An Old Friend: Version A Part 17

Lisa walked down the hall toward her bedroom and closed the door behind her.  She stripped down to her underwear, pulled a cotton nightgown out of her dresser and slipped it on.  Tonight she was going to be sleeping in her parents' old bedroom with Michael.  It felt a bit strange not sleeping in her own room for once, and more so since they were not married yet. It more than likely made her appear like a prude by today's standards, but Lisa didn't believe in sex before marriage. She had discussed it with Michael and although it was probably killing him, he agreed to honor that. She trusted him and felt safe.

She walked over to her dressing table and began brushing her hair in front of the mirror.  She had started daydreaming when the ticking of the clock on top of the table interrupted.  She saw that it was nearly 10 p.m.  She placed the hairbrush back on top of the table, put her slippers on, and exited the room.

Michael was busy putting his pajamas on in her parents' old bedroom.  Lisa noticed that the door was slightly ajar and she could see him about to slip his pajama top on.  She smiled.  She had never seen him shirtless before, and he appeared to be a bit more muscular than she'd thought.  She inched up to the door, and pushed it open slightly.  She turned crimson, not expecting the door to emit such a loud creak.

Michael stopped what he was doing, and looked up at her curiously. "Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?" he said jokingly with an amused grin on his face and raising an eyebrow.

She entered the room and walked up to him, resting her arms loosely around his neck. "Just having a look at the handsome man I'm going to marry," she said softly, smiling tenderly at him.

He smiled back, his dimples peeking at the corners of his mouth.  "You know, I've always thought you were the most beautiful girl I ever met."

She smiled and blushed deeply, turning her glance downward.

"Not to mention the sweetest girl…" he continued.

A strand of Michael's bangs dropped into his eye, and Lisa reached up and brushed it off to the side of his face.

"Will you stop doing that?" he giggled.

She giggled back.  "I'm sorry Michael, I just can't help gazing at your beautiful eyes," she smiled, then realized how stupid she must sound.

Michael blushed slightly.  "Well.  I guess we should prevent that from happening again, eh?"  He walked out toward the bathroom next door. "And since I'm not due at the barber until Saturday..." he called out from the bathroom.  He opened the door to the medicine chest and found a solitary can of Harmony hairspray inside.  He took his comb and combed all of his bangs over to the other side of his face.  Then he took hold of the can and sprayed them lightly with the hairspray.  He placed it back inside the chest and strolled back into the bedroom. "...I reckon this should suffice for the time being," he continued.

Lisa reached up and touched the top of his head.  It felt a bit sticky.  Her eyes narrowed. "What did you do?" she asked in an amused tone.

"I take it that was your can of hairspray?"

Lisa furrowed her brow in confusion, then her eyes widened.  "Oh! No...that was my mother's.  She must have left it here before she and dad moved away."

"Ah," Michael nodded.  "Well, this should do until I pay Nigel a visit, then."

She looked at him curiously.  "Who's Nigel?"

He giggled apologetically.  "My barber.  I've known him for quite a number of years actually, probably since I first lived at my old flat."

"Well, considering how marvelous your hair looks, he must be quite an artist," she winked.

"Oh...well, I don't know about that," Michael grinned.  "There was the time back in 1970 when he nearly butchered the top of my head.  We were about to film the Spanish Inquisition sketch, and he literally hacked up my hair on top.  Fortunately I had to wear that floppy red hat, but it was quite embarrassing.  I kept tousling it up and pushing it back off my face.  It took quite a while to grow back as I remember, I..."

As Michael rambled on, Lisa stared lovingly at him.  He trailed off when he noticed her looking into his eyes and smiling.  He smiled back and inched closer to her.  They sat down on the edge of the bed, and
inched closer and closer toward one another, until he put his lips against hers and they engaged in a passionate kiss.

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Suddenly, the sound of the phone ringing pierced the silence.  Lisa's eyes widened, and she and Michael both stepped back.

"Now who in the world would be calling at this hour?" she said quietly.  She exited the room and turned back to Michael.

"I'll be right back, Michael dear," she said softly.  Michael grinned and gave her a playful little wave.

"Do hurry back," he said in almost a whisper.

She smiled and left the room, heading down the stairs.  When she got to the bottom, she nearly tripped over Tess. "Oh!" she exclaimed as the dog grunted in surprise.  She bent down and pet the dog, then headed over to the kitchen and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" she said timidly.

A woman's voice answered back.  It sounded a bit familiar to Lisa, and had a hint of an American accent to it. "Hello, is this Lisa Dobson, the soon-to-be Mrs. Palin?"

"Yes," Lisa answered curiously.  "Who may I ask is calling, please?"

The woman giggled.  "Oh I'm sorry, dear, I should have introduced myself.  I'm Connie Booth, John Cleese's wife.  I don't mean to intrude, but John had just arrived back after shooting on location in Scotland and he told me the wonderful news.  Let me just say that I'm ever so happy for you and Michael!"

"Oh, thanks very much," Lisa answered, still in a bit of a daze.  "I thought you sounded familiar, Connie.  John had mentioned you a bit, even when I first met him."

"Yes, I'm sure that he did," Connie remarked a bit sardonically.  "Anyway, I apologize for ringing you up so late, but I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me and Carol tomorrow evening."

Lisa furrowed her brow in confusion.  "Carol?"

"Yes, Carol Cleveland.  She's another good friend and appeared in lots of the Python programs.."

"Oh, yes, she played the blonde with the flowing white gown in the movie they just made... um... Zoot...or Dingo? Something like that?"

Connie giggled.  "Yes, yes, that's her!  Apparently one of the guys told her the news as well, and she's very excited.  Would you like to have dinner with us?  There's a nice little Italian restaurant not far from the Beeb where all the guys would commiserate after taping wrapped."

"Oh, that's very nice of you," Lisa exclaimed.  "I'd be delighted!"

"Wonderful!" Connie answered.  "We'll pick you up tomorrow evening, say around 6 o'clock?"

"That sounds marvelous," Lisa answered.  "Oh...I suppose you'd like directions to my house, right?"

"Oh, no, that's alright, Terry Jones gladly gave them to me," Connie answered.  "Alright, dear, I won't keep you.  See you tomorrow."

"Okay.  Bye, Connie."  Lisa hung up the phone and a thought occurred to her.  Why would Terry Jones give Connie and Carol her address? And gladly as well?  It all seemed a bit fishy.

She shook her head as if to clear it.  No, he's probably just so happy for his best friend.  They wouldn't try to plan anything of any sort.  She sighed, then slowly ascended the stairs and headed back toward the bedroom. When she entered, she saw Michael stretched out on the left side of the bed, reading another novel.  She pulled the door shut and he looked up at her.

"So...if you don't mind me asking, who was that calling so late in the evening?"

"Oh, you'll never believe this, Michael, it was Connie Booth," she exclaimed.

Michael raised an eyebrow.  "Connie?  Really?"

"Yes, and she invited me to dinner tomorrow evening along with Carol Cleveland.  She said she was very happy for us both.  I have to admit I was quite surprised to hear from her."

"That makes two of us," Michael said thoughtfully.  I wonder how she found out we were getting married?"

He then rolled his eyes, annoyed at himself for overlooking common sense.  "Oh, what am I saying?  She's married to John of course...obviously she would know."

Lisa giggled.  "Well, I accepted.  I should have asked her if you'd come.  I feel so horrible leaving you here all alone."

"Well, I'll try to get along without you for one night, love,"  He grinned playfully.  She swatted him. "No, no, I'll be alright," he laughed.  "I could ring up Terry and catch a bite to eat with him.  I'm going to ask him to be my best man, since we've been such good friends for a long time, so I'd like to have a chat with him anyway."

Lisa looked at the clock on the end table.  It was 11 p.m.  They had both had a long day, moving his belongings into her house and such, and she was beginning to feel a tad exhausted.

Michael yawned and stretched his arms.  "Ah well, I guess we'd better call it a night, then," he said.  Lisa nodded.

He reached over and switched off the light.  Then he snuggled under the covers, and put his arm around her.  She sighed contentedly and snuggled up next to him.

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They were both sleeping soundly when suddenly the telephone rang once again and jolted Michael awake. "Mmm?" he moaned sleepily.  When he was awake enough to figure out what was going on, he noticed the telephone sitting on the end table.  He had not been aware of the phone being there before. 

He reached over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" he said, quite sleepily.

"Ah, Mike! I'm glad I caught you up at this hour!" a familiar voice exclaimed.  It was Eric.

"Eric?" Michael said, disbelievably.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't wake you, did I?" Eric asked apologetically.

"Oh...no, no," Michael lied.  He looked over at Lisa who was sleeping soundly and felt like strangling Eric for waking him up.  "Is something wrong, Eric?"

"Oh, no.  I'm just calling on behalf of the other chaps to invite you to a little get-together tomorrow evening...one of your last days as a free man," he joked.

"Well, what do you blokes have in mind?" Michael continued softly, trying as hard as possible not to wake Lisa.

"Oh, nothing much, really," Eric answered.  "We just thought we'd head to our old little writing room down at the BBC and order some take-away food from the Chinese restaurant up the road.  You know, just like old times," he giggled.

Michael grinned amusedly.  "Alright, count me in.  I have to admit though, it will feel pretty odd, especially since we're not going to be doing the show anymore."

Eric sighed.  "I know, Mike.  But listen, you're getting married soon.  It's something to celebrate!  So what do you say?  We'll meet there at around 6:30."

"Fine," Michael answered.  "I'll see you then.  'Night, Eric."

"Goodnight, Mike," Eric answered as Michael hung up the phone.  He laid back with his hands behind his head and sighed.  An evening with the guys again, just like old times.  He almost felt bad that they weren't doing any more Flying Circus episodes, but John's decision to leave the show was partly to blame.  They were going to do another six episodes, but without John the balance was gone and Eric balked at the idea.

But they were moving on.  They all had their own individual projects in mind, and Michael was getting married in a few days.  He turned back toward Lisa and saw her snuggled under the covers, a serene little smile on her face.  He smiled sweetly at her, then got under the covers and snuggled up to her, drifting off to sleep.