Our hug lasted a bit longer than a hug should last and when we pulled away, I couldn’t help but stare at him for a few more seconds before turning away and sitting on the bed.

“So tell me…how did you guys locate him?”

John followed me and sat across from me.  He told me how Neil had called the hotel and had asked the manager if they had found a bear.  When news got around that one of the Beatles was looking for a bear that was left behind, all the female employees started investigating until one of the girls boasted about having found an authentic Beatles souvenir.  From what John told me, he had to talk to some of the girls by phone and “convince” them to send the bear to him.  In doing so, he would personally thank them at their next press conference and send them personalized autographs. 

I laughed. “So one girl found the bear and you have to thank how many?”

“That was the price I had to pay for the release of Fred.” He smiled.

“Thanks John. That was really sweet of you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

My eyes met with John’s and there was an awkward silence building up.

“So…uhhh…what did you guys decide on about the tour?” I asked.

“We’ve cancelled a few of the upcoming shows…but we’ll finish the tour, nonetheless.” He responded.

“How do you feel about that?”

John shrugged. “I was done with touring before we even started this one.” He said blatantly.

“Oh…and what about the others?”

“Paul was really the one who was pushing for it…George was against it and Ringo…well he was just going to go along with whatever was decided like me." John continued.  “But anyway, I guess we have a few days off…what do you want to do?” He inquired.

“What do I want to do?” I asked surprised.

“Well yeah…I was hoping we could spend it together…”

“Well…what can we do is the real question.  I mean I’m assuming we can’t just go sightseeing or anything.”

“You assume correctly…so let me rephrase the question.  What do you want to do that involves us staying confined in this hotel?”

“What do you guys usually do?” I asked.

“Well…” John thought for a moment. “We watch telly, play cards, drink, smoke…have a little fun with the birds that we meet...” John finished giving me a smirk.

“Oh boy…what a thrill.” I said sarcastically.

“Don’t knock it, luv…it’s all we have available to us.”  John said

“I’m sorry. Well let’s go see what the others want to do.” I said getting up and heading out the door.  As I opened the door I realized John wasn’t behind me.  I looked back and he was still sitting on the bed.

“Well aren’t you coming?” I asked.

“Well..I …uh...sure.” John stammered getting up.  I noticed he was a bit reluctant and then it hit me that maybe he didn’t mean ‘we could spend it together’ as in all of us, but ‘we’ as in just he and me.  As tempting as that sounded, I was glad I had unintentionally ruined those plans.  I knew very well John was starting to stir feeling in me for him and spending time alone with him was not going to help them go away.   In a way, I felt happy that I could have these feelings again.  My break up with Nick had been terrible and I never thought that I could ever like another man again…especially because of my long term relationship with Nick, but it was starting to happen…the fact that I could feel attracted to another man meant that I was healing and that having a love life after Nick was possible…even if it wasn't with John.

We got to Paul’s room and found Ringo and George sitting around the television set.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Being bored.”  Ringo answered.

“So let’s do something then.” I smiled.

Both of them straightened up. “What did you have in mind?” George asked.

“I don’t know.  Don’t they have some kind of entertainment downstairs?  I mean this is a ritzy, high-class hotel…you’d think something this nice might have something for us to do.”

“Paul did mention they had a pool table in the Game Center.” Ringo said.

“Where is Paulie?” John asked.

“He’s out swooning the bird at the reception desk.” George answered.

“So…how about a game of pool then?” Ringo asked.

“Alright…but I get Emma this time.” John said.

“Right…now you want her on your team! Last time you were so sure you and Paul would beat us…and she ended up kicking your arse!” Ringo laughed.

“Yeah John…nobody saw that coming…” George put in.

“Well how were we supposed to know she was a pool shark?” John laughed.

As I listened to the conversation, I realized Emma must have played pool with the boys…and apparently had been very good at it.  It didn’t surprise me though…Pool was a game of geometry and Emma was a little brain if I ever saw one…the only problem was that I was absolutely terrible at pool.

Ringo and George stood up and we all headed for the door.  As we walked to the Game Center I tried to tell John not to be so confident about my abilities, but he was too busy betting an all inclusive night on the town once they got back to England.

When we did reach the Game Center, I pulled John aside as Ringo and George went over to pick out their pool cues.

“John?  You do realize that I’m not feeling 100 percent right now…my body is sore all over…I may not be much of a player this time around.” I said.

By John’s expression, I knew he hadn’t thought about that and he now knew very well we were in a bit of a predicament.

“Hmmm...oh well, I still want you as my partner.” He said after thinking a bit and smiling. 

I laughed. “Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. “ I said as we both picked out our cues.

“You can’t possibly be THAT bad.” I heard him say. 

Bad was an understatement.  After three games of playing pool, John finally called it a day since he already owed both Ringo and George three nights out.

“Boy, Maureen is going to be thrilled when I get home…going out and all courtesy of John.” He laughed.

“Patti too…maybe we should do a double date.” George smiled as they both looked at John who was muttering something under his breath. 

“Sorry…but I did warn you.” I said coming up to John.

“I know, but…I thought MAYBE you’d play half as good as when you killed us… so I figured I could make up  the other half, but you were terrible, luv.” He laughed.  “It’s as if you were a completely different person.”

I laughed uneasily.  If he only knew.   

We hadn’t seen Paul all afternoon and he finally showed up later that evening.  John and George asked him where he had been all afternoon.

“I don’t kiss and tell.” He said nonchalantly.

“Like hell you don’t!” John responded.

“Well not in front of a lady…” Paul continued motioning me.

“By all means…don’t mind me…” I said knowing very well what their lifestyle must have been like.

“Luv…you don’t want to know…its best he keep his mouth shut.” Ringo said as he walked over and sat down next to me. 

We sat around for the rest of the evening, watching a couple of movies that were playing on the television and the boys downed a few drinks while I stuck to drinking non alcoholic beverages and taking pain killers.

The boys took off the next 5 working days which meant canceling the shows in Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston and Memphis.  During that time, there was a press conference addressing what had happened in Washington, carefully leaving out the identity of the Beatles staff member who had been caught in the riot- hence me.  John also kept his promise by thanking the hotel staff who had found Fred, thanking each one by name and telling them they would be receiving a little thank you gift from him in the next couple of days.  All in all, apart from the continuous questions about the Jesus comment at the press conference, the days the boys took off from the tour were wonderful.  We didn't do much...and that was fine with everyone.  The boys slept in, watched some movies, had a few parties in the evenings...and for those few days forgot about the outside world.  I joined in on the relaxation. 

The return to the concerts was not welcomed by any of the Beatles.  They were reluctant to go back after the last occurence in Washington, but in the end they all obliged and put on as best of a show as they could with all the screaming from the girls.  I went along to the venue, a bit weary after what had happened the last time, but Mal was given orders by Brian to keep an eye on me.  The next concerts in St. Louis, New York, and Seattle were a blur…the movie A Hard Day’s Night wasn’t far from the truth…with the addition of protestors outside the venues and everyone’s nerves a bit more on edge because of it.  I felt like we were either in a car or a hotel or a plane and during the time we weren’t, everyone was exhausted from the hectic schedule. 

I had let my parents know we would be heading to Los Angeles and I hoped I could get away for a little bit to at least say hi.   I hadn’t been back since the big breakup with Nick and I wasn’t too sure how I would feel being back there.  One thing was for sure though: Going back to Los Angeles as part of the Beatles’ entourage was definitely the way to return-no one would feel sorry for me even if they tried. 

There were a couple of days off from the Seattle concert to the Los Angeles concert at Dodger Stadium, so I was thrilled when Brian said we would spend the days off in Los Angeles…that pretty much meant I would get to see my parents after all.

I pulled Brian aside after the Seattle concert and asked him if it would be possible to get away for at least part of the day so I could see my parents.  Apparently, I wasn’t as discreet as I had hoped because John walked up behind me and excitedly contributed to the conversation.

“Yes!  Let us all go meet up with mummy and daddy!” he grinned. 

I was a bit surprised and a little nervous about having that actually happen. 

Brian laughed and said it wasn’t a problem; I could take the time to go.

“What about us? Oh please Brian.  Pretty please….” John jokingly put his hands together and pleaded.

“Well it’s not really up to me…the question should really be directed at Emma…she’s the one that would be introducing you boys to her parents.” Brian winked and left John and I alone.

“So, what do you say, luv?” John said returning to his casual self.  “Care to take us along to meet the parents?”

John was serious about this.  There was no joking tone in his question and now I was left to answer him.

“Uhhh…sure.” I said.  But certainty was the last thing I was feeling right now.

“Great!” John smiled.  “Hey fellas!” John said turning to the others. “We’re gonna need to be on our best behavior…Emma over here has agreed to take us along to meet her mum and dad…so no funny business…at least pretend to be good clean cut lads!”

That got the room laughing. 

"That should be easy...we pretend to be that every day for the media." George said. 

"Yeah I won't even mention that we slept together." John smiled.

I looked over at John open mouthed. "We did not sleep together John Lennon!" I said bewildered. 

"Luv, I hate to tell you this, but we did...in all the sense of the word. Notice I didn't say 'had sex' or 'made love' or fu--' "

"John!" I interrupted.

He laughed at my expense. "I said slept. Oh you and your dirty mind!" he continued. 

"Who is corrupting whom here?" Paul chimed in from the back of the room and joined in on the teasing. 

"Oh shut up!" I said. 

Everyone laughed and while I thought it was funny too, it was hard to relax when I knew the truth…when my parents knew the truth…when they were going to meet up with their daughter Mirel, not Emma…and when I knew my parents wouldn’t go along with my lie. 

Ringo walked over to me…apparently my anxiety was transparent.

“Having second thoughts, luv?” He asked genuinely concerned.

I looked at him and couldn’t help but smile. “No…of course not.”

And that wasn’t so much a lie.  In other circumstances I would feel happy…proud to bring them home to introduce them to my parents, but the situation was a little more complicated than that…and it was all due to me pretending to be Emma.  I knew my parents would love the guys…what wasn’t to love about them?  I mean it wasn’t like they were going to be prying into the Beatles personal lives…my parents never did that…not even with our boyfriends…it was more like the Beatles would be prying into my life…and finding out I was Mirel and not Emma would be inevitable. 

Bottom line was that I was going to have to confess the truth to them.