No More Lonely Nights - A Fan Fiction

No More Lonely Nights - Chapter Ten

“Poor lass,” Megan said. “I’d die if my mother spoke to me like that in public. I think she looks fine dressed like that. I abhor having to always look like such a china doll in public since society thinks we need to dress to the nines all the time.”

I nodded in agreement. The woman (who had to be the mother) cornered a shopgirl and demanded to see all the newest summer arrivals that were under two hundred pounds. The clerk nodded meekly and dashed off to gather up the clothing for the woman. Her daughter wandered in our direction, casting glances of disgust at all the thin, pastel-colored dresses overflowing from the racks. “I hate places like this,” she murmured to no one in particular. “Why can’t I just be myself?”

“We were just saying that very same thing,” Megan chimed in. The girl looked at her and appeared to recoil, seeing Megan’s pristine white skirt, buttery yellow blouse, and soft white leather sandals, but she relaxed after seeing the kind, sympathetic look Megan wore on her face. “It’s annoying, isn’t it, um-“

“Violet, but please, don’t call me that. It sounds like a little spring flower, and I’m no flower. Call me Vi.”

“All right, Vi. I’m Megan Best, and this is Alexandra Morgan.” Megan had taken to calling herself by Pete’s last name even though the wedding was still two months away.

“You can call me Allie,” I threw in, smiling at Vi. “Alexandra’s too stiff, only my mother calls me that, and generally when she’s angry.”

“Pleased to meet you both,” Vi said. “Funny your last name is Best. There’s this guy that used to drum for that band at the Cavern Club, the Beatles… oh what is his first name…”

“It’s Peter, and he’s my fiancé,” Megan replied. “And Allie is dating Paul McCartney.”

Vi’s brown eyes magnified to the size of saucers. “You’re… you’re… engaged to Peter Best?” she said to Megan. She then turned to me. “And you’re dating Paul McCartney? You girls aren’t just saying that, are you?”

“Absolutely not!” I exclaimed. “It’s indeed true, for both of us.”

Megan held out her left hand and showed Vi the gargantuan engagement ring. “Goodness sakes alive! He must’ve robbed a bank for that!” Vi gasped.

“On the contrary, he has some relative who runs a jeweler’s shop in London. Got it for a decent price.” Megan handed me a dress in the most gorgeous shade of lavender I’d ever seen. “Try that, Allie, I love the color.”

“What are the dresses for?” Vi asked. “Me, I’m here because my mum has some sort of social event she’s hosting and I’m supposed to get dressed up and pass out hors d’oeurves to snobby people. Like I want to stuff myself into something frilly and pink and look like a lady.”

“They’re for me, my sister is getting married and I have to have a dress,” I replied, adding one final one to the stack draped over Megan’s arm- a lacy peach-colored sundress.

Vi raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you usually have a dress in a wedding party?”

“I’m not in the wedding party,” I said, taking the clothes from Megan. “She wanted it to be all her friends. No bridesmaid for me, oh no! I’ll be in the audience.”

“Well isn’t that just gear! Some sister you have there, eh? Nice. Sounds like a pill.” Vi sighed. “Girls can be so catty.”

“That they can be.” I walked over to an empty dressing room and stepped inside, shutting the door. “So how did you hear of the Beatles, Vi?” I called through the door. I tried on the mint-green dress first. It looked good on me, but it made my skin a touch green as the light reflected off of it.

“I’ve seen them play at the Cavern before. It’s been awhile though, my mom won’t let me go down there. I heard they got a new drummer, is that true?”

“Ringo Starr,” I answered, slipping on the rose-colored dress next. Wow, way too low-cut. I tossed it to the side. “He’s really good.”

“He is indeed,” I heard Megan echo. “Very good. Peter likes him very much.”

I had come to the last dress, now, the blue one. I tugged it on and zipped it up, then glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I smiled to myself. “Megan, I think I’m going with the blue one!”

“Good! Blue suits you with your blonde hair!”

“Violet!” I heard that awful woman hollering. “Get over here! I have dresses for you to try on! Now, young lady!”

I left the dressing room in time to see Vi roll her eyes at her mother’s back. “Guess I’d better go. Though look for me at the Cavern, I’ll try to come down soon.”

“Do try,” I told her. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too, and you as well, Megan.” Vi sighed and walked over to where her mother was waiting, her shoulders hunched and her head down. I swear I heard her sniffling back tears as she walked away.

PAUL: It’s been a long day, but a good one. I spent all morning and nearly all afternoon at the club working with Pete on some material he’s been writing. He’s got lyrics down, I’ll give him credit for that. He’s got some lovely songs written. He just needs help on musical forms. We agreed to meet once a week and work on the basics of songwriting. John will probably be a bit displeased that I’ve renewed my friendship with Pete, but it’s just that, friendship. I’m not letting him back into the band or anything.

“Can I see your dress for the wedding?” I asked Allie. We were curled up together on the couch at my apartment, debating whether or not we should attempt to cook dinner or go out somewhere. She was sitting in my lap, and I was desperately trying to keep myself under control (that wouldn’t happen later, I could count on it). “Please?”

“Absolutely not! It’s a surprise.”

“This is not like the whole groom-can’t-see-the-bride-before-the-wedding thing, Allie. Come on, please?”

“No, Paul! Seriously. You can wait!”

I sighed. “You love to torture me, love.”

“I’m not torturing you!” she exclaimed. “At least, not yet…” She shifted a bit in my lap, and I gasped. “Now there’s torture for you, darling. But not now, we have to get dinner first.”

I kissed her hard on the mouth. “Screw dinner,” I said. “We can do something else, then get dinner, then do it all over again.”

She laughed and smiled. “Greedy, much?”

“Very!” I replied. “Please?”

She contemplated what I was proposing- sex, then dinner, then more sex. Win-win situation in my mind. She looked at me and sighed. “Paul McCartney… you make it so hard to say no to something like that, what with a face like yours.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“Anything for you, darling.”