This Is Where I Came In (A Bee Gees Fanfic)

Running Into An Old Friend

"Ow!" I yell as my butt makes contact with the ground.

I’ve only been in Manchester 24 hours and I’m already getting hurt. I pull myself together and see all my groceries scattered all over the ground. At least I didn’t need to get eggs. I quickly move myself to my knees and start putting the stuff back into the bags.

"I'm so sorry," a man's voice speaks. Another pair of hands appear and start gathering stuff like I was. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Neither was I." I was carrying 3 completely full bags of groceries while trying to find my car keys. "It's a good thing I didn't buy--," I start to say but once I look up to see who I ran into, I stop in complete shock. "Maurice?"

The familiar face looks at me and it fills with shock just like me. "Christine? Is that really you?"

“Yeah. It’s really me. Is it really you?”

“I’d say so.”

We both stand up and pull each other into a hug. Maurice and I hadn’t seen each other in close to 9 years. When I was 10, Maurice and his family emigrated to Australia for a new start in life. I had figured they would stay there forever but I’ve just been proven wrong.

“What are you doing here?  I thought you’d still be in Australia,” I ask after grabbing my purse off the ground.

“We were. But we moved to London so Barry, Robin, and I could record our next album.”

Confusion fills my brain so I ask, “Next album? You guys have become big enough to record not just one but two albums?”

Without asking, Maurice picks up the refilled grocery bags and signals for me to start walking again with him following. “This is actually our third album.”

“Third?”

“Third. We recorded two in Australia with plenty of singles.”

“Then I guess those two were so good there, you came here to get more publicity.”

“Exactly. We got signed a couple weeks ago and we’ve been recording the new album.”

“That’s just crazy. Are you guys still going by the name, ‘The Rattlesnakes’?”

“We left that name here. We’re The Bee Gees now.”

“The Bee Gees,” I repeat hesitantly.

“Yeah. B-e-e G-e-e-s. It actually started out as the letters B.G. but we changed it to the way it is now.”

“How on earth did you guys think of that name?”

“Let’s just say there were a lot of people around us that had those initials.”

I shake my head as we reach the car. I unlock the trunk and Maurice sets the bags down. I close the trunk and turn to look up at Mo. There’s a decent height difference between us. I hated being about 5’ 5” and now that I see how tall Maurice had become, I hate it even more.

“Sound like Australia was a really good time for you guys. Who all’s back?”

“Pretty much everyone. Lesley decided to stay back though.”

“It must be beautiful there then.”

“It sure is.”

“So now that I know you guys are here, we have to get together.”

“We do.” Maurice leans against the bumper and crosses his arm. “So how have these past 9 years treated you?”

I sigh and do the same as him. “Mom, Dad, and I moved back to Orlando about a year after you guys left.”

“How come?”

“Grandma had the idea that I should finish school in the states where I was born. Dad’s family is also there and she figured it would be better for me to be closer to them instead of just her since you guys weren’t around anymore.”

I met Maurice and his family when they moved into the neighborhood that my grandmother lives in. I had been living in Manchester for about a year because neither my mom nor dad were getting much work in the states and figured it would have been better for me if we moved here. My grandma let us live in her house and we ended up living there till we decided to move back to America.

I ended up meeting Maurice and his brothers first when I went to play at my friend’s house which was right beside theirs. They were out in the yard and I knew they were new to the area. So I decided to say hello to them. They thought I was weird at first because I had an American accent still. After watching me and my friend play for a little bit, they decided to try and get to know me. From then on, they had been like family. The whole Gibb family took me in as one of their own and they all became good friends with my mom, dad, and grandmother.

Maurice looks me up and down and says, “Looks like you turned out okay. And you’re done with school, right?”

“Yeah. I graduated about a year ago. It took a lot of work but I caught up with my classmates. I had to learn all this new stuff that was different from what I learned here.”

“I bet you did. You went from one country to another.”

“I did. I don’t regret it though. I loved going to school there. But I never forgot what I had learned here.”

Maurice lets out chuckle before asking, “So you’re visiting?”

“Yeah. I actually got here yesterday.” I think about all the stuff Grandma told me and I realize she hadn’t mentioned anything about the Gibbs. “Have you guys even seen Grandma since you got back?”

“No. We’ve been too busy to come up here.”

“Well you need to sometime soon.”

“We will. And you need to make a trip to London so you can watch us record.”

“I couldn’t impose.”

“You need to. You’ll get to see Robin and Barry. Dad’s also there so you’ll get to see him. Can you come tomorrow?”

I think about what he said. It would be nice to see Barry, Robin, and Mr. Gibb. I guess I could spare a day out of my visit to see them and watch them do some work. “Okay. I’ll come down tomorrow.”

“Great.” A smile appears on his face and it reminds me from when he was little.

I dig around in my purse and pull out a little notepad and pen I have stashed away. I hand it to Maurice and he writes down the address of the recording studio they’re going to be at. He hands me back the pad and pen and I look over the address.

“What time should I be there?”

“Does 1 sound okay?”

“As long as you buy me dinner afterward.” If I was going to get there at 1, I will have to have an early lunch or take it to go. Then having to drive there and back, I’ll be tired.

“I can do that.”

“Then expect me at 1.”

“Wonderful.”

We both stand and give each other one last hug before we go our separate ways. I was in the car when I realize I should have asked Mo why he was in Manchester. I shrug it off and start up the engine. I had to get home before Grandma started to worry. She isn’t going to believe it when I tell her who I ran into.