“Yes, I think so, I just?—”
“Great.” I stand up. “because I’m outta here.”
“Pia!” Cassie stands as I start to walk away. “Wait!”
One more chance. Those are the words my heart beats out.Give her one more chance. That is the rhythm of the blood pumping around my body. Find out what she wants to say. Find out what she wants.
At the door, I turn and look at her. A quick glance reveals Ramona is watching us keenly. Not so oblivious now.
Good, I think bitterly.This is the perfect opportunity. A perfect test.
“What?” I demand through gritted teeth. I feel torn right down the middle. One half of me wants to run to her, to wrap my arms around her. The other half of me is desperate to be far, far away.
“Don’t go,” she says simply. But it’s not enough.
“Why?”
“Because … because,” she mumbles, and it doesn’t suit her, nor does the way her eyes fill with moisture or the way her chin trembles.
“Because what?” I snap because if I stay here one more minute I’m going to run to her and do everything in my power to stop her crying. “What do you want, Cassie?”
“I … I…” she tries again, but there’s nothing else. She has nothing else to say to me.
“You don’t know what you want,” I say, and it sounds exactly like the insult I intend it to be.
And then I storm out of the room before she can see I’m just as close to tears as she is.
RHYTHM & NEWS
Saturday, May 26, 1979
BATTLE OF THE BANGS: Where Are They? Evergreene and Femme Fatale Keep Low(ish) Profiles
Since their Grammys scuffle three months ago, not much has been seen of the members of the two bands still fighting it out in the album charts. With that brawl still seemingly doing wonders for their album sales, many of you have been asking for updates on the two bands, who are both set to go on tour later this year.
Rhythm & Newsis therefore back to report that Stephan Greene has again been spotted back in England, in his hometown of Windsor. Photographs appeared in theDaily Mailnewspaper showing him shopping in Mothercare, a baby and child shop, with a woman who sources have confirmed is his high-school sweetheart, Melissa Barbour. Additional photographs published inGossipmagazine showed them attendingThe Muppet Moviefilm premiere two days later, and Ms. Barbour’s form-fitting dress appeared to show a baby bump, fueling the rumors that she is expecting Greene’s baby. What this means for Greene’s on-off relationship with his band’s leading lady, Cassie Everard, remains to be seen. However, Everard’s low profile of late does seem to confirm that she is giving Stephan space at the moment.
Sticking with Evergreene, Vik Greene was last seen on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and prior to that, we have sources claiming he was visiting Bogotá, Colombia. Perhaps he is learning Spanish? Our last Battle of the Bangs report speculated that George Redfern had joined a residential rehab facility in Arizona, which we can now confirm to have been the case. However, this is only because we now know hehas absconded from the facility after just five days of residential treatment. His manager, Kevin Briggs, told one of our reporters that Redfern will now continue his treatment in LA, but considering the bass guitarist has been spotted drinking at The Whisky on Sunset Strip no fewer than five times in the last week, it appears progress may be slow going. As for Evergreene’s maestro on the keys, Clarence Oldman, our man in New York has it on good authority that he continues to enjoy sporadically playing at Bradley’s in Greenwich Village.
As for Femme Fatale, Pia Lindberg and the boys have all flown far and wild. Last week, Jon Davies was happily interviewed on the Algarve coast of Portugal where he disclosed he’s been attending a surf camp. Geert de Vries has been courting the whole of Amsterdam’s Jordaan neighborhood nightly, which on the weekend resulted in him and several other partygoers falling into a canal. Jakob Edvindsson was seen being escorted out of Stockholm’s prestigious Grand Hôtel after he smashed up another hotel room — his third in a week apparently — after being reportedly dumped by Ethiopian supermodel, Ayana Behati. And Pia has been spotted getting up to her usual mischief in bars and clubs in London, New York, Amsterdam and more recently, back here in LA.
All of which is to say, it doesn’t appear that anybody is working on new material right now – apart from perhaps Cassie Everard – so our advice to fans is to stay patient if what you want is a new song or album from your favorite rival rock bands.
And as for that duet between Cassie and Pia we reported on last month? Both Martin Dowde and Kevin Briggs have been unavailable for comment, so it seems it really may have been nothing more than a rumor.
CHAPTER 12
CASSIE
When I notice how noisy the restaurant is, I feel immediate regret. It’s too noisy. Too noisy for Pia. She won’t be able to hear me properly. And I really need her to hear me.
If she comes.
With all this regret and worry and doubt bouncing around my mind, I follow the maître d’ to my allocated table, which, at least, is tucked in one far corner of this French restaurant that Kevin assured me would be discreet enough for Pia and me to meet without prying eyes or flashing cameras.
As I sit and glance around me, I believe him. The other clientele are either businessmen leaning closely together to discuss deals that could never be made in boardrooms or they’re other musicians or movie stars dining with people they shouldn’t. The air is charged with self-importance and an unspoken agreement shared by all that whatever happens in this tall-ceilinged, modern renaissance-style room, stays in this room.
I hope Pia knows this in advance, I think to myself as I press down my dress and fluff up my hair. I hope she knows I wouldn’t expose us like that.
