August 25th, 1960

12:00 p.m.

I exhaled nervously as I lifted my hand to tap my knuckles against the hard, dark wood of the Harrison's front door.

I was a few days late in getting over here, but every time I thought about coming for tea my stomach seemed to turn into a giant bundle of nerves.

Knocking, I waited for a couple seconds until Mrs. Harrison peered through the window next to the door. I bit down on my lip expecting the worst when I heard the lock being undone, and the hinges on the door squeak.

"Hello, dear..." she pause smiling sadly, before reaching out to pull me into a warm hug.

"Come in please."

I nodded stepping into the warm little home I had been to many times over the years.

"How're you doing?" She inquired, motioning for me to follow her into the kitchen.

"I'm ok, how've you been?"

"I'm good...it's very quiet now though." She smiled, reaching in the cupboard and pulling out two tea cups.

"I bet."

"Yes, could you get the sugar for me?"

Nodding, I shuffled back towards the pantry to get the sugar and took it into the living room where she sat waiting for me.

"Come sit..." She chimed, patting the cushion next to her as I placed the sugar on the coffee table next to the other things.

I smiled shyly, watching my shaky hand reach for the steaming tea that sat in-front of me.

"So..." she paused, gingerly taking a sip of her tea before continuing, "George called me the first night with some distressing news."

"Oh..." my stomach flipped nervously, things were going rather smoothly until this point.

"He said you broke up..."

"Y-yes, ma'am." I confirmed, feeling tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes. I didn't want to talk about this now, or ten years from now for that matter.

She nodded, reaching out to place her hand on top of mine. "Come here, sweet girl."

"Oh, Mrs. Harrison..." my voice cracked as tears began rolling down my cheeks, when I allowed her to pull me into a tender warm hug.

"I know..." she soothed, patting my head carefully as I continued to cry on her shoulder.

"My dad made me do it, h-he said if I didn't he would."

She nodded, looking at me sympathetically as she wiped tears off my face.

"I miss him, I miss hearing his voice, his eyes, his bear hugs, everything about him." I gushed, leaning into the couch's cushy back and crying more.

"He told me last night if you came over I was to give you this." She held out the tiny screwdriver for the bracelet George had put on my wrist.

I picked it up, fiddling around with it as tears continued streaming down my face. I probably looked a mess, sitting there bawling.

"Why don't you call him, honey?" She suggested, pushing my hair over my shoulder.

"He wouldn't want to talk to me..." I pouted, blinking when my eyes met her caring ones.

"Of course he does..."

"I told him not to call my house anymore though, and I told him what my dad said and -"

"Jacqueline, use my phone." She interrupted, pointing towards the phone that hung on the wall.

"But what if he's still mad at me?"

She smiled, patting my hand, "he's not mad."

"I don't know..."

"Maybe next time you come we'll try it then, hm?"

"Ok." I replied, smiling slightly when she pulled in for another warm hug.

"I saw you out the other day with a boy." She inquired, stirring sugar into her tea as her eyes carefully studied my face.

"Oh, that was my friend Carlito."

"Mh, I see."

"Yeah..." I nodded, watching her gingerly sip the steaming beverage.

"He's kinda cute, do you like him?"

"Just as a friend..." I assured, blushing and biting down on my bottom lip as a smile painted her features.

"He seems to like you as more than a friend from what I saw the other day."

My eyebrows knit together, perplexed by when she had seen us. She nodded grinning before opening her mouth to speak again, "at the market dear, you didn't see me but you two were down by the breads."

"Oh! No, he's just really nice." I spoke, twisting the fabric of my skirt between my fingers and hoping what she said wasn't true as I recounted the events from a few days ago.

"Ciabatta or regular French bread?"

"Whatever you want is fine." I blinked, watching his milky brown doe eyes dart back and forth between me and the loaves of bread.

"But, I want to get something you like so we can share." He grinned shyly, shuffling closer to me and resting his hand on the shelf above me.

"I'm not that crazy about breads." I admitted, leaning so that he didn't stand so close to me.

"You've got the prettiest eyes...." he mumbled, reaching his hand up and running his thumb gently across my cheekbone.

My eyes widened as my breathing became shallow. I was uncomfortable being this close to him, but didn't want to be rude and tell him to fuck off.

"W-what are you doing?"

"You had an eyelash..." he murmured, his thumb making gently strokes across my cheekbone as his eyes remained locked on mine.

"Oh..." I mouthed, feeling sweat begin prickle out of my pores as his other hand gripped at my waist.

"D-do you have any plans this weekend?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Let me take you out?" He whispered, his long dark eyelashes brushing against my eyelid when he blinked.

"I don't know, Carlito..." I squirmed, wanting to get out of his tight grip.

"Please?" He pleaded, smiling widely when he watched me hesitantly nod.

"Great!" He cheered, kissing my cheek quickly and turning back to observe the bread loaves.

I grimaced slightly, moving my hand up in an effort to try and wipe any trace of his lips that was left on my skin off.

"Jacqueline?"

"Hm?" I hummed, looking up into Mrs. Harrison's kind eyes.

"Would you like to stay for dinner tonight? I know George isn't here, and your relationship right now is a bit complicated but..."

"Only if I can help cook it."

She nodded, smiling widely as she reached over to pat my knee lightly.

///

August 26th, 1960

6:43 p.m.

"How was your day today? I missed seeing you around the office." Carlito spoke, smiling as he held open the car door for me.

"It was ok, how was yours?"

"It just got a lot better..." he grinned, leaning towards me to peck my cheek lightly before closing the door and walking around to the drivers side.

Scoffing, I once again wiped my cheek where his lips had been. He was beginning to get on my nerves with his constant nearness, and I just wanted to be his friend.

George probably wouldn't like him at all, it was then I wondered if his mother had told him about Carlito. My stomach knotted, I hoped she hadn't it would probably crush any chance I had at getting back with him.

"I just packed us some stuff, and thought maybe we could have like a picnic in the park..." he paused, sliding into the car and smiling over at me sheepishly before licking his full lips.

"If that's ok with you?"

"Sure..." I nodded, smiling weakly when his eyes twinkled in the dull daylight that poured in through the windshield as he started off down the road.

"Comfortable?" He asked, looking at me from his corner of the blanket he had laid down.

"Yeah."

He nodding, smiling as he passed me a sandwich he had made.

"Is this the bread we went shopping for yesterday?"

"It is actually..." he laughed, watching me intently as I took it out of the tinfoil, before we sat in silence taking in the beauty of the nature that surrounded us.

"So..." he paused, brown eyes quickly darting to the balled up tinfoil he held in his fist.

"Your mom told me today that you're leaving for a bit in September."

"I am." I nodded, raising an eyebrow at him as he scooted closer to me, so close that my outstretched legs brushed against his when he finally settled down beside me.

"I'll miss you."

"You'll be fine."

"Who am I supposed to mess around with during lunchtimes?"

I shrugged, "what did you do before we hung out?"

"Eat in my cubicle."

I laughed, biting on my lower lip when I saw him crack a small smile.

"Why is that so funny?" He teased, leaning so that my shoulder brushed against his chest.

Narrowing my eyes, I scooted back a bit not really comfortable with being that close to him.

"Where are you going?"

"Hamburg."

He nodded, "Do you know somebody there?"

"My um..." I paused unsure of what to tell him. My eyebrows knit together as I contemplated wether or not I should say my friend or ex boyfriend was there.

"My friend is over there for a few months so I get to go visit for a few weeks."

"Oh, what's her name?"

"It's a boy actually..." I paused, glancing over to see Carlito's smile falter slightly at the word boy.

"I see."

"George, his name is George." I smiled, his name rolling off my lips sounding so sweet to me as I thought about his eyes and the sound of his laugh.

"He's there with his band mates, he left on the seventeenth of this month."

Carlito nodded, his face souring a bit as I gave him the run down on George.

"We used to come here all the time..." I motioned to our surroundings, the dimly lit purplish hue of the sky reminding me of George.

"Maybe it was a bad idea coming here tonight then."

"What'd you mean?" I questioned, confused by his sudden moodiness.

"I'd like to make some memories with you too." He mumbled, brushing hair off my shoulder as his milky brown eyes bore directly into mine.

"We already have! You're my friend." I deflected, scooting farther away from him.

He smiled slightly, "do you think maybe we could ever try to y'know..."

I quirked an eyebrow, cross my arms over my chest as my eyes scanned his face.

"What?"

"I like you."

"Oh...." I paused blushing, before I bit down on my lip. I wanted to get out of here and away from him immediately.

"Y-you don't mean that."

"Of course I do, you're sweet and beautiful." He mumbled, leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on my eyebrow.

"T-thank you..."

"Let's get you back then, I promised your parents I wouldn't keep you out all night." He spoke, his full lips brushing against my skin making me grimace at the sensation.

///

August 27th, 1960

12:09 p.m.

"You want to call first or sooth your nerves with some tea?" Mrs. Harrison joked, laughing at herself as she poured the tea into the dainty china cups.

I chuckled narrowing my eyes at her, she knew I was overly nervous about this call and kept poking fun. It was all in good fun though, she had told George about Carlito which made me cringe.

Now he was really going to hate me, I had told him my father basically thought he was lazy, and now he knew I had gone out with someone else.

"Here honey, it's ringing..." Mrs. Harrison smiled, quickly passing me the phone.

"Thanks..." I muttered, my mouth instantly going dry as I began sweating listening to the phones endless ring.

"Maybe he won't answer." I spoke, blinking over at George's mother who simply shook her head and mouthed the words, "he will."

"I don't think -" I started, only to be interrupted by the ringing coming to a halt.

"Hello?"

George...

"Is it him?" His mother whispered loudly, my breath catching in my throat as I nodded.

"Say hello." She instructed, smiling as she clasped her hands together.

"Is somebody there?" George asked, the sound of his voice making goosebumps rise up on my skin.

"I, um, h-hello..." I squeaked, my voice shaky as my breaths became shallow.

"Jacqueline? Is that you?" His voice becoming a bit cheerful.

"Y-yes."

"Mum told me you were gonna call and I didn't believe 'er."

"I didn't either..." I mused, looking over to see her smiling widely as she leaned against the sink.

"So, how have you been?"

"I'm...I suppose I'm ok. How're you?"

"I've been better." He stated, my heart sinking at the words that left his lips.

"Oh..."

"Yep..." he paused, sighing heavily into the phone's mouth piece.

"What time does yer train get 'ere on the second?"

"9:30, but you don't have to -"

"I don't mind, I mean it's a rough town I don't want you wandering about all by yer lonesome."

My heart fluttered as my cheeks flushed slightly, earning a laugh from his mom. Maybe he did still care, just a little bit if any.

"Alright, I carry my own stuff though."

"Absolutely not! My girl - shite, I mean you shouldn't 'ave too." He exclaimed making me laugh, before somebody started yelling in the background.

"Look I've gotta go, I'll see you then ok?"

"Alright, George." I whispered, getting ready to hang the phone up.

"Oh, and Jackie?"

"Hm?"

"I miss you..."

"I-I miss you too." I blushed, twisting the cord around my finger.

"I'll see you soon." He mumbled, breathing slowly.

"Goodbye, Geo..." I spoke softly, settling the phone back down onto the cradle before turning to look at Mrs. Harrison.

"Told you..." she teased, moving to give me a hug as we both laughed.

///

September 1st, 1960

8:37 p.m.

"Are you excited to leave tomorrow?" My mother asked, watching me pack my suitcase. I had just learned that I would need to be up and ready to catch the train by 12:30 a.m. 

"Good, I told your father that you'll be going back to Arizona to stay with Aunt Pearl."

I nodded, putting the last few articles of clothing into my suitcase. My mom had sent me out with Carlito for dinner with yesterday, as a going away party of sorts.

"I'm a bit nervous..." I mumbled, closing my suitcase and sitting it on the floor.

"About what?" She blinked, looking at herself in the mirror, quickly primping any areas that she thought were unsatisfactory.

"Seeing George..."

She narrowed her eyes, sitting down beside me on the bed. "Well, if he doesn't like you, you can always come back for Carlito. I happen to know he's very fond of you."

"Mom, I'm serious..."

"I know, I know....you're over thinking this though. Everything will be fine, just talk to him. Isn't Paul going to be there too?"

"Yeah." I shrugged, crawling into my bed to at least try and get a bit of sleep before I had to get up to catch the train.

"Come on then, and stop worrying about George."

Rolling my eyes, I laid down allowing my mother to turn the lights in my room off.

"I'll come wake you up soon." She whispered, kissing my forehead gently before exiting my room.

Laying still in the darkness I reflected upon what went on last night with Carlito when he had drop me off.

"I had a really nice time with you tonight." He spoke, standing on the step under the one my feet were firmly planted on.

"Thank you for a very pleasant evening." I smiled, ready to just go inside and disappear into my room until it was time for me to get on the train.

"You're very welcome." He shifted his weight shuffling a bit closer to me, taking my hand into his.

"I better be -"

"You really are very beautiful you know..." he smiled, moving his free hand up to my cup my cheek.

I bit down on my lip nervously, I couldn't kiss him on the lips, I mean technically I could but I was still mourning the loss of my Georgie.

The rose gold bangle he had given me in Paris that still adorned my wrist serving as a constant reminder of a love we shared for a few short weeks.

I felt scared, my parents both liked Carlito my dad even going as far to say he is the type of man he wanted me to end up with.

I flinched slightly watching his eyes flutter shut as he began leaning closer to me, his lips brushing against mine.

I couldn't kiss back, I had no feelings for him other than that of friendly affection. I stood there stiffly, his lips covering mine. They weren't like George's lips, warm and soft.

He pulled away looking up at me bashfully, licking his lips as if he was about to say something.

"I better go inside, goodnight!" I blurted, pulling my hand out of his and rushing inside before giving him a chance to say something.

The very thought of it made me shudder, I'd already lost my boyfriend and now I'd pushed away my new friend. Shrugging, I flipped over and curled up into a ball with the teddy bear George had won me at the pier a few months ago, and rested my head on the pillow that had always been his when he slept over. Allowing his scent to lull me to sleep until I would see him in a few hours.