"That was a hell of a party last night,"croaked an approximation of the voice Simone knew and loved so much. Both women were dead to the world till well into the morning and lay comatose in bed, lying on their backs. Both women felt totally drained and were ravenously thirsty, their mouths dry and parched. Right above their heads, the white ceiling hovered overhead. Both women were placed in a quandary which their muzzy state stopped from verbalising until Annabelle finally got there.
"I know we're dehydrated darling but I haven't got the energy to get us some water. I know it sucks but I can't do it."
"I'll get it, honey," Simone said weakly, hoping that her gallantry wasn't going to be let down by her utter exhaustion."At least I'll try to."
The slim form topped by ruffled fair hair stumbled out of bed towards the kitchen and somehow, her eyesight, not good at close range, spotted two bottles of mineral water. She grabbed them and fell into bed next to Annabelle. The younger woman muttered thanks and, like Simone, glugged at the water bottle. Instantly, a feeling of refreshment spread through them both as the ice-cold water spread through their systems. They still felt tired but they felt brought back to life.
"That was the most amazing evening last night. Did we really do and say everything last night that I think we did? I keep seeing fragments of images coming back and it can't be real."
Simone gave a broad smile as she reached over to the bedside table. She was sure that a crumpled envelope would be there where she'd laid it last night. What made it special was that she was sure that there would be an inscription on it in Nikki's regular flowing script, unless she'd fantasised it. The feeling of well-being that coursed through her was that sometimes, reality reached out beyond fantasy's fevered imaginings of what might be.
"Darling, you tell me what's written on the envelope. I'm sure I'm not imagining things."
Annabelle rested her head on the pillow and her eyes nearly popped out of her head as the magical inscription appeared before her eyes. For once in her life, she was speechless as a really soppy smile spread across her face. She held the envelope and her eyes were riveted on the spectacle. 'To Simone and Annabelle- From two special fans of yours. Love Nikki and Helen XX'
"Wow," was all she could say. The words,"Hey, that's unbelievable" emerged a full two minutes later.
"They're really lovely women, really kind,"Simone said dreamily, her radiant smile making her look younger than her years."I can't believe they wrote that for us."
"They meant it," Annabelle said looking through into the clear horizon."Every word they said and every word they wrote come straight from the heart. They're that kind of women. We've just got to frame this letter."
It was in such a mood of tranquillity of the soul that the morning slowly slipped forward
as they sat out on the balcony drinking tea as befitted the mood. The soothing sound of the breakers on the beach added to their sense of timelessness.
"Hey, aren't Erin and Diane coming round? I mean, we couldn't have all our dreams come true," Simone said with that vague sense that whatever was going to happen would happen at the right place and the right time. Normally, she'd conscientiously worry that she'd plan everything right but this time, it never crossed her mind that they would be otherwise than right on time.
"So they are,"Annabelle answered in an equally blissed out frame of mind just as the buzzing sound of a mobile phone was the precursor that their new friends were ten minutes away, speeding up the coastal road even as they spoke.
Thus it was that there was a polite knock rap on the glass front door and Simone floated forwards to the front door to let in their guests. Smiling, they went into the living room where they greeted each other warmly. It was obvious that all four women were still full of the good atmosphere of the previous night. It was only this morning that the two women really had the chance to take in these two prospective fellow musicians as the crowded darkness of the club had precluded anything beyond exchanging names and basic details. Erin was a short, slim woman dressed in jeans, trainers and T-shirt, shortish cropped hair falling over her eyes with a firm handshake. Diane was taller, ling limbed with longer floppy fair hair and a cheerful smile.
"You're the drummer, right?" hazarded Annabelle, deducing that the stronger looking short-haired woman must be the drummer. She looked how a drummer should look like, imagining her flailing away at her drum kit.
"Wrong," laughed Erin, her blue eyes twinkling."Everyone makes that mistake."
"I'm stronger than I look, believe me. The only reason we're off noisy shit is well because
it's noisy shit. We hate easy listening manure so we want some real songs to play with, something creative," Diane said with her penetrating eyes looking into theirs.
"She said it. She's the boss in our relationship," quipped Erin humorously.
"I really like the sound of that. We didn't know we had that kind of concept even if we've been playing along with it until you put it into words," Simone said in her gentle fashion.
"Creative? The creation sounds like a good name," Annabelle said, her gaze looking towards far horizons.
A definite spark leaped between the four women of psychic electricity. They liked each other immediately. Neither of them had known or predicted how this situation had come about but there it was. It had jumped out in front of them from thin air. They had the makings of a foursome and a band name.
"OK, so let's get together and start playing," Simone said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together once, making Annabelle think affectionately of the teacher she'd been.
"Trouble is,"Diane said with a rueful expression on her face shared by Erin."We didn't count on manhandling our kit down that long pathway of yours."
"Of course we'll help you,"Annabelle replied instantly with her natural generosity of spirit."We wouldn't think of sitting around while you guys sweated all your stuff down here. The four of us makes it twice as easy as two. Besides, we'd better get used to being our own roadies."
"You've said it," grinned Erin, knowing mischievously how bulky a disassembled drum kit was even with her small practice amplifier she'd brought along. Underneath it all, she and Diane were touched by their new friends' willingness to muck in. It was a good sign for the future.
Three quarters of an hour later after the four of them had manhandled the gear down the path and manoeuvred it into their house, Simone watched with interest to see the drum kit being set up and studying Erin's gleaming functional amplifier and her purple bass guitar. She and Annabelle looked at each other but said nothing. This was the point of no return beyond which they couldn't go back. Diane spotted their two friend's obvious nervousness and decided someone had to make a move so it might as well be her.
"OK you guys, so what if you imagine we're your audience and you really want to slay us with songs that come straight from your hearts. Let's face it, you'd never have asked us to come over if you didn't believe in yourselves."
Diane's smile and her fresh faced blond looks really put Simone and Annabelle at their ease and they quickly conversed on the song that meant the most and finally
"This feels weird. I wrote this song for Simone as my plea for her love since I was a senior at St Theresa's and she was my teacher which was a strict no no while I was just under eighteen,"said Annabelle with a rush of words.
"It is our best song. I can see other women liking it but still..." broke in Simone.
"It's just that we feel strange in singing it other than to each other," finished off Annabelle, colouring slightly as she saw the way the wind was blowing.
"Didn't every song from every confessional singer songwriter start that way?" Erin said with a gentleness that only Diane knew existed within her.
"Come on, I'm really curious now when you guys act shy,"was her sly contribution which she instantly regretted as she'd obviously touched a sensitive nerve. Their friends had their guitar straps slung round their necks and had prepared to play their song as if to friends but their embarrassment revealed their in serious danger of being unable to make even that small step towards centre stage.
"I'm really sorry, you guys. You need to figure out a context for this song so you're helping out those in the audience who are struggling with what you guys went through."
These words grabbed Simone's attention. They made sense to her. Softly she stroked Annabelle's cheek and murmured words into her ear. Finally, the younger woman announced that they really were ready to play to the audience of Diane sat behind her drum kit, loosely holding her drum brushes and Erin with her bass guitar resting on her knee.
"OK, Annabelle clearly articulated with a sideways look at her fair haired accomplice who looked a little flush faced, highly attuned. "We really will do it this time."
Erin watched with fascination how Annabelle started finger picking a beautiful sounding melody line, nicely buttressed in seconds by Simone's dependable rhythm chording instantly setting the template of their different styles as Erin's and Diane's ears were attuned to. This sounds interesting, they thought as both women gently eased into their song. This time, Simone's sweet high notes were buttressed from below by the dark-haired woman's plaintive expressive tones as they sang their song of forbidden love. This is what we wanted, Erin's thought flashed over to her partner's as they appraised these two women's contrasting talents which meshed so well together. As the words of the song crept into their consciousness, they fell in love with the music.
Without thinking, Erin plucked soft bass notes that underpinned the two interlocked acoustic guitars which was fortunately turned down low. Annabelle felt in her core the bass sounds which should have been there all along and smiled firstly at Simone's evident approval and then at their friend. Just as they came to the last chorus, Diane's brushes gently painted in rhythms like the waves breaking softly on the beach and the song suddenly jumped up in front of Annabelle, enhanced, and given new dimensions than her original acoustic sketch had suggested. She felt as if she was apart from the song yet at the heart of it at the same time. The question in her mind as to whether her three friends felt the same was swiftly answered.
"So, do you like the song?" Simone said with a little shy smile on her face, their first ever audience having been mysteriously transformed into part of their band. She felt pleased as their song had turned into something else that she couldn't describe except that it felt
good.
"We wouldn't have been playing if we didn't like it," Erin said softly, her face all aglow. She wondered to herself as to whether or not it was what she'd been searching for all along when she'd been first bitten by the music bug,.
"I don't wanna be like some kind of drum machine like some of those morons want me to be. This stuff feels right. Can we play the song again only we'll come in from the beginning?" Diane said, everything about her looking energised.
When Simone and Annabelle started the song again, all four women were there from the beginning and their performance was edged with more confidence, more boldness. Simone felt greater forcefulness pulse through her tones and rhythms as Erin buttressed her from underneath while Annabelle felt freer to pick out intricate patterns of notes, knowing that she wasn't going to fall while Diane's whooshing of the brushes pulsed backwards and forwards with a definite rock and roll rhythm that was never there before. It transformed the song especially as Erin added some harmonies low down into the mix of voices which pulled the balance of the song just right. Finally, they rode the song to its end past the final chorus when Diane's brushes described a fading final flourish or two as Erin's bass buzzed out a finale of some random jazzy notes while Simone's and Annabelle's acoustic guitar tinkles faded out into the ether.
As silence fell on the air, the four women felt as if they'd been transported out of themselves to a different and wonderful place. Their lips were parted and their eyes were wide open and all their senses felt sharp, new born as they reflected on the shared experience.
"Don't know about you guys but I'm hungry," Annabelle suddenly said after a couple of hours of intensive music making as they tried out the rest of the repertoire and customised it to their friends' specifications."We'll cook something for you."
"Oh no you don't Annabelle," Erin said forcefully."We play together. We cook together."
A wide smile spread across Simone's face. This was the ideal magical response from their two new friends much as their playing had been.
"I bet you thought you might be too laid back for us," Diane softly asked, sitting round the table and eating the delicious concoction of spices and salads."What we said at the start was for real."
"We know," Simone and Annabelle chorussed."Everything feels real to us right now."