Black Girls and Bad Boys: Changing his Tune by Neneh J. Gordon

stay sitting down for long. Time ticked on and she went out to see
Noah one last time before she made herself sit down.
    She popped her head round the door. “Break a leg.”
    He put down his guitar. His electric one was waiting onstage for
him. “Come in here a minute.”
    She walked inside, leaving the door open and feeling strangely
uncomfortable.
    “I’ve got something for you. To say thank you.”
    “You didn’t have to—”
    “I wanted to.” He put his hand in his pocket and brought out a
silver chain. Then he straightened it out to reveal a locket. “I thought you
could put a picture of Lewis in it.”
    “That’s really...” The words caught in her throat. She didn’t want to
break down in front of him, but she couldn’t think about Lewis these days
without coming close to tears.
    “I didn’t mean to upset you.” He took a step towards her and froze.
    She knew he was thinking of her problem with being touched. It
wasn’t fair on him. He was being so kind. “Will you put it on me?”
    He looked into her eyes and for a second or two, she thought she saw
the same discomfort she was feeling. But that was ridiculous. What did he have
to feel uncomfortable about?
    He unhooked the chain and came to stand behind her. She lifted her
hair up out of the way. He brought the necklace down so that the locket rested
on her breastbone. His breath was hot on the back of her neck as he fiddled
with the fastening.
    “Nearly got it.”
    His large fingers were better suited to playing the guitar than
working the clasp on delicate jewellery. “You should stop biting your nails.”
    “Yeah, and you should stop smoking.” He finally got the catch closed
and put his hands on her shoulders.
    She stopped breathing.
    “Sorry.” He went to take his hands away, but she put hers on top of
them.
    “No. It’s okay. I need to get over this.” She was glad she couldn’t
see his face. It was easier to feel his hands on her when she didn’t have to
meet his eye.
    She let go of him. He left his hands on her shoulders, the edges of
his index fingers just barely grazing the skin at the neck of her blouse.
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    She shook her head. One step at a time. Turning around, she looked
up into his eyes. “Thanks. For the necklace. It was really thoughtful.” She
could still feel his touch, even though he’d dropped his hands to his sides.
    “You like it?”
    “It’s beautiful.” Footsteps echoed outside and she looked at the
clock on the wall. Time to go. “I’ll see you afterwards.” Getting up on her
tiptoes, she placed a kiss on his cheek and hurried away.
    ***
    “Y ou ready?”
    Noah was still holding the kiss to his cheek when John walked in. He
quickly turned to snatch the set list off the table. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
    She’d kissed him. Okay, it was only on the cheek, but it had to mean
something, right?
    “Are you alright? You look a bit spaced out?”
    “Yeah. Nerves.” He wasn’t lying, but there was only one member of
the audience he was nervous to play in front of.
    “You’ll be fine once you start.” John gave him a pat on the back.
“Angelique’s at the back with me.”
    “Okay.” He wouldn’t be able to see her back there. He had a feeling
that knowing she was there would be just as distracting.
    What’s wrong with you?
    He shook himself off and got on the stage. Well, to call it a stage
was generous. It still felt good to be up there though.
    The bar was nice and full, even if it was only small. The drummer
hit his sticks together and the spotlights went up. Applause filled the room,
along with a few cheers. This is it. This is what I’ve been working for.
    They started off with an old favourite and the fans sang along. He
looked out over the sea of faces, but he’d been right – Angie was too far away
for him to see.
    The first song came to an end and they dived into another. The feel
of her lips burned into his skin. He couldn’t shake her off. All the