Page 84 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
Hmm…I thought hard for a moment. Let’s assume Sean will probably just go straight to bed now, that means I will just have to wait here a little longer until he falls asleep. But what if he hangs his clothes in here before going to bed? I panicked a little. No, that wasn’t likely to happen, men never hung their clothes up. They just left them lying over a chair—or, more likely, in a heap on the floor.
But if hedidn’tvisit the wardrobe before bedtime, and Iwaslucky enough to have him fall asleep without finding me, how on earth would I get back to my room again? I couldn’t go out of the door—even if I did get through it without him stirring, I didn’t have my key with me to get back into my own room again.
I heard Sean moving about and then I heard him mumble something that sounded like “What’s this?” and there was a rustle of paper.
Ohno—my note!
“Meet me at the Eiffel Tower…” His voice trailed off. “Oh, Scarlett,” I heard him say softly.
I listened intently, my ear pressed up against the wardrobe door, but all I heard next was another door open and close.
What’s he doing now? I wondered impatiently. Then it dawned on me…
Quickly I opened the wardrobe door and ran toward thebalcony. Through the open windows to my room I could hear Sean knocking hard on my door.
Withanyluckhe’ll assume I’m asleep when I don’t answer and leave me alone, I silently prayed, as I grabbed hold of the drainpipe again.
The knocking subsided.
Phew…I carefully swung my leg over toward my own balcony, got it safely over, and was just about to swing the other one across when I heard Robbie Williams’s “Let Me-ee…Entertain You…” booming from my back pocket.
Shit, Sean was only calling my mobile now.
Hastily I swung my other leg across the gap and reached into my back pocket just as Sean appeared on his balcony.
He looked at his phone and then he looked at me. “What are you doing out here?” he asked. “I was just at your door, knocking. When you didn’t answer I assumed you were still out.”
“I was out—well, out here taking a call…from David. I didn’t hear the door. I must have just hung up as you called.”
“Oh, I see. Are you OK, Scarlett? You look a bit…flustered.”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Did you have a good night?”
Here we go, I thought. Wait for it…
“It was…all right,” I answered hesitantly.
“Only, I just found this.” Sean held up my note.
“Ah…that.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ve only just got back from…my meeting. I didn’t see it before.”
“No worries,” I said with a shrug. “It was a bit of a joke really. Just another movie moment for me to add to my list.”
“Oh.” Sean looked thoughtfully at the piece of paper. “Look, do you want to come over here for a while, or shall I come to you? I feel a bit silly talking to you across our balconies.”
“I’ll come over to you.” I was relieved, yet puzzled as to why Sean hadn’t ribbed me about the Eiffel Tower. Maybe he was saving it until he’d found out for sure I’d spent all night up there alone.
I grabbed hold of the drainpipe and began to climb back over to Sean’s balcony.
“Scarlett! What the hell are you doing?”
“Oh…yeah,” I said, blushing as I quickly pulled my leg back. “Maybe it would be easier if I just came around to your door.”
Twenty-Four
