It was a miracle.
From the moment Tadhg stepped into that scruffy garage in Stillorgan, the four of us were a unit.He fit right in as if he’d been playing with us for years, and more than that, he made us complete.Beforehand, we’d been three friends playing music together.After Tadhg arrived, we were a band.
We’d always gone into town for drinks after band practices, and after Tadhg’s first session with us, we took him to the Stag’s Head and found a free table in the snug, right under the stuffed fox.
‘So, um, did I pass the audition?’said Tadhg.
He had.
‘Then I’m getting a round,’ said Tadhg.‘What’s everyone drinking?’
‘You can’t get the first round,’ said Joanna.‘You’re our guest.’
‘No he’s not,’ I said.‘He’s one of us now.Whether he likes it or not.’
I caught Tadhg’s eye and we smiled at each other.
We’d arranged to meet Katie in the pub, and she arrived a few minutes after Tadhg had returned from the bar with the drinks.
‘Hey!’she said.‘I hear they’re deigning to allow you in the band.Which is more than they’ve done for me.’
‘Oh, shut up,’ I said good-naturedly.‘You chose the paper over us.’
‘And I regret it every day,’ said Katie in mock sadness.
‘It’s just as well, though,’ said Brian affectionately.‘What with our torrid romantic history, Cáit.’
‘Nothing worse than bandmates hooking up,’ said Joanna, with the thousand-yard stare of someone who’d survived more than one messy band implosion in her time.
‘Really, nothing?’I tried to keep my voice light.‘Not plague, war, famine?’
‘Nothing,’ said Joanna.‘Things get way too complicated.’
I could hardly start arguing in favour of bandmates hooking up in front of Tadhg so I said, ‘Fair enough.We wouldn’t want things to get complicated.’
‘To keeping it pure and simple!’said Tadhg, raising his pint, and we all clinked our glasses together.
We got ham and cheese toasties for dinner and stayed in the snug for the rest of the night.Tadhg was squashed next to me in the corner, and at around half ten, when Jo, Brian and Katiewere getting into an argument over whetherBuffy the Vampire Slayerwould ever get good again, he turned to me and said, ‘Thanks for this.’
‘Oh, there’s no need to thank me,’ I said.
‘Nah, there is,’ he said.‘Today’s been brilliant.’
I smiled back at him.‘It has, hasn’t it?
‘I think,’ said Tadhg, ‘we could make a pretty good team.’
I couldn’t look away from him.
‘Yeah,’ I said.‘I think we could too.’
‘And obviously,’ said Tadhg, ‘the next step is fame and fortune and world domination.’
‘Well, of course,’ I said.‘It’ll be all private jets and fur coats by Christmas.Bags first go on the jet.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he said.‘We’ll have a jet each.’
‘Lol!’Katie was tapping me on the shoulder.‘Doesn’t theBuffymusical episode make up for that awful episode in the fast-food place?’
