Easter was late that year. Calvin, Jamie's live-in boyfriend, had gone to the Algarve with some friends to play golf. Jamie had taken the opportunity to invite Amy, her friend from university, to stay for the holiday period. They had kept in touch but rarely visited each other, so Jamie was looking forward to catching up with her. Amy lived in the Scottish borders with her parents but had found a job in Carlisle, so it was a good four to five hours drive away. Nevertheless, Amy had set out at four in the morning and had missed all the holiday traffic. She reached Jamie just after eight thirty having had a relatively trouble-free journey.
"I didn't bring you a bottle of wine or chocolates or flowers," Amy explained as they hugged each other. "I've something I think you'll enjoy much more and can enjoy it often." And with that she handed Jamie a DVD and a CD. "6Feet3's latest album and a DVD of their US tour. I know how much you love their music, especially their more recent stuff. It's got a more Country and Western vibe with how the songs tell a story." Jamie was thrilled. She was planning to get the CD next week and didn't know about the DVD. "It's got 'Waiting for Me'. All their CDs do. I know how much you like that song."
Jamie had never let on that Danny had written that song for her, nor had she ever told anyone about the wonderful night they had shared. She looked down the list of songs, all written by Danny Cooper. 'I had a Dream', ''Lost', 'Empty Spaces' and 'Where Are You Now?' were all number one hits. In an interview with a TV channel before last Christmas, the interviewer had commented that they seemed to be about a lost love. "Was there a particular person who inspired them?" the interviewer asked. Danny had replied that his inspiration came from multiple sources, some from his own experiences and some from observed experiences of others. He wouldn't be drawn on which were based on his own experiences. Jamie was certain 'Waiting for Me' was his own experience. He had called her 'his muse'. Was she the inspiration for any others? She immediately played the CD.
Later that morning, Amy told her that she had some wonderful gossip. Jamie was intrigued. "Remember Alasdair?" Amy asked. Of course Jamie did, and not with any pleasant memories. "Well," Amy continued. "He graduated with a third, and only just managed that by all accounts. Still he got his job with the firm his girlfriend's father worked for. But he was sacked after less than four months." Jamie asked how Amy knew all this.
"By a very strange coincident. My cousin came to stay with us at the end of March. We were talking one day about life in university and I mentioned the tickets to 6Feet3. When I explained how you came by them and that you had seen Alasdair and his girlfriend just before you saw Danny Cooper, she stopped me and asked what Alasdair's surname was. When I told her it was 'Roberts' she burst out laughing. Unbeknown to me, my cousin worked for the same company and there had been a lot of unkind talk among the office staff about this Alasdair Roberts who boasted he was close to the boss and for that reason expected to be treated with more respect. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Alasdair was caught red-handed servicing a girl from accounts and it was in work time. He was sacked immediately for gross misconduct. My cousin doesn't know what happened to him but did suggest he wouldn't be getting a good reference."
Jamie laughed. "You get what you deserve in the end, I suppose," she shrugged her shoulders.
"And what about you?" Amy asked. "Are you getting what you deserve?" Jamie wasn't sure how to answer this. What did she deserve? Someone who loved her; treated her well and made her happy? Calvin loved her; he had told her that before he went to Portugal. She couldn't complain about how he treated her. It was considerably better than Alasdair had. And she supposed he did make her happy - most of the time. But he didn't excite her in bed the way Danny had. From time to time she still thought about that night. She could still recall each touch; each kiss; and the way he made love to her. Is that what she deserved or was it something that was a one-off never -to-be- repeated experience due a set of circumstances that were unlikely to be repeated? Would she have to settle for the 'average' rather that the 'superlative'?
"Oh, I'm pretty content," she replied. "What you read in novels is never true in real life. If we hanker after the sex the heroines experience we're bound to be disappointed."
"I certainly don't hanker after the kind of sex you read about in those' 50 Shades' novels, although someone with his powers of recovery and his stamina would be a nice change," Amy replied. "Now, how about we get some lunch?"
Amy retired early that night and Jamie watched the DVD. Seeing Danny on stage again reignited the memories of their night together. And seeing him sing 'Waiting For Me' sent shivers down her spine. He was singing about a woman who gave him everything and he left her for a better life. He had no means of getting in touch with her and wondered if she was still waiting for him somewhere. She had certainly given all of herself to him and she felt he had given all of himself to her that one night. She hadn't expected him to come back to her and no, she wasn't still waiting for him.
As she watched, it struck her that Harry Bell, the drummer and Keith Willis, the keyboard player were both conventionally better looking than Danny, yet it was Danny who had always set her pulse racing and made her go weak at the knees, even before 'that night'. Besides scenes from the actual performances, there were also scenes on the tour bus and of them relaxing, being just tourists. In several scenes, there were girls hanging around them and the boys had their arms round some girls. Jamie was jealous but she knew she had no right to be. She was little more than one of the girls herself. It was almost what was expected of boy bands - girls throwing themselves at the boys and the boys doing what boys were wont to do in the circumstances. She felt a little sad as the DVD ended and went to bed to replay in her head her night with Danny.
Any slept late the next morning. When she joined Jamie in the kitchen for breakfast her first question was : "What's it like living with the boss?"
"Good," Jamie replied. "I was concerned that being together 24/7 might be a bit stifling, but at work he is very much the professional and the boss but once we get home he is the lover."
"Aren't you worried that if anything went wrong with either your job or your relationship the other would automatically suffer?"
"I hardly think that's likely. Calvin is nothing like Alasdair. We work well together both in the office and in the home. If I'm honest, and don't say anything to anyone, Calvin could be the one. I know we've only been living together for a few months, but we already know what the other is thinking. We both trust each other, so you've nothing to worry about." Amy was pleased that Jamie was confident in her relationship, although Amy herself would never get into a similar relationship. She decided to change the subject.