‘So, I take it none of the auditions have gone that well?’ Fin said in response to Billy.
‘Nah. But to be honest, we’ve had our eye on you,’ Nate informed him.
Fin shook his head, gulped his beer, and glanced at me with a look of confusion. I shrugged. He turned back to Nate. ‘I... I don’t really get that.’
Nate and Billy exchanged glances before Nate began the story. ‘Okay, a wee while ago you were in here all dressed up like an accountant or something. You looked pissed sitting with your mates. But then you somehow ended up on stage, singing like a pro, man. It was like you’d been zapped by aliens or something. You know, given super powers or whatever. We were blown away. But you didn’t seem in the right frame of mind to be approached back then so we bided our time.’
‘Aye, and then we’ve seen you a couple more times up there today. You’ve got some kind of split personality type of thing going on; a real case of the Jekyll and Hyde’s. Seriously, when you get up on that stage, you transform from this business suit wearing, serious, straight laced dude into a rock god. It’s a freaky thing to watch. We all knew we wanted you for the band, but, well, it’s not the kind of thing you say to a total stranger, is it? “Hey pal, you’re a freak, wanna sing in our band? You’ll fit right in.”’ Everyone round the table laughed again.
Another guy who had been introduced as Titch the drummer—which, let me tell you was totally ironic considering the fact he wasanothergiant—joined the conversation. ‘Look, Fin, we’re not under any illusions that we’re going to be rich and famous. But we love music and we know we’ve got potential. We just need the right guy up front once again so we can go out there and show folk what we’re made of.’
‘And you think I’m the one to help you do that?’ Fin didn’t sound convinced.
‘Weknowyou are, mate. If what we’ve seen you do up there on that stage...’ He gestured to where a mousy-looking guy was singing ‘Karma Police’ by Radiohead. ‘…is what you’re capable of in a karaoke club, then we can’t wait to see what you do rocking out on a stage with a live band and original material.’ The rest of the people round the table voiced their agreement with Titch.
Fin turned and gazed at me where I sat on his lap. His eyes were begging for me to say something. I stroked my finger down his cheek tenderly and smiled. ‘I agree with these guys. I think you should go for it.’
His eyes widened. ‘You do? Seriously?’
‘Absolutely. They’re right. You are an amazing performer, Fin. You just need somewhere to showcase your talent. You have nothing to lose.’
He chewed his lip for a moment and then grinned. Turning back to the guys at the table, he held up his beer bottle. ‘What the hell. I’m in.’ Everyone at the table erupted into applause and cheers. Beer bottles were clinked, hands shaken, and backs slapped.
‘So, what do you guys call this band of yours, anyway?’
Once again, the band members shared knowing glances. ‘Now, that’s the freaky part, mate. We’re calledMrHyde.’
The rest of the evening was spent getting to know the guys from Mr Hyde and making arrangements for them to meet up and rehearse. Numbers were swapped, many beers were consumed, and there were a lot of laughs. They were such a cool bunch, despite first impressions, and regardless of how patronising it may sound, I was so proud of Fin. I didn’t mind sharing his attention for the evening.
My new man, the lead singer.
Because, let’s face it, I couldn’t resist him after he had sung especially for me, and I was going to give in. I was lying to myself if I thought otherwise. It somehow didn’t matter that the situation was escalating like a runaway train going downhill. I just hoped there were no huge branches on the track...
Just thinking about him on stage did funny things to my insides and made me want a future with him. Ihadpromised myself I wouldn’t jump back into bed with him so soon, but after that song, things had shifted. My whole world had tilted on its axis and the realisation had hit me thatsomething in my life suddenly had the potential to have a huge impact. He felt like ‘the one’, and regardless of how much I told myself not to rush, my heart wasn’t listening. They say the heart wants what the heart wants, and my heart wanted to ignore my head and go full pelt, head first into the deep with this guy who seemed to have some kind of dual personality.
But that just made him all the more attractive and mysterious.
It turned out the name they had chosen for the band, Mr Hyde, hadn’t been some kind of happy accident. Their band personae were their badass alter-egos. Nate, the lead guitarist, was an I.T. consultant by day, Billy was a Math teacher, and Titch—whose given name was David—was a property developer.
They all said they felt from the get go that Fin was right for the band, simply by the way he had got on stage in his suit and rocked out like a completely different person. And if I had believed in fate, I would have agreed that perhaps ithadbeen Kismet at work. In fact, the more I thought things through, the more I was beginning to believe...
* * *
After bidding the group of friends goodnight, Fin and I made our way outside. He took my hand and spun me round to face him. ‘Hey, we didn’t finish off the conversation we started earlier.’
I thought back to the moment he took me in his arms when he had finished serenading me with Aqualung’s ‘Strange and Beautiful’.
I felt my cheeks heat and was thankful we were outside in the dark of the Edinburgh night. ‘Oh, yeah. We kind of got side-tracked, I suppose.’
He released my hand, and stepping towards me, he slipped his fingers into my hair and stroked my cheeks with his thumb. ‘I know we said we’d take this slow... and I really want to respect your need to do that, and I do. Ireallydo. But... I can’t help the fact that I want you, Star. When we’re apart, I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to get this whole thing right, but I’m scared of messing up again, so please set the pace here. Tell me what you want...please?’
Gazing up into his hooded eyes, I saw such sincerity, need, and desire all mixed together, and my mind was made up. ‘I want you too, Fin.’
We almost ran across the city in the direction of his apartment block, only sharing heat-filled glances and smiles. A promise-filled silence hung heavily in the air between us and I was sure passers-by could read what was on our minds. But I didn’t care. Not even a little bit. I let him lead me, trying to keep up with his long-legged, determined strides.
He stopped abruptly at a crossing point, hit the button to cease the relentless evening traffic, and turned to me. ‘Are we crazy? Are we going completely mental, Star? We’ve known each other for what... two minutes in the great scheme of things.’
My heart plummeted in my chest. ‘We... I mean, I can go home—’
