You Take My Breath Away - Brian May

22. Under Pressure

Frank was very thrilled when he was given the okay by the doctor and allowed to return home. He was to keep well rested and not return to work, and was to come back to the hospital for regular check ups. But at least he was home. The whole family was glad about that.

Now, they had even less staff at the shop. Valerie was insistent that someone always be home with Frank, so this meant only two could work at the shop at a time. And speaking of busy...

"I don't speak Greek," Chip was trying to tell the older gentleman, a Greek immigrant himself, who spoke very broken English. "I mean, I do, somewhat, just not very well-" He turned to the rapidly-accumulating queue before the cash desk.  "Does anyone speak at least moderate Greek?"

"Chip!" Lettie hissed.  "No shouting!"

"Well we're in a Greek grocer's, for goodness sake. Figured there'd be at least one person."

"Excuse me, 'scuse me, pardon me, sorry!" Lettie cried on her way up to the front, weaving in and out of customers and stuffed-full shopping baskets.   While Chip dealt with the confused customer, Lettie was trying to ring everyone through at the cash desk. Finally, she made it to the front.  "Okay! Thanks for waiting everyone, I can help whoever's first in the queue!"

Everyone clustered in front of the desk, not in a line at all.  God, what a mess. 

Valerie was home with Frank today, which was probably a good thing, for both she and Frank would be unimpressed at the current chaos that was their shop in the hands of their two frantic children.

It was chaotic to say the least... Sure, Lettie and Chip had had enough shifts at the shop over the years to know what they were doing, but they also usually had both of their parents there if they needed to clarify anything, and this time it was just the two of them.  Chaotic indeed...

The customers had finally formed a sort-of lineup, which was already stretching through the shop, full of people waiting to pay for their groceries. 

Lettie tried not to feel overwhelmed, which was difficult to say the least.  Was this how Mum and Dad had felt when they first started out, before having kids, when the shop was handed down from Gran and Grandpa? "Sorry for the wait, I'll be right with you!" she called down the line. "Thank you for being so patient!"

"You're doing wonderful, Love," said Rosemary, a nice elderly lady who was one of their regular customers.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

She was still ringing people through when a familiar face - and head full of curls - entered the shop. 

"Oh, Brian! I'm so glad to see you but I'm afraid we're awfully busy at the moment. Chip and I are really struggling, as you can tell. And Chip's on his break at the moment, so I'm on my own."

Brian blinked back following her rushed declaration, before saying, "What can I do?"

"Oh, no, you don't have to-"

"No, I don't, but I want to."

She smiled. "Well then, Mr. May, I'll get you an apron and put you to work."

"Very well, Miss Evans." 

"Brian, hi!"

"Hi Chip."

"Nice to see you, but terrible timing, Mate. Lettie can't do with any distractions right now." He snickered and ducked behind the nearest shelf before his sister could lob anything at him - the closest item to her being a big, heavy jar of olives. 

"Why's your boyfriend decked out in one of these ugly aprons and wiping down the shelves?" Chip asked her.

"He's not my boyfriend. And he saw what a shit show this was, and offered to help."

"Can you continue checking inventory? Or you can stare dreamily at Brian too."

"Don't you have boxes to open in the back?"

Chip just gave an innocent grin and headed to his post.

"I'm the boss."

"Who made you boss? Mum and Dad are boss."

"Well they're not here today, so it only makes sense that I, the eldest out of us two, am put in charge."

Finally, and somehow, they made it through the day. Brian was a huge help.

"You really saved our arses today," Lettie said as they were closing shop. 

"Glad I could help. You did appear rather frazzled."

"I felt frazzled. Oh and I'm so sorry I can't make it to your gig on Friday."

"Oh, don't be, it's fine, we understand. You're needed here with your family. There'll be other gigs."

"Thanks for understanding."

"Of course. We'll miss you, though."

"And I'll miss you. Maybe you'll have to do a private concert for me," she said, giving him a nudge. 

He chuckled.  "Maybe we will."


-------------------------------------------

Lettie was so thrilled when her two best friends came by the shop on Saturday.

"Am I ever glad to see you," she said, giving them a hug.

"And we're so glad to see you."

"How's your dad doing, Love?"

"Better. Finally out of the bloody hospital. He's driving Mum crazy though, and she's driving him equally crazy - she's watching him like a hawk."

"Oh, I can only imagine."

"How's sitting in on band rehearsals, Pri?" Lettie asked. 

"Good, it's very interesting to watch and hear their process."

"Does Roger flirt with you the whole time?"

Priya smirked. "Yes, that boy, the flirt. He was showing off too, not very subtle." 

"No, he isn't, is he."

"Took his shirt off too because he was 'too hot'."

"Oh, dear."

"Brian talks about you."

"Does he?"

"Yes, he's always saying he hopes your doing well, and tells me to say hi to you from him, so, 'hi Lettie' from Brian."

Lettie smiled. "Sweetheart."

"Speaking of, we missed you at the gig last night," said Tina. 

"Yeah, I'm sorry I missed it." Then she noticed the way her friends were grinning. "What? What's going on? Did something happen last night?"

"Well, sort of... They did this song, a new song, one Brian wrote - Freddie sang it and my God, he's got such a brilliant voice!" Tina gushed. 

"Tina's got a bit of a conspiracy theory going about this song," chuckled Priya.

"It's not just a theory, it's fact!" Tina turned to Lettie.  "Brian wrote it as a love ballad for you."

Lettie burst out laughing. "A love ballad? For me?"

"Don't laugh, I'm serious."

"Tina, that's a load of bollocks. Why would he do that, and for me?"

"Because he's in love with you, silly, that's why. It's quite simple really."

"Pri?"

"I wasn't so sure at first," Priya admitted.  "But then thinking about it afterwards, I think Tina may be onto something..."

Tina just smiled knowingly.  "You'll just have to hear it for yourself."

"I guess I will."

I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we? ;) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)