Love of my Life

Chapter 1. Gypsy boy

Come over to the window, my little darling,

I'd like to try to read your palm.

I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy,

before I let you take me home.

The evening was slow and boring, and Freddie felt exhausted going over the lyrics again and again. He had spent the better part of the last two hours trying to find the perfect flow to the next verse, but it kept dodging him. He was staring at the page but saw nothing but squiggly ants. The weather outside the window looked beautiful and his mind seemed to be distracted with a certain someone, dipping in and out of the periphery of his thoughts. Sighing, he got up from his table and went over to stand by the window, brooding, when he saw his drummer, Roger Talyor, in the park across the street, standing with a girl against a tree. They had their hands all over each other, kissing furiously. He felt a pang of jealously, his mind wandering to that certain someone again, wishfully. He looked away and up the street and saw Brian slowly walking back towards home.

"Would you fucking believe the beauty queen Roger was with last night? And now her? What do women see in him?" Freddie asked dramatically to no one in particular as Brian walked in the door. John was sat in a corner reading a science magazine.

"Most probably his body? Sounds quite shallow but I don't think either of the parties mind it. The animal named Roger Taylor is quite content with the arrangement for now, if the truth be told," said John from behind his magazine.

"Women!" sighed Freddie. Freddie noticed that Brian was humming absentmindedly as he poured himself a glass of water. Freddie knew Brian had been out with a certain Mary Austin all day. He'd been keeping tabs on this new development. "So how was your date, Brian?" he asked, hoping Brian wouldn't read too much into the casual question.

"It wasn't a date, Freddie. We're just friends who hang out sometimes," Brian said.

"We've all heard that before," said Freddie rolling his eyes, pointing outside the window towards Roger.

"He's seriously with another woman? What a playboy," said Brian walking over and peering out the window. "You can't seriously be comparing me to him!"

"Relax, I would never. Besides, I don't think Mary is that kind of a person."

"She really isn't. She quite the shy type. Observant, kind and has a wicked sense of humor. She's quite different and special, I'd say.

Freddie found himself glowing inside as Brian said that, but he also felt a bit conscious, that Brian maybe likes Mary more than he let on.

"So when are you taking her on a real date, then?" asked Freddie, feeling slightly nervous. He threw a look at John who was still hidden behind his magazine. So the question hadn't caught his attention then. Good.

"She's a nice person and I like her very much but I guess it'll have to wait. I've known her only a month. Anyway, why are you so interested in my love life, eh?" chided Brian jokingly. That was interesting to Brian. Freddie asking about a girl right after he'd just condemned the female race.

"Ah, just keeping myself up to date. My love life sucks at the moment, so I'm just living vicariously through you lot," Freddie shrugged.

Brian was unconvinced. He felt something beneath the surface that Freddie was unwilling to let on, so he hatched a plan. Over the next few weeks whenever Brian went with Freddie to see Mary during lunch hour at the store where she worked, he noticed that Freddie couldn't take his eyes off her. He would often talk about Mary to Brian which Brian thought was curiously strange, so Brian decided to confront him on the subject.