The only sound the two could hear was the hum of the airplane engines. There she was, leaning on the sink counter, gripping on for dear life, while John was tenderly slithering one hand around her slender waist, and the other caressed her soft cheek. Cassandra looked down at her trembling arms, as if they were the legs of a newborn foal, just learning to stand up. She tried to let one arm up at a time. The muscles in her delicate fingers loosened, and she brought the hand up to John’s face, to stroke his grizzly chin, run her hands through his soft, smooth silky hair, and to press his lips, to see if they were really as soft as she thought they were. John’s hand (that was around her waist) raced up her back and clamped the back of her neck, which then forced her head forwards, until their lips met. It wasn’t the most graceful of kisses (no tongue involved). Sure it was a kiss with a Beatle, and they were alone, not even in the most romantic of places, either. Cassandra began to feel dizzy, being the fact that she hadn’t kissed in a while. But she felt safe and secure, pressed to his chest. It was just like she was with.....Oh my God, she thought.
“Stop!” she tried to yell, still while kissing.
John drew back.
“Pardon?” he asked.
What about Paul? her conscience asked Cassandra. Remember? Sweet, charismatic, HUNKY Paul, who knew so much about the music world? The one you’ve been dreaming about since April?
“I...uh...Listen, John. I have to go. I really liked it, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t feel right. This seems so....unreal. I...”
“Listen,” he said, gripping on to her forearms and standing back. “I know what you’re talking about. It’s because I’m married and I’ve got a kid. But it’s all right. And I know you like Paul and all that stuff, so I’ll let you be. No one will know, luv. I promise you that.” He smiled at her, hoping to see her radiant grin. She did smile back, but it was a hesitant, uncomfortable smile.
“Umm, I guess we should go back. We have been here for a while, you know.” Cassandra gently broke free from John’s presence and calmly walked back to her seat.
“Gee you were out like a light.”
She woke up to find Paul sitting right next to her.
“Huh?” she said in a little airy tone. “Oh, hi Paul.”
“Where were you before? I know you were scolding at John, but you must’ve gone for an hour....” He crept a little closer.
“Sorry. He sure is a lot to handle,” Cassandra replied with a smile. Gosh he’s beautiful, she thought.
“Well anyway, the plane just landed, and we have to get off, obviously. Here,” Paul held out his hand to her. But just before she could take it,
“ ‘Ey luv. Ready to get up?”
John and Paul were both looking at her, holding out their hands, and smiling. Suddenly,
“Lennon! You’re needed up at the front with Eppy!”
John turned and and walked down the aisle. Cassandra sighed with relief.
“Whew,”she muttered.
“Looks like you’re stuck with me, kid,” Paul smiled. Cassandra laughed, uneasily, though. First, she was hopelessly in love with Paul. And now, John took his liberty to waltz right in to her little world. What’s a girl to do, now?
Cass was reading “War and Peace”, her favorite novel (sarcastically). She was sprawled on her bed, her fists holding up her head, and her bent legs were dangling in the air (to make the image clearer, she was sortav in a backwards ‘L’ position). The room was dimly lit, and the only English-speaking channel was CNN, which she really didn’t feel like watching, and she was too afraid to ask John or Paul out for lunch. Why would Paul ask for her during the plane ride? Stop worrying Cassandra, she thought. You can’t live your whole life like this.
“Oh bloody hell!” she screamed as she slammed the book closed. “I’m going out!”
Cass gathered her coat, and wrote a note, just in case anybody REALLY cared if she was going away.
As she ran down the stairs, into the lobby. She noticed a couple of brochures at the desk in English that she might be able to learn something. As she walked up to the desk, she looked to the right, and who did she see?
“Jane!” cried Cassandra. “What a surprise!”
“Hey, Cass.”
“I thought you still had rehearsals.”
“I actually lied. It was actually performances. But now I have two weeks to myself, thank goodness.” Jane smiled. It was a while since Cass saw her smile.
“This is great! I can introduce you to the guys now!”
“Oh...Okay....When?”
“They’re playing tonight down the street at 9:30. I’ll pick you up. What’s your room number?”
“217.”
“Got it. Mines...219! This is great! I don’t have to be alone all this time! Well, gotta go! See ya!”
“Bye!” Jane waved and walked towards the elevator, while Cass made her way to the door. She was about to make it to the outside world until,
“Hello luv!”
Cass jumped and turned, to find that John was the one who scared her.
“Goodness, John. You scared me.”
“Sorry. Hey, who’s that bird you were talking to?”
“Oh her? That’s my best friend Jane. Such a coincidence I met her here. I invited her to the club tonight. That’s okay, right?”
“Oh sure! The more the merrier. She can come to our party tonight, too.”
“That’ll be great!”
“You know, I have a feeling she has a trick up her sleeve.”
“Did you tell her about the trip?”
“Well yeah, sure. I tell her everything. Why, I remember when I told her about the first time I met Paul...”
She stopped. She closed her eyes. She could automatically see Jane and Paul, snuggling together by a warm, toasty fire.
“Oh please no,” she said.
“What? Do you think she’s here just to meet Paul?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Don’t worry about it. One of us boys is going to end up with you anyway,” he said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “C’mon. Let’s go out. I’m starved.”
“Me too,” she smiled.
The concert was great. The only problem for Cassandra was that Jane went ga-ga for Paul. Cass didn’t as much. She did swoon and her eyes were a bit glowish at times, but Jane was CRAZY. When they came around to ‘Til There was You’, Paul came up to sing. But instead of crooning and looking right at Cass, her own best friend and the man of her dreams were locking eyesight. She couldn’t believe it! Jane was falling out for the man that she proclaimed months ago that, “I’d never go out with him!” What a hypocrite, Cass thought.
After the show, Jane and Cass walked over to the stage door, waiting for the boys to come out.
“Great show! Great show! This is my pal, Jane Asher. Jane, this is John, George, Ringo, and,” Cass pinched her leg, “Paul.”
Paul quickly grabbed Jane’s arm and cried,
“Darlin’, you’re mine tonight!”
They laughed and ran down the street to the hotel. Cassandra just stood, staring. George and Ringo had already left. But she suddenly felt John’s arm around her shoulder.
“Somethin’ wrong, luv?”
“Oh! No! I’m okay. Yeah, yeah...”
“C’mead. They’ll start the party without us.”
For Cassandra, the party was terrible. All she did was sit at the bar at the restaurant in the hotel, staring at Paul and Jane, together at a table. She felt herself give them a dirty look. By 1:30, she had about ten shots, she was so down.
“Hey luv,” said John. “You sure nothing’s wrong? You look a bit tipsy.”
“Can you bring me back?” She asked.
“Sure.” He took my hand and we walked up the stairs and up to her room, the sounds of laughter and conversation diminishing.
Once the two arrived in the hall, Cass looked at John, then down the hall.
“ ‘Sandra, what the fuck is wrong? You’ve been worrying me all night!”
As she began to speak, tears, began to roll down her cheek, “This isn’t what I want.”
“Well what do you want!?!?!?”
“Can you bring me back....” now the tears came down easier. She couldn’t even look at John. “Just bring me back to when I was three, so I can take a bloody rock and kill myself!” Cassandra started to sob, banging her head on the wall. “My God, I’ve never had it easy. Why me? Why me?”
She broke down into John’s arms. She felt her head being gently stroked. He took Cassandra’s key and opened the door. The two walked in and he quickly locked it.
“When I first told Jane about...you know...She looked at the photo I had of him and she was totally disgusted. But I had this terrible feeling about it. I knew it would end up like this. How could it not? He’s so handsome and...She’s so beautiful.”
“I can see what you’re getting at.”
“And I really wanted to apologize for slapping him. But now whenever I’ll look at him, all I could think of is the two of the cuddling, kissing like before. I really couldn’t stand it.”
“That’s odd. I was talkin’ to him yesterday. He rally felt bad about what he did. I think he was going to apologize to you tonight. He arranged for flowers and shit like that-”
“Oh Jesus! Why did she have to be my bloody friend?”
“And I hate to brake it to you,” he crouched in front of her, “But he was going to propose to you tonight.”
Cassandra woke up to a knock on the door. She got up to open it, and found a note on her door. She looked at it and it read:
Cass-
Gone back to England. Give Paul my number and tell him I had the time of my life.
Janie
“Oh this really helps!” She cried.
After a few more concerts, the whole clan had to leave. Once again, Cass sat by herself. Until she looked up and found Paul asking her,
“Mind if I take a seat?”
“As long as you don’t have any tricks up your sleeve.”
He chuckled. “Of course not! I wouldn’t...”
He probably remembered what he was going to do a few days back as he looked into her eyes.
“Um...did Jane say anything to you before she left?”
“Like what?”
“Well, if she had fun? Did she enjoy herself? Would she like to see me again?”
“What did you do that night?”
“Oh we talked...played cards...watched telly...” he said, trying to hide a smile.
“James Paul McCartney,” Cassandra said, now kneeling on her seat, crouching towards him and whispering, “That’s not all you did. Isn’t it?”
“Okay. So we made out.”
“That’s it?”
“All right All right! I ended up sleeping with her.”
“Did you go...all the way?” Please God, she thought. Please let him say no.
“As a matter of fact, I did. And she said she’d never done it before. And for a first time, it was pretty good. In fact, it was wonderful.”
Oh great, she thought. My own best friend ditches me for the guy of my dreams, and she ends up losing her virginity to him. She could feel tear drops falling.
“So did she say anything? Does she like me?”
“Oh yeah,” she said, her voice faltering.
“She’s crazy about you.”
Get back to Intro.
Copyright 1998 Kate Stocker. Do not reprint this without written consent from the author.