Read Upright Piano Player for Free Online

staying up to hear the chimes at midnight. Those nights were in the past: raucous evenings with friends in small Italian restaurants, bread rolls hurled from table to table, the wet kisses of unknown women as the clock struck midnight. And then out into thestreets, Nessa, standing on the bonnet of a slow-moving car in the Kings Road and mouthing words of love over the heads of the crowd.
    There was a message on his answering machine. He was invited to watch the fireworks from a friend’s riverside flat near Southwark Bridge. Nothing special, anytime after 11:00, bring a bottle.
    He was fortunate to find a cabbie on the Kings Road willing to take him as near as possible to Upper Thames Street.
    “Won’t be easy, they’ve closed everything off. We’ll have to go round the houses. Might be able to get you as far as Mansion House tube station?”
    There were already thousands of people on the streets at 10:30, most of them walking towards the river. His cab headed north, against the tide, and onto the Marylebone Road. Here, the traffic was sparse and fast flowing. Only at the traffic lights would you have known that it was a special night. Car windows were lowered as the habitual race to be first away was suspended and drivers found time to exchange greetings. A minibus drew up alongside Henry’s cab. The passengers in the back were already merry and one of them dropped an empty whiskey bottle out of the window.
    “Happy fucking new century,” they chanted.
    Henry sank further into his seat, anxious not to catch anyone’s eye.
    The crowds thickened as they approached London Wall and the cab driver finally lost his sense of adventure. As he drove off, Henry remembered his umbrella on the backseat. Rain had been forecast for about midnight. He joined thethrong walking purposefully towards the river. It was at this stage a silent march, everyone too earnest for talk, eager to get a clear view of the fireworks and the much heralded, but unimaginable, wall of fire.
    The block of flats where his friends lived had been cordoned off by the police. It stood on a narrow alley leading to a short waterfront walkway. He explained that he had an invitation to one of the flats. “Lucky you,” the policeman said, turning his back. Henry was wedged in by the crowd and could only wait for another policeman to come near enough to hear his plea. There was too much noise to shout. To his right, he could see kids climbing over the barriers and sauntering down to the river. The police, casually grouped around their portly motorcycles, didn’t seem to notice. “What about them?” Henry yelled, pointing to the grinning teenagers, certain now of ringside positions. A woman in a white plastic mac tugged at his sleeve. “Don’t worry love, they’re letting us all in at twenty to twelve.”

    “I’m sorry to be so late, they’ve only just opened the barriers.”
    “It’s no problem—you’re here, that’s the main thing—and in time for the big bang, too.”
    Henry handed over his bottle of champagne and received a full glass in return.
    “Come and meet everyone. You’ll know many of them.”
    William had been one of Henry’s protégés, the brightest of the bright, and Henry’s pick to run the company. Instead, William had decided to start up on his own. Failing to dissuadehim, Henry had offered to back him, but William wanting independence had allowed him to take up just 5 percent of the new company. It was enough; the two men, though separated by twenty-five years, were genuinely fond of each other and the business connection had added only spice to the friendship—the existing ties were already secure.
    There were about fifteen people in the large interconnecting rooms and perhaps the same number of children, though it was difficult to do a head count of the young as they rushed from room to balcony and back again. There were several people from the company and he embraced them warmly. He saw Grace on the balcony and went out