Long Away

Chapter 20

Two minutes later the five men were sitting in a circle in the middle of the studio.
"I'm Freddie, the lead singer. This is our guitarist Brian, our drummer Roger and our lyricist Ben," Freddie introduced them to the newcomer. Everyone raised their hands and mumbled a quick "hi" or "hey" when their name was being called. It was quite the surreal situation for Ben. Unlike Brian and Roger, he had never met Deaky before. And now he was sitting across from the nervous teen who had no idea what a legend he was going to become. Deaky shyly smiled at everyone before clearing his throat.
"My name is John Richard Deacon, and I was born on August the 19th, 1951. I have played in two different bands before, so I do have some experience."

"Very well, John," Brian said in a friendly tone of voice, "We just need a quick assessment of your skill level. You can play whatever you want." Deaky took a deep breath and started to tug at the strings of his bass. Ben watched in awe as the tension began to lift from him, and he played more and more complicated riffs like it was nothing. After a couple of minutes, Brian interrupted his playing.

"That is enough, thank you. I have to say I'm impressed. Our last bassist wasn't this good." Freddie nodded in agreement.
"You really are talented."
"That was quite nice," it came from Roger.
"No objections from me," said Ben. A relieved smile flashed over Deaky's face.
"What do you all think about a jam session? Just to see how we sound together," Freddie suggested.
"You know I'm always up for that Fred," Brian voiced his enthusiasm.
"Okay," Deaky agreed.

Roger put a hand on Ben's shoulder as he got up to take his seat behind the drum set.
"You'll be our judge."
"I will show no mercy," Ben said jokingly. Freddie let Deaky see his sheet music for Keep Yourself Alive. He briefly scanned the paper with his eyes, then nodded.
"Alright, should be easy enough." Ben situated himself in a chair facing the drum risers. Roger shot him a wink, making him blush. Freddie waited until Brian had plugged in his guitar.
"Everyone ready? On one, two, three..." And for the first time for everyone but Ben, Queen started playing.

It didn't take long for everyone to get convinced that Deaky had to become an official member of the band. For the rest of the afternoon, they showed him all of the other songs they had and chatted about their lives to get to know each other. For obvious reasons, Ben didn't contribute much to the conversation. Brian seemed to notice this.
"Is everything alright with you, Ben?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'm just a bit tired is all." Brian regarded him with a sceptical look, but didn't say anything else about it.
"Do you want to do something else?," he asked instead. "I could teach you some guitar chords if you want."
"I would love to see that," Roger said. Ben sighed.
"Then I don't really have a choice, do I?" Roger smiled cheekily.
"Nope."

Ben was quite nervous when he was sitting next to Brian with the Red Special in his hands. It wasn't like he had never played before, but he was rusty, and it didn't help that Roger was watching him with big eyes.
"You put this finger here, and this one here." Brian was showing him a couple of the easier chords. So far so good. As long as he didn't have to remember any of them.

"Maybe we could use a second guitarist," Roger said. Ben vigorously shook his head.
"Trust me, that is not a good idea."
"It was your idea," Roger reminded him.
"I did not think that through. I'll never be able to play half as well as Bri."
"Thanks for the compliment, but I think you are underestimating yourself," Brian said.
"Besides, as a background guitarist you wouldn't have to play the most complicated things."
"Do you also think that's a good idea?", Ben asked surprised. Brian shrugged.
"Why not? You don't have to do it if you don't want to of course, but your skills shouldn't be what's holding you back. You're doing quite well for your first lesson."
"Thank you," Ben said. It was nice hearing those words from Brian, even though he was probably just saying that to be polite.
"Playing for an audience is so much fun. You should at least give it a try," Roger urged him. The excitement on his face made it near impossible for Ben to say no.
"I'll think about it."

Eventually, Deaky said his goodbyes and headed home. Brian was about to leave as well, but Freddie held him back.
"There's something I wanted to ask you. Ben, why don't you and Roger go home already? This might take some time." He put a lot of stress on the last word, and Ben knew what he was going to ask.
"Sure, we'll fix up some dinner before you get home," he replied casually.
"Bye Brian. And thanks for the lesson. I had a lot of fun."
"It was my pleasure. Bye Ben. Bye Rog." He pulled both of them into a hug.
"Hey, no group hugs without me!" Freddie complained. Brian rolled his eyes.
"Come here then, drama queen."

***
Hey everyone! I hope you don't mind the slightly shorter chapters. As always your feedback is appreciated.
Until next week,

Tay