I've Just Seen A Face

Chapter 27
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Before I knew it, there was only 15 days until Christmas. I was born and raised in Seattle, so when I moved to California, snow was one of the things I missed the most. Especially around Christmas time. I loved looking out the windows and seeing a blanket of white everywhere, and every house lit with their Christmas lights, each light reflecting off the icicles on their roofs. Instead, here in Cali, Palm trees were decorated with lights and the grass was still greener than ever. Thankfully, I was almost done with my Christmas shopping. One of the worst things about Christmas. I love to give, but I hate to shop, for what to give. The stores are way too crowded! When I returned to my apartment and began setting my bags down, (from today’s shopping), my phone was ringing. I raced over to it trying to catch the person before they hung up.
“Hello?” I said out of breath.
“Happy Holidays, luv.” I heard Paul say on the other line. A smile came to my face.
“Hey, Paul. How are you?” I asked, sitting down.
“Good, yourself? You sound out of breath…I wasn’t interrupting anything was I?” he asked suspiciously.
“Oh no! I just got home from Christmas shopping, and the phone rang as I came in and I rushed over here so I wouldn‘t miss it.” I explained to him. I hadn’t seen the Beatles in over a month, but they had called every once and a while. I knew that I missed them, but having not seen them for quite a while, made me not miss them as much. However, I wanted to see them again more than ever.
“Oh, I see. Are you done with presents then?” He asked me.
“Um, almost. I have a few close friends to get things for. How about you guys?” I said. I still wanted to get something little for each of the Beatles.
“Well, I think the others are pretty much done, and well, I have a few people left.” he said. There was a silence before we spoke again, “I think we are coming over there near Christmas time.” Paul finally said.
“Really?” I asked excited, but I wasn’t nearly excited as I would’ve been a month ago.
“Yeah, not sure on the date though. I just thought you’d like to know, so, you know, we could see you and everything.” he said.
“Yeah of course! I’ve missed you guys!” I told him.
“Same here. How is everyone else?” he asked.
“Oh they’re good.” I said.
“And you and Davy?” he asked. I hesitated before answering. I felt bad telling him that Davy and I were back to normal again, because I didn’t know if he still had feelings for me, and I knew deep down that I still loved him, despite what I would tell myself.
‘Um, we’re really good actually….how bout you? Find the right girl yet?” I asked kidding yet serious. I was wishing I hadn’t asked him that. He laughed softly.
“Um, yeah actually I think I have.” His response shocked me. I guess I wasn’t expecting him to have moved on already. But then again, I am too.
“Well good for you!” I said, truly happy for him. But still, a small part of me was crushed…..
“Yeah, kinda.” he said, sadly.
“What do you mean? Things not work out? Or doesn‘t she know you like her?” I asked.
“Oh, she knows. I’m pretty sure about that, but things didn’t really work out when we tried something. I just hope she realizes someday that I do have very strong feelings for her. I know she‘s the one.” he said.
“Have you known her for a while?“ I asked, curious on who this new girl of his was. I hadn’t seen her in magazines or papers, so their relationship must’ve been a secret.
“Yeah, bout a year. We were kinda friends for a while, but I’ve always fancied her….there’s just something about her….” he slowly faded off.
“Oh, I’m sure she’ll come around, you’re a really great guy Paul. And I‘m sure you‘ll treat her right.” I said trying to make him feel better. I could tell he was torn up about this girl, so I didn’t even bother asking her name.
“I hope so….I don‘t think I can live without her…” he said quietly. After another pause, he spoke up at normal tone, “Well, luv, I should probably be going. I just thought I’d give you a call and tell you about our coming to town, and to see how you were.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you did.” I said still wondering about Paul’s mystery girl. From the sounds of it, he must’ve been with her this whole last month and a half.
“Like I said, I don’t know when exactly we are coming, so we’ll just stop by or call you or something, sound alright?”
“Yeah. Until then, good luck with your Christmas shopping!” I said laughing.
“You too luv,” Paul said sounding a bit sad.
“Bye Paul,”
“Bye Olivia.”

It had been a few days and Paul or the others hadn’t called saying they were coming. There was only about a week left before Christmas, and I was finally done shopping. I had a hard time finding the right gifts for the Beatles. I ended up buying John some old Elvis records that he hadn’t had yet, and George I got one of those big food packages because he loves to eat. Ringo was hardest to shop for. So the only thing I could think of was a pair of brand new drumsticks that weren’t just normal drumsticks, but these weird colored ones. I don’t know, I thought they were kinda cool. And for Paul, I wanted to get him something simple, but yet something that was personal. I knew how he loved American music and loved to listen to it wherever he was so I got him this Portable Pepsi Radio. For an extra $20, I had ‘To Paul From Olivia. So you’ll never miss a song.” engraved on the back. I finished wrapping their presents when Brittany called and asked if I would like to go out for lunch. I agreed and we met at a little outside café near the beach. As we sat and talked, we noticed a couple on the beach that were really flirty. They would get close to kissing or something, but then the girl would turn away all shy. They were kinda annoying to watch. I wished they would kiss already, it was obvious they liked each other. They were flirting quite a bit. Brittany and I decided to take a stroll, and as we neared the beach I froze in my tracks.
“Olivia, what’s wrong?” Brittany asked turning around.
“You know that couple we were watching?” I asked still staring ahead of Brittany.
“Yeah….” she said, and turned following my eyes. When she saw what I saw she didn’t speak. We sat there speechless as we watched, Davy, flirting with some chick in a bikini. Brittany turned back to me.
“What are you going to do?” She asked. I looked away from Davy and became very angry. Things were going so good again. I should’ve know this was bound to happen sometime.
“I don’t know,” I said. I wanted to do something to get through to him that he can’t keep doing this. Didn’t he learn when I dumped him for George?!
“Hey Olivia, I have an idea.” Brittany said. I turned to face her interested.
“What?”
“Make him jealous. That’ll get him.” She said.
“Brittany, that’ll only get him pissed.” I said.
“Well, then you just tell him that every time he flirts with some chickie, then you are going to do the same with some guy. He should stop then if he really gets so jealous that he gets pissed.” I thought about it and Brittany did have a point, and it wouldn’t hurt to try. So we went on a search for the guy that I was to make Davy ‘jealous’ with.
“How about that one?” I asked pointed to a dark haired guy walking alone. We couldn’t really see his face, but his profile was enough.
“Hey, good one Olivia. He looks pretty hot.” Brittany agreed. We walked over to him and walked behind him a while before we took action. I was wearing a bikini underneath by button up shirt and shorts so Brittany said it would be more effective if I had my shirt off and my shorts unbuttoned. I declined at first, but she kept telling me that if I were to draw attention to my body the guy would be hooked. I finally agreed, mostly because sweat was dripping down my neck and everywhere underneath my shirt, so it would feel good to have it off. She stopped following the guy so I could ‘seduce’ him I guess the word would be. I walked behind him and took a breath before reaching out to grab him. I ran my finger down his muscular arm so he would turn around.
“Hey there…” I said shyly, running my hand down my neck and then to my chest, so I would draw attention there. I continued to caress his arm, walking near him, and when I looked up to face the guy, I immediately jumped back.
“Paul?!” I said shocked. He was shocked himself. He looked around, as did I, and I noticed Brittany was no where in sight. I turned back to Paul completely embarrassed.
“Olivia? What were you doing?” Paul asked me, one eyebrow raised. I wasn’t normally embarrassed to be in a bikini in front of Paul, but at this moment I was nothing but embarrassed and I wished I had my shirt. I tried to cover myself.
“Um…” was all I could say. He walked over closer to me.
“Why are you covering yourself like that?” He asked, trying to lower my arms slowly. He glanced down at my chest. If it had been another guy I think what I did would’ve worked, because it sure did with Paul. I could tell he very much enjoyed what he saw and wanted more. What is it with guys? I let him remove my arms from my chest.
“I..I’m kind of embarrassed.” I said finally looking into his eyes. In this moment those feelings of need were back, flowing strongly through my vains. He was standing right in front of me, shirt off and looking at me with lust (granted I just drew his attention to my breasts, but still), it was a look I hadn’t seen in quite a while. We just stood there.
“So, um, what exactly were you doing?” he asked me again.
“Um, Brittany and I saw Davy getting pretty cozy with some girl, so Brittany had the idea that I should make him jealous. I agreed and you…well, you are the hottest guy here, so we came after you.” I said kinda laughing at how dumb this plan was. He smiled.
“Well, thanks for the compliment. I must say, you also, are the hottest girl here…” he said checking me out again. I smiled.
“Thanks.” I said. He just smiled.
“So where is Brittany?” he asked, looking around again. We began walking down the beach.
“Oh, she left me so I could do my job.” I said laughing again. Paul laughed along with me.
“I see. Hey, I thought you said you and Davy were really good again?” he asked. I rolled my eyes.
“I spoke too soon. I knew this was bound to happen again.” I said, and in a way I’m glad he did. Secretly, I’ve been hoping that he would do something horrible so I could dump him for a reason he would understand. If I were to tell him that I loved another, he wouldn’t.
“Yeah, he just doesn’t seem to get it.” Paul said. I wondered if Paul really meant that, because he’s done it a few times too.
“So, how is this ‘girl’ of yours?” I asked changing the subject. He smiled sadly.
“Nothing yet, but I hope soon.” he said just looking at me. I just smiled.
“I thought you were going to call me when you guys were coming?” I asked punching him slightly. He laughed and made face.
“We were. Tonight. The others are sleeping, and I just wanted to get out by me self and think a bit.” he said.
“Oh, well I can go,” I said motioning the other direction. He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer next to him.
“Don’t be daft. I like you here.” He said smiling, but not looking at me. I noticed he hadn’t let go of my hand, and I didn’t pull away. Not only did I want to have him continue to hold my hand, but if Davy saw, he’d still get pissed. Even more so if he saw if was Paul. We walked along the beach, hand in hand, for quite a few minutes without saying anything. We were soon to a portion that was very much empty.
“Do you have plans tonight?” Paul asked me. I turned to face him.
“No, why?”
“Well, we have to leave tomorrow afternoon, we’re just kinda passing through, and we have some stuff for you.” He said.
“Stuff?”
“Yeah, you know, Christmas presents.”
“Paul, you guys didn’t have to do that.” I said, happy that they thought I was close enough to give a gift to.
“Oh I know, but we wanted to. So, do you want to stop by around dinner time? We could go get something to eat and then you could come back to the hotel.” He said.
“That sounds perfect.” I said squeezing his hand and smiling. A warm smile finally appeared on his face. No more of his fake sad smiles. We walked for a few minutes more before we left to get ready for tonight. I couldn’t wait to give him my gift.


It was the time of year where the days were really hot, but the nights got rather cool, so I put on a red sweater that hung over my shoulders along with a dark blue mini skirt. I applied just enough make-up to bring out some of my better features, but not enough to overpower them. I curled my hair and put in a red ribbon for a head band. I thought it was a cute little Christmas outfit, and since this was kinda like Christmas with The Beatles (since I couldn’t be with them on the real Christmas), I wanted to look festive and nice. I sprayed some perfume on before leaving the bathroom and gathered up all the Beatles gifts. I put them in a bag and left for their hotel. They took me to a very fancy restaurant a few miles north of Malibu. I was glad now that I put on a sweater because in Northern California it gets rather chilly. During dinner we all chatted about our time away from each other and headed back for the hotel.
“So how do like Christmas in California, luv?” John asked. I shrugged and shriveled my nose.
“Oh, I’d much rather be at home, where there’s snow. I love snow for Christmas.” I said. The boys agreed with me.
“Yeah, London gets beautiful this time of year.” George said. I nodded. I knew Manchester was awfully pretty during Christmas, but I’ve never been to London. Maybe someday I could spend Christmas in London with the man I loved…..
“Well, we’re here.” Ringo said interrupting my thoughts. Paul helped me out of the car. We walked close together as the rest were up ahead.
“You know, I never got to tell you, but, you look really beautiful tonight.” Paul said. I smiled and nudged him, blushing at his sweetness.
“Thanks, you look pretty studly yourself.” I said laughing, but in a good way. He was wearing a black turtleneck with a darker gray suit coat and black dress pants. I loved the way he miss-matched his clothing. His cologne was flowing over to me in the air, and it smelled terrific. His hair was blowing slightly in the breeze making him look so adorable. I always thought he was cute and adorable, but tonight I really realized what a handsome, good looking, hot, man he really was. He had all these different looks he could pull off, just like he has thousands of different singing voices. We finally made it into the hotel room, and Paul opened the door for me.
“Thanks,” I said and walked through. John was sitting on the couch, George and Ringo on either side, with a little box on his lap. He held in out to me as I walked in.
“Happy Christmas!” He said. I took the box from him and began to unwrap. The little box had a description on it, and it appeared to be in French. I opened the box, and my mouth dropped open.
“You like?” John asked. I looked up at him for a moment and back down at the present in front of me. Inside the box was a Diamond and Sapphire erring, necklace, and bracelet set.
“Is this re-?”
“Yes ma’am it is,” John answered my question. I shook my head.
“You guys shouldn’t have…” I said.
“But we wanted to. They’re from France you know?” George said. I looked at them again and back down.
“We wanted to get you some kind of rare jewelry, and when we were shopping one time I remembered that you said that you loved Diamonds and Sapphire together. So when we saw it in Paris, we immediately thought of you.” Paul said. I turned to look at him.
“You remembered that?” I asked. I had barely remembered. He smiled.
“Yeah, can you believe it? Our Paulie here remembered something!” John said joking.
“Sod off John,” Paul said, but laughing as well. I stared at the jewelry once more, and Paul helped me put it on. They were so gorgeous. In a way I felt weird wearing them just because I knew they must’ve been expensive. And I didn’t want anything to happen to them. I thanked them a million times and finally gave them their gifts. John loved his records, and George began eating his food right away. Ringo said that he’s never seen drumsticks like the ones I had given him and that they were really ‘gear’. Paul was ecstatic about his radio and loved the inscription. He laughed out loud as he read it. The night was getting late and Paul pulled me over to the side.
“Do you want to take a drive?” He asked. I looked at him and I knew he wanted me to say yes. There was obviously something more than a drive involved.
“Um, I don’t really know if I want to spend Christmas in the hospital Paul,” I said kidding about his driving. He made a face.
“I promise to drive slow.” He said rolling his eyes. I laughed and agreed. We excused ourselves from the others. Paul told me that it might be kinda late when we got back so I said goodbye to the guys and thanked them again for the jewelry. I noticed George didn’t seem to bothered that Paul and I were leaving together. Was he getting better? I followed Paul out to the car.
“So where are we going?” I asked, walking beside him. As he opened the car door for me, he shrugged his shoulders, but I knew he had a plan. I didn’t know where we were going, but by reading the street signs, I knew that we did leave Malibu.
“Thank you again for the radio. I really love it.” Paul said as we were driving to destination unknown.
“You’re welcome, and thank you for this jewelry. I still can’t believe it.” I said looking down at the bracelet.
“Well, you are very welcome. It looks gorgeous on you.” He said. We just drove in silence for a while, but then Paul spoke up.
“Close your eyes.” He said. I turned to look at him confused.
“What?”
“Close your eyes.” he repeated. I knew he wouldn’t tell me why and that this was part of his plan so I did as I was told.
“Can open them now?” I asked after what felt like hours later.
“No, not yet.” he said and I could feel the car stopping.
“Are we here?” I asked.
“Almost.” he said and I heard him get out of the car. I was tempted to peek, but I didn’t. Suddenly my door opened and I felt Paul’s hand grab onto me.
“Here, come on out.” He said helping me. When I got out of the car I noticed it was quite a bit chillier than when we left Malibu. Paul led me somewhere for a few minutes and then we stopped.
“Can I open my eyes?” I asked.
“Go ahead,” Paul said. I opened them and we were standing in a little white gazebo, in what looked like a park. There were little white Christmas lights all around, and the most amazing part; snowflakes were falling from every direction. It doesn’t snow too often in California, and when it does, it’s up north closer to Washington, so I guessed that’s where Paul drove us. I looked around amazed and so much in love with Paul. It must’ve just started snowing because there was only fresh flakes on the ground. I turned to Paul, who was smiling, with tears in my eyes.
“How did you know it was going to snow?” I asked him. He smiled.
“I heard it on me new radio back at the hotel.” he said, and with that a tear fell from my cheek. Paul walked closer to me and wiped it away.
“Don’t cry Olivia,” he said softly. I smiled.
“I can’t believe you.” I said softly, still amazed at not only the scenery, but mostly at Paul.
“Why?” he asked slightly confused.
“After everything that’s happened. After all that I’ve done to you, not treating you fair all the time, and yet you are still the sweetest man in the world.” I said still crying, but I smiled.
“It’s only because I really, really, like you. And I know not long from now, George will accept this, and I’ll be able to have you once more. This time hopefully for forever….” he trailed off and gave me a soft kiss on the mouth. When he said this, it suddenly donned on me, that he might’ve been talking about me being the girl that he’s found. It would make sense. And after realizing this, it made things all the sweeter. I couldn’t believe how real his feelings seemed. As he held onto me, I leaned my head against his chest and he rested his head on mine. I continued to watch the snowflakes fall, thinking about everything. Just what I had told him, after each of us has been hurt many times by our whole relationship situation, he still takes me to this beautiful place where snowflakes are falling all around, because I said I loved it when in snows on Christmas. In all the years I have dated Davy, he has never done anything remotely close to this. I held onto him tighter and closed my eyes, just soaking in his smell and the moment.
“I have something else for you.” He said still leaning his head on the top of mine. I pulled away slowly and looked up at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I have a present from me. Not the others.” He said, and he began to fumble in his coat pocket. I stood watching him again amazed at everything he was doing for me, and my love for him grew more and more as the moments passed. Soon he took out a little wrapped box, a little bigger than the one I had opened earlier. He handed it to me and as I removed it from his hands I looked up at him. He laughed.
“Don’t worry, luv, it’s not more jewelry.” he said and I laughed. I began to open it and when I lifted up the top of the box, tears fell down my cheek. In front of me, lay a little picture frame with a picture of Paul standing behind me arms around my waist, both of us smiling. I looked up at him.
“Where is thi-”
“It’s from that the man at the LoveBird store this summer, when we were shopping. I believe I told you I was going to have a cigarette…” he said. I finally remembered.
“And you were buying this from him instead?” I asked, another tear of joy, love, and pain fell down my cheek. He nodded.
“Thank you so much.” I whispered as I wrapped myself around him. I was so close to telling him that I loved him, but I still couldn’t bring myself to do it quite yet. He held me tight and then pulled me away to look at me. He pointed to the picture.
“Someday, luv…someday soon.” He said softly and came closer for a kiss. I moved towards him and our lips met. It was so warm, especially because it was snowing around us. It was a picture perfect moment. We kissed passionately for quite a few minutes before Paul said we had better be getting back. It was more than an hours drive, and it was already 1am. He helped me into the car, and I leaned on his shoulder, his arm around me, and I fell asleep. I was so overwhelmed with feelings and confusion, that I didn’t even notice I let Paul drive with one hand.
“Olivia, Olivia, luv, wake up.” I heard a voice saying. I opened my eyes and saw Paul looking down at me. He smiled when he saw I was awake. I smiled back at him and sat up straight.
“We’re here.” he said. Without words, he gave me a sweet kiss goodnight. I made a face because I didn’t want to leave, and Paul just smiled telling me I was cute. This night was a dream come true, and starting tomorrow I had to go back to living the reality I didn’t want. But as Paul said tonight, and I said in my song, someday soon, we’ll be together.
“This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had. Thank you so much.” I whispered to Paul.
“Me too, luv.” He smiled. He kissed me one last time, before I got out of the car and left my dream world.



On to Chapter 28