Nothing Is Gonna Change My World (McLennon, Starrison)

Paranoia and Spies

"Paul, talk to me will ya?" John asked, after a long silence. 

Paul sat back down, nervously fiddling his fingers, "Look, first, I'd like you lads to be calm about the situation, no matter how mad you think it may be."

"Paul, you're actually starting to scare me," George's voice coming out as more of a whisper. 

Paul took a deep breath, looking at his bandmates with a desperate expression. He wanted so badly to tell them how much this was hurting to keep to himself, having always told them everything. In this very moment, he couldn't find the right words, or the will to speak.

"Paul, are you going to talk or not?" John was getting frustrated, both because he hated to see Paul like this, and because he didn't know what was going on, making it harder for him to do anything.

"Okay, okay. It's Jane."

The three lads tensed at the name.

"Shit. Of course," John whispered to himself. 

"I don't know how to get her off my back. She's got me on a string now, and knows exactly how to manipulate me--"

"What the hell did you two do?" John's question came out as an angry whisper. It was sounding like Paul had cheated, and he wasn't liking where this was going.

"Nothing! For fuck sake, John, will you let me finish? You're getting the wrong idea." Paul stood up again, "Listen, she's the source. The one that that reporter talked about at the beginning of the tour. It's her."

"You're telling me you TOLD HER ABOUT US?" John stood up, his anger hadn't let up.

"No--"

"Paul, what the hell?" George's eyes filled with fear, feeling nervous jitters in his stomach.

"I DIDN'T TELL HER, DAMN IT," Paul sat down again, burying his face in his hands, "I don't know how she found out, she didn't tell me that much, she just told me she knows, and she's fed that information to that reporter." Paul caught his breath, and shut his eyes tightly, realizing once again how terribly difficult this situation really was.

The room was so silent, if a pin was dropped, you could hear it and it's echo. Paul kept his face buried in his hands, waiting for someone to speak.

George sat up, "Alright Paul, why don't we just tell the press who it is? Who are they going to believe, honestly? They won't believe her. They know you two ended things badly. We'll say it's her form of twisted revenge."

Paul shook his head, "We can say whatever we want to say, it's not going to change a thing."

"What?"

Paul took another breath. The tension in the room made the air feel light. He wanted this to be an over-reaction, but every time he thought about the photograph, he couldn't help but shudder at the utter thought of ruining John.

"Paul, I think you should say what you know. We deserve to know," Ringo spoke for the first time, trying to read Paul's expressions.

"She has proof. She'll reveal it all. It's an indisputable photograph, and I don't know what to do about it."

John walked back to his seat, seemingly more calm than before. He looks down at the floor, "A photograph? She must've set some kind of negotiation with you, then, didn't she?" His voice was still strong,

"Of course she did. She always does." Paul thought about her words.

Break it off with your Johnny. Come back to me when you come back to England. I'll see you then.