And Your Girl Can Sing

Chapter 57: Clean Break

My head was still spinning from Anna's announcement as I, Anna, and Bert Kaempfert walked across a large gray expanse to the entrance of the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle school. "Are you okay?" Anna whispered, her hand touching mine. "I didn't mean to upset you right before a recording. Stupid of me."

    "Don't worry about it," I managed, my head still in a whirl, feeling her warm touch. What would happen to George?

    Bert pulled open the main door and we walked down the hallway of the school, where another door was opened to a large darkened auditorium, the lights shining on the stage. Below, I could see the boys on stage with their instruments and Tony Sheridan, a man with a thin face and an Elvis-styled quiff standing in front of them. He waved at me as I walked inside. "Good to see you, Cora." I nodded and gave him a smile while collapsing into John's arms, hugging him tightly as he ran off the stage to greet me. "How are you feeling, love?" he asked me, taking the bass off my back.

    "You look tired," I told him in response.

    "Long night," he said and gave me a thin smile, but his eyes were lovely and warm. "Come on love. Let's go." We both walked back towards the stage; Anna lingered behind and chose to take a seat in the back in one of the red velvety cushions. I knew she would be mulling over what to say.

    "G'head, set Cora up," John tossed to the band as his hands rummaged in his pockets for his usual brown helper pill to combat the bags under his eyes. I took them from him, taking two at once and handing the pills to George. He silently traded them for a cable without his usual jokes and I plugged in the cable and turned on my amp, plucking at the strings until they sounded tuned.

    "Ready to take it from the top?" Sheridan asked when I was finished, giving me a slight smile. I nodded back at him and one of the sound recording blokes to the side gave us a thumbs up. Sheridan began his low croon to the start of the familiar song and I gazed into the audience, rows and rows of empty seats save Anna.

    "Cora?"

    The music had stopped. I glanced round. "What?"

    "You didn't come in," George said like he was talking to a small child.

    "I'm sorry, I must have been thinking about something else," I said, my cheeks burning, my heart beating faster from embarrassment. "Let's try again."

    The second time I wasn't paying attention either; I noticed only when I saw Sheridan throw up his hands and turn around to face me. "You know, Cora, you're great. I heard you in the Top Ten, My Bonnie, Saints, Bony Moronie, whatever. What's the deal? Is it the stage? Is it that there's no audience?"

    "Lay off," John suddenly snapped, turning around at Sheridan.

    "Please," I cut in. "I just need a few minutes... just five minutes. And then I'll be ready, I promise." The bloke below nodded and said, "Take five," and I pulled the bass strap over my head and set it down gently, feeling irritated with myself for not being able to keep up. I was the only girl.

    John kept his hand round my shoulders as we left to enter a back room with a wooden chair and a table. I flopped down on the chair with put my head in my hands, thoughts racing through my brain. After a while I peeked out and said, "I'm sorry. This is so frustrating."

    "Love, you've got nothing to be sorry for," John said, sitting on the coffee table and looking at me intently, taking my hands in his. "It happens all the time, and you've had a rough night. But listen." His voice got quieter. "This could be our break. We get to record a song. It's shite that we just to backups but the rest, it's really quite extraordinary."