Oh, yes, this is heaven. I haven’t felt this relaxed in ages. I can feel the stress just drifting off my body. I am amazed at the amount of stress I carry in my feet. I really should get pedicures more often.

I began to escape the real world, as the tension was seething out of the soles of my feet. The memory of my lecherous boss and the handful of tit he got this morning disappeared. I stopped fretting about the difficulties I faced when I return to work. I was surprised he had not fired me this morning after I had raised a hand to slap him, and I knew when I went back he would make me pay for it. I had almost tuned out the gossipy chit-chat of the ladies in the salon. Suddenly, a delightful, young laughter brought me out of my trance. Could there really be someone under the age of sixty here?

I spotted the girl whose laughter sounded so young and free. Like me, she was in her early twenties, but very unlike me, she was tall, slim and blond. I would guess she was probably a model. She appeared very sophisticated and confident.

She was beautiful. She sat a few chairs away from me, and as her soft, melodic voice continued, I could not refrain from listening to her.

"Sarah, that is outrageous," she exclaimed, "I can’t imagine saying that to him. We have only been going out a short while."

"But darling, if you do not let him know what pleases you, how do you expect him to know." Sarah said as she prepared her customer for a shampoo.

Unfortunately my pedicure ended, sending me out of hearing range to the pay counter. As I was paying I felt a queer happiness watching a young girl so happy and content with herself. I thought, she seems have her life so together.

• * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As I hurried down the street, my thoughts were in a scrambled mess. I was very pleased my manicurist had a cancellation today. After the horrendous day I just had at work I needed a stress reliever. It had only been a month since my last appointment, but I refused to feel guilty about this added expense. I really needed this today.

I walked into the salon expecting to see and hear the usual old-bitty banter, but her presence was overpowering. That beautiful blonde was back. She was so full of life, love and laughter. I suspected just listening to her would lift the dark clouds surrounding me away, but decided I had better go ahead and get the pedicure also.

I was, once again, seated just a few chairs away from her. I did however ask my manicurist, Mildred, if we could switch sides of the table. I claimed the sun was getting in my eyes, but I really wanted to watch the blonde’s face as she spoke.

"Oh, Sarah," she said "he is making me so happy."

"That is good, luv. So do tell me all about this trip you are planning with him."

"It is just for a long weekend, for the Easter Holiday. We are going to Ireland and staying at a castle!" she exclaimed. I thought she sounded very excited for such a short trip.

"Sounds wonderful, Pattie. " replied Sarah as she began to get her ready for the hair dryer. Good, I thought, at least now I have a name for her.

"It’s just all this madness" Pattie sighed, "It’s plain crazy, it is. The constant travelling, the film shoots, and the screaming girls. Some of these girls are down right vicious. I couldn’t even repeat some of the things they say to me. Even when he is in town I barely get to see him. It will be heaven to be able to escape for even a few days."

As they stood up to walk to the hairdryers, Sarah said, "Well Pattie, I am very glad George has finally seen to it to make some time for you."

Those words hit me like a hammer to the head. This girl, my blonde, was Pattie Boyd. George Harrison’ s Pattie. A Beatle girlfriend right here in my salon. I couldn’t believe it at first. Then I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it before. It was obvious.

The rest of my pedicure was anything but relaxing. A knot developed in my throat, my hands began to sweat, and my thoughts were bouncing around at the speed of light. No wonder she was so happy and bubbly. She was in love with George Harrison. She was able to have his arms wrapped around her, kiss his soft lips and laugh with him. Who wouldn’t be deliriously happy getting to experience that even if it wasn’t as often as most couples.

A major twinge of jealousy swept over me. Then, what felt like a tidal wave was about to swallow me, a quiet voice in my head said’ wait a minute, try and think about how you felt just five minutes ago’. Before I realized who she was, I was very much in awe of her. I had only seen her here a couple of times, but I had always been drawn to her. She radiated not only beauty, but confidence, warmth and humor. She seemed very down to earth. I suppose, in a way, you could say I was attracted to her. I have been living in London for three years and have yet to find a good friend. I was beginning to get the courage up to approach her, but now that idea was absurd.

Especially, after that incident last month with George and his mate. Now, a tidal wave of guilt replaced the one of jealousy. I knew that both of them had girlfriends at the time, but I didn’t care. Obviously, it didn’t seem to bother them at the time either. It was just one of those things. You know, those ‘it just happened’ stories. It was just a quickie, during a film break, nothing more, nothing less. I‘ll be honest, I have thought about it since but never as more than just a wonderful memory.

Well, that’s it then. I just can’t try to make friends with her now, it just wouldn’t be right.

We ended up at the pay counter at the same time. It made me rather uncomfortable. I was hoping she couldn’t sense my uneasiness. I decided to say something to break the tension. "You know, it is very uplifting to see another young person so happy and in love. I hope you and your boyfriend have a good trip". Oh shit, now she will know I was eavesdropping. She did get a slight look of panic on her face but simply replied "thank you". I quickly left the salon.

I ran into her there a couple months later, near the end of June. I had considered changing salons. But she hadn’t been there during my last visit and I was very happy with Sarah and Mildred. I didn’t want to have to look elsewhere.

We ended up next to each other at the hairdryers and I felt compelled to say something. As we made eye contact, I started what I hoped would be a casual conversation.

"Hi, how was your trip?" I asked.

"It was wonderful, thank you", she replied, and continued to read her magazine. I assumed that this would be the end of it, but I was wrong.

"However, I have hardly seen him since" she sighed as she laid the magazine in her lap. " The madness followed us there, and he had more filming to do as soon as we were back in town. And now he is out of town again."

I guess she really just needed someone to talk to. I was somewhat uncomfortable, but allowed myself to be completely honest. Wanting to get the cards out on the table right away and to avoid any more uneasiness, I replied "It must be tough being the girlfriend of a Beatle."

I could see the panic in her eyes, but she stared at me a moment and must have been reading my soul. She must have realized I wasn’t some crazy fan and sighed, "Yes, yes it is."

That brought me immediate relief, we were able to carry on with a friendly conversation. As our appointments concluded we were at the pay counter when Pattie turned to me and said, "I am at a disadvantage, I still don’t know your name".

"I am sorry, how rude of me. I am Elizabeth Carter, but my friends call me Liz".

"It is very nice to meet you Liz. Would you like to go get some lunch?"

"Sounds fantastic" I replied, "I am famished".

We went to a close corner café and had a marvelous lunch. We talked about our families, jobs, movies and music and even talked about some bad experiences we had with the opposite sex. We laughed like we had known each other for years.

I saw a lot of her while George was out of town. We were fast becoming great friends. I was really enjoying her company. She helped me get my confidence back and helped me find a new job. She was so much fun to be around. We had a lot of fun going to the clubs too. There was never a night when we were out, that we weren’t surrounded with good-looking men. She simply oozed sex appeal. There were a couple of times while watching the men chat her up that I think I got as hot and horny as they did. She would always turn them down of course, but I certainly enjoy some of her leftovers.

George called her everyday. I happened to be present during one of these calls. She was just beaming the entire time. It was obvious how hard she had fallen for him. When she got off the phone, she bubbled with excitement, " George is coming home tomorrow and is thrilled I have a new best friend. He can’t wait to meet you"!

A lump the size of a tennis ball appeared in my throat.