Who Wants To Live Forever...

Under Pressure - Part 1

20th December 1985

London

Roger's POV

"Come in...you're the first to arrive..."  Phoebe announced after opening the door to Garden Lodge.  

"Hi Phoebe..."  I stepped in and pulled off my coat.  Following him into Freddie's private sitting room.  The one he used for smaller gatherings or band meetings. 

"Freddie said to make yourselves comfortable and if you need anything just let me know..."

"Thanks for doing this..."  I told Phoebe as he nodded and left the room.  I laid my coat over the back of a chair and walked straight to the small bar in the corner.  Pouring myself a double whiskey as I waited.  Soon the door opened and Brian appeared.  We shared a warm smile as I gestured at him with a glass and he nodded.  Confirming he too wanted a drink.

I carried the glass to him and held my own as he leaned in and we shared a kiss.  He took the glass from me and we had a seat at a small table.  Needing to take some notes and hating how business like this suddenly felt.

"I guess we need to do this..."  Brian stated as he slumped in the antique chair next to mine.  Appearing as downtrodden as I felt.

"We do..."  I agreed.  I reached in a  slim drawer and pulled out a pen and one of Freddie's notepads.  The Queen crest imprinted at the top of the page.

"So who is announcing their engagement first?"  I asked as I prepared to make some notes about what we decided.  Brian let out a sigh.

"Does it matter?"  he questioned.  We shared a look of mutual disdain at this whole state of affairs.  But we had to do something.  My father had already called and asked why he had not seen anything in the papers about us marrying our girlfriends.  It was evident he meant business and we had to act.

"With Dom being pregnant...I guess I can go first..."  I suggested.  Brian gave me a nod and I started writing.  Noting I would announce first.

"You could get engaged over Christmas..."  I recommended.  Brian shrugged.  Indifferent and not wanting to think about it.

"So I can announce this week and you can announce yours after the first of the year..."  I proposed.

"Okay..."  Brian responded quietly.  

"Have you talked to Chrissie about this?"  I asked him.  His face showed he had not and I grew concerned about his situation.  "Why not?"  I questioned.

"Because when I tell her I need to announce this to keep the peace with your father...her family is going to take it to heart...and it is going to cause problems with them when we don't go through with it..."  he confessed.

"Have they been pressuring you to get married?"  I asked.  Surprised by this information.  

"Yes...when they were here after Louisa was born...there were a lot of not so subtle hints about wanting us to get married..." Brian advised.  He then looked at me a little sternly.  "It's not easy on my end...you're lucky that Dom was married once before and her family is not so traditional..."   Brian complained.  

"Why didn't you tell me all this?"  I asked with annoyance.  I didn't want to be angry with him, but I realized this was going to create a big problem for him. 

"I didn't want to think about it anymore...and we seemed to be close to finding a way to get back together so I didn't mention it..."  Brian explained.  His answer was reasonable so I couldn't fault him for it.  I let out a sigh of discouragement at the complexity of things.