I nearly died, I nearly died,
'Cause you walked hand in hand
With another man in my place.

Linda was walking back to her home she shared with her lovely husband Paul, on an early spring night. The air around her was cool and crisp, just how she liked it. She spent the whole day shopping with her younger sister Laura for a wedding dress. Yes her lovely, baby sister was getting married, and of course big sissy was ready to step in a help her pick out a lovely dress. Although she was sure it would have been better if their mother, Louise, had been there, Laura insisted she only want Linda's opinion, and Linda's was the only one that mattered. So, of course, Linda kowtowed to her younger sister's request.

Linda made her way down the lane and up her drive way, as she neared the house, she looked up to see a silhouette in the curtain, then that one silhouette turned into two. Maybe Paul had a friend over, thought Linda because Paulie would never cheat on her. Well now that the whole Beatle Mania thing was over and they had The Wings going. Linda took out her key and put it into the door knob unlocking the lock and lightly pushing the door open. She place he coat into the closet, and threw her keys onto the side table beside the door. She kicked off her pumps. She went into the living room to find two used glasses, and an empty bottle of whisky lying on the bar. She laughed at how forgetful her husband was, although she knew he didn't mean too, he would often forget to put the glasses into the sink after using them, maybe he was so caught up in his friend's presence, he just forgot.

Linda walked up the stairs, and made her way up to the bedroom she shared with Paul, when she suddenly stopped. She heard voices coming from the door.

"Paul, hah stop it...that tickles..." the voice was of a young man. The young man had a slight accent, seemingly Persian. His voice was unknown to Linda, maybe he was someone Paul met recently.

"Come 'ead luv, you know you can't resist me charmin' smile." Laughed the voice of Paul, he sounded so happy. More so than he had, over the last few months. Linda noticed, but chose to ignore, the fact that Paul seemed more distant than usual. He would, act like he normally would, but his eyes; his big beautiful eyes looked slightly more distant. His voice was hollow, like he wasn't there mentally. He was on auto-pilot, a fictitious version of the Paul she fell in love with.

"Mmm...I just love looking into your eyes Paul. Every time I do, I feel like I get lost in those long, sexy, girly lashes." Giggled the young unknown man, creating a knot in Linda's stomach. She was starting to get the picture, but she hoped that maybe, just maybe she was wrong.

"You should talk, yer eyes are so...so...luv I'm a song writer, words are me thing, and I can't find the words to describe 'em."

"Ha, well maybe you should show me how you feel then. Or are you too, tired old man." The mocking tone in the younger male's voice caused Paul to laugh and Linda started to feel sick.
How could Paul do this to her? She devoted her entire life to him; she married him even though she knew she would have to travel back and forth from the States and the UK. She ignored her older brother who told her, Paul was no good for her. All because Paul batted his eye lashes, and said he'd give her the sun, the moons and the stars, if she'd just be his. Linda was frozen; she had no idea what to do. So she just sat, and kept listening.

" Hudson babe, I want you to take off that shirt, and those pants, and them trousers. I want you stark naked, 'caus I'm gonna show ye, how much I want ye."

The room went silent for a brief moment. Linda wondered why, she naively hoped that maybe, just maybe Paul would think of her and stop. But then the moaning started, and she lost it.
Tears fell down her cheeks as she silently cried, hearing her husband make love to another man. Worst yet, he did it in their bed, in their home, while she was "out".

After what felt like hours, the moaning and panting stopped. The knocking of the headboard and the creaking of the bed ceased. Linda felt like she had cried herself out of tears. As she waited for the last words of the two men inside the bedroom.

"Paul?"

"Yes Hudson?"

"I...I...I love you."

"I love you too. I know it's going to be hard for the next bit of time but I promise ya. We will be together, if not now, soon babe. I'll love ya until the sun burns out, and the world around us is an ice cube. I'll love ya, more than you'll ever know."

Linda had enough; she decided to make her presence known. As she walked into the bedroom, the two men in the bed were shocked. The younger of the two panicked and hid under the duvet, like a young child hiding from monsters under the bed.
"LINDA! What...what..."

"What am I doing here? Well I don't know Paul, I live here, but apparently I shouldn't be." Linda was becoming irate. Paul's sputtering did nothing but aggravate her. He was 33 not 15, he should past that already.

"Well, yeah I guess. I ...I guess the cat is out of the bag eh babe?" with that the younger man slowly uncovered himself from the duvet, and revealed his young face. The boy was beautiful really, his exotic feature, mesmerized Linda. He had a strong jaw, but still looked boyish. His lips were a rosy pink, and slightly plump, swollen from the recent contact they just had. His most desirable feature was his eyes. They were large, doe like hazel orb, outline with long, naturally curled lashes. They kind of reminded Linda of Paul from his younger years.

"Uh...yeah. Seems like it is eh?" He let out a nervous laugh, and cracked an uneasy smile. It was no wonder Paul fell for him, Linda thought again.

"I'm not going to sugar coat this Linda, I love this lil bugger," Paul ruffled the boys hair, and gave Linda an earnest apologetic look before he continued on.

"I know this is shockin', but you knew it as much as I did, this wasn't workin'. I love you Linda, and I always will, but Hudson, he's my everything. I looked into his eyes and I knew, I knew that he were the one for me. Never thought I'd find it in a chap, thought I had it set with you babe, but I guess not...I...just wish I could have told ya."

"Umm, I know I can never make up for ruining your marriage," started the young man. "But I can't help but tell you, I'm sorry. I am truly, and deeply sorry for hurting you. However, I am not sorry I fell for Paul. I'm not sorry that we share this...this bond. I only wish you didn't have to find out this way."

Linda was taken back, he had no qualms. She couldn't believe what he just said! He was a stupid, naive little boy who didn't know how life really worked.

"Fine, do as you please, but know this. Paul will never go public about you two. He was a Beatle for god's sake, how do you think the world, and I'm not exaggerating, the world would react? It would be in a frenzy. Just picture the headlines now, Paul McCartney, a FAG! What will George think? Or John, or Ritchie?"

"You're wrong-"the younger boy whimpered.

"No I'm not, I'm so right, it scares you. You'll have a hard life, no privacy, no time spent alone. And then you'll get frustrated, and agitated. Then you'll start fighting with one another. Soon Paul will start to bla-"

"LINDA THAT'S ENOUGH!" burst Paul, surprising Linda, and causing the younger man to flinch.

"Now, I know you're angry, I would be too! However, that doesn't give ya the right to put such, evil, vindictive thoughts into his head. I've never seen you like this before, why are you acting so...so...revolting. I think you should leave, or maybe we should. Either way, you and me, us. We're over, done, fini. I'll send you the papers in the mail. This may sound harsh but it's for the best babe. I hope you see that too."

Linda looked back towards Paul and his lover one last time before deciding that she would leave.

"I'm going to go stay with Laura, umm send the things there and we'll get this...uh...yeah...over with fast."
With that she went down the stairs and two the phone.

"Hey, Laura...I need you to come pick me up...Paul, is leaving me. So please...please...let me stay with you for a while."

I nearly died, I nearly died,
'Cause you walked hand in hand
With another man in my place.