Chapter 10 #2
Suzie nodded. She believed him. It was one of the many reasons she’d jacked the whole thing in years ago.
A permanent life on the road had never really appealed.
She’d seen it ruin friendships and watched numerous relationships go down the tubes.
‘What goes on tour, stays on tour’ never worked as far as she could see.
It would always seep out somewhere and infect real life.
There were too many temptations, too much freedom for anything other than the toughest of unions to survive.
And once you brought kids into the mix, it made it even more difficult.
She’d never regret having her sons; they were far more precious to her than a long singing career could ever have been.
‘Well, it’s lovely to catch up with you all. Let’s have a beer sometime after one of the shows.’
The Jake smile was firmly back in place.
‘Sure. I’d like that.’
Suzie decided to test out her theory about big ears.
‘What number dressing room am I in, Frank?’
He turned so quickly, he must have been listening.
‘Number three. Your favourite number. You always had dressing room three.’
How the hell, and more importantly, why on earth had he remembered that?’
There was a slightly creepy side to Frank that was coming back to her. He had a knack of bursting in on you just as you were getting dressed, too, something she’d have to watch out for.
The dress rehearsal hadn’t gone brilliantly; there were a few missed cues and a couple of duff notes, but that had cheered her up no end.
It was an old showbiz superstition: bad rehearsal, good performance.
The set list had been agreed a couple of weeks back, and each of the acts had half an hour in the spotlight.
Her little slice of fame was a mix of her own stuff, rock-infused numbers alongside the pop tunes, plus a few female-focused standards of the time such as Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ and Madonna’s ‘Holiday’.
Most of the audience would be tourists or expats, so it was good to keep the mood upbeat.
The house band had gone through everything with her, Frank watching like a hawk.
The middle of the show was her spot. Juice had been given top billing, which was fair enough as they obviously still had a fanbase; she wouldn’t have wanted the pressure of closing anyway.
Along with another boyband from way back and a couple of solo male artistes, one of whom she’d once done a duet with, she was pleased to see another female act on the bill, two women called Carol and Teresa, who went under the name Peaches.
She’d shared a dressing room with them a few times on the gigging circuit, and she’d make sure to catch up with them later and watch their set, right at the start of the show.
Changed, ready and waiting for Giannis to walk through the door, she felt a tiny bud of excitement starting to build inside her, along with the terrifying thought that she’d be on stage in a couple of hours. A swift knock told her he’d arrived.
‘Come in!’
But it was Frank who opened the door and lounged back against the doorframe.
‘Ah, I see you’re already dressed. I was just coming to warn you.’
And see if you could catch me out, thought Suzie.
‘Warn me about what?’
‘That we haven’t got long to go until the concert starts. And to see if you needed anything?’
‘No, I’m fine, thanks.’
Giannis appeared in the doorway behind Frank, towering over the promoter by a good foot.
‘Mama! I’m here.’
Frank reluctantly moved out of the way to let the other man pass.
Giannis gave her a quick hug and kissed her on both cheeks.
Frank’s expression was one of bewilderment.
The boys had taken their father’s surname, so the other name for the hotel booking, Giannis Ioannides, wouldn’t have meant anything to him, while she’d used Suzie Sessions.
The promoter’s face was a picture as he looked back and forth between the two of them.
‘Mama?’
‘Yes. Frank, can I introduce my son, Gianni. He’s a lawyer in real life, but he’s acting as my temporary manager this week.’
Giannis raised his hand in the air in greeting, which was eventually returned by Frank.
‘Ah, yes, I remember the separate room for your manager. But I had no idea it was your son.’
It was really none of his business, but she’d enjoyed shocking him.
‘Tell you what, Frank, I’d love a glass of brandy before I go on stage. Is that possible?’
It had always been her traditional tipple to soothe her throat and her nerves.
‘Brandy? Of course, babe. You always loved it.’
Frank turned to Giannis.
‘Would you like anything?’
‘No, I’m good, thanks.’
Frank disappeared in the direction of the bar, and Giannis mouthed ‘babe?’ at her, barely bothering to cover his snort of laughter.
‘Oh, don’t take any notice of him. He’s a bit old school. Thinks it’s fine to speak to a woman like that.’
‘He’s more than a little creepy, Mama. I’m glad that I’m here.’
‘Oh, I can handle Frank, don’t you worry. He’s all mouth and no trousers.’
The thought of Frank without trousers made her want to gag momentarily. Giannis just frowned.
‘What the hell does that mean? Is it another of your weird ancient British sayings?’
‘It means it’s all bluster. He’s about as dangerous as a—’
Just as she was about to say ‘fly’, Frank appeared at the door again, two brandies in his hands. She hadn’t heard his approach, but she knew from experience he was an expert at appearing out of nowhere. Hopefully he hadn’t heard the rest of the conversation.
He handed her a glass.
‘Thought I’d join you, for old times’ sake.’
Suzie clicked her glass against his.
‘Cheers.’
‘Cheers yourself.’
It was true that they’d often shared a drink before a performance, but it felt a little uncomfortable with her son looking on. It was the reality of her two worlds colliding. She hadn’t thought it through properly, but it was happening right in front of her, so she’d better get used to it.
The shot of Dutch courage definitely helped.
Her heart still beat painfully in her chest as she waited to go on, but the warm feeling the alcohol produced in her stomach propelled her forward after the act before her, a big old rocker called Sam, had given her a high five as he made his way backstage.
A big cheer from the audience encouraged her even further when the MC called her name. Her son blew her a kiss from the side of the stage, and the house band launched into the first bars of her most famous song, the one that got her on Top of the Pops.
Half an hour passed in a flash, and her voice held up, no problem.
It was only when the audience clapped and hollered her name again that she realised it was all over, for tonight at least. It had gone better than she could have hoped, and, more importantly, she’d enjoyed it.
She took a bow and rushed into the arms of Giannis, waiting in the wings.
‘Mama, you were amazing. I had no idea you could sing like that.’
The admiration in his voice was the icing on the cake. She was doing this for herself, but it would do no harm for her son to see what she was capable of. She’d also instructed him to take some video to show Kostas waiting at home.
The second night was as successful as the first, although it added to her nerves to know that both her new friend Vicky and her daughter-in-law Kat were somewhere in the audience.
But their presence made it easy to turn down Jake, who’d asked her out for a drink as soon as she came off stage.
‘Sorry. No can do tonight. I’ve got my friend and my son and his wife waiting to go out to dinner.’
Giannis duly obliged by waving over at her while the MC introduced the next act.
‘That’s your son?’
Was she going to have to go through this every time Giannis appeared? The men who knew her first time around obviously found it difficult to accept that little Suze had produced someone so grown up, and so much taller than her.
‘Yes.’
‘And there’s another one at home like him too?’
‘Well, nothing like him, but yes, there’s another one.’
‘Fair play to you. Let me know if you have another night free.’
At least it didn’t seem to have put him off. Not that she was desperate to go out with him, but it was good to know she could still arouse some interest.
‘Will do.’
Her dressing room was awash with the flowers that Vicky and Kat had turned up with earlier. Giannis sat with her, scrolling through his phone, until the sound of Juice playing their final song faded away and her guests burst in through the door.
Vicky enveloped her in a huge hug.
‘Oh my God, that was amazing.’
‘Thanks.’
Giannis took his wife in his arms and gave her a thorough kiss. They rarely spent time apart, but it was unusual for her son to put on such a big PDA. Athens was definitely doing him good.
She and Vicky stood and watched them for a moment, smiling.
‘Hey, you two. That’s enough of that. Vick’s got sick animals to look after, so she’s on the last ferry back to the island. We need to get her some dinner, and quickly. You’ll have plenty of snogging time later.’
Shortening Vicky’s name to Vick had come naturally to her after a couple of weeks, as their friendship grew.
‘Mama! Really. Stop embarrassing us.’
‘That’s what mothers are for. Come on, everyone, let’s go. Pame.’
Suzie linked arms with Vicky, radiant in a white dress covered in oranges, and gently pushed Giannis and Kat out the door. This evening couldn’t have gone much better if she’d planned it.
She turned to look at the empty dressing room. A sudden shiver went through her body, and the hairs on her arms stood up. Out of nowhere, a feeling of dread came over her. She shook her head to get rid of it.