Shelter In Your Love (Beatles Fan Fiction)

38. Tears of the World

'Where are you going then?'

'I'm going to stay with Vince for a while. Then I'll get my own place as soon as I can...'

'Vince?'

'Yeah, remember him?'

'Vince Vince? Minnie...'

'Don't worry, I'm not about to fall into bed with him, am I? I'm just staying with him - separate rooms - until I get myself sorted.'

Vince was Minnie's boyfriend for six months, the duration of a tour one summer and a short while afterwards, until he left to join his old band on tour in Paris. He cheated on her no less than seven times, and probably more. On tour, they used to have stand up, screaming rows that felt like they for lasted hours. I don't know why Minnie can't choose a decent guy for once. I've no intention of telling her that though. I guess I've finally learned. It doesn't matter what I say to her, Minnie never listens to me.

'You've got it all figured out then,' I say, with a rictus smile.

'Yeah. I suppose I do.'

I sigh and get up, taking my teacup with me. I go to look out of the kitchen window. It faces the yard, the metal fire escapes on the apartments at the back. The glass is dirty. It looks like no one's cleaned it in months. 'Are you still mad with me?' I ask.

'Oh, Hannah, no, of course not!' Minnie cries. She moves next to me, taking my hand even when I try to resist, making me look at her. 'It's not... It's not anything to do with that,' she says, softly. 'Han, you know me better than that.'

'Why, then..? We've... We've never lived apart before...'

'Love, we've lived apart for over a year. Since you married Ricky, remember?'

I swallow. 'You've never been that far away. You've never even been in a different town. Now you'll be in a different country-'

'I know, I know, but... look, I'm going to wear your necklace every day, see?' She pulls the sapphire necklace out from under her top. It's the one she had made for my wedding present, with my initials engraved on the back. I have the matching pendant with her initials. It's supposed to remind me that I don't belong to Ricky. I'm not his property. Minnie and I exchanged them on my wedding day and never swapped them back.

'I'm not going to forget about you. We'll write. And I'll call. I'll call you all the time. And you said, didn't you, you don't need me as much now? You're a big girl - hell, Hannah, you're a woman. Look at you. Married, home of your own...' Her voice trails away. 'Han, I've got to go. I've got to get out this city. I need to begin again, somewhere else. Somewhere where people don't know about me, somewhere where I can be... whoever I want to be.'

That's a dig at me, I think. 'Not everyone in New York city knows about you. I've apologised-'

'Yes, I know, and honestly, I don't care anymore. I don't care that you told Cat and Bet. You were right, I should have told them myself. It's not to do with that, really. It's...' She exhales, studying me for a moment. 'Why don't you come with me?' she asks quietly, and I think, reluctantly.

'To London?'

'Yeah. We could just go.'

'You don't want me to come.'

'Well, of course I do. I wouldn't ask otherwise, would I? I don't really want to be so far away from you either.'

But not quite enough to stop you from going.

'I can't, can I? You know that. There's Ricky...'

'You were thinking of leaving him. In Los Angeles, you said...'