Page 51 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually (Actually #1)

“You know what’s just occurred to me, Sean,” I said a little later when things were back under control again. “You could be Mark Darcy standing there cooking in my kitchen.”

“I don’t think Mr. Darcy cooked, did he?” Sean said, looking puzzled. “Not in the Jane Austen I’ve read anyway—he would have had staff to do that for him.”

“No—not Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice . Mark Darcy from Bridget Jones !”

“Oh right, one of your movies again.”

“Yeah, I haven’t notched one up for a while. But you’ve given me another scene this afternoon with all your cooking efforts.”

Sean thought for a moment. “Wait, haven’t I been him before? This Darcy fellow?”

I considered this. “Yeah, I said you and David’s water fight at Maddie’s wedding was like the one out of the second Bridget Jones film.”

“What about when I was in the boat, on the Small World ride at Disneyland? I’m sure you mentioned it then?”

“No, that was Hugh Grant’s character—Daniel Cleaver—I compared you to. ”

“Ah, I see—I think. Which one’s better? To be compared to, I mean?”

I thought again. “Mark Darcy. Yes, definitely Mark.” After all we were talking Colin Firth here—and no woman who ever saw him emerge from that lake ever quite got over it.

“You had to think about it though. Why?”

“I…I’m not sure. Colin Firth is this quite staid, reserved character in the film, a bit like the real Mr. Darcy—the Jane Austen version.

But you just know that deep inside he’d be really passionate and sexy once you got his guard down.

And Hugh Grant—that’s Daniel—his personality is out there from the start—there are no hidden depths with him.

He’s a bit of a cad…a smooth talker…a ladies’ man, I guess you’d call him.

They both have their attractions from a female perspective, just in different ways. ”

“But you liked Colin better?”

Sean had stopped what he was doing at the stove and was giving me his full attention during this questioning.

“Yeah, I think so. What is all this anyway? I thought you hated the cinema—why the sudden interest?”

“No reason,” Sean said mysteriously, turning back to his saucepan. “I just wondered, that’s all.”

I opened my mouth to question him further, but the doorbell rang again. I never had visitors—mainly because I only knew Sean, Ursula, and Oscar in London. Who could this be?

I excused myself from the kitchen, walked through the hall, and pulled open the front door without my now customary glance through the peephole .

“Surprise!” my father called from the top of the steps with his arms outstretched.

“Dad! What on earth are you doing here?”

“What sort of welcome is that for your old dad?”

“He came with me, Scarlett,” David said, appearing from behind Dad on the steps. “I hope you don’t mind?”

“No…no, of course I don’t. I’m just surprised to see you, that’s all.”

“Good surprise or bad?” Dad asked.

“Good, obviously.”

“You’re a good liar, Scarlett—I know you hate surprises.”

“Not always,” I said vaguely. I was trying to think which film the lines we had just inadvertently spoken had been from. Oh, it was on the tip of my tongue…Oh yes, Notting Hill , of course! The part where Alec Baldwin turns up to surprise Julia Roberts at the Ritz hotel.

“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” David asked.

“Yes…yes, come in.” I stood back, and they piled in, David with an overnight bag but my father, rather more worryingly, with a suitcase.

“How long are you here for, Dad?” I asked, suddenly remembering who was coming to dinner tonight.

“Just for a few days, Scarlett. It’s been ages since I’ve been down to London, and David had some sort of rail voucher that if you bought one rail fare you got one half price. So we split the cost, and I thought I’d come and see how you were getting on.”

Now David and the railcard made sense, but my father rarely took time away from the business, and for both of us to be away at the same time was unheard of .

Dad and David gave each other a conspiratorial look, and suddenly I got why my father was here.

He didn’t want to risk anything going wrong like it had with my mother—not now the end of my time away was so near, and neither did David.

They’d cooked this little scheme up between them to keep an eye on me.

Is that what David had meant in Paris when he said he’d given my father his word? Were they in this together all along?

I was about to tell them in no uncertain terms that I didn’t need keeping an eye on when Sean appeared unexpectedly from the kitchen still wearing an apron.

“Scarlett, have you any—”

I spun round toward him.

“You!” I heard David say behind me.

Sean looked calmly between David and my father. “And it’s a pleasure to see you again too, David.” Then he ignored him and walked toward Dad. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure?” he said with his hand outstretched.

“Sean, this is my father.”

“Mr. O’Brien, pleased to meet you at last, Scarlett has told me so much about you.”

I didn’t know whether Sean was doing all this just to annoy David—but if he was, it was working, because David’s face was now quite an alarming shade of red.

My father, looking surprised, shook Sean’s hand.

“Dad, this is Sean, my neighbor.”

David made a snorting sound.

“Pleased to meet you, Sean,” Dad said. Then he glanced at David. “Are you all right, David? You’ve turned a funny color. ”

“I think it’s time I went,” Sean said, untying his apron. “I hope I’ve been of some help to you, Scarlett.” He pulled the apron over his head and walked toward the door.

David—his color returning to normal again—stepped aside to make room for him. “I hope you’re not going on our account, old boy,” he sneered as Sean passed.

“Yes, Sean, you really don’t have to go.” I glared at David.

“Yes, I think I do,” Sean said, focusing on me and choosing to ignore David. “I hope all goes well tonight, Scarlett. I’m sure your guests will enjoy the food you’ve so carefully prepared.” He winked at me as he reached for the door.

“Wait a moment, Sean, and I’ll see you out properly. Dad, David, the lounge is just through there,” I said, pointing to the door. “If you’d like to go through, I’ll be there in a minute to help you find somewhere to put all your things.”

My father looked in the direction I was gesturing. “Righty-ho then. Nice to meet you, Sean.” He nodded at him.

“And you, Mr. O’Brien.”

David made what sounded like a growling noise at Sean.

“You really want to get that cough seen to, David,” Dad said, as David followed him obediently into the lounge. “It can get much worse if you leave it untreated too long.”

I waited until they were out of sight before stepping outside with Sean.

“Please don’t go,” I pleaded with him again. “I still have room for seven around the table, it’s huge. And I’m sure David will behave himself if I have a word.”

Sean smiled at me. “Oh, Scarlett, I would have thought me being there would be the last thing on your mind right now. ”

“What do you mean? Oh, Dad. I had no idea he was going to turn up today—apparently it’s a surprise.”

“Yes, I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation from the kitchen. But no, I don’t mean your father turning up unexpectedly. I mean, what are you going to tell your mother?”

“How do you mean?”

“About the dinner party—how will you put her off? You can’t have her turning up tonight with your father here, can you?”

I stuck my hands in the pocket of my apron and idly watched a man trimming a hedge over the road.

“Scarlett?” Sean prompted.

“They’re going to have to meet each other again some time now Mum’s back in my life,” I said, turning to face him. “It’s not my fault Dad’s turned up out of the blue like this.”

Sean’s eyes widened. “But they haven’t seen each other for over twenty years; there could be bloodshed if they just turn up at the same dinner party!”

“But there might not be…it could all work out just fine.”

Sean rubbed his forehead in a way that suggested he didn’t agree.

“Just how much of that red wine we were marinating with did you drink? Scarlett, just ring your mother and tell her the dinner’s off.”

“No, she’s been looking forward to meeting everyone.”

“Including your father?”

I pulled my apron over my head and folded it up. “Look, Sean, I didn’t orchestrate this, fate did. And now I’m going to let fate take its course.”

“You’re asking for trouble. ”

“Maybe…maybe not.” I shrugged. “Look, are you going to come to dinner tonight or not?”

“And miss this? You’ve got to be kidding. It’ll be like Christmas in the Queen Vic—just without the cockney accents.”

I had to smile. “I know you think what I’m going to let happen is the wrong thing to do. But maybe that’s what all this has been about—me coming to London, so I can have two parents in my life. Everything happens—”

“For a reason. Yes, I know, you’ve said so before. But maybe this isn’t the only reason for you coming here?”

“And maybe it is. Look, I have to get back inside. I’ll see you later, yes, about 7:30? I’ll tell Mum it’s eight, and then everyone will have a chance to chat to Dad a bit before she arrives.”

“I don’t think that’s a good—”

I held up my hand. “No more, Sean. I’ll see you later?”

Sean nodded. “But you could end up regretting this decision, Scarlett. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and possibly for the rest of your life.”

I stared suspiciously at Sean. “Are you absolutely sure you never watch movies?” I asked him.

“Not often, why?”

“Hmm, it just seems you have an awful knack recently of making me feel like I’m in one.”