Love Me Till Wednesday (Sapphire Stars #1)

17

17

Friday evening soon came around. Lisa rushed across London to catch the 17:40 from Euston. The train was packed. She should have booked a seat. She eventually got to sit down after Crewe.

Lisa was travelling light this weekend. She’d just bought a change of clothes, a few toiletries, and her new notebook. She’d found her old notebook full of unused lyrics, but now she was 30 years older and wiser they felt wrong, so she'd started putting some new ones together.

She grabbed her rucksack from the overhead luggage rack as the train finally pulled into Penrith a mere two hours later than scheduled. Not a good start to her weekend away. Pete was standing in the station foyer.

She ran over to him and gave him a hug. ‘I’m so sorry. I was going to text you, but my phone signal disappeared half an hour ago. Have you been waiting long?’

‘It’s ok. I kept an eye on the train app. I could see how late you were going to be,’ he said as he took her bag from her. ‘You’ve had a shitty journey. Have you eaten?’

‘Only the uninspiring ham sandwich I grabbed in Euston before I set off.’

‘The bad news is the pub stopped serving food half an hour ago, so you’re going to have to make do with my cooking,’ Pete said as they walked out into the car park and headed towards a battered old Ford Fiesta. ‘The good news is my chilli is still legendary, as you’ll find out shortly. I made some earlier in case your train was delayed.’

‘Have you got a crystal ball?’

He raised a cheeky eyebrow at her as he put her rucksack in the boot.

‘Don’t do the “yes, that’s why I walk funny” joke.’ She laughed.

‘As if I would,’ he grinned. ‘Let’s just say I’ve done that journey a few times over the years and I can count on the fingers of one hand when it actually arrived on time. It could’ve been worse. I even filled up the car this afternoon in case I needed to rescue you from Lancaster.’

They both got into the car. Pete plugged his phone into the USB lead. ‘We’ve got a half-hour drive to my house. Fancy some music?’

‘Go on then.’

Pete started tapping on the phone. She was curious about what he’d selected. As he drove out of the station car park, the familiar opening chords of the first track of the Sapphire Stars album came through the speakers.

An interesting choice. ‘Isn’t it a bit vain to listen to our own music?’

‘I thought it would get us in the mood,’ Pete said.

Lisa tensed. What did he mean by that? Had Mel been right about him planning to seduce her?

He must’ve sensed her discomfort. ‘For songwriting, nothing else.’

Of course, he’d meant that. She better explain. ‘Sorry. I know you said that in London but it’s something Mel said made me worry you might have got the wrong idea.’

‘She’s still up to her old matchmaking tricks then?’

‘No. Actually, she warned me off you. ’

‘Charming,’ he laughed.

‘I think she’s worried I’ll disappear up here, never to be seen again.’

‘Well, there’s no chance of that.’ Pete sounded down again. ‘I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to stay up here myself.’

‘I thought you loved it here.’

‘I do. But I’ve had no luck on the job-hunting front. I’m thinking of moving down south again. There’s more session work down there.’

‘But you said you’d had enough of that.’

‘I have, but I need to pay my way somehow. It’s either that or bar work, and I don’t fancy that at my age. Beggars can’t be choosers.’

‘Where will you move to?’

‘I don’t know yet. A cheap one-bed flat somewhere on the outskirts of London, I guess. I haven’t started looking.’

‘So you’re going to sell your house?’

‘No, I’d rather rent it out. Then, I can come back when I’m in a better financial position. I should make some decent money from it as a holiday let.’

Lisa thought for a moment. ‘I guess you could move in with me. I’ve got a spare room now. And I’ll still have one when I move.’

Pete looked surprised. ‘I wasn’t angling for that.’

‘I know. You don’t have to sound so horrified. But it would make sense. I won’t charge you rent then we can concentrate on the songwriting. Just keep the house tidy while I’m out at work. We can write in the evenings and at weekends.’

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. After all, they’d lived together before.

‘I’m not being an ungrateful sod,’ he said. ‘But we better see how we get on this weekend first. You might hate the sight of me by Sunday lunchtime.’

‘Or you might get fed up with me. ’

‘As long as you don’t spend hours in the bathroom washing your hair like you used to, I’m sure we’ll get on fine.’

‘Cheeky bugger! You used to take ages gelling and drying your hair.’

He laughed. ‘It doesn’t take as long now. Anyway, I wasn’t that bad.’

‘I think you’ll find you were. You’ll have your own en-suite, so we can both spend as long we like without bothering one another.’

‘It might just work then,’ he grinned.

Pete was messing around on his keyboard with the melody. ’I think it should be faster.’

Lisa laughed. ‘It’s supposed to be a ballad!’

They’d had similar conversations so often the first time around. It was strangely comforting to have the same arguments now. Without a record company breathing down their necks, songwriting had become enjoyable again. They’d completed one song yesterday morning - an upbeat number about starting again appropriately. Then they’d taken the afternoon off to do some touristy things around the lake. Now, after a lie-in, they were trying to get a second song sorted out before Lisa had to head back to London.

‘There’s something not quite right,’ Pete said. ‘I think I’ve worn out my creative muse for the weekend. Let’s knock it on the head. Do you fancy Sunday lunch at the pub?’

Lisa was feeling jaded as well. ‘Sounds like an excellent idea.’

They walked down the lane into the village.

‘Have you enjoyed this weekend?’ Pete asked.

‘Yeah, I have.’ Much more than she thought, but it seemed rude to say that .

‘Good. So have I. I’ve been thinking,’ he said.

‘About what?’

‘If I’m going to move back to London again, Ed’s already down there, and Tez is living on the south coast.’

‘And?’

‘Why don’t we have a go at getting everyone together again?’

She’d been thinking along similar lines but there was one thing that had been holding her back. ‘Won’t it feel odd without Jonny?’

‘It’s going to feel weird anyway. We’ll have to find a new bass player, assuming the other two are up for it. The alternative is we record stuff on our own, but I think that will feel even more weird.’

He had a point. ‘Would they be up for it, though?’

‘Ed will. He’s been dropping hints for ages. I don’t know about Tez, but it won’t hurt to ask. Are you ok if I float the idea?’

‘Go on then.’

‘Are you sure you’re on board with it?’ He must’ve sensed she was feeling apprehensive.

‘Yeah. It’s all happening so fast, that’s all.’

‘That’s a good thing, isn’t it?’

‘I guess so.’

Try to sound more enthusiastic!

‘Sorry,’ she added. ‘Life’s been so dull for ages, I can’t quite believe we might actually be going to play together again.’