For the Love of Music (Sixty Minute Romance) (4 page)

“Can I tell you a bit
about Sergeant Makin? I have his permission to do so. You can make of it, what
you will.” The Colonel had a speech all prepared. Anne didn’t really want to
hear it but she had little choice. Their drinks arrived and they placed their
order for food.

“Sergeant Makin will not
want me to tell you this first part, but I must, to give you the complete
picture. He is something of a legend in his platoon. He will say nothing about
it but he has personally saved the lives of more fellow officers than anyone
else in his unit. No one else even comes close. Eventually, his luck ran out
and he was blown up on a road side patrol, in Helmand. All his colleagues on
that patrol were killed instantly. He managed to persuade some local kids to
pull him into a hut until help came a day later. He doesn’t see himself as a
hero, but he is.

On his return to the UK he
was awarded two top medals for bravery. The problem for him, is that his
injuries have changed him. A man can only take so much. Sergeant Makin cannot
reconcile himself with the limitations of his body as it is now. He has refused
all help offered to find him a job, or even a life, outside Stoke Mandeville
Hospital. The music sessions with you, have been the first time that he has
responded to the efforts my team and I have made to help him. In fact we had
nothing to do with it, other than arrange the concert. He sorted out his own
therapy with you after the concert.”

“I could guess most of
what you have just told me simply by looking at him. What did he say about the
fight yesterday?” Anne was getting a little impatient.

“I was coming to that.
Sergeant Makin was very much a difficult patient for us. He would bring
everyone down with him when we had group discussions. Instead of trying to help
others he would go out of his way to destroy them. So other patients would make
some good progress and he would then tell them they were useless and no good to
society.

When you started your
music sessions with him, there was an immediate change in his attitude to the
future. He started building people up and helping them. He started seeing his
own life in a different way. The two officers he brought with him yesterday
were men he was helping out, following them being medically discharged from the
army. Yesterday they started teasing Sergeant Makin that there was more to your
relationship than just music. After you left he snapped and started laying into
them, but you saw that for yourself anyway. It’s not a good reason, but that is
why the fight happened. He lives his life on a very short fuse.”

“I understand all that.
Thank you for letting me know some of the reasons. But why are we here today
having dinner and talking about him? You can’t expect me to see him again.”  As
she said it she realised that this was exactly the reason that she was having dinner
with the Colonel.

The Colonel looked at her
directly.

“Most of our men have
highs and lows. Sergeant Makin’s highs and lows are just much further apart. He
is an extreme sort of man, who feels things deeply. Yes I am asking you, on his
behalf, to continue with his music therapy sessions.”

Their food arrived and
they lightened up their conversation for the meal. The Colonel was a family man
who had two very young children. He spoke fondly of his wife and their home
life. Anne had little to tell and spoke about her work. She talked about how
she got involved with the Kovergirls and how much she enjoyed playing music in
front of an audience. After two courses, Anne noticed that she had been away
from work for two hours.

“I have to get back to
work. I had no idea what the time was.” Anne said urgently.

“Do not worry. I have
cleared you for the afternoon with your boss.” The Colonel replied.

“The only problem with
that, is that I didn’t know it!” Anne retorted angrily.

“I’ll skip dessert all the
same Colonel and just have a coffee if that’s alright with you.” Said Anne.

“Of course.” They ordered
their coffees and Anne took control of the conversation.

“I will see Ed, I mean
Sergeant Makin, again. But that will only be to hear what you have said
directly from his lips. If he is prepared to be honest and open with me, then I
will think about it.” Anne wanted to meet Ed again, she realised this now. Beyond
that she was very uncertain. She had enjoyed their sessions together. It was
like their own private world and she realised she would miss them. She was
surprised to realise the there was a part of her that wanted to spend a lot
more time with Sergeant Ed Makin.

The Colonel smiled openly
and thanked Anne.

In the end, it was six
weeks before Anne heard anything from Ed. The Kovergirls were continuing their
rise in reputation in the south of England. They had played as support band for
an Abba tribute act at the Croydon Hall one particular Saturday night. All had
gone well and the girls were packing away their stage outfits during the
interval.

There was a sharp knock on
the door. A security guard popped his head in.

“Which one of your girls
is Anne? You’ve got a fan who wants to see you. Shall I get rid of him?”

“It’s me!” Anne stood up
guessing who the fan would be and went out with the guard. She had begun to
think that she would never hear from Ed again. Six whole weeks, with no
communication whatsoever, meant that she had been trying to forget him and his
music therapy sessions.

“He’s in the bar, at the
far end.”

Anne went into the bar,
which was almost half empty. The interval was coming to a close and people were
making their way back to their seats. A few people recognised Anne from the
first half performance, and said well done. There were a couple of teenagers
kissing and cuddling like it was an Olympic sport.  There were also a few
people standing at the bar trying to get a second drink down them, before the
Abba tribute band started playing. Anne walked around to the far end. She
couldn’t see him anywhere. She pushed the exit door at the far end of the bar
to check for sure that Ed was not there. Having built herself up mentally to
meet him again, she was a little frustrated to be stood up in this way.

“Well that’s your lot,
Sergeant Makin.” She said out loud to herself.

A man standing at the bar
turned around to face Anne.

“Are you talking about
me?” Ed was wearing a full three piece suit and tie. He looked like he had just
walked in off a television makeover show. His hair was groomed and cut. His
face was no longer full of unsightly stubble. The deep scars on his face seemed
less noticeable today. He had used some cologne and smelt really good. He also
looked like he had lost weight. His jaw line was lacking its second chin. He
still carried his frame like a true military man does, but he looked stunning
and he was very tall. Anne had not noticed until now, how tall he was, because
he was normally in his wheelchair. But he stood taller than Anne who was five
foot ten.

Her heart skipped a beat;
she was knocked out by Ed’s appearance. He was barely recognisable from the
thug she had encountered six weeks ago.

“Where is your
wheelchair?” Anne hated herself as soon as she said it.

“That’s all you have got
from seeing me in the last few seconds. Where is your wheelchair?” Ed was
teasing, but there was a part of him that wished she had said something else.
Almost anything else would have been better, in truth.

“I have my new custom made
leg. I can stand and get around pretty well on it. Do you want me to show it to
you?” Ed made out he was going to pull his trouser leg up and remove his leg.

“No, stop messing with me.
You look amazing Ed. I can’t believe it is you.”

“Well thanks, I tried.” Ed
couldn’t hide his pleasure at the compliment.

Anne couldn’t stop looking
at Ed. For the first time she saw him as a real man, not someone she was
helping out with her music.

The bar tannoy system announced
that the bar would be closing in two minutes.

“Are you an Abba fan?”
Asked Ed.

“Not today.” Replied Anne,
she was still completely in awe of the new look Ed.

“Good, let me take you
somewhere and see if I can patch things up between us. I owe you a massive
apology at the very least.” Ed was always so direct with his words that Anne
still couldn’t get used to it. Most men would never admit they were in the
wrong, let alone offer an unequivocal apology up front. Mind you, knocking the
living daylights out of someone, was a very obvious event that needed an
apology.

Gail came into the bar
having convinced a stupid security man that it was alright and that she was a
big music star.

“Wooow, Helloooo, Mr.
Guitar man. Look at you! What are you doing here? No don’t tell me! I can
guess.” Gail was being obvious and that sometimes sounded all wrong.

“Hello Miss Lead singer and
guitarist. You did well tonight.” Ed was being as nice as he could be.

“Well thanks. Can I call
you Ed?”

“Sure thing, Gail. We were
thinking of going somewhere else and missing the second half of the concert.”
Ed said this as if he might need permission from Gail to take Anne out.

“Well don’t go far. We are
all in the same van to get home.” Gail looked at Anne for guidance.

“We’ll grab a coffee and
meet up in an hour or so.” Anne replied to Gail’s look.

Ed and Anne found a Costa
Coffee house in the reception lobby of the theatre, and set themselves up with
an espresso for Ed and a skinny latte for Anne. Anne could not stop herself
looking at how well Ed was walking. She was like an immature child, part of her
brain was saying ‘stop staring’ and the other part was making her ogle.

“I don’t do so bad with
one leg, do I?” Ed said

Anne blushed and
apologised for being so thoughtless.

“Don’t worry, if you had
only one leg I would want to see how you walked as well. But I like the way you
walk with two legs. Very nice actually.” The familiar, slightly creepy sounding
Ed had returned.

“You left this behind last
time.” Ed handed Anne the folder of music she had dropped on the floor when she
had seen him fighting.

‘I don’t’ think we will
need that again.’
Anne thought to herself.

Over the hour they had
together Ed explained exactly what had happened to make him attack his two
friends. The truth of it was that he did fancy Anne and that he had been
bragging to his mates about how good looking she was. He was furious that they
had hinted at this to her at the last music session.

So he had snapped and gone
all out to teach them a lesson they would not forget.

All this truthful
explanation from Ed left Anne with a problem.

“You can’t fancy me. I am
only helping you out as a favour. Where do you get the idea that you can fancy
me?” Anne was surprised and troubled.

“I think most guys I know
would fancy you. But when we play together there is a real connection between
us. You must have felt it.” Ed was scrupulously accurate in this.

“Well yes, I suppose so,
but that was just a musical connection. It’s nothing more than that. I was only
trying to help you out.” Anne was exasperated at Ed for being so forward in his
conversation. Most men would have hidden the events behind a wall of excuses
and lies. Ed had insisted on telling the truth and Anne didn’t know how to
react. She wasn’t used to such a level of honesty.

“I can’t go out with you,
Ed. I can’t be a special person to you. I just can’t. We had better stop our
sessions. I can’t have you thinking about me in the wrong way.” Anne was
confused and afraid of hurting Ed any more than she was at this moment. Ed
nodded and accepted quietly what Anne had been saying.

“After all this time, it
has been refreshing to actually have some real, solid and positive feelings of
any sort at all. So I thank you for that.” Ed said.

“Please don’t say that.
You must have family and friends you have feelings for.” Anne was shocked at
Ed’s statement. Her heart went out to him at the same time as she was avoiding
getting close to him. It was very confusing and distressing.

Their conversation was
interrupted by Gail and Kate popping their heads around the door.

“Are you coming? We are
all loaded up ready.”

“Just coming.” Anne
replied.

Ed stood up with Anne and
they walked out to the van which was waiting outside.

“I like your new legs,
Ed.” Gail said as sophisticated as ever.

“Are you coming to watch
us next Friday?” asked Gail as Anne climbed into the front of the van.

“Where is that going to
be?” asked Ed.

“We are playing in
Guildford somewhere. Look it up on the internet.”

“I might just be there.”
Said Ed.

Carlos drove off before
Anne and Ed had said a proper goodbye. It had been a long, tough hour for Anne.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep, exhausted.