Memories II

|16| • Not Mr Reid •

It didn't take too long before there was a short, sharp knock on the door and a very smartly dressed young woman rushed inside, disrupting the quiet atmosphere which had laid among us six. "Hello," she greeted us - the guys mostly probably because when her eyes found me, she hesitated. "Oh. Are you the manager? I have... John Reid down for that, that's not you," she pointed out with an accent that very obviously pinpointed her as a local woman.

"No it's not," I agreed. It was quite obvious that I wasn't Mr Reid.

"I'm John Reid," their manager introduced himself. He was sitting next to John, at the other end of the table.

"This is Ms Callahan, she is with me," Brian stated, reaching for my hand. "She won't be part of the interview."

The interviewer looked at me for another moment before she nodded. "Alright. My name is Ann Lawrence, I would like to thank you for agreeing to meet with me," she stated, setting up her recording device.

Neither of the guys really replied, except for with a mumbling, so she sat down as well. What followed was exactly how I had pictured such an interview somehow. Not that there was much potential for variation, but the recoding process had been different from what I expected, so I tried to keep an open mind after that experience. Even though Brian had stated I wouldn't be taking part in the interview, Miss Lawrence apparently couldn't resist asking me a few questions too. I answered them - because that was what you did when someone asked you a question - only to be told off by Brian quietly. Apparently that was not a good thing to do, so I tried to keep my replies as short and vague as possible to avoid putting the spotlight on me but at the same time not to seem rude.

It was harder than it sounded, but somehow I got through the interview as well, and I did somewhat well too, at least in my opinion. I would have to ask Brian about that later because he was the one with much more interview experience. Miss Lawrence stayed cool and detached with me, other than with the guys, but that was fine with me. I wasn't looking for friends, I needed an interviewer who didn't hit on my boyfriend. And she didn't, because Freddie and Roger seemed to be more to her liking.

After about forty minutes, we left the conference room again, but not before Miss Lawrence had gotten the guys to sign a record she had brought - A Night at the Opera, their latest album, and a good one, no one could deny that.

When we left the building, I breathed a sigh of relief, even though it was raining more now. We had expected that though, so Brian and I were dressed appropriately. And it meant that we would be able to go and explore a little, because he could wear his hood without being suspicious and rainy streets usually had fewer people on them. We got in the car with the others to be dropped off near Holyrood Park, so we could walk up the Royal Mile all the way to Edinburgh Castle, and then go back to the hotel from there. It wasn't a complicated route, but Brian still managed to get a map from our driver, with the absolute promise to return it when we would be driven to the concert location the following day.

At Holyrood we got out, the map in my handbag, before we watched the car drive off in the rain. It was nice to just be the two of us. Brian reached for my hand as soon as we got out, so we could have a look around and see which direction we'd have to go. It was mostly Brian who managed the navigation, because I was distracted with looking around.

"It's this way," he instructed me confidently after a few moments, so we started to walk along the street. It seemed like a beautiful, very natural area of Edinburgh, and as Brian pointed out we would be walking past the Scottish parliament building on the way to the Royal Mile. We did manage to find it, and Brian pointed out a few things here and there, but we mostly just looked at the old buildings and the little shops which were scattered here and there, becoming more and more frequent the closer we got to the Castle. It was a beautiful walk, I really enjoyed it, and I was glad Brian had managed to squeeze that in for us. He told me how he usually tried to look around a little if he got the chance, but with having been alone, the motivation hadn't been quite the same because he hadn't had anyone to show around, like he could show around me now.

He was talking like he was planning for me to join him on tour more regularly, and while I loved hearing him include me so closely in his plans for the future, it was still a little intimidating to be thinking about how much my life would probably change. So far it had still been mostly the same, in the nearly two months that we had been together. It was work, and then Brian time around my shifts, but with him touring, and with him wanting me to join him on his tours so much, that couldn't continue this way. We would have to work something out, but I would be bringing that up once we were back in London for good, once I had a little more 'tour' experience, even though this wasn't really a tour. It were two city trips a few days apart, but it seemed like it was the most I would get until the new year. Their album didn't seem to be finished anytime very soon, and he had told me they wouldn't be touring over Christmas and New Year's.

If I was honest I thought that was good, because I wouldn't have liked not spending our first holiday season as a couple apart, or somewhere on the road. This would be the first time in years I'd have a reason to really celebrate, so I wanted to make the most of it. I had always enjoyed the idea behind Christmas, despite my messed up family, so I wanted to spend a nice Christmas with Brian, and possibly his family.

We still had so much to talk about, no one could deny that. But I still tried to focus on the here and now, because this was where we could create memories, for the tough times, to get us through the times when we would be apart. Because it were the little moments, like walking through Edinburgh one rainy evening together, that would mean the most in the end.

We made it along the Royal Mile and to Edinburgh Castle without Brian being stopped, which was wonderful, because it allowed us to just be normal. We couldn't go inside the castle anymore, because it was too late, but it was still a sight worth being seen. We stayed on the little square in front of the castle, which was not actually square at all, looking across the wall that marked off the very steep fall. The weather wasn't great, so the view wasn't either, but that was okay. We enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Eventually, however, we returned to the Royal Mile, walking a little bit until we found the turn which would lead us down the Castle Hill so we could walk back to the hotel. It was getting late, and we were both looking forward to some food. We considered going out for dinner, stopping in one of the restaurants we walked past on the way, but none of them really seemed to catch our attention, so we agreed to just return to the hotel and make use. of the supposedly excellent room service they offered. It was a business expense either way, so it didn't really matter where we ordered some food.

It was still surprisingly far to the hotel, so by the time we got there, my shoes were slowly but surely giving in to the rain which had gotten heavier and heavier with time, and I was looking forward to taking them off before my feet were completely soaked. Because Brian was still wearing his hood, and not very many people were really paying attention to their surroundings as closely as they might have had it been dry, we got in the front entrance of the hotel without any problems at all. It was nice not encountering anyone on our way to the room, and when we got to the room it was even nicer knowing that we could stay inside now, dry and warm. That was the best part of this typically British weather, returning home. Brian started the kettle in our room so we could have some tea and we changed into warm comfy clothes while we waited for the water to boil.

Freddie came by our room, asking if we wanted to go out with him, but it only took a glance for Brian and me to decide no, we were fine. We had been out in the rain enough. So Freddie simply wished us a nice evening, not without a teasing remark of course, before he left us alone again and we cuddled up on our bed with our tea and the room service menu. A cosy evening like this was exactly what we both had in mind, some more quality couple time because neither of us had enough of that yet. We ordered some room service, cuddled in bed with the TV turned on while we waited for that, and then had dinner at the small table we had in our room. And once we were finished, we returned to the bed, cuddled a little more and simply enjoyed each other's company because that was what made us both happy.