I Will [Paul McCartney/Beatles Fanfiction]

seven

However, Tuesday it wasn't.

Paul didn't end up getting a break; he woke up Sunday morning to his phone ringing. Freda was calling, asking him and the other lads to come down to Abbey Road because she had something she wanted to tell them (she also said specifically to bring their instruments). When he arrived, tired and grumbling in protest to being awake, that something the secretary ended up saying jolted him into being wide awake right away.

"Another record?" George had asked.

"Another film?" Ringo joined.

"Another tour?" John finished.

"You heard me right," Freda responded plainly. "You guys have got to do all this stuff like you used to, remind yourselves of how things used to be, or you're going to fall apart at the seams. I figured you could do some more meaningful writing and bonding and all that. It would really help."

Of course, there wasn't really the option to decline, so right away, John and Paul got to work writing the first song off what would soon become "Magical Mystery Tour": a certain single you'd all know is called "I Am the Walrus". They began to plan the film and Freda started spreading the word of their upcoming tour, booking dates and everything.

And it was extremely time-consuming, so much that Paul seemed to forget the date. It was Wednesday evening when John finally asked, "Say, weren't you supposed to go on a date or something with that one bird?"

Paul abruptly stopped strumming the riff he'd been trying out for a song he was writing, feeling his heart practically leap into his throat. Carmen! How could he have forgotten about Carmen?

"I'll be right back, John." He hurried out of the room to the nearest telephone possible, trying to maintain his composure.

But once he dialed Carmen's number and it rang and rang, it was getting harder for him to keep himself under control. Paul felt awful he forgot all about their date; he was thinking he must've made her think she scared him off when she kissed his cheek. Either that, or she was just thinking he was an inconsiderate git, but you know, it could really go either way.

"Hello?"

Much to his dismay, that was Carlton answering the phone, and knowing he probably wouldn't let him talk to his sister at all, he did the best impression he could of what he hoped was Carmen's boss, recalling the way she'd mimicked him, "Hello, yes, this is Mr. Bowman calling for Carmen Dalton on work related matters."

"Of course, sir. I'll go get her for you."

There was some noise on the other end, and then Carmen finally said, "This isn't really Mr. Bowman, is it?"

"No." Paul was talking normally now.

She sighed. "Paul, I waited for you yesterday."

"I know, I know you must've, but Freda's suddenly planned some big project for me and the lads and I've been spending all my time working when I thought I was going to get a break. I'm so sorry, Carmen, I really am, I would've come if I was able to, I swear I would."

She didn't respond.

"We've got another record coming up," he tried, "called 'Magical Mystery Tour', so obviously it's coming with a tour, too, and a film. She's been having us work endlessly on it."

Still, nothing but silence.

"Carmen, I'm so, so sorry," Paul absentmindedly rubbed his temples. "Is there anything at all I can do to make this up to you?"

Carmen hesitated, but gave in, sighing again. "Well... You said you were working on another album."

"Yeah."

"Could you maybe, I don't know, do something to change my brother's mind about rock music? Write a piano ballad or something that might catch his interest?"

Paul reacted immediately, "Yeah, I can try."

"Alright," Carmen said. "Well, thanks."

"I'll start it right away. This won't happen again, I promise."

She sighed again, this time quieter. "If you say so."

After he hung up, she stayed and pretended she was talking to her boss about the article she was working on in case Carlton was to walk by, ignoring the "beep beep beep" that signaled the other end had no one listening on it. So, a few minutes later, she finally lightly placed the phone back into its receiver, hoping that Paul was right and that it wouldn't happen again. She'd been stood up many times in the past; she wouldn't be able to take it if his name would end up adding on to the list.

She was convinced he wasn't going to by his determination, though, because it only took a few days before Paul came knocking at her door and she let him in. He darted right past her, though (and her brother), without a greeting, heading to their television set and turning it to a channel she never even knew she had, which immediately projected an image of the foursome standing in matching white suits on a staircase.

Carmen realized what this was as a piano melody began to play, dragging Carlton over to the chair and making him sit and watch, shushing him every time he tried to protest. She exchanged a small smile with Paul as the recorded version of him began to sing.

"Let's all get up and dance to a song that was a hit before your mother was born..."