Tomorrow Never Knows - Chapter Sixteen
Authors: lovely_rita_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.
Autumn of 1967 had been a series of highs and lows for Maggie Sue. After her emotional breakdown over Brian, it had been wonderful to be reunited with John, and to watch some of the last of the Magical Mystery Tour being filmed. Recharged by her New York trip, it was very hard to keep her mouth shut at some of the decisions being made regarding the film, but Maggie felt it was too late to make suggestions now – the die had already been cast.
Despite being busy at Apple, when Maggie had heard that the band was working on Hello Goodbye, she made an effort to be at the studio on the right day to listen in.
Looking at her watch, Maggie thought she might even be in time to join the band for dinner. She opened the studio door carefully, not wanting to interrupt anything, but the band seemed as if they were on a break.
"Maggie!" John spotted her right away and ran over to give her a hug and a kiss.
"How's it going?"
John wrinkled his nose. "Fine, but Paul is pushing to have his song be the A side instead of "I Am The Walrus."
"Do you want me to beat him up for you?" Maggie said lightly.
"You'd do that? Incite violence just for me? I knew there was something I liked about you!"
"Maybe we should just give peace a chance," Maggie said smiling, knowing he wouldn't really get the reference.
Watching the band record never lost its thrill for her. She remembered listening to the clips of studio chatter on the Anthology CDs, and here she had practically unrestricted access to hours of it.
October had also brought Brian's memorial service at the New London Synagogue. The Beatles had all attended, and Maggie, feeling a bit less fragile than she had before, soldiered through it. For Brian's sake, she felt she had to. She still felt guilty about not having saved him, but the truth was, it was over and done. She had to focus her efforts on the future. If she had failed Brian, then she couldn't fail John.
Yoko continued to be a thorn in Maggie's side. Yoko's last postcard had come on John's birthday. This one said to "Colour yourself. Wait for the spring to come. Let us know when it comes." Spring is never going to come for you, Maggie thought at Yoko. Maggie ripped this card up and buried it with the rest of them. She felt horribly guilty for tampering with John's mail. She knew it was wrong, but all was fair in love and war, wasn't it? And this was certainly war.
It looked like Paul would indeed get his way with their new single, and "I Am The Walrus" would be on the B-side. John wasn't too happy and grumbled about Paul's song being silly, but nevertheless, he seemed to have fun shooting the promotional films Paul directed for "Hello Goodbye". Maggie, remembering the videos she had seen in her own time, got the Sgt Pepper costumes out of one of their closets, where she'd carefully stored them, and made sure they got used for the videos. She remembered the Beatles wearing the costumes in them, and while she might have screwed up a lot of things in the timeline, she had to make sure at least this one silly thing still happened.
Though John was still annoyed about his song being relegated to a B-side, he was delighted when he'd learned that "I Am The Walrus" had been banned by the BBC on both TV and radio.
"They were sure there must be a drug reference somewhere, and anyways, using the word "knickers" is obscene," John cackled as he explained the situation to Maggie Sue.
"Obscene? Really?" Maggie found it almost as funny as John did. If only the people running the TV and radio now knew what the future would bring in entertainment. "I Am The Walrus" was so tame in comparison.
"You don't find the mention of knickers, obscene, Miss Margaret?" John said pulling her closer.
"Not really – but maybe it's because we don't call them knickers where I'm from."
"Well, maybe the Americans won't ban my song then!"
"Maybe!"
"Speaking of knickers…" John said meaningfully.
"Were we?" Maggie replied, knowing exactly where this conversation was going to lead.
"We were! Now are you going to be a naughty girl and let your knickers down?"
"Only if you stop quoting your own lyrics," she laughed.
"Deal!" John said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her eagerly.
Time continued to fly and by November the Magical Mystery Tour film and album were done, though the film wouldn't be premiered til Boxing Day, which was the day after Christmas. It was exciting for Maggie to watch the promotion for the album, to hear the fan reaction. The BBC played the whole album, even the banned "I Am The Walrus," two days before its official release date, which was December 8th. The significance of the date made Maggie shudder, but she said nothing to John, hoping he wouldn't notice.
The fan reaction to the album was no different than to any of the Beatles's past albums. They loved it! Despite what she knew, Maggie couldn't help but hope that the fans' goodwill might extend to the film. John seemed unphased by the possibility of the film being disliked, but Maggie worried about how Paul would take the film's inevitable poor reception by fans and critics alike.
"Stop worrying, luv! It will be fine!" John kissed Maggie on the forehead. "Now put your costume on or we'll be late."
"Late? Since when are you worried about being on time for anything?" Maggie teased him. The Magical Mystery Tour broadcast was still a week or so off and John was right. She needed to stop worrying. Sometimes she felt like it was all she did. Had she always been like this? Or was it chasing after the Beatles in a time not her own that had brought it on her? How could she not worry with all this responsibility, especially when she had failed Brian in such a big way? She supposed she had plenty of time for worrying later - tonight was just going to be fun. The Beatles were throwing a fancy dress ball (or a costume party, as it might have been called in America) to celebrate both the December holidays and Magical Mystery Tour's imminent airing on TV.
John leaned over and examined his reflection in the mirror, fussing at the slicked back hair on either side of his head.
Maggie couldn't help but giggle to see him dressed up like a late 50s Teddy Boy in jeans, Chuck Taylors, and a colorful leather jacket.
He turned and looked over at her when he heard her giggle. "Do you need help getting into your costume? Or getting out of it?"
"Stop doing that with your eyebrows!" He put one eyebrow down. "Both of them!" Maggie giggled again, "And no! I need to finish putting this costume on, not take any more of it off! And I thought you didn't want to be late!"
John laughed, "I'd willingly be late for THAT." He started winking at her. With both eyes.
Before he could intercept her, and make them miss the party entirely, Maggie grabbed her gown from where it was lying on the chair in the bedroom. She batted her eyes at John innocently. "I may need some help getting out of this outfit, but not 'til AFTER the party. If you're a good boy and wait 'til then, I'll let you unlace me."
John cheered up at this thought, "Unlacing is good. I'm happy to unlace anything you want! Maybe we should leave the party early, then? Or just skip it altogether? What am I unlacing?" He grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, inspecting the 18th century undergarments she was currently wearing.
"The corset," she smiled. "And it's staying ON for now." She held the gown up to John. "Can you help me with this?" The gown she was holding was made of gold silk that had hand-printed flowers on it. It had folds of fabric falling down from the back neckline in the French 18th century style, and once she'd wiggled into the sleeves, the gown rustled satisfyingly as it fell over the wide panniers at her sides. She adjusted it and then pinned the decorative stomacher to her front. "What do you think?" she asked, twirling around. She'd made it herself, in an effort to recapture some of her old theater costuming skills.
"I like the hair!" John said admiringly. "It's very…tall."
"So is yours!" she said, noting the way his hair spiked up on the top of his head.
"You look beautiful," he said, his voice serious, but only for a second. "I can hardly wait to get you out of it!"
Maggie smiled and rolled her eyes. "Not now, I have to help Linda finish getting ready too!"
"Well, you'd better go help her then – Paul will be here to ride over with us soon. Oh! Wait!" John rummaged through a dresser drawer. "I almost forgot!"
"Forgot what?"
"Well, when you told me you were going as Marie Antoinette, I bought this for you. To go with your dress." He offered her a black jewelry box.
Maggie was almost surprised – though John was unstintingly generous with his money, insisting she buy whatever she wanted or needed, he was often too preoccupied to think of things like gifts. She had been babbling excitedly about the gown she was making all month, but she had no idea he was actually paying attention to her. Maggie opened the box and found a beautiful necklace and earring set. It looked old.
"Wait, this looks real."
"It is real! The jeweler who sold it to me told me it was. At least, for what I paid, it should be real!"
"John, it's too expensive."
"Luv, we have lots of money, remember? And thanks to you, Apple is doing beautifully. Let me spend some of my money on you. It's my favorite thing to spend money on, you know."
"I thought that was Rolls Royces. How many are you up to now?" She smiled at him, to show him she was joking.
"Never you mind that! We were talking about your jewelry and not my cars! Besides, you know it's invest or it goes to taxes. I decided to invest." He took the black box from her and gently pulled the diamond filigree necklace out. Her hair was too tall for him to lift it up and over her head, so he had her hold it to her neck, while he fastened it behind her. He handed her the matching earrings. "I'll let you do these."
"Thank you." Maggie clutched the earrings with one hand, and wrapped her other around John's neck. "I love you."
"I love you too." He kissed her gently. "You'd better go help Linda now or else I'll definitely make us late!"
---
Paul had been asking after Linda almost constantly after John's birthday party. He looked less and less happy when he was with Jane and they argued more and more. Actually, they weren't so much arguments, Maggie realized, as incidents of amplified passive-aggressiveness. Paul looked relieved when he found out that Jane was going to be away for another film over the holidays. Maggie hadn't managed to chat with Jane, but she suspected Jane was glad to get away as well. Why else would she take a project that filmed over Christmas? As soon as Paul had learned of Jane's film, he'd started hinting to Maggie that Linda might enjoy coming to the ball they were throwing. Inside, Maggie was hopping up and down gleefully, and of course she'd invited Linda right away. To torture Paul though, every time he hinted about the party, Maggie pretended like she'd forgotten about it, or that she wasn't sure that Linda would want to come. Finally Paul, who obviously couldn't stand it anymore, asked Maggie outright to invite Linda.
"Why don't you invite her yourself?" Maggie asked.
"I don't know, I thought she'd be more likely to come if you asked her. I'm afraid she'll say no, if I ask."
"Why?"
"She's funny like that."
"Oh, you mean she's not totally at your beck and call?" Maggie said wryly.
"Yeah! Why do you think that is?"
Beatles! Maggie thought silently, rolling her eyes. Well, good on Linda for making Paul come to her.
"Paul, I know you're a Beatle, but the world doesn't revolve around you. Linda's a busy woman, what with all those gigs shooting rock stars, and all. Plus Heather…"
"Rock stars? Which ones? Do you think she's seeing any of them?"
Maggie laughed to herself. It was obvious that Paul had it bad for Linda. Well, she would do everything she could to bring them together, but she couldn't help having fun with it too, especially after all the grief Paul had given John and Maggie for being inseparable early in their courtship.
"Hmm – well, she seemed pretty cozy with Jim Morrison, but he's got a serious girlfriend, so I don't think it'll go anywhere," Maggie said with a grin.
"That's good," Paul said, sounded relieved. "Ask her about the party, then?"
"Sure, Paul, I'll try to remember to call her tomorrow." Maggie smiled, knowing that Linda's airplane tickets had long ago been purchased. Maggie had to admit it was nice having money – she was able to fly Linda over anytime they wanted to get together, just like it was nothing. Linda had protested at first, and offered to pay, but with the ridiculous amounts of money both Maggie and John had, she would have none of it. Besides soon enough, wouldn't Linda be a part of the Beatle family anyway?
In the days before the big event, the two women had had excited phone conversations dissecting every conversation that had occurred between Maggie and Paul, and, of course, discussing what Linda should wear. Linda's personal style was fairly simple, so they'd come up with the idea of a white and gold Grecian style dress like one Maggie had admired in the (admittedly bad) movie "Troy". Maggie couldn't tell her exactly where the design for the dress came from, of course. Linda still didn't know Maggie was from the future, though she was itching to finally let go of her secret.
Linda didn't have to know where the design of the dress came from however, to like the idea. Once she'd agreed to it, Maggie dropped hints at Paul.
"Come on, luv, just tell me what she's wearing, " Paul begged.
"We were thinking of a big furry pink bunny suit…"
"If you're not going to be serious…" Paul was exasperated.
"Oh, I'm being serious," Maggie said, trying to keep a straight face.
"I was never this bad with you and John."
Maggie quirked an eyebrow.
"Fine, maybe I was. I'm sorry, okay? Just tell me what Linda is wearing."
Maggie laughed and took pity on him. Once Paul had gotten the information he'd wanted out of Maggie, he'd had decided to wear a Roman centurion outfit that matched in Linda's in idea, if not in actual time period or nationality.
John had wanted no part of 18th century men's fashion, and begged off having to match Maggie Sue's costume. After some initial threats of powdered wigs and tights, Maggie had let John "convince" her otherwise. He could be very persuasive when he wanted, though it was unnecessary. Maggie had expected John to dress like a Teddy Boy anyway, having already seen pictures of John at this party from her own time. She was curious what the others would be wearing, though, as photos of the whole group had been sparse in her time. She knew Pattie had gone as a harem girl, and that it had attracted John, so when Pattie had brought up the idea, Maggie had quickly made a few other suggestions. Why take chances? She had enough problems dealing with Yoko.
Maggie ducked her head into the guest room to see if Linda needed help getting ready. Linda was looking at her reflection in the mirror, and adjusting the golden wreath on her head.
"Hey, do you need any help?"
Linda looked up. "Is this straight?"
"Let me see!" Maggie walked over to Linda and made a few adjustments on her costume before standing back. "You look beautiful! Paul won't be able to resist you!"
"That was the idea, right?" Linda smiled. She twirled around, letting the folds of gold and white fabric swirl around her. "We're really just good friends, of course – at least in public. There'll be too many people that know Jane at this party. I feel like I have to be careful or people will talk."
"People will talk no matter what. And, well, I hate to say it, but Paul's been seen flirting with enough other girls over the years that it won't be any surprise to see him flirting with you."
Linda's face fell. "You see? This is why I know it will never work with him. He'll never be able to commit to just one woman. He certainly hasn't been faithful to Jane, how could I expect him to be that way with me? If he ever breaks up with her," she finished glumly.
"Just never let him out of your sight!" Maggie joked, trying to cheer Linda up. "Isn't that the best way to keep a Beatle faithful?" Linda smiled a little at this. "Besides, you're not Jane. I love her, but she and Paul ultimately want different things. I really think that you and Paul could have something special, and that he won't need or want anything else. Trust me on that."
"I don't know why you're so certain."
Maggie wondered if this was the opening that she'd been looking for. She would so love to share her secret with Linda, who had become one of her best friends and closest confidants. She opened her mouth, with her carefully rehearsed speech on the tip of her tongue when the door burst open and two overly excited children ran in.
"Mommy, Mommy!" Heather said excitedly, jumping up and down. Julian, who was visiting for a few days, so that Heather would have a companion to play with, was bouncing around too. Julian was dressed up as a pirate, and Heather was wearing a princess dress – though, not wanting to be too different from Julian, she too had a toy sword strapped to her waist. Heather and Julian weren't going to go to the adult party, but Maggie hadn't wanted them to be left out of the fun.
Linda went over and hugged Heather and gave Julian a quick squeeze too. The kids couldn't sit still for long and continued to bounce around the room. "Maggie, your hair is tall!" Julian shouted excitedly.
"Yes, it is! That's how they wore it hundreds of years ago," she explained.
"I like it!" The fact that Julian had echoed his father's remarks made her smile.
She did her best to sound stern. "You kids have to promise to be good for Dot, okay? She has pizza for you for dinner." Dot Jarlett was their housekeeper and she was very good with Julian. She'd been John and Cynthia's housekeeper when they'd been married and currently Dot split her time between both households. It worked out well for everyone concerned, and Julian always had someone to keep an eye on him when it was needed.
"Yay! Pizza!" Heather and Julian raced out of the room in search of Dot and their dinner.
Linda laughed. "They are a handful, aren't they? I'm so glad Julian was able to stay over to keep Heather company. My family is happy to watch her, but I think they are starting to ask questions about these frequent trips to England! Plus I just hate leaving her behind."
"I know. Well, Heather is welcome here anytime. Dot is always around if we need someone to watch her, and anyway, I think it's nice for Julian to have another playmate. I'm not sure how many friends he has from school – I think it's a bit strange for him, what with having a Beatle as a father. Heather doesn't seem aware of any of that, so I think she's good for him."
"I'm so glad you feel that way!" Linda put her arm around Maggie and hugged her.
"Well, I have to admit, I understand how isolating this whole Beatle thing can be, believe me! I'm just as grateful for your friendship!" Maggie knew the moment had passed to talk about being a time-traveler, though. It would have to wait for another time. It was just as well. She was still afraid Linda might just think her crazy. Maybe after she and Paul were married.
The doorbell chimed distantly. "That must be Paul!" Maggie exclaimed, "But wait, we have to keep him waiting long enough for us to make a grand entrance."
"Come on, ladies, it's time to go." John popped his head into the doorway.
"Tell Paul we'll be down in a minute." Maggie said, and Linda giggled.
John rolled his eyes, but went downstairs obediently.
Dot had already answered the door and Paul was standing there looking like an overgrown and out-of-season Trick-or-Treater. Not that Halloween was a big holiday in England, but Maggie had told John all about it as she was putting together all the costumes.
John burst out laughing when he saw Paul's Roman centurion costume.
"What's wrong with you, then?" Paul asked.
John was laughing so hard he had to sit down on the bottom step to catch his breath.
"Stop being a tosser and tell me what it is!" Paul was starting to get annoyed.
"You just seem to like your skirts, is all," John wheezed. "First that maid's uniform and now this!"
"At least my hair doesn't look bloody stupid," Paul grumbled. "I like my costume." He looked down. "And Linda said I have nice legs."
John whooped at that. "Macca, my boy, that woman has got you. And good." He wiped the tears from his eyes.
"She does not! It's just a fling!"
"You're wearing a skirt for her!"
"It's not a skirt, it's Roman!"
"And flings don't last this long. You've been mooning over her for what, six months now?"
"Seven. And what's it to you?" Paul had given up denying his prolonged interest in Linda. He knew he couldn't fool John, who was, after all, one of the people that knew him best in the world.
"After all the shite you put me through over Maggie?" John laughed. "Don't worry, I won't hold it against you. Much. I'm just glad to see you get a taste of it." He grinned.
They were silent for a minute, and then John said, "Are you going to do anything about Jane?"
"I wasn't going to, but then, I really did think this was just a casual thing with Linda." Paul waved his hand around. "You know how it is." The Beatles went through women like tissues when on tour. John had once been a part of that, and he knew very well how it was. He'd had countless affairs all while married to Cynthia. He shifted uncomfortably at the thought. Paul continued, "But I can't get her out of my head. I even asked her to think about moving here, so I could see her more often, but she just said 'no thanks' and that she didn't want to uproot Heather, and that she had a life in New York. So, it's probably hopeless anyway."
"You're afraid to break it off with Jane and find out that it was all for nothing?"
"Something like that. I've just been with Jane so long, and I don't want to throw that away. But Linda…"
"If she's the one, mate, don't give up. I know Maggie, at least, is rooting for you two to get together."
Paul raised an eyebrow. "Do you think she knows something? You know, about the future?"
"Probably, but she refuses to let me in on this one. Even my best powers of persuasion failed to produce anything. " John smiled at the memory.
Paul rolled his eyes. It was always sex with those two. Silly, really to be so obsessed with one woman…
Paul heard a rustle from the top of the staircase. Looking up he saw Linda at the top of it, looking beautiful in gold and white. His jaw dropped and he gaped at her dumbly.
John looked up and saw Paul's expression and burst out laughing again. Poor bugger. He was a goner for sure.
A/N: Thanks for reading! The next update will be next Sunday! We love comments, so please tell us what you think!