July 8, 1957. Just four days left to somehow get Paul and John to meet.
My heart pounded as we neared the train on its platform, this time not only because Paul was holding my hand. This train was a lot bigger, bulkier, and scarier than the ones in my time, spewing black smoke into the air around it. I wasn’t sure I trusted it to take us all the way to Wales without breaking down or worse. And I didn’t know if we would be able to pull off jumping on the train without tickets. And I didn’t know for sure if John was even here. I kept glancing around the platform, looking to see if I could find him, but it was so crowded I couldn’t tell.
“Relax, Gloria,” Paul whispered in my ear. “No one will find out.”
He thought I was just nervous about being caught without train tickets. At least that meant I didn’t have to explain everything that was going through my mind right now.
“Right,” Paul whispered to me. “We can just jump on here. Mind your step.”
And he actually took me by the waist and boosted me up and onto the train, making me giggle with surprise. Almost automatically, I turned round and held out my hand to boost him up in return.
“I can do it.” Paul put his hands on the doorway and swung himself up and onto the train. “See, there you go. They won’t find out a thing.” He winked at me, a big, openmouthed wink that made me melt inside.
The train began to move, and I kept glancing round, afraid someone would demand to see our tickets, or worse, that we’d somehow picked the wrong train and John wasn’t here, or that the train would crash, which would be very bad for the future. The train moved with a shuddering motion and made a very loud noise as it chugged along. The trains in my time were silent and so smooth you could hardly tell they were moving, and I wondered how often these things broke down....
“Gloria? Are you all right?”
I looked down and realized my fingers were clutching Paul’s arm in a death grip. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” said Paul, with a mischievous little grin, glancing at my fingers on his arm. “Only you look a bit ill. I thought you said you wanted to ride on a train.”
I just nodded. It wasn’t really riding on a train I wanted, it was getting Paul to meet John before it was too late, but I couldn’t tell him that. “I’m fine. I’ve just never ridden one of these before.”
Paul frowned. “You told me you don’t walk, you don’t take the train, and you don’t act like you’ve ever seen a car or a road – what do you do when you need to go places?”
Uh-oh. We were moving back into dangerous territory. I knew I should have expected it, if I was going to spend this much time with Paul. “I don’t really go anywhere most of the time.”
“Yeah, but then how did you come to Liverpool?” Paul persisted. “You're not from round here, are you? Did you take a plane?”
“I – um, well... oh, look, Paul, there’s a restaurant car!”
Paul looked round with a small laugh. “’Course, there always is, but you haven’t answered my....”
“Can we get something to eat, Paul? Please, please?”
Paul opened his mouth again, looking like he was going to insist I stop changing the subject and answer his question, then closed it with a small sigh. “Fine, don’t tell me, then.” He didn’t look too pleased, though.
We went into the restaurant compartment and sat down. “I’ll get the food,” Paul said. By this point I was used to this nineteen fifties dating etiquette and said nothing. “What do you want?”
My eyes lit up hungrily. “Do they have hamburgers?”
Paul laughed. We were soon settled at a quaint little table in a car full of other little tables just like it, me with two large hamburgers and a chocolate milkshake, Paul with a ham and cheese sandwich and milk, and we were talking and laughing just like I hadn’t awkwardly refused to answer Paul’s question a few minutes ago. Paul was smiling and acting like he didn’t even remember that. I hoped not. I wished I could just explain things to him, but I knew I couldn’t.
It was just as I was polishing off my second burger, and wondering if Paul would be willing to get me a third, that I saw it. A head of light brown hair disappearing through the door leading out of the dining car. Even if I hadn’t seen that very head of hair walking away from me yesterday evening, to a Beatles fan he was impossible to mistake.
The wave of relief that flooded through me was quickly followed by a wave of disappointment at my terrible timing. Why, why, why? John had been right here in the dining car with Paul and me the entire time! Why couldn’t I have noticed John just a little sooner and dragged Paul over to his table to introduce them...? Never mind that now. I knew John was here, and I had to find him and somehow get him and Paul together! “Excuse me,” I blurted to Paul, and I jumped up from my chair and headed for the door. I caught a glimpse of Paul’s face as I left, though, and he didn’t look too upset or surprised, so I guess I hadn’t say anything wrong this time. Probably he just thought I badly needed the bathroom.
I hurried down a narrow corridor lined with doors leading into compartments, occasionally bumping into people who were trying to come in or out, all the time straining to keep John in my sight. The train was a big place. I couldn’t lose him....
There! He was headed into one of the compartments just a little ahead of me. I put on a burst of speed and knocked on the door.
John opened it. “Oh, it’s you again,” he said, and his eyes twinkled. He didn’t seem mad either, but with John, who could tell?
“John,” I said, now wondering what on earth I was going to say to him. “Uh – do you want to come to the –” what had Paul called it? – “the dinner car with me?”
John gave me a smirk that made me wonder if I’d said that right. “No thanks, just had one.”
“Come again!” I pleaded, wondering in the back of my mind how I must look from John’s point of view, then deciding not to think about that. “There’s – um – someone you’ve got to see....” Maybe not the most subtle way to do this, but come on, I was desperate!
“Someone?” John studied me through narrow brown eyes. “Is it a pretty girl?” I shook my head. “It can wait, then,” John decided. “Don’t see why you’d want to turn me on to another pretty girl anyways. Come in and we can chat a bit. Don’t mind me Aunt Mimi.”
As I followed him into the compartment, mind spinning, I tried to work out what had just happened. John was – I think he was – flirting with me!
John sat down with that air of relaxed authority that I loved so much. On the opposite row of seats sat a woman I knew from the old pics was John’s Aunt Mimi. “That’s me Aunt Mimi,” John told me.
I murmured an inaudible “Hey”.
Aunt Mimi studied me with sharp eyes. “Have you been picking up girls on the train, John?”
“This is Gloria,” John supplied by way of introduction. “She’s a talent scout.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I wasn’t, then closed it again. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be in this time. I wasn’t going to argue.
Aunt Mimi nodded. “Are you, now? You look like you should be in school, Gloria.”
School – wasn’t that what they called those buildings they used to teach children and teenagers in, where they put lots of them into one room and made them all read and listen to the exact same material, regardless of skill sets or interests or learning style? I gave an involuntary shudder. “I take lessons, ma’am.” That was right, wasn’t it? I think they were still using the term “ma’am” in the nineteen fifties... But Aunt Mimi seemed satisfied.
“I see. And your parents, Gloria? What do they do?”
I answered Aunt Mimi’s questions as best I could, taking some surprising comfort in the fact that I felt like I had to prove myself to her. Maybe that was because I would have felt like that even if I wasn’t secretly from the future. John just leaned back and enjoyed himself, occasionally throwing in a remark or two of his own. It was kind of relaxing in there with the two of them, actually. I even forgot my worries that this ungainly train might crash. My only worry was Paul, knowing I should get back to him and wondering if he thought something had happened to me. But then it occurred to me that if Paul came looking for me, he’d find me in John’s compartment and then it would be easy to introduce them. Anyway, I had to keep John in my sight, didn’t I? Paul was already with me on this trip, but I could easily lose John if I didn’t keep track of him.
I think a couple hours passed in that compartment with John and his Aunt Mimi, during which I grew very comfortable with both of them. I hadn’t known it was possible to feel comfortable around someone I had never spoken to before except in person. After a time, John nodded off against the back of his seat, and I closed my eyes too, feeling almost peaceful, something I hadn’t really felt since coming here, between navigating a strange world, and trying to make sure my favourite band still got together....
There was the sound of the compartment door being opened very forcibly and loudly. “Gloria! There you are!”
I opened my eyes to see Paul standing there, eyes wide and indignant, mouth forming a perfect “O” that would have been adorable if he hadn’t been so angry.
“What were you doing in here? Where do you get off running out on me?”
I blinked hard, confused and upset. “Paul? Why are you angry with me?”
Aunt Mimi looked from him to me pointedly. “Is this young man your date, Gloria?”
“Yes....”
Aunt Mimi shook her head. “And you went running off on him to be with John? Where are your manners?”
I shook my head to clear it. I knew very little about the amount of etiquette involved in nineteen fifties dating, but I guess I must have done something very wrong. “I didn’t go running off on him... I only wanted Paul to meet....” I turned to Paul, hoping he would understand.
Paul just frowned and turned away. “Come on. We’re almost there, we’d better get set to get off.” I knew what he meant – jump off the train while it was slowing down, before the conductor had a chance to find us and ask for our tickets.
“But Paul,” I tried again, “don’t you want to meet....” My voice trailed. John was still asleep, and one look at Paul’s face told me he wasn’t interested. He turned and left the compartment without even looking at me, and with one last apologetic glance at Aunt Mimi and the sleeping John, I hurried after him.
My heart pounded as we neared the train on its platform, this time not only because Paul was holding my hand. This train was a lot bigger, bulkier, and scarier than the ones in my time, spewing black smoke into the air around it. I wasn’t sure I trusted it to take us all the way to Wales without breaking down or worse. And I didn’t know if we would be able to pull off jumping on the train without tickets. And I didn’t know for sure if John was even here. I kept glancing around the platform, looking to see if I could find him, but it was so crowded I couldn’t tell.
“Relax, Gloria,” Paul whispered in my ear. “No one will find out.”
He thought I was just nervous about being caught without train tickets. At least that meant I didn’t have to explain everything that was going through my mind right now.
“Right,” Paul whispered to me. “We can just jump on here. Mind your step.”
And he actually took me by the waist and boosted me up and onto the train, making me giggle with surprise. Almost automatically, I turned round and held out my hand to boost him up in return.
“I can do it.” Paul put his hands on the doorway and swung himself up and onto the train. “See, there you go. They won’t find out a thing.” He winked at me, a big, openmouthed wink that made me melt inside.
The train began to move, and I kept glancing round, afraid someone would demand to see our tickets, or worse, that we’d somehow picked the wrong train and John wasn’t here, or that the train would crash, which would be very bad for the future. The train moved with a shuddering motion and made a very loud noise as it chugged along. The trains in my time were silent and so smooth you could hardly tell they were moving, and I wondered how often these things broke down....
“Gloria? Are you all right?”
I looked down and realized my fingers were clutching Paul’s arm in a death grip. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” said Paul, with a mischievous little grin, glancing at my fingers on his arm. “Only you look a bit ill. I thought you said you wanted to ride on a train.”
I just nodded. It wasn’t really riding on a train I wanted, it was getting Paul to meet John before it was too late, but I couldn’t tell him that. “I’m fine. I’ve just never ridden one of these before.”
Paul frowned. “You told me you don’t walk, you don’t take the train, and you don’t act like you’ve ever seen a car or a road – what do you do when you need to go places?”
Uh-oh. We were moving back into dangerous territory. I knew I should have expected it, if I was going to spend this much time with Paul. “I don’t really go anywhere most of the time.”
“Yeah, but then how did you come to Liverpool?” Paul persisted. “You're not from round here, are you? Did you take a plane?”
“I – um, well... oh, look, Paul, there’s a restaurant car!”
Paul looked round with a small laugh. “’Course, there always is, but you haven’t answered my....”
“Can we get something to eat, Paul? Please, please?”
Paul opened his mouth again, looking like he was going to insist I stop changing the subject and answer his question, then closed it with a small sigh. “Fine, don’t tell me, then.” He didn’t look too pleased, though.
We went into the restaurant compartment and sat down. “I’ll get the food,” Paul said. By this point I was used to this nineteen fifties dating etiquette and said nothing. “What do you want?”
My eyes lit up hungrily. “Do they have hamburgers?”
Paul laughed. We were soon settled at a quaint little table in a car full of other little tables just like it, me with two large hamburgers and a chocolate milkshake, Paul with a ham and cheese sandwich and milk, and we were talking and laughing just like I hadn’t awkwardly refused to answer Paul’s question a few minutes ago. Paul was smiling and acting like he didn’t even remember that. I hoped not. I wished I could just explain things to him, but I knew I couldn’t.
It was just as I was polishing off my second burger, and wondering if Paul would be willing to get me a third, that I saw it. A head of light brown hair disappearing through the door leading out of the dining car. Even if I hadn’t seen that very head of hair walking away from me yesterday evening, to a Beatles fan he was impossible to mistake.
The wave of relief that flooded through me was quickly followed by a wave of disappointment at my terrible timing. Why, why, why? John had been right here in the dining car with Paul and me the entire time! Why couldn’t I have noticed John just a little sooner and dragged Paul over to his table to introduce them...? Never mind that now. I knew John was here, and I had to find him and somehow get him and Paul together! “Excuse me,” I blurted to Paul, and I jumped up from my chair and headed for the door. I caught a glimpse of Paul’s face as I left, though, and he didn’t look too upset or surprised, so I guess I hadn’t say anything wrong this time. Probably he just thought I badly needed the bathroom.
I hurried down a narrow corridor lined with doors leading into compartments, occasionally bumping into people who were trying to come in or out, all the time straining to keep John in my sight. The train was a big place. I couldn’t lose him....
There! He was headed into one of the compartments just a little ahead of me. I put on a burst of speed and knocked on the door.
John opened it. “Oh, it’s you again,” he said, and his eyes twinkled. He didn’t seem mad either, but with John, who could tell?
“John,” I said, now wondering what on earth I was going to say to him. “Uh – do you want to come to the –” what had Paul called it? – “the dinner car with me?”
John gave me a smirk that made me wonder if I’d said that right. “No thanks, just had one.”
“Come again!” I pleaded, wondering in the back of my mind how I must look from John’s point of view, then deciding not to think about that. “There’s – um – someone you’ve got to see....” Maybe not the most subtle way to do this, but come on, I was desperate!
“Someone?” John studied me through narrow brown eyes. “Is it a pretty girl?” I shook my head. “It can wait, then,” John decided. “Don’t see why you’d want to turn me on to another pretty girl anyways. Come in and we can chat a bit. Don’t mind me Aunt Mimi.”
As I followed him into the compartment, mind spinning, I tried to work out what had just happened. John was – I think he was – flirting with me!
John sat down with that air of relaxed authority that I loved so much. On the opposite row of seats sat a woman I knew from the old pics was John’s Aunt Mimi. “That’s me Aunt Mimi,” John told me.
I murmured an inaudible “Hey”.
Aunt Mimi studied me with sharp eyes. “Have you been picking up girls on the train, John?”
“This is Gloria,” John supplied by way of introduction. “She’s a talent scout.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I wasn’t, then closed it again. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be in this time. I wasn’t going to argue.
Aunt Mimi nodded. “Are you, now? You look like you should be in school, Gloria.”
School – wasn’t that what they called those buildings they used to teach children and teenagers in, where they put lots of them into one room and made them all read and listen to the exact same material, regardless of skill sets or interests or learning style? I gave an involuntary shudder. “I take lessons, ma’am.” That was right, wasn’t it? I think they were still using the term “ma’am” in the nineteen fifties... But Aunt Mimi seemed satisfied.
“I see. And your parents, Gloria? What do they do?”
I answered Aunt Mimi’s questions as best I could, taking some surprising comfort in the fact that I felt like I had to prove myself to her. Maybe that was because I would have felt like that even if I wasn’t secretly from the future. John just leaned back and enjoyed himself, occasionally throwing in a remark or two of his own. It was kind of relaxing in there with the two of them, actually. I even forgot my worries that this ungainly train might crash. My only worry was Paul, knowing I should get back to him and wondering if he thought something had happened to me. But then it occurred to me that if Paul came looking for me, he’d find me in John’s compartment and then it would be easy to introduce them. Anyway, I had to keep John in my sight, didn’t I? Paul was already with me on this trip, but I could easily lose John if I didn’t keep track of him.
I think a couple hours passed in that compartment with John and his Aunt Mimi, during which I grew very comfortable with both of them. I hadn’t known it was possible to feel comfortable around someone I had never spoken to before except in person. After a time, John nodded off against the back of his seat, and I closed my eyes too, feeling almost peaceful, something I hadn’t really felt since coming here, between navigating a strange world, and trying to make sure my favourite band still got together....
There was the sound of the compartment door being opened very forcibly and loudly. “Gloria! There you are!”
I opened my eyes to see Paul standing there, eyes wide and indignant, mouth forming a perfect “O” that would have been adorable if he hadn’t been so angry.
“What were you doing in here? Where do you get off running out on me?”
I blinked hard, confused and upset. “Paul? Why are you angry with me?”
Aunt Mimi looked from him to me pointedly. “Is this young man your date, Gloria?”
“Yes....”
Aunt Mimi shook her head. “And you went running off on him to be with John? Where are your manners?”
I shook my head to clear it. I knew very little about the amount of etiquette involved in nineteen fifties dating, but I guess I must have done something very wrong. “I didn’t go running off on him... I only wanted Paul to meet....” I turned to Paul, hoping he would understand.
Paul just frowned and turned away. “Come on. We’re almost there, we’d better get set to get off.” I knew what he meant – jump off the train while it was slowing down, before the conductor had a chance to find us and ask for our tickets.
“But Paul,” I tried again, “don’t you want to meet....” My voice trailed. John was still asleep, and one look at Paul’s face told me he wasn’t interested. He turned and left the compartment without even looking at me, and with one last apologetic glance at Aunt Mimi and the sleeping John, I hurried after him.
