well but it felt like deva vu. Next week would be better. They were launching ‘Train Wreck’. It would be a new beginning. Isaac said he had other new stuff. They all headed back to the flat. As usual, half the crowd at the pub followed them, and it turned into a party.

  Noah watched the front lawn fill with people he didn’t know. A girl he’d seen at the pub for the last few weeks sidled up to him.

  “Hi, Noah, do you remember me?” she asked. In the street lights he could see blonde wavy hair, a little light cotton dress with lace and buttons down the front, and cowboy boots. She looked sweet, young and innocent. Everything Natalia wasn’t. At the pub he’d noticed her enough to think she looked pretty. And she seemed willing to be friendly. Maybe this was his chance to live the way everyone else did.

  He smiled. “Of course, I remember you.” Very smooth. She seemed pleased. “Did you enjoy the show?”

  “Yes. I always like Stadium. You are all so good.”

  A fan too.

  “How long have you been coming to the pub to see us?”

  She counted on her fingers. “Three months. Since I started at Uni.”

  “You’re in your first year?” They had wandered around to the backdoor as they were talking. The girl nodded. That made her at least three years younger than him. According to Natalia’s rules, that made her exactly the right age. “Do you want something to drink?” he asked.

  She screwed up her face and shrugged. “I didn’t bring anything.”

  “We
’ve got a stash.”

  She looked around the kitchen. “Is this where you live?”

  “Yeah.” He opened the fridge. Empty. Someone had already swiped all the beer usually in there. He’d have to go find Adam or Luke and see what they had. Not so smooth. “Plan B,” he said to the girl, and she giggled. She followed him into the lounge, the room was as crowded as the kitchen had been. Luke had taken up the couch again with Tessa and someone else. Beside them, they had the box of beer with the top ripped off.

  “Got a couple spare?” he asked Luke.

  Luke nodded, leaned forward, got him a couple of bottles and handed them over.

  He looked around. Nowhere to sit. Even sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall was out. All the space had already been filled. Plan C. The front porch.

  “Follow me.” He put both bottles in one hand and took her hand with the other. They moved through the crowd in the passageway to the front door. He opened door and the front porch steps were unoccupied like he hoped.

  They slipped through the door, and he shut it behind them. It was dark and a little quieter out here. The girl had meekly followed him through the house and that seemed a good sign. Generally, at these things he just hung out with the others, smoked a bit of dope, and talked. Then when the noise had started to die down and a few people had left, he’d go to bed.

  It had never even occurred to him to cheat on Natalia. That was going to change. If not tonight, then soon.

  He settled on the step and the girl sat down beside him.

  He opened one bottle with the other and handed it to her.

  “What’s your name?” he asked. “You know mine.”

  “Ash.” She looked at the bottle she was holding. “I know all your names. I think you are all amazing.”

  A big fan. “Ash what?” he asked.

  “Ashleigh Jones.”

  He nodded. He should have got a bottle opener. He opened the second bottle of beer on the edge of the porch like he’d seen Luke do. It worked.

  He saluted her with the bottle. “To Miss Jones.” He could be sophisticated and charming.