Wildfire ~ George Harrison

Chapter 17: Spotlight

'Good news!' I shouted to Kath as soon as she walked through the door after coming back from work. She raised her eyebrows at me as I held up the letter George had left in our mail slot today, but she didn't say anything. Instead she silently urged me to talk as she took off her coat.

'George has arranged for us to go to their show this Friday,' I told her with a big smile. The excitement was clearly audible in my voice. I couldn't help it, I was excited to finally see him on stage. Would it live up to him playing to just me? I wasn't sure, but I was keen to find out.

'So we're really doing this? We're actually going to this concert?' Kath asked as she raised her eyebrows. She sat down her purse and took off her coat after which she sat down across me. She seemed less than convinced.

'Of course we are, Kath! They're our neighbours,' I told her, slightly frustrated that she didn't share my enthusiasm when they were her neighbours too. Why wasn't she excited to finally see them perform?

'Well, yes, but you don't see me going to Mrs Goldberg's crochet class every time she invited me either, do you?' Kath countered.

I had to chuckle. I, too, had been invited to Mrs Goldberg's crochet class more than once. 'No, you're right. But it'll be fun,' I told her. 'We can see if they're really as good as they think they are.'

'Of course they are. They're the Beatles. They're Britain's sweethearts at the moment. Allegedly they're perfect,' she said as if it was a fact, which I guess it was.

'Don't tell them you said that,' I warned her. 'It'll go straight to their heads!'

'As if they aren't big enough yet,' she laughed and I burst out laughing too. Yeah, they were slightly arrogant, but they pulled it off. They definitely did. Or maybe that was just the effect George had on me.

Ultimately, however, Kathleen had to cancel. An important deadline and a splitting headache kept her away. So it was just me who dressed up in a new frock, who pinned up my hair and who carefully applied some make-up. Well, me and about a thousand other girls across London that was.

However, I was the only one to leave the building their favourite band currently resided in. I was likely to be the only one who got in a car paid for by the band to East Ham. Why they were performing in East Ham was beyond me. You couldn't call that London anymore, could you? Why were they performing in some sort of cinema in East Ham when they'd performed at the London Palladium only a month ago?

George had given me clear instructions and he'd urged me to follow them to the T. 'Only then will you be bale to get in for sure,' he had told me. 'We had to bump up security again because the fans keep sneaking in. It's nuts.' It did sound nuts, but he also didn't seem to mind very much.

But the instructions were indeed very clear. The driver would drop me off at the stage door of the cinema as it was too busy out front. There were likely some fans congregating at the stage door too, but hopefully not too much. I was to walk to the security guard and tell them to check the list for my name. If I showed him the letter George's manager had written me and my passport, I would be allowed in.

And low and behold, it all worked out exactly as George had told me. The security guard seemed sceptical at first, but then decided against disobeying the manager's letter. He did warn me that if it turned out I had fabricated the letter, I would be kicked out immediately and would be dealt with by the police.

Even though I knew t didn't make any sense. Even though I knew George had invited me and had made sure that I would get in. Even though I knew I had every right to be there, I still shuddered at the guard's words and at the prospect of the police. I was happy to hear the door close behind me, shutting me inside and him outside.