“The corporate suit doesn’t fit,” she replied with a giggle. “I need to stop off at the outlets on my way out of town and pick up something to wear.”
“You’ll look stunning in the power suit.”
“Sh,” she said, blushing then, changing the subject, said, “Can I show you something?”
“Sure.”
“Come through to my workspace.”
There was a blank piece of paper covering the partly-completed design on Lori’s drawing board. Feeling slightly nervous about revealing it to Grey, she lifted the piece of paper off with trembling hands.
“Well?” she said, stepping aside to let him look closely at the artwork. “Like it?”
With goosebumps standing proud on his arms, Grey studied the drawing in front of him, temporarily unable to speak. Eventually, he tore his eyes away from the image, reached out to pull Lori into an embrace then, as he held her, whispered huskily, “It’s perfect. Fucking perfect.”
“Thank you,” she said, relieved that it had met with his approval.
“Who else has seen it?”
“Just Paul,” replied Lori quietly. “He saw my rough sketch and loved it. He’s not seen this one. I’ve deliberately not submitted a choice of artwork. This is the final design.”
Grey nodded, “We’ll both back you up on that. Doesn’t need alternatives. It’s absolutely fucking perfect as it is.”
“That’s what I hoped you’d say,” said Lori, a relieved smile crossing her face. “I’ll have it finished for you to take to the meeting. Not a word to anyone till then. Reveal it at the table when everyone is there.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” agreed the band’s bass player, staring down at the drawing. “What if Maddy’s looking for merchandise designs too?”
“In hand,” assured Lori confidently. “There’s four of them so far.”
“Quick work, Ms Hyde. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks,” said Lori, feeling herself blush at the unexpected compliment. “Now, if Becky can keep the kids entertained for the next two days, I can hopefully finish this.”
“Not sure who’s got the bigger challenge there,” laughed Grey as they heard Melody running down the hallway shouting for Becky.
Checking his watch for the tenth time in half an hour, Jake paced restlessly around the music store. It was almost time to close up the shop for the day and Riley was already three hours late. He’d called the school, spoken to Dr Jones, who had put him in contact with Riley and her dad. It had taken a bit of persuading but, eventually, her father had given his consent for the young songbird to travel to New York to perform with Garrett. They had arranged that Riley would arrive around mid-afternoon on the Saturday before the show and would be Garrett’s guest at the gothic palace for the week. Understandably, her father had been anxious at the idea of his daughter spending a week with two musicians that he had barely heard of never mind met but, after a further intervention by Dr Jones, he’d relented. Now though, Jake was growing anxious as Riley had failed to arrive as planned.
“Relax, Jake,” called over Garrett from the acoustic section of the store. “She’ll be here.”
“Her timekeeping is worse than mine!” muttered Jake, checking his cell for any new messages from his former student.
“How was she travelling up here?”
“I think she was taking the train from Wilmington,” replied Jake. “Her father had said he would drive her as far as Wilmington.”
“She’ll be here. Stop worrying.”
Five minutes before the music store was due to close, the door flew open with such force that the chimes above it fell to the floor.
“Jake!” shrieked the young, green-haired girl frantically. “Jake! You here?”
“I’m here. I’m here,” said Jake, rushing over to her. “You ok?”
“Oh, I’ve been so scared!” she sobbed, throwing herself into his arms. “These roads are fucking crazy! I got so lost. The engine was boiling up. I’m almost out of gas. I thought I was never going to get here!”
Hugging her close, Jake said, “You drove? I thought you were taking the train?”
“My dad got wasted. Couldn’t take me to Wilmington,” replied Riley tearfully. “I had no choice. I knew I had to get here. This is too big a chance to mess up.”
“You drove that beat-up car of yours all the way here?”
With fresh tears welling up in her eyes, Riley looked up at him and nodded.
“Just shows miracles still happen,” teased Jake in an effort to calm her down. “I can’t believe it made it past Smyrna! I also can’t believe you made it here!”
“Neither can I.”
“Where have you left said car?” asked Garrett calmly, having closed up the store.
“Outside.”
“Give me the keys,” instructed Garrett. “I’ll take it round to the garage before it gets towed. Your bag in the back?”
Riley nodded, “You’ll need to thump the trunk twice before it will open.”
Smiling, Garrett said, “Sounds a bit like mine. Jake, take our guest upstairs. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Keeping a supportive arm around the trembling teenager, Jake guided Riley through the store towards the elevator. Once upstairs in the gothic palace, the opulence caught her attention and she gazed around wide-eyed as Jake ushered her into the kitchen.
“Coffee? Juice?” he asked, indicating she should take a seat.
“Water, please,” she replied quietly. “Where’s the bathroom? I need to pee real bad.”
“Second door on the right down the hallway.”
“Be right back.”
Still barely able to believe that the tiny teenager had driven all the way from Rehoboth on her own, Jake poured her a tall glass of water then fetched two beers and a bag of chips. He had just opened the beers when Riley came rushing back in.
“That bathroom is stunning!” she enthused. “Marble and gold and…. shit, this place is like a palace!”
Laughing at her excitement, Jake said, “You’ll get the tour later, Miss Riley. Grab a
