Page 27 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually (Actually #1)
We split up into two parties and departed to our allotted venues to spend the rest of the night participating in activities deemed suitable only for persons of our own gender.
I was happily sitting at a table alone downing the last of a bottle of champagne while the other girls were doing some sort of boat dance on the floor, when Maddie swayed over in my direction. She was wearing Minnie Mouse ears, a veil, and L-plates pinned to her front and back.
“Why are you sitting on your own up here?” she asked, slurring her words slightly.
“Because I’ve seen enough boats for one night.”
Maddie furrowed her brow. “What do you mean? I didn’t go on any boats. Oh, the paddle steamer wasn’t running, was it? Did they start it up and I missed it?”
“No, not the paddle steamer, don’t worry about it, Mad—it’s nothing. ”
Maddie draped her arm around me. “I can’t be having my chief bridesmaid sitting up here all alone moping, can I? Now tell me how you’re getting on house-sitting for Belinda—I’ve barely heard from you since you left for London.”
I told Maddie as much as I thought her sozzled brain could take on board about what I’d been up to since I arrived in Notting Hill.
I was deliberately selective in what I chose to tell her—mainly about the new friends I’d met, and how “coincidentally” and “maybe it was something to do with living in Notting Hill,” things that happened in movies just seemed to keep happening to me.
I left out the part about my mother—that was too complicated to explain to someone who’d had as much to drink as Maddie had tonight.
I was glad the wedding wasn’t until Saturday evening—at least she would have enough time to sleep off her hangover tomorrow.
When I’d finished, Maddie was strangely quiet while she took another long drink from her glass of…just what was in that purple concoction she was drinking?
I watched the girls on the dance floor who were now trying to do the Macarena while Maddie apparently gathered her thoughts.
“Sean seems nice,” she suddenly said after a few minutes, as she casually stirred the umbrella around in her cocktail.
I looked hard at Maddie. What did she mean by that comment? Nice in regard to what? Or was it just a throwaway observation? The state Maddie was in it could mean anything. It was hard to tell.
I decided to play it cool. “Yeah, he’s OK.”
“Remind me again—just why is he here with you this weekend? ”
“I told you, he’s Belinda and Harry’s neighbor in Notting Hill, he’s been helping me get to know the area—and stuff.”
“I wouldn’t mind him helping me out with my stuff any day!” Maddie cackled, then she winked at me. “There’s a definite look of Brad Pitt about him.”
“Maddie! You’re getting married tomorrow!”
“And you are getting married in April, Scarlett, but you’ve still brought another man to my wedding!”
I looked at Maddie again. Was she as drunk as she was making out? She was making some very telling observations for one so under the influence of alcohol.
“No, I haven’t,” I said defensively. “David arrives tomorrow morning, as you well know.”
“Yes, that’s right, so he does.” Maddie thought for a moment.
“That’s good because tomorrow at the wedding, I’m going to try and set Danielle up with Sean.
You met her earlier—she said she was sitting next to you on the Phantom Manor ride.
Anyway, Sean is single, isn’t he? Because Danielle was asking about him.
Danielle has been single far too long, and I reckon Sean looks the type who wouldn’t mind a quick shag after the ceremony tomorrow. ”
“Maddie, no! Don’t you dare!”
Maddie looked at me innocently with wide eyes. “Why not? After all if he’s only your temporary neighbor, what’s it to you?”
“OK, what’s in that drink?” I demanded.
“What—this?” Maddie held up her glass.
“Yes, that. It’s not alcoholic, is it?”
Maddie leaned in toward me. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to get hammered the night before my own wedding? It’s the biggest day of my life—and I’m damned if I’m walking down the aisle looking like death warmed up.”
“Have you had any alcohol tonight?”
“A couple of glasses of champagne at the start of the evening, that’s all.
This is just blackcurrant and lemonade. The others think it’s vodka Zulu, but I’ve had an arrangement with the barman all night—under no circumstances is he to put any alcohol in my drinks.
Everyone thinks I’m pissed—but sadly, on this occasion, no. ”
I grinned at Maddie. “You are one crafty cookie, madam.”
“And you are one very mixed-up chief bridesmaid.” Maddie put down her drink and looked at me seriously. “I did see you and Sean together earlier, Scarlett.”
“So?”
“So, I saw you laugh more times with Sean tonight than I think I’ve ever seen you laugh in all your time with David.”
“But I love David.”
“I know you do. So be careful, Scarlett. Don’t let this timeout, house-sitting thing—if that’s what you’re really doing in London—completely screw your life up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you love David and you want to marry David—but you’ve been having a few doubts, you told me as much.
Then just when you’re in the middle of this carefree, living-in-a-movie-type lifestyle that you’ve always wanted, Sean comes along.
He’s like this big, handsome movie hero you’ve always dreamed about meeting, but while you’re away living your perfect fantasy life, you’re forgetting about the people left behind. ”
“No, I’m not.” I didn’t know how Maddie could even think that. “I just want to be happy, that’s all, and to prove Dad, David, and you, for that matter, wrong about the movies.” I clapped my hand over my mouth. Damn it .
“Oh, so that’s what you’re really up to, is it?” Maddie said, raising an eyebrow. “I knew there was something else going on.”
“Maddie, that’s not important now,” I said, quickly trying to gloss over my blunder.
Plus I had to clear up this other misunderstanding first. “I don’t see Sean as a movie star—that’s just silly.
” Maybe I had in the past, but I wasn’t lying to Maddie now; it was ages since I’d imagined Sean as anything but himself.
I found it virtually impossible to do that now.
“He’s just a bit different to David, that’s all.
Sean’s…..” A smile crept across my face as I thought about him.
“He’s fun and spontaneous and generous, and, well—he’s everything David isn’t. ”
“Including yours ,” Maddie finished for me. “Scarlett, you don’t want to be in love—not in the conventional sense anyway. You want to be in love in the movies.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” I started to say, and then I stopped. “Wait a minute, that’s familiar.”
“What is?”
“What you just said. Say it again.”
“Which bit—you don’t want to be in love, you want to be in love in the movies?”
“Yeah, that bit.” I rested my head in my hands. “Oh, it’s on the tip of my tongue…”
“What on earth are you doing?” Maddie asked, watching me.
“ Sleepless in Seattle !” I exclaimed, hitting the palm of my hand on the table. “It’s from Sleepless in Seattle . Meg Ryan’s best friend says it to her when they’re watching An Affair to Remember on TV. ”
“Wait, is that the one with Cary Grant and…” Maddie paused. “Oh, who’s the woman?”
“Deborah Kerr.”
“That’s it, and he asks her to meet him on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day, and she can’t get there because she’s ill or something?”
“Disabled,” I said, thinking about the movie. “ Sleepless in Seattle is a similar story. I love both of them.”
Maddie shook her head. “You’ve got me at it now! What was I saying before you went off into one of your movie rants?”
“That I only want to be in love in a movie?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right. But what I’m really saying, Scarlett, is don’t ruin what you’ve got back home in the real world with some pipe dream that you really can live your life like it’s a movie—because you can’t.
This house-sitting in Notting Hill was just a bit of fun, really—I suggested it because I thought it might do you good to get away for a while, to clear your head, that kind of thing.
But now I’m beginning to wonder if I did the right thing…
” She paused as she took my hand in hers.
“Scarlett, please be careful. People get hurt in real life; in a movie they just exit stage left.”
“Thanks for your concern, Maddie,” I said, part of me knowing she was right.
I did need to be more careful about Sean.
“I appreciate it, really I do. But I’m not intending to let anyone exit from my life—stage left or any other way.
” I drew my hand away from hers. “But as for me not living my life in a movie, I beg to differ with you—and Dad and David too—because since I’ve been away, I’m already proving that I can, quite easily, and no one is getting hurt. ”