If I Could

{39} - The Night Comes Down

Sorry for taking so long to update this story, it's just that it's chapter number 39 and you know, it's a milestone, and I had to have a good plot for it. I think this is the longest chapter I've written to date, enjoy!

Roger followed the path up the stairs to the third floor. He stopped in front of Joseph and Mailen's apartment, apartment number 59, and knocked the door.

A stranger, a tall man with curly hair and red pants opened the door. After taking a second look, he realised he was no stranger - it was Brian May, the man who seemed to be very affiliated with both Belle and Kate but he had curiously never talked to, except for one time when he greeted him in Paris.

"Good evening", Roger muttered as he bathed in the cold air coming from inside the apartment.

Brian stood still for a moment. Roger Taylor had arrived, but that wasn't the problem that had made his heart race at the speed of light in less than one minute. Belle was most likely to show up at the dinner, giving place to a reunion between Roger and Belle for the upteenth time. However, if that were to happen, it would be different this time: Belle would bring her husband and daughter, and as fascinating as that would be to witness, he prayed that it would not happen - for the sake of everyone involved. It would be catastrophic, God knows what Rami would want to do, and Mailen did not deserve to throw a fun dinner party just to be the target of the rivalrous Roger-Belle-Rami love triangle.

"Good evening, welcome", Brian smiled as he shook Roger's hand, stepping aside to let him in before closing the door. "I like your jacket".

"Thank you", Roger uttered, eyeing the apartment as soon as he entered. The apartment had two different colours, white and beige, probably because Joseph and Mailen couldn't agree on one colour. There were colouring books on a sofa that belonged to their son, Eric. There were some framed pictures that were special to the couple, such as the ones taken for their engagement photoshoot, on their wedding day, on the birth of their son, on his first birthday. Their apartment was homely, furnished in modern style, wooden furniture, white lamps. Very nicely decorated.

"Hello, Roger!", Joseph said to Roger as he backslapped him after cleaning his hands with a hand towel. "Thank you for coming tonight. Thank you for making time for us. I really wanted to see you again".

"Thank you for inviting me", Roger's eyes sparkled as he turned to him. "I know how much this means to you and your family. I'm honoured to be celebrating Mailen's sobriety".

As Roger, Joseph and Brian spoke, Mailen emerged from behind her son's bedroom door. She waved at Roger. He was never a close friend to Mailen, but they both had happened to meet at important social events, and something that always came to Roger's mind when it came to Mailen Mazzello was the fact that she was always really presentable: Always clean, always with great hair, always well-dressed, always smelling good. That's why he was so impressed to hear she was an alcoholic - she was too elegant to be one and she surely knew how to hide it. That being said, the last time he saw her, she had broken her own protocol - her hair was tangled, wearing a wine-stained coat and smelling like cheap whiskey. He had never seen her looking that gaunt, guess that's where she had rocked bottom.

But rehab had graced Mailen and now she's wearing a pencil skirt with an elegant expensive blouse, a step up from wine-stained coats. Smiling to the three men, she approached them and greeted the blonde-haired man.

"Roger, good evening, thank you for coming!", Mailen shook Roger's hand. "I'm really glad to see that you guys were having a conversa-",

A knock on the door was heard.

"I'll get it", Joseph said.

"Oh, I was saying that I'm glad to see that you guys were having a conversation. Do you two know each other?", Mailen asked Brian and Roger.