An Old Friend: Version A Part 12

Lisa stayed behind as Michael headed back out toward the others to resume filming.  She felt awful for the way they had talked about her and for the way they had embarrassed him.  But she knew Michael was a smart, funny guy and he'd show them.

As Michael walked toward the back of the castle where the other Pythons were, he began thinking about how wonderful he felt as Lisa had accepted his proposal.  He had always loved her a great deal, and since the Pythons weren't planning on any more projects together, he'd be able to spend more time with her.  He couldn't have picked a more perfect time to propose to her. 

He smiled proudly.  Even though he knew the others were pissed off at him for holding everything up, he didn't care.  He was marrying the girl he loved more than anything.  As he neared the others, he could see Terry Jones standing there with his arms folded, impatiently tapping his foot.  The others turned and all eyes were on Michael as he stood there, smiling.

"What do you have to smile about, Palin?" John asked in an irritated tone. 

Before he could answer, Terry Gilliam spoke up. "I bet it has to do with that girl he dragged along."  He started to laugh as Mike turned and glared at him.  

"Yeah, who is she Mike? From what I gathered at the disco last night, I thought she was a friend of yours, but, er... who is she really?" Eric asked with a grin on his face. 

Michael looked them right in the eyes. "She's my fianceé," he stated simply. "And we're getting married."

Everyone froze, staring at him with wide eyes.  Michael faced each of them individually, a bit surprised that he had given them such a shock.  Even Graham, who Michael had thought was too pissed to care, fixed him with a look of surprise. 

Finally, Jonesy spoke up.  "Why didn't you ever tell us about this?" he asked slowly, still recovering from the initial shock.

"What, and have you blokes go off on me?" Mike grinned.

The others looked at each other, still shocked.  Jonesy looked over at Michael, his best friend, who was smiling proudly at the prospect of finally finding someone he loved after so long.  He got caught up in the moment and rushed up to Michael. "Awwww!!" he exclaimed as he gave Michael a big bear hug.   He was so proud of Michael that he hugged him tightly, perhaps too tightly.

"Ah...thanks, Terry..." Michael gasped, almost strangled from Jonesy's grip of happiness. 

He pulled away from Mike, looking up at him with a big grin as Michael caught his breath.

"Ah, thank you," Michael said as he put his hand to his windpipe.  "I feel like I had a date with a boa constrictor."

Jonesy rolled his eyes.  "Oh, Mike!" he exclaimed as he playfully slugged Michael on the shoulder.  Michael grinned at him.

Terry Gilliam giggled as he went up to Michael and gave him a hearty handshake.

Michael raised an eyebrow at him.  "That's it, Gilliam?" he asked in a mock disappointed tone.

Gilliam felt awkward.  "I...just didn't want to squeeze the rest of the life out of you after Terry's over-enthusiasm.." he smirked.

"Aww...what the hell," he grinned as he rushed up and gave Michael a big hug. "Hey, congratulations, Mike!" he exclaimed.  "You should have said something earlier!  I think I can still work her into the film.  You think she'd like to be an extra?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?" Michael answered softly.

"Great," Gilliam answered.  He looked around.  "Where is...?"

"Lisa," Michael answered.

"Oh," Gilliam nodded.  "Where is Lisa?"

Michael shut his eyes and sighed, annoyed that he had forgotten she was still in the castle.  "Oh, that's right.  Hang on," he answered as he ran to get her.

"LISA???" he called out.

Lisa heard Michael's voice and slowly exited the castle, making her way around the back.  As soon as she saw his face she ran up to him, straight into his arms.  He hugged her tightly, lifting her slightly up into the air.  After he set her down he gave her a tender kiss on the cheek.  She was in pure ecstasy as she ran her fingers through his soft hair.

Michael smiled at her and patted her on the back.  "Come on," he said softly. "I'd like you to meet someone."

A look of worry etched onto her face as she realized who he was talking about, and how they had treated her before.

"Oh, no, no, love, it's alright," he said quietly as he looked into her eyes. "I've explained to them about you and they completely changed their tune.  They're eager to meet you now.  And, as I understand it, you may even have a small role in this film." He winked at her.

Her eyes widened.  "Really?" she asked.

He nodded as he took hold of her arm and began to walk towards the other Pythons.  "Come along," he said sweetly.

Lisa walked with Michael out towards the back of the castle where the others were standing.  They turned their heads in unison and all eyes were on her. 'Oh, great', she thought to herself, 'here it comes.'  She fearfully lowered her head.

When she raised it again, she was surprised not to find any amused smirks on their faces, but rather kind smiles.

"Lisa, this is Terry Jones, my other old friend from Oxford."  Michael began his introductions.

"Hello," Jonesy said warmly as he shook her hand.  "I apologize for going off on you like that earlier.  Sometimes when you're filming a picture you can get too deep into it and forget about real people."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Don't I know it," he mumbled under his breath. 

Lisa heard his comment and giggled softly.  To Jonesy she said, "it's nice to meet you."

Michael then directed Lisa to Eric.  "Lisa, this is Eric Idle, my other good friend from 'Do Not Adjust Your Set', and er...the chap who imposed on us last night at the disco," he said, glaring at Eric.

Eric gave Mike an innocent look before turning to Lisa.  "Ah yes, we've met...briefly, anyway," he said, shaking her hand. 

Michael, fearing Eric would get too amorous with Lisa, quickly directed her attention to Graham. "And this is Graham Chapman, our doctor-in-residence, and, for a few more weeks anyway, King Arthur."

Graham removed his pipe and stepped forward to shake Lisa's hand. "Jolly good to meet you," he said kindly. "I hope you weren't offended by anything I said earlier."

Lisa furrowed her brow in confusion and shook her head.  "No, no... what did you say earlier?"

"Ah, so I guess you weren't," Graham answered facetiously.  To Michael he said, "She's quite a catch, Mikey, old chap.  Don't lose her."

"Don't worry, Graham," Michael answered softly. "She's staying right here."  He held Lisa tightly around the waist.  She looked up at him and smiled.

Michael saw John hanging his head, almost in shame.  A grin crept across his face as he steered Lisa over to John.

"Ahem," Michael cleared his throat to get John's attention.  Startled, John lifted his head up.  Embarrassed, he smiled slightly at Lisa.

"Lisa, this is John Cleese, the one with the big mouth." he said, grinning playfully at John.

She looked up at him and timidly extended her hand.  "Mister Cleese?"

He reached over and shook his hand.  "A pleasure to meet you," he said with a half smile.  He then looked away in disgust. "No, what am I doing?" he said, irritated.  He turned back around and faced Lisa and cleared his throat.  "Madam, can you ever forgive me for all the rubbish I spouted off at you earlier?  Filming this picture has put a strain on all of us, what with the sheer physical discomfort and all.  I must say Mike is quite a lucky man to receive your hand in marriage."

She looked up at him, surprised.  "Well, Mr. Cleese," she began.

"Oh, no, please call me John," he said quickly. 

"Well, John," she giggled, "I accept your apology."

John smiled gratefully at her.  "Wonderful!" He turned his head down to kiss her hand, then looked back up at Michael. "Do you mind, Mike?" he asked.

Michael raised his eyebrows and shook his head.  "Oh, no, no, John, go ahead.  I won't say a word to Connie."

John gave her a small kiss on the back of her hand.  He smiled at her warmly.

Finally, Michael gestured to Terry Gilliam.  "And last but not least, this is Terry Gilliam, the other director Terry, the Yank Terry."

Gilliam walked up to her and awkwardly reached out to shake her hand. "The pleasure's mine, Lisa," he grinned.  "Mike's lucky to have found someone as lovely as you."

Lisa blushed slightly.  "Well thank you, Mr. Gilliam… er, Terry."

He smiled at her and giggled a bit.  "Say, how would you like to be an extra in our film?  In about a week we're going to film the Prince Herbert scene."

Michael's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.  "I don't think she can stay for a whole week," he said quietly, turning to Lisa. "...Can you?"

She shook her head.  "Oh, believe me, I'd love to but I've got some obligations at the library.  And my dog would go hungry."

Gilliam stroked his chin and thought for a moment.  "Hey, I've got it.  We're going to be filming the rest of the Castle Anthrax scene later today."  Michael blushed in embarrassment.

"The what?" she asked curiously.

"Er, long story," Mike said hastily, still blushing.

Gilliam giggled at him.  "We've filmed up to Lancelot breaking in to save Galahad," he explained, showing Lisa some storyboard sketches drawn by himself and Terry Jones.  "Now we've got to finish with Lancelot leading Galahad out and the girls protesting, and finish with our outside scene of Lance leading Galahad away from the castle.  If you'd like to play one of the Castle Anthrax girls, I'd be more than happy to have you."

Lisa had always been somewhat shy, but she loved taking on parts in school plays, even if they were bit parts.  "I'd love to," she said.

"Great," Gilliam answered. "Hazel, our costumer, will get you into your costume and I'll run over with you what you're supposed to do before we shoot."

Michael fixed Gilliam with a glare.  "Terry, you failed to mention that I'll be wet for this scene."

Gilliam rolled his eyes and sighed. "Oh, knock it off, Mike."  He turned to Lisa and grinned.  "Ever since we started filming this scene, he's done nothing but gripe and complain about being soaked for each shot."

He led Lisa into the castle where Hazel Pethig, the costumer, was waiting with the girls' costumes.  He introduced her, and Hazel got her into the costume.  She then took her place with the other girls and waited for Gilliam's direction.  Luckily, she didn't have any lines, pretty much.  All she had to do was cry in protest along with the others as Carol wailed phrases like 'Yes, let him tackle us single-handed!!' and 'He'll beat us easy! We haven't a chance!'

As they got into position, she saw Michael enter.  He had been completely soaked, and his limp hair hung in his eyes.  He smiled shyly at her. "The things I do for this film," he chuckled weakly.

She giggled at him, more sympathetically than anything. 

As they filmed, take after take, Michael kept looking longingly at her.  She looked so lovely in that costume; perhaps it was a taste of what she'd look like on their wedding day.  He wanted to be with her so bad, he couldn't wait until Gilliam yelled "WRAP!!”

Gilliam finally yelled “CUT!! Okay, that’s a wrap!”