Stars in Your Eyes (Queen/Roger Taylor)

24. Roger

The door to the pub literally hits me in the arse as I walk in. Diana Ross' voice echoes loudly through the speaker as I peer into the chaos.

Baby love, my baby love, I need you oh how I neeeeeeeed you

The walls are painted deep red, not unlike the inside of a brothel. The mid-summer heat has seeped through the walls to create a drunken, sweaty mess of people. It's chaotic and deafening, something that I'd usually be all for. But tonight, my goal is to find my girl and sort out this mix-up.

Tell me what did I do wrong to make you stay away so long

For all I know, Sky isn't even here, and Jenny has sent me on a fool's errand. It's not as if she's on Team Roger at the moment, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit. Skylar's probably off snogging some bloke in Pimlico, and here I am in North London looking like a fool.

Let's start some kissing and making up

I wince at the volume, feeling a headache coming on. It's a cracking song, but nothing should be played at this level.

Ooooooh baby love, don't throw our love away

Ordering a pint from the burly bartender, I look around. It's only half-nine, but I'm clearly the only sober person in the joint, which may be a first. I'm jostled from behind, my lower ribs slamming painfully into the edge of the bar. Twisting around to say a few choice words, I'm met by the big blue eyes of a pretty blonde. The stroppy expression on her face transforms into a come-hither gaze as she eyes me up and down. Groaning inwardly, I turn back to push money across the bar, collect my drink, and make my way further into the room.

It's too smoky and too fucking loud, I can barely hear myself think. Just as I'm about to call it quits--Skylar's not here--the bloke in front of me moves, and I spot her across the way. She's sitting in a narrow booth with six others, all of them laughing. I stand straighter, the beginnings of a smile threatening to erupt over my face as I watch her say something to a guy who has his arm around another woman's shoulders.

Fuck, she's beautiful. She's clearly just finished a long shift but, goddamn, she takes my breath away every time. Dressed in tight shorts and a halter top, her hair is pulled up just the way I like it, messy and carefree. Little tendrils escape around her temple, a testament to the heat and humidity in this room.

I stand there for longer than I care to admit, watching her from the relative safety of the bar. I haven't seen her for weeks, and I'm kicking myself for forgetting how cute it is when she wrinkles her nose when she laughs. I search her face for clues about how she's doing, seeing only the faint lines of fatigue around her eyes.

Skylar leans forward, her elbows on the table as she shouts across the table to her a woman with a pageboy cut. I'm about to walk over when the opening notes of 'Seven Seas' start to blare from the speakers. Skylar looks up in recognition, her eyes brightening briefly before she looks down at her hands folded on the table. The guy next to her makes a joke that has the table in stitches, but Skylar just flashes a perfunctory half-smile.

"Hey there," a sultry voice says next to me. It's the blonde from earlier, who positions herself in such a way that I can no longer see my girlfriend.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"I've got one, actually," I say, holding up the glass and shifting to the left in the hopes of seeing Skylar. Above the din, Freddie's voice screams about shady senators and mighty titans, and I'm wondering why I didn't just wait for Skylar at her flat.

"Could I get you... something else then?"

I smile weakly and quickly put my hand down to cover hers, which has somehow found its way to my waist. My skin is crawling just thinking about her touching me.