speechless | roger taylor

twenty seven

It took quite a long time for the rest of the band to come to an agreement over Roger's song, along with quite a lot of harassment. He ended up locking himself in the closet until they agreed to put it on the b-side to Bohemian Rhapsody, with some help from Elise, who had smooth-talked Freddie into it by telling him how much the song meant to her as well.

The boys were doing their final touches on the album, and quite frankly, she thought it sounded brilliant. Although some of the lyrics drove her insane, such as Brian's about being 'sweet like some kind of cheese', she had to say that it was their best work yet. When John showed her the song he wrote for Veronica, 'You're My Best Friend', she nearly cried.

"It's got a double meaning," John told her. "It could work for you and Vera. I wouldn't be who I am without either of you."

Elise was sat on his lap, toying with his hair with one hand while she held the sheet of lyrics in the other. He told her the story of his song as she looked over the words and she could feel her heart swell, happy that not only was it for her but for Veronica as well. Part of her wondered if she'd be that happy with Roger for the rest of her life, or if her insecurities would ruin the whole thing.

"It's beautiful, she's gonna love it," she said, smiling.

"What do you think of it? Do you love it? It's for you too, bubbles," he replied, visibly saddened. She immediately regretted her choice of wording, her hand flying from his hair to cup his cheek. 

"I love it, I do! I promise you," she told him, stroking her small finger over his cheekbone. "I promise."

"You look as if you're about to cry?" he questioned, watching her watery eyes drift over the chicken scratch on the piece of wrinkly paper. 

"It's just really sweet, is all."

Many of the days at Ridge Farm with the boys that weren't spent recording, were spent playing silly games such as tennis and fooling around in the pool like absolute hooligans. Elise had ended up talking Roger into going swimming in the middle of the night one night, and as weary as Roger had been, he had to admit that they had bundles of fun.

"Please?" Elise asked, tugging on her boyfriend's hand as they walked across the small field of grass, towards the pool. 

"We haven't got our swimsuits, love," Roger told her, following her anyway with a wide smile on his face. 

"We've got our underwear," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Are you joking?" he replied as the two of them made it to the somewhat large pool. The light from the moon cast upon them as she let go of his hand, immediately hooking her fingers in the waistband of her light blue sleep shorts. She tugged them down her freshly shaven legs and laughed at the look of bewilderment on her boyfriend's face.

"Please?" she pleaded, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. "I'll get down on my knees if I have to."

A devilish smirk formed on his face at her choice in words and she scoffed playfully, hitting him over the shoulder. "I wouldn't mind that."

"Shut up, that'll be later."

"Promise?"

"Get in the damn pool!" Elise laughed, throwing her t-shirt over her head. She was left in a plain black bra and pastel purple knickers—they were her favourite because of the small sunflowers that decorated them.

"Pretty knickers," he commented, peeling his nearly skin-tight jeans from his legs. "I quite like them."

"Better than those red ones you adore so much?"