It was nearly nine o'clock by the time Michael and Lisa arrived back
at the hotel. The restaurant had turned out to be a lovely place, quite
delicious food, and a romantic atmosphere. Once the manager
learned that they were getting married, he ordered the violinist to
come to their table and serenade them.
As they reached the door to Michael's room, Lisa looked up at him and
smiled contentedly. It had been a truly incredible night and she
couldn't have been happier.
"Oh bugger," Michael muttered as he fumbled around his jacket pocket,
searching for the room key. "Don't tell me I've misplaced it," he
said, furrowing his brow.
Lisa looked up at him, a bit worried. Finally he sighed as he
found it buried deep in his inside jacket pocket. "Oh…never
mind...found it." He smiled.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. For a
moment there you had me worried." She winked at him and he
giggled good-naturedly.
He turned the knob and opened the door, flipping the light switch on as
he entered. Lisa followed, and shut the door behind her.
Michael slipped out of his jacket and hung it casually over one of the
chairs. Then he spotted Lisa sitting on the end of one of the
beds
and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and
pulling
her closer toward him.
"It was a very lovely evening, Michael," she said softly, looking into
his eyes. "You really know how to treat a girl." She
blushed
as she said this.
"Especially when the girl in question is about to become my wife," he
smiled. He pulled her in closer and they kissed.
He removed his arm from her, and she nervously looked down at her
feet.
"Er...so.." she began, nervously clearing her throat. "..about
the wedding.."
He looked at her and raised his eyebrows in curiosity.
She didn't quite know how to bring up the subject. "I…er...guess
we should really start planning if we'd like to have it soon."
Michael's eyes narrowed. "Oh, to bloody hell with planning.
Let's get married right after we finish making this picture," he said
eagerly.
Lisa stared at him, momentarily surprised. "Oh... but I'd have to
ring up my parents and all that."
Michael didn't say a word, but walked over to the small end table where
the phone sat, and pointed to it, smiling.
"Well," she giggled. "I guess that's settled."
He picked up a small calendar that was lying next to his travel clock
and motioned for Lisa to come over at sit with him.
She walked over to the other bed and sat down next to him.
"Now, as I see it we should be wrapping up filming on location by the
1st or 2nd of June," Michael began thoughtfully, pointing to the
calendar. "Terry may be doing some filming around London after we
get back, but I'm not involved in any of those scenes. So..."
He thought for a minute, then continued cautiously, "...How about we
set the wedding for Saturday, the 8th?" He looked back up at Lisa
for her reaction.
She looked down at the calendar and narrowed her eyes
thoughtfully. "Hmmm... well, that seems fine to me," she
said, looking back up at him and smiling.
"Ah, good, the 8th it is, then." He replied, smiling at her and
giggling slightly. He playfully touched her on the nose.
She smiled impishly at him.
"You're incredibly cute, you know that?" he said, still giggling.
"That makes two of us," she winked at him before stealing a kiss. She
then leapt off the bed. "Well, I better ring my parents," she
said softly.
He nodded shyly at her and decided to use the opportunity to brush his
teeth and put his pj's on. He headed for the bathroom as she
started dialing the phone.
After two unsuccessful attempts at reaching her parents, she finally
got through. "Hello, Mum? It's me, Lisa... yes Mum, I'm sorry to bother
you so
late...yes, I know, Mum... I've got some wonderful news, I just had to
phone..."
As Michael exited the bathroom, he saw Lisa leaning back on the other
bed, the receiver in her hand.
She shot a smile at him and turned back to the phone. "Well, I'm going
to be getting married... yes, Mum, that's right... no, I'm
serious...really!"
She turned toward Michael and rolled her eyes. He grinned and
giggled softly.
She turned back toward the phone. "Who? Well, you're not going to
believe this, Mum... do you remember Michael Palin?...yes, that's
right,
Michael Palin...yes, the nice boy I met at Oxford... yes, the one who
attended
my graduation in the black suit and tie..."
Michael rolled his eyes and grinned. He knew he'd probably get
the same reaction, if not worse, from his parents.
"Yes, Mum, he was a lovely boy," she smiled. "And he still
is...that's why we're getting married."
Michael listened to Lisa as she told her mother about the wedding and
the date they had agreed upon. The conversation seemed to be
mostly positive. He watched as she hung up the phone and sighed
contentedly.
"Well, she and Dad seem to be fine with that," she said as she walked
over to Michael and sat next to him. "Even though she insisted
more than once that it was on quite short notice."
Michael smiled and looked down. "Well, I'm glad it went over well
with them," he said softly. He looked back up at her. "I've
got to ring up my parents as well. I just hope my poor Mum
doesn't
suffer a stroke, especially after I've been single for so long."
He
giggled, mocking himself.
He looked back up at her and sighed. "Well, only goes to show
that the best things come to those who wait, I suppose."He patted her
on the back.
She smiled broadly at him.
Michael blushed slightly, then looked down at his watch. It was just
about 9:30. A grin spread across his face, and he leapt up from
the bed. He switched the small television on, and tuned it into
BBC2.
"Now for a little light entertainment," he declared. He sat back
down on the edge of the bed next to Lisa and watched her reaction as
Monty Python's Flying Circus began.
She immediately recognized Michael as the hermit who declared "It's..."
and was suddenly cut off by the opening animation sequence and theme
music. A smile broke out onto her face as a Gumby voice declared
"Monty Python's Flying Circus-us-us!!"
She giggled and put her hand over her mouth, surprised. "Was that
you??" she asked.
Michael blushed a bit and nodded. "Ah, yes, Mr. A.J.P. Gumby," he
grinned.
"Is he in this episode?" she asked curiously.
As the episode began, Michael recognized it from the "Biggles Dictates
a Letter" sketch. He shook his head. "Nope, not this one."
She gave him a bit of a disappointed look. "Oh, but you'll enjoy
this, love. Just watch."
The "Lifeboat" sketch appeared and Lisa watched amusedly as Michael
appeared as a confused shipmate of a Newhaven Lifeboat. She turned to
Michael. "When did you do this?"
Michael directed his eyes upward thoughtfully.
"Umm...1972...January, I believe." He answered.
She looked at him.
"Actually it wasn't transmitted until almost a year later..." he
continued.
"I can't believe I missed all this!" she exclaimed, as she giggled at
the sketches.
"Well, love, I'll forgive you," he winked, as he pulled her in closer
and gave her a little kiss on the cheek.
Finally, the "Cheese Shop" sketch appeared. As John Cleese
entered the shop and Michael appeared behind the counter, Lisa laughed
out loud.
Michael looked at her curiously, and she stopped abruptly. "My
goodness, I didn't know you had such large sideburns," she said,
giggling a bit.
Michael blushed as he turned toward her. "Yeah...Well, I had to
shave them off for this film," he answered.
She grinned at him. "Well, I like you better like this. They take up
too much of your face there..." She pointed to the screen and raised an
eyebrow. "...Not too many kissable areas left on the face."
He smiled at her and blushed slightly as she gave him a little kiss on
the cheek.
"See?" she smiled.
"Ah, yes, I'll have to remember that for the future," he winked at her.
They watched the rest of Flying Circus, laughing nearly the entire
time. Lisa felt like giving herself a swift kick for never tuning
in to this hilarious program.
After it ended, Michael rose from the bed and switched the television
off.
Lisa looked down at the floor and sighed. "Oh, I wish I didn't
have to go back to London tomorrow," she said sadly.
Michael looked into her eyes. "And I wish you didn't have to, love. But
I will see you once filming is done. I mean...we'll be moving in
together...into my flat.. or yours.. er.. where are you living now?"
"Oh.. actually my parents moved to a smaller block of flats. I'm living
in their old house. It's not very big, but it's nice and quaint."
He looked at her thoughtfully. "Oh. Well. I suppose I'll be moving in
with you, then," he grinned.
She smiled at him. "I guess you need the address, then." She searched
her purse for a small piece of paper and a pen. She wrote the address
down on the paper and handed it to him.
He looked down at the paper and back up at her. "Ah, thank you, love.
I'll make sure to keep this in a safe place." He headed over to the
dresser where he kept his wallet and slipped the piece of paper into it.
She laid down on the other bed as he went over to the table, about to
shut off the light.
"Well, until tomorrow," he said quietly.
"Goodnight, Michael," she sighed.
He turned back to her and smiled before shutting off the light.
"Are you all set, then?"
Lisa removed her purse from the end table and slipped her coat on.
"Yes, I've got everything," she answered. She looked back up at Michael
and could see the sadness in his eyes as she was about to drive back to
London.
He swallowed hard and gave her a little smile. "Come on, I'll walk you
out to your car," he said softly. He slipped into his jacket and led
her
out the door.
As they walked down the stairs, Eric came walking into the lobby,
script in hand, shouting "Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!"
Lisa stopped and looked at him.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Eric, what are you doing?"
Eric saw them and stopped dead in his tracks, surprised. "Oh... I..I
didn't expect to find you two here," he said, nervously. "I was just
running through my lines for today's scene."
Michael shut his eyes and sighed. "Oh, no, we're doing Plague Village
today?"
Eric grinned. "Yup. Guess you'll be wearing mud and shit today, Mike,"
he giggled.
Michael rolled his eyes and fixed Eric with a glare. "Right. I'm so
glad you think that's funny." Lisa giggled sympathetically at Michael.
"Anyway, Lisa is heading back to London. I was just seeing her out to
her car," Michael continued.
Eric looked at them, a bit surprised. "Oh. Well, it was nice meeting
you Lisa. I reckon I'll see you again one day soon?"
"At the wedding," Michael interrupted.
"Ah."
He extended his hand and Lisa shook hands with him. "It was nice
meeting you too, Eric," she said.
Eric smiled at her and headed upstairs as she walked outside with
Michael.
"Well, there's my car," she said nervously.
"Ah, so it is," Michael smiled sadly. "Well, I'll be seeing you, love.
And when I'm out here acting my brains out steeped in shit and soaking
wet,
I'll be counting down the days until filming wraps and we can be
together
again."
She looked up at him and smiled. "And when I'm bored out of my head
putting library books away or taking Tess for a walk on a bleak, damp
day I'll be counting down the days until we can be together again."
He giggled and smiled. "Well. Here's hoping that the days go by
quickly." He pulled her in for a kiss and they embraced.
He finally let her go and she entered her car. As she put the key into
the ignition and started the car, Michael stepped away from the curb
and
waved.
She blew him a kiss, then put the car into gear and headed off.
Traffic was surprisingly light as Lisa made the drive back home. The
whole way she kept thinking of how sad Michael looked as she drove
away. She hated to leave him, but she knew she couldn't stay there any
longer. She had a lot of work waiting for her back at the library, and
she couldn't keep relying on her neighbor to take care of the dog.
The sun started to peak through the clouds by the time she reached her
house and parked out front. She fished for her house key and as she
unlocked the door, she heard a familiar howling sound.
As she entered, her dog Tess happily ran up to her, wagging her tail.
Lisa bent down and gave Tess a small hug. The 2-year-old beagle
lovingly gave
Lisa lots of sloppy, wet kisses.
"Good girl, Tess, good girl," Lisa cooed as she started petting the
affectionate hound dog. When her grandmother passed away, Lisa had
become awfully lonely and had bought Tess as a puppy from a breeder.
The dog had given her much companionship. Now that Michael was going to
move in, she hoped he wouldn't mind Tess being here.
She sat down on the couch and the dog jumped up and snuggled up against
her. As she pet the dog, she began thinking about Michael and their
wedding day. She had a lot of plans to make, like picking out a wedding
dress. Luckily her parents planned to take care of the reception plans
and Michael was going to make plans with the local church. Still she
couldn't help but sit there on the couch with her dog and fantasize
about the day when she would finally become Michael's wife. She hoped
these next few weeks would just fly by.
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