"Come on Louise, Bob Darrie said you put out plenty" Patrick again tried to lift her ink black skirt, his hands groping and not at all gentle. Somehow, she had fallen for his 'I'm not feeling terribly well' prank so here she found herself in the back alley just beside the deliveries door to the Cavern Club at 1a.m. in the morning.

"Let go of me Patrick, or I'll scream"

"And who will hear, no one that's who. Not with those louts and that stuff they call music at full volume" He grabbed her roughly and stuck a knee between her thighs hastily tugging up the skirt, Louise slapped him hard.

"You fucking bitch" Slapping her back with a man's brute force he instantly dropped his knee away to regain a hold of her face and hit again, just to be sure she wouldn't cause a ruckus.

A thick welt rose quickly on her cheek. She took a chance, using her own knee now as a weapon, drawing it up and hitting him right where the sun don't shine. He crumpled down to the alleyways cobblestone like a marionette with all it's strings suddenly cut.

Louise gathered her wits and walked inside the delivery room not risking to look back she was bolting the door behind her with trembling fingers and for a moment she leaned heavily against the timber, letting her lungs regain her breath, letting her racing heart calm.

The music was surely loud but very welcome to her ears.

And it was welcomed so welcomed in those minutes as she closed her eyes, touched her cheek and gathered her wits.....

It gave her sanctuary, it made her feel safe.

Straightening her skirt and blouse, Louise pushed herself off the heavy door with slow movements, she wondered about her appearance, the unwanted kisses and then the slap would have made a mess of her face and realising this, she wanted for a mirror.

Moving slightly, stepping into a puddle of light from the narrow hallways' single swaying bulb Lou found the compact mirror at the bottom of her small black purse. There wasn't too much she could do for the bright red lick of pain across her cheek but with almost an imperceptible tremble, Louise touched a hint of lipstick to her lips.

She walked toward the centre of room, packed like sardines and noisy as a flock of gulls.

Funnily enough, even with all the ruckus of the rock and roll and girls and guys laughter, squeals and screams it was the only place she could actually think......

*********************

He stood on the fifth step and roamed an angry eye over the happily crowded room, sneering openly at the noisy band on the bare boards of a stage that pelted sound about the cavernous room..... Then finally he spotted her, prissy bitch he thought. Her with the ponytail tied high white ribbon holding it in place, her that led him on when she said yes to a date, yea her the teasing cow. He didn't make a move from the narrow fifth step, he only waited for the time to pounce and attack.

To inflict emotional harm.

To open her up to malicious, nasty gossip.

To make a fool of her, like she did to him...

"Righto thanks for coming, we will be having..." The bands main man grinned, panting and sweated his way through the intermission announcement "a ten minute-"

Yelling when the crowd was almost silent, Patrick thought right, it would be like hearing a Massey Ferguson tractor trundle through a library, audible by all, especially by his target, her ..... "Hey Louise Harrison thanks for the fuck and blow out the back, you dirty slag" He laughed with vicious glee, the words worked, sharply stinging their victim well, he thought. She shrank down, her usual poised stature faltering. All eyes turning as one, firstly toward him, the loudmouth on the steps, the only public entrance and exit to the stinking hole of a cellar. Then darting with speed back to Louise Harrison as she stood stock still in the centre of the room.

Everyone knew everyone here in the Cavern....

Patrick grinned with delight, spun on his heel and headed quickly up the narrow staircase, slipping on the damp treads as he went, regaining his balance before he disappeared. Yes inflicting the most embarrassment on the prissy frigid bitch felt good.

Staring right at George Louise cringed, what could she say, she dropped her face to her hands, shaking her head at the maelstrom of words Patrick had verbally attacked her with.

George, never one to hurry anywhere, launched from his temporary seat on the banged-up Vox amp where he had been hunched over fiddling with his tuning pegs, his guitar dropping with a small twang of reverberation from the disturbance to the strings. Somehow he managed to move swiftly through the now jeering tightly packed crowd, touching his sister on the shoulder, he then went racing off up the stairs in pursuit of Patrick.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were not far behind.

Both dropped their beers and jumped off the stage, crashing through the roomful of perpetually jeering and jostling teens. Off to help George sort his sister's accuser.

"Right Luv?" Richard appeared beside her and took her arm gently. She followed him somewhat blindly to the backstage door, she paused a bit to double check it was the new fellow the band was going to enlist as drummer this past week, then, being happy with the knowledge it was indeed he, she walked in front of him into the cramped and humid room.

"Sit yourself down there luv" Richy manoeuvred Louise carefully toward the derelict couch and tapped her shoulder for her to sit.

"I'll feel much happier when the boys are back" Louie sank onto the old sofa and shook her head "If they aren't back in what, five minutes, Nigel will blow his top."

"Who"

"Nigel the manager, they'll stuff the bands time spot all because of me"

Richy thought of what she said then laughed, a deep rumble in his belly, that then began shaking him, he had to wipe his eyes "They're off protecting your honour and all you can think about is them losing a bloody spot in this dive"

"I didn't ask them to run off after Patrick"

"Well you didn't have to Louise, he said some crass stuff and they reacted"

Louise ducked her head, rubbing her cheek absentmindedly, remembering the alley and how stupid she was to even have followed Patrick out there in the first place. She shook her head at herself again. She hadn't been thinking, had she... only concerned for the 'ill' man that asked her for a date last Tuesday.

Louise toyed with the black purse lying in her lap.

John walked back in and sat beside her, still looking downcast Louise took his hand off his knee and, sure enough his knuckles were bleeding and busted. "You should have seen Georgie boy go" John shoved her lightly "Don't tell but I think he might actually like his sister"

Louie smiled a little at John's mirth. Paul stumbled noisily over the piece of wood that was part of the door-frame with his guitar to restring like it was business as usual, and George followed with a bottle of beer, giving Lou a big overdone wink, his hand clutching the beer also red. She held her hands out for the string and guitar, Paul gladly handed it over, his knuckles were not much better than John's.

"He's alive I hope" She quickly sorted the broken string and proceeded to add the new one, her smaller fingers deftly pulling the string through the bridge pin and lacing it thru the tuning post-hole, kinking the string slight right then tuning the guitar to near perfect with a few turns of the tuning post counter-clockwise. All the boys watching on as she worked, she was highly experienced at it now, what with George and his numerous almost uncountable string breaks. She was becoming a big help at gigs and rehearsals, truth be told.

"Yea, but I don't think he will be able to walk for a month of Sundays" George smirked and tugged her ponytail, the ribbon slipping away. Handing the guitar back, Paul nodded thanks and saluted her with a comic flair making her grin at his lark. George dropped the ribbon in her lap as he flopped down beside Lou watching John touch a finger to her red cheek.

"You didn't though, did you Lou?.... What he said" John pushed Louie to annoyance as usual and she quickly swiped the hand he used to touch her swollen cheek, away. Lou glared daggers at him and banged his hand back into his chest, making him groan, annoyed he'd even think that "I'll take that as a resounding no then"

"You better take it as a big fat NO, Winnie"

Paul sniggered at Louie's use of Johns, much maligned, middle name and walked off before all hell broke loose. 

Richy stepped forward into the mix having stayed back watching the interaction between his new band-mates and Louise Harrison "I'll drive you home, when we wrap up ummm Lou? Can I call you Lou?"

"Sure, call her Lou, Louise, Louie, sis, late for dinner but don't call her Mabel which is her middle name or Maybelline, that's John's sure-fire murder name" George grinned toothily at Richy as they walked back out toward the stage and Louise frowned at yet another person knowing her middle name. John was bad enough with it, that's why she took up calling him Winnie in verbal defense in the first place.

Louise sat quietly listening to the boys finish off their last songs. They were good, she knew that, knew they were stars no matter what the school deans and teachers called them in days gone by, or anybody else for that matter, they would make it. She knew it in her heart.     ....The show continued without incident and Louise Harrison never had to see Patrick again.