The four women worked like slaves in packing all their gear into their two cars. It meant disassembling the drum kit and amplifiers and and packing them in carefully into the limited space. The solid weight of Erin's bass guitar and the lighter weight of two electrified guitars had to be accommodated not to say the space the guitar cases occupied. Around all this, their stage clothes took up the last of the precious space. Finally, Simone looked at her watch and it was half past three on a sunny afternoon
"So why all the hurry?" Simone finally queried as Erin gave the last of her directions and wiped her brow.
"We need to plug this into the PA system at Chico's so we get a rounded sound. That's partly what I was talking to Miranda about after I clinched the business deal," Erin said in her laconic fashion. The other three women grinned at the way Erin had dealt with the formidable owner of the club. Annabelle frankly admired their friend's eye for detail and was grateful for their greater experience of this kind of thing.
"Don't worry, Erin's the electrician around here and I help her out,"Diane said reassuringly to the unspoken question suspended in mid air.
"That's a relief as I'm not really practical. Just the same, I didn't know that being in a rock and roll band could be so sweaty," Simone confessed in her charmingly girlish fashion.
"You wait till we're packing up after the gig after we've played our asses off," laughed Erin. Her expression became more reflective as memories started filtering back into her mind.
"Still, the buzz makes it all worthwhile if we get it right and I have the feeling this night's going to be special,"she added as the basic feeling that had prompted them to throw in their lot with Simone and Annabelle came significantly closer to being realised. A thrill ran through her system as imaginary sights and sounds and feelings percolated their way through her lively imagination.
"So are we getting going or what?" asked Diane, dabbing a floppy hat over her long fair hair that had materialised from out of nowhere.
"She's keen you know," joked Annabelle, her gleaming white teeth shown off in her attractive smile. A nicely sororial four way banter helped seal their comradeship in arms as they'd reached the point when the they'd ceased being just two lesbian couples but four close friends who could laugh and joke with each other.
In another part of town, Colins and Jane were snuggled down in the back of a cab, feeling exited beyond measure as they set off to Chico's. Outside, the flat lands whizzed past, all palm trees and billboards, the only constant being the brilliant oranges and reds of the burning sunset. Neither of them knew where the idea came from, it just arrived. By sheer chance, it was conveniently close to Jane's house once adolescent inventiveness had done its homework. Both girls felt a thrill of pleasure coursing through their systems that their destination would arrive quicker than they might have imagined. Colins felt good about herself dressed in her new skirt and top while Jane looked wondrous in her low-cut dress and the sweet perfume emanating from her. In front of them, the middle-aged man drove stolidly onwards to some bar or other on just another job taking two kids out on a teenage drunk but then again, it wasn't his business.
"You do know what we're letting ourselves in for, Colins?" Jane asked a little anxiously. She knew of old her friend's tendency to get into a panic.
"It's as if I've led my life with my eyes shut, terrified to look at what's around me and now my eyes are open, there's nothing to be scared of. This has been a long time coming, that's all," Colins replied slowly with the utmost deliberation in her tone of voice. This took Jane aback. The words were so poetic for a start and Jane was still a little way back in their collective past when her friend was timid and childlike. It was this turnabout that roused Jane's fascination with her old friend whose brown eyes never left her own.
"We've never talked so much in my life when we had coffee the other day. I enjoyed every minute of it," Jane said, squeezing her friend's hand impulsively. They took their time to regretfully let go of each other, feeling a little shy at feelings that were seeping into their consciousness. Colins's shy smile in reply was as Jane had always known her but this time, there was something in it that was thrillingly new.
Erin rapped confidently enough on the closed front door of Chico's which, at that time of the day, had all the appearance of being shut for business and not at home. After a few minutes, a slightly dishevelled Miranda let a crack appear in the doorway, looking suspiciously at her.
"We're here early to get set up for the sound check," Erin said with perfect assurance, Annabelle standing foursquare behind her and acting as visual backup.
"So long as you don't get in my way," came the slightly surly reply. A young girl could be seen in the background as the door opened wider. She looked slightly flushed, her hair all awry and looking as if her T-shirt had been hastily dragged over her head. Simone felt a twinge of sympathy as she'd been caught out in circumstances worse than this. The girl was of an age where public embarrassment meant the heavens had fallen in on her.
"Show us where to plug in and perform and you'll need to show Erin where we can hook up to your PA," Annabelle said shortly to cut out the crap. Miranda gestured impatiently to the cleared area, the wall sockets and the space behind the bar
"I've got business to sort out. I'll see you later," Miranda said in a lowered voice out of the corner of her mouth to the girl giving her a sideways nod to the girl to return to whence they had come. Imperiously, she swept forward to the counter area and engaged in a rapid conversation with Erin with strict injunctions to take care. Erin could understand the other woman's concern leaving someone she hardly knew to screw around with the electrics. When she had done, she stalked off to the back of the bar. The other three women looked expectantly at her friend.
"We'll be OK. This setup is a cinch. I'll see to it while you guys haul in the gear."
Simone being closest the door, propped open the front door wide and joined the others who unloaded the cars in a businesslike fashion and carted everything in to the spot where Erin's free hand was pointing, a nice natural alcove near the sockets. They set to work with a will and only when they'd done did Simone step back, wide-eyed as the purposeful display of drums, mike stands and finally, their guitars leaning against their amplifiers, black cables snaking their way around their apparatus, leaving space clear for three of them to sing and play. She stepped up to where her place would be, taking in slow and careful breaths of air. This was now where her life was headed, her lips told her, and all she needed were the song lyrics she'd learnt to sing and her finely honed guitar playing skills. A feeling of electricity pulsed through her as she silently blessed the invisible powers that had mentally set her up on the path she'd now chosen. It reminded her of the prospect of her very first day in front of a class and she realised the power within her of being a teacher. Now she was using different mediums to realise herself in the same way.
"You all right Simone?" Diane asked, sitting behind her drum kit. Simone smiled back , reached for her guitar and broke into an unamplified snatch of one of their songs while Diane kicked off a tattoo from her drum kit with whooshing sounds off her cymbals. Annabelle looked around with satisfaction, being in the band that she'd helped create rather than being thrown together with a random bunch of strangers.
"Hey, there's time enough to do a sound check, rock star," bantered Erin before her warm smile spread over her face. Perhaps she might quit going through stage nerves on the quiet one of these days."It's great you're feeling good."
Simone slipped off her guitar and joined the others in ensuring that everything was properly connected while Erin did the finishing touches at her end. Under hers and Diane's direction, the four women set about playing random chords and drum hits and juggling them around with guitar amplifier settings and finally got the voice microphones pitched right against it to their satisfaction. Diane smiled mischievously to herself at the though of what this was doing to Miranda's love life right now but, hey, they were four working women who were due for a little respect. Finally, they blasted off a few of their songs mixing the louder with softer songs which resonated nicely round the room. All four of them were feeling good and ready to play.
"Hey, we'd better order some takeaway food. We don't want to be starving later," Diane called out.
"She's as skinny as hell but she's got a hollow gut," joked Erin to the others."Never put on an ounce all the time I've known her."
At the appointed hour, the first comers drifted their way up to Simone's coloured performance poster which took their interest and, on entering the bar, caught sight of the impressive array of musical instruments. This gave them a sense of anticipation of the unknown while the group members were on their way backstage to eat the takeaway meal they were carrying. Some of them remembered those two gorgeous English women who'd triggered images of British films which featured the interesting and exotic. Chico's was coming up in the world to their estimation. Michelle Peters wasn't interested in anything but whether or not she could get off with Miranda, that dark-eyed beauty and classic older woman that she was pursuing. The mental image of her former teacher, Miss Bradley was something she would sooner forget. By contrast, Sadie saw things differently as two of them had once very nervously asked her to open up a joint account. She had introduced them to Erin and Diane and also to the scene where her partner Jenny first met them. Vanessa and Alison felt likewise having taken photographs of them firstly for themselves and later as part of the group. They fervently wanted their friends' venture to succeed as friends they knew and related to. To Colins, the fair-haired woman who passed them by dressed in black trousers and white shirt was Miss Bradley while Annabelle gave her a friendly wave as always. Jane took her friend by the hand and ordered two large glasses of wine from the bar which they carried to the table by the window, at right angles to the improvised stage. Already, the bar was rapidly filling up, faster than usual to Miranda's satisfaction so the music induced some of the women to dance.
Colins' eyes widened as she snatched glances of the out and out womanhood swaying rhythmically to the music. It was scary and exciting at the same time so she rapidly downed half her glass of wine to bolster her spirits. As coloured lights flickered and flowed over the crowd in the half-light, Colins stared into her friend's eyes and vocalised the first thought that came off the top of her head.
"You look beautiful tonight, Jane. Your dress, your makeup."
"That's because I dressed up specially for you Colins. We're going out together."
"Oh," Colins replied in charming innocence. The thought literally had never crossed her mind."I mean I don't often go to dances."
"There is nothing wrong in doing something different. Everything is allowed."
The words sparkled through Colins' system like the heady wine she'd been drinking. The obvious next though were out of her lips in a blink of an eye.
"Like to dance? That is if you don't mind."
"I thought you'd never ask," laughed Jane gently, showing her white attractive smile and looking gorgeous. Strange warm feelings swam around inside her that she'd never felt before but they felt right, bolstered by the old knowledge that their friendship was meant to be. They both finished their drinks and headed out to the dance floor where they immediately felt as one with the crowd.
Helen and Nikki loved dancing. It allowed them to let loose their feelings to be free of constraint without actually making love. Each admired the other's skills and the little moves that they made. This time they were part of the gang that made them instantly at home thanks to their talk last week. Nikki looked to the side of them and was touched by the sight of two young girls who were obviously on their first date and looked so innocent, especially the dark-haired girl. She gave her an encouraging smile, gestured reassuringly to her partner who was shaking it on the dance floor before they were lost in the crowd. Vanessa's long dark, hair, normally tied back flailed away in tempo to the music as her lean body gyrated enthusiastically to the music, freed from hours holding herself in constrained positions to take the perfect photo and spending time in the dark room. Sadie loved letting loose after hours of being the corporate customer services officer persona while Jenny just loved the uptempo music to warm her up. Michelle Peters glumly drank at the bar while Miranda's attention beamed in twenty different directions as her way of keeping in charge. Finally, she judged that the mood was right for the DJ to play smoochy romantic music.
It was at this moment when the women slid into each other's arms when Colins had a momentary feeling of panic as she felt put to the test. This was too much, too soon. However, Jane guessed her friend's thoughts and her hand enfolded her friend's in her own, urging comfort.
"Don't worry Colins. All the women dancing together are saying 'yes' to us. Just relax," she said ever so softly and tenderly.
The dark-haired girl let her friend's arms encircle her and the feel of Jane's perfumed body up close cast an intoxicating spell on her. She breathed out all the tension in her body, snuggled up close , her face nuzzling against her friend's neck. Feeling her friend's soft hands stroking her felt good as the golden thought struck her that she was embracing another woman and, very tentatively, she kissed her friend's soft neck.
"I really love looking into your eyes," that very soft, very clear voice sounded in the dark-haired girl's consciousness. She raised her head and was deliciously lost inside the spell of loving eyes and slightly parted lips so close to her. This was the moment, Colins thought, in case she lost her nerve at the very last minute. Their lips softly brushed against each others, then again and at the third time, they didn't separate. Now Colins could fully frame the feelings that had been tugging at her to be given name and recognition and it was desire. Strange sounds came from her throat as she felt a soft tongue softly but insistently press against her lips and their mouths opened wide each other. The feel of their tongues caressing each other was like heaven- it was always meant to be.
Nikki stole glances to the side of her as Helen's soft arms were draped round her and smiled tenderly and nostalgically at the two girls who'd plucked up the courage to cross the line as they smiled bashfully in her direction after that long kiss. Young love, first love, she thought, something that overwhelms you with its intensity. She knew herself how it felt and also through Helen's eyes. She really wanted their love to blossom and last forever and knew that, despite her sophisticated poise, she was a real softie.
Behind the bar, Simone paced around with pent up energy, fiddling with the front of her dress where her crucifix had once hung. Erin and Diane went through their usual ritual of feeling tense inside but knew that, once on stage, their energies would released. Annabelle chewed the bottom of her lip and fiddled with a lock of her hair. She knew that it was up to her to make that initial mark on the audience with her first song and enable Simone to spark that performance high within herself.
Finally, Miranda slipped backstage and rapped on the door. They grabbed their guitars. It was time to go.