CHAPTER ELEVEN
'SAVED BY THE BELL'

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EVERYTHING IN THE LIVING ROOM WAS COMPLETELY STILL - the clock ticking away on the mantlepiece and the record playing in the background being the only exception - as Roger and I sat opposite each other quietly at the white, wooden table. Not saying a word as I glanced up every so often to study my 'subject', I took my time sketching the image of the drummer in front of me with as much accuracy as possible, whilst Roger stayed relatively still for me with his head propped up with his arm, watching in fascination as my pen glided across the paper.

Despite his interest in the process, however, I could tell Roger was getting quite bored of sitting there like a statue, as he kept bouncing his leg up and down underneath the table and making it shake, resulting in me telling him off for causing me to make an error. I'm not sure what exactly possessed me to go ahead with it in the first place- but I'd started now and I fully intended to finish. The blonde was receiving a place in my beloved sketchbook - so was going to do a bloody good job of it.

The two of us sat there for a solid quarter of an hour in silence - personally I didn't mind the absence of conversation because it meant I could concentrate better - but eventually it all became too much for the drummer and he had to say something before he likely went insane.

'You a big Stones fan?' he asked me, referring to the album playing on the turntable.

Not taking my attention away from what I was doing, I looked up momentarily only to study his features so I could get them right, before continuing to draw like he hadn't said a word.

'Actually, the record isn't mine,' I eventually confessed, 'It belongs to my brother. I 'borrowed' it off him one day to have a listen and I guess I just forgot to give it back. But yeah, they're a great band...You've, uh, moved slightly...'

'Oh, sorry,' Roger quickly altered his position so he was in his original pose again, coughing awkwardly. He then told me, 'It's funny actually, my sister used to steal my records all the time as well.'

'Is that right?'

'Oh, yeah. My Bill Haley ones used to go missing on a daily basis; I was convinced we had a poltergeist in our house. Then I'd hear Claire playing them next door in her bedroom and I'd hit the roof. It was like World War Three between us sometimes.'

'Hmm, tell me about it,' I agreed, 'Our house was complete chaos when I was younger too. Then again, I had the joy of growing up with four older brothers.'

'Four brothers?!'

'Yeah,' I replied half-heartedly, 'The oldest's 34 and has kids and a family of his own now. Definitely makes you realise that you're still, and always will be, the baby of the family...'

Why on earth I was telling the drummer all this, I really didn't know, especially considering he probably wasn't even in the least bit interested in my life. But, funnily enough, for some strange reason - he was. Roger was listening to what I was saying like he genuinely wanted to know, It was certainly not a side to him that I'd ever seen or even knew existed until recently. But I wasn't going to open up to him any more than I had to. Not yet.

'How's the drawing coming along?' he asked after a while, nodding at my sketchbook, 'It's looking good.'

'It's slow, but I'm getting there,' I told him honestly, 'Sorry for making you sit there so long, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to art; I won't finish until I'm one hundred percent happy with what I've done,' I glanced up at him and frowned, 'You've moved again!'

'Fuck, sorry!' Roger groaned, sitting up straight, as I tried to refrain from laughing. There was a short silence between us, 'You been drawing for a long time?'

'Yeah, for as long as I could hold a pencil.' I joked.

The drummer rolled his eyes, chuckling, 'You know what I mean. When did you, like, get into art?

So many questions.

'Well, I've always loved it,' I told him, shrugging, 'All I did was draw and paint when I was growing up. Although, nowadays, it's taken more of a backseat, if I'm honest.'

'How come?'

'Where do I begin?' I sighed, 'Uni, work, exams. I just don't have the time anymore.'

Roger furrowed his eyebrows, 'I don't understand - if you're so passionate about art, why are you studying for a degree in Chemistry?

I sighed, 'It wasn't an option doing anything else. I did apply for a few art schools at the end of sixth form; just out of curiosity - and was offered places too. But it didn't matter. The path my life was to take was well and truly set by my parents, whether I liked it or not. And I wasn't going to dare argue with them, especially after I....'

As soon as I realised what I was about to reveal, my grip tightened nervously around my pen. I didn't say anything or move a muscle for a good ten seconds, and it was only once Roger said my name the second or third time that I was finally brought back into reality.

'Heidi?...Heidi, are you alright?'

Having escaped my thoughts, my eyes slowly met with his as I was about to open my mouth and give him an excuse, but before I had the chance to, the sound of the telephone ringing filled the house, thankfully interrupting me just in time.

'I'll get it.' I quickly rose from my seat and darted out the room into the hallway, ignoring the perplexed look Roger gave me as I walked past. When I reached the phone, I took it off the stand and held it to my ear, my heart still beating hard in my chest, 'H-hello?'

'Hey, Heidi! It's Brian,' the voice of my friend came through the receiver, instantly calming me down, 'I was just phoning to double check you're still okay for Friday night?'

My mind went blank, 'Sorry, Bri, what's happening Friday?'

The guitarist just laughed, 'We're seeing Deep Purple at the Paris Theatre, remember? We've been talking about it for months, please don't tell me you forgot.'

'What? No, of course not,' I replied, almost a bit too defensively, 'I just had a slight memory lapse; that's all. All this cramming for exams has left barely any space in my head for anything else.'

'Alright, okay, I was only messing with you!' Brian chuckled at my reaction. He suddenly became serious, 'Heidi, are you okay? You sound a little bit flustered.'

'I'm fine. Honest,' I lied, fiddling with the phone cord.

There was suspicion in his voice, but luckily he didn't question me any futher, 'Oh, okay. Well, the concert was all I wanted to ask you about, I think. Actually, how's it going, y'know, with you and Blondie?'

I knew he was going to ask me that.

'As well as it can be,' I said quietly so Roger wouldn't hear me, 'He's still managing to think of ways to get on my nerves, but he's not as bad as he was. I'll give him that much.'

'I'm glad to hear it,' Brian said happily, 'Listen, I'd better go. I have work I should be doing. I'll talk to you later. Bye.'

'Bye,' I murmured before putting the phone back down and sighing heavily.

Although I didn't want to, after taking a moment to compose myself, I walked back into the living room like nothing had happened before the phone went, sitting down at the table, but avoiding any unnecessary eye contact with Roger as I did.

'Who was that?' he spoke up.

'Brian.'

'Ah,' the awkwardness between us was very apparent. After a couple of minutes of more drawing, I put my pen down and picked up my sketchbook, scrutinising my work carefully.

'I think I'm done.' I told him, 'D'you want to see?'

'Of course,' he smiled as I handed him over the sketchbook. His eyes widened, 'Holy shit. Heidi, this...this is amazing. It's like looking into a mirror.'

'It's not that good.'

'Are you kidding? This should be hanging in the National Gallery!' he exclaimed as my face went slightly red from embarrassment. No one ever praised me on anything that I did before.

After he'd finished admiring his portrait, he gave me my sketchbook back and asked tentatively, 'Did I...say something earlier that overstepped the mark or something because..?'

'No,' I interjected. There was a small pause as I was unsure of what to say next, 'It was nothing, I...I was just having a senior moment, that's all. I swear, everything's fine.'

Thankfully, Roger just nodded in reply and left things as they were, so I tidied away my art stuff and went through to the kitchen to make a start on tea, thankful that the drummer didn't ask any further questions as I'd almost let slip something I didn't want anyone to know...

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Hi guys!

Looks like Heidi is hiding something...very suspicious 🤔 Let me know what you thought of this chapter with a vote or a comment, I always love getting feedback. Thank you ever so much!

- Anna :-)