“Och, Ah dunno if that’s such a good idea… it’s been a long time between drinks…!”
“Come on, Eileen…!” Davies goaded kindly, making her flinch as he mimicked the chorus of the Dexys Midnight Runners song of the same name from 1982, completely unaware that Donelson had suffered through years of teasing during her childhood because of that very song. “Why’d you bring the music with you, if you weren’t gonna sing some of it now and then?”
“Give it a go, Ma’am,” Lloyd continued. “It’s a great idea! We’re already making fools of ourselves up here…what have you got to lose…?”
“Whaddya say, everyone…?” Thorne called out to the audience, knowing what he was doing would either make or break the situation. “Who’d like to hear some great songs from a beautiful lady tonight?” The cheers and applause that rose throughout the mess was the first display of anything resembling enjoyment anyone had experienced so far that night, and although the reaction served to turn Eileen’s face even redder — if that was actually possible –she also couldn’t help but recognise the positive effect it was having on what’d otherwise been a sour and almost painful experience.
“You’re gonna be great and you know it,” Thorne added softly off-mike, barely audible from that distance. “I know it…!” He shrugged and gave her a genuinely caring smile. “Like Evan says: what’ve you got to lose…?”
“All right… all right!” The mounting pressure from all sides finally became too much for the blushing commander and she capitulated, rising to her feet as she waved both hands broadly for everyone around her to settle down and give her some quiet. “For God’s sake, anyone would think it’s a bloody karaoke night!” She paused for a moment to gather her courage before striding purposefully up to the stage to stand beside Thorne and snatch the folder of music from his hands.
“You’ll be great…!” He assured sincerely, resting an arm lightly around her waist as she leaned in, her face near his.
“As soon as we’re out of here tonight, Max,” she hissed acidly, consciously raising a hand to push his microphone away and keep her words private, “you are completely and utterly fucked!” The façade of a sweet smile never left her face as she spoke.
“This really is my lucky day, then…!” He countered softly, a grin never leaving his face as he patted her lightly on the backside and handed her the microphone. “Let’s not keep the audience waiting any longer, eh?”
He took a few paces back and took up a position behind another short mike stand, set perfectly for his own guitar. Smiling now in spite of herself, Eileen returned the mike she held to its stand and tapped it a few times, testing its operation through force of habit rather than any real need for confirmation of what she already knew. A positively expectant hush fell over the crowd, every pair of eyes in the audience now staring directly at the beautiful woman on stage. She was dressed in her preferred designer jeans and figure-hugging ‘Howard Green’ army jumper, her dark hair loose and framing her oval face in a way that accentuated her fine features and stunning blue eyes. It was entirely likely that there wasn’t a man present that night outside the Hindsight Group who’d ever seen a woman dressed so attractively in such casual clothes, and it was fair to say that not one of them would ever forget the experience yet to come.
“Good evening, everyone,” Eileen began falteringly, her own nerves showing now as she addressed the crowd. “I’m Commander Eileen Donelson… Royal Navy…” The last part had been spoken with an intentional delay and emphasis, and it produced the desired result. Cheers and applause again rose from the audience, stronger this time than before, and although the sound almost froze her for a moment, the part of her that lived for music and singing also revelled in it. “I’ll do my best to entertain y’ all for a while tonight,” she continued as she raised her hands again for silence and the noise abated. “If you’ll all just bear with me for a moment or two, I’ll get some music ready and we’ll play some songs for you.” With a single nod of thanks at the continued calm, she immediately turned back toward the band.
“What do you like, ma’am?” Leading Rating Simon Barnett asked from his position at the double-bass as he handed Eileen a selection of their music and she rifled through it with a discerning frown. Barnett had been the group’s unofficial bandleader for some time, and carried the best musical repertoire of all of them.
“Aye, this’ll do,” she muttered, pulling one free. “And this one… and this… they’ll do for starters…” She handed the selection of music over for Barnett to consider.
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin…?” He nodded approvingly over her first choice. “Good old Cole Porter tune, ma’am… should go down nicely. You want us fast or slow…?”
“Reasonably quick… nice and bright,” she said without hesitation. “You fellas set the pace; I’ll keep with you well enough.” She scanned through the verses, reassuring herself needlessly that her faultless memory had recalled the words and music correctly. “We’ll run through it once, take an instrumental break, then back over the last verse and finish. Anyone have any trouble going up to ‘C’ instead of ‘E-flat’…?”
“No problem at all, ma’am,” he grinned, and as she turned back to the microphone, Barnett passed an approving glance around the rest of the group, impressed that the attractive officer seemed to know her stuff. “Hear that, boys…? ‘Under My Skin’ in ‘C’…”
All four men nodded in agreement, and the crowd remained in a silent thrall as they readied themselves and Eileen prepared to sing.
There was a near audible release of held breath about the entire room as the song began and her rich, lustrous voice reached out through the microphone in almost perfect pitch. Although she could tell her voice was slightly out due to a lack of warm up, no one else could hear it, and once again, Eileen’s memory was a major part in her abilities. She could quite literally ‘hear’ songs in her head after just one playing, something that matched beautifully with a fine voice and perfect pitch to produce an excellent vocalist. Although not having had a chance to sing regularly for some years made her feel a little rusty, it was almost impossible for her not to sing well under the circumstances, and she found herself quickly getting back into the swing of it.
Playing along behind her, Thorne watched her with a genuinely caring expression. Some in the crowd might’ve been dubious of her talents prior to Eileen singing that first verse, but he’d never doubted her abilities for a moment. During the relatively short time he and the commander had been a couple, many years before, she’d regularly been involved in amateur singing, and watching her perform while he’d played guitar had been a constant source of enjoyment. Their relationship hadn’t worked out for a variety of reasons, but they’d never stopped being great friends, and Max Thorne had never forgotten how much he loved hearing Eileen Donelson sing, or the warmth the sound of her voice generated.
Years later, he and Anna had also sometimes had the opportunity to hear her sing, and those times were the only moments Thorne had ever felt any guilt whatsoever over his feelings for a woman other than his wife. Although the intensity of feeling between he and Donelson had waned and diluted into friendship many years before, he was always reminded of it by the sound of her voice. If Thorne had forgotten what it was once like to be in love — to be in love with Eileen Donelson at least, if he ever really had been — then something of that feeling always came back to him whenever he heard her sing.