Free Beneath the Blonde by Stella Duffy Page A

can.”
    He turned to leave the pub, calling over his shoulder as he went, “Give my love to Siobhan if you see her.”
    Saz thought she probably wouldn’t bother. But she would keep an eye on Kev.

THIRTEEN
    Saz returned to the office late that afternoon determined to make some headway with the band. An hour after dropping her bag by the desk and doing her best to look efficient for Peta’s benefit, she went downstairs to make their coffee and managed to corner Greg in the kitchen, where she forced a conversation from him while he chopped onions, garlic and shallots for the sinus clearing soup they would eat before rehearsing that afternoon. He answered all her questions about how they had formed the band, his friendship with Alex whom he’d met one night in a pub and how Siobhan had been first his flatmate, then the band’s singer and then his lover. He told her a little about their several false starts, the time when he and Siobhan had already booked a trip to New York when the offer for their first real gig came up and about the huge fight between Alex and Siobhan when Siobhan insisted she and Greg go to New York anyway. He further explained that Siobhan’s temperament—”hot and cold running egocentricity”, as he described it—meant that even now their schedules were subject to change at a moment’s notice.
    He explained, as he added the chopped vegetables to the bubbling butter in a pan, onion tears running down his cheeks, “You see, Siobhan’s just so bloody contrary. The boys couldn’t stand it at first, didn’t know how to be with it. She takes some getting used to. But as we’ve become more successful—well, I guess we’ve all just resigned ourselves to the fact that you can’t ever completely plananything with her around. Even our manager accepts it as artistic licence. Mind you, I reckon he’s probably more used to performers acting up than we are. Certainly Alex had never come across it until Siobhan. Alex prefers to be the only one to make a fuss, if you get what I mean.”
    “What does he do?”
    “Tells her off in no uncertain terms.” Greg shrugged, “Alex and Siobhan have a love-hate relationship. More hate than love at the moment.”
    “They’re not getting on right now?”
    “It’s always a bit fraught when we’re rehearsing—and Alex does bring out the best in her. She’ll fuck around for hours and then be brilliant just to spite him.”
    “And he knows that?”
    “We all know it. Even Siobhan.” Greg stirred vegetable stock into the pan, “Knowing what’s going on doesn’t stop us getting back into our roles though. It’s the family thing.”
    “Band as family’s a bit of a cliché, isn’t it?”
    “Maybe, but true. Siobhan knows that whenever she stays with her parents they’ll want her to go to church with them. She refuses. There’s a big fuss. Every time, regular as clockwork. It’s the same with Alex. We rehearse, she fucks around, Alex gets pissed off, they have a slanging match, she sings like an angel.”
    “Couldn’t she just sing like an angel anyway?”
    Greg laughed, “I don’t think it would be as much fun that way. It’s not just Alex. Siobhan gets off on her tantrums too. And we all get annoyed with her, she just gets to him the most. He also can’t stand it if she acts up outside the band, at gigs or whatever. He likes us to keep our little traumas to ourselves.”
    “You make it sound like Alex is Dad.”
    Greg shook his head, “No one’s in charge. Officially. Or maybe everyone is. I don’t doubt that Alex thinks he’s the boss though.”
    “Doesn’t that annoy you?”
    Greg grinned at Saz, “Well, I don’t want to sound too sexist here, but I just don’t think guys care about that stuff as much as girls. Like, Alex is my mate, you know, he’s a really good friend.”
    “But he’s horrible to your girlfriend.”
    “Yeah, I know. But um … well, it doesn’t really affect me. I just try not to get involved. As long as it