Page 66 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
“Was Will entertaining you by any chance, with tales of his CB radio?” a young chap—who I think was called Graham—asked me. “Will’s always good for those.”
“Was he half!” I said, as Graham poured the last remnants of a bottle of wine into a glass for me. “I think sitting next to Hannibal Lecter at dinner would have caused me less pain.”
The other people around the table laughed.
“Would you like a proper drink?” David asked. “I’m just going up to the bar.”
“Yes, that would be great. I’ll have a large Jack Daniels, please.”
I chatted with the people around the table while David was gone and then glanced around the room. The hotel staff were beginning to clear the tables, so they could arrange the room into one suitable for dancing to the band that had just arrived and were currently unpacking their instruments up on the stage.
I saw Sean standing talking to a girl who had her back to me. She laughed and when she tossed her hair over her shoulder I caught a glimpse of her face. It was Danielle.
Sean then gestured, would she like a drink? Danielle nodded, Sean took her glass from her and began to make his way toward the bar. He had to pass our table as he did so.
I tried to look like I was deeply engrossed in what the women next to me were saying. They were actually discussing the pros and cons of grocery shopping on the Internet, but I tried hard to look interested in their conversation.
“How’s it going?” Sean asked, as he passed our table.
“Oh, it’s you,” I said, pretending to jump as I turned around.
“Having fun? I saw you got stuck next to ol’ Rubber Duck over there at dinner. I met him at the stag do, interesting guy…”
“About as interesting as watching the National Lottery show without a ticket, yeah. Actually I take that back, even watching it with a ticket is bad enough!”
Sean laughed. “But at least you’ve escaped now. I saw David come over and rescue you. I would have done so myself but…” He looked back at Danielle.
“Yeah, I can see you’ve been busy.”
“Here we go—one large Jack Daniels,” David said, returning with our drinks. He looked with interest at Sean.
“Sean, this is David, my fiancé. David, this is Sean…er…he’s my next-door neighbor in Notting Hill,” I said, not being able to think of a better way of introducing him.
David put the drinks down on the table, and held out his hand to Sean. “Pleased to meet you, Sean.”
“And you too, Dave,” Sean said, shaking David’s hand.
“Id, it’s Dav-id.”
“Of course, my mistake, sorry.”
There was an awkward silence.
“Well, I’d better go and get some drinks,” Sean said, holding up the empty glasses in his hands. “I’ll see you later perhaps, Scarlett.”
I watched him walk over to the bar before I turned back to David.
“Your neighbor?” he asked, sitting down next to me. “How does your neighbor in Notting Hill know Maddie and Felix?”
“Er…he doesn’t.Iinvited him to the wedding.”
“You did? Why?”
When I’d told David the little bit about what I’d been up to since I’d been in London, I’d skirted around the Sean issue by saying that the “friend” I’d met up with I’d also been “out and about” with occasionally too.
I took a deep breath and then a large gulp of my drink.
“He’s the friend I was telling you about that I met in London.”
