You Take My Breath Away - Brian May

14. Doing All Right

Once their photo shoot was finished, Brian helped Lettie carry her things back upstairs to her room.  He carried the box of records while she carried her outfits. 

Lettie had changed back into what she had been wearing when he had arrived and had laid out the clothes on the floor so he could take some pictures of just the pieces themselves and the details. 

"You can just set that on the desk," she told him.  "Sorry about the mess. I've been going through my clothes to see what I can part with and take over to the stall. Problem is, I don't want to part with any of it."

He chuckled. "Trust me, I've seen a lot worse." The walls of her room were covered in posters and collages. In the corner by the desk a vintage sewing machine sat. He hadn't known her for very long, but even he could tell that this room was very Lettie.

"May I look at your record collection?" 

"Of course. Chip and I share it. We're constantly fighting over them. In fact, I think he still has one of my Pink Floyds still."

"You've got lots of good ones."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Knock knock," came Valerie's voice, followed by her tapping at the door.

"Yes Mum?"

Valerie peeked in. "I heard we had a guest."

"Hello Mrs. Evans."

"Oh, 'Valerie' will do quite fine for me, dear. Nice to meet you.  Now Brian, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Oh, that's very kind of you. I'm not interrupting any family time, I hope."

"Not at all. We'd love to have you."

"I'd love to, thanks." He turned to Lettie. "That alright with you?"

"Of course."

"Brilliant, we'll eat in twenty minutes. Will you set the table with your brother, please?"

"Yup." Lettie got up and headed downstairs, followed by Brian.

"Oi! Watch it!" cried Chip when she rounded the corner into the kitchen, he stepping out the other way, the two almost colliding. It would have made a huge mess seeing as he was carrying a stack of plates.

"I'll get the cutlery then."

"Can I help?" said Brian.

"Sure." Chip handed him the stack of plates. "You can pick where you'd like to sit, though I bet you want to sit by Lettie. I'll get the food."

"So nice to have a dinner guest," Frank declared, entering the dining room. "Frank Evans." He held out his hand for Brian to shake.

Brian had to set down the plates to do so. "Brian May."

"Good to meet you, Brian."

"You as well."

"So you're a friend of Lettie's then?"

"Yeah. Our best mates are dating each other, so that's how we met."

"So I see. Hey - why's our guest setting the table?"

"Ask Chip." Lettie nodded to her brother.

"Chip!" cried Valerie.

"He said he wanted to help!" Chip came back into the dining room with a bowl of salad. "Hope you're hungry, Mate."

"Looks excellent."

"Have a seat Brian, let Chip do the rest," said Valerie.

Brian sat down next to Lettie. They bumped elbows as they sat down. "Sorry!" they laughed.