The Harder They Fall (32 page)

“Now, I know you’ll be up for this,” she said to George, handing him a pair of wings, “and you can just bloody well put up with it.” She gave some to Josh.

“And where are yours?” he asked.

“Here,” she said, passing the last but one ‘normal’ pair to Tilly, before slowly pulling her own set from the bag: a vast pair of white wings tipped with gold, followed by a hat with an enormous white and gold plume. Josh and George stared at her in amazement.

“You can blame her,” Eleanor said, pointing at Tilly. “But how good is this? I’m having a brilliant time.” She put on her wings and jerked her shoulders forwards so that they flapped. Josh started giggling, which made him snort, the knock-on effect being that now George was giggling, as were both women. When they finally regained some composure, Josh checked to see if Eleanor needed a drink: she already had several paid for behind the bar, so he added one more to her tab and bought a drink for her sister while he was at it. He and George were still on their first pints and had barely touched them.

“Have you seen Jess anywhere?” Eleanor asked, folding the almost empty bag over and giving it to Tilly. George shook his head.

“Not for a while, no.”

“Oh well. See you later.” With that, she was off on another round of socialising. Charlotte danced her way across the carpet in pursuit of her sisters.

“Those Davenports are serious party animals,” George observed.

“They sure are,” Josh agreed. He was getting into the party mood himself and was drumming along on the bar.

“So, how are you feeling now?”

“Confused, a bit dizzy, like I just stepped off a roundabout.”

“Have you eaten today?”

“No. I was kind of busy trying to show someone how much I love them. It doesn’t really lend itself to eating.”

“Especially if you have to make it yourself,” George smiled. “Breakfast was fantastic, by the way.”

“Oh shush.”

“No, it really was. And it seems so long ago.”

“It was! D’you think Ellie’d mind if we popped to the chip shop?”

“She will if we don’t tell her that’s what we’re doing.”

Josh nodded in agreement and made a quick visit to the Gents’, while George told Eleanor of their plan. She accepted it unquestioningly, which was what he’d anticipated: she was very compliant if you knew how to handle her—well, maybe not compliant, but she’d usually go along with most things. She still hadn’t found Jess, but by now had a pretty good idea why. Josh and George were able to confirm her suspicions when they returned a short while later, having seen Jess get onto the back of a motorbike and speed off down the road. She didn’t see them.

“I’ll never forgive her for this,” Eleanor said angrily.

“That’s understandable,” Josh consoled her, “but don’t let her ruin your night.”

“Ha! I have no intention of that happening.” She went to the bar to collect one of her pre-paid drinks and glugged thirstily. “I’ve expressed enough milk over the last week to freeze some so I can have a drink tonight,” she explained. Josh nodded in illustration of his newfound understanding. George looked puzzled.

“I can explain it to you if you like,” Eleanor offered.

“I’m just fine with being ignorant, thanks,” he said, looking a little worried that she might yet elaborate. She laughed at his reaction, then made her way back to the dance floor to join her sisters for the second band’s last song. Meanwhile, the three members of the headliners were bringing in their equipment and Krissi was helping them.

“What’re you doing?” Shaunna asked, crossing paths with her daughter on the way out, so Adele could ‘get some fresh air’.

“I know the guitarist from college,” she explained, “so I thought I’d give them a hand while we catch up.”

Shaunna followed Adele outside, equally relieved to give her ears a break. She stepped aside to let the drummer pass by with his drums, Krissi trailing behind him, carrying a guitar case and chatting to whom she correctly assumed to be the guitarist. The vocalist was at the bar, talking to the guy who owned the place and waiting for the current band to clear the stage.

“I’d listen from out here, if I were you, Adele,” Krissi said as she passed by. “They’re amazing, but they’re really loud.”

“What?” Adele said, her ears ringing from the battering they had already taken.

“The Late Poets. They’re really loud,” Krissi shouted.

“Oh. Thanks for the warning,” Adele smiled falsely. She wasn’t sure she could take much more. “Do you think we’d get away with going home soon?” she asked Shaunna in what she thought was a quiet voice.

“No, you won’t!” Eleanor had also come outside and shouted from right behind her, startling her. “I’m sorry, Adele, but Jess has already let me down.”

“It’s not you, sweetie. It’s the music. It’s really hurting my ears.”

As she said this, the drummer was on his last leg of bringing in his kit.

“I’ve got just the thing,” he said. “Stay right there.” He went inside to deposit his cymbals and returned a moment later. “There you go.” He handed Adele a small plastic bag containing a pair of ear plugs. “I forgot mine a couple of weeks ago,” he explained, “and my mate went back home to get them, but somebody gave me these, just in case. They’re not great, but they should help a bit.”

“Ooh. That’s very nice of you, thank you,” Adele said, fishing the small, silicone plugs out of the bag with her finger.

“No problem,” the drummer smiled. “Hope you enjoy the show.” He went back inside to join the other two band members, now setting up on stage. Shaunna and Adele followed.

“How lovely is he?” Shaunna remarked, watching him start to build his kit. “I could quite take a fancy to him.”

“Never mind him. Have you seen the singer?” Adele said, now she was back in the mood to enjoy herself.

“See, that’s just like your crush on Gary Barlow,” Shaunna laughed. “Just because he’s a musician. You used to be mad for him, but you hated him in
The X-Factor
.”

“I’ve never even watched
The X-Factor
.”

“No. Because you hate Gary Barlow. Anyway, it’s your round.” Adele tutted but still headed straight for the bar so that they could replenish their drinks before the band started.

Josh was visiting the toilet again, on account of the several litres of coffee he had consumed during the day, topped off with two pints of lager. Kris took the opportunity to chat to George, who had been so completely engrossed in conversation with Josh all evening that he hadn’t wanted to butt in.

“Shaunna tells me you got an interesting text this morning.”

“Yeah,” George said, taking out his phone and loading the message up. He passed it to Kris to read.

“Wow! That’s unexpected! Have you had a good day?”

“The best day of my life—so far.” He couldn’t stop smiling.

“Oh, I’m so happy for you, but I won’t hug you, just in case there’s any misinterpretation.”

“Thanks. It does mean that I want to skip the wedding now and get to the holiday part, though. We need some time to work things through, you know? Somewhere away from here.”

“Yeah. Well, you’ll have plenty of opportunity in Wales. There’s absolutely nothing to do there, other than walk hills or sit in cabins looking at hills. Or if you’re Andy, jump off hills.” They were both still laughing at this when Josh returned from the toilet. He eyed them suspiciously, interpreting what had taken place.

“You told him.”

“Yes. I did. That’s OK, isn’t it?”

“I guess it’ll have to be,” Josh said sulkily, but his heart wasn’t really in it and he had to turn away to hide his face.

“Joshua! Don’t be so mean!” George poked him in the back and he turned around again.

“I’m just so totally happy for you guys that I might actually start crying in a minute,” Kris said, and he really looked like he would too. He picked up his drink and set off across the bar towards Shaunna and Adele.

“He’s so soppy,” George remarked as they watched him wipe his eyes and make his way over to the far side of the dance floor.

“Hmm,” Josh said, “not like you, huh?”

“You know I’m not!” George shot back at him, aware that the mutual declaration of their inner-most feelings had well and truly destroyed his chances of being otherwise perceived. It didn’t matter; there was still a long way to go, but Josh loved him. That was all he’d ever wanted.

“By the way,” he said, reaching into his inside pocket, “I think you might have lost something?” He slowly opened his hand, to reveal a blue and gold pen. Josh’s mouth dropped open.

“Where…”

“Underneath the camp bed. I didn’t send it back, because I’d decided you weren’t bothered enough to notice, but, well, now I know different.” He unfurled Josh’s fingers and pressed the pen into his hand, so that it was momentarily sandwiched between their palms. “Are you cold?” he asked.

“No. Just my hands, from our little jaunt down the road. They’ll soon warm up in here, I’m sure.”

George found this a little strange, as his own hands were still clammy from holding a bag of chips, but any further thoughts or conversation were well and truly blasted out of existence when the band struck up their first number, after a deceptively quiet tune-up and soundcheck, which meant that Adele still jumped, in spite of the ear plugs. Charlotte cheered and immediately re-commenced her madcap dancing. She really didn’t care what anyone thought of her, although by now Shaunna was also ready to throw caution to the wind and joined Charlotte, Tilly, Eleanor and Kris in front of the stage. Even the mothers of the bride and groom joined in for a final dance before they bade the party farewell. Adele was left standing all alone and faced the choice of dancing right in front of the enormous speakers, or going to chat with Josh and George; she chose the latter, not that they appeared to be taking much notice of anything going on around them. All the same, she loitered nearby, tapping her feet and singing along wherever she knew the lyrics.

After the band finished their first song, the singer thanked the audience for their raucous applause, receiving even louder whoops and cheers from the women in the bridal party.

“There seems to be a bit of party going on tonight. Is that right, girls?” he asked the wing-wearing group on the dance floor. Charlotte cheered loudly. “Who’s the lucky lady?” They all pointed at Eleanor and she blushed so brightly that she could see the red of her cheeks underneath her eyes. “Well, congratulations. When’s the wedding? Saturday?” Eleanor still had her head down, in a kind of ‘if I can’t see them…’ pose, but Charlotte shouted out to confirm that the singer was right. “Fantastic,” he said. “Hope you’re having a great night, guys. We’re going to do one of our own songs now, just for our blushing bride. This is ‘24 Hours Alive’.”

Eleanor scowled at him for the choice of song. Charlotte thought it was hilarious and gave her sister a nudge to get her back on side. As the guitarist started up the intro, the crowd (including the bride-to-be) cheered and soon they were all dancing along manically, even though they’d not heard the song before. At first, the band were waving their hands to get the audience to join in, and to begin with only a few did, but by the third chorus, the singer had them absolutely under his control, and everyone was singing along. The final chord struck and the place once again erupted with applause and whistles. The drummer went straight into the next number, and the energy level stayed right up there through four more songs. Another short bout of banter between the vocalist and members of the hen party (including a couple of double entendres aimed at Kris, who flapped his wings flirtatiously, accompanied by encouraging cheers from Charlotte) and they were off into the next song: the last of their first set. Once the noise died down a little, Adele nudged George in the side.

“Where’s Jess?”

“Don’t know. She left with Rob about an hour ago.”

“What?”

George pointed at Adele’s ears and she giggled and removed the ear plugs. George explained again.

“Ah. Right, well that explains why Ellie said she’d let her down.”

“Yep, and I’m pretty certain this is the last chance she’ll get to attend one of Ellie’s hen parties. Her loss, really.”

“You know, I really don’t like Rob Simpson-Stone. There’s something a bit creepy about him.”

“He was always all right with me,” Josh remarked, “not that I’ve seen any more of him than anyone else, I hasten to add. He’s one of the last people I’d expect to find knocking on my door.”

“Yeah,” George agreed. “He was one of the nicer lads at school. What makes you think he’s creepy, Adele?”

“I’m not sure. Just something about him. Then again, it’s probably because I know how gutted Andy is about the whole thing.”

“Does he know she’s seen him since the reunion?”

“Err, yes? I told Dan and…”

“Oh, Adele, why did you do that?”

“Because what she’s doing is wrong. If she wants to go off and have a fling with Rob, then fine, but she needs to finish things properly with Andy first. It’s only right.”

Adele folded her arms indignantly, aware that her past history of continuing a relationship with Dan whilst being married to Tom put her on really shaky ground. However, it was for this reason that she felt the way she did. She never meant to hurt Tom and genuinely tried to end things with Dan, but that wasn’t how it worked out. The way Tom supported her through the pregnancy, and to a lesser extent, during the birth, filled her with remorse for what she’d done, and it could all have been avoided if she’d been brave enough to end the relationship, instead of allowing herself to be dragged along in the undercurrent of wedding plans and other unrealistic romantic ideals. Besides, Andy deserved better. She’d always thought this, not that she wished any ill on Jess. She was one of her friends, but she wasn’t right for Andy and that had always been so.

Having said her piece, Adele wandered off to the Ladies’ and joined the queue behind Krissi and Karen, all three appreciating the opportunity to remove their head-dresses and wings and willing to try keeping them off for the rest of the night. The woman who happened to be standing in front of Krissi when she turned to greet Adele was far from impressed at having her drink knocked out of her hands by a pair of enlarged chicken wings; they were a bit of a liability and were also getting very uncomfortable.