“Yeah, let’s bet on her”
“Oh give it up she isn’t going to do it”
“George shut up.”
“Yeah, let’s bet on her”
“You aren’t going to bet on her”
“Shouldn’t I decide if they bet on me or not?” Gabrielle laughed. All four Beatles plus Gabby were sitting around a very tiny table in the back of the smoky Kaiserkeller. Beer bottles and shot glasses, along with scattered pills of various colors littered the table.
How it happened really, was the band playing that night happened to be fronted by a lovely British guy with lovely blonde hair. Gabrielle pointed out his lovely-ness to the other Beatles, who then commenced in trying to bribe her to go chat him up between sets. After refusing an initial bribe of three pence, John, Paul and Pete resolved to betting on her.
“Well?” asked Paul “Are you, or aren’t you”
“Mmm” she grinned “Not”
“Oh come on Gabby. You must!” John insisted “I bet you’re still a virgin, aren’t you?”
“Yeah so….”
“So chat the guy up and see what comes of it!” John exclaimed, he exhaled a long cloud of smoke and tapped his fag out in the ashtray “Why not?”
Gabrielle sighed “Just don’t feel like it, you know. I would much prefer sitting and watching” she leaned her head in her hand and started doing just that. Drowning out their conversation as well as it turned to strippers and Rickenbackers and things like that.
Paul tapped her on the elbow “Hey, wanna go get a few more lagers with me?”
She rolled her eyes and grinned playfully “Get ‘em yerself you lazy git”
“D’you expect me to carry all fucking five of them?“ he asked dryly “I’m not a bloody magician you know”
Gabrielle nodded and stood up. Paul took her hand, quite oddly, and led her though the crowd towards the bar.
“Hullo Benny!” Paul greeted the bartender “Five lagers and lime, danke very much mate”
Benny nodded and shuffled off to get them. Gabrielle hopped up onto a stool and Paul stood next to her. Awfully close next to her, but she was just drunk enough to not care. Besides, Paul smelled nice and wasn’t nearly as greasy and dirty as the others were.
“So” he nodded “Having fun and all?”
She gave him a thin smile “Yeah, you know…”
Paul leaned one arm on the bar and cocked his head to the side, giving her an appraising look. “So, are you gonna leave, now that you know what you want and all”
“Well…” she shrugged, it was true, that had been what she came for. To waste time until she knew what she wanted to do. Now she knew. Or at least wasn’t grasping around blindly. There was some direction in her life now. Should she go back now. Because what good would it do to stay here and faff about? The responsible and sensible thing to do would be to go back to Liverpool and get her head together, as it surely was in pieces where she was now. Gabrielle looked up at Paul, he was giving her a soft smile that warmed her heart in an idiotic way. She didn’t want to be sensible. “I dunno” she said at last
Paul nodded. Benny came back with the drinks.
“Fünf largers” he said shoving the drinks at Paul and Gabby
“Danke” Gabrielle said over her shoulder as she grabbed to drinks and took a sip out of each. Paul laughed and the made their way back to the table. The whole fiasco following this wouldn’t have happened you see, for if not for the next three seconds. You could say that the next three seconds changed history…