Sanditon Melodies

Chapter 19: The producer

Charlotte was buzzing when she spoke to her parents later that evening. She talked nonstop for at least twenty minutes, finding that it helped her process what had happened with Babington and what was on offer. The more she talked, the more animated she got and Charlotte finally, although not unexpectedly, realised that this was in fact what she wanted. Actually, she'd probably wanted it all along, but she was just scared to take the leap (just as Sidney had told her). Charlotte's parents were so supportive and probably a bit relieved that their eldest daughter had made a decision about her future, for it had been a worry of theirs for a while. As much as they loved having her at home, they knew it wasn't the right thing for her to return to Willingden for she had outgrown the place. Whilst logistically it was difficult for them travel to see Charlotte perform (because of their work on the farm and looking after Charlotte's two younger siblings), they promised to come to a gig as soon as there was the opportunity to do so.

Feeling reassured about her decision, Charlotte proceeded to call Babington immediately afterwards to accept his offer, her heart still thumping with excitement as she did so. He was obviously delighted and eager to get to work straight away. Once Charlotte hung up though, there was a real sense of an anti-climax because she was alone, in the Annex with no one to share the good news with. It felt almost wrong to celebrate with Tom and Mary – given that there was the potential for this new development to conflict with Charlotte's job. There was of course someone she could tell who probably would be thrilled. She scrolled through her contacts until she landed on Sidney's number, took a deep breath and then pressed the call button. The phone rang for a few rings...

"Hi you've reached the voicemail of Sidney Parker. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you. Thanks."

Charlotte wasn't expecting his voicemail, so she left a rather garbled message.

"Hey it's Charlotte... Heywood. Um... So I was just calling you to... to let you know that I've accepted John's offer. John as in John Babington. So... yeah. I thought you may want to know. That's it. Thanks. Bye."

Charlotte hung up and put her face in her hands. That was a terrible message, but she couldn't take it back now. Deciding she needed to get out as she was feeling jittery, she grabbed a coat and made her way to the bar.

****************

Charlotte didn't hear from Sidney until the next day when he sent her a simple text message.

Sidney Parker: Great news! 😊

To be honest, Charlotte was disappointed by Sidney's text, but she supposed he was too busy to call her. Still, it seemed a bit strange that after his impassioned argument with her about it that all he could respond with was two words and an emoji. She tried not to let it bother her, but it did somehow. All the texting between them over the last few days indicated they'd cleared the air and he'd even invited her to Fleetwood Mac gig which had taken her completely by surprise. Sidney's behaviour was really confusing. Charlotte couldn't read him at all. His texts were friendly, flirty even, but then the things he'd said about her were still in the back of her mind. Charlotte was anxious to know how things would be between them when they saw each other again which wasn't going to be for another month. Despite the long wait, Charlotte found that her heart started beating faster at the thought.

However, any further deliberations about Sidney soon went away as Charlotte had a very busy few days ahead of her. She was performing that evening so needed to finalise her set list and have a rehearsal with the band. She also had to have a rather awkward chat with Tom, who, when it came round to it, was pleased for her, but naturally concerned about what that meant for his plans this summer, most of which centred on Charlotte working (performing or bar work). Charlotte reassured him that they would work a way round it and proposed a meeting with Babington the following week to iron out the details, for now that Babington was her manager she wanted/needed to run everything past him before making any proposals.