People Can You Hear Me? [A Brian May Story]

[24]

"Mary, do you have the cards?" Freddie yelled out, putting the finishing touches on the table.

"Yes, Fred, please don't shout," Mary answered, entering the room, holding a deck of white plastic cards.

Freddie winced. "Sorry darling," he apologized. "I'm just a little flustered is all."

Mary set the cards on the table. She had just arrived after her shift at Biba. "Don't be flustered. Tonight it will be fun. Shouldn't everyone be here by now?"

Roger and Jo had quickly gone out to get fetch some drinks. John and Veronica were simply running late.

"Brian and Eve should be here soon," Freddie replied. "But then again, Brian is never on time for fucking anything!"

Mary suppressed a smile. "I get the feeling that... wait, where did you get Eve from?" she asked curiously.

The singer shrugged. "Her name is too long. I'm simply giving her a nickname!"

"Fred," Mary laughed. "It's cute, but just make sure to ask if she likes being called that."

"Of course I will," Freddie said flippantly, with a wave of his hand. "I'm not without proper etiquette."

Mary smiled gently, getting back to sorting out the table. "I never said you weren't."

Roger and Jo reentered, holding a case of beer. "Hello, hello," Roger greeted them both, setting down the beer on the counter with a hard thunk!

Mary sighed. She knew this would happen. "Roger, I said to get sodas. Genevieve will need something else to drink if she doesn't want alcohol."

"Who doesn't want alcohol?" Roger joked, clearly amused by his own humor.

"What is the legal drinking age in the states?" Freddie asked.

Roger laughed. "What does it matter? She's here in the U.K, not the U.S!" He ignored the multiple eye rolls from the room. "Speaking of, where are her and Brian?"

"Not here yet," Freddie replied.

A sly grin spread across his face. "Five quid says they have gone to second base by now," Roger said to no one in particular.

Mary and Jo both groaned. "Oh for fuck's sake!" Jo cried out. "I get she's new and clearly Brian has some kind of infatuation with her, but come on. Even if they liked each other, both are way too shy to do anything but blush and do subtle touches!"

The room was silent for a moment.

"How do we know?" Freddie asked quietly.

"Pardon?" Roger asked.

Freddie slumped down in a chair. "We don't know anything about Eve, except where's she from, her name, and that she's mute. That's the point of tonight is to get her to open up! And if we don't fucking do that, then what are we doing?"

Mary was a bit stunned, to say the least. "You have a point," she said softly. "We need to make her feel as comfortable as possible. She told me she didn't want a repeat of the newspaper staff incident."

Roger gently bit at his nails, looking at the beer in front of him. "So, no shots if someone won't answer?"

"No shots," Mary confirmed. "Or at least, don't try to pressure her into it. And the same goes for those crude cards you and Freddie made."

"Hey!" Freddie exclaimed. "The game is boring without them!"

Roger nodded. "Okay fine, no shots for everyone. But I'm only doing this for Brian. The poor guy is so tongue-tied around her, I wouldn't be surprised if he just blurts out the first random thought that pops into his head."