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38 - One Fan, Two Fans

"Mick, how about a touch of violin on this section please, very plaintive." He gave a little wave and I saw he and Phil fiddling with controls. "I'll start again from the beginning of the second verse." He nodded and we went back to try again, Mick giving me a thumbs up as we continued on to the chorus.

We'd almost finished the album; the song we were working on today, called Change Your Mind, was the second last to be recorded - and hopefully would be my second single. Jake was singing back up for me and it felt so comfortable and familiar to be singing with him. After another three or four run-throughs both Mick and I were happy with the sound we had, so we laid down the track. I was thrilled with how smoothly it was all going; once or twice Mick and I had disagreed on minor details but I'd curbed my natural pigheadedness enough to listen to his suggestions and admitted afterwards that he was right.

"It's nearly five Cara; do you want to get started on the last song or finish up early?"

I looked at the friends and musicians ranged around me; they had all been working their butts off over the last few weeks and I felt they deserved an early finish. "Let's call it a night," I replied, rewarded by a huge smile from Marcus. "Got a hot date?" I asked him, giving him a quick hug when he beamed and replied in the affirmative. Everyone packed up and left, calling goodnight as they filed out of the studio, and after a few quiet words with Mick I departed as well.

The roads were clogged with the usual peak-hour commuter traffic and I slowly made my way through the throng of people hurrying for the Tube; knowing the trains would be full at this time of night, I took my time, in no rush to be packed like a sardine into the tin can that hurtled its way under the city streets. Tossing a gold coin to a busker playing Dylan tunes outside the station, I allowed myself to be swept along in the wave of bodies making their way down the stairs and along the passageways, ending up on a crowded platform as we awaited the next service. Thinking of Ben and our upcoming holiday, I was a bit slow to respond to a young couple trying to get my attention.

"Excuse me?"

I turned to them, expecting to be asked the time or directions to a tourist destination. "Yes?"

"Aren't you Cara de Luca?" the young man asked, the woman beside him nodding her head and smiling at me. He had a soft, lilting accent.

"Yes I am." Did I know them from somewhere?

"We thought so," they exchanged a glance and turned to me again, "We saw you in Dublin when you opened for Eleanor McEvoy."

"Oh!" Well, colour me surprised.

"We've been looking for a CD of your songs but we haven't seen any in the shops," the woman said. "Where can we get one? Do we buy it off you?"

If you looked up 'Italian version of a stunned mullet' in the Urban Dictionary, I'm fairly certain it would show a picture of my face as it looked in the few seconds before I was able to collect my thoughts enough to answer. "You can't yet. Actually, I'm working on an album right now and there'll be a single released soon, so...um...God, I don't even remember where they're going to be released." Is that terrible? You'd think I would know that vital little detail, wouldn't you? Yeah, me too, but - well, apparently not.

They suggested giving me their email address so I could send them the information, which I thought was very trusting of them; I could be a real weirdo or a cyber-stalker or something, for all they knew... "That would work, if you're sure." They were, so he wrote down the address while she talked to me about my songs and by the time our train arrived we were chatting like old friends. Paul and Marika, their names were. We squeezed our way into the packed carriage and kept talking music until Paul suddenly thought of taking a selfie of the three of us. After they'd gotten off, waving enthusiastically to me, I laughed out loud which earned me a strange look from the heavily-tattooed guy standing nearby - I just grinned and gave him a thumbs up until he turned away to find some other kooky bird to stare at.

Fans; I have fans - plural. Woo hoo!

---

"Isn't it ready yet?" I was at Ben's flat, where he was making me dinner - and it smelled divine. Garlic, ginger and chilli had been teasing my olfactory senses for the past forty minutes, the rumbling of my stomach beginning to resemble Piccadilly Circus at rush hour and my mouth was watering so much you could stand me still in Hyde Park and call me a fountain.

"Only five minutes more, I promise." Ben was bending over the open oven, checking on the progress of the meal while I was bending over the back of his couch, checking on him. Well, a particular part of his anatomy at any rate - the one currently encased in dark trousers tight enough to almost double the amount of saliva I was about to drool all over his couch cushions. "Good god woman," he huffed, closing the oven door and turning to face me, "you are more impatient than my six year old god-daughter."

I swallowed. "Do you keep her waiting an hour for a meal? That's child cruelty, Flubberjack; are her parents aware of the inhumane treatment she receives at your hands?"

In one and a half strides of those long, muscular legs - also shown to distinct advantage in their current attire - he reached me and bent down just the right distance to press his lips firmly against mine. I think he probably meant it as a means of shutting me up and hey, who was I to complain? It was a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned. Should I tell him that it would only encourage me to talk, rather than discourage? Nah, he'll figure it out eventually I guess - he is Sherlock Holmes, after all. Brainy is the new sexy and all that. It was a very satisfactory way of spending those last five minutes too...

Half an hour later, with my tummy happily replete and a glass of chilled white wine to enjoy, I rose, gathering both our plates to take them out to the kitchen. Returning to the dining room, I came up behind Ben's chair and slid my arms around his shoulders, one hand slipping in the opening of his shirt to play with his chest hair while I gently nipped at his neck.

"Darling, that was a wonderful meal, thank you so much," I purred.

"Was it worth all the waiting and whinging?" he teased, tilting his head ever so slightly to allow me to reach the base of his throat.

"It was worth every second," I assured him, working my way back up his neck and taking his earlobe between my teeth; he gave a soft moan of pleasure and I hummed to myself. Moving to his side, I waited as he pushed his chair back from the table before perching on his lap, kissing him on the lips while I opened the buttons of his shirt and pushed it back from his shoulders.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Miss de Luca?" His hands came up to cradle my head.

"That is my current plan, yes, unless you have any objection?"

"None at all," he replied, "but perhaps you should ask whatever it is you want of me before we move this somewhere more conducive."

I stilled. "What do you mean?"

Oh, the twinkle in those eyes! I could drown in them, in spite of them twinkling at my expense. "I mean you obviously want something from me; go ahead and ask so we can get back to the you-seducing-me part," he grinned.

Dammit, the man saw right through me. Acknowledging this with a grin of my own, I took a breath and got straight to the point. "If you have any time to spare tomorrow," I was pretty sure he did, as he was currently just learning lines for his upcoming film, "I was hoping you could call in to the recording studio for an hour or two."

"I'd be happy to; any particular reason?"

"I'm recording a song I wrote for you."

His hand lifted my chin and we gazed into each other's eyes. "Sweetheart..." I melted at the love on his face. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Say yes," I whispered just before his mouth claimed mine again and he lifted me in his arms to carry me to his bed, where he said yes many times while he let me seduce him.

The next morning, with Jake on violin, Marcus on piano and Linda and Jeremy joining me on guitar, I recorded I Love The Way You Love Me in just two takes, with Ben sitting about five feet in front of me. And with that, the album was finished.