Aaaahh I'm still so excited about the fact Bohemian Rhapsody won four Academy Awards! I am so proud of Rami! Kinda sad this journey is about to be over but it really was an amazing one! Also, Ben posted an Instastory listening to my favourite album of all-time so it's been an amazing week for this girlie aaahhh 💜
That same night
Daisy Newton was so busy arranging Rami's next business trip that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching her desk. When she felt a pair of eyes laying on her, she raised her head and felt nothing but shock run through her veins.
"Ma-Mary?", Daisy stammered, her eyes wide open. "Are you looking for Rami? Look, he's in a meeting, he will be back in around ten minutes."
"No, I'm not here to see Rami. I'm here to see you," Mary declared, taking her sunglasses off. "Do you have a minute?".
Daisy nodded forcefully, wondering why on Earth the mother of Belle Bulsara wanted to talk to her. "Yes, yes, what can I help you with?".
"I think you might know valuable information that I currently need," Mary spoke with a firm voice, sitting across Daisy's desk. "I know you worked for Roger's ex-wife, Catherine, and successfully conspired against Roger having a relationship with Belle at the time. That is what brings me here tonight."
"Yes, I did, but I swear it was never my intention to hurt your daughter in any way," Daisy gibbered, her legs shaking. "Catherine obliged me to do everything I did. Please, believe me when I say that."
"No, calm down, I'm not here to reproach it to you," Mary denied, feeling the slight breeze of the air conditioner above her. "Quite the opposite, actually. I need you to go back to your old habits and get me the vital information I'm seeking."
"What do you need?", Daisy frowned, feeling pure tension accumulating in her head.
"I know Roger Taylor got married to Catherine Scarborough because he didn't want some documents to be released to the public," Mary mentioned, fixing her black blouse's collar. "Well, I simply need you to use pull your strings in Taylor Enterprises and get me those documents."
"But why?", Daisy exclaimed. "Look, Mary, I don't want to hurt people with my actions any more."
"You won't be hurting anyone with your actions, Daisy. If those documents happen to contain anything dishonorable, that isn't your responsability. It's theirs. Help me, please. I want to make sure my daughter is marrying into a decent family."
Daisy made eye contact with Mary before answering. "I don't know, Mary. I don't want to hurt anyone again, believe me when I say it."
"I'll pay you any amount you want. Seriously, just name it and you'll get it," Mary opened her purse and took out her checkbook and a pen. "Or maybe something even better. I heard that you're looking for an internship. Maybe I could get you one in the country's biggest law firm. Does that sound good to you?".
Daisy's eyes widened. "Is this for real?", she chirped. "Of course!".
"Yeah, but you'll have to get me the information I'm asking first, obviously. What are you planning on doing to bring me that document?".
"Well, my mind has been trying to come up with something for the last minute but I think the most effective way to get access to it will be through the easiest way," Daisy sounded enthusiastic. "I'll need to talk to Catherine again."
"At the psychiatric hospital?", Mary raised an eyebrow, resting her crossed arms on Daisy's desk. "Belle works there."
"No, I think Catherine has been discharged from the hospital," Daisy responded. "She came to visit Rami two days ago. I don't know how she got out so quick, though. I'm sure she had to blackmail someone, obviously."
"Well, that's a story for another day. Do you know where's she staying right now?"
"I have a slight clue about where she might be. I'm gonna go look for her tomorrow, but if she isn't there, then I think Brian knows where she is."
"When will you be able to give me an answer?".
"Hopefully tomorrow."
"All right," Mary beamed with gratitude, sitting up as she hang her purse on her shoulder. "Good luck, Daisy."
When Daisy made sure Mary had left the building, she grabbed her car keys and wrote Rami a note explaining she would be back in around forty minutes.
Twenty minutes later
Daisy Newton never thought she would ever be back in Garden Lodge but well, here she is.
"Is Belle here?", Daisy asked Freddie, who didn't look too ecstatic to be seeing her again. He wasn't being curt or rude or anything like that, but it was obvious Freddie was trying to draw his line, which was understandable, really. Daisy never took it personal when Roger or the Bulsara's looked like they didn't want to see her. She couldn't expect anything less.
"No, she isn't," Freddie answered, leaning his head against the doorframe. "She is with Roger in Virginia Water. Why?".
"Well, Mary paid me a visit a few minutes ago, trying to gain access to the documents Roger has been trying to kept a secret forever," Daisy huffed. "She wants me to "pull my strings" and get them for her."
"Of course you accepted to do the dirty work."
"I did not," Daisy corrected Freddie. "I told her I would just so she couldn't ask the favour to someone else. That's why I'm here, trying to warn your daughter about what her mother is trying to do."
"Well, I appreciate your good intentions but Belle isn't here. I'll make sure to get the message to her though."
"Thank you, Mr. Mercury."
"Good evening."
The next day
Belle Bulsara woke up to the sound of Alice crying, an upgrade from waking up next to Ben Hardy. A few minutes after she got out of bed to attend her daughter, the bedroom's door opened, making her flinch.
"Good morning, girls." It was Ben, carrying a tray with scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes with maple syrup, orange juice, coffee and a blueberry muffin.
"God, what's all this, Ben?", Belle asked with a faint but sincere smile.
"It's breakfast in bed!", he declared happily. "Get your pillows sorted and I'll serve it to you."
Belle sat up and propped herself up on the pillows behind her. Ben placed the tray in her lap as Belle looked at the food eagerly.
"My goodness, Ben!", she exclaimed as she started to dug into her breakfast. "Did you cook all this?".
"Except the muffin, yes," Ben smiled. "Do you like it?".
"I do. It tastes so good," she nodded appreciatively.
"Well, I'm glad. It's the least I can do for you, Belle," Ben said in an unexpected and surprising feeble tone, the expression on his face debilitating.
"W-What?", Belle frowned. "What are you talking about?".
"I've been so selfish, Belle," Ben gulped, lowering his head. "I've only acted in favour of my own interests. I haven't been able to stop and think about the consequences of my actions. I really should start thinking about you and Roger. About the happiness you deserve that I'm not able to provide you with."
"No, Ben, don't say that," Belle answered, placing her hand on Ben's shoulder. "I'm here because I want to be here. I enjoy your company. You make me very happy, you're one of the best people I've ever met. You're crazy if you think otherwise."
"Yeah, but I love you, Belle," Ben uttered with fear, wondering if it was even the right thing to bring up the topic of his feelings again. Well, actually, he didn't even have to wonder because he knew it wasn't the right thing, he knew it put Belle in an awkward position and he also knew he had to stop trying to get Belle's love because he knew very well it would never work. But it was hard not to when all he associated with love was the image of Belle Bulsara smiling. "I love you so much, Belle. I know I already said it last night, but it's the truth. I want what's best for you. And I know Roger is what's best for you."
"I don't think I could ever forgive Roger for what he did to you," Belle stated, trying not to choke on her orange juice. "No matter how angry he was, he should have never tried to hit you with that bottle."
"And I should have never kissed his fiancée," Ben murmured, staring at the window. "I'm sorry about what happened last night, Belle. I shouldn't have kissed you."
"I'm not mad about it, Ben."
"Oh," Ben smiled to himself. "Well, I want you to know that I love you and I really appreciate your company even if it's unrequited love because I'm not your kind of lover."
Belle giggled with a sly undertone.
"I'm not gonna lie, you're pretty much my kind of lover," Belle had a smile on her face, and she didn't look doubtful at all.
Ben blinked twice, his lips slightly apart as his eyes shone brightly. "What?".
"Yeah, you know, I really enjoy your company. I like the fact that everything about you is in a perfect balance. You're not too revelling, but you're not a quiet person either. You're funny but you also know when to be serious. And you always give good advice. I like that you are witty too, not all psychiatrists are like that. None of them are. Psychiatrists have boring personalities."
Ben blushed, feeling like he was on top of the world. Belle had just said some beautiful things about him and he wondered if this was his mind making it up in order to get him out of the dreadful state he had been immersed in for weeks. But no, it was real. It felt real. Ben smiled genuinely for the first time in weeks.
"Well, I don't know what to say," he bit his lip. "So are you saying that if you weren't dating Roger, perhaps you would give me a chance?". Ben cursed at himself for asking such daring question. God, he needed a time machine right in this moment and if that was too much to ask, then he just wished the ground could open up swallow him.
"I don't know," Belle murmured, her head tilted to her right side. "I guess I'll never know."
Ben felt his heart shatter in a million pieces. He considered Belle an incredibly rude person for getting him out of his blissful state in such a raw and quick manner.
"Oh."
Belle noticed Ben's dejection on his face, making her try to take her words back.
"Hey, it wasn't my intention to—
"No, I get it," Ben raised his voice, standing up from the bed and turning his back to Belle. "It's really stupid for me to think I could ever stand a chance with you, right? Really, when will I stop being so stupid?", Ben buried his face in his hands, trying hard not to cry.
"No, Ben, look, that wasn't what I meant," Belle followed Ben and placed her hand on his back. "Please listen to me—
"No," Ben took a step away from Belle. "If you are not willing to live up to your words then don't say them, Belle."
"Just listen to what I have to say."
"Please leave me alone, Belle," Ben opened the bedroom's door and scooted out of it, leaving a confused Belle with so many more questions than she had a minute ago.
———————-
John Deacon and Freddie Mercury had been chatting for at least an hour now and their conversations always feel like therapy to them.
"So, are you excited for Belle's wedding this Friday?", John questioned in an attempt to hear Freddie's side of his argument with his daughter.
"I am, but she's mad at me. I don't like the fact that she spends so much time with her boss, Roger's cousin," Freddie said matter-of-factly as he ate a biscuit.
"Well, he's her boss, Freddie," John replied.
Freddie took a sip of tea before replying to John, his answer clear in the back of his mind. "I know, but they have a personal relationship. I just don't understand how Belle is doing this to herself. She's been wishing to be with Roger for almost a decade. I understand why it didn't work the previous times, Roger got engaged and then Belle got pregnant. But now there's nothing standing between them, they're literally days away from getting married and Belle throws it all away just to try to have the time of her life with Ben?", Freddie snickered. "Does that make sense to you, John?".
"No, of course not. But—
"I also got a visit from Daisy telling me Mary is trying to get access to some shady documents Roger is dying to keep hidden forever, in fact that's what she married his wife for," Freddie rolled his eyes, sounding annoyed.
"What?", John grimaced. "Why would she do that?".
"She doesn't like Roger."
"Excuse me, Freddie, I have to go," John stood up abruptly.
"What? Where are you going? We are in the middle of a very pacific conversation!".
"I can't stand Mary trying to do everything against Belle's happiness. I'm ending with all of this."
Freddie scratched his head. He couldn't even understand what John was talking about, or what he meant by "ending all of this". He was really confused.
"What?".