Every morning would start out in more or less the same way for Gail Greene. Breathlessly laying in a pool of her own sweat and tears, she would awaken with an erratic jolt. Glimpsing briefly at the calendar on her bedside, she would recoil as her mind flashed back to her recurring nightmare. The same nightmare she had been having every night, without fail, for the past eight months.

As she gulped and emitted a drowsy, pained moan, Gail knew that today would be no ordinary day. Then again, it was never quite an ordinary day when they were involved.

Before she could get too swept up in her nerves, Gail opted to take the London Underground to EMI. There was something about the people on the tube and the sound of the engine that soothed her.

Taking out her compact mirror from her purse, she proceeded to apply a coat of blood red lipstick to her lips. After a couple lip smacks and side-glances for good measure, Gail stared at the skittish hazel-green eyes that blinked back at her.

"Relax, Gail, you're just seeing some old friends! Nothing radical, nothing to get worked up about!" she reassured her reflection.

She then glanced around uneasily, taking heed of the surrounding patrons, before returning her attention to the mirror.

"Talking to yourself? Come on, Gail, we talked about this. It makes you seem psychotic..." she tittered anxiously.

~~~

Paul had been acting decidedly nervous since last night, Isabel noted. He tried to engage in polite conversation as best he could, but ultimately slipped silently into bed without bidding her so much as a goodnight. This same distracted demeanor persisted in this present moment as he bit forcefully down on his lip and his gaze shifted sideways, his eyes glazed over and faraway.

There was something in the air this morning, Isabel could feel it. Almost ominous, but not quite. Sort of an anxious anticipation. It was hard for Isabel to ask Paul what was wrong; she felt intimidated somehow. And after yesterday's spectacle, she knew her latched-on presence was doing nothing to help matters.

"Paul..." Isabel uttered timidly, suddenly unable to hold her tongue any longer.

This small cry was ignored by Paul, his glazed expression frozen on his face.

"Paul," Isabel tried again, a bit more firmly.

"Hm?" Paul's head abruptly whisked in her direction, his eyebrow now raised in slight befuddlement as he snapped out of his daze. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear..."

"Paul, are you okay?" Isabel asked.

"I'm fine, love, everything's grand," he smiled weakly, his forehead furrowing as he looked downward.

Just then, John came mirthlessly trudging in. He looked all around him, blankly and tentatively, before slumping down in his chair with conviction.

"She's coming today," he stated in a low, solemn tone.

"I know," George nodded from behind the drum kit, smirking subtly. "How do you feel..?"

John glanced cagily at George before smiling, "...Actually, you know what? I feel great! Fantastic, top of the world, fuzzy as a peach!"

George chuckled in reply, "That's good to hear, Johnny-boy! Good to see you aren't all wound up in a tizzy over our unexpected guest!"

"Ha-ha, no siree, Harry, old boy! In fact, I'm excited to see Abbi--eeoooouhh..." he couldn't finish reciting her name before retching into his hand and running desperately off to the loo.

George sighed and rolled his eyes good-naturedly at his friend's telling display. Meanwhile, Paul couldn't be bothered to even notice what happened.

"It's okay, false alarm, everyone! I am perfectly unperturbed!" John proclaimed glibly as he walked back in.

"Paul, who is Gail?" Isabel asked pointedly. It was the question that had been lingering in her head since the first mention of her mysterious name.

All of a sudden, she spotted John's eyes widening as he and Paul looked at each other, communicating without words.

Isabel grunted softly. She was getting annoyed with being constantly left out of the conversation.

~~~

As she neared EMI, Gail began to experience overwhelming feelings of nostalgia. Her heart fluttered with a sharp pang as she exited the train and recognized the musty building her taxi would always pull up to. A glaring symbol of the life she had forsaken.

These wistful feelings only became stronger as Gail entered the vicinity. All at once, the memories came flooding back. The fetching, the cleaning, the paperwork, the heavenly voices that would echo through the studio...

Wait. Was that their actual voices she was hearing? Could it really be them? The unmistakable sound of the boys? Her boys?

Everything was hitting her so hard, so quickly, it was dizzying. Suddenly feeling weak and short of breath, Gail ran into the nearest loo.

She hunched over the sink, gasping for air, as she finished spewing out everything that had been plaguing her stomach.

Looking back up at her reflection, her eyebrows perched together with stern, unrelenting determination.

"Okay, Gail. Don't cry, don't freak out, don't show any kind of vulnerability!" she pointed adamantly at herself in the mirror.

With a deep breath in, she stepped out and hoped she would find the courage within her to face the inevitable music.

~~~

If Isabel had hoped to garner any kind of insight on who Gail was, those hopes were quickly dashed. In their brief wordless exchange, it seemed Paul and John both agreed to gloss over her significance.

"Oh, she's nothing you need to worry about, dear..." Paul had assured her dismissively.

Isabel couldn't help rolling her eyes at this vague reply. Regardless of how much or how little this person's visit actually concerned her, it was still quite evidently something Paul and John felt the need to worry about.

Ringo had now joined the lads and was waiting just as eagerly as the rest of them. They had gotten back into the groove of conversing in a relaxed, amicable manner.

Suddenly, everyone took pause to the sound of a door shutting faintly in the distance.

"Oh, god, Abbie's here!" John panicked and fled back to the men's room as the next wave of nausea hit him.

Once again, Isabel felt Paul's body stiffen beside her as his hands absentmindedly roamed to his head and he unquietly began to fix his hair.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Gail was determined to make as unassuming an entrance as she possibly could. Wary of the fuss, she almost did not want to be seen by them at all. Chuckling, she recalled when it was once her daily goal to not get noticed by the boys. 

She was terrified to see them again, if she was being quite honest, and that certainly reflected in what she chose to do next.

In an attempt to remain hidden, she opted to crawl behind the gigantic sound booths that were scattered throughout the area. Grateful that she was on the smaller side, she was able to slink out of sight quite effectively.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to keep perfectly quiet. The slight tapping noises were enough to set everyone off.

"Do you hear something..?" Paul asked in confusion.

"Yeah," George nodded, equally suspicious. "I think it's coming from over there..."

"Not to worry, lads, I'll have a looksy..." Ringo stated cheerfully.

Freezing as she heard this, Gail suddenly felt utterly stupid. She didn't want to get caught entering the room like this; she didn't want this pitiful spectacle to be the boys' first sight of her after eight months of separation. Crawling frantically towards the door, she wanted to do over the entire entrance.

Well Gail, you've hit lower points... Gail resigned to herself as she squirmed underneath Ringo's drum set.

"Is someone there..?" Ringo asked slowly as he looked down and lightly placed his hand on the drums.

Gail tried to escape Ringo's sight in a frenzy, only to knock over the drum set in a monstrously loud fashion, revealing her undignified position.

"Gail!?" Ringo exclaimed.

"Ha-hey, Ringo!" Gail peeped as she chuckled feebly.

"Gail!!!" Ringo rejoiced as he picked her up and squeezed her. "Is it really you!? Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Ringo! I'm sorry about your drums..." she remarked timidly with a twinge of guilt.

"Oh, no worries! They always get quite a bashing, that's the second time they've taken a fall this week..." Ringo assured her, shaking his head dismissively.

"What a way to make an entry, Greene!" George appeared from behind him, smiling and chortling quietly.

"George!" Gail cried out in joy as she ran into George's open arms.

Already emotional and misty-eyed, she knew she was struggling to fulfill the standard of composure she had attempted to set for herself.

"I've missed you, kid!" George expressed with affection, gently releasing his embrace.

"Who're you calling kid!?" Gail giggled, pressing a playful finger against George's chest. "I'm older than you, you know!"

George sighed mildly and shook his head in endearment, "Yeah, yeah. And how have you been, o sage one?"

"Oh, I've been great!" Gail answered with reflexive enthusiasm. "Fabulous, wonderful..."

"Fuzzy as a peach?" Ringo chimed in, exchanging a knowing smile with George over what he had been filled in on regarding John's curious word usage.

An awkward silence fell as Gail's face contorted in confusion at the reference. She then took a sly peek around, attempting to appear casual.

"...So, um, where's John...?" she asked tentatively.

"Still throwing up," George stated nonchalantly.

"What?" Gail raised an eyebrow in concern.

"Yeah, the poor chap's not been feeling well lately..." Ringo explained dolefully.

John, however, knew what was provoking this reaction, and it wasn't some 24-hour bug.

All of a sudden, Paul hesitantly stepped forward.

"Gail..?"

"Paul..!" Gail greeted in a high-pitched tone that seemed to indicate agony instead of glee.

"Nice of you to finally look my way, Gail!" Paul chuckled awkwardly as he anxiously rubbed the back of his neck and stepped closer, attempting to close the glaringly wide space between them. "For a moment there, it felt as though you forgot I was even a Beatle..."

"Oh, trust me, I've been trying to do just that..." Gail muttered anxiously under her breath, masking the comment with a throat-clearing.

"What was that..?" Paul asked, his eyes widening in dread.

"Nothing! Paul, it's so lovely to see you again!" Gail plastered a smile on her face and scurried up to give him a tense, haphazard hug.

Before anyone could fully process what was happening, the sound of a certain unmistakable voice crept up on Gail from behind and instantly made her heart drop.

"Abbie..?" John uttered gently.

Gail turned around, slowly and cautiously, until their eyes met.

They both froze, awestruck, taking a moment to gaze at each other. It was as if everything they had been through together, every feeling they had been trying to squash, every memory they had fought themselves to forget, was hitting them both in a span of seconds.

Those eyes. The same eyes that never failed to make her melt into a puddle.

"John..." Gail stated shakily.

No one dared to breathe a word for a few long moments as a dreadfully awkward silence descended upon the room.

"So, uh, how's your wife?" Gail asked with a small chuckle, promptly regretting her frivolous manner as she felt everyone around her wince with discomfort.

John blinked incredulously, as if snapped out of a spell, "She's, um, she's good, I guess..."

Gail continued to chortle apprehensively, "Well, when you think about it, she can't possibly have it too bad, being married to someone 'bigger than Jesus' and all..."

The winces became louder and stronger as John sat, shocked and at a loss for words.

"Too soon, Gail..." Ringo enthusiastically decried, shaking his head.

Gail became slightly frantic as she began to back away, "Oh, my, this isn't going well...I should leave..."

"Wait, don't go..." John stood up briskly, his voice tender and caring.

"No, no, I think that's what's best...I don't know what I was thinking showing my face back here again..." Gail's voice trembled as she turned away.

"No, you're not escaping me this time, Greene, not again..." John mischievously declared as he grabbed Gail by the waist and blithely spun her around.

This genial action appeared to break the ice as Gail succumbed to a fit of giggles, "Stop, John, you filthy bastard, let me go!"

"Tsk, tsk. Abbie, such language! You don't want to be pissing us off even more, now do you?" John commented in amusement as he released Gail.

"I don't think you need me around to be perpetually pissed, John," Gail noted, smirking and rolling her eyes. "By the way, what the heck is on your face? These glasses are about as thick as your head!"

"Oh, sod off, will you!? I like them..." John exclaimed defensively.

Gail went on to playfully mess with John's glasses, both of them snickering and deep in their own private world.

Paul, watching intently from a distance next to Isabel, rolled his eyes in mild annoyance at John and Gail's exuberant display of affection. There was a subtle expression on Paul's face that Isabel couldn't place.

"You look positively gorgeous, love, you're glowing!" John remarked with a grin, looking her over. "I can imagine you're having quite a bit of trouble keeping the boys away..."

Gail cast her eyes downward as she smiled and bit her lip shyly, "Actually, I've been seeing someone..."

The conversation seemed to pause for a quick beat, but John wasn't visibly deterred.

"Aw, who's got you all hot in the pants now?" he teased.

Gail blushed and touched her face, "Oh, he's no one! Just someone I've been getting acquainted with down at the office..."

John narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin, "Acquainted with, huh? You failed to mention this in any of your postcards..."

Gail shrugged innocently, "Must've slipped my mind..."

"Wait, John, you and Gail have been exchanging postcards..?" Paul questioned hesitantly.

"Oh, yeah. There's been some correspondence going on back and forth between us for the past few months..." John answered simply.

"You know, you could've written to me every once in a blue moon..." Paul pouted to Gail.

"Maybe I just had nothing to say to you, Paul..." Gail tersely retorted, eyeing him briefly.

In the background, George and Ringo once again winced and simultaneously shared a look that seemed to say...yikes.

"Speaking of your work, Gail, how's it going down at Reed Publishing?" Ringo piped up, attempting to alleviate the sudden tension.

"Oh, psh, I'm only Alec Reed's star writer!" Gail replied brashly. "It's hard to get the poor man to stop gushing about me!"

"That's amazing, Gail! What have you written?" Ringo proceeded to ask.

"Oh, nothing special, really! Just the next Great Novel, that's all! Dickens and Hemingway are weeping..."

"Oh, really?" Paul raised an eyebrow. "What's it called?"

"Well, if you must know, Paul," Gail retorted sharply. "It's called Torn Between Two, and it's not autobiographical AT ALL..."

John's face scrunched up in confusion, "Funny, I haven't seen any book of yours on the shelves--"

"It's not out yet!" Gail snapped, interrupting him. "I mean, not all of us can become famous rockstars in a day, some of us need to pace ourselves!" she chuckled nervously.

"...It didn't take a day..." John mumbled under his breath, his eyes widened at her outburst. "You, of all people, would know that..."

"Regardless!" Gail pressed on adamantly. "This book is going to be big!"

John wrinkled his nose in repulsion, "...Came back with a swollen head, didja?"

Gail shrugged as she rubbed her fingernails against her blouse and fixed her gaze on the lads, "Guess I need one to keep up with the biggest egos in the industry..."

Utterly mystified, John snuck a glance at Paul. Paul glanced back with a pointed look saying, Don't look at me! You created this monster!

Just then, audio engineer Geoff Emerick caught Gail's eye as he casually passed by.

"Wait a minute. I remember you!" Gail blurted out excitedly, startling Geoff. "You used to be Norman Smith's assistant! I spotted you from time to time around the studio when you were just a little cherub teenager!"

Geoff looked down bashfully as his face reddened, "I remember you, too. Gail, right? I'm...actually an engineer now."

"Really? That's terrific!" Gail cheered.

Geoff nodded shyly and went on his way. Mal Evans then became visible, following Geoff on his path.

His bushy eyebrows elevated in both shock and recognition, "Gail!?"

"Mal! I think I've only spoken to you like twice!" Gail chuckled in an ungainly fashion. "And knowing my reputation around here, maybe that's a good thing!" she mumbled, thinking aloud.

"...There's that awkward sense of humor the boys fell in love with..." Mal chirped back, ruffling her hair as he walked past.

Subsequently, Brian Epstein appeared behind him, carrying boxes.

"Gail Greene!?" his eyes bugged out momentarily as he approached her. "Good, you're here. Take these..." he proceeded to hand Gail the boxes and then darted behind Mal.

"Heh-heh, I guess some things never change..." Gail mused as she strained to carry what was just unloaded on her.

"Here, let me take those..." George offered with a shrewd smile.

"Thanks," Gail answered with a grateful smile of her own, handing him the boxes.

"No problem. Hey, remember that day when you lost our clothes and we all ended up half-naked in a park?" George recounted, holding back fitful snickers.

Isabel's face contorted, horrified, but no one noticed.

Gail's eyes narrowed sternly, "Don't remind me. That somehow ended up being both the best and worst day of my life..."

George nodded, smirking, but then abruptly paused to stifle several sneezes into his shirt.

Gail's eyes widened in concern, "Are you guys getting sick? Do I need to break out the VapoRub again?"

Hearing all this, Isabel was now more perplexed than ever. Was she really so close and intimate with the boys that she would rub their bare chests with medicine and then get naked with them in the park..?

"Ugh, come to think of it, this place is filthy! There's dust and mold everywhere! What kind of secretary is this!?" Gail noted in outrage.

"I know, right!?" George quipped. "She doesn't even make out with us or give us pleasure..."

Gail's eyes narrowed unappreciatively at George's sarcastic remark.

At this point, Isabel definitely felt like she was missing something; her head was spinning from all the things that were being said at once, all the suggestive dialogue.

"Don't say that, Geo, it was never like that! Ol' Abbie here is our friend without benefits!" John razzed, smacking Gail on the back lightly.

Unable to extrapolate the deeper meaning of John's flippant label for their ever so enigmatic guest, Isabel bit her lip and exhaled curtly.

"Oh, hello! Who's this?" Gail smiled warmly at Isabel, finally detecting her presence. "Sorry, I didn't see you there! Are...you the new secretary..?" she stuck her hand out at her, tittering uneasily.

"This is Isabel," Paul explained tepidly. "She's...living with me."

Gail's eyes widened in slight confusion, "Oh, you mean you finally broke up with that bitch, Ja--"

George and Ringo quickly signaled Gail with panicked looks and cutting hand gestures begging her to drop the topic.

Isabel's eyebrows raised in alarm. Broke up..?  Her heart unexpectedly began to race in her chest, surging powerfully and throbbing painfully.

Paul, as well, began to panic. At the moment, he wasn't well-equipped to go into detail about Isabel's exact circumstances, nor was he comfortable discussing their current indefinite relationship status.

He cleared his throat loudly, "She, uh, needed a place to stay, so I..."

"He graciously offered it to her!" Ringo spoke up in an attempt to save Paul.

Gail's eyes narrowed in suspicion as her expression darkened and her voice ever so slightly tapered off, "Always the gentleman, huh, Paul..?"

Paul gazed downward and turned bright red, looking almost as if he might cry, just barely holding himself together.

"It's very nice to meet you, Gail!" Isabel blurted out as sweetly as she could muster, her hand finally reaching back out to hers. "I haven't been here very long, but the boys went into quite the frenzy at the mere mention of you..."

Gail's face softened at this and she began to simper faintly, "Is that so..?"

"Yeah, the lady who replaced you is old and slow and her tea isn't as good. Why'd you have to go and leave!?" John expressed in a playfully whiny voice.

Gail chuckled, "Sorry, I had to go live my dream..."

"Eeeeep! A spider!!!!" Ringo shrieked and flailed wildly, attempting to avoid the small critter's path.

The remaining lads, all deathly afraid of spiders, promptly began to freak out with him.

Gail sighed and rolled her eyes, "I'm on it..."

She casually walked over to where the offending creature was located and proceeded to stomp it several times with her foot, grunting mercilessly and ferociously as she did so.

Afterward, there was a collective sigh of relief from the four musicians.

"You were always the best at maiming spiders, Gail..." Ringo remarked, smiling gratefully.

Gail placed her hands on her hips and smirked triumphantly, but then took on a horrified expression when she witnessed the mess and clutter laying all around her; so much work was being left undone.

Instinctively, she began to rapidly clean the surrounding area. Seeing as she did not have a rag on her, she had to make do with the scrunched up tail of her blouse.

"Oh, look, Gail's malfunctioning..." George mentioned idly. 

"Would you like me to fetch you anything, George? Some tea? A biscuit? It's about that time of the day, you know!" she offered with a mindless chuckle, morphing into full-work mode.

George sneered in amusement, "That's alright, Gail..."

"Are you sure? It's no trouble!" Gail insisted as she turned towards the kitchen.

John gripped her arm, "Relax, Abbie, you're our friend, you no longer work for us..."

"No, you don't understand!" Gail yelped and briskly swiped her arm away, getting increasingly flustered. "If George doesn't have some kind of snack by noon, he gets peckish and grouchy! And then if one of you is in a bad mood, you're all in a bad mood and then you can't finish your songs in time and, and, and..."

Ringo sneezed loudly, interrupting Gail's nervous ramble, and John followed suit as he hacked vociferously into his sleeve.

"You see!? You guys are all falling apart without me..." Gail then spotted the aforementioned older lady who had taken her place, strolling in a carefree manner around the studio.

"Listen, you," she began fiercely, pointing as she approached her replacement. "You're supposed to wash the mugs! Now you've gotten them all sick!"

"Oh, well, excuse me," the new secretary fired back. "I'm sorry I don't woo them and wipe their individual asses like you do!"

Gail scoffed, dark red, looking as if she was about to boil over, "Lady, I'll throw you into an old folk's home!"

John's laughter could be heard in the background.

Gail brusquely turned towards him, "What? You think this is funny!?"

"Kinda, yeah..." John said, still chuckling. "She sure told you, didn't she..?

Gail slumped in defeat, "...Yeah, she did."

"By the way, I'm sorry it took me a little while to come out and see you when you first got here," John stated, now more softly. "I had some...business to take care of..."

"I threw up, too," Gail replied bluntly. "Before seeing you..."

John's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Really? What did you have to be so worried about? It's just me...just us."

Gail stammered as her cheeks turned slightly pink, "I-I was afraid that..."

"You were afraid I'd moved on..?" John smirked, testing her.

"No! Shut up, John!" Gail barked back defensively.

John snickered endearingly, "You haven't changed a bit!"

"Well, what about you?" Gail bounced back, crossing her arms. "What had you so tied up that you spent ten minutes in the bathroom?"

"What can I say?" John retorted. "The thought of your bewitching demeanor along with your sexy, perky body made me ill..."

Gail laughed boastfully, "Oh, please. Just admit it, you're still crazy about me!"

"I am," John affirmed simply, no traces of humor in his voice. "But the question remains...are we going to pick up where we left off?"

Everything went silent for a few beats, until Brian abruptly came barging in.

"Boys, would you be willing to go on a little field trip?"

"That depends. Where to, Eppy?" Ringo asked.

"Haha, yeah, Eppy!" Gail chimed in eagerly.

Brian turned to Gail, staring funnily at her.

"No..?" Gail smiled nervously. "We're not at that point yet? Okay!"

Brian shook his head and chuckled to himself, "To the thrift shop and then the hardware store! I've had a few friends design some specially-made wardrobes and furniture for you guys!"

"Seems legit," George spoke up with a small smile.

"Glad you think so!" Brian asserted as he stepped out of the room. "Be in your disguises in half an hour -- you can come too, Gail!"

"Ace!" Gail cried out in excitement.

"Great, Gail! Maybe you can tell me how well or how badly I pull off vintage clothes!" Paul suggested light-heartedly.

"Well, aren't you charming..?" Gail dead-panned, unamused. She then accidentally locked eyes with John, causing her to break into a mild sweat. "We'll deal with...this...later..."

"Great, now I'm 'this'..." John lamented.

"...I'm not gonna get involved in that," Isabel decided aloud, eying John and Gail curiously.

"That's a good idea," Paul rolled his eyes in consensus, patting her hand.

"I think I need a smoke," John announced gruffly. "Anyone care to join me?"

"I'll be right there, mate!" Paul responded. "Isabel, dear, why don't you wait in the hallway? I'll be right back..."

Silently, Isabel nodded. This was too much excitement for one day.

~~~

Gail found herself alone with George. Ringo lingered in the background, but his focus had already shifted to putting his drums back up and practicing his paradiddles.

"Oh, George! Why did I insert myself back into this situation?" Gail moaned as Isabel as the two lads walked off.

George offered Gail a sympathetic smile and extended his arms to hug her.

"Thanks," Gail muttered as she wholeheartedly embraced him. "I really needed that."

"It's good to have you back, Greene!" George expressed with a smirk and a shake of the head.

"It's good to be back, George!" Gail replied graciously. "Oh, and hey, congrats on getting married to Pattie!"

George went quiet for a second as he gazed downward uneasily.

"Yeah, about that..."

"I DID IT!!! YEAH! DID YOU GUYS HEAR THAT!?" Ringo rejoiced as he aced his drum fill.

George chuckled softly, "Yes, we heard it, Rings..."

~~~

"That Abbie Greene! She's really somethin'. I never know what side of her I'm gonna get next!" John mused, dazzled, as he blew out a hazy cloud of smoke.

"She has a new boyfriend, you know..." Paul gently reminded him, tapping his cigarette.

"Don't be daft, Paul, it's just a fling. Just an aside she made to get a rise out of me! Y'know, Geo's right, she really is a scamp!" John bewailed, taking a strong drag on his fag.

"You rang?" George popped his head out, grinning.

Paul's eyes narrowed skeptically, "I'm just saying she's not all innocent, John."

John blew out another cloud of smoke, "Yeah? Neither are you and we still deal with your shit. Both me and Abbie..."

"Oh, you wanna go there, do you, mate?" Paul challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"You know what you did," John aired icily.

Paul sighed and looked down, a look of guilt and vanquishment etched on his face.

"Excuse me a moment, lads..." he finally said as he made his way back inside.

~~~

"Gail..?" Paul uttered softly.

Gail looked up from where she was sitting idly. No words, no expression on her face, just an empty stare.

He attempted a coy smile, pressing down his emotions, "I missed you, Gail. You know that right? I missed you like hell. And not just for the tea."

Gail sighed gravely, "I know, Paul..."

"Is everyone getting dressed!?" Brian called out.

Gail looked Paul straight in the eye, "You should go get ready."

And with that, she walked off.

~~~

Still outside, John peevishly leaned his back against the wall, frustrated.

"John, can I say something?" George spoke up.

"Shoot," John allowed brusquely, not looking at him.

"Look, you know I love Gail and I think you're...alright...and you know what? Yeah, admittedly, there's a part of me that sees you two and thinks you look cute together, but..."

John looks up at him helplessly, knowing what he's about to say.

George exhales shortly before continuing, "We both know Gail is a free spirit, and at the end of the day, she's gonna do what she wants to do..."

John groaned softly and lowered his head to his hands, "I know..."

~~~

NOTE: So, TL:DR version of this chapter: Gail is back but with a complex, George and Ringo act as stand-ins for the audience, both John and Paul are in "WTF just happened!?" mode, and poor Isabel is shoved way into the background, a mere fly on the wall to all the madness.

You'll either love or hate Gail in this, guys. If she was obnoxious and neurotic in the first story, all of that is cranked up to 11 in this story! You've been warned! 😁

Funny how the chapter I had been planning out since June of last year ended up being the messiest for me to try and write. It's riddled with references to IWCAT if you can spot them! More juicy stuff to come! 😉

Oh, yeah, the 'bigger than Jesus' thing hadn't actually quite blown up at this point in real life, and John's thick glasses also didn't really show up for a few more months but......continuity! Fuck that, right!? 😃 It's not like any of this actually happened anyway.

Thank you all for sticking through to this point and continuing to read! I know my uploading schedule has been sparse! I'm going to aim to post at least twice a month now! Uhhhhh, yeah. Wish me luck! 😅😅

Cheers! ♥️♥️♥️