A Day In The Life
Brian rolled over in his king-size bed to see his alarm clock beep incessantly, grunting he turned it off by hitting the top until he hit the button. He rolled back onto his back and rubbed his face, all he could think was 'urggg' because his hangover was spectacularly painful this morning. He had drunk way too much last night, he knew when he'd gotten to Johnny's that he wouldn't leave sober but every time Matt warned him of just how much he was drinking he'd tell him to fuck off. He'd been drinking way too much since his divorce came through, at the time he saw it as celebration but really it was out of frustration. He loved music, he always had but it wasn't the same these days. It felt like they only toured and made albums for the money. The internet and intrusive fans made his life a living hell, the guys loved it but it was really getting to Brian. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and sat up in his bed, as always he slept in just sweatpants because his house was right by the beach so most mornings he'd get up, have a shower and some breakfast then go for a walk. He looked over at the nearly empty bottle of vodka he'd been keeping by his bedside for a few weeks now, for once he didn't drink any and climbed out of his bed. Pinkly let out a disgruntled yelp as he pushed her off the bed, it wasn't his fault, she'd snuggled into his sheets and hadn't seen her. She ran over to sit by his feet and he leaned down to pick her up, he took the bundle of white fluff into his arms and kissed her head roughly. Pinkly cuddled into him and he walked out of his bedroom, looking around at the state of his house he wrinkled his nose. He'd not cleaned for weeks and the empty bottles and condom wrappers littered the floors, groupies had been very useful lately, they were more than willing and he needed some company. He walked down the staircase and through the living room into his kitchen. He'd bought the house when Michelle decided she'd move in, it was much larger than he needed but she'd insisted on it. He put down his dog and found some food and put water in a bowl for her and set it down by the back door, opening it let in a massive breeze of sea air. It hit him like a slap to the face and he gasped, it wasn't cold but you could literally taste the salt in it, maybe a swim wasn't the best idea. He made himself some black coffee and waited for a while then drank, it was still scalding hot but he knew he needed to get some food, even though he wasn't eating much he knew the band would come over soon and they would notice the lack of food. He'd kept up the pretence that he was fine really well so far and didn't want it ruined now, he poured himself another mug and began walking upstairs to take a shower. He put the mug down in his office knowing it would cool down while he was in the shower and strolled into his bathroom. Stripping off the sweatpants he got into the shower, he just stood under the running water for a while thinking about their new album. The record company had insisted on them having a producer in and it was killing them, every new idea they had 'Steve', uh he even couldn't stand his name, would shoot it down and tell them what they had to put in the song. It was their first album with out Jimmy so it was hard enough and this guy was making it worse, going there every day was crushing his soul until he flipped yesterday.
The day before...
"Hey man, what if we try just bass in this part. It'll sound really edgy!" Brian smiled over at Matt who grinned back and jumped up to find Johnny, Brian was humming the new melody he and Matt had just come up with, then Steve walked back in with Matt who looked really sullen.
"Matt said you wanted to try just bass in the pre-chorus?" He said eyebrow raised, Brian looked to Matt who was standing behind Steve and he just shrugged, he looked back to Steve and said,
"Yeah, why?" Steve sighed and said,
"I thought I told you, we need to have all you play the pre-chorus?"
"Yeah you did, I just thought we could try it."
"Well there's no need, it's good the way it was." He turned on his heel and stropped out of the room leaving a fuming Brian and Matt,
"Dude I am fed up with him. Everything I say he gets all bitchy." Matt looked over at his friend who was holding his head in his hands.
"I know man, every one's annoyed about it."
"Seriously Matt, I can't take it anymore." He stood up and threw the sheets on his lap to the floor, Matt just stood there not saying anything because he knew Brian of all of them was fed up with Steve. He'd taken Jimmy's passing the worst, they were all best friends but Brian and Jimmy were the closest, the divorce had made him worse, they hadn't wanted to mention it because they knew he'd just storm off and get hammered. Brian walked over to the door, picked up his bag and stormed out slamming every door behind him. He got into his car and drove off way over the speed limit, he pulled into his drive and slammed the car door shut not bothering to lock it because he had already decided to go to Johnny's. He opened his front door and pushed it closed and went upstairs, discarding his vengeance university t-shirt on the stairs he walked straight into his bedroom and found a sleeveless shirt that seemed clean. He didn't really care, as long as it fit him and didn't smell to bad it would do. He went back downstairs and saw his dog sleeping in her basket, he grabbed the last beer out of the fridge, twisted the cap off and let it drop on the floor and went back out to his car only stopping to lock the front door. He kept the beer in one hand placing it inbetween his legs when he needed to change gear, sipping it when he slowed down. He got to Johnny's and ordered four shots of double vodka, downing them with out taking a new breath.
Back to today...
That was all Brian remembered of last night, all he knew was that he kept drinking, he didn't even know how he'd gotten home. He got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips loosely and strolled into his bedroom, choosing a clean vengeance university shirt, black shorts and a pair of black flip flops. He went back downstairs and grabbed a black back and went around his house picking up the debris of the past few weeks and throwing it in the bag. It took two bags in the end and he put them by the front door. He spent five minutes looking for his car keys but looking outside his house his car wasn't in the drive either so he must have left it at Johnny's last night. He grunted and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair sighing, he walked out his house not even being able to lock the door because his only house key was with his car keys. He picked up the black bags and put them on the pavement so they could wait for the rubbish men and set off walking to Johnny's to find his car, it wasn't far. It took him all of fifteen minutes and sure enough his car was outside, he had to knock loudly on the door for a few moments before Johnny let him in. He started teasing him about how drunk he'd been last night but Brian just held his hand out for his car keys and Johnny finally realised he wasn't in the mood for jokes and handed over the keys. He mumbled a thanks and walked out, getting into his car and drove to the nearest grocery store. As soon as he got there a few fans recognised him and asked him for a photo, he happily accepted and posed for a few pitures. The fans were what made recording the album bearable, they wouldn't tell him how to play and what was right and wrong for the album. When they asked about how recording was going he halfsmiled and lied,
"Yeah it's going really well thanks." They grinned and ran away in excitement squealing about how they'd just met him and he walked into the store smiling. At least somthing had made his day a little better.
He did the shopping quickly, grabbing what he needed and things he knew the guys liked. When he was done he handed over his card and paid for his grocerys, he had six bags full and grabbed four and went out to open his car, he went back in for the other two, thanked the guy behind the till and left. He chose the scenic route home, he loved his hometown, it was beautiful. He drove past Huntington High School and saw the yard were he and they guys used to talk about the band. Those were the days he had enjoyed the most, he could literally see Jimmy run around tormenting everyone. He smiled a little, he missed his best friend so much, he knew that if he was here Jimmy would be telling him to get off his lazy ass and come out down the beach. He drove back to his house and unlocked the door and went back to the car to get the bags. He put them all on the counter top and saw a little red light flashing telling him he had messages on his answer phone. He knew they'd be either Matt, Johnny, Zack or Arin, he knew it wouldn't be Steve because he'd refused to give that man his house number. He pressed the button and set about unpacking them, the recording told him that he had four messages and carried on to play them.
"Hey Brian, it's Matt. Look dude, I knew yesterday was bad but we spoke to Steve and told him to lay off us so much and he said he would. It'd be awesome if you could come in today." The box clicked to signify the end of that message and began playing the next one,
"Brian, it's Steve. The guys spoke to me and asked me to lay off you so much. In my professional opinion -" The machine cut off because Brian picked it up and threw it across the room into the wall. It crumbled into a few pieces and Pinkly ran to him yelping, he picked up the terrified dog and buried his face into her fur, sighing he leant away and took the new bottle of absinthe out of the brown paper grocery bag and carried Pinkly upstairs. Laying her on his bed and sitting propped up against the headboard he chugged the rest of the vodka before opening the absinthe and taking a hearty glug. The last sober thought he had was 'I'll stop drinking tomorrow.'
Brian was awoken the next morning by someone shaking him and talking softly, he half-opened his eyes and saw a young girl sitting on the edge of his bed holding a mug and smiling down at him.
"Morning." He grunted, she wasn't talking loud but his hangover headache was pulsing through his head. She smiled a him, and brushed his black shaggy hair out of his eyes, he jumped at her touch and looked really confused, she looked concerned and he said,
"Who are you? How'd you get in my house?" She smiled and sat back on his bed, leaning against the footboard and sipped the coffee. He glared and held his hand out for the mug, she smiled and handed it to him. He sat up and took a hearty glug of the coffee and waited for her to answer.
"You really don't remember anything?" She leant her head to the side a little questioningly and he just shrugged, she rolled her eyes and sat up more as she answered him,
"I'm Lily Rae, you were in Johnny's last night and I could see you needed some help so I drove you home." He rubbed his head trying to recall last night, she held her hand out and he looked at her confused as to what she wanted. She glanced down at the cup and he looked down and shook his head, she rolled her eyes again and got up off the bed and strolled out of his room. He watched her go and tried to remember anything of the previous night, he got up off his bed and went in search of her. He looked around, all the doors were open and he couldn't see her and then he heard Pinkly rolling around and yelping in delight downstairs, he hadn't even heard her go down the normally squeaky stairs. He slowly walked down his stairs and though the house till he walked into the kitchen and saw Lily lying flat on her back with Pinkly on her stomach, he stood watching them in awe, Pinkly normally didn't like any girl he brought home and yet there she was. Lily didn't realise him watching her for a while until she saw him and blushed a little. She smiled and pushed the Maltese gently so she got off her stomach and sat up pulling her legs together she looked up at Brian.
"I like your dog." Said dog was now at Brians feet looking up at him so he picked her up and cuddled her, Lily got up off the floor and Brian stopped because she reminded him of someone when she did it. She carried on making coffee and he thought for a moment, she had a strange way of lying flat on her back then using her feet, kicking them forward then using the momentum the pull herself up. It was such a familiar move to him but he couldn't think of who did it, he pushed the thought out of his head and watched her pour the coffee into a mug and set it down before jumping up on the counter and began sipping the coffee. He hadn't noticed until now that she was fully dressed in a vest-top, checked shirt and black shorts and they fitted very nicely, he pushed this out of his mind too and pulled out a chair from his dining table and sat down before asking her,
"Can you tell me exactly what happened last night?" She smiled and sipped her coffee before answering him,
"Well, I went to Johnny's after work because it was my first day and I needed to relax, I walked in and you were drunk already and flirting with some girl sitting on the bar, I ordered my drink and sat on one of the bar stools. As the night got on you got progressivly more drunk and your friend Matt turned up and tried to get you home but every time you'd tell him to fuck off. So he came over and tried to hit on me, I turned him down but we ended up talking anyway then you came over telling him just how sorry you were and apologising." She stopped to sip on the coffee again and leant over the counter to open the window above the sink, Brian couldn't help but notice her pale and toned stomach showing as she streched and he looked away when she clicked her tounge at him. He looked up to see her raise an eyebrow at him and smile as he shrugged it off and she carried on,
"Anyway, so it got to like three am and you were just making an absolute idiot of yourself so I came over to you and told you that I was gonna take you home and you started bragging that you'd pulled and let me drive you home. You couldn't really walk so I got Matt to help me get you out to your car and I drove you two here, but you fell asleep in the car so Matt carried you up to your bedroom and you slept until I got you up because it's nearly two pm. He stayed after for a while and told me about whats going on with you." He sighed and held his head in his hands, he stayed there until he felt a feather-light touch on his shoulder, he looked up to see Lily standing infront of him and he jumped a little.
"Fuck, you must weigh nothing because I didn't even hear you come over here." She smiled down at him and he locked his gaze with hers, he stared into her chocolate eyes and she blushed a little making her look even more goregous. He hadn't realied yet but she was the most beautiful woman he'd seen in his life, she was pale but it made her rosy cheeks and lips stand out, her eyelashes were long and thick and her hair was chocolate brown, long and naturally tousled.
"By the way, Matt told me you'd been drinking a lot so I poured all the alcohol I found down the sink. Just though I'd let you know." She smirked and winked at him before turning on her heel and walking back over to the cup of coffee she left on the counter. He thought about what she'd said and looked up to see her sitting back on his counter top,
"Why? Why did you bring me home? You don't know me?" She traced the top of her mug with her index finger and shrugged,
"I don't know, I was in a good mood and I thought you needed help." She finished with a cute smile and looked at him while she drank the last of her coffee.
"You're English." He stated having only just realised her distinct lack of American accent, she giggled and said,
"No shit Sherlock." He smirked at her, few women would be as cocky to him as she was. Most girls would fangirl and compliment him until they got into bed with him.
"What are you doing over here then?" She smiled and said,
"I'm a journalist for a music magazine and they wanted some-one to come over and review bands over here so they could compare and publish the differences between shows here and back home, Id rather have stayed home but they are paying me to do it. Lots of money for that matter." He groaned loudly and she cocked her head to the side and said,
"What?" He ran his hands through his hair and said,
"Everything's about the FUCKING MONEY! That's all anyone cares about now!" Lily jumped a little, he stood up abruptly dropping his mug which splintered into a million pieces and stormed upstairs going to get dressed and she just sat there in shock of what had just happened. He came back down the stairs after five minutes and found the girl had tied her long hair up in a messy bun and was on her knees cleaning up the mug he'd dropped, he sighed and knelt down next to her taking the dustpan and brush off her. She looked up in shock and gave him the utensils and sat back on her behind watching him clean up,
"I don't do it just for the money, I actually love what I do. Writing is my life, the money and living out here is just a perk." She kept a level glance at him as she said it and he sighed,
"I'm sorry, it's a bit of a sore subject with me at the moment." He just kept looking at what he was doing because he knew she would be looking at him and would have forgiven him already and he didn't want her to. He'd been an asshole and didn't deserve her forgiveness.
"It's alright." He grunted and went to wrap up the shards in newspaper, he finished cleaning them up while Lily made him some breakfast. She had her back to him while she went through his cupboards looking for various ingredients and he smiled at her because even though they'd just met he had a good feeling about her.
Brian shook himself out of his thoughts as the microwave dinged signalling the baby milk was ready and he opened the door and took the bottle out and picked up a jar of baby food that he'd left next to the microwave from the evening, sniffing it he wrinkled his nose and he mumbled,
"How can they justify selling this as an edible food product?" He heard a small giggle from behind him and turned to see his wife holding their son, her hair was all ruffled and she had some makeup around her eyes, the baby boy was snuggling into her shoulder but was wide awake and looking around for his milk.
"You don't have to eat it so don't complain." Lily smiled up at him and went over to their dining table sitting baby Jimmy on her lap waiting for Brian to come over with the bottle, he put the jar down on the counter and walked over slowly taking in the familiar sight of his wife and their baby at four am waiting for milk, he kneeled down infront of them slowly and held it infront of Jimmy. He imediatly sat up and tried to grab the bottle from his daddy, Lily and Brian laughed and he began feeding the child, singing a little as he did. Lily watched her husband feed her son and when he'd finished turned Jimmy around and saw him yawn and hold his arms out waiting to be cuddled. She stood up and began walking upstairs to the nursery where the baby had his cot and leant down to put him in, he pulled a face as she put him down but cuddled in when she wrapped his blanket around him. Jimmy settled down quickly and was sleeping within seconds, Lily leaned down and kissed her baby lightly before leaning down on the side of the cot, soon she felt a pair of hands on her hips and stood up so her husband could hug her properly, he kissed her cheek before whispering,
"How do you look so beautiful at four thirty am?" He felt her face strech into a smile as he continued kissing her cheek and she whispered back,
"Darling, you always look beautiful." Brian smiled at her accent, even over six years of living in California hadn't changed her perfect English accent, it was still as crisp as if she lived there when in actual fact she had only visited her homeland every six months. They watched their son sleep for five minutes before Brian laced his left hand fingers with his wife's and they strolled back to their bedroom, when they got there Pinkly sat up having only just realised they'd left and jumped into Brian's arms, they both chuckled quietly and they gave the dog lots of affection and kisses before he put her back down on the bed. Brian got into bed first while Lily went into their en-suite bathroom and used the toilet, he began thinking back to the morning he'd met her,the day they went into the record company and told them what Steve had been doing and they fired him, getting their first record out without Jimmy, the months Lily spent helping him get his head straight. Their wedding day. It was the best day of his life, he was smiling from the moment Lily walked down the aisle, during their vows and the moment she became Lily Rae-Haner. Their honeymoon in Italy and finally the birth of their son, they didn't even have to discuss the name, from the moment they found out they were having a boy it had been decided he would be called Jimmy. He had Lilys chocolate brown hair but Brians dark brown eyes and was gorgeous, Lily came back into the room and met her husbands gaze, keeping it while she walked over to their bed and Brian moved the sheets so she could climb in. He sat up and Lily leant against his bare chest, he put his arms around her and she put hers over them and hugged him, he kissed her shoulders and she smiled,
"Thank you." He said quietly in her ear and she replied,
"For what?" He kissed her shoulder again and said,
"For taking me home that night." She smiled and turned her head so she could kiss his lips,
"You're welcome, I was ashamed just watching you dance drunkenly I had to stop it." He knew she was smirking at him so he tickled her a little and she began squirming about. Finally he stopped and they layed down, he wrapped an arm around her from behind and she pulled it right around herself and snuggled back into his chest, he buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply, her hair always smelt of coconut and it was a smell he'd become so familiar with in the three years they'd been together.
"I love you." Lily whispered to Brian and he smiled in her hair and whispered,
"I love you too, Mrs Haner." She giggled a little and they cuddled together and fell asleep in each-others arms.
