They say that when you’re in love, you wouldn’t know it.
Miriam and Brian stand in silence.
“Do you want to sit down or something, Brian?”
“Yeah, sure.” –Please don’t say that we need to talk, please, please, please—
Brian crosses his fingers behind his back.
Miriam sits down, at the other end of the couch. Sometimes it is just nice to know that Brian is somewhere near her. She doesn’t need to talk to him; she doesn’t even have to look at him. She feels secured. She relaxes and smiles.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Nothing, I just feel… right.”
“That’s nice to hear.” Brian feels happy for her. --Maybe Rivers and her finally got together— “Are things with Rivers looking up?” Miriam chokes on her own spit, and she starts to cough. “Um, are you alright?”
“Yeah yeah, I’m sorry.” She laughs at herself in her head for making an ass of herself. Things with Rivers? I don’t have any “things” with him. “What things with Rivers?”
“I thought you guys are like…” Brian is moving his hands around, gesturing that are they together.
“Oh. Not really… I… Like… Rivers? Gee… I… ”
“I understand.”
The door opens and comes Pat. “Brian, come on! We’re starting. Rivers wrote some new songs.”
As Pat says that, both Brian’s and Miriam’s heart drop to the bottom of their guts. The songs are probably about Miriam, and how much Rivers loves Miriam. Miriam feels like she doesn’t want to hear the songs, she cannot take the fact that Rivers loves her, and yet, she…
* * * * *
“Um, I wrote this song, and here’s some copies of the music. Do you want me to play it or should we just jam it?”
“Let’s jam(b, hehe) it. I’m up for the challenge,” says Pat. Matt nods to agree.
Rivers doesn’t even look at Brian and starts to count, “1, 2, 1, 2…”
“Susanne,” Rivers sings and looks at Miriam who is sitting in the corner of the garage with his lonely eyes. Miriam looks away from him, --So this song is about me, what joy— “You’re all that I wanted of a girl. You’re all that I need in the world. I’m your child, make me blush, drive me wild…” Rivers is singing his heart out.
Brian is screwing the song up, but Rivers keep on going, not caring about how bad the song sounds right now.
“All I can do is say that… I haven’t much I can give you in return, only my heart, and a promise not to turn. I’ll say to you everyday and every night, ‘Susanne, I’m your man.’” River feels like he has sang the most important part of the song, so he stops playing. The others then stopped too. “Brian, that was horrible.”
“Dude, I’m sorry. I had too much coffee this morning and I’m all shaky right now.” Brian likes making excuses, but of course, Rivers knows why Brian is all fucked up.
“Eh, it’s alright. Let’s do it again, I like this song,” Pat says.
“Yeah, I like the bridge, it’s nice.” Matt adds.
Rivers looks at Miriam and says, “Thanks,” he then proceeds to ask Miriam, “Mim, what do you think of the song?”
—Oh shit— When they’re playing the song, the whole time Miriam basically is looking at Brian, hoping that he won’t screw up so more, so then Rivers won’t be mad…. “Um…” It is getting quite in the room, and everyone is kind of waiting for Miriam to answer. “It’s very unique.” –-I can’t say that it nice, it’s not! It tears my stupid heart into fours—…
“Unique? Heh, that’s really the first time I hear anyone using that word to describe a…” Rivers shoots an evil look to Matt, “though I have to agree the song IS very unique. Good job, Rivers.”
“Thanks again, Matthew,” Rivers gives a weak smile, “Let’s take a break. Then we’ll just play something fun and go home.”
“Alrighty.”
“Sure thing.”
There isn’t a comment from Brian. Rivers starts to walk away to the washroom.
“Bri, is that ok with you?” Pat asks because, Brian didn’t say anything.
Rivers turns back as he hears that, as Brian and Rivers make an eye contact, Brian replies to Pat, “Uh, yeah, sure.”
Rivers walks away again.
“Dude, Rivers was so fucking mad at you!”
“I know, Brian, what was happening?”
Brian looks at Miriam who is in the corner of the room, “I told you guys that I had too much morning coffee and I’m all shaky!”
“Brian, we know that you don’t drink coffee in the morning.”
“Uh, well I had my first this morning.”
“So you’re giving up your firm and oh-so-true-philosophy of ‘Caffeine kills your brain cells’, huh?”
“God fuck it! Fine, I didn’t have coffee. I just…” Brian notices that Miriam is leaving the room. “I…”
“You…………”
“I…………”
“I bet you’re in love with Miriam.” Pat says, “Just admit!! You and Rivers both have equal chances.”
“I know THAT, genius. But the problem is… Miriam. I don’t think she knows who she likes, me or Rivers.”
“And why do you think that?”
“Well… I’ve talked to Miriam for quite a bit. She always gives me the feeling that she likes me. Just like this morning I asked her if things with Rivers are looking up, she said to me, ‘what things with Rivers?’ and that totally means that she doesn’t like him. Oh, oh, and also, she was smiling the whole time when we sat in the room. We didn’t say anything, but she was smiling, she leaned her head back and… she said she felt ‘right’…”
“Gee, Brian, you’re talking like totally like a teenybopper with some love problems.” Matt says and Pat laughs, but Matt suddenly stop when he sees Rivers coming into the room. Matt starts to nudge Pat and Pat stops too. “Holy mother…”
They see Rivers, and Miriam, holding hands, walking into the room. Miriam looks at Brian, and Brian looks back at her, right at her. Miriam eyes are longing for something from Brian. Brian knows that he could give it to her, but he chooses not to. After all, Rivers is his best friend of all time.
“Rivs! What happened in the washroom?” Pat says as he shows a devilish grin.
Rivers blushes. “Um, nothing.”
“Man, how often do you see our weezer front man blushing?” A few laughs come with that line.
“Rivers, really, what DID happen in the washroom,” Brian adds as he pats Rivers on the back.
Rivers is shocked that Brian is actually interested, as he sees Brian and the other two guys joking around about it, Rivers says, “Let’s call this a day.”
“Someone can’t wait till tonight, eh?” Pat says.
That hurt Brian, though still he laughs and jokes as he packs up his guitar. “Yeah, let’s go home.” Brian packs up ever so quickly and says, “Hey, I’m off now. Call me later.” He walks to his car, climbs into, and starts to engine. As he drove onto the street, he finally lets it out. He looks at himself in the rear mirror and says, “Man, Brian, this bites.”
optional: click only if you really want to know what happened in thr bathroom (an additional chapter)... Ch. 9.1
Ch. 10