Page 30 of Together in Harmony
Lennox shakes his hand. “We met a couple of years ago, I think.”
Clara turns to me. “And this is his lovely girl, Harmony. Sorry dear, I didn’t catch your last name.”
“Rhodes,” I say quietly. “Harmony Rhodes”
I’d felt like the last name Rhodes would maybe take me somewhere new, that’s why I had chosen it.
“Charmed, charmed,” says Teddy, going to fix himself a gin. He has a thick British accent. I recognize him instantly. He plays, or at least used to play, guitar in a British band called The Wonders. They were huge in the seventies and eighties.
“Want some mother’s ruin, Clara?”
Clara doesn’t answer him. I’ve pulled my hair forward again, but she pushes away the mass that covers the cheek nearest to her. She moves my face up with a false-nailed fingertip under my chin.
“Lennox here normally has a taste for bored socialites or trashy reality stars. You, my dear, are something very different aren’t you?”
Teddy comes and stands beside Clara. “Crikey! Have we met? You look awfully familiar. My old memory isn’t what it was though. Sorry I can’t remember, stupid noggin is on the blink.”
I give Clara and Teddy my best and brightest smile. “I very much doubt we’ve met,” I say. “I would not forget meeting you!”
“You want a gin, Harmony?” says Lennox from the bar. Then repeats his disappointment for the lack of vodka. He is so comfortable with Clara, they obviously have known each other for a long time.
“Filthy stuff.” She turns to me. “Can I offer you whiskey or champagne? Those are the only two things a lady should drink.”
“Oh, I’ve never heard that saying before…”
“That’s because I just made it up,” she cackles. “Champers?”
“Please.” I’m not a whiskey fan, but I’m not going to lie, I do love champagne.
“I hope you are being nice to my girlfriend,” Lennox says, as he pops the bottle which was in an ice bucket. The pop makes me jump.
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I tell Clara. “We are just on a date.”
“But we are dating,” he growls. “This is a date, ergo we are dating.”
“In my day, dating was no commitment at all. You could ‘date’ as many people as you liked,” sighs Clara. “I would have hundreds of beaus fighting for my attention.”
“Now you’ve got me, fair lady,” says Teddy. “I fought off all those other blighters and came out the winner!”
Lennox passes Clara and I cold flutes of bubbles. Clara pats Teddy on the head, then gives me a knowing look, “And are you dating anyone apart from Lennox, pretty child?”
I don’t know how to answer that, so I take a sip. It’s cold and delicious. Because I haven’t answered, Lennox fills in the gap.
“She has just been on a date with Asa, and if I know anything, Hugo will be making a play any day now, so as you can see Clara, we are in the shit.”
“Oh, this is going to be extraordinarily fun to watch unfold,” Clara says, rubbing her hands together.
I take a bigger slug of my drink.
“So glad we can entertain you,” says Lennox.
LENNOX
We leave Clara to get ready for the show. Teddy seems quite comfortable in her trailer, he’d taken his gin and tonic and settled on the large bed reading a magazine about vintage cars.
I must have missed the memo that those two are an item now.
As we step out of the trailer, I see Clara’s manager giving notes to an engineer. He looks up and gives me a wave. I’ve known Tino as long as I’ve known Clara. I like him a lot.
