And I Come Back To You

Chapter Ten - The airport

  A week had passed.
It was Tuesday morning, and Ruby was packing her clohes in her suitcase, helped by Brian who hadn't slept a wink. His face was pale and he had rings under his eyes. When he grabbed a blouse or a t-shirt, he slowly handed it to Ruby, sadly looking at the suitcase. After a while, as he was giving her the pair of white boots that belonged to her in the 60s, she grabbed them and faced him.
“Brian, don't you want to go home and sleep a bit? Or at least sleep on the couch or in Dennis's bedroom?” she sighed.
“No. I want to be with you today. What if it's the last time we see each other?”
“It won't, Bri. Now John isn't an obstacle between us anymore, I don't see why we couldn't meet from time to time!”
“Yeah, but I won't have you near me everyday. What am I going to do?”
“You'll try to survive” she smiled. “Come on, Bri, it's not the end of the world.”
“Isn't it hard for you?” he frowned. “It seems like it doesn't affect you at all!”
Ruby rolled her eyes and threw her boots in the suitcase.
“Of course it's hard, but I try not to think about it. It will kill me if I do.”
“Try to understand me.”
“I do understand you, but...”
She sighed and sat on the bed. She was about to end her sentence but her voice strangled in her throat. She buried her face in the palms of her hands and sobbed. Brian sat beside her and pressed her against him.
“Oh, dear, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Pardon me.”
Tears rolled down his face and both cried on each other's shoulder. Brian kissed her hair and she pressed her forehead against his.
“Let's finish packing this suitcase, okay?” he whispered.
“Yeah...”
They packed everything in her suitcase and carefully closed it. Ruby didn't put her backpack in the suitcase; she had put her handbag instead. Her money, her ID and everything she usually kept in her handbag were in her backpack.
“I want to keep the souvenirs with me in the plane.”
“I understand, love.”
Jane came into the room, holding a paper bag.
“I made you sandwiches, in case you're hungry.”
“Thank you very much, Jane” Ruby smiled. “Oh, I'm going to miss this flat.”
“You know you can come whenever you want. And Bri, if you want to come sometimes, you can.”
“Thank you, Jane.”
They smiled at one another and Jane went out of the room. Ruby lifted up her suitcase after she put her backpack across her shoulder. Brian insisted to carry it, and she let him do. They put it in the entry. Ruby grabbed her coat on the coat rack and put it on. They were standing there, with Jane, facing each other, not daring to say a word. Jane sighed.
“So, you have to go now...”
“Unfortunately.” Ruby sighed too. She put her arms around her cousin and hugged her tightly. “Thank you for everything, dear. I appreciate your efforts.”
“I couldn't let you go to a hotel when your former flat is right there! You can come back whenever you want, just call me a few days before so I can clean everything.”
“I will. Thanks.”
She smiled at her and patted her shoulders. She made sure she hadn't forgotten anything, and Brian hugged Jane, thanking her too for her welcome. After that, they went down the stairs, carrying Ruby's heavy suitcase and putting it inside Brian's trunk. They waved at Jane who was looking at them at the window, and got into the car. Brian started it up and they left Edith Grove, waving at Jane one more time.
Ruby let out a sigh and silently stared right in front of her. Brian was nervous and his fingers were white because he clenched them too tightly around the steering wheel. She couldn't think of anything else than her departure. What would she do once she'll be in Paris? What would she say to May? She didn't know when she would be able to go back to England, and knowing that she couldn't have more holidays for the year, she knew she wouldn't see him for a long time. “Distance can kill love” she said to herself, letting out a sigh, “I hope it won't happen to us...” Brian turned on the radio, and Bohemian Rhapsody was playing. His face suddenly became pale, but he kept driving.
“Bri, don't force yourself...”
“I have to learn to live with that.”
“You're suffering, I can see it. Listen, it's hard, and you're not ready to put up with it for the moment, but you'll be one day. For now, you're not, and you shouldn't force yourself to listen to your music.”
“Isn't it stupid to be frightened at the idea of hearing your own music?”
“It's not hearing your music that you're afraid of, it's hearing Freddie's voice. Anything related to Freddie is unbearable for you for the moment. It's not the music. It's him.”
“I guess you're right” he sighed. “But fuck, we were good!”
“You were, love. You really were. It's a shame that I didn't get to know John.”
“I'm sure that you would have loved him. He's very calm, almost shy, you know. But he's very nice and it's always pleasant to have him around. Unfortunately, he retired.”
“I hope that you will keep in touch.”
“I hope too.”
He pressed a button and put another radio station. This time, it was No Expectations by the Rolling Stones that sounded in the car. When they recognised the song, they heard the line that seemed like it had been written for them: “So take me to the airport and put me on a plane, I got no expectations to pass through here again.” Ruby bit her lip and looked down, as Brian felt really uncomfortable. They arrived at the airport, and Brian parked on the car park in front of the entrance. They got out of the car, and Brian opened the trunk before taking out Ruby's suitcase.
“Do you want me to carry it, Bri? I don't want you to carry it all the time...”
“Let me do it, don't worry, I'm okay.”
She nodded and he locked the car. Hand in hand, they walked up to the front doors of the airport and came in. Ruby took her ticket out of her bag and read the flight number; she stooped and looked up to the screens that showed the number of the gates.
“Gate 1.” she said. “And we have two hours left. Do you want to go home now?”
“No, I'll stay until you leave.”
“Are you sure? Brian, you're tired, you didn't sleep!”
“I want to enjoy every moment with you until you leave.”
She smiled and put her arms around him, pulling him close.
“I love you, Bri.”
“I love you too, my Ruby. I really don't want you to leave...”
“I don't want either but I have no choice.”
He sadly nodded. Ruby stroked his cheek before kissing him tenderly.
“Come on, let's get rid of that suitcase!” she said with a smile. They walked up to the reception. A lady wearing a uniform greeted them with a smile.
“Good morning, sir, madam. May I help you?”
“Yes, I already have my ticket, but I'm here to register my baggage.”
“Very good. Can you show me your ticket and your passport, please? And can you place your luggage on this tray?” the lady said, pointing at a big iron tray.
Brian placed her suitcase on the tray while she was showing the lady her passport and her ticket. The lady looked at her computer and tapped something before giving Ruby her passport and her ticket back. She dragged the suitcase on a moving walkway, and it disappeared behind a rubber curtain.
“Your boarding gate is the number one, make sure you have your passport and your ticket with you before you go to the boarding gate. Have a nice trip, and have a nice day.”
“Thank you very much, goodbye.”
The lady smiled at them and greeted the next customers. Brian and Ruby held hands and wandered in the hall.
“Do you want to have a cup of coffee?” Brian asked. “Or do you want something to eat?”
“Let's have a cup of something, I'm not really hungry.”
“There's a café right there.”
He pointed at a café and they walked up to it. They sat at a table and silently stroked each other's hands while looking straight into each other's eyes. A waiter came to them.
“Good morning sir and madam, what will you have?”
“I'll have a cup of coffee, please” Ruby said.
“I'll have the same.” Brian said too.
“Alright, I'm bringing you that.”
He spun round and went back to his counter. Brian let out a long and desperate sigh. Ruby could see he was suffering. His eyes that usually were full of life looked empty all of a sudden. When he smiled at her, he was giving her joyless smiles and Ruby felt guilty. “If only I didn't have this job!” she thought.
“Here are your cups of coffee” the waiter said beside them, making them jump. He placed the cups in front of them and went back behind his counter. Ruby let go of Brian's hand and grabbed her cup before sipping out her coffee.
“What are you going to do once you'll be home?” she whispered while looking at her sweet lover.
“I'm going to sit in a corner and cry.” he said with an embarassed smile. “No, I guess I'll have to go on living without you. I'll have to be brave, haha.”
“You'll be okay, dear” she tried to smile, placing one hand over his. “I'll try to call at least once a week.”
“You won't give up on me, will you?” he said, his voice trembling.
As she was about to answer, two girls came to them, with a huge smile and they were blushing. One of them was wearing a Queen t-shirt.
“Good afternoon, Mr May” one of them stuttered, “My name is Minny and I'm really fond of your music, you know! Here's my friend Cass.”
“Good afternoon!”
Brian looked at them with a weak smile. Ruby was invisible to them.
“Um... I wondered if you could... Sign our Queen tapes? Please?”
Minny took out two tapes from her handbag and Cass took one she had in the pocket of her jeans.
“Oh, well... Sure...”
The two girls refrained their urge to cry and jump all around them and simply handed him their tapes with a marker. Brian took it and signed each of them before giving them the tapes and the marker back. The two girls thanked him and Cass opened her backpack and took out a polaroid camera.
“Is it possible to take one picture with you? Just one?” she said shyly.
“Actually, not to sound rude, I'd like to be alone, please. It's really nice to meet you two, you seem to be two lovely young girls, but I don't feel good right now and... I need to stay alone with this lady. I hope you won't mind.”