Don't You Remember (11 page)

Johnny looked at the card and gave a big huge warm smile. This was what it was all about, the moment he had been waiting for.

“Johnny Cromwell,” he said returning the handshake. “Pleased to meet you, Michael.”

“Johnny Cromwell. Great name. Is that your name or your stage name?”

“It’s my name and my stage name.”

“It’s a really good name,” Michael said, leaning over to talk into Johnny’s ear. “It’s noisy, can we go over there and talk?”

Johnny nodded and followed Michael to a table.

“I’ve watched your show every night this week. You seem to have a bit of a following already. How long have you been performing?”

“Just over six months.”

“Really? Wow, you’re a natural. I would have thought you’d been performing for years. Johnny, how about you let us represent you? We can set up some shows for you, organize a recording and get you a record deal. I think you will be an easy sell. Are you interested? How does that sound?”

“Too good to be true.”

“Oh, I’m telling you the truth. I can make things happen for you. Tell you what, can you come and meet me at the office tomorrow? Meet the team, let us tell you what we can do for you. And, of course, get you to sign a contract with us.”

“Sure I can do that,” Johnny nodded.

“Can you be at the office at midday?”

Johnny looked at the address on the card. “Yes.”

“Well, Johnny Cromwell, it was very nice to meet you and I look forward to representing you,” Michael put his hand out again for a gentleman’s shake. Johnny met his hand and shook back smiling and amazed. He watched Michael leave the bar and sat for a moment on his chair stunned that this was finally happening. He was desperate to tell Jen and would call again first thing in the morning.

*****

The next day Johnny woke up at about 9am. He sat up in his single bed with his feet on the floor and his elbows rested on his knees as he ruffled his hair, fetched a glass of water and sat back down on his bed yawning. He took a deep breath, stretched and then stood up, remembering he had to get to midtown by midday to meet Michael. Johnny looked at his watch at decided to put on his jeans and then grabbed some coins and walked to the public phone in the hallway. He dialled Jen’s number but the message notice said there was no service. He was slightly annoyed, desperate to share his good news. He decided to write again and hope that the post reached Jen.

Johnny got dressed and walked down to the subway. When the metro arrived he found a seat and did a bit of people watching. When he reached his stop he got off and navigated himself to Hunter Management. He buzzed the door and it opened for him. Johnny walked down the hallway to reception. “Hi! You must be Johnny? I’m Amelia,” the receptionist announced.

“Nice to meet you, Amelia.”

“Take a seat and I’ll get Michael. He is expecting you.”

Johnny looked around the space noticing several framed gold records stuck to the wall. The area wasn’t as he had imagined a record company décor to be. He thought it would be ultra contemporary – instead it was eclectic, a mix of modern and vintage, very eye-catching and certainly different to anything he had seen before. There was an old Victorian desk and leather captain’s chair for the receptionist, polished floorboards and a brown leather three-seater chesterfield with scatter cushions randomly sprawled all over it and a sheepskin throw hanging off the arm. There were two more chairs, a reupholstered purple velvet Barcelona chair and an Eero Aarnio transparent hanging chair with green cushions.

Michael walked out into the reception area. He was a pleasant looking man, just over six foot tall, probably in his mid thirties, with light brown short hair sporting eyewear glasses and a pair of blue jeans and leather jacket. He looked tired this morning.

“Johnny. Johnny Cromwell our new sensation,” Michael said vocally as he approached Johnny with two hands out to shake his hand one more time. “I’m so glad you came, I’ve been working very hard on a schedule for you. Let me introduce you to our small, but hard working, team and then we can go into the meeting room to go over some paperwork.”

Michael took off his glasses folding them up and placing them neatly in his casual shirt pocket. He rubbed his eyes as if to remove the tiredness. Having introduced Johnny to his colleagues, Michael then gave Johnny a tour of their offices. The banter was fun and energetic. Johnny felt like things could really happen for him here.

As the office tour ended, Michael ushered Johnny into a meeting room, with one large table and twelve chairs tucked neatly into the table.

“Take a seat over here,” Michael said, gesturing towards the end of the table. Johnny sat down and Michael put on his glasses and went through a file of papers, including a plan for future performances and supporting gigs for the next four months. He explained to Johnny this was the best way to get out into the public eye and reminded him that he would be with him every step of the way. Finally, they came to the contract and Johnny signed over twenty percent of his earnings. If Hunter Management could kick-start his music career on the scale they promised, then they were more than welcome to twenty percent.

Michael walked Johnny back to reception. “And Johnny, let’s get you into some decent accommodation. Amelia, can you see to that? Can you get our real estate on the line and organize some viewings for Johnny. We need something special for our newest talent.” With that, Michael smiled and saluted to Johnny as he whisked himself away.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Gran’s house was small but bigger than my old house, with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a separate living room and a kitchen. The décor was dated but functional. Gran gave Dad and me our own rooms and as we didn’t have many belongings, I simply put my new clothes in a drawer and then I was done. The bathroom looked dated with a sixties style flower power style tile surrounding the shower and bath. I actually really liked the bathroom, in a groovy kind of way, it was like stepping back in time. Gran’s bedroom was the biggest, after all it was her house, with my room being the smallest, a short distance from the facilities. The house was compact but our living arrangement could work, at least I hoped it would. I had less than eighteen months before leaving.

The next day I walked the fifteen minutes to high school. My school records had arrived and I was able to take them with me on my first day.

The school was roughly the same size as that in Rushton but seemed noisier to me. Perhaps I was more aware of my surroundings because they were new. I found my way to reception and told the administrator I was new in town and handed over my school records. She handed me a card and a map and told me which classroom to go to.

I walked slowly, taking a right turn here and a left turn there, reading all the signs on the doors to try and familiarize myself with my surroundings. I knocked on the classroom door and entered handing the teacher a card. He was in his fifties, with grey hair and a chubby, friendly face.

“Right, who do we have here?” he said putting on his glasses and looking at the card. “Ah… let me see, Miss Redman? Jennifer Redman.” He nodded at me to verify the name.

“Yes, but everyone calls me Jen,” I voiced softly.

“OK, then,” he said lifting his eyes from the card and giving me the once over before turning to the class. “Class, this is a new student, her name is Jen Redman. Please make her welcome.”

There was some laughing and pushing and shoving between some of the boy students. I looked the girls over quickly to see if there was someone I liked the look of, but couldn’t make a decision.

“Miss Redman. I am Mr Allan, you can take a seat over there,” the teacher said, taking his glasses off and pointing with them in the direction of the spare chair and desk.

I found my way to the desk and sat down taking a notebook and pen from my bag. The only other item in there was my wallet with enough money to buy myself some lunch.

The day was long and dire; a couple of girls talked to me and tried to find out why I had come to their school. I told them I was from Rushton and my father and I decided to move for a change. I did not want to tell them my house had burnt down and that my mother was killed in the fire. I was accepting my new life and trying to move on with it.

*****

After two weeks, I had settled easily into my new school. I hadn’t received a letter or a phone call from Johnny, but somehow it didn’t bother me as much as it had when I was living in Rushton. I knew he would call soon, he just needed to get in touch with his mother and then he would call – I knew it in my heart.

In the afternoon, on the way home, I went to the newsstand and noticed a small advertisement in the window reading Situations Vacant – Enquire Inside. After a ten-minute conversation with the manager I was hired to work Friday’s after school and all day Saturday.

My new life was moving forward in all the right directions and I only wished there was some way I could get in contact with Johnny and let him know what was going on. I decided to call Pam in the evening, to see if Johnny had got my message, but her phone still wasn’t working.

My father had found a job through an agency as a handyman in a retirement home and was very happy with himself. I was proud of him, he was really trying to sort out his life and he wanted to provide for me.

As time went on, I became frustrated at not being able to contact Pam. She was my only connection to Johnny. Every day I rang her phone number until one day she eventually picked up. Pam sounded just like I would have expected, a little tipsy, perhaps even more than that, a little sozzled.

“Pam? Pam its Jen.”

“Who?” Pam replied, as if not hearing me properly.

“Jen, Jen Redman.”

“Hello Jen,” she said, sounding confused.

“Pam, you know who I am right?”

“Of course I do,” she said unconvincingly.

“Pam, have you had any contact with Johnny? Have you heard from him?”

“I have.”

“And? Did you give him my letter, or tell him what happened?”

“I did.”

“What did he say?”

“What did he say?” she asked as if puzzled by the question. “He said, ‘Good.’”

“What do mean he said, ‘good’?” Getting information from Pam in this state was like trying to get blood from a stone.

“He said, ‘good he has a letter.’”

“Do you mean he has my letter?”

“Yes, that’s right. He has a letter.”

“Is it my letter?”

“Yes.”

“So just to be clear, Johnny definitely has my letter?”

“He definitely has your letter.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes of course,” she said, struggling with her words.

“OK, Pam, if you hear from him again, will you let him know I called and that I am waiting for him to get in contact?”

“I will.”

“Thanks, Pam,” I said, hanging up the phone, deflated by the conversation. Had Johnny really received my letter? Did he know what had happened? Pam did say she definitely gave him my letter. If that’s true why hadn’t he called?

That night, I found it hard to sleep because of all the unanswered questions running through my mind. Why hadn’t Johnny been in touch? Had our relationship been just a teenage crush for him? Did I still have a place in his life, or was it all over?