• "Oh, hi Paul".
• "Vicky glad to hear from you...", his voice sounded different too. Maybe Eli was at his side, the same way John was at my side. "Can I speak to John?"
• "Sure", and without much more hesitation I gave the receiver to John. I wanted to hear the conversation so I didn’t move. I’m sure had it been a different occasion I would have rushed to the bathroom to get changed or something but this time I lingered on. "It’s Paul", I informed John. He took the receiver.
• "Hey, Macca! I said I wouldn’t stay...", he laughed but then he became serious. "No joking on that, bastard!", another pause. "Gear, man, absolutely fab..."; I couldn’t imagine what they could be possibly talking about. "Alright, then. Sometime the next few days. See ya", he gave me the phone back and I hang up. I was curious to know what they had been talking about.
• "What did Paul want?"
• "Oh, nothing", he said, lighting up another cigarette. "He’s bought a car. He’s collecting it in two days time or so and he wanted us to see it", I thought that was a good idea but suddenly, then, I remembered Eli. I hadn’t talked to her ever since I had returned from Spain, but I looked at my watch and it was quite late, besides she wouldn’t stay at home. The Beatles were going to tour the world and the thing I would less want would be leaving John go.
• "Where is he now?", I asked, only to make sure that he was at a party. John’s gorgeous lips confirmed it.
• "He’s at a party with the rest", I felt bad for John. I knew he loved parties very much and I felt responsible for him not going to that one.
• "Wanna go?", I asked him. He looked quickly at me with happy eyes, as though that was what he had been waiting for. But then, in a couple of seconds, his expression changed and just held me tight. Kissing my face he told me:
• "No, luv. I wanna stay ‘ere with ya. I love ya", I kissed John and then I closed my eyes and drifted off to a wonderful sleep.

The next day John and the Beatles went to the recording studio to record some songs for their upcoming album. I was feeling too lazy to go back to University and my driving licence could wait a little bit more. I would resume it when John went on tour. But I went to Eli’s to see how she was doing.

As usual, she was happy, smiling and glad to see me. I told her everything about Edu, that she was feeling on top form again, although she wasn’t coming back to England at the moment. I also told her I was glad that Paul was buying a new car. But as soon as I named Paul, her expression changed, Oh, God! Was it possible that Paul might have told her something about us? Well, then I realised that was crap, for she wouldn’t have received me with that smile the first time she had seen me. Then she grabbed my arm:

• "Vicky, sit down", my heart started beating fast.
• "What’s wrong?", I asked, almost in panic.
• "It’s Paul...", she said. I knew it! Oh God! She knew and if she knew then everybody else did. Oh my! Everybody was going to hate me and that would be the end of my relationship with John! He went on, "He’s been quite distant and cold with me lately... I don’t know why but he isn’t the same", I looked at her suspiciously. Was it possible that she suspected something but that knew nothing for sure? That was quite likely.
• "Have you...?", I muttered, "Have you talked to him?"
• "Well, I’m waiting. For? I don’t know, maybe I’m too paranoid and he’s just acting normal. I don’t know", that calmed me down a little. She didn’t know a thing. I sighed in relief.
• "Oh, cheer up!"; I told her. "It’s probably the stress of the new tour,. Well, John’s told me he’s bought a new car, so it can’t be that bad", her face lit up when I mentioned that.
• "Oh, yeah, Vicky. He’s collecting it tomorrow. We chose it together, you know!", well, that was it, now I was sure she didn’t know a thing. That was perfect.

I decided to stay to have lunch. She told me things about her holidays with Paul and Ringo. It seemed that had gone to the Virgin islands and she had had the chance to meet Maureen, Ringo’s girlfriend.

- "Oh!"; I said. "I hope he brings her to some party. I’m dying to meet her", Eli told me things about her and soon it was time for me to go home. John came, as usual, late. They were picking up the habit of going into the recording studio at night. John said they could work at it better, with nobody disturbing them and stuff. When he told me, I didn't like the idea. That meant we could hardly see each other, since I'd probably have things to do in the morning. But he assured me he would find the time to be with me.

The next day passed by very slowly. As an exception, the Beatles went to the studio in the morning to have the night free, which was when we would go to a party and when Paul would show us his new car. I had thought about going shopping, but then decided not to. There were again lots of crazy fans on the front door and now I only wanted to go out with the help of Neil or Mal, never on my own. Every time I moved the curtains of the windows, the fans down started screaming and that scared the hell out of mw. John also started to get fed up with them. It wasn’t an utopia now that John was looking for a new house to live.

John came home at around 19.00 p.m., got changed and told me to do the same. I decided on some new garments I had brought from Spain. I wore black tight trousers, with a matching top and my hair in the style of fashion. As usual, John complimented me:

• "Uau!", he whistled. "You’re even lovelier now than when you went away". Oh, I loved that man so much that I walked towards him to kiss him. He was as gorgeous as ever. No doubt, the holidays had done him a lot of good, as far as looks were concerned.
• "I must admit you look quite nice as well", I said. He laughed and tapped my butt.
• "Are ya ready, luv?", I nodded. I grabbed my handbag and off we went.

There was a limo waiting for us at the door. Lots of girls started screaming and threw themselves at John, but Mal was there and we were soon safely seated in the back of the limo. My heart was beating fast again. I think I never got used to the fans after the dreadful miscarriage I had. John saw my white complexion.

• "You alright?", he asked me. I forced a weak smile.
• "Yes", he squeezed me and kissed the top of my head. John knew I was not alright, and also knew the reason for it, but didn’t say a word.

The party turned out to be at the Savile Theatre. It seemed that the Savile was own by Brian and we had it today for ourselves. When we arrived, there I saw some non-familiar faces. John proceeded to introduce the new faces to me.

• "Luv, this is Victor Spaghetti. Haaa, haa!! Spinetti, luv. He’s worked with us in A Hard Day’s Night, and he’s a nice bloke".
• "Don’t believe a word he says, girl", that Victor told me. He was taller than John and so much taller than me. "If he speaks the way he writes, we might as well avoid him", John laughed and we all did too. And I could see John and the guy got on well and that was difficult. John had a difficult character. We moved a couple of groups ahead and in one of them I spotted Ringo accompanied by a nice brunette. I’ve always had a thing for brunettes, being one myself, so I pulled John’s sleeve and asked him:
• "John, who’s that girl with Ringo?"
• "Oh, that’s Mo! Don’t ya know her?", I shook my head. "Let’s go, then! I’ll introduce ya to her", and so we did. Mo was Maureen, in fact, and she was very very nice.
• "Oh, Vicky", she told me. "I’ve heard so much about you"; I smiled at her. I don’t know why but I immediately liked that girl.
• "Ya’ve taken he best one!"; John butted in. "Ring is a one-off. Aren’t ya, Ring?"
• "Gerrof", said Ringo and we all laughed.

George and Pattie were chatting quite vividly with another group. So I immediately decided to avoid them and walked away to a different group but John just told me pointing at them:

- "Oh, and there are the Rolling Stones with George. Do ya remember ‘em , luv?, the truth was that I only remembered the blonde one, called Brian Jones if my mind served me right. He was accompanied by (oh, how could it be any other way?) a smashing blonde that couldn’t keep an eye off the Beatles.

• "Yes, I do", I lied.

- "Anyroad, let’s see what ol’ Brian has to say", and so he grabbed my hand and directed me towards the group. "Mike, Brian... Do ya remember Vicky?", well, they probably didn’t but they smiled at me and shook my hand.

• "Yeah, luv, how you doin’?"

- "Fine", I muttered. That Brian made me weak in the knee, I don’t know why. John laughed and took George, Brian and Mike apart. I was left alone with Pattie and Brian’s female companion.

- "Well, seems that Chelsea won’t have that colour any more", said the still unnamed girl pointing at Brian Epstein’s secretary, Wendy. Pattie looked at me, then at her, but said nothing. "My name’s Anita, by the way", she went on, stretching her hand to shake mine. I shook her hand and saw how she was observing me. She scanned me from head to toe, probably thinking I was not appropriate for a Beatle. Pattie was thinking the same as me, so she grabbed Anita by the arm and tried to divert the topic. I looked for John with my eyes, but he was in happy conversation with Brian Jones, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Victor Spinetti.

But then something saved me. Paul and Eli, the real main characters of the party, walked in holding hands. Everybody turned their heads to see them. Eli was a bit embarrassed. I knew her and she was very shy, she didn’t like being the focus of attention of everybody. But Paul... That was what he wanted.

- "Hey, Macca!", shouted John. "Show us yer car!", everybody started walking outside the theatre. Anita too. Pattie looked at me.

• "Are you coming?"

- "In a minute", I told her. I didn’t want to be there among all those girls who only wanted to be near the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. She shrugged and went away and I saw Eli walking towards me. I walked towards Eli. "Eli, dear, thanks for saving me", she didn’t understand. "I can’t understand Brian Jones’ girlfriend, you see. Be careful with her."

• "Ah! Don’t think of her. Come to see the car, Vicky! It’s beautiful!"

- "No, I’ll see it any other day, Eli. I don’t mind", but then John walked in, a little bit more drunk than he should shouting:

- "Where the ‘ell are ya, girl?", Eli and I looked at each other guessing that would mean problems.

• "I’m here, John".
• "Why the fuck aren’t ya with the rest of us watching the car?", I had to make up something.
• "I wanted to see it in detail and thought that with so many people I couldn’t see it properly...", John seemed to relax a little bit. He kissed my head and stroked my face. People started to walk in at that moment. John suddenly grabbed my hand and started walking towards the front door. "Where are we going?"
• "Well, now Paulie must be on his own with the car...", he took me out of the theatre and I saw Paul inside the most gorgeous car I had ever seen. It was blue and it was so beautiful that I blinked a couple of times. John saw me and smiled. "do ya like cars, luv?"" I nodded. Paul saw me and smiled. He wet out of the car.
• "Wanna have a ride?", he asked me. I looked at John. I didn’t think that was a good idea. I didn’t want to be alone with Paul after all that had happened between us. I felt danger coming over but John insisted that I should have a ride.
• "Go ‘ead, luv! It’s fuckin’ gear!", he said, and so I couldn’t refuse. Paul went to open the door for me and I saw Eli coming over to where John was. When she reached him, they both waved at us, Paul started the engine and off we went.

Paul speeded up throughout London. He loved speeding and I was a little bit scared:

• "Paul... Slow down a little, will you? Please...", Paul looked at me and smiled.
• "Are you scared?", I forced a smile.
• "A little...", then he slowed down but continued driving around London. It was dark and the city was all lit up with the lights. When we reached the Thames, Paul stopped the car in a deserted street near the river. From there we could see the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament quite well. We remained in silence, nobody dared to say a word. Paul and I both had our eyes fixed on the sight in front of us.
• "Isn’t it beautiful?", Paul suddenly said. I just nodded, but said nothing. He went on: "I’ve always liked to visit London, ever since I was a kid... Me mum would be proud we’ve made it", I looked at him because he was becoming sentimental. He looked at me back. "I miss her like ‘ell, ya know." That took me by surprise. Paul didn’t really look like the type of guy who missed anybody or anything.
• "Do you?"
• "Oh, yeah... I don’t know... Maybe if she were alive I wouldn’t be playing music... and I wouldn’t have this car..."
• "Paul...", I wanted to change the topic urgently. I wanted to go back to John. "They must be missing us... We really should be going back...", he looked at me and did as though he hadn’t noticed I had changed the course of conversation.
• "Do you like London, luv?"
• "Yes, a lot", he looked at me very fixedly now.
• "You could have anything you want, ya know it, don’t ya?", I frowned because I had no idea what he meant.
• "What do you mean?", I noticed his hand moving towards mine. I kept on looking straight in front of me. Then I noticed Paul’s hand holding mine. My heart started beating fast and inside I cursed John for insisting on me going alone with Paul. I got rid of Paul’s hand with a rapid hand movement. "No, Paul... Take me to the theatre, I want to be with John", I didn’t dare looking at Paul. He didn’t say anything.
• "Don’t ya remember what happened before you went to Spain, luv?", I knew that was going to come up any time and I was only grateful it had happened when John wasn’t around. I was prepared for that. I would do exactly as Edu and I had agreed. I would pretend nothing had happened.
• "Nothing happened, Paul. And now, take me home", I still didn’t dare to look at him.
• "Vicky, luv, look at me", well, I couldn’t disobey that. I had to be strong and look at him just the same way I would look at Eli, George or Ringo. Paul’s eyes were wet. It was dark and I could only distinguish the twinkle in his eyes, his loveable moptop and the line of his lips. No one said anything for a short time but then Paul spoke: "It’s in nights like this when I miss me mum all the more", I looked at him rather puzzled because I didn’t understand a word he was saying. What did that night have of special? Wasn’t he the luckiest man on Earth? He had just bought a car, he was one of the most famous people in England (and the world) and all the girls were crazy about him. Who could ask for more?
• "Why?"
• "Because I feel lonely...", I was going to say something but he didn’t let me finish. "Yeah, I know what you’re gonna say, but that isn’t everything", I said it anyway:
• "I don’t know how you can say you’re lonely. The world is at your feet, Paul, you can have anything you want..."
• "Not anything, luv", he said looking at me deep in the eye. If he was saying so because of what I was thinking, I’d better change the topic and not let him say it. But he was quicker and didn’t let me say anything. "I’m in love with you, Vicky", God! That I couldn’t believe. I could have expected anything- that he was infatuated with me, that he wanted to make love to me, but God, not in love! I couldn’t fight against that.
• "You are absolutely crazy, Paul McCartney. Take me to the theatre", I was still looking in front of me, at nothing. I pretended to pay special attention to the lights reflected on the Thames but I couldn’t see anything. My mind wasn’t working, And Paul didn’t say anything either. I was starting to feel nervous.
• "You don’t believe me, do you?", he finally said.
• "No, I don’t. God, I can’t, Paul! I’m with your best friend, and you’re with Eli and... Oh, this is crazy!"
• "Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, Vicky, but it’s real. I feel it! And I’ve tried to avoid it, oh, for so long! Why do you think I tried to avoid you at first? I’ve loved you from the first time I saw you at my birthday party last year", Oh, my! Each word went deeper and deeper in my mind. This had to be a dream or something, it couldn’t be real! I had to stop that and I did it the only way I knew it could work.
• "Paul, stop this! Take me to the theatre and don’t ever say this again or I’ll have to tell John", there was a silence of about two seconds and then I heard him sigh and start the engine.

All the drive back was in awful silence. Nobody said a word and I only wanted to go to the theatre and meet John. He was waiting at the entrance:

• "Bloody ‘ell, Macca!", he shouted as soon as Paul and I went out of the car. "Where did ya take ‘er? To the end of the fuckin’ world?", Paul wasn’t in the mood for jokes.
• "Shut up, Lennon!", he said, walking inside the theatre. John had followed him with his eyes.
• "What the ‘ell is wrong with ‘im?", he asked me. I shrugged.
• "John... I’m not feeling well, can you take me home, please?", John’s complexion became tense. He was not a fool and he could feel there was something going on.
• "What’s wrong?"
• "Oh, nothing!", I said, cheering up a little. "It’s just that I’m a little bit tired and I want to rest". He didn’t seem very convinced but didn’t argue. He just went into the theatre. I followed him, although I didn’t feel like saying goodbye to everybody. And specially, I didn’t want to see Paul. Luckily, it was over in a couple of minutes. John said I was not feeling well and then took me home.

He stopped the car at the front door. I opened the door and went out, waiting for him to do the same. But he didn’t move.

• "John?", I asked him.
• "I’m going back to the party, luv. Hope ya don’t mind... it’s me bloody only night off before going on tour, luv..."
• "But John", I said, feeling a lump in my throat. I didn’t want to tell him I needed him more than ever that night, that Paul had confessed his love for me and that I needed to be with him. I needed to hold him tight, to feel him there... he didn’t realise our love was in danger and I didn’t want to lose John. My eyes started to become wet. "I need you with me tonight".
• "Hey, luv, is that serious?", I guessed I had scared the hell out of him. We had gone through bad times together and he might have thought I was having another miscarriage or something. So, then, I looked at him. His wonderful eyes were shining under his fringe and his hooked but lovely nose was trembling a little. John needed to be happy. He had been born to be happy and all the rest of the world had been born just to serve him. I loved that man and I always will. I smiled:
• "No, John, it’s alright. See you tomorrow, then?", John smiled too.
• "Sure, luv... You’ll wake up in my arms", that was enough. I closed the car door and went upstairs to an empty house and an empty room.