I had been so lost in my Bernard and Jamie fantasy that I didn’t realise we had arrived at the stones, I mean the door to Bernard Jack’s dressing room. The security guard pressed the button on the intercom and spoke through it.
“We have four VIP here to come and meet you. A Letticia, Scott, Sophie and James.”
We waited for a reply, it took a few seconds which of course felt like hours to me, but finally Bernard Jack’s voice came through the speaker.
“Ahhhh yes. Send them in.”
Okay, so at that very moment I felt numb from my head to my toes. How on earth did those words, ‘Ahhhh yes. Send them in,’ referring to us, come out of the mouth of Bernard Jack? It was double glory: One, how did we end up as Alistair’s friends, and two, how did we get to be right outside Bernard Jack’s dressing room, about to step inside and meet him? It was all too much, I started to feel weak at the knees. Scott saw that I had lost my balance and grabbed my arm to keep me upright.
“Aye, are we a bit star struck Miss Letticia?” he asked.
“Me? Never. If you had forgotten, I now have a friend who is a way bigger star than this guy.”
“Not quite Letticia, but maybe in your mind.”
“Oh, shut up Scott,” I said, and gave him a little friendly punch on the arm.
Bernard saw and said jokingly to Oliver the security guard, “Keep an eye on this one, she could be trouble.”
I defended myself by saying, “Oh Bernard, not me. I’m as sweet as they come.”
All three of my friends, who would not have been here, standing right in front of Bernard Jack, if it wasn’t for me, gave out a huge giggle. I gave them all my look of disappointment in them, which shut them right up.
“O. kayyyy,” Bernard said, “So my good friend Alistair did warn me that I might be presented with a grand entrance from you lot. It was actually quite tame; I was expecting a bit more after he told me what you guys were capable of when entering a room. But never mind, come on in and take a seat. Can I get anyone a drink?”
Sophie was the first to answer, “Oh yes please. What do you have?” “Well, what do you want?” Bernard asked.
“Champagne?” Sophie said without even a moment’s thought.
“Sophie! That’s a bit, forward isn’t it?” I whispered to her, slightly embarrassed but also slightly hoping for a glass myself as well.
“Coming right up.”
Within moments, I too was holding a glass of champagne in my hands. I could get used to this life of drinks just appearing in front of me. Bernard, Scott and James stuck to bottles of beer.
“Cheers to good friends!” Bernard announced.
“Cheers!” we all followed suit.
“Wow, good friends,” I whispered under my breath, “am I Bernard Jack’s friend now also?” My world is turning upside down for the better.
After we had finished our second glass of champagne, Bernard took us on a tour around the back stage, he introduced us to his backup singers, to the backstage crew, to his friends and girlfriend. He even got Sophie and I into the makeup chair and the makeup artist gave us a makeover.
“Ohhhh, we look fantastic!” I said to Sophie.
“Yeah, can hardly recognise ourselves.”
“Well, we can’t let all that makeup go to waste, how do you two feel about coming out on stage with me for a bit?” Bernard asked us. “Oh Bernard, I would love to, but I can’t really sing ay,” I replied.
“Not to sing Letticia. Sorry to burst your bubble, but people didn’t come here to hear you sing,” he said as he tried to control himself from laughing.
“Well in that case, we would love to, wouldn’t we?” I asked Sophie.
“Totally would! I’m in,” Sophie replied.
A crew member poked his head around the corner and yelled out,” Five minutes till show time!”
Bernard said us girls would wait on the side of the stage. The boys were not very keen to be seen up on stage with Bernard – wasn’t a very manly, Scottish thing to do apparently – so they decided to stay in the wings while we go on. Bernard said he would bring us on after the first two songs had finished, and that he will sing a surprise song to us while we stood on stage in front of five-thousand people.
Bernard went off to get ready to take the stage. One of his backstage crew told us to follow him to the side of the stage. As we walked back through the same long corridor, I heard an overwhelming roar from the crowd; Bernard must have just walked on stage.
“I wonder if we will get a roar like that,” I said to Sophie. She laughed and said, “Oh Letticia, you live in a great world up there,” pointing to my head.
“Well, sometimes it’s a better world to live in than this one, ya know. Today’s world can be so negative and dark. I like to create my own world full of happiness and Scott-ness.”
We got to enjoy the songs Battle on the Sea and Beauty of You while in the wings with Scott and James. After he finished, Bernard announced, “I would now like to welcome two new friends of mine, the best fudge makers in the world! Which is why they are standing up here in front of you lot this evening.”
A crew member followed us on stage with two stools for us to sit on while Bernard performed his next song, called Perfect Fudge, to us. “How ironic,” I said to Sophie, although she couldn’t hear me over all the roars and clapping. See I knew we would get some roars when we came up on stage. Although I wasn't certain they were for us at all.
Wow! Alistair must have told his good mate Bernard about the fudge contest. Gee, my prizes just keep coming. I must think up another challenge to win when I get back on set for work. ‘I could get used to this way of living,’ I thought. Focus Letticia! Enjoy the present, it’s not every day that you get Bernard singing Perfect Fudge to you and your cousin, on stage in front of five-thousand people. So, I sat there totally enjoying the present time, watching this talented and famous man playing the guitar and singing to us.
The song only lasted a few minutes and then we were directed off the stage to a roar of applause which was totally for us, well, Sophie would disagree but I like to think it was for us.
The concert continued for another hour or so, we had been moved to the front of the stage with the mortals to carry on watching Bernard perform.
It was a great night. We only got a quick goodbye with Bernard Jack afterwards, as he had promotional things to take care of.
“Thanks for everything, it was great to meet you,” we said.
“Likewise,” he said.
We left the concert with the other thousands of people, it was like a wave of people all heading in the same direction. Once the wave thinned out as we exited the stadium, we decided to go get a bite to eat and drink before heading back to the hotel. We found a neat burger place called Bread Meats Bread, down Vincent Street. When we saw the name we just had to go in. We ate our burgers and discussed the night.
“Yet again, another crazy, unexpected night was had by all, thanks to this lovely lady, Letticia Little,” Scott announced.
“Yes, just how do you get yourself in to these situations?” James asked.
“Well funnily enough James, you are not the first to ask me that question and I’m sure you won’t be the last.”
We left Bread Meats Bread with full and satisfied stomachs. We headed back to The Ivory Hotel and went up to our rooms. It was now almost midnight.
‘Time to call it a night,’ I thought.
It was a bit strange sharing a room with Scott. Even though we are totally comfortable around one another, sharing a room sort of made it feel official. I was still just riding the wave of ‘let’s see what happens.’ I don’t think I was ready for the ‘oh, so this is what happens’ part. I didn’t want to move to the next stage of our relationship just yet, I was quite happy where I was.
As I jumped in the shower first before bed, Scott decided he would quickly check his work emails. He yelled out to me through the bathroom door, “Just got an email from the HR Department, we are required
back on set in two days’ time!”
I didn’t have many work days left, the girls and I only had another month to go until we would be returning to Australia, or Down Under, which Scott likes to call it. I jumped out of the shower and said, “Your turn!” As I walked past Scott I threw him a clean towel, which he caught like a real towel-catching pro. He jumped in the shower and started singing Perfect Fudge. It wasn’t bad, not at all as good as Bernard, but he could hold a tune nonetheless.
Scott came out of the bathroom with just his towel wrapped around his waist. I had now got into bed, with the covers pulled up to my chest.
He said, “Your kilted man awaits.”
I laughed and said, “Maybe we should go to bed.” “To bed, or sleep?” he replied.
‘Oh, okay. We are playing this game, again are we?’ I thought, so I played along.
I replied, “Well either way you are not likely to sleep in your towel kilt, so I’ll help you out of it, but first you have to do a Scottish
Highland dance for me Scott, wearing your towel kilt.” “I will do no such thing,” he said jokingly.
“Oh yes you will,” I replied.
“What if I don’t?” “Then I shall chase you around the room and pull your towel off. You’ve done huge damage, not obeying my orders and not doing a Highland dance, and I’m going to punish you for it.”
“Okay, I will obey your orders, even though I totally do not agree with them,” Scott said.
“Good, now let’s get this over with and show me a Scottish Highland dance. You may sing too if you wish, you can sing really well,” I added.
“What? You like my singing Letticia?”
“Well let’s hope your dancing is better, but yes, you have a lovely voice,” I said.
And with that, Scott got out his phone, played a Scottish tune and started his Scottish jig. It was a sight that’s for sure. ‘He’s not much of a dancer after all,’ I thought. ‘Luckily he can sing and his looks and sense of humour outweigh his dancing ability.’
Just then, his so-called kilt slid down his well-toned legs and landed in a heap on the floor next to his feet.
“Ohhhhh! I didn’t realise that was part of a Scottish Highland jig Scott.”
“I was improvising,” Scott replied. He continued doing his jig, then said to me, “I said I would follow your orders Letticia.”
“I’m glad you understood Scott.”
Scott stopped for a minute and looked puzzled. “Letticia what just happened here?
“Oh Scott, this is 2018 not 1743, Women’s Rights have come a long way since then. Now get into bed and obey my next order.”
“Oh yes, and what will that be Master?”
“Sleep.” I ordered.
Even though I ordered sleep, Scott continued to disobey me.
“Do I need to take my belt off Scottie boy?” I asked.
“Oh, if you must Master,” he replied, and came in for a kiss. We kissed gently for a few minutes until I pulled away and said with a giggle, “This is not what I meant by sleep.”
He pulled away from my lips and said, “Aye, you won’t get any mercy here.”
“Scott, do you have a whole department of your brain dedicated to references to my favourite TV shows that you then just store away until the perfect moment presents itself for one to be used?”
“Oh shut up Letticia and kiss me.”
We came back together to finish off our kiss. It was happening, our relationship was moving to the next level. A level that would only end in heartbreak in a month’s time, when the girls and I leave ‘Scottlander’, I mean Scotland – leave Scotland. He knew I was going back to Australia but he never talked about it, as if he thought that if he didn’t talk about it, it wouldn’t happen. I was going to have to talk about it in the next few weeks I had decided, but for now, like I always do, I’ll just continue along the wave of happiness I had with Scott. I will deal with reality later.
We did eventually find sleep. How much sleep though, I was unsure of. We embraced each other most of the night as if we knew it was all going to end soon, as indeed it was. Neither of us wanted to waste time sleeping and miss these moments with each other that we may never get to experience again. We didn’t talk about it, we just held each other.
I awoke late in the morning to find Scott lying next to me watching me sleep. “Good morning my Sassenach,” he said. He was good. I so wanted to tell him that I think he is now the biggest Outlander fan in the world, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it just yet. He had a big enough head as it was.
We made it just in time for breakfast downstairs in the conservatory. We met Sophie and James at the same table we were at yesterday for lunch. They both looked like sleep was not found for long last night either, they were already onto their second cup of coffee.
“Ohhhhhhhhh coffee! Give me coffee,” I said quickly.
Scott pulled the chair out for me and said, “I shall go and fetch my master her morning coffee.”
“Master?” James said in a question like tone.
“Yes, he is my master as I am his.” I replied to James.
Sophie looked at James and said, “Crazy fans.”
“Okay, no need to say anymore.” This time with a ‘Gee, these two are crazy’ tone in his voice.
“Well, I thought you would have known that, being almost onto season three and all,” I stated.
“Almost finished season three, you mean.”
“Well in that case, I’m disappointed in you for not knowing what we are on about. If you are going to be part of this awesome foursome, you are going to need to keep up James.”
James looked at Sophie and said, “It’s too early for this, I need more coffee.”
As he got up to fetch more coffee, Scott returned and placed my coffee in front of me.
“Why thank you, Master,” I said.
James heard this as he stepped away from the table, and gave a little ‘wow’ shake of his head.
“I’m going to need an extra-large coffee I think,” he mumbled as he headed off in the direction of the coffee station.
After breakfast and a few too many coffees later, we were all starting to feel a tad more human like. We packed up our bags and handed our keys in to reception. The receptionist was a lovely young lady; it was a family owned business and the daughter was on reception that morning. She looked to be about twenty years old, with a pretty face, but she had big dark bags under her eyes. It looked like she had had a hard night out the night before.
I handed her my key and said, “Thank you for a very pleasant stay. If I’m ever back in Glasgow, or Scotland for that matter – at that moment Scott gave a little cough of discomfort – I will be sure to come stay again,” I told her.
“That’s very kind of you.” She then looked at me in a strange, vague way – as if she knew me but couldn’t put a name to my face. Then it hit her, “No way! It is you. The fudge champion!”
‘Really, how many people does Alistair know? And why does he keep telling people?’ I thought.
“Oh, you know Ewan too, I take it?” I asked her.
“Ewan? No. Who is Ewan?”
“I mean Alistair, oh forget it.” I said. Oh dear, I just cannot get his name right.
"No, I saw you on stage last night at the Bernard Jack concert. I was right up the front. My friends and I were so jealous. Oh, and you were up there too,” she said, looking at Sophie.
Sophie replied, “Sure was. Bernard and I are like this now,” crossing her fingers and teasing the poor girl.
“Wait till I tell my friends I met you two. This is amazing!”
Well, that was my five minutes of fame. I doubt I will ever get another moment like it in my life, so I will take it. I offered her my autograph before I left and she took it. Now I know what it must feel like to be Bernard every day. Oh, it’s hard work being famous, that’s for sure.
Once we were back in Scott’s Robin mobile and were about to head home to Edinburgh, I decided to call Mr
s. Wilson. As I dialled her number, Scott said, “Let me.”
‘Let you what?’ I thought. He put out his hand to grab my phone and put it to his ear. It rung a few times before Mrs. Wilson answered.
“Hello,” she said.
“Why hello there Mrs. Wilson, how’s it all going? How are the girls?”
“Aye, all is well here. Kids slept well. We just had breakfast and the girls are now getting dressed, we are off on another nature walk.”
“Grand,” said Scott. “Can we talk to them?”
“Aye, of course. I will just go fetch the two lasses.”
As she put the phone down to find Leah and Polly there was silence. I said to Scott, “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean? I want to talk to them; I’ve grown very fond of those two daughters of yours.”
He put the phone on speakerphone and we waited for a minute before we finally heard my girls say hello. I said, “Hi girls, you are on speakerphone with Mummy and Scott. And Sophie and James are here too.”
Sophie and James yelled out, “Hello munchkins!” from the back seat of the van.
“When are you coming home?” they asked.
“We are on our way now; we will see you soon,” I answered. Scott then said, “Should we all go out for a hot chocolate when we get home? We will take Mrs. Wilson with us too.” ‘She might need something a bit stronger than a hot chocolate,’ I thought. The girls yelled together, “Yes, yes, hot chocolates!” Polly said, “But we have to finish our Lego first though.” “We will see you soon then,” Scott said.
“Yes, Mummy will be home soon. Love you two,” I said. I put the phone away and looked at Scott with admiration. He looked at me and asked, “What?”
“You surprise me, that’s all,” I replied.
“Ye need not be scared of me or anyone, so long as I’m with ye,” Scott announced with a cheeky grin.
I laughed and said, “Oh dear. Great reference, but totally didn’t work in this situation.”
“Aye, you’re right. Must have been filed away wrong in my brain.” We both laughed, and turned around to see why it was so quiet in the back, to find Sophie and James fast asleep with Sophie’s head resting upon James’s shoulder. “Oh, the kids are asleep,” Scott said.
Scottlander Page 15