An Old Friend: Version A Part 16

About five minutes later, Michael and Lisa arrived at the small eatery known as the Grill-O-Mat. 

"They have one of these in Paignton, you know," Michael grinned as they found a table and sat down.
Lisa looked at him.  "Really?"

"Oh, yes, we filmed an episode of Python there some years back," he answered.

Lisa nodded thoughtfully.  "Hmm.  Was it any good?"

Michael narrowed his eyes.  "Don't know.  All we did was film there, if I recall."

Lisa rolled her eyes and grinned.

A waitress came by and took their orders, for Lisa fish and chips, and for Michael a black pudding sandwich.  Lisa wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Black pudding?? You actually eat that, Michael?" she said, amused and with a grin on her face.

Michael blushed somewhat.  "Yup, I admit it," he chuckled.  "'Tis one of my favorites.  I realize it can be an acquired taste to many, and I only hope you'll be able to put up with it once we're married," he joked.

She grinned at him.  "No, no, I don't mind at all.  To each their own."  At least she didn't have to eat it.

"Ah, thank you."  He took a bite of the sandwich and smiled as he reached across and patted her on the shoulder.  She giggled.

All through lunch between bites of food Michael told Lisa more stories about filming Holy Grail.  Lisa laughed sympathetically at all they had to endure.  "Well, once you get it sent out to the theaters, I'm sure it will all be worth it," she remarked.

"Oh, now that's another thing, we've got to find a distributor once we've got it edited and all that," he sighed.  "I only hope we can find someone who's daft enough to appreciate the story."  He giggled a bit.

"Oh, don't worry.  I'm sure you'll be able to find someone," she said reassuringly.  He looked into her eyes and smiled at her, then reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Michael glanced down at his watch.  "Well, it's just after 2 o'clock.  We should head over to my flat if Terry is going to meet us at 3."

"Oh, I almost forgot about him," Lisa said. 

Michael nodded.  "So did I for a moment, actually.  But don't tell him that, otherwise he'll shatter every glass and window in there and I'll be stuck with a bill even larger than my monthly rent," he laughed.

Lisa laughed alongside Michael.  "Oh, my, you really think he'd go off like that?"

"Do I really think so?" he laughed.  "Oh come on, Lisa, of course he would!  Plus he's just done some filming with John and Graham in Epping Forest so I'd assume he hasn't had an easy time.  I'd just as soon walk on eggshells than risk my sanity and possibly my hearing," he winked.

She laughed.  "Oh well I guess we'd better get going, then," she sighed.

Michael nodded and took Lisa's arm as they walked out of the restaurant.

A short time later, they arrived at Michael's flat. After they walked up several flights of stairs and a short distance down the corridor, Michael stopped in front of his door. "Now before we enter, let me just say again how truly awful my flat is," he said, grinning sheepishly.

She looked up at him and put her arms around him.  "Oh, Michael darling, surely it can't be that bad," she cooed.

He smiled at her.  "Well, alright, I'll let you see for yourself then... are you sure you don't mind?"

She grinned mischievously and raised an eyebrow.  "Not at all, I like a little squalor," she joked.

Michael flashed her a hurt look.  "Squalor??"

She giggled and kissed him on the cheek.  "I was only kidding, Michael," she smiled.

He smiled back.  "Ah, I knew you were, love," he winked.  With that he turned, fished his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.  He motioned for Lisa to enter, and he followed and closed the door behind her.

Lisa strolled around Michael's one-bedroom apartment, looking around curiously.  Of course he had over exaggerated.  It was on the small side, but certainly not awful in the least.  Michael had always been very tidy and organized, and it showed.  The only clutter visible was the empty cardboard boxes on the floor, which he was soon going to fill with his belongings to take over to Lisa's house.

Michael stood there with his arms folded and raised his eyebrows as if to say "...Well?"

"It's very lovely, Michael," she smiled.

He rolled his eyes and grinned.  "Oh, please, you're just saying that," he chuckled.

"No," she giggled.  "It's a bit on the small side, but you're only one person."

"Ah, yes," he smiled.  "And I gain two things by moving in with you...more space and a beautiful girl," he winked.

She smiled tenderly at him, then a stack of small books placed in one of the boxes caught her eye. "Well, what are these?" she asked curiously as she bent down.

"Oh...er..."  Michael started nervously.  He didn't know what to say, as Lisa had stumbled upon a stack of his old diaries.

She picked one of them up and noticed the cover read, "1964-1966".  She flipped it open to a page which had a small satin bookmark stuck inside and began to read aloud:

"18 January 1964... What a truly eventful day this has been.  I just met a girl named Lisa Dobson, a first year student here at Oxford... she doesn't seem like many of the girls I've met here, all loud and boisterous and aggressive.  She's somewhat shy and sweet.  This is her first term here and she seemed nervous about being in such a big school.  I've shown her around as a kind gesture of which she seemed very appreciative.  She really is a sweet girl and I hope I see more of her this term, my last one here..."

Lisa stopped and looked up at Michael who was looking down at his feet and blushing.  She was pleasantly surprised to find that he had written such nice things about her, even back then. She flipped ahead a handful of pages and her face froze when she came to one particular entry...

"15 May 1964... I can't believe my commencement from Oxford is this afternoon.  It's been three long years of intense study, but I've finally done it.  I'll be glad to be getting out of here, especially after some of the gits I've had for professors.... one thing bothers me though.  I'll be leaving dear, sweet Lisa.  She's been more than a friend to me this last term and I don't know how I'll get along without her.  Surely I'd ring her up from time to time, but she'd be busy with classes no doubt, and there are plenty of eligible young bachelors roaming around Oxford to tickle her fancy in my absence.  I've finally found someone I'm truly in love with, and I have to leave her..."

Lisa's eyes widened upon reading this, and she looked back up at Michael again.  He was still blushing somewhat and looking down at his feet.

Finally he looked up at her and smiled shyly.  "Well... now you know.  The first moment I saw you I never wanted to be with anyone else," he said softly.

She put the book down and walked over to him.  "Oh, Michael," she began as she sat down on the couch next to him.  "I guess I can tell you now that I felt exactly the same way."

"Well...I'm really glad we found each other again," he said sweetly.  "Even if it did take all these years."

She smiled and blushed slightly as he looked into her eyes and they kissed.

Suddenly, a thunderous knock on the door interrupted.

Michael's eyes widened and he looked down at his watch.  It was nearly 3 o'clock.  He rolled his eyes. "I'll bet I know who that is," he said sarcastically as he walked over to the door.  He opened it slightly and saw his best friend standing there, looking just a bit impatient.

"Ah, Terry, it's about time you got here," Mike grinned as he opened the door wider still and gestured for Jonesy to come in.

Jonesy's eyes narrowed.  "What do you mean, Mike?  I'm early!" he said, his voice starting to crack already.

Michael giggled good-naturedly.  "I know, Terry, I was only joking."

Jonesy nodded.

"So... how did filming go today? Or do I not want to know?" Michael winked.

"Well, we've got the Black Knight scene all wrapped up now, Mike," Jonesy said eagerly.  "John and Graham were remarkably easy to work with today and we finished early."  He smiled proudly.

"Oh.." Michael said thoughtfully.  "Well…that's good.  I'm glad you had such an easy time today."

Jonesy grinned at him.  "Oh, sure, Mike.  You don't even care."

Michael's eyes narrowed.  "What?  Of course I do."

"No, you don't! You weren't even in this scene!"  Jonesy chided.

Lisa laughed at the sound two good friends jokingly teasing one another.

Michael stopped laughing.  "So...are you ready to help with the big move?"

Jonesy walked over to the window and pointed to a large Budget rent-a-van parked just outside. "Does this look like I'm ready?"

Michael laughed.  "Alright, then let's get going."

They packed up the boxes and Lisa helped them load the smaller ones into the back of Michael's car, and the rest into the rent-a-van.  Then she watched as Michael and Jonesy carried a chest-of-drawers out to the truck and loaded it in.  When they were through they looked exhausted.  Lisa was glad that Michael didn't have too many large, heavy things.

She sighed, then packed up the last box with a stack of Michael's record albums.  She looked curiously through them before closing the box... quite a few Beatles albums, one or two Led Zeppelins, a few Yes albums, Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, and the last one she noticed was an Englebert Humperdinck album.  She shrugged and sealed the box with tape before carrying it out.

Michael wiped the sweat from his brow and pushed his hair out of his eyes.  "Well," he panted, "I guess that's everything.  I'll just go back up to my flat, lock the door, return the keys and meet you both back down here."

Lisa nodded and smiled as Michael ran back upstairs.

When he got to his flat, he stopped and looked around.  It seemed eerie being empty, after he had lived there for 6 years.  But he was moving on, and moving in with the girl he was going to marry.  

He took one last look around and sighed, shut the door and locked it before returning back downstairs.

"Why do you have so many things, Mike?" Jonesy whined as he lugged a big suitcase full of Michael's clothes into Lisa's house.

Michael rolled his eyes and grinned.  "Oh, stop complaining."  He turned to Lisa.  "Just think...if he had been my flat mate all these years, I'd only have one pair of trousers, one shirt and one pair of shoes." 

Lisa laughed.

Michael looked around, satisfied they had brought everything in one trip. "Well Terry, I really appreciate you helping us like this."

"Not at all, Mike.  Just remember now that you owe me," Jonesy raised an eyebrow and grinned mischievously.

"Yes, I'm sure I'll forget that," Michael answered wryly.

Jonesy turned to Lisa.  "Well, best of luck to both of you," he smiled before heading out.

Lisa smiled and looked back at Michael.  He had taken to going through the box which held his record albums.  He removed one particular album and set it down next to his record player.  

She went back to the boxes, removing various things and setting them on the dining room table for the time being.  Michael looked up at her and smiled, and he went over and shut all the curtains, darkening the room.

Lisa looked at him curiously.  He picked up the album, removed the record and set it on the turntable.

He took hold of Lisa and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Let's take a little break from unpacking, love," he said softly, smiling tenderly at her.

She smiled back, and once the music started they began to dance as Englebert Humperdinck crooned:

"So I sing you to sleep
After the lovin'
With a song I just wrote yesterday
And I hope you can hear
What the words and the music have to say...."