How to Change the World

Chapter 22

Five days flew by as Brian's passing became a painful memory. Even in the wake of tragedy, something in Paul compelled him to unite the group for a discussion of their next project. He'll admit that he didn't have that great of a desire to have to manage their projects, now with their manager gone, but it needed to be done. The Beatles couldn't mope around, that wasn't an option. Now that it was just them, lost in riches they can hardly manage. But it would turn out in their favor. The four of them were a team, in more ways than most imagined. Whatever hardship faced them, it would be together. Equal. Even if Brian was gone, someone had to take initiative, even if that had to be him to push John as well. As much as their manager and friend's death hurt them deeply, moping and doing nothing would have done them no good.

He sat on his house at Cavendish, watching the telly, until he heard the intercom go off. Realizing what the time was, he turned off his TV set, opening the gates to his home. Paul watched the car drive in, a man walking out and knocking at his door. Before he could knock again, Paul whipped the door open, greeting the man on the other side.

"Hello, Tony."

"Am I on time?"

"Certainly," Paul said as he moved to the side, allowing their publicist to walk in his home.

As Tony made his way into the dining room, where their discussion would be held, Paul's sheepdog decided to jump on him, almost knocking him over.

"Oh!" He said, petting the dog down.

"Martha, c'mon," Paul said as Martha wagged her tail and strutted away, "Sorry, Tony."

Paul sat across from Tony at the dining table, before realizing he was empty handed. He stood up again, grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen.

"So you're probably wondering," Paul began, "I want the group to press on with the Magical Mystery Tour, and I've got it all planned out and everythin'. We just need to develop it a little."

Across from him, Tony nodded, continuing with the conversation.

"Are you sure you don't want to postpone this? We could wait a little while, I mean it's so soon..."

"No, I think it's better to start now. We can't be thinkin' about what happened all the time. We've got to move on."

Not outwardly questioning Paul's judgment, he reluctantly nodded. He was his employer after all.

"I'll sketch it out for you."

Paul took the pen in his hand and began to draw a circle.

~*~

For the fifth time today, Paul opened the door to his final guest. Ringo stared back at him apologetically.

"Sorry, I'm late. Little Jason was cranky, and it got sort of hectic."

Paul smiled understandably at the troubles of fatherhood, "It's alright. Come in, we're all in the dining room."

Together they walked back into the dining room, where John, George, and Tony stared back at them. Ringo sat across from Paul, next to Tony. George was at the head of the dining table, and John had taken the seat next to Paul. Clearing his throat, Paul sat back at the table, looking at the expectant faces.

"Well... I think what has happened... is horrible. I think everyone here can say that they're a bit emotionally drained, if not, I know that I am... That being said," Paul looked around to everyone, feeling something odd about the control he had, "we still need to think about our future. We have to get this movie out, and the filming is supposed to start in about a week..."