Page 14 of When We Were Young

Will waited in the reception area of the events company he had been making regular deliveries to.

He came here so often he even knew the receptionist’s name – Izzy.

This job was taking over his life. The other night, he’d even dreamt about it.

He felt a wave of panic. Jesus, what if he ended up being a delivery driver his whole life?

It had been almost four months since Richard Eason from Island Records had given him his business card.

He was probably expecting contact before now, but a gig was out of the question.

They rehearsed every Sunday night, but Reu, talented as he was, still needed practice.

What he needed more was a drum kit. They got by with the crappy kit at the rehearsal studio, but they had no kit to practise on or take to gigs.

They couldn’t invite Richard Eason along without giving him a bloody good show, and that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Will sighed.

‘Everything okay?’ asked Izzy.

‘Just ready for the weekend.’

‘They’re checking that proof now – shouldn’t be long. Take a seat.’

He could put an ad in NME for a drummer or ask around, but he was determined to stick with Reu. He was a natural. Imagine how good he would be if he could practise every day.

The phone rang and Izzy answered in a sing-song voice. She was cute: petite, blonde, curvy. He could see quite a lot of her from the low buttoning of her blouse. She smiled at him as she talked. He wished Emily would look at him like that.

He needed to stop pining over his brother’s girlfriend.

He thought about her every day. His mum invited Aidan and Emily to dinner every few weeks.

Whenever Aidan turned up alone, Will was disappointed, but when she came, it was worse.

If Aidan put his hand on her leg or even made her laugh, it was torture.

He sighed again.

Izzy chuckled. She was off the phone now. ‘Maybe you should get it off your chest?’

‘I didn’t even realise I did it that time.’

‘I’ll see how long they’ll be.’ She swished out of the room, giving him a great view of her arse.

She returned a few moments later with the cardboard tube he had been waiting for. ‘All signed. Sorry to keep you waiting.’

Will met her at the reception desk and took the tube. ‘Izzy,’ he said. ‘Do you fancy going out for a drink sometime?’

She seemed less surprised than he was at the words coming out of his mouth. ‘I thought you’d never ask,’ she said, scribbling her number on a Post-it note.