Always With Love

by Giovanna Fletcher

  ‘I’m just looking forward to having a bit of Sophie May time away from cakes and pretty bunting,’ Billy nudges, pulling my thoughts away from my life in Rosefont Hill and all the people I’ve left behind for two whole weeks.

  ‘And I’m looking forward to having some Billy Buskin time away from all of your fans in the village,’ I laugh as we step through the doors and into the arrivals hall.

  We’re welcomed by the frantic sound of clicking and lights flashing manically as a dozen or so paparazzi surge forward and stick their cameras in our direction.

  ‘Brilliant timing,’ winks Billy, his eyes widening as he holds his elbow out for me to grab on to while he pushes our luggage trolley towards the rabble – going through them is our only way out.

  ‘Billy Buskin, what brings you here?’ one yells, his camera hiding his face.

  ‘Good to have you back!’ says another.

  ‘You here for filming, Billy?’ asks a woman, sticking a dictaphone in his face, clearly hoping for a quote. ‘Or is it just for the holidays?’

  Billy does nothing but stare ahead, ignoring their calls and questions.

  Meanwhile, I try my best not to look baffled and horrified by the whole thing. I’m not one for attention and would much rather blend into the background unnoticed, away from the judgement of others. Although I should have realized there’d be a hubbub waiting for us when we got here. It is, after all, Hollywood – the land of movies.

  Above the commotion we hear a shriek and see arms madly waving behind the heads of the photographers. It’s only as the paparazzi part (through fear of getting run over by the huge metal trolley Billy’s ploughing towards them) that they reveal Billy’s family excitedly waving at us. His mother Julie is gripping hold of her husband Clive’s arm, her eyes shiny with tears at just the sight of Billy standing metres away from her. Clive nods as his son approaches, his face joyously pinging into the same wonderful smile as Billy’s. In fact, looking at the siblings, that’s the one facial characteristic they all share – gigantic toothy grins from their big mouths. They’re rather infectious.

  Billy stops and just stares at them all, echoing their happiness with his own brilliant grin. He visibly relaxes, and his body literally softens from the comfort of being surrounded by family, even though the press are still just a few feet away from us all.

  ‘You’re here!’ sighs Julie breathlessly, her hand on her heart, her face full of pride and almost disbelief, as though she never thought the day would come when Billy would be back with them.

  The twins jump on Billy first. They’re identical and unified in their look, both appearing chic in their boho style of floaty clothes, which is complemented by wavy light brown hair cascading over their slim shoulders in perfect symmetry. I imagine they really enjoy getting ready together in the mornings.

  Julie and Clive step forward next, with Julie literally bashing the others away to clear the path to her oldest son. Not one thing about her screams ‘mum’. Instead, she’s elegant, graceful, pampered to perfection and long-limbed. She looks incredible for her age without a single wrinkle on her agelessly smooth, tanned skin and her blonde hair seems so soft in its tousled waves that I experience a sudden urge to touch it. Clive, on the other hand, still looks like a plumber from Surrey with his baggy jeans, light-blue buttoned t-shirt and trainers. A fact that makes me smile, even though I’m sure the whole lot is probably now designer clothing rather than stuff found on the high street. I like the fact that he’s still so clearly connected to his roots and is true to the man he was before he came here. It makes me instantly warm to him.

  When she’s finally in front of him, Julie grabs Billy by both cheeks and pulls her face into his.

  ‘God, I’ve flipping missed you,’ she whispers without even moving her jaw. She then gently pulls his cheeks forward and back in a way I can imagine she’s done since he was a young boy – it’s incredibly endearing to watch. The whole reunion is enough to bring tears to my eyes.

  Billy doesn’t share quite the same emotion as me; instead he pulls a face as though he’s embarrassed (something I know he’s doing for comic value) and backs away slightly, grimacing at his dad.

  ‘Get used to it,’ Clive laughs in response, patting him on the shoulder as he steps forward and gives Billy the manliest of man hugs. Although he too seems unable to stop himself from literally breathing Billy in.

  Billy’s younger sister Lauren is the first to acknowledge and greet me, not that the omission from the others worries me at all. It’s clear they’re far too caught up in having Billy back in their company to see the girl standing a few feet from his side. But not Lauren. She doesn’t head towards him like the others, instead she flings her arms around me as though we’re best friends, her sweet floral perfume tickling my nostrils. I’m usually one for boundaries and keeping my personal space (even my own mum rarely hugs me), but it seems this family are a tactile bunch and that there’s going to be a lot of touchy-feely behaviour over the coming weeks. Something I make a mental note to prepare myself for.

  Despite the invasion, I instantly like her. Lauren’s dark brown eyes twinkle in the same cheeky way Billy’s do, although her face is far more delicate and feminine than his. Her nose is thinner and more button-like, her cheeks are rosier and her lips are a wondrously shiny red. Besides the lipstick, she looks as though she’s ready to hit the beach at any moment. Not just because she’s in sandals but because her white bikini is peeking out beneath her pale denim hotpants and round her neck under her cropped pink vest top. Her dark hair is pulled back into a messy top bun, on top of which sits a pair of black Ray Ban sunglasses. She looks cool, relaxed, approachable and kind.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re here,’ Lauren sings, hopping from one leg to the other while her arm is still draped around my neck.

  ‘Is this the first time you’ve met her?’ calls out one of the photographers, having overheard and decided we’ve had long enough to enjoy greeting each other without being interrupted – they’ve got a job to do, after all.

  ‘Get together and face us. Give us a happy family shot,’ another barks in a less than polite manner, as if it’s something we’re required to do. We’re not, although his outburst draws my eye to their attention and the drone coming from the cameras as their shutters close and open at quick speed – a sound that has been so continuous since our arrival that I hadn’t even picked up on it.

  ‘No chance,’ Lauren says flatly, raising an eyebrow at him before taking me by the hand and pulling me towards the rest of the family so that my back is turned to the photographers and the gathered crowd.

  I love her for sensing my discomfort and being a physical shield.

  ‘Sophie,’ Julie sighs with a smile as she spots me, her head flopping to one side as she says it. She reaches out an arm and drapes it around me. I’m surprised at the softness of the embrace despite her thin frame. ‘Thanks for bringing him back.’

  ‘I think Billy could’ve booked a flight if he really wanted to see us, Mum,’ grins one of the twins who I’m guessing is Hayley simply because her face is ever so slightly fuller than Jenny’s – a sneaky tip Billy gave me in telling them apart.

  ‘I feel like we know each other already,’ Julie continues, ignoring her daughter who’s grinning behind her. She grips hold of my shoulder and gives it a squeeze, her skin remaining flawless as she smiles at me.

  ‘Where’s Jay?’ Billy asks, looking around past the group and further into the arrivals hall.

  ‘Oh, you noticed,’ says Julie, her lips pursing in disdain, clearly hoping Billy wouldn’t ask after his youngest sibling who he seemed so excited about seeing.

  ‘Of course. Where is he?’ he asks, frowning at her.

  ‘Still in New York,’ offers Hayley (the ever-so-slightly chubbier twin), bored of waiting for their mum to spit out his whereabouts.

  ‘What?’ asks Billy, his face dropping. ‘Why? Didn’t he know I was coming?’

  I watch as Billy looks more hurt
with each question he asks.

  ‘He did, but … things are hectic for him there,’ Julie reasons, looking at Clive to see if he’ll help her explain. He looks down at his trainers as though he’s not even a part of the conversation.

  ‘So he’s not going to be in LA at all while I’m here?’

  ‘No, he’s not,’ Julie sighs, before looking back at Billy with (what is clearly) a forced smile, ‘You know what it’s like – final year of uni while juggling a job. He really wishes he could be here though. Phoned us on the way.’

  ‘Right,’ Billy nods, managing to smile back. ‘Understandable.’

  He might be a world-class actor, but I see the sadness in his eyes at the absence of his little brother and it pains me greatly. I’ve never heard Billy say anything but sweet things about Jay, so I’m not surprised he’s disappointed when he’s spent the last few days thinking they were going to be reunited. It’s got to sting a bit to know he hasn’t made the effort to see him – not that I know anything about his situation.

  ‘Shall we get out of here before it gets crazy?’ Lauren asks, breaking the awkward tension that’s descended upon us.

  I look around and spot two more paparazzi join the crowd with their cameras poised in our direction.

  ‘Yes please!’ groans Billy, already pushing the trolley towards the exit.

  ‘I’ll get that,’ his dad says, taking over and ignoring Billy’s protests. ‘James is out front waiting.’

  ‘But I drove us kids,’ says Jenny, waving around her keys.

  ‘New car?’ asks Billy.

  ‘A G-wagon. It’s totally awesome,’ she grins.

  ‘I bet.’

  ‘You’re coming in with James,’ Julie says hastily, nodding towards the exit door while giving Billy a warning look. ‘You’re not getting away from me that quickly, young man.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ he shrugs, raising his eyebrows at me. ‘See you guys at home, though. Yeah?’ he calls after his siblings.

  ‘Yep,’ answers Hayley with a grin, before following her twin who’s already started floating off through the terminal building towards her brand spanking new car.

  ‘I’m coming with you,’ smiles Lauren, jumping ship from the kids’ car to the one with her parents and us. It’s only when she tugs on my arm excitedly that I realize she’s been holding my hand the entire time.

  ‘Who’s James?’ I whisper to her, not wanting to offend anyone in case I’ve forgotten the name of an uncle, granddad or distant relative that’s residing with them over here. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a relation called James, but it’s best to be sure rather than get myself in an awkward situation.

  ‘The driver,’ she says simply.

  ‘Oh yes,’ I nod, still finding the fact that they have staff hilarious. ‘So weird.’

  ‘Everyone has a driver,’ says Lauren flatly, her eyebrows knotted, looking confused as to why I might find it an alien concept. Surely she’s not forgotten simpler times in England when they didn’t have such a luxury. ‘Besides, everything’s so far apart in LA. You’re pretty screwed without a car.’

  ‘I see. Well, I don’t drive either,’ I admit.

  It’s just something I never got round to doing. I did think about taking lessons in my early twenties, but then reasoned I could manage without it seeing as I’d coped that long without being able to, anyway.

  ‘No, I have a licence,’ Lauren says, looking shocked that I never got mine. ‘And I have a car.’

  ‘Oh?’ I ask, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

  ‘Yeah, I don’t always use James,’ she reasons.

  ‘I see …’

  ‘We have to share him between the lot of us, you know.’

  ‘You’re almost deprived,’ I tease.

  ‘Tell me about it,’ she grins, pulling my arm so that our shoulders bash together.

  Stepping outside the airport I’m hit by a waft of heat as the sunshine bears down on me. The intense warmth is a shock to my body – hardly surprising as it’s been in freezing cold England and then on an air-conditioned flight for the last eleven or so hours. But the new warmth instantly soothes my body with a tingling sensation, the vitamin D quickly dispersing along my bare skin and working its magic.

  ‘James,’ Billy calls, ignoring the gaggle of photographers who have decided to follow us to the car.

  A tall, burly man, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, nods in Billy’s direction and opens the door of a huge blacked-out SUV for us all to climb into.

  ‘Sophie, James. James, Sophie,’ Billy gestures between the two of us, shaking James’s hand before hopping into the car.

  ‘Ma’am,’ he growls kindly, nodding his head.

  ‘Hi,’ I say, relieved to meet the first person here who isn’t going to require a physical greeting to accompany the verbal one we’ve exchanged.

  ‘Sir, allow me,’ James offers, leaving us in the car to help Clive with our luggage. I feel guilty leaving them to it – especially when all I keep thinking about is how hot James must be in his suit in the sunshine. Although having said that, I spend my days fully clothed in front of a piping hot oven while I bake cakes. Working in unbearable heat and keeping a smile on your face is something I know all about.

  ‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ sings Julie from behind us once we’re all in the car and it’s silently started rolling off, away from LAX airport and the prying paps. Unsurprisingly, a few of them hop on to waiting motorbikes and ride alongside us, but as the glass is totally blacked out it’s pretty pointless of them. They’re probably hoping we’re heading somewhere other than Billy’s house, which I know is thankfully set back behind gates. Having said that, from what I know of these vultures they’ll probably camp outside for the duration of our stay and see what they can sneakily grab through the bushes or as we’re coming and going. I don’t know how Billy stands it, but he always does so without much of a grumble, and thankfully we’ve managed to stay fairly secluded back at home and don’t feel too watched all the time.

  ‘You OK?’ I whisper, running my fingers up his bare forearm, gutted that Jay’s absence has put a dampener on our arrival.

  He nods and grips my hand before taking it to his lips and kissing the back of it. ‘You?’

  ‘Knackered,’ I say, smiling at the gesture.

  ‘All that reading,’ he grins, looking up at me.

  ‘You have to tell me some good books to read!’ Lauren says enthusiastically, leaning into my side and gently nudging me. ‘I’ve been working my way through the Pretty Little Liars set but I’m almost at the end of it.’

  I love her a little more in that second. Seeing as Billy isn’t a reader (he once made himself sit and read all of my favourite classics but has since returned to his former status as a non-reader), I’ve never really had someone my own age to talk books with.

  ‘Sophie reads proper books, Lozza,’ says Billy, rolling his eyes.

  ‘I read proper books too!’ she retorts.

  ‘They’re a bunch of crap.’

  ‘I bet they’re not,’ I say, not sure what really qualifies as a ‘proper’ book – reading is reading after all.

  ‘They’re not,’ she says, her eyes widening. ‘And what would you know? You’ve not read them.’

  ‘They’re based on an MTV show,’ he shrugs.

  ‘No they’re not!’ squeals Lauren. ‘The books were written first and then made into a series by ABC. But even then, it’s only loosely based on them, anyway. Get it right.’

  ‘OK you two, cut it out,’ sighs Julie.

  ‘Tell her,’ he moans.

  ‘Tell him,’ she whines.

  ‘Listen to you both,’ I find myself cutting in. ‘We’ve only been here for half an hour and already you’ve regressed into the stereotypical annoying older brother role.’

  Billy’s mouth drops in surprise at my words.

  ‘You don’t have any brothers or sisters, do you?’ asks Lauren, instantly calming down, as though a switch has been flicked, a
nd looking amused at my observation.

  ‘No.’

  ‘This is standard behaviour,’ she shrugs. ‘He winds me up and then I retaliate. Wait until the twins get involved later. There’s never a dull moment with us kids around.’

  ‘A constant battle of who can wind the other one up the most,’ nods Billy in agreement, the two forgetting their spat as they explain their interesting family dynamic while cheekily grinning at each other.

  ‘You must love each other really,’ I say, looking at the pair of them as though they’re slightly bonkers and wondering why they can’t just be nice.

  ‘Of course they do. Be lost without one another,’ says Julie for them, calling over from the seat behind us.

  ‘Oh totally,’ nods Billy, looking across me to Lauren and pulling a silly face. ‘She’s just so annoying.’

  ‘Ditto,’ she replies, rolling her eyes before leaning back and looking out the window. ‘God, it’s good to have you back!’ she mutters.

  I lean my head on Billy’s shoulder and squeeze my arm around his, drawing it into my body, so thrilled to be here with him in the comfort of his family who clearly love him as much as I do – even if they have an interesting way of showing it.

  3

  We seem to be driving for ages. Not that I mind, as it’s lovely to look out and get a grasp on Los Angeles and where Billy’s family lives. It’s huge, just like the car we’re sitting in, and seems to just carry on for miles without any clear definition of which neighbourhood we’re in. It all seamlessly merges, although some areas are clearly nicer than others. As I’d hoped, there are palm trees everywhere – even on the side of the motorway (sorry, freeway). LA appears to be mostly flat, although peeping up from the horizon in almost every direction are huge mountains.

  ‘The Hollywood sign!’ I gasp when I catch a glimpse of the iconic landmark sitting up high in the Hollywood hills.

  ‘Yep,’ says Billy, grinning at me and pulling me in for a kiss.

  ‘Bizarre to think of that as your normal,’ I say out loud to the rest of the car once he’s released me. It might be old-fashioned, but I can’t help but feel weird about having a PDA in front of Billy’s parents. I know we’re both adults and free to do as we please, but as this is the first time he has taken me home to meet his parents, I feel a rigidness overcome me and my cheeks flush, making me squirm like an awkward teenager. Hugs are fine, but kissing? Eek!