To love a flower ~ Roger Taylor

Chapter 5

And ironing out the rough spots is the hardest part when memories remain...

Once again they were out together at a local bar, getting some drinks. Renée was standing next to Roger, who was telling the bartender their orders.

She was talking to Mary when she suddenly felt a hand lingering on her waist. She looked at Roger, who casually kept on talking to the bartender as if nothing had happened.

Renée didn't mind him doing that, in fact, she liked the feeling his touch caused inside of her. It felt like little fireworks exploding in her belly, and she couldn't help but grin to herself.

The night went on and as usual, they didn't plan on going home early. Renée had already had three drinks, and Roger got her a glass of water, telling her to “take it easy.”

At one point, Renée excused herself to the bathroom.
She didn't want to get up as Roger had put his arm around her shoulders, but she had to.

When she came out of the stall, there was a black-haired woman who stood in front of the mirror touching up her makeup.

Renée politely smiled at her and washed her hands. Just as she was about to exit the bathroom again, the woman called for her.

“Renée, right?” she asked, zipping up her little makeup bag. She turned around to see the woman, confused about how she knew her name.

“You don't remember me? Joanne, from school?” the woman asked her.

Finally, Renée recognized her face. It had been four years since she had last seen it, and to be quite honest, she was happy about it.

Joanne used to be a friend of hers before she stabbed Renée in the back and started spreading rumours about her.

These people usually thought that once school was over, everyone would forget, but Renée didn't. She tried to forgive Joanne, but she had done too many bad things to just forget about it.

Renée's expression changed from confused to a forced smile. What did she want from her?

Joanne seemed to notice that Renée felt uncomfortable, and started talking again while adjusting her low-cut top.

“Well...I noticed you're quite comfortable with Roger. You know, I'm just trying to warn you here. From...personal experience I can tell you that he just wants one thing. And after you've given him that, he'll throw you away.”

Renée's pulse rose as she felt the anger slowly filling her up. She knew Joanne was just trying to mess with her. Roger would never do that to her.

“Well, maybe it wasn't because of Roger, but because of you being such a fake bitch.”

The words left her mouth faster than she could think about it, but it felt good to finally stand up to the girl who ruined Renée's final school years.

Joanne's fake smile immediately disappeared from her face as she threw her sleek ponytail over her shoulder and sent a death stare Renée's way.

As Joanne passed her, she bumped into Renée's shoulder on purpose. Before the door slammed behind her, she shouted: “He's a player Renée, he'll break your heart one way or another.”

Then, silence hit her. Somewhere deep down, Joanne's words hurt her, but the tension of meeting her again was much worse.

She felt agitated, like her stomach was twisting up in a knot. She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, thoughts running in her head like a toy train.

A few minutes later, she went back to the table where her friends were sitting. Mary immediately got up.

“Renée! I was just about to go check on you. Is everything alright?” Mary asked with a worried tone in her voice.

Renée waved it off. “Yeah, I'm fine. I do need another drink though,” she said, dropping onto her chair.

It was then when she noticed that Roger was gone. “Don't worry, I've got it,” said Brian. “I was going to get a refill anyways, just tell me what you want.” She smiled gratefully.

“Thank you, Brian, I'll have a martini please.” She loved that Brian was such a kind person. “Coming right up,” he said before he got up and went over to the bar.

Now it was just her, Mary, Freddie and John. They began talking about the appointment they had at Lovett studios next week and even Renée was a bit nervous.

She didn't pay much attention to the conversation though, as her mind soon drifted to the unwanted meeting with Joanne again.

She still felt uncomfortable and downed the drink Brian brought her in a few seconds, which earned her a few confused looks from her friends.

“Are you sure you're alright?” Mary asked since Renée wasn't behaving like herself since she came back to their table. She just nodded, but Mary still didn't look convinced.

To change the topic, she asked, “Where is Roger?”

“We don't really know; he went outside shortly after you went to the bathroom. Said he'd be right back.”

Renée frowned. Roger was usually the life of the party. She decided to look for him because she felt like being with him now would make her feel better.

After putting her empty glass down on the table, she stood up and went outside. What the hell was Roger doing alone in the parking lot? And then it hit her.

Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't alone...