by Naomi Davies
Love’s Dilemma
Naomi Davies
Copyright © 2013 by Naomi Davies
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, send email to [email protected].
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Contents
Chapter One - Clair’s Got Talent
Chapter Two – Holding & Marshall
Chapter Three – The Lead Singer
Chapter Four – The Impromptu Vocalist
Chapter Five – The Wrong Type of Lift
Chapter Six – The Reception Committee
Chapter Seven – The Big Night
Chapter Eight – A Change Of Heart
Chapter Nine – Six Days of Waiting
Chapter Ten – The Second Week
Chapter Eleven – A Long Road – Two Months Later
Chapter Twelve - Finale
Chapter One - Clair’s Got Talent
The first time Clair sang in public was unexpected and unannounced. She was three years old and her favourite uncle, Uncle Tom, was playing the old upright piano in his dining room. At the end of his rendition of ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ she had continued singing the chorus over and over.
“Hark now hear the angels sing, a new king born today.
Mary’s boy child, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas day.”
As Clair’s little recital finished, she was applauded by the small family group who were enjoying a traditional family Christmas together. She loved the applause and the attention.
Now this little scene has been played out millions of times over the years, and in many homes. But for Clair, it set in motion a compelling seed of desire. She wanted to sing. As she grew up she always volunteered for the school choir. She sang with the band at church on a Sunday. She had sung the lead in ‘Bugsy Malone’ and ‘Grease’ at school. Basically, if there was a chance for her to sing in public, she would take it.
Clair’s upbringing had been very sheltered. She only left home to go to school or when she went to church with her parents. Church was twice on a Sunday and once on Wednesday, and you could never miss a meeting. Her West Indian roots were strict, but she didn’t resent them or fight against them as she was growing up. She didn’t know any different. Church was a place where she was encouraged to sing. The very thing she wanted to do.
When she was in her own room, she sang constantly. The radio was an ever-present friend to her. She took it everywhere with her and sang to the songs that were being played. She would listen closely to Whitney Houston, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin and others. She would then try to copy them note for note. She also sang in front of the mirror, using a hair brush as a microphone, to perfect how she looked while she was singing.
When ‘New Faces’ and ‘Pop Idol’ were on the television, as she was growing up, she sat mesmerised, watching the singers and dreaming of being one of them. She would scream at the judges when they put the wrong singers through to the next round. In 2007 she had even gone to the London ‘X-factor’ auditions herself, only to be told that there was no more time for anyone else to audition. Singing was her life. Nothing was better than taking a song and making it her own.
Within the limited circles of her friends and acquaintances, Clair had in fact received some recognition for her talent. Her friends would often request her to sing a few songs at parties and other events. She had a long line of certificates and medals for singing that she had been awarded throughout her school years. Her parents encouraged her to a point, but they had a career path set out for Clair that she would not be allowed to swerve from. They knew that she liked singing and had attended some of her performances over the years. But they were busy running their own business. They barely noticed the prodigious talent that was emerging with their daughter.
By the time Clair had reached the age of twenty, she had begun to develop a singing style of her own. She would take a classic song and think of ways that she could rearrange it to make it different. At Exeter Students Union she had once brought an open mike evening to a complete standstill with her unique version of Annie Lennox’s ‘Why’.
She did this thing where she would leave the stage carrying her mike and sing the lyrics of each verse, while eyeballing directly, various people in the audience. You had to be there to understand it. As she finished her performance there was a tumultuous cheer of appreciation. On this occasion she wasn’t allowed to stop before she had sung two more numbers. This she did, without needing the words or rehearsal. She just checked with the pianist which songs he could play well and went for it. She controlled and conducted the pianist to play in the way that she wanted as she performed each song.
Now, at the age of twenty five, Clair was young, alive and hugely talented. She knew it, and so did a few special friends who had grown up with her. The greatest of these special friends was Jocelyn. Everyone called her Jo. They had been through school together and were like sisters. Jo could sing a bit, but she knew that she couldn’t match Clair. While Clair was the singer, Jo was the dancer. This was fine and there was no jealousy between them. They had grown up to love each other deeply.
While still at school, they were always vivaciously running through song and dance routines on their way to classes. Teachers regularly pleaded with them to stand still and be quiet. At the same time they were popular with most of the staff because they behaved in the classroom. But singing and dancing was their life.
Much of their mutual love and affection had come out of their school life. As the only two girls in their year with darker skin, they had created a formidable bond. They had fought together, and escaped together from many unwanted conflicts over the years. The constant comments and name calling had not affected them, apart from making them hardier in the face of them. They had finished school with top grades and both had busy professional working lives laid out before them. That was the best response they could give to the years of verbal abuse.
In truth, Clair and Jo gained a great deal of respect and admiration from their fellow students in the last few years. They were extremely attractive, intelligent and mature young ladies, who had concentrated on their studies and done well. Most of the boys at school were too terrified to ask them out on a date. There were a few brave ones who did ask them. But Clair and Jo were not that interested. That lack of interest was in the past however. As highly eligible young ladies they were on the prowl for suitable boyfriend material. But they had very high standards which made things difficult.
Chapter Two – Holding & Marshall
It was in 2011 that Clair’s dreams of a life of singing were finally shattered and ended. This was when she joined the hugely successful ‘Holding and Marshall’ firm of solicitors. Suddenly she had no time to sing. She had no time to do anything. Having newly qualified, she was strongly influenced by her seniors at work. She was expected to commit her efforts fully and wholeheartedly, to establishing her career as a solicitor in the firm. This was a long term commitment for her.
Aaron Holdi
ng and Cora Marshall had great plans for their daughter to take over the family business when it came time for them to retire. The firm had four other partners and about fifteen support staff. It was very well established. They had paid for Clair’s training and she did them proud by passing her final exams with distinction. The whole five years she was studying, she felt like she was being pulled apart. Her ambitions to become a singer fought against her studies to become a solicitor. Now she was working in the same building with her parents, she felt doomed to a life unfulfilled and full of drudgery.
This was almost true. Because of Clair’s extrovert nature and effervescent character she made the best of her working life and was already making her mark in the legal world in a small way. You could not be in a room and ignore her.
There were some side benefits about working for your parents. She had worked through her studies without getting into debt. She felt very grateful to her parents for this. She was also on a good wage for someone newly qualified. This was mainly because of the reputation that Holding and Marshall had within the West Indian community in the UK. They were the leading UK group of solicitors who dealt with immigration and asylum seekers. Because of their company’s specialist knowledge and good track record, they were able to charge their clients a great deal of money. A side benefit of this was that they paid their staff well. This included Clair.
For the first six months Clair was the model employee. She loved her mum and dad, and wanted to prove to them that she was able to do the job. So she made sure she was on time every day. Her paperwork was always neat and tidy. She kept up to date by reading the latest law business magazines and articles. She worked in the communal offices with the support staff. Having your own office was a privilege yet to be bestowed on her. She was nice and pleasant in her demeanor, even to the obnoxious partner, Clay Smith, who leered at her every time he came in to ask her something.
At the same time she had an inner conflict that was tearing at her emotions. She couldn’t let go of her desire to sing. She still did sing at home and when she caught up with Jo from time to time. But it had been two years since she had performed a song in public. She missed it dreadfully. But there was nothing she could do for the moment. She would have to keep her head down and see what happened in the future.
Chapter Three – The Lead Singer
What happened in the future was Max Wrighton. Jo had called Clair to see if she wanted to go out for a drink. It was a Friday and ‘The George and Dragon’ had a couple of bands playing that night. It was one of their regular haunts. Clair quickly agreed to meet Jo there at half past eight. The first band was playing at nine o clock.
On this particular evening the pub was packed with Friday night revellers. Many of the customers were standing or sitting outside in the warm summer evening. The beer garden was full. Everyone was drinking, shouting and laughing for all they were worth. Clair found Jo waiting for her outside and they went in together. They fought their way to the bar to order a drink. They nodded to some of the regulars and chatted to some friends in the queue.
Clair could see the first band setting up on the tiny stage in the far corner. She loved the whole event of setting up and preparation for a gig. She even enjoyed it when an orchestra was tuning up. It was something about the anticipation of what was going to happen. One of the band members looked over towards her and caught her eye. His look of shock and recognition was very marked. He stood tall and looked over at her again. One of the band members interrupted him looking, and he went back to setting up.
Clair wondered what had happened. It was as if he thought he knew her and was surprised to see her. She was sure they had never met before. Jo distracted her and introduced her to an old friend. She forgot the guy for the moment.
After seven or eight minutes they were still waiting to order their drinks.
“Ladies, ladies, let me buy you a drink!”
This was not much of a chat up line, but it was the first of the night, so Clair turned round in sympathy more than expectation. She met face to face with a friendly looking guy who was amazingly still sober. In fact he was the guy in the band who had seen her earlier.
He was wearing some torn jeans and a blue T-shirt with the slogan ‘As Close To Perfect As I Can Be!’ printed in black letters on it. He was about twenty three or twenty four and had an open fresh faced look about him. It was like he spent a lot of time in the outdoors in the sun. His tan was very even and definitely had not been sprayed on. Maybe he was a bit scruffy and unkempt with his clothes, but the man inside the clothes was very inviting and attractive.
His hair was sticking out all over the place but looked great. No gel or hairspray had been harmed during the preparation of his hair this evening. He looked natural, alive and in very good health. His easy going nature came over strongly, as he attempted to buy Clair and Jo a drink. But they were having none of it.
“We are OK thanks. We are the next ones to be served.” Clair started to turn away from him, in the hope that she would get served quickly at the bar.
“What will you have? I’m buying and I will get served before you, I can assure you.” He was persistent. Clair turned back and looked more closely at his features to see a warm and open smiling face with an exuberant look about it. His bright hazel coloured eyes pierced into her for a moment. He was keen and after a few seconds of thought, she decided to let him try to buy them a drink. Clair stood to one side and silently showed him the bar as if to say ‘You try then’.
“You don’t say much do you?” Max stepped forward with a positive grin and a confident stance. While doing this he high fived a couple of people that he obviously knew. He raised his arm to attract the barman.
At this point the main barman immediately walked the full length of the bar from the far side and came right up to the guy to serve him. Clair and Jo were furious with the barman but kept quiet. They looked at each other in frustration. But then they looked again at the pick-up guy with new hope. They really needed a drink. And he seemed like a nice harmless guy.
“So what will it be then?” He attempted to look directly into Clair’s eyes, but it was difficult. She didn’t want to join in.
“We’ll both have pear and mango juice with ice, please.” Said Jo quickly to make sure they actually did get a drink.
“Nice and polite, I like that, Girls should be nice and polite, isn’t that right Duke?” The barman called Duke smiled quietly like he had watched this scene a thousand times before.
“Your usual Max?” Duke asked the guy. “
Yes. That would be great thanks.” The guy called Max thought he was getting lucky. The two girls had not run off in fright.
“There you are ladies, enjoy!” Max passed the drinks to Clair and Jo. He picked up his sparkling water with ice and took a sip from it. Clair thought that it was an odd drink for a guy. She was expecting him to be drinking lager or beer. Why would he not be drinking alcohol?
Max seemed a little light headed but he was in fact quite sober. He had been watching Clair from the moment she walked in. He had noticed her face, her outfit and her shoes. But most of all he had noticed her eyes. He wanted to look into those large, round, brown eyes. The prospect of finally meeting her, after all these years, had put him in a good frame of mind. Now he was standing right next to her, he was in deep trouble. He could barely bring himself to raise his own eyes. ‘What is the matter with me?’ he thought to himself.
Clair had a presence about her that many people around her had experienced before. She always tried to deny it, but she carried an aura about her that could be quite overwhelming. When she worked a crowd with her singing, she would see people reacting to her, but she put it down to her voice alone. At this moment her charisma and charm was having a huge effect on Max. He eventually looked her in the eye briefly before speaking.
“Glad I could help, Ladies. Cheers!”
“Thank you. Cheers!” Clair and Jo said in unison.
“I’ve got to go and do s
ome stuff, I’ll catch you later. Don’t go away!” With that Max disappeared into the ever increasing throng of Friday night drinkers. Clair followed him with her eyes as best she could. He went around the bar and through a door marked ‘Private’.
“OK, so he must be something to do with the bar here.” Jo said.
“It was good of him to buy us drinks, but why did he run off so quickly?” Clair was a bit mystified. She was used to being harassed and hounded by men in bars. She had confidence in her own looks with good reason. She had flawless dark skin and a curvy figure that would be the envy of any top model. Her dark black hair was tied back in a huge bun this evening. If she let her hair down it was long and wavy, and reached down to her waist. But she usually wore her hair up. She was about five foot five inches tall, but with the monster heeled shoes she was wearing this evening, she was not far short of six foot tall.
So she expected all men who approached her to be in attack mode. Men were after whatever they could get. This rather negative opinion of men was drawn from her admittedly limited experience of meeting men in pubs and nightclubs. Most of them were sleazy and creepy in her opinion. This Max chap was all politeness and generosity. It was different to say the least. She liked it that he was actually almost drooling over her and making easy conversation. He was not quite as confident as he first appeared.
“He ran off quickly because of that thing you do.” Jo had spoken to Clair about this before. Clair would stand silently and allow everyone else to do the talking. She did this out of politeness and deference. It came across to many people as a bit scary. You could never work out what she was thinking. At least, this was Jo’s theory.
“I don’t do that thing. You are making it up again.” Clair was quite sure that she didn’t do anything to scare men off. She was also sure that she had behaved quite properly with Max. She was intrigued as to why he would buy them a drink and then disappear so quickly.
