Save Me (Roger Taylor FanFiction) [Wattys 2019]

5: Anxious Mind of an Introvert

*December 6th 1969*

"DARLING, HOW ARE YOU?" Freddie asked me when I answered the phone to him on my day off.

"I'm really good, Freddie, how're you?" I hadn't been able to stop thinking about my lunch break with Roger for these past few days.

"I'm excellent, my dear! I happened to see you chatting with Roger Taylor the other night at the pub,"

At the mention of Roger, my stomach flipped ten feet and I couldn't fight the smile from forming on my face. "Yeah, I spent my lunch break with him yesterday too," I had been desperate to tell my best friend about this.

"Really? You're not trying to tell me you actually might like this boy?" He teased me, I could hear the smile on his face.

"Maybe," I replied, pulling the end of the word as far as it would go.

"Tim was telling me that Roger was asking about you,"

"Was he? Uh, what was he saying?" I tried to act cool about it but to no avail.

"He was asking for everything Tim knew about you which wasn't all that much,"

"Freddie! You mean you aren't constantly talking about me to all your friends?" I joked.

"Of course I do, he just clearly wasn't listening to me," I laughed as I put two slices of bread into the toaster and readied my butter. Nothing was better than hot toast with way too much butter.

"Freddie, I'm dying to see him again," I told him, sounding more than a little bit desperate.

"Give him a call then and see if he's up to much,"

"Oh, I can't do that," my social awkwardness limited me to only being able to handle phone calls with Freddie, even then I'd rather not have to.

"Darling, you might as well at least give it a try, what's the worst that's going to happen?"

"He could assume I was a creep and not want to ever see me again,"

"Don't be ridiculous, Julie, just do it! I'm hanging up so you can do it," and before I could protest, Freddie hung up the phone. I lowered the phone from my ear for a second, trying to fight the butterflies that had just risen in my stomach. Was I really about to make a move? What if it went wrong? What if he'd given me the wrong number?

"Okay, Julie, what would Freddie say?" I spoke aloud to myself, an unexpected perk of living alone. "Don't say such ridiculous things, darling, just call him!" My Freddie voice was amazing, I'd need to let him hear it one day.

I took the wee slip of paper which was sitting on the table next to the phone and shakily dialed the numbers. The phone rang a few times and then suddenly his familiar voice sounded in my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Roger, it's uh, it's Julie,"

"Oh, hey Jules! How're you?"

"I'm alright, yeah; how're you?"

"I'm great, I was just gunna call you,"

"R-really?" Damn my nerves.

"Yeah, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to that pub tonight?"

"Um, that one you were playing at?"

"Yeah, we're not playing again, I just wanted to take you on a proper date,"

"A date?" I tried to mask my nerves with a teasing smile that I hoped he could hear.