Paramour | 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗿

Chapter 17

Grace didn't knew what was waiting for her in Vancouver. She was laughing in the halls while sharing some chips with Eliza, walking to her own room. They had just shared a few words with John and his lame jokes that still made them laugh. He tried hard.

"Open up!", Grace told Eliza as the blonde girl playfully opened her mouth as the former threw a chip at her.

Eliza caught the chip successfully on her mouth and they high-fived while laughing.

Grace saw Roger walking towards them and raised her hand as to wave him excitedly but she heard Freddie's voice behind her cutting her actions.

"Look who's here!", the frontman yelped and the both girls turned around as to see what had Freddie in such euphoric state.

The dark haired girl with bangs was looking at their direction with a big smile on her face. Well, she was looking at Roger Taylor - not them. Not the manager and the stylist, certainly, but at the drummer that was now passing them by while extending his arms to hug the woman.

Eliza slowly pulled Grace and both of them kept walking while the latter started pulling her keys out of her pocket. Both of them were quiet now.

"Is that the ex?", the blonde started asking as Grace threw herself over the bed.

"I believe so", the girl shrugged.

"Aren't you a bit jealous over this-?", she started questioning again but Grace shook her head in negative.

"Don't need to feel jealous", she said with a big smile plastered on her face. "I'm okay, it was her place first, after all... he asked me to have patience and believe in him- I trust him", she shrugged again. Eliza was smiling before munching a chip.

"You are so whipped, mate"

But Eliza's statement didn't felt true until Grace crossed the double doors of the dressing room. Roger was sitting there, clearly waiting for Eliza to start working on him. He gave her the most heartfelt smile she had ever seen on his face.

"Gracie! 'Ello!", John cheerfully greeted her from behind as he had both his hands over her shoulders.

"Oi John!", she greeted back with a smile.

"Lookin' good tonight Gracie", Brian teased her over the tight blue jeans and the Queen merch t-shirt she had plucked under her jeans. It had the Queen logo on the center. She blushed and tried to hide it embarrassed closing her jacket.

"We have our number one fan right here!", Freddie came with a glass of Moet and passed her after winking at her.

"I think she looks amazing with that shirt!", Roger said before Eliza scolded him because he had suddenly turned around as to see her.

Grace loved the attention the band gave her. She loved being like a little sister to most of them and even though she was easily embarrassed, she loved when they teased her. It meant that they cared.

But nobody saw how she had controlled herself after someone stepped into the room. Someone she only knew by name. Someone that didn't deserved to be fooled. And the guiltiness was splattered all over her face, so she took a sip of her Moet and tried to squeeze herself out of the dressing room.

"Gracie! Gracie, dear! Come 'ere!", Freddie's voice made her turn around as if she was simply going out of the room - not trying to hide from someone or avoid meeting someone... "You have to meet Dom, dear"

Grace wasn't sure if he was mocking her or doing it on purpose. She had a tense smile on her face as the black haired woman with delicate features was smiling shyly at her.

"Hello, my name is Dominique, is a pleasure to meet you", she had said so politely that Grace felt her smile was trembling. Dominique extended a hand as to greet her.

"My name is Grace, nice to meet you too", her voice almost faded but she had set herself to be strong not a scaredy cat. What she had done/was doing certainly didn't made her proud, she didn't despise Dominique nor she was afraid of her. At the end, she respected her.

"You're the girl that takes care of this dummies for me", Dominique crossed her arms, delighted with meeting the manager her ex-boyfriend's band had. She sensed that Grace was not only pretty but also very soft and somehow shy. Roger had been right about this girl, she was very nice.

"-almost like a sister to me!", he had said over the phone while talking about Grace. Dominique was pleased with hearing that the girl was a little sister of a close friend of the band and they were kind of taking care of her and viceversa.

She had been scared of Roger making mistakes before, but something deep inside her assured her that Grace wasn't that kind of person. Or maybe it was the secret she had been hiding for a while now that made her feel so secure that nothing nor anybody will take him away from her.

"They kind of misbehave but at the end I misbehave too, so-", Grace had joked awkwardly but it made Dominique laugh as she gulped down what was left of Moet, avoiding Roger's gaze over the mirror as Eliza was surprisingly quiet too.

"Grace! We have updates on-!", a roadie started yelling on the door and she turned around, sighing relieved as hell. She gave Freddie the glass after sharing a glare with him.

"I must go, see you guys after the show", she smiled politely more to Dominique than to her friends.

"Wait! You didn't chose my outfit-!", Roger yelped out and Grace wanted to give him a warning glare but as Dominique turned to look at her, she gave him a small smile.

"I don't think you need my help tonight", she had said helplessly in a bitter tone after giving a small smile and disappearing through the double doors.

When finishing her job properly, instead of going backstage, she went out to have a smoke while thinking. Somehow, she knew she had a place there - they cherished her and treated her well. There was not a single soul that had anything against her.

So she had realized it was only her versus herself the whole time. A puff later, she was looking at the distance. The night was chilly as peaceful and she felt she needed that little time alone so she could carry on.

After the show, Dominique was the first one to get to her and Roger's room. She had expressed how exhausted she was as they ate something delivered from some Chinese food place. It was 2 AM and the boys had some tiredness too, but they felt hungry as hell so they only waved her goodbye as she went to the elevator.

Then one by one, starting from Eliza and John, they started leaving too. At the end, it was only Freddie, Roger and Grace.

"I'm sorry if I placed you in an uncomfortable situation, Grace", Freddie started apologizing after taking a gulp of his drink. "But she was really looking forward on meeting you, I mean, you are practically 24/7 with us..."

"It's okay", she shrugged while taking the last bite of her food.

So then it only was Grace and Roger sitting in the common room. "Are you okay?", he asked warily.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?", she asked while furrowing her brows. He shook his head while mumbling a small 'nothing'. "Feeling tired?", she asked him after he yawned. "Let's go then"

But he took her hand as soon as they stood up and then they silently went to the elevator still holding hands. Roger was looking at her fondly as she sobbed her eye with the other hand.

"It's been a long day", he said while standing in front of her hotel room, she nodded while letting herself being embraced by Roger. "I'm sorry if this was inconvenient for you... but she's the band's friend too, and I really want to end things well with her, she deserves it", she nodded.

She was sure of one thing. She felt like she belonged in his arms. The peaceful feeling, the warmness his body gave her and how he kissed her temple made it feel as if nothing was wrong.