The Reunion

Chapter 9

TWENTY-THREE YEARS AGO

Graham was at the church. He had expected hundreds of paparazzi and reporters and, unfortunately, he was not disappointed. How security had managed to get him through the menagerie he did not know. He waved at the wellwishers and there were a few thousand of them. Security got him into the church.

The first person he saw was Samantha. She was wearing a beautiful lemon floral dress, which was her own design, with matching hat.

'Congratulations, Mr Longmuir,' she smiled as they air kissed each other on both cheeks.

'You and Luigi are coming to the reception, aren't you?' Graham asked.

'We are indeed. Do you fancy giving Parveen and the other guests something special?' Samantha replied, trying to give him a wink.

'I know she would love it,' Graham replied. 'Everyone was disappointed that we didn't perform a duet at your wedding.'

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'It was too soon,' said Samantha. 'And with Gill and Tony not attending, fifty percent of a pop group just doesn't seem enough. Are they coming to yours?'

'Well, I'm here,' said a voice from behind her. She spun around and almost collided with Tony.

'Hi, Tony,' she said, composing herself and greeting him with a peck on each cheek.

'Hi, Sam,' said Tony. 'Long time, no see. Apologies for not making your wedding but, acting like a kid, when you told me Gill was going... well... you know that she's not my most favouritest person in the world.'

'Well, she's definitely not coming today,' said Graham. 'She's in Canada, with Clint Stigers.'

'Not her husband, Brian?' Samantha asked.

'Hey, you know Gillian,' said Tony.

'You still up for a little jam session later?' Graham asked.

'You bet,' said Tony. 'It's been a while.'

The service passed off without a hitch. How they managed to smuggle Parveen in without anyone seeing her was beyond belief. She looked stunning in her low-cut ivory wedding dress. Graham could not stop smiling all the way through the ceremony. His best 'man' was Cat Perry, his Grease remake co-star who had introduced the couple. They are still close friends today and there are rumours that they could well be co-starring together again in a new movie, which will be the fourth one they have filmed together since the Grease Trilogy.

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The church was packed and was standing room only. Screens had been erected outside for the crowd to watch it. Inside, you could hear the cheers as they exchanged their vows.

What was equally astonishing was that the paparazzi were unable to follow them to the secret location where the reception and evening do was going to take place. It was actually being held at the Edgemoor Hotel on the outskirts of Bovey Tracey near Newton Abbot. A marquee had been erected as an overspill to the main dining area. Thankfully it was a beautiful day. Cat gave an exceptionally funny speech which had everyone in hysterics – and the drink hadn't been flowing that long. Graham also gave a light-hearted speech on how Cat had first introduced them, telling everyone that he couldn't take his eyes off Parveen's maracas – which, by the way, was the percussion instrument that she was playing when Graham first walked into the studio.

It had been difficult for them to select the guests they wanted to invite and those who they had to leave out. However, it was agreed that they would do something special for the 200-odd guests they had to disappoint and some of those who actually attended the wedding day were quite envious as to what this was. But more on that at a later date.

The members of Graham's other band, Kids' Stuff, were there. Theoretically they were still together but Graham, Andy, Chris and Steve all decided that they were not going to perform in public or private again. That was when Graham had the idea that he would ask Tony and

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Samantha and was surprised when they unanimously jumped at the chance.

The reception was just about over and everyone was getting ready for the evening do. A buffet was being laid out but no one, at present, was feeling that hungry. People started arriving and the free bar was well attended. A DJ started playing songs. He played Graham's hit "Rock Me Gently" – which was his version of a 1974 Andy Kim number-two song. Graham actually went one place higher. Graham seemed a little bit embarrassed as it was being played.

The evening party was in full swing. Everyone was enjoying themselves and the buffet was finally being devoured. At 22:15, Graham was dancing with Parveen when he whispered in her ear, 'If you could wish for anything now, what would it be?'

'I think you know the answer to that,' Parveen replied.

'Tell me,' said Graham.

'I would love to see Ladies and Gentlemen reform and perform a couple of songs just for me,' she answered.

Graham broke away from her. 'Stay there. And don't move,' he said.

How they had managed to do it is not known but guests could now see that a drum kit, a lead guitar, a bass guitar, a keyboard, three microphones with stands and a couple of amplifiers had mysteriously appeared at the side of the room. Parveen just stood there. She hadn't seen where Graham had disappeared to. She looked in every direction. The DJ interrupted her thoughts. 'Ladies and gentlemen – for one night only and for the first time since their acrimonious split –

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please welcome on stage Samantha Adlington, Tony Gee and Graham Longmuir who have reformed especially for tonight. It's Ladies and Gentlemen.'

There was a lot of screaming, especially from Parveen. People tried to clamber closer to the stage but security kept them back and they were made to stand in a semi-circle with Parveen alone in the middle, her gaze fixed on the group but, in particular, her new husband Graham. They quickly tuned up and launched straight into "Teenage Dream". Again there was a lot of screaming and cheering right up until the very end of the song.

'WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE!' the crowd shouted. Parveen was leading the chant. And to their surprise, Graham put his guitar onto its stand and moved to the keyboard. He started the opening chords to the up-tempo tune "Looking for Someone Like You", which was a song on their last ever album. His eyes never left Parveen as he sang it.

After they had finished the song the applause was deafening. It must have gone on for ten minutes or more before Samantha took the mic. 'We're going to do one more,' she began. 'And I'll apologise in advance as the person who used to sing the female lead is, as you can see, not with us tonight so you're lumbered with me.'

'You were better than her anyway!' someone shouted. 'Thank you, Luigi,' she laughed. 'My one and only fan. This is our version of one of our favourite group's, Steps, hit – "The Way You Make Me Feel".'

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Again the audience went wild as Graham and Samantha shared lead vocals. Although not the size of crowds that attended their gigs, the wedding reception guests were still quite deafening. When they finished the song the chant went up, 'WE WANT MORE. WE WANT MORE.' But Samantha, Tony and Graham had moved away from their instruments and the makeshift stage was in the process of being dismantled by behind the scenes crew, and quickly removed from the room. The group members casually rejoined the other guests but you could see that they were clearly delighted at the response.

Parveen walked over to Graham and flung her arms around her neck. She kissed him long and hard. 'Thank you,' she finally said. 'That was the best wedding present ever.' They were moving slowly around as if they were dancing a slow dance but the DJ had yet to put on any music. 'Do you think Ladies and Gentlemen will ever get back together?'

'Doubtful,' Graham said honestly. 'Tony won't be seen anywhere near Gillian. And who can blame him? Those two will need to bury the hatchet – and not in each other – before we can even talk about a reunion.'

'Would you like to see it happen?' Parveen asked.

'I'm way too busy at the moment with my solo stuff and acting to even consider it. I know that you would,' Graham replied. 'I won't say it will never happen but it certainly won't be in the foreseeable future.'

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