Because this was the morning of their first gig, Friday morning broke in on Simone and Annabelle's sleep, throwing bright colours and sharp shadows upon them both. True, this morning wasn't greatly different from a normal balmy Californian summer's day. Their heightened sense of awareness was the first foreknowledge that today was the day that they would transmute themselves into a rock and roll band and discover fresh aspects of themselves. During the morning, they postponed the moment of transition by occupying themselves with nothing in particular as a way of avoiding obsessing repeatedly on what they were going to do. It would serve no good purpose. Despite all this, the uncertainty as to what they were aiming at couldn't stop Simone starting to make her feel strange as this was her first time out as a performer. The clock was ticking onwards and sooner or later, they were due to set off to their friends' place. Finally the younger woman's expression couldn't stop but be clouded with concern as she read her partner's free floating emotions and knew that someone had better say something.
"So you're wondering how being a rock and roll star feels like? You know, if room service will send in a bottle of Jack Daniels," Annabelle said in as light-hearted fashion as was possible.
"That's just it. I don't," Simone confessed, throwing away her natural tendency when under pressure to withdraw into herself. She looked in the mirror at an image of herself dressed in a pair of loose-fitting white trousers and a short-sleeved green T-shirt and didn't believe in herself.
"I know very well mow much it takes to believe in the part," Annabelle gently advised , placing her hands on her partner's shoulders,"but I'll help you pick out an outfit that make you feel the part and feel good on you. Remember, the audience are our friends."
The younger woman could feel her words ease into Simone's tensed up coils of nervous energy and she smiled in agreement in that charmingly girlish way of hers.
"So what are you wearing? Surely not that red slip of yours," she teased, recalling her improvised outfit for St Theresa's end of year dance.
"That's simple. I'll wear my white sleeveless lacy top with jeans."
Annabelle's choice drew a worried frown in reply. She fancied something decorative and feared to be out of line with the others, guessing that Erin and Diane were sure to opt for something similar.
"You ought to wear that white lace dress of yours. It's brought us good luck, it looks good on you and I like the idea of the contrast."
A brilliant smile spread across Simone's face as her friend precisely articulated the mental images and feelings that had floated round at the back of her mind. The resolution of this question raised her confidence level a notch.
"So let's get changed and see how we look," she responded crisply. Smiling, Annabelle led the way to her bedroom and she changed out of her patterned white dress into her own stage outfit. It gave her a strange feeling as she'd worn it at St Theresa's and when she'd first visited here on her spring break. This time around, it signified something different. She looked and felt good about herself. As she turned away from the mirror, she caught sight of her musical partner wearing her white dress and carrying her guitar.
"Will I do?" she asked, smiling shyly.
"Of course you do as always. You'll look great on stage," came the prompt reply.
Simone kissed her partner warmly and gratefully on her lips. She'd gauged her emotions just right.
"There's one song I must sing before we head over to Erin and Diane's place, something I've got to do."
The younger woman raised her eyebrows as she tried to guess what was on her lover's mind and with a wry grin at herself, confessed utter failure. Instead, she politely gestured to Simone to go ahead.
All at once, Simone's clear carrying voice started to sing 'Amazing Grace' out of nowhere to the accompaniment of simple guitar chords with a few slick flourishes which left Annabelle open-mouthed. It was the first song Simone had ever sung and played for her. Her perfect assurance showed how far she'd come and so quickly but there was more than that to it. .
"I'm still a good Catholic girl- in my own way," Simone confessed with her endearing shy smile as if she ought to apologise for her beliefs."I have faith in an exterior presence to pull us through beyond our own strong will. I haven't broken faith with God – I practice it inwardly."
"I can relate to that," Annabelle replied gently, looking into her lover's clear blue eyes before changing out of their outfits into casual clothes that could stand helping to carry and move around cables, amplifiers and components of drum kits . "Are you ready to roll?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Simone answered with serene assurance, her guitar case in one hand and her suitcase in the other, including makeup. As they clattered up the steps to the car at the top, both women knew that there was no turning back and that they were going forth to meet and shape their destiny with whatever help came their way.
"Really great to see you both,"Erin exclaimed enthusiastically, putting her arms round each woman's shoulders in an especially exuberant fashion. She was relieved to see their friends come bang on time and totally ready. If there was one thing that wound her up, it was promises by those who were dear to her and a total absence of showing up when the commitment was most needed.
"Simone's wearing a white dress and I'll wear my jeans and white top. Once we've got set up then show us the changing room and we'll be ready to play,"Annabelle said crisply, her eyes dancing with delight.
"I know this is my first time out but I'm psyched up to perform. We know the songs and we're playing for our friends and I've done a warmup song,'Amazing Grace' to get myself in the mood," put in Simone quietly.
Erin and Diane exchanged glances that told the other two women that whatever she did was right by them so long as it got her into the right frame of mind. They put their arms round each others' shoulders and gestured the other two in for a group hug. Being part of a group meant that no one got left out in the cold to suffer stage fright in silence.
"There's one thing we've got to do first,"Erin said when they took a seat in the very homely functional apartment, really feeling that they were all together in this enterprise."I need to make a phone call."
Diane looked on knowingly. She knew exactly what her partner was up to and that she was conscious of acting in good faith for all of them.
"I can't believe it. A week or so in sunny California and half my normal makeup becomes redundant," exclaimed Nikki as she applied the finishing touches to her eye makeup in the glittering luxury of their bedroom suite.
Helen's answering smile was wan. She could never quite possess Nikki's knack of totally losing herself in the pleasures of the present. Her instinct that made her a formidable forward planner and administrator over the years in various occupations cursed her in not being able to fully let herself go despite her lover's gentle ministrations to the opposite.
"I know, sweetheart. We'll be returning to wet and windy London in a few days time. We've had some great experiences and met some really lovely women," Helen replied compassionately, aware of how her lover had picked up on her sombre mood. "We've bought some great clothes and books," she added to lighten the mood.
Nikki glanced round at the immaculately decorated hotel suite, all white and white, which contrasted with their more homely and colourful flat halfway across the globe in London and led the way towards the party across town. As they strode confidently towards their hire car outside their hotel, the gorgeous twilit sky was taking the place of the golden reds and oranges of another perfect sunset. It was an image they would never forget.
By contrast, Colins had shyly asked her businesslike father and her organiser of a mother for a lift to the house of her best friend Jane and that she could sleep over. It seemed a reasonable deal to her knowledgeable parents whose capacity to administer their various work empires gave them a sense of judgment. They could remember Jane's parents from way back and they were respectable members of the community who, unfortunately, couldn't afford to send their child to St Theresa's as they had done. It was one of those things, for childhood friendships to be severed in the same way that in their world, those who moved on to another firm and got promotion, left their old work colleagues behind and acquired a new circle of acquaintances. This was what modern America was all about and Colins needed to be grateful that chance had put her old friend back into circulation again. They took one look at the clean cut, blond haired presentable child who was dressed up to the nines and judged that renewing their friendship would be a positive step forward. They were pleased that their shy, retiring daughter had a friend, something that she was not noted for and even that she was wearing a colourful short skirt and top. She had always been a loner and a liability in the all-important requirement in being able to cultivate useful friendships not to say her dreadful habit of wearing long-sleeved cardigans on the hottest of days. Ever since she'd come home from St Theresa's, she become more self-confident, especially when she'd been packed off for some cosmetic surgery which her father hadn't really understood the whys and wherefores but her mother did. After all, she knew about matters like that and also improvements in her wardrobe. All in all, she was ceasing to be the ugly ducking that she'd been all through her childhood and was actually taking care of her appearance. She was less inclined to mope around the house on her own or adopt some waif and stray animal as her pet. They hadn't dared to think that Colins would start dating but they could dream. After all, some handsome boy wouldn't look in her direction as she was still emerging from her childhood shell, socially speaking. Perhaps there was something in that old-fashioned education at St Theresa's, as advertised in their business prospectus, which could bring out qualities in the unlikeliest of children and some of Jane's sense of style was rubbing off on her.
Thinking these grave thoughts, Colins' father drove his excitable daughter across town to Jane's parents house. He only half-heard her talking about how they'd met up by accident and details of how they'd hung out drinking coffee and gone back to Jane's parents place. He paid even less attention to the way his daughter rambled on how she was such a great friend and how great it was that they were together again as, after all, he had a lot of serious business on his mind. He dropped her daughter off outside the proverbial white picket fence and caught a glimpse of them greeting each other before he headed for home. His duty was done.
Miranda made sure that all the girls who worked for her turned up on the dot as this was business as opposed to pleasure. She hadn't changed her mind about the crudity of rock and roll music being an aboriginal sub art form that offended her highly attuned sensibilities for literature and classical music. The one represented the cheap pleasure of the hamburger joint and the drive in movie. The other evoked the highest spiritual sensibilities and rapture that she incorporated into her subtle moves in her lovemaking. All her women throughout her adult life had been there to be mentored by her. They were the adoring neophytes and she was the sophisticated initiator. That's how the expression of her pleasures had operated for years. Her other side was her club which brought her into contact with sparkling conversations with her circle of friends, newcomers to the scene who piqued her curiosity and last but not least, a steady and comfortable income which her commercial instincts wouldn't compromise. Her agreement to hosting this pop concert was based on the enhanced takings from the bar which sweaty rock and roll music in a confined space would be bound to engender.
She shook her head ruefully as she reflected on the business deal she'd done with Erin on the phone. A tough cookie, that one, she confessed to herself with a strong undertone of back-handed respect. The girl was very precise on the logistics of setting up their musical instruments if you could call them that, the percentage they'd take off the bar profits and the details of when they'd perform, offering in return the chance for customers to drink and dance the night away to canned music before they made their appearance. She could hear the background sounds of approval of her negotiations. She could afford to smile at this woman who, though unsophisticated and younger than she was, had a force of personality that she respected. As she wiped the polished wooden bar counter with a cloth, she reflected on the fact that everyone were winners on this night.