Chapter 15
Pete gulped as he waited to hear what Susan’s father was going to ask them, or him, as it seemed that the guy was mainly paying his attention to him. Mike was also staring, his puzzled gaze going from one to the other.
Susan was the first to speak. “Thank you, Daddy. I’m glad you’ll be able to help Pete and his friends.”
Mike was worried about what his favor would be, especially knowing that Susan liked Pete. He waited with bated breath.
“My wife and I are attending an important party on Friday evening. Lots of very important and influential people will be there. Susan should be going with us, but she doesn’t want to attend on her own—her friends who are attending all have dates, and of course she doesn’t want to be the odd one out. So I would like one of you guys to offer to escort her.”
Susan smiled at Pete, and he, Mike and Micky just glanced from one to another, not knowing what to say. Micky quickly answered, “I’ve got a date with my girlfriend on Friday so unfortunately I’ll have to decline. Sorry, Susan.”
“I think Susan would like Peter to accompany her. Is that what you’d prefer?” He looked at his daughter, who nodded back.
Mike stared at Pete to see if could gauge his reaction to that. He seemed a little shocked and didn’t answer Mr. Richards. Micky noticed this and decided to speak. “Of course you’ll do this, won’t you, Pete?” He winked and smiled, hoping he was sending out the right vibes to make Pete say yes.
Mike gave Micky such an angry stare that Micky mouthed ‘Sorry’ to him. Pete blinked a few times and tried to think of something to say quickly. The first thing that came out of his mouth was, “I haven’t got anything suitable to wear.”
“Don’t worry about that. I have a friend who can get you a suit and I’ll buy or hire one for you,” Mr Richards responded back.
“Have we got anything planned for Friday?” Peter asked Mike.
Mike didn’t get chance to reply when Micky interrupted, “Everything should be back to normal and we don’t have a gig until Friday night.” He totally ignored the death glare Mike was giving him.
“I said I would babysit my sister’s twins on Friday. I can’t say no to her,” Peter quickly said.
“I’m sure your sister could rearrange it for another night, or someone else could step in for you. This evening can’t be re-arranged,” Susan answered.
“I also offered to give some guitar lessons to a few of the pupils from the school, remember Mike? Some of them are entering a band competition—you saw them play at the teen evening—that will keep me busy.”
“I could do that for you, Pete. Me and Mike can look after the kids. I can get them practicing on the drums, too,” Micky said.
Pete thought of something else to say. “I’m not very good at dancing, and I’m a vegetarian. Not many places cater for that.”
“I can contact the caterers and inform them of that and I’m sure something can be arranged. And don’t panic about dancing—I’m not very good at it, either. My wife says I have two left feet.” Mr Richards and Susan seemed to have an answer for every excuse Pete could come up with.
Mike couldn’t think of anything to help Pete, and he hoped Micky wouldn’t comment again, because he wasn’t helping the situation one little bit.
“Okay. I’ll change any plans I have, and I’ll do this.” Pete eventually gave in
Mr. Richards looked at his watch. “Susan, we need to get going. I don’t want to be late at the club. I’ll see you on Friday, Peter. Thank you. And don’t worry about the application—I’m sure your license will be approved in the next few days. Goodbye.”
Susan gave Pete a hug and whispered thank you to him. “I’ll be ready for you to pick me up for my exam tomorrow. You’ve got my address, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I wrote it in the diary. I’ll be there about half past two. The exam’s at three, so we’ll be there in plenty of time. I’m sure you’ll pass. See you tomorrow.” Susan waved and followed her father out of the front entrance.
“What have I done? You think I can get out of this?” Pete quizzed Mike. “Can any of you help me out here? I can’t do this! Please, guys, Michael…”
“Pete, you gotta do this! For me, for the club, for Ronnie and Vicky! It’s only one night. It might be fun and you’ll get a good meal too.”
“Mick, Susan’s gonna see it as a date, and you know that’s what she wants. The club managed well before you did the teen evening—we don’t even need to say anything to Ronnie about it. I’ll do my best to think of something…we could say you’re ill.” Mike squeezed Pete’s hand.
“She thinks it’s a date. I can’t go through with that. I’ve never been on a proper date with a chick before. I asked a few when I was younger, but they always turned me down and laughed at me for just daring to ask them.” Pete started to panic and was glad Mike was by his side.
“Let’s just forget about it for now, okay, not another word from you about it, Micky. You didn’t help at all. Pete, just breathe deeply and calm down.” Mike started to breathe in and out in time with Pete.
Pete was soon more relaxed. “Thanks, Michael. I’m gonna go upstairs. I think I might read and make a cup of camomile tea. That should help.” Pete stood.
“Okay, babe. I’ve got a few things to do and I’ll come up and spend some time with you.” He gave Pete a hug and stared across at Micky. “Mick, you can deal with James and his band when they get here. Remember that you said earlier you were willing to help them out? Just give me a shout if you need anything, Pete.”
“Thanks,” Pete replied before he left the other two on their own.
“I’m sorry, Mike. I want this to happen. It was a good night don’t you think? The kids had a good time—why shouldn’t they have somewhere to go? It proves we’ve made a success of running the club too. Ronnie will be happy, I’m sure.” Micky was trying his best to convince Mike, but Mike just sighed and walked over to the office without saying a word.
Micky walked over to the bar and Christine gave him a bottle of beer. “Here. It’s on me. Looks like you need it. It’s not been a good day, has it?”
“I know, and now I’ve made Mike mad. I hope he calms down soon. He’s stressed because Pete’s stressed, I guess. I know I should have kept quiet, but I can’t help myself sometimes. Mom always said my mouth gets me in trouble at times.”
Jacob joined them partway through their conversation. “I wouldn’t worry too much. Mike will come around. Hey, he forgave me for what I did, and you’ve known him longer than me.”
“The guy was really pushy, though. I know Vicky says Susan’s a bit of a spoilt princess, so he’ll want her to get what she wants. Pete just needs to be upfront and tell her there’s not gonna be anything to it, just friendship only. He needs to toughen up. Jacob, we gonna get this rota done and I need a word with you about Ben…sorry for changing the subject,” Christine said to Micky.
“It’s fine. I’ll go see how Mike is.”
“What’s the problem with Ben? Has he been complaining again? All that guy does is moan. If he doesn’t want this job, he can quit. I know people who would do the job much better than him,” Jacob stated.
“Yeah, he made some comment this morning about how Mike’s running the place. That’s why I gave him the job of cleaning up the stock room. I haven’t said anything to Mike yet. I had a talk with Annie, and she said it was best to see what you thought.” She went and checked Ben was still busy.
“If you want, we could approach Mike together? Or should I have a word with Ben, tell him to decide what he wants, get everything dealt with before Ronnie’s back?”
“Well, I don’t want to cause any problems for Ronnie. She and Vicky have gone away to relax, and neither of them want to be dealing with Ben and his mouthing off. You think it’s best to see if we can handle it between ourselves? We also had a visit from someone from City Hall this morning too—someone complained about the teen night.”
“All right and remember those judges could turn up any moment, too. We don’t need things to go bad just because he can’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Oh God, I forgot all about the best club on the strip competition,” Christine replied to Jacob. “We could do without that.”
A few minutes later, James, Jack and Paul came through the front entrance. “Hi. Are any of the guys around? We’ve come to practice—they know we were coming this afternoon. Could we have three Cokes, please?” James asked Jacob.
“Yeah. One moment, guys. Christine, do you wanna go let Micky or Mike know? I’ll get these drinks and then go deal with Ben.”
“Will do and thanks for that. It might be better another guy talking to him. I bet he doesn’t like me being the one to tell him what to do. I feel some of the male bar staff don’t like having me as a bar manager, but they always take notice of you.”
Jacob called at the office, told Micky the kids were there, and then went to check on Ben who he found sitting on some boxes reading a magazine. He coughed loudly to let Ben know he was there. Ben turned around and stood.
“Sorry, Jacob, I was just having a break. I’ve been busy. All the stock’s restocked, and I’ve made a list of what we need to re-order. I think Christine’s doing her best, but she seems to have other things on her mind. As least you’re here now.” He passed the list to Jacob.
“Well, you can get rid of these empty boxes now, and give the floor a mop, then go wipe down the tables and get the back room ready. There’s a private event in there this evening.”
“No problem. I’ll get on with it now.” Ben quickly started breaking down the empty boxes.
“Also, Ben, I’ve heard a few people complaining about you and your attitude. And I’ve noticed a change in you lately. If you aren’t happy here anymore, we can soon sort that out,” Jacob added.
“I’m fine. I do like my job, and I need it. I’m tired, I guess—I’ve been working two jobs to get the money for my new car. Who’s said anything?” Ben asked Jacob.
“I’m not going you tell you, but consider yourself warned. I hope to see an improvement in your work. I also hope you didn’t have anything to do with the reason that the guy from City Hall came here today,” Jacob stated.
“No…honestly that was nothing to do with me. I didn’t know they didn’t have a license for the events they’ve had since they’ve been running the club.”
“I didn’t mention anything about a license, Ben, so you’ve just dropped yourself in it! It was you, wasn’t it? I think its best if you quit, and I won’t mention anything to Ronnie. Just don’t contact or expect a reference from us, but get your things and leave.”
“All right. I’m sorry. Can’t I have another chance? What’s Christine been saying to you? I know she doesn’t like me, and Ronnie will always take her side because she’s queer too. They’d stick together.”
“Sorry. No chance, Ben, and in fact you just made things worse with that nasty comment. We’ll sort out your pay and forward it on to you.” Jacob tried to remain calm even though Ben had made him mad.
Jacob watch Ben collect his coat and some belongings and walked him out of the door. He went back over to Christine after he’d watched Ben drive away. “We won’t have any more trouble from him. We kind of came to a mutual agreement that him working here wasn’t working out anymore.”
“So he’s quit then? You gonna tell Mike?”
“Yeah, I’ll explain. It sounds like he was the one who complained to City Hall. Let’s hope the guys get it sorted before the girls get back,” Jacob said as he went to see Mike.
Micky was now sitting with the guys on the stage and talking Paul through some drum rolls while James and Jack were playing the guitar and bass. They both seemed to have new instruments. Micky remembered they came from a private school, so their parents would think nothing of getting their kids what they wanted.
“Our dads got us the new instruments—you should see my groovy black Slingerland drum kit! My dad’s even cleared out part of the garage for us to practice in. He’s happy we’ve found something to do with our spare time,” Paul said to Micky.
“My sister couldn’t make practice. She’s out on a date. She has a different boyfriend every week.”
“Sounds like someone I know—Davy in our band’s like that.” Micky laughed.
“Is he the British one? She thinks he’s cute, and she’s hoping he’ll be back soon. She often comes to your gigs. She doesn’t stop talking about him, but I’d say you’re a better singer than him,” Paul added.
“Thanks! Be sure to say that when Davy’s around, tell her he’ll be at our next gig on Saturday. I can introduce her to him.”
“She’d love that. Better tell her to come with her friends rather than a guy,” Paul responded.
“She’ll be well in with him if he doesn’t have to do all the flirting. He’s back now, but I won’t say anything to him. She can surprise him.”
Mike had thanked Jacob for updating him on the Ben incident. He hadn’t been too keen on the guy, and the queer comment he’d made was definitely wrong. They needed people working here who would accept anyone one, regardless of their color, religion or sexual preferences. He was glad Jacob had dealt with him, as he felt he wouldn’t have been responsible for his actions, and he was glad Pete hadn’t heard what Ben had said.
Mike went over and checked on Micky, who was busy with the kids. They were enjoying themselves, just trying a few Beatles songs. He pulled Micky to one side to let him know he was gonna go upstairs and see how Pete was, and he’d see if he wanted to come down and help with the group.
“Hey, babe, you okay now?” he asked going into the living room with tea for Pete, and coffee for himself. Pete put down his book, smiled and nodded.
“Yes, thanks, better than I was. I remembered I’m working in the studio on Friday with Coco, but it shouldn’t be all day. I admit I’m really nervous though. I’m gonna tell Susan its not a real date.”
“That’s fine. Whatever you want. I mean tell her about us if you want. I don’t mind.”
“I’m not sure she’d take that well. She’s only a kid—she’s got a crush on me, but I’ve no idea why. I haven’t encouraged her, but you know you can trust me, don’t you?” Pete reassured Mike.
“Of course. I would never worry about that. Hey, and I can’t fault her for having a crush. You are pretty adorable, but you’re all mine. Let’s finish these and you can go and help Micky out with James’ group. I knew you had some good ideas for the competition.” Mike squeezed Pete’s hand.
“No problem. You always know what to say, and what’s best for me.” He leaned into Mike’s chest and wrapped an arm around him. “That’s why I love you. Don’t forget that.”
Downstairs, Gemma had arrived and was watching Micky play with the kids. Christine and Jacob had finished off the next few weeks’ rota, had put up a sign for new bar staff, and had got everything ready for the club to open.
Pete had brought some sheet music down and called James over to have a look. “I thought of something different for you to try. What do you think?”
James looked over the music. “This looks great, mixing classical music with rock! I’m willing to try. It’s different.” He shouted the other two over to look and Micky came with them. Jack and Paul seemed to be interested, too.
“Of course we’ll help you with everything, and I’ve already signed you up for the competition. The first heat is on Saturday morning. Mike, Micky and I will be there to support you, and help you practice for it,” Pete said to the three young guys.
James looked shocked and glanced over at Jack, Paul and then the three Monkees. “You really think we can do this, that we’ll be good enough?”
“Sure, have some confidence in your abilities. You’re all good,” Pete answered.
“We’ll be there for you every step of the way like Pete said,” Micky said to back Pete up. “With our help, you can do it. Go on, go for it, guys.”
The kids went back over to start rehearsing some more.
“Well, don’t try and sneak too many beers on your date on Friday, Micky. Keep an eye on him for us, Gemma,” Mike said.
“It’s not a party or anything. My mom and dad will be there too. It’s a charity dinner event the mayor’s putting on for local business owners, so he needs to be on his best behavior. Oh, I forgot—have you got a decent suit, Micky? I could get it dry cleaned for you,” Gemma asked.
“I got a good suit so don’t worry. Hey, this sounds like the place you’re gonna be going too, as well, Pete! So I’ll be there to watch over him and Susan for you, Mike, make sure she keeps her hands to herself. You can watch with me, can’t you, Gemma?” She nodded and Micky laughed.
“I’m not worried about what Pete does. I trust him, but thanks, Micky,” Mike replied.
Micky didn’t really get a chance to answer Mike because two chicks came running in through the front entrance in a bit of a panic. They both stood trying to catch their breath for a moment before one spoke. Mike recognized her as Mary, the chick with the crazy husband.
“Is Davy here?” she shouted.
“No,” Micky answered. “Why, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Alan. He’s heard Davy’s back—a friend of his saw him coming out of the airport earlier today—and he got mad, so he’s out now searching for him. I guess he hasn’t been here yet?”
“No, we’ve not seen him since you were last in here. Where do you think he could be?” Mike asked.
“Well, he’s out for Davy’s blood and very worked up, and he knows where you live as well—he made me follow you home one night,” she replied turning to Micky. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, guys.” Jacob came out from the office area. “Davy’s on the phone, and he says there’s someone trying to break your front door down—what should he do?”
The three of them just glanced at one another and Mike went to get the keys to the Monkeemobile. “Jacob, you’re in charge. Come on, guys, we better go and save Davy’s ass. You can both come with us too,” he shouted at Mary and the other chick.
“Okay, come on, Katherine. Guys, this is my sister. I’m sure between the two of us, we can talk Alan out of killing Davy.” They both followed the Monkees to the car.
“I fucking hope so. I think this is all down to your husband having a case of mistaken identity,” Mike answered as he stared directly at Katherine.