The World Spinning Round (Beatles/Paul McCartney)

29. Seven Days (Part 2)

Day 6.

Hangovers really were a bitch.

I'd thought myself above this level of pain and dehydration after several months of drinking myself silly, but apparently, I could no longer drink on an empty stomach, which is what I'd done the previous night after Ringo & Co. had departed.

The buzzer rang six or seven times, making my headache intensify so much that the room looked vaguely yellow. I wondered if this was what Hayes felt when he heard music. It was called synesthesia -- specifically chromesthesia -- and I'd once had a psychologist at a cocktail party explain it to me. It sounded grand, being able to see colors floating in the air when one heard a song. So grand that I was a bit jealous of him, though I'd never admit it.

But this wasn't synesthesia. This was a fucking terrible hangover.

"Can you unplug it?" I called when the buzzer buzzed again, not sure if I was speaking to Alice or Mrs B or perhaps even Louise. "Destroy it if you have to."

"But then how will you adoring fans make their love for you known?" Alice called from down the corridor. "If they can't disrupt your personal life, then what good are they?"

I stared at the shadows on the ceiling for a moment before forcing my legs over the bed. Wincing at the chill of the hardwood floor, I sat there for a moment as my stomach settled from the sudden movement. Once I felt up to it, I stood rather unsteadily and pulled a dressing down while padding down the corridor. I stopped in front of the spare bedroom and leaned against the door frame, both because I wanted to look at Alice and also because it felt like I might vom.

Alice was sorting through clothes and throwing all the half-pink items into a large metal bucket, presumably destined for a junkyard. She wore a long silk paisley dress with a matching strip of silk holding her hair back. She was oddly overdressed for the task at hand, and I wondered if she'd dressed up to celebrate the fact that we'd finally found someone to watch Lou for a few hours each day while waiting for the nanny to return.

"Should we go out tonight?" I asked, even though I had zero interest in doing so. But perhaps her looking like that meant that she was itching to show her face in public?

She half-turned towards me and smirked. "Oh, hullo, Paul. Fancy seeing you out of bed. Wasn't sure you'd make it."

I ignored the bait. "Or maybe invite some people over? Maybe Twiggy and Justin? Or I heard Stevie Wonder is in town."

She shook her head. "Michael's coming by this afternoon."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, annoyed despite myself. Why was Mike always showing up unannounced? Couldn't he leave us alone? Sure, I suppose they were mates -- and he was an investor in Zarby -- but, still. Word was that he was that he was seeing a model so why couldn't he fuck off?

Alice saw something in my facial expression that caused her to roll her eyes.

"What?" I asked a little too defensively like she'd called me out on being naughty.

"Don't do that thing," she said. "It's for work."

"What thing?" I asked even more defensively. "I'm not doing a thing."

"You always act like I'm about to run off with him."

I gave her a look. "Well, you're fucking married to me, aren't you?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Yes, yes, Paul. You got the girl. Anyway, it's about Zarby, not a meeting to plan our next sexual rendez-vous."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sexual rendez-vous? Is that what they're calling it these days?"