FORTUNE: A FREENBECKY STORY

Chapter 4 🏎️

"How do you like to be loved?" Becky asks.
Freen is startled by the question. It's a question Freen never expected Becky to ask. She expected her to ask about family or friends or her job.
"Is this what she meant by 'know me'?" Freen panicked. Not at the thought of being known deeply but realising that she had not been asked what she liked in a long time not to mention how she liked to be loved.

Freen did not know the answer.

Becky sensing Freen's hesitancy and feeling slightly embarrassed to have blurted that out knowing Freen probably didn't feel the same way as she did reworded her question.

"I mean, what kind of things make you happy?"
Freen felt relieved, not having to answer the initial question. Her eyes lit up. "I love supporting young minds into achieving their dream. That makes me the most happy." Freen replies with inner relief.

They talk for hours on end about everything they could think to ask one another and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. So much time had passed that the sun had already begun to set. They had spent all day together.

Suddenly, their flow of conversation was interrupted by a call on Freen's phone. Freen's phone had been on silent all day and Becky had seen the occasional email notification or text message come through but this time it rang out loud. It was a special setting and an unavoidable call.

Freen's posture and demeanour immediately changed when she saw the caller ID. The Freen she had been talking to for hours had disappeared and this Freen felt like a clenched fist.

"Hold on." Freen insists. She leaves the room. Becky found that strange.

"Am I being too sensitive?" Becky thought as she got up to clear the table. Despite her best efforts Becky's mind began to think about how out of her league Freen was. How she comes from a humble background but Freen comes from privilege. She began to think about how incredibly unaccomplished she felt in comparison to Freen who at 28 had already founded 3 successful companies. She began to doubt if their connection was real and if Freen really felt what Becky knew she felt for Freen.

After a few minutes, Freen barrels down the stairs, with her shoes and coat on. She glances at Becky and says "I'll be back." Becky turns around, "should I lea-" but Freen had already left locking the door behind her. Becky suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable. She had been with Freen for almost two days and this is the first time she had ever felt uncomfortable in her space.

Becky couldn't help but feel that something had changed. After washing up, she spent the next few hours in deep thought.

Becky was not typically an overthinker. She was known to be well rounded in her perspective and wise in her decisions. She was usually a great communicator but everything about Freen felt hard to say and hard to admit to herself and to Freen.

Becky had been in the same clothes for two days and wanted to wash up. She entered Freen's closet to find some spare pyjamas - still going over every detail of the day in her head. Freen's closet was big and spacious but the dullness in colour was suffocating enough to make her feel claustrophobic. Becky is so distracted she knocks over the numerous perfume bottles on the dresser. She clears them away noticing the blue glow of a specific bottle for the swiftest moment.

After washing up Becky looks at the time. It's midnight already. She sits on the edge of the bed waiting for Freen. It's getting chilly so she decides to make herself comfortable under the covers. She then picks up a book to read lying in wait till finally, she falls asleep.

Not 10minutes had passed since Becky had fallen asleep when Freen arrived back home. She tiptoed up the stairs into her room to meet Becky sleeping peacefully. She smiles with sadness then makes her way over to Becky to plant a kiss on her forehead.

Freen crawls into bed and falls asleep.

The following morning Becky awakens to loud noises. In contrast to the morning before it, today was not pretty. It felt cold, impatient and unforgiving. She rolls over but the space beside her is unoccupied. She proceeds to investigate downstairs where she finds Freen drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. Becky sneaks up and hugs her from behind.

Freen jolts out of her seat, "don't touch me," she shudders. Becky stunned by Freen's reaction wonders what happened between them and what had happened last night. "Did I do something wrong?" She asks. Freen ignores her. She finishes her cup of coffee then washes up.

"Aunt Mhee!" Freen shouts. The sound of the vacuum stops and an elderly lady appears from around the corner. "Please arrange some clothes for her and call the car to drop her off at her home."

Aunt Mhee nods, visibly empathetic towards Becky. She's seen this Freen many times before. And knew that it was likely that Becky had not.