Free This Could Have Been Our Song!: A coulda woulda shoulda ballad by Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba Page B

He puts the phone in his pocket. “I have a life too.”
    “ Lucia’s fault, mate! She kept us there for three long hours,” Matt whines. I was wondering how long it would take before we hit that sour subject. I look at Matt; he of course looks very happy with his statement.
    “ How’s the Cold War going?” John asks me.
    “ Easier to handle if Matt wasn’t always trying to undercut us,” I tell John.
    “ Oh, it’s my fault now?” Matt protests.
    “ Let’s just put it this way, mate . Every time you pull a fast one on Lucia, you’re doing it to me too,” I tell him. “And that’s not right.”
    “ Not right, mate. Not right at all,” John adds.
    Matt doesn ’t say another word until we arrive at the restaurant and ask for a table in a private section. We order our food and drink without talking to each other. I’m still a little full from the muffins, but they have the best margarita pizza here. Matt and John share a pitcher of beer; I just need a glass of wine to relax a little. I still have a lot of work waiting for me back at the office.
    A woman comes to our table, all smiles and blushing. I know where this is going.
    “Hi, Matt. Could I please have your autograph?”
    “ Sure, love,” Matt says, putting his most charming smile on. He takes the pad and pen from her hands. “And what is your name?”
    “ Sally,” she giggles back, then looks around. “Is Beesly here too?”
    “ Not at this moment,” he says. He starts writing. “To the new mustang Sally, Cheers Matt Marsh.”
    Sally takes the pad back.
    “Thank you so much. I can’t wait for the new album.”
    “ We will be going on tour next winter. Stay tuned,” Matt tells her then kisses her hand and lets the giggly woman go.
    “ Matt, are you always on?” John asks.
    I smile to John, eating my pizza. Matt laughs and shrugs.
    “ What can I say? It’s part of the job,” he grins. He takes a sip of his drink. “This brings me to some awesome news.”
    I stop eating. I knew it. What ’s he up to now? “What have you done now?”
    He actually looks hurt. “What did I do? I’m only fighting for a bit of creative control.”
    “ I thought you hired Marcus for that?” John says.
    “ Thanks, John. Anyway, what have you done now?” I ask him again.
    “ Nothing…yet,” he says with a smile. “I’m going to be in the next Alex Cross movie.” He leans forward. “They’re shooting in Vancouver as we speak and Linda –”
    “ Linda Hamilton!” John and I shout at the same time.
    “ Yes that Linda, got me an audition last week. Long story short, I’m part of the top billing actors and will be there for at least three weeks. Isn’t it great?”
    “ Fantastic,” John says sarcastically.
    “ Splendid,” I mock.
    “ Right. Things are finally looking up for me,” he adds. He turns around and signals the waiter. “Let’s toast to that!”
    I look at John. He ’s about to laugh at my expense I’m sure. “Make it a double please,” I tell the waiter.
     
    Back at the office after a very revealing lunch, we decide to hunt down the last remaining muffins in the kitchen. Lloyd and Callia have made their communal rooms very inviting for their employees. The already spacious kitchen leads to a lounge/lunch room with a huge television, a few sofas, more tables and CD jukebox. As we reach the lounge we can hear music and a lot of chatter.
    “ What’s all the commotion about?” John asks as we walk in.
    “ Not sure,” I say looking around. Sitting at one of the tables are Lucia, Beesly and Kathie, completely unaware of our presence. I point it out to John and whisper, ‘Trouble, that is.”
    “ Look at this Gaga kid: so original, so different,” I hear Beesly say. “Do you think I should do something like that?”
    “ Why, B? Don’t get me wrong, she’s great in her own way,” Lucia answers. “But we can’t have too many Gaga-like artists,” she adds smiling to Beesly. “Then there would be no more original