As soon as I read those words, I fainted. I awoke a minute later because Sandy was slapping me in the face. I opened up my eyes and looked at her concerned face.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I don't know. You were taking a really long time in the bathroom, so I came in to check on you and I found you here on the floor passed out. You must have fainted or something." She said as she helped me to my feet.
"That is so weird. I've never passed out in my life. I thought only English ladies in corsets passed out like that"
"Well we are in England," she said, trying to make light of the situation, but her concern was clear in her face and in her voice.
"Yeah, but I wasn't wearing a corset" I said laughing. Sandy joined me and we laughed hysterically, until we were completely out of breath.
"God it wasn't that funny," said Sandy. "It must just be the excitement of meeting Paul McCartney."
As soon as she said his name, I remembered what had made me faint. It was right there on the bathroom floor, along with a gold locket. I was about to faint again, so I clung on the bathroom counter, waiting for the dizziness to pass.
"What's wrong? You've gone all pale. Are you about to faint again?" Sandy asked.
"Yeah" I replied, "But, just give me a minute and I'll be all right"
"Do you want me to go get a doctor or something?" she asked sounding even more worried than before.
I began to laugh. "Yeah, and I'm sure there will be a doctor right around the corner like there always is in the movies."
"Yeah, I'll just run out there and scream, "Is there a doctor here? My friend needs a doctor!" she said, laughing at herself.
"I would pay to see that, but I'm better now. Let's go back to the hotel," I told her, bending to pick up the locket and picture. I was careful not to really look at it again, fearing that I would become faint if I thought about the picture too much right then.
Sandy grabbed my arm and helped me out of the club. We hailed a taxi, and went back to our hotel. On the way there I made the decision to tell Sandy everything. My first instinct was to keep the entire thing to myself, because maybe then it wouldn't be real.
However I felt I had to tell someone; keeping it to myself was just too terrible for my nerves. The downside was that I knew Sandy would never stop grilling me until she knew everything.
"I know you're curious about what happened tonight, so I'll tell you what I know.", I began in a tentative voice.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Sandy began her questioning.
"What happened in there? Why did you faint? What was up with Paul and you? Why --" she got out before I stopped her by putting my hand over her mouth.
"One at a time, please!" I pleaded.
"Ok. What was going on with you and Paul?" she asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
"He said that he had met me before," I replied, my voice was shaking a bit.
"I know he said that, but it isn't true, is it?" she wanted to know. I could see she didn't believe it at all.
"I think it may be true" I said, and I started to tell her everything, beginning with the hallucinations I had experienced at the cavern. Then I told her about the feeling of d�j� vu I had experienced all around Liverpool, not to mention that I seemed to know all the words to songs I had never heard before. Finally, I got to the infamous meeting with Paul.
"He knew your name," Sandy murmured.
"Yes, he knew my name. He knew who I was and I could tell that he was lying when he said I just looked like someone he knew." I replied.
"How did you know he was lying?"
"By his eyebrows." I said, and I went on to tell her what I had said to him, and what he had said back to me.
"So he does think he knows you. And, you even know what he looks like when he's lying!" Sandy said excitedly. She was starting to believe me now.
"Yeah, but that's not all, when he was leaving he took my hand and left this in it," I said, handing the locket to her. She took it, and her hands were shaking.
"AO & PM. Your initials and Paul's" she exclaimed.
"Oh, but there's more, look inside the locket," I told her.
She opened the locket and then looked at me with astonishment "But that's you! How is that possible?" she asked. There was now a touch of hysteria in her voice.
"I was thinking the exact same thing, and then I read what Paul wrote to me on the picture he signed," I replied, handing her the picture.
Her eyes got as big as saucers as she finished reading. "This is mind boggling. What do you think he meant? "Come back to me". How can you come back to him? Did he know you in a past life or something?" Sandy was becoming more excited my the moment now.
"I don't know, maybe that's it. I mean I don't believe in all that crap. But how can you explain everything that happened? All I know for sure is that I felt a connection with him. He seemed so familiar, but at the same time not at all familiar. If that makes any sense," I answered, struggling to remain calm. I wondered if I was really getting across to her; I was in so much turmoil that my voice was shaking.
"Actually no, it doesn't make any sense. This whole thing doesn't make any sense," Sandy said, "But there has to be an explanation for it all. There's a PICTURE!" she added, waving it at me.
"All I know is that my head is gonna explode if I think about it anymore. I think the best thing is to try and forget about it for now. I want to enjoy the rest of this vacation, and I know if I think about all of this I won't enjoy it at all. I'll think about it when we get back to the U.S., okay?"
"Sure Scarlet," she said, and she laid her hand on her forehead, acting like she was fainting "I'll think about it tomorrow."
I laughed. "Exactly. Except not tomorrow, more like in a week and a half"
"Fine, I won't mention it, if you won't. But you have to promise me that when we get back you will try and find out all you can." she finally agreed.
"It's a deal," I said, extending my hand. After a slight hesitation, Sandy shook it.
So we did just that, we enjoyed the rest of our trip. We went to Bath, which wasn't boring at all, and even Sandy had a good time. We spent the rest of our time in London.
While we were there, Sandy wanted to go to Abbey Road, but I knew that if I went there I would have another "Hallucination". I declined, and Sandy was understanding and went by herself.
Finally it was time to leave. I was sad to go, and though I tried not to, I thought about Paul. I knew that he was in England, and that if I left an ocean would be between us. The whole thing was crazy, why was I missing a guy that I had only met once?
As the plane took off, I thought about the strange but wonderful things that had happened to me on the trip. Little did I know that my journey was just beginning.
