An Old Friend: Version B Part 11

(Note: "A Girl Like You" lyrics belong to Cliff Richard.)

Lisa glanced over at Michael as he began the drive up to Doune Castle.  “Michael, just out of curiosity…how long does filming generally take?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“We usually begin filming at 8 o’clock,” Michael began.  “We take a half hour or so for lunch, and then we resume filming until somewhere around 6.” 

Lisa’s eyes widened a bit.

Michael caught her look and gave her a reassuring smile. “Not to worry, love.  We only have a few scenes to film today. I don’t think it will take that long…although, with the Terry’s, you can never be certain,” he said grimly.

Lisa giggled sympathetically.  Michael glanced at her quickly and grinned slightly. “No, really, we just have to film the last bits of two big scenes, so it’s not that bad.”

Lisa nodded.  “Famous last words, I presume?” she said wryly.

“You’d better hope not, or I’ll lead the remaining Pythons in a mutiny,” Michael grinned wickedly.

With that, Lisa began laughing.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to get John.  He’s been the most intolerant of the group since we arrived here.  Graham…well, poor old Gray hasn’t been too coherent, I’m afraid.  Poor man suffered DTs something awful on our first day of filming.”

Lisa looked at him curiously.

“Gray’s love of drink isn’t suiting him particularly well this go-round,” Michael clarified.

Lisa nodded.

“He tried to quit right before we filmed the first scene, and…I’m rambling away, aren’t I,” he said, blushing.

Lisa giggled.  “I don’t mind.  I could listen to you all day, Michael,” she said impishly.

Michael’s blush deepened somewhat. “I’m glad someone can,” he said in spite of himself, which resulted in more giggles from Lisa. “Anyway, I’m fairly certain that John can bring Gray over to our side.  As for Neil…”

Lisa furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Neil Innes,” Michael grinned.

“Oh, yes!” Lisa exclaimed, familiarity in her eyes.  “He’s from that band…Bonzo-something…?”

“Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band,” Michael finished for her.

Lisa nodded with a small, amused grin on her face.

“As for Neil, he’s usually a pretty agreeable chap, but I reckon the Terry’s constant bickering has gotten to him somewhat.  That leaves Eric, and I’m sure Eric wouldn’t mind a good mutiny, especially with all the colorful nicknames he’s come up with for that pair –“

“Eric?” Lisa suddenly broke in.

Michael nodded.  “Yup.  He certainly is a master of words…” Michael trailed off when he realized he may have been about to insert his foot into his mouth.  He noticed that Lisa’s expression had gone from one of curiosity to one of total abject fear.

“Eric’s going to be there?” she asked, her voice a bit shaky.

Michael raised a curious eyebrow.  Something seemed to bother Lisa, but he wasn’t sure what it was. “Yes, of course.  He’s involved in both scenes,” he nodded.

“Oh,” Lisa replied, in the smallest voice Michael had ever heard.

He parked the car just outside the entrance to Doune and reached over to touch Lisa’s arm. “Lisa? What’s the matter?” he asked quietly.

She didn’t know where to begin.  She still felt ashamed for what had happened the previous night – that Eric had tried to pull her away from Michael and she didn’t resist hard enough to break free.  Even though she assured him that they could be nothing more than friends, she was worried that if he saw her again, he might not seem entirely convinced.

She finally turned her eyes toward him, and she could see deep concern reflected in those beautiful greenish-grayish eyes of his.  “I…I don’t really know how to say this,” she said, averting her eyes again and shaking her head ever so slightly.

Michael raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

She looked back up at him again before continuing, although it was a bit hard to look into his eyes. “Michael, after what happened last night, I…I’m just worried that if Eric sees me again, he’ll…” she trailed off, not sure if she could find the right words to continue, but hoping that Michael knew what she meant.

Luckily for her, he did, and he nodded in understanding. “I know what you’re trying to say, Lisa.  I was rightly pissed off at Eric last night.  But I can’t underestimate him either.  He is a good chap.  He’s been through quite a lot, many things which I don’t have time to list at the moment.  From what you said last night, I’d reckon that he understands that you’re not willing to be involved in a relationship with him.  In other words, my girl is off-limits.” He grinned and placed his arm around Lisa, pulling her into a hug as she giggled.  She brushed some of his hair away from the side of his neck and gave him a little kiss. 

“And just to make sure, I’ll keep my eye on him at all times.  I’ll make certain that he doesn’t try anything,” he finished in a mock stern tone of voice.

Lisa grinned widely and hugged him once more.  “I feel a lot better now, Michael,” she sighed.

Michael smiled and began rubbing her back in slow, circular motions. “I’m glad, love.  Now, what say we go up there and join the others?” he said, gesturing toward the castle.  “I’m sure you’re more than eager to sharpen those acting claws.”

“As long as it includes lusting for you, Sir Galahad, I’m more than up to it,” she winked.

Michael blushed slightly. “Ah, yes, but don’t forget you’ve got some heavy competition: the lovely Carol Cleveland and at least twenty young Glaswegian females, some of which may be…er…sincere in their lusting,” he grinned wickedly before blushing once more.

Lisa giggled in surprise. “What? My goodness, YOU’RE not very modest, are you?” she snorted amusedly.

Michael shrugged slightly and blushed even more.

“Well, my qualifications should set me above them all,” she returned smugly.

A slightly surprised look formed on Michael’s face, complete with widened eyes. “Oh, and you say that I’M not modest??” he asked, sounding as if he were taken aback, but he was just teasing her.

She repeated his earlier gesture, shrugging nonchalantly.

Michael giggled slightly.  “And just what, pray tell, are these qualifications?”

“Oh, that I’ve known you for ten years now, which, if I’m not mistaken, would make us VERY good friends…perhaps something more, now that I’ve declared my everlasting, unconditional love to you,” she smiled broadly as she looked into his eyes.

Michael abruptly stopped giggling and his eyes met hers as he looked at her thoughtfully.  “Damn, those are good qualifications,” he said softly as he smoothed a bit of hair behind her ear.

“I told you,” she grinned.  Her grin broadened as she noticed his dimples peeking out of the corners of his mouth, and she reached up and touched one of them. “I reckon I’ll be able to keep a close eye on them,” she said, amused.

Michael giggled. “Alright, I’ve got Eric; you’ve got the Castle Anthrax maidens.  I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Carol, though.  She’s been married several years now.”

Lisa’s brow creased.  “Hey, that’s no excuse!” she retorted.  “I’ll be keeping an extra close eye on her, in that case.”

Michael laughed.  “Alright, you do that, love.”

Lisa nodded, and they made their way out of the car and up toward the castle.

Lisa looked around several times as she and Michael neared the castle.  Amid the crewmembers, she recognized Terry Jones from earlier, as well as John Cleese whom she and Michael had seen in the restaurant.  There were two other men standing with them – men whom Lisa hadn’t met yet, but neither of them were Eric.  Lisa breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Terry,” Michael exclaimed as Jonesy interrupted his conversation with the cameraman and turned his head.

“Hum.  ‘Bout time you got here, Mike,” he snorted incredulously.

“Nice to see you as well,” Michael returned dryly, prompting Lisa to giggle.

Jonesy’s countenance softened upon seeing Lisa. “Oh, good to see you,” he said, managing a smile.  “I’m glad you could join us.  I was afraid Mike had filled you in on the details of this film and might have scared you away!”

Michael gasped theatrically.  “Now, why would I ever do that?” he said sarcastically.

Jonesy ignored Michael and turned to John. “Do you know where Eric’s gone off to?”

John rolled his eyes.  “No.  He’s probably holed up in the castle somewhere, reading a book or some other mundane activity,” he grumbled.

Jonesy smiled.  “Well, good.  We don’t need to drag him to our next filming location, then.  He’s right where we need him.”

John shook his head and rolled his eyes once more, sighing heavily before stalking off toward the entrance of the castle.

“Ignore him, he’s been nothing but a ratty bastard since we’ve been here,” Jonesy said, addressing Lisa.

“Yeah, with good reason,” Michael said under his breath.

“You say something, Mike?” Jonesy asked, quickly turning his head toward Michael.

Michael plastered an innocent smile on his face and shook his head. 

Jonesy furrowed his brow in confusion, and then merely shrugged. “Oh, well,” he sighed as he turned back to Lisa.  “We’re going to start filming soon, so I’ll introduce you to Hazel, who will get you into your costume. Then I’ll run through what you’re supposed to be doing, okay?”

Lisa nodded.

Jonesy smiled and nodded back.  “Good.  Well, Mike…” he began as he turned toward Michael. “You’d better say goodbye to…your girl.” He leaned in conspiratorially to Michael.

Michael rolled his eyes before he leaned over and gave Lisa a little peck on the cheek, which elicited a catcall from Jonesy.

Mike turned around and scowled at Jonesy.  “Hey, you couldn’t wait for me to get a girl,” he grumbled.

“I am what I am, Mike,” Jonesy grinned, chuckling slightly.

“Ha ha ha,” Michael retorted as he rolled his eyes.

Jonesy took hold of Lisa’s arm and led her in the direction of the wardrobe tent. “Come on, best to get away from that dirty old man,” he said to her, raising his voice deliberately.

“What was that?? I’m one year and three months younger than you!!” Michael called out. 

“Sod off, Mike,” Jonesy returned over his shoulder. With that, he led a nervously giggling Lisa into the tent, where she would meet the Pythons’ costumer.

Lisa smoothed down her dress and shivered slightly as she sat on a bench in what was called the “bathing area of Castle Anthrax.”  It was quite chilly, as the only sources of heat in the castle were from candles.  She suddenly felt really bad for Michael.  At least she was dry; he had to be soaking wet throughout the entire scene, or at least the part they had to re-film.  She had chatted with a few of the other Castle Anthrax girls, but didn’t say much as she was quite nervous. 

She looked down at herself and realized how…well her costume fit.  The tight spandex-like material hugged her body and accentuated her curves and other features.  It wasn’t low cut by any means, but to her it still didn’t leave very much to the imagination.  A shiver ran down her spine as she realized that Eric was going to be in the scene as well, and she blushed bright red.  She wondered what he would think if he saw her dressed like this.  She hoped he wouldn’t take one look at her, and his whole memory of their “just friends” conversation would go out the window. 

She absent-mindedly looked down at her wrist and snorted as she realized she wasn’t wearing her watch.  It seemed as if she and the other girls had been sitting there for ages.  What on Earth was taking so long?  She sighed and rested her hand against her chin, waiting for the moment when Terry Jones would call her and the others into the main hall where the action was to take place.

“What the hell is going on? What are those two twits up to now?” John said angrily.

Michael sighed.  He had been sitting on a large bench in Doune’s main hall with John, Eric and Neil Innes.  He had been thoroughly soaked by the two Terry’s, and although the procedure was not new to him (as they had been filming this scene over the past few days), he still resented being so cold and wet.  He glanced over at John, Eric and Neil and snorted.  'Lucky dry blokes,' he thought to himself.

He wondered what was going on himself.  It was more than likely that the two Terry’s had gotten involved in another argument over the placement of the cameras.  He couldn’t wait to get this scene over with so he could dry off and get warm.  He proceeded to think of Lisa, and what she must look like in one of those filmy Castle Anthrax Virgin costumes.  A small, crooked smile formed on his face.

“Palin…”

Mike thought he heard someone calling him, but it sounded distant as his mind was still wandering.

“Palin!!!”

Michael yelped and turned to see John holding a page of Mike’s script, which he had just checked to go over his lines once again.  He was now attempting to give it back to Michael.

“Wh-what?” Michael asked, sounding distracted.

John thrust the page at him, and he dumbly accepted it. “What the hell are you smiling about? It’s as cold as a witch’s teat in here, we’re sitting doing nothing whilst our director chums are wasting considerable amounts of time, and you sit here with a silly little smile on your face,” John said irritably.

“Er…nothing,” Michael replied weakly as he blushed.

“Why don’t you piss off, John??” Eric suddenly interjected.

John turned to him, his mouth agape. “I beg your pardon, Idle?” he said incredulously.  “Do you have some sort of irrational problem?”

Eric snorted.  “Don’t know if I’d call it irrational, but yes, I do have a problem.  You’re the problem.  You sit here, bitching your head off about circumstances beyond our control.  At least some of us are doing something constructive.”  He gestured to the small book he was holding.

John turned bright red and looked away from Eric.  Michael looked at him and sighed. “Thank you, Eric,” he said wearily.

Eric nodded.

“Hey, I’ve got a good way to pass the time,” Neil suddenly interjected.

Mike, Eric, and even John, turned toward him curiously.

“Got any good Cliff Richard songs at your disposal?” he grinned.

Lisa sat on the edge of the bench, lost in her thoughts.  She finally realized what was taking so long: the two directors named Terry were arguing over the placement of the cameras.  It didn’t sound like a particularly heated argument, but it did come off as rather petty.  Terry Gilliam wanted the cameras tilted at a certain angle, so that the stained markings on the stone walls would be visible and lend more credibility to the atmosphere.  Terry Jones wanted the cameras set up so that they’d actually be able to get the actors on screen.  Lisa couldn’t imagine how such an argument didn’t seem capable of being settled. 

“It is a bit boring, isn’t it?”

Lisa looked up to see Carol Cleveland, also known as Zoot and Dingo, standing to her left.

‘”I suppose,” she shrugged slightly as Carol sat down next to her.  “I can’t really complain, though.  I mean, I haven’t really acted much.”

Carol giggled affectionately.  “I can understand why you’d feel that way.  And to tell the truth, it probably wouldn’t do any good to complain.  These guys have been complaining ever since I arrived up here on Wednesday.  Poor things, it’s a wonder they haven’t been tearing their hair out! “

“Unless they’ve been tearing out Terry Gilliam’s,” Lisa grinned slightly, getting in a jab about Gilliam’s interesting haircut.

Carol tossed her head back and laughed.  “Oh, my God! It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” she asked, once she had calmed down a bit.  She smiled and offered her hand to Lisa. “I’m Carol Cleveland.”

Lisa smiled back and shook her hand.

“Did you come over from Glasgow?” Carol asked.

“Oh, no, I drove up from London,” Lisa replied, shaking her head. 

Carol furrowed her brow in confusion.

“I’m Lisa Dobson,” Lisa continued.

Carol looked at her curiously before her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Yes, you’re Mike’s girlfriend, aren’t you?”

Lisa blushed somewhat and nodded as a small smile grew on her face.

“You’re a lucky girl,” Carol beamed.  “How long have you known Michael?”

“I met him in 1964 when I was a first-year student at Oxford,” Lisa returned softly.

Carol looked at her seriously.  “Really, that long? Why haven’t we seen or heard about you, then?”

Lisa’s blush deepened.  “Well, certain…things beyond our control caused Michael and me to lose touch for a while…” she trailed off.

Carol gave her a look of pity, which was subsequently replaced by a little smile.  “Well, you must be in heaven now that you’re back together.”

Lisa smiled, and then looked down at her white costume.  “Well…I seem to be appropriately dressed for it.”

Carol giggled.  “That’s a good point. So, how long will you be staying here?”

“Girls!! We’re ready for you!” Jonesy barked before Lisa could answer her.

“Oh, never mind, we’ll talk later,” Carol cut herself off as they all made their way toward the main hall.

"Angel face, we just met
Well, just how lucky can one boy get
There's a light in your eyes
I know it's love and I know that I could be happy
With a girl like you"
 
Michael smiled as he sung Cliff Richard’s “A Girl Like You” along with Eric and Neil.  Yes, the atmosphere had brightened somewhat.  Even John was singing along now.  He was glad that they had found some way to pass the time while the Terry’s duked it out in a small corner where the cameras were standing.

"Tell your ma, tell your pa
And tell your favorite old wishing star
We're in love, just by chance
I ask of you, would you like to dance
Fancy dancing, with a girl like you

Funny how love can come to a lonely heart
I'm a boy, you're a girl
I guess that's a pretty good start
Here I am, there you are
Together baby we should go far
A girl like you, a boy like me
Two hearts together like they ought to be
Can't believe, I've got a girl like you …"
 
Michael stopped singing and looked up curiously as the girls made their way into the room.  Seconds later, Eric, Neil and John stopped as well.  Standing in front of them, amid the other girls, was his girl.  She was wearing a filmy white dress, which was quite revealing in a way that it didn’t originally intend to be.  Her long, wavy brown hair had been fashioned into one big braid and sat over her left shoulder.  Michael was at a loss for words as he saw how angelic she looked, and suddenly realized how appropriate the lyrics to the song now seemed.

Michael looked at her with widened eyes and slowly stood up.  Lisa took in his current appearance.  His white tunic was now a bit smeared with dirt, and his hair, limp and quite wet, stuck to the sides of his face and dangled over his forehead.  To sum up, he looked quite pathetic, and it made her love him all the more. “Um…Lisa…” he finally uttered as he stood in front of her and stared at her. 

Lisa’s face flushed again and she smiled sheepishly.  “Come on, Michael, you’re embarrassing me,” she said facetiously and so quietly that only Michael could hear.

“Someone you know, Mike?” John asked curiously.

“Of bloody hell course she is,” Michael replied, finally finding his words as he continued to look into Lisa’s eyes.   

John looked at him expectantly. Meanwhile, Eric had been sitting there the whole time, and when he’d laid eyes on Lisa, he felt his heart jump up into his throat.  She hadn’t noticed him, but his eyes bugged out and his mouth stood agape.  He was well aware of the discussion he had had with Lisa the previous night, when she said that she cared for him as a friend, but that her heart was with Michael.  He had accepted this, but now with her standing in front of her looking like…well, like that…it was becoming harder to accept. “I know who she is,” he broke in before Michael could answer.  “Her name is Lisa,” he said, standing up.

“Yes, thank you, Eric.  That had already been established,” John said dryly.

Eric cursed him under his breath before turning back to Michael and the others. “Her name is Lisa,” he repeated.  “She’s an old friend of Michael’s, and they have a serious relationship.”

Michael curiously looked back at Eric.  It seemed as though Lisa’s entrance had affected Eric, as the tone of his voice seemed to be informing Michael that he didn’t quite believe what he was saying. “Damn straight, Eric,” Michael smiled. 

“Well, isn’t this nice,” John said sarcastically.  “As we’re waiting for our two directors to sort themselves out, we learn that Michael has a girl.  Let’s think of even more ways to waste our time.”

“John, have a heart,” Neil interjected.

John sighed bitterly and covered his face with his hands for a moment.  He looked back up at Michael. “I’m sorry, it’s just the fact that we’ve been in this cold, damp castle since eight bloody o’clock and it’s now eleven.  Those argumentative bastards have done little except waste countless hours of time since we began filming.  Add to that the fact that we shouldn’t even be filming today, and wouldn’t if they weren’t so damn picky about so-called ‘uneven takes.’” He sighed again as Michael and Lisa looked at him thoughtfully. “I’m sorry I’ve been so snippy, Mike,” he began.

“What about the rest of us?” Eric retorted.

John rolled his eyes playfully. “Yeah, yeah, sorry to you as well,” he said, his voice full of mock annoyance.  Eric in turn gave him a mock hurtful look. John turned back to Michael and Lisa. “I’m very happy for you.  And it’s nice to meet you,” he addressed Lisa with a slight smile on his face.

Lisa nodded.  “Thank you, John. Nice to meet you as well.”

Just then, Jonesy appeared and loudly cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road before you hear me bitch and moan about you not being ready,” he exclaimed, aware of some of the complaining that had been going on.

With that, everyone straightened up and got into place, hoping that they would be done with it all in good time.

Lisa smiled to herself as she began to peel her costume off inside the wardrobe tent.  The filming of the Castle Anthrax scene had actually been a good experience.  All she needed to do was stand with the other girls behind Carol Cleveland as John, Eric and Neil tried to drag Michael outside.  Carol would wail such phrases as “Yes, let us tackle him single-handed!” and “He’ll beat us easy.  We haven’t a chance!” while the other girls would basically repeat her and make small utterances of alarm.  It was almost hard to do, as she was aware that several of the girls actually had a crush on Michael.  She was sure that they had witnessed the scene that took place before they started filming, in which it was revealed that she was Michael’s girl.  Not that that would dispel their crushes, but it would hopefully inform them of a “hands-off” policy which must be followed. 

She giggled softly as she pulled the dress over her head and laid it in one of the costume bins.  She reached over to grab her jeans when she suddenly felt as though she was being watched.  She turned her head slightly to see the flap of the tent lift up and the head of Eric Idle poking around it.

Lisa turned a bright shade of crimson and uttered a small gasp, as she was only in her bra and underpants.  She grabbed her jeans and sweater and attempted to cover her skin with them.

Eric’s eyes widened and he briefly placed his hand over his mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry Lisa, I…I didn’t know anyone was in here.  I need Hazel to glue my mustache back on for this French Taunting scene we have to complete,” he giggled sheepishly.

“Well, couldn’t you wait until I was finished in here???” Lisa snapped at him.

Eric’s eyebrows flew up for a moment before they came back down and furrowed. “What are you saying? I didn’t know you were in here.  I –“

“You were watching me, weren’t you?” she interrupted knowingly as she hid herself behind a folding screen in an attempt to get her clothes back on without offering Eric any more of a peep show than he’d already seen.

“What? No, no, I wasn’t!” he insisted as he shook his head vigorously.

Fully dressed in her flared jeans, beige sweater and tan shoes, she made her way back to him.  A resigned look appeared upon her face as she realized that she had a right to be angry with him, but it wouldn’t do any good to fight with him. “Look, I could tell I was being watched.  I was stupid for not using the folding screen in the first place, but I thought all you men were still back at the castle.  I didn’t think for a moment that you would try to sneak up on me and get an eyeful.”

Eric’s mouth gaped open as Lisa continued.

“I probably should have just stayed on the sidelines and watched the filming process.  Then I wouldn’t have had to wear a flimsy dress and be made up to look so sexy –“ she said bitterly.

“But you ARE sexy,” Eric started.

Lisa sighed heavily. “Please don’t start this, Eric.  You know how I feel about Michael.  Don’t tell me you forgot our conversation from last night.”

Eric nodded, which earned an incredulous look from Lisa. “Uh…I mean…no!!”

“’No’ what? You don’t know how I feel about Michael, or you haven’t forgotten the conversation?” Lisa prodded.

“I mean I haven’t forgotten the conversation.  It’s just so hard to –“

“Well, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to cope with it,” Lisa interrupted, a bit coldly.  “I have no problem with being friends.  As I told you, I do like you, but I care very deeply about Michael, and nothing can change that.”  She turned away from him as she grabbed her coat off the makeshift coat rack.

Eric looked at her incredulously and was about to stalk off when Michael stuck his head inside. “Oh, there you are, Eric.  Hazel is looking for you out there.”  He gestured toward the castle wall where Hazel was busy painting a fake mustache on John.

“Oh,” Eric replied, a bit dazed.  “She’s out there?”

Michael looked at him suspiciously. “Yes…” he said slowly.  “Is everything alright? I thought I heard a heated discussion coming from here.”

Eric turned briefly toward Lisa who looked a bit uncomfortable. “Yeah, Mike, everything is fine.  I’ll see you in a few minutes for the scene.”

Michael nodded and watched Eric storm off toward the area where Hazel was waiting.  He then made his way up to Lisa and caressed her cheek with his hand. “You alright?” he asked.

Lisa sighed. “I suppose you heard everything?” she asked as she looked back up at him.

Michael blushed faintly and nodded. “Yes, I have to admit…everything from the moment you first snapped at Eric.”

Lisa shut her eyes and sighed.

“I managed to dry off a bit…at least get my hair dried with a battery-powered hairdryer…then Hazel asked me to fetch Eric so he could get his mustache done and we could get on with the scene.  I thought I had seen him head in this direction, so I followed him at a distance and stayed outside the other end of the tent.  I heard every word, Lisa,” he said, dropping his voice slightly.

Lisa looked back up at him and felt her heart ache.

“And I’m glad for it,” he continued.  “I reckoned Eric would be aroused by you in that dress.  I mean, who wouldn’t be? I was aroused, as you must have known,” he laughed nervously. He stopped as he saw Lisa blushing. “I’m sorry, Lisa.  I promised I would keep an eye on Eric, and I didn’t.  It led to quite an embarrassing situation.  I really am sorry,” he said with apologetic look.

Lisa smiled slightly and shook her head. “It’s not your fault, Michael.  You couldn’t have known Eric was going to act this way.  If anything, I feel stupid for not getting dressed behind the screen.  I should have known that something like this was going to happen, and –“

“No, you couldn’t,” Michael cut her off as he stroked her hair.  He then proceeded to kiss her tenderly on the lips as they embraced.  Lisa ran her fingers through Michael’s now-dry, soft hair and felt like she was in ecstasy.

Once they pulled apart, Lisa looked up at him and beamed. “I meant what I said to him, Michael,” she said.

“I know, love.  I know,” he said softly as he smiled tenderly at her.  He pulled the flap up and discovered that they were just about ready to film the leftover bits from the French Taunting scene.  “Well, I suppose I’d best get this over with,” he exclaimed.  “Then hopefully we’ll be able to leave before daylight fades and get back to the hotel. Damn, it’s cold out here.”  He shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself.

Lisa nodded sympathetically.  “Well,” she shrugged.  “At least your hair is out of your face again.”

Michael giggled slightly.  “I suppose, but not much good it does when you’re freezing.  I want to have a nice, hot bath.”

Lisa nodded and also shivered as a slight northeast wind picked up.  “Have room for two in that bath?” she asked, grinning wickedly.

“I’m sure I do,” he replied.  “And if not, we can make room,” he winked.

Lisa grinned and raised an eyebrow.  “Sounds good to me.”

Michael nodded as they made their way out of the tent and started up toward the castle.  Lisa planned to make a seat for herself in the grass and watch the rest of the filming.

They were almost there when Michael turned back to Lisa and smiled. “Well, wish me luck, my fair maiden.”

Lisa smiled and touched one of his dimples. “Good luck,” she grinned.  With that, she playfully tousled his bangs.

Michael scowled playfully as he smoothed them back down and tossed his hair back slightly. “Hey, watch the hair,” he said jokingly. Lisa giggled before he planted a kiss on her cheek, and then made his way to the others who were not-so-patiently waiting to finish the scene.