Through Chrissie's eyes

The new guy

When Brian traveled, I felt alone, but I understood that it was part of his life, and the band was one of my favorite parts of his life. I really loved seeing the boys performing. But when he couldn't go to see them, he watched movies alone or with Jo. Or read a new book, a book I hadn't read before made me disconnect from the real world for a moment and travel to another dimension. It was what distracted me from longing.

So the week that Brian passed by performing at Ealing College Art was over, and finally, his comings and goings were over, at least for a while.

I was asleep when he arrived, but as soon as I heard him opening the bedroom door, I woke up. I was so sleepy yet I didn't get up, I lay there. After a while, he lay down as well.

"Sorry to say it, but I know you're awake," he whispered.

"Oh ..." I complained as I yawned, I sat up, scratching my eyes "I woke up when you arrived. How were things there?"

"Sorry, my love, I didn't want to disturb you, go back to sleep, I'll tell you tomorrow." Brian sounded regretful.

"Too late," she said, I was more awake now. "Actually, it's you who should sleep, you need it more and it doesn't seem at all that you want to sleep."

"I'm really tired," Brian assured me, "but something had happened ...."

"Tell me, you can tell me" Since he had started the subject, I was ready to hear him finished it.

"You noticed how Tim had been feeling discouraged lately about the band, right?" he said in his usual way, explaining first to tell later, which made me more apprehensive.

"Yeah, yeah, I was kind of worried about it," I said, "but is everything okay with Tim?"

"Well, well, he is, but ..." Bri hesitated, a little sadly "when the show ended today he talked to me and Roger and left the band."

"He left? What? He can do that?" every bit of sleep I felt was gone "Why did he leave?"

"He's tired of this life of playing only in colleges and bars and thinks that in another band he's going to succeed." Brian shrugged unconvinced.

"It's a pity ..." I lamented, "but is Tim happy with this decision?"

"You know what, Chrissie? He looked relieved" Brian sighed.

I knew he was a little shaken by it, and he'd certainly miss playing with his friend, which reminded me of something else important.

"And what about the band now?" I was worried "you won't give up, will you?"

"No, no, not even if we wanted to." Bri smiled again. "You won't believe what happened."

My boyfriend spoke in a way that he was about to tell something long and exciting. I lay back to listen, getting more comfortable. I loved to see Brian excited like that.

"What happened?" I insisted.

"Tim left and a fan came and talked to us, and he was so petulant about volunteering to replace Tim, but he has a voice, which is a rough diamond." He paused, his eyes sparkling as he remembered "although Roger didn't give him much credit at first, I ran after him before the chance passed. We change our phone numbers and if all goes well, we'll rehearse with him this very week."

"You didn't waste time at all" I was fascinated by the coincidence of finding someone right after Tim left the band "and what is the name of the lucky one?"

"Freddie Bulsara," Bri replied, "and look, I warn you, he's ... Well, you're going to draw your conclusions when you meet him."

"Okay then," I agreed, but I was already intrigued inside -"I'm glad you guys sorted it out."

"Thank you, my love." He kissed my cheek. "Now you can sleep."

We settled down and soon fell asleep. So this was another change in my life. I wasn't sure how to get ready to meet Freddie Bulsara.

It wasn't long before Smile's new lineup came together for the first few rehearsals. They would gather at Roger's apartment, so he didn't have to disassemble, charge and reassemble his drum kit. The only problem now was that Freddie didn1t play bass, which made Brian put up an ad looking for a bass player at his college and other places he knew.

So while the boys were kind of getting used to Freddie, after one of the rehearsals, they came to our apartment. Roger came in first, not caring to leave the owner of the house behind. I heard him from my room jumping on the couch, typical Rog.

"Hey, I told you not to do this," Brian complained.

"It's not my fault you have a couch more comfortable than mine," the drummer reasoned.

"Are you always rude like that?" I didn't recognize the voice of who said it, but he was clearly offended.

It could only be Freddie. Curiosity made me get up and go to them.

"Now you know what I've been standing since I met him," Brian told Freddie.

"Oh, I heard you had come," I said, a little embarrassing to get caught up in their conversation.

"Chrissie, I brought someone to meet you," Bri warned me, but I already knew what it was about.

"I'm more than someone, but I understood what Brian meant," Freddie said, and it was the first time I'd seen him.

He held a proud pose and a face of debauchery, but the look in his eyes, although challenging, somehow begged my approval.

I was the first to reach out my hand, just after he finished speaking.

"Hi, I'm Chrissie, Brian's girlfriend." Freddie shook my hand. "And you're Freddie, right?"

"That's me" He smiled at me, as if he was glad I knew who he was.

"Well, if the boys didn't tell you anything ..." I continued the conversation, surprised that I had sympathized with Freddie so quickly, "allow me to welcome you to Smile. I'm also a fan of them."

"Well your boyfriend is the band's guitarist, it makes sense," Freddie deduced.

"No, no, I already was a fan, way before I started dating Brian," I said. "These guys are amazing, and Bri told me you're amazing too."

"Does he call everyone like that?" Freddie said in a joking tone "but I think I get the meaning of it."

"It's been a long time since I've been to a show, I'm anxious to see you three together," I said, raving.

"You're really going to have to wait for us to find a bass player," Roger reminded me.

"Oh, yes," I nodded. "Has anybody already appeared?"

"No one yet, but I'm hopeful," Bri told me.

"Well, you'll find someone," I said, trying to cheer them up, since they looked disheartened, then I realized that the discouragement had another name: hunger "do you want to eat something? The refrigerator is stocked, you can feel free to make some sandwiches ..."

As soon as I gave permission, Roger ran and attacked my fridge unceremoniously, as he always did. Freddie was in doubt at first, but soon followed the drummer.

I just laughed at the scene, and figured that if Brian wasn't with them, Roger and Freddie would act like children all the time.