Chapter 31: Results and rehearsals

198 2 0
                                    

Charlotte sat nervously in her bedroom in Willingden, her laptop in front of her as she anxiously watched the clock creep towards 10am. 09.58 – two minutes to go. She hated this bit and was glad that this was the last time she would ever have to go through it. 09.59 – one minute to go. The anxiety she felt started to grow stronger as her finger hovered over the keyboard. She sat breathing heavily, her eyes never leaving the clock until it turned 10.00. After taking a deep breath, she hit the refresh button...

Alison and her mother looked up at Charlotte with expectant expressions as she entered the living room.

"Well?" Alison asked and Charlotte's face broke into a wide smile.

"Distinction." She said beaming.

Alison and her mother cheered and rushed up to hug her.

"See, Char, I said you had nothing to worry about." Alison said as she hugged her tightly.

"Oh well done darling!" Mrs Heywood added. "All that hard work paid off!"

"Thanks Mum."

"You should go and tell your Father."

"Where is he?" Charlotte asked.

"Harvesting the potatoes with William."

"OK, I'll go and find him."

The potato field was only a short walk from the farmhouse. On her way there, Charlotte got out her phone to text her friends from her course, but saw that there was already a message from Sidney there.

Sidney Parker: So?

Charlotte smiled. Of course he had remembered she was getting her degree results today. She text a reply.

Charlotte Heywood: Distinction.

Sidney messaged back straight away.

Sidney Parker: 😊 Congratulations! We can celebrate on Thursday. xx

Thursday... two more sleeps...

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

"OK. Are we ready to go from the top?" Charlotte said, turning to the band behind her. They were rehearsing in a warehouse in central London. Georgiana had just finished her rehearsals in the same place and had graciously offered this space to Charlotte's band given the difficulties Babington had finding somewhere to practice so last minute. The band had just finished setting up and they were about to play the first song of the set: Out There. This would be the first time they had all played together, just two days away from first gig. Despite them all being professional musicians, it was a bit nerve-wracking.

The first run through the song went surprisingly well, at least there were no dodgy notes, but they hadn't quite got the dynamics right. It took a couple more takes to get the song into a place where Charlotte was happy with it. Babington and the choreographer looked on as they played, along with a vocal coach. The choreographer couldn't say much for this song for Charlotte had insisted she play her guitar, but the next song was a different ball game.

As they finished the song for the fourth time (having completely nailed it this time), Georgiana and a large number of her crew walked through the doors, having just had a tour meeting in a make shift meeting room out the back and among their number was Sidney. Charlotte's stomach flipped when she saw him. She knew he was planning on popping by at some point, but she wasn't quite prepared to him right this second. Sidney looked at her with a soft smile on his face which she shyly returned.

"Sounding good." Georgiana said from the floor.

"Thank you." Charlotte said.

"Mind if we stay for the next one?" She asked.

Sanditon MelodiesWhere stories live. Discover now