The next day at school, Mary couldn’t stop talking about Stuart. It was “Stuart this” and “Stuart that.” Finally I said, “If you like him so much why don’t you tell him?!”

Mary pouted. “I never see him! You see him all the time, why don’t you drop a few hints?”

I looked at her, annoyed.

“Please?” Mary whined.

“Oh, all right. I’ll see what I can do.”

That night when I was talking to Paul, I casually said, “So, when do you think we can do something with Stuart again? I really liked him.”

“How about tomorrow? I’m not doing anything, are you?” I shook my head.

“I’ll ask him then.” Paul agreed.

“Thanks. I’m supposed to hint to him that my friend Mary really likes him.” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know why I get stuck doing her dirty work.”

Paul laughed. “Stuart doesn’t really seem her type, but I guess they say that opposites attract.”

When I was done talking to Paul, I dialed up Mary’s number.

“Hi!” I said when she answered.

“Oh, hi!”

“Guess what?” I asked her.

“What?”

“Paul and I are going out with Stuart tomorrow, so I’ll ask him then.”

“Great!” Mary exclaimed. “Thanks a bunch Ariel. Ohh, I hope he likes me!”

“You’re welcome. I’m sure that he will. He’s a nice guy and you’re a very likable girl.”

We chatted for a little while longer, and then I went to bed.

The next afternoon Paul, Stuart and I went to The Coffee Bean, a local coffee house. I ordered a vanilla cappucino and Paul and Stewart had iced mochacinos. As we waited for our order to arrive, we casually chatted and checked out some of the local amateur talent.

“Hey, this would be a good place for a gig,” Paul said. “What do you think Stu?”

“Yeah, I think so too. We’ll have to mention it to John.” Stuart replied.

I cleared my throat. “So Stuart, do you have any -uh- signifigant others at the moment?”

Paul sent me a look of jealousy. Stuart also gave me a strange look.

“I was just wondering.” I said to explain myself. “I have a friend who was interested.”

“Oh,” Stuart said, also interested. “And which friend is this?”

I looked at Paul, then back at Stuart. “Her name is Mary. She really likes you and I owe her a favor.”

“Is that the same Mary that was sitting with you at the gig the other night?” Stuart asked.

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“She was pretty cute, maybe I’ll ask her out.” Stuart said.

“Thanks a lot Stuart. You don’t know what this will mean to her.”

Later that night, around 9:30, Paul dropped me off at my doorstep. “Thanks Paul, I had a great time.” I kissed him on the cheek and turned to go inside.

“Ariel-”

I turned around. Paul grabbed me, pulled my head to his kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before. “Wow!” I said. “What was that for?”

“I’m- I’m just so glad we found each other.”

I looked at him tenderly and smiled. “Me too.”

Mary was sitting at home one night waiting for the phone to ring. After sitting for quite awhile, it let out a loud ‘brring!’ and scared her half to death. When she had collected herself she answered it, hoping it was Stuart.

“Hello?” She asked into the phone.

“Hi, Mary?”

“Yes, this is her.”

“Hi, this is Stuart Sutcliffe.”

“Stuart?! Oh my gosh, hi!”

The two continued to flirt for about a half hour, until Stuart felt comfortable enough to ask her out on a date.

“So Mary, how would you like to go with me to check out the new art gallery sometime?” He asked, hoping she would say yes. He really liked her too.

“Sure! That would be great! When?” Mary tried to stay cool, but inside was hysterical.

“How about Saturday at noon? We could go to lunch too.” Stu suggested.

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Goodbye Mary.”

“Bye Stuart.”

The rest of the week went rather uneventful. Mary continued to talk incessantly about Stuart and how terrrific he was. Finally Saturday came. Poor Drew. I had a date with Paul for that night, Mary was going out with Stu, and Autumn and John were doing something or other. “What am I supposed to do while all of you go galavanting God-knows-where?” Drew pouted.

Mary, always the insensitive one to Drew’s needs glibly replied, nose in the air, “Well, there’s always your dogs.”

Drew did not find this amusing. “Hmph! At least I’m not afraid of them.”

“Now, now girls,” Autumn spoke up. She turned in Drew’s direction. “I’m sure you’ll find something to do."

“Yeah, why don’t you go and audition at the new coffeehouse, The Coffeebean?” I suggested. “I hear they’re looking for some new talent. The Beatles might play there sometime too.”

Mary smirked at the thought of Drew performing one of her songs at a coffeehouse.

“That’s a good idea. Thanks Ariel.” Then she turned to Mary and gave her a ‘what are you laughing at look,’ and headed off to practice her solo.

* * *

At 11:30, Mary was all ready, but still fussing. She re-did her hair 5 times, changed outfits almost 10. Finally deciding on short sleeved grey mohair sweater and a black calf-length skirt with a 6” slit in the side. She was just re-glossing her lips and fluffing her curled hair one last time when the doorbell rang. Grabbing her purse, she ran downstairs and opened the door to find Stuart.

“Wow! You look great! All ready?”

“I was born ready,” Mary laughed. “Let's go.”

The two proceeded to Stuart’s chevy truck. Stuart opened the door for Mary and helped her in.

They went out to lunch at a local dinner, and Stuart paid for a song on the jute box. It was “Blue Suede Shoes.”

“Oh, I love Elvis!” Mary cooed.

“Yeah, me too.”

Mary ended up ordering a strawberry milkshake and a grilled cheese sandwich, while Stuart had a soda pop and fish and chips.

Over lunch they discussed art, and Stuart told her that one of his painting was at the gallery. Mary said she couldn’t wait to see it. She told Stuart about a painting of a banana she did once that still hung in her kitchen. Stu explained that his art was more abstract, and he hoped she liked it.

When they were all done, Stuart paid the bill like a true gentleman and the two headed toward the gallery.

The gallery was free of charge, and as they walked in they saw a few sculptures and some paintings. One was by Renoir, which Mary took a liking too. They looked at more paintings and then moved on to the room that Stu’s was in.

Stuart led her to where it was and she stood there studying it. She really did like it, but she did not know what it was. He explained it was a woman who had posed for him. Mary smirked and joked, “You got the breasts right!”

Stuart laughed at her immodesty. He liked that in a girl. The two really seemed to hit it off.

They had a nice afternoon and a couple hours later they decided to stop at the Coffeebean and see how Drew was doing. They walked in during her audition. When it was over they applauded. Drew blushed and the threesome left together and went home.

* * *

Mary called me that night and told me all about her date with Stuart. She thanked me profusely and seemed thrilled.

I told her about my date with Paul, and how much I liked him. We had went to a movie, and it was very romantic. Paul was so sweet. We both couldn’t believe our luck, all three of us scoring a “Beatle.” Now all we had to do was find one for Drew...

Go on to Chapter Six

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