In My Life

Chapter 49:

July 25, 1962

Heat pushed in on Olivia, causing her feel as claustrophobic as a cat in a box. Now in the heady heat of July, the summer sun beat through the windows of John and Olivia's flat, forcing beads of sweat down her forehead.

She slowly waltzed over to the window in the living room, frantically trying to pry it open, afraid she would melt before she reached the window. Olivia sighed as she wiped her forehead, staring at her enormous belly, wondering just how much longer this little one wanted to stay in.

As miserable as she was, she knew she needed to remain positive, especially since Lesley was coming over for tea in a little while. There were some bad rumors and press Lesley encountered and did not want to make her feel uncomfortable during her visit.

She stared out the window, observing the leaves on the tree in front of their home, wishing they were blowing in the breeze, hoping for some gust of wind to come blowing through that window.

Olivia plopped down on the wooden rocking chair next to the window and sighed, staring at the large clock that was mounted on the wall. 1:36 p.m.

Right about now, The Beatles were playing their lunchtime performance at The Cavern Club and Olivia was missing it. Lately, she was too tired, exhausted, or miserable to attend any of their recent gigs in the past month. She knew that somewhat annoyed John but she was persistent in doing everything and anything to make sure this baby would be alright.

The summer heat really started to put a toll on Olivia's pregnancy. Everything was smooth sailing up until last month when they came back home from The Beatles audition in London for EMI. She wasn't exactly sure if it was from all the traveling they were doing or just the sour mood John seemed to be in since that day.

According to the lads, they felt the audition did not go as well as planned. Paul's bass rig was producing some problems that made it difficult for them to get a good playback, having to borrow equipment from EMI's stash to improvise. John's amp was also creating a rattling noise, having the assistants tie a string around the amplifier. Then, just when they thought they had everything ready to go, they were having problems with Pete's drum kit and cymbals.

As they played, Paul had a difficult time trying to hear the beat from Pete, unsure if the microphone was placed in the right position. The group realised they never really had a steady tempo, but didn't think it really mattered as long as they were playing either faster or slower all together but during this audition, because of all the problems with their equipment and amplifiers, they struggled.

By the end of the session, the boys felt a little embarrassed as the director of EMI, George Martin critiqued them on their playing, rhythms, and mainly their equipment. George Martin educated them on the importance of having par amplifiers, informing them that he could only record a sound that they produced and that their noisy and unpredictable speakers were not going to produce a professional sound.

There was a slight knock on the door, bringing a smile to Olivia's face. She slowly waddled to the front door and quickly opened it, beaming as she saw the familiar smile.

"Les, well look at ya!" Olivia grinned as her eyes wandered down the prominent belly sticking out from under her long navy blue dress.

Lesley's lips curled into a smile, extremely happy to finally see the company she was anxious to see, "Right," she glanced down at her belly, "I guess I have some explainin' to do."

They both strolled inside and to the living room, where a tea kettle and teacups were waiting on the oak table between the sofas.