Revival (Johanna's story with Luke Hemmings)

Chapter 43

43.
Kat offers to come and pick us up to go to the gig.  It's a bit of a relief to hear her say she is having a break from drinking.  I also actually enjoy getting ready to go out.  I want to put in some effort after my tired and bedraggled appearance earlier on.  We are only going to a pub and I know what Luke will wear, so I just go for jeans and boots, but I team them with a deep purple shirt and chunky gold necklace.  I even manage to achieve a decent-looking purple, smokey eye.  I won't be doing false eyelashes, but several coats of mascara work well enough, and I finish by creating some large ringlet curls through my hair with a hot iron.

Luke brings a bag in from his car and changes into a plain black T-shirt.  I hear the blow dryer going from the bathroom while I'm in the ensuite putting on makeup, and when I see him again his hair is particularly quiffed up, but in a messy tousled kind of way.  He obviously hasn't shaved in a while, as he's got some stubble sprouting through on his cheeks and chin.  He looks incredibly sexy in his carefully-groomed scruffiness. 

I pause smiling at him, "How'd you learn to do your hair like that?"

"I've got an aunty who's a hairdresser - she's shown me some good stuff ...Otherwise Youtube."  There's a knock at my door.  "You look nice," he adds before walking across to it and letting Michael in. 

Michael is dressed all in black apart from his green hair, which looks even brighter than last time I saw him.  I can't decide if it's because of the dark shirt, or if he's actually redone it.  He and Luke greet each other in a very blokey type way, and then sit and reminisce a bit about the guys from school in the band and how crap they used to be. 

"I thought you said they were good" I question, as I grab a tin of meat for Jess from the pantry.

"They have improved a lot" Michael assures me, "but hell they needed to."  He turns to Luke again, "Do you remember when they did that awful lunchtime concert at school?"

Luke laughs, "Was that when they tried to cover 'Stairway to Heaven' after they'd been playing guitar for about a week?"

"Yep" Michael responds, and then continues on about something while I feed Jess in the garage. 

When I return Luke is saying, "You have to give them credit for persisting when they had no natural abilities - and someone's obviously paying them for it now too."  He stands and looks out the front window.  "Here's Kat now."

I open the door just before she reaches it, and Luke and Michael wander over behind me.  I introduce Michael to Kat and notice him checking her out, but also looking very intimidated.  She's wearing a business suit-type jacket except that it's nipped in at the waist and low cut with nothing underneath.  On her bottom half are tight black trousers and platform heels.  I grab my bag as she leads them out to her car.  They both jump in the back, so I get into the front passenger seat. 

The bar is a bit dingy.  The building itself is alright, but the interior obviously hasn't been updated in a long time, and the walls are a tired and worn-looking burgundy, which also makes everything seem very dark.  There's a small, slightly raised area at one end with a drum kit set up on it and a couple of guitars resting against the wall.  The place is very quiet, with the biggest table right in front of the band area having about eight people in their later forties at it.  I can't help but wonder if they might be the band's parents.

"Right, what do you guys want to drink?" Luke offers, as we pick a table. 

"I'll just have a diet coke thanks" Kat responds quickly.

Luke nods and turns to me.  "Do you want something stronger than beer Jo - what do you feel like?" 

Kat seems to pick up on his sympathetic, concerned look and eyes me closely.  She replies before I have a chance, "Get her a Midori - how long since you had one?"