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Have you ever done fortune telling?" whispered Rosemary.
“No, what for? I don't believe in this shit, there's no point,” Freddie whispered back with a puzzled look.
“If you're scared just say it!” the girl giggled.
“Silence!” shouted the teacher, hitting the table with the pen in his hand.
Freddie and Rose immediately nodded and looked down at their tables.
“I'm not scared. Tell me what to do and I will," Freddie whispered to Rose, while looking at the teacher to make sure that he wouldn't hear them again.
“So, at midnight, you light the candles, obviously with other lights switched off and stare at the mirror and say, “My future husband, come to me, let me see you and come see me” and that’s it. Well, you change it to wife, of course,” Rose whispered back. Freddie nodded and straightened up in his chair, still thinking about what Rosemary had said.
The day went by in a similar fashion to every other day. But the night was different this time. Freddie was insanely nervous about the whole thing, doubting if he should do it. He was scared but didn't want to admit it. What if something went wrong? What if it didn’t work at all? What if Freddie went mad after the ritual? Who knew the consequences of 'black magic'.
But the challenge had been accepted, there was no way back. Candles were found, so was the lighter, the mirror was cleaned for the event and Freddie himself was ready. Somewhat. Freddie lit the candles with cold, shaking hands and switched off the light. He was alone in a dark room in which some unknown magic was about to happen. He sat quietly, trying to avoid looking in the mirror to make sure that he wouldn’t summon anything or anyone by accident. The room was lit only by the moonlight and Freddie’s three little candles. The other parts of the room were in absolute darkness.
Freddie took a deep breath and finally said the sacred words: “My future wife, come to me, let me see you and come see me”. He had to say it three times until he saw a figure behind himself in the mirror. Freddie gasped loudly and got so scared that he accidentally blew out the candles, but the silhouette stayed still. It was male, and looked quite big and strong.
“Don't be scared," he finally spoke in the dead silence of the room. He had a thick Irish accent.
Freddie couldn’t find any words to say, he was just trying to normalise his breathing and was staring at the figure in the mirror.
“Why male?" he finally managed to say, though deep down, he knew why.
The silhouette only grinned.
“What’s your name?” Freddie shyly asked. His lips were numb because of the nerves and fear he was feeling.
“Jim Hutton," came the answer.
“You have a very pleasant and relaxing voice. Where and when am I gonna see you? Have we met already?” Freddie asked, trying to somehow touch the man through the mirror.
“We haven’t met each other yet-” Jim was about to continue his sentence when a voice from behind the door stopped him.
“Farrokh, what are you doing? Who are you talking to?” asked Freddie’s father.
“Nothing! I’m doing nothing!” Freddie answered, panicking. He quickly blew out all the candles, looking for a place to hide them.
“Well, fine. Go to sleep, it’s already very late!” Bomi said and went back to his bedroom.
Freddie looked in the mirror, hoping to see the mysterious Jim again but the figure had disappeared like it was never there.
Years passed. Freddie became a huge star. Accepted himself for who he truly was. The memory of the crazy magical ritual was pushed to the very back of his mind, along with the Irishman with a calming pleasant voice
One day, when Freddie was out in a fancy, popular gay club, his usual place, where he would spend most of his nights, one of his friends tapped Freddie’s shoulder to grab his attention.
“Freddie, check out that man at the bar. He seems to be your type!”
“Challenge accepted darling!" Freddie said with a flourish, and started walking to the bar like some peacock, being all confident, and going through the crowd of dancing people almost dancing himself, fixing his hair on the way.
“Can I buy you a drink, you pretty thing?” he asked, finally reaching the man.
“Huh? Go wherever you were going!” the man turned around in his chair and looked at Freddie, whose eyes went wide.
Time haulted, Earth stopped spinning and Freddie felt like the floor had been pulled out from underneath him. His face went pale, lips became numb and hands were cold and almost shaking.
“You..." Freddie somehow managed to say.
“What? Mate, you surely had too much to drink tonight! Leave me alone!" the man answered and tried to turn away but Freddie grabbed his arm.
“I know it’ll sound like I’m crazy or whatever but I fucking sobered up when I heard your voice. I heard it 16 years ago when I was doing the fortune telling thing! Don’t ask why, but I do remember your voice. What’s your name? Answer or I won’t let go," Freddie said in one breath while shaking the man's arm, holding on to it tightly.
“Jim! My name is Jim!” the man annoyedly answered and pulled his arm out of Freddie’s grip.
“Yes, that’s surely you! And your last name is Hutton?” Freddie almost shouted, trying to keep Jim’s attention.
“Wait, how the fuck do you know?” It was Jim’s turn to be surprised.
“I told you, I’ve seen you in 1969 in the mirror, you came to me. By the way, my name is Freddie”
Jim looked at him like the singer was completely out of his mind: “Nice to meet you," he replied with hint of uncertainty in his voice.
Freddie smiled and locked their fingers together. “Well, you’re the love of my life and you are very pretty, and I couldn’t ask for the better.”
“You’re so fucking weird but you’re damn fine, so maybe you wanna go dance and know each other a little more?” said Jim and finally smiled after frowning all the time.
“Of course!” Freddie answered and dragged the other man to the dance floor.