Smooth fabric of her brand new black dress hugged her body in its twentieth-century corporate grip, with the clicking of Doris' heels leading the way to Rachael's office.
This time, she looked the part. Thanks to Freddie, of course. After worrying much more about this than she'd like to admit... such a fabulous breath of fresh air to finally feel as good as she looked in the outfit he'd bought for her, his fingers entwining with hers and giving her the reassurance she needed.
"The 950,000 dollar man, hello!" Who she assumed to be Rachael came to shake Freddie's hand.
"Oh I'm worth a lot more than that, dear I tell you..." There it was. The charm of Freddie Mercury, as universal as ever.
Rachael threw her long black hair back and shut her striking eyes to laugh at Freddie's joke before resuming a familiar selfsame ambition.
Next, she shook Lucy's hand, who tried not to let her excitement come on too slap-in-the-face strong.
Lucy's heart rate skyrocketed when their eyes connected for the first time. Could she feel it too?
Well... by this time, she was definitely staring at Rachael.
Did she know?
Obviously unaware of how tight her grip was around Rachael's hand until she tried to pull it back...
Great. I made it weird.
Hoping to somehow redirect it away from herself, Lucy shifted her attention to Roman who was completely locked down by his nerves. So much so that when Rachael extended her hand for him to shake, he stood stiff as a board like a deer in the headlights. Thankfully, Lucy elbowed him into his manners and he shook her hand before taking to one of the chairs in front of her desk.
Squinting, Rachael's enthusiasm became bewilderment before her professionalism resurfaced, all in one seamless progression.
"Is everything alright?" Judging by the smile on his face, Roman had apparently sobered back into his confidence.
"Everything's fine," she shook away her thoughts and excused herself behind her desk. "You're my first appointment today. I haven't had my morning coffee yet." This time when she smiled, the sparkle in her eyes emphasized her freckles. "Let's get started on your application, shall we?"
"I'm the one who's applying." Lucy raised her finger and turned to find Freddie who was missing from his chair next to her, busy admiring the decor in Rachael's office as he sourced inspiration. "I think my boyfriend likes your taste in furnishings."
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"Something like this would go great in the living room, don't you think dear?" Freddie signaled to a crystal jar before returning to his seat next to Lucy and taking her hand.
With an amused chuckle and the click of her pen, Rachael slid the application across her desk to Lucy with a striking smile she almost mistook for her own. "Just fill this out. We'll run a credit check and once you're approved, it'll be time to sign!"
And that she did. Lucy filled out the application with her recently learned legal name and slowly slid the application back to Rachael.
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Freddie watched from the edge of his seat as pure terror drained all the blood from Rachael's face. "Is this a joke?"
"No. My boyfriend adores the house," She chuckled. "And I want it too. I want to buy it. But it is an honor to meet you."
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To the best of her ability, Rachael wiped the steeping stress out of her face with her hands. "Get out."
"Hold on—" Lucy rose to her feet ready for confrontation.
"I can't believe this..." Rachael sighed. "Get out.GET OUT!"
Figuring that enough of the cat was out of the bag, Roman intervened, his voice almost quivered amidst the tension. "Didn't you ever wonder about us too?"
"NO!" Her reaction cut deeper than any physical wound. "No. I did not. When your father got me knocked up in Japan, it damn near destroyed my life! I tried to put up with this fantasy life of a happy family for as long as I could. Running across countries like a chicken with my head cut off following his fucking military schedule with you two nearly ruining my career... I never asked for this!" By now, Rachael was shaking with fury and disgust, struggling to keep her voice down to hide the secret she so desperately wanted to forget. Her voice dropped to a chilling scary whisper. "I didn't want you then and I don't want you now. GET OUT."
"You bitch," Freddie spat before shoving the crystal jar off Rachael's shelf onto the floor, shattering it into a million pieces.
