Good Vibrations

Late Year's Eve?

 Jeni was quietly wandering in Carnaby Street, alone. When she woke up in the morning, she found Brian looking sick. He went home before he could even have breakfast, and left Jeni worried about him and his state. To relax, she decided she would take a walk outside and go shopping for the New Year's Eve party. She did not even know what day it was, and she had not known it for days. However, she did not care: she had Brian beside her, and everything was alright with Bonnie. Besides, she was going to have a good time with Roger and Freddie, who she had not seen for days now. While walking in Carnaby Street, she remembered the gifts she bought for the boys at Kleptomania. It made her wonder how Freddie was, and what he was doing. Roger told her that he was coming with his girlfriend, Mary, that she briefly met when she was looking for the music shop.

This time, she did not go to Kleptomania. She went straight to Granny Takes A Trip, as she knew that wonderful clothes were sold there. What she loved about this shop was that the clothes were an elegant mix between old clothes and modernity. She pulled the heavy door and got in the shop, greeted by the owner. She wandered in the sections, looking at the different dresses she could find. She took one out of the section to examine it closely. It was long, in a dark burgundy colour, with fancy sleeves and a tie neck. She liked it but put it back in the section. A song by Syd Barrett was playing in the shop, but she could not recognise the song. As she was walking in the shop, it looked like she was dancing, and the looks on people's faces amused her. After a long time rummaging through the clothes, she took the burgundy dress that she bought.

When the owner was putting the dress in a bag, Jeni frowned. There was a calendar behind her, and the date it was showing was curious. “1st January 1971?” she thought. She cleared her throat and faced the owner.

“Excuse me, madam, what is today's date?”

“1st January 1971, madam. Happy new year, by the way!”

Jeni's eyes widened. What?! The party was the day after, and they already were in 1971? Now she understood why they heard tons of firecrackers the night before. Jeni absent-mindedly handed the money to the owner, who frowned.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah... I just forgot that New Year's Eve was yesterday.”

“Oh, it happened to me too. Anyway, I almost never celebrate it, that could be a reason.”

Jeni nodded and took the bag containing the dress. She said goodbye to the owner, wishing her a happy new year at the same time, and left the shop.

With all the fuss between Bonnie and her, she had completely forgotten how time flew. Now, it sounded absurd to her. How did it come that she did not realise it was New Year's Eve? She had not watched the TV, nor listened to the radio, so she did not hear about it. She shook her head and ran a hand across her face. Now, she had to go straight home and call Brian if she could come and take care of him. “Poor Bri, he's sick for New Year.”

Jeni wiped her feet before stepping into the flat. She put her dress aside and removed her coat, which she hanged to the coat rack. She also removed Brian's scarf and kept it with her.

“Bonnie?”

No reply. She shrugged and picked up her dress. She headed for her bedroom, whose door was closed. Jeni frowned: she never closed the door. She slowly opened it and caught a glimpse of Bonnie, smiling widely, next to someone. When she recognised the person she was with, she gasped loudly and ran to this person. It was Brian. She jumped in his arms and kissed him.

“You bastard! I thought that you were sick!”

“Roger told me many times that I was a good actor!” he laughed.