Brian couldn't believe it. She was there, right in front of him. She was smiling at him, and oh damn, she was gorgeous.
“I read your letter.”
“You did?” she said in a surprise tone.
“Of course I did.”
“I thought your guard was lying and that he'd throw it away...”
“No, he didn't” he smiled. “You haven't changed.”
Ruby blushed. They just stared at each other without saying a word, a smile printed on their face. “Oh Bri, my Bri...” she thought. “I missed you so much...” She cleared her throat.
“Do you want to come in?”
“I don't want to disturb.”
“Isn't it why you came here?” she said, laughing.
He laughed too and followed her. He looked around him as he was climbing the stairs. He remembered all the moments they shared and mainly the amount of times he went up and down those stairs. They arrived at the first floor and Ruby slowly opened the door. He got in and the memories hit him like an arrow. The smell of the house was still the same, and nothing looked different.
“Are you sure someone lived here?” he laughed. “Nothing has changed!”
“Someone still does” she smiled. “Jane? Brian is here.”
Jane came from the kitchen, holding a tea towel. She smiled at Brian and shook his hand.
“Good evening, Mr May. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, please, just call me Brian!”
“Fine, Brian.” she smiled. “Will you join us for dinner tonight?”
“I don't want to disturb anyone.”
Jane raised her eyebrows and turned to Ruby with a grin.
“You were right, this sentence is his signature!”
Brian laughed and stared at Ruby with love in his eyes. Jane sighed, her arms crossed.
“So, will you join us?”
“O... Okay.”
“It will be a French meal, I hope you like it!”
“Hold on, Jane!” Ruby suddenly said as Jane was going back to the kitchen. “There's meat in a quiche, and Bri's a vegetarian!”
“Oh, shit! I'm going to prepare another one, then.”
She smiled and went back to the kitchen to prepare a new quiche. Ruby turned to Brian with a shy grin; she was blushing and as soon as she caught a glimpse of him, her eyes shone.
“Follow me, I want to show you something.”
He nodded with a smirk and followed her through the corridor. She turned left and opened the door of her bedroom. She closed the suitcase that was still lying on the bed and slipped it under it. She was standing in the middle of the room, looking around, her hands on her hips.
“See, as I told you in the letter, my aunt didn't change anything here. My wardrobe's still decorated, and do you recognise my record box?”
Filled with emotion, he stepped into the room and looked at the record box. Ruby knelt down next to it.
“Do you remember the first time we met?” he whispered. “You made me listen to Led Zeppelin for the first time.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“And when you ran away from here, you had taken your favourite records with you in your bag, and when you were forced to leave my house, you didn't take it.”
“I didn't have the time to reach it.”
“I still have it, you know... I still have your bag, your records, and your clothes. I also have the pictures you had in it.”
Ruby was stunned; she slowly raised her eyes to meet his.
“You... You kept them?”
“Did you really think I'd throw them away?”
“I don't know, I didn't expect that.”
She stood up and wandered in the middle of the room before sitting on the bed, turning her back to him. Her shoulders loosened and Brian guessed something was wrong. He walked up to her and sat beside her. Ruby was trying to hide her face, but Brian gently took her chin and made her face him. Her lips were trembling and tears were rolling down her face. He freed her chin and put his arms around her. She snuggle against him and sobbed against his chest, grabbing the fabric of his shirt. He gently stroked her hair like he used to do. Ruby sniffed and tried to calm herself.
“I'm sorry, Bri, I'm so sorry.”
“Why are you?”
“I'm sorry for crying like that.”
He held her a bit tighter and rested his chin on the top of her head, letting a few tears roll down his face.
“I missed it” she whispered.
“You missed what?”
“Being in your arms. Gosh, I might sound stupid.”
“You don't, honey.”
She smiled.
“Honey. The last time I heard this, it was twenty-three years ago.”
“What happened in your life during this long time?”
They broke off their embrace and simply faced each other. Then, Ruby told her about the life she had led. How they immediately drove to the airport when John had taken her, how they moved to Paris, how she had to attend another college, how she tried to send letters to Brian but her father intercepted every letter, how she met a friend in her new college, how he proposed to her, how she gave birth and tried to raise May... Brian was attentively listening to her, nodding from time to time. She showed him a few picture of her with May, and he sobbed as he realised how much she looked like him.
“So... She's my daughter?”
“Yes, she is. There's no doubt. Do you remember, when I lived with you, we... made love the same day we met Freddie?”
“Yeah, I remember it very well” he smiled.
“That's when I became pregnant.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be, Bri. I'm happy I didn't have an abortion, I'm really proud to have her, since the day I saw her for the first time.”
“Why didn't you send me a letter?”
“I told you. My father intercepted all the letters that I wanted to send to England. That's why you never received one, Roger either. I wrote Roger too. How's he?”
“He's going through bad times. You know, with Fred's death, we're all shaken. But we'll get better.”
“Say hello from me to him. If he still remembers me...”
“He does. We talked about you yesterday after I read the letter. He saw you too.”
“Physically speaking, he changed a lot, but his eyes and nose didn't.”
“You're right!”
“And tell him that he looks better than any girl in I Want To Break Free.”
Brian bursted out laughing.
“What about me?!”
“You look better as a man! But really, how did they manage to put those rollers in your already curly hair?”
“Oh, don't remind me this! They had so many troubles to put them in, that they had to straighten my hair before they succeeded in putting the rollers!”
“Brian Harold May with straight hair? Oh, blasphemy!”
They laughed and looked at each other. Suddenly, it was as if something magical happened. He didn't see a 44 year old Ruby in front of him, but the 21 year old one; and Ruby could only see the 22 year old Brian too. At last. They had met again. There was a sort of tension between them too, but they were way too shy to react. They felt like they were teenagers.
“Ruby! Brian! Dinner's ready!” Jane shouted from the living room.
They smiled at each other and silently crossed the long corridor. They sat at the table on which two quiches were placed. Ruby wanted to hold his hand, just for a second. But no, it was over.