The Arch of Love ~ Paul McCartney

39. Against all odds

London, 30 October '67, 6:11 PM

'You ready?' Paul asked me as we stepped into the taxi that was supposed to take us to the airport. It was dark outside and so cold that the warmth inside the car was very welcome.

I was the luckiest girl in the world, I couldn't call it anything else. I often found myself with a big smile on my face for no reason in particular. Over the past four weeks, Paul and I had barely been apart. Though, to be fair, that hadn't changed much since before Jane found out. But we weren't afraid anymore. Paul had actually taken me out to dinner once and though we didn't go out to anywhere fancy, it was perfect. It was the perfect place and the perfect moment. It was the beginning of our relationship.

And life was good. Paul had stayed over in my flat for a week, now no longer hiding. And finally, Fran had warmed up to him. She had just been protecting me. I had suspected that, but it now showed to be truth. She had protected me, but now that I was no longer just the girl on the side and actually his girlfriend, she had forgiven him. It made breakfast at the kitchen table a lot less uncomfortable.

I nodded as I put my seatbelt on, only then realising there was someone already in the car. Two someone's to be exact and one of them I actually recognised. 'Malcom,' I let out, when I realised that the large man sitting across from me was none other than the bouncer from the Cavern club all those years ago.

'Mal and yes,' the man said, though he narrowed his eyes and looked at the Beatle in the car. 'And who may this be, Paul? I thought it was only supposed to be you?'

'This is Archie, my girlfriend. She's coming too,' Paul introduced me, taking my hand in his. His words warmed me up from inside. That was my title now, but it still felt strange for him to actually call me it. It felt so good.

When Paul was the only Beatle to show up single to John's film premiere, the press of Fleet Street had realised something was amiss between him and Jane. Within two days, every person in the world knew that one of the power couples of the decade had indeed broken up. Luckily for me, I was still hidden from the public. I was aware that it would probably not take long before the spotlight would find me. The tabloids would have a field day digging through my life, so I enjoyed that last bit of anonymity I still had.

Mal raised his eyebrows at Paul's revelation, but didn't ask any question. Instead, he just gave the taxi driver the sign to start driving. We still had to cross half of London to get to the airport and if we didn't start going now, we might not even catch that flight.

Since finishing filming for the Beatles' new television film, Paul had been hard at work editing the footage. A couple of days ago, they had realised that they didn't have enough footage for one his songs; The Fool on the Hill. He had gotten the idea to fly off the France to film the sequence there. My idea was that he just wanted a bit of a break from London and I honestly couldn't blame him.

What I hadn't expected, however, was that he had invited me to go with him. I thought he rather wanted to go alone, some real peace and quiet. When I had offered that to Paul, he had laughed and had shaken his head. No, I had to come with and that was how I had found myself in this taxi. My supervisor had been far less than amused when I had asked to get the weekend off, but in the end, he had relented because of all the extra hours I had made working on Ritchie's case.

It would be my second time out of the country in a year and only my third time on a plane. I had flown to and back from Los Angeles last year and that was it. I was a rookie compared to Paul, who had been all over the world and back with the Beatles. I was nervous, but tried not to let it show.

The car ride was silent. Paul held my hand, but it was clear by the silence in the car that he was the only one that actually welcomed me on this trip. Luckily for me, he was the one that made up the rules.