From Notting Hill with Love Actually

by Ali McNamara

  Betty opened the door, and we walked into a small hallway. “Bill’s right through here,” she said, leading us into the front room.

  Bill sat in an armchair by the fire with a rug over his legs. He was doing a book of crossword puzzles.

  “Bill, these people are here to ask you about—”

  “I know what they’re here for, woman. I’d have to be deaf to not hear you prattling on, wouldn’t I?”

  I smiled at Bill. “I’m sorry to bother you when you’re not well,” I said, approaching him, and for some reason I felt I needed to kneel down beside his armchair. I’d been trying so hard to stop comparing people to movie stars since the Sean incident, but I just couldn’t help it with Bill, because there was just no mistaking it. He was so obviously a dead ringer for the late James Stewart, only a bit heavier around the middle—probably much to do with Betty’s home cooking, I suspected. “Only I’m looking for my mother, and we think she used to work at Fenwick’s between ten and twelve years ago. I can’t be more specific than that, I’m afraid. But I do have a very old photo of her.” I reached into my bag, but Bill stopped me by placing his hand over mine.

  “No need,” he said. “It’s Rosie you’re looking for, am I right?”

  “Yes, yes we are. How did you know?”

  “Because she’s sitting in front of me right now.” He smiled. “Well, someone who looks very much like her is anyway. You, my dear, are the spit of your mother. The hair, no, but your eyes and your coloring—they’re an exact match.”

  “So you knew her well?” I couldn’t believe it! Someone sitting here in the same room as me that had actually known my mother.

  “Everyone knew Rosie. She was the life of that place while she was there—always up for a good time, she was.”

  I smiled as I tried to imagine. “When did she leave, Bill?”

  “Oh let me see, nine, maybe ten years ago now. It’s difficult to say, time goes by so fast these days.” Bill looked wistfully into the distance as he considered this thought. Then he smiled down at me before continuing with his story. “She got a job offer out in America, from one of them designers whose frocks we used to sell. Rosie was always wanting more for herself. I didn’t get the feeling she was one to settle for long. So she took him up on his offer, and was gone within a week. It was all very sudden.”

  “Do you happen to know which part of America?” Sean asked, while I was still thinking about my mother.

  Bill looked up at Sean. “New York, I seem to recall. Yes, it was definitely New York, because we joked about her finding herself in the middle of a movie set one day. Rosie loved the movies.”

  “And the designer?” I asked, coming back to the real world again. “Do you remember the designer’s name?”

  “Oh now, you’re talking, dear. I don’t think I do.”

  “Please…please try and think.”

  “Hmm, now let me see.” Bill’s brow furrowed. “It was definitely a man’s name. Because I remember the person that came and offered her the job didn’t look like his name at all.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell Bill that it would definitely have been an assistant to the designer that offered my mother a job, not the designer himself. But we’d narrowed it down to a male name, so that was something.

  “You’re sure it was a man’s name?” I asked, trying to think of some male fashion designers. “It wasn’t a one-word name like…Chanel, or…or Gucci, for instance?”

  “No, it was definitely a man’s name.”

  I looked at Sean for help.

  “Er…” he struggled. “Jean Paul Gaultier?”

  Bill shook his head.

  “You’ll get nowhere with this,” Betty said. “He has enough trouble remembering our grandchildren’s names, let alone a fashion designer’s.”

  “I’ll have you know, woman,” Bill defended himself, “my brain is as sharp today as it was…” But his voice faded rapidly, as a nasty coughing fit took over.

  Betty rushed to his side to comfort him as he tried to regain his breath.

  “Perhaps we’d better go,” I said, worrying we’d pushed Bill too far with all our questions.

  Bill held up his hand. “Just…wait…a moment…will you?”

  Betty rubbed Bill on the back. “He gets like this occasionally,” she said. “Takes him a few minutes to recover.”

  Sean and I stood awkwardly in the room waiting, as Bill’s breathing slowly returned to normal.

  “I’m sorry about that,” he said at last. “This damn flu’s taken me real bad, it has. And I’m sorry I can’t remember this fella’s name that your mother went to work for either, but it was definitely her, I’m certain of it. You really are the spit of her, dear. Be in no doubt of that.”

  I smiled at him. “Thank you anyway, Bill—and you, Betty, you’ve been a great help, really you have.”

  “Any time, dear,” Betty said. “You’ll let us know if you find her, won’t you? I’ll be wondering about it now—how you’ve got on and all.”

  “Of course I will,” I said, smiling at them both. “Now we should really go. No, please, don’t get up, Betty—really, we’ll see ourselves out. Thank you both again.”

  We left Bill and Betty sitting together in their front room, Bill still in his armchair and Betty perched on the arm, lovingly tucking his blanket back around him.

  “Well, that’s that then,” I said as we let ourselves out into the cold afternoon air. I pulled my coat tightly around me as we began to walk back to the tube station.

  “What do you mean?” Sean asked in astonishment, pausing from tapping the buttons on his BlackBerry. “I’m just working out when we’ll be able to get a flight to New York.”

  I stopped abruptly and stared at him. “I can’t just drop everything and fly to New York!”

  “Why not?” Sean asked, turning back to me.

  “Because…I can’t afford it, for one thing.”

  “I’ll pay.”

  “No, I can’t let you do that. It wouldn’t be right.”

  Sean raised his eyebrows. “Don’t be silly, Scarlett—I want to help.”

  “Why?” I demanded.

  “Why do I want to help you?”

  “Yeah, what’s in all this for you?”

  I knew I was being overly cynical and incredibly ungrateful. But Sean’s constant generosity of spirit and of wallet bothered me. Or had I just spent far too long living with David’s double-knotted purse strings?

  Sean shrugged, tucking his phone away in the back pocket of his jeans. “Why does there have to be something in it for me? Can’t I just help out a friend?”

  I folded my arms and looked quizzically at him. “So we’re friends now, are we? When did that happen?”

  Sean grinned. “Maybe we did find each other a tad irritating at first—neither of us can deny that.” He paused, and his expression changed. “But now…”

  “Now?” I repeated. I half expected one of Sean’s wisecracks but instead he just looked at me. He wasn’t grinning anymore.

  “Now, Scarlett, I—”

  My mobile phone rang now. “Sorry,” I said, hurriedly reaching into my bag. I looked at the name flashing on the screen. “I’d better take this. I’ll just be a minute, I promise.”

  As I flipped open my phone cover, Sean closed his eyes and sighed.

  “Maddie, hi.”

  While I spoke briefly to Maddie about how everything was going in London (well, it was a brief phone call for us—only five minutes long), I watched Sean. He had wandered a little way away from me while I spoke—well, Maddie spoke mainly—and now seemed deep in thought.

  “Sorry about that,” I said when I finally got Maddie off the phone. “That was my best friend. Anyway, before—you were saying?”

  “It wasn’t important,” Sean said, smiling at me. “I was just going to say that your idiosyncrasies—shall we call them—don’t annoy me quite as much now as when I first met you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, pulling a wry
face. “I’ll take that as a compliment—I think.” But I desperately wanted to know what he was really going to say before Maddie phoned. I’d never seen Sean look at me quite like that before—and I think I liked it.

  “Now, about New York—” Sean began.

  “I’ve told you—I can’t just drop everything and fly over to the States.”

  “And I’ve told you, I’ll pay.”

  “I know and that’s incredibly generous of you, Sean, but it’s not just that. That phone call is one of the reasons—actually, Maddie is. She’s getting married on Saturday, and tomorrow night is her hen night.”

  “Oh, I see. Wait, isn’t Maddie your friend from Stratford who got you the house-sitting gig?”

  I nodded. “Yes, she’s the one.”

  “But I thought the idea was to get away from all your family and friends for a month?”

  “It is, but the wedding is different. It’s been planned for ages. I can’t miss it. Anyway, I’m chief bridesmaid.”

  “Oh right,” Sean said, trying to take all this in. “So this Maddie is having her hen party the night before the wedding?” he asked, looking surprised. “She’s asking for trouble, isn’t she?”

  “Ah, you see there’s a bit more to it than that.” When wasn’t there with Maddie? “They’re getting married at Disneyland Paris. Both the hen and stag nights are being held on Friday night, and then the wedding is in Sleeping Beauty’s castle the next day.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sean said, holding his hands up in front of him in a “time out” gesture. “Just hold on one moment. They’re getting married in Disneyland? And I thought my family’s Star Wars wedding was bad enough! I didn’t even know you could get married there.”

  “You can’t normally. But they both worked there a number of years ago; they met during one of the parades, when Felix was playing Aladdin, and Maddie, Princess Jasmine. They were on top of the magic carpet together and they’ve been inseparable ever since. The funny thing is, Maddie would never have got the job if her father hadn’t performed surgery on one of the major Disney shareholders—apparently he saved his life on the operating table—and he’s felt indebted to Maddie’s dad ever since. The job, and now the wedding, is his way of repaying him.”

  Sean stood open-mouthed. Then he shook his head. “Just when I think you can’t tell me anything else that will surprise me, Scarlett, you manage to. That story is madness.”

  “I know—but it’s true. Anyway, we’re all meeting in Paris tomorrow night for a joint stag and hen do—well, I think the first part is joint. From what I know they’re opening up all the rides for us when the park closes to the public—it closes earlier in the winter, apparently—and then later on we’re splitting up into two parties at two different venues.”

  “It all sounds excellent fun. It’s certainly unusual.”

  “It always is with Maddie—she’s like that.” I paused as a thought began to form in my head. Then, without thinking it through, I allowed the thought to spill right out into speech. “Hey, why don’t you come?” I blurted out. “I’m sure one more won’t make a difference. I can clear it with Maddie first if you like, but she’s usually pretty laid back about these things.”

  Sean looked thrilled at my suggestion. “I’d love to—it will make up for me dragging you to my family wedding. Wait, we don’t have to dress as Disney characters, do we?”

  “No, thank God. It’s just the usual wedding attire. Although being chief bridesmaid I do have a pretty amazing dress to wear.”

  “I’m sure you’d look amazing whatever you wore.” Sean smiled at me. “I’d love to be your escort for the day.”

  My stomach began the usual gymnastics routine it always started when Sean smiled at me now. But instead of completing the parallel bars with a perfect score like it usually did, it flopped and fell like a lead balloon when he mentioned the word “escort.”

  “Oh,” I said flatly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I forgot one thing—David.”

  Sean’s face fell, almost as far as my stomach. “Ah…yes, that could be tricky. I guess he’s probably expecting to be your escort to the wedding—and rightly so, of course. No worries, Scarlett, I’ll just see you after the weekend. It will give me time to sort those flights out, get some paperwork done, that kind of thing.”

  I could have kicked myself. How could I forget about David?

  The annoying thing was I just knew Sean would enjoy Disneyland so much more than David. David would moan about the rides setting off his motion sickness and the weather being too cold and how expensive everything was. And if he came straight from work on Friday night like he was planning to, he’d probably turn up to ride the rollercoasters in a suit and tie.

  “Come anyway,” I said on impulse. “I don’t think David is coming until Saturday anyway—scary rides aren’t really his thing—and…I believe he has an important meeting Friday and can’t get away in time to get a flight.”

  “You’re sure?” Sean asked, his elated expression returning. “I mean I wouldn’t be imposing?”

  “No—of course not.” I put my arm companionably through his. “It would be great to have you there, Sean.”

  And for the first time, I genuinely meant it.

  Sixteen

  Luckily for me, as it turned out, David really couldn’t make it to Paris until Saturday, and oddly enough for the exact same reason as I’d told Sean.

  “I’m so sorry,” David said when I spoke to him on the phone later that day. “This is a really important meeting. Are you sure you’ll be all right on your own?”

  “I won’t be on my own,” I said, thanking my lucky stars I didn’t have to use any of the weird and wonderful excuses I’d come up with to prevent him arriving for the partying on Friday night. “I know loads of the people who’ll be in Paris.”

  “Yes, I know that. But I meant I haven’t seen you for over two weeks, and I’m looking forward to us spending some time together again and hearing all about what you’ve been getting up to while you’ve been away.”

  “It’s fine, David, really. I’m sure I’ll be able to find some way of keeping myself amused until you get there.”

  We all gathered at the end of Main Street USA, waiting for the kickoff. We’d been arriving at Disneyland Paris in dribs and drabs all day. Some guests like Sean and me had flown in, but the majority of revelers had arrived by Eurostar about two hours ago. Now, after most of us had already spent the last hour in the bar of the Disneyland hotel, we were getting instructions on where we could go and what we were allowed to do for the next two hours.

  “…and at 9 p.m. we will meet back here. Then we can separate into hens and stags and all go off to our own individual parties,” Maddie finished reading from her sheet of paper. “And can I remind everyone that tonight’s festivities are a huge favor to Felix and myself. So please enjoy yourselves, but don’t do anything silly or reckless, will you? If you must tie Felix up and strip him down to his undies—at least wait until you’re out of Mickey and Minnie’s sight!”

  There were a few polite chuckles from the assembled guests.

  “So, what are we all waiting for?” Maddie announced, holding up her arms in dramatic fashion. “Let’s go party!”

  Everyone quickly dispersed into the park, eagerly heading toward the ride they wanted to attempt first.

  “So, what do you fancy?” Sean asked me. “Space Mountain, the Indiana Jones ride?”

  “Erm…” I wasn’t really that keen on rollercoasters. Being spun through 360 degrees while traveling at breakneck speed until you felt sick wasn’t my idea of fun. “I don’t know. Shall we see what we come to first?”

  “Righty-ho then,” Sean said, in his usual relaxed way.

  We wandered into Frontierland. This area, full of timber buildings and Indian tepees, was designed to look like the Wild West.

  “Oh, this is the bit that has Big Thunder Mountain,” Sean cried enthusiastically. “Come on!”

 
I had to smile. While we wandered around looking for the Big Thunder Mountain railroad, Sean was just like a big kid—his eyes darting excitedly to and fro, taking in everything and everyone. When we eventually found the ride, Sean almost ran through the turnstiles.

  I hung back.

  “Come on, Red,” he called, turning around when he found I wasn’t beside him. “What’s up? You’re not scared, are you?”

  “No!”

  “Well, come on then.”

  I cautiously followed him through the entrance. We walked past a sign that stated a one-hour waiting time from this point; a bit further on there was a 45-minute one, and then a 30-minute one followed.

  Do people seriously queue this long for this sort of torture? I wondered, as I followed Sean along the path.

  “Isn’t it great we don’t have to queue for any of these rides?” Sean said happily when I caught him up. “We can ride them as many times as we like!”

  I’m pretty sure once will be enough for me, I thought as I watched the last train rattle and roll its way around the mountain like a high-speed wooden corkscrew.

  At last we found our way to the top, where we stood and waited with a couple of Felix’s friends for the “runaway” train to arrive.

  “I’m sensing you’re not too keen on this kind of thing,” Sean said as we stood in silence.

  “It’s not my favorite way of spending a Friday night, no.”

  “You’ll be fine. This isn’t one of those really scary roller-coasters anyway—it’s just a baby one.”

  When the train drew up and we were seated, huge metal harnesses descended into our laps—presumably in case we should come to our senses and want to get off again. This always worried me about these types of ride: if they had to strap you in, it meant you were going to travel fast enough to fall out.

  But I didn’t have time to worry about that. The train suddenly whizzed off up the track toward a tunnel. The next four minutes were sheer hell, as we hurtled up, down, and around a rickety mountain railroad track. The only thing that made it half bearable was Sean’s hand reaching out and holding mine when we had just got to the peak of a long mountain climb and were about to plunge to our doom down the other side.