It was suggested to me that the original could be made longer. As I had an idea for a sequel (Surpise) I set that up as well. Also added a Discography of the songs mentioned in the story as well. There are other albums that the songs are on as well.
Immediately I could tell she was thinking of jumping, you don’t stand on the outside of the bridge rail to look at the view. I thought it would be a waste if she did, she looked very pretty: A natural redhead with nice long legs.
“You’re not thinking of letting go are you?” I asked. “It’ll make a terrible mess for someone to clear up.”
“What’s it to you?” Her head jerked around, revealing flashing green eyes.
“I’m one of those who has to clean it up.” I shrugged.
“Oh! I’m soooo sorry for the inconvenience.” She snapped back.
“Plus it would be a terrible shame for such a pretty girl to throw away her life.” I smiled to show her I meant it.
“Yeah? Well my boyfriend, my ex-boyfriend, wouldn’t agree with you.”
“Just because he’s an idiot doesn’t mean the rest of us should be denied your beauty.”
She smiled weakly for the first time.
“Do you make a habit of this?”
“What?”
“Charming girls stood on the edge of a bridge.”
“Actually, you’re my first.” I grinned.
“Did you mean that?”
“That you’re the first? Yes.”
“No, that I’m pretty.”
“Of course.”
“It’s not just some ploy?”
“Well, it is a ploy, but that doesn’t make it any less true.” I gently laid my hand on hers. “Come back this side of the rail and tell me your name.”
She hesitated for a moment and looked me in the eyes.
“All right. Seeing as you asked nicely.” She said quietly. As she turned her foot slipped. I quickly grabbed her flailing arm, steadying her. I pulled her towards me and wrapped my arms around her. I could see the sudden fear in her eyes, her green eyes. She realised that she didn’t want to die like this.
“Hi! I’m Dave. And you are?” I said, hoping to calm her down. It worked.
“Sue. Susan.” She said, the terror receding from her face.
“Well Susan, let me help you back onto the safe side of the railing and then you can tell me your problems.” She nodded her assent and with a bit of help, clambered back over the barrier.
Susan leant back against the rail and sank down onto her haunches. She couldn’t look me in the eye.
“I’m so sorry and so ashamed.” She sobbed.
“What on earth is so bad that it could make you think that jumping off a bridge was the answer?” I asked as tenderly as I could.
“It just seemed that no-one cared and that the world would be better off without me.” She was crying now, partly from shock, partly from shame.
“But that’s just silly.” I crouched in front of her and took her hand. “You are enough to brighten anyone’s day.”
“You’re very kind.” She giggled through her tears. “And very smooth.”
“I try to be.” I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “So lets not have any more talk about jumping shall we?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I promise.”
Then things got a little weird.
The guide in the blue uniform just appeared out of nowhere beside us, a clipboard in his hand.
“Interesting.” He said.
“What the..?” I said in surprise. “Who the hell are you? And where did you come from?”
Susan just stared in shock, as if she recognised him.
“You!” She said. “I thought you were a dream.”
“In a way, I was.”
“But who are you?” I asked again.
“I was supposed to be Miss Susan’s guide onto her next plane of existence, but you appear to have forestalled that. How?”
“What do you mean ‘How’. All I did was talk her out of jumping.”
“Just by talking eh? Interesting” He looked at something on the clipboard. “Miss Susan, are you still interested in my proposal?”
Sue nodded slowly.
“There’s got to be something better than this life.” She said sadly. “I’ve nothing here to look forward too, so, yes, I am still interested in your proposition.”
“Susan! What are you saying? You’d prefer to be dead?”
“Not really, but there has to be something more fulfilling than this miserable life I’m leading.” She looked away shamefacedly.
“She doesn’t have to be dead to accept this offer.” The uniformed guy said. “In fact, if you’re worried, you can come as well. With your power you could be useful to us.”
“What power? I’m a bin man for heavens sake!”
“But you seem to be a persuasive talker, which is something we need at the moment. Are you interested?”
I looked from one to the other of them. Susan seemed to be depressed about the way her life was going and she was too pretty to just let go. The man with the clipboard didn’t seem to pose any threat, he was just waiting, humming, looking at me in an expectant way, as if he knew how I was thinking.
“All right.” I sighed. “What do I have to do?”
“If you’ll both just like to sign here.” He proffered the clipboard. “It’s a one year contact.”
“Won’t people miss us?” I asked.
“No. You’ll still be here. That is, when you have fulfilled your contracts, you’ll be returned to this place and time.”
“And where are we going?”
“A sort of halfway house where people wait while it’s decided whether they reincarnate or carry on to a higher plane of existence. We employ people such as yourselves to help them in their decision; some are waiting themselves, others we bring in on these short term contracts.” He gave Sue a pen. She signed the contract. He turned to me, offering me the clipboard.
“Against my better judgement.” I sighed and took the pen. “Anyway I want to keep an eye on Susan.”
“And you’ve only just met her.” The guy smiled. “Ready? Then hold hands.” There was a sound like a wave breaking on a beach and the bridge vanished from view.
We appeared in an apartment room with some nice furnishings. I looked around at it, wondering if I was to stay here or Susan was. Sue was doing the same thing. Finally I spoke.
“Is this to be mine or hers?”
“Actually, you’ll have to share.” The guide looked embarrassed. “We were only expecting Susan.”
“Then it’s hers: find me a cubby-hole or something. We can’t share; I’ve only just met her!”
Sue put her hand on my shoulder.
“Dave, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She said smiling. “What can happen? Look on it as an adventure.”
“An adventure? What sort of adventure?”
“The sort where you discover what it’s like living with someone.” Sue smiled.
“All right, I’ll try.” I said, somewhat mollified. “What is this job then?” I asked, turning to our guide.
“Well, we’re setting up a radio station. We have three DJ’s and two engineer’s, Susan is an engineer too.”
“I only do hospital radio you know.” She said, slightly worried that he may think she was some big-shot.
“Yes, I know. But this will be similar to that.”
“So where do I fit in? Unless you need some rubbish taken away that is.”
“No, we have people for that. I was thinking with your persuasive talking ability you could become a fourth DJ.”
“Won’t that leave you an engineer short again?”
“I think we can work around it. I suggest you go and meet the others at the station over the road and talk it over with them. You go on air tomorrow.”
With that he turned and left. I looked at Sue, a bemused look upon my face matching the one she was wearing.
“Well, I suppose we’d better go and find the others and see what they say.” I said.
Sue nodded in agreement, but an anxious look came back onto her face. “Why are you worried? At least you’ve an idea about what to expect, I haven’t got a clue!”
“I just don’t want to let anybody down again, and I suspect that you’ll be just fine.”
“And what makes you say that? I’ve never even been inside a radio studio, I could be terrible, or freeze up, or anything.”
Now she laughed.
“You haven’t stopped talking since I met you! You’ll be perfect.”
I laughed too.
“All right, you’ve convinced me. Let’s go and see the others.” I held out my hand and she took it. I led her out of the door to meet our new workmates.
They were a friendly bunch, looking forward to starting a new venture. The three DJ’s were willing to help me with a few hints and tips, the main one being not to think of talking to a lot of people, just to imagine one person and talk to them. The engineers did the same for Sue as she confessed her relative inexperience. There was also a programme controller and a secretary. Kelly the controller was amiable to my proposal that I take the late night shift so that I could see how the others worked. She wasn’t so sure about the suggestion that Sue be my engineer until I explained I had an idea I’d like to try out. The other two engineers, Rick and Adrian, agreed to do six-hour shifts to cover the first three four-hour shows, leaving Sue with just my four-hour stint which fitted in perfectly with my plan. Kelly said she’d be around for my show too, ‘just to keep an eye’ on us. They were all a little curious about my scheme, but I didn’t want to say too much, I wanted it to be a surprise, especially for Sue.
We looked around the studios and the other station offices. I was poking around in one of the cupboards when I found a camp bed that could be used by the station staff if an emergency meant they had to stay overnight at the studio. I asked if I could borrow it. Kelly said it shouldn’t be a problem so I picked it up. After spending a while familiarising ourselves with the studio Sue and I returned to our apartment to sort out the sleeping arrangements and a few other things.
“Why the bed?” Sue asked as I put it up in the corner of the main room of the apartment.
“There’s only the one otherwise.” I said.
“We could share it you know.”
“I couldn’t sleep in the same bed as you Susan; I don’t know that I could control myself.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’re too pretty for one thing.”
She blushed slightly.
“I’d be willing to take the chance.” She replied, almost hopefully.
“Well I wouldn’t. You don’t know me well enough.”
“It would be a chance to learn?”
“No. My mind is made up. I’ll sleep out here.” I stood up after putting the bed together. “The only other thing is that I suggest we both make sure we lock the bathroom door when we’re using it. No chance of bursting in on one another.”
“You seem to have thought of everything.” She said disappointedly.
“Just trying to keep things honest.” I smiled. “To give you time to find out about all my nasty habits.”
“You’re determined to take all the fun out of this aren’t you?”
I nodded.
“At least for a while, until we get to know each other better. We only just met a few hours ago remember?”
“Am I that repulsive to you?” She looked like she was going to cry.
“Sue, you are practically everything I want in a girl. A pretty, green-eyed redhead with long legs and a sense of humour too, but I have to build up to things. And you may find that I’m not the Good Samaritan you think I am. You might actually dislike me you know.”
“Somehow I doubt that. All right, we’ll do it your way.” She grinned. “At least for now.”
We decided to look around the apartment and see what was there. Susan went into the bedroom and I wandered into the kitchen. It was well equipped, better than mine anyway, and the fridge was stocked with food and drink. I opened a can of coke and took a slug. Sue called me eagerly from the bedroom.
“Hey! Come and look at this.”
I strolled in with my coke to see what had got her excited. She was looking at the inside of the wardrobe. The bed was covered with a range of clothing pulled out of a chest of drawers. I stood beside her.
“What’s got you so full of beans?” I asked.
“Look at all these beautiful clothes.” She pulled out a dress on a hanger and held it to her, to see what it looked like on.
“Very nice. At least you’ve got a change of clothes then.”
“Well they were expecting me. I’m sure you can get something else to wear too.”
“I won’t need much. A couple of shirts, some jeans, maybe some shorts, a few pairs of underpants and I’ll be sorted.”
“You’re easily pleased then.” She smiled. “You can probably get all sorts of wonderful clothes and all you want is a pair of shorts and some underwear.”
“Yep! That’ll suit me fine.” I paused. “Assuming I can actually get a change of clothes, that is.” There was a ring of the doorbell. I strolled out to see who it was, wondering who actually knew we were here. It was a delivery guy with a suitcase. He handed it over and asked me to sign for it. I did, and then took it inside, speculating about what might be inside.
“Open it.” Sue said enthusiastically. I clicked the catches and flipped open the lid. Inside were some clothes obviously meant for me. T-shirts, jeans, underwear, a pair of shorts, and some trainers. Sue just laughed. “You should have asked for a Tux as well!”
“That would have been silly. Anyway, this stuff is more me. I wonder how they knew.”
“I should think they know all about us. Don’t worry; you’ve got your change of clothes now.”
“Now I just need somewhere to put them”
“There’s probably a cupboard somewhere you can use.”
“Probably.”
I must have sounded upset because Sue giggled.
“I’m kidding idiot. I’ll clear out a couple of the drawers in the bedroom.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, if you think about it.”
“Oh, you and your puritanical ideas.” She frowned a little, and the smiled again. “All right, we’ll keep everything separate.” She gave a wicked grin. “For now!”
I went into the station a couple of hours after Will had started his ‘Breakfast Bar’ show at seven to watch him at work. He was trailing Sara’s following show as ‘The Main Event’, an interesting name I thought. Her show was followed by ‘Nicky’s Rush Hour’. I couldn’t see that lasting as there seemed to be no such thing here. Kelly suddenly realised that they needed a name for my show, so they could trail it. Sue had arrived by now, so after a quick discussion we came up with ‘Crazy Nights’.
“No name check?” Kelly asked after I told her as Sue was watching Adrian at work.
“Maybe tomorrow.”
Kelly looked at me sideways.
“What are you up too?”
“If I tell you, will you keep it quiet until we go on at seven?”
“Of course.” She sighed.
“Sue is going to be my co-presenter.”
“She hasn’t said anything to me.” Kelly was puzzled.
“She doesn’t know yet.” I grinned.
At ten to seven I was sat in the studio waiting for Nicky to hand over to me on the hour, but Sue had only just come in from the other studio. I still had to persuade her to engineer the show from where I was sat AND wear a mike and participate in a little banter. To my surprise she just came straight in and sat opposite me, tugging on the headphones and mike without a word. I looked up and saw Kelly outside; she smiled and waved her fingers.
“Ready?” Sue asked.
Somewhat shocked, I nodded.
“As I’ll ever be. Why are you sat there?”
“That’s what you wanted isn’t it?” She gave me a huge grin. Kelly waved again and I knew I’d been had. Sue began to count down with her fingers and then cued me in as Nicky handed over.
“Good evening, all you mad creatures. Welcome to ‘Crazy Nights’ with me, Dave…”
“…And me, Sue.”
“First up is the greatest song ever, ever, ever. No argument will be accepted. Here is Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’.”
And that was how we started our show. The second song I, or we, played was ‘Freebird’. As it ended I back announced it and then carried on.
“I’d like to play a few of your requests, so if any of you want to get in touch, we’ll see what we can do.”
Nicky broke in from the other studio where he was tidying up.
“I’ve got a request.”
“I’m not swapping knob-twiddlers mate!”
“No, there’s a song I’d like you to play.”
“Well, that’ll be a start. Go on then.”
“Can you play Alice Cooper’s ‘Poison’?”
Sue nodded that she could find it.
“It seems we can Nicky, mainly because you already primed the computer. ‘Poison’, that’s the song that all the pole-dancers use isn’t it? Hey Sue, how about it?”
She reddened with embarrassment.
“No pole dummy.” She snapped back.
“I think that was a ‘NO’ listeners. I may be back after ‘Poison’ by Alice Cooper. If I’m not, you’ll know Sue has taken action.” I cued in the song. I could see that Sue wasn’t overly happy. “Don’t take it seriously Sue, it’s just mindless banter to get some atmosphere.”
“Just be careful Dave.” She frowned at me. “Remember where I was standing when you met me.”
“I just wanted to sound like I was teasing you.”
“You were teasing me.” She smiled at my discomfort. “How far are you thinking of going?”
“Only mild innuendo and risqué flirting I promise.” I crossed my heart.
Sue grinned at my action.
“See that it is, or I’m going back to the other side of the glass. How do you want me to react? Straight-laced or flirty back?”
“What do you feel would be better?”
“Flirty I think.” She grinned an evil grin.
“It is the night show I suppose.” I mused. “Flirty back it is then.”
“And you don’t realise what you’ve just unleashed sunshine.”
“Ooo! That sounds promising.” I grinned back at the huge smile Sue was now wearing. “Anyway, I believe it’s your turn to pick a song.”
“Anything I want?”
“Well, no rap, disco or country. But otherwise…” She smiled to herself and began to search the database. ‘Poison’ finished. “What a great song. Pity I missed out on the dancing, but Sue wouldn’t try without a pole.” I smirked at her wickedly. “What’s next then, knob-twiddler of mine?”
“I’ve decided that we need to get everyone involved, so here’s Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’. Everybody join in, you know you want to. You too, button-pusher.”
I smiled. This was going to work! As long as the management and the listeners thought so too. I glanced outside of the studio where Kelly was still watching. She seemed to sense my question and put her thumbs up.
Our first four-hour show was almost over.
“Just time for one more.” I said. Sue nodded that I was right. “Okay then. This one is for my knob-twiddler and partner-in-crime Susan. Bad Company’s ‘Feel Like Making Love’.” I smirked as the tune began. Sue just put on her ‘serene’ face for the duration.
As the song finished she spoke.
“Sorry, I’ve got a headache. Goodnight everybody.” And she switched everything off. We both just collapsed with laughter.
Kelly came in beaming.
“You two have a great rapport. It comes through the speakers and gives the show something different.”
“So you think it’ll work?” I asked.
“I think so. We’ll see what reaction you asking for requests gets shall we?”
“That was okay wasn’t it?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.” Kelly seemed amused by my late concern. “Though I think I might need to employ someone to deal with it.”
“Sorry.” I said, shamefaced.
“Don’t be; it’s the sort of thing we wanted.” She smiled at me. “Although you might have asked first.”
“Sorry again. It was a spur of the moment thing.”
“Are you okay with everything Sue?” Kelly asked. “The banter wasn’t a bit risqué for you?”
“No, it was fine. With a bit of practice I’ll be able to respond in a similar way to Dave.”
“I dunno Sue, that last put down was pretty good anyway.” I grinned. “If you get too good, I may have to rethink my strategy.” She just laughed.
Kelly was right. Sue and I were popular with the listeners. This led to some changes in the schedule after the first week on air. They brought in an extra engineer enabling Will to do an extra hour starting earlier. There was an hour of requests added in, initially put together by Kelly and then by some other people she wanted to try out. Her ‘reserves’ she called them. This slotted in between Sara and Nicky, who now called his show ‘Twilight Time’. Sue and I got an extra hour as well. The schedule now ran: Will from six until eleven then Sara from eleven till three. Then the requests until four, when Nicky took over until eight. Finally Sue and I were on until one in the morning. The remaining five hours were filled with random songs from the computer. We were a twenty four hour station now!
It was also decided that the engineers and DJ’s would get one day in every thirty off, to stop them getting jaded. It gave Kelly another chance to try out her ‘reserves’ as well. About ten weeks into this new regime I came in to find a new face presenting ‘Twilight Time’. I was surprised because it was Sue’s night off not Nicky’s. Kelly was replacing Sue for the night as she felt that I needed a female presenter who wasn’t going to be offended by the way I bounced stuff off her.
“What happened to Nicky?” I asked, sitting down opposite her.
“He got ‘green-eye’.” She said simply. “Whatever issues were holding him here, he resolved. When that happens people temporarily get green flecks in their eyes. Hence ‘green-eye’.” She explained to my puzzled look.
“And that’s a good thing, right?”
“It’s the reason most people are placed here.” She nodded.
“Who’s the new guy?”
“Matt. He was the most promising of the try-outs.”
I nodded and then began to look for the song that I suddenly wanted to start the show with. Kelly cued me in.
“Thanks Matt. Nice show to start off with by the way. This first song is for your predecessor, Nicky, who has gone on to greater things. Led Zeppelin. ‘Celebration Day’.”
Kelly smiled as the song began.
“That was nice.” She said.
“Sorry I forgot to introduce you boss.”
“It’s okay; you can do it in your own smutty style before the next track.”
I smiled back. Kelly was an easy boss to get along with.
Unfortunately the show didn’t have the same spark without Sue. I’d noticed it before. Kelly felt it too. Towards the end of the show she apologised.
“It’s not your fault boss-lady. It’s just that you’re not Susan.”
“So it is my fault.”
“No. It’s me. I feel different with Sue over there. Naughtier I suppose.”
“Then I think in future I’ll give you the same day off. That way we won’t have to try and do the same sort of show with different people.”
“Thanks Kelly. You are the best boss ever.”
“Come on, time for the last song.” She seemed amused by my sincerity. An idea that had been rattling around in my head suddenly became the right thing to do. Kelly cued me again.
“Regular listeners will know that around now I usually play something to try and embarrass my usual partner-in-crime. Well I’m not going to go down that road with the boss, so this is for Sue as usual. It’s not something we’d normally play. Hope you’re listening sweetie.”
Cliff’s ‘Miss You Nights’ started. Kelly looked at me.
“You love her don’t you?”
“Yes I think I do.”
“So why are you keeping her at arms length?”
“Because she came here with problems that I don’t want to add too.”
“You might just be the solution you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you know.”
The song played out.
“That was for you, girl of mine. Say goodnight Kelly.”
“Goodnight Kelly.” With a grin she switched over to the computer. “And that was what I meant lover boy. ‘Girl of mine’ indeed. See you tomorrow.” With that she got up and left. I sat on my own for a while, wondering if Sue had been listening. Shaking myself, I stood up. Better go and find out.
I entered our apartment. Although dimmed, the lights were still on.
“Sue? You still up?” I called out.
“In here.” She called from the kitchen. “Coffee?”
“Please.” I replied. “Listen to the show?” I asked tentatively.
“Yes, great news about Nicky.”
“Isn’t it?” I paused. “Kelly and I were talking about the show tonight. Although it wasn’t bad she reckons it would be better if you and me had the same day off in the future.”
“That’ll be nice.” She still hadn’t come out of the kitchen.
“Susan, are you hiding from me in there?” I started to walk towards the open door.
“Well, something happened when you played that last song for me.”
“What?” I was suddenly worried. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
“This.” She turned to face me as I entered the room, her face glowing and her eyes greener than ever.
“WOW!” Was all I could say.
“I just needed to be wanted apparently. You do want me don’t you?”
“More than I thought possible Sue.”
“Good. Now come to bed.”
“That’s a bit sudden isn’t it?”
“Sudden? I’ve been waiting for weeks for the right moment.” She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. Our first proper kiss. Immediately I couldn’t believe that I had been trying to resist this. Still kissing, we stumbled our way to the bedroom.
There was a staff meeting a couple of weeks later, during the requests show. Sue and I had been spending a lot of the time at our apartment just being together. While we were at the station we tried to disguise what we felt for each other, but at the apartment we could give full rein to those feelings. More of the other staff had gone, getting their ‘green-eye’, until only Sara and Kelly of the originals were left, along with the two of us. Kelly was bringing us all up to date with one or two minor organisational details, telling us how the ‘reserves’ were shaping up, and asking if we thought that it was worth replacing the computer with a DJ for the Late, Late Show. She finished the meeting with a question.
“Does anybody know of a spare bed? One of my new reserves has a room, but the bed is broken.”
Sue piped up without thinking.
“You can have Dave’s back. He hasn’t been using it.”
“SUSAN!!” I exclaimed. We both went red and everyone else smirked.
“I’m glad that’s out in the open at last.” Kelly smiled. “Do you know how hard it was for the rest of us not to notice? Tracks like ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ and ‘In These Arms Tonight’ as your last songs of the night were a bit of a giveaway, so was the giggling.”
Sue and I both looked around shamefaced.
“Sorry everyone.” Sue said.
“Yes, sorry. We just thought it best if we kept it quiet.”
“No harm, no foul.” Sara said, a big grin on her face.
“To make it up to all of you we’ll have a party at our place tomorrow, it’s our day off. Everyone’s invited.” Sue gushed. She was happy and wanted to share it with everyone else.
“Good idea.” Kelly said. “I’ll be late though, I have to keep an eye on your replacements.” She shuffled her notes. “Right, that’s it. Meeting over. Buzz off.” She paused. “Dave can I have a word?” She waited until all the others had left. “Dave, there are a couple of things I think you should know. Did the guide explain about what happens when you go back?”
“No, I don’t think he did.”
“The thing is, when you return, you’re not supposed to remember this place.” I stood and looked at her stunned, mouth agape. “It’ll seem like snatches of a dream for you, both of you.”
“Sue as well? She went ‘green-eye’. Will her problems come back?”
“I know about her ‘green-eye’, and no, her problems won’t come back. She’ll be happy, but won’t know why. The thing is, we don’t know exactly what will happen this time. We rarely recruit a pair and they’ve never fallen in love before.”
“Shouldn’t you be telling Sue this as well?”
“I don’t want to risk her having a relapse.”
“So why tell me?”
“Because you deserve the truth as we know it.”
“As we know it?”
“I told you, we don’t know what will happen in your case. Just before you leave, the guide will be back to see you. He may know more by then.”
I sighed.
“Thank you for the truth Kelly.” I set my shoulders. “I’ll make our last few months here happy and hopefully memorable ones. The show won’t suffer.”
“Thank you. I’m really sorry Dave. If we find out anything for certain, I’ll let you know, I promise.”
I left the station feeling down and went for a walk to clear my head. One thing was clear to me: Sue was never going to find out; at least one of us should remain happy and contented. To do this I was going to have to put this knowledge from my mind and carry on as normal. I turned my thoughts to the show. A couple of ideas I’d been toying with were going in tonight I decided. One idea was to play three or four songs from the same artist back-to-back, something I’d heard done on another station at home. The other was that Sue and I would pick two somehow related songs and invite the listeners to pick a third and then play our pair and the most popular choice for the third on the following night. I was confidant that it would work. I checked the time. Better get back I thought.
The two new features did indeed work well, although once again I’d forgotten to warn Kelly of the increased correspondence. I was managing to keep my dismay from Susan; at least she never mentioned it. For most of the time I was able to keep happy and in truth, I was happy. Being with Sue did that. By now we were nearly six months into our contract and things were fairly settled for us, but no-one else seemed to stay too long except Kelly and Sara. Then one morning Sue burst into the apartment excitedly.
“Did you hear about Sara? She finally went ‘green-eye!” She almost shouted. I was barely awake, whereas she had been up for at least a couple of hours. Our sleeping patterns just wouldn’t mesh. Sue could fall asleep almost as soon as we returned from work, but I was usually still buzzing and couldn’t drop off to sleep for a couple of hours or more. She always awoke before mid-morning whereas I generally slept until late morning at the earliest. Sometimes she was just too damn perky when I woke up, such as now.
“No I hadn’t.” I replied somewhat grumpily. “But I’m happy for her.” I sipped at my first coffee of the day, feeling its restorative powers reviving me. I sighed. “So when did this happen?”
“Just after she started her show, about fifteen minutes ago.”
“Then I’m hardly likely to have heard am I?”
“Right. Sorry.”
“So am I. You know I’m grouchy first thing. What happened then?”
“Well, I was having a chat with Kelly in her office when Sam, Sara’s knob-twiddler, called her. He said she had to come and see this.”
“So, being nosey, you went along too.”
She looked hurt.
“I just wanted to see what the fuss was.”
“Of course you did.” She frowned at me. I had to laugh. “I’m only pulling your leg. Carry on.”
Placated, Sue resumed her tale.
“Well, Sam said that Sara was just listening to the first song she’d put on. And then when she looked up her eyes were green. Oh Dave, with that lovely blonde hair and those emerald eyes she looked beautiful. And I’ve never seen anyone look so serene.”
“I have. You.” Sue smiled. “What song was it? Maybe we can play it for her tonight.”
“It was one we played a night or so ago. ‘Just Good Friends’ by that Scottish bloke.”
“Good. We can work that in again easily enough.” I paused. “Did she disappear or something?”
“No, silly. Kelly said that you carry on as normal until you go to bed and then when you wake up you’re where ever you’re supposed to be.”
“Sounds nice, means you’ve got time to say goodbye.” I mused.
“I wish you could get ‘green-eye’ Dave. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
I hugged her.
“Thank you, but it’s a bit unlikely, with me being on a specific contract.”
“But I got it, and I’m on the same contract.”
“You were destined to be here anyway. I don’t have the sort of anxieties that cause people to come here.” I was lying, I’d developed them here, but I’d sworn to myself that Sue would never find out what was going to happen when we left. She kissed me.
“I suppose. Come on anyway lazybones, finish getting dressed. We’re having a party for Sara when her show is over.”
“Just remember.” I wagged my finger. “We’re working tonight. I don’t want you getting all giggly.” I smiled to show I was teasing.
“And I don’t want you getting all raunchy. Now come on, hurry up.”
Sighing, I went to find a clean shirt.
Sara came up to me at the party and gave me a hug. She, Kelly, Sue and I had become good friends over the past six months. Although I was glad that she had found the peace that she deserved, I was going to miss her sharp wit and infectious smile.
“Thank you.” She said.
“For what?”
“Sue told me that you were the one who programmed the song I caught the end of and liked.”
“Glad to help, it is what we’re here for. How did it help anyway?”
“I liked the part I heard on your show, and when you back announced it, I thought it was a nice title and decided to play it myself this morning.”
“You’d never heard it before? Its not the first time we’ve played it.”
“I don’t get to hear all your show, only the first couple of hours, so I’d never heard it before. As I sat and listened to it, things just slotted into place in my mind.”
“One song did all that?” I was surprised.
“I suspect it was a cumulative effect.” She smiled again. “Everything in my past suddenly seemed clearer and I felt happy with myself. The ‘green-eye’ I think.”
“Sara, I’m really glad for you, but I am going to miss you.”
“And I suspect that whatever happens to me next, I’m really going to miss my three best friends.” She kissed me softly. “Just promise me that you’ll take care of Sue.”
“No problem there. I promise that I’ll do my very best.”
“I know you will. Good luck.” With that she left to say some more goodbyes elsewhere. I never saw her again, but who knows, I may still meet her again on some plane or other.
Sue had obviously been getting bored waiting for me to wake every morning and had decided to do something with this time. For eight months I had become used to her usually being there when I came round. When she wasn’t there for three days in a row, I began to wonder what she was doing. However she didn’t say anything and I didn’t want to ask directly. A week of non-communication on this issue caused me pangs of suspicion. Sue had always told me everything, even things I didn’t want to know. A horrible, horrible idea had begun to insinuate its way into my mind. Had her need to be wanted caused her to find someone else? I couldn’t shake the notion, no matter how much I disbelieved it. I obviously needed to know.
I managed to wake before Sue went out. I threw on some clothes and went into the living room.
“You’re up early.” Sue said, smiling brightly.
“Got something I need to do this morning.” I mumbled.
“Well have fun. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” She left, giving me a wave and another smile. I gave her a minute or so head start and then began to follow her.
I tailed her to a largish building overlooking the park. At first I thought that it was a hotel and my worst fears had been realised. Then I saw the sign naming the building as the children’s home. Confused now, I stood around outside, wondering what to do. I decided that I’d wait and see what Sue did next. I crossed to the park and found a bench from where I could see the entrance to the home.
After some ten minutes or so Sue came out, but she wasn’t alone. There were some twelve children with her, the oldest about eight, the youngest only four or five. The kids all carried a different sort of toy, either a ball, a Frisbee or just a doll like the littlest one. In utter bemusement I followed at a distance while Sue led them to the playground. The children began to play, watched over by Sue. At first the young girl was shy of joining in, holding on to Sue’s hand. With a little encouragement, she too began to frolic with the others. And to my complete surprise, so did Sue! I watched her playing with the kids, enjoying herself, and was deeply ashamed of my earlier dark thoughts.
All of a sudden the Frisbee landed at my feet.
“Throw it back Dave.” Sue called out, obviously knowing I was there watching.
I span it back amongst the happy group of kids and then, blushing deeply, I walked over to Sue.
“When did you spot me?” I asked shamefacedly.
“Oh, I knew you were up to something when you got up so early. And then I saw you reflected in a shop window.” She grinned a huge grin. “You’d make a terrible spy Dave.”
“I know.” I hung my head. “Why didn’t you tell me you were doing this? Playing den mother to these kids I mean. I thought some horrible things about you, things I didn’t want to believe but couldn’t disprove, things I’m deeply embarrassed to have thought.”
“I’m sorry, I should have said something, but I was worried you’d think I was getting broody, that I wanted to become a mom.”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t have. For one thing, how could you go back and suddenly be six months pregnant?” ‘And not remember how’ I thought to myself.
“Are you always so analytical?”
“You tell me, we’ve lived together for eight months now.”
“In that case, yes you have a tendency to over-think things.”
“Where are these kids from anyway?” I asked, sweeping my arm around.
“The same as everyone else here. They can have worries too you know.” She took my arm. “Although theirs are usually quicker to go away. So I volunteered to help with some of those with more deep-rooted problems. I had a couple of hours spare each morning.” She smirked at me.
“So all this is my fault?” I asked jokingly.
“Oh yes mister.” She walked us towards where there was a game of football breaking out amongst her charges. “Want to join in?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, it’s been a while, but… Yes I do.” I trotted over and collected a pass.
“If you can manage to wake up early enough tomorrow, you can come back again as well.” Sue called after me.
The morning volunteer work with the children was very satisfying. It enabled Sue and I to help in a more ‘hands on’ way. We were able to see results close up when the youngsters found what they needed and got ‘green eye’. The outing to the station we organised for them was an instant success, three of them, including the little one, going ‘green eye’ before the visit was over. That brought us to the attention of the papers, although we had tried to keep it quiet. Kelly said that it might help others too if we talked about it to them, so we agreed to be interviewed as long as they didn’t make out we were the only ones to do this sort of thing.
I got one heck of a surprise when we met the reporter though, it was someone I knew!
“Mena! What are you doing here?” A stupid thing to say on reflection. Sue and Mena both gave me an extraordinary look. “I mean are you on a contract like us or..?” I tailed off before digging a deeper hole for myself.
“No. I’m… Waiting.” The girl replied. We had worked together for a short while some years before at home. Mena was a likeable welsh girl who had worked in our office. I had never thought that I would meet someone I knew here. After all, I had been here for ten months now and it hadn’t happened before.
“So, you two know each other?” Sue asked, a hint of suspicion in her tone. I explained that Mena and I had worked at the same place, that we knew each other to talk to, but that was all. Sue seemed satisfied with that, but kept looking at me as if to reassure herself.
Mena asked us about our extra curricular activities with the youngsters, making copious notes, and then she asked us about the radio show, how we planned it, things like that. Sue sniggered at the use of the word ‘planned’, and then told the welsh girl that I did pretty much everything off the bat, making stuff up as I went along. I tried to protest, but I knew that it was the truth, I did just do what I thought would work.
“Have you been here long?” I asked Mena.
“About two months.” She replied. “I often caught some of your show, but I didn’t realise that it was you. Not the sort of thing I’d have associated with you.”
“I was asked specifically.” I shrugged. “I wouldn’t have thought of you as a reporter either.”
Now it was her turn to shrug.
“I thought it might give me what I needed.” She looked down. “But I don’t think its working.”
“Why not come with us to the children’s home tomorrow and see if that helps.” Sue said kindly, touched by something in the other girls sorrow.
“Won’t they mind?”
“I doubt it. The kids always like someone new to play with. And to tease.” I smiled, remembering how easy that had been before.
“I…I think I’d like to try that.”
“Meet us here at eight in the morning then.” Sue said.
“Eight!” I exclaimed. “You know I’m barely awake by then.”
Sue smirked evilly.
“You’re barely awake most of the time.” Mena cracked a grin for the first time. She looked more like the girl I had known before.
“I don’t know why I put up with you Susan.”
“I think you do.” She smiled that evil smile again.
Mena had been nervous about meeting the children, she thought they might not accept her as they had us, but she was wrong. They took to her straight off, welcoming a new playmate. Our meeting had set me thinking though, causing me to wonder if there were other people here that I knew. I approached Kelly, who seemed to know the rules of this place rather well.
“You can’t go looking for people you might know I’m afraid.” Kelly frowned.
“Why not?”
“They might get jealous that you’re going back and they’re not.”
“But what about Mena?”
“She actually needed to see you. You don’t think that it was a coincidence do you? Mena needed some help to show her the way forward. You and Sue gave her a nudge in the right direction.”
“Couldn’t the guide have done that?”
“Maybe.” Kelly sighed. “But you know how resistant she is to being forced to do something.”
I nodded, remembering how Mena always had to do things her way.
“She will be all right though.”
“Yes Dave, she will. Somehow, you and Sue have set her on the right track and she’ll be fine now. It might take another month or so, but I think she’ll find what she needs now. You’ve helped another lost soul find its way.” She smiled a sad smile. “How we’re going to cope without you I shudder to think.”
“Well, I’m only doing what I was asked to do. I’m sure you can replace me when the time comes.” I was a little embarrassed by this sudden praise, until I saw the twinkle in her eye. She was pulling my leg!
“Almost certainly. The guide is good at finding people to work for him.” Kelly grinned. “Now buzz off, I’ve some possible replacements to interview.”
Now we were coming towards the end of our contracts and I couldn’t help but remember our time together was probably finishing. Sue put this down to the fact of our impending departure. On the morning before our last show the guide visited as promised. He didn’t mention the memory loss to Sue, presumably having been forewarned by Kelly. He just told us to go to sleep as normal, and when we awoke, we would be back on the bridge where he’d found us. As he went to leave I asked if I could speak to him outside, out of Sue’s earshot.
“About the other issue, anything new?”
He sadly shook his head.
“No. I’ve been looking for loopholes, but can find none.”
I sighed.
“That’s going to make me pretty unique then. The only person to leave here sadder than when they arrived.”
“Maybe, maybe not. You are supposed to lose your memories of this place, but love is the strongest force in the universe, so who knows?”
“But YOU are supposed to know. It’s you that runs this place.” I was angry now. Time was short and I wanted proper answers, not wishy-washy maybes.
“You are very perceptive, but I have to obey my own rules. Why else would I have them?”
“And I’ve got more problems than when I arrived. What have you done to my life?” My anger exploded in a crescendo. The guide just let it wash over him.
“The answer to your biggest problem lies within you. I can do no more.” He turned and left. I threw up my hands in exasperation and then managed to calm down before going back inside.
“What was that about?” Sue asked cheerily.
“Just something I wanted to say to him.” I shrugged, avoiding an outright lie. I put my arms around her. “We’ve got one more show to do. Let’s plan a great finish.”
“You? Plan? That’ll be a first.” She laughed.
“You cheeky mare!”
We were approaching the end of our last show. It had been our best one ever. We’d played Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’, U2’s ‘One’, and Joe Bonamassa’s ‘India/Mountain Time’ for the umpteenth time. ‘Kashmir’ had got yet another outing, as had ‘When The Levee Breaks’ and ‘Fear Of The Dark’. ‘Freebird’ had caused a mass outbreak of air guitar once more. All our co-workers had popped in to say their goodbyes and Kelly had watched the whole show for the first time since our initial week. There was just time for a couple more tracks.
“Okay knob-twiddler, this will be your last pick. What’s it going to be?”
“This is for you button-pusher. Me as well, I suppose. Remember when you played that soppy Cliff song for me?” I nodded. “Well, this is what it gave me. ‘Moment Of Clarity’ from Roger Waters.” She cued it in.
“This is a nice little piece.” I said to her as the track played.
“I know you like it, and I think it has some meaning for me.”
“Me too.” I smiled at her and reached over to hold her hand for a moment. “I wish we could go on like this forever.”
“Our time here is up.” She shrugged. “Can’t be helped.” The song finished. Sue cued me one last time.
“So, what will be our last song I hear you all ask? Well, I’m not going to break with tradition and not dedicate it to my wonderful girl Susan, but I am going to dedicate it to all of you out there listening as well. Our last track ever is Thin Lizzy’s ‘Still In Love With You’. Goodbye, and don’t forget us.”
“Yes, goodbye. We’ve loved doing this show for you. And thank you for your support.”
“So. Thin Lizzy. ‘Still In Love With You’.” I started the track and went around to Sue and kissed her.
Kelly came in and hugged us both. There was something I had to ask her.
“Kelly, why have you never got ‘green-eye’? Are you on a contract like us?” I had been wondering about this for the last month or so now. Kelly and the two of us were the only ones left from the starting team now.
“I’m not on the same sort of contract as you, and I doubt I’ll ever get ‘green eye’.”
“But why? You seem happy enough.”
“At first I was employed as a junior guide.” She sighed. “And I screwed up. I failed to save over a thousand souls from a big shipwreck.”
“How did that happen?”
“I mistimed my arrival and they had all become lost in the wastes of time. I can never make up for that.” She looked sadder than I’d ever seen anyone, even Sue on the bridge. “But doing this, with your help, I’ve assisted a lot. Over the past year many people have found their peace thanks to us.” She smiled weakly. “I’m going to miss you two. You made this project happen. I couldn’t have done it without you. I hope you find what you need back home. I mean it.” The last part was obviously directed to me. I knew she was hoping for a miracle for us, but it was one I couldn’t believe in.
We all hugged again, Sue and Kelly on the verge of tears. I took Sue’s hand and led her out into the night.
“Where are we going?” She asked.
“I thought we could have one last walk around together.”
“But it’s dark.”
“So? Please Sue.”
“All right, a short walk won’t hurt.” We wandered around for a while, just holding hands, not talking. I wanted this to go on and on. It was nearly time and I was sure I was going to lose her back in the real world but eventually we turned for our home for the past year.
Sue and I entered our apartment for the last time, still buzzing from that wonderful last show. We knew that when we awoke we would be back on the bridge where we had met. Sue still didn’t know that our memories of our time here would probably be gone. That was what was supposed to happen; I knew that from talking with the guide. She would retain the piece of mind that she had found here, and some other measure of her feelings. What I would retain the guide didn’t know, so this may be the last night of happiness for me. As we snuggled down in the bed, I kissed Sue for what I thought would be one last time.
“That was nice.” She smiled, yawning. “See you in the morning; back on the bridge I suppose?” And then she rolled over and closed her eyes.
“In the morning.” I whispered without conviction. Sue was soon asleep, I could tell from her breathing as I lay with my arms around her, but I couldn’t or wouldn’t drop off. I didn’t want to fall asleep and wake up not being in love with her. I held on to consciousness for as long as I could, nearly two hours, but I succumbed eventually.
That had been a waste of time, as Susan and I re-entered our world at the same time. She was leaning against the bridge rail on her haunches, and I was crouching in front of her, holding her hand. And then I realised that I could remember those hours trying to stay awake, and the last song we’d played, and the first, and everything else! I looked into her pretty face and lovely green eyes. She was looking at me strangely, her hand moving up to my face.
“Sue! Susan! Can you remember too?” I asked excitedly.
“What?” She answered distractedly.
“Can you remember the year we just spent together?”
“That? Of course I can Dave, its just…your eyes. You’ve got ‘green eye’. How can you have ‘green eye’ here and now?”
“I’ve got ‘green-eye’?”
She nodded, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small mirror. She passed it to me and I looked at my eyes. She was right; I did have the same sort of green flecks in my eyes that I had seen so often in those who had found peace or happiness. I suddenly recognized why. The guide had said there was a problem with me, that only Sue and I could solve. I realised that as soon as it was obvious that Sue and I both had our memories of the radio station, that we still had our love, my problem was solved, hence the ‘green eye’. The guide had been wrong and right at the same time. He was wrong when he thought we wouldn’t remember our time in the other place, but he was right that love was a powerful emotion. Mine and Sue’s love had been so strong that it had held all our memories in place, every little thing we loved about each other. Instead of trying to explain to a puzzled Sue, I just held her close, hugging her to me.
“It doesn’t matter, I still have you, so nothing else matters.”
“So what happens next?” Sue said from the depths of my hug. I sat back.
“I suppose we have to find…” I stopped as I saw a letter in Sue’s pocket that hadn’t been there the first time we were on this bridge. “What’s this?” I asked, pulling out the envelope. Strangely, although it had been in Sue’s jacket, it was addressed to both of us. I squatted beside Sue so that we could both read what was inside. It was a contract for a radio show for the local station! As I passed it to Sue to read properly, a note fell out of the envelope. I picked it up. On it was a three word message: For services rendered. It was signed: Your Guide. I turned my eyes skywards and whispered my thanks. I put my arm around my beautiful redhead and kissed her.
The songs mentioned in the above story are:
Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. From the album Physical Graffiti.
Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. From the album Gold And Platinum.
Poison by Alice Cooper. From the album Poison.
We Will Rock You by Queen. From the album Greatest Hits.
Feel Like Making Love by Bad Company. From the album 10 from 6.
Celebration Day by Led Zeppelin. From the album Remasters.
Miss You Nights by Cliff Richard.
You Shook Me All Night Long by AC\DC. From the album Back In Black.
In These Arms Tonight by Bon Jovi. From the album Keep The Faith.
Just Good Friends by Fish. From the album Suits.
Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. From the album The Wall.
One by U2. From the album Achtung Baby.
India/Mountain Time by Joe Bonamassa. From the album Live From Nowhere In Particular.
When The Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin. From the album Led Zeppelin 4.
Fear Of The Dark by Iron Maiden. From the album Best Of The Beast.
Moment Of Clarity by Roger Waters. From the album The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking.
Still In Love With You by Thin Lizzy. From the album Live And Dangerous.
