~For the music is your special friend, dance on fire as it intends.
Music is your only friend until the end. ~
*

One of the downsides of being famous was that wherever you went at least somebody recognised you and nothing you did went unobserved. Not that Brian was trying to hide Celeste, certainly not, but he would prefer it, if she didn't meet any of the others, even if he doubted that she would be interested in them, when she hardly had acknowledged him.

Alone getting her to go to the studio with him had been exhausting and Brian hoped it would really be worth the effort. He didn't like working for something that didn't pay off in the end, but he still suspected that it was just a stupid act to keep him interested anyway and he would have her faster out of her clothes than she could blink.

Although, he had to admit she looked good in them as well. It wasn't anything exciting, but she had class.

She wore a brown checked ensemble with volant details at the waist and her hands. It really was nothing extraordinary, but there was something about her that made it special. Brian couldn't really describe it, but Celeste definitely had something and he wondered why she hadn't tried to get into the fashion/movie scene like her sister. From what he had seen Celeste would have had far better chances than Marion. She was nothing extra, just another pretty face, but Celeste had character. The only thing she would have needed to do was perhaps lose a few pounds. She certainly was not fat, but she was not thin enough to be a model.

"Thanks for the invitation," she greeted him when he picked her up at hers. He still found it confusing that she was living with Marion and he hadn't seen her once. Brian definitely wanted to ask her about it, but thought better of it. It wouldn't score him any points in her favour and he certainly could use some.

"No problem, I owed you that much after what happened," he said and put an arm on her lower back to lead her outside, where his car parked. She didn't oppose to it and Brian took it as a good sign. After all he had been nothing but nice to her since his offer. He had let her decide the time, the date, because apparently she was much busier than him and was even now picking her up. Brian definitely had been nothing but a gentleman to her and he was sure it would pay off in the end, if he played his card right.

Throughout the car ride, he tried to make some small talk with her, but again she seemed rather reserved nearly as if she didn't want to talk about herself. Usually whenever Brian showed interest in somebody they were ecstatic to tell him about their lives and Celeste wasn't. Leading him to settle for a topic he at least know she was passionate about and had no problem to talk about: Music.

He still didn't know if she played an instrument or anything more personal, but at least she was able to follow him and even add something to the discussion. Brian didn't want to discredit anyone, but there were a lot of musician that knew nothing more than the basics and it was refreshing to meet somebody that could easily keep up with him. Celeste could read notes and definitely had a proper musical training.

Brian had already suspected a few times that Marion came from a family that was better off and Celeste's education seemed to underline it, but why was she working as a waitress then? She probably didn't have to work or she could have found a better job easily. He would have asked her, but he doubted he would get a reply anyway and as long as everything worked well between the two of them, he wouldn't risk his chances.

Especially when he doubted it mattered much in the end.

Depending on how today went, he probably wouldn't even call her up again.

*

Brian decided that Celeste had definitely been in a studio before or at least it hadn't made an impact on her. He had expected her to be excited at the sight considering how much she was interested in music, but she hardly seemed fazed. On the contrary Brian could have sworn she had seemed sad for a moment, even if he had no idea why. Celeste definitely had a secret, not that Brian cared much. He was curious yes, but finding it out sounded like too much of an effort to him when he just wanted to spend the night with her.

Even if he started to have his doubts. Brian still wanted to sleep with her, but if he was honest with himself for a moment, he enjoyed talking with her and she had so low expectations of him that it was nice for once to surpass them without doing anything. Most of the time people thought him out to be something he wasn't, well Celeste did too, but raising her opinion on him was easier than living up to some unrealistic fantasies and even if he was awful to her, she was expecting it, wasn't she?

Brian could just be himself and Celeste probably wouldn't mind it one bit.

Maybe it was indeed better to keep her around as a friend, especially when he currently was lacking some. Brian could always find girls to sleep with, but not necessarily ones he could talk about music over tea.

However, Brian could hardly take this decision alone. Celeste might have accepted his invitation to play harpsichord, because she really wanted to play one, but that didn't mean she wanted to befriend him. Well at least she hadn't said anything against being his friend, only against sleeping with him, Brian tried to reassure himself.

"Can I...?" She asked and yanked Brian out of his thoughts. She was standing next to the harpsichord. Her fingers slowly grazing the instrument and on her face was such a bright smile that Brian was speechless for a moment. She radiated so much joy and happiness in that moment that he felt himself smile at her as well.

"Should I show you how to play it?" he asked even though he suspected he knew the answer already.

"I know how, I just never got a chance to play..." she replied and sat down before the harpsichord. Brian stepped closer to observe her, because he surely didn't want to miss anything.

At first she only tried it out, nearly hesitantly as if to make sure she really was allowed to play it and immediately stopped after a few tunes. Brian was about to ask her if she was alright or if anything was wrong, when she started again. Celeste had only taken a deep breath to reassure herself.

Brian knew the moment she started that she had talent, she had a very gentle manner to play and the sweet melody, she was playing underlined this even. She could try to act as though with him as she wanted to, but Brian saw in this moment the real Celeste and she was a very soft and sweet person. She played at least for a few moments, but somehow it seemed awfully short to him.

"Bach?" he wondered. Brian hadn't exactly recognised what she had been playing, but it seemed like a fitting suspicion.

She turned around to look at him and he saw honest surprise on her face. "I'm astonished you recognised it."

Brian had to laugh at that. "You have a very low opinion on me, don't you?"

"It's rather the whole rock star scene I don't care about. It should be about your music and not you as a person," she commented dryly. "And again it's nothing personal, but most musicians seem to enjoy the attention far too much."

Celeste probably wasn't so wrong with what she had said and Brian had certainly more than once enjoyed the positive aspects of being famous, but it had disadvantages too and those were nearly bigger than the advantages sometimes. However, what Brian interested far more was how opposite she was compared to her fame seeking sister.

"You're very different from your sister," he told her.

"I'm nearly 9 years older than her, I've seen more," she remarked sadly. "At her age I thought being famous was exciting too."

"You're 29?" Brian exclaimed perplexed, forgetting for a moment his charming self, but he just couldn't believe it. He had thought her to be in her early twenties, not nearly thirty.

Celeste didn't seem to mind it though. She was smiling. "I'm 25 and my sister is 17, not 20, but I don't blame you, she likes to pretend she's older for whatever reason."

Brian nearly sighed relieved, not that he had a problem if she had been older than him, but younger girls usually expected less. They might dream about marriage too, but there wasn't such a rush then at thirty.

"Well thank you for this opportunity, but I have to go now," she exclaimed tearing Brian out of this thoughts for the second time today.

"Why?" He wondered frowning. "It's not even 4 o'clock. We could still have a drink somewhere and then go out to eat."

"Thanks, but I need to pick up my son from school," she replied and got up from her seat before the harpsichord. She straightened her skirt as if she hadn't said anything special, while Brian starred at her as if she had just grown another head.

"Son? You have a child?" he asked perplexed, but at least he had managed to find his voice, because for a moment he wasn't sure if he would.

"And you don't?" she remarked rolling her eyes.

Brian opened his mouth to say something, but not a sound left it. He had no idea what to reply to that and before he could even find an adequate one, she had left him alone in the studio, standing next to the harpsichord, still perplexed.

"Fuck..." he mumbled.

Surprise? 😉

*Lyrics by the Doors.

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