An Old Friend: Version B Part 7

Meanwhile, back at the car, Michael was busy rummaging through the trunk. 

"Oh bugger," he muttered to himself. "Where is that blasted thing?"  He had begun to tell Lisa about the film they were making, but he thought she'd enjoy seeing something from it, like a prop or his costume.  Before they left, he had thrown his Sir Galahad costume in a bag, and had smuggled the shield inside the trunk once they quit filming for the day.  He certainly wasn't going to strip completely in this cold weather, but he thought he'd at least pull the costume on over his clothes.  Then he'd bring the shield with him. 

He thought she'd get a kick out of that, seeing him dressed in that costume.  He'd of course read all about knights and chivalry, and he had planned to act the part in front of her tonight.  He'd get down on his knees, kiss her hand, and ask her to be his lady -- although not literally, for she probably was not ready to make such a commitment.  After all, they had just been catching up after not seeing each other for so long.  He didn't want to seem pushy.  He and the other Pythons didn't really have any plans to collaborate on anything once the film was finished, so maybe he'd finally get a chance to settle down and start seeing someone. 

Tonight he made up his mind that he wanted to start seeing more of her.  He thought she felt the same way, although he didn't want to totally assume anything.

Finally he found the bag with the shield right underneath.  Michael breathed a sigh of relief.  He stood behind the car, and pulled the knitted chain-mail armor on over his clothes.  It was no easy task, especially getting the legs on over his flared jeans.  He then threw a white tunic with a large, red cross on over the armor.  Lastly came the hood, which he put on over his head.  The wool made his face a bit itchy, so he pulled the hood down off his head, resting it on his shoulders.  He smoothed his hair down and then grabbed the shield out of the trunk.  He slammed it shut and started to make his way down over the hill.  'She's in for a real treat,' he thought to himself, smiling.

Lisa had started to fall asleep, sitting there so peacefully with Eric.  Even though her heart belonged to Michael tonight, she found Eric to be lovely man with a sharp sense of humor.  Earlier on, Michael had referred to Eric as something of a ladies man.  She had all but forgotten about that now.  He seemed so genuine tonight, and she had gotten lonely waiting for Michael to come back.  She did hold out a bit though. 

As Michael got closer, he was able to see that Lisa was not alone.  Someone else was sitting on the bench with her.  Hmm, probably an old salt telling her about the area; after all, there was a small house further up shore where an old sailor was rumored to live. He was most likely boring her to death.  He giggled a bit to himself. 

As he got a few feet behind them however, he stopped dead in his tracks.  A look of total horror spread across Michael's face as he realized Eric was once again coming between them.  The encounter at the discotheque had momentarily made Michael angry and embarrassed, but it was nothing compared to this. 

No, this was much worse.  Eric was Michael's friend and he had trusted him.  Michael was not a man who got angry a lot, as he had always been referred to as "the nicest Python," but tonight the anger was raging inside of him.  He marched up to Eric and stared at him, coldly.

Eric took no notice of him, so Michael cleared his throat sharply.  Eric smiled at the girl asleep in his arms. 

"Eric?" Michael said quietly. 

Eric still took no notice of him. 

"ERIC!!!" Michael shouted, his face red with anger. 

Eric finally looked up, smiling.  He turned back to Lisa, then did a double-take, his eyes wide upon seeing Michael looking at him angrily. "Mike!" he exclaimed. "Er....."  He was at a loss for words and a bit embarrassed, so he plastered an all-over smile onto his face and laughed nervously. "What are you doing in that costume, Mike?"

Michael, although now a little bit embarrassed to be wearing the costume, was not amused. "Don't you 'Mike' me!!" he yelled.  If it weren't for his bangs, the veins popping out of his forehead would be clearly visible. "I don't believe this! What are you doing here with my girl??"

'My girl'?? For a moment, Michael couldn't believe his choice of words; he hadn't quite meant to say that to Eric, but they were coming right from his heart.

Eric was speechless.  "I...I…uh...it's not what you think, Mike. I-"

Michael cut him off. "Oh, 'it's not what you think.'  You're sitting there with your bloody arm around her! What am I supposed to think?!"

Even though he was taller than Michael, Eric was still afraid he would get clobbered so he tried to calm Michael down. "Look Mike, I know you're angry and this deserves an explanation, but...I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition! Heh?" he laughed nervously.

Michael shook his head and looked at Eric with sheer contempt.  "You stupid git.  All you can do is make jokes.   How the bloody 'ell did you get here??"

"W-well," Eric started. "I saw you pull out of the Groove Tube, and I was quite bored so I thought I'd join you."

"You thought you'd join me???" Michael repeated, raising his voice an octave in disbelief.

"Yeah...hey look, mate, I didn't know you were with the girl," Eric said, getting a bit testy.

Speaking of which, Lisa stirred in Eric's arms.  She was starting to wake up. "Mmm, she moaned, "Eric? Whass going on?" she asked sleepily.  She then looked up and saw Michael staring angrily at Eric. 

Michael looked over at Lisa, a bit embarrassed and not knowing how to explain. 

She looked up and her eyes grew wide. "Michael!" she exclaimed as she moved away from Eric. "I... I was just sitting here, waiting for you when Eric suddenly sat down.  He gave me a bit of a fright, and..."

"No that's all right, Lisa," Michael said softly to her. "I'll take care of this." He glared at Eric.

Suddenly Eric leapt off the bench.  "I'm sorry Lisa," he declared, as he looked at Michael with contempt. "I just wanted to meet the girl of my good friend.  I don't have to take this."

Michael couldn't believe his audacity.  First Eric comes on to his girl and then he covers it up with some lame excuse.  He dropped his shield and lunged for Eric, who ducked to the side.  Michael slipped on the wet, muddy sand and fell headfirst into the water. 

Before he could get up, Eric grabbed Lisa by the arm. "I'm sorry about all this Lisa," he said apologetically. "My car is just up the hill and across the road.  Come on, let's go." 

"But-" Lisa started, as Eric dragged her running up the hill.  She looked back at Michael, who had pulled his head up out of the water.  He was soaking wet.  As they ran up the hill, she watched him grow smaller and smaller.  She felt so horrible inside for deserting him, but felt she had no choice as Eric was dragging her, grasping her arm so hard that she couldn't let go. 

When they made it up over the hill, they crossed the street where Eric's car was waiting for them.  He unlocked the door and opened it for her.  She wanted to run out, back across the street, and back down the hill to Michael, to kiss away his hurt, but something was holding her back. 

Could it be that she was starting to fall in love with Eric?  No, it couldn't be.  She thought he was very charming and felt that he really cared for her, but deep down Michael was the only one for her.  After Eric got in, he quickly started up the engine and put the car into gear.

"Wh-where are we going?" she asked, timidly.

The thought hadn't really crossed Eric's mind.  Right now the important thing was to get as far away from Michael as possible, and as quickly as possible.  "Uh...well, would you care for a bite to eat?" he asked. 

She looked at him with a worn, haggard look.

"Or if you're tired I suppose I could take you back to our hotel," he glanced at her.

"That sounds fine," she said, somberly. 

As they drove farther and farther away, Lisa's face grew hot as she tried to fight back the tears.  She was unsuccessful, and a few of them began to roll down her cheeks.