It's the beginning of the summer of 1977. Final exams are over and 18 year old Monica Brannigan and her best friend Paula leave their troubled home city of Belfast to embark on a fun-filled three day trip to London for Paula's 18th birthday, and to...
The Rice Lofts, Houston, Texas, 11th December 1977
"Are you going to take long, darling? I' want the bloody lights out." Freddie clambered under the covers of the bed.
"One minute," Monica called from the en suite bathroom, catching the remaining cleanser residue onto a cotton ball and putting it into the bin below the sink.
He sighed sadly, wishing that he was allowed to bring his Indian spice box of treasures with him in his suitcase. But he knew that Kashmira's baby tooth, the dried out starfish and Monica's lock of hair was enough to get him quarantined on their stop in Toronto...
But that didn't necessarily matter now. Monica was with him now, in the flesh for him to hold and to love.
She splashed her face in cold water quickly before drying it in front of the mirror, then emerged into the bedroom as Freddie was trying to get settled between the sheets, feeling stiff from frolicking on stage.
She looked across the room to the glass door onto the balcony, rushing to look at the Houston skyline with the towering, twinkling buildings.
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Her native Belfast could fit into the city a dozen times, only here was more drab and had a derelict feeling to it, even though the Texas winter was warmer and the centre at night was thriving with traffic and pedestrians. At least she'd have somewhere to do her Christmas present shopping in the morning before they left for Vegas .
"And to think Belfast city centre has a curfew right about now" she murmured, staring down to the ground.
"Did you say something?" He disturbed her surveillance.
She stepped back from the glass, "I'm just thinking about how everyone is out and about below, but back home in Northern Ireland we weren't allowed out after dark because it wasn't safe on the streets."
"Mmph... I see" he grunted, lifting the duvet for her to climb back in, and she made her way back over to the bed.
She knew none of the this impressed him as much as much as it did her, seeing as it was her first time in the States and on the road. He was in what was presently the world's greatest rock band, and it was part of his job and lifestyle.
"...I still remember the day you asked me to go on the News of the World tour with you... to take me to all these places" she spoke as she settled down, feeling his arms locking around her from behind.
He smiled, "was that the day Mary made us do a runaround in my new Royce?"
She giggled quietly, "Yeah, and we landed in the library. And when she had all those travel books in her arms... I really did think you were going to take her..." she trailed off.
Over six months on and the two women still felt very much pressured by one another. Monica knew that although Mary was just a business associate to Freddie nowadays, she still knew him in some ways better than she did. And Mary knew that Monica was slowly taking her place as a friend and a lover, hence her coldness towards her.
