Lovely Rita

Chapter 37

I awoke hazily to the feeling of arms around me. I smelt the faint aroma of Paul's aftershave and closed my eyes to appreciate it. Nothing seemed as beautiful as it did when I was on acid. Nothing but Paul, who's eyes were fluttering as he dreamt. I propped myself up on my elbow to watch him sleep. His mouth was curved into a little smile, and his round cheeks made his face look babylike on the pillow. I cast my eyes down the rest of him, taking in his gorgeous, naked body and the tangled mess of sheets in the background and chuckling in my head.

I slinked my way out of Paul's arms without waking him up, and slipped into my room to grab some new clothes. I spritzed myself with my perfume, detangled my hair (which I'm sure Paul would be annoyed at me doing myself), wiped off yesterday's make-up and put some tinted moisturiser on my face and neck. I pulled on some comfy undies and a t-shirt bra, and grabbed the clothes that I had lain out on my chair before the lads got there last night.

Getting back into Paul's room, I pulled on the skintight blue jeans I so loved, and a loose, flowing top that had winged sleeves. It was chemise material and I felt so feminine in it. I looked in the mirror and sorted my hair into a less bed head style (even after brushing, my hair still looked a sty. It always had ever since it got long).

I slipped Paul's slippers on and shuffled out of the room, making my way to the kitchen to wake myself up with some caffeine of any description. I glanced at the hall clock. 8am. Christ, it was a wonder I had actually woken up this early considering how late I stayed up last night. I continued my journey to the kitchen, only to jump a bit when I realised Yoko was stood at the counter on her own. I smiled and walked into the kitchen alcove.

"Morning, Yoko." I said, reaching to the kettle to put on the hob.

"Good morning, Julie." She said, her beautiful oriental accent shining through. I almost forgot about my false name, what with it going out the window during my experience last night. I didn't care. Rita seemed more animalistic than 'Julie'.

"Did you have fun last night? I hope we weren't too boring." I said, trying not to be too outwardly self deprecating. I just felt lowly in comparison to all of the great work she had done.

"Oh, psh. Don't be silly darling, of course you weren't boring! In fact, it was really nice to be with you on your first trip." She said, putting a hand on my arm and smiling her cute little smile up at me. I smiled back, feeling relatively special.

"Yeah, I was an acid virgin before last night. It was really interesting; I've never tried a hallucinogenic before." I said. Yoko smiled in a different way.

"So, what happened with Paul? John's been telling me about all those years ago." She said, smiling over the rim of the mug she was now holding. I looked down at the ground embarrassedly.

"Um, well. I... Could I talk to you properly? Can we sit down?" I said, thinking I might as well explain everything to her. She nodded and we trotted over to the sofa. I had a sudden wave of nerves wash over me as I began to fathom the words to explain everything...

"What is it?" Yoko said, her maternal side making an appearance as she put her hand on my knee. I put my mug down on the coaster on the table.

"Well, what has John told you?" I asked apprehensively.

"Just that you bumped into Paul, he brought you home and he wrote 'Lovely Rita' about you. They all loved you greatly and John always says he noticed a big hole in him when you left." Yoko said, tipping her head towards Paul's bedroom.
"He turned to alcohol when you went away, before Linda got him out of that rut of course. He'd have multiple girls round at a time and didn't even know what he was doing, except for when he wrote his music. As you can tell, he's fine now of course." She said, smiling as she finished. I never knew it was that bad... I felt so shitty now. I understood completely why he had gotten angry at me before.

"I'm just going to come forward and say it. Yoko, I'm from the f-" I started, before John arrived behind me and covered my mouth. I hadn't even noticed him get up. I did feel the nerves wash away though...

"And good morning to you two early birds, too!" He said, letting me go and giving Yoko a peck on the lips.
"Julie, y'know, I'm surprised you're up so early considering the racket I heard last night. You must have been knackered!" John said, winking as he made his way over to the tea Yoko had prepared. She knew him so well she even knew he'd be awake before it got cold. Bless. Back to what John had said, I felt my cheeks flush red.

"Oh yeah, we tried to be quiet but Paul's just such an intense lover..." I said, licking my lips in a sarcastically seductive way. Deep down I was so embarrassed though...

"Oh, I know." He said, making a camp hand movement in jest. I laughed at him, kind of glad to have the Yoko future pep talk dead and gone.
"What's going to happen when Linda gets back later though?" He said, turning to face me and crossing his arms.

"Well, shit." Was all I could say.
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Morning filler-y chapter.