Bloody Katie, she knows me too well.
‘No!’I said.‘Absolutely none.Don’t worry, it’s not like before.’
‘Really?’said Katie.
‘Really,’ I said.‘This time, I know what I’m doing.’
But now, in Tadhg’s kitchen, I’m not sure I do know what I’m doing.I’m not even sure I managed to sound all that casual when I asked him about the dinner.Maybe it’s for the best if he tells me it was a hot date.
Tadhg sighs.‘It was just Hugo.’
So it wasn’t a date.Unless Tadhg is into men as well as women now, in which case good for him, but not good for me, because although the thought of Tadhg with another man is pretty hot in theory, it would not be hot at all for me in reality; in reality I don’t want him to be with anyone else of any gender …
Bloody hell, this is getting ridiculous.
‘Um, who’s Hugo?’I say.
‘Hugo,’ says Tadhg, and now his face is so grim I stop worrying that Hugo was Tadhg’s date, ‘thinks he’s my manager.’
I’m embarrassed by how relieved I am to hear this.
‘And isn’t he?’I hand him a cup of tea.We’re taking turns to handle tea duties now.I’m getting very familiar with his kitchen.
‘Thanks.’Tadhg takes the cup.‘And no, he isn’t, not if I can help it.’
‘Then why …?’I ask gently.
Tadhg sighs.‘His dad, Jim, was my manager.He signed me after ‘Winter Without You’ broke through.He was brilliant.Really brilliant.He got me that Glastonbury slot.He’s basically why I broke America.And he was really sound too.Just the perfect manager.’
‘So what happened to him?’I say, though I can guess.
‘He died a few months ago,’ says Tadhg.‘Which was … yeah.It was a shock.He just dropped dead of a heart attack.’He takes a long breath.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say.
He nods his acknowledgement.‘Anyway, he owned the management company and his son Hugo was working for him, managing a few other acts, but after he died Hugo inherited Jim’s artists as well as the company.’
‘Ah,’ I say.‘And I take it you don’t … see eye to eye?’
‘No, we do not,’ says Tadhg.‘God love him, he’s not the worst person in the world, but we just don’t have the same outlook.I’d have trusted his dad with my life but …’ He trails off.
‘You don’t trust Hugo?’
Tadhg sighs.‘I suppose I don’t, really.Not the way I trusted Jim.And Hugo knows I’m actively looking for new management.Which is why he decided to pop over from London to try and persuade me to stay.Hence the dinner last night.’He rolls his eyes.‘I almost forgot about it.He told me last week that he was coming over but I suppose I tried to push it out of my mind.’
‘So how did it go?’
‘Not great,’ says Tadhg.‘He’s obsessed with shaking things up – his words, not mine.He’s into all that disruptor bollocks.’
‘And how does he want you to do that?’
‘Oh, he has many ideas.’Tadhg sits on the edge of the kitchen table, his long legs stretched out in front of him.‘There’s acouple of producers he wants me to work with, one in Sweden and one in America.Max Ahlberg and Jack Johns.He thinks I should have some songwriting sessions with them.’
It is, I know, ridiculous of me to feel a twinge of jealousy at the thought of Tadhg working with professional producers, but I do.
‘What do you think?’I say.‘Do you want to be, um, shaken up?’
To my surprise he says, ‘Well, maybe.’
