35. Devil's Radio

2.1K 90 228
                                    

He's in the films and songs
And on all your magazines
It's everywhere that you may go
The devil's radio



The hotel restaurant is nearly empty, but it's getting a bit late for breakfast. I come down on my own, leaving Ricky to sleep. He came back late last night, waking me up by banging doors, switching the lights on, tripping over chairs, but I pretended I was still asleep, even when he spoke to me.

Bet and Cat sit opposite each other in a corner of the room. They lean over the table, their heads together with empty breakfast dishes piled up beside them. I take a deep breath and walk towards them. As I approach, Bet flicks her eyes up at me and they both stop talking, abruptly. I smile and sit down next to Cat, opposite Bet as they exchange looks. 

'Hi,' I say, timidly.

'Hi, Hannah,' Cat replies, quietly. Bet says nothing, tight lipped, vexed.

I didn't get the chance to speak to them properly yesterday, to explain why I wasn't going. With the airport on strike, they left in a rush to make it to San Diego in time. Bet, in particular, hates anything which reflects on us unprofessionally, so I expected her to be angry with me. I think she was annoyed with me for missing the performances when I had the flu, but she couldn't very well say that. 

I sigh and lean my elbows on the table, resting my head on one hand. 'I'm so sorry for missing the show,' I tell them. 'I didn't want to. I really didn't want to. It was Ricky. He wanted me to go to dinner with him...'

'Go to dinner?!' Bet interrupts, incredulous. 'Oh, well, so long as it was something important, Hannah.'

'No, that's what I'm saying. He made me miss it. He even talked Maurice into it, somehow.' I glance at Cat and smile apologetically. She casts her eyes down. 'I was so mad. We had a huge row in the restaurant and he stormed out...' I trail off. I don't want to tell them the details of what it was about. It doesn't matter now anyway. I'm not quitting the group, so it's irrelevant. 'Anyway, I'm sorry,' I repeat. 'It won't happen again. I promise you that.'

Bet looks at Cat and Cat stares back, giving her a small, almost imperceptible, shake of her head. They do that a lot, communicate without words. More fluently than me and Minnie could ever do.

'How did the show go?' I ask, lifting the lid of a coffee pot and looking inside. There's some left, but it's gone cold.

'Fine. The Beatles played well. The audience loved them, like always,' Bet says, giving me a rictus smile.

'Bet,' Cat says, a warning tone.

I'm not forgiven yet then. I smile back anyway. 'How about us? Did you have to sub any songs? I was thinking we should perhaps change the set around more often...'

'It's "us" again now, is it?' Bet asks. '"Us" when you want to be, not when you don't. Like when you have a better offer, dinner with your husband, or maybe when you just don't feel like doing it.'

She glares at me. I turn my head to Cat, but she still won't still won't meet my eyes. 'Did... something happen?'

'No,' Bet says, facetiously. 'No, nothing happened at all. Not a damn thing, because we weren't actually in the show last night. We didn't sing.'

I sigh, anticipating what she's going to say.

'Minnie couldn't be bothered to do it. Two hours on a bus out there and when we get there, she wouldn't go on.'

'Oh no,' I murmur, sitting back in my chair. 'Oh no. I'm so sorry...'

'Doing four part harmonies is hard enough with three people, with two it's downright impossible!' Bet says, her voice rising with anger. 'We had to pull out, and just before we were due to go on too. Sounds Incorporated weren't ready so there was a twenty minute delay. What could we do? Cat and I couldn't do the show on our own. But I'm glad you missed it for a good reason, Hannah. I'm glad you didn't just throw away everything we've worked towards for nothing!'

Shelter In Your Love (Beatles Fan Fiction)Where stories live. Discover now