Perfect World [George Harrison]

[ TWO ]

"The venue, say ten?"

"Bien," Lola said. "I have to run, have a good night."

She hung up the telephone before George could reply. Lola ran to the restroom and washed out the dye, knowing it had spent too much time on her hair. It'd be a darker pink than she wanted it, but after a few washed it'd look like she wanted it to.

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     Lola arrived at ten as promised. George really didn't have anything planned, which was his fault. He hadn't specified it was a date. He wasn't sure what it was, either. Lola had said she had feelings for someone else. George didn't, but he also wasn't sure he wanted a girlfriend. He was hoping after today he'd be able to makeup his mind. If all went well, George decided, he'd ask Brian to set up a date.

George found a room backstage, not the one where everyone was practicing, but another room not too far. (George didn't want to risk getting lost.) It was comfy, really. Lola said so. When they saw a rat, and George felt his cheeks blush, Lola turned the situation around by naming the rat Phil.

He hadn't been able to stop sneaking glances at Lola. After Lola left and he got to work, he had to stop himself from thinking about her. He had to remind himself he was doing a job, and had to remain focused.  Shortly after they stopped playing, and they done a job without accidents (despite how distracted George was) George asked Brian to set up a date.

The last thing he could do was take her out to a proper place. He had after all, put her through that horrible room. (Ahem, sorry, he meant cozy.)

"With whom?" Brian asked.

"Lola," George said. He realized he didn't know Lola's last name. As an after thought he added, "She's close friends with Nancy. She showed us around a couple of days ago."

"Ah," he replied. "I'll work something out."

"Thank you, Brian," George said. He then proceeded to call Lola again, and asked her to come. He didn't want to put her through that room again, but he also wanted to see her desperately. Lola agreed to come, and George let out a sigh of relief.

The next day, he put some effort into the room. He carried food to the room, some coffee and fruit. He found a clean blanket, and draped it on the floor. He pulled Lola again towards the room and sat her down on the blanket. Down the hallway, the boys were playing a cute love song, which he hadn't told them to play. (And they weren't playing as part of the concert.)

"Pretend we are sitting on some grass. It's dry grass, of course. It's not wet. But its also incredibly green."

"Alright," Lola smiled. She looked around the room, and pointed to a paper George had tapped to the wall. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Why don't you tell me what it is and then I'll tell you if you are right or not?" He asked.

Lola looked closer at the drawing. "Are you designing a skirt? Because I have to say, I really do like it."

"No, it's not a skirt—"

"Thank goodness, it's not very pretty."

George laughed nervously. "Can't you tell? It's a window!"

"George," she said. She turned away from the skirt-window and walked up to him. She smiled, touching his cheek. "You are too cute, I can hardly stand it."

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     Lola went to see George the next day, and the day after that. Each time she kept hoping he'd make a move, but each time George seemed too shy to. Usually Lola would take the first step, but she stopped herself at the thought of Esteban. Esteban, her unrequited love. Esteban, the boy who was in Spain, and would stay in Spain until the summer started. She owed nothing to Esteban, Lola knew. But she couldn't make herself move, the voice in her head that told her love with Esteban was possible was strong.

After a week of rats named Phil, and different pictures of the window (George drew them according to how the weather was outside) Lola had made up her mind. George wasn't going to make a move. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, except for joking about the situation with Addy.

"This is how it went with Steban, you know," Addy had pointed out. "I guess we'll just have to wait a couple more years then you'll be in love with George too."

"Lola," George said. Lola chewed her muffin, waiting for George to go on. "Will you marry me?" Lola choked on her muffin. She began to cough, and George quickly stood up and handed her some tea. Lola took a couple of sips, she was about to open her mouth to speak, when George interrupted. "I'll take that as a maybe. I had Brian set up a date for us. It took him sometime with our busy schedule and all."

Lola sipped her tea.

George cleared his throat.

"It doesn't have to be a romantic date or anything, if that's not what you want. I just figured the least I could do is take you to a proper place after a week of this," he gestured to the room.

"I'd love to," Lola said.

"Really?"

"Really."