Some Day One Day (Maylor AU)

Chapter 27

"Hey, how do I look?" Chrissie asked Brian, stealing her husband's attention away from Liz, mid-nappy change. The professor reluctantly turned his head over his shoulder, his unexpectant eyes falling upon the slim figure standing in the doorway—curves expertly wrapped in a tight black dress, small feet carefully secured in a pair of matching stilettos, long hair elegantly clipped back, and lips stained purposefully with a dark rouge. In all the time the pair had been seeing one another, not once had Brian seen his wife so dressed up. It almost made him wonder who this friend she was seeing really was.

"Well?" the headmistress urged when her husband failed to give her an answer, too tongue-tied to even think of what to say.

He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat and stuttered, "Y-You look good."

"Just good?" Chrissie whined, disheartened by Brian's response.

"You look beautiful," the professor quickly corrected himself, flashing her a reassuring grin that contrasted the embarrassed blush rising in his cheeks. Chrissie scoffed and slunk back into the hallway to their room, leaving Brian to finish fixing Liz's nappy with a nervous feeling building in his stomach.

He didn't like where they left things that afternoon, their problems even bigger than before. Brian didn't want to be that guy, but he wished his wife wasn't going out that night. He knew he was planning to do the same thing, but he would stay home if it meant getting rid of the tension that had poisoned their once blissful atmosphere. Even Liz could sense the dissonance resonating between her parents, her watchful eyes glistening with tears and her little lips quivering in preparation to part and make room for the high-pitch screams that would promptly fill the house. However, before she could get the chance, a car horn sounded from outside.

"Oh, that's her!" Chrissie exclaimed, reappearing in the doorway and entering the room. She joined Brian's side, and even though she was standing right there—their arms brushing—the professor felt like she wasn't really there. She was in a world all her own, focused on keeping her baby from crying as she lifted her up off the changing table. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she glanced up at Brian and murmured, "Just be safe tonight, okay? We won't be home too late, but that doesn't mean you have to come home early too."

The professor nodded his head, though really, he wanted to tell her he was staying home and that she should too. That suggestion would never manifest itself, because before it could, Chrissie got up on her tiptoes and planted a simple kiss on her husband's cheek. She smiled at him before picking up her daughter's hand and waving goodbye, the professor unable to hold back the grin that appeared on his lips. However, that smile only lasted for a short moment, disappearing as soon as the headmistress and their daughter left the room. Chrissie was right, Brian realized—Liz was the only reason the two were still together.

"Bye, Brian!" she called from downstairs, robbing him of the chance to respond with the closing of the front door. The professor gravitated towards the window, watching as Chrissie made her way down the walkway—her friend getting out of the car to greet her. The evening shadows masked her features, disguising her identity. Brian heaved a sigh and plopped himself down in the rocking chair, swaying back and forth a few times on the curved pieces of wood. He stared at the clock perched atop the small dresser. Half past six. An hour and a half until Freddie expected him. An hour and a half to choose to focus on the future or revisit the past.

Meanwhile, as Chrissie fixed the baby carrier into the backseat, the driver leaned against her side of the vehicle with arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. Her gaze was locked on the nursery's window, the silhouette that previously occupied it consuming her mind. She knew that silhouette like the back of her hand.

"You didn't tell me you were with Brian," Chrissie's friend muttered, only snapping out of the trance the shadowed figure put her in when the car door behind her clicked shut.

"Didn't I?" the headmistress retorted distractedly, staring at Liz through the glass—the baby girl raising her chubby, little hands out to her mother.

"No. I would've remembered if you told me you were with Brian May."

"Oh, sorry, Mary. I guess I didn't," Chrissie murmured, taking a deep breath and finally breaking away her gaze from her daughter, bringing it to her new friend and suggesting, "Why don't we get going?"

"He's trouble, you know," Mary shared as she spun around, the two women slipping into the vehicle and strapping themselves in. "Brian, he and I dated a while back." Chrissie's apprehensive eyes flickered over to her, but her new friend didn't seem to notice, too preoccupied with searching for her keys and explaining, "We weren't together very long, and obviously things didn't work out, but if there's one thing I learned from being with him is that you can't trust a single thing he says."

Chrissie scoffed, looking out at the other side of the street and resting her head in her hand. "Tell me about it."

Mary found her keys in the cup holder and turned on the ignition, the engine roaring to life and nearly drowning out her talebearing comment of, "So, you must know then."

The headmistress's smile slowly faded, her head turning in Mary's direction. For the first time that night, she had her full attention. "Know what?"

She met Chrissie's poignant gaze, the corner of her lip twitching up into a smirk. "Oh my god, you don't. Do you?" The wide-eyed, wordless stare from the headmistress was enough an answer for the driver, eliciting an excited giggle from her. "Oh, Chrissie," she shifted the car into drive, "you have so much to learn."

With that, Mary pulled away from the curb and sped down the street, Chrissie glancing back at her daughter—her worst fears coming true.