Page 20 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
“That’s not fair,” I said, determined to defend myself but at the same time trying to digest all this new information Dad was feeding me. I’d found out more in the last two minutes about my mother than I’d ever known before. But it was all clashing with this stupid nonsense David was dreaming up. “I do not go around with my head in the clouds. Sometimes my life can be a bit boring, that’s all, and I find ways of passing the time—and yes, sometimes those ways do involve the movies, and that does make me start to wonder if there might be more to life out there for me than here in Stratford. Is that such a crime?”
My father rolled his eyes. “Do you mean is there a life out there for you that’s more like one of these soppy films you’re always watching? With a handsome prince waiting at the topof a tall tower to give you a happy ending? And I’m pretty sure it’ll be that type of movie you go to see. I bet there’s not any blood, guts, or gore in anything you watch.”
“No, but why would I want to see that? I go to the cinema to be entertained, not to be scared and repulsed by what I see.”
“But that’s real life, Scarlett. Life is not a heart-shaped box of chocolates.”
“You never know what you’re gonna get?” I suggested helpfully.
“What?” my father asked.
I guessForrestGumpmust have passed him by. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter, Dad. It’s from a movie.”
“You see, you’re even talking like them now. Scarlett, life is not a movie, and you can’t go around trying to live your life as if you’re in one—especially not the sort that seem to be filling your head with silly ideas.” My father ran his hand through his hair in exasperation and turned his back to me.
“Ah!” I said, banging my hand on the desk. “Why does everyone keep saying that to me all the time? How do you all know that, eh?” I demanded. “How do you allreallyknow? Take you, for instance, Dad, you’ve never been anywhere or done anything with your life. There could be a mountain of exciting things just waiting to happen to you out there—just the same as the sort of things that happen in the movies.”
My father spun round. “You seem to forget that the main reason I’ve never been anywhere or done anything is because I was bringing you up—alone. I was a single parent trying to build a business that I hoped would provide us with a decent living.Andwas doing all this before it ever became trendy—as it seems to be these days—to be a single dad with a youngchild. I worked hard for you to give you a decent future, not so I could go swanning off around the world having adventures, as you think I should have.”
The silence that filled the room was only broken by the gentletaptaptapof Mrs. J’s fingers running over her old keyboard in the next-door office.
My father looked hurt, angry, and confused as he stood there, and there was sadness in his eyes that I just couldn’t bear to see.
“I’m really sorry, Dad,” I said in a small voice as I looked up at him from my desk. “I do appreciate everything you did for me when I was young—you know I do.”
My father looked at me, and his face softened. “And I’m sorry too, Scarlett—for shouting at you.” He held out his arms. “Are you too big now to give your old dad a hug?”
I got up and moved over to him, burying myself in his warm embrace. “Never.”
“You know I was only trying to help?”
I nodded, my head still buried in the comfort of his familiar scent.
“It’s just that I’ve seen you grow up watching movies, reading about movies, pretending to be in the movies. There’s nothing wrong with the cinema—for heaven’s sake, without it we wouldn’t have a business—but I want to make sure you understand that you have to live in the real world, with real people and real situations. I don’t want you to end up like…”
My father didn’t finish his sentence.
“Like who, Dad?”
“Er…just one of these people that dream their life away and never really do anything with it.” Dad held me back and looked at me. “Scarlett, you can’t continue to pretend your life is a movie script. And after what David said to me last night, if you continue like this, you’re going to risk losing him—along with your mind.”
I was about to say that might not be such a bad thing when I remembered one of the reasons I’d agreed to marry David and I stopped myself just in time.
My father let go of me and walked to the window. After a moment’s consideration he turned to face me again. “Scarlett, I’m going to tell you what I told David yesterday. I think you need some time away, to get your head together and to think about things. What do you say?”
I tried not to look too overjoyed. Hadn’t that been just what I’d wanted when I’d walked into the office this morning? But I hadn’t expected my father to hand it to me served up on a silver salver like this, all wrapped up with a big red bow.
“Er…yes that sounds like a good idea,” I said cautiously, in case Dad’s idea of time away wasn’t the same as mine.
“How about a couple of weeks off work?” Dad suggested.
“How about we make it a month? Then I’ll have plenty of time to dolotsof thinking about my life. I’m bound to come to therightdecisions then, aren’t I?”
My father considered this for a moment. “Well, if you think you need that long?”
I nodded.
“All right then, I’m sure Dorothy and I will be able to manage on our own for a while. Any idea of where you might like to go?”
