Tomorrow Never Knows - Chapter Two

Authors: lovelyrita_mm, jenny_wren28, & pennylane_fic

Starring: The Beatles and Maggie Sue

Rating: M for language, implied sex (though none of it is explicit) & implied drug use. Characters used in this story are either our creation, or are historically-based (ie, The Beatles).

Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Beatles, this obviously never happened, and is a complete work of fiction.

Chapter Two

Though it felt like the blink of an eye, several pleasant hours of the Sgt Pepper album release party had apparently passed without her realizing it. Maggie set her glass down on the table with a clink of melting ice cubes and checked her watch. She'd been chatting with Peter Brown about Apple Corps for nearly 45 minutes! After the first five of those minutes, John's eyes had glazed over. "This is a party, luv – stop talking business," he'd scolded her. She knew he wasn't really upset with her, as there was a wink behind his scowl. With a kiss, he'd left her to Peter, seeking out a conversation more his speed. Maggie wouldn't have been surprised if he were planning on sneaking a few puffs off someone's joint either. She didn't even care, especially since this was a party. She'd had to come to a sort of peace about recreational drugs. She tried never to publicly criticize or nag John about using them and John's friends had accepted that she wasn't really into them herself. John was more likely to keep things at a minimum when she didn't push the issue or make him feel like she was controlling him.

Despite feeling a little guilty about talking business at a party, she'd allowed the conversation to continue - for her, talking about the Beatles was fun, not work at all. She couldn't believe it was her job to do nothing but deal with the Beatles all day long. Plus, Peter was a lovely man, and she enjoyed his company immensely. He was capable and he had Brian's and the Beatles' approval. As soon as she was able, she'd moved him up in Apple to be her second in command. She felt just a teeny bit guilty, as once upon another time, he'd been the one in charge of Apple. But Apple was hers now, and she had no intention of relinquishing it. Peter had, as she'd known he would, proven his worth to her and was already starting to take things off her plate. The reduced workload was a relief to John as well as Maggie. Moreover, Maggie enjoyed working with Peter, and it made her feel like she might be able to pull off this whole crazy venture. Still, this was a party, and she knew they could probably talk all night if she allowed it.

Peter saw the glance at her watch. "I suppose it's getting late and I should let you mingle," he said with a smile.

She smiled back. "I should probably go find John so I can chase the girls away from him!"

"Too right," he laughed. "And I'd better go find Brian – he was in a mood earlier and I want to make sure he's all right."

Maggie frowned at that. She'd been watching Brian closely but she always worried that it wouldn't be close enough.

But no. This was a party. No worrying tonight. Stopping herself from that train of thought abruptly, she gave Peter a quick hug and sent him on his way.

Now, where was John? Too bad he wasn't wearing his Pepper coat – its bright green color would make him easy to find in the crowd. Not that what he was wearing was bland. These days, the Beatles favored brightly colored clothes in clashing colors and patterns. Seeing them show up to the studio each day in increasingly outlandish attire made Maggie smile. She'd always been a jeans and t-shirts kind of girl (and frankly, couldn't afford better when she was in grad school) and where she'd come from, men definitely didn't dress in Carnaby Street fashion!

Threading her way through the crowd wasn't easy. An elbow jabbed her sharply in the upper arm. She turned around to glare at the offender and, not watching where she was going, ended up smacking right into Paul.

He grabbed her shoulders to steady her, his eyes crinkling into a smile when he recognized her. She looked up at him in surprise and instantly noticed his expression. Paul was smiling? At her? That was suspicious. She and Paul had never been close, though they got on much better now than they once had. Still, that particular smile of Paul's meant he wanted something. Maggie gave him a skeptical look, which made him laugh. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and escorted her through the crowd until they found a quiet and less crowded spot so that they could talk.

"What do you want, Paul?" Maggie asked suspiciously, though she couldn't quite hide her smile. This was, after all, the real Paul McCartney standing in front of her, still sporting his Sgt Pepper mustache. Though he wasn't John, she had a tremendous respect for his musical talents.

"Want? Why do you think I want anything?" he said disingenuously.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, come off it, Paul."

"Fine," he said, sighing and dropping the act. "I was wondering if you might be willing to tell me where your American friend Linda is staying while she's in town?"

Maggie let out a little squeal, despite herself. She clapped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late.

Paul looked at her in surprise. This was obviously not the reaction he'd expected.

"You want Linda's number?!" Maggie asked, unable to completely hide her eagerness. "Are you going to try to get together with her? Take her for a drink, or, you know…" she waggled her eyebrows in her best John imitation. Maggie watched Paul back up a step. Oops. Maybe she had been a little overzealous.

"Uh…" Paul looked unsure as to what the right answer was.

"Isn't Linda here?" Maggie swiveled around, scanning the crowd for her friend. There she was! She grabbed Paul's arm and before he could react, she was dragging Paul behind her in Linda's general direction.

Paul never imagined he'd be desperate enough to ask Maggie for help with his love life. It was dangerous for so many reasons. For one, Maggie had no real reason to help him, and probably lots to hurt him. They'd never gotten on particularly well, after all, which was mostly Paul's own fault.

Because of this, the strength of Maggie's reaction to his semi-casual query about Linda had both surprised and confused him. It left him trying to figure out if Maggie was pushing him at Linda or whether he had walked into some sort of trap because he'd asked for another woman's number while he was still pre-engaged to someone else. Someone Maggie was friends with, no less.

"Isn't Linda here?" Maggie asked, scanning the crowd for her friend.

"Well…" was all Paul managed. He'd seen Linda earlier briefly, but was trying to play it cool. They'd spent a while chatting at Brian's party the other night and had hit it off, but he didn't want Linda to think he was trying too hard. Plus, he was, for all intents and purposes, engaged. They hadn't made it official yet, but it was clearly where they were heading. Then again, while he and Jane weren't unhappy, they also wanted very different things and Paul was starting to think their relationship might have an expiration date on it. Plus, there were so many birds out there, why tie yourself down to one? Being in a serious relationship made him chafe for his freedom. He saw how John had been affected once he had tied himself down to Maggie – hell, John had thrown a whiskey glass or two at him because of it - and Paul wanted no part of that. He thought this Linda might be the distraction he needed from his relationship problems.

"There she is!" Before Paul could react, Maggie had grabbed his arm and was towing him after her through the crowd.

"Maggie, I don't think…" But it was too late, he had to follow or be dragged - and being dragged was just plain undignified. Suddenly, he found himself being shoved into Linda; she would have been knocked over if he hadn't grabbed onto her.

"Oh, sorry, Linda, I didn't see you there!" Maggie chirped cheerfully at her friend. "You remember Paul, right?"

Linda, still in Paul's arms, looked over at Maggie with confusion in her eyes, and then up at Paul. She blushed, something that made Paul's stomach flutter. Linda was so cool and collected that he found her blushing utterly disarming.

"Sorry, about that, Lin," Paul said, apologetic. "I didn't mean to bump into you. Someone wasn't watching where they were going." He looked pointedly at Maggie, who was grinning like an idiot, clapping her hands together like one of those motorized monkey toys, and bouncing on her heels. What was she up to? Despite his confusion, Paul took his time letting go of Linda, enjoying the feel of her slender form in his arms.

"Linda, Paul's offered to drop you home tonight - I know I promised, but…" Maggie's words trailed off suggestively.

"I did?" Paul looked confused. "Oh, right, I did," he managed to finish more suavely than he started, as he caught on to what Maggie was trying to do. He gave Linda a big smile, and she blushed again. Paul turned back to Maggie to give her the signal to get lost so he could hit on Linda, but she'd already disappeared. Shrugging, Paul turned back to Linda, glad he could focus on dazzling her with the famous McCartney charm without an audience.

Maggie giggled to herself as she ducked back into the crowd. Things were falling into place; Paul and Linda would fall in love, and all would be right with the world. Maggie knew Jane would be better off, though it would be hard on her at first. Maybe she would have a word with Paul about breaking it off with Jane like a gentleman. Her coming home to find him in bed with someone else was so tacky. Or maybe she could get Jane to break it off with Paul herself? Maggie made a mental note to call Jane (who was off shooting a movie) in the next day or so to feel the situation out.

"Hey luv, can I buy you a drink?" It was George, looking relaxed for a change.

"You certainly can, if you can tell me where John is."

"Oh, he's over at the bar. You know him, three drinks and he's anyone's. Or was that Paul?" George pondered for a minute.

"It's both of them, and that's what I'm afraid of!"

George chuckled, "I don't think you really have to worry about John. I've never seen someone so head over heels." He shook his head sadly, "All this monogamy is ruining his reputation as a Beatle!"

"I suppose you are making up for him?"

"Well, someone has to! You know, if you ever fancy a shag Miss Margaret, I could show you who's a real Beatle…" he raised his eyebrows at her suggestively, knowing that Maggie would never really accept that kind of invitation from him - or anyone not named "John Lennon" for that matter.

Maggie rolled her eyes at him. "You're terrible."

"I am. I really am." George laughed at her. "I'm also drunk."

"Really? I couldn't tell," she shot back with a sarcastic grin. She loved him dearly even if he was incorrigible. Maggie and George continued their companionable walk towards the bar.

Promising that he'd wrangle fresh drinks for them both, George left her briefly. The bar was packed with people, but she was sure he'd have no problem getting a bartender's attention. Being a Beatle had its advantages she supposed. Through the throng of people, she could just make out John standing at the other end of the bar. She smiled to herself at the sight of him.

George slipped back to her through the crowd, handing her a drink. Thanking him, she took a sip of it and gazed around, mentally trying to chart the best way through the crowd to John. "Let's have lunch sometime this week," George said seriously, having given up their old inside joke of him hitting on her. "I want to talk to you about maybe going to India in the fall…"

Maggie barely controlled her wince. She had known this would come up sooner or later, but she had hoped to stave it off for a little while longer. "Oh, I don't know George. I mean, yes, of course we can have lunch, but I'm not sure about India…"

"What do you have against India?"

"Nothing, but it's very hot and the poverty there is so rampant – I'd feel guilty and sad the entire time. Plus you know poor Ringo can't eat the food there."

"He can bring a suitcase of beans, he'll be fine. You're just making lame excuses – what is it really?" George sounded exasperated. Maggie felt guilty. She knew why India excited him so much. She was always the one that got him even when the others didn't. But every time he brought up India, she changed the subject.

"It's just…" Maggie didn't know how to explain her issues with the whole crazy religious aspect of the Maharishi and meditation, how the whole thing smacked to her of a cult. She was a scientist and she simply didn't believe in…

Maggie lost her train of thought when out of the corner of her eye she spotted a small, dark shadow flitting across the room. She frowned, trying to get her thoughts back in order.

"It's not…" she began again, George looking at her expectantly. Just then, the dark shadow burst out of the crowd at the end of the bar, making a beeline straight for John. Suddenly Maggie recognized the shadow. Maggie's vision tunneled and the drink slipped from her hand. It shattered on the floor, and despite the din of the party, sounded like a crash of ominous thunder in her ears.

Yoko.

A/N

ZOMG YOKO! ONO! (haha, see wot I did thar?) But seriously, ZOMG YOKO! WHAT WILL MAGGIE SUE DO?!1111!1