Be my Starr (Ringo Starr)

Chapter 24 part 2: 64 Million

The girls and many other girls and Beatle fans finally found their seats inside the theatre. Susan sat in the middle as usual since Barbara loved annoying Linda no matter what the occasion.

"How long now?" Barbara moaned looking ahead at the curtain in front of the stage.

"Not long."

Susan watched in the corner of her eye as Linda pulled out her book from her bag.

"Are you being serious right now?" She looked disapprovingly at her friend.

"What's wrong?" Barbara looked over and laughed. "Of course." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Is it a problem?" Linda queried.

Susan exhaled. "Just put it away when they're playing, ok?"

"I will."

Susan sat back in her chair and stared at the curtains. She was keeping her excitement controlled in front of the others but inside she was out of control. Not only was she going to see the boys perform live but she was going to see her boyfriend. It felt so strange and weird calling Ringo her boyfriend now but it was something she was going to have to get used to. At first, it didn't even seem real considering everything that had happened. Maybe she was still on the plane dreaming it all. She smiled to herself. Either way, Ringo was hers and no one else's. Then, like so many times before, Mr Anderson came into her mind along with all the lies she had told Ringo. To him, she was a freelance photographer whereas now she was actually a spy. A blackmailed one.

The curtains opened, revealing the 4 lads sending the crowd into a hysterical screaming fit. Susan had forgotten all her previous thoughts within a split second and looked around in amazement at all the screaming fans. Unluckily for Linda, this kind of noise was something she couldn't ignore.

As the lads began the first song, the whole crowd went absolutely ballistic, drowning out everything else. Most importantly the singing. Barbara sighed to herself and resisted the urge to shout out and throttle someone. She knew they were just excited as was she. Knowing the lads must have just had a sort of effect on her which took away any hysteria she could have had otherwise.

The screaming wasn't too excruciating for Susan since her eyes were enchanted by Ringo and his drumming. She didn't know anything about drumming though and she couldn't hear a single thing whilst struggling to see him clearly being so far away on the top level but she knew he was giving his all along with the others. She felt like such a proud girlfriend watching her boyfriend play those beautiful songs. Even Linda was captured by the boys' calmness considering the crowd was going absolutely nuts. If it were her on that stage she wouldn't hesitate to run off in stage fright. She respected that at least.

Later on, George came up to the mic and thanked everyone, moving on to welcome Paul on stage to perform his solo piece "Yesterday."

As the lights flickered for a moment, George had suddenly disappeared and Paul was on stage with his guitar. The crowd was hysterical until he started playing the chords and like magic, the noise just stopped.

Whilst he sang, Susan and Barbara were amazed by his talent and singing however it was Linda who had been amazed most. Before this, she only saw Paul as an annoying, witty joke man who played the guitar and enjoyed annoying others. Though she still thought that, she couldn't help but see a more gentle and open side to him. He was undeniably talented and a great songwriter. Maybe she was finally seeing the real him for the first time. It was scary at first until she realised maybe he was never intending to be annoying.

After the show, the girls met with the boys back at the hotel to celebrate their success.

"64 million people were watching y'know," George said, taking a swig of his fourth whiskey.

"I know, this geezer came up to me and said it just as I was going on." Paul huffed, finishing his glass of rum and coke. He turned to Linda who was once again sitting alone in the corner with a book in one hand and glass in the other. "Did you enjoy the show then?" He inquired with a smile.

Linda looked up slightly and closed her book. "I did actually." She said and took a sip of her drink. Paul blinked.

"Did she just smile?" He questioned in his head. Realising he had been dazed for too long, he snapped out of it and nodded. "I'm glad you did."

"That song. Yesterday. How'd you come up with it?" She asked.

Paul's lip curled into a small grin. Finally, this woman was taking notice of him for the right reasons. "I just did." He grinned. "I woke up one day and it was there."

Linda looked at him. "What do you mean there?"

Paul tapped his nosy and grinned, clearly opting to keep it a secret. Linda rolled her eyes playfully and returned to her book.

Sitting on Ringo's lap, Susan finished off another shot.

"What's got you all excited?" Ringo teased, taking a quick drag of his cigarette.

"Nothing." She gave him a smooth kiss on the cheek. "I liked your performance." They made eye contact.

"Did you now?" He said, slowly moving his hand along Susan's leg, his fingers flicking at the end of Susan's skirt. "You can show me."

Susan laughed nervously. "Not now." She said, biting her lip.

"Later then." Susan nodded shyly. At least for tonight, she knew she could put all her worries aside and just enjoy herself like she was supposed to do. Right?