Page 29 of Musical Games
He grinned and turned right down the hill. ‘Okay, but you know it’s actually—’
‘Yes, yes, lay on, Macduff. But “lead on” sounds so much better.’
They smiled at each other and his heart jumped. He was outside, in public, with a beautiful woman. It was utterly new and completely surreal. He was desperate to hold her hand but knew he couldn’t, so jammed his in the pockets of his jacket.Enjoy what you can get. He was going to show her something special to him. He had her all to himself.
‘Sam! Cooee!’
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Mrs McCreedie and her friends were blocking the road.
He saw Sam stop for a second and her body tense. Then she smiled and carried on towards the matriarchs of Kinloch.
Mrs McCreedie was beckoning Sam as if she was a queen summoning her into the inner circle. ‘Look who it is! Come here, dear.’
Jamie hung back as Sam was drawn into the middle of a squall of grey hair and glasses. Since the truck had crashed into the side of her house, Mrs McCreedie was living her best life. She’d been rescued by two young men and was the first person in the village outside of Morag’s family to have met Sam, a bona fide famous person off the telly.
The women seemed to possess a gravitational field all their own as passers-by were sucked in. The crowd grew larger and Jamie was pushed further back.
‘And, did you know that Wayne character waxes his chest! Tell them, Sam. Tell them what you told me. It’s smooth as a baby’s bum. Not like Morag’s wee boy, Jamie.’
He cringed as Mrs McCreedie’s voice carried over the crowd.
‘No, young Jamie’s got chest hair like a man.’
Likea man?
‘But that’s not all! Sam told me… What’s his real name, lass? Ian? So, Ian, that’s Wayne’s real name, he also waxes…’ She broke off and Jamie could see the grey heads leaning closer. ‘Down there!’ Mrs McCreedie hissed loudly.
There was a sharp intake of breath.
‘Why?’ a couple of the women asked.
‘Apparently, it makesitlook bigger!’
‘No!’
‘Is that normal? Is that what all the young folk are doing nowadays?’
Seven heads swivelled in unison to look questioningly at Jamie.
‘Mrs McCreedie,’ Sam interrupted. ‘Shall we take some more photos? We can use my phone and I’ll email them to your grandson again?’
Jamie sagged against the wall of a shop. Was this what being with a famous person was like? Sam had been in his life for a few short days and yet at every turn he had to share her. This was a mistake. They should never have left the house. She was smiling and chatting to everyone, the perfect example of confident sociability, whereas he felt like an awkward and grumpy teenager. Spots of rain hit his cheeks.
Not now!
Sam extricated herself from the crowd and grabbed his arm. He couldn’t breathe.
‘Come on,’ she whispered, dragging him away. ‘Bye!’ she called over her shoulder. ‘See you again soon! Don’t forget the concert next week!’
Jamie’s stomach lurched. He’d forgotten all about it. Now he wanted to be sick.
Sam looked at him with concern and dropped his arm. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to touch you, I was just trying to get away.’
He felt more rain. ‘We should go back. This was a mistake.’
‘No, it’s fine. We can keep going. Are we going to see the loch?’
