Long Away

Chapter 5

The next day was busy for the three roommates. Freddie had classes in the morning, so it was up to Roger to show Ben the ropes at his new job. The weather was nasty, so they decided to take the bus instead of walking. Yesterday they had briefly stopped by the shop on their way home. Freddie and Roger had insisted Ben take some clothes he could pay off gradually. Ben still felt a little uncomfortable accepting all this help from them, but when they got off the bus and stepped into the sleet, he was glad to have a warm coat covering his body. The two hurried to get inside the building. They walked right through the main part of the shop to the staffroom behind the counter and hung up their coats on an iron rack. The room was somewhat cramped, but cozy. It was equipped with a sofa and a coffee table. On the wall opposite of it hung an abstract painting. Natural light came in through a window which took up most of the wall facing the street.

"We have half an hour until we open," Roger said as he made himself comfortable on the sofa. Ben sat down next to him.
"Usually we don't get that many customers in the morning, so we should be fine. I don't envy Fred though when he gets here."
"So how long is our shift then?," Ben wanted to know.
"I have to leave for classes in about five hours. You can close up then if you want. But if you think you can handle it on your own you can also keep working, Freddie should be here not too long after I go." Roger shrugged. "It's really up to you. We don't take things that exact here, you'll find. As long as you charge enough money, you're good." Ben laughed.
"I think I can do that."

Roger showed Ben how to use the cash register and where he could find certain kinds of clothes in case a customer would ask. Ben did his best to pay attention, but he kept catching himself getting distracted. He wasn't quite sure why, but since he had learned that Roger wasn't straight, he noticed his attractiveness a lot more. He tried to push the thought away. The last thing he needed right now was another crush that would not be reciprocated.
"Oh, let me give you one last tip," Roger said with a grin. He walked over to a large mirror that was standing by a wall. "If you tilt this like so," he said, "you can get a peak inside the fitting rooms from the check out counter."
Ben let out a dramatic sigh.
"Rog, you're impossible."
Roger wiggled his eyebrows.
"You gotta keep yourself entertained somehow."

He leaned lazily against the wall, arms crossed, and regarded Ben with a look he couldn't quite interpret. Was it flirtatious? Ben berated himself internally. No, he was probably reading way too much into this.
"Speaking of which," Roger said, "are you only into men or women too?"
Oh no. This was not helping Ben redirect his thoughts at all.
"I don't care too much about gender," he said. Roger nodded understandingly.
"I get that. I would also consider myself bisexual. But I guess I do have a preference for women."
Ben knew it. He did not actually have a chance to get with him.
"Usually," Roger added, before walking off to open the shop, leaving Ben behind a stunned mess. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and began to panic. Had he been blushing this whole time?

~~~~

By the end of the day, Ben was exhausted. He had no idea how he got through those five hours with Roger without freaking out. After Roger had left, Ben decided to just take a break until Freddie started his shift, and then help him out aswell. It was important to him to make himself useful. Freddie had just closed the shop and him and Ben were making sure everything was tidy so they could leave.
"You did well today, Ben," Freddie said as he put away a stack of clothes someone had left in one of the dressing rooms.
"Do you think you can take on a shift alone soon?"
"I guess I could handle that," Ben said.
"That would help us out a lot. On days where Rog and I have classes at the same time we don't get a lot of hours in. It's not ideal for our sales."
They finished up and went to grab their coats. Freddie looked out the window. "The weather seems fine now, do you want to walk?"
Ben agreed. Some exercise would be good for him. That reminded him he hadn't done any workouts since... well, almost fifty years from now. He had to get back on it soon. As the two walked through the city, Freddie brought up his efforts to find a bassist for the band.
"I put up a bunch of posters today," he said. "Do you think we will find someone soon?"
Ben shrugged. He honestly couldn't remember when exactly Deaky had joined Queen.
"I'm sure we will eventually," was all he said.
"Didn't you say you could also play guitar?," Freddie remembered. "Bass isn't that different. Maybe you can learn it."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Ben said. Before Freddie could say anything else about it, he quickly changed the subject.
"What I wanted to ask you, why did you decide to help me? That first night, I mean. I was just some drunk stranger, not making a great impression and all. So why did you not just leave me to myself?"
Freddie hesitated.
"This is going to sound strange," he said. "But I somehow felt like I knew you from somewhere. Like I remembered you, but couldn't quite tell where from. And like we were somehow... connected? Must have been the alcohol." He nervously laughed it off. His words sent a chill down Ben's spine. This didn't make sense. How would Freddie know him? But surely it couldn't be a coincidence either. Now Freddie seemed to want to change the subject.
"Anyway. Do you think you can write lyrics to another song soon? I still have some in store," Freddie said. Ben nodded absentmindedly.
"Sure."

***

Hey guys! Thanks for reading again! I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is more than welcome aswell.

Tay