Through Chrissie's eyes

In Rio de Janeiro

Brian waited until we got in the car to ask what had happened.

"Paul was only tormenting me for nothing." I shook my head. "I'm not supposed to go to Rio, I'm just a teacher and ..."

"And what?" He noticed I hesitated "Chrissie, don't hide anything, please."

"He said you offered me the assistant job for pitying me ..." I felt my sadness increase as I said it aloud.

"Oh that ..." Brian restrained himself "I never liked Paul, I mean, after knowing who he really is. Don't believe him, my love."

My husband made sure to look right at me when he said that.

"No, I don1t believe it, Bri" I assured him "I know you saw me able to help you, so we worked together."

"And because I love you and I want to see you always well" he added, which made me smile and comforted me.

I didn't need to be saddened by Prenter's attacks when I knew Brian loved me.

So, in the following days, we prepared for the great trip to Brazil. I started practicing speaking Portuguese by myself, but soon Brian showed interest and then we started to study together. When packing, we exchanged the warmer clothes of typical British people who lived in England in a mild climate for lighter clothes and fresh as we were going to the so-called tropical country.

On the day of our departure, I found it strange to say goodbye to the girls. I've always been in their shoes, and now the roles have been reversed.

"Can we have a meeting of the Queen Girls even with one of them missing?" Mary asked, playfully, but a little sad.

"Of course you can, then I'll be back soon" I said. "Besides, don't you feel less worried with one of us taking care of the boys?"

"We're not children, Mrs. May and we're right here listening to everything "objected Freddie.

"I know you're not, but you may well behave like children" I laughed a little. "Am I wrong?"

"Don't make me answer" Mercury shrugged "I can't lie to you."

"See? That's a good reason to go" I ended that conversation by giving myself contentment.

Me and the boys said goodbye to Veronica, Dominique and Mary. I climbed the plane steps next to Brian. Even leaning on him, I felt a chill in my belly. For the typical fear of flying, and also for the challenges and expectations of being in a different country for the first time.

I sat down in front of Brian, and spent the trip reading, alternating between my research on Brazil and my good old books. I saw my husband smiled at me reading "Prince Caspian."

"That's your favorite, isn't it?" I gave a smile "that's why I'm reading it."

I don't know exactly what I did, but what I said made me win a kiss from my beloved. I touched his shoulder, as if asking to separate us.

"You're going to make the boys sad like that" I explained. "The girls aren't here with them."

"Oh, sorry, I'll control myself," Brian apologized, blushing.

He left me for a moment, to spend time with our friends playing Sccrable, something they did a lot when they were on tour. After a few matches, he came back and, without my noticing, took a picture of me as I was reading.

"Brian!" I complained, but he laughed.

"What? I couldn't miss this, you were beautiful and perfect!" he shrugged.

I just shook my head and laughed. We slept in the hours that followed, and by the time we got to our final destination, we were rested enough to start the marathon of our stay until show time.

Brian and the boys got off the plane first, I hesitated a bit, taking a deep breath, stepping on each step. My husband noticed that I was a little behind, he made sure to wait for me and took my hand. I smiled, thankful for that.

After we settled in the hotel, Brian insisted that we take a trip to see the place.

"You know it's reputed to be dangerous here, don't you?" I tried to say no to him.

"But we've come this far, and it's so different here, and it's the first time you travel with us, what's the point of coming so far just to stay at the hotel, huh?" Brian made his face that convinced me of everything.

"No, don't do that face ..." I tried to be angry, but I couldn't "you have a show to do at night, you should rest!"

"I will, I will, I promise my sweet lady" he approached me with a silly grin on his face "only after we take a walk! It's going to be fast, I promise, we'll be back in time for me to rest, you can trust me."

And ending his sentence, he gave me a kiss on the cheek to complete his persuasion.

"Oh Brian ..." I put a hand on my forehead, I sighed and smiled "okay!"

"Thank you" I got another kiss on the other cheek "I love you!"

I laughed again as he pulled me by the hand, making me go for his unexpected walk. Of course there were security guards accompanying us, and we found fans on the way, I was glad they were polite, and some even knew who I was and gave me a hello. That surprised me. When the hunger hit, it made me want to taste a local food called pastel. I grimaced at the amount of oil and fat, but the taste of the cheese and the way the stuffing melted in my mouth made me forget if it was healthy or not. For a moment, my husband was charmed by some birds flying over here and there, they had such vivid colors that they also caught my eye.

As promised, Bri returned in time to sleep for a few hours and get ready for the show. At night, in the City of Rock, where Rock in Rio took place, in the special box, I was next to t Mr. Reid, Mr. Beach and unfortunately, Paul Prenter, who to my relief began to ignore me completely.

I vibrated with every song Queen performed that night, remembering the times I saw them performing in smaller venues. While I was there enjoying their songs, I felt like a regular fan, but seeing that I wasn't the only one there singing along with thousands of people, I saw the impact that their sincere and hard work had on the lives of so many other people as well.

By the time the boys introduced "Love of my Life," it was beautiful and exciting to hear the entire arena singing, including myself. It was one of my favorite songs from "A Night at the Opera", and at the same time it made me sad. It was as if Freddie begged Mary to never leave him. Another moment that startled me was when the audience started yelling Brian's name in the middle of his solo. It was scary, as everyone knew him, but soon the sensible part in me told me that it was recognition, merit of my husband's talents. And then I finally smiled at the reaction of the audience to Brian playing, very proud of my beloved.