Time Passages (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

42. Fever Pitch, Part Two

Julia

A few moments passed in silence, except for a single squawk from Farnsie, who all this time had been climbing all around his cage, rattling the bars and trying to tell anyone who was paying attention that he wanted his freedom.

It was still rather dim in the kitchen. I stepped over the remains of my phone and wordlessly drew open the window blind, revealing it was still coming down cats and dogs. What with the blanket of slate gray clouds blocking the sun, the natural light did not serve as much improvement- but it was an improvement nonetheless. Just as quietly, I started wrapping up the now quite cool cakes sitting on the rack.

When he couldn't take the silence anymore, Freddie began, "Julia-"

"You broke my phone," I stated, still unable to fully wrap my head around the events of the last minute. "You broke- my f---ing -phone."

"I - I didn't mean to-"

"Didn't mean to?!" I cried, so loud he took a step back. "You took it out of my hands, threw on the floor, and stomped on it! You f---ing stomped on the phone!"

"I-"

"Stomping is meaning to, Freddie! 'Didn't mean to'. My God. I've heard better excuses from my own kid!"

"I got carried away, all right?"

"Oh, well that explains everything," I scoffed sarcastically. "You got carried away. You just couldn't help yourself. You just wanted to in that moment- well, that's good enough for me. Freddie wanted to- and what he wants, he gets, and no questions asked. It's a given. Nothing more to see here-"

"Julia, you're overreacting," he said- which was a very stupid thing to say at the absolute worst time.

My voice chilled. "Am I?"

He coughed. "I- I mean, it is still just a phone-"

"You just don't get it, do you?" I snapped. "Just because I stayed home from work today doesn't make it a vacation! I have emails that come in, emails I have to respond to by certain deadlines, from all kinds of people- emails I can get in two ways: one, via computer, which is impossible now because the f---ing power is out- and two, my smart phone- which you just stomped on- so until they fix the power in another hour or so I am hopelessly disconnected and unable to do even a small part of my job!"

Freddie hung his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered, so softly I almost couldn't hear him. "I just- um- I had to stop you somehow, and- that was- just the first thing that came to mind."

"Stop me?" I squinted.

"I mean- were you really going to send me back to that- laboratory, where K and everyone is?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "What about it? It would only be for another twenty-four hours anyway."

"I'm not ready."

I didn't currently have it in me to be sympathetic; I was not, shall we say, in counselor mode. "Oh, don't be such a chicken. Not like you'll remember anything anyway, what's a day doped up in an underground lab? That's a walk in the park compared to the purgatory up here on the surface. What did you possibly have to gain from being around us at all- around me, Stu's esteemed cock whore?"

I looked at the counter, saw his half-eaten lunch still sitting there. Sighing, I shook my head. "You didn't even finish your sandwich."

Freddie didn't say a word, not even when I traipsed into the bedroom and closed the door, locking it. I needed space, room to breathe, just a few moments to seethe and hurt in peace.

For I was absolutely mortified.

"Cock whore," I repeated aloud bitterly, and fell back against the bed. That had to have been one of the worst things anyone had ever called me in my entire life- but what made it even more devastating a label, was that it wasn't inaccurate- and that Freddie, Freddie Mercury, had to be the man who said it first.