The Arch of Love ~ Paul McCartney

31. Stubborn love

Surrey, 25 August '67, 8:15 PM

A small, cream-coloured envelope, made of thick, sturdy paper, was waiting for me when I got home from Liverpool. Fran told me it had come in the post just after I had left for my parents.

When I broke the wax seal – yes, it actually had a wax seal – I found a single card inside. Written on it, in letters way too extravagant for the occasion, was an invitation to a party at the Starkey's. They wanted to thank me for all I had done during the pregnancy. All I could think of doing was to decline, but when I went back to work on Monday, I heard that both Dr Andrews and Grace Foster were going. If they were going, it was impossible for me to decline.

That is why I found myself in Dr Andrews' car on the evening of the 25th; Grace had driven down to Surrey separately with her boyfriend.

I was plucking at my nailbeds, my fingernails long since gone. I didn't fully realise the effect of this party yet, but the realisation of what was going to happen was slowly setting in. I was going to a party thrown by the drummer of the Beatles. There was no way that his bandmates wouldn't be there. And if they were, it meant that Paul would be too. This couldn't go well.

I had been avoiding the guy for almost four months now, something Ritchie new far too well. He knew I didn't want to see Paul, because I had told him so. And yet, he had somehow felt the need to throw this party and invite me. Dang it!

When we finally arrived at the address that was given to us, it was clear that the party had already started. Even though it was a party to celebrate the birth of their son, the Starkey's hadn't organised a children's party. No, it was clearly a party for adults.

Though there was no one lingering outside of the house that wasn't supposed to be there, two security guards checked everyone's invitations before allowing them into the house. Thankfully I had taken it with me, just to be safe. Otherwise I could've turned right back around. Though, to be fair, then I wouldn't actually have to go to this party, so maybe that wasn't so bad after all.

We left our coats at the cloakroom, because what house party didn't need a cloakroom, after which we walked through the large rooms of the downstairs area. Before I realised it, however, Dr Andrews had spotted someone he'd known and had left me on my own.

It was astonishing how many faces I actually recognised, most of them from the frontpage of The Times. I recognised so many people, but I knew absolutely no one. I felt like an intruder, wandering the rooms to look for either Grace or Dr Andrews. I would just have to cling onto them.

'Wow, it's becoming weird now, love,' I heard a voice behind me say. A Scouse and though that didn't say a lot at this party, I did recognise the voice.

'John,' I let out and as soon as I turned around, my suspicions were proven to be correct. I didn't know whether we were on first name basis or not, but frankly, with the amount of respect he was showing me, I wasn't going to call him Mr Lennon or anything. He wished.

There was no one around him that I recognised. He seemed to be on his own, even though he had probably come here with his wife. Where was she? With someone else? Probably with Paul. But because I was not actually with anyone I knew and he was on his own too, I didn't know what he would do to me. Though I hadn't witnessed it myself, I had heard stories about John's foul behaviour, back in Liverpool. He was apparently an aggressive bloke, never backing away from a fight. Not even to talk about the nasty way he would talk to people and I did not want to be on the receiving end of it.

'Indeed, girl who's name I've already forgotten,' he said nonchalantly. 'Look, I don't care what's going on with you and Paul, but he's here with his girlfriend. You're looking desperate and you need to leave,' he said as he grabbed hold of my arm, similar to how he had done in March.

'Excuse me? And why's that? I'm not here for Paul,' I sneered back at him, trying to pull my arm free. I decided that talking right back at him would be the best way to go. Show no fear and he wouldn't be intimidating to me either. Right?

John didn't even seem to listen to me and he started pulling me back to the hallway. Was he really showing me the door? Hell no! 'How'd you even get in here? Crazy bird,' he muttered under his breath, more to himself than to me.

I felt my temper rising. I wasn't used to being manhandled like this and the fact that I knew he was so much stronger than me, made it way scarier. He could put me on the other side of the door, but he could also do anything he wanted to do, without me being able to do anything about it. My fate was in his hands and it frightened me.

I started looking around for anyone who could save me, Dr Andrews, Ritchie or Maureen. Hell, even Paul I would be happy with right now. Just anyone that recognised me and could save me from this madman. My invite to the party was in my coat, which was in the cloakroom and I doubted John would let me get that. He clearly believed I had snuck into this party.

'Sir, please, take your hands off of her,' a voice said sternly. It was Dr Andrews, who, in turn, had his own hand on John's shoulder. The look on his face showed he meant business. A wave of relieve washed over me. Thank goodness.

John looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, and shook Dr Andrews' hand off. John's hand didn't budge from my arm and he didn't seem to care that Dr Andrews was quite the bit taller than him. Cocky much? 'And why should I do that, mister...?' he said.

Dr Andrews raised his own eyebrows, not budging either. 'Dr Andrews, pleasure. Because she is a nurse, who was invited here by Mr and Mrs Starkey, just like you were, I imagine. She's clearly uncomfortable with your presence. I need you to let go, now, Mr Lennon.'

John seemed baffled for a split second, before regaining his composure. He did let go off my arm with a slight smirk my way. 'Is she now? How interesting. My apologies, Mr Andrews it was a mere misunderstanding,' he said with a politeness I did not trust one bit. He wandered off without waiting for a response.

Dr Andrews shook his head and then lead me away, his hand on the small of my back. 'What a rude man. Don't take it to heart, Archie. These people think they can do and say anything, just because they're famous,' he said, handing me a drink I didn't ask for.

'He was oddly adamant to get you out of here, though,' he continued talking, when I didn't respond. 'Have you met him before?'

And that was the question I didn't actually want to get. Now I had to lie to Dr Andrews, while he had been kind enough to drive me all the way here and to safe me from the wrath of John Lennon.

'I don't think so,' I managed to push out. 'Maybe once or twice, back in Liverpool, but not really, I don't think.' At least that part wasn't a lie. We had met once in Liverpool and since then once more at Paul's house.

'Well, you must've really done something then,' he chuckled. 'Did you meet any of the other Beatles growing up then?' Why was he suddenly so interested in who I had and who I hadn't met. Shouldn't he have done that when I was signed on the case, not after the woman had already given birth?

'I think I met all of them at one point or another, except for Mr Starkey,' I said, again not telling the entire truth. 'But we were never really friends or something like that,' I added when I saw that Dr Andrews wanted to ask another question.

'Well, let's see if we can find Grace around here, shall we?' he offered, taking the hint that I really didn't want to talk about it.

For the rest of the night, I stayed close to Dr Andrews' side. He was a nice enough man, though he did not offer a lot of personal information. I didn't even know if he had a missus at home or not, but that didn't really matter. I could keep our relationship on a professional friendship. I didn't need him to tell me all his personal details, just like I didn't want to tell him.

Only when we made our way to the cloak room, after a long night and many greetings with people whose name I only knew from the papers, did I finally spot the one guy I was trying to avoid. Paul was here after all.

The sight of him proved to me something. The seeds of doubt that both Maggie and Ritchie had planted in my mind were suddenly blooming into flowers of truth. They stood brightly in their bold colours, swaying in the wind. There was no denying it anymore. It was the truth.

No matter how hard I tried, I wasn't over him. 

A/n thank you to everyone reading this! Stay safe and stay inside.