Page 15 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
“Hmm, there is that. Let me think for a moment…”
I took a sip of my wine while Maddie thought, glad my interrogation was over for now. I couldn’t believe Maddie thought I was obsessed too. What was wrong with these people? Movies were just a harmless bit of fun. Why couldn’t they see that?
“I’ve got it!” Maddie said suddenly, when I was just thinking my food was going to get cold if I didn’t start eating again soon. “I’ve had a brilliant—no, make that a fabulous idea! Look I’ve nearly finished my salad, what little there was ofit. Do you mind if I make a couple of calls while you finish your pasta? You’ll love me for it when I’m finished, Scarlett, I promise.”
I shrugged and picked up my fork while Maddie dived into her bag for her mobile phone. Then she began to make the first of several phone calls, all of which involved much laughter and phrases like, “We must meet up soon, darling.” This made me smile because Maddie was so not the “darling” type at all.
“Well,” she said when she’d finally finished. “I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing here—because in a way I think it might just be encouraging you more. But you know how you were saying before how you loved the movieTheHoliday?”
“Yes?” I asked suspiciously. I hoped “The Madness of Maddie” wasn’t going to erupt into some tin pot scheme as it had a habit of doing occasionally when left unchecked for too long.
“Well, how would you like to relive some of that movie? Actually, come to think of it, I’m giving you two movies for the price of one here.”
“Just what are you talking about, Maddie?”
“Scarlett, I have managed to obtain for you a little luxury pad just off the Portobello Road to house-sit for a month!”
“How on earth have you done that?” I asked, completely amazed at my friend’s ingenuity.
“Ah, you just have to know the right people,” she said, tapping the side of her nose. “No seriously, it belongs to a friend of my sister,” she explained. “I remember Jojo saying a while back that Belinda and Harry needed someone to house-sit for a month while they’re in Dubai visiting Harry’s parents, andthey were having such trouble finding someone reliable. They leave in less than a week, so you, my dear Scarlett, could be the answer to their prayers!”
I thought about this for a few seconds, about trying to live outTheHolidayfor myself. I’d always fancied being Cameron Diaz—or would I be Kate Winslet? Then something occurred to me. “You said two movies, Maddie?”
“Yes.” Maddie grinned. “The Portobello Road, Scarlett…it’s where?”
“Oh my God!” I said as the penny dropped. “But that’s only one of my absolute all-time favorites.”
“Yep, I know,” she said, her eyes shining. “NottingHill!”
***
I looked at Oscar.
He’d been sitting listening to me for over an hour now, completely enraptured by my tale. Obviously I’d only told him a condensed version and not the parts that were too personal, but he got the gist.
“So it’s your fiancé and your best friend that have driven you here to seek refuge?” Oscar asked.
“There’s my father as well. But he pretty much seems to have the same opinion as the other two.” If not more so… “I just want to prove them wrong, Oscar. Prove to them there’s nothing wrong with me loving the cinema so much, and that life isn’t so far removed from the movies as they all seem to think it is.”
“Well I think you’re already living your dream without evencoming here, my darling. It all seems very Hollywood to me!” Oscar said, his eyes wide with amazement. “I can see it all now,” he said, waving his hand in the air with a flourish. “Beautiful young girl sets out into the world to seek revenge for an injustice she feels has been cast upon her by her cruel family. I can hear Red Pepper doing the voiceover as I speak.”
I had to laugh; Red Pepper was the chap with the really deep gravelly voice who did all the dramatic movie trailer voice-overs. “It’s not quitethatbad, Oscar. And actually it isn’t very Hollywood at all. It’s been a bit of a disaster since I arrived.” I meant losing the address, but the guy in the travel bookshop’s attitude from earlier was still bugging me.
“But you’ve only just got here, darling. You’ve yonks of time if you’re here for a month.” Oscar thought for a moment and then he smiled. “Actually you’ve had a pretty good start today, haven’t you, if you’re looking for proof that movies happen in real life?”
“Have I—how?”
“Oh my dear, what sort of use are you going to be if you can’t recognize an opportunity when one arises? For one thing, someone knocked into you today and spilled orange juice all down you…”
He left a long pause while he waited for the penny to drop. When he saw recognition strike, he continued, “That same person invited you back to his home to change…” Again the pause.
“And OK, I may not be Hugh Grant—although in a certain light…” Oscar stood up and admired himself in the mirror above the mantelpiece.
I laughed.
“And,” he continued, “to top it all, that same person is going to invite you to a dinner party tonight!”
“You’re having a dinner party?”
