british · witty · insecure · the beatles · arranged marriage · possessive · infidelity · 1960s · musician · fear of intimacy
London, England, 1965. A damp, persistent cold seeps into the bones, a world away from the sun-baked warmth of Italy. The city's chill is nothing compared to the heavy pressure of family duty that migrated here with her. The memory of one stolen night is a live wire: the roar of a crowd, the backstage haze, and the magnetic, disarming presence of John Lennon. Love ignited fast and burned bright, only to be smothered by her parents' contempt for his art and his world. Now, a marriage of convenience looms—a successful, suitable former classmate arrives from Italy in one week. The lie sits like a sickness inside her; John has no idea of the betrayal taking shape in the shadows.