On Loving Paul [McLennon]

The Cavern Club

It was later that same year on September twelfth that George was in his home in London and the phone began to ring. He and John had been speaking to each other on the phone several times a week since January when John called him from a pay phone, standing outside in the snow. With that being said, George automatically assumed that it was John calling.

"Hello, John," he greeted.

"Hi, George," a familiar voice came through the phone, but it wasn't John.

George nearly dropped the phone. "R-Ringo?"

"How are you, Georgie?" Ringo asked.

"I'm - I'm good," George said. "How are you and Maureen? And Lee?"

"We're good, we're all very good," Ringo said. "So, uhm, I'm going to be pretty straightforward about this, George... Would you like to meet up for dinner tonight or tomorrow?"

George looked over to the clock mounted on the wall in the kitchen. It was eleven in the morning. "Tonight would be great. Are you in London?"

"No, I'm in Liverpool," said Ringo. "But I can drive to London for supper time if you don't want to - "

"No," George said. "No, I'll drive to Liverpool. It's fine. I've been wanting to visit for a while now but I haven't been able to find the time. This is a good excuse, I think. So where do you want to meet? And what time are you thinking?"

"The Cavern Club," Ringo said. "Just the two of us. Is seven o' clock good for you?"

"Yeah, that sounds great," George said. "I'll see you tonight, then."

"Yeah, see you then," Ringo said and then the line went dead.

"Who was that?" Pattie asked.

George looked up. He hadn't noticed her standing in the entrance of the kitchen and wondered how long she'd been standing there. "Oh, that was Ringo. I'm meeting him for dinner tonight, actually."

"Really? Well that's lovely." Pattie smiled and kissed George on the cheek. "Just the two of you?"

"Yeah, just the two of us." George nodded.

~~~

When George walked up to the Cavern Club he was instantly hit with a ton of memories... The first time the Beatles played, all the times they played thereafter. George also distinctly remembered the time that Paul's father had showed up, sending Paul into a major panic attack in the middle of a performance.

He wondered if Ringo had picked this place on purpose, to elicit the memories buried deep within his mind. But Ringo hadn't been part of the band at the time.

Either way, George took a deep breath and braced himself, then entered the building.

He found a seat at a table near the back, his hat pulled low over his face. He looked down at his wristwatch to find that it was ten minutes of seven. Ringo walked in a few minutes later, though, early just like George.

"I see you're just as punctual as you ever were," Ringo said as he sunk into the chair across from George.

"Touché," George smiled. "Good to see you, mate."

"You, too," Ringo grinned. "It's been way too long."

"Yeah, it has," George nodded. "What've you been up to?"

"You know, taking care of Lee." Ringo said.

"That's great," George said. "Really, it is."

"Yeah," said Ringo.

A waitress came around around to take their orders (after, of course, the initial "Oh my goodness, you're George Harrison and Ringo Starr! I'm such a big fan!" and Ringo and George politely greeted her and gave her their autograph. Once she left, Ringo spoke again.

"We have got to do something about them, you know." Ringo sighed. "

"Who?" George furrowed his brows, puzzled.

Ringo looked him dead in the eyes. "You know who,"

George frowned. "John and Paul?" He asked and Ringo nodded. "They're broken up, Ringo. It's their decision, their lives, and there's nothing we can do about it. It's not like we can force them back together now."

"We could try," Ringo shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd love to as much as you would but they're both married now," George sighed. "Paul's had two children, for goodness' sake! There's nothing left to be done."

"Well, they're only making it worse," Ringo shook his head. "And, you know, Paul just had to go a release that goddamn song."

"What song?"

"Maybe I'm Amazed,"

"It's a great song!" George exclaimed and Ringo considered telling him why Paul shouldn't have released it - wasn't it obvious, though? "I love it. No, the song that caused shit to go down was Love. John just has no filter when it comes to these things."

The two of them stared at one another for a minute or so. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Love," George began slowly, unsure of where this was going. "I thought it was obvious. Love is about Paul."

Ringo gaped at him. "No way,"

"Yeah," George nodded. "I thought you knew."

"No, I didn't." Ringo shook his head. "Neither does Paul. How do you know for sure that it's about Paul and not Yoko? I mean, he is married to her now, after all. Did he tell you? Because that doesn't seem like a John thing to do."

"I figured Paul wouldn't," George sighed heavily and shook his head, then explained. "No, he didn't tell me. He didn't have to. I helped him wrote the song on 1966."

"Well, this certainly changes things, then, doesn't it." Ringo said, his mind racing to come up with a plan.

"How does this change things?" George frowned.

"Well, I thought Love was about Yoko, right? And you thought it was obvious - at least to us, because we know them - that it wasn't, right?" Ringo grinned. He was excited now.

"Yeah,"

"Well, I thought it was obvious about Maybe I'm Amazed." Ringo laughed. "George, Maybe I'm Amazed is about John."

George's jaw dropped. "You're sure?"

"Yeah," Ringo smirked. "I helped him write it...in 1966."

"Huh," George said. "Well, I suppose this does change things, then."