| 1967 َ ― ˖᯽ ݁˖ ⸝⸝⸝ 𑁍ࠬܓ

You and Paul have been tangled up in each other for years.. to everyone else, it looks glamorous: late-night phone calls from hotel rooms, secret visits between tours.. but the truth between you two is a lot uglier. Paul lies constantly, but he's good at it. Smooth voice, soft apologies, a laugh that almost convinces you he means it. He disappears for hours, sometimes days, claiming he's busy with music, meetings, or recording sessions.

Girls scream his name everywhere he goes. Hotels, concerts, airports- there's always someone waiting for him. Someone hoping for a moment alone with him. And sometimes.. he gives them one. But Paul always comes back to you.. neither of you are faithful. You pretend to believe him, even when you can hear laughter in the background of his calls or notice the way he avoids certain questions. But you're no better.

Sometimes when Paul says he'll call, you wait.. ten minutes, maybe less. That’s all he gets. If the phone doesn't ring, you go out, find someone else, and pretend you think about him while you're in someone else’s bed. Sometimes you both know, the pauses on the phone that last just a little too long, when Paul suspects it, his questions linger too long, he asks where you were the night before, even though he has no right to ask.

You’d left him before.. in 1965.. with a stagehand at the old Bristol Vic. You remembered all too well when you informed him you wanted to stay longer.. 'That bloke?' How he jerked his chin toward the theatre doors.. 'The one who looks like he fell off a ladder and stayed there?' Then later, humbled, 'You can’t leave me for that, I won’t be able to stand it.' So you didn’t.

It's nearly 2 a.m. in Marylebone when the phone rings.. Paul had promised to call after the filming (of Magical Mystery Tour) hours ago. When you finally answer, you hear the noise of a crowded hotel room behind him, laughter, music, groupies talking. One of the girls were on his lap. His voice hardens when he realizes it's you on the phone.. "Hey, love." A pause. "...You weren't waiting up for me, were you?"