St. Valentine's Day: Part 2

It was half past midnight when the phone rang and jolted Lisa awake. "Mmm?" she moaned sleepily.

She looked over at Michael who was fast asleep and giggled. How cute he looked when he slept. She reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello," she said in nearly a whisper.

"Lisa?" A familiar voice asked timidly.

It was Eric again.

Lisa's eyes narrowed. "Eric??" she said softly, trying as hard as possible not to wake up Michael.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Er...well, um..no." She lied.

"Oh, good," Eric answered with pure gratefulness in his voice. "Listen, I wanted to ask you something important."

"Well...I just spoke to you earlier this evening, didn't I?" she asked suspiciously.

"Er...well, yeah, but I couldn't ask you then, for obvious reasons, you know?"

Lisa furrowed her brow in confusion. What on earth was he talking about? It seemed to be something that he couldn't say in front of Michael, but that would be silly. Why would he be trying to keep something from Michael?

A realization came to Lisa, and a pit began to form in her stomach. "Alright, what would you like to ask me?" she croaked.

"Are you busy on Valentine's Day? I was thinking maybe we could have dinner together."

Lisa felt like her heart had just stopped. Suddenly, at that point all the memories came flooding back to her. She remembered when she first met Eric. She was reuniting with Michael after 5 long years while they were filming Holy Grail up in Scotland. While she and Michael were at the discotheque, Eric had stumbled upon them. She thought he was acting a bit foolish, but later on she learned that he had followed them in his car, and had nuzzled up to Lisa down by the shore as Michael was back at the car. A fight had broken out of course, and Eric had dragged Lisa back to the hotel with him. Although she was devastated for what they had done to Michael, at the same time she found Eric to be a very funny and charming man. He knew how to make her laugh and he acted like he really cared for her.

But she had confessed to him that night that her heart belonged to Michael. He seemed a bit sad, but she reassured him that they could remain friends no matter what was about to happen. He eventually accepted this, and though he seemed a bit forlorn at Lisa and Michael's wedding, he was in a generally upbeat mood.

Lisa turned back and looked over at Michael. She had thought about accepting Eric's offer, but seeing the love of her life sleeping peacefully by her side reminded her who her heart really belonged to. To her, Michael was quite possibly the most perfect man on earth, and she wasn't about to cheat on him.

"Lisa?"

She turned back to the phone. "I....I can't, Eric."

"Oh." Eric replied sadly after a bit of a pause.

The way he replied wrenched her heart. "Tell you what," she added. "I'll think about it."

"Well..alright. I appreciate that," Eric answered a bit more upbeat.

With that Lisa hung up the phone and laid back down. She looked over at Michael who was sleeping with a cute little smile on his face. She giggled, and snuggled up to him.

'I'm sorry Eric, but the answer is no,' she thought to herself.

******************************************************

Michael raced out to his car. He was about to meet Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric for lunch. Sadly they had not been getting together too often since Flying Circus ended and since they had finished making Holy Grail. Michael and Jonesy had started work on the Grail soundtrack though, but aside from that they didn't spend too much time socializing.

Michael looked at his watch. It was five minutes to 2. He knew that Lisa had an early shift today at the library and he wanted to be home for her. He sighed deeply as he parked his car in the car park behind the restaurant and made his way inside.

He made his way down the aisle of the restaurant when the sight of familiar faces sitting at a booth near the back caught his eye.

"Ah, there he is," Jonesy exclaimed. Gilliam giggled good-naturedly and Eric smiled.

"Hey guys," Michael answered softly as he slid down into the booth and sat next to Jonesy.

"Well, what took you so long, Mike? Our lunch has gotten cold waiting for you!" Gilliam grinned.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Oh you silly git, you didn't order anything," he grinned, shaking his head.

"Anyway, sorry if I'm a bit late. It's my life's ambition to be punctual," Michael winked. "But I simply couldn't help it this time."

"Why not?" Jonesy asked curiously, turning to Mike.

"Well, for one thing, with St. Valentine's day being tomorrow, I was looking to buy something for my wife."

Eric's ears perked up. "Lisa?" he asked, as the others turned to look at him curiously.

Michael shook his head and grinned. "No, Eric, my other wife." he said facetiously.

Jonesy turned to Michael and furrowed his brow. "What other wife?"

Michael stared at him, not believing for a second that Jonesy was serious. He decided to play along with it. "Oh, that's right, I've never told any of you blokes about her. Her name is Esmeralda, a rather short, pudgy girl from Sardinia. She's got a big arse and she keeps her hair brylcreemed down all the time, but she makes a rather good black pudding. And every night before I go to sleep she sings the Accountancy Shanty to me, before she locks herself up in the hall closet."

The three stared at Michael with wide eyes.

He looked back at them and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, for godsakes!! Can't you all see that I'm joking??" he said disbelievably as a smirk spread across his face.

After a beat, Jonesy, Gilliam and Eric realized that Mike was joking. "Oh, yeah!" they each said out of turn, before dissolving into giggles.

Jonesy patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry about that Mike. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether you're being straight with us or whether you're just joking along with us."

"Yeah, you're such a nice guy we don't usually expect it from you," Gilliam added.

Michael grinned and nodded.

"Er....so..." Eric broke in. "How is Lisa, Mike?"

He looked at Eric, narrowing his eyes. "She's fine," he answered carefully.

Eric nodded and looked down at the table.

"Eric? Didn't you just speak to her on the phone yesterday evening?" Michael asked suspiciously.

"Oh...well...yeah I did," he giggled nervously. "I guess I just forgot all about it."

"So, Eric," Jonesy changed the subject.

Eric looked over at him.

"Are you sure you can't come with us to America?"

Eric frowned and shook his head. "Sorry, but I reckon we'll still be filming the first series of Rutland Weekend Television during that time."

"Well, can't you just take a break from filming to join us? Will it really matter if you don't film for a few weeks?" Jonesy pressed on.

Eric sighed. "Look, I don't know why it's so important that I be there. You'll have Gray going with you."

"But Eric, you're a Python! Surely the American audience recognizes you from the early sketches that are being transmitted over there now. They'll be disappointed if you don't show!" Jonesy countered excitedly.

Michael suddenly remembered that Lisa was going to be joining them on their visit. If Eric was there, no doubt some kind of rivalry would take place. He had to discourage Jonesy from trying to convince him.

He held up his hands. "Look Terry, if Eric can't go, he can't go. Don't force the poor chap into it. Besides, we'll make another visit once Holy Grail premieres over there...all of us, including John. Just leave Eric alone for now, eh?"

Jonesy sighed and looked at Michael. "I guess you're right, Mike." He turned toward Eric. "Eric, I'm sorry for pressuring you like that."

Eric nodded. "That's alright, Jonesy. I'll get along fine without you," he giggled.

Jonesy rolled his eyes.

*******************************************************

Eric turned back to Michael. "So, Mike, how is Lisa doing?" he asked again.

"Eric, you just asked me that ten minutes ago!" Michael answered, getting a bit exasperated.

"I know. I just wanted to know how things were working out for her at the library. Is she working today?"

Michael furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why are you so intent on knowing?" he asked slowing.

Eric looked at him, not knowing what to say for a moment. "I....."

Michael raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"Never mind," Eric said quickly as he got up from the booth, grabbed his jacket and quickly headed out the door.

"Well. What was that all about?" Jonesy remarked curiously after Eric had left the restaurant.

Michael suddenly rose from the table. "I think I know," he replied. With that, he grabbed his jacket and slipped it on. "Sorry to eat and run like this, but something's come up," he added as he exited the booth and hurriedly walked out of the restaurant.

Michael quickly scanned every square inch of the car park, looking for any sight of Eric. He finally spotted him at the north end, almost on the opposite side of where Michael's car was parked. He quickly entered his car and turned the ignition on. The way Eric had abruptly left the restaurant, especially after asking whether Lisa was working today, was enough to make Michael suspcious that he was still after Lisa.

As he noticed Eric backing out of the parking space, he quickly put his car into gear and edged up a bit. As Eric exited the car park, Michael decided to follow him at a distance.

Michael kept his eye on Eric's car as he made his way down the streets of London. He shook his head sadly. Eric was his good friend and he never thought he'd be so suspicous to the point where he'd actually end up following him in his car. But he knew the circumstances...Eric was divorced, feeling quite lonely, had a thing for Lisa that may not have let up, and it was going to be Valentine's Day.

After a time, a few cars had made their way between Michael and Eric's cars, and he appeared to lose sight of Eric. Michael cursed silently to himself as he scoured the streets looking for the familiar car.

Finally he decided to give up. There probably wasn't any point to doing this. Michael was probably being suspicious for nothing. Eric was most likely embarrassed, and left in a hurry so he didn't have to face any teasing from the other Pythons. Michael would probably be better off just dropping it and heading home to his beloved wife.

He giggled to himself and quickly glanced down at the small bag sitting on the passenger's seat. It contained part of his Valentine's Day gift to her. As he neared their house, he pulled up in front and shut off the ignition. He picked up the bag and hid it deep in his jacket pocket. He exited the car and whistled happily as he made his way to the front door.

He fumbled for a moment with his keys, then unlocked the door. He was a bit surprised that Lisa hadn't greeted him at the door, as he'd seen her car also sitting in front of the house. He then realized he was being silly again. Quite possibly she was in the shower, or perhaps she was out walking the dog.

"Lisa? I'm home!" he called out happily as he entered.

"Michael?" he heard her say in a startled voice.

He abruptly placed his keys down and headed over toward the living room. As he edged his way around the couch, he saw Lisa sitting there spread out, looking straight ahead with her eyes half-shut and a huge grin spread across her face.

A feeling of dread overcame him at once.