Apologies for how long this part is. But it's the moment you've all been waiting for! No not the porn, that doesn't come just yet, sorry
Helmut83! But there's some Kate Bush mentioned
Timeblue and some intimate scenes, so yeah enjoy!
He was lying on the sofa watching the telly, at first I didn’t think he heard me come in then he acknowledged my presence.
“Hello, how long you been up?”
“Not long, Christ have you got like really good hearing or something? I swear I came in really quiet.”
“You gotta have good hearing when you’re a musician and producer!”
I got closer to him and noticed there was a scrap of paper resting on his lap with a few scribblings on it.
“Very true, what you got there?”
He picked up the paper defensively. Ah very secretive, little do you know, I already know the tracks off the album…
“Oh just some lyrics for a song I’m working on. If you’re very lucky you might get to hear it at the studios later.”
“I can’t wait to hear it.”
“It’s gonna be quite an emotional song, well ballad I reckon. We’ll see what the others think and you of course.”
“I’m sure I’ll love it, I love everything you do.”
“You’re so kind Melinda, I’m very glad I met you. It feels almost like fate, don’t you think?”
“Yeah something like that… Anyway I’m going for a shower and probably bother Bev and beg him for breakfast.”
“Ha, good luck with that one. His room is not next door but one to mine. I’d knock first if I were you.”
“Haha okay thanks.”
After my shower, I left Jeff to it writing his lyrics and knocked gently on Bev’s door. After a few minutes he eventually answered. I hadn’t seen Bev look so rough, it looked like I’d just woke him up.
“Oh hi Melinda, Jeff in his song writing element?”
“Yeah you could say that, do you mind if I come and bother you?”
“Oh no, come on in. Excuse the mess.”
Well Bev certainly wasn’t exaggerating about the mess. It looked like how I imagined a bachelor pad. I knew Bev was married, he’s still married to Valerie to this day. Bless him. I found a spot in the lounge that wasn’t covered in mess.
“Uh want a cup of tea and some toast?”
“Yes please. To be honest what I really wanted to talk about, is how you are with me. I get the impression you see me as some sort of threat, especially when I’m with Jeff. I want to assure you, I have no intention of breaking up a marriage that I’m fully aware Jeff is in.”
“I suppose I should explain why I have been a bit off with you. It’s not you personally that’s the problem. You see, in the past, there’s been girls who are probably about your age, who’ve practically thrown themselves at him. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that Jeff is a very shy guy, especially when it comes to women and he needs a bit of guiding from me to stop him from being stupid. He does like women, probably more than he should now he’s married and he’s easily impressed by women especially ones who he considers different from others and are a bit of a mystery for him to try and solve. I do like you, honestly, especially as you are a Wolves fan. Jeff couldn’t wait to tell me that! So from now on I’m gonna be different with you, you’re an intelligent enough young woman to know how to handle Jeff’s behaviour.”
Whatever I was expecting, I was not expecting this from Bev. Jeff said only yesterday, I was a mystery he wanted to solve. Was I really the only woman he’s said this to? Am I just the latest in a long list of women that Jeff has pursued? Now I know how Rose felt in Doctor Who when she discovered she hadn’t been the only companion of The Doctors and probably not the only woman The Doctor ever loved. I was nearly speechless, I had got Bev so wrong for how he was acting towards me. Then again I knew he was a decent person, not bad looking either, ahem. Jeff was my number one man though, after Macca respectively.
“Uh, well, thank you.”
“Think you definitely need a cup of tea after that! Take a seat anyway, how do you like your tea?”
“Two sugars, plenty of milk. Thanks.”
“So, Jeff said you’re a season ticket holder. What stand you in?”
Good job I listened to my Dad when he’s told me Wolves history! Currently me and my Dad are in the Billy Wright Stand which I think in 1979 was known as The Waterloo Road Stand? I couldn’t tell you what stand my Dad was in, in 1979. I reckon The Southbank, that’s still not separated by tiers even to this day.
“Oh The Waterloo Road Stand, you get a cracking view of the pitch from there. I bet once The Molineux Street Stand is completed, the stadium will look great!”
“Oh yeah it’ll look a treat! I hear it’s going to be named The John Ireland Stand you know The Chairman?”
I’m fully aware of the naming of the stand Bev… Before my Dad moved into the Billy Wright Stand my dad was for a few years in the John Ireland Stand, he still calls it the John Ireland still. Whereas I only know it as the Steve Bull Stand, when they renamed the stand in 2003 that was when I first got into football. My Dad went to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for the Playoff final against Sheffield United that year. Apparently all the way back from us picking my Dad up, I was bombarding him with questions about the day. To be fair to me, I was only 7 at the time!
“Oh nice. So, er, who does Jeff support?”
“Sadly Birmingham City, think we’ll have to convince him to go to a few Wolves matches!”
“Well as my Dad always says, least he supports his local team. Could be worse, least he doesn’t support the shit!”
The shit, referring to West Bromwich Albion, our local rivals. Excuse me whilst I just vomit after forcing myself to say their name… We weren’t fans of Birmingham City either but since it’s Jeff and he is from Birmingham, I’ll let him off.
“No that’s very true, don’t think I’d be friends with him if he was! I mean I just about tolerate me best mate Jasper Carrott as he’s a Birmingham City supporter! I gathered from Jeff that you find him quite funny?”
“Oh yeah, he’s not so bad for a Bluenose!”
Bluenose being an ‘affectionate’ name for Birmingham City supporters, us Wolves supporters certainly had a way with words!
I was quite impressed with Bev’s tea and toast making skills. Was more than I expected to get off him! We had quite a nice conversation really, I learnt a lot about him and vice versa.
“Do you like Jeff a lot?”
“I think he is one of the most amazing musicians of his time, I know it can’t be any more than us being friends and that’s okay.”
Bev put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.
“It’s a shame that circumstances are the way they are but I think if something’s meant to be then it’ll happen. I get the feeling he’s very fond of you.”
It was amazing how the time passed by so quickly and before we knew it, Jeff was knocking on the door saying that he’d finished the lyrics for the song and had an idea of the basic melody for it. I couldn’t wait to hear it. From what I remember the only two ballads that were on the album was Need Her Love and Midnight Blue. Though you could class Wishing as one too. I was intrigued by the sudden inspiration to write a ballad though, I suppose all will be revealed in due course…
“You and Bev getting on alright now?”
“Oh yeah like a house on fire, even got a decent breakfast out of him!”
“Wow you must have impressed him! Hey Bev where was my breakfast this morning? We don’t get this sort of treatment from you!”
“Hey it’s common courtesy! Anyway you gonna give us some clues on this new song you’ve written?”
“All I’m gonna say is that it’s a love ballad about a forbidden love where the speaker is still pledging his full commitment to her regardless.”
Interesting summary Jeff, bloody shame I couldn’t get anything from it. Could be any of those three songs I’ve mentioned… It seemed Jeff knew how he wanted it to be sang already which was useful for me because I’d recognise the lyrics almost straight away. I sat on my usual stool and I let Jeff do his usual discussions with the band beforehand. This was when Jeff was in his element and I knew not to disturb him during this. Who knows what I could cause by doing that?
Jeff soon started singing and I knew the song straight away. Midnight Blue. A song I found truly beautiful, the mixture of exquisite lyrics and Jeff’s divine singing made my heart melt and me cry. Although I wished he was singing the song to me and had written the song about me, I knew he hadn’t. He did look at me all the time he was singing and he could see I was crying. Tears dripped off my cheek and I wiped under my eyes very quickly.
I wish I knew who he was talking about in this song… Obviously not me because well he wouldn’t be in love with me, especially this quickly and I’ve come to the conclusion I’m just another girl Jeff is trying his luck with. Bloody musicians are all the same, dear god what have I got myself into? Here I was thinking Jeff was different, perhaps I was wrong.
Jeff finished the song and came over to me, looking very concerned.
“Are you okay? I saw you crying during that. Didn’t you like the song?”
I sniffed a couple of times then wiped under my eyes again.
“Oh no I loved it, it was so beautiful I can’t describe it. Uh, sorry I feel a bit silly crying over a song. I bet it’ll be even more amazing when it’s complete.”
“Ah don’t be daft, you wouldn’t be the first person to cry over a song! Here I’ll get you a tissue.” He said with a smile.
I thought he was going to give me the tissue and let me wipe my own eyes but instead he wiped them for me, so delicately. Oh Jeff why have you gotta do that when I’m so fucking angry with you?
“Erm thanks, do you mind if I head back? Think I need some time on my own.”
“Oh right okay, do you want me to walk you back to the hotel?”
“No I can find my own way back thank you.”
I pretty much stormed out of the studio, I think poor Jeff wondered what he’d done!
“Bloody hell Jeff what you done to upset her?” Piped up Bev.
Jeff shrugged his shoulders in response.
“I’ve gotta go after her.”
“No Jeff just leave her. Let her have her space, otherwise you could make things worse.”
Meanwhile as soon as I got out of the studio, I burst into tears. Did I even know the way back to the hotel? Oh well, the walk would do me good. A chance to clear my head. I think it was safe to say, I had fallen completely and utterly in love with Jeff. Not my desired intention in the slightest. All I’d need now is Jeff telling me he felt the same then I’d be really in the shit. Not that he’d do that, whoever the intended person was on that song, it certainly wasn’t me. Why do I have to get myself in these situations? I’d be a bloody rubbish companion for The Doctor, I’d cause all sorts of paradoxes whenever I met any of my favourite musicians…
Although I took the slightly longer route to the hotel, I eventually found it. I even remembered the floor we were on, go me! Shit had he locked his door? I tried opening the door and it was unlocked. The plonker hadn’t locked his room, good god if Bev found out, he’d have his guts for garters! Good to see Jeff was on the ball, not.
I decided to lie on the bed and rummage through my handbag, my mobile phone, iPod and blank cassette were in there and thought it would be a good time to record Hold On Tight onto the cassette. How the fuck do you do even do it anyway? Think, think how do they do it in studios and when you’re recording video cassettes from a television? A cassette player of course, there’s bound to be one somewhere in this room. Jeff is a musician after all, well multi-instrumentalist and producer.
After much rummaging through every nook and cranny in the hotel room, honestly Jeff is nearly as messy as Bev… I managed to turn on the player and played Hold On Tight on my iPod on the most reasonable volume I could put it on. Since I love the song so much, I had to restrain myself from singing along. Hope Jeff doesn’t come looking for me and come bursting through the door any minute now. Otherwise it’s gonna be damn awkward.
No luckily it had finished and Jeff looked like he wasn’t coming in any time soon. Not that I wanted him to. Okay maybe I did deep down. We all know when a woman says she wants you to leave her alone, she wants you to try and go after her or talk to her. I lay on the bed again and thought about all the good times I’d had with Jeff. They were beyond my wildest dreams. I couldn’t stay here though, as much as I wanted to. Jeff will understand one day why I left. Think this recording of Hold On Tight will be the only proof of where I come from and why I was so secretive about things.
I heard the noise of feet heading towards the hotel door, I took this as my cue to put my cassette recording in the handbag as well as my iPod and other ‘futuristic’ shit. Was I really prepared to face Jeff after the stunt I pulled? He probably thinks I’m a right child.
I heard him come in and mutter shit I’d left the door unlocked… I couldn’t help but giggle slightly.
“Melinda? You in there?” He knocked on the bedroom door.
Ah fucking hell… What do I do?
Oh well, can’t avoid him forever. It’s now or never to quote Elvis…
“Yeah I’m in here.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah sure.”
He came in and decided to sit next to me on the bed, whoa Jeff slow down…
“Mind if I sit next to you?”
“Well you’re already sat here now so no I don’t mind.”
“What’s up anyway? You were fine with me until I played that song.”
“You said to me that I was a mystery you wanted to solve. It seems according to Bev, I haven’t been the only girl you’ve said it to.”
“So you believe Bev over me?”
“Why would he lie?”
“I don’t know, to put you off spending any time with me?”
“You like women Jeff, I was well aware of that when I met you and I bet there’s loads of unique girls out there who you’ve thought are a mystery. All women are a mystery, all men are a bloody mystery to me. Every one I’ve ended up with, has pissed me about and I really, really don’t want to be messed about, least of all by you.”
“It’s true women are all a mystery to me in some way but it’s very rare I write a song about a particular one.”
“What?”
“The song, I wrote it about you.”
“What? What do you mean you wrote it about me? You hardly know me!”
Oh my god I feel faint… This can’t be happening.
“From the moment I saw you, I knew you were special. I don’t usually speak to strange girls who are lurking outside a studio. There was just something about you, I can’t figure out what but I knew I had to get to know you. Then I just fell for you, it was quite gradual really and when we were Hamburg together, the song sort of wrote itself. I know I’m a bit older than you and I know I am married but we could make a go of it? I mean if you want to, no one would have to know.”
A bit older? In reality you’re 48 years older than me…
“I, I, I don’t know what to say. I like you a lot, actually I love you. I think you’re wonderful and having someone write a song for me, is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for me. I just don’t know how we could keep it a secret? Think about your poor wife, what we’d be doing to her, behind her back.”
He grasped my chin and smiled.
“When the time was right, I’d leave her and marry you. That’s how serious I am about you.”
No you fucking won’t Jeff, Christ this is worse than I thought…
“You know what would happen if you left your wife then got with me? The press would have a field day, they’d call me a whore and all sorts of horrible names…”
“No they wouldn’t because I wouldn’t let them.”
I was so torn, course I’d wanna marry him but I couldn’t ruin the future! What would happen to Laura Lynne’s backing vocals on Love and Rain? I could be doing them instead… I’d make a good backing singer. No, no you are not going to begin to contemplate this! I couldn’t lie to the poor bloke, I can’t let this get too serious. Though it seems it’s beyond that now…
“Oh I don’t know what to do!” I cried.
“Come here.”
I looked at him and accepted his warm embrace. I wrapped my arms around him, he started stroking my hair and humming a tune to me. It sounded like the lyrics “I will love you tonight and I will stay by your side loving you…” Damn it, that song certainly pulls at the heartstrings. Now what was I going to do?
“You gonna keep singing that at me, in order to get your own way?” I said into his chest.
“Yeah if it works…” He kissed my forehead.
Damn you Jeff and your romantic ways…
“You’re a right one you are.”
“So what do you say, shall we give it a go?”
“Yes but I want it to be discreet between us!”
“Anything you want, you got it.”
Nice one Jeff, you just unintentionally quoted a song by Roy Orbison that in the future you produce. I couldn’t help but smile.
I looked up at him and our faces were almost touching. He held my face in his hand and kissed me with such passion and delicacy. Shame I could feel the prickly bits off his beard. I’d tell him to shave it off but he does look veryyy strange without a beard yet it suits him without a beard when he was in his early 20’s? Ah Jeff you baffle me.
“You’re a good kisser.” He said.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” I said with a wink.
“Ah you flatter me, Melinda.”
“I try, so did the lads like Midnig--- I mean the song?”
“Oh yeah they liked it, was it that obvious the song was called Midnight Blue?”
“Call it fan intuition.” I said with a wink.
I call it being from the future and listening to this song multiple times…
“Interesting imagery though isn’t it?”
“Yeah it is but what does it mean?”
“Ha, well what do you think it means?”
“Knew you were going to say that, okay well I think it means that he can only see her at a certain time because the relationship is forbidden? When you sing I’m feeling midnight blue, well it makes me think of what the sky looks like when it’s midnight blue and how it makes someone feel when they’re sitting under it. To me, the sight of the sky at midnight is beautiful and captivating, you feel relaxed under it and content. This represents in my eyes, how the speaker feels about the girl, he thinks she’s beautiful, captivated his heart and he’s happy whenever he’s with her.”
“You’ve summed up my feelings for you right there Melinda. I wonder what your interpretations are on my other songs?”
“Suppose it depends on the song really, I mean there is one lyric that has always fascinated me and it’s from Shangri-La.”
“Fading like The Beatles on Hey Jude?”
“How did you know I was referring to that particular lyric?”
“Darlin’, you’re a Beatles fan. Course you’re gonna spot The Beatles reference!”
“Very true Mr Lynne! So what does it mean?”
“I wanna hear your interpretation first.” He said mischievously, I could tell he was teasing me.
“Oh bloody hell, why you so interested in my view of the lyrics? You wrote the bleeding thing!”
“It’s interesting to hear how different people interpret particular lyrics. So, go on, what’s your view on it?”
“Uh, I think it means well your love has gone away and I know that Hey Jude is what over 8 minutes long? What obviously makes it longer is the na na na na’s and uh, oh god, it means that her memory won’t fade right away because the song fades very gradually. The lyric is a metaphor for the memory of your lover, similar to how the song fades slowly, it will take a while for you to forget her?”
“I’m impressed, can tell you did English Literature! You could be right though but who knows? Half the time I don’t even know what the stuff I’m writing means!”
I hit him in the arm.
“Oh you bugger! You made me go through all that, when you don’t even know yourself what it means? Congratulations, top songwriter over here, Mr Jeff Lynne!”
He held my face again and smiled. That smile could make a few people weak at the knees and I wasn’t exactly immune to Jeff’s charm, evidently.
“Aw you know I’m only teasing. I just love to hear your opinions on stuff, I could tell you were very intelligent almost immediately. Underneath that strong Wolverhampton accent, there’s a smart girl!”
He kissed me again. I swear he only did it to shut me up, the little shit, whom I love very much. Damn you Jeffrey Lynne and your seductive ways!
“That’s a backhanded compliment isn’t it?”
“Oh shut up and kiss me.”
How could I resist that face? I kissed him quickly then kissed him again, only more deeply and harder. Sometimes I like to be demonstrative of my skills in the kissing department.
“So, anything else you’d like my opinion on, other than your songs? How self- centred you are Mr Lynne.” I said teasingly.
“Now who’s teasing who?” He tapped my nose softly.
“Well you wanted my opinion and here I am giving it on you, you’re very self-centred and a massive ego to boot. You sure you’re not Paul McCartney in disguise?”
“You are actually terrible, my dear. What’s your last name? I can’t believe I’ve never asked you this!”
“It’s Jones, easy to remember for you Jeffie.”
“Jeffie? Now that is a new one on me. Hey if you want to go on the nickname route, what would you like me to call you?”
“How about Miss Jones? Not really a fan of people shortening my name, I’m used to being called Melinda by mostly everyone, though I do get called Mel too, much to my disgust.”
“Mm I like that, Miss Jones.” He said seductively.
“Haha, anyway what are the others doing at the moment?”
“Oh, I, uh left them to practice their bits for Midnight Blue.”
“Oh right, I see, they being?”
“You know, Bev, Richard, Kelly…”
“Oh yeah course, thought there was more of you than that.”
“Ah, you’re thinking of the string trio, Mik, Hugh and Mel. I decided for this album, not to use them. They wouldn’t go with my intended style of the album, which is disco.”
Bit of a dick move on your part Jeff… Who am I to comment?
“I, see. What they doing after that?”
“Well by now, waiting for me to come back so we can go out for tea! So sadly, my darlin’, I have to leave you. Go and start to get ready to go out, go the full works if you want!”
“You mean I’m allowed to come?”
“Course you are, it’s a good way of you getting to know the rest of the band. I’ll see you later anyway.”
He kissed me quickly on the lips then rushed out of the door. Well bloody hell, best get ready! Does he really want me to dress up quite a bit? Is it a really posh restaurant we’re going to? Okay, stop panicking Melinda.
I decided to look through the wardrobe for some inspiration. After much rummaging I found a very beautiful dress. It was red silk and very flowy, though it looked more peach to me than red upon closer inspection. Why does everything in this wardrobe look so Kate Bush? Not that I’m complaining particularly… Looks like heels again, that I probably can’t walk in. No I’ll wear medium sized heels, might as well go with the full Kate Bush look. Could be interesting walking in them though, I’ll just take it slow.
Again the dress and shoes were a perfect fit and walked slowly to the bathroom. I knew what makeup look I was going for, the usual full works but with red lipstick this time. Why don’t they have any crimpers or something in this bathroom? They’ve got everything bloody else… I looked in the bottom cupboard under the sink and guess what I found? Crimpers. I eventually managed to work out how to use them and they worked out surprisingly well.
Oh great, nice one Jeff, you didn’t tell me where to meet for the meal. He might come and pick me up, now that would be really romantic. Hope no journalists spot me, I could be mistaken as Kate Bush! Now that would be a headline! ‘Singer Kate Bush spotted with ELO, romance with singer Jeff Lynne?’