People Can You Hear Me? [A Brian May Story]

[18]

I stood at the side of the piano that occupied the wall opposite the couch. Freddie was playing some kind of melody, without any music sheets I noticed. Jo and Roger had stepped out for a quick smoke break. John and Veronica sat quietly on the couch, holding hands.

Freddie looked up at me. "I'm not very good, but I get by," he said.

Well, that seemed false. Whatever he had been playing sounded very pretty. I heard some footsteps and turned to see Mary walking back into the room. She gave me a small smile. "Sorry I left," she said. "Genevieve, can I talk to you?"

I nodded and smiled gently at Freddie before following her out the door and into the hallway of the building. "If you haven't noticed, Brian is very nervous. He really wants to talk to you but is afraid of messing up or offending you."

I furrowed my brow. But, we have talked fine before...?

Mary nodded, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. "Yes, but now his courage has deflated a bit. I do notice a bit of miscommunication between you two."

I sheepishly nodded. I feel like he's being condescending towards me.

"Oh, well... I think only for the sugar part. But no, Brian would never do that on purpose. I think he was just trying to help you and it came out the wrong way," she said.

Well, what can I do to help him?

I didn't want to make him uncomfortable in any way. I wanted to get to know Brian, learn more about his job as a teacher, a student, guitarist.... he seems very multifaceted. A little bit like me in a sense. He is acting a bit strange, just jumping up and leaving but, if what Mary says is true, I need to step up and help Brian. I don't want Mary to have to guide him. She won't always be there to help translate.

"Well, you could write things down like you have before." Mary rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "And for every word, show him the sign for it. Brian is an excellent visual learner, he draws everything."

Oh, that helps a lot! Alright, I'm feeling a little more confident on how to approach this. Okay, I think I can do this.

Mary smiled. "I know you can, you're-," she paused, looking over my shoulder to see Jo and Roger coming back.

"Girl talk?" Roger asked.

"Actually, we were just done," Mary said.

Aw, I actually wanted to know what she was going to say. But perhaps another time. We all head back inside. Freddie is writing something down at the piano and John and Veronica have turned on the television, watching some kind of news programming. Brian is back in the room, clearing off the table. I feel my heart race a little. This is the perfect opportunity for me to step in. I quickly walk over to the table and start grabbing the empty plates and cups.

Brian looks down at me, his cheeks seeming infinitely a flushed color. "Oh, you don't have to clear the table, Genevieve. You're our guest."

I simply smiled and shook my head, continuing to collect plates. Brian opened his mouth to protest again but Mary stood on her tiptoes and whispered something in his ear I could not pick up. He nodded and went on with his task. We collected the dishes in silence, save for the sound of the show and the light chatter of others. Brian and I took the dishes into the kitchen and set them into the sink to wash.

"It seems silly to wash the kettle since we will probably have tea again in another three hours," Brian said, laughing nervously.

Widening my eyes, I grabbed the notebook off the table and took the pen out of the metal rings. You have tea that often?