"They're good lads, really," Mr. Epstein assured me nervously(though he was assuring himself more than me)."Then why are you so afraid about her meeting them?" Alan asked, mockingly.
"Afraid?" he was sweating, "I'm not afraid. They're good lads."
"That's good," I said with a smile, "So, where are they?"
As if they were waiting for me to say that, four young(and might I add, very good looking?) men walked in my tiny office.
"Let's get this show on the road, Eppie," one said, "I have to go find myself a date to go dancing with tonight."
Mr. Epstein sighed, "Listen, Paulie, if you cooperate with the nice photographer, you will have more time to go look for a date. And that goes for the rest of you!"
The shortest one hailed him, "Aye, aye Captain Brian!"
"Look at Ring, John," Paul nudged one of the yet silent guys standing in the doorway, "Always the teacher's pet, ain't he?"
"Okay, John, I am leaving, keep your bandmates in order while Mr. Calvin and I are gone." Brian and Alan left.
"Here we go," I muttered, setting up my camera.
"Geez!" Paul exclaimed after he left, "He treats us like we're 5 year olds!"
"So," I began uneasily, stumbling with my camera, "What's the name of your band?"
John grinned, "We're the Beatles."
Cute, almost as cute as him.
"And we're going to the top," Paul added enthusiastically.
"To what top?" John asked.
"To the very top!" the other 3 cried together.
I laughed. They were an interesting bunch. John seemed to be the leader. Or maybe he just caught my eye first. Although the other 3 were quite handsome, I could only focus on John.
Soon, after much of their talk of how they came to be, it came time we realized that there were pictures that needed taken, and Paul still had to find a date for that night.
John put on a cowboy hat from the box of props that were sitting in the corner (and might I add, looked awfully darn cute!), "Look! I'm John Wayne!"
"Mr. Wayne, can I have your autograph?" the Beatle later to be named the quiet one cried in a high, silly voice.
"Sorry, George!" John apologized, "I don't have time to do something like that for you little people."
George pretended to pout, "I'll show you someday, Wayne, when the Beatles are the biggest thing since the invention of the light bulb."
The boys were doubled over with laughter. This was going to be the best job ever! I finally got them to settle down and I got quite a few shots of them as a group, one of each John, George, and Ringo by them selves and about 10 of the obvious camera-lover of the group, Paul. He said that girls wouldn't want the same picture all over their room when they made magazines full of him.
They were good lads.
Especially Ringo and George. they were quiet. Paul had his charm. But John? He had more than charm. There was something about him that struck me. I wasn't sure if it was his strange behavior, his creative actions, or just him in his own, nameless way.
The clock read 6:58 when Alan came in to say that Carol was closing up for the night. "Are you guys still here?" he asked with smile.
There was a quartet of "Yes"es, and an adorable wink from Paul.
"Does this mean you're saying 'yes' to Brian's question?" I thought about it for a second, "What do you guys think? Brian wants me to be your personal photographer. That means I get to go to press conferences with you and get random pictures that are not just in the studio."
Two voices repeated the "Yes"es, while one more cried out happily, "As long as we get to use the cool props!" I turned to see John poking Ringo with a frilly umbrella. Paul smiled and winked.
"I guess that makes it a 'yes'!" I told Alan. He smiled too and left.
"Well, I am leaving to go ask April if she wants to go dancing with me," Paul got ready to leave.
"Where are you going dancing at?" I asked him.
"Why? Would you like to join me? Maybe I can talk George into going with us. He may be a quiet one, but he's a devil on the dance floor."
"Actually, I have a really good friend who I know would love to go dancing with you," I told him (Maybe I can sneak my way into getting John to go dancing with me!), "She needs to get out of the house anyway, she loves to party!
"Good, I like to party too!"
I laughed, "C'mon, I'll introduce you two." I started to lead him out of my office, "Do you 3 like to go out dancing too? Because I have some other friends that I am sure would love to have a little fun."
John smiled, "I'm willing to party, let's go meet your friends."
Perfect, John was a party animal. Hopefully, this would be easier than I had expected.
Ringo and George exchanged glances, "Okay," they agreed.
Candi and Emma were sitting lazily on the couch when I ran into the house, "Guys! There are 4 extremely hot guys that want to go dancing with us tonight!"
"Hot guys?" Emma asked, not looking up from the TV.
"Guys?" Alayne asked, coming out of her room, "Where!?"
I laughed, "They're at their house getting ready. I promised them that you'd agree to go. Trust me, you won't regret it!" I didn't regret it. I just wished I knew how to dance well enough for John to give a damn about me.
"Stop your rambling," Emma lectured, "all you do is talk nonsense."
Candi gave her a stern look.
"So," Emma started, "Let me get this straight. There are 4 really hot guys that want to go dancing with us?"
I nodded,"and I am getting ready," I went into the room that Emma and I shared. I had to look as good as possible for John.
"Hay Laynie!" Candi called, "Can I borrow that red dress you wore last week?"
"Yeah," Alayne emerged from her room in a medium length royal blue gown. Candi followed her back into the room.
Emma rolled her eyes, "I want to see these guys first," she went back to focusing on the TV.
Meanwhile...
"So, what do you think of the photographer?" George asked John.
He shrugged, "She's kinda nice, and cute, but then again, that girl who closed the place has her beat by ten million points."
George nodded, "I think she's kinda cute too. I don't know. I guess there is something about her, that I really like."
"Well, whatever floats your boat. I bet you anything she falls for Paul first."
"I don't know, why would she try to set him up with her friend if she liked him?"
John sighed, "You're just too young to get it. Don't worry, you will someday." He stood up, "I'm getting ready, Paul can't love all of her friends. And I saw a picture she had taken of them in her office. Very nice!"
"Her photography? Yeah, I think it's wonderful. I thought it was funny when she showed us the pictures she took back in high school. She really has improved." G
John rolled his eyes and left the room,
"What?" George picked up his guitar and started to strum. She was pretty, not really pretty, but then if she was, why would she like him?
Maybe he had a chance. Or maybe he was just wishing.
"Are you ready Paulie?" Ringo asked getting annoyed. "I want to get in there!" Paul stuck his head out the bathroom door, "Bite me." he went back in.
"Argh!!" he cried, "Skip the biting! I'm gonna kill you McCartney!"
"Is the bathroom king giving you problems?" John asked coming up to him. "Well, you should put up with him like the rest of us."
Ringo gave him an annoyed look, "Shut up, all I need to do is fix my hair, and he's been in there an hour."
"Well, Georgie and I are ready to go,and if you and Paul don't hurry up, we're leaving without you."
Paul shot out of the bathroom, "Ok, let's go!"
Ringo ran in the bathroom and fixed his hair as quickly as he could and then, after Paul made an extra trip to his full size mirror, they were ready to leave.
A few minutes later.... "Is this the address?" Paul asked squinting at the numbers on the house.
"Yeah," John said, "stop here." The four of them piled out of Paul's tiny car.
"Next time we take my car," Ringo growled.
"We're with him," John and George added.
"Thanks," Paul shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm gonna see if they're ready," he walked up to the front door.
Emma jumped as the doorbell surprised her, "I'll get it," she yelled to no one in particular. She walked to the front door and opened it. Outside stood a very handsome young man with deep brown eyes and dark hair. "You must be one of the guys Tara was talking about, come in."
Paul turned around, "Hey lads, this is the house, John was right," three other guys followed him inside.
Emma offered them a seat and immediately regretted that she hadn't changed although she looked fine in her casual clothes.
I, of course, chose this time to come out of my room, (Emma & I are always the punctual ones) dressed in a denim jumper and a light blue sweater. "Oh, hi," I all of a sudden felt embarrassed.
The embarrassment was soon swept over by jealousy when I noticed John and Emma deep in a conversation. Paul and George were the only ones who noticed that I had come into the room. Ringo was lost in space.
"Hi," Paul gave me a wink. George waved shyly.
Alayne and Candi came out of their room
"Hello," Alayne said in a flirting tone.
"Hi there!" Paul smiled. Ringo soon echoed him as he came out of his own little world. Only, he was looking at Candi.
"You are?" Paul asked Alayne, staring into her eyes.
"Alayne," she found it almost impossible to turn from his beautiful eyes.
"Well, I'm Paul," he wasn't nervous at all.
I was. But I walked up to John and tapped him on the shoulder, "Hi John," I managed to say.
He turned around, "Hi Tara!" he turned back to Emma and continued to talk.
Alayne had gone in the bathroom to fix her hair again, so Paul started to talk to me. "Hello Luv," he noted the disappointed look on my face, "is something wrong?"
"What?" I snapped out of the daydream of John and me that I was having. "Sorry, I was on cloud nine."
He smiled, "It's okay, really. I asked what was wrong."
I sighed, "I guess I am just jealous that John is talking to Emma, that's all. But I guess I was rude to try to interupt their conversation."
"Oh, got a thing for Lennon, have you?" he chuckled, "He's a tough sort, hard to get his attention."
"Emma got it, why can't I?"
Paul put his arm around me, "I'm gonna let you in on a secret, so listen with care, Luv."
At that time, John turned around to see Paul whispering in my ear. His response was a look of disapproval and then he turned back around. I guess you could say this is the point where he starts to not like me very much at all. Great....
George had wandered into the kitchen, as quiet as ever. He was enjoying the drawings that Alayne had made of her cat that were hanging on the metal cabinet. Then he saw the pictures that Emma had drawn of her sister, Myra. He made a mental note to mention them later to the girls. For the moment, he just patiently waited for everyone to get ready.
He stopped to look at a photograph of the three girls that he had just seen. They hadn't said anything to him. Neither had Tara for that matter. Maybe it was true, she did like Paul best. He didn't want to think about fighting with Paul for a girl. He had just met her anyway, it is too early to start liking her, he scolded himself.
George, get over it. You're too busy to have a girlfriend anyway! You're still young too. Enjoy life, don't worry about girls. They're only trouble. He remembered when his sister, Louise, had told him that. He sighed and continued to check out the kitchen.
"John is a very deceiving person," Paul was saying to me, "He can turn on you any second."
"I still think I should learn those things for myself," I told him.
"Well," Paulie looked up, nodding towards John, "I'm quite sorry, but it looks like you're not the one he has chosen to take dancing tonight," he pointed. They were sitting quite close on the couch. "Don't even think about John. He wouldn't be any good for you anyway. I think tonight, you should go with George. He's a great guy, always treats girls with respect." he looked around for the youngest Beatle. "Where is he?"
I shrugged. George? Oh well, he was cute. But then all four of them were. Especially John. I just needed to have a nice long talk with Emma when we got back that night. I knew I should quit thinking about John, and tell myself I was going to have fun with George. But I couldn't.
After Emma finally changed, we relocated George, John had thrown in a few more scowls my way, we found Candi and Ringo in Alayne and Candi's room and Alayne was finally happy with her hair, and we piled into two different cars. Alayne, Paul, George and I were in Paul's car and Emma, John, Ringo and Candi were in Emma's car.
(Lucky people. We were stuck in Paul's teeny tiny car! Errr...)
I was so distracted by my thoughts of John and my best friend, that I didn't notice any of the flattering comments that my date had given me on the way to the club. Normally, I notice these things, but I had let myself get too distracted. I really wasn't boycrazy, but I guess you could say that I had finally become a little boy crazy!
Home!
