Borrowed Time: Saving John Lennon - A Beatles Fanfic

Chapter 15 - DAY TRIPPER

May 11, 1968

Holly stood in an empty open field rubbing her eyes. She was exhausted. She had barely gotten four hours of sleep before vanishing from Mendips before anyone woke up.

It was extremely overcast, although rain didn't seem eminent. Holly looked around and saw nothing but green open space in all directions around her. She knew she was in Canada. Roxham, Quebec to be exact - about one hour due south of Montreal.

Roxham was a very small town that sat right on the boarder between Canada and the northernmost tip of New York State. The area was mostly forests and open farming fields, a perfect location to materialize in. Being so close to the U.S. boarder was an added perk because Holly needed to get to New York City.

Getting through the Canadian boarder was no trouble at all. From there she was able to catch a bus into Albany, NY and then on to New York City where she decided to do some shopping. Fashion had changed drastically between 1963 and 1968, and all the clothes Holly had with her were now horribly outdated.

She easily found a fashionable clothing boutique and purchased three new outfits, depositing her old ones in a trash can. Donning ballet flats and a new tunic dress in a colorful paisley print Holly made her way back out into the streets of 1968 New York City.

John would be arriving in The City today along with Paul, Neil, Mal Evans, Derek Taylor, and "Magic" Alex. They were there for just under a week to promote Apple Corp, their newly formed company. This gave Holly five days to find and contact John before the group headed back to England.

When Holly first arrived in New York City she was hit with a sense of deja vu, but with a twist. This city was very much New York, but at the same time it definitely wasn't the New York that Holly was accustomed to. She spent the majority of the day doing a bit of sightseeing, and taking it all in.

Buildings and structures were mostly the same, but Holly could tell that there were differences. The Twin Towers had not been built yet, although ground had been broken to start the process. Holly was used to no longer seeing those iconic buildings, but what was odd was to not see the new World Trade buildings. It was an ominous feeling to know what would occur in that section of Manhattan so many decades from now in buildings that hadn't yet been constructed.

Dusk came and went, and soon the sun was gone. It was then that Holly noticed how dark things were. Of course it wasn't actually dark, but there were no bright neon lights or digital LED screens dancing around and blasting light from above. The billboards didn't change or move. The large Coca-Cola ad simply sat there, flat on its large board. The light cast down from the streetlights had a yellow tint to it, not the blindingly bright neon tones that were there in her time. Holly stood in Times Square for quite awhile looking around at everything.

The starkest contrast was the people though. Every single person looked ahead as they walked. There were no cell phones, iPods, or tablets. People focused their attention on what was in front of them and not what was in their hands.

Holly soon realized that she needed a place to stay for the night and set off in search for a hotel. She found the Hotel Metropole a couple of blocks from Times Square, and was able to book herself into a single room for the week. This visit may be the most difficult one in terms of reaching John, and Holly knew it might take multiple attempts to do so.

••••

The next morning Holly slept late, still quite tired from not having slept much the night before. She knew John should be settled in NYC by now. He and Paul were to spend the day on a boat holding Apple's first board meeting while sailing around the Statue of Liberty. His short visit would be full of meetings and interviews, ending with a final press conference. Holly weighed her options as to what would give her the best chance of running into him.