In Another Life (1993-1996)

House Out Of Plasticine

“We will, we will rock you! We will, we will rock you!” Lizzie and I giggled excitedly as we walked into the café the next day. She had stayed over at mine the previous night, feeling too hyper from the show and not wanting to wake Arthur, who had been working hard on a design project. The two of us, plus Ben had came home last night, deaf from the loudness of the music, shouting to Wanda and Tim who were in the living room, waiting for us to come back like we did every Saturday after a concert.

It was mid August now and Evelyn And The Nights had performed every weekend. Ben tagged along to the shows to give me moral support. Unfortunately, Noel had to go and re-record his album, as he wasn’t happy with the original they had back, so we had a new guitarist Jason Hickery and a full time drummer, Zack Bryen. Together, we sounded pretty cool.

Even though he was away, Noel had promised to write me some new catchy songs and that he would post me them. We had 4 songs so far and needed at least 6 more before was had an album. Lizzie was in the progress of writing one and even Ben wanted ago. He sat at the counter at Lizzie’s, sipping at a coffee, pen poised over paper. He looked up as we walked towards him, arms linked, still yelling Queen. I let go of Lizzie and flung my arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. He held my waist and looked at me smiling.

“Have you been drinking?” He said, teasing. I looked at Lizzie for a second and then we both fell into a fit of laughter for no apparent reason. I rested my head on Bens shoulder as I laughed and Lizzie propped herself against the counter. After a while, I looked at Ben, tapped his nose and replied.

“No! Of course not! It’s just that we just saw our names, in the paper! We’re famous Ben!”

“Were they under a big wanted sign?” He said, trying to maintain a straight face. Lizzie looked up shocked.

“How did you know about that?” I giggled at her alarmed face before waving at her to be quiet.

“Oh shut up, of course they weren’t. We got a review on our show last week, and the guy recommended us to anyone with a clear sense of good music. He really liked us!” I smiled happily at him, absorbing his pride in me. “So, what are we going to do today?”

“I was thinking we could go for a swim in the pools at Hampstead Heath. What do you think?” Be looked at me and I nodded and turned to Lizzie.

“Yeah, sure sounds fun. I wake Arthur and meet you there in forty-five?” So I got up from Bens knee and headed out the shop again.

                                                                *

We clambered into Ben’s new car, Vauxhall Corsa 1st gen, and drove towards Hampstead. Ben had just got his license and was nervously proud sitting there at the wheel. It was straight down Rosslyn Hill and took about 5 minutes to get to the Heath. We parked and gathered all the stuff from the boot. I looked for Lizzie and Arthur as we walked down the entrance pathway to the pools. There were little changing rooms all coloured brightly and Ben and I entered after having no hope of finding Lizzie.

I came out and looked at Ben, who’s finely toned chest and stomach caught my eye instantly. He was wearing nothing but his swimming short and flip flops, but had a towel slung over his shoulder, hiding some of his muscles. I felt a bit awkward, I didn’t have amazing, or even eye catching figure, I was just average but Ben looked at me like he had never seen better. My bikini was covered by a blue beach shawl.

“Oi! Where over here!” I looked over to see a shirtless Arthur lifting Lizzie over his shoulder as she waved. Arthur spun her around and she screamed, but giggled as he placed her on the ground again. She ran over and hugged me, as Ben and Arthur shook hands. We set off to the pools. Ben held my hand as I soaked up the beauty of where I was. Umbrella like green trees towered over me, casting a glitter rimmed shadow against where we walked. The sound of nature fill your ears as you strolled, feeling as though you could reach out and through the calls.