An Old Friend: Version B Part 14

(Note: “Creepin’” lyrics belong to Stevie Wonder.)
 
 
Lisa put her head back and sighed as Michael drove past the hotel and out into the open countryside.  She looked over at him and noticed the silly grin plastered on his face. “You’re not going to tell me what you have in store, are you,” she said, more of a statement than a question.
 
Michael shook his head.  “I have no intention to ruin the surprise,” he stated.
 
“Drat,” she frowned.
 
He giggled and reached over for a moment to pat her arm. 
 
“You’re no fun anymore,” she said with a mock pout.
 
Michael’s eyes widened. “Are you sure you’ve never watched Flying Circus?” he asked incredulously.
 
Lisa’s brow furrowed in confusion and she looked at him curiously. “Yes,” she nodded.  “What does that have to do with it?”
 
Michael sighed.  “Oh, nothing, really…I suppose we can’t accuse you of plagiarism.”
 
“Hmm?”
 
“Are you absolutely sure that you have never seen it?” he asked, grinning slightly.
 
“Yes!!” she giggled.
 
“Where did you get that phrase from, then? Any of your friends catch the program and recite some of the bits the next day?” he prodded.
 
“No, Michael!” she replied, giggling harder.  “I just thought it was an appropriate thing to say at the time, I swear!”
 
He glanced at her quickly and gave her a smile. “You continue to surprise me, Lisa.  Now I know this relationship is golden – you have a marvelous sense of humor,” he said cheekily.
 
Lisa blushed furiously and smiled at him shyly as he continued down the road.
 

 
About twenty minutes later, they reached what appeared to be a dead end, and Michael pulled off of the now dirt road and parked the car.  Lisa could see a fairly large body of water in the distance. 
 
“Well, here we are,” Michael announced as he turned off the ignition.  He turned toward Lisa and smiled.
 
Lisa opened the door and got out.  She was quite surprised at how mild it felt outside, despite the fairly constant breeze.  She looked out towards the loch and breathed in deeply.  There was no putrid smell of mud and barnyard animals, as that which had plagued her nostrils half the time during the Grail filming at Doune.  It was nothing more than fresh air; no discernable scent, which was surprisingly pleasant.
 
Michael stared at Lisa as she gazed out toward Loch Tay.  The way she moved as she removed her coat from her shoulders, the way the lacy nightgown that she’d purchased when she bought the sweater billowed about her legs, and the way her very long, wavy hair blew around ever so slightly in the wind made her look like a goddess.  He began to look at her longingly, and his eyes gleamed with a fiery passion.  “No, knock it off, Palin,” he berated himself silently.  “Not yet.  This is supposed to be romantic, remember? You can get silly with her later.”
 
After a moment, Lisa turned and watched as Michael began to remove his coat as well.  She studied every move he made, studied his face, his eyes, and the endearing way his hair began to blow ever so slightly in the wind.  It was at that moment that she realized she wanted Michael.  She did have him already, to some extent. She had his mind, his friendship, his deep love and understanding.  But she wanted his body.  She wanted him.  As she stared at him, she was painfully unaware that her breathing became deep, labored, and, quite embarrassingly, loud.  She blushed deeply and cleared her throat as she silently berated herself as well.  It was too early to be thinking this way.  After all, they were still only dear friends, possibly just picking up on their relationship where they had left off more than five years ago.
 
Fortunately, Michael didn’t notice her spectacle.  He was too busy getting a few towels out of the back of his car.  Towels? She looked at him curiously.  Why would he have any need for towels?  She giggled softly.  Michael could seem little a little old washwoman at times.
 
Unfortunately, he caught the giggles. “What?” he asked, looking up from the towels and raising his eyebrows.
 
“Sorry,” she said as she stopped giggling.  “I just wasn’t expecting you to be equipped with towels, Michael.  From the looks of it I thought you had a beach in mind.”
 
“Oh…well, this is a loch, which, if I’m not mistaken, translates into ‘lake’ or something similar, and lakes are known to have a shoreline.  So, not quite a beach, but not far from it,” he grinned.
 
She grinned back and nodded.
 
“Plus, I reckoned you wouldn’t want to sit in any mud we may encounter there, as there aren’t any benches or seats or anything like that,” he continued.
 
“How do you know?” she asked, smiling.
 
“We filmed a few scenes for Holy Grail here,” he answered, smiling back. 
 
Lisa nodded thoughtfully as Michael reached over and locked the car door.
 
“So, on that note, shall we be off, my lady?” he asked her.
 
“Yes, thank you, good sir knight!” she said cheekily, causing him to giggle a bit.
 

 
Lisa and Michael strolled hand in hand down toward the shoreline of Loch Tay, and continued in an easterly direction.  After a while, Michael laid one of the large towels down on what was actually a fairly sandy soil, and gestured for Lisa to sit down next to him. 
 
She sat down and Michael pulled her close to him, wrapping his arm around her.  For a while, they just stared out at the loch and enjoyed the view.  It was a gorgeous night, not too cold and just a bit breezy, and the sky was quite clear.  The full moon was reflected off of the water, and it cast a soft, glowing light.  The sound of the water gently lapping at the edge of the loch made for a wonderful calming effect.  Lisa sighed deeply and thought that this must be what heaven is like. 
 
She closed her eyes and smiled.  She felt so nice and safe in Michael’s arms, as if nothing could harm her.  What she felt now more than made up for what had happened the previous night, when it had started out just as lovely but ended in unfortunate circumstances.  She sighed again and wished that she and Michael could stay here and sit like this forever.
 
She felt Michael shift a bit and loosen his grip on her, and she fell out of his embrace. 
 
“Quite lovely, isn’t it?” he remarked.
 
“Oh, yes,” she said dreamily.  “I think it even tops the place you brought me to last night.”
 
A startled frown appeared on her face as she noticed Michael’s smile fade before he averted his eyes and nodded. “I’m sorry I mentioned it,” she said regrettably.
 
He looked back up at her and giggled softly. “No need to apologize,” he assured her.  “I’m just glad this evening is turning out better than last night.  As we were filming here, I had thought to myself, ‘this must be a beautiful, romantic place after dark.’  I just had to share it with you, and I’m glad we were able to come out here alone.”
 
Lisa beamed and nodded at him. “Thank you for sharing this with me,” she said, gesturing all around with her hand.  “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the night.”
 
Suddenly, Michael’s eyes gleamed mischievously and a wide grin formed on his face. “I can,” he said softly.
 
Lisa looked at him curiously.
 
“But not yet,” he blurted out, causing her to grin widely. He put his arm around her once again. “I’m right glad that bloke stopped following us,” he continued.
 
“Mmm,” she said thoughtfully.  “I thought that was rather odd.”
 
Michael nodded and then shrugged slightly.  After they had been driving a few minutes, there appeared to be a car following them at a slight distance.  Michael had groaned inwardly as he remembered the incident that had led to the previous night.  But, just before they arrived, the car took a right turn and seemed to be heading on a different roadway.  They had been worried for nothing.
 
“If you think the view is gorgeous here, wait until you see what else is in store,” he suddenly remarked as he took her hand and guided her up off the towel.  He folded it up, grabbed the other two towels, and they began to walk further east.
 

Near the east end of the loch was an outcrop of limestone – huge boulders and crags, which led to a small grotto.  Michael guided Lisa over to the area at the mouth of the grotto and set the towel down for them to sit on.  It afforded a very lovely view, and they were even a bit shielded from the breezes.  To top it off, it offered them a little privacy, in case they felt like snogging.   
 
The latter wasn’t quite on Michael’s mind just yet as he pulled Lisa close to him once again and they gazed out over the loch.  She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly.
 
“So, what you do think, love?” Michael asked her softly.
 
“Michael,” she began thoughtfully.  “I think I can say without question that this is the most gorgeous, most beautiful, most romantic place I’ve ever been to, and I can’t tell you how much I love you for bringing me here and sharing it with me.”
 
She removed her head from his shoulder and looked up at him for his reaction.
 
“Can you try?” he asked her playfully, a faint smirk on his face.
 
Lisa giggled softly as she noticed his dimples peeking out of the corners of his mouth.  She put her head back down on his shoulder. “No, unfortunately I don’t think there are enough words in the English language to describe how much I love you,” she continued.
 
“Then try French,” he continued cheekily.
 
Lisa lifted her head and started laughing. Michael kept a straight face, which only made her laugh harder. “Um…” she started as she calmed down.  “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”
 
Michael’s eyes widened. “What??” he said incredulously before breaking out into laughter.
 
Lisa was a bit surprised by his reaction, as her French was a bit rusty and she wasn’t absolutely sure what the phrase translated into.
 
“My, you’re getting rather bold, aren’t you?” Michael exclaimed, still giggling somewhat.
 
“I’m what??” she asked curiously.  “What do you mean, ‘rather bold?’”
 
“You just asked ‘would you like to go to bed with me tonight?’” he clarified, grinning at her.
 
Lisa’s jaw dropped, which only made Michael grin even wider.  Even though she had admitted to herself that she wanted him she wasn’t about to reveal it to him, at least not just yet.  Something about it still embarrassed her, as if their relationship hadn’t progressed that far and there shouldn’t be any such talk for a while. 
 
Michael studied her expression and gave her a disappointed look. “What, you didn’t mean it?” he asked through puppy dog eyes.
 
Lisa picked her jaw up off the ground and began to giggle nervously. “No, I…my French is a bit rusty, and I wasn’t exactly sure what the phrase translated to.  I remembered it was something romantic, but I thought it was something along the lines of ‘will you give me your unconditional love?’”
 
Michael looked at her amusedly before giggling affectionately.  “I think I like that one a little better,” he admitted. 
 
He translated it into French for her and began giving her little kisses as he muttered it softly to her.  Lisa giggled softly as she enjoyed every minute of it.
 
He stopped kissing her and began to stare longingly into her eyes.  “Would you care for a little swim, my love?” he asked her seriously as he traced her jaw line with his finger.
 
She put the romanticism on hold as her brow knitted in confusion and she looked out toward the lake.  “You mean, out there?” she asked, gesturing toward the body of water.
 
“Well, we could go for a swim in the sand, but I don’t think you’ll find it very compelling,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
 
Lisa rolled her eyes and grinned as she playfully swatted him. “I meant out there dressed like this,” she smirked, gesturing to her nightgown and his pajamas.
 
“Hmm…that is a problem, isn’t it,” he remarked as he furrowed his brow in confusion.  He lowered his head as he looked down at his pajamas.  Then an idea seemed to come to him, and he raised his head as sober look formed on his face and he broke out in a grin.
 
“What?” she said curiously. 
 
He neglected to answer her, and began unbuttoning his pajama top.  He dropped it right next to her on the towel, and Lisa smiled as she caught sight of his lovely bare chest once again.  Her eyes drifted upward, and she took note of how surprisingly well-built he was; his arms, his not-too-broad shoulders, his neck.  She even fancied the way his longish hair – not too long, but certainly longer than it was the last time she had seen him – fell about his neck and framed his face. 
 
Her smile faded as she noticed that he was beginning to remove his pajama bottoms as well, and a curious look formed on her face. “Michael?” she asked quietly.
 
He didn’t answer, but threw the bottoms on top of the towel and then proceeded to remove his underwear.  Lisa’s eyes grew wide in shock, as she got more than an eyeful of Michael completely naked.
 
 “What are you…?” she choked out.
 
Michael turned back to her and grinned broadly before he dashed out of the grotto and made his way down to the loch.  Before Lisa could say anything, he turned back to her and gestured for her to join him.
 
“Michael, you’re absolutely mad!!” she exclaimed with an amused grin on her face.  “I can’t swim in this!!”
 
“Then do as I did!” he called back to her, still grinning.
 
Lisa sputtered incredulously, still not believing what he was doing.  Michael ran a few more feet ahead before he jumped into the loch, submerging himself.  Lisa continued to stare straight ahead, wide-eyed before he reemerged above the surface.  He shook his head a bit and pushed his wet bangs out of his eyes. “Come on, Lisa!” he beckoned, all the while grinning widely.
 
Lisa took one last look around, and upon discovering that they were the only two people here, she began to remove her nightgown.  She became a bit hesitant and stopped, but when she caught sight of Michael smiling broadly in anticipation, a grin spread across her face and she threw the nightgown off.  She placed it on the other end of the towel, along with her underwear.
 
She took one curious look at the other two towels.  She then realized that he had brought them along for herself and him to dry off.  There seemed to be something bulky underneath them, though.  She furrowed her brow in confusion as she tried to guess what they were covering.
 
“Lisa!!” Michael yelled again.
 
She put her curiosity aside and ran down to the shore.  She jumped into the water, submerged herself…and immediately reemerged, gasping.  The water was a bit cold, and almost came as a shock to her.
 
“You alright?” Michael asked.
 
Lisa nodded as she tried to catch her breath.  She pushed her long hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ears.  She looked down and realized the water was up to her chest.
 
Michael smiled broadly at her.  He was glad that she didn’t think he was daft to even suggest going skinny dipping in one of Scotland’s lochs.  The Grail filming had taken its toll on everyone, including Michael, even though he seemed the least likely to complain.  They had their sources of diversion…sitting around and singing while waiting for the two directors named Terry to sort themselves out, having a drink and a sing-along in the bar, playing various games.  But Michael wanted to do something really fun…with someone he really liked; something more offbeat and crazy.  In a way, the skinny dipping was like a release for him.  It was a release of all the pent-up frustration he had shared in as they filmed in cold, soggy locations, and put up with their friends’ antics. 
 
As for Lisa, she had never done anything so outrageous in her life.  As hard as it almost was for her to admit, though, it felt good.  It had been a bit of a stressful few days for her as well, especially as far as the encounters with Eric were concerned.  She was with the man she loved, they were completely alone, and it felt refreshing.  Enveloped in the cool water, she felt almost as if she was being reborn.  It was as if all the stress she had acquired had been washed away.  She felt anew, and a large smile formed on her face.
 
“What’s this?” Michael asked quietly as he noticed the smile.
 
Lisa giggled happily.  “I feel great,” she exclaimed.  “You have no idea how great this feels, Michael,” she gushed as she began moving her arms and started to swim away from him.
 
Michael grew a smile of his own and swam to catch up with her. “Isn’t it? I mean, the water was quite cold, but now that I’m used to it, it’s not much different from bath water,” he remarked.
 
“You’re right,” she added.  “It’s actually quite comfortable.”
 
Michael nodded.  They swam out a bit of a distance from the shore, stopping only once or twice for a quick kiss.  After about forty-five minutes or so, the water seemed to chill a bit and they both decided it was time to start heading back. 
 
They quickly made their way back to the grotto, glancing around every now and then to make sure no one was around.  Luckily it seemed like they had the whole place to themselves.  Michael sat himself back down on one end of the large towel, grabbed a smaller towel for himself and handed the other one to Lisa, who graciously accepted it and began to dry herself off.  They proceeded to put their pajamas back on, and once they were finished, Lisa glanced back where they had tossed the two towels.  She realized what had been hidden underneath them before and her mouth gaped open.
 
Michael reached over and picked up what appeared to be a picnic basket, lifted the top and removed a bottle of wine and two wine glasses.  He said not a word, but handed one of the glasses to Lisa, uncorked the bottle and began pouring some wine for the two of them.
 
Lisa covered her mouth with her free hand, still stunned and pleasantly surprised.
 
After Michael had finished pouring the red wine, he looked into her eyes and smiled sweetly. 
 
“Michael, where did this come from?” she asked slowly as tears threatened to cloud her vision.
 
“I pilfered them from the bar not long after we got back from Doune today,” he answered, still looking into her eyes.
 
“You what?”
 
Michael giggled softly. “I asked the bartender to request something for a romantic evening, and he quite eagerly let me have the bottle, glasses and the basket,” he elaborated.
 
“Oh,” Lisa replied.  She took a sip of the red liquid.  It was so smooth and flavorful, not overbearing at all, and it tantalized her senses.  She rolled it around across her tongue before she swallowed it and uttered a slight sound of approval.
 
“It’s that good, is it?” Michael asked her amusedly.  Lisa opened her eyes and gave him a half smile before nodding slightly.  Michael smiled at her and then took a sip of it himself. “Oh…it is good,” he remarked once he had swallowed it.
 
Lisa giggled softly before Michael edged over a bit and pulled her close to him.  She smiled at him and brushed a wet strand of hair out of his eyes.  Michael smiled back and impishly touched her on the end of the nose.  For a while, the two of them sat on the towel, in each other’s arms, staring out at the gorgeous view in front of them, and sipping wine.
 

 
Lisa slowly opened her eyes and grimaced, as she felt a chilly breeze tickle her face. She edged up and looked around.  They were still in the same spot they had been before, and Lisa realized that she and Michael must have fallen asleep.  It was still dark out, though, so they couldn’t have been asleep long.  She checked her watch and uttered a small gasp.  It was after 2 am. 
 
She looked around some more, and her suspicion was confirmed as she noticed the two wine glasses, each with about a drop of wine left in them, lying on their sides on top of the towel.  More importantly, she spotted a softly snoring Michael, still in the position she’d left him in as she arose.  She started to giggle.  The two of them had only had one glass of wine each, and they’d fallen fast asleep.  It seemed almost ridiculous, and she giggled even louder.
 
It must have been enough to wake Michael, because he slowly opened one eye to see what was going on.  He shut it again and eased his head back down, only to get up quickly as if he had done a double take.  His eyes widened somewhat, trying to make sense of what had happened. “Lisa, what…” he started.
 
Lisa grinned. “It’s after 2 am, Michael.  I think we fell asleep.”
 
“From one glass of wine? Never had that happen before,” he muttered as he eased himself up off the towel.
 
She broke out in a smirk and gestured to his head.  His hair had dried, but it was a bit disheveled.
 
Michael blushed and immediately smoothed his hair down, finger-combing it a bit. “Better?” he asked her, raising his eyebrows. 
 
Lisa smiled and nodded.
 
Michael looked around at the small mess they had made, gathered the two glasses and the nearly full bottle of wine, and stuck them back in the basket.  He gathered up the towels as well and they silently made their way back down the loch.  The moon was still shining over the water and they couldn’t help glancing every now and then at it as they continued further west and away from the shore.   
 
As they reached the car, Michael unlocked the door, threw the towels and the basket in the back seat.  He entered the car and noticed Lisa smiling gratefully at him.
 
“Thanks for sharing this with me, Michael.  I love you so much,” she said.
 
“Think nothing of it,” he answered, before he reached over and kissed her tenderly.  They parted lips and Michael turned to face forward before he turned on the ignition, put the car into gear and they headed back to the hotel.
 
Meanwhile, a solitary figure crept out from behind a limestone boulder.  He did a slow burn as he witnessed the car take off and head back down the dirt road before he made his way back to his own car.

 
Lisa had been sleeping soundly in bed when she began seeing pictures in her mind.  She could see herself and Michael on the beach as they had been before.  Then the scene changed to an open field – or rather, moors – and she was running toward Michael.  They were both running toward each other in what seemed to be slow motion.  She noticed that Michael was smiling happily and it warmed her heart. 
 
They were about six feet apart when suddenly Michael had turned into Eric.  He was smiling happily as well, as he breathlessly called out her name.  It frightened Lisa.  She couldn’t understand why Michael had turned into Eric.  It didn’t make sense. 
 
Perhaps even more strangely, the song she had heard in the supermarket earlier was running through her head the entire time…
 
I can hear you sighin'
Sayin' you'll stay beside me
Why must it be
That you always creep...
Into my dreams

On the beach we're sittin'
Huggin', squeezin', kissin'
Why must it be
That you always creep...
Into my dreams…………….
 
The music got louder and louder as Lisa began to yell at Eric. “What’s going on??” she cried, her voice shaking.  “What did you do with Michael??”
 
Eric couldn’t answer her and looked at her blankly.  He started smiling again and tried to embrace her. 
 
Lisa pushed him away and appeared to be in a panic. “Where’s Michael???” she began to yell over and over as tears began streaming down her face. 

Eric dragged her away as she cried louder and louder, demanding to know where Michael was, and never getting an answer.
 

 
Lisa quickly sat up, panting as she looked around the room.  She wanted to make certain that this had just been a dream.  She turned to her right and noticed Michael sleeping soundly in the other bed.  Once she realized that everything was okay, she caught her breath and put her hand to her heart. 
 
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. 
 
The dream had been so powerful, and it seemed so real, as if it was trying to tell her something.  She tried to dismiss it, though, tried to write it off as being the result of a stressful few days.  She knew that it was possible to have weird or bad dreams when one was under a lot of stress.  She tried to write it off because she was worried about what it might actually mean.  She didn’t want to have any more confrontations with Eric.  She liked him as a friend, but Michael was the one she loved and she was more than certain that nothing could ever change that. 
 
She shed a few tears as she tried to recover from the dream and convince herself that everything was fine.  She looked over at Michael once again, and saw the mass of brown hair sticking out of the covers.  She watched the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, and it calmed her.  She sniffled a couple of times, and lie back down on the bed.  Once she heard Michael snoring softly, she knew she had no reason to worry and slowly drifted off to sleep.
 

 
Lisa drifted back into a state of consciousness just as she heard a faint knocking on the door.  She slowly raised her head and gazed at the clock on the end table.  Who on earth had the nerve to bother them at 6 am? 
 
She looked over at Michael again and noticed that he was still asleep.  The poor guy had been through so much over the past two weeks, including getting up at the crack of dawn to film the opening of the Tale of Sir Galahad scene.  Why couldn’t they just leave him alone for once?  Lisa threw her legs over the side of the bed, put her shoes on and slipped into a dressing gown before heading over to the door.  She was prepared to give whomever was knocking this early both barrels.
 
She opened the door and felt her heart leap up into her throat. “Uh, H-Hi, E-Eric…” she muttered, suddenly feeling lightheaded.