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Lovers and Friends


Chapter Six

The next morning I woke up early, which was a surprise to me--I thought I would probably sleep past Paul's arrival! I ate breakfast and got ready for my day. Brian came downstairs carrying an overnight bag. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"I received a phone call from my brother. My mother is feeling under the weather and since Clive has to go out of town on business, I need to go over and watch her. You'll be able to hold down the place on your own, won't you?"

He left me a key and some important phone numbers in case there was any emergency. I could not believe that he would trust his home to me. But I understood that he had to take care of his mother. No offense to Brian, but I wasn't here to visit him anyway, I was here to visit Paul this time.

Paul arrived at 10 o'clock exactly. I answered the door and Paul stood there with a small bunch of flowers, and probably the biggest smile I had ever seen across his face. He didn't say a word when he first walked in, he just gave me a huge hug. "Ah luv, I have been waiting for this for so long!"

"It's good to be here. Very good. So, where are we going?"

"Well, it's a lovely day, would you like to go for a walk? We're going to have lunch with me dad and brother, if that's alright with you."

"Oh, taking me to meet the family, eh? Making sure I pass inspection?"

"Well, partly, but also 'cause me brother insisted he meet you, and I guess that got Dad curious, too. I guess I talk about you a lot." he said sheepishly.

"That's what Brian said last night over dinner," I commented. Interesting, I thought to myself.

We left the house and just walked around the neighborhood a bit, holding hands the whole time. Nobody came up to Paul, either for an autograph or to yell at him for sacking Pete, which was thankful. The way Brian described it last night, I was honestly a bit scared for their safety and mine when I was with them. We talked more about what had happened in our lives in the past couple months. We returned to Brian's to pick up Paul's car to go to his house.

We drove out of the nicer part of Liverpool into the Allerton area, an area with rows of smaller flats; they weren't run-down or anything, they were nice little places, but nothing compared to the really nice flats like what Brian lived in. We went inside the McCartney residence on Forthlin Road. It was a nice home, it looked like it was built after the war. Paul's brother greeted us at the door.

"Hey there, about time you two got here--what, did you let her drive?" Apparently, Michael liked to tease people a lot. "This must be the Jill Dearborn that I have heard way too much about this summer. How do you do?"

"Fine, nice to finally meet you, too." He was definitely cute, but not as cute as Paul!

A loud voice came from the kitchen. "They 'ere, Mike?" Jim McCartney emerged from the kitchen, and I stifled a laugh. He was a tall attractive gentleman, and I wouldn't have wanted to laugh except that he was wearing a tattered flowered apron! I guess I didn't stifle enough, he heard me chuckle. "Oh, this old thing--it's my wife's. This way she can still help me with the cooking! Jim McCartney." He dried his hands on the apron and extended his hand. He gave me quite a hearty handshake. "It's good to have you here, I've been wanting to see who this mystery woman was all summer!" He smiled warmly at me, and whispered, "You know, I always wanted a daughter." He winked at me and laughed. "Alright, who wants hamburgers?"

Hamburgers?! I hadn't had one of those since I left the States. I was pleasantly surprised! I asked, "I thought the British didn't eat hamburgers."

"We don't," Mr. McCartney replied. "But Paul here coaxed George to get a couple good American recipes from his sister over there!"

I was quite impressed, and a bit taken aback. "Did you do that for me?" I asked Paul.

"Of course, luv...anything for you!" He winked at me and smiled.

Mr. McCartney and Mike really struck me as very nice guys. I envied the relationship between Mike & Paul. I was kinda close to my brother Chris but not as close as they were. Chris was still at that age that the older sister isn't fun to be around...that would probably change when I turn 21! I imagined their mother's death brought them closer; I learned in a psychology class that something traumatic like that usually does.

***

After lunch, and the visiting with the McCartneys (Mr. McCartney had been kind enough to show me the family photo albums, much to Paul's dismay), Paul drove me back to Brian's. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon, and from the looks of the sky it was going to rain, and rain hard. We got inside the house just as the sky opened up. Paul opened up all the curtains so we could watch the storm. The lightning was spectacular, sometimes it lit up the whole house. Thunder scared me though, especially the really loud claps. There was one that I swear shook the house, and the power went out. We were just sitting on the couch when it happened. I just about jumped out of my skin! Paul hugged me and reassured me that it was alright. We searched the house for some candles while we still had a bit of light outside. As we lit the candles, Paul said, "Well, there goes the dinner plans!"

"What dinner plans?" We hadn't discussed what else we were going to do that day.

He started laughing a little. "Well, I was hoping to cook you a nice dinner, I got some nice wine, and I bought some Frank Sinatra records to listen to, maybe dance a little. Try to give you your 'perfect evening.' I was even able to finagle Brian out of here for the whole night. And now it's all shot to hell!" He plopped down on the couch.

"Wait a second, Brian told me that he was staying with his mother because she was ill and his brother was gone..." My eyes grew wide as I realized what was going on. "You mean to tell me this was all a plot to get me drunk and in bed with you?!" He put his head down and nodded shyly. I should have been absolutely furious with him. A TKE I went on a couple dates with sophomore year did something similar. I was a lot less mature and more naïve then and I almost fell for it. I swore that I would never fall for someone so slick again...but Paul was different. I didn't sense he was trying to be like this, he just was.

I stood in front of the window, looking out at the storm. I had never realized how romantic thunderstorms were. Or maybe it was the whole situation, and not just the weather. At that moment I realized just how much I had missed him over the past two months...missed his voice, his touch, just his presence. I couldn't believe that in such a short time this guy had had such an impact on me! Here I was, thousands of miles away from parental supervision, in an empty house during a rainstorm, with a guy who was literally trying to wine & dine me...a year ago I would have run screaming. But this was different. I don't know if it was because I had grown older and learned more life lessons, or if I was just desperate for some attention from the opposite sex, no matter what kind it was! Maybe Anne had been right...I did need to cut loose once in a while. I certainly wasn't promiscuous by any stretch of the imagination, what's a little weakness now?

I took a deep breath, walked back over to him, took his hand, and said, "I'm flattered that you wanted to do this for me." I sat down next to him and looked at him with a flirty look. "You know, we can still have a good time tonight." I put my hand on his knee.

I think his eyes almost popped out of his head. "You mean..."

"Sure, why not? It's about time I did it. When I talked to Anne earlier this summer, she told me that I need to cut loose once in a while, let my hair down. I've been cooped up for too long! This summer I have come out of my shell! Hey world, make ready for the new Jill Dearborn!" I laughed as I stood up and twirled around, which made me dizzy and I fell on my butt on the floor, still laughing hysterically.

Paul looked at me like I was mad. "Are you alright? Have you been sneakin' some of that wine?" He joined me sitting on the floor.

"Nope! I have just gotten an appreciation for life, for living for the moment." My tone turned serious. "When you called last night, I was having a wierd dream about John's mother and I pushed her out of the way of the car that would have killed her. And seeing your family today, your father wearing your mother's apron so that she could help him in the kitchen...I've realized that you never know what can happen. I might die tomorrow, or I might live to be a hundred! Who knows? I have hidden behind my fears of doing something wrong my whole life, wanting to please other people, wondering about the repercussions of every little thing I did, every decision I made, I don't think I've had the fun that I should have been having my whole life. I deserve to have fun. I'm not going to turn into some sort of daredevil or take stupid risks, I just want to have fun every day. I've been living my life for other people...now I need to live it for me." I was amazed at the monologue/sermon that had just come out of my mouth...and the more I thought about it, I was right--I did need to have more fun! I smiled as thoughts raced through my head of what I could do to make up for my straight-laced upbringing.

I looked at Paul, and he was looking at me with what I could only assume were "bedroom eyes." His face looked almost angelic in the candlelight. I wasn't a very religious person, but I thought that maybe Paul was some sort of guardian angel to me. I leaned in to kiss him, and he pulled me down on the floor. We kissed there for a while, and then he stood up, took one of the candles, and started upstairs. "Follow me," he said.

I hesitated, but only for a second. This is the new Jill Dearborn, who will live life to the fullest and be somewhat impulsive. I got up and followed him up the stairs. I showed him which room I was staying in, and we went in. He closed the door, put the candle on the nightstand, and closed the windowshades. I didn't know what to do next, so I just sat on the bed. Paul sat down next to me and asked me if I was sure I was ready. I nodded, and smiled at him, trying to be as calm as possible. But my insides were such a flutter--this was it! I was terrified, but excited at the same time. I realized that I had no clue as to what to do with this whole thing. I'd done stuff with guys, "heavy petting" and the like, but nothing like this. Paul noticed the deer-in-headlights look on my face. "Don't worry, luv, you're not going to do anything wrong." He started kissing my neck and undid my top button.


On to Chapter Seven
Back to Chapter Five


Copyright © 1999-2006, Winona Patterson.