I Let Love In

Chapter XXI: Tea N Tea

Angus McKinnon was certainly not a hallucination. 

"There you are!" he said as I tackled him in a hug. Still weak from flu recovery it was more like I fell on him. He was wearing his cologne again and had fixed his hair. With his strong arms he picked me up off the floor. "You left so quick the other day, I didn't get to say goodbye!"

Damn fuck, I knew I should have stuck around.

I also illogically blame the cold air for making me sick. After leaving the studio I had to wander back to the hotel to the best of my memory since the cab took off at the speed of light. And my memory isn't very good when it comes to directions. 

Angus set me down and stepped back to look at me. He frowned. "You okay?"

"I caught the flu," I said sniffling. "I haven't been able to come to see you,"

"Well....are ya' sure you wanna go out still?" he asked sticking his hands in his pockets. "I mean...ya' know, we don't have to...ya' know....we can stay in or somethin', ya' know...."

Blushing like a schoolgirl at the cute way he spoke I shook my head. "I need some fresh air," I said. I was not missing a date with this guy. 

He smiled shyly. "Alright," he shrugged. I turned back to say goodbye to Maude when I saw her deep in concentration. She had her sketchbook in her lap as she doodled an unidentifiable image. Not wanting to disturb her I slowly closed the door behind us. On our way to the lift Angus stopped and pulled something out of his left pocket. "Almost forgot, Bon got us a little somethin'...." In his hand were two teabags. "The other day he went in to get a tire change on his motorbike an' they had a jar of free tea. So..." He shrugged again and handed me one. 

English Brekkie.

"I think he took the entire jar but he left us some crumbs," Angus laughed. "Can't go wrong with free tea." As I stuffed the tea bag in my jacket pocket Angus kept laughing to himself. 

"What?" I asked but he couldn't answer. "What?"

Stopping right outside the elevator he stuck his hand in his right pocket and pulled out a set of keys. 

Looks like Bon wasn't the only thief around here...

**********

It took Angus a few minutes to get the door unlocked. All the lights were off and the car park was empty. Once he opened the door he let me in first. 

The studio was even older and dustier when it was empty. Spiders that thought they had the place to themselves scurried back into their corners when they saw us. I followed Angus up the creaking stairs to the main room. It was so much bigger without people and all the equipment had been locked up. "Nice to have the place to ourselves, eh?" he asked pulling open the blue door and kicking the door stopper in place. "Come on an' see the place." 

Phil's drum set was the only thing left out aside from one amplifier. A piece of paper had been taped to the top that read "out of commission". Something told me Angus had set it on fire.

Accidentally, of course. 

Rifling through some drawers on a desk Angus pulled out another set of keys and unlocked a cabinet in the back of the room. Several guitars were hung up. One I recognised as Malcolm's. "Paul's in charge of the primary guitars....he might not know where the backups are..." He closed the cabinet and unlocked a second one. "Hmm...." Angus didn't seem to have luck finding what he was searching for. I didn't suppose I'd be much help. "Could call an' ask but we're not supposed to be in here." He laughed again. 

Finally rummaging around the cases in the corner of the room he pulled out a black Gibson SG and a strap. He hooked it in place and plucked a little, the music coming out small and meek from being unplugged.