Page 63 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
“Have you hadanyalcohol 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 didseeyou 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 thinkthat. “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.Damnit.
“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.”
“Includingyours,” 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.
“SleeplessinSeattle!” I exclaimed, hitting the palm of my hand on the table. “It’s fromSleeplessinSeattle. Meg Ryan’s best friend says it to her when they’re watchingAnAffairtoRememberon 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. “SleeplessinSeattleis a similar story. I love both of them.”
Maddie shook her head. “You’ve gotmeat 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 youreallycan 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 inreallife; 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.”
Nineteen
