This Time, I Mean It

“Liz I was getting worried about you,” said Kitty coming up to me, her eyes bright and shining.

“The traffic was so bad, it took me twice as long as I thought it would,” I said putting my holdall down onto the ground and hugging Kitty. “Still, I’m here now and I’m so looking forward to relaxing with everyone. Are Jamia and Alicia here?”

“Yes, they are, you haven’t seen them for ages and they’re dying to catch up. And you must meet Bob, their new drummer.”

“So Matt decided to go after all,” I said to her following her over to where these huge tour buses were parked up.

“Yeah, but everyone’s still friends with him.” Said Kitty. “Bob is so funny and he’s a fabulous drummer, you’ll hear him tonight.” She said.

”How’s Gerard?” I asked.

“He’s good but…,” Kitty paused as if wanting to say something to me then decided not to.

“But what?” I asked.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” she said as she pulled me up the steps of the bus. I was confused; it was as though Kitty wanted to tell me something. Hopefully she’d open up to me later on this evening. I hoped everything was all right with them then I shook those thoughts aside. Stupid. Of course they were all right. They were made for each other.

I’d known Gerard now for years, our mothers met when they were pregnant with us so we were kind of like family really but I knew he could be complicated. He was prone to getting down and when he was down he liked to disappear on his own for a while but since he’d met Kitty he was happier, more sociable.

She brought out the best in him.

“Liz!” shouted Gerard coming over to me, his black hair falling about his face. It was much longer than the last time I’d seen it. He came and hugged me, like a squeezy hug that he always gave me then he practically pushed me into the living room area to see everyone.

“Hey Liz,” said Jamia and Alicia together as the handed me a bottle of beer. There were always plenty of beers when these guys were around.

“Hi,” I said. “It’s been ages.”

“Don’t leave it so long next time,” said Ray. “How are you? Been kept busy by those kids at your school?” He said.

“Yeah but most of them are little brats,” I said sitting down on a seat.

“Hey Bob,” shouted Gerard. “You must come and meet our friend Liz.”

Then this guy appeared in the doorway. He was huge; he had this sandy blonde hair, the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen and a cheeky kind of grin.

So this was Bob I thought, this bear of a man that was standing in front of me, filling the doorway with his lip ring glistening in the light.

My stomach had butterflies all of a sudden and I knew then I was hooked.