Epilogue
CAMDEN ROUNDHOUSE
Now
The build-up to The Mountaineers’ final tour date at Camden’s Roundhouse is electric. The tour has been a great success and Ed and the boys are on fine form. Every single night is a sellout.
Despite being invited to The Mountaineers’ final tour date Genie and Gray have decided not to attend, giving their tickets to Cassie on the condition that she goes with Maura.
She didn’t need to be asked twice. A changed girl from the summer after a good selection of passes in her GCSEs, Cassie is now happily at college studying Drama.
Will is in his final year at school, keen to get his GCSEs done and looking forward to next summer’s Reading Festival with all the boys.
Ed is enjoying having a laugh with Mark, Jez, Andy and Simon before it’s time for them to go on stage. Chyna and Cindy are busy getting ready in their dressing room with Toby nipping in from time to time to make sure they have everything they need.
Virginia’s ex-husband Callum has thankfully run out of stories to sell to the tabloids, begging his current wife Amy to take him back which she did briefly before he had another affair, this time with one of the recent Love Island’s contestant’s mothers, having met her at one of his numerous tacky nightclub personal appearances.
It didn’t last long as she reunited with her husband soon after their son ended up leaving the island for fighting.
Callum is currently living with his mate Jimmy, seeing his daughter Lauren every other weekend which is so much more than he deserves.
Paul has been caught for drug dealing again.
His caravan was raided which coincided with the discovery of a selection of historic photos of teenage girls in various states of undress and a series of inappropriate WhatsApp messages between Paul posing as a fifteen-year-old boy and a very impressionable thirteen-year-old girl.
He is finally going to prison for a very long time.
Amira Malik is absolutely livid that her planned secret exclusive interview on TikTok with Paul Nash will now never happen due to his arrest. He had promised to spill the tea about Ed and Evie’s early relationship and Ed’s subsequent drug use to her.
It would have been pure TikTok dynamite but she’s not about to give up on #thegirlinthesong story quite yet…
Virginia and Genie have met up for lunch a couple of times, enjoying resurrecting their teenage friendship.
Genie and Ed continue to meet up with Gray’s blessing, although less so now that the Reunion Tour is in full swing.
There is always that glimmer of hope that they will one day finally be reunited with their daughter.
There’s a buzz in the audience as the time comes nearer for The Mountaineers to take the stage for the very last night of the tour.
Ed and the band huddle together for a final time before going on stage; their excitement and energy almost palpable.
Ed is incredible, despite it being the final date of the tour he has the energy of a thirty-year-old thanks to the personal trainer that Toby hired for him.
He owns the stage, and his voice is the best that it’s been in years.
They give the audience just what they want, and the hits just keep on coming.
Chyna and Cindy really earn their money and their added harmonies on some of the newer numbers only accentuate Ed’s voice.
They have just finished performing their most recent single, No More Tears, enjoying the sound of the crowd singing along with all the words.
‘Good evening, Camden!’ Ed shouts as the band plays and the crowd cheers.
As it’s almost Christmas we thought we’d get you in a festive mood with our rendition of Fairytale of New York.
The audience starts to clap as Ed moves towards the front of the stage with Chyna who starts singing Kirsty McColl’s part, her voice pitch perfect.
It’s a great success and just as they finish, Ed addresses the audience once more.
‘No Mountaineers gig is complete without this one! This is ‘Used to Be’ which I’d like to dedicate to an old friend of mine!’ Ed shouts.
The crowd goes wild as the band do what they do best, with the audience happily singing along with all the words.
Cassie holds hands with Maura as the band plays on, happy in the knowledge that her mother, ‘The Girl in the Song’ is finally coming to terms with her past but also embracing her future too.
Somewhere out there is a missing part of their family but of course there was always the chance that she didn’t even know that she was missing.
Both Genie and Ed hope that she has made a good life for herself and that maybe one day she might just come looking for them.
Just up the road from the Roundhouse, a new indie band are playing their first ever gig in a rundown pub which up until recently had been a strip joint.
The pub, The Canterbury Arms is under new management now and they are keen to give new bands a chance.
The third band on that night are a newly formed band called Pulse.
Their lead singer Frankie takes to the stage, at first competing against the general chatter of a rowdy Saturday night crowd but once she starts singing, they all take notice of the pretty blonde with the husky voice as she sings her heart out.
Frankie owns the stage, delighted that she is back singing live and that someone has finally given her a chance.
She lied about her age at her audition, cutting five years off her real age, but needs must. Any money earned tonight was going straight into her Christmas fund to make sure her daughters have the best Christmas ever.
Their setlist is a variety of covers with a couple of original songs thrown in for good measure, their final song is Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses which the crowd go mad for, clapping continuously all the way until the end.
As they leave the stage all Frankie can hear is the audience shouting ‘One more song! One more song!’ She’s finally back where she belongs…
The End