It was getting late. Roger and I had gotten over Manchester's miserable loss. "Hey, you all had your show so where the hell is your stuff?" I asked John.

 "It's sitting in the van behind the bar." He told me. "Veronica and I are taking the van home."

 "It was a little discouraging tonight. The bar wasn't as full as we had hoped." He shared.

 "What you need is a little publicity. Some flyers or something. I could help get the word around. In fact, I know some people in the printing department of the art floor at the university. If we could get a picture of the four of you, I could have the  flyers made. Me and Veronica an' Chrissie could hang them up and pass them out before the next show." I thought I had come up with a great idea.

 "Hmm...that's a really good idea. How much would it cost?" He wondered. I shrugged my shoulders and put my jacket on. We were back at our table at this point.

 "Wouldn't cost anythin'. The printing people on the art floor are dyin' to get new projects. I can get a photography student to do the shot for the flyer." I said.

 "That's...that sounds great, Lydia. Thank you. Roger, are you hearin' this?" John tapped him on the arm.

 "Yeah! Yeah, somethin' about a flyer?" He said. John sighed and re-explained everything that was just discussed.

 "You serious, Lyd!? You could arrange that?" He had just put his jacket on once again. I smiled. He and I were gettin’ ready to leave.

 "Yes...yes, Rog. I could arrange that. Tell ya’ what. Tomorrow, I’ll make some calls. I could probably get things set up for Monday. The floor is shut down on the weekends.” I was tellin’ John but I knew Roger was listenin’ as well. I put my hands on Chrissie’s shoulders. I knew John and Veronica were close to leavin’ as well.

 “We’re leavin’…you’re on ya’ own.” I whispered to her. Chrissie spun around to face me.

 “I’ll call you tomorrow.” She said.

 “I liked meeting you, Chrissie.” Roger told her. “Bye, Bri…we’re takin’ off.” He said to Brian before I took his hand.

 “Veronica, John! Bye! We’re leavin’.” I pointed to her.

 “Hey! Bye…we’re on our way out as well. Call us. We’ll be around.” She said. Roger and I headed out of the pub, giving everyone else a final wave.

 “Oh, it’s really cool tonight.” Roger noticed as we got outside to the sidewalk.

 “It is. I guess summer is really gone. You wanna’ take the bus or a cab?”

 “We’ll take the bus, the stop is closer anyway. Roger leaned over and kissed me as we headed to the nearby bus stop. We were goin’ to my place tonight. We already had plans of layin’ in bed with a joint and Jimi Hendrix. Since we were gonna’ light up, We were also gonna’ open my bedroom window and light the candles I had that worked wonderfully to neutralize the smell of grass. It was gonna’ be one hell of a night.

 “Are you two stayin’ here? You can come to our house if you want to. We can play cards.” Veronica said. She and John had a townhouse on the north side of Kensington. Brian looked at Chrissie.

 “You…wanna’ go for a walk?” he reluctantly asked her. Veronica smiled all over at Brian’s question.

 “Yeah…yeah, I’d love to.” Chrissie’s face lit up.

“Thanks for the invitation, Veronica.” Brian said.

 “Oh of course, invitation’s always there.” Veronica said. “We’re goin’ to take off then.” Veronica and John stood up from the table. Freddie had left shortly after Roger and Lydia left. He had bid Chrissie a fond farewell and had hoped to see her again. Now, here they were…Brian and Chrissie…sitting there at the table by themselves.

 “C’mon. Let’s go.” Brian stood up as Chrissie followed in suit. They headed for the door. Brian wouldn’t let her open it which amused Chrissie to no end.

 “Oh! Goodness! It’s even cooler than it was earlier tonight. Wow!” Chrissie grabbed her shoulders even though she was wearing a jacket. The late Kensington night tore right through her. They headed toward the edge of the sidewalk where the crosswalk was. “I’ll let you lead the way.” Chrissie told Brian. He was looking up at the sky for a moment. Not much could be seen above the bright lights.

 “It’s crisp out here. Really crisp. This way. Watch the light there.” Brian tapped her shoulder as they made their way across the crosswalk. Chrissie watched as the air from the traffic brushed through all those dark curls that framed Brian’s face. She really needed to watch where she was going, but it was hard to watch anything that wasn’t Brian. Once on the opposite side of the street, they headed straight.

 “Where do you live?” Brian asked Chrissie.

 “Over near the university campus. I live in the student flats. It’s still expensive but better than living totally off the campus.” She said. “What about you?”

 “I’ve got a place down on Church Avenue. I rent the second floor of a house. The landlord is an older lady. She’s very nice.” He answered her. They were headed to Kensington Square. It wasn’t a far walk from this point. Chrissie was close enough to Brian that she could smell him. To her, he smelled so very masculine, just…sooooo….Chrissie snapped to her senses when she realized Brian was asking her something and she had no idea what it was.

 “Huh?” she said, practically drooling in her mind.

 “I said, do you like Autumn?”

 “Yes, I do very much…it’s….it’s just a really romantic time.” Chrissie laughed and felt her face get hot. She thought that was such a stupid answer.

 “When we went up north for a couple gigs, it was so beautiful. The leaves were fallin’, the air was clean…it was a really great weekend.” Brian laughed, remembering the weekend they had had. They continued walking down the sparsely populated street and the post-midnight air from the traffic accompanied them.

“Lydia told me a little about it. She said it was pretty crazy and that your band had a good show.”

 “Yes…yes to both.” Brian answered her. There was silence between them for a moment. “I was standin’ outside with her one mornin’ and that’s…that’s when she told me she wanted to…introduce me to you.”

 “Oh, yeah?” Chrissie asked.

 “I’m…I’m glad she…” Brian paused awkwardly. “…you know…I’m glad she wanted you to meet me.”

 “Yeah…yeah…me too.” Chrissie answered. There was another awkward silence as the breeze rustled the leaves on the uniformly spaced out trees. The city lights flooded the sidewalk. They were getting closer to Kensington Square. Not much farther to go.

 “Are you cold?” Brian asked Chrissie, seeing that she had her jacket pulled very tightly around her.

 “Oh, I’m okay.” She insisted.

 “Here.” Brian stopped in his tracks and gave Chrissie his jacket.

 “Brian! You’re gonna’ get cold!” Chrissie shook more just from the sheer excitement of being enveloped in Brian’s scent.

 “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. Really. You keep that.” Brian insisted. Chrissie loved examining him in his skin-tight purple sweater. She was melting on the inside but had to keep it together. She pulled Brian’s coat around her, about to faint from the fact that she was wearing it to begin with.

 “Look at that…they haven’t turned the fountain off in the square yet.” Brian noticed.

 “Oh yeah, check that out. Looks beautiful under the lights.” Chrissie said as they approached the square. There wasn’t another soul out here tonight. The Square looked so peaceful, it’s brick esplanade with the fountain in the center. The traffic hummed and honked on the outskirts behind the buildings. They sat on the bench that faced the fountain. The businesses on the opposite side were closed. “I’ve never been here at this hour before. “ Chrissie pulled Brian’s jacket farther around her.

 “Can’t really say as I have either, but it’s certainly nice.” Brian told her. He wasn’t even thinking when he put his arm behind Chrissie and looked up toward the sky. The endless cascade of water from the center fountain emitted such a calming white noise. Brian moved his arm and formed a triangle before his eyes with his hands. Chrissie watched him for a moment.

“Wha…what are you doin’?” she asked.

 “Lookin’ for Venus above the lights.” He answered her. “There…there it is. Come look.” Brian told Chrissie. She swallowed hard. That would mean….leanin’ over…against him. Shit…against his arm…against those long curls. Oh god…Chrissie had to give herself a good pep talk for this one. She tentatively readjusted herself and carefully leaned over. Chrissie could feel her body trembling and her heart beating much faster. She leaned over until her side was resting against Brian’s arm. She could feel the bottom of his hair barely touching her head as she peered through the center of his hands. “It’s the brightest star you see.” He told her. She was mesmerized at  how gentle his voice sounded behind her. Chrissie gasped.

 “I see it. I can’t believe you can see it above the city’s lights.” Chrissie could feel herself leaning back on Brian and so she caught herself and quickly pulled her body back up. The truth was, she could have stayed like this…just like this for the rest of the night. She leaned back over to her original seated position.

 “Lydia showed it to me up north. Now, you know how to find the brightest star.” Brian explained to her as the breeze pushed dark hair behind him. “Um…I…I want to ask you…” Brian paused and turned slightly sideways toward her. “…um…shit…this was easier in my head…” Brian was suddenly very nervous. “…would you…like to go for lunch…or something…tomorrow. Just you and I. Mmm….may…maybe I could get your number.” He nervously put his fingers against his forehead. Chrissie tried her best to conceal her excitement.

 “Sure! Sure, I’d…I’d love to. Of course you can have my number. You…you can call…anytime, really.” Chrissie fidgeted a bit.

 “Okay.” Brian relaxed a bit. “Then…how ‘bout. I call you…tomorrow…we’ll…make some plans.” Chrissie shook her head.

 “I’d like that very much.” she answered. Chrissie took a deep breath. She'd never felt this alive.