An Old Friend: Version A Part 13

Giggling alongside Lisa, Michael pulled up in front of the hotel and parked the car.  The whole way back there she had been joking about the ordeal he had to withstand, getting soaked and muddy.  Normally he would have been just utterly miserable, but with the girl he loved at his side he was able to make light of the whole predicament, and it felt quite good. Especially after all the arguing that had taken place earlier.

After Michael exited the car and opened Lisa's door for her, he hurriedly fished his hotel room key out of his pocket, eager to get inside and into some dry clothes.

"Aww, poor baby," Lisa said sympathetically. "Let's get you inside before you catch cold."

He looked at her and brushed his wet, stringy hair out of his eyes.  "I appreciate your concern, love, but I don't think a bath will help much," he said grimly.  "After all, there's only enough hot water here for barely half of the cast and crew.  So you see that once the other Pythons get back my chances of warming up are close to nil."

As he spoke, Lisa thought she saw one of their rent-a-vans pull up across the street.  She quickly turned back toward Michael who sighed irritably upon seeing John and Graham exiting.

Lisa grinned.  "Well, then we can't let them hog all the warm water, can we? Let's go!"  She raced inside the hotel, making a beeline for the staircase with Michael following closely on her heels, laughing that sweet laugh of his that she adored.  It was like music to her.

After running up the stairs and pausing for a breath in front of Michael's door, he stood behind her and put his arms around her, then reached around to kiss her tenderly on the cheek.  She blushed slightly as her face lit up with a smile.

"And if the water doesn't warm you up...I've got a sure-fire way in mind..." she winked, adopting a sexy tone of voice.

Michael grinned knowingly and chuckled.  He held up his hand.  "Ah, you see, now THAT...I can appreciate," he said. He slipped the key into the lock and slowly twisted the doorknob.  As he flipped on the light switch near the door, a warm glow emanated from the room.  Michael held out his hand, gesturing for Lisa to enter.  She entered the room, and he closed the door gently behind her. 

Lisa sat down on one of the beds and sighed contentedly as Michael rummaged through the wardrobe looking for a change of clothes.

"Well, Michael, I have to thank you for letting me come along to watch you film.  It's a most interesting process."  She nearly gagged after saying this. What kind of thing is that to say?

He jokingly raised an eyebrow at her.  "Ah yes, the understatement of the year," he grinned.

Lisa giggled.  "I'm glad I was able to make a good impression on your friends, too...even if it wasn't the first impression..."

"Oh, they're good chaps," Michael said quietly.  "Good chaps who have a tendency to make me very cross at times, but good chaps.  Otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to make this film with them, let alone work with them almost nonstop for five years."  He giggled nervously.

Lisa smiled at him.  "Well," she sighed, "at least you can say that they're true friends.  You've known them for so long.  I regret that I've lost contact with all of my friends from university..."

Michael gave her a slight look of surprise.  "Er...'all' of them??" he asked, almost as if he were hurt.

She looked up at him, realizing once again that she would soon be his wife.  She smiled broadly, walked up to him and put her arms around him. "Oh, silly me," she said softly, "all but one." He smiled at her, his dimples peeking out. 

Suddenly she caught a glimpse of her watch and realized it was getting a bit late. "Oh my goodness, it's already 7:00! I guess we'd better find a place for dinner..."  she said nervously, "do you know of any other nice restaurants in this area?"

Michael looked down at his wet, muddy Sir Galahad costume and back up at her.  "Well...not any that would serve me looking like this," he grinned sheepishly.

She giggled.  "Oh that's right, I'm sorry!  Well...I guess while you shower I'll look around in these magazines and the paper for a place to eat."

"You do that, love," he winked at her. "I shant be long." With that he picked up his jeans, shirt and sweater and headed for the bathroom. 

Lisa picked up the newspaper as she heard the water turn on.  As she began to browse through the paper looking for restaurant adverts, she heard a loud yelp.

Michael poked his head out the bathroom door, his hair dripping wet and his eyes wide in shock. "Christ, that water is cold!!!" he yelled.

Lisa laughed almost sympathetically at him as he stuck his head back inside.   She shook her head, grinning.  What a funny guy.

Lisa frowned as she flipped through the newspaper.  Nothing looked particularly interesting, and there seemed to be more adverts for pubs than for actual restaurants.  They'd probably be better off going to the French restaurant they were at last night.  Though Lisa wasn't particularly crazy about it, she didn't know what Michael would want to do.  Maybe he'd even have some more suggestions. 

She sighed as she heard the water turn off, followed a few minutes later by the sound of the hairdryer.  She walked toward the bathroom and pushed the door open a crack. 

She smiled as she saw Michael humming to himself as he stood in front of the mirror, combing his hair into place.  He was dressed rather nicely in jeans, a beige patterned pullover sweater and a white shirt.  She dreamily walked back to the bed she'd been sitting on, thinking about how gorgeous Michael looked.

About two minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom, perfectly groomed and dressed.  "So, have you decided where we should eat tonight?" he smiled.

She shook her head.  "No, I'm afraid.  Nothing looks particularly…well...good."

He stopped and raised an eyebrow.  "What do you mean?"

"Seems the adverts in here are mostly for pubs, unless you like haggis," she grinned.  "Here, have a look."

Michael walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.  She handed the couple of magazines and the paper to him, and he thumbed through them.

He furrowed his brow in disappointment.  "Strange.  The adverts for pubs outnumber those for restaurants almost two-to-one.  I wonder if Graham has seen this yet," he grinned, then added, "God bless 'im."

"Well, I guess we'll have to go back to the place where we ate last night," she sighed.

"What? That dreadful place?" he grinned.

"Have you seen any others worth eating in?" she asked, pointing to the magazines.

He sighed.  "No, you're right.  I guess we have no choice.  I only hope that it hasn't become John's favorite establishment," he said with a pained look on his face. 

He shook his head as if to clear it.  "No, no, what am I saying?  It doesn't matter, now that he knows," he said quietly.  He grabbed his wallet off of the dressing table and fetched his jacket. "Ready, love?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

She nodded and smiled at him.  He opened the door and the two exited. 

As Michael closed the door behind him and locked it, he spotted Eric coming down the hall towards them.

"Well, if it isn't the two lovebirds," Eric winked as he walked up to them.

Michael rolled his eyes and grinned.  "Hello to you too," he answered.

"Heading off somewhere, are you?" Eric asked.

"We're about to head down to that French restaurant not far from here," Michael answered.

"A word of advice, Mike.  That's just become Cleese's favorite spot.  I just as soon avoid it if I were you," he grinned.

Michael grinned and shook his head.  "Oh, come ON, Eric.  Surely the restaurant hasn't become undesirable because John is always there."  He giggled.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Eric said wryly.  Michael laughed.  Lisa looked at him and started to giggle as well.

Michael stopped laughing and calmed down.  "No, really, we'll have to go back there.  I've checked a few magazines and the paper, and there doesn't seem to be anything worthwhile around the area."

Eric's eyes narrowed.  "What?  You haven't tried La Dolce, have you?"

Michael furrowed his brow in confusion.  "What's that?" he asked.

"It's a small Italian restaurant not far from here," Eric answered, "You just turn right from the hotel as if you were going back to Doune, and it appears on the right after a quarter of a mile.  The food is quite good, actually."

"That's funny," Michael mused. "I didn't see an advert for it anywhere."

"Oh, no, you wouldn't," Eric shook his head. "It's quite new from what I understand."

Michael grinned knowingly at him.  "And how do you know all this, Idle?  I take it you've been there quite a bit?"

Eric looked up and shook his head thoughtfully.  "Oh no, no, just once or twice.  The owner's daughter is quite a cutie though..." he trailed off, grinning and staring off ahead.

Michael shook his head and grinned.  "Had a fair bit of conversation with her, did you?"

"That and more," Eric answered with a sly grin.

Michael rolled his eyes.  "That's more than I wanted to hear," he said sarcastically.  "Come on, Lisa.  I'm getting awfully hungry."  He took her hand and they started walking past Eric.

"I'd join you, but I'm afraid I've got a few things to do tonight," Eric called after them.

"I don't want to hear it," Michael said as they walked away and reached the top of the stairs.

They headed down the stairs, and Michael spotted the hotel manager seated at the reception desk. "Wait right here, okay, love? I just have to ask him something." he said softly to Lisa.

"Alright," she nodded.  She sat down near the fireplace and picked up a magazine.

Michael headed over toward the desk to confirm with the manager the location of the restaurant.  He had no desire to go back to the French restaurant tonight.  He wanted to try something new, and he was sure Lisa wanted to also.  A few minutes later he strolled back.

Lisa looked up from her magazine as she heard him come back.

"Ready, love?" he smiled.

She smiled at him and nodded.

"Well then, off we go," he said, taking her hand and leading her out the doors.