Edge of Reality [Elvis]

1977 - Part 1: Another Point of View

Okay, it's happened - we finally hit 1977. Just because I couldn't end this story in just one chapter, I'm splitting this year into two parts and maybe adding something extra after. Thank you all again for reading!

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People knew about me now, and not just those closest to Elvis. Word got out that a woman had been following Elvis around for years. Who said something, it was a mystery, and I was receiving an earful every day from my superiors since the tip was given out. So, with that said, I had a rather annoying year so far.

I slammed the phone on the hook in my hotel room after another reprimand. They called me quite often, no matter where I was. The number of hotels I had been in since I was sixteen probably exceeded the number that Elvis had been in since that day at Sun Records. The same with the number of times I had been on a plane. The longest plane ride was the trip to Germany. I didn't want to go, to just leave Elvis alone while he was fulfilling his military service, but no. I was ordered to follow him as usual.

And the notes... yes, that was my idea. I got in trouble for it, like I got in trouble for falling in love with the subject, and responded to those feelings, but I moved forward anyway. I didn't have a life due to my job, so I wanted to do something that was my own.

I was still doing it, even now in the summer of 1977, almost exactly twenty-three years after I first saw Elvis in person. I recalled the very moment I saw him for the first time. I was told to go to Memphis as soon as school let out to see a young man who would most likely make it big. He made a statement with his looks and the music he was playing with his little band, and how he as a white boy was spending his time on Beale Street in Memphis. I had to go and check him out, just to see what he was all about. Of course, then, I didn't know that scrawny guy with sideburns would become a world-famous super star.

He had a gig at Sun Records, and I made sure to catch him while he arrived there. And he did. He exited a black Lincoln, and my heart jumped to the skies. He was a handsome guy, especially with his smile. I had to be discreet as I entered the studio after him. I reprimanded myself for wearing pink, but it was too late to change into something more inconspicuous. I hid in that little building...

Then he saw me. He asked about me. Thank goodness Mr. Phillips and that woman with him didn't see me. Elvis went back in and started singing. My mouth dropped open. It blew me away at hearing him sing "That's Alright" as a white boy.

From then on, I knew I had a life-long job. Elvis would make even more of a statement, and I would have to keep note of his every move. In the beginning, I wanted to do it, then after I turned eighteen, it became a job. When I met him, he was as kind and as personable as everyone said he was. It was then, in that little dressing room, that I fell deeply in love with him. In my superiors' opinion, that was a mistake. Well, a person can't help who they fall in love with, just like Elvis sang in his song that was a personal favorite of mine.

I blew air out of my mouth as memories rampaged my mind... Elvis seeing me in Germany, making my way to his hotel suite only to be greeted with a steaming kiss, receiving two marriage proposals from him, watching him hang out with his friends at Graceland, being in the hospital when his mother passed... watching him get married... That was probably the hardest thing I ever had to watch him do.

I loved him more than anything. I wanted him more than anything. I begged to be let off my leash so I could be with him, but... like Elvis... I was trapped for over twenty years of my life.

But it wasn't a waste. It was worth every moment. And I could admit, I got myself into it because I was a stupid girl who wanted to stalk a cute boy. It just went way out of hand after that.