She’d forgotten that he had two boys of his own and would be hot on that kind of thing. But this was her night.
She raised an eyebrow. ‘And could you get a bag of salt and vinegar crisps as well. Tiger and I didn’t quite get round to making dinner.’
Leon shook his head and tutted and she thought that he was about to comment on the precarious domestic arrangements at the flat, but he must have changed his mind and sauntered off to the bar instead, returning with two bottles and two bags of crisps.
‘So,’ he said when he’d sat down and she had torn one bag along its edges and opened it flat so they could share. ‘How does this work?’
‘Basically, you sign up the week before with what you want to do and on the night you get the mic and then it’s up to you. They get a mixture of acts each month. There’s a fair amount of crap poetry but the comedians are sometimes funny. And my friend Laura, that’s who we’re here to see, she’s really good.’
‘What does she do?’ Leon asked.
‘She sings and plays the guitar. She’s fantastic. She does covers of Adele songs, Norah Jones, that kind of thing, but tonight she’s going to try out one that she’s written herself, so she’s a bit more nervous.’
‘I’m looking forward to hearing her,’ said Leon, and Romany thought that he did actually look quite interested. As they chatted, his eyes kept flicking round the room, taking it all in. Maybe she had hit on something that they could do together, which would save her having to endure his other slightly painful suggestions.
There was a shout from across the room and Romany looked up to see a group of her school mates plus Laura, her guitar strung across her back. Romany had intended that they would sit separately so as not to inflict them on Leon and vice versa, but now they seemed to be coming towards her and before she knew it, they were all settling themselves down around them, borrowing chairs from other tables and getting drinks.
When they were all assembled, Romany did the introductions. Leon raised a hand in greeting and smiled widely. He didn’t say much, but he followed their conversation attentively, nodding and laughing as appropriate. He seemed to be coming alive as the place filled up and the noise levels rose. She had always taken him for a bit of a loner, had wondered why her mum had been friends with him when they appeared to be polar opposites, but maybe this was it. Maybe Leon was a creature of the night? He was chatting easily to the others now whilst they waited for the acts to start. He was actually quite funny, she thought, with a dry, sharp sense of humour and, as they all warmed into the evening, Romany began to feel quite proud of him.
The first few acts were fairly standard – a comedian who only really had three good gags and a poet who seemed to want to rage against the machine quite a lot. Laura was down for the fifth slot and as it approached, she became quieter and quieter. Romany wanted to go and reassure her, but her chair was tucked into the wall and she couldn’t easily get closer to her friend without make a fuss. Instead, she mouthed what she hoped were helpful comments. Laura nodded, but she was biting her lip and had gone a little pale.
Then she saw Leon lean in towards her and say something. He had turned his head away from Romany so that she couldn’t lip read, but whatever it was, it made Laura smile. She sat up straighter and seemed to get some of her colour back. And then, when the MC announced her name, she looked at Leon again, as if he was a kind of mentor. Romany was curious and she wondered what Leon had said that had made the situation less nerve-racking. She would have to ask Laura later.
Laura took her guitar, stepped up to the little stage and perched herself on the stool in front of the microphone. Then, after a last-minute tuning check, she began. She picked out the opening melody confidently. It always surprised Romany how good she was. She didn’t go on about it and it wasn’t a talent that you could see just by looking at her, so it was easy to forget, but now, as she began to sing, it was obvious that she had something. Her voice, with its distinctive style somewhere between Amy Winehouse and Dido, was tentative to start with but then began to gain in confidence as she realised that the room was with her. When she strummed the final chord, the audience burst into appreciative applause. Laura smiled bashfully and then came back to sit with them.
The girls all crowded around her with their fulsome praise, Romany amongst them, but she noticed that Laura only really wanted to know what Leon thought. He was nodding appreciatively and smiling widely.
‘That was fantastic,’ he said. ‘I loved how you built the intensity as you went through, and your bridge was the perfect counter to the rest. Mesmerising, in fact. Really good. Well done.’