Brad nodded over at us. “It’s about that man.”
Shelly froze. “That man, as in he who will never be named again lest I rip off his balls and roast them over an open flame before feeding them to him?”
My mouth fell open. “Jesus Christ woman, remind me to never cross youse.”
“I will make sure to have Rose write that in your schedule,” she said primly. “Now back to work or you get none of the pizza I am about to go collect.”
I glanced over to where Lily was curled up on the sofa again as we rehearsed. She watched it all for a long while, humming along to the tracks before she eventually pulled out one of her sketchpads, using pencils to finish off the drawing she had been doing of me before starting on the interesting edges of the drum kit. So deep in her work yet again, that she never even noticed when we called a break as Shelly returned with the promised food. Walking right passed the girl, she commented, “That’s a good outline.”
“What is?” I asked as he wandered over to drop a plate of pizza in Lily’s lap. “I guess that’s why youse have that huge bag, that’s the third sketch book I have seen you use. They are grand! How do ye sketch so fast?”
Lily shrugged. “They are nothing special, just a few doodles.”
“Wow, if that’s just a doodle I’d love to see your ‘real’ art,” I commented, sitting on the sofa arm, my arm instinctively reaching around her shoulders.
Shelly smiled at them faintly as she moved away; she might not like the girl, and she may not trust her yet. But I was clearly smitten with her, and she deserved a chance after going through what that foul creature who played at being a man had put her through. She knew enough about other exes of mine to know it was never a pretty picture. Perhaps this budding friendship, or relationship, whatever it was, could be good for me. I was lost for a long time. And if the lyrics I wrote these last few days were any indication, she was giving me a lot to think about.
Lily rummaged around in her bag, pulling out a battered portfolio with a regularly repaired cover. “Well, these are okay enough, I guess. Not my best work, but close.”
I took it carefully, leafing through the worn pages. “Fuck, these are stunning.” A series of small watercolours of a beach with an unusual rockpool design.
Lily smiled. “That is Scarborough Beach, the north bay. A beautiful, peaceful place. Not as busy as the southern bay, but the views are second to none.” She indicated to one where you could see both the sea and beach as well as a castle on the hillside above them. “That is my favourite, I could look at that view for hours or at least until the seagull’s mob me enough to move on.”
I flicked through more images. “No wonder you wanted to take so many photos of Killiney, ye love beaches.”
Lily nodded. “I liked the way the stones lay, it will make for an interesting image. Different from the other beaches I have covered. I find the water calming; it helps me think.”
“How would ye like to go to a real castle tomorrow? Do some sketching there?” I asked.
“A castle?” Her eyes lit up at the idea.
“It has a real Rapunzel tower all covered in vines.” I winked.
“Oh my god, yes!” That smile again, the one that made her look so alive. The one I couldn’t resist.
“Adrian, stop flirting and get your skinny backside back over here if you do not want firing,” Shelly snapped.
“I ain’t flirting, I am being sociable,” I retorted.
“Adrian!” she snapped again.
“Okay, okay.” I rolled my eyes, giving Lily back the sketchbook to head back into the rehearsal. It didn’t however stop my eyes from wandering over to her regularly as I sang. Her form curled in on itself singing the lyrics with us as she drew. I was fairly sure that she didn’t even realise that she was doing it. The way that her hair fell over her face, the graphite smudges on her cheek as she kept brushing it back behind her ear. God, I wanted to kiss her so much right now.
Harry chuckled next to me. “What?” I asked, snapping back to myself, realising that I stopped singing and everyone was waiting for me to continue.
“You got it bad man,” he teased.
“I have no idea what you mean!”
“Sure, keep on telling yourself that.” Harry smiled.
After that, I tried to be a little more discrete as I watched the young woman. It didn’t stop Harry from teasing me constantly, nor the glares from Shelly. I was starting to expect a full on bollacking in the morning. Or at least a strongly worded email from her.
They broke rehearsals for the day mid-afternoon, as they all had places to go with it being the big night. And certainly, I had places to go and things to show Lily. I had to ruffle her hair to bring her attention back to the room, it was fast becoming our little habit. “Happy Halloween darling.”
She smiled warmly up at me. “Happy Halloween, Adrian.”
“Come on missy, we have things to do today,” I said firmly.
She packed up her bag and followed me back to the shopping centre. “Oh wow.”
I laughed, at her staring around in complete joy at the kids (and the odd adult as well) running around in full costume. The lines of people waiting to get their face painted, people handing out candy to the passers-by. “I did say happy Halloween, darling.”
“But there is so much of it! Not like back home. All the show windows, it’s everywhere, just everywhere. Even that chemist! This
