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Valentina took a large gulp of her gin and thought, Oh shit…
CHAPTER 52
VALENTINA, THEN
They were good. Very good. Excellent, Valentina would go as far as to say. She’d always loved Drive With Care, even though she could never admit it at home where no one dared mention the band in front of Rocco.
Jay was now very far from the laid-back slightly scruffy kid who ran about with Rocco and Frankie in Drumkeldy. He was part of a polished, award-winning group of megastars.
Si Runcannan lived up to the persona of the moody bassist bad boy of the band, scowling out at the audience.
Cole McIntosh, with his unflappable demeanour, never broke a smile or a sweat as he segued between keyboard, guitar, and a strange-looking futuristic thing that had no strings and seemed to make a sci-fi-type noise with him just moving his hands ever so slightly over it.
And Arlo Chen gave a frenetic performance as drummer, with Valentina marvelling at how one person could make such a noise and move so fast, whilst staying so co-ordinated.
And of course there was Jay. His voice was just as amazing as Valentina remembered. He was a charismatic lead singer and guitar player with heart-stopping good looks.
But being critical, Valentina thought Jay looked absolutely exhausted.
As the song reached its crescendo and finished to an ear-shattering cheer, Jay walked over to a little table and drank thirstily from a bottle of water. The crowd, as if sensing the band’s set was coming to a close, began shouting out the titles of their favourite songs in the hope it would be played. Jay returned to the front of the stage, pausing a moment to take in the crowd. He then hunkered down in front of Valentina.
‘It’s great to see you, Valentina. You look brilliant. How are you?’
‘I’m good, thanks.’ Valentina was aware of everyone in the hot sweaty room watching their exchange and wondering why she was being singled out for his attention.
‘We’re about to finish up here. Are you able to hang around for a bit, have drinks backstage with us? It would be really good to catch up.’
‘YES!’ Leanne shouted from beside Valentina, grabbing her arm in excitement.
Jay smiled at Leanne then looked hopefully back at Valentina. He was close enough that Valentina could see the beads of perspiration on his forehead, his blond hair separating into little damp tendrils.
‘Uh… sure.’
‘Brilliant! Just hang about the bar, I’ve pointed you out to Micky, our roadie.’ Jay nodded off to the side of the stage where a guy raised his hand in acknowledgement at Valentina. ‘He’ll bring you backstage once we’ve had a chance to get ready, okay?’
Valentina nodded.
Jay stood back up. He took a moment to adjust the microphone.
‘This is our last song of the night. You’ve been amazing. This song is dedicated to old friends and new beginnings,’ he said, winking at Valentina as Si started up a pounding bass riff.
* * *
‘I wonder what their rider is.’
‘Mm?’ Valentina looked away from the bar to Leanne who was practically dancing a jig of excitement on the spot.
‘Their rider, the things they want backstage. Mariah Carey famously wanted white kittens.’
‘Why on earth would she want white kittens?’ Valentina asked.
‘To play with before a performance. It calmed her, I think. Some famous stars have huge lists and want deluxe brands of booze or food flown in from a restaurant a thousand miles away or Goop candles burning on every surface. Some demand the room being a specific temperature or having only red M&M’s.’
‘Really?’ It all sounded a bit juvenile to Valentina.
‘Oh yes, and of course, nothing’s out of the question. If a band wants drugs, they get drugs!’
Valentina was quite alarmed at this. It was bad enough she was due to meet Jay Costello, the name no one was allowed to speak in the Bartoli-Barr household. She was already worrying how she’d keep her meeting with the enemy a secret. It would be harder to hide if she was caught up and arrested in a massive drug sting operation centred on overindulged musicians.
