LifeStyles

Thirty-Eight

It is 8.40pm and I am running so late to pick Harry up. The gig technically started ten minutes ago but realistically 24/7 never come on the stage until around 9pm.

I am so pleased he agreed to come with me tonight and excited to be going out together but also a little apprehensive because I know he is a bit nervous about being 'found'. It tells that he isn't quite ready to go back to civilisation just yet.

Due to the 'estate' size of my car, I usually help Dylan and his band mates move their gear to each venue on gig nights. I am a bit like a roadie but minus the heavy lifting; on their insistence not mine that makes me vaguely laugh as I lug bags of compost round the garden with no trouble at all!

Tonight was no exception but when we arrived at Eclipse 69 it was all locked up. I didn't want to dump them and their kit on the pavement and leave because the weather has been goddam awful today. So, I waited patiently with them until the bar manager finally showed up with the keys.

Consequently, I arrived home much later than I intended to Thomas and his friend Sam, who had just arrived, wasting no time in settling in for their evening. The kitchen already had food strewn across the worktop and floor, an upturned glass of coke was fizzily soaking itself into the fluffy cream rug in the living room and the TV was blaring so loudly both boys didn't even hear me come in.

I discreetly tried to pull Thomas to one side to 'have a word' but he was having none of it. He moaned with attitude at me to back-off, that they were only having some fun. My frustration took over and we ended up having a screaming match that got us nowhere apart from me more angry at his impossible adolescent attitude.

At that point, I thought I was going to have to cancel my plans altogether but once I got a grip of myself I attempted a calmer big sister sit down chat with him. I rationally explained that mum and dad were trusting him and if he let them down he wouldn't be allowed to have friends over in future. He just tutted, rolled his eyes and said I wasn't mum so should stop trying to act like her.

Realising there was to be no reasoning with him, and when the cheeky so-and-so mumbled to shut the door on my way out, I rose above it and told him to stop being so immature.

All of this left me little time to get ready. My favourite jeans were dirty, the top I wanted to wear had two buttons missing and I had no time to wash my hair that courtesy of today's constant drizzle was a bouffant of frizz.

To cheer myself up I decided to dress up a bit and opted for my off-white dress smattered with electric blue floral patterns, black jacket and pumps and my hair tied back and under control in a simple ponytail.

As I was just about to walk out the door Olive texted me. She must have called me at least four times since yesterday morning but never left a message. Each time I had genuinely missed her call and when I tried to call her back it always switched straight to voicemail. She had her family dinner tonight and she knew I had the gig so I text her a quick reply to say I would call her tomorrow. She replied she really needed to see me if I 'had time to fit her in'. The unusual tone of her response caught me totally by surprise as we hadn't spoken since the previous week but then we had both been busy with exams and her with her family. Running late enough and thinking she probably didn't mean anything by it, it was just me over analysing as usual, I parked the thought and headed out.

Finally, I pull round the driveway at Summer Haze, frantically beeping my horn to indicate my arrival. I am all flustered and still worrying about my obnoxious brother and Olive's text. However, my tension diminishes when I see Harry is ready and patiently waiting for me. He has his back to me and is locking the front door.