When the rehearsal was finished Eric was more willing to talk about Alain. It was something new to talk about, instead of the usual business about gigs and songs and whether anyone was owed a favour by anyone who happened to own a recording studio.

As he and Mal were packing their gear into Eric's van, Eric half-turned to him mid-load and said casually: "So, Alain huh. Is he still a dickhead?"

Mal blinked behind his glasses. It was nice to be talking about Alain after all, but that hadn't been the question he'd been expecting. "I don't know" he said, and then his loyalty kicked in: "I don't think so. We didn't really get a chance to talk much." Then, searching for evidence that Alain wasn't a dickhead, he said: "He's got a girlfriend."

"Jesus, seriously?"

"She's nice" Mal said, but it was mostly a guess. She was good-looking, anyway.

"Guess he didn't have you around to cramp his style any more, eh?" Steve chipped in. He'd been packing his own gear into his car - actually, his sister's car, he'd just borrowed it for the day - and he'd been listening in because he didn't have anyone to talk to.

"You've got to have style before someone can cramp it" Eric said. He turned back to Mal. "He doesn't want to, like, catch up with any or us, does he?" He made it sound like a horrible fate.

"I don't think so" Mal said. He checked his 'phone. "He never said anything."

"That's just how I like him" Steve said. "Shutting the fuck up."

Mal was dismayed that there weren't any messages from Alain on his 'phone. He hadn't been expecting any, but now their absence seemed like a slight.

"So how come you don't have a girlfriend?" Steve asked him, because it was the first thing that came into his head.