Love's Dilemma (Sixty Minute Romance) Read Free Page B

at Jo. They had a
problem. Jo would much rather that they were just having a great night out, the
pair of them. Clair had already left that idea way behind and was dreaming of
performing to the pub crowd that were there. This was the first opportunity she
had been given to sing for two years. She could already feel her heart pounding,
and her body cranking into gear to sing. There were times when Jo resented
Clair’s obsession with singing and performing, and this was one of them.
    “What do you play? I can’t sing the sort of stuff you
were playing just now.” Clair asked more in hope rather than expectation that
she would know Max’s repertoire.
    “Our regular vocalist is ill with the flu. She is in the
pub flat upstairs trying to get her voice back, so that she can sing at least a
few numbers. So they are all songs for a girl to sing.” Max was getting more
and more excited.
    “Show me the set list.” Max pulled out a piece of A4
paper with twelve songs listed. He showed it to Clair pointing out the seven
songs they were hoping to do that evening.
    “I can do those three for you.” Clair was now catching
Max’s enthusiasm for her to get involved. She hadn’t performed for so long, but
she loved the thought of doing it tonight. Max jumped up with a yelp and hugged
Clair.
    “Yes! Yes! Brilliant! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You are a life saver! I’ll go and tell Gail.” Max left them in the garden,
three girls looking at each other.
    “Is his band any good?” Clair had only just thought of
this aspect.
    “Well I am probably, totally biased, but I think that
they are the best. They even have downloads on iTunes.” Sandy didn’t really
know how good Max’s band was, but she was correct. She was totally biased.

 
     
    Chapter Four – The Impromptu Vocalist
    It became apparent halfway through the first song that
Sandy had clearly overstated the quality of Max’s band. This was not a terminal
problem in terms of Clair’s participation, but she knew that she would have to
do some work with them when she performed.
    The drummer and bass player were run of the mill, and
didn’t really concentrate on what they were doing. But they just about got
through the numbers. The lead guitar player was also the lead vocalist, Gail.
She played well enough but was struggling to make her vocals come over the
sound system. Max played rhythm guitar and ukulele. He also added backing
vocals. The keyboard player was the best musician by far. Her name was Anne,
and Clair quickly decided what she would do when her moment came to sing.
    Gail croaked her way through three songs before looking
at Clair to invite her onto the stage. Clair jumped up and started talking to
Anne to see if she could play the songs by following her. Anne said that she
would do her best. Clair was relieved to see her favourite SM57 type of
microphone standing there waiting for her.
    So it transpired, that a twenty five year old newly
qualified solicitor from the borough of Hillingdon in London, commenced her own
version of Dolly Parton’s ‘I will always love you’ in The George and
Dragon Pub in Uxbridge.
    To start with no one paid too much attention. They had
heard it all before. But Clair’s piercing tone and her soulful voice started to
turn some peoples’ heads. By the end of the second song all conversation had
stopped. She had the full attention of one hundred and fifty regulars and
guests in the pub. She finished her set of three songs with Nina Simone’s ‘I
Wish’ . Halfway through she stopped the band and finished the song acapela.
At the end there was silence. This never ever happens in a pub on a Friday
night, but it did for just a few moments on this night. The small crowd then
burst into applause, and cheered at Clair’s performance.
    Clair had a few tears running down her cheeks, as if
she had been reunited with a long lost friend. She always let her emotions run
away with themselves when she sang. Max led her from the