Trace of Innocence | Sweet and Sour (Book 4)

Chapter 72

(No Control | Holding Me Ransom - 72 - Kisses Like Cream)

We head up the motorway the following morning to spend a couple of days with Jess's family in Cambridge: a sort of mini-Christmas, as we won't be seeing them on the actual day. I feel sort of guilty that Jess has to sacrifice time with her family but remind myself that she lives a lot closer to them than I do to Mum, and that I have spent a large portion of the last five years in a different continent to my loved ones. Jess doesn't seem to mind the arrangements though, and her mum and dad welcome me literally with open arms when we arrive. I can't deny I'm a little apprehensive of staying in their house, knowing her dad's view on us sharing a room. I haven't dared ask Jess what the sleeping arrangements will be and am somewhat relieved when her mum ushers us both upstairs to a room with a double bed and tells me to make myself at home. I still feel a little wary of her dad however, and within minutes of or arrival I remember exactly why.

"How the tour going, Harry?" he asks as Jess and I settle on the sofa and he relaxes into an armchair that has the Daily Telegraph folded on one arm. 

"Oh, um, it's finished now," I reply. "But it went really well, thank you. It's nice to have a bit of time off, though."

"What is it you musicians do between tours?" he asks, tilting his glasses forward down his nose and surveying me over the top of them, one eyebrow raised. 

"Well, we're actually taking a break from the band at the moment," I explain. "We're having some time off to do our own thing, pursue our own interests for a bit."

"Is that a modern day way of saying you're currently unemployed?"

"Alan," comes the warning tone of Jess's mum as she brings a tray laden with a teapot, tea cups, spoons and a sugar bowl.

"Um, well, I suppose you could put it that way," I stumble. Heat rises in my face and my neck is unbearably itchy all of a sudden. How does he always manage to make me feel nervous and inadequate? "I'm hoping to sign a management contract in the next couple of weeks which will help me in my first steps into solo music, and possibly an acting role, all being well."

Hoping to sign? Oh shit, that sounded undeniably hopeless. I should have explained that the contract is in the bag, it's just for me to decide whom I want to represent me. But it turns out that a half-baked management contract is the least of Alan Bradshaw's priorities.

"Acting?" he repeats, his eyebrow lifting another inch. "I thought you were a singer?"

"Dad," Jess warns, in exactly the same tone as her mum.

"Yes, that's what I've been doing for the last few years," I reply. A trickle of sweat runs down my back. "But I think it's a good opportunity to explore a few different options, try out new things while I've got the chance."

"And will exploring new options pay the mortgage?" he asks, removing his glasses altogether and glancing back and forth between me and Jess. 

"Alan!"

"Martha, I'm simply making sure Harry and Jessica will be financially secure," he says evenly, punctuating his point with the arm of his glasses and looking directly at me. "They've just moved in together and now I'm finding out Harry has lost his job. It's all very well wanting to follow your dreams, be creative and find yourself - " (he actually draws air quotes while holding his glasses) " - but it doesn't pay the bills. The bank will be repossessing your assets if you can't keep up with your repayments -"

"Oh my God," Jess groans from beside me, and as Alan's gaze flicks to her face I take the opportunity to wipe the sweat off my top lip. "Dad - please be assured that Harry's financial position - and mine, I might add - is absolutely fine and doesn't need to be discussed in the Bradshaw family living room. And Harry hasn't lost his job. The band decided to go their separate ways for a while - it was their mutual decision."