Now and Then- 𝓂𝒸𝓁𝑒𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓃

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐸𝓁𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃

"We returned home the next morning." says Paul, a faint smile tracing the thin line of his lips. "And neither of us made any mention of what 'ad 'appened the night before. I couldn't bring it up, because then John would've known that I had been awake, and that would've been a very awkward conversation, y'know?"

"Right." says Michael, glancing down briefly at the notes he'd kept in his lap. "So you returned home to Liverpool, and then what?"

"Well, I s'pose everythin' sort of went back to normal." Paul sighs. "We were back to our old groove. I went back to sleepin' around with any pretty woman I could find, and John went home and continued to date Cynthia, and I became painfully reminded that she and John were going to be married."

"And how was the relationship between John and Cynthia?"

"Fine, I s'pose." Paul shrugs. "I never paid much mind to them, myself, because it was almost sickening to watch them. I was still slightly bitter that she'd sort of stolen 'im from me, y'know." Paul chuckles, "But looking back, I think that he really did love her madly. And of course she loved him, but that's to be expected, because what's not to love about John?"

"I remember hearing, a while back, about something happening between John and Cynthia that was called 'borderline abuse.' Can you clear the air about that?"

"Oh, of course." Paul pushes his hair back, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Well, it 'appened shortly after we returned from Paris, John and I. Stuart Sutcliffe came back from Hamburg to visit some family, and we ended up all goin' out to a club together. John didn't feel like dancing, so he stayed at the bar to drink, and I kept 'im company, as I always do. And, ehm, Cynthia was rather upset, and said something about always coming second to me, and went off to dance on 'er own. Long story short, she and Stuart started dancin' and flirtin' with each other, and John was absolutely furious. And because the two of us had 'ad a few drinks by then, he had no shame in walkin' up to 'er on the dance floor and slapping her across the cheek.

"Of course, I'm not defendin' his behavior in any way." Paul adds hastily. "But I'm here to dispel the rumor that John abused Cynthia senselessly, because this was the only time he ever laid a hand on 'er."

"I see," says Michael, nodding, "Did the two call off their engagement because of this, or...?"

"Ehm," Paul smiles slightly. "No, ehm, they didn't. In fact, it only took Cynthia a week or so before she forgave John completely, and then sure enough, she ran right back into 'is arms." Paul pauses. "That was the thing abou' John. You could never be angry at 'im. You could never stay away, because he was like a drug, almost addictive."

"Do you think that you were under that same spell, as Cynthia was?"

"I actually did become worried abou' that, after seein' how easily Cyn rushed back to 'im. I worried that maybe I was being manipulated by 'im, or somethin' like that." says Paul. "But then, I came back to reality and I thought, 'What the fuck, this is John that we're talkin' abou'! Y'know, he's my best friend.' So I came to the conclusion that I wasn't as bewitched by John as Cynthia was. But lookin' back, I suppose that in a way, I was. We were codependent, basically, even in the early days. But the codependency thing never got really conernin' until the later years, which... well, I s'pose I'll get to eventually."

"So, then, after returning from Paris, and after the brief issue between John and Cynthia, what was the next big thing for the Beatles?"

Paul thinks for a moment. "Well, I s'pose it'd be when we began bookin' at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. That certainly changed the trajectory of the band forever, because in doin' so, we caught the eye of a local record-store owner, who was also the manager of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Of course, that man was Brian Epstein."