‘Baby Blue’ a row and suspicion

The fight and ‘Baby Blue’.

I woke to a bright and sunny morning after our fight the night before. We don’t argue often, but Freda is finding it hard to get over the break in and the loss of ‘Baby Blue’.
Throwing her accusations around had ended in a shouting match. Mark had pulled me away, telling me not to listen to her.

Freda’s music has not been found and the police have given up looking for it. Burglary is not a major concern. To Freda it is like the sky has fallen down. She feared that one day she would turn on the radio and hear her song.

Would it bother her to hear ‘Pink’ sing “Baby Blue’?  I decided that, yes it would. Not even ‘Pink’ could have it. It was Freda’s, after all she did write it.  Now the morning after, I gazed over at Mark. He had been decent, no pressure. He had woken me this morning with a nice mug of Tetley.

How could Mark have anything to do with this? We have been together four months and he has always been kind. There’s no way he could be involved in this mess. Telling myself to not be suspicious, I watched as he sat messaging on his phone.

His face was screwed up as his fingers flew across the keypad. I wondered who he was talking to but didn’t ask. I watched as he raised his eyebrows, it looked like he was having an argument. No nothing suspicious here.

* * *

‘Baby Blue’

Freda sat watching morning television. She wondered if the BBC would have enjoyed ‘Baby Blue’. She had always longed to be a guest star. Playing the piano on their stage whilst Ruby sang it.

Now the opportunity had gone. Whisked away by Mark. She wasn’t sure how he had done it but was certain that he had.  Lying on the settee she felt so sad it hurt. A pain in the pit of her stomach a constant reminder of what she had lost.

Could she write something better then ‘Baby Blue’? She wasn’t sure. Feeling it was a one off, she could not shift the doldrums.

Rex disturbed her thoughts with a loud whine. Walking over to her with his tail firmly between his legs. If his mistress isn’t happy, then neither is he. Stroking his head, Freda told herself that she needs to get over it. ‘Baby Blue’ is gone. Now was the time to pick up her A4 pad and start write something else.  Trying to shift the pain in her stomach, she told herself that tea would help. Fighting the urge for something stronger, she now put her feet on to the floor to find the warmth of the welcoming kettle.

* * *

Mark

“Come on Ruby, let’s go to the park.”
“I should check on Freda.”
“She’s alright, come on let’s walk.”
“I’ll message her.”
“I know you care about her, but you can’t fix this.”
“No, but she needs to know I’m on her side.”
“But she knows that.”
“After last night, I don’t think she does.”

“Well I hope you don’t believe her. I haven’t got ‘Baby Blue’.”
“Yes, I know, but I don’t want her doing something bad. She gets depressed, and this could push her over the edge.”
“Okay, well send her a message and then we’ll go for a walk. Come on, let’s get some fresh air.”

Typing on my phone,
‘Hi, I’m still here for you. Hope you are okay x x ‘
I couldn’t help thinking that we should be going to see her. Not ignoring the situation and walking in the park. Mark’s phone rang now. I watched as he cut it off. What was going on? He stared at his phone, a little too long for it to have been a wrong number.

Messages

“Right Mark, what’s going on?”
“Nothing, come on, let’s go.”
“Who have you been messaging?”
“No one important, just my brother, nothing to get excited about.”
“I’m not getting excited, just I don’t think you are being completely truthful.”
“Look you and Freda are a rare talent, that’s all I’m saying. Come on let’s go.”
I turned this over in my head. Was he guilty? Did he know who had taken ‘Baby Blue’? What was I supposed to think?

Hearing my phone now, I pulled it out of my pocket. The message read,
‘Baby Blue has gone. I’m going to write something else.”

I messaged back with,
‘Please look after yourself, I will see you soon. Please take care.’
She responded with the thumbs up emoticon, I sent her a smiley face.

“Okay, well she is writing again. Come on let’s go for that walk”. I grabbed my coat and started walking to the door. I looked back at Mark. What was he thinking? He was still looking at his phone. What really was going on here?

* * *

Mark

Mark stared at his phone. What had he done? This was a complete mess and his mate was a complete idiot. He liked Ruby and he didn’t want to lose her. His stomach had been churning since seeing the man running away. Now the whole thing had escalated. Afraid to tell Ruby he now needed to escape and walk.

Written for Grammys Grid  – first sentence – I woke to a bright and sunny morning after…

For more see previous post – A broken window and a worrying loss – Ruby and Freda part 7, this is part 8