Page 140 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
“Quickly, miss,” the attendant said. “Be ready to board when the pod comes past. Otherwise you’ll miss it and have to wait another half an hour.”
There was no way I was going to let that happen. I leaped up onto the area where people were boarding the capsules as they passed slowly by. There were about fifteen to twenty boarding each capsule at a time. But when Sean’s finally came into view, there was only him inside.
“Hop on, miss,” another attendant said, helping me on board. “Safe ride.” He winked at Sean, who was standing up against the glass on the far side of the pod.
Inside the capsule, there seemed to be flowers everywhere.
Roses and lilies were arranged elegantly in a long glass vase. How did Sean know they were my two favorite flowers? Had I mentioned it to him in passing one day and he’d remembered?
They stood on a small table next to an ice bucket, which held a bottle of champagne patiently waiting to be poured into two empty glasses. I looked down and saw more flowers—a sea of pink and red rose petals covered every inch of the floor. It was one of the most romantic settings I’d ever seen.
“Oh, Sean, it’s just beautiful,” I said, walking toward him. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to get here. But it was theBlues Brothers, they didn’t arrive until today, and when they did finally arrive, as you can see”—I gestured at my dress—“I was already at the church. But oh, Sean, when they played that song to me, and said it was from you, I knew I just had to come here and find you. And then there was the painting, Sean, it’s just all so romantic, and so unexpected. How did you even know about that?”
Sean didn’t speak—he just held up his hand to stop me coming any closer.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked.
Sean reached down and picked up some large white pieces of card. He held the first one up in front of him, like a flash card. Then he proceeded to communicate silently with me in lines from the movies I knew and loved so well. Except they weren’t the exact lines spoken by the actors on the screen; Sean had cleverly changed them to fit in with our own story. It was just like the scene fromLoveActuallyI’d told him about—only better.
Isayitbest, when I say nothing at all.
I grinned at him as he turned over the next card.
InthespiritofLoveActually(The Bee Gees, and latterly Boyzone)
IshouldliketotellyouhowIfeelinWords, if I may?
I nodded eagerly. Oh my God, I couldn’t believe he’d done all this for me.
Firstly, don’t apologize for being late, because when you’re in love with someone, apparently you never have to say you’re sorry.
First, how did he know I’d be late? And second, he was of course referring to the classic line fromLoveStory.
Sean turned another card while I silently watched him.
When I met you, frankly, Scarlett, I didn’t give a damn. AndI wondered, of all the bookshops in all the towns in all the world, why you had to walk into mine.
I laughed at the classic lines fromGonewiththeWindandCasablancaas he turned over the next card.
But then I thought, well, nobody’s perfect, & I should give you a chance because this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The second part was obviously Casablanca again. I thought hard for a moment about the first before I realized it was from the Marilyn Monroe filmSomeLikeItHot. Wow, Sean really had done his homework.
But I knew we were supposed to be together. I knew it from the very first time I held your hand, Scarlett. It felt just like…magic.
“Oh, Sean,” I mouthed, silently knowing he was referring to the “magic” moment fromSleeplessinSeattle.
Sean dropped another card and it fell among the rose petals on the floor—while I tried to stop the tears that were springing to the corners of my eyes from escaping, pouring down my face and joining them. This was fast becoming more emotional than any “weepie” I’d ever sat through in the cinema.
And even though I knew we’d always have Paris, I knew you wanted more; I knew you wanted the whole fairytale.
I smiled again at another classic quote fromCasablancaand hisPrettyWomanfairytale reference.
SoIaskedyoutomeetmeheretodaylikethisontheLondonEye, because when I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, I not only wanted the rest of my life to start as soon as possible, but in a way we would remember forever.
I nodded in agreement, loving his twist on the classic quote fromWhenHarryMetSally.
SoScarlett, I ask you to excuse the fact that I am just a bloke you met in a bookshop, standing in front of the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on, asking her to love him.
