A Karat of Patience

Chapter Fifteen

"So, we begin with the first encore, and instead of us reappearing, the audience sees Christine at her grand piano and she gives everyone a little smile before playing Songbird. It will be fucking magical...just like it was during our Rumours tour. Maybe we could arrange for a single red rose to lie on top of the piano, too?"

Christine grimaced at Mick's proposal. "I don't think so, Mick. It's far too dramatic for me. No way am I agreeing to that."

"But think about how symbolic that is!" Mick emphasised with wide, earnest eyes.

"Nope. Sorry. I'm only playing my upbeat songs, and Songbird just doesn't fit the occasion."

Mick sighed while Lindsey neurotically tapped his pen against the table, only stopping when Stevie placed a firm hand on his wrist. All five of them were irritable. They were only fifteen minutes into trying to decide on what songs Christine should perform in London, and true to form, no one was on the same page. Time was ticking, and Christine had flown to Dublin for the sole purpose of joining Fleetwood Mac's rehearsals, so she didn't want to sit there fucking around.

"Well, if Chris wants to play something upbeat and happy, how about she starts the first encore with Everywhere?" Stevie suggested, twirling her pen in between her fingers as she gave Christine a warm smile. "The synths in the intro are so pretty, so I think it would be perfect."

Lindsey shook his head. "I was under the impression that Christine was only going to perform Don't Stop? Didn't we already discuss this at Mick's house in May?"

"Yes, we did talk about that," Christine answered.

"And may I remind everyone that we need to focus on the true purpose of this tour: to showcase Stevie's and my work—"

"I'm sure we can spare two bloody nights for someone other than you and Stevie," John interjected loudly.

"I'm going to continue talking, because I hadn't finished—"

"Oh, sorry," John said in a tone that didn't sound apologetic at all.

"Stop taking things so seriously, Linds," Christine spoke over both of them. "I just want to chat to you because you're my mate. I get that this tour is important to you, but you don't need to be all..." she clenched her fists to imitate his anxiety. "Go, talk, but—"

"As I was saying, I'm not comfortable with Christine playing anything other than Don't Stop for our first encore. And that's my final comment on that," Lindsey said stubbornly, before picking up his phone and shutting down like a petulant teenager.

----

To keep drama to a minimal, everyone agreed to Christine performing Don't Stop, and Don't Stop only. While John and Mick were disappointed with the decision, Christine was secretly relieved. After the media circus at Stevie's documentary screening, she didn't think she was 100% ready to be solely in the spotlight for a while.

Christine sought out Stevie in the arena while she waited for rehearsals to begin. She found her following Karen out of her dressing room with a troubled look on her face, and went to gently pull her aside.

"Sorry, Karen," Christine muttered, and Karen nodded in understanding. She turned to Stevie and squeezed her elbows then asked her quietly, "Are we all good? You left with Lindsey after that disastrous meeting and didn't say anything to me. I know I got a bit mouthy towards him so I understand if you're upset."

Stevie's face softened. "No, babe, I wasn't mad at you. Lindsey was just feeling a little anxious, so I had to make sure he was okay," she explained, and from her flat affect, Christine got the impression Stevie was over babying her ex-boyfriend.