I noticed that it was after eight in the evening by the time we thought of dinner.
“Are you up for going out or do you want to stay home and rest?” he asked.
“Define ‘rest.’”
He smiled in response, looking purposely guilty.
“Rest then.” I smiled back. “I also could use a shower after the long flight.”
“Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll go grab take-away. There’s a place nearby with good curry. Any favorites?”
“I’m easy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind - later.” He kissed me.
“Nice.” I pushed him. “See you in a few.”
The shower felt wonderful as it washed away the grime from traveling, but it also was making me sleepy. I turned the water a little colder to wake me up because I didn’t want to waste the evening away sleeping. I also wanted to make sure I stayed up late enough to reset my internal clock to British time. If I didn’t, I would suffer from jet lag for days.
I climbed out of the shower and put on a short black silk nightgown. I got out the hair dryer that I bought in England on my last trip and started to dry my hair. I giggled under my breath when I recalled blowing a few old B&B fuses with my megawatt American hairdryer and converter at the beginning of my last trip.
My hair was almost dry when Will arrived carrying what looked like enough bags to feed both of us for the entire week. I walked out into the living room when I heard his return, and stared in mock shock at the amount of food as he placed the bags on the dining room table.
“This place is brilliant. I wanted you to be able to try a little of everything.” Then he looked at me and, instead of his usual smile, he looked serious. “You may want to stay away from the windows. There’s a photographer hanging around outside.”
“Really? Do you have a problem with that here too?”
Will walked into the kitchen to get plates, silverware and napkins. When he returned, he arranged the items on the dining table and answered, “I haven’t been here enough to know. Someone must have recently tipped them off to where I live. Our tabloid press is worse than yours. I’ve just been lucky so far because I haven’t spent a whole lot of time here since I became famous and, until recently, haven’t maintained a permanent residence here.”
He paused and became thoughtful. “When we go out tomorrow, we’ll have to go out the back.”
“What do we have planned? You still haven’t told me.”
He started to serve up some of the food and didn’t look up. “You’ll have to be surprised. I can say that I’m glad you’ll be with me for your birthday.”
“You remembered that, did you?
He looked up then. “Of course. I noticed you haven’t brought it up since I asked you when it was a few months ago.”
“Because I knew you would go overboard.”
“There is no such thing when it comes to you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not that I don’t appreciate all your efforts, but it makes me feel guilty when you do so much for me and I can’t reciprocate.”
“You do reciprocate.” He raised his eyebrows.
“No, I don’t and you know it. Even if and when I’m a successful lawyer, I still won’t be able to keep up with you.” I pouted as I spoke.
“Is that what this is about? Money? Who cares about that? Money is only as good as what you can do with it. I like spending it on you. What else am I going to spend it on?”
“How about on yourself?”
He frowned.
I soldiered on, “It’s not money really. It’s just that I feel unequal. I was raised to be strong and independent, and sometimes I don’t feel that way with you.”
“You are strong and independent. Look at you and what you’ve accomplished in your life. You think you feel unequal. Sometimes I feel unequal. I didn’t get where I am through intelligence, hard work and determination like you did. I just lucked into it.”
“Now you’re not being fair. You’ve worked hard. You’re smart. You’re ambitious. You’ve been successful because of those things. Everyone has to catch a break to be successful. It takes more than luck to remain successful and look at you! Seriously!”
“All right. All right. I’ll give up if you do. Let me celebrate your birthday my way, please? For me?”
“Yes, but could you try to tone it down at least a little?”
“A very little.”
I sighed. “Okay, I’m hungry now after all this arguing.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The next day, all Will would tell me was that we were going out for a fairly casual Sunday lunch. I almost responded that it was good that it was casual since my wardrobe consisted of almost nothing but casual, but I kept it to myself. I figured that “fairly casual” didn’t mean jeans, so I put on black pants, a long, sleeveless printed blouse and sandals. I grabbed a black sweater in case it got cooler outside.
The photographer didn’t appear to be outside anymore so Will went out the front to get his car, but met me out back just in case.
We drove out of town to the southwest, probably somewhere not far from Heathrow, I imagined. As we drove through the small town of Shepperton, Will still wouldn’t tell me where we were going other than to say we were going to lunch. It wasn’t until we arrived at a single-family two-story Tudor Revival home that I realized what he had done. I was then glad that I had made the effort to look a little nicer than Will’s words regarding casual dress would have suggested. I gulped. He was going to introduce me to his parents.
Now Will had met my parents, but that couldn’t be avoided as it had been my graduation after all. I hadn’t arranged it on purpose. Meeting parents had serious connotations which made me nervous. The butterflies in my stomach were making me lose my appetite.
Will knocked on the door briefly, opened the unlocked front door, and led me inside.
“Hello? We’re here.”
As he said this, a pretty, dark-haired and slender woman who looked like she was in her early 40’s appeared from the back of house. At the same time, a tall, broad-shouldered and very fit man with a full head of only slightly-graying dark hair of roughly the same age came down the stairs. I then remembered that they had two daughters both older than Will and I realized that they had to be much older than they appeared. All I could think was that my parents, although they looked good, would kill to have aged this well and they were probably much younger.
The woman took my hand and gave me a hug. “You must be Shannon. It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m Margaret.”
Will’s father shook my hand with both of his. “Iain.” He smiled warmly.
Margaret took my hand and led me to the sofa in the living room. I thought I heard Will’s father behind me tell Will that I was gorgeous. Blind, just like his son.
From the look of Will’s flat, I knew that his mother would have good taste, but I was surprised that the look of her house was so much different than that of Will’s place. Her home was full of dark woods and jewel tones rather than the light woods and modern look of Will’s flat.
Margaret sat me down and asked if I would like some tea or anything else to drink.
“Tea would be great, thank you.” I wanted something to hold in my hand. I was nervous.
“Do you take milk and sugar?”
“Milk, thank you.”
“The same for you, Will?”
“Yes. Thanks, Mum.”
Will sat down next to me and placed his right arm along the back of the sofa behind me. His father sat in a wing chair across the large oval coffee table from us. There wasn’t time for any conversation to start before Margaret returned, two china mugs of tea in her hand. She handed one to me and the other to Will, and sat down in the wing chair next to that of her husband.
“Will tells us you’re a barrister?”
“A barrister’s a trial attorney here, yes?” I looked at Will and he nodded. “I will be. I just took the California Bar Exam. I get my results i
n November and, if I pass, I get sworn-in in December. I can appear in court after that.”
“That’s exciting. Do you have to go to university long to do that?” She asked, studying me.
“You have to have a four-year Bachelor’s degree and then it’s another three years for a law degree on top of that.”
“You look so young to have done all that.” She said that as if what I had told her was unbelievable.
“I’m a little on the young side, I guess. Some people take a few years off between college, you would say university, and law school. I went straight through.”
“Shannon’s pretty ambitious,” Will added with pride. I felt like hitting him to stop him from embarrassing me. Wasn’t it bad enough that I had to be the topic of conversation?
His mother continued the inquiry. “Will says you start work when you return home?”
“Yes. Just after our Labor Day holiday in September. I’ll work for a small law firm in Downtown L.A. I worked for them part-time when I was in law school.”
“What will you do while you wait for your results?”
“I’ll be able to work like the other attorneys in many respects. I just can’t sign any court documents or appear in court until I’m sworn in.”
“Sounds like you’re set.” Will’s father spoke this time. “So what do you like to do for fun?” He was trying to lighten the tone of the conversation.
“Music, sports, swimming, skiing, traveling,” I responded, pausing between each answer while thinking. “I guess that’s it. I used to like to read a lot, but I stopped due to all the reading I had to do in law school. I hope to take up that hobby again now. And, of course, I’ll have to pay a lot more attention to movies.” I smiled at Will.
“Will told us you didn’t know he was an actor for a while after you met. Is that true?” Margaret asked.
“I really didn’t have a whole lot of time to do much while I was in law school and, then in college, I spent my free time socializing more, so I haven’t seen a lot of movies in years. It wouldn’t have occurred to me that someone who does what Will does for a living would hang out in the type of place I met him. Then, of course, he didn’t volunteer the information.” I grimaced at Will jokingly.
A bell sounded from the back of the house and Will’s mother stood. “Are you ready for lunch?”
“That would be great.” I picked up my mug of tea, still full. I had spoken so much that I didn’t have time to drink it.
Lunch was a much more formal affair that I had expected. It was more like dinner in the U.S. Margaret had prepared steak, potatoes, vegetables and salad, all displayed elegantly in her formal dining room.
At some point during the meal, Margaret must have begun to believe that I might possibly be good enough for her son. She then ceased the inquisition and acted as graciously as she had when she greeted me at the door.
Will’s father, on the other hand, appeared to like me from the outset. “Did I hear you say you liked sport?”
“Yes. American football and the USC Trojans in particular.”
“USC?”
“University of Southern California, my alma mater. I went there undergrad and for law school. Our team is called the Trojans. We have one of the best American football teams in the country every year.”
“I’ve seen a little American football on the telly here, but I haven’t figured out the rules yet. You’ll have to explain them to me sometime.”
“Anytime. I can’t wait to take Will to a game. It’s an all-day event. There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance and a crowd of 100,000 fans all wearing cardinal and gold filling the stadium. There’s nothing like it.”
“Sounds like it. Do you like our football?” Iain continued on the sports theme.
“Oh, soccer. Yes, I like it.” I tried to sound enthusiastic. “It’s popular to play in the United States, just not as popular to watch. I’ve seen a few World Cups though. It’s fun.” Of course, I didn’t want to mention that my friends and I watched the World Cup matches more to check out all the good-looking men on the field than for the games themselves. I had to stifle a giggle when I thought of that.
At that point, I tried to change the subject and move it off the topic of me. I looked at Will’s mother, “Will tells me you decorated his flat in London. You did a wonderful job. It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you. I enjoyed it. It was older and needed a little bit of work. I tried to make it light and airy like California. I had hoped that Will would come home a little more often now that he had his own home here.” She looked at him and frowned.
“I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“Yes, and I’m so glad. We don’t see you nearly enough.”
Lunch continued pleasantly and, when it was over and we were ready to leave, Margaret and Iain asked me to come back and visit them. I guessed that the lunch was a success. I had been accepted.
Once we got in the car and were on our way, I glared at Will. “You ambushed me. Why didn’t you just tell me where we were going? I could have prepared myself.”
“You were brilliant. They really liked you. Besides, I met your parents.”
“Yes, but it was my graduation. I had no choice.”
“You mean you wouldn’t have introduced me otherwise?” He sounded hurt.
“Yes, I would have, eventually, and I would have warned you in advance.”
“Fair enough. I had told them about you so they wanted to meet you. I wanted to show you off.” He smiled and added, “I could’ve ambushed you worse, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wait until you meet my sisters.”
“Is that on the schedule?” I asked with a little fear reflected in my voice.
“Not this trip. My oldest sister, Olivia, and her family don’t live close and my other sister, Emma, is on holiday in Spain until after you’re off traveling - so you’ve been spared.”
“What do you mean ‘spared’?”
“I’m the little brother and they are very protective of me. Their questions would have no doubt gone in a more personal direction.” His tone of voice made it obvious what he meant.
“Great,” I said with deep sarcasm, adding, “Something to look forward to. How about, when we get to that point, you allow me to divide and conquer? I don’t think I want to take them both on at once if that’s the way it’s going to be.”
“Good idea.” He chuckled and then changed the subject. “We have some time on our hands now for a while. Why don’t you call Pam and see if she and Jane are in town today? Maybe we could catch up with them.”
When I called, I found that Pam and Jane were, in fact, in town shopping. I agreed to call after we got back to Will’s place. Pam would let me know where to meet them at that time.
Upon returning to Will’s place, we saw from a distance that the photographer was again loitering outside Will’s flat. Consequently, we detoured such that Will parked a little farther away on a side street out of the view of the photographer.
As we walked from the car in the direction of the Tube, I called Pam again. She wanted us to meet them at Trader Vic’s at the Hilton. I laughed. What a very English thing to do: drink extra-strength rum drinks at a Polynesian-themed bar! Will told me that it would be time consuming to get to Trader Vic’s via the Tube and so we caught a cab there instead.
We arrived at Trader Vic’s at about four in the afternoon to find Pam and Jane with very large drinks in their hands. They both seemed a bit too happy and I imagined that they weren’t holding their very first drink of the day.
We exchanged hugs and cheek kisses, and joined them at their table. Will and I decided to order a Scorpion together. After I took a sip, I realized that these drinks were almost as lethal as the pink drinks served to girls at fraternity parties.
When Jane started to slur a little, it was clear that we were going to have to get something to eat into Pam and Jane pretty soon. Will excused himself to try to get us a table in the restaurant for an
early dinner. He returned successful and led us to a host who, in turn, led us to a table in the back corner of the restaurant. It would have been romantic had it been just Will and me.
Will and I held hands under the table throughout dinner. Jane, who wasn’t as used to Will as Pam had become, fawned over him. She asked him questions about the Midnight movies and what could be expected in the fourth installment soon to be filmed. Will was gracious and answered all of her questions. I could tell that Will had had a lot of practice at this. Only I knew that he would much rather have had a normal meal and not talked about his work. I squeezed his hand in thanks because it was clear that he had made Jane very happy.
By the end of the meal that was, not surprisingly, Will’s treat, it appeared that we had sobered up Pam and Jane enough for their train ride home. We all walked to the Hyde Park Corner Tube Station together and rode the tube one station to the Victoria Line at Green Park. We separated there and said our goodbyes as they were going south to Victoria to catch the Britrail Train and we were going north on the Victoria Line to catch up with the Northern Line to Hampstead. Although it had been somewhat crowded on the trains, we didn’t attract too much attention other than a few stares.
By the time we arrived at Hampstead, it was almost eight o’clock. It was still light outside as it didn’t get dark that time of year until almost nine in the evening, but it was near sunset. As we exited the Tube station, I noticed that we weren’t headed in the direction of home.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I wondered what other surprises Will had in store for me.
“I thought I would give you a more traditional English experience after Trader Vic’s.”
“Meaning?”
“A pub, of course. It’s Sunday night, a big night for that here.”
We held hands as we leisurely walked to a very old English-looking building tucked away on one of the side streets. There wasn’t a crowd outside, but we could hear the noise from within when we got close. As we approached the door, Will turned to kiss me and led me into the pub behind him.
Away From the Spotlight Page 19