Here we are at the halfway point; I hope that my readers are enjoying it as much as I did writing it.

Part 20

As I made ready for bed I thought about the evening. Had I been too impetuous? Was I wrong in singing with the Four Winds in public? Was I too brazen in putting Gaurav on the spot? I savoured the taste of his cum in my mouth before I brushed my teeth and decided that what had been done; is done.

With my nightdress and robe on I sat by the window and looked out at the lights and, pulling the CDs from my bag, looked at one and wondered how on earth I now had a CD of my singing being sold to the public. Eventually I went to bed and slept like a baby.

Monday morning I needed to call Janet. When I did get through to her she told me that she was just about to call me to organise a meeting at a café we both knew. I wondered if she was about to tear strips off of me and dressed conservatively with plenty of tissues in my bag in case I started crying, something that I had felt coming on more and more as the hormones took control. When I walked into the café it was like walking into a board meeting. Janet was there and also Birgitta, Aganee, Tom and Adam. I was sat at the last place at the table and Janet turned to me and what she said shook me to the core. Instead of anger, she smiled and said “Thank you for your quick action last night. Alan has told me what happened. I have listened to the CD you made very early this morning. I must say that a few tracks were so atmospheric I nearly cried into my muesli and Birgitta told me that it was much more sensual live.”

Alan said “Last night we sold nearly a hundred CDs to the best people who may want to book us, thank you for singing. We all felt the vibe while you were out in front.” Birgitta then added “I had never heard such a great performance by a local singer. It was if I had been shifted to a bar in the prohibition era. I know that others at my table were overcome by it all as well.” Aganee said that she had listened to the CD when the others gave her one and she had needed a tissue while she heard it. She said that she wished she had been there.

Tom said that the band wanted me to put down more tracks. He knew that our Dhawanee album would be wound up this week and he offered the use of the studio for the same evenings after that for as long as it took. I turned to Janet and asked “But what about me and the Dhawanees, we have a lot of work on the books already. She said “I have already signed Alan on as a client and, before the end of the week; I will represent the Four Winds. All I need is for you to sign a separate contract as Gayle and we can start to make it work.”

I pointed out that there was the likely tour with Anudeep and a possible tour of India and she said that she did not have a very good regard for Salman, having been talking a lot with him over the last few weeks. She told us that she had phoned India this morning and had spoken to Anudeeps’ agent. What she had been told was not exactly the same that Salman had told us. It is correct that they are distant cousins and it is also correct that Anudeep sent the masters. The difference lies in the fact that Salman had told him that he would be releasing the two albums in the UK with nothing said about a new backing. She said that the agent will look for a local band to match us before anything else was done and was amazed that Salman did not even have us under signature.

“Tom has offered us the studio time that you spent making your own CD. Salman has not paid anything and Tom was just given a handshake deal. We will counter that with an actual invoice and prompt payment so Salman is no longer the owner of the Dhawanee album when it is completed. He has not paid for the backing sessions either so may lose the rights to the reworked albums as well. The thing is that the Indian music will only sell big in India and the Four Winds album has a much larger audience so I would like to get another CD out there.”

Aganee and Birgitta told us that they would subsidise any future sessions on the basis that Hi-Jet Supermarkets are on the label as supporters and that they get copies of the CD at a discount to sell in the shops. Janet then explained that she would promote the Four Winds on two levels, one being the original four members and the second, at a premium price, would be with me out front and that she would make sure we did not clash with the Dhawanee shows.

Tom and Alan made their exit and it left us four women to have lunch. Aganee was extremely sorry to have missed the Gaurav proposal live but said that a number of her friends had already sent her video. Janet then asked me about the sangeet on Thursday evening. She said it was not truly traditional as there will be a lot of Anglos present but she wondered how we would get on without Balnoor. I said “don’t you worry; we have managed to get a replacement for the two shows. Balnoor understands the reason and we have had a couple of practise sessions with her. She is a devout Muslim girl called Baajrah and will be in a burqa. She does play quite well and will also play the Saturday reception.”

All three had grins on their faces and Birgitta said that she had been invited to the sangeet and both she and Guptar would be at the reception and that she couldn’t wait to see the girl play. Janet just looked at me and said "It had better not back-fire on us!” I told them that it will all be in ‘the best possible taste’ and we then enjoyed our lunch. Afterwards I went home and rested up after a solid few days.

Tuesday we had the last session in the studio. We needed to finish with about ten minutes of music and had decided that a good raga would do the trick. It was a difficult one as it started at full speed and then tapered off with Husnia playing solo sarod. It was the mirror image of the opening one and we thought that it would be very suitable. Being complicated it took us all evening to get it right and we were exhausted when Tom called out that it was a take. He said that he would post-produce the album and then give us all a copy to approve.

Balnoor told us that Gaurav had been playing the Four Winds CD over the shop speakers almost on repeat and that we had better get a new album for him to play as the staff were starting to sing along as they worked. He had been given Thursday afternoon off as long as he worked a full day Sunday to make up. The Sunday opening was only about six hours so it was not a huge thing. Wednesday evening we did a full sangeet show in the hall, in full dress and with the doors securely locked. We all decided that the violin actually sounded sweeter than usual and wondered if Balnoor was absorbing DNA from the used burqa.

Thursday afternoon we were ready in our stage dress when Janet arrived with the mini-bus. We put our kit in the bins and introduced Baajrah to her and all had smiles as Baajrah gave her a Muslim greeting in a high-pitched voice. We all piled in and Janet drove away, saying “I love it!”

The sangeet was no way similar to the one I played for Grette. For a start it was in the back room of a large pub and half of the guests had already had a very good lunch with plenty of booze. The stage was set when we started playing and someone called out “When are the strippers coming?” and this was accompanied by drunken cackling. Some of the crowd had nice Indian dresses on but most had western dresses with high hems and lots of cleavage. I could hear, from the slight change in the violin playing, that Balnoor was seeing something completely new when we got to play the snake dance. I had never seen a hundred drunk women not only trying to dance like a snake but there were several who had decided that it may well be the Dance of the Seven Veils. I saw more breasts that afternoon than all the ones I had seen or even dreamed about in my previous life.

Birgitta sat with Janet with a look ranging from amazement to utter disgust at the carry on. Believe it or not, as we wound up our last song we heard the strains of stripper music coming from a boom-box carried by one of six large men with gleaming pecs who walked into the room. We made our exit quickly before we were led astray and Birgitta joined us at the bus while we were putting our kit in the bins. To say she was not happy was an understatement. She said “I don’t care whose cousin this girl is, I will not travel two hours to see her hitched. If that’s her friends, I hate to think what her husbands’ side looks like.”

As we got into the bus we could hear the cackles and whoops coming from the room. Balnoor sat there and was shaking so Tavleen sat by him and held his hands until he stopped. Janet was sorry that we had been subject to the experience but Husnia pointed out that we had been paid for this and it was the reception that was the auction win. Actually, the reception was a lot of fun once we knew what to expect. The husbands’ side ranged from upright Anglos to a group of biker types that I think he may well call his ‘brothers’. We did a lot of our western style music first and only played the more traditional stuff after the happy couple had staggered out to their car, taking most of the inebriated revellers with them, leaving just the more normal guests who did appreciate our input for the rest of their evening. The father of the bride even went around with a wine bucket and gave Janet a good amount in tips.

On the way back Balnoor went to the back of the bus and stripped off his disguise, putting on jeans and a tee-shirt that he had brought with him. Janet stopped at a services area and bought us all a snack and drink. “Well done” she told us “that was a booking that I will hope we never see again.” Balnoor just said “I think I may have enjoyed some of it but I had a hard time getting to sleep on Thursday night.” Janet told us that she had charged over the top for the sangeet so we would all get a small bonus and we toasted our fortune with clinks of cups.

Marianne G 2021