Three weeks had passed from the first time they saw each other. On the days they had no work, they spent all of their time together. The two had become quite fond of one another. They spent nights on Jimmy's couch watching old movies and the mornings playing music in the kitchen. Everything was perfect just as it was.
Movie nights were Gwen's favorite. He had a project with an impressive film collection. They watched seeimingly whatever they wanted. Jimmy was a talented projectionist and eased the reel onto the projector with grace.
Just the other night, the couple watched Rosemary's Baby, a movie made by Roman Polanski. She'd read the book, which was published just a year before the movie. She thought it was much better than the movie but Jimmy enjoyed it. Although it painted witchcraft in a bad light he thought it was a pleasurable viewing experince. They talked about their opinions as the credits rolled, Gwen crying, "The book was better!"
"Love, the book is always better."
"Still dissapointed."
"Well, you revel in your superiority." He laughed.
"I think I will, Mr. Page."
"Very formal, I like it."
"What did you think of it?"
"I thought it was fine," he shrugged, "it dragged in the middle, but it was fine."
Today they had plans to celebrate Mabon. This was Jimmy's idea. He read about the holiday in a book Gwen lent him. They shared everything. They exchanged clothing, books, records, and everything else in between. They were particularly happy to share clothing. Especially Jimmy, he had an entire new closet of feminine clothes to try on. They were the same size on account of his Disney Princess waist.
Gwen pulled into his driveway at a quarter past 5. They planned to trek into the forest and celebrate the equinox together at dawn. "Good morning!" She called into the living room. Jimmy was sat on his couch reading a book. It was a new one. "Hello, love." He said. She leaned down and pecked him on the cheek. She walked around the couch and sat on the floor in front of the coffee table and laid out the items she brought.
She was already dressed in her ritual clothing. She owned a small collection of robes and cloths, choosing to wear her purple and gold robe. Jimmy was yet to change into his. He also owned a small but more decorative assortment of ceremonial clothing. He chose to wear a short cloak of sorts, which was black and adorned with ornamnetal patterns in black thread.
"Okay, we have sage incense, citrine, tigers eyes, and red jasper. I also have the salt mix I told you about last night. It's mixed with pink salt, cayenne pepper, and ginger. It should be perfect for home protection." She said. Jimmy admired her while she rambled about the activities for the day. They both knew exactly what they were going to do, but she needed to lay the plan out to him anyway.
She's absolutely a Virgo rising. She needs everything to be neat and in order. That's what I love about her, she's so put together. Always punctual and cares so about her career. He thought about how much he liked her as she rambled. This was a trait of hers, a routine. Her words came out in ribbons, a stream of consciousness.
The harsh winter air bit at their faces as they walked into the trees. Their hands were enveloped in an embrace. It comforted him to always be in contact with her. The soft skin she possessed was inviting, a warm place for him to rest after a long and cold day.
This confused her at first, his need for contact. After a few days she grew to enjoy it. The brushing of their hands was reassuring. She was always delighted when she felt the familiar touch from him. Even if it was just a knocking of their knees; he had to know she was there with him.
She worked to make a salt circle while he readied the offerings. He laid out apples, oranges, and lavender. "This won't bring about the fae, will it?" Jimmy asked. "It shouldn't. I guess we need to be clear that this is an earth offering. Not an invitation to those little fairy bastards." They laughed at her words.
They sat in the circle with their backs touching. Jimmy was facing the browning trees; Gwen sat in the sun. Leaves broke from the trees and swirled in the air around them. The red and yellow leaves landed in their circle, symbolizing the earth joining them in their spellwork. A broad smile painted Gwen's face as she watched Autumn bloom. The colors of the trees in contrast with the dead grass made her happy. There was still happiness in the greying earth.
"Autumn is so magical. Most people don't feel this way. They think that the earth is dying. But I feel differently. The earth is lulling itself into a deep, restful sleep. Nature closes in on itself and allows everything to idle. And when everything comes back into life in the Spring, we can see how vital this rest is." He said. His words blew through her ears, warming them in contrast with the cold weather. She smiled and felt her face begin to burn.
"You're so insightful," She turned to face him, "I'm so happy that I have you to share this time with. I couldn't imagine spending it with anyone more significant." Her genial words were important to him.
After their meditation was finished they walked back to the boathouse. The trip was almost 10 minutes but it felt like 30 in the cold. As they walked beside one another they could feel the energy from the circle. A warming sensation like electricity ran between their bodies. The heat flowed like sparkling water, crashing between them as if washing up on a beach. The pair stole innocent glances from the other as they toddled up the hill. Every so often their hands would brush together and cause a surge of torridity.
When they finally returned to the house they began working to cleanse it. Jimmy started upstairs while Gwen did the first floor. She paid special attention to the music room. Only the best energy in here. The fate of Zeppelin may rest in this very cleansing. Winter air pushed its way through the ajar window. As much as she was warmed by Jimmy, she could feel her limbs starting to freeze. Haste was implemented to speed up the chances of windows closing.
The smell of incense was heavy in the air as they met in the living room. Their sage had burnt down and were left only with nubs of the sticks. They sat these in a dish on a shelf in his living room. Crystals and herbs would join the sticks soon. The intention was to bring luck. For now they settled on lighting a few candles. They were pink pillar candles Gwen had brought over, engraved with the X rune. This symbolized partnership.
A guitar sat at his feet as they retreated to the couch. "Are you going to grace us with your musical stylings?" He laughed at her whimsy. "Of course I will. I do every time you're here." He picked up the dark acoustic and began to strum. Gwen could recognize this song. It always tickled her when he played something she knew.
"But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way"
A smile was brought to Jimmy's face as he heard Gwen's voice. She sounds so lovely. I can't believe she knows Joni Mitchell. She's bloody perfect. I don't know how she's real.
"I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all"
She continued to sing as he strummed. The slow pace of the song matched the still morning perfectly. Soft sun peaked in through the curtains. The pleasant sound of the guitar filled the room. As they reached the fifth verse Jimmy joined in her singing.
"Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say, "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way"
"Oh, but now old friends they're acting strange
And they shake their heads and they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every day"
Heat swirled in the room as the two harmonized; the cold from outside was entirely gone now. The flame in the candles burned bright as the song continued. They could feel everything else melt away; they were the only two left in the world. All other thoughts or responsibilities left their minds. Making this beautiful song was all they could think of.
Jimmy continued to play even after the lyrics were over. Gwen laid back on the couch and listened. The swell of chords floated through the air and burst into her ears. There was something so sensual and full about his playing. She could feel the light in her chest flicker. He awakened something in her when he picked up that guitar.
The flames on the pillar candles began to rise as he shifted into a new song. The same one he played for her the first time she came to see him. It didn't have lyrics or a name at that time. Since then, Jimmy had fixed both those issues.
"Yesterday I saw you standing by the river,
And weren't those tears that filled your eyes,
And all the fish that lay in dirty water dying,
Had they got you hypnotized?"
These were the only words Jimmy sang. The other lines didn't have the kinks worked out yet. He didn't like showing things to Gwen that weren't entirely finished. But he was too eager to not play the song for her. And it was worth it when he saw the way her smile lit up.
When he ceased to strum and dropped the guitar she erupted into applause. Her one-man plea for an encore always won him over. "Okay, okay. But only one more, then we have to make the cake." She squealed in delight at this notion. After their chorus was finished they went into the kitchen. Jimmy gathered the ingredients for the dessert while Gwen turned on the oven and prepped the pan. The two sang together while they readied the batter. Jimmy stood behind Gwen, his hands massaging her scalp while she worked. "I can't believe you're letting me make the cake. Usually you get all pissy when I try to do anything for you." She spoke between songs.
He rolled his eyes, giving her hair a gentle tug. "Careful, you'll find that I like that."
"You'd be delighted to know that I do too." He said and gave her hair another tug. She nudged him with her elbow and continued to make the batter. They swapped places so he could apply the topping to the cake. This was their trade; she could make the mix as long as he could decorate the top. They stood back and admired his work before putting it in the oven. "It's so beautiful," she wiped a fake tear from her eyes, "A baking feat never to be rivaled." He joined in on her joke, playing it up even more. "I can't believe we've crafted this masterpiece. We should take a photo and hang it in the Louvre." Laughter bubbled from Gwen's throat and hung in the air around them.
He plopped on a kitchen chair across from Gwen. He studied her as she read intently. Her eyes were laser-focused and her lips were pursed. She looked positively adorable when she was focused. The book she was devouring was one that Jimmy had lent her. It was over the impending years' planetary events. There would, of course, be multiple retrogrades in mercury, one in venus, and an eclipse. He knew this because he read the entire thing before passing it on to her. She seemed very excited by the pages, though.
He sat and laughed as she slammed the book on the table, eyes wide in elation. "There is going to be a solar eclipse? Jimmy, we have to see it! It's March 7th. We can be in America by then, right?" She looked to him with pleading eyes. She was like a child; so excitable and happy at the simplest of matters. "Of course we can. I will make sure of it." He didn't know if that was the honest truth. He could be touring, recording, or doing god knows what by March. But it gave her momentary satisfaction, which brought a glint of happiness to her eyes. This made his chest ache. She's going to be my undoing. And I don't think I mind.
After the ding of the oven timer went off, Gwen was up once again. "I'm so excited to try this. It's going to be so good!" As she reached into the oven, a terrible thought entered his mind.
What will we be doing by March? Would she be mine? My main priority has always been Zeppelin. I don't think I'd have time for a relationship and the band. Our schedules and goals would have to align for things to work out. And I have no ordinary schedule or goals. What have I gotten myself into? She's the literal woman of my dreams and here I am pondering if our schedules will line up! I have an impeccable ability to fuck things up. I told Jackie that I wanted to move to the coast and sell bloody pottery. It seems to always slip from my hands the moment something concrete starts to form. We haven't even known each other a month. But I have known her a long time; long before we met.
She turned after sitting the cake down on the stovetop. She expected him to be right behind her, examining his handy work. But he was stood in the middle of the room, fists clenched at his sides and staring into space. She furrowed her brows and walked closer to him. "Jimmy? Are you alright?" He snapped from his trance and joined the land of the conscious. "Yeah, just deep in thought. Let's see this cake!" He lurched forward to the stove. "Well, it is gorgeous. We make a good team, don't we?" His smile was convincing, but Gwen could tell something was up. She pushed those thoughts from her mind and continued with his banter.
"We should move to the South of France and open our own bakery. We could sell bread and paintings. We'd make a killing." They laughed together, still admiring the steaming cake.
Gwen brought the candles into the kitchen and sat them on the table. She sprinkled what was left of the salt mix and sat the crystals in the middle. Jimmy set out the plates and put a hefty slice of cake on each pink saucer. He then readied the tea for them.
"This is the first time I'm going to experience British tea!" Gwen said. Jimmy's eyes widened in surprise. "I haven't made you tea yet? Well, you're in for a treat!" He grabbed the bowl of sugar cubes and the decanter of cream. "You put cream in your tea? You're going to hell. Not even regular hell- you're going to super hell. That's disgusting." As she ragged his tradition he became more and more offended. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to drizzle some fructose corn syrup in there? Maybe a little bacon grease?" He mocked.
"What my people do is none of your concern. Nothing is worse than putting fricken' cream in tea! Sugar I can understand. But cream is unforgivable. This is what's wrong with Britain." He shot her a devious glare before bursting into laughter. She joined him in his jovial song. "But really, you enjoy this?" She said seriously. He grimaced before dumping a large stream of cream into her cup.
"This is going to be disgusting. But I'll try it. Just for you." She loudly sipped the drink, causing Jimmy to choke on his. She laughed before taking a long swallow. She wrinkled her brow and frowned. "Pretty good." She wore a thinly veiled pained face as she desperately smiled. They once again broke into laughter.
The rest of the afternoon was spent laughing and soaking up every ounce of their time together. Time seemed to stop when they were together. Hours dragged on for days and days seemed to last years. Even though they spent a large majority of their time lounging around performing mundane, domestic tasks, they enjoyed it more than anything else in the world.
"I cannot believe it's already nine-thirty. I have been here ALL day. It feels like just a few hours." She said. She laid her head on Jimmy's lap, looking up at his peaceful face. "I also can't believe you made me drink that mud-water you call tea. You know, in America, we put some honey and sugar in and we call it a day. And it's alright. Doesn't hurt your stomach; it's nice and refreshing."
He once again grimaced, turning his nose up at her. "That's why you're all uncivilized. You didn't grow up experiencing the joy of afternoon tea. There was nothing like going to an auntie's house and dipping little biscuits into mugs of hot tea. God, how I miss it." He held a closed fist to his chest as he sanctimoniously spoke.
"Did I just catch Jimmy Page reminiscing over childhood memories? By god, he 'as a soul!" She mocked his proper accent. This caused him to roll his eyes in retaliation. "Yes, I've got a soul. Bless your heart, but I don't think you do. I don't think i've heard one story about your family or your childhood." He was smug.
Gwen got very serious and leaned in. "Okay, now it's time for this talk. I haven't talked to my family in a number of years. They're actually the reason I moved out here. My childhood was... not very great. I try to stay as far away from them as possible. So an ocean works for me!"
He was quiet for a moment. "That's because you lot didn't have afternoon tea." Gwen gave him an angry look that quickly molded into a smile. She broke into laughter, grasping her chest. "You're a dick." She slapped his arm.
-
The two spent the next hour watching movies in the front room. The sun began to set, causing the room to look dark. This was a perfect excuse for her to light more candles. She looked to Jimmy when she got off the couch. He was laying peacefully on the cushions. His mess of curls were covering his face.
She made her way upstairs to collect more candles from his room. When she pushed the door open, there was a guitar laying on his bed. It was a light colored acoustic. The wood look expensive. It was a lovely instrument. She hadn't seen it before. She picked it up and sat with it on her lap on the bed. It was light in her hands and dug into her thigh. She didn't know how to play but she began strumming. A scratchy sound came first as she fiddled with a pattern. After a minute or two a melody presented itself. It sounded pretty good, actually. She gave a devious laugh and sat the guitar back down.
She leaned down to grab the candles from the organizer under his bookshelf. This bin had candles, leaflets, and matches stored in it. He had another one beside it that had herbs and pendants. None of the bins were particularly organized. Jimmy wasn't a tidy person, it seemed. His cleaning lady was a necessity. One candle was red and the other pink. Interesting colors.
Two arms wrapped around her body, pulling her in. She screamed at first, but realized it was just him. The long arms and thin body pressed against her was a tell-tale sign. "You scared the fuck out of me!"
He sent her a mischievous laugh. He was amused by her screaming. They had an antagonstic relationship in this sense. They enjoyed hiding behind doors to scare each other. Sometimes she even stuck her foot out when he got off the couch. It got him every time and he tumbled to the ground. He looked to the guitar on his bed, examining its position. "Have you played my guitar?"
"How the hell do you know?"
"It's been moved. And I can see the imprint of you sitting in the blankets." He said.
"You're a genius."
He sat next to the guitar and picked it up. "You're the first one to play this beauty. I picked it up before you got here this morning. You're a devilish snoop." He began to strum. His head was cast down, his face now covered by his mass of dark curls. His attention was immediately sucked up by the instrument. The song he played was dark and repetitive. She could feel herself becoming entranced. He was seducing her with his playing.
When his song was over he simply sat the guitar down and turned to her. "How did you like it?" She laughed at first. He was asking for validation of his playing. I assume he got enough of that on tour.
When she saw his face she laughed even more. He looked very upset, like he might cry. She couldn't tell if it was a joke or not. "No, it was wonderful, as always. I was laughing because you're this rock god asking me if you sounded good. Because that's a given." His face perked up at her words.
"I wanted to know what you thought. I've never played that one for you. Usually you're throwing yourself over me as soon as I'm finished." He gave a cheeky grin.
Her eyes rolled and she took a seat next to him. "How could I not when you play like that?" She put the guitar on the ground and got on top of Jimmy. She straddled his hips and looked down at him. His face was innocent as ever, his fairy features taking in the sights of her.
"I have something I need to tell you." He braced her arms in his hands, "I have to go back on tour soon."
"You're leaving? For how long?" Her brows pushed together in pain.
"Six months."
Her chest began to ache at his words. "Wow... That's not... a long time." She didn't know what to think. All thoughts left her. At an instant this dream was tumbling down. She was certain that this fling was now over. He would cast her aside, left in the garbage to reminisce on the time she spent with Jimmy Page.
"I understand if you don't want to see me when I return. It's quite a long time to be absent." His words upset her. He seemed to be so enamored by her, was it all a lie? Was she crazy? She thought maybe he was trying to push her away, to get her to let him off the hook so he didn't have to deal with the pain of letting her down.
"Of course I want to see you when you get back," She was now grasping at him, "I really do like you. These last couple weeks have been the best of my life. I just can't believe you're going to be gone that long. Didn't you just get back from tour as well?"
"Yes, I have. But that's the thing about Zeppelin, we tour a lot. And you're going to have to get used to it."
She smiled slyly, "I'm gonna have to get used to it, eh? That means you want me to stick around, eh?" She poked his cheek and coaxed a laugh from him. "Yes, I do. You're very lovely." She smiled and cuddled into his chest. The thoughts that previously haunted her left. She put them to bed, no matter how much they fought against the sheets.
"I'm very sad that you're leaving. But I'll have to soak up all the Jimmy I can before you go." He pet her hair. "I'll have to get all the Gwen I can." He leaned his head on her cheek.