John had gone on a date with Kim - the pretty waitress from the diner. He'd told Roxy and the others when they were out that they'd gone to see a film and then went out for something to eat before he walked her back to her flat.
Roxy had stopped listening after that.
Two days later, the band packed up Roger's van and headed out across the country to play, leaving her to mind the shop and it turns out that she's actually good at getting rid of the gear - that's clothes, not drugs.
At the start, the shop had been quiet, so quiet that she'd rearranged the shop, she wasn't sure how Freddie and Roger were going to react to that but she didn't care. She thought it looked so much better. After that, she'd headed outside to try and entice people in, which she did. It was mostly young men but y'know what they say; if you've got it, flaunt it.
At five o'clock, on the dot, when she was just about to lock up, Mary appeared, knocking on the door as she held up a bottle of white wine and two plastic cups and it may have just looked as if she was offering a friendly drink but Roxanne knew better than that. She knew that she had been sent to check up on her.
"Rog and Freddie worried that I'm going to burn the place down, hm?" she muses once the two of them are through in the back room, where among the vast amount of boxes and other crap, there is a small table and two chairs.
At once, Mary gives her a sheepish smile but once she sees the teasing smile that is on Roxanne's face, she relaxes, "I think they just want to know that you're handling it."
"Handling it?" Roxy scoffs, "Please. I've cleared the men's sale rack. I've probably sold more today than those two have sold all week."
"Really?" Mary looks impressed, "They've been trying to shift that lot since Christmas. How'd you manage that?"
She waves a hand, "You just need to know the right things to say."
"And have that pretty face?"
Giggling, Roxy gives her a grin, "I won't argue."
Shaking her head, Mary takes a sip of her wine, "Roger also told me about John."
Her face falls, "What?"
"About how you like him. And that he went out with Kim from the diner."
She didn't even want to hear her name.
"That little shit," Roxanne hisses, "I told him that in drunken confidence!"
And when she was throwing her guts up in the toilet.
"I think he's just worried about you if I'm honest," Mary admits and she sighs.
"I know. He means well."
"Hey, they're doing a double horror screening at the cinema tonight; Night of the Living Dead and Rosemary's Baby. Do you want to go grab something to eat and then go see them?"
In all honesty, she hasn't spent much one on one time with Mary Austin - the two only really hung out of the boys were there and so this could be a good opportunity to get to know her since she seems to be the only constant female around those lads.
Roxanne nods, "Yeah, okay. That's better than going back to an empty flat."
"Great!" Mary is a lot more enthusiastic than she is as the two of them get up so Roxy can lock up the shop, "Where do you want to eat?"
"Anywhere but Hollywood Diner."
++|++
For the next few days, since she's got the time and absolutely nobody around to stop her, Roxanne gives the flat a proper good clean - something that she doesn't think has happened since the pair moved in.
She even goes as far as to clean the fridge out - she knew that there was a smell coming from somewhere in there!
She can't quite believe that her time down here is almost over, that she has to go back up to Scotland. After Roger's birthday on the Wednesday, she was leaving on the Friday and honestly, she was starting to think that maybe she didn't want to go.
At eight, the phone rings and she knows that it's probably Roger or Freddie wanting to know how she'd been getting on with the shop and so after turning the radio down, she returns to the living room to answer it, "London City Morgue. You stab 'em, we slab 'em. How can I help you on this fine evening?"
"You're morbid," is what Roger's first words to her and she grins, "Seriously, Nessie. What is wrong with you?"
"Ah Roger, there is not enough time to delve into that conversation right now." she jokes and she can just tell that he's rolling his eyes.
"I just wanted to ring and see if you're coping without us."
"It's going great," she says, twirling the chord, "I've cleaned the flat, been to see some movies with Mary, had the telly to myself and didn't have to watch Brian's documentaries...oh, and I burned the shop down."
"That's not funny."
"It's a little funny."
"God, I hate you."
++|++
is this the most boring chapter to date? probs but i wanted to put a little bit of girl time in and stuff
and a MASSIVE happy birthday to the legend and hedgehog enthusiast BRIAN MAY 💕