The Bare Necessities (Non-Profane Edition) (10 page)

“On holiday we won
the karaoke competition. We can nail this, we need you to be
comfortable.” Claire shook her head and looked longingly at her
friend. “You liked it at my flat.”

“But …” She
pointed towards Jack and Paige snorted.

“On holiday dozens
of people saw you.” Claire bit her lip and turned away from the
demanding girl.

“OK. But for you.
I hope you know that! This is to get you a record deal.”

“Yeah,” Paige said
with a smile. “I love you loads. And Jack, no peeking!”

“Sure,” a nervous
voice came from the other side of the room. Claire folded her
clothes and passed them to Paige who stacked them on the floor next
to the door, and Jack started the tracks through the headphones as
Claire sang a soft set of accompanying vocals.

Paige cheered as
they finished and put her arms around Claire as Jack turned to face
them and then apologised. Claire retrieved her clothes after they
listened to the completed song and got dressed, although Paige was
happy to wander around the recording studio naked.

Jack supplied the
three of them with alcohol, sandwiches and quiche for lunch. Paige
asked why she had “leeks in her egg custard” only for Jack to
stumble as he answered. “What?” She asked. “Oh you really think I
am so poor I've never seen a quiche!”

“Well …” Jack
suggested and then sighed. “Well, you sort of make it so difficult
for me when you say things like that!” Claire laughed at Paige's
irritated face, and she took a couple of pages from her coat
pocket.

“It's the song I'd
like to record. It's … about my sister. Umm, I don't want to go
into detail,” she said as she looked at Jack. “But Claire, you've
seen the guitar tab I want?”

Claire gulped and
nodded. “Yeah, I'll give it a go,” she promised, and Paige got up
to use the toilet.

The second half of
their song recording session started with Paige delivering her own
song about her sister's attempted suicide. Although she didn't
explain all to Jack, it was clear that the song meant a lot to
Paige as the teenager had to wipe her eyes after each take. “It's
called Don't Leave Me,” Paige explained as she finished her eighth
attempt, managing to hold her long, high notes perfectly with
powerful emotion.

Jack stopped
Claire from getting up and looked at Paige. “I know this is your
song,” he started. “And I know it means a lot to you, but I don't
think you want a guitar.”

“Why?”

“Your voice is too
perfect to have a guitar over it.” He sighed for a moment and
closed his eyes. “Try a keyboard.”

“But I can't play
the keyboard,” Claire moaned loudly, and he smiled.

“But I can.” He
looked at Paige and bit his lip. “If you want me to.”

Paige nodded, and
he retrieved an electric keyboard and looked at the guitar tab. He
ran through several combinations of the music as Paige and Claire
watched before taking over twenty attempts to add a backing track
to Paige's exceptional vocals.

“Do it naked,”
Paige suggested. “It's easier.”

Jack snorted, but
continued to be unable to get something he was happy with and got
frustrated by his own inability to perfect his track. “Give me a
minute,” he asked. “I just need a quick breather.”

Paige looked at
Claire as he left the room. “Shall we try with a guitar? I mean, at
least we can do that!”

“Keyboard’ll be
great. Think Sinead O'Connor and that was piano or keyboard.”

“And a guitar,”
Paige added. “Trust me. And I don't think my voice is Sinead
O'Connor territory.” Her eyes met the door as Jack burst in and she
squealed.

Apart from his
socks, Jack was naked, and he smiled. “It worked for you and it
worked for you,” he said nodding towards the two girls in turn.
“And it better work for me,” he said as the girls laughed at
him.

“How much beer and
Pimms did you have at lunchtime?” Claire asked mischievously.

“And I know I am
blushing. I always do, but I want to get something good down for
you and keep messing it up, so this is to stop that.”

Paige raised an
eyebrow as the muscular and well-toned man sat down at the computer
and she whispered a question at Claire. “It's the rugby,” Claire
told her in response.

Jack was nervous,
and the naked Paige teased him with a gentle shoulder massage as he
went to play. He smiled at her, and took two further attempts to
get his attempted keyboard track right, but was happy with a piano
sound and Paige nodded appreciatively. “Much more powerful,” Claire
agreed as they played the completed track back to the room.

He looked at Paige
for approval, but all three of them jumped out of their skins when
the front door to the little self-contained flat slammed. “Oh …”
Jack cried, swearing under his breath. “My clothes are in the
lounge.”

“Yeah, mine are
too,” Paige added. “Claire, go out there and get them.”

“No,” Jack
shouted. “No.” Their eyes were fixed on the door to the studio as
it opened and a middle-aged woman squealed.

“Oh my God!
Jack!”

Jack covered his
manhood as Paige turned away from the shocked woman. “Aunty,” Jack
cried.

“I was going to
tell you, I'm going to the shops and did you want any more booze?”
The woman rubbed her eyes and grinned. “But I see you are busy.”
She cackled and the flamboyant woman smiled at her nephew. “You are
so like your father,” she said as her eyes focused on the naked
Paige. “Ahh, he loved redheads as well. 'Til he met your mother, of
course.”

Jack gulped and
sniffed. “Please don't tell him.”

“Ahh, I won't,”
Aunt Lucinda promised. “He's a joyless wretch these days.” She
looked at her blushing nephew with glazed eyes and giggled. “Next
time lock the door,” she advised, and shut the door with a
chortle.

“Bollocks,” Jack
moaned. “She's got a mouth like a foghorn when she drinks.” He
looked at Paige and apologised.

“Shall we get
dressed?” Paige suggested with raised eyebrows, and when her
friends nodded, she left the room to get reacquainted with her
clothes.

Jack burned her
and Claire a copy of their finished songs to CD as Paige got ready.
“Same time next week?” Jack suggested, and the two girls looked at
each other. “I've enjoyed today more than any day in, like, months.
Years, even. If you want to, I'd love to do it again.”

Claire nodded. “I
can do next week if you want to. Paige?”

“I can do Sunday,”
Paige replied and rubbed her eyes. I can do Sunday but not
Saturday. If we aren't going to cause a problem …”

“No,” Jack said
quickly. “Oh Aunt Lucinda. She's easy enough to deal with. You can
bribe her with any alcoholic beverage you can think of.”

“OK,” Claire
agreed and looked at Jack. “Sunday?”

“Sure. Do you want
picking up from Croydon?” Paige shook her head and held her hands
out.

“No, I'm fine,”
Paige muttered and leaned in to give Jack a kiss. “As promised,”
she whispered. Jack smiled at her, and they carefully opened the
door and made their way to the station.

“I can't believe
he didn't know about your naturism,” Paige whispered. “Why didn't
you tell him?”

“'Cause, he is not
that close a friend,” Claire replied and then sniffed. “And I don't
like non-naturists to know.”

“I think he
liked it,” Paige added. “And I'm warming to him. But he is still up
to something. And I'd love to know what it is.”

* * * * *

“Did Claire give
you my number?” Paige asked as she sat down at the table of the
little coffee shop.

“No,” he said
immediately and looked at the expression on the fiery girl's face.
“Well sort of. She used my phone to ring you that day, and I never
wiped the memory. Now, what do you want, to drink?”

“I'm fine.”

“No seriously, I'm
going to get myself one,” Jack offered. “I'm paying.”

Paige smiled. “OK.
If you're paying, I'll have a large mocha, with extra espresso,
marshmallows, cream, chocolate stick and chocolate sprinkles with a
blueberry muffin, tiffin and walnut cake on the side,” Paige told
him and then smiled. “Or just a small hot chocolate'll be
fine.”

Jack got up from
the table, and Paige sent Claire a text telling her that Jack had
met her and that she didn't want to come between them, which
elicited a confused response from her friend, who genuinely
appeared to have no idea what Paige was intimating at.

“No, seriously, we
are not an item,” Claire snapped, when she got fed up of the text
message tennis and rang the diminutive firebrand. “And we won't be.
I don't like him like that, but if you do, then enjoy yourself.
Now, I've got to go, lessons.”

“OK … fine,” Paige
muttered to the beeping handset. “Impatient little witch!”

Jack returned with
a giant mocha espresso, complete with cream, marshmallows, cream
and chocolate sprinkles and three pieces of confection. She
groaned. “I was joking,” she told him as he took a sip of his
latte.

“Were you?”

“Yes,” Paige
scowled. “This is like a meal.”

“Oh, well, you
said you wanted it.” Paige shook her head and thanked him,
enquiring as to whether spending over ten pounds on two people at a
coffee shop registered as excessive to him. Jack shrugged. “Not
really.”

“So what do you
want to meet me for?”

“I don't know,”
Jack admitted. “I just fancied a chat with you. I know Claire a bit
and … I had a free morning, and I wanted to talk to you and …”
Paige raised her eyebrows at him as he bumbled. “I want to help you
record your music, and I wondered if you'd consider recording some
of the music I wrote.” Her eyes narrowed, and he tapped his
fingers. “Did Claire tell you 'bout Ellie?”

Paige shook her
head. “No.”

“I was in a band
called Element of Surprise and I wrote music, lots of music for our
band. And my girlfriend was the lead singer, and her voice was
similar to yours, so it's written for your vocal range.”

Paige smiled and
looked into her mountain of calories. “OK, right. Guess your band
split up?”

“My girlfriend and
I split up,” Jack said instantly. “So the band was toast as she
started going out with the third member.”

“Oh,” Paige
muttered.

“Yeah, and the
songs haven't been recorded since.”

Paige grunted.
“Sure but I don't want to record just your stuff. I have some music
I've written too, but I'll need Claire's help. I don't know enough
to know what instruments I want with them. I want a guitar with
them 'cause that's what I had in mind, and Claire's working on
that. Claire reckons we should record an album but that's a lot of
songs. I dunno. She said make sure there's also a couple of covers
'cause everyone knows them but no idea what, but they have to have
a guitar in them and they have to suit mine and Claire's voice and
… why are you looking like that?”

“I'm not, I'm just
… well you've not asked me to do anything other than just mess with
the equipment but I can help if you want. You know, of course that
I play the guitar and keyboard, and I can do that like I did on
your song, but …”

Paige's expression
caused him to trail off. “Why are you doing this?” Jack stopped at
the interruption and sniffed, taking the opportunity to sip at his
drink as he thought. “Is it to impress Claire?”

“No, not at all. I
guess I've missed my music. It was my escape, and I like your voice
and …”

“But why me? There
are hundreds, thousands, loads of people with good voices, and many
of those are women. Why me?”

“Does it matter?”
Jack asked. “We could have fun together, relax and stuff. I'm
looking forward to it. For the first time in months, I am really
excited about using my studio again.”

“Yeah, me too. But
there is something I don't get. My dad always told me to be careful
of the upper classes. He said posh people like you, are always
looking to screw normal people over.”

“I'm not,” Jack
quickly told her. “But if you don't want my help, we'll go our
separate ways,” he offered and watched Paige's expression.

“If that's how you
feel,” Paige snapped and got up, only for Jack to grab her by the
wrist.

“No,” he admitted.
“It's not. Really, I am looking forward to it. I have some great
songs I'd love to hear, and I do like your voice. I think it's
great.”

Paige's face
flickered into a smile. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Don't take
offence, but I still don't trust you.”

“None taken,” Jack
promised. “Am I allowed to not trust you, either?” Paige bit her
lip and giggled. “My Dad always told me not to trust 'normal
people' and said they are always out to mess us posh types up.”

Paige giggled. “I
can believe it. I heard about your parents going skitz about you
and Claire.” He shrugged, and she looked down at her cakes. “But
you can help me eat some of this! It's bloody ridiculous buying all
this. What the hell were you thinking of?”

“Well you said
you wanted it,” he replied defiantly. “You asked for it!”

1. Chapter
   VIII
   

Paige, Claire and
Jack met regularly over the following two months, meeting most
weekends and often during the weekdays, when their schedules
allowed. Jack's Aunt Lucinda was certain Jack was “diddling” both
girls, but she approved of her nephew “dipping his wick” so much
that she was only too happy to assist in the deception and aided
the three of them so that they were not interrupted by Jack's
family.

After the third
session, Claire suggested that they form a band, and as all their
music was being recorded naked, they became “The Bare
Necessities.”

For their début
album – called “Xposed” - they had a mixture of music written by
Paige, by Jack and cover versions. As much as it pained her, Paige
had to admit Jack was a good songwriter and his work made up half
of the twelve songs on their album.