Shelter In Your Love (Beatles Fan Fiction)

24. Reminiscing

Bet's alluded previously to Minnie leaving if she didn't improve, but she's never come out and said it quite so plainly before. Minnie glares at Bet but remains silent, coming to take her place next to me.

'We can't be wondering if you're going to turn up or not every time we have a gig or a show,' Bet continues. 'I think we sound quite good without you. We've already had to work out the arrangements for three instead of four, so if you left, we wouldn't really miss you -'

'Um, if Minnie leaves the group, then I would go too,' I interrupt, trying to make my voice sound plain, not antagonistic and trying not to look at anyone in particular. I'm still clinging onto the microphone stand in front of me. There's two session musicians witnessing all this, and the engineers and people in the control room too. The musicians stare at their feet, trying to pretend they're not listening.

'Okay,' Bet says, sweetly, a sickly smile on her face. 'That's one for Minnie staying, and one against. What's your vote, Cathy?'

Cat looks pained. She knows there's no answer which will please everyone. She looks from her sister to Minnie and then over to me. Concentrating on me, she finally says, 'I don't want Minnie to go.'

Bet glares at her. 'Don't be so spineless, Cat.'

'I don't,' she says, her voice going higher.

'That's not what you said the other day,' she says and Cat widens her eyes at her.

'I didn't say I wanted Minnie out of the group!'

'The three of us can -'

'If Minnie goes, then Hannah does, and then we don't have a group at all.'

'Oh, well, we can't lose our lead singer, can we?' Bet says, turning her glare towards me now.

'I'm not the lead...' I say falteringly.

'Uh, girls, why don't we take an early break for lunch? Cool off a bit. Seeming as we can continue for longer this afternoon? We'll meet back at half twelve,' One of the guys in the control room interrupts. The two session musicians take their chance to escape and everyone else follows them hastily out of the door, leaving just us four in the small studio. Minnie sighs and turns away.

'I'm going to speak to Maurice about this,' Bet mutters and stomps out of the studio.

Cat gives me a weak smile. 'Sorry, girls,' she says weakly, as she chases after her sister. 'Don't worry, I'll talk to her. She won't get Maurice involved.'

As the door swings shut with a bang behind Cat, Minnie smiles at me apologetically. I frown at her and turn away, going to sit on a wooden bench at the side of the room.

Minnie follows me over, sitting down on the bench as well, a couple of feet away. 'How can those two look so identical, yet Cat's lovely and Bet's a bitch?' she asks.

'I told you not to be late,' I snap at her. 'Minnie, she's got a point. It's every time we're doing something recently. Where have you been?'

'You know where I've been,' Minnie says, defensively. 'With John.'

I look her up and down. 'Obviously.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'You haven't been home by the looks of you.'

'And? So what?'

'So if John's around, then it's drop everything and do whatever he wants.'

'No, it isn't. Drop everything for John? So that's what? The two times I've seen him in the last three years?' she says, but drops her eyes to the floor, evidently too tired to argue with me properly. 'What happened to you last night anyway?' she asks. 'I was only gone twenty minutes and you disappeared.'