Things I Never Said / Brian May.

Café

I started work a few days later. I was nervous, but it went smoothly. The only worry on my mind was that I hadn't heard from Brian yet. I would call him, but Sarah said that I had to just wait for him to call first. I was a little disappointed, but overall I just assumed he wasn't interested. Which kind of sucked, because I really did like him. He was a sweetheart.

My only qualm about my new job was that I wasn't really writing. I was editing other people's work and putting together articles. It wasn't what I really wanted to be doing, but it was better than having no job at all. Besides, with a little experience, I could be a writer in no time.

One night, my phone rang. It was past eight, so I could only wonder who'd be calling so late, unless it was Sarah saying she needed a ride home from wherever she was or maybe a relative. Despite my confusion, I answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is, um, is Eleanor there?"

"Speaking." I grinned. "What are you doing calling so late, Bri?"

"Sorry." He laughed nervously. "Everything has been so crazy. This is the first chance I've gotten to call in a few days."

"That's okay." I sat down on my bed, playing with the curled phone chord. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm great! And yourself?"

"Pretty good. I got that job I was telling you about."

"Really? That's amazing!"

"It's okay."

"Anyways, I wanted to ask you if you'd wanna go out to, uh, lunch. Or something. Get to know each other a little better." His anxiety was so clear that I could basically feel it, but I thought it was kind of sweet that he was nervous.

"That sounds really fun. I'm free Saturday afternoon, if that works for you."

"Well, I have practice at two...maybe earlier in the morning? Noon-ish?" He suggested. I nodded.

"Works for me."

We sorted out a place and time to meet, then bid each other goodnight. I smiled and laid back on my bed. I had a date. A date with a guy that I really liked. With one who was actually nice to me. And he was in a band! Sarah was going to be so jealous. I laughed to myself and closed my eyes, my mind set on Saturday.

Saturday rolled around, and I sat in the café, waiting patiently for Brian. He wasn't late or anything, I was just a couple minutes early. At eleven on the dot, he walked in and sat down across from me.

"Hello!" He said happily. He wore a dark purple button up with the top few buttons undone, and a vest over it. His style was a little odd, but it was endearing nonetheless.

"Hi." I smiled. "I got you a tea. Hopefully it's okay."

"It's wonderful, thank you." He sipped it. "How was your morning?"

"It was good. Woke up early and got some work done, so that was nice. I don't like sleeping in, it makes me feel like I'm wasting my day." I smiled and rested my chin in my hands. "How was yours?"

"Pretty good. Little stressful, though." He shrugged. "The guys wanted to start practice early. Said I couldn't, they got all mad. But it's alright. I wasn't about to blow you off."

"Really?" A blush came across my cheeks. "Oh, you really didn't have to...you could have gone."

"I don't mind." He smiled and leaned his elbows on the table. "What do you want to eat? On me. Think of it as paying you back for my tea."

"You don't have to."

"You're so modest," he teased.

"So?"

"So it makes it much harder for me to flirt with you." He smirked. "Now, What do you want to eat?"

"A breakfast sandwich is fine with me," I said, giving in. If he wanted to treat me, who was I to deny him? Free food is free food, right? But I still felt bad.

"Great." He ordered for both of us, and we continued talking. "So, I want to learn more about you. You seem like someone who has a very colorful past."

"You could say that." I laughed nervously and looked down. "Well, like I said, I was a journalism major. But I wouldn't call myself a journalist yet. I'm only editing at my new job."

"That sounds boring."

"It is." I nodded. "But it's better than nothing. What about you? Do you have a job outside of music?"

"Not particularly. Besides, I think we're on the edge of a breakthrough," he explained. "I just get the feeling, y'know?"

"What's your degree in?" I stirred my drink with a straw absentmindedly.

"Physics. I told you I'm a science person."

"I guess you did."

Our food came, and we made small talk as we ate. I ended up learning a lot about him. He was an incredibly smart person, which frankly wasn't exactly what I expected from a musician. Not to say musicians weren't smart, but they generally weren't scientists.

"I wanna know about the band," I hummed. "It seems so interesting to me, you know? Being able to make money off of something like that."

"It's not a lot of money. At least not yet." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I hope it ends up panning out so we can at least make livings off of it."

"I think it will. You're all talented people."

"Thank you." He flashed me a smile. My heart melted. "So, what do you want to know?"

"I don't know. What are the other members like? Sarah really likes your drummer, she thinks he's adorable."

"Oh boy." Brian huffed out a laugh. "Rodge is...certainly something."

"What do you mean?" I leaned back in my chair. I was starting to really grow comfortable around him. He gave off such a welcoming vibe, and I loved it.

"He's a little bit of a, uh...he gets around, let's say."

"Oh..." My face flushed. "So...Sarah shouldn't try and get with him?"

"I wouldn't say it's an amazing idea."

"I'll try and convince her." I smiled and tucked my hair behind my ears.

We talked for a little over an hour. Clearly, he lost track of time, because he turned pale when he looked at the clock. Already, it was one-fifteen.

"Shit," he hissed. "I'm so sorry, I have to go. I'm gonna be late. I have to stop at home and get stuff, and make it to the studio..."

"It's okay," I assured him. His worry faded and a small smile grew on his face.

"Thank you," he said. "I'll call you later, alright?"

"Alright." I smiled.

The next morning at work, I found my thoughts drifting. I smiled to myself as I looked over the article I was editing. All I could think of was Brian, and how nice he was, and how I couldn't wait to see him again.

I had to push the thoughts away. I didn't think I was ready for a new relationship. I didn't know when I would be ready. But hell if I wasn't gonna be friends with Brian. He was one of the nicest people I'd met in a long time.
No matter how hard I tried, though, I couldn't get him out of my mind. His smile, his laugh, how well-spoken he was, everything. I felt ridiculous at this point. I was crushing like a schoolgirl.

"Eleanor?"

My coworker's voice ripped me from my thoughts. I looked up and saw Patrick. He was a photographer. He was kind and sweet, but I didn't know much about him.

"You okay? You're just, like...staring at the paper," he said. I blinked a few times. How long had it been?

"Oh, yeah. Just, uh...tired," I explained. "Yeah. Just tired."

"Okay..." he nodded hesitantly before walking away, leaving me yet again to my childish fantasies about a guy I barely knew.