Just Before You Go

My brother’s visit was short and sweet. I absolutely did not get to spend enough time with him before his departure, but he assured me I’d see him in a month for Christmas and we’d catch up then. I was certain I’d see Grace again too, which pleased me. I quite liked her.
It was a Saturday afternoon and shockingly, I didn’t have to work. We’d hired a new bartender and she was begging for hours. As I was talking casually about it to Jimmy, he firmly suggested that I give her one of my Saturdays.
“For the surprise,” he’d said to me, a devilish look on his face.
And so, I had. I’d then been given instruction to be ready by 4:30 and to dress casual—but not too casual. I wasn’t sure what that meant at all.
At four-thirty on the dot, Jimmy was at my door. He was looking as beautiful as ever, those blue eyes of his locked on me at all times.
We went to dinner, a far more upscale place than I’d anticipated dining at. I felt sincerely underdressed—I could practically hear my mother’s condemnation at my attire.
“I’m really happy you took the night off,” he told me from behind a mixed drink.
I couldn’t help but notice his hands were doing their usual trembling dance.
“Me too,” I said firmly, looking away from his shaking fingers and back to his oceanic eyes.
He looked around suspiciously before ducking low and speaking quietly, “You wouldn’t believe the odds working in our favor tonight.”
“I don’t know what that means,” I said quietly back at him, smiling as I spoke.
He stretched back upright, a stupid smirk stapled to his perfect face, “I know! That’s what makes this fun!”
We ordered incredibly over-priced meals that came as incredibly reduced portions. Jimmy scowled at his food, shaking his head a little.
“Aren’t fancy places supposed to be good?” he asked me seriously after swallowing a giant mouthful.
I nodded, pushing my own food around with a fork, “This is kind of…gross.”
He cackled and nodded, “I’m not impressed.”
“Food is food I guess,” I tried to be positive.
He shook his head, “Fuck this.”
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and tossed a few bills onto the table before standing to his feet. I was always forgetting how fucking tall the man was.
He extended his shaky hand to me, encouraging me to leave with him with those windows into his tortured soul. I took it and we ditched our table.
We hit a drive-thru immediately, using the parking lot as our own private dining room. As I bit into my double cheeseburger, I couldn’t help but notice Jimmy staring me down.
“Something on my face?” I asked lightly.
He shook his head no, “You’re rich, aren’t you?”
“We’ve been over this—“ I started with a mouthful of beef.
Jimmy interrupted, “You were raised rich, right?”
I nodded slowly. Suspiciously.
“It’s cool that you’ll eat with me in a parking lot,” he smirked. “I thought you needed to be…wined and dined.”
“Fuck no,” I laughed, covering my mouth as I spoke. “I’m good to eat whatever. Honestly, I’ve never been into the fancy foods.”
“They make no sense!” Jimmy agreed excitedly. “What is a deconstruction? Why can’t we just leave it constructed? Why is it so small? What’s with the fancy sauce designs?”
I loved when he got all eccentric on me. I had a sneaking suspicion that that was the true form of Jimmy but he’d been hiding it on me since we’d met. Every so often, though, I’d get sneak peaks into his real personality. I relished those moments.
“This,” I said, shaking my soft drink at him, “is much better.”
He smiled genuinely, “Agreed.”
“So what’s phase two of this date?” I asked curiously.
“Well, once you’re fed,” he said, the smirk slowly returning. “Then it’s surprise time.”
“You won’t just tell me what it is?” I grinned.
He shook his head vigorously, “Absolutely not.”
I decided not to push it since he was obviously quite excited about whatever it was he’d planned. I assumed it was mostly exciting because of its nature.
So, we moved on from that topic and onto my brother’s visit. Jimmy was full of questions, using wild hand gestures as he spoke. His hands were still shaking—but he didn’t seem to notice so I decided I shouldn’t worry about it either.
Eventually Jimmy had his fill of information about my current life as well as his take away, so we tossed our garbage into the outdoor bin and Jimmy sped off in the direction of our surprise.
“You can’t freak out,” he told me abruptly.
I furrowed my brows at him, “Do I strike you as the freak out type?”
He stared at me blankly, “Yep.”
We passed a seriously long line of humans piled up outside of a door before Jimmy took a turn into a parking lot and handed an attendant a bill. Then we parked and I was crazy curious as the car fell into a silence.
“You cannot freak out,” he said again, looking me in the eye this time.
Now I was nervous.
I followed Jimmy out of the car and through the lot until we were in line with everyone else. I was as nervous as I was confused.
“What are we doing?” I asked seriously.
He just shook his head, holding a finger over his lips to tell me to shush. I wasn’t crazy about the gesture but I obliged him anyway.
It wasn’t until the line moved forward and Jimmy handed the security guard at the door something that we were allowed entrance into the building.
“What…is this?” I managed, my brain running a mile a minute.
Everywhere I looked, there were giant pictures of the one and only Paul McCartney. There was a booth just ahead of us that was stocked to the brim with merchandise with his face plastered all over it. The crowd around us was loud.
He smiled widely at me, “Surprise!”
I must have been in shock because I still didn’t get it.
He looked disappointed by my lack of reaction.
“What is this?” I asked again.
He rolled his eyes, “It’s your first concert! Duh!”
“What?” I stammered in disbelief. “We’re going to…We’re going to see Paul McCartney?”
This reaction seemed to please him.
He took my hand into his and dragged me through another set of doors. We climbed and climbed until finally we found our seats. The view was not great but I did not fucking care.
“I would have gotten better seats,” he said to me as we settled into the plastic chairs, “But they were pretty much sold out. I had to barter with a friend for these shitty seats.”
I snapped my neck to look at him, bewilderment running through my face, “We could be on the roof for all I care.”
He smiled humbly, nodding subtly.
“This is the best—” I stopped, unsure how to even finish the sentence. “Thank you.”
“I’m going to get drinks!” he announced before darting off.
I took the time during his absence to get a feel of the arena. There were people crammed into every nook and cranny. The floor was electric with excitement—my heart was beating wildly in my chest.
Jimmy returned just before the lights dimmed and Sir McCartney himself waltzed onto the stage.
He played every song I could have ever asked him to play. Impressively, he played for hours without a break. We were on our feet the whole time, shouting and singing along. When he started into Blackbird, I thought I might cry.
The whole thing was fucking surreal. I’d forced myself to stop drinking so I could rememeber it.
And I had Jimmy to thank for the whole thing. What a first concert to attend.
As the lights came back, effectively blinding everyone in attendance, Jimmy was staring at me with the dumbest smile. I pushed my body into his, my hands grabbing his beautiful face as I kissed him as passionately as I could muster given my weak knees.
He laughed as I pulled away, “I take it we had a good time?”
“Only one way to top it,” I replied cheekily.
We returned to my place to finished what we’d started. There were no interruptions this time.
And holy shit, was it ever worth the wait.

Notes

As someone who's seen Macca a couple of times, I highly recommend going to see him if ever the opportunity presents itself. He puts on one hell of a show.

Jimmy's the best.

xx