Great Expectations. - Now Complete

Chapter 5

George followed the rest of the lads to the car. This time, as the car approached the venue, his spirits began to lift. This meant Alice! He sat in the car with the others and for the first time that day, he smiled.

"John?"

"Yeah George."

"Sorry about before mate. I was being an arse. Paul, Ringo...same to you too. I've not been with it today and I should be. We're a team. Sorry!"

The mood in the car completely lifted. There was the usual clowning about and laughter. By the time they darted from the car into the venue George's mood was good again. The sound check passed without a hitch then, after yet another lecture from Brian, they were left alone as usual. Within a few minutes there was a knock on the door. George raced to open it. It was the Boss, carrying food as usual and behind him....his wife. His face fell. He looked up and down the corridor but to no avail. There was no sign of Alice.

After the lads were left alone, George looked to the others.

"I'm just going out to see Alice. She'll be around her somewhere. OK?"

John nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

George hesitated. "Ok, I'll see you all in a bit."

He quietly left the room and headed towards the bar area he knew Alice worked in regularly. He looked around. There was no sign of her. Concern growing, he continued to walk through towards the kitchen.

"Can I help you?"

He turned, startled. It was the bosses wife.

"Oh, I was looking for Alice. The lads and I fancied some tea." The words were the first thing that came into his head.

"Oh Alice isn't in today poor lamb. She rang in very early this morning, said she'd been at the hospital since early this morning and was hoping to return home very soon."

"Oh dear," said George desperately trying to keep calm, "She isn't ill is she?"

"I don't think it's serious but she was a bit vague. Still, I think anyone would be vague if you'd been stuck at that hospital all night, don't you?" She shuddered, "Fair gives me the creeps that place. Used to be the old workhouse it did."

"Right, well I'll go back to the lads. We'll make do without the tea."

"I'll do you some in a while. With no Alice I just need to do some extra jobs."

"Thanks." said George over his shoulder, as he was already moving away from the woman who clearly loved to gossip.

By the time he got back to the others, his mind was made up. He opened the door and went in. The others smiled at him as he came in.

"Find her then?" asked Ringo.

George looked around at them. "I need to go out."

"You can't!" Paul spoke to him urgently, clearly concerned. "If you go anywhere Brian will kill you! Think about it George! Not before a gig!"

George looked panicstricken. "But it's Alice. After I left her last night, she ended up in hospital. I need to know she's OK."

"What the hell were you both doing?" John stood up, concerned. "Is she hurt or something?"

"We didn't do anything other than talk and share a meal. I have to go, seriously. I don't know but...." He paused and looked at the others. He sat down suddenly, feeling completely at a loss at what to do. His heart told him to go NOW! To find her and see if she was OK but deep down he knew, especially after Brian's warnings he couldn't leave, not now. He sank his head into his hands and said nothing for over an hour. Then he would walk round and around the room, like a prowling beast. The other three could sense his anxiety but made no comment. Finally, once the performance began, George played with the same skill as before, maintaining his focus. No one would have thought he had so much on his mind. Show over, the lads did the usual mad dash to escape to the waiting car. John, Paul and Ringo were surprised when George joined them and appeared calm and collected. Once back at their hotel, Ringo took him to one side.