Page 68 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
“Yeah, I had the third degree off him earlier, asking me who Sean was, how long you’d known him, where you met, et cetera.”
“Did you? When?”
“Er…a little while ago, when I found him and Felix talking outside by the big fountain. Did you know David’s thinking of erecting a water feature in your garden?
Ohno, not gardening as well.
“So what did you tell David when he asked? About Sean, I mean.”
“Just whatyoutold me—that he’s just a friend you’ve met since you’ve been in London.”
I nodded and glanced over at the dance floor. They were holding hands now. OK, theywereat arm’s length, as Danielle spun around and Sean kept her upright. But they were still touching each other.
Ouch, the athlete in my stomach just tweaked another muscle.
“Thatisall you are—isn’t it, Scarlett?” Maddie asked, watching me. “Just friends?”
“Yes…yes, of course it is. Don’t be daft.” But my eyes were still trained on the dance floor.
“But I thought men and women couldn’t just be friends?”Maddie said knowingly. “That’s what they say in the movies, isn’t it—sex always gets in the way eventually?”
This time it was Maddie who was the one referring toWhenHarryMetSally, a movie she’d watched with me many a time.
I lifted my chin, turned toward her, and smiled. “Oh look, your new husband is after you.” I beckoned across the room to Felix, who was watching us. He immediately came over.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt you,” he said. “You both looked like you were putting the world to rights.”
Maddie kissed him on the cheek. “No, not the whole world—only Scarlett’s world.”
Felix smiled at me. “I’ve only come over to say your mother is looking for you, Maddie. She’s saying something about you having enough time to get changed before we leave.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “Tonight has been wonderful, but it’s just flown by. I’d better go and find her. I’ll see you later, Scarlett, before I go—yes?”
I nodded.
“Come on then, hubby, let’s go find your new mother-in-law!”
I watched them walk away together hand in hand. Then I heard the DJ announce that he was slowing it down for a while and I heard the first few notes of “Angels” by Robbie Williams float across the room.
Oh no, this was one of my favorite songs. I couldn’t bear to watch Danielle and Sean smooching the night away to it. Wait a moment—why should I care what they did to Robbie when David was here with me? Then another thought occurred. What if David asked me to dance, and we had to go over there right next to them? But he wouldn’t…he hated dancing. But he knew I loved this song and he would enjoy scoring points off Sean. I knew that about him…
“I’m just going to get some air,” I called to David, just to make sure, as I hurried past him at the bar. “I’ll be back in a while.”
“Should I come too, Scarlett?” I heard him call after me.
I shook my head. “No, David, I’ll be fine. I’ll only be gone for…” I thought quickly. “About four and a half minutes—I promise.”
I left David puzzling over my precise timing and walked out of the hotel into the cold night air. Outside was a courtyard, and a little way across from that a large garden with a white picket fence. Inside the garden was a Mickey Mouse face planted entirely in flowers, a large fountain, and some benches high up on a small hill. I climbed the hill, sat down on one of the benches, and pulled my stole tightly around my shoulders. Then I watched the clear flowing water cascade into the large pool below while I tried to collect my thoughts.
What was happening to me? Why did I feel this way about Sean? To begin with, I’d pretended it was because he resembled so many of my favorite movie stars—but now I knew that wasn’t the truth. We didn’t have that much in common—everything I liked Sean seemed to detest and vice versa. So why should I be jealous he was dancing with Danielle? I mean it wasn’t likeIwas alone, was it? I had David, my fiancé, here with me, and yes, David and I had our problems, but he was still the one I’d chosen to be with, the one I was supposed to love. I should have been happy to have been here today with David. I should have been content. So why wasn’t I? Sean annoyed me, Sean irritated me, and Sean made me feel…just howdidhe make me feel?
I paused to reflect on what should have been a difficult question for me to answer. But I found I could answer it almost immediately.
Sean made me feel alive; he made my life exciting, and he made me happy. But more than all of that, he made me feel wanted—for all our differences.
I let my head drop into my hands. What was I going to do?
“Hey, what’s up, doc?”
