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

[23]

I snap out my thoughts and look at Brian, who is not facing me, but instead glancing curiously across the room.

"What's moving under that blanket?" He asked, pointing cautiously to the basket in my sitting space.

I'm very relieved he didn't catch me lost in my own thoughts or perhaps he did, but decided not to comment on it. Either way, I'm thankful. I hop off the barstool and walk over to moving lump that is Oscar. Obviously cold, he had curled himself up in some blankets, but his crazy sleeping positions caused him to get tangled up. I walk over and untangle the fabric from his tail.

"Is it a cat?" Brian asks in a tone I can not decipher.

I nod, picking Oscar up out of the basket. He meows sleepily, unhappy with leaving his cocoon of warmth. Brian's eyes widen with happiness and pure joy as I hold up the cat for him to pet. "Hi buddy," Brian whispers as he reads the tag on the cat's collar. "You're a handsome chap, aren't you Oscar?"

I place the tabby in Brian's lap. Oscar is a bit too old to resist cuddles, even if he tries hard to abandon my grip frequently. But with Brian, he immediately curls upon his chest, purring loudly as Brian stroked the underside of the feline's chin. Oscar purrs even louder as Brian added scratches behind his ears and neck. As much as it surprises me, Brian somehow has this shy, yet warm energy radiating from him. I think that any animal would adore to be in Brian's company.

"I had a cat when I was younger," Brian began. "Her name was Pixie. She was a lovely black cat. Every day when I would come home from school, she would be waiting for me. We would walk the streets together, she would sit on the chairs across from me during dinner and most of all... she didn't mind sleeping next to me while I played guitar."

I noticed the slight dip of happiness in his voice. Brian really must have loved this cat. She did sound like the perfect feline companion. What happened to her? I wrote.

Brian sighed, his eyes seeming very far away. "She ran away just shortly before I was halfway through, umm... what I believe you would call high school."

Oh no, that's so sad. My heart tightened in my chest as I glanced at Brian gently petting Oscar. I can't imagine losing a pet without getting closure of some kind. I have had animals that passed away when I was a child, but at least I got to say goodbye. Poor Brian. No one should ever have to experience that. I reach out and tentatively touch Brian's shoulder to show him my sympathy. He looks up and smiles sadly at me before turning his attention back to Oscar. "It's just nature, I suppose," he says softly, as the cat finally had enough and jumped to the floor.

Oscar runs to his food dish, briefly treading over my shopping bags without a care in the world. I shake my head and grab them off the floor before he could decide to turn them into a makeshift home. I turn to Brian and hold them up, walking slowly towards the hallway to my room. Brian thankfully understands. "Oh yes, take all the time you need. I'll stay right here."

I smile and head back to my room, where the temperature is impossibly colder. I suppress a shiver and unfold my clothes from the bag, pulling out some hangars to add them to my closet.

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Brian breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard the girl's footsteps disappear into her room. He was beyond nervous and was slightly ashamed to say that seeing Genevieve in that blue dress still was causing him to have butterflies in his stomach. That had been embarrassing. Brian was no stranger to the female body, but after seeing her in that form-fitting dress, her curves accentuated, legs long and cleavage exposed... the guitarist was nearly seeing stars.

Don't blow this, don't blow this, do not blow this, he told himself repeatedly as he hooked the necklace on her. Oh God, but her skin is so soft and warm and has little freckles on the back... ugh, snap out of it!