The Sapphire Lounge.
Elizabeth Dunk
Queanbeyan, Australia
© 2013
Cover Artwork from iStockphoto.com
Cover and Internal Design – Nicole Murphy
The Right of Nicole Murphy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 and generally under section 6bis of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
This story is a work of fiction. Names, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any event, incident, location or person (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
First published in Australia, 2013
https://nicolermurphy.com
The Sapphire Lounge
Elizabeth Dunk
As the song ended, Marinna let her strong, smoky voice hang in the air for a moment before it settled softly on the ears of those listening. A moment of silence that told her every heart on the room had been touched, and then wild applause, some people standing.
Couldn’t ask for a better response.
She turned to acknowledge her backing band. The Scat Gang had only been together three months – two of those rehearsing before the tour started – but already it felt as thought she’d been playing with them forever. There was a simpatico between them that saw them able to now experiment, feel the mood of a particular crowd and flow into whichever song would suit without having to say a word.
There was Joe on the drums, Harriet on the keyboard and Tony, the guitarist.
Then there was Saul – he with the dark, sparkling eyes, the crooked smile, the black hair that curled around his face with the softness of a cherub but also the stark beauty of a devil. From the moment they met she’d wondered if his hands would dance as smoothly over her body as they did over his saxophone, drawing similarly beautiful music from her.
He winked and a thrill ran through her. Tonight was the night she was putting the past behind her – maybe it should also be the night she started enjoying the present.
Marinna turned back to the crowd, bowed her head, smiled and walked off stage into the small green room behind it. The Sapphire Lounge was one of the better venues in the city but even so, the green room was barely large enough for her and the Scat Gang to inhabit at the same time and the cracked paint and faded upholstery suggested a club that was struggling to survive.
It had always seemed this way – the first time she’d played here twenty-five years ago, the same cracked paint and faded seats had greeted her. Back then she’d been so enthusiastic, so delighted to be playing the fabled Sapphire Lounge that she hadn’t cared.
And then the door had opened, and HE’D come in. Todd Mitchell. A young up-and-coming business dynamo who had swept her off her feet with his sparkling blue eyes, sexy voice and whispered promises of untold delight.
To her surprise, Marinna smiled. She’d known coming back here would awaken the memories. It was why she had taken this gig – to prove to herself that she was over Todd.
She’d expected this moment to be hard – for the pain to rear again and stab her, deep and hard. Instead, she was able to look back and appreciate the joy in that moment.
The sexual chemistry has been instant, and for years, she and Todd had been amazing together. She’d cut down on her touring, to spend more time with him. When she’d had Max and then Portia, she’d stopped touring and recording all together, so entranced was she with her perfect family.
She was glad she could remember that joy and be grateful for that experience, and ignore the pain that came later. Ignore the way it had died and she’d had no choice but to leave.
She was over him. So she could stop thinking about him and get on with why she was here.
The band understood that she needed a moment at the end of the gig, so she had the tiny space to herself. She pushed the chairs aside and lay down on the floor, flat on her back. The sound proofing of the roof above her was stained in various colours and she spent a moment idly wondering which was alcohol, which was food, which was smoke and which was semen.
Then she closed her eyes and started the deep breathing process that would bring down the adrenaline and enable her to function as a normal human being when she went out to greet her fans.
She stayed there for ten minutes before she got up, wiped the thick stage makeup from her fact and tied her hair up to pull it from her hot, sticky neck. Then she went outside.
A lot of the crowd was still there and they applauded again as she appeared. Marinna bowed, smiled, gave them a wave then made her way to the merchandise table at the back. She sat there for an hour – signing autographs, selling her latest album, posing for photographs, chatting with people.
“Thank God you’re back,” they said, time and again. “We’ve missed you.”
Being back on stage, making music again was a joy, yet Marinna hadn’t missed it. She had adored being a wife and mother. All the passion that had once been invested in her music had been invested in Todd and the kids.
Now she was back at the beginning, and she didn’t regret the diversion. The pain had given her performance a depth it hadn’t had when she was in her twenties.
She wasn’t as desperate either. Worried about every single, every show. She was mature – ancient even – and she could relax and enjoy.
After the crowd dispersed, she went over to the bar to see which of her band members she’d be hanging with tonight. She noted Joe and Harriet had both already found a girl to chat up, but that Tony and Saul just sitting and talking together.
She pulled a chair up between then and signalled the barman. “Refills for these two thanks, and I’ll have a martini.”
“Martini?” Saul said.
“Celebrating,” she said.
“What?” Saul took a sip of his rum and coke.
“The end of an era, and the beginning of something new.”
“Really? Have any plans for what to do?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure something will appeal by the end of the night.”
“Speaking of appealing, have I told you yet tonight how fabulous you look?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, you look amazing. In fact, I’d go so far as to say good enough to eat.” His voice dipped at the end, turning the flippant comment into an intimate whisper.
Weeks of this flirtatious teasing was coming to an end, Marinna decided. Now she’d proven to herself she was over Todd, that she was healed and whole again, there was nothing to stop her pursuing a new relationship.
And Saul’s dark eyes suggested that she could have a whole lot of fun with him.
“Promises, promises,” she said, leaning forward to get her drink, knowing the neckline of her dress would gape to give him a nice view of her cleavage.
She wasn’t as slinky sexy as she had been, but then child birth and age had given her curves her younger self would have killed for.
She tossed a glance over her shoulder and noted Tony had found a girl to talk to. Good. She had Saul all to herself.
“When I make a promise, baby, I keep it.”
She looked at him over the top of the martini glass while she took a sip. How she’d managed to keep her hands off him all this time, she didn’t know.
“Good,” Marinna said. “Promise me something.”
Saul leant forward and she thrilled at the intensity in his gaze. “I promise to show you just how edible you look right now.”
The thought of his mouth on her mouth, on her skin, on her breasts, on her sex, made said sex clench in anticipation. “Then you’d better make good on that, hadn’t you?”
A slow smiled tilted the corner of his lips. “You’re the boss.”
“That’s right, I am,” Marinna said. “And I’m ordering you to take me back to my room and make me scream.”
Saul threw his drink down his throat then stood and held out his hand. “It will be my pleasure.”
Marinna put her drink down, uncaring she’d barely taken a few sips. Her body was warmer, her skin tingling, her breasts suddenly heavy within her bra. She wanted Saul. She wanted sex. She wanted an orgasm to remember and she wanted it now.
“I’ll meet you outside,” she said, standing. “Just need to grab my purse.”
Saul put his hand at her waist and squeezed and though it was a simple touch, her body was becoming so primed that it made her ache.
“Hurry,” he said.
Marinna went into the green room and as she was bending to grab her purse, heard the door open behind her.
“Couldn’t wait, huh?” She spun around, toying with the idea of letting Saul take her there and then.
She froze, gasping as she realised who was in the room with her.
Todd looked terrible – black circles around his eyes, pale skin, unkempt hair.
Yet he was still the most bone-meltingly attractive man she’d ever seen. Age had served him well, the grey in his hair lending him an air of distinction. He leant against the wall with his hands clenched by his side, managing to look both casual and tortured at the same time.
“Who couldn’t wait for what?” he said.
Like that, her arousal died. She wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging herself.