Unexpected Encounters [B.H.M.]

30

There was a small alarm clock on the nightstand in the guest room. It was already past eleven when I woke up, but I was still exhausted. Another reminder that I was definitely getting old. It was sad. Groaning a little, I sat up, trying to get myself to wake up a little more. It took me a few minutes to somewhat accomplish that before I got up to get changed. I definitely wasn't young enough anymore to stay up this late, especially not regularly. But if it helped Brian...

I took a deep breath before I opened the curtains, trying to prepare myself for the brightness of the daylight, but it wasn't all that bad. For once I was glad about the fact that cloudy was pretty much the normal state of this country, it meant I wasn't being blinded first thing in the morning. I opened the window as well, fresh air never hurt anyone.

I quietly walked downstairs, in case Brian was still asleep. I didn't want to wake him. If he was still asleep, then I wanted to have breakfast ready before I woke him up to make it worth it at least. He had told me I should help myself to anything, so I was planning to do exactly that. When I came downstairs, I could see that Brian wasn't awake yet. That meant I was basically alone in his house and that was a little weird if I was honest. He really had to trust me...

That was a wonderful thought. I would do all I could to make sure that he didn't think I was abusing his trust. I knew that wasn't a natural thing for him to do, but I appreciated it so much. We really had become close friends which was very weird if you thought about it. And I did, in that moment. He was this rock star and I was a teacher... how unlikely was it that we became such good friends in such short time? Very, if you asked me. But I was very happy that things had turned out the way they were now. I was making breakfast for Brian May. It was surreal, but fantastic.

I had turned on the radio he had in the kitchen to keep me company while I cooked breakfast and then waited for him to wake up, but it was past noon and he still wasn't downstairs, I couldn't even hear him upstairs. I decided to put the food in the oven to keep it warm before I gave in to the curious side of me and started having a closer look at all the photos he had hanging and standing around. I hadn't wanted to do that with him awake to avoid seeming creepy, but I was still alone and it wasn't like I was looking through his drawers.

He had a lot of photos. Surprisingly many of the band and his travels, and surprisingly little of his family. But maybe that was because a lot of his family pictures had his wife in them too and he probably didn't want to have photos of her hanging on his walls at the moment. He probably still had them, just not on display on the walls anymore. Who could blame him?

When it was nearing 1pm, I was getting a little impatient, slowly but surely. So I decided to search his kitchen for a tray and to bring him the breakfast to bed. I found a cute little tray and managed to fit all the food on there, as well as a bottle of water. I was planning to make tea for us once he was awake, but I knew myself and walking up stairs with a tea pot on a tray was not something I should be doing. That would not end well. I cared about him, but not enough to burn my hands with tea.

Still carefully, I went upstairs with the tray and gently knocked on his bedroom door with my elbow. However, nothing happened, unsurprisingly, so I tried to balance the tray with one hand while I opened his door with the other one, only a little bit. I didn't want to be totally creepy. Instead, I knocked on the door again and cleared my throat. "Brian? Brian, I think it's time to wake up... I made you breakfast, if you want."

Still nothing. So I knocked again. "Brian? You're in there, right?" Who knew. Maybe he had left the house, as weird as that would be.

However, that didn't seem to be the case because I could hear something inside the dark room. "Frida?" That was him, that was Brian.

"Yes, it's me," I replied quietly. "It's past 1pm, and I was getting worried about you. I made you breakfast..."

"You made breakfast?" He asked and I could hear movement in the room. It took a few moments before he appeared in the light, squinting, his hair a complete mess and he slowly rubbed his eyes before he glanced at the tray in my hands.

"I thought maybe you'd want breakfast in bed," I explained, hoping I wasn't overstepping any boundaries.

Brian took a deep breath. "Oh... right, uhm... I think I'll just come downstairs in a minute... okay? Not that I don't appreciate the effort but..." He scratched his head and cleared his throat. "My room is a huge mess at the moment and it probably smells awful in here, I don't want to do that to you."

He was right, the air in his room did seem a little stale. "That's okay, whatever you prefer. If you want to, you can go ahead in the bathroom and I'll open your curtains for you, let in some fresh air.."

Brian hesitated.

"I'm not judging at all, Brian. You should see my flat at times, it can be a huge mess. It's all good, I promise," I told him, gently rubbing his arm.

"Alright," he gave in and surprisingly smoothly moved past me, going into the bathroom. I placed the tray down on the chest drawer he had in the hallway before I went into his room, turning on the lights. And then I needed a moment because he hadn't been exaggerating, his room was a huge mess. Worse than a teenage boy's room and that said quiet something. I tried to keep the breathing to a minimum until I reached his curtains and opened them before I opened the windows as well. Fresh air, that would be good for him.

I worried about him. I hoped he didn't take this the wrong way, I wasn't trying to belittle him. I knew how it felt when you were down, really down, and I wanted to help him as much as I could. I wanted to save him some of the struggle which I had gone through. Once there was more light in the room and the air was getting a little better, I made his bed before I picked up a few clothes that were scattered on the ground and gathered them on his bed so he could bring them into the laundry basket.

"Frida, you don't have to clean my room," Brian said softly when he came back into his room, looking a bit more away than he had looked before.

"I'm not, I'm just picking up a few things here and there, sorry. I couldn't resist," I apologised.

"You also made my bed," Brian pointed out with a small smile.

"Oh well... yes. I did. Reflex, I think. Sorry." I shook my head a little. "I know you can handle things on your own."

"No, I appreciate it. I think you maybe know what it's like... sometimes even the easiest things seem impossible. Sometimes that includes making the bed and doing the laundry...," Brian said, keeping his head down.

I closed the distance between us and gently rubbed his arm, trying to comfort him. "I do know, yeah... don't be afraid to ask for help, Brian. I promise I'm not judging you at all. I've been there," I admitted, taking a deep breath. "I'm always here to help with the everyday tasks that can get overwhelming. Let me know if you need a hand hanging up the laundry, cleaning the house or changing the bedding... it's always easier when there are two people."

"Maybe we can do a thing or two after breakfast?" Brian asked, looking down at me.

"We can do that, absolutely," I told him, nodding with a smile. "But then let's have breakfast downstairs, I'll make some tea for us as well, okay?"

"That sounds nice actually," Brian gave in before he leaned down to kiss my cheek. "Thank you, Frida. I really appreciate it, even if it might not always seem that way.."

"I know, Brian," I assured him, smiling at him. "I know. C'mon, let's go have some breakfast, I think that will do you good."

He nodded in agreement before he placed his hand on my back, guiding me downstairs.