The following Wednesday, Charlotte was doing homework when the phone rang. It was Mandy Sterling from her agency.

 

                        “Charlotte, stop what your doing right now and listen to this”

 

                        “Yes, okay” Charlotte struggled to speak with her mouth full of raisins.

 

                        “Vogue wants to do a ten page fashion spread of the hottest new summer fashions from Quant, St Laurent, Pucci, and Ossie Clark! They also want to do an interview to accompany it, sort of an up and coming face type thing”

 

                        “Oh my god! I can’t believe it”

 

                        “Yes, so a car will pick you up at eight o’clock sharp on Monday morning. Ta”

 

                        “Ta”

 

Char suddenly realized that she would have to do some serious thinking about school. She loved school, and hoped to graduate in the spring of 64’. But she was becoming more and more successful as a model, which meant she was becoming busier. She called in her mom, and they talked it through. It was arranged with the school later that day that Charlotte would attend as many school days as she could, and also receive private tutoring. It was already nearly Christmas, and she would be done with school for good in June. With that settled, Char ran upstairs to get ready for that night, as she was to meet Brian at the Marquee the see the Rolling Stones play. She felt a bit tired; so she lied down on her bed for a while, just to rest. She must have done more than rest, because she awoke suddenly, and looked at the clock to see it was already 10! The show started at 9:30! She threw on a Mary Quant mini dress and flew out the door, to a taxi she called as she got dressed.

 

She arrived at the Marquee to see the place absolutely filled to the brim with kids. They were so tightly packed in, that the only dance they could manage was to bob their heads up and down to the fast, gritty blues music the band was playing. Brian wasn’t onstage, so she thought quickly, pushing her way through the crowd to the back entrance. It was there that she saw 6 young men, loading a beat-up old van with stage equipment. She stood there, trying to find out which was one Brian. He then turned around, and smiled.

 

                        “Char! I thought you weren’t going to show up!”

 

                        “I’m so sorry Brian, I fell asleep”

 

                        “It’s okay, here, let me introduce you to the band, this is Mick Jagger, our lead singer, Keith Richard, our guitarist, Bill Wyman, our bass player, and Charlie Watts, our drummer. Oh, and that is Ian Stewart, but we call him Stu, he’s our road manager. “

 

                        “Guys, it’s a pleasure”

 

They certainly weren’t the Beatles, that was for sure. Mick, the lead singer, who was only 20, was very skinny, with huge lips, and messy brown hair. Amber did like his piercing blue eyes though. She found him to be oddly attractive, in an awkward sort of way. Then Keith, the quiet guitarist, had big ears the stuck out from his head, a pile of black, very messy hair, and a very skinny body. Not the most handsome man in the world, but Charlotte felt that he had something, something she couldn’t put her finger on. He was……cool, Marlon Brando cool. Bill seemed to be a bit older, he had large puppy dog eyes, and was very short. Charlie was adorably sweet, and very much a gentleman. She instantly felt comfortable with the Stones, even though they were a bit intimidating looking. They were everything the Beatles were not: scruffy, messy-looking, and a bit rude. Yes, the Beatles were no angels, but the Stones didn’t put on an act like the Beatles did. They acted like themselves no matter what.

 

Brian looked adorable as ever, with his oxford shirt, and skinny tie (probably the same one he had on when he and Amber first met!), his buttery blond overgrown Beatle-cut a bit messy, but very shiny and clean.

 

                        “So this is the chick Brian’s been going on about” Keith said, in his heavy cockney accent. Charlotte was a bit confused at first, considering Keith’s talking sounded a bit jumbled. She later learned that was just the way he talked.

 

                        “Yea, I’ve eard’ so much about you, and Brian never talks about chicks in a sweet way!” Mick’s cockney accent seemed a bit faked.

 

                        “Hey, Jagger shut your mouth”

 

Charlotte just smiled coyly.

 

                        “So we’re going to Alexis Korner’s house, he owns the Crawdaddy. You must come”

 

                        “Sure”

 

There wasn’t much room left in van, so Char had to sit on Brian’s lap, not that she minded! They arrived at a run-down old flat, that had all the lights on, and many people in and around it. Brian took her hand and led her inside.

 

                        “Hey Eric, come over here” Brian motioned to a tall, skinny guy with light brown hair and a sweet face.

 

                        “Hey Brian, how are you? I heard the band is getting big”

 

                        “Yea, got a manager, a bit fruity, but gets the job done. Anyways, this is Charlotte Quinn, Charlotte, this is Eric Clapton, one of the finest blues guitarists in London”

 

                        “Pleasure”

 

                        “Likewise. Do you play with a band?”

                       

                        “Yea, we’re called the Yardbirds, we just finished our set after the Stones.”

 

                        “Yes! I heard a bit. You guys are fantastic, I loved the John Lee Hooker song, he’s one of my favorites”

 

                        “See Clapton,  I told you she’s one of a kind. What girl likes blues? Honestly, she’s a dream”

 

                        “Of course you got to her first, that’s just my luck” Eric winked at Char before heading off to get another beer.

 

Brian introduced her to a few other people, mostly nameless young white blues musicians struggling to make it big. He took her hand, and let her outside to the back garden, which wasn’t much of a garden at all.

 

                        “How have you been?” Brian lit up a cig.

 

                        “Good, busy. I got a spread in Vogue, ten pages.”

 

                        “Really? Wow that’s s amazing. It doesn’t surprise me much, you are beautiful.”

 

                        “Oh Brian stop”

 

                        “Really, but that’s not why I approached you that night in the club”

 

                        “Why did you then?”

 

                        “Beats me, you just looked interesting.”

 

Brian looked into her eyes, and took her hand. His hands weren’t soft like Paul’s, but rather calloused, and hard, most likely from guitar playing.

 

                        “Charlotte I missed you so much, couldn’t get you out of my head. “

 

                        “Really?”

 

                        “Yea, I’ve never felt that way about a chick before. I thought I should tell you how I feel, I’m not very good at this”

 

                        “Its okay, Brian. I really like you too. So do you live with the band or something?”

 

                        “Yea, kind of. Mick has an awful flat in Edith Grove, and Keith lives there. We had some wild times there last year, when we were really starting out. We had no food, no money, and Mick was still in school. Keith’s mum saved us by bringing food!”

 

                        “Wow, true musicians”

 

                        “Yea, I guess, although at the time it felt more like we were losers. So I crash there mostly”

 

                        “Have you had a lot of girlfriends?”

 

                        “You could say that,yea, but they all turned out to be a drag, you know, nothing like you. “

 

                        “Awe, how sweet” she said, pinching his cheek.

 

                        “I’ve been thinking, um, do you want to, you know, be my girl, but not steady, you’re a bit too young, I want you to feel comfortable”

 

                        “Wow Brian, that sounds great”

 

                        “Fantastic!”

 

His face lit up. They joined the party,  and Brian drove her home in the famous Stones van. He kissed her cheek, and said goodnight.  Charlotte liked Paul, but felt something more when she was with Brian, something that stirred inside her soul. But she still wanted to date Paul, so this setup with Brian seemed ideal. Her life was changing so much in so little time, she could hardly believe it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlotte went to school the next day beaming. She immediately found Britt by her locker.

 

                        “ Hey! Guess what, Brian asked me to be his non-steady girl! I’m sooo into him!”

 

                        “Sweetie, lets go sit down in the study lounge, I’ve got to talk to you”

 

                        “Yea what’s up?” Charlotte and Britt sat down in leather chairs in the plush study lounge.

 

                        “I talked to my older sister Emma on the phone last night. She knows who Brian is, she went to school with him”

           

                        “Really?”

 

                        “Yea. I don’t exactly know how to say this to you, but here it goes. Brian has four illegitimate children with four different women, and lives with the most recent one”

 

Charlotte suddenly felt sick.