“Ooh. That’s very nice of you, thank you,” Adele said, fishing the small, silicone plugs out of the bag with her finger.
“No problem,” the drummer smiled. “Hope you enjoy the show.” He went back inside to join the other two band members, now setting up on stage. Shaunna and Adele followed.
“How lovely is he?” Shaunna remarked, watching him start to build his kit. “I could quite take a fancy to him.”
“Never mind him. Have you seen the singer?” Adele said, now she was back in the mood to enjoy herself.
“See, that’s just like your crush on Gary Barlow,” Shaunna laughed. “Just because he’s a musician. You used to be mad for him, but you hated him in The X-Factor.”
“I’ve never even watched The X-Factor.”
“No. Because you hate Gary Barlow. Anyway, it’s your round.” Adele tutted but still headed straight for the bar so that they could replenish their drinks before the band started.
Josh was visiting the toilet again, on account of the several litres of coffee he had consumed during the day, topped off with two pints of lager. Kris took the opportunity to chat to George, who had been so completely engrossed in conversation with Josh all evening that he hadn’t wanted to butt in.
“Shaunna tells me you got an interesting text this morning.”
“Yeah,” George said, taking out his phone and loading the message up. He passed it to Kris to read.
“Wow! That’s unexpected! Have you had a good day?”
“The best day of my life—so far.” He couldn’t stop smiling.
“Oh, I’m so happy for you, but I won’t hug you, just in case there’s any misinterpretation.”
“Thanks. It does mean that I want to skip the wedding now and get to the holiday part, though. We need some time to work things through, you know? Somewhere away from here.”
“Yeah. Well, you’ll have plenty of opportunity in Wales. There’s absolutely nothing to do there, other than walk hills or sit in cabins looking at hills. Or if you’re Andy, jump off hills.” They were both still laughing at this when Josh returned from the toilet. He eyed them suspiciously, interpreting what had taken place.
“You told him.”
“Yes. I did. That’s OK, isn’t it?”
“I guess it’ll have to be,” Josh said sulkily, but his heart wasn’t really in it and he had to turn away to hide his face.
“Joshua! Don’t be so mean!” George poked him in the back and he turned around again.
“I’m just so totally happy for you guys that I might actually start crying in a minute,” Kris said, and he really looked like he would too. He picked up his drink and set off across the bar towards Shaunna and Adele.
“He’s so soppy,” George remarked as they watched him wipe his eyes and make his way over to the far side of the dance floor.
“Hmm,” Josh said, “not like you, huh?”
“You know I’m not!” George shot back at him, aware that the mutual declaration of their inner-most feelings had well and truly destroyed his chances of being otherwise perceived. It didn’t matter; there was still a long way to go, but Josh loved him. That was all he’d ever wanted.
“By the way,” he said, reaching into his inside pocket, “I think you might have lost something?” He slowly opened his hand, to reveal a blue and gold pen. Josh’s mouth dropped open.
“Where…”
“Underneath the camp bed. I didn’t send it back, because I’d decided you weren’t bothered enough to notice, but, well, now I know different.” He unfurled Josh’s fingers and pressed the pen into his hand, so that it was momentarily sandwiched between their palms. “Are you cold?” he asked.
“No. Just my hands, from our little jaunt down the road. They’ll soon warm up in here, I’m sure.”
George found this a little strange, as his own hands were still clammy from holding a bag of chips, but any further thoughts or conversation were well and truly blasted out of existence when the band struck up their first number, after a deceptively quiet tune-up and soundcheck, which meant that Adele still jumped, in spite of the ear plugs. Charlotte cheered and immediately re-commenced her madcap dancing. She really didn’t care what anyone thought of her, although by now Shaunna was also ready to throw caution to the wind and joined Charlotte, Tilly, Eleanor and Kris in front of the stage. Even the mothers of the bride and groom joined in for a final dance before they bade the party farewell. Adele was left standing all alone and faced the choice of dancing right in front of the enormous speakers, or going to chat with Josh and George; she chose the latter, not that they appeared to be taking much notice of anything going on around them. All the same, she loitered nearby, tapping her feet and singing along wherever she knew the lyrics.
After the band finished their first song, the singer thanked the audience for their raucous applause, receiving even louder whoops and cheers from the women in the bridal party.
“There seems to be a bit of party going on tonight. Is that right, girls?” he asked the wing-wearing group on the dance floor. Charlotte cheered loudly. “Who’s the lucky lady?” They all pointed at Eleanor and she blushed so brightly that she could see the red of her cheeks underneath her eyes. “Well, congratulations. When’s the wedding? Saturday?” Eleanor still had her head down, in a kind of ‘if I can’t see them…’ pose, but Charlotte shouted out to confirm that the singer was right. “Fantastic,” he said. “Hope you’re having a great night, guys. We’re going to do one of our own songs now, just for our blushing bride. This is ‘24 Hours Alive’.”
Eleanor scowled at him for the choice of song. Charlotte thought it was hilarious and gave her sister a nudge to get her back on side. As the guitarist started up the intro, the crowd (including the bride-to-be) cheered and soon they were all dancing along manically, even though they’d not heard the song before. At first, the band were waving their hands to get the audience to join in, and to begin with only a few did, but by the third chorus, the singer had them absolutely under his control, and everyone was singing along. The final chord struck and the place once again erupted with applause and whistles. The drummer went straight into the next number, and the energy level stayed right up there through four more songs. Another short bout of banter between the vocalist and members of the hen party (including a couple of double entendres aimed at Kris, who flapped his wings flirtatiously, accompanied by encouraging cheers from Charlotte) and they were off into the next song: the last of their first set. Once the noise died down a little, Adele nudged George in the side.
“Where’s Jess?”
“Don’t know. She left with Rob about an hour ago.”
“What?”
George pointed at Adele’s ears and she giggled and removed the ear plugs. George explained again.
“Ah. Right, well that explains why Ellie said she’d let her down.”
“Yep, and I’m pretty certain this is the last chance she’ll get to attend one of Ellie’s hen parties. Her loss, really.”
“You know, I really don’t like Rob Simpson-Stone. There’s something a bit creepy about him.”
“He was always all right with me,” Josh remarked, “not that I’ve seen any more of him than anyone else, I hasten to add. He’s one of the last people I’d expect to find knocking on my door.”
“Yeah,” George agreed. “He was one of the nicer lads at school. What makes you think he’s creepy, Adele?”
“I’m not sure. Just something about him. Then again, it’s probably because I know how gutted Andy is about the whole thing.”
“Does he know she’s seen him since the reunion?”
“Err, yes? I told Dan and…”
“Oh, Adele, why did you do that?”
“Because what she’s doing is wrong. If she wants to go off and have a fling with Rob, then fine, but she needs to finish things properly with Andy first. It’s only right.”
Adele folded her arms indignantly, aware that her past history of continuing a relationship with Dan whilst
being married to Tom put her on really shaky ground. However, it was for this reason that she felt the way she did. She never meant to hurt Tom and genuinely tried to end things with Dan, but that wasn’t how it worked out. The way Tom supported her through the pregnancy, and to a lesser extent, during the birth, filled her with remorse for what she’d done, and it could all have been avoided if she’d been brave enough to end the relationship, instead of allowing herself to be dragged along in the undercurrent of wedding plans and other unrealistic romantic ideals. Besides, Andy deserved better. She’d always thought this, not that she wished any ill on Jess. She was one of her friends, but she wasn’t right for Andy and that had always been so.
Having said her piece, Adele wandered off to the Ladies’ and joined the queue behind Krissi and Karen, all three appreciating the opportunity to remove their head-dresses and wings and willing to try keeping them off for the rest of the night. The woman who happened to be standing in front of Krissi when she turned to greet Adele was far from impressed at having her drink knocked out of her hands by a pair of enlarged chicken wings; they were a bit of a liability and were also getting very uncomfortable.
“Tell you what, girls,” Adele suggested, “we’ll put up a united front. I’m sure Ellie will understand.” She smiled hopefully.
The queue moved on slowly, and they passed the time chatting about how the evening was progressing, what they thought the wedding would be like, and the travel arrangements for the trip to Wales, the latter being a bit of a sore point with Karen, so she gladly took the first free cubicle. She had booked her holiday long before Eleanor came up with the group honeymoon idea, and Krissi really didn’t want to go, but her assistant manager thought she was just trying to make her feel better about the fact that they couldn’t both be away from the restaurant at the same time. Insensitive as ever, Adele chattered on enthusiastically all the while they were in the toilets and continued to do so on their way back, until they were interrupted once more by the band. If anything, their second set was even louder, and Adele quickly re-inserted the ear plugs, the drummer waving a stick at her in acknowledgement. She smiled and waved back.
“Oh aye. Looks like you’ve pulled there, mate,” the singer grinned at the drummer. Adele giggled and joined her female friends on the dance floor, doing her best to blend in, even though she could do little more than nod whenever anyone spoke to her.
“Are you listening?” Shaunna shouted. Adele removed an ear plug. “I said, look who’s back.” She nodded towards the door, where Jess was standing, acting as if she’d been there the whole time. Eleanor had seen her too, and turned to face the other way. She had nothing to say, or at least, she had lots to say, but she was having too much fun and it would wait.
“Where’ve you been?” Josh asked Jess. She readied a lie, took one look at him and knew she’d been found out.
“With Rob. We went for a little ride on the bike.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to show me something. I’ve only been gone about an hour.”
“In the middle of Ellie’s hen night?”
“It couldn’t wait. Otherwise you know I wouldn’t have gone at all.”
“Well, it’s done now,” George said. “You’ll just have to tell her you’re sorry and hope that she forgives you.”
“Ha!” Josh said. He hadn’t meant to vocalise it and immediately covered his mouth with his hand.
“Thanks for the support, guys,” Jess snapped and stormed off to the other end of the bar to order a drink; that’s where she stayed for the rest of the evening.
The band were into a run of their own songs now, and they were really good, although the hen party posse had been dancing non-stop for most of the evening, so took the opportunity to go and buy drinks and rest their aching feet. Eleanor kept her eyes averted from Jess, who was busy with her phone, and instead watched Josh and George, still standing in the same place they’d been earlier and still deep in conversation. It was the first time she’d really paid them any attention all night.
“What’s with those two?” she asked Shaunna, who happened to be right next to her.
“What d’you mean?” Shaunna mumbled, doing a very unconvincing job of hiding her only vague knowledge of what had been going on over the past few days.
“They’re very close together. For them, I mean.”
“Err, yeah. I suppose they are.”
“Spill the beans, Hennessy!”
“It’s really not my place to…” Eleanor glared at her, but she didn’t crack.
“Fine. I’ll just have to go and ask them myself. Look after my drink for me.”
“Sure.” She watched Eleanor approach Josh and pull him by the arm. He had no choice but to allow himself to be led outside.
“What’s that about?” Adele asked, climbing onto a barstool alongside her friend.
“Oh God, don’t you start!” Shaunna groaned. “Ellie’s already given me the third degree.”
“Have they fallen out?”
“As if that’s gonna happen!”
“So?”
“Forget it, Adele.” Shaunna turned to face the bar, hoping it would ward off any further questions.
“Is it exciting?” Adele pushed. “It is, isn’t it? Ooh, tell me.”
“Nope. Not telling you.” Shaunna sucked hard on the straw in her glass, draining it in one go. The bar owner was immediately on the case.
“Girls, what can I get you?” he smiled.
“Bacardi and Coke, please,” Shaunna replied. “Adele?”
“Martini and lemonade, ice and lemon.”
The owner nodded and set about preparing their drinks.
“Please, Shaunna?” Adele tried again. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”
“Yeah, whatever, Adele.”
“Three guesses?”
“No!” Shaunna glared at her, then switched her attention to watching the bar owner, who had been listening in, but pretending not to.
“Are you enjoying yourselves?” he asked.
“Yeah. It’s been great fun,” Shaunna said enthusiastically.
“Glad to hear it.” He looked her over while he waited for the glass to fill with Coke. “Nice pair.” He nodded at her wings and gave her a cheeky grin.
Shaunna raised an eyebrow. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Only the ones with wings. So, does heaven know they’re missing an angel?”
Shaunna fluttered her eyelashes and smiled. “You’re good.”
“So I’ve been told,” he smiled back. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”
“No. We’ve not been here before.” Shaunna glanced around the venue, then settled her gaze back on the bar owner, taking in his navy blue designer suit and pink, open-necked shirt. She nodded approvingly. “Got a good feel to it.”
“Thank you.” He placed her drink in front of her. “By the way, I’m Andy.”
“Figures,” she said. Adele giggled. The bar owner looked puzzled.
“She’s got a thing for blokes called Andy,” Adele explained.
“Adele!” Shaunna pushed her and she nearly fell off the barstool.
“Oh, really?” Andy said. He casually leaned an elbow on the bar. “I bet none of them have been as suave as me.” He winked playfully at her.
“Nope, you’re definitely the suavest,” she laughed.
“Yeah?”
“Definitely. And debonair.”
“Debonair, you say?”
“Oh yes.”
Adele’s eyes flitted from one to the other of them. She coughed lightly into her hand.
“This is Adele,” Shaunna told him.
Adele passed over a ten pound note and gave him a quick smile. “And she’s Shaunna,” she said.
“Do you only come as a pair?” he asked.
“Why? Don’t you think you can handle us?” Shaunna challenged. Adele quickly gulped her drink, making sure she got an ice cube at the same time. It was all very well for S
haunna to flirt, but she was trying to be on her best behaviour.
“So, are you here for the night, girls?” Andy asked.
“I hope so,” Adele answered quickly. Shaunna gave her a look. “What?”
Shaunna stood on tiptoes and pouted. “Ooh, it’s too loud, Shaunna. D’you think we can go home yet?” she said, twizzling a lock of hair around her finger and trying to sound ditzy. Adele scowled at her.
“Can you do that again?” Andy asked, his face registering appreciation as she carelessly tossed her hair back over her shoulder. The bar was getting busy and he was already serving another customer.
“If you ask me nicely,” she smiled. “See you later.” She gave him a little wave and turned away. Adele slid down from her stool and followed her friend across the bar to the dance floor. It felt just like the old days.
Outside, Josh was leaning against the wall, watching the smokers, all congregated under a single parasol. It wasn’t even raining.
“Talk to me,” Eleanor commanded.
“About?”
“You know exactly what about. Come on. Out with it.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, working so hard not to smile that he looked as if he were sucking a hard-boiled sweet.
“You and George. I can tell there’s something I don’t know, and I’m the bride-to-be,” she said. “I have a right to know.”
“Oh do you now? Well, Mrs. Brown-to-be, I have a right not to tell you.”
“Joshua!”
“But I don’t necessarily have to exercise that right, I suppose. George and I have spent the day together, talking things through. I told him how I feel and he…”
“Hang on. Can you backtrack for me a bit? Didn’t he already know how you feel? The whole ‘it can never be’ thing? Me fielding phone calls and holding broken hearts together with my bare hands?” Josh burst into laughter. He couldn’t help himself. It was the ‘holding broken hearts’ that got him for some reason.
“I’m sorry, Ellie,” he stammered, finally, “but that’s hilarious. Yes, you are quite right. You have been an amazing friend to us both. And I love you, for everything you are, unconditionally. Promise you won’t get cross with me?”
The Harder They Fall Page 26
