All In Good Time - A Time Travel Beatles Fanfiction

Track 38 - And In The End

It was a strange, lonely summer for Lainey, that first summer after graduation. Kate had moved to San Francisco to work as a graphic artist. Lainey's mother worked twelve hours a day and was rarely around, her father and Jade were busy leading their own lives, and Lainey had a lot of time to reflect on the direction her life had taken in the past year.

With school over, her life was in a strange sort of holding pattern. She was lonely and heartbroken and couldn't even imagine dating. Who could follow Paul McCartney? Kate invited her to join her in San Francisco, but Lainey couldn't picture herself living on the West Coast. Sometimes she couldn't picture herself living in 2013 at all. More and more often she felt as if she had been born fifty years too late.

It was the end of July before she got a response from any of the dozens of French resumes she'd sent to Paris. There wasn't a whisper of interest from any of the larger design houses. No surprise there-- they must receive hundreds of applications a month. Simone had come through in the end, arranging a phone interview for Lainey with a small fashion house, much smaller than any of the companies Lainey had hoped to intern for.

"It will be magnifique!" Simone insisted. At a small firm, Lainey would be able to have a "hand in all the pots" and would gain a much broader knowledge of the business. Lainey's French had greatly improved, the two phone interviews went surprisingly well, and she was offered an unpaid internship in Paris beginning the first of September. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world with no income.

How could she possibly make this happen? A week after receiving the job offer, Lainey pondered the problem in her grandmother's kitchen while she chopped carrots and potatoes and celery for Irish stew.

"Are you certain about Paris?" Grandma Marie asked.

Lainey heaved a sigh and added the last diced potato to the pot. "It's the only career I'm suited for. Otherwise I'm just a weird nerdy girl who wears crazy clothes."

Grandma Marie adjusted the burner and leaned against the kitchen counter, fixing Lainey with her sharp dark eyes. "I suppose it's time to think about selling the record."

"What record is that?" Lainey said, wiping her hands on a tea towel.

Grandma Marie narrowed her eyes. "You know what record, girly. Come with me."

Up to the attic they went, much like last autumn when Grandma Marie had magically produced letters from George Harrison. Lainey followed along with her heart in her throat, wondering what strange alchemy was about to happen now.

Moments later she sat in the middle of the dusty wooden floor, her heart galloping as she examined the item in her hands. "Grandma. When did you get this?"

"Oh, it was about '66 if I'm not mistaken."

Lainey shook her head vehemently. "You didn't have it last year when you showed me the letters from George."

"Of course I did honey. It's been right here all this time, along with that cryptic letter from Paul."

Lainey's heart was pounding so hard she wondered if she was having a heart attack at 21 years of age. "Can I see the letter?"

Her hands shook as she took the letter from her grandmother, unfolded it and read the familiar handwriting.

"Dear Marie, Thanks for your continued support. Enclosed is our first disc. When the time is right, you'll know what to do. All my best, Paul McCartney"

Grandma flitted about the room, opening trunks and taking the lids off of boxes. "Now where could it be?" she muttered.

Lainey put the letter aside and picked up the record, flipping it from one side to the other. As she carefully slid the disc out of its protective sleeve, a picture postcard fluttered onto her lap. Setting the record on the trunk in front of her, Lainey picked up the card and examined what appeared to be an old hotel.