My Fair Lady

Chapter 6 - 1964

The Ed Sullivan show starring The Beatles hit America like a tornado.

It was the most coveted piece of segment the show had or would ever produce; Eliza could just bet her life on the fact. Up until now, she had caught a glimpse of Beatle fans who screamed to the maximum decibel their vocal chords offered & chanted the names of the four musicians endlessly, like a broken record. Each name was accentuated with ear piercing screams & they might as well have laid their souls to rest at the front of the Plaza hotel. They had besieged it wholly.

And yet, that didn't even constitute a fraction of what surrounded the Ed Sullivan stage whilst the Beatles strummed & thumped their instruments. It was surreal to say the least.

Girls were pulling their hair, fainting, jumping, stomping their feet & screaming until their lungs collapsed. She was surprised to see some boys partaking in the scream fest too. The ages had melted into a hazy chorus. It didn't matter how old or how young you were, the Beatles had enraptured the audience & in effect the entire country as well. It was reported that a record 73 million Americans - roughly two fifths of the population had tuned into their televisions to watch the debut of the four-headed British monster on the Ed Sullivan show.

Beatlemania had officially stormed in & there was no escaping it. And Eliza drowned herself in the tornado they successfully pulled America into.

She was a goner from the moment the first guitar chord struck right down to the adorable bows at the epilogue of their performance. Her heart was so full of pride at seeing them on TV, it threatened to reel her into a paroxysm of joy. They played brilliantly despite the noise & she was glowing with joy throughout the show.

Oh how she wished she could hug them all, make up for leaving Liverpool without a proper goodbye!

Despondency set in when she thought of the possible fact that they didn't even remember her now. Liverpool was so 1960. 1964 was here & happening.

With the whole world lapping at their Cuban-booted feet, she doubted very much they'd remember her. She had been a passing figure in their lives. They had been very keen on their ambitions when she had befriended them. With them performing in different clubs most nights, there hadn't been many moments of bonding. Sure there had been conversations but they weren't particularly insightful. They had other friends to turn to & let's face it, she never made an impressive impression on them like Iris had.

She was so overcome with both joy & wretchedness by the end of the night that she cried herself to sleep, staining her feathered pillow with all the tears that had built up over the years. The passing of her beloved father, the miles that physically existed between herself & her mother, the humiliation from her last Liverpool party, the fear that Iris & possibly others as well disliked her, the regret of not affirming Neil's doubts & mostly, the fact that the one boy she truly, truly cared for was so close yet so far from her.

Sleep didn't come early that night & unbeknownst to her, it wouldn't come the next night too.

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"Bloody hell", Nick muttered from the passenger seat as Eliza's car pulled up near Plaza hotel.

Well, 'bloody hell' was an understatement.

Fans, thousands & thousands of fans had convened around the royal guest house of the Beatles. There was more security than Eliza had ever seen before. They were scattered around the perimeters of the hotel & brandished sticks in their hands. Being mildly claustrophobic, the sight of the mass gathering unnerved her.