He's So Fine [Beatles / George Harrison FanFiction]

Chapter Seventeen: 7th February 1964

Was it because no one thought he'd care, or were they keeping things from him?

What did they think he'd do if he had known? Walk out? Make demands and threats? Refuse to come to America?

No, he would have done pretty much what he's doing now. Sit at the back of the plane, answer questions from members of the press that he's barely listening to, and pretend that he wasn't watching her when, of course, he was.

Della didn't work on the Beatles shows anymore. George wasn't sure exactly what she did work on now. He hasn't seen or heard anything about her in so long he was starting to believe she'd quit her job. He could have asked Brian of course - or anyone in the NEMS office - but his pride wouldn't let him do that. What if she found out he was asking about her? She'd think he cared.

He wanted to speak to her, but Della was busy. She'd been busy since those scenes at London Airport. Hundreds of fans had turned up to wave them off. They'd posed for the obligatory pictures, answered the obligatory questions from journalists, and suddenly she was there. Della. Looking perfectly composed in her blue dress, standing with Brian at the side and talking and laughing with him like she did this every day.

At first he thought perhaps she had come to see them leave - they were number one in America at the moment, everyone was buzzing with it - but then he noticed the small leather travel case she was gripping. Della was coming to New York with them.

He'd tried to ignore her after that, tried not to look at her or let her think that he's even noticed she was here, but either Della was better at feigning nonchalance or she didn't give two figs either way.

After the initial shock wore off - about an hour or so into the flight, he decided he'd take the high ground and say something to her. Hello, how are you? There was no cost in being civil, but getting close enough to do that proved impossible. He wasn't going to stand up and make a special effort to go and talk to her. He'd wait until she came to him.

Della sat at the front of the plane with Brian, their publicist, Brian Sommerville and one or two others from NEMS. There were sheets of paper and files spread out all around her - on her airline tray, on Brian's, on the empty seats next to them. George and the other Beatles, plus Cynthia, Mal and Neil, took up most of the back half of the plane. They were being interviewed by the hoard of press that were following them to the US, but this vantage point also gave George an excellent view of her.