Chapter 8: 

I sat in an empty train chart. The uneven track shaking my seat and the train itself. I felt for the paper in my pocket and checked the time. Now would be reasonable time to call, I told myself as I got up from my chair and went to the pay phone. I held it close to my ear as it rang once, and it couldn't tell whether I was shaking or the train, second ring, I'm sure it's just the train. Third ring, and I finally heard his voice break through

"Hello?" 

"Hi, you sound sick." 

"Oh! 'Ello love. Not sick, I just winged it, I didn't want to be gone when you called." 

"That's an awful lot of trouble for just me." 

"Well... I wanted to do it." 

"Look, about yesterday I c-" 

"Yes love?" 

"I don't think that we could start... Anything. I just finally got over John. An-and yer in America. Maybe we could try again. Later? When it's better for the both of us." 

"Of course love. I understand." 

"Do you? I don't want to hurt you George, you've always been special to me." 

"And you to me Eloise. Look, I've got to be going. Stay in contact, alri'? You got our flat numbers from Jim, yeah?" 

"Yes George." 

"Then I'll except a letter. Bye Eloise." 

"Goodbye George."

I quickly jump out of bed. I hated that reoccurring dream and the fact that it wasn't just a dream, because it actually happened. It's late 1964, almost Christmas and I'm still living in London. Right after I got my flat, I received news of my father being sick. I spent four months with him, all the while keeping in touch with Paul and George. In early July he passed away, leaving me to go on with my life and get back to my flat in London.

Our letter soon began to thin from twice every week, to once every two weeks, to once every month, to completely nonexistent. George met a girl named Pattie who he soon started dating. Pattie was in the movie that they had filmed 'A Hard Day's Night'. George always promised he'd take me and always sent all their new Vinyl’s. 

As soon as I started my art back up, I became big in London. I have about ten pieces in three different shops. A lot of my abstract pieces were about John, I've noticed and it's crazy how much people like those pieces. I ran my hand over the box filled to the brim with letters from the boys that I keep always at my bed side table. 

I stretched and looked outside of my window, the Liverpool snow had came earlier and it made my bones shiver. I quickly threw on layers of clothes and headed out of my flat, down the street, take a left, a right, keep going straight and another right to the big art shop. My flat is great; it's in the center of town and has everything I need around it. Barely anyone was in the shop, but then again not many people know about it. 

I picked up at 24x16 canvas the covered my line of vision and of course I knock into someone. "Shit." I said falling on my butt in the middle of the isle. 

"Oh! Sorry... Canvas? Wait there's a girl behind that canvas." A guy said sticking out his hand, I gladly took it as he lifted me up. "Ye better watch out! Walkin' doesn't seem too safe anymore." He said laughing, making me laugh. I traced his features in my mind, his deep blue eyes seemed so familiar and so inviting. 

"I'm just a klutz, I tripped over air." I told him. 

"Ay' maybe the air's trippin' you. Do you happen to know much about art?" 

"I hope, I'm an artist." 

"Well hello an artist. I'm Richard." The man, Richard told me laughing. I liked his laugh... And smile. And sense of humor. Richard. 

"No, no. My name's..." I thought quickly about it, I didn't want any guy to call me that name, especially one as cute as him. "Michelle." Close enough to Ellie. 

"Well Michelle, do you know the difference in Acrylic paint and Oil Pastels?" Richard asked in a serious tone. 

"What's the similarity..?" I said giggling but he was serious. "Um, you should get Acrylic, it's basic paint, no instructions needed." 

"So if I got Oil Pastels you'd instruct me?" Richard said elbowing me softly as we walked down the paint isle. 

"Maybe... It matters. What're you painting?" 

"A picture for me mum. Christmas is coming up, ye know?" 

"Maybe I'll help." I said picking out a small kit of sixteen oil pastels and handing them to him.

"Come 'ed then!" Richard said taking my canvas and walking towards the register. 

"What're you doing?" I asked quickly as the women started ringing up the two items. 

"I'm gonna buy yer canvas. It's the least I could do love." Richard said, flashing me a smile and paying the lady, he grabbed the bag and we walked side-by-side to the door. 

"Me flat's to the left," Richard told me stepping out into the cold. Great. The opposite way from mine. Richard and I walked as he told me about coming to London, mostly for work, like me. "More opportunities ye know?"

"Of course. In America I barely sold a painting, now I'm always in business. Especially during the holiday season."

"So yer well known?"

"I have a few paintings in some art galleries." I told him humbly.

"That's great! I'll 'ave to see them sometime." Richard said pulling open his flat door and holding it for me. "After you."

"Thank you. It's crazy how close we are to each other yet never met." I said laughing. We were both barely five or ten minutes away from the art shop yet we've never met.

"I... Travel a lot for my job. It's kind of tiring, but that explains the lack of animals or plants." Richard told me walking around the living room and leading me to an open space and plopping down on the floor. "I'll show you what I've got done already."

"What did you want to do?" I asked as he fingered through papers with sketches on them. He finally handed me one with flowers and sayings on it.

"I just wanted to thank 'er ye know? She raised me and took care of me when I was sick all of that so I think this should be a good way to, Thank her." Richard told me. Obviously his mom means a lot to him, as he was fiddling away at his hands.

"The let's start working on the oil." I said laughing and taking the pack away. He quickly put a new sheet in between us and we started going to work. I drew almost everything that I had been able to see before on the other papers.

I was teaching Richard a technique of special shading of when the whole room went black and it quickly became too quiet. Even the hum of the heater stopped. I quickly yelped, I've never been a fan of the dark, especially with a guy I don't have a background check on.

"Hold on love, I'll go get some candles." Richard told me, only the setting of the Sun helping him find his way.

"I hope it's not a bloody blizzard." I said making my way to the window and of course I could barely see the street and that was with cars on it too!

"I found a couple of candles and three flashlights." Richard said shinning the flashlight on me. "Looks like yer not goin' anywhere. I hope I didn't ruin any plans love." 

"No, no. The blizzard would've ruined any of them anyways." I said laughing and following him to the couch. 

"Well. I guess there isn't much more to do..." Richard said chuckling "We could always tell stories!"

"Tell me one then." I told him settling into the couch.

"Well... What do you want to know? We can swap stories."

"Right, hmm tell me about your first kiss."

"I was in the hospital... I was pretty sick as a kid. And it was a children's hospital, so we got to play with each other. This girl who I barely knew, her name was Danielle I think, kissed me. She was two years older and I was shocked! I had no clue what to do, but yeah. How 'bout yers then?"

"It was me first boyfriend. I didn't want it to happen and we basically ended up crashing our faces into each other literally." I told him and we both laughed at the memories. We talked a lot more and he told me a how bunch of stuff, mainly about himself as a teen and his mother and I did the same.

"Wow, yer shiverin' let me go get a blanket." Richard said quickly leaving the couch before I could protest. "'ere you go love." He said covering me with the blanket and sitting back down beside of me. "Do you mind?"

"Course not." I said giving him room in the blanket. We talked and talked all night until sleep fell over us.

"Mornin' love." Richard greeted me, I quickly blushed once I noticed we were all wrapped around in each other. "Are you blushin'?"

"No" I said hitting his hand away from my face as I tried to hid it even more yet he just smirked at me.

"Come on love. I bet you look as beautiful with or without it." Richard said successfully pushing my head up so my eyes were looking into his deep ones, they were like space, once you get sucked in you may never come out. "Maybe even more beautiful." He said, his hot breathe hitting my cheek, my eyes fluttered close as his lips touched my own and his arms wrapped around my hips.

"Ringo do you fuc-" A voice said mad or sad or frustrated it was hard to tell with the slamming of the door. "Oh. I can see your busy." The man said, going into a bedroom and slamming the door.

"I'll be right back Ellie." Richard said. Ellie?! How did he know my name???? And was his name Ringo. I searched my head trying to figure out if I knew a Richard or Ringo. How did he know my real name and know that I was lying?????