The Song Never Dies (2 page)

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she said to herself.

She watched a young couple get out of the Mercedes. The guy slick in a t-shirt and silk suit. The girl wearing a silver mini-skirt, clunky shoes, and nothing else.

The couple smiled at her.

“Great night for a bash,” said the guy, his eyes twinkling.

“Isn’t it?” said Lauren. She watched the guy put his arm around the girl and walk her toward the house.

She saw his hand resting lightly on the girl’s slim, bronzed lower back. His wristwatch, silver, chunky.

Will walked round the car and joined her. She could see his stomach bulging against the Hawaiian dancers and palm trees on his shirt.

“I hate this car,” she said.

“Can’t beat a Vauxhall,” said Will. “All these airbags keep the kids safe. It’s the right car for us, trust me.”

Maybe that’s the trouble,
thought Lauren.
I do trust you. Too much.

And she followed him towards the house.

“Babes — look at you.”

Lauren felt herself flush as Alex King kissed her on both cheeks then stood back and stared into her eyes.

He was tanned and his bronzed face seemed to glow.

No lines after all these years
, she thought.
Has he had a face job?

Must have.

But then he always had looked ten years younger than the rest of the band.

Tonight, standing there with a big smile, his long black hair looking perfect, wearing a crisp, tailored white shirt, tight jeans, cowboy boots — it should look so 80s but somehow he carried it off.

And underneath, she wondered — that same lean body …?

“Alex,” she said. “Long time.”

She hadn’t expected him to be at the door greeting every guest, so she hadn’t had a second to prepare what she was going to say.

But here — now — in this grand marble reception room, with spiral staircases and tall portraits, and beautiful people all drinking champagne and looking so at ease, so relaxed, she felt her mind go blank.

“Lauren, you haven’t changed a bit,” he said. “Still as beautiful and as sexy as ever.”

“I always said you should bottle that charm and sell it,” said Lauren, recovering her wits.

“Ah, the one girl I could never fool,” said Alex laughing. “I must introduce you to everybody.”

“Hope you don’t use that line as the intro,” said Lauren. “The girl who can’t be fooled?”

“How about — let me introduce my beautiful and very dear old friend Lauren, wife of the best drummer I ever played with, the legendary Will Dumford?”

Lauren watched him turn to Will and give him a man hug. Will looked uncomfortable.

“Don’t recall us ever hugging like that, mate,” said Will wiping his damp brow. “Even when we were pissed.”

“Times change Will,” said Alex. “Gotta be in touch with your softer side.”

“And you can’t miss Will’s
softer
side,” said Lauren nodding to the Hawaiian dancing girls.

Will rolled his eyes.

And she did have to wonder … why did she always mock him when they were out in a crowd?

She felt a pang of guilt: she knew how much it hurt him.

“I thought you said this was going to be low-key, Alex” said Will.

“It’s rock and roll, Will. No such thing as low-key, now is there?”

“You
said
.”

Lauren saw Alex frown. Will sounded like a whiny teenager. No — a grumpy old man, that was it.

She hadn’t really noticed that before.

“Tell you what mate, head out back to the bar. Chris is there. He can’t wait to see you.”

Chris? Here already?

And
Lauren felt something she hadn’t felt in quite a while.

And what was that?

Interest?

Chris Wickes, the bass player back in the day. All angsty and troubled.

But she always felt that Chris was the brains of the band — while Alex was the beauty.

So this is for real,
she thought.
The band getting back together …

“I knew you’d get Chris. Didn’t I say that, love?” said Will, turning to her.

“You did, love.”

Trying to make amends …

“He’s still on the circuit, isn’t he? Gigs here and there. So he was bound to come,” said Will.

Then he turned back to Alex, his expression almost challenging: “But what about Nick? You get Nick?”

Lauren saw Alex’s face — unmoved, but the light gone from the eyes.

“Time will tell. Nick’s not here yet. But he said he’s coming.”

“We can’t do it without him, Alex. You know that.”

Lauren noticed Will’s face getting pink. He was sweating.

“Will, don’t worry. He’ll show. I promise. Bygones and all that jazz, hmm? Plus a lot of money on the table to just walk.”

Will’s face scrunched up as if he was going to start an argument — then Lauren saw him pull back as if he realised he might be making a scene.

“Okay. That’s great, Alex,” he said. “Great. Trust you, you know. Always have.”

Alex’s smile returned, full-force. “Su-per. You go find Chris. Grab yourself a beer — catch up on the good old days, hmm?”

“Yes, yes. I will,” said Will. Then he turned to her: “You all right then love, if I go do that?”

“It’s a party, Will. You don’t have to ask permission to get a drink.”

She saw Will blink and smile, then he turned and threaded his way through the crowd into the next room.

And she thought:
I might have house-trained him too much.

“Come on,” said Alex, and he swept her away across the room, his arm so casual around her shoulder.

“Want you to meet Gail,” he said. “You’re gonna love her. You two are going to be total soul mates, I just know it.”

*

Alex steered a path through a crowded sitting room, then across an enormous ballroom edged with long tables covered with food, and out through massive sliding glass doors onto a terrace at the back of the house.

Here, in the evening sunshine, Lauren was amazed to see yet more crowds, everyone looking so young, chatting happily, smiling, laughing, drinking champagne as if they were all in some TV commercial for the Good Life.

The successful life …

“Gail, sweetie!” called Alex.

Lauren saw a tall blonde woman in a long dress (
at least I’m not the only one in a long dress
) turn from a group of young men and walk towards her.

Lauren recognised her instantly from the TV.

“Darling,” said Alex. “Meet Lauren. Lauren — Gail, my wife.”

“Aha! The famous Lauren,” said Gail, leaning in and kissing her on both cheeks.

“You’re the famous one,” said Lauren. “I watch all your shows.”

“Do you? That’s so lovely of you to say that.”

“I like that one where you try and get people to move to a house in the country.”

“Oh God,
that
one. Well I can tell you — it’s a right pain to shoot,” said Gail. Then she leaned in conspiratorially. “Half of the buggers don’t really want to move anyway — whole show’s just a con.”

Gail laughed — and Lauren laughed too.

She had dreaded meeting Gail but maybe it was going to be all right.

“You need a drink darling,” Gail said. “Spot of champagne?”

“That’d be lovely.”

“Come on then. We are well stocked with bubbly. But …”

Gail led her across the terrace past a canopied bar, staffed by more good-looking young guys in dark suits.

“… I’ve got my own secret stash of the special stuff down by the pool house.”

They headed down a wide set of marble steps that led into a formal garden with a fountain — Venus — or someone rising in the middle. At the base, water cascaded from the mouths of four cherubs into a brimming pool.

Beyond it, Lauren could see a series of low barns, all renovated with sliding glass doors and their own terraces.

A handful of people sat on the grass in groups, drinking.

Loud music boomed from one of the barns.

She saw Gail nod towards it.

“Alex’s studio,” she said. “Filled to the rafters with all kinds of retro stuff. Amps, Fender guitars from the 80s you know? Wants to bring back the old Lizard ‘monster sound’ just as it was.”

“So he’s serious?” said Lauren. “About a new tour?”

“Deadly.”

“Nick too?”

“Well, Alex hopes so. They’re both twenty years older now,” said Gail, stopping at the fountain. “Swallowed their pride — that’s what Alex told me.”

“There’s a lot to swallow,” said Lauren, then suddenly realising what she’d said, she looked to Gail guiltily.

“Ha! What am I saying? He’ll love it,” said Gail, grinning at her.

Lauren watched her reach into the bubbling waters of the fountain and, like a magic trick, pull a bottle of champagne from the foaming water.

“Ta-da!”

Then she plucked two glasses from under the stone bench that circled the fountain.

“Just time to grab a bit of peace and quiet before this party really takes off. And for you to tell me all about the old days!”

“The old days,” said Lauren. “God. Where shall I start?”

“Start with LiveAid at Wembley — and work your way back darling! I want
all
the gossip — every last delicious drop.”

Lauren leaned in as close as she could to the young guy she was dancing with and shouted:

“Got — to — get — some — water!”

But the music was so loud — all he did was grin and shrug at her.

So she grinned and shrugged back, then fought her way through the darkness, the strobe lights picking out the mostly stoned faces in the mill of gyrating people, and she moved towards the brighter lights of the ballroom doors.

Wow,
she thought.
I haven’t danced like that in years. And I haven’t danced with anyone as
sexy
as that in years either …

In the banquet room, she found a pillar to lean against and checked her watch.

It was nearly one in the morning.

That too was rare!

And this party was still going strong. But where was Will?

She found her shoes where she’d hidden them in a corner and just about managed to get the straps on.

I’m a bit pissed, she thought, swaying.

No. Scratch that.

More than a bit …

She took a deep breath and headed for the French windows that led out onto the terrace.

It would be quieter there …

But a big crowd stood outside too. As she stepped out onto the terrace, she could see clusters of people chatting, smoking, chilling.

Lanterns and flares made pools of orange light in the darkness. She could see the fountain now rippled with blue, red, and green lights. A laser arced up into the sky from the roof of one of the outbuildings.

Some small party.

Silent movie scenes were being projected onto the back of the house.

She wandered round the garden, looking for Will among the chattering, laughing groups.

“Will? Will?”

“Lauren–” came a voice just by her side.

But it wasn’t Will’s voice.

She turned to see Chris Wickes emerge from the shadows and approach her.

He put an arm around her and kissed her softly on the cheek.

She shivered, but she wasn’t cold.

“Still smoking then?’ she said. She could smell the tobacco on his breath.

“Why not?” he said with his killer smile. “The drugs will probably kill me first.”

“We used to say you’d die in a bar fight before anything else would take you!”

“Nice joke.”

“We weren’t joking.”

She watched him sit on the balustrade. Light from the house caught his face. He’d aged well. A few lines, the usual stubble on his chin now grey. His long hair still dark though also streaked with grey.

But his eyes were the same. Lauren loved his eyes. Dark and cold — as if he was constantly angry. And so deep.

“Will tells me you got kids,” Chris said.

“Two boys,” said Lauren. “Teenagers.”

“Handful, I bet …”

“Tell me about it! How about you?”

“Oh, single and fancy free.”

Lauren looked around, suddenly aware it was just the two of them catching up, talking …

“Where is Will by the way?”

“He’s in the studio. Planning the tour. With Alex. And Carlton.”

“Carlton Flame? That shark,” said Lauren. “I should have guessed he’d be here.”

“Legally — we’re all still signed to Carlton. And trust me — they’re
all
sharks.”

“And he wants to keep an eye on his ten percent huh?”

“Twenty.”

“Ouch. No wonder me and Will never see a penny. So who else is digging around in the entrails?”

“Just Nick.”

“Ah. So he did come.”

“You thought he wouldn’t?”

Another look around.

Then Lauren went and sat next to him.

Suddenly it was as if they were back in the past, in their own history.

They’d sat just like this once, a long time ago, before everything happened for Lizard and the world turned upside down.

Sat on the kids’ swings in Chris’s mum’s garden in Cherringham, one early summer night just like this.

It had been in their final year for the two of them, school exams just on the horizon, everyone’s futures unwritten, any future possible, everything up for grabs.

Like now. Just the two of them.

“I thought he’d have more sense,” said Lauren.

“Hell. He needs the money,” said Chris. “Like we all do. No money in sales. Or bloody downloads. You want to make cash — got to go back on the road.”

“So, you’re going to do it?”

“Sure.”

“Why aren’t you in the meeting?”

“Time out. Got a bit heavy in there.” He grinned. “Lot of unresolved issues … know what I mean?”

Lauren smiled back. “And here I thought you liked fights.”

“Not my argument. What’s the expression? Don’t have a dog in that fight.”

“Whose argument is it?”

“Guess …”

“Alex and Nick?”

“You got it. At each other’s throats like it was 1994.”