- "Hey, luv, be getting ready".

- "I won’t be late, John", I said groggily turning around in bed. He laughed and shook me up.

- "Come on, luv!"

- "OK", I finally said. I reluctantly got up and went to the bathroom to have a shower and prepare to meet Neil to go to fetch the plane tickets. When I went out from the bathroom, I got surprised to find John in a swimming trunk, his prescriptive sunglasses and a black cap. "You’re not doing anything this morning?", I asked him in awe. He smiled.

- "Yeah, only rehearsals. But here, in the hotel. This afternoon we’re having the dress rehearsal".

- "Ah!", I said. At around five to ten or so, Neil knocked on our door and John opened.

- "Sorry to take your love away, Lennon", he said with that Scouse accent I loved so much from the boys themselves. Then he looked at me: "Ready?", I nodded. So I went to John, kiss him goodbye and went.

The plane tickets were waiting for me when we arrived at the airport. Now everything was ready to go back home. I was very excited! Not that I wanted to leave John behind! I really loved him and the guys and loved being with them, but I really wanted to see what was going on with Edu. The plane tickets collecting took us around one hour so Neil and I decided to sightsee Miami a little bit.

It was really nice, with palm trees all along the beach line and the sky so blue... In many ways it reminded me of Spain very much and I told Neil. He had been to Gran Canaria and knew what I was talking about.

When it was time to have lunch, we decided to have a little snack in a restaurant near the hotel because my plane was leaving in early evening, so I only had a couple of hours to pack and say goodbye to John.

Oh, but, as luck may have it, when we arrived back at the hotel, the Beatles were in the middle of the rehearsal session and we were informed that they couldn’t be disturbed. I got worried. I was leaving for England in two hours and those guys didn’t let me say goodbye to John.

- "Don’t worry", said Neil, seeing my worried look. "Just go upstairs and pack and I’ll make sure you see the guys before you go".

And so I did. I went upstairs and started packing. Oh, hell! I didn’t remember I had brought so many things with me! Two full suitcases only for me. But, Oh GOD! I had to phone Eli to let her know I was coming back to London! OK! I closed my two cases (with some difficulty) and called reception because someone should help me with them. In five minutes, a nice boy was there with a smile on his face, very keen on helping me. Maybe he knew the room and knew that being a Beatles suit, he would receive a generous tip.

Once downstairs, I headed for a phone. I looked at my watch. OK, 4.30 here so there... Ah! I gave up, probably a right time. I phoned and Eli took it:

- "Hello?"

- "Hello, this is Vicky here. I’ve got some news for you, dear", I let a silence drop in and then I continued. "I’m coming back to London, today... NOW!"

- "What??!! Are you crazy? Leaving the boys alone there! Who’s going to take care of Paul?"

Oh, if she only knew! I hadn’t been of much help, so to say.

- "Look, Eli. Since you don’t want to tell me anything over the phone, I have to go there and find out by myself. The plane leaves in less than two hours. So I have to hurry up".

- "Alright. What time do I have to be at the airport?" I looked at the plane tickets.

- "12.30, OK? Please, if Edu can come, let her do it. See you in some hours!!", I said. And then I rang off.

Neil came out of a room at that very moment and saw me in the hall. He called me and I walked towards him, keeping an eye on the cases that were left somewhere in the lobby. He realised:

- "Hey, boy!", he said to one of the boys there. "Five quid to pack those cases in a taxi and to make it wait till we come out".

The boy nodded and so Neil directed me to a room where I saw the four Beatles rehearsing in full dress now, with lots of screaming girls once again. I thought I would have to go without saying goodbye to them, especially to John, but Neil went to talk to one of the men who were with them and then the four Beatles came to me. Ringo was first.

- "Well, luv, this is a ‘see you’. We’re flaying back to London in a matter of days, so... Take care", and then he gave me a small peck on the cheek. Paul was next. And as usual, my heart jumped. This time nothing happened. Paul’s eyes didn’t show anything different but void. He gave me a peck on the cheek and said:

- "Tell Eli I love her and I will be with her in a couple of days", and believe me! I was jealous. I couldn’t believe it but yeah there I was, feeling a pack of jealousy to hear Paul say he loved Eli... After Paul, George approached:

- "Vicky, tell Edu I love her madly and that I can’t hardly wait to see her!", then he handed me a paper. "The phone number of the hotel is here. If something wrong has happened to her, please, phone me. I’ll be on the first plane to her". After that he kissed me and then John, the love of my life, came to me. He put his hands on my face.

- "Luv, I’m gonna miss ya like hell. I know it’s only a couple of days, but I’m gonna miss ya anyway", then he kissed me. I would have never stopped kissing him. Never. When I was with John, only him mattered. And I knew John and I were very much in love. When we broke apart, I was almost in tears. "Shh, luv...", he told me, "we’ll be together in a couple of days. Now go", he said firmly. One final kiss and I went out the door with Neil.

In the taxi I realised I hadn’t said goodbye to Mal, Brian, Maureen or Bob. It had been all so sudden. I didn’t worry too much because they all were coming back in a few days.

Neil stood by me until I had to embark.

- "Take care, luv".

- "Thanks for everything, Neil, I don’t know how the guys would manage without you", he smiled,

- "Rather the other way round", we both laughed and then he kissed me on the cheek.

- "Ok, bye, see you soon", and that was it. I embarked and the Beatles and America were left behind.

The flight was long and boring. I tried to sleep but to no avail. I’ve never been able to sleep on planes. I made a stop in New York to catch another plane that would lead me directly to London. And if the previous flight had been long, then this was much much longer.

When I finally disembarked, I started to look like frantic for Edu and Eli. I was so excited to see them again that I didn’t notice that someone touched my right shoulder.

- "Vicky!", I turned around and saw Eli with a serious face on her. I hugged her and she hugged me back but she immediately broke away. Something was wrong.

- "Oh, Eli, I wanted so much to see you!", she didn’t say anything. Instinctively, I started to look for Edu with my head. I couldn’t see her. "Where’s Edu?" She remained serious and helping me with one of my cases, she told me:

- "Let me tell you on our way home".

We took a taxi and climbed on the back. She was serious and I was worried. It was very strange that Edu hadn’t come for me. That anxiety was really killing me so I couldn’t wait any more.

- "Oh, come on, Eli, tell me what’s going on!", my eyes were almost begging her. So she looked at me deep in the eyes and so she finally told me:

- "OK. Do you remember that Edu’s granddad was seriously ill?", I nodded in silence, only wanting her to go on. "OK, shortly after you and the guys went, she received a call from Spain. Someone said her granddad had died and she had to fly urgently to Spain,. She even didn’t have time to try to contact you. She just told me in tears she didn’t know when she would be able to come back. Her mum needed her more than ever now and oh! She couldn’t even say goodbye to George".

Eli stopped and I didn’t’ realise I was crying until I felt a drop of water wet my trousers. I couldn’t believe it! Edu had gone,

We arrived at Emperor’s Gate in an awkward silence. Neither of us spoke a word. Like an automata, I opened the front door (no fans this time) and we went upstairs in silence. I plopped down on the sofa not knowing what to do next and then Eli just brought me to life:

- "Why don’t you phone her, Vicky? You’d better talk to her personally. I’m sure she needs friends more than ever now."

I was still in trance and like an automata I went towards the phone. I looked her number up in the agenda and phoned her. It was her who picked the phone:

- "Hello?"

- "Edu, dear! It’s Vicky! I’ve just arrived from America and I’ve been welcomed with this bloody news (I was picking up John’s way of swearing). How are you?", she seemed to be very down by the tone of her voice.

- "Bad, Vicky. All my entire home is in pain and I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back to England, ever...", she was sobbing at that point and I was almost in tears too. "And George... Oh boy! I couldn’t even tell him goodbye", now she was fully crying and I was crying too.

- "Don’t worry, dear, don’t worry. George and the Beatles are coming back in a couple of days but I can phone him and tell him".

- "NO!", she stopped me. "Don’t phone him and spoil his stay in America. Just tell him to phone me when they come back. Oh, Vicky, take care,. I have to go now. I hope to see you soon". I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say. She brought me to reality. "Bye, Vicky. Be happy with John", and she hang up. I was in shock. Eli was standing next to me and I was still holding the receiver when she told me:

- "Well, how’s she?", I looked at her.

- "Not very well, Eli. She’s not coming back to England, at least for now", we both went back to the sofa.

- "What is she going to do with George?", Eli wanted to know. I shrugged.

- "I don’t know. This is a fucking miscarriage, Eli. We’re in trouble all the time, first I lose my baby, now this... What else can happen?", and then, I suddenly remembered. I looked at Eli. She didn’t know anything about the things Paul did in America. John had made me promise I wouldn’t say anything to her. He wanted to be the first in telling her. But then there was the thing about Paul kissing me. When I less expected it, Eli hugged me:

- "Oh, Vicky! You’re right! It’s only problems we’re having! I just want Paul to come back and hug him and kiss him... Has he been a good boy?" I looked at her quickly with a rapid eye movement. Did she suspect anything? That was impossible. I forced a smile.

- "Oh, yeah!", I had never been very good at acting but somehow she didn’t realise I was pretending.

- "Alright", she said, getting up. "I’m going home. I suppose you’ll want to rest and recover from jet lag so, if you need something, you know, phone me and I’ll be here in a minute". She left and although it was only midday, I wanted to sleep so I went to bed and sleep until well deep into the next day.

The next days before the Beatles came back to England were spent in trying to catch up with my studies at University. Well, I was completely lost. I had missed so many classes that I wasn’t sure I could pass all my exams. The worst thing was the lack of concentration. I couldn’t stop thinking of Edu and I wasn’t sure when I would see her again.

Meanwhile, and since John wasn’t with me, I had moved out of Emperor’s Gate to be with Eli now that Tessa, so Eli told me, had moved out. Emperor’s Gate brought me too many bad memories and I for sure didn’t want to remember the past misfortunes. The present was bad enough.

The TV and the radio were constantly naming the Beatles. The fans knew the boys weren’t coming back until a couple of days, so Eli and I didn’t have any problems walking down the streets freely. She told me she and Edu (before she left) had had a couple of bad encounters with some girls that tried to scratch their faces, but sure they fought themselves back.

As soon as the day the Beatles had to come back approached, Eli and I embraced themselves to tell George. John phoned me a couple of days before their arrival to make sure I was OK. I told him I was and he insisted on me telling him everything about the Edu thing. I told him I would talk to him personally when he were back, not on the phone. Eli talked to Paul. I observed her while she spoke. Maybe, like I knew something about Paul that she didn’t know, she knew something about John that I didn’t know. The thing with Tessa? Maybe, but as long as I could avoid it, I’d never ask her anything about that stuff.

And finally, the day before the arrival of the Beatles, Eli and I discussed who was going to break the news to George.

- "You’ll do it, Vicky", she told me, "He has known you for longer and... well, I just haven’t got the nerve". I gulped. That was going to be a difficult task. But, OK, I would tell him and if he couldn’t take it, John, Paul and all the rest of us would be there to comfort him. So, after having dinner and watch the news to know the exact time when the Beatles would be arriving, we both went to bed.

We woke up really early the next day because the Beatles were coming back very early in the morning. While Eli prepared some breakfast, I had a shower. We both had breakfast together and then, when she was having a shower, I did the wash-up. We were both dead nervous. She was dying to kiss Paul, but I was dreading to meet George. Oh, God! How would I break the news to him?

In the taxi on our way to the airport, Eli asked me if we wouldn’t have problems to go somewhere quiet to wait for the boys. But Brian had told me before leaving the States that their producer, another George, I think, who had also flown to the States but had come back very early to England, would be waiting for us at the airport. And that was how it was. We stepped out the taxi and a very tall, handsome man, some years older that the boys and even than Brian, but in spite of all that very attractive, came to us and introduced himself as George Martin. Yeah, his face sounded familiar to me. I think I had seen him sitting near Maureen Cleave and me on the Beatles first Ed Sullivan Show in New York.

• "Vicky? I’m George Martin. Do you remember me?", I nodded and then I introduced him to Eli.
• "This is Eli. She’s with Paul", well, strange way of saying they were going out. But I think George Martin understood because he just nodded and directed us to a private room where, he said, the Beatles would hold a press conference after they had stepped on British soil.

It was incredible the amount of girls that had gathered that morning to receive the Beatles. More even than when we left. It was very early in the morning but, being a Saturday, nobody had school and they were all screaming and shouting on that freezy morning.

From the room we were, we couldn’t see the plane land but George Martin and some other men took us to a part of the airport where we would be undisturbed and also we could see the Beatles coming down the plane.

And at around 8.00 a.m. more or less, the plane landed and the Beatles walked off of it. As always happened when I saw John after a period (no matter if it was long or short) of not seeing him, my heart jumped. I could see Eli was also very very excited. I could see her staring in front of her, hardly moving. There they were! The Beatles, our boys. They all were holding the records I had bought for them in new York. I was so glad that they were carrying them that I had to tell Eli:

• "Look! I bought those records for them!", I looked at her but I wasn’t sure if she had heard me. She was just muttering Paul, Paul... Yeah, we were both longing to hug our boys.

George Martin came again and told us to go back to the room where the Beatles would hold the press conference.

After what seemed a couple of hours, but it would have probably been a few minutes, a commotion was heard approaching the room. My heart started beating fast. Then the doors opened and there they were. The Beatles!! I couldn’t believe it was only some days since the last time I had seen them. To me it was years.

Before I could even blink, Paul and Eli were in each other’s arms and Paul was kissing Eli all over her face. He didn’t look at me, no he didn’t, and that was better, much better, because Paul’s stares meant trouble, always trouble. John came to me, soothingly like a cat. I didn’t move, waiting for him. I wanted to feel his hands, touch his skin. I wanted to feel his lips kissing my lips... and in a couple of seconds, we were doing just that, kissing each other passionately. I had my eyes closed but soon George’s voice brought us back to reality:

• "Where’s Edu?", he asked me. I gulped. I got rid of John’s arms, like in panic, because I didn’t know how to tell him the whole story. They had a press conference in a couple of minutes and George had to be in full form to answer to all the questions correctly. But John, always the first in getting things out of me, told me:
• "Anything wrong, luv?", I was still looking at George and continued doing so. I forced a smile to give him confidence. But George was serious. Then I looked for Eli with my eyes for help, but she was very very deep in love with Paul at that moment, so that was useless.
• "We’ll talk after the press conference", I told him, which I don’t know if it was worse than telling them everything. But I didn’t want them to be worried so I lied: "But don’t worry, everything is OK", with that he went away to occupy his place in one armchair there was in the middle of the room. John then turned to look at me. He could read me like a book:
• "She’s gone, hasn’t she?", he asked me. And I nodded. "Why?"
• "Her granddad, do you remember I told you he was seriously ill?", he nodded. "He’s passed away and she’s just had to go to be with her family". John understood.
• "Oh, hell! Poor bird! And when will she come back?"
• "That’s the worst thing of all this, John. She’s not going to come back", I said fighting off tears. There were a lot of photographers and press there, ready to snap pictures at every moment. Mal and Neil were there too holding them back. Only they could tell the press people when to film.
• "Oh, bloody hell!", he said, looking at George. Brian came like a ray of light.
• "Ok, John, Paul... Go to the sofa and take your places for the press conference". They obeyed. John tapped my butt and joined Paul in two other armchairs someone had put right behind the sofa where Ringo and George were already sitting.

Eli and I joined in a corner of the room, as usual, keeping a low profile. Although now everybody knew John had broken up with Cyn and was with me, still Brian didn’t want me to show up much. Not just for them, but for me. Losing my baby was only one of the little aftermath I could suffer from fans.

• "Oh, Vicky! He’s come more attractive than he went", I laughed a little. Really these boys were gorgeous and yeah, she was right. The four of them had come back with a suntan that made them more attractive to our eyes.

The press conference was about Miami, American fans and about the money the Beatles were now earning. One reporter told them they would be millionaires by the end of the year, thing that made me look at Eli and smile. But then, another reporter, who maybe thought he was very intelligent and funny, raised up the question of whether I had enjoyed Miami:

• "Oh, she loved it, who? Who? Who?"; said John looking everywhere and pretending I hadn’t gone with him. I just laughed. I couldn’t take it wrong because I knew John’s and my relationship was out in the open. And everything was confirmed when John winked at me from where he was.

When the press conference ended, there were some limos waiting for the boys. Although we all went in separate limos, the Beatles decided to meet again that evening (all except Ringo) at Emperor’s Gate. Oh, that was fine by me, but first I had to tell George about Edu. So I just call him up before he got into the limousine and told him:

• "George...", he looked at me with puppy eyes. I think he already suspected something. "Edu had gone", I said almost crying. "Her granddad had died ands she’s had to go to Spain. She doesn’t know when she’ll be coming back or even if she’ll come back at all...", I stopped to see George’s reaction. He was visibly upset and shocked.
• "Bloody hell!", he shouted. "Give me her number, now! Vicky! I have to phone her!", I gave him her number and he walked away to phone Edu. Paul and Eli happened to walk by and when they saw George walking away in such a hurry, they immediately understood. Eli had told Paul. John was there too and he and Paul exchanged glances that I couldn’t understand. Eli and I looked at each other too.

George came back from the phone, even more upset than when he went to it. Nobody dared asking him how it had been because his face said it all. He just muttered:

• "Oh, I’m... I’m sorry I won’t be able to meet at your place today, John", he said almost in tears. Everybody understood. John squeezed his shoulder. I think John still saw him like a young brother and felt protective on him.
• "Of course, George. Go home and rest. We’ll talk tomorrow", we went all outside the airport and jumped into different limos.

All the way home was in silence. John was holding my hand and looked out of the window. He suddenly said:

• "Bloody hell, luv! Isn’t it awful! Poor George! And poor Edu". I squeezed his hand harder and put my head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of it.

The day was spent unpacking. John had brought all the records I had bought for him and was constantly playing them on the record player.

• "We’re gonna make a film", he suddenly told me. I looked at him in amazement, I couldn’t believe it! He laughed. "Yep, Brian told us. We start in March but we have to make a record to it. I’ve got a couple of songs, yours included".
• "Mine?", I asked him. I couldn’t remember which song he had written for me.
• "Yeah, don’t you remember that one I showed you in Miami? The one that went if I fell in love with you..."
• "Oh", I suddenly remembered. And I loved the verses of the song. It didn’t have any music yet, but John and Paul were going to fix that in short. Then I realised John was looking fixedly at me. I looked at him and smiled but he didn’t smile back. He just looked around and when he looked back at me, his voice was serious:
• "I don’t like this flat, luv. You’ve suffered a lot in it. Fuck! I can’t forget you lost our baby ‘ere!" John was almost shouting at that point. I didn’t say anything and he went on. "As soon as I can, I’ll buy a house for us", I walked towards him and kiss him. John was so sexy when he was serious!
• "I don’t want anything but you, my love".
• "Yeah, but I want to make you happy, luv. I know how you love the sun and sunbathing and all... So, you’ll have a house with a swimming pool and a garden and everything you want", it was useless to tell him I just wanted him. But John was determined, he just wanted to make me happy.

Paul and Eli came at around six p.m. I’ve said thousands of times that I’m not a good cook, so we had dinner delivered from a nearby restaurant. Eli and I were in the kitchen preparing the dishes and everything and John and Paul were in the living room, doing something very important. I must say, because they were so busy they didn’t notice us approaching with two plates of salad to put on the table. I decided not to disturb them and took advantage of my fly-on-the-wall position to hear what they were saying:

• "If you need a shoulder to cry on, oh put your head on mine...", John was saying.
• "No, no,... There’s something there I don’t see it’s proper... let me think!", that was Paul. John went on:
• "If you need a shoulder to cry on, I hope it would be mine-... That’s better!"
• "Yeah, great, man! And then we can add now the next line... Call me tonight and I’ll come to you but...", John was scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. Paul suddenly lifted his head and saw me standing there. He was in my house but I somehow felt as though I was invading his privacy. I felt I had to say something:
• "Oh, I’m sorry, I was just...", John lifted up his head as well and saw me.
• "Oh, luv, you were there! Come here, look at this!", I approached very insecure. John showed me a paper with his chaotic handwriting. I couldn’t understand a word at first but then paid attention and saw some verses which read: any time at all (twice) any time at all all you gotta do is call and I’ll be there. If the sun has faded away I’ll try to make it shine (then came an empty space) when you need a shoulder to cry on I hope it would be mine, call me tonight and I’ll come to you, and it stopped there. They were beautiful verses! John was looking at me expectantly. "What? Do you like it?", I nodded. Eli came out at that moment from the kitchen and heard the next words: "It’s for Edu", silence. I looked at Eli. Edu was my best friend and John loved her very much and I had always ALWAYS thought Paul felt strong for Edu although he was now with Eli and had kissed me. And I was right. Paul liked Edu, but she was with George.
• "Oh, great!", I said, breaking the silence. Eli started walking towards the kitchen and I followed her. She started preparing some other dishes. "You alright?", I asked her. Well, I knew John and Paul had known Edu longer than Eli and maybe, only maybe, Eli could feel a little bit jealous or something.
• "Yeah! Why shouldn’t I? Let’s go to have dinner!", I looked at her with the corner of my eye.
• "You sure?", she looked at me.
• "Yeah, sure. I don’t mind really that the man I’m in love with is writing songs for one of my friends", I laughed.

The dinner was more or less OK. John and Paul were excited about the film they were to make, although they would spend the rest of the month recording at Abbey Road Studios things for their next album. And then Paul did something I think was what Eli had been waiting ever since she met Paul. He hugged her and kissed her.

• "Eli, luv, I’ve got something for you that I hope you’ll like it. I meant to show it to you once is on record, but I couldn’t wait", he handed her a piece of paper. Eli read through it with shiny eyes. I looked at John. He obviously knew what it was because he was as calm as a pond and, had he felt any curiosity, he would have grabbed the paper from Eli’s hands in a blink. Who was dying of curiosity was me. I couldn’t stop staring at he piece of paper and it seemed like ages until finally Eli gave it to me.
• "Vicky, read!", and I read. It was the song I had heard Paul sing that starry night in Miami, but with some changes: "I giver her all my love, that’s all I do and if you saw my love you’d lover her too. I love her., She gives me everything and tenderly the kiss my lover brings she brings to me and I love her. A love like ours will never die as long as I have you near me. Bright are the starts that shine, dark is the sky" (that was the bit I had heard him sing that night, obviously inspired by the lovely starry night in Miami). "I know this love of mine will never die and I love her". John was looking at me and I can’t imagine what kind of face I must have put because John said:
• "Well, luv, I helped in some bits", we all laughed. It was a lovely song. Very, very beautiful. Eli should have been proud.
• "And I helped in "If I Fell" too", laughed Paul.