Borrowed Time: Saving John Lennon - A Beatles Fanfic

Chapter 29 - (JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER

••••
All my little plans and schemes
Gone like some forgotten dreams
Seems that all I really was doing
Was waiting for you
••••

June 30, 1985

With her eyes still closed, Holly took a long, deep breath, smelling the saltiness of the air. She wasn't sure of her exact location on the narrow strip of land, but Holly knew she was somewhere on Long Island. Materializing in bustling Manhattan would have been a recipe for disaster.

It didn't take Holly long to make her way to a local restaurant with a pay phone outside it. Inside the phone booth, Holly grinned at the sight of the plastic-encased phonebook dangling from the phone by a thick chain.

"I haven't seen one of those since high school," Holly marveled.

A quick call to a local taxi company had her on her way, and in under an hour Holly was in Manhattan.

Holly had the cab driver let her off at the lower corner of Central Park, right next to the Plaza Hotel. She needed to calm her nerves, and a stroll through the green paths of Central Park would give her the time to do that before arriving at the Dakota.

Half an hour later Holly's nerves had calmed as she came to the section of the park that she knew as Strawberry Fields. The Dakota building loomed tall in the background, and Holly paused to look around, realizing once again that the iconic mosaic was absent. With a small smirk she shook her head, still marveling at the fact that she had saved John and changed history.

Rush hour traffic was in full force as Holly crossed the street and walked towards the entrance gates of the Dakota. Having only been two weeks in this time period since she left John, the doormen outside still recognized her and allowed her inside with no hassle.

Holly had chosen to return to this date for a number of reasons. At first she had wanted to return to the day she originally left John, but she soon changed her mind. Holly wanted to give him some time to miss her; to allow John to feel the loss. That way when she surprised him by coming back the reunion would be that much more joyous.

As she approached the seventh floor in the elevator, Holly felt her pulse begin to quicken. She wasn't sure if John would be home, but she hadn't wanted to call ahead and ruin the surprise. She wanted to see firsthand what John's reaction would be when he saw her.

The hallway was quiet when Holly stepped out of the elevator and walked towards John's apartment. She knocked and waited, straining to hear any noise from the other side of the door. A few seconds later the metallic clink of the door unlocking caused Holly to take a deep breath and smile. The door opened.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

Holly's smile quickly changed to an expression of surprise. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed.

"Can I help you?"

"May! Do you remember me?" Holly asked.

The surprise of seeing May Pang on the other side of the doorway quickly vanished. Holly remembered John telling her in 2020 how he had clung tightly to May in the days and weeks following Holly's departure. May looked slightly older than when Holly last saw her, but she was still easily recognizable as herself.

"Do I know you?" May's eyebrows were furrowed, her mind trying to place Holly's face.

"In L.A.? With John?" Holly hinted. "John trusted you with a pretty big secret about me."

May's eyes widened as she suddenly realized who Holly was. "Oh my gosh, you! Yes, of course I remember!" She stepped backwards. "Please, come in."

Holly walked through the apartment and was greeted by familiar scenery - the kitchen table where she had watched Sean do homework and the window on the far wall where she had people-watched early in the morning with John's arms around her.