Chapter 23

“Olivia! Olivia where are you!” I heard Paul yell as he came through the front door. I was outside sitting next to the pool and turned my head back towards the house.
“I’m out here Paul,” I yelled back. Before long, Paul was bursting through the doors out onto the patio. I looked at him curiously, “Well, you sure seem happy,” I said. He beamed and nodded.
“How are you love?” He asked sitting next to me on the lawn chair and kissing me. I smiled.
“Good. I can see you are doing fine….” I laughed, “What happened?”
“First off, we just got done finalizing ‘Here There and Everywhere’ and ‘Got to Get You into My Life’ and they sound great!” he said.
“And that’s why you are so happy?” I asked.
“No, that was only first off,”
“So, what else?”
“I bought something….” He said. I was still confused.
“What did you buy?”
“Go ahead, guess,” he said eagerly.
“Um, another car?” I asked. He laughed and shook his head.
“No, I don’t need more cars. Keep guessing,”
“Is it any mode of transportation?”
“Nope,”
“A house?” I asked and he smiled.
“Close….I bought 183 acres of a dairy farm in Machrihanish, Kintyre!” he said excited. I just looked at him.
“Where’s that?”
“In Scotland,” he said, “Isn’t this great?” he said standing up. For some reason, I couldn’t see the ‘greatness’ in it.
“Yeah, I suppose,” I said. He sat back down.
“You don’t think so?” he asked. I shrugged.
“Paul, what are we going to do with a Dairy Farm?” I asked, “We have a perfectly good house here,” He took my hands and smiled.
“Sorry love, I forgot to mention, it’s not a Dairy Farm anymore, it was an old one. And I thought it would be gear to have a place in Scotland, you know, out in the country, away from the city and stuff…” he said and I smiled. I had never really been on a farm and wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it. I was more like a city girl than a farm girl. Paul just looked at me, “You don’t like it do you?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, I just, I don’t know. I’m not really a farm girl….”
“Have you ever been to one?” he asked me. I shook my head no, “See, so you don’t know. I never thought I would be, years ago, you know, I wanted to be in the big cities! London, New York, that sort of stuff. But lately, I find I want to be away from all that,”
“Yeah I suppose,” I said still not sure.
“We wouldn’t have to live there. I’m not going to sell this place,” I looked up at him shocked.
“You are going to keep both of them?” I asked. He nodded.
“Why not? It’s not like I can’t afford it. We’ll just stay wherever we feel like at the time. If we want to get away, we’ll go to Scotland, if we want to be in the city, we’ll come here.” He said and that seemed a little better than completely moving there. I smiled.
“That’s a little better,” I said and he laughed.
“Good, because I would never do anything that you wouldn’t like. If you really don’t like it, I’ll sell it again,” he said with all seriousness. I smiled.
“No, I like it. I’ll probably end up loving it once I’m there,” I said smiling and Paul leaned over to kiss me.
“Besides, we could buy horses and stuff,”
“Really?” I said excited now. I loved horses. Paul nodded.
“Yeah, we could go for early morning rides, have picnic’s, the whole sort,” This was getting more and more appealing as Paul kept talking, “Plus, it’s not furnished or anything, so you could decorate it if you wanted.” He finished.
“You would let me decorate it?”
“Of course, with my help…” he said grinning. I laughed.
“It’s a deal,” I said.
“Gear!” he said happy again as before, “I’m going to go get me trunks on, I’ll be back,” he said leaving and walking into the house. After a few minutes Paul emerged once more from the house in his swimming trunks. He ran and cannonballed into the pool, splashing water all over me and making me laugh.
“Paul, you got me all wet!” I whined, but laughed. He popped up from the water and wiped his face.
“Ah, don’t be soft…..” he said smiling and swimming over to the side of the pool right in front of me. He propped himself up with his elbows on the side.
“But I was tanning,” I said making a sad face, using the towel and wiping myself off.
“How long have you been out here?” he asked.
“Couple hours, I don’t know,”
“Couple hours! Come on, you’re probably hotter than hell up there. I can see you sweating, come in….” He said and splashed water on me.
“Paul, I’m tanning,” I said again.
“You’re tan enough Liv’, come ed!” he begged again and I shook my head smiling. He splashed me again.
“James Paul McCartney!” I yelled laughing. He laughed and pushed himself out of the pool. He stood in front of me drying him self off.
“I’m sorry, come here,” he said reaching for me. I looked at him and he laughed, “Please? I’m going to dry you off,” he said. I got up and walked over to him. He pulled me into his towel with him and rubbed my back, “See, I told you,” he said. I smiled.
“Yeah,” I said and he leaned down and kissed me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. I looked up at him confused.
“For what?” I asked.
“For this!” he shouted and before I could do anything he fell backwards holding onto me tight bringing me into the pool with him. I laughed as I broke the surface. Paul laughed as he swam over to me and I swam away from him.
“Hey, what are you doing?” he asked.
“Getting away from you….you’re evil.” I said and he laughed launching himself towards me and grabbing me underwater.
“I am not…” he said shaking his head, “I just wanted you in the pool with me, doesn’t it feel better?” he asked.
“No,” I said, but had to laugh because he was right. I was burning like a crisp up there and the cool water on my skin felt good, not to mention Paul’s arms around me. He laughed.
“You are such a liar,” he said and I smiled.
“Fine, you are right. But did you have to pull me in that way?” I asked looking over and seeing Paul’s towel floating, “You even got your towel wet,” I said. Paul looked over at it and frowned.
“Whoops,” he said then smiled as he turned back to me, “I’ll just have to share yours,” he said and I smiled.
“That’s what you think!” I said dunking him and swimming away.
“Oh no you don’t!” he yelled as he surfaced and swimming after me. He caught me and tickled me. I squealed with delight and angst in trying to get away from him.
“What are you kids doing in there?” We heard a familiar voice say. Paul stopped and turned around to see John standing next to the pool.
“Hey mate,” Paul said swimming over to the side of the pool. I followed.
“Hi John,” I said stopping next to Paul.
“Hey, whatcha doing?” he asked us sitting on my lawn chair, but then standing up right away, “Ugh, this bloody chair is wet!” he said and Paul and I laughed.
“That’s thanks to Paul here,” I said splashing him. He turned to me and dunked me. I laughed as I came up. John laughed.
“Looks like you love birds are having a bit of a bash,” he said. Paul looked over at me.
“Nah, not really.”
“Thanks,” I said laughing.
“What’s up John?” Paul asked.
“Nothing really,” he began then looked over at me, “I’m going to have to steal your Paulie away for a moment.” He said.
“Where are we going?” Paul asked staying in the pool and itching his nose.
“Uh, we’re going to go talk to Brian about…” he looked over at me and then back at Paul, “you know,” he said. Paul nodded and got out of the pool.
“What’s going on?” I asked him. He smiled taking my towel.
“It’s nothing love, just some business stuff we need to go over with Eppy,” he said, “need help?” he asked extending his hand to me. I grabbed it and pulled myself out. He pulled me into the towel with him.
“How long are you going to be gone?” I asked curious. He looked over at John and he shrugged.
“Depends on how Brian acts,” John mumbled softly. I was confused. I had no idea what they were talking about.
“It won’t be long. Here I’ll tell you what, get dressed and everything, and when I get back we’ll drive to the Farm and I’ll show it to you,” Paul said moving some wet hair out of my face. I smiled.
“Alright,” I said.
“You wha’?” John asked as we walked inside. Paul nodded.
“Yeah, I bought one in Kintyre.” He said. John smiled.
“Gear,” he said and Paul nodded. He got dressed quickly and he and John left. I showered getting the chlorine out of my hair and got dressed and ready to go. Paul was gone for a couple hours, and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Considering I didn’t know what this ‘meeting’ was about. Paul very rarely kept anything from me, even if he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.


“Hey Liv’,” he said walking in. I walked over to him.
“Hey,” I said and noticed a faint difference in Paul’s face. Whatever happened, he wasn’t pleased about.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked, not as happy as he was before.
“We don’t have to go,” I told him. He looked at me confused.
“Don’t be daft! I want to show you the place,” he said, “Why would you say that anyway?”
“Did everything go okay today? Your mood has changed,” I said. He smiled.
“Everything is fine love. Meetings with Brian always put me out of sorts, you know that. Let’s just go to the farm,” he said kissing me and taking my hand. I nodded but I wasn’t convinced. Something was up. It was quite a long drive to Kintyre and this one was a quiet drive. Paul didn’t talk much, and I didn’t know what to say. I looked over at him a couple times and he just stared at the road, a lot obviously on his mind. He’d notice me looking at him and he would smile and say ‘We’re almost there,’ I would smile in return and then it would be silence again, the troubled look back on Paul’s face. After a couple hours we were there.
“This is it,” he said smiling and looking over to me. I looked out ahead and saw a little farm house sitting all by its lonesome. The scenery around it was beautiful. There was an ocean or sea; I wasn’t sure, not far from it with rocks and hills.
“This is gorgeous,” I told Paul as he helped me out of the car.
“You really think so? You aren’t just saying that?” he asked.
“Of course I’m not. It really is pretty,” I said. He smiled and we walked up to the house. He let go of my hand to open the door.
“I’ll have to fix this,” he said getting it open. I took his hand again as we walked in. He turned on the light to an empty room. It wasn’t really in bad shape but it wasn’t good either.
“I think it’ll be nice,” Paul said letting go of my hand and walking into the middle of the room, “Don’t you?” he asked. I looked around and nodded. He came back over to me and took my hand, “Let’s go upstairs,” he said. We walked up the creaky stairs into a loft type area. Paul turned on the lights and I gasped. There was a little blanket with plates and candles, with a basket in the middle. Off to the side there was a mattress with more blankets and more candles. Paul walked me closer to it.
“Oh, Paul,” I said. He was such a romantic!
“Do you like it?” he asked standing in front of me. I smiled and kissed him.
“Yes, this is so romantic,” I said and he smiled.
“I try,” he said laughing a bit. I smiled.
“Well, you’re very good at it,” I told him. Paul had made little sandwiches and we ate them up in the loft on the little blanket. Afterwards, Paul started up the little fire place as I sat on the mattress. He walked over to me.
“There, that should warm it up a bit,” he said. I nodded, “Do you think you could be here?”
“Yes, especially once we have it furnished and everything. I think it’ll be really nice.” I said as Paul sat next to me.
“I’m glad, I was scared when you weren’t acting happy,” he said. I smiled and touched his arm.
“I wasn’t not happy, I just wasn’t sure.” I said. He smiled, and stared to the floor. I moved my head in front of his and he shook it off, smiling.
“Sorry,” he said.
“Are you alright Paul?” I asked.
“Yeah, kinda tired. Want to lie down?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said and we got under the covers. We had shut the lights off, leaving the fire place the only source of light. Paul held onto me tight as we laid there in silence. After a while, I decided to ask Paul once more what was bothering him.
“Paul? Are you still awake?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Will you please tell me what’s wrong?” I asked him. I saw him open his eyes.
“What do you mean? Everything is fine. I’m here with you in my arms, away from everything, what more could I want?” he said.
“Paul please, I know you. I know when something is bothering you. And there’s been something up ever since that meeting with Brian.” I said. Paul sighed and caressed my cheek, without saying anything, “Paul….” I begged softly.
“We aren’t touring anymore,” he said softly. I wasn’t sure if I heard him right. The Beatles not tour?
“What?” I asked. He sighed again.
“We’re going to Japan and then after the American tour, we’re done. No more concerts,” he said.
“What? How?” I asked not believing it. I felt Paul shrug.
“I don’t bloody know really. John and George are fed up with it, I don’t understand. I enjoy it,” he said.
“Why don’t they like it?”
“They say it’s pointless. Which I guess they do have a point; the fans can’t hear us anyway. John says stupid stuff sometimes and the girls continue to go barmy, not knowing he’s just being a stupid git,” Paul said.
“But Paul, I’ve been to your concerts….I can hear you.” I said.
“It’s different. The crowds are getting bigger and louder. You can hear us now only cuz you are on the side of the stage. But in all honesty, we can barely hear ourselves. John says they don’t care about our music, it’s just us they want.” He said sadly. I shook my head.
“Paul you know that’s not true, otherwise you wouldn’t be selling records and getting number ones. The concerts are for both. They love you because of your music. They don’t love your music because of you.” I said. He nodded.
“That’s what I was saying, but John and George are fed up. I told them that either way, we’re getting money and the fans are enjoying themselves, whether they can really hear us or not. I still enjoy playing on stage. Even if I can’t hear, it’s still a rush….I don’t get it.” He said shaking his head, “they don’t enjoy themselves anymore, so it’s me against them.”
“What about Ringo?” I asked. He shrugged.
“He said he doesn’t really care either way, but he seemed to be sided with George and John more than me,”
“And Brian? How did he take it?” Paul let out a little laugh as he hugged me tighter.
“Not well. He was with me, but you know John. He’s pushy and harsh. Brian and I tried to talk it out of them, but they wouldn’t budge. You know, Brian would never do something that John didn’t want to do because he loves him or whatever, so of course John won it over,” he said. I just laid there not believing it. No more Beatles concerts…..
“What will you do now then? That took up a lot of your time…”
“I know. Brian says we’ll just have to do more TV appearances and movies, but mostly just concentrate on our music. Which is fine I guess, I love recording.” He said, “Plus, maybe we’ll have more time together,” he said softly and kissed me. I nodded, not really think about that end of it. I just couldn’t believe the other part.
“Yeah, that would be nice,” I said. He nodded and with that no more was said on the topic. We didn’t do anything that night other than cuddle and sleep. The next morning came to soon and we were up and off back to London, where they continued to work on Revolver and eventually flying to Japan. I didn’t accompany on this one, and I’m glad now. Paul told me later, ‘It was hell and I’m never going back there again’. Eventually, Paul gave in to John and George agreeing that no more touring was in The Beatles best interest, but I still wasn’t sure. Things were changing so much. They were getting more into drugs, even Paul, although he still fought it as much as he could. He even shared that ‘Got to Get You into My Life’ was a song about his first experience with pot. Mentioning that, they’re music was also different. They were getting out of the pop scene and more into the psychedelic stuff, and Paul began experimenting heavily with different music techniques. He introduced the groups into ‘loops’, a fancy technique that I really don’t know how to explain. Most of all, they would no longer be touring…what would happen? And how much more would change?

Chapter 24....