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| Chapter 4 |
| CHAPTER 4: Sy yawned animatedly and kicked his feet up onto the sofa as he contemplated allowing his weary body to take a well-earned nap. Lee, on the other side of the room, laughed as he watched Sy�s facial expressions change and just as he was about to make a sly comment, there was a loud knocking on the door of their apartment. "You get that" said Sy, not opening his eyes and waving with one hand towards the door. "Why me?" pouted Lee. "You�re closer!" "But you�re better at these things. Now don�t be difficult, Lee, just get the bleedin� door" Swearing and ranting vibrantly about the treatment he was receiving as the younger of the two house mates, Lee stormed over and swung the door open, revealing a slim young girl. "Oh, hey Kathleen" he murmured, stepping aside to let her in. "Hey Lee" she replied, stepping into the apartment confidently, her glossy, jet black hair sashaying behind her. "Who is it?" Sy shouted from the living room. "It�s me, baby" smiled Kathleen demurely as she came into the room, and from the smile that tugged at Sy�s mouth the moment he saw her, his joy at seeing the petite 17 year old was evident. "Kath!" he grinned, jumping up from his seat, the tiredness that had plagued him earlier leaving in an instant. "Ooh, put me down!" squealed Kath in delight as Sy gathered her up into his strong arms. "Kids these days" mocked Lee, shaking his head as he sat down, grabbing the remote control almost possessively. "What are you doing here?" asked Sy, gently lowering Kathleen and kissing her forehead. "It�s wonderful to see you, but I thought you couldn�t see me �cause you were tied up with uni?" "I am!" giggled Kath. "But it was driving me crazy not seeing you, so stuff my lectures, here I am!" "And thank goodness as well!" grinned Simon. "Putting up with Lee�s ugly mug for more than a few weeks at a time is hardly what I call fun" he added, before kissing her slowly and sweetly, forgetting they had an audience. "Aaw, sod off!" replied Lee indignantly, switching off the TV as he did so, before quickly rising, and making a run for the door. "I�m off to bed, so see you� when I see you?" "Alright" said Sy, waving airily, his concentration solely on his girlfriend. "Bye Lee" smiled Kath, her eyes locked on Sy in return. "Not that you�d notice I�d left anyway�" muttered Lee, feeling pangs of jealousy as he ascended the stairs towards his bedroom, leaving Kathleen and Simon blissfully alone. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Where�s my red top?!" yelled Sarah, throwing handfuls of clothes out of her wardrobe, onto the floor. "Which one exactly?" asked Marie in frustration, as the fourth red coloured top flew past her, the fact that Sarah was running late again starting to make her more and more irritated. "The strappy one!" "You�ve got at least six like that!" "But the one with the diamantes on the front in the star" insisted Sar, brushing her long wet and very tangled hair behind her ears. "Take this, put it on and let�s go" demanded Marie, taking charge and thrusting a top into Sarah�s open hands. "But it�s lilac!" cringed Sar. "I don�t care" said Marie as Sarah sulkily pulled the top on, before grabbing her hand and pulling her out the door, grabbing their bags as they went. The two girls had literally taken no more than 2 steps beyond the front door when their bus drove past, the driver not noticing the 2 frantically waving girls. "Great. Just great" said Sarah, her hands on her hips. "And just look at my hair, it�s a right mess". "Well, maybe if you were up earlier we wouldn�t have missed it, would we?" snapped Marie curtly. Sarah looked hurt at the cutting tone in her best friend�s voice and hung her head. "I�m really sorry, Mar, you should�ve gone without me this morning. Let me face the music for once!" "Ah, you know I can�t do that� look, sorry bout snapping� forgive?" "Sure" smiled Sar, linking arms with Marie in comradery and sighing dramatically. "30 minute walk to Uni, here we come". "Got no choice do we" laughed Marie as the two set off, Sarah complaining constantly about her un-brushed hair. Just as the two friends were a moment away from arguing about Sarah�s whining, they were saved by a petite girl falling into step with them, the red highlights in her hair accentuating the glossy texture. "You missed the bus too?" asked the girl. "Thanks to Sarah, we did" replied Marie with a wry grin. "But anyway, how are you, Kathleen?" "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant" "Ooh, ooh! Someone had a good night, eh?" teased Sarah "You could say that" Kathleen smiled slyly. "Alright, who is he and why haven�t we met him yet? Huh? Huh?" laughed Marie, throwing an elbow playfully into Kathleen�s side. Kath looked at her toes shyly for a moment as she strolled along, before looking up again, a huge grin in place instead. "His name is Simon" she stated simply. "And? More info!" begged Marie expectantly. "He�s tall, black and soo handsome�" "A hottie then?" giggled Sarah, brushing strands of hair out of her eyes with the palm of her hand. "When do we meet him? Ooh, I�m all excited! Ha, Kath�s in luuuuuuuuuuurve!" announced Marie loudly as the three girls entered the large university grounds and strode across the almost empty courtyard. "We�ve only been dating 2 months" laughed Kathleen, flushing a delighted pink across her cheeks. "I promise I�ll introduce you guys soon, he�s got cute friends too, but yeah, you�ll meet him soon enough" "You do realise I�ll hold you to that?" said Sarah, waving a finger at Kath. "I�m terrified, Sar" Kath replied sarcastically. "Bugger" smiled Sarah crazily as they walked into one of the massive grey buildings and proceeded down a long cold corridor lined with numbered doors. "Can you really be arsed going to Philosophy?" asked Marie suddenly, stopping dead in the middle of the corridor, her hands resting lightly on her curvy hips. "Does it look like it?" retorted Sarah unenthusiastically. "Not really" shrugged Kath, somewhat bamboozled by Marie�s uncharacteristic behaviour. "Well, let�s not go!" declared Marie, her eyes sparkling. "Stuff it, let�s go back outside into the sunshine!" Laughing as though they were in primary school once more, the three girls half ran and half skipped out of the suffocating confinements of the dark building and into the awaiting bright sunshine. Their eyes were initially assaulted by the radiant glare of the sun, so much so that Sarah did not see the flustered girl running towards her until they almost collided. "Jo??" "Oh, Sar! You�re here!" Jo shouted, throwing her arms around Sarah happily. "Um, are you ok?" asked Sarah, pulling back and eyeing Jo cautiously at arm�s length, a worried expression across her face. "Great!" giggled Jo, detaching herself from Sarah and repeating the embrace with Marie and Kath. "Care to explain?" said Marie, speaking for all of them. "Lee called, you dumbies!" announced Jo, throwing her arms up into the air as if they should�ve known. "I�m listening�" encouraged Marie, pulling Jo down to sit with them "I�m not, you just lost me" mumbled Sar, in typical fashion. "Oh, can�t stay!" laughed Jo, flying to her feet but pulling Sarah up with her. "Come with me!" "Why?" protested Sarah "Just trust me" "I don�t" "Then you should" replied Jo, dragging her away from the others. Kath and Marie instinctively followed, in somewhat morbid curiosity. "Jo!" hissed Sarah. "What the hell is going on?" Jo winked mischieviously. "Duncan�s here" "What?!" screeched Sar, immediately panicking. "No, don�t take me anywhere near him, just look at me! No makeup, hair not done! Please, Jo, don�t!" "Too late" grinned Jo as they rounded a slight corner and were presented with the sight of Duncan standing against the wall, seemingly entertaining a large group of enthralled girls. He was wearing dark denim jeans, trainers, and a matching denim jacket with a white shirt on underneath. Everything about him screamed sophistication and sex appeal. "Oh god" breathed Sarah, seemingly in a trance. "What�s he doing here?" she asked Jo hurriedly. Jo lowered her eyes and looked away. Was that a guilty look? "Jo?" "Uhm, he�s here seeing someone" "And?" asked Sarah, as Duncan looked over and saw her again for the first time in a year. "He�s getting back with Alannah Charlesworth again" blurted out Jo, and Sar�s heart sank. "Ooh" was all Sar could say as she saw Dunc wave happily, before proceeding to walk over. "Damn" cursed Marie, and shared a sorry look with Kath. "Damn that, eh?" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Ant sat in the tiny little office, pulling at his stiff shirt collar uncomfortably, feeling hot and bothered in the small surroundings. His heart was thudding nervously in his chest, making him feel as though the entire building could feel the constant rhythm. Finally, after an agonizing wait, the door to the adjoining office swung open, and a small mousy looking man stepped through. "Mr Costa?" "Yes, that�s me," replied Ant politely, standing up to extend a hand to the man. "But please call me Ant" "Ant it is then. I�m Cliff Doyles, and I�d like to thank you for giving up some time to come along today" said the little man, taking a seat behind his desk, and rummaging through a large stack of papers sitting on top, whilst he introduced himself. Ant gulped, before taking his seat back. "It was no problem, Mr Doyles" "Now, Ant, we have received your demo tapes, and from the initial outset, we�ve been very impressed with your vocal talent�" "Really?" "Yes, we think you�ve definitely got quite a large amount of star potential" said Mr Doyle, allowing Ant a moment to process what he�d just said. "So does that mean I have a future with your label, My Doyle, because I�d be totally honoured just to have a chance and I�d definitely try my all�" "It�s not that simple, I�m afraid Ant" interrupted Cliff, and Ant�s heart lurched suddenly, as a wave of nausea swept through him. "But.." began Ant, confused. "Whilst we feel that you have a lot of raw talent, the songs that you have chosen would be much better suited to a group of artists, and that�s something we�d like to try. At the moment, we�re not looking for solo artists" finished Cliff, his attention still on the stack of papers in front of him, which he started to sign with a large fountain pen. "Well, thank you very much for your time, Mr Doyle, I appreciate it" said Ant, slowly, feeling completely dejected as he rose from his seat. It was his third turn down in as many days, if the record companies even returned his tapes and calls at all. "Don�t let it get you down, Ant, I strongly suggest that you keep it going. You have got what it takes, don�t get me wrong, but perhaps you should look a little more broadly, and think about a group situation" "I will, thanks again" replied Ant quietly, gathering his jacket from the back of the chair, and bidding Mr Doyle a final farewell. Out in the corridor of the building, his composure fell, and he hung his head miserably. You�re never gonna make it, Ant�. The defeatist attitude hit him strongly, and he headed out of the building feeling useless. Once he reached his car, he pulled out his phone and immediately dialled Duncan�s number. "Hello?" "Dunk, it�s me, Ant" "Oh, hey mate, how did it go?" asked Dunk brightly, not yet aware of the sadness in Ant�s voice. "Another turn down, like I should�ve expected" grumbled Ant angrily, as he started his car. "Shit, sorry man, you must be gutted. What did they have to say this time?" "The usual about keep trying and not giving up coz of my talent� the same old bullshit they feed you every time" cursed Ant "Hhhmm�" Dunc mumbled, contemplating Ant�s words. "But there was one thing they pointed out" said Ant, a tiny idea forming in his mind somewhere, niggling at him. "And what was that?" "That the songs I�ve got are more suited to a group, not just a solo vocalist� why haven�t we thought of that?" "I don�t get you" said Dunk on the other end, somewhat confused. "Honestly, Dunk, it�s dead obvious! We go to the studios together, write together and even record together, so why the hell haven�t we tried singing together?" laughed Ant, as though it was all so blatantly obvious. "Oh, I dunno" hesitated Dunk "What have we got to lose?" challenged Ant, the idea growing stronger and stronger. "Nothing, I �spose" replied Dunk, before Ant�s ears were insulted with a load of background noise coming from the other end of the phone. "Look, mate, I gotta run now, but I�ll call you later, alright?" "Yeah, do that" said Ant, as he cruised along the highway, hanging up on Dunk and heading for the apartment he now shared with Dunk. No longer did he feel so dejected, instead he was surprised by the sudden inspiration that he could almost feel flowing through him. Why hadn�t we thought of that? We can both sing, and yet we�ve never sung together� talk about being blind dumb asses! As he turned into the steep driving to their apartment, Ant finally smiled his first true smile since leaving Mr Doyle�s office, and as he fiddled with the keys to the front door, he knew already who he was going to telephone next. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* |
| UNFINISHED |
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