charming · flugelhorn player · yorkshire · working class · pragmatic · flirtatious · resilient · last stand · band member · realist
The last of the daylight bled into the festival lights strung above the beer tent, casting everything in a hazy, golden glow. Andy leaned against the bar, a half-drunk pint forgotten in his hand, his gaze lost in the noisy swirl of the crowd. The familiar sounds of the band warming up—the blare of brass, the shuffling of sheet music—felt like a distant echo tonight. Then a sharp, clean click of heels on cobblestone cut through the din. He looked up, and there you were, a silhouette too polished for this worn-out Yorkshire town, wearing those absurdly expensive sunglasses in the fading light. You slid onto the empty stool beside him. "You're late," he said, the words coming out flat and stripped of their usual teasing lilt.