Driven By No One

Chapter 3 - The Offer

                The old couch squeaked under Brian's weight as he slumped on it lazily, after he took a look at his schedule. He heaved a long, heavy sigh of despair. He had hoped that his manager would have left him alone for a while, so he could rest and see his family more often. At this moment, he realised that even though he had been surrounded by crowds all the time for the past few weeks, some people making conversation and debating with him, he felt incredibly lonely. He was lonely. He was always there for the others if they ever needed to take weights off their shoulders, but he had lost himself in this game and forgotten that he needed to be heard too. All this time, he had cared for the others more than for himself. He could almost physically feel his knees giving up under the impressive weight he was carrying upon his shoulders, which were weaker than he first thought.

Brian stretched out his right arm to reach the phone, but as soon as his eyes glanced at the clock, he let go of the handset. He wanted to hear his children's voices, but it was too soon to call them – they were at school.

He sighed again and clicked his tongue repeatedly, his hazel eyes scanning the large and awkwardly silent living room in search of something that could distract him. He flipped the pages of an astronomy magazine, before throwing it aside, realising he knew it by heart. He repeated this action with each magazine of the pile he kept under his coffee table. He considered withdrawing in his music room, but because of a lack of motivation and inspiration, he quickly gave up on the idea. What on earth could he do to forget about his loneliness – even just a moment?

Brian gazed at the telephone again, and considered calling his former bandmates to hang out together in the afternoon. He dialled Roger's number first, before remembering that he had to bring his little Rufus to the paediatrician. He hung up and picked up the phone again to dial John's number. A tired feminine voice answered, and Brian knew it was Veronica, John's wife. She told him that her husband was out for the day, leaving her home alone.

Veronica and Brian only made small talk for a minute or two, before they hung up. For a moment, he had forgotten that she was pregnant with a little boy she and John would name Luke.

Before he could even sigh again, there was a knock at the door, which startled him. He got up and put his clogs on, before taking hurried steps to the front door. He unlocked it and opened it lightly, fearing that it would be a fan who could burst in.

How great was his relief when he noticed that the figure at the doorstep was Kyra Duke. She was holding a thin file against her chest, and the brightest and most heartily smile was printed on her face.

"Good morning, Mr. May. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Oh, good morning, Ms. Duke! No, no, you're not. Please come in."

Brian shook her hand and stepped aside to let her in, after he opened the door wider. She wiped her feet on the doormat and opened her file.

"I'm sorry that I came here, Mr. May, but I was in your neighbourhood to visit a friend of mine, who's seriously ill. Then I realised that you were living near, and as I've just printed some copies of our interview and of my review of Back to the Light, and I was supposed to send them to you, I thought that maybe I could bring them to you directly."

"It's fine, Ms. Duke, don't worry. I'm very sorry about your friend, I know the feeling..." he added with a gulp. He shook his head with a chuckle and smiled at her. "I didn't think you would have them ready this quick! Let's take a look at them."

He showed her the way to the living room; he proceeded to gather the magazines he had thrown earlier, then placed them under the table. She sat down on the armchair, muttering a shy 'thank you', and took out the copies of her articles from her file.