How to Change the World

Chapter 11

At twenty thousand feet in the air, Paul somehow felt very small.

After a vacation in Kenya with Mal, they were returning to England on a plane to hopefully begin working on their next album. The public was anxiously awaiting what would happen after Revolver. Some say that they would never be able to top the innovation that came with Revolver. Paul had millions of ideas in his head, but there was one in particular he thought was unique. His idea, so far, had been to make an album from the perspective of another band. He wanted to make an album that flows together, and had a distinct sound.

With a forced smile, the stewardess, who looked exhausted, brought a tray of food for Paul and Mal to indulge in. Both men said "thank you" and began to dig into their meals. Without realizing the obvious, Mal looked curiously at the packets labeled "S" and "P" on their trays.

"Paul?" Mal asked to the man next to him with a boyish curiosity.

"Mmm?" he replied with a mouthful of food that he promptly swallowed.

"What does the 'S' and 'P' stand for?"

"Oh, Salt and pepper," Paul answered, taking another bite.

Mal repeated the phrase to himself, nodding. "Salt and Pepper... Salt and Pepper."

Paul acknowledged the string of words, turning once again to his friend.

"Sergeant Pepper."

"Salt and Pepper," Mal began, "Sergeant Pepper... interesting."

The men continued their meal in silence, the only sound between them being the sound of forks and knives.

"Lonely Hearts Club," Paul said out of nowhere.

"That's a good one," Mal replied pointedly.

Finally putting the nonsense into more nonsense, Paul began, "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club."

Mal smiled and nodded, impressed with the meaningless banter.

"You think it could work?" Paul asked, not explaining further.

Mal smirked, and began to work on the meal again, "I think," he started, "that it's very clever."

~*~

Although Paul had the idea of Sgt. Pepper lingering in his thoughts, it was not yet a complete thought. The band, however, was still set on recording their first song. They all knew that this song would be something innovative when they saw the music on their own. John was good at that.

Besides the anticipation Paul had of finally getting into the studio, Paul was genuinely excited to see John again. He felt as if his issues, though still on the edge, had been resolved enough so that he could be close again to John. Perhaps they could start a relationship? Fall in love? Get married and move to a private island together? Of course, that was all wishful thinking on Paul's part. There was still work to do between him and John. And homosexual marriage would never be legal in their lifetimes, how silly!

This time, he would be careful and thoughtful in his actions. In his new pursuits towards John, he would need to be intelligent, and then maybe they could start something together. However before Paul could start smiling like an idiot and get butterflies in his stomach, he would need to finish his drive to the studio. And if memory serves right, he was almost approaching its driveway.

Given the almost empty parking, Paul assumed that he was the first Beatle to arrive. He entered Emi Studio, looking forward to the prospect of recording John's new song. The studio was somewhat empty, besides their producer who George Martin was sitting behind the mixer and the few interns who were walking around.