Art Garfunkel pulled a hand nervously through his now trademark strawberry blonde coloured curly hair and looked at himself in the mirror. He proceeded to then straighten his thin, dark blue tie that hung loosely around his neck, smoothed down his white shirt and then smiled ruefully at himself.
This was so utterly ludicrous, he instantly thought.
Why had he gone to so much effort and why was he also feeling so goddam nervous!
He wasn't really adept to wearing a tie at all, never mind the fact that he wasn't even planning on going anywhere!
Art Garfunkel was actually the host in his own home but somehow believed that his dinner guest would appreciate the gesture of him wearing a tie, especially if he now also combed his rather unruly hair!
So taking a comb from a nearby shelf, he proceeded to flick it through the blonde curls that had so often, in the past been pretty much left to do their own thing.
He now stood back to take a good look at himself.
The years had been somewhat kind, not a grey hair in sight, although the once mop of tight curly tresses had thinned out somewhat. It quite saddened him to witness that there wasn't as much of it as there once was.
Then there was his face that housed a few more lines than he would have liked and a distinct chubby ness around his jaw line that was never there before. This had presented itself with age, along with a paunch that had decided to settle around his midriff.
Artie had never been overweight, never had to worry about indulgences concerning over eating or drinking, the weight just didn't seem to go on him. He was lucky in that way, he had always been slim.
But looking down at his new shape he kind of liked it and nodded with satisfying self approval.
He actually thought he didn't look too bad considering everything life had somehow managed to throw at him. He was also confident too that his dinner companion would surely have little trouble in complimenting him.
Artie now smiled at his reflection but wondered for a moment, if his friend would even notice the extent of the efforts he had made on his behalf anyway.
He knew that this particular friend could be very indifferent.
He could also be cutting and slaving with his words which at times, in the past had been so hurtful and cruel that Artie wondered why the hell they had ever been friends in the first place! Alternatively though, his friend could also be the sweetest, kindest, funniest, loveliest and indeed the most generous guy ever to have walked this earth.
He wondered which one of them he would be entertaining tonight.
Moving out of the bathroom, he now entered the large, spacious, magnificent kitchen. The smell of cooking wafted its way into his nostrils and made him feel instantly hungry.
Art loved to cook. He frequently did it, just for amusement but it was nice to do it for someone else, someone who's approval really mattered.
In here, there was absolutely everything you could ever possibly desire in a fully equipped, functional and modern kitchen. The trappings of wealth had made everything easily affordable to him and the cupboards were never bare.
Yes, he was extremely wealthy with more money than he could ever hope to spend, yet it had all come at a price.
Art Garfunkel had always seeked out the approval of this one particular most charismatic of people and for most of his life that's how he'd been. Never wanting to let the other half of their partnership down and had always remained mindful about his friends thoughts about everything. Art had moulded and shaped his life around this one particular person, often putting aside his own personal happiness, until such a time when his confidence had grown to such proportions that he felt he could go off and do his own thing. When this did eventually happen though, it was met with the self destruct button and things between the two of them were never quite the same again.
Now turning towards the large, expensive oven, Artie now peered inside. He was doing a roast, well it was a Sunday after all and decidedly cool outside as autumn was now descending with colder mornings and darker evenings. He then glanced at the vast kitchen worktop and noticed yet another half drunk mug of coffee left to go cold. However, he picked it up and wandered over to the massive glass doors that led out onto a huge outdoor patio area overlooking New York's Central Park.
Opening the doors one handed, he casually stepped outside into the bright autumn sunshine. He shivered involuntary but not from the temperature. Out here was a real sun trap and he felt a warmth surrounding him as the sun's rays touched at his body.
No, the shiver had actually come from a far off distant memory of years gone by.
A memory of a vast audience, exceeding over 5 hundred thousand people as far as the eye could see, that had chanted, clapped and cheered in absolute unison as he and his friend, partner and one time confidant sung out the songs that had inspired a generation and indeed the world.
Art Garfunkel didn't mind admitting it, but that one single event in the fall of 1981 had surpassed all others as being the best day of his entire life.
Never had he felt so humbled, so confident, so at peace with the world and oh, so very much loved.
It was a strange feeling to now look out and see just how the world had changed but the songs which he and his friend had sang then, had remained exactly the same.
He now took the mug of cold coffee to his lips and sipped at it. He suddenly grimaced for it tasted decidedly awful and for a moment he contemplated on getting himself another more appealing one.
However, he now found it almost impossible to tear himself away from this very special moment of reminiscing.
He had to saviour it again, just like he had done so many, many times before and even though he was well used to this view, he somehow never ever got tired of it, for it remained a constant reminder of that fantastic day.
He now took in a big breath, narrowed his eyes and continued to remember that unique, unforgettable evening of Saturday September 19th 1981, when he first stepped out onto that stage, waved his both arms high into the air and then began to do the one thing that he felt he was put on this earth to do.
Share with everyone the wonderful voice that he knew God had so very kindly gifted to him.
It had been such a wonderful night, a night like no other and everything had eventually gone according to plan although, at the time Artie forever the self critic, actually thought he could have performed better!
It wasn't until his partner, friend and the person he singularly trusted the most about his performances, had rung him early the next morning and told him to look at all the news bulletins on the tv and the headlines in all the daily newspapers.
Artie was somewhat nervous.
Had there been an incident?
Were the police involved?
Or was it that the concert had been so badly received that the audience were now baying for their blood!! Although, in truth he was finding this idea very hard to believe. The vibes of love and support last night had been unmeasurable. Plus the actual number of people who had turned up just to see the two of them perform far surpassed anything he'd ever witnessed before.
In fact it was later recorded that the event had broken all records for the highest ever attended concert in history!
Art Garfunkel could hardly believe it!
The day itself had started off really quite dismally. It had rained constantly the night before and continued to do so throughout the day. A low, grey mist also hung heavily around the tall buildings and skyscrapers of New York City as if shrouding the place in a blanket of impending doom.
Art Garfunkel remembered feeling so nervous and apprehensive on that very morning, that he constantly felt the need to vomit as he now realised the enormity that the past three weeks of highly intensified preparation had been leading up to and wished that the whole thing was over with already.
Rehearsals had gone very badly.
Artie and his friend, allie and partner had actually fought bitterly with one another over pretty much everything.
From the song choices, Artie's apparent reluctance to learn some new songs, to the inclusion of a brass section that threatened to drown out the super softness of the pure angelic voice that Art Garfunkel had become so famous for.
Artie worried that his friend's band, of whom he had never even met before rehearsals began, would be too loud and overpowering. He was at pains to constantly point out to him that this was not what their band was all about.
During the 1960's the duo had become very famous and well known for doing close, two part harmony singing with their unique blend of two different voices combining into just one.
It had always just been their own voices and one guitar.
The inclusion of a 9 piece band that incorporated a brass section, two drum kits, electric keyboard and 3 other guitars really put Artie totally on edge. He was concerned that his soft, angelic voice would just become lost and fade into obscurity into the background whilst his friends own, stronger, deeper one took centre stage.
Artie now had wished that this concert was all done and over with just so that he could move along with his life again, without all of this constant bickering, sniding and general unpleasantness that he had so far been subjected to.
Paul Simon was an exceptionally talented musician and an immense songwriter.
He had written on his own, the duo's greatest ever hits. Songs that would be remembered for generations to come.
His works had also been covered by many other famous singers, for he was well respected and liked throughout the music industry for his dry wit and his ear for a great tune. Paul Simon had also inspired thousands around the world with his captivating lyrics and was well renowned as being one of America's greatest songsters.
Paul was also a complete perfectionist and along with that also came a volatile temper and a total lack of patience.
Paul Simon had very sadly also continued to harbour a very deep resentment of jealousy and bitterness regarding his most oldest, loyalest and dearest of friends.
He had always felt this way about Art Garfunkel.
It was no big secret.
But along with it, also came a very deep, unrivalled love for him that he could never quite explain or even begin to understand. This in itself had led to several bouts of severe depression that the star tried his hardest, over the years to control, eventually seeking out the help of professionals when his one true loyal friend and confidant was no longer around to help him.
The abandonment Paul Simon had felt by Artie at the end of their musical partnership, had been fully realised when Art Garfunkel decided to go off and make movies without him. Although that was never in Art Garfunkel's mind when he decided to go ahead and make a film. At the time, Artie just needed a break from all the constant touring and recording they had done. He also figured that Paul needed a break from him also, as tensions between the two of them were at an all time high.
But Paul Simon felt his world was spiralling way out of control when the usually shy and reserved Art Garfunkel wanted to go off and do his own thing.
This was not in his nature to do this. He had always been there for Paul, just at the end of the phone or in an answer to a letter.
Now on the film set he had other friends, a different circle of social life and one that did not include him!
Artie had constantly been told that he could really make it big in the movie industry for he had the good looks, charisma and star quality that was so sadly lacking in others. Artie felt that he couldn't refuse such offers, but had always had it in his mind to return to singing with Paul.
That was always the plan.
He was never walking away from him. His intention was to always come back and pick up from where they had last left off.
But not for Paul it wasn't!
If Artie wanted to go off like that and dip his toe into the waters of a different career that took up most of his time and efforts, well so be it........ But he shouldn't expect him to wait around for him when Artie decided to return!!
No way........ Paul Simon was having none of it.
It had been Artie's decision to go off and do his own thing, Paul had never forced him out. But if he was to ever think that he could just waltz back in, whenever the time suited him.......... Well, Paul had thought, he could just jolly well think again!!!
So Paul decided to just carry on writing and recording but now, only for himself.
There was no official split between the two of them, no farewell concert or last ever record. They just stopped.
This then, sadly led to Paul's deep depression.
He missed his friend more than he could ever express and being a solo artist didn't come very easy to him, despite the success he later enjoyed. Even though Artie was always keen for them to get back together again, be it in the studio or on tour, Paul felt so hurt and humiliated at being left behind by Artie's film making decision, that he constantly refused.
Paul and Artie still continued to meet socially though and sometimes even sang together privately. They even had a bit of a renaissance in the mid 70's when they were hardly ever out of one another's company and actually performed together on such shows as Saturday Night Live in which Paul hosted.
They even made a solo one off hit record together, which featured on both of their individual albums at the time.
But when approached about recording another Simon and Garfunkel album or even going on a tour together, Paul was always quick to dispel any hope of that.
No Defiantly not! There is no chance of that ever happening. Not now...... Not ever!
Despite Paul's apparent reluctance to rekindle the magic of those halcyon days, Artie never refused offers from Paul to sing with him, whenever the chance arose, even though Art Garfunkel was indeed now enjoying a solo success of his own!
The two of them, it would seem had remained really good friends and to those closest to them it seemed inevitable that one day they would in fact return together again as a duo.
The strings that had bound them both together were just too strong and far too tight for them just to be able to walk away from one another for good.
So when the chance came along for them to actually rekindle some of their old magic again, by doing this free concert in Central Park together, it was an opportunity not to be missed, even though in the beginning it was heralded as being just a Paul Simon solo concert.
But this rekindling came at a price, especially to Artie.
Paul was at constant pains to show his old friend that he was the one who had come up with the idea of a reunion, so he should be the one who decided what songs they were to sing and also in which order they were to be sung in.
Artie, being his usual non confontational self, just went along with it all but was then dismayed to find that quite a few songs on the set list were also Paul Simon's solo work and not Simon and Garfunkel!
This sparked a disagreement almost immediately with Artie pointing this out and saying if this was going to be a Simon and Garfunkel concert, why were there so many of Paul's solo material also included!
This got Paul's back up as he then stated that his band, who would also be performing on the stage, knew all the solo stuff much better than the duos, having just toured with Paul just a few months earlier. Paul then went on to suggest that Artie only had three weeks to learn Paul's solo songs and to arrange a harmony for each of them, thus putting more pressure onto him!
They also argued about that!
Artie knew Paul's solo work, having watched his career very closely, but he had never sung any of Paul's solo songs before! Sure he knew how each of them went and had caught some words here and there, but not enough to warrant actually performing them on a stage in front of thousands of people!
This now had put a whole new dimension on everything and the relationship became somewhat strained once again.
Paul Simon had been his usual self righteous and extremely bossy self, practically ignoring Art at first which he in turn had thought weird, being so it was his idea to do this damned thing in the first place! But, as usual Artie tried his absolute hardest to ignore all the little digs and tantrums that this creative genius had put upon him, realising it was more than likely out of nervousness himself that he was behaving in this way and of course the perfectionist coming out in him.
But as the day of the concert became ever nearer, Artie began to suffer with nerves of his own and the digs he had tried to ignore from Paul were now manifesting themselves into full blown arguments and of course the two of them started to rowe again just like they had done previously. Old wounds began reopening and things that had been left unsaid in the past and kept hidden away were now starting to resurface yet again.
Just before the suggestion of there ever being a concert, it had actually been a particular painful time for Art Garfunkel.
He had felt lonely, depressed and at severe odds with the world, but not in an angry, self destructive kind of way. No, that was not in his nature at all. He just very quietly withdrew into himself, not wanting to socialise, see anyone or even do anything.
Two years earlier, his lover had been found dead in his own apartment, having taken an overdose of valium whilst he himself had been away on location making a film.
Laurie Bird had been an actress once, when she was still in her teenage years. She had not particularly made a great impact on the acing world though, due to her troubled disposition and mental health issues. Artie had tried his absolute hardest to help her overcome them all by always being as loving and as supportive as he could possibly be towards her, but in her very hour of need, he was just not there.
Laurie had frequently asked Artie to marry her, stating that this would indeed make her feel more of a complete person and she would then be able to move on with her life. He didn't believe that was a good enough basis for a successful marriage and having actually come out of a particular painful one himself just a few months before, he was extremely reluctant to jump straight back into another potentially disastrous one.
He had explained time and time again to her that she should concentrate all her efforts on herself into getting well before making any sort of commitment to him or indeed anyone, but she didn't see it quite like that and grew more and more depressed, thinking and believing that he didn't love her as much as he told her that he did.
She had then come to the conclusion that he may have been actually in love with somebody else and when she continually kept asking him about it, he of course continued denying it.
Laurie though, found it increasingly hard to believe him and actually convinced herself that there was indeed someone else, although she was quite unable to prove anything.
This in turn sunk her even lower into a deeper depression.
Her father, concerned for her welfare, even intervened himself warning Artie that if he didn't marry her, she would most probably go and do something really stupid.
Of course this was ignored.
Artie had actually had years of being told what to do and how to do things as well as on occasions, even how to even feel and had grown pretty tired of it. Now that the ties that had restrained him for most of his life had been well and truly severed, he wasn't about to be told what to do all over again.
So off he went, away to make a film.
Art Garfunkel simply loved film making and had done a couple previously, in the hope that one day he would make a really good one and get himself recognised as an able actor. The ones he'd already done had made very little commercial impact and he was literally losing faith with the whole industry. But thinking that he'd have nothing else to lose, he packed his bags and left for Chicago.
But by doing this though, he very sadly lost Laurie.
She took her own life at the age of 26, whilst he was away and that was something he'd never ever be able to forgive himself for and a burden that he now had to learn to live with.
The release of his single, "Since I don't have you", a few weeks before, now became more poignant and the song then rocketed up to the very top of the charts both in Britain and America, when news of the tragedy broke.
Because of the songs success, Artie was tentatively asked if he would appear on television several times to perform it.
Out of a sense of duty and for the memory of Laurie he did, although it broke his heart to do so.
Sinking into a very deep depression himself now, he went and sought out solace with the only person he could naturally be himself with. The one person he knew who would listen to him, not judge him too harshly and above all would actually be there for him. His best friend, his partner, his confidant and someone who knew him better than anyone else in the world, Paul Simon.
Even though they had split up from one another musically, they had remained on very good terms with one another, often hanging out together, going out for dinner or to the cinema or a concert.
Of course, they would be seen by various people who would then speculate that a reunion was on the cards and get very excited by it. But Paul would always be quick to deny this would ever happen.
Artie though would remain impassive and not speak a word about such a thing to anyone. As far as he was concerned, it was Paul who had eventually called time on Simon and garfunkel as a group, so it would be up to him if he ever wanted to reform.
Artie though, had always made himself readily available.
It was therefore quite natural that Artie should be invited by Paul to stay with him in his time of immense need. Artie ended up actually staying for many, many weeks until he found himself another apartment, this time overlooking Central Park.
Slowly the depression within him began to lift. But what he really wanted and possibly needed more than anything was a rekindling of the music they had made together. Paul of course knew this but wasn't about to embark on such a project.
He had things going on of his own.
He was starring in and had done the screenplay for his very own film, "One Trick Pony". So he was heavily involved with that, he also had an album from the film to promote and a mini tour lined up.
He also reminded Artie, that he seemed to be doing pretty well on his own at the moment as well, what with the success of his new album, a number one record on both sides of the Atlantic and a new film in the bag!
Paul was actually struggling with all of that at the moment and felt as if Art didn't need any of his help career wise, although he told him he'd always be there for him emotionally.
Paul was also struggling himself emotionally too, by trying to get his girlfriend, actress Carrie Fisher off the drugs that she had become so dependent on.
Princess Liah from the Star Wars franchise, had been his love interest for almost two years now. Beautiful and talented, with the whole world at her feet, Carrie Fisher though, had a real drug problem that Paul felt that he could save her from. He was however, fighting a losing battle.
She was extremely headstrong and volitile and they rowed a great deal.
So a possible reunion with his old friend Art Garfunkel was certainly not on his agenda and he doubted it ever would be, much to the sadness of his former partner.
So Art eventually took himself off to Europe to escape everything. He began going on long walks, writing poetry along the way, staying in hostels and becoming completely unknown.
It was good for his soul, he began to feel cleansed, relieved of all his emotional baggage and loving the fact that no one knew him.
He visited many countries, keeping to the rural areas where he was seldom recognised. On occasions someone might ask for an autograph, which of course he would oblige them with, but mainly he was left pretty much alone.
Then, one day right out of the blue, whilst he was in Switzerland he got the fateful call from Paul Simon.
The call that would once again change his life, the call he had wanted, the call he had been secretly hoping for:
"Hey dude, how's it going? Look, I've been asked to do this concert thing in Central Park, a bit of a fund raising benefit event to try and raise some money for the city. Would you be interested in coming on over and playing a few of the old songs with me. I think the crowds would love that. What do you think? ".
Art Garfunkel jumped at the chance and hopped on the very next flight back to the States to meet up with his old friend.
However by the time he had flown over, Paul had made changes to the planned schedule.
Instead of it being solely a Paul Simon concert, he had now billed it as being a Simon and Garfunkel reunion concert.
This was unbeknown to Art until he met up with Paul at his home. Of course Art was so up for it, like Paul had somehow predicted. Paul knew full well that his old partner would not put up any sort of resistance in doing it.
Trouble was though, they had just 3 weeks to rehearse.
Artie now had to throw himself into it all, learning Paul's solo stuff within hours, whilst also rekindling all the old songs.
However, rather than feeling pleased and humbled by the way in which Artie had started to learn them all, Paul's green eyed little monster started to rear it's ugly old head yet again, like it had done so very often in the past.
Everyone kept telling Paul how amazing all of his solo songs now sounded, sung as a harmony with Artie's unique and beautiful voice and just how amazing was Artie in learning them all so very quickly.
Paul had always been jealous of Artie.
He loved him deeply more deeply than he cared or wanted to admit to and still even now all these years later it was still pretty apparent.
But he also hated him.
In Paul's very own eyes, Art Garfunkel was more than perfect. He had that lovely calm demeanour about him, the sparkling, emotionally charged blue eyes that Paul had always yearned to have for himself. Artie also had the height and build of a lithe young baseball player that Paul had modelled himself upon in his youth. Artie was also blessed with the film star good looks that directors and film producers sought after and he had been offered roles in many films, whereas Paul had never been asked to do not even one. He had to actually resort to writing his own film to get a starring role in one. Unfortunately for him, this had been a flop, so had the album which accompanied it.
Paul also found Art's ability to just be able to walk away from the glitz and glamour of stardom, infinitely infuriating, as he could never, ever do that. Paul needed to be successful, he needed to be accepted, he strived for complete perfection and satisfaction in everything that he did and worked really hard to achieve it all. Whereas Artie never seemed that bothered about it, yet everything just came so very easily to him without him ever seemingly to go after it and Paul hated that!
But the one thing that really got to Paul, more than anything else about him was Artie's natural singing voice. Paul was actually in love with it, pure and simple and he also wished that he was able to make such a truly beautiful sound without seemingly any effort whatsoever.
The very first time he had heard Art Garfunkel sing at the age of 11, he was hooked, but when he got to know this blonde haired kid from Queens he also realised that he had so many other attributes about him too that made Paul even more envious.
During their time apart from performing together, things had still not changed. Paul hadn't mellowed with age or grown confident about his own solo success. This was mainly because he was constantly being asked where Art Garfunkel was and when were they getting back together again. This sickened Paul, so much so that he vowed, because of that, they would never get back together.
This had nothing to do with their own friendship for they continued to see each other socially and more importantly, privately too. The bonds that tied them together as friends refused to be severed quite as easily as their professional relationship had.
After all and despite everything they still thought a great deal of one another.
But now however, during all the rehearsals for the concert in Central Park, relationships between them were becoming strained once more.
So going back to the day itself, which had dawned with heavily ladened darkened skies with rain that refused to relent.
They both were starting to doubt whether doing this concert was such a great idea.
What with all this rain, would anyone actually turn up?
It was also cold too. Early Autumn can be so beautiful in Central Park with the trees beginning to change their dark green foliage to a mixture of yellows, reds and golds. The crispness of already fallen leaves beneath the feet and the sunshine casting longer shadows along the pathways and the large expanses of green, bouncy lawns.
But not on that day.
On that day everything was soggy and wet. The grass was squelching beneath the very lightest of feet. Water droplets hung onto the already soaked, wet leaves and the air breathed of dampness.
It was a disaster before it had even started.
However, the stage had been set. Lights had been put into position, rehearsals had been done and television cameras had been set up.
Yes, this was a big event alright, it was actually going to be televised as well, adding to the nervousness that the performers already felt.
Art Garfunkel in particular, had been pretty used to performing in front of the cameras since his early twenties. He knew all about camera angles and how to look into them when delivering a poignant line from a song. But it had been a while since he'd done this with his friend by his side. He didn't want to mess it up for him. That was the real nervousness he was now feeling.
It wasn't the vast crowds that were somehow expected, nor the television cameras, or the relentless of the pouring rain that threatened to spoil everything.
No, It was him.
It had always been him.
It had been his friend all along who always made him feel the most nervous.
Because they were ultimately his songs.
They were Paul's songs.
Paul's words, his thoughts and his feelings that were put into songwriting for his partner to sing alone or in harmony with and that was the huge responsibility he had to bare.
It had been a long time since they had done this together. Too long in fact.
That's where the nerves actually lay.
Trying to make his partner feel proud.
And it had always been this way ever since he had let him down in the most cruelest of ways. But he'd been let down as well and although he had forgiven his friend for his past mistakes, he could never forget what he did, despite the passing of years.
Art sighed again and took another tentative sip of the foul, cold liquid from the mug he was still cradling and grimaced. He should really go back inside and make himself a fresh one but instead he now found himself breathing in the smoggy, city air.
Today was such a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the leaves on the trees below him were just starting to change to their spectacular Autumn colourings. The view from up here felt so good. Looking down on Central Park from his apartment, he had a homely, comforting feeling surrounding him and knew that this is where he was meant to be. If it wasn't out there on the stage, well this had to be the very next best thing.
His thoughts and reminiscing had now been suddenly interrupted by the loud buzzing noise coming from the intercom out in the hallway. He wasn't startled by it, for he had been expecting it to sound, but the sudden rise in adrenaline throughout his entire body was something he had not envisaged.
He took in a deep breath as he tried to calm himself.
His friend had arrived. He was now here, ready to be let in by the cortege down below.
He looked at the scenery once again. The tops of the trees, the New York City skyline, the blueness of the skies above like crushed velvet as far as the eyes could see. It was suitably incredible. He never got tired of it, never would in fact.
He now turned towards the kitchen. Dinner was not ready yet, but that won't matter. He had plenty of liquor in the refrigerator, they could both get drunk together and reminisce for a while. He felt like doing that today. It would be very good for the soul.
Having spoken into the little box on the wall, he now stepped backwards and took another look at himself in the full length mirror in front of him and adjusted his tie yet again. His friends arrival was imminent. It wouldn't take him very long to walk towards the lifts that would then bring him speedily up to the uppermost floor of this most exquisite of buildings.
The adrenaline swooshed throughout his body again at the thought and he wondered what was wrong.
They had been friends since they were 11 years of age, hung out together for absolutely hours on end. Laughed together, told jokes to one another, even shared an apartment once and certainly shared hotel rooms in the past. But most of all they had sung together in harmonious unison.
They were exceptionally close and saw one another more often than anyone else, even their very own families. But they never thought the same. They were two completely different contrasting characters.
One was blonde, slim and quiet almost shy, with his voice being the only thing that gave him confidence. He knew he was gifted and he loved to sing.
The other was short, dark and opinionated with a real will and need to succeed. He was ambitious often ruthless but was an extremely talented songwriter with words and melodies that inspired. He was the driving force, the spokesman, the decision maker. Armed with his ever faithful guitar, he too could also sing, but knew that his blonde haired friend was the one with the exceptional voice. He had, in the past compared it to being almost like syrup that would slide silkily over the lyrics in which he had written. He had envied that voice so much but was also in love with it too.
Their friendship had begun with the ones imitable desire for making it big, by being a star like his idol Elvis Presley. He wanted that adulation, the fame, the fortune, the girls.
The other one had no idea how to go about it and was generally more reserved anyway. He hadn't got the same drive but did, of course relish the thought of being a star. He liked the idea of being able to sing for a living, just because he enjoyed it.
So this set the precedence for perhaps the most successful singing and recording duo of all time. Praised and idolised throughout their often turbulent, unstable time together which saw the two of them become almost as popular as The Beatles were in the late 1960's.
Their albums sold millions, their records were always in the top 10, hitting the number 1 spot on numerous occasions all over the world.
They were also instantly recognised wherever they went, had awards lavished upon them, appeared on television shows, even hung out with other rich and famous recording artists and were invited to many a drink and drug fuelled party.
It was the norm and they were in their 20's, so of course they were going to give it a go and experiment with all kinds of crap.
They were also expected to attend these sort of functions together, or not at all. They were a singing sensation, a duo and needed to be seen as one. But this put one hell of a strain on a once vibrant, solid friendship that neither of them really wanted. It was never their wish to be forced together, that was not the plan. They only ever chose to be with one another because they wanted to. Having to do everything together without a break from one another was actually soul destroying for the pair of them and fall outs were inevitable.
They quickly gained the reputation as the friends who often argued, publicly as well as privately. Everyone around them now seemed to just wait for one of them to kick off at the other and it became a standing dish that they would often end the day not speaking.
In the music industry, their constant rows and bickering had suddenly became more of a talking point than the songs in which they performed, which in turn made the situation even worse.
They had great adulation for one another even if the respect was not always there.
But today was different.
Today they had agreed not to row or argue or belittle one another. They had now built up a truce. An understanding which only the two of them actually knew about. They were not about to pull down the walls that had built up their friendship again, not now, not for anyone, not even themselves.
It had taken far too long for them to be rebuilt.