Elizabeth Grey - Part 15: I Am Faithful To My Team free porn video

Elizabeth Grey - Part 15: I am faithful to my team. By Carmenica Diaz We had arranged to meet the next morning for brunch to discuss our plans and, as usual, I was running slightly late, so the others were already at a table. I had taken time to ring my mother, Sylvia and Janet to let them know what happened when I revealed myself to my friends. 'Your friends sound like marvellous people.' 'Yes, Mum, they do and they are. I'm very lucky.' 'So are they, Liz,' Mum gently reminded me. Waving, I hurried in and kissed hello, apologising for my lateness. I hoped we wouldn't be awkward after the previous night and my revelations, but nothing had changed. In fact, it seemed as if we had not been separated for that long period and that we had finished performing in Berlin yesterday and that I had revealed nothing. 'How did you get our numbers, Liz?' Mandy asked after we ordered. 'From Toby.' 'Toby?' Cleo smiled. 'He's rather cute, don't you think?' Her eyes flickered over me and I wondered if she was worried I had something for Toby. 'He is,' I admitted, 'and he helped me out in Berlin. If he hadn't arranged immediately for me to get out... well... I don't know what would have happened.' 'Let's not think about it,' Mandy smiled. 'Now, where are we going to rehearse?' Cleo and Mel shrugged and I said, 'no clue, I'm afraid.' 'Oh, brilliant,' Mandy groaned. 'Hey,' Cleo protested, 'we're musicians, not road managers!' 'I don't think any of us are,' Mandy admitted. 'We need someone to think of all that stuff...' 'Toby has all ready volunteered if we want.' 'Toby?' Cleo looked at me quickly. 'Are you and Toby...' 'Definitely not!' 'Just asking, don't get your knickers in a knot.' I looked down and smiled. 'No knots,' I said and Cleo grinned. 'I think he did a pretty good job,' Mandy said, 'he was always calm and made arrangements. I have no problem with it if he wants to do it.' 'I don't either,' Mel said. 'No sleeping with him though,' Cleo bluntly declared and we looked at her aghast. 'It's bad karma,' she said firmly, 'it'll create divisions, he's off limits.' 'Pity,' Mel murmured. 'Mel!' Cleo snapped. 'Oh all right, for goodness sake!' 'I thought you were having it off with that American trumpet player, what was his name?' Mandy asked. 'Brett,' Mel said, nibbling on toast. 'No, that's over.' 'He seemed pretty dumb to me,' Cleo said, stirring her tea. 'I wasn't interested in his mind,' Mel murmured, winking at me and we all laughed uproariously. 'Will you talk to Toby, Liz? He asked you after all.' 'Of course, I'll call him later.' 'Look at that,' Mel suddenly whispered, 'that's Kiefer Brennan over there!' Mel and Mandy looked around and I groaned. 'What?' Mandy asked, noticing immediately. 'I met him once, it was rather embarrassing but hopefully,' I whispered, not turning around, 'he won't remember me.' 'He's with a woman anyway,' Cleo said. 'No, hang on, I think she's with his mate. Isn't that the dishy Spanish bloke that plays with him?' 'Yes,' Mel said and sighed. 'Lucky woman, alone with those two.' 'What about our repertoire?' I asked, resisting the urge to turn around and changing the subject. 'We've all probably got ideas of numbers to do,' Cleo said, 'we should try them out and keep the ones that work.' 'We need an agent to get bookings,' Mandy said. 'They take a percentage but it's better than one of us doing it.' 'A woman approached me when I played at Bellini's that night. Her name was,' I said producing the card, 'Fiona Woolf.' 'You're joking!' Mandy said, 'she's one of the best. Do you think she'll have us?' 'When we've rehearsed, I'll call her,' I said, 'and ask her to come listen?' 'Sounds perfect.' Mel crouched a little over the table and whispered urgently, 'Look out, he's coming over.' 'Who is?' 'Kiefer Brennan! He's walking straight over.' She suddenly sat up and pretended to be very interested in her toast. Suddenly, he was standing at our table and grinning. 'Good morning ladies,' he said, eyes sweeping around the table until they landed on me. His grin, if it was possible, became larger and I felt myself flush. 'Well well, if it isn't Elizabeth Grey.' Mel made wide eyes at me and I tried to smile at him. 'Yes, it's Kiefer...' 'Aha,' he pounced, 'you remember me!' 'Yes, of course, it was a little embarrassing...' 'Embarrassing?' Mel said innocently. 'Do tell us, Liz.' 'I'll tell you,' he said, signalling at a waiter who brought a chair and he sat down. 'Don't mind if I join you, do you?' 'Actually...' I began and Mel kicked my foot. 'Ouch! I mean, not at all.' 'I'm Kiefer Brennan,' he said to the others. 'We know,' Mandy said dryly. Kiefer laughed. 'Well, Elizabeth didn't know, brushed me off as quickly as yesterday's fish 'n' chips.' 'I don't think there's any point in going over it again, Mr Brennan,' I said icily, 'let me introduce...' 'That's the voice she used, cold as a wind from the arctic! I was shivering all the way home, I was.' Mel and Mandy laughed and even Cleo grinned. 'This is Mandy, Cleo and Melissa.' 'Nice to make your acquaintance,' he said. 'Are you all models?' he said innocently. 'Oh leave it out,' Cleo said scornfully, 'that line might pull other birds but not us.' 'You can't blame a bloke for trying,' he said shamelessly, 'when he's surrounded by four beautiful birds.' 'We're musicians,' Mel jumped in, smiling brightly at him. 'Really? Have you been on Top of the Pops?' 'Hardly,' Mandy said, 'we're jazz musicians.' 'I'll have to come to your concerts.' He turned to me and tried his grin again. 'And Elizabeth, do you still hate football?' 'Did I say I hated foot...' 'I think you did.' 'I think I've exaggerated,' I said primly and the girls were smirking as they could see how flustered I was, 'I've never actually been to a game...' 'You've never been! You must come to a game,' Kiefer said, 'with your friends, of course,' he said, switching his smile to the girls. 'I'll arrange for you to be in a box so you'll be warm and there'll be a party afterwards.' I began to frown and said, 'that's kind of you, but...' Three feet kicked me this time and I grimaced while they smiled sweetly at me. 'I think we'd love to come,' I said dryly. 'I'll call you when I can,' he said, producing a small address book. 'Is that the famous Kiefer Brennan little black book?' Cleo commented dryly. 'Leave it out, Cleo,' he joked, 'I'm trying to charm your friend here.' 'Are you charmed, Liz?' Cleo asked, raising an eyebrow and I ignored her. 'See,' he said, turning to a section, 'her name is written in it, ready for the telephone number. It's amazing I could write it in as my teeth were chattering and I had frost bite.' We all laughed and he waved a gold pen. 'Number?' I gave him the number and he made a great show of writing Jeremy's telephone number in. Mel leaned forward and said to Kiefer, 'if a man answers, it's just her gay friend.' 'Melissa!' I hissed and she looked innocently at me. 'Just avoiding misunderstandings, Liz, that's all.' 'Very helpful, Melissa,' Kiefer said. 'Now, the name of your band?' Mandy told him and he wrote that in the book as well. He stood, said goodbye and returned to his table. 'I've probably got bruises all over my ankles!' I moaned. 'We couldn't let you pass that up, Liz.' 'He probably won't call,' I murmured and the others laughed. 'What?' I demanded. 'Liz,' Mel explained, 'any bloke who writes your name in his address book just after you've brushed him off, is going to call. Right, girls?' 'Afraid so,' Mandy said. 'He'll definitely call.' I called Toby that afternoon and he immediately said yes. 'Toby,' I warned, 'there's no guarantees with this, you know. I'm worried you're throwing a career with the Foreign Office away...' 'Liz, it's boring, it really is! That time in Europe was the best time of my life and I thought I made a pretty good fist of it...' 'Yes,' I murmured, 'we all said that...' 'I want to do it, Liz. Let me try! I've got some leave coming; I'll take that while I set things up. Say yes, Liz, go on, please.' 'Yes,' I said and smiled as I heard him whoop down the line. 'Give me your number and I'll call you when I've arranged everything.' Jeremy poured me a glass of wine and smiled. 'I'm so glad, my dear, that all went well. Your friends are lovely.' 'They said the same about you.' 'Did they? It's good to know I still have my boyish charm.' His eyes twinkled and I chuckled. 'What now for Femme Fatale?' 'Rehearsal and then we approach Fiona Woolf. If she doesn't take us on, I don't know what we'll do.' 'I'm sure she'll leap at the opportunity, my dear, she'd have to be mad to turn you down.' 'I hope you're right.' 'I've known her for quite a while and Fiona is definitely not insane,' he smiled, but only for a moment as his face grew serious. 'Liz, I must tell you that Angela telephoned me yesterday. I didn't want to tell you because you were agonising over telling your friends.' 'What did she want?' 'She wants to talk to you, wanted to know how you were doing and all that stuff.' 'I see.' 'I'm assuming you still don't wish to see her?' 'Yes, I don't want to see her.' I telephoned Mum every other night, but occasionally she would ring me, as she did that night. 'Hello Mum.' 'Liz dear, how are you?' The usual conversation took place, talking about our days, what people we saw, what we did, and the usual stuff of our lives. 'I must say, Liz,' Mum chuckled, 'my conversations with Allan were never this enjoyable. You and I chat so well.' 'Yes,' I agreed, 'we do.' Suddenly, a small wave of happiness bubbled through me and made me glad to be alive. Allan, I thought, had never been so glad. 'Edward visited last weekend,' Mum casually mentioned. It was strange how we both suddenly stopped referring to him as Teddy since I spent the weekend with her and told her everything. There was no doubt that she loved him, but somehow he had lost something in her eyes. I think if something like that happened to me I would be devastated, but I don't think Edward even noticed. 'Did he? How is he?' 'He seems well. He's stopped the government thing now, did you know?' 'No, I didn't.' Probably got the sack, I thought maliciously. 'He had Angela with him and they had a frightful row. I was rather on Angela's side and it was funny to see Edward on the receiving end. She can be quite stern.' Yes, I know, I thought, I've seen that side of her. 'What was it about?' 'The wedding,' Mum said casually. 'Angela wants you come and Edward refuses.' 'Mum, it doesn't matter if I don't come...' 'I'm afraid it does, Liz,' Mum said calmly. 'I told them that if my daughter wasn't there, neither was I.' Suddenly, I choked up, blinking furiously. 'Mum...' 'I meant it Liz,' she said firmly, 'and Edward knows it.' 'Oh my.' 'Later,' Mum went on, 'I found Edward in the sitting room looking at your photograph, he was in my chair, holding the picture and just staring at it.' 'Was he, was he really?' 'Yes, he was. I think he'll come round. We'll have to organise something.' We left it at that and hung up. I was walking upstairs to my bed when it rang again. It was Toby. 'Sorry to call late, Liz, but I've got a place for us just outside of Coventry. It's a nice house with enough bedrooms and it has a grand piano in the conservatory.' 'Conservatory? A piano in a greenhouse?' 'No, no, it's just called that... apparently,' he added quickly and I immediately began to suspect something was going on. 'It's a long room with glass roof and walls at one end so you can see the garden.' 'Sounds great, how long have we got it for?' 'The weekend, we drive up on Friday afternoon and come back Monday.' 'We have to be able to take Cleo's drums and...' 'I know, I know,' he said airily, 'all arranged. The others will meet at your place Friday at one and I'll pick you up.' 'In what?' 'Wait and see. Goodnight, Liz, sorry to call so late but this is bloody exciting.' Mel was ogling Jeremy's kitchen when I put my bags next to the front door with the others. She leaned over the mezzanine floor and called, 'Have you seen this kitchen?' Jeremy pushed past her with a tray with teapot and cups. 'I try to avoid kitchens,' Cleo said calmly, 'I prefer to let others do the cooking.' Mandy laughed. 'What kind of bloke hooks up with a girl drummer who can't cook and expects him to cook?' 'My kind of bloke,' Cleo said mildly. The doorbell rang and I opened the door. Toby was on the step and grinning wildly. 'Come in, Jeremy's just made tea and...' I looked past him and saw the mini-bus. 'Oh my,' I murmured. 'What, Liz?' Mandy said and then she gaped, in fact we all stood on the step and stared at the white mini-bus with Femme Fatale painted in pink on a sign that covered the side. 'Do you like it?' he asked proudly. Cleo opened her mouth and I stepped firmly on her foot. 'Ouch!' 'Toby,' I said, taking his arm, 'it's very sweet and you've obviously gone to a terribly amount of trouble...' 'No, it was easy. There are these places that you just ring up...' 'Toby, if you saw a bus with four women in it and that painted on the side, what would you think?' I asked innocently. The four of us watched him think it through. Cleo was about to say something when Mandy glared at her so she shut her mouth quickly. 'I don't understand,' Toby said at last, pushing his thick mop of hair out of his eyes. 'It's the name of the band...' 'But no one knows us yet so they would probably think we were...' 'Bloody escorts!' Cleo snapped. 'I was going to say strippers!' I said glaring at Cleo and she shrugged. 'Good lord,' Toby exclaimed. 'Yes, I see it. I'll pull it off immediately. We went back inside for tea and Toby came in a later, a little shamefaced. 'I'm afraid I got a little enthusiastic.' 'As the bishop said to the actress,' Mandy muttered and Mel giggled. 'That's perfectly all right, Toby,' I said sweetly. 'Would you like a cup of tea? And this is Jeremy, my friend...' The house was outside of Coventry and Mandy shook me as we drove through the gates. 'Liz, get a load of this!' I opened my eyes and saw the house was a small manor house with gardens and a sweeping gravel drive. 'Very nice,' I murmured. 'I wonder how Toby got this?' Mandy said to me as we pulled up at the front steps. I had my suspicions but didn't say anything and we followed Toby into the house, straight to the rehearsal room. True to his description, it was a long room with glass at one end so it seemed the garden was in the room. It was light filled, airy but warm and comfortable with a baby grand piano to one end. 'What do you think?' Toby asked proudly. 'Bloody fantastic,' Cleo said, 'the acoustics are fantastic.' 'No neighbours to complain either,' Mel added. Mandy stared at Tony and I think she had the same suspicions as I. 'Out with it Toby,' I said firmly. 'Whose place is this?' 'Oh, just...' 'Toby!' 'It's my parent's house,' he admitted. 'They're away for the weekend and I thought it was too good an opportunity.' 'I don't like it,' Mandy said, 'sneaking into somebody's house...' 'Sneaking!' Toby exclaimed. 'My parents know we're here, in fact they may be here on Sunday night so you'll get a chance to meet them. It's all perfectly legit.' He frowned at Mandy. 'I think you've insulted me.' 'Now, now,' I said taking Mandy's arm in one hand and Toby's in the other, 'you did hide the fact it was your house, Toby, so you can't blame us but this is terribly nice, so thank you so much.' I kissed his cheek and he smiled, mollified and went off to bring the gear in. 'Thanks Mum,' Mandy smiled and went of to get her bags. I dropped my bag on the floor of the room Toby had allocated to me and looked around it. It was warm and comfortable with photographs of Toby's family scattered throughout. It felt like a real home and I had a sudden yearning for my own home, my place where I could surround myself with my life. It will come, I told myself, life is a journey, mine's just started off on the wrong path but now I'm heading in the right direction. 'I'm starving,' Cleo announced after we were all settled into our rooms. 'What'll we do?' 'It'll take a minute,' Toby announced from the kitchen, 'just pasta, I'm afraid.' 'Toby,' Mel called sweetly, glancing at Cleo, 'do you like to cook?' 'Love it,' came the reply from the kitchen and Mel wriggled her eyebrows at Cleo who pretended to scowl at her. Mandy leaned on the doorframe, arms folded. 'Toby,' she said with a serious tone but we knew she was about to tease, you could see it in her eyes, 'what do you think of drums as a musical instrument?' He came bustling out of the kitchen with a pot and put it on the table. 'I actually learned the drums myself when I was young, found it extremely difficult so I have only admiration for drummers,' Toby said as he disappeared into the kitchen. This time we all wriggled our eyebrows at Cleo who threatened us with the saltshaker. Toby wouldn't let us lie in on Saturday morning, pounded on our doors until we groggily told him we were up. Dressed in jeans, an off the shoulder white top which was a little low cut and sneakers, I brushed my hair out and with minimal make up went down for breakfast. 'Good morning,' I said gaily as I sat down and everyone replied. I surveyed the table and was amazed that it was laden with food. 'Wow,' I said, taking a piece of toast, 'this is a feast.' 'Toby cooked it all, Liz,' Mel said sweetly to Cleo. 'Isn't it wonderful, a man who cooks?' 'Who loves to cook,' Mandy said also looking at Cleo. Cleo ignored us and spooned scrambled eggs onto a piece of toast on her plate. 'There is an issue I hadn't considered, though.' We asked what and she winked. 'A girl could get fat with all this available food.' Toby arrived with tea and his eyes dropped to my top and then, guiltily away and I pretended not to notice. He departed to get something else from the kitchen and I reached for the marmalade to cover my flushing. Cleo raised her eyebrows and grinned before passing the marmalade. 'Thanks,' I said softly. 'I was worried you'd fall out of your top, so I thought I better get it for you,' Cleo said wickedly and Mel and Mandy spluttered into laughter. 'Saucy tart,' I muttered 'Tart? I'm not the one with the acres of cleavage,' Cleo sniffed, pretending to be hurt and we laughed again. Looking at us strangely as he sat down, Toby asked, 'what's so funny?' Toby left us alone in the Conservatory and, in silence I sat at the piano while the others fiddled with their instruments, the microphones and the small PA. Mandy, I noticed, now had one of those twin neck guitars with four bass strings on the bottom, six strings on the top guitar. I think we were all a little worried that the connection we had in Europe may have vanished, that we would find it difficult. There was no eye contact as we all pretended to be busy until an idea came to me. Opening the piano, I stared at the keys for a moment and then began to gently play 'Take Five'. Cleo immediately began to join in as did Mandy and soon Mel was playing happily on the clarinet. It was at that point, I think that we all relaxed, it felt great and, more importantly, the magic was still there. We kept playing, smiling at each other, taking turns at solos and then coming together at the end. Unconsciously, both Cleo and I got up from behind our instruments and joined Mel and Mandy in an embrace, smiling and laughing softly. 'Phew!' Mel said after a minute, wiping her eyes, 'I was worried for a minute that we couldn't do it, that it would be the same. Silly me!' 'No,' I said, 'I was worried as well, extremely nervous.' Mandy nodded and Cleo said, 'I wasn't,' and we gave her a look and she smiled, 'ok, maybe a little.' The rest of the morning flew by as we worked through all the other pieces that we had developed on the tour. I sang 'I've Got You Under My Skin', 'Summertime', Autumn in New York' and followed that with 'Stormy Weather'. 'Liz,' Mel said smiling dreamily at me, 'your voice still gives me goose bumps.' 'In a nice way I hope,' I joked. 'Definitely!' Toby arrived with tea and smiled at us. 'I've been listening, you sound terrific!' 'Well, those tracks we know, 'Mandy said, picking up a teacup, 'the hard work is deciding what to add.' 'I don't have a trained voice, I'm afraid,' I explained to Toby as I poured a cup. 'There are a lot of notes that I can't reach.' 'I wouldn't change your voice for anything,' Mandy said with a smile, 'it's great.' 'It hits me every time I hear her sing,' Mel said. 'Just don't start crying while you're playing,' Cleo said and Mel flicked her spoon at her. We resumed and began working through our individual suggestions. 'You start off, Liz.' 'Ok, I wanted to do this one if we could,' I said passing the sheet music around. 'Good suggestion,' Mandy said reading it. 'I think saxophone solo?' Mel asked and we all nodded. 'And Mandy sings back up.' We tried it out a few times, kept changing until Mandy said, 'that's a keeper, it's great. Next!' 'I've got one,' Mel said shyly, passing sheet music around. It was an instrumental and I played a few bars. 'This has a nice feel. I don't recognise it.' 'Well... I actually wrote it,' Mel said uneasily. 'There's pieces for everyone and... well... we don't have to do it... if you don't want...' 'Mel!' Cleo snapped, 'leave it out, it's great! Let's try it.' It was great, it just fitted us perfectly and we all hugged Mel when we finished. 'You've been hiding secrets, Mel,' Mandy said wagging her finger at her. 'That was great! That's definitely in.' 'Really?' said Mel blinking. 'Most definitely in,' I said with a smile. 'What's it called?' 'I thought,' Mel said shyly, 'we'd call it Femme Fatale?' Dinner, cooked by Toby was a loud affair as we were all very happy the way the rehearsal had progressed. 'We go through a few more tomorrow and we're done,' Cleo said. 'This is delicious, Toby,' Cleo said and Toby beamed as he sat next to her, smiling. Mandy and I raised eyebrows at the way Toby was watching Cleo and then smiled, happy. The evening passed as we chatted and laughed until it was time for us to drift upstairs to our rooms. As I cleaned my face and began getting ready for bed, I thought through the day, what we had accomplished and how good it was to be with Mel, Mandy and Cleo again as well as Toby. I just hope, I wished, that the punters would like our music and us, that people will want to come and see us. Toby allowed us a bit of a lie in and I woke, stretched and yawned as the pale morning light was beginning to creep in. The days were definitely becoming shorter and the autumn was merging into winter. Remembering Toby's eyes on my top, I chose a tank top and black mini skirt and an oversize white shirt, which I wore with the sleeves rolled partially up and unbuttoned. After breakfast, we ran through what we had agreed on for Toby who sat and listened, applauding enthusiastically every time we finished except at the conclusion of 'Stormy Weather'. We looked at him and he smiled half-heartedly. 'That's wonderful and it really tugs at you. I just remember when you last sang that, Liz, that's all. Sorry, it's perfect.' I smiled at him and looked around at everyone. 'I know I was the perfect bitch then and I want to thank you all. It was a difficult time...' 'Enough said, Liz,' Toby said with a grin, 'we understand.' Mandy glanced at me when he said that and I thought, no you don't understand, Toby, and I wondered, should I tell him? After he left, I looked at the others and asked softly, 'Should I tell him?' Mandy shook her head emphatically. 'I don't think so, when we know him better, then it can be decided.' I smiled at Mandy's 'when we know him better' and nodded. 'If you think so.' 'I think so,' Mel said. 'It's nobodies' business anyway. So,' she said brightly, 'what's next?' 'My songs now,' Cleo said and played a small fanfare on her snare drum. We resumed after lunch and mid-afternoon we sat in chairs at the other end of the room and smiled at each other. 'I think we've got it,' Mandy said in pretend upper class accent, 'by Jove we have it!' 'Next step, Fiona Woolf,' Toby said just as we heard cars pull up outside. 'Lord, that's my parents.' 'Don't worry, Toby,' Mel said with a smirk, 'we'll be on our best behaviour,' and Cleo smiled nervously. As soon as Toby left the room we jostled for the mirror next to the door, brushing hair and adjusting ourselves. 'Wonder what his folks are like?' Cleo said quietly as she quickly brushed her hair. 'Remember the rule, Cleo,' Mel said cheekily. 'Don't be silly!' Cleo grumbled. We were back in our original positions when the door opened and Toby entered, followed by an older couple and a younger couple with a girl of about six or seven years. Toby introduced us, firstly to his mother and father, Enid and Richard Whitley and then to his sister Cheryl, her husband James and their daughter Priscilla. I immediately liked Toby's parents, they were so warm and friendly, not at all concerned to find their son with four women and his sister Cheryl was lovely as was Priscilla. However, I took an instant dislike to James who couldn't keep his eyes to himself, he seemed particularly focussed on my legs and I wished I wasn't wearing a mini. 'And you've been practising?' Mrs Whitley asked with a smile. 'Yes, Mrs Whitley,' Mandy answered, 'we're pleased with how it's gone.' 'Please, call me Enid, Mandy,' she said and I was amazed she got Mandy's name right. 'Perhaps a small concert after dinner?' We glanced at each other and Mandy answered for us, 'we'd love to, Enid. And thank you for letting us stay in your wonderful house.' 'Not at all, it's our pleasure. Now,' she said with a smile, 'I think I'd better get dinner organised.' 'I'll help,' Cheryl said and followed Enid out with Priscilla while James was dragged away by Richard and Toby. 'They're nice,' Mel said. 'I think James is a little sleazy,' Cleo commented, 'but who cares?' 'Perhaps his wife?' I said and Mandy nodded sadly. Dinner was fun. We had it in the formal dining room, which was a beautiful room and the food was simple but delicious. We had changed into clothes that were a little less casual and all of us except Cleo who wore black trousers, were in either a dress or a skirt. I was wearing a black skirt and a white blouse and found myself seated between James and Richard. Richard sent Toby down to the cellar and we enjoyed a glass of wine with the meal. James kept attempting to top mine up but I stopped him almost every time. Cheryl was seated on the other side of her husband with Priscilla and James kept talking to me, telling me how successful he was in business in the City. It was boring and some of his comments could be taken another way. Fortunately, Richard asked me some questions that allowed me to gracefully turn from James to him. At the end of the dinner, I joined Cheryl in clearing the table and filling the dishwasher. 'I want to apologise for James,' Cheryl said as the dishwasher hummed into life, 'we haven't had a great weekend and he's a little off, I think.' 'It's perfectly all right,' I said as Priscilla brought a plate out. 'Your father rescued me.' 'Thank you, darling,' her mother said to Priscilla and we returned to find everyone had moved to the Conservatory. The girls were checking instruments while the others had comfortably arranged themselves so they could listen. Richard smiled as we entered. 'Cheryl, Elizabeth, some port?' 'No thank you,' I said with a smile, 'I might miss the piano if I have any more to drink.' Richard smiled. 'Very wise to know when enough is enough,' he said but the smile slipped and his eyes glittered as he looked at James helping himself to his second glass of port. 'Let's open with Femme Fatale,' Mandy suggested and we all agreed. They applauded at the end and Toby called out, 'that's new, what is it?' 'Femme Fatale, Melissa wrote it,' Mandy said and Mel flushed. We immediately went into 'I've Got You Under My Skin' and as the introduction ended, I leaned to the microphone and began singing. I've got you under my skin I've got you deep in the heart of me So deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me I've got you under my skin I was surprised to see Richard applauding very enthusiastically. 'Wonderful! Superb!' They were all looking at me and I wondered if they, somehow knew, had uncovered my secret. Cleo counted us in and we performed our longer version of 'Summertime'. Again, when we finished, they all applauded and they were smiling at me. 'Any requests?' Mandy asked. We had agreed we would ask, but didn't expect any suggestions, but Richard surprised us. 'Toby tells me you perform a song that Billie Holiday sang? I would love to hear it.' 'It's one of our favourites,' Mel said and smiled at me. Autumn in New York Why does it seem so inviting Autumn in New York It spells the thrill of first-nighting Richard insisted I take a small glass of port and I did but knew I probably wouldn't finish it. 'Elizabeth,' he said, 'you have a wonderful voice, so emotive, so raw.' 'Is that another way of saying awful?' I teased and he was immediately shocked. 'Good gracious, no! I didn't mean that at all!' 'She's only teasing you, Dad,' Toby said warmly. 'You have a very nice family, Toby,' Mel said as we drove back on Monday. 'Your mum and dad are lovely,' Cleo said. 'Your niece is sweet,' Mandy chimed in. 'Cheryl is also extremely nice,' I added and then we lapsed into silence. After a moment, Toby said, eyes fixed on the road, 'pity my brother-in-law is a bit of shit, eh?' There was nothing we could say to that and we remained silent until we were almost back in London. 'What's the next step, ladies?' Toby called over his shoulder. Cleo who was in the front next to him said, 'we have to get an agent.' 'I'll call her tomorrow,' I promised. Jeremy hugged me when I returned and Dean, who was seated on the sofa, said with a grin, 'should I become jealous of you, Liz?' 'I don't think so, Dean,' I laughed. 'Jeremy and I? Come off ...' 'No,' he said with a twinkle on his eye, 'of that gorgeous man I spoke to on the phone yesterday.' I glanced at Jeremy. 'What are you going on about, Dean?' Jeremy explained. 'Dean answered the telephone yesterday and a man was looking for you. Dean became quite excited, but he's always had a little wish list decorated with football players.' 'Only Manchester United ones,' he said with a grin. 'I am faithful to my team.' 'Oh my,' I said softly. 'Was it...' 'Yes! Kiefer Brennan! I am quite jealous. He will call you tomorrow and he sounded very disappointed you weren't here, thought perhaps I was just saying you weren't so I explained you were in Coventry. He sounds so dishy on the telephone, you naughty girl.' 'Oh my,' I said again, walking slowly up the stairs to my bedroom.