June 1959

Connie really loved working at the Cavern club. She wasn't really meant to be working there, considering she was still underage by a few months, but even if the managers knew, she was glad she hadn't been fired. It was hard, being a barmaid, having to constantly work with the public, most of whom were teenagers on night's out, but she loved it all the same. It was a good wage, and she got to meet so many different people.

The latter was certainly true, one Friday afternoon in June when a new band was in for a sound check before their performance that night. Her manager had told her it was a group called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and she'd heard of them before, John had mentioned them a couple of times. They were meant to be good, really good, part of the newly emerging rock and roll scene Liverpool seemed to be producing. Even so, she'd still heard Paul and George mention the fact that they were wary of the drummer, a guy they called Ringo Starr, though she had no idea what his real name was.

And, upon watching the band's sound check as she cleaned the bar, she also had no idea as to why her friends were so intimidated by him. He was rather cute, dressed like a teddy boy with bright blue eyes and a rather large nose, not that she paid too much attention to his appearance, being far too fascinated by his drumming to even consider how good looking he actually was. He was quite good, rather skilled, and she noticed he played backwards, as if he was left handed. By the end of their sound check, Connie had come to the conclusion that Ringo was one of the best drummers in Liverpool, far superior to the Beatles' current drummer.

"Hey love," a voice called whilst Connie was bent down wiping one of the shelves below the bar. Upon being called, she hopped back up, only to see it was the drummer she had been admiring moments ago, leaning against the bar, a friendly smile on her face. "Are you serving?"

"I'm not meant to be, but I liked your drumming, so for you... What'll it be?" Connie shrugged with a smirk, and the drummer smiled again. "It's Ringo, right?"

"Yeah that's me, and I'll have a pint, if that's alright," he said nodding, though Connie noted the caution in his voice, as if he didn't want to get her into trouble for serving him when she wasn't meant to. "What's your name?"

"Connie, though all my mates call me Lennie," she told him as she poured his drink, wearing a genuine smile that wasn't like the ones she forced on for customer service.

"You're Connie Lennon?" His eyes seemed to widen ever so slightly, and his surprise made her snort out a laugh. She was used to people recognising her cousin, but she didn't realise she also had a reputation that meant people knew her name.

"You say it as if I'm famous," she laughed, finishing off his drink and sliding it across the bar to him.

"Well, I've heard your name thrown around a bit," Ringo said before swigging his pint, his words making Connie narrow her eyes in amusement. "Not in a bad way, like, I just heard you were a nice looking bird,"

"Flattery's not gonna get you a free pint, you know," Connie raised an eyebrow at him, her comment making Ringo laugh as he paid her. "How'd you get so good at drumming, then?"

And so Connie carried on working, cleaning the glasses and the bar, all whilst Ringo remained leaning up against it, the two of them talking about music, and when they'd done with that topic, they went onto the subject of themselves. He told her all about how he'd been drumming since he was a kid, and how it was the only thing he wanted to do. She told him about how it was her dream to be a published author, since writing was always the only thing she was good at, other than fighting and singing. He mentioned about how the band were back from working the season at Butlins and were about to move off to Hamburg to work in some nightclubs. She mentioned that she was only working at the Cavern to try and save up to move to London, considering she'd spent the whole summer so far applying for internships and apprenticeships at magazine firms and newspaper presses.

"Move to London?" Ringo repeated, seeming rather surprised. "You seem like the sort of person who lives and breaths Liverpool,"

"Yeah, but if I spend all my life living by the Mersey just 'cause I love it, will I ever become a writer?" she pointed out, making him shrug in agreement. "It's just the same with you. Cavern's great for gigs, but if it's that great, if it's the place where you think you'll get noticed, why would you go over to Hamburg?"

Connie was the sort of person who could get on with anybody, as long as they weren't rude, and Ringo was no exception. In the half an hour they'd been talking, she felt as if she knew him, and she liked him more than half the people she'd gone to school with. He wasn't scary like the boys had made him out to be, he was actually quite sweet. If anything, he reminded her a little of George, with a similar temperament and sunny disposition.

"So, now your shift's over, what are you doing?" he asked, watching as she put away the cloths she had been using, following her as she signed out and grabbed her leather jacket off the hook.

"I'm meeting a friend actually," she told him, remembering that George had promised to meet her as soon as her shift was done so they could hang out. "Aren't you playing in a couple of hours?"

"Yeah, but at least let me walk you out," he suggested, and Connie was more than happy to ablige to that, nodding to him as she slipped her jacket on.

"Are you playing tomorrow?" she asked as they walked up the Cavern steps. "I'm meant to be off tomorrow, but my mate's band is playing the lunch time set, so I was gonna see if I could pick up an evening shift. I was hoping there'd at least be some decent music on while I'm working,"

"Decent, are we?" Ringo asked with a smirk as he held the door open for them both to leave the club. "But yeah, we're playing,"

As they came outside of the club and onto Matthew Street, Connie's eyes caught sight of George on the other side of the road, leaning against the wall, a cigarette between his lips as he looked down the street, not yet noticing her. The sight of him stood there in his leather jacket with his hair wild and his eyebrows furrowed slightly made her stomach fizz with butterflies, a sensation she had gotten used to feeling upon seeing George, though it still annoyed her.

It was annoying that she occasionally felt overwhelmed with infatuation for her best friend, though she completely understood why she felt like that. He was handsome, she'd always thought that, and he was sweet, a real gentleman, that was for sure considering he'd ditched school early to meet her from work, plus something happened to her when he played the guitar and sang. It was as if she had to remind herself to breathe sometimes when she was around him, though she always tried to hide it, hopefully successfully, because she didn't want George to know she was smitten by him.

George was her best friend, and if he knew that she had the slightest of crushes on him, it would only get in the way and spoil things. She enjoyed their friendship far too much to even consider letting her feelings get in the way, so as she stood with Ringo, looking over at George, she took a deep breath, regaining herself, before she flashed a last grin at Ringo, hitting his arm.

"Nice one, I'll see you tomorrow then, drummer boy," she winked, making him smile once more, turning and walking over to George whilst he wandered off down the road in search of a café or pub.

George spotted Connie walking across the road just as he flicked his cigarette out onto the path, screwing his shoe on top of it to make sure
it was put out, focusing his attention on that rather than letting his mind be filled with the thoughts of how beautiful she looked. She didn't dress like the other girls did, in their dresses and their heels with their hair and make up pristine, but maybe that was because she couldn't always afford to dress like that. She wore skirts sometimes, but most of the time she looked like the perfect mix of a teddy boy and a rocker, and that day was no exception, as she wore a black shirt tucked into black and white checked trousers with her leather jacket, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail.

There had always been something rather special about Connie to George, ever since he first met her on the bus. He'd thought she was pretty in her school uniform, her rather short skirt and blazer making her look smart, though her wild blonde hair contrasted the rest of her look, seemingly resembling that of a lion's mane. Ever since that day he'd thought she was beautiful, especially the more he got to know her and her personality, her wild sense of humour and wit winning him over completely. He'd never met anyone like her before, the other girls he knew from her school being nowhere near as fiery, and with that he couldn't help but admire her.

Not that he wanted her to know that, she'd probably just make fun of him, not to mention he knew she thought of him and Paul as the little brothers she never had. However, just because he didn't want to act on his crush didn't mean he wanted to see her with anyone else, so as he saw her walking out the Cavern with a lad that was at least two years older than him he couldn't help but feel intimidated, though he tried not to let it show as he made eye contact with Connie, her grinning over at him.

"Alright, Georgie?" she greeted as soon as she got over to him. "Thanks for bunking off to meet me,"

"Who was that you were talking to?" George asked with a confused frown as his gaze followed the man Connie had previously been walking with, though his face changed as he recognised the figure. "Was that Ringo Starr?"

"Yeah, not as terrifying as you and Paul made him out to be," Connie shrugged as she linked her arm through his, pulling him away from the Cavern entrance and back down Matthew Street to get to the bus stop. "He's actually a really nice guy, quite sweet, amazing drummer, better than Pete that's for sure. He was telling me how him and the band are going over to Hamburg, they've got a contract with some nightclubs,"

"That's the dream for any band," George rolled his eyes, and Connie could tell he was slightly jealous, though she chose to ignore that, instead letting out a small laugh at his comment.

"Yeah, but not for you yet," she pointed out, making him groan in annoyance. "You'd get bloody deported if you went over to Hamburg to work in clubs,"

"John wants to though," George reminded her, making Connie snort out a laugh. "What?"

"Sure it's a great opportunity for you to get out there and make a shot at it, but you know what John's like, he's a right swine," Connie shook her head, and though she insulted him, George knew any comment she made about John was out of endearment; that was the sort of cousinly relationship they had. "Paul's the same,"

"What about me then?" he looked over at her with a smirk, edging his face closer to hers, elbowing her slightly.

"Don't test your luck, Harrison," she laughed, just as they reached the bus stop, pulling her arm out of his as she looked over the timetable before glancing over to him. "What do you want to do? The day is young, and I just got paid. Now, baring in mind neither of us can legally buy alcohol, so..."

"Could go to the docks?" George suggested with a slight shrug. "Pick up some food, sit and watch the boats?"

"You know watching them makes me feel seasick," Connie reminded him, but despite her aversion to boats, George knew the docks was one of her favourite places. "But yeah, let's go,"

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Word count: 2164

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