Page 52 of Hollywood Games
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Whilst Rory was undergoing a form of torture even the SAS would never have considered, Zoe was getting the hell out of Dodge. She’d texted Fiona, Morag and Sam, and within twenty minutes was in Morag’s living room, a cup of tea by her side, and Liam on her lap.
‘Where’s Sam?’ she asked as she tucked into some spiced shortbread.
‘She’s out with our Jamie,’ said Morag. ‘As it wasn’t raining, they went out to find some inspiration. You know, he’s taking this very seriously. He’s even taken time off work.’
As the day lengthened, Zoe told Fiona and Morag about the earth meal and the sex scene she’d narrowly avoided. She didn’t mention discovering Brad and Barbara. The conversation moved on to Jock’s appearance on the television complaining about Vlad stealing his seat in the pub, and how Mrs McCreedie was doing. Zoe was in heaven, filled with warm tea, shortbread, and the cosiness of a close-knit community.
As the light of the day bowed out, the back door opened and Sam and Jamie entered, arguing about a lyric. Morag called to them and Sam ran through to give Zoe a hug, then Jamie poked his head around the door and gave her a wave.
‘Come in, son! Sit down!’ said Morag, going to the door before he could run away.
‘We want to hear what you’ve been writing,’ said Zoe. ‘Your concert is next week.’
‘Don’t we just know it,’ muttered Sam. ‘We’ve got three songs now, but it’s not enough.’
‘Can we hear them?’ asked Zoe.
Sam looked hopefully at Jamie who shook his head.
‘For god’s sake, you’ve got to do it in front of the whole pub and Brad Bauer, you might as well practice on a friendly audience,’ said Fiona.
‘Friendly? You?’ replied Jamie.
Fiona threw a cushion at her brother, who caught it and threw it back, narrowly missing Liam. ‘Oi! Watch our Liam, you big lump!’
Before the sibling spat degenerated any further, Morag steered Jamie into the room and sat him down on the sofa. She brought his guitar in from the kitchen and Zoe moved to make room for Sam to sit next to him. Sam and Jamie had a quick, whispered discussion, then Sam pulled a notebook from her bag and flicked through the pages.
‘Okay, ladies and gentlebaby. Tonight, for the first time, live and exclusive, we have the first ever performance from the band “name still undecided, all ideas welcome” of their amazing new music, so hot off the press we’re making it up as we go along,’ said Sam with a flourish.
Morag, Fiona, and Zoe whooped and cheered and Jamie shook his head and plucked out a few chords.
Sam turned to him. ‘“Heart of Scotland”first?’
He gave a shrug and began playing.
Zoe wasn’t sure what to expect. The music Jamie had written before was so beautiful it had made her weep, but she had no idea how that magic may have been changed by Sam’s input. She knew her friend had a heart of gold, but it was often hidden under a brassy exterior, and she was more likely to be found belting out chart hits than singing a quiet folksy love song. Jamie played a few bars, then Sam started singing. Her voice was light and melodious, spinning silver through the air. The lyrics twisted around Zoe’s heart, squeezing out emotions she could hardly name, articulating the love she had for her new home and the man who personified it.
Jamie’s voice joined in, the perfect counterpoint, his voice earthing her angelic one. The pairing was sublime and their music transcendent. If the rest of their music was like this, they had knocked it out the park. Zoe glanced at Fiona who was staring at the two of them in astonishment. When the song finished, the room erupted with whistles, screams and cheers until Liam cried and they were forced to tone down their celebrations. Both Sam and Jamie blushed and looked at each other in relief.
‘More!’ yelled Morag. ‘We want more!’
Jamie raised his eyebrows at Sam who turned the page of her notebook and nodded at him. The room filled with music as they sang their songs into life. By the time they had finished, the only audience member not sobbing was Liam.
‘Oh my god, that was incredible!’ cried Zoe.
Fiona looked at Sam. ‘If that doesn’t get you Brad then I don’t know what will.’
‘I hope so,’ Sam replied, tossing her head. ‘I want to be sunning myself in LA by the end of the month.’
Back at the castle,the scene in Brad’s bedroom wrapped. Rory left immediately, keen to go and stand under a shower. He felt soiled, wanting to wash away everything to do with Kirsten, Brad, Vlad and the rest of Braveheart 2. Vlad, in particular, made his skin crawl. He’d come across some evil bastards in his time, but Vlad was truly dark. The kind of charismatic and insidious man who promises eternal salvation courtesy of a ride on his cock, then casually orders his followers into a mass suicide pact. Charlie had offered to take care of him permanently, but Rory told him if anyone was going to be disappeared, it would be Brad.
He got out of the shower, changed into clean clothes and went to find his best mate. He found Charlie downstairs, and the two of them walked the corridors with Bandit, trailing testosterone and aroused crew members in their wake.
‘Mate, I can’t keep tabs on him the whole time,’ Charlie began. ‘He’s a slippery fucker. I’ve done his room over and removed a ton of drugs, but he might have more on him. I can’t get to his bag unless he’s comatose, but he moves the wardrobe against the door at night, so I can’t get in.’
