Chapter 43: Face the Future

After far too many selfies with the flatmates in the kitchen, Carly and Lana hugged once more in the doorway of the flat before we left. I’m certain they had a final, whispered conversation as they embraced, likely promising to keep in touch or telling each other how much they would miss one another.

After leaving, Carly and I went straight to Pizza Hut in the leisure park on the edge of town. After eating, we returned home and went straight up to my room. I finally finished setting up the CD player, popped my copy of ‘Alabama Sweetheart’ into the slot, picked up the remote and joined Carly on the bed.

Carly had insisted on signing my copy as well. The message read, ‘To my Westmouth Gent, All my love, Always and forever, Your Alabama Sweetheart.’

We didn’t actually ‘make out’ as we listened to the album. I was half sitting and half lying on the bed—my head, neck and shoulders propped up on my pillows against the headboard—and she lay snuggled up beside me, her head also on the pillow, with one arm underneath me and around my back and the other hand resting on my chest. She also had one leg draped over mine.

As the album played, she offered brief, unintrusive commentary on each song—just a few words about each one at the start, a couple of moments throughout when she pointed out bits she particularly liked or was proud of, and at the end.

The album consisted of twelve new songs along with three ‘bonus tracks,’ which were three different versions of ‘A Woman’s Work.’

The album began with what they called the ‘Nightmare Mix’ of ‘A Woman’s Work.’ This was the version that Carly first performed at Boots ‘n’ Bourbon in London, recorded with Blackfriars’ Nightmare, and included Lana’s cello part. It was technically a ballad, but it had a hybrid rock-country vibe and was a slightly higher-tempo version of the original orchestral rendition from the movie.

Three upbeat songs followed that. The sort of songs you’d play in the car while driving along country roads in the summer with the windows down and the stereo turned way up. All three felt like they needed to be played loud. As loud as you could. I thought they’d work well in a nightclub, and I expected them to go down really well when Kayla performed them at a live show.

‘London Calls’ was about a small-town country girl heading to London for the first time. The song included references to landmarks around London, as well as the Tube, Black Cabs, and other London icons. It was a fun song.

That was followed by ‘City Days,’ a track about hard work and the reward of enjoying yourself after all that effort.

Then came ‘Boots ‘n’ Bourbon,’ which was just a classic party anthem about having a good time, drinking and dancing, with a hint of romance woven into the lyrics too. I could see that as the opening number of her concerts—or maybe the second number if she kept ‘Bright Lights and Dancing Boots’ as the curtain raiser.

Even from those first three songs, it was evident that the album was telling a story. The tale of a sweet, perhaps naïve, small-town girl heading to the big city, savouring what it had to offer and falling in love.

And ‘falling in love’ then became the dominant narrative of the album’s story.

‘Love Leads You On’ was very much a ‘classic’ ballad about falling in love. It was slow, sweet, and powerful. All the emotions coursing through the small-town girl as she met the man of her dreams were expressed with both innocence and passion. It offered a genuinely heartfelt portrayal of falling in love that I believed would resonate with thousands of people.

That was followed by ‘The Man You Are Today,’ which described why the small-town girl was in love with this man, and how his past trauma had shaped him into the man she loved.

Then came ‘Vulnerable,’ which was ... Well ... It was by far my favourite song on the album to that point, and the remaining songs were going to have to be something special to beat it.

The final song in this ballad section of the album was called ‘Waking Up With You,’ and it served as a beautiful counterpoint to ‘Vulnerable.’ While the first song explored the act of making love, ‘Waking Up With You’ reflected on the morning after, and it was sweet and beautiful.

That was about two-thirds of the way through the album and was where the second version of ‘A Woman’s Work’ appeared—this time it was Carly’s acoustic guitar version, and it was perfectly placed after the last four songs.

The next four songs on the album raised the tempo again. They were all about being in love rather than falling in love, and they were simply joyous.

‘Feel Like This Forever’ and ‘You’re Mine’ captured that feeling that love would never end, while ‘All Night Fun’ and ‘Work Hard, Play Harder’ were about just how wonderful—how much fun—being in a loving relationship could be.

The penultimate song was another version of ‘A Woman’s Work,’ dubbed the ‘Unique Performance’ mix. This was a studio recording of the version of the song that Carly had performed with Lana’s string quartet and Blackfriars’ Nightmare at the BAFTAs.

“I didn’t know you decided to do a studio recording of this,” I said. “I thought the plan was to use the live version.”

She smiled back. “Seemed like the right thing to do. We were in the studio rehearsing anyway.” She shrugged. “I like this version. It’s ... Classy. And we can save the live version for a ‘Live in London’ album in six to twelve months.”

She was right, of course. It was a stunningly beautiful version of a stunningly beautiful song.

Up to now, Carly had said a few words at the start of each song, a few words scattered throughout them, and a closing comment at the end.

But the final song was ‘Love’s Light,’ and she didn’t say a word. She just hugged me tighter.

Then a few seconds into the song, she moved the hand resting on my chest down my body, undid my fly, button by button, and reached inside to fish out my cock.

Then she shifted positions, pulling her arm out from underneath me and moving her head down so she could make love to me with her mouth.

Slowly, as the song played out, she fellated me, timing it perfectly so that I reached my climax just as the song and the album did.

I didn’t sleep well that night for two reasons. The first was that my dread of what awaited me the next day kept me awake. Then, when I finally did drift off, much like our first night together in London two months ago, Carly woke me twice during the night so that we could make love.

And we made love again when my alarm woke us at seven on Wednesday morning.

All three occasions were sweet, slow, and sensual physical expressions of our love.

And after each time, a dreadful thought crossed my mind—Was that the last time?

I suspect the same thought occurred to Carly, which would explain why she woke me up twice during the night.

But as I lay on my back, exhausted, with Carly cuddled up by my side at about quarter to eight in the morning, I reasoned that that probably was the last time. Carly still hadn’t packed for her departure, so that was the first part of the morning written off, and she needed to be on the road by mid-morning to reach the airport in good time for her flight.

The label had booked seats in business class for the flight. I paid for the upgrade to first class. It cost me a fortune, but I didn’t care. My Alabama Sweetheart deserved the best.

I hugged her tightly against me and felt her hug me back just as tightly.

“I don’t want that to be the last time,” she said.

I closed my eyes. Took a breath, then answered, “Why, was it not good?”

“It was amazing. It always is. Just don’t want there to be a last time.”

I took another breath. “Me either.”

“Think you’ve got one more in you?”

“Not right now. Not after you wore me out last night.”

“Shame. Although I don’t think I could take another one either, as much as I want to.”

We lay in silence for a few minutes.

Finally, I said, “What’s the plan this morning?”

Now I felt her take a deep breath.

“I need to pack. Then Ellie is coming to get me at Eleven and we’re meeting Harry at the airport.”

“Want some help?”

She shook her head. “Actually...”

“Actually ... What?”

“Don’t you have a nine o’clock lecture today?”

“I do, but I’m not going. Obviously.”

“I want you to. If you stay, I think I’ll just stay lying here with you. If you’re gone, I’ll be able to force myself to actually get it done.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It’s not what I want, Paul...”

“It’s what you need. I get it.” I paused. “I’d better get up then. Have a shower. Get ready.”

She hugged me tighter again.

“Not yet. Another fifteen minutes.” She paused. “Or twenty. Can you still get to your lecture if we lie here for twenty minutes?”

“I don’t care if I make it to the lecture or not. I may as well just wander around the campus for an hour for all the benefit I’ll get from it. I’ll be thinking about you the whole hour either way.”

“Oh, Paul.” She moved so that she could crawl up on top of me. She kissed me. Deeply. A kiss full of love. Then she started to move her hips.

“You’re hard again,” she said.