Miss Americana // The Beatles

Chapter 25

I followed him to the front door, "Thank you, George. The flowers are beautiful, and they're my favorite kind."

"I'll see you next Wednesday at the cafe, Sasha," he leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"Goodbye, George," I called after him as he walked down the sidewalk.

I found myself disappointed that he hadn't kissed me on the lips. I grinned and admired the flowers he brought me. I couldn't wait for Wednesday.

December 20, 1961

I  took a deep breath in  the mirror. It was Wednesday. I think I looked  alright to meet George  for lunch. I hadn't spoken to him since my birthday, but I  hadn't stopped thinking about him. I never thought  that I would feel  this way again after John, and yet, butterflies would  erupt in my  stomach each time I thought about George.

I  looked at myself in  the mirror. I had actually done makeup today for  the first time in  months. I wore a dress with my hair up in a high  ponytail. I grabbed a  lipstick tube off of my dresser and pigmented my  lips with the red  stain. John had always liked when I wore red lipstick. I shook that thought out of my head.

I  slipped my feet into  high heels. John hadn't liked it when I wore high  heels because he  wanted a nice height difference between us. I thought  of how tall  George was and grinned to myself. It was foreign that I had  grinned  thinking about someone else besides John.

I made my way   downstairs and grabbed my purse off of the table by the front door. I took a deep breath again as I locked the front door. I was starting to get nervous to go on an actual date.

I  got to the café a  little early and expected George to be late like John  would've been,  but he was there at a table in the corner. His chocolate  eyes met my  blue ones, and he stood and waved. I walked over to him.

He kissed my cheek after giving me a warm hug, "You look beautiful."

I  smiled at him. George  pulled my chair out and helped me in. He really  had no idea how nice  that was considering that John would've never done  that.

"It's nice to see you again," I confessed.

He grinned at me, "I almost called you. I don't think I should go without seeing you as long as we did this weekend."

I  smiled at him. The  waitress came and took our order and gave us some  glasses of coke,  which George had ordered before I got there.

He stared at me as I sipped my coke through the straw, "I really like you, you know."

"Already getting to the serious conversation?" I winked at him.

He chuckled, grabbing a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, "Fancy a ciggie?"

"Have you forgotten that I don't care for smoking?"

George lit his and puffed some smoke into the air, "I guess I never really paid attention."

George  and I kept the  playful flirting going on until our food arrived. George  told me about  all of his family, and I told him about mine. He talked  about the boys'  second trip to Hamburg in the summer, careful not to  mention anything  about John.

***

"So, we never had a cat again thanks to my mother," I finished telling a story from my childhood.

Suddenly,  George threw  his head back laughing like a little kid. The laugh lines  around his  mouth became deeper, and his eyes squeezed shut. John never  thought I  was that funny. George opened his eyes and looked into mine  deeply. He  grabbed my hand from across the table. We looked into each  other's eyes  for what seemed like an eternity. I studied him, and he  studied me.  George was much more romantic than John. I was so  comfortable around  him. I never thought I would be so comfortable around  a man like this ever again.