Chapter Three: I bet you WILL
John returned to England in the first days of December with Alyssa as company. He decided she could stay with him in his flat until she found her own place to live, which he thought would be for just a couple of days – or a couple of weeks at most. But when he found out she had spent all her savings on a new wardrobe, he realized Alyssa would be living with him for quite a while. And, to be honest, the idea did not bother him that much. It was true that ever since they had arrived in Liverpool she had become his Siamese twin and followed him everywhere he went; which sometimes was a real pain in the arse. But on the other hand, she kept Gambier Terrace 3 slightly cleaned, and sometimes cooked for him. And was that a good thing? Not actually: as a cook, Alyssa was an excellent dancer.
The Beatles were so disappointed at how things had turned out in Hamburg that they did not try to contact each other for weeks. But finally, they got together the 17th of December to give a show at The Casbah Club, with their friend Chas Newby as the bass player.
***
Prue Lennon could not believe her luck. Not only was she now working steady for the Mersey Beat newspaper, but she also got to interview local bands. She had a personal column in which she could say and express whatever came to her mind. Her articles would be published each Saturday under the heading of “Liverpool Presents...”. This time it was the turn of a German band. They would be playing at the Casbah on the 17th December.
Prue arrived at the Casbah at nine that day. She was wearing a two tone crepe dress of acetate-rayon. The long-sleeved, black bodice was bonded to an acetate tricot. The dress had a white cowl collar and a box pleated white skirt. A black, fur trimmed winter coat was protecting her from the chilly weather; and so were a pair of stockings and black, leather boots.
She was surprised to find on the wall a huge notice that read ‘The Return of the Fabulous Beatles. December 17, 10 pm.”. ‘What’s this??’ she asked herself as she frowned. The boys were playing that day?! That would explain why the people at the Mersey Beat thought they were from Germany. Prue was now smiling.
She waited in the queue and entered the Casbah at ten to ten. She knew The Beatles were never punctual so she went to the bar and asked for a glass of orange juice. As she drank it, she sat on a stool and put her notebook on the counter. She looked around and scribbled down some details about the atmosphere at the Club that night. It was quite crowded and the people seemed really enthusiastic about the following performance. She even heard a group of three girls talking about how exciting it would be to see a band from Germany live. She smiled and kept on writing.
At five past ten, The Beatles hadn’t gone up yet. Prue had finished writing about her surroundings so she just sat at the back, looking around for somebody familiar. As her hair was swept to the right and secured with a black ribbon, she played with the ends of it until three minutes later, the lights were turned down and the lads walked onto the stage.
John introduced the band with a witty comment and they started singing and playing a fast rock and roll. Prue noticed that Stu wasn’t there with them and narrowed her eyes to see who the new bass player was. However, she didn’t recognize him. ‘Ask who the bass lad is,’ she wrote in her notebook before turning her attention back on the show.
It was obvious that a lot had happened during their visit to Hamburg. It was almost palpable. There were many things different about them. They had a renewed energy while playing, and seemed more confident than ever. Their musical skill had improved a lot. Their appearance had also changed. Black leather was all over the place. Prue smiled: they looked fine in those new clothes.
The show was quite short, she had to admit. So after just an hour, they left the stage, waving at the audience which was clapping tumultuously. Prue waited some minutes and as she finished her third glass of orange juice, she wrote the last details of the show and stood up. However, while she walked towards the changing room, she saw the toilet and chose to go there first.
Once she was out, she put a nice smile on her face and walked determinedly to the changing room. The door was closed and she was prudent enough to knock at it. For a few seconds there was no reply, so she knocked again, louder this time.
The door flew open and a grunting George appeared. “Yes?” he flatly said.
“What a nice way to greet me after not seeing each other for more than three months, George Harrison,” she joked.
“Prue!” he exclaimed as a beaming smile spread over his weary face. “God, come in,” he moved aside so she could enter and then closed the door after her. “Long time no see, luv, ‘ow are ye??”
“Better than you,” she said, after noticing how tired he was. “Are you even thinner or it’s just me?”
“Oh, I dunno, but I could very well be thinner than before… we were badly fed in Hamburg,” he smiled.
“I see,” she said. Then she stretched and kissed his cheek, “but I’m glad to see that you’re back and alright.”
Prue felt a tip on her right shoulder. She turned around and came face to face with her cousin John. He put his arms around her tightly and kissed her cheek. “John!” she exclaimed, “how are you, cousin?!”
“Couldn’t be better, and ye?” he said after they broke their embrace.
“I’m fine,” she smiled. “And you’re thinner as well! Cor, I think I’ll leave for Hamburg for a few months myself!”
John laughed out loud. “Gerroff! And ‘ow did ye find our performance, huh?”
“It was very nice, indeed,” she said as she looked around the room. Pete was combing his hair before a mirror and didn’t seem to realize she was there at all. ‘Luckily,’ Prue thought. Paul was in a corner, kneeling beside his guitar as he changed one or two strings, obviously ignoring her. The other lad, the one who had played the bass, was nowhere to be seen. And sitting on the awful sofa, there was a girl she did not recognize. “You have much more… energy than when you left.”
“Nah,” George said, “we’re just glad to be back, that’s all.”
“Are we?” John frowned as he sat down beside the girl. “Pruddie, this is Alyssa.”
Prue nodded. “Oh, hello,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Alyssa said with a smile.
Prue frowned laughingly when she heard the weird accent. “Kommst du aus Deutschland?” (do you come from Germany?)
Alyssa beamed, “Ja! Sprichst du Deutsch denn?” (Yes! Do you speak German, then?”)
“Natürlich!! Ich liebe Deutsch!” (Naturally! I love German!)
“Deins is sehr gut!” (Yours is very good!)
“Na ja, es geht.” (Well, so so.)
They both laughed heartily as the four lads looked at each other, totally confused.
“Sie sind ein bißchen peinlich,” (They are a bit pathetic) Alyssa explained as she nodded her head and Prue laughed again.
“Hey, girls, we don’t sprachen German, so why don’t we switch to English, ja?” John said.
“Ok,” Prue nodded. “We’d better, I have work to do.”
Pete, who was now standing with his back against the wall looking at them, asked with his eyes wide open, “Work?”
Prue looked at him. “Oh, hello, Pete. How are you? It’s great to see you after so many months. I’m good, thank you, hope you’re okay too,” she smiled as she withdrew her notebook and pen from her handbag. “Yes, I’ve got work to do. As you might already know, I’m working for the Mersey Beat, and they sent me to interview a German band, so here I am.”
“A German band?” George asked.
“They think you are from Germany. Some lads out there were even saying that you speak good English!” she laughed.
John chuckled. “So what are ye goin’ to ask us, then?”
“Well, let me sit here, will you luv?” she asked him and he stood up to leave her the seat. “Thank you, hon.” She grabbed the pen and was about to write something down when something else came to her mind. “Hey, wait, first of all, where did you people leave Stu?”
“Oh, Stu?” John smiled. “'e’s in Germany.”
“Pardon?”
John nodded. “He’s goin’ to stay there…”
“He’s engaged to my cousin,” Alyssa informed.
Prue whistled with surprise. “Wow… I guess there are many things I don’t know…”
“Many, yeh…” George said from the other side of the room.
“For how long have you been back? I didn’t even know you were here. Nobody even bothered to give me a call.”
“And that surprises you?” Paul said as he kept on working on his guitar, without even looking at her.
Prue, however, looked at him. After sighing, she said, “Oh, Paul, didn’t even know you were there. No, that doesn’t surprise me,” she said and put her eyes back on George, “you must have been tired—“
“Of you,” Paul whispered loud enough for her to listen.
”— and busy,” she continued, ignoring him.
“Depressed is more like it, I think…” George sighed.
“Depressed?”
“I was deported back to England for bein’ underage.”
“What!?”
“And so were Paul and I,” Pete explained.
“Why? You’re not underage.”
“We were accused of trying to light a buildin’ up.”
“Of trying to light a building up?!”
Pete nodded. “See, we were looking for our stuff to move them to another club. The thing is that there wasn’t enough light so we lit up a condom to see better.”
“Oh… very clever,” she said sarcastically. “And you, John?”
“Well, Lizzie and I came back a few days later. I couldn’t do much there on me own, now could I? And as Stu was stayin’ there with Astrid…”
Prue turned to Alyssa now. “And why did you come here?”
“Oh, well, I’ve always loved England! The boys and I became friends; I used to work for the same man that hired them.”
“What did you do?”
Alyssa hesitated. Everybody, even Paul, was looking at her as she fought to come up with something to say. She was stricken and couldn’t articulate a word, though.
“She danced,” Paul answered for her as he put his guitar into his guitar case.
“Nice!! So?”
“Well… when John was left alone in Hamburg, I asked if I could tag along and, even if it took some time to convince him, I did and we travelled together,” she grinned. “It was great fun!”
Prue smiled too, trying to hide her surprise. She wondered what Cynthia would say after learning about her boyfriend ‘having fun’ with an attractive German woman on his way back home.
“He even lets me stay at his place!” Alyssa added.
“Oh, does he!?” Prue exclaimed and looked at John.
“Until she finds somewhere else to live.”
“Oh, I see…” Prue nodded, not being able to hide her surprise anymore. “Great!”
Alyssa frowned. She had liked Prue from the beginning, perhaps because she had finally found somebody to speak German with, but now Prue looked not very happy about the time she was spending with John. Lys wondered if she was one of the many jealous cousins around the world, or if she had any other reason to feel that way about her. Alyssa knew John had a girlfriend, but she never worried about it because they were only bound as friends.
“Before starting,” Prue continued, “Who’s that lad who played the bass tonight?”
“Chas Newby,” John replied and lit up a cigarette. “He’s a friend of ours.”
“He’s not very good…” Prue frowned.
“Yeh, we know. But we didn’t ‘ave anyone else to play the bass.”
“And why don’t any of you play it?”
John and George laughed while Paul just chuckled. “Are you nuts, cus?” John asked, messing her hair a little. “I am a guitar player.”
“So am I,” George laughed. “I’m the lead guitarist, luv, the most important one.”
Prue laughed with gusto and looked mischievously at Paul. “So why don’t you play the bass, Paul?”
Paul looked at her, “I’m also a guitarist,” he said with scorn.
“Oh… you’re right. I… I am sure you wouldn’t be able to even play a chord on it. Sorry,” she stated with equal contempt.
“What!?”
Prue smiled with satisfaction. She knew why the lads were so reluctant to play the bass. In those times, it was an instrument with which fat lads perspired in the back of the stage. Prue was fully aware that Paul would have been able to do it had he been willing to, but she decided to play a little with his pride.
“I’m sure the bass guitar is a very difficult instrument to play, even for you, that’s why you don’t want to do it.”
Paul looked at her and she was able to see the angry sparks in his eyes. “You are wrong. I can play the bass or whatever instrument I want.”
Prue nodded, fighting hard against the smile that threatened to appear on her face. “Sure, whatever you say…”
“Of course,” he continued, standing up. “I could play the bass if I wanted to, or any other instruments, which is a lot compared to what you can do…”
“Whoa, ok, lad, slow down!” she laughed. “That, or I’ll mention in my article that the left-handed guitarist was nasty to the reporter!”
“I’m sure the fans will understand,” he grinned smugly.
“Let’s try, then,” she managed a copy of his smile and wrote down in her notebook, ‘Paul McCartney is the biggest git ever’.
George stood up and read over her shoulder, “That would make a fine headline,” he joked, trying to break the tension between his friends.
“Wow, Prue, that’s amazing… you actually know how to write! Silly of me, to think you weren’t smart enough to even hold the pen between your fingers,” Paul smiled, full of sarcasm, “Well, let us hope that’s not the only thing you can hold between your fingers, right?”
“You should have stayed in Germany too, Paul… this country is so full of idiots it just doesn’t need another one. And specially one as big as you.”
"Oh, believe me," Alyssa started, "Germany has a good amount of idiots just as it is..." she said, remembering Bruno.
"So there's no place for you there either, Paul... you should go to, I dunno, Nowhere Land or something like that," Prue rolled her eyes as she shook her head.
“God…” Paul also rolled his eyes heavenwards and prayed the interview would be over soon.
As a matter of fact, it was. Prue only asked them a few questions about their visit to Hamburg, like how many hours they had to play and how much they thought they had improved with such training. They made many jokes about the other activities they were able to train in whilst being there, but Prue just laughed them off.
After some minutes, she finished writing everything down in her little notebook and said, “Well, lads, thank you very much. It was a pleasure interviewing you. I’ll show you my article when it gets printed.”
“You’d better write nice things ‘bout us, then,” John smiled and stood up from the spot on the floor where he had been sitting. “Let’s go and ‘ave sumthing to drink, yeh?”
“Alright,” Prue said and left after him, followed close by Pete and George.
Alyssa and Paul, however, stayed where they were, obviously wanting to be alone.
“Don’t do any of your hanky-panky on the sofa, are we clear?” George smiled as he pointed accusingly at Paul and Lys with his index finger.
“Sir, yes, Sir!” Paul exclaimed and the three of them broke into a sonorous laugh.
After one last wink, George left, closing the door after him. Paul stood up and went to sit beside Lys on the sofa, where Prue had been sitting a few seconds before. When he was by her side, Alyssa spoke up.
“So that girl is the Prue you talk so much about?”
“Yes and no,” Paul said before taking a long drag on his cigarette.
“No what?” Lys frowned.
“It’s her but I don’t talk that much about her.”
“I thought you were a good liar, Paul,” she smiled.
“Oh, but I am,” he smiled as well.
“Well, that’s enough chit-chat,” said Lys out of the blue. “Now tell me… what’s that thing you’ve got to talk to me about? You’ve been so mysterious about it tonight… what is it?”
“Well, yes, there is something,” he nodded while he stubbed his ciggie out in an ashtray, “you’ll see… um…” he scratched dubitatively the bridge of his perfect nose.
“Don’t tell me… I know it. You’re pregnant, right?” Lys grinned.
Paul laughed softly, “That would be impossible, luv, I’m on the pill,” he laughed again. “Ok…the thing is that, well, now that we’re here in Liverpool, and that you’re with John and all that… I think that we shouldn’t… um… we shouldn’t be… Samson and Delilah anymore,” he smiled, “d’ye get what I’m saying?”
Alyssa frowned.
“Look, Lys, I—“
“I’m not with John,” she interrupted him.
“No?” Paul seemed surprised.
“No.”
“Oh… I thought you two were… well, it doesn’t matter; it doesn’t change what I’m trying to tell you here, um… I really like you, luv, but—“
“It’s ok,” she nodded, interrupting him again.
“ Shh, just let me explain,” he tried to continue.
“You don’t have to.”
“But…” his voice tailed off as he became aware of what he had just heard, “I don’t?”
“No,” Lys shook her head. “The same thing happened to me, Paul. I think we should be just friends… it’s not that I don’t have fun with you, or anything like that… It’s just that…”
She wanted to tell him that now she had got to know him better as a person and had him very much figured out, she had realized that despite being such a cutie, he was not her type of man. And she knew that she was not his type of woman either. They just did not fit together.
“You’re not girlfriend material, Lys,” he shook his head softly, “not the kind of girlfriend I want, anyway.”
She smiled, “Oh, I’m glad to hear that.”
Paul smiled. He had a feeling they would became the greatest friends. Lys was a very special girl, and he hoped she someday found a bloke that made her extremely happy. She deserved it after all.
“Hey,” Alyssa interrupted his thoughts, “Now that you’ve dumped me, are you going to go after Prue?” she said, half joking and half serious.
He made a sarcastic mock, “Nah, she’s not that lucky.”
“Mein Gott,” she shook her head smilingly. “I have a piece of advice for you, Paul… watch your head.”
“What?” he frowned.
“It’s getting too big,” she replied as she stood up and walked to the door, followed by a laughing Paul.
***
The night went by splendidly. Alyssa and Prue talked for hours about many different subjects and, even though it surprised all the lads, they arranged to meet at the weekend. “There are many places in Liverpool, even if you don’t believe it, that are worth visiting. I can show you around if you want!” Prue offered and Alyssa agreed excitedly. John and the others looked at each other in surprise; they would have never believed that Alyssa and Prue could become friends. They were SO different… but then, John thought as he shrugged, perhaps it’s true that opposites attract.
Finally, Prue bid everybody goodnight and she left, with her notes ready to write a great article about her cousin’s promising band.
***
Finally, Saturday night arrived and Alyssa was waiting impatiently for Prue in John’s flat. He was sitting on the mattress on the floor, wearing a pair of tight, faded jeans and a white, woollen polo neck. His hair was so messy it seemed it had never ever been combed, and his much loved guitar rested on his lap as he picked some notes.
“So, where are ye going to?” John asked Alyssa, seeing she was nervously pacing the floor.
“I don’t know… Prue said she was taking me to a pub… but I can’t remember which one.”
He watched her closely. She looked really pretty, he had to admit. She was wearing a very 50’s, dotted, black dress. Her long hair was loose and looked natural. He knew she hated spray and all those things. Although that didn’t stop her from putting on as much make-up as she could. It was obvious she wanted to make a good impression on whomever she and Prue were meeting at the pub -- if there was someone. Finally, the doorbell rang.
“Ok, I’m leaving then,” she gave John a soft kiss on the cheek. “Auf wiedersehen. Don’t wait me up, ok?” she smiled.
“Viel Spaß, ” (Have fun) he waved at her as she blew him another kiss and then closed the door after her.
She hurried down the stairs and opened the main door of the building. Prue was waiting for her there, standing alone on the pavement. Her clothes were very special, she was wearing a black cardigan over a white cotton blouse. The skirt was also black and had an easy walk-in kick pleat. Her shoes were black patent leather and low-heeled. And she was also wearing the long, fur trimmed coat she wore that night at the Casbah. The outfit was nothing like anything Alyssa had seen in Hamburg or in Liverpool. She walked to her.
"Hello!" Alyssa said with a smile.
"Hey!" Prue smiled too. "How are you doing? You look great!"
"Thanks! You too. So, where are we going?"
Prue's cheerful expression fell a little. She nervously lifted one of her hands and started scratching her right cheek softly. "Well, you see... my brother's just arrived from London, and he was so insistent about tagging along that I couldn't refuse..."
"Oh, you have a brother?" she inquired, feeling suddenly interested.
"Yes, I do."
"How old is he, then?"
"Umm..."
"What? The worst thing you can tell me is that he's twelve!" Alyssa joked.
Prue laughed. "No, he's not twelve... he's thirty."
Alyssa’s smiled widened. She had always liked oldies. And she had the feeling this man wouldn’t be ugly at all, judging from the way his sister and cousin looked.
“Well, there’s no problem at all, Prue. I love meeting new people, y’know?” she said, trying not to look so eager.
"You see..." Prue looked even more uncomfortable, "He's a lawyer... and even though he's a sweetie, sometimes he can be boring."
Lys started laughing. “It’s fine, really… don’t worry, Prue, I can always pretend I’m interested in what he’s talking about,” she joked.
"Alright... he's standing over there. He didn't bring his car because we wouldn't fit in it," Alyssa thought he probably had the smallest car on Earth, "he's got a Jaguar, you know?" Prue shrugged.
Lys jaw dropped. A Jaguar?!? God, and she thought Bruno had style because he drove the latest Volkswagen. “Oh, really??” she stuttered, “That’s amazing.”
The girls walked closer to William Lennon. As Alyssa was near-sighted, she couldn’t really appreciate his appearance until she was face to face with him. And when she was able to see him, she couldn’t believe it. It was as if a Greek god had just come down from Olympus to greet her. He was actually the most perfect, beautiful man she had ever seen. ‘Those eyes…’ she thought, delighted. They looked as if they contained an ocean. So blue… so bright. But then she realized he had said hello to her almost ages ago. Christ, she must have looked like a drooling retarded.
“Hallo, Ich bin Alyssa…” she said, not being able to articulate a single word in any other language but German.
He laughed. "Ich heiße William. Willst du Deutsch sprachen, denn?" (My name is William. Do you want to speak German, then?)
Lys’ eyes went as wide as plates. ‘God, marry me!!’ she thought desperately. She grinned, “Sorry, I’m still not used to speaking English all the time,” she excused herself.
"It's alright," Will dismissed smilingly, "I like speaking German from time to time."
"So as not to lose practice," Prue added.
Silence fell upon them. Alyssa didn’t know what else to say, so she just remained silent.
Prue said something about going to a nice pub called Ye Cracke. It was on 13 Rice Street, near the Art College.
"When John used to study art," she told Alyssa with a smile as they walked, "he spent more hours there than in the college building."
“He studied??” Lys asked.
“Well, not really,” Prue chuckled, “but he did go to college.”
Alyssa laughed, “that’s more like John.”
Will grunted as he stuck his hands into his coat pockets. "I don't find it funny, really..."
Alyssa bit her bottom lip. Had she said something wrong?
"Will," Prue huffed, "we already discussed this. John is old enough to do whatever he wants..."
“I know he is, but I still don’t approve of his behaviour.”
Prue grinned and passed an arm around her brother's waist. "He worries too much," she told Lys and winked at her.
They had a lovely time at Ye Cracke, even though it was very funny for both Alyssa and Prue to see Will's expression when they entered the pub. It was nowhere near as nice as Prue had said!
"It has its charm, bro," Prue laughed as they chose a table to sit at.
Will didn’t seem boring to Lys at all. He was able to talk about any subject and made really good jokes. He was really witty and also very intelligent; so intelligent that sometimes she felt two inches small. His humour was very like Prue’s and, even if it would bother him to hear it, it was very alike John’s too.
After about two hours, they decided to go back home. Will and Prue walked Lys back to Gambier Terrace and she thanked them profusely for the lovely evening.
“It was great,” she smiled. “I had a lovely time.”
“So did we,” Will grinned. “Hope to see you again, Alyssa.”
“Yes, you too.”
“Well, send my regards to Johnny, will you, Lys?” Prue said.
“Of course! See you later!” she smiled and entered the building after waving at them.
She gracefully went up the stairs as she hummed an Elvis’ song. It had been a lovely evening and she couldn’t wait to tell John everything about it. When she got to the flat, she opened the door and entered, finding John still sitting on the mattress, playing the guitar and scribbling something down on a wrinkled sheet of paper.
“Hello!” she grinned, locking the door after her.
“‘ey,” he greeted distractedly. “Did ye ‘ave a nice time?”
“Yes, I did. It was great!” she sat on a chair near him and tried to read what he was writing. “What are you writing?”
John grabbed the paper and put it behind his back so she couldn’t read it. “It’s not finished yet,” he said, looking at her.
“Oh, okay…”
“So, where did Prue take you?”
“To Ye Cracke.”
He laughed out loud. “Really?!”
“Yes, why?”
“It’s a great pub… spent many ‘ours there.”
“Yes, I know, she told me.”
“So…” he said, playing a G chord on his guitar, “did ye meet somebody there?”
“No, not really.”
“Ye two were alone, then?”
“No, not really…” she grinned.
He changed to D minor, “Who were ye with?”
“Prue’s brother accompanied us.”
John stopped playing and snorted. He rolled his eyes and said, “And ye said ye ‘ad a nice time?”
“The best,” Alyssa smiled dreamily. “He’s so wonderful!!” she clapped, “Mein Gott, I’m going to marry this guy… he’s so, but so perfect…” she sighed as she remembered Will’s magnificent smile and beautiful eyes.
“Load of cobblers, luv,” he shook his head.
“Oh, c’mon, why do you say so?” she smiled.
He kept shaking his head as he looked back at his guitar. “He’s a snobbish git, tha’s all I ‘ave to say ‘bout ‘im. Besides, you’ll never marry ‘im. ‘e won’t even look at ye, believe me.”
“What do you know, huh?” she asked, “Are you a seer!?”
“Nah, I just know ‘im. ‘e’s engaged, ye know? To a good pair of legs, if ye ask me,” he grinned. “She’s a lawyer too. They work together, I think. Prue knows all this stuff, ye should ask ‘er if yer interested. Ye’d be wastin’ yer time, anyroad.”
“Well, it’s not as if I had anything more interesting to do with my time…” she shrugged.
“Yeh, ye do. Ye could find somewhere else to live, for instance…”
“I’m working on that,” she dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand.
“Sure ye are…” he played the G chord again.
“Well, what I was saying, is that if I want to, I can get him like this,” she snapped her fingers.
John chuckled in plain disbelief. “Bollocks…”
Alyssa looked at him with faked dismay, “I mean it!”
“Ok, luv, nobody is goin’ to charge ye for dreamin’,” he shrugged and changed to D.
“I bet I will.”
John stopped playing. He grinned mischievously to himself and then put his eyes on Alyssa. He was very sure that she would never be able to hook Will; and perhaps he could get a benefit from that.
“Okay, let’s bet, then.”
“Bet? You want to bet on it?”
“It was yer idea! What? Are ye afraid all of a sudden?” he grinned cheekily.
“No, no, of course I’m not,” she lied.
“Let’s do it, then.” He thought for a moment and then he continued, “If ye get Will to take ye ‘ome as ‘is girlfriend in about… four months, I’ll take ye on a trip, wherever ye want.”
“Wherever I want? Like to France?”
“Why not?”
“Okay…” Alyssa grinned. “I’ve always wanted to go to France.”
“Good,” he nodded. “But, if ye lose…” he grinned and rubbed his hands, “ye’ll be me personal slave fer two months.”
“Two months?” she frowned, “You’re crazy,” she shook her head.
“Then there’s no bet. And yer a chicken.”
Lys huffed. Two months of slavery was excessive, but she had faith in herself. She knew she could win. “Ok, ok… fine, then. It’s a deal,” she reached out her hand for John to shake it.
He did so, with an already triumphant smile on his face. “Deal.”