Janey and the Band

Chapter 5

Gunners was a half-lit basement doorway, in a side street near Leicester Square, but once down the stairs and through the door it became fantastically luxurious. As well it might, thought Janey, staggered at the price of admission.

There were two interlocking circular areas. One was softly lit and carpeted in thick black carpet, like fur, where people were eating at mirror-topped tables. The other area screamed with sound, and figures moved on a gleaming black mirror floor. It seemed to Janey at first that it was almost totally pitch black, with startling, moving colours.

She stumbled and clutched someone, who to her annoyance, turned out to be Dave. He laughed and caught her hand in a warm clasp, and when they sat down in a kind of alcove near the stand where a band was playing, Dave sat next to her and would not let her hand go, despite her sly efforts to wriggle it free.

As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness she found she could see quite well after all. The decor was certainly fantastic.  The low seating was upholstered in the same silky carpeting; hidden laser lights changed patterns across the ceiling mirrors.

'Very ritzy,' said Ronnie, unimpressed. 'The band's lousy.'

'Under-rehearsed,' agreed Dave. 'And they don't know their instruments.'

'How did they ever get a booking in a place like this?'

'The end one, his father is a director of Wessex Television.'

'Is he the one you want to join the group?'

'No, we're waiting to hear a guy called Steve Morris. He's in the band that comes on later.'

For a while they sat smoking and drinking, listening morosely to the repetitive, trite, boy band music.

'I don't see how they manage to be so bad,' said Janey, puzzled.'I mean in that last song, all they needed to do was to change the key half way, D, say, instead of C and have the bass come in across the drums. And surely they can hear the rhythm guitar is out of tune?'

The two music students looked at her. She flushed and bit her lip.

'What are you going to do with that voice of yours? You coming to our place?'  asked Dave.

Janey hunched her shoulder and turned away. For a while she had forgotten her big decision on the stage earlier. But now the excitement had died down, the cold desolation of it swept over her again. She had no illusions about the life she would have to lead as a professional singer. It sounded glamorous, but it wasn't.  You had to give up too much. She sat looking blindly at the dancers, the bones in her face gleamed palely and her eyes were shadowed.

Several times lately she had thought it would be nice to have a steady boy friend to go out with - if she could ever get Mike out of her hair long enough to find one. But would there be any point now? She would be working too hard, and then she would have to go abroad to study and then she would be travelling, always travelling, and what kind of boy would put up with that? She had read the life stories of her favourite singers. Messy, brief relationships. She couldn't stand that. Better nothing at all.

 She shivered, and felt colder and lonelier than she had ever been in her life before. She was beginning to realise the full cost of her commitment. Depression settled over her.

Dave's eyes questioned Mike, who shrugged and spread his hands.

'How long before the other lot come on?'

He shrugged again. 'Half-hour, maybe.'

'I can't stand this,' said Dave. 'Dance with me, Janey?'

'All right.'

They moved out on the black mirror floor, and as if given a cue, the lights dimmed further, the energetic beat banged to an end and was replaced by an impossibly slow, smoochy number. The dancers moved into each other's arms. Dave saw her face and could have laughed aloud.

Janey was horrified, embarrassingly aware of him now.

'I can't do this kind of dancing.' She wondered how she could get off the floor.

'It's easy.' He reached for her, expecting awkwardness, but to his surprise she came into his arms smoothly and naturally. She moved almost as beautifully as she sang, he thought. She put her hands to his shoulders and he drew her closer. She fitted perfectly.

He waited for her self-consciousness to settle, then drew her against him, closer still. He thought she would pull away then, instead she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. He heard her sigh and felt her relax. He put his cheek against her hair.

Janey felt protected and warm.  It was one of her favourite tunes. The cold desolation went away.  

At the end of the third slow number, the lights on the dance floor went out briefly, and Dave lifted her chin and kissed her softly, and felt her lips shake under his. Then the lights returned and the heavy beat started again. It had happened so quickly Janey half-wondered if she had imagined it, until she saw Dave smiling at her.

Ronnie, watching them, gave a groan.

'What's the matter?'

Ronnie jerked his head at the two on the dance floor. 'Romeo and Juliet.'

Mike regarded them gloomily. Ronnie was right. No one looking at them could doubt it. They seemed to belong together. If only Janey wasn't so young and inexperienced. Well, he'd tried to stop it before it started.

'What do you know about him, Ronnie?'

'He's all right. Clever. Excellent musician - the best. Big future everyone thinks. Father's a barrister, very well-off, out of our league...' Ronnie hesitated. 'But...there's this wild streak. Unpredictable. And he's got a temper. Usually held down with iron bars, but boy, you should see him when they give way. He...'

Mike interrupted. 'Girls?'

'Whenever and however he wants them,' said Ronnie, simply.

'Oh, great!' Mike said, despairingly. 'Very suitable for a fifteen-year old who hasn't been around at all. I can't handle this.'

'No chance,' Ronnie agreed. 'I've never seen him go overboard like this before, and I've never known him to go for anyone as young as Janey.'

'There must be something I can do.'

'You'll have to cool it down.'

'Fine. Thanks. Suppose you tell me how.'

Ronnie considered, through half-closed eyes. 'Socialise it?'

'What?'

'If we bring Janey into the band, they'll be meeting where you can keep an eye on what's happening. There'll be no time for lone hunting. I mean Dave's going to be pretty busy with College work and getting the group together. We all are.'

'How do you mean, bring her into the band? I thought we'd decided we wanted four blokes. I'm not going on the road with my sister.'

'Not as a singer. What about the management side? We need someone to look after that side of things. Arranging bookings, keeping records, answering letters. Janey can type.'

Mike looked at Ronnie, his eyes narrowed. It was a clever idea. He could see that such a set up would put all kinds of restraints on Dave. Seeing Janey regularly in an unromantic setting might settle the whole thing, or at least slow it down until Janey was better able to look after herself. It would also keep Janey pretty tied-up and out of the way of the older boys at school too.

'Can you imagine what she'll say if I suggest it?'

'Let Dave do the suggesting.'

Mike said, bluntly, 'Ronnie, how far would he go?'

He shrugged. 'I don't know. The law wouldn't stop him. I don't think he'd do anything unless Janey gave him the go-ahead.'

'What's she doing out there then?'

'I don't know,' said Ronnie, slowly.  'She's in a funny mood tonight. What's worrying me is, suppose she doesn't give him the go-ahead at all? Dave's not used to getting the run-around from a girl he wants.'

Chapter 6

Copyright Liz Berry 2003. All rights reserved.