Love's Dilemma (Sixty Minute Romance)

by Naomi Davies

  The band walked off the stage, leaving a very grumpy looking Robbie Williams act that had to follow them. There was no way he could top that performance. He kicked off with ‘Let me entertain you’. It sounded hollow and ordinary by comparison.

  It took a few minutes to settle down in the back room of the hall. Jo and Clair were seated together, emotionally exhausted. They had given out the most in the performance. The rest of the band was reconsidering their decision to split up. After packing up their things they went for a drink and a wind down in a pub nearby. Some of the pub customers had seen the concert and came over to say thank you. Clair’s phone rang and her dad wanted to know where she was. Ten minutes later she had the dubious and unexpected pleasure of introducing Max to them, as well as the rest of the band.

  “I am so proud of you; I had forgotten what you were like, how good you are.” Aaron Holding was beside himself, he had obviously been crying.

  Clair’s mum just smiled and said ‘Well done’ quietly in her ear. They both shook Max’s hand and he was polite and well behaved in return. His hair was still a mess and his outfit didn’t match, but they seemed to be pleased to meet him. Clair wished he would stop using the word ‘Cool’ when he spoke to them. Max looked over to Clair and said out loud.

  “Your Ma and Pa are cool!” It was embarrassing and a little bit endearing at the same time. Max had his own way with people that was unique. There was no point trying to change him.

  Clair couldn’t work out what her parents’ reaction to Max was. Did they like him or not? She would find out later on. Mercifully, Mr and Mrs Holding left after twenty minutes and Clair could relax once more in the company of Max and the band.

  “See you later!” they said to Clair and Jo as they left. Jo was staying the night with them when she and Clair got home.

  “Well thanks Clair, you have turned this band around. It was better than I could have imagined.” Max drew near to Clair and sat with his arm around her shoulders.

  “Are you going to sign up for more?” Max was being forthright and positive. He didn’t have a negative bone in his body.

  “I might. Let’s see how things go shall we?” Clair wanted to say a straight out ‘Yes’. But something was holding her back. She wasn’t quite sure about the arm around the shoulders thing, but she let it stay there. She would much rather her parents had given her a huge reassuring hug. She wasn’t quite ready for a full on hug with Max,

  “OK, I’ll pick you up tomorrow and we’ll spend a bit of time talking about it. How does that sound?” Max wanted to spend the whole day with this magical woman. The prospect of a second ride on Max’s motorbike loomed for Clair.

  “Have you got a car?” Clair asked in hope, rather than expectation.

  “No way, that would be far too boring! You can wear that nice suit thing you had on the other day.” Max winked at her.

  “Is this a date? Or do you really want to talk about the band and my singing?” Clair already knew the answer.

  “Of course it’s a date!” Max was on a high after the concert, plus he didn’t do subtle. He wanted a full on proper date with Clair. Why wouldn’t he?

  “Hmm. I’ll come, but I’ll wear something a bit more decent than my suit. And I’ll consider whether it is a date depending on how nice you are to me.” Max kissed her on both cheeks and did a loud ‘Woo Hoo!’ to the world.

  “You will be treated better than royalty. I promise!” Max had a wide grin on his lovely tanned, fresh face.

  “I don’t think many royal princesses have been picked up on a motorbike.” She smiled wryly. Clair was looking forward to tomorrow already. Max couldn’t hide his feelings and it had been obvious to Clair from their first meeting that he wanted to go out with her.

  Chapter Eight – A Change Of Heart

  Clair and Jo crept into the house at one o’clock in the morning, hoping not to wake Clair’s parents up. They negotiated the hallway on tip toe and started on up the stairs. A voice from the dining room called out.

  “Clair, can you come in here please?” It was Mr Holding.

  Jo looked at Clair as if to say ‘What do I do?’ Clair pointed upstairs and Jo carried on up to Clair’s room.

  “I’ll be up soon.” Clair whispered to Jo.

  She slowly came back down and opened the door to the dining room. Both her parents were sitting at the table. Their expressions were calm but Clair knew that this was a battle of wills that had been brewing for many years. Clair had finally lit the fuse and brought things to a head. This was not going to be pretty.

  “Hi Ma, Hi Pa.” Clair looked at her parents. They were in their late fifties but looked a lot younger. Her mother was slim and tall. Her hair was exactly the same as Clair’s and, like Clair, she usually wore it up in a bun. Mr Holding was also quite tall, and due to his obsession with the gym, he looked like he had just walked in off a Mr Universe competition. Clair loved the fact that her mum and dad looked so good, and looked after themselves. This was in complete contrast to her wider family who were mainly unhealthy and overweight.

  Clair noticed that they were both wearing their dressing gowns. They had been waiting for her to return for quite a while.

  “We need to talk to you, Clair.” Clair’s throat suddenly went dry and closed up tight. She managed to croak something back and sat down opposite them. She waited.

  “We are not happy for you to be mixing with these people you were with tonight, Clair. They are rowdy and unruly and you are better than them. You should be mixing with your own kind, not with these white people.” Clair was shocked as she heard this statement with the word ‘white’ screaming out at her. She knew their hopes for her to one day marry ‘A nice black boy from church’; they voiced it often, in fact every time she had come home in the past with someone unsuitable. In the end she had stopped bringing any of her dates home. It wasn’t worth the trouble.

  “We have not spent thousands of pounds on your education, only to see you fritter it all away on people who are not worthy of you. What have you got to say about it?” Mr Holding never really raised his voice, but Clair could feel the deep set feelings behind his words.

  Clair had little that she could say in the face of what Mr Holding had said.

  “They are just friends who sing in a band. They are my friends.”

  “But you are not a club singer. That is beneath you. You are a fully qualified solicitor with your career and life before you. How can you turn away from this and start with your singing again. It will get you nowhere.”

  “I am not turning away from anything; I have just joined the band for a few months to help them out. It won’t affect my work in any way.” Clair was feeling hot and quite upset. This was never going to be easy.

  They sat and talked for over an hour. They really talked at each other, rather than with each other. There was no meeting of minds. Clair’s mum hardly said anything, other than to agree with what her dad was saying.

  “I’m tired, is it alright if I go to bed? Jo is upstairs.” Clair was very tired and weary.

  “Think about what we have said, Clair. You are beautiful and talented. We don’t want to see you wasting it away on a boy like that.” Mr Holding finally summarised the main crux of the problem. The problem was Max.

  Clair said a quiet ‘Goodnight’ to her parents and went up to see Jo. She was numb and didn’t say much to her. She didn’t need to. Clair got changed and into the double bed with Jo. They held each other with a deep understanding and shed a few tears before falling asleep.

  It was at seven o’clock the next morning that Clair and Jo reviewed what had happened with her mum and dad.

  “I’m not going out with Max, am I? He is not husband material, is he?”

  “Well that’s not completely true. You are going out with him today, for some strange reason that I cannot work out. But I agree, I can’t see you as a long term couple. As your dad said, ‘He’s a white boy’.” Jo teased Clair but it was a bit close to the edge. She didn’t reta
liate.

  “Max is different and a bit wild. That is what is so good about him. You never know quite what to expect from him. That is what I like about him.”

  “He certainly is wild, I’ll give you that!” Jo pondered the thought of Clair and Max together.

  “What does Max do? What is his job?” Jo asked.

  “You know, I was thinking about that the other day. I still have no idea at all. I’ll ask him today.” Clair suddenly feared that he was a low life loser who did nothing in the way of a decent job.

  At about half past nine the girls appeared for breakfast. They had enjoyed their early morning time getting ready for the day. When they reached the kitchen door they were amazed to see that Max was already there, and was regaling Clair’s mum and dad with his life history. He had been supplied with a bacon butty and was enthusiastically devouring it while talking. He was speaking with his mouth full. It was not pretty but it was entertaining. He was wearing a light green T-shirt with the slogan ‘I’m being green’ printed on it in dark green.

  Clair walked around the kitchen with her jaw dropped, as Aaron and Cora Holding laughed and clapped at the anecdotes Max was telling. When he told them about the tragic death of both of his parents in a sailing accident Cora gave him a hug of sympathy and said.

  “You need another bacon butty.” She went off to prepare it.

  “Hi babe” Max said to Clair as she down next to him.

  “Don’t call me babe!”

  “OK babe!” Max was again on top form.

  “How long have you been here? How did you get in?” Clair was amazed at the turn of events. She was starting to join in the laughing. It was quite infectious.

  “I got here about an hour ago. Your folks are pretty cool you know. They let me in, and said they wanted to talk to me anyhow. They told me I couldn’t take you out and I wasn’t the sort of guy they wanted mixing with their daughter. Then I had a chat with them and here I am!”

  “My parents are not cool!” Clair returned, still smiling and unsure of her ground.

  Her dad looked over with a pained expression and then a gentle smile. He opened the palms of his hands and shrugged his shoulders as if to say. ‘OK, I might have been wrong about this guy!’

  “Yes, babe, they are cool. They started telling me about how much they disapproved of me taking you out, and ended up making me breakfast. That is very cool.” Max spoke as if this type of turnaround was to be expected and quite normal.

  “Stop calling me babe!” Clair hated the name.

  “OK babe.” Max couldn’t help himself.

  Clair turned her gaze towards her dad.

  “How! What! Who!....” Clair was not making much sense. She tried again.

  “What has happened, dad? Mum?” Clair was straining with curiosity to know what had happened. She was almost afraid to find out what had happened.

  “Well I am not quite sure of all the details, but hearing Max talk about you in the way that he did, made us realise that he is a good guy. He likes you a great deal Clair!” Cora returned with Max’s second bacon butty.

  “What did he say about me?” Clair was starting to feel hot again.

  Max was now also getting into difficulties.

  “Hold on a minute ma and pa. That was classified information for your ears only.” His face was turning red and there were beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

  “We will let Max tell you for himself. It will sound better that way.” Aaron was still smiling and enjoying the conversation.

  Jo had sat quietly through all this and had her breakfast. She left to go to her Saturday job. She went round the table kissing everyone before she left.

  “You all have a good day!” were her parting words. Jo smiled at the scene she had witnessed. She wished she had a home life like Clair’s.

  “I’m sorry about all that Jo. I’m not sure what has happened.”

  Clair saw Jo to the door and stole a minute with her before returning to breakfast in a bit of a daze.

  “We’ll clear the breakfast things up. You two youngsters go off and enjoy your day.” Aaron and Cora looked like they were in bliss.

  “I’ll go and finish getting ready.” Clair ran up the stairs two steps at a time.

  “She looked ready to me. Did she look ready to you?” Said Max, a little puzzled.

  “Ha, ha ,ha, you have much to learn!” Aaron slapped Max on the back and shook his hand.

  Twenty minutes later Clair appeared in her tight blue jeans and sneakers. She wore a hoody sweatshirt over her blouse and looked ready to kill.

  “You look hot!” Max exclaimed.

  Clair looked please at his reaction. Her dad was less pleased.

  “I do not want to hear this.” Aaron left the room in a hurry.

  “Do you want to tell me about what has gone on here?” Clair put out her right hand and lifted Max’s chin up to force him to look at her. She stared deeply into his eyes to try and guess even half of the story.

  “I’ll tell you after we get there.” Max handed Clair a brand new helmet.

  “I got you a bigger helmet, you have a big head!”

  “Well thanks, I guess.” Clair took the helmet and put it on as they walked out to the awaiting motorbike.

  They both got on the motorbike and rode off. Clair had no idea where he was taking her, and it didn’t seem to matter. She once again enjoyed the feel of the wind as they rode the bike. She decided to hold onto Max rather than the special seat handle she was supposed to use. Holding Max was much better. She loved looking around. It seemed like you could see and feel more from a bike rather than a car.

  The business of Clair holding onto Max was an unexpected pleasure and he had to really concentrate on his driving for the whole trip.

  After a long hot ninety minutes, the destination did begin to matter. Where was Max taking her? After two hours he pulled into a car park on the seafront at Bognor Regis.

  “Did you bring a swimming costume babe? You might need one.” Max shouted in a muffled voice through his visor.

  “No! You didn’t tell me.” Her voice sounded odd. She realised that it was ridiculous holding a conversation with helmets on so she took hers off.

  “Well the weather looks glorious today, and I love swimming in the sea.” Max was beaming all over. His hair was blowing around, out of control which made him look wonderful. The sun seemed to almost enjoy flickering across his tanned face and deep cut features. Clair enjoyed his look and his carefree way of living. It was making her start to look at Max himself.

  “Have you got a swimming costume with you?” Clair dared to ask.

  “No way, I’ll just go in like this. I might take my T-shirt off.”

  “But what about towels?” she asked fearing the worst.

  “I’ll dry off in the sun.” Max was quite at ease with these arrangements. Clair was not as spontaneous and easy going as Max and thought for a while.

  “If I decide to go for a dip I’ll buy a costume from one of the shops here. And… I’ll buy us both towels.”

  “But how do we take them back home babe?” Max asked.

  “I’ll buy a rucksack to carry them. How is that? Stop calling me babe!”

  “OK babelicious! Sounds like a plan. Let’s go and look at the sea for a while and talk first.” This was exactly what was in Clair’s mind as well. She wanted to know how Max had brought about such a transformation in her parents’ attitude. She decided to overlook the term ‘babelicious’ for the moment. Max grabbed her hand and they ran onto the beach. The stones were impossible to run on, so they fell over on top of one another. Clair gave out a loud scream and a laugh. Some other beach visitors looked over at them and they started to behave themselves again.

  They eventually found a small spot on the crowded shingle beach and sat down still laughing and looked out to sea. It was a glorious sight, with full sunshine and a cooling sea breeze. Children were paddling in the shallows, and other people were fooling around in the sea. They sa
t close to each other and fiddled with some of the stones while they took it all in. Their bodies were touching, side by side.

  “What did you say to my parents this morning Max?” Clair broke the long silence.

  “Don’t hit me!” Max turned and looked at her.

  “Max?” What had he done?

  “I embellished the truth to make me sound as good as possible. It worked a treat.” Max’s eyes met with Clair’s.

  “That is what I was afraid of. Come on then, out with it!” Clair was finding it hard to be truly angry. She was more fearful about how far over the line of truth and lies he had stepped.

  “There were three things actually. The first thing I told them was when they asked me what my career was. I told them I didn’t really have one as I was concentrating on my music at the moment. They then accused me of bringing you down to the gutter. So I told them that I was extremely wealthy, having inherited half of my family’s fortune. My sister Sandy got the other half.”

  “So you lied to them and you do not have a job.” This was not going well. Clair moved away from Max on hearing this.

  “Come back here!” Max demanded.

  Clair moved back and they were touching again. That was better.

  “It was nearly a lie. I do inherit a fortune on my twenty fifth birthday, next year. Until then I am a pauper. Sandy already has hers as she was twenty five when they got killed. So I am helping her spend all her money until I can get my half of it.”

  “You have a fortune?” Clair was unsure whether to believe this.

  “Yes I do, Babelicious, or I will do in January. That’s not so bad is it?”

  Clair struggled to get past the ‘Babelicious’ word again, she wanted to hear more.

  “How much?” Clair said it before she could stop it!

  “Errr. That’s got you interested in me, eh?”

  “Sorry, it just came out, I’m embarrassed.” Clair looked away from Max.

  “It’s only just over two million, nothing to write home about. But your folks liked the sound of it.”