Chelsea took off her wig and threw herself into a
chair. Filming was turning out to be more tiring than she’d expected,
and to
top it all off of course there was the little matter of awkwardness
between herself and Michael at the only time he’d spoken to her all
day.
She’d looked around for him since, and
despite his being in many of the sketches she’d had little or no time
to stop
him for a word. In fact she found herself in conversation with Eric
most of the
afternoon and she was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with
him.
Eric was a very touchy person, and it seemed
that since his little episode during the Marriage Guidance Counsellor
sketch he’d suddenly retracted into his shell and was no
longer being himself around her. His replies were stilted and often
obscured by
mumbling or over-brightness, and Chelsea found it increasingly annoying
that he
was blanking her in such a way.
Now back in the safety of her dressing room,
shared with about thirty other extras, Chelsea began undressing and
putting her old
character back on. She folded the dress up neatly,
glad to be out of the stifling clothes that had attracted quite a few
jokes and
tweaks from men as they’d passed her.
She sat down in the grey trousers and blue
top she’d arrived in and combed her hair until it was smooth and
flowing down
her back. She sat back and closed her eyes, taking a sip of some water
to still
her crackly throat as she did so. She felt the cool liquid flow down
her neck
and calm the fiery heat that had set itself up there.
There was a noise at the door and a face
appeared. John’s head peered around the door and he smiled at her.
“You did good today
my dear.” He said kindly.
Chelsea smiled her appreciation. “Thanks” she
mouthed.
He waved goodbye and was replaced by Gilliam
and Terry standing together. “What John said,” said Gilliam and
disappeared.
Terry put his thumb up and grinned. “We’ll
have you to come back again. Drinks in the bar in twenty minutes, don’t
be
late!” he said and winked.
Chelsea sat back again as the hustle of her room
died down and she grinned. She was being accepted into the group. That
would
bode well for her and Michael’s relationship, and she was certain he’d
be glad
to hear it.
**************************************************************************************************************
Michael leant back against the bar and kept
his head down, looking through half closed eyes towards the main
entrance. He
didn’t know how she’d react when they were out of costume, together, in
a bar
with the alcohol freely. He hadn’t even had a chance to figure out how
he was
going to approach her himself and was pondering this as he saw her
enter the
pub.
His breath caught in his throat and his heart
began pounding loudly. How could he tell her they couldn’t see one
another
romantically if she made him feel this way?
Her hair was shiny and soft, her cheeks a
little rosy and her eyes bright. She was wearing a soft pink top with
jeans and
trainers, and as she approached the group huddled around the table, she
was
clearly looking around for someone she hadn’t quite spotted yet.
When her eyes met his an
electric bolt shot through the air and immediately Michael felt all the
familiar love bubble up into his stomach. It was almost painful looking
into
her eyes, and he realised she’d come directly to him before sitting
down with
the others.
“Chelsea, I really need to speak with you in
private.” He said under his breath and she nodded softly, trying to
take his
hand in hers. He batted her away, hastily checking around to see if
anyone was
looking.
Her expression was a mix of confusion and
surprise. She glanced about her, trying to follow Michael’s gaze, or
catch his
eye line for a second.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered and Michael
handed her a glass of vodka orange.
“We need to talk, but not now. I’ll give you
a lift home and we’ll talk then.”
She nodded, slightly uneasy with the way he
had started to behave, and as he headed towards the table he pulled
away from
her completely, sitting himself between Terry and John, as far away
from her as
possible.
The evening moved on into night, and it was
past 11pm when
the bar staff finally extricated the group. Terry, having had too much
ale, was
singing about Alison and how much he loved her, and was trying
desperately to
dance with John, who swatted him off like a fly, only to be replaced by
a more
than happy Graham.
Chelsea smiled happily with them, feeling the
same alcohol induced merriness in slightly less severe ways, and she
glanced
meaningfully at Michael, who, walking with Eric, tried desperately to
ignore
her.
Gilliam waved his goodbyes and, taking Terry
by the arm and steering him towards his car, ensued with a hefty shove,
pushing
him into the back seat where, lit up by the lamp light in the street,
Terry’s
legs could be seen waving around.
Eric insisted on driving Graham home,
pushing the more than drunken man into his own car and even strapping
him in,
knowing that Graham was so far gone he couldn’t possibly do it himself.
John
grunted and followed them, squeezing into the back seat with a lot of
difficulty. He motioned for Chelsea to join in but Michael waved at
them.
“I’ll give her a lift home.” He said quickly.
“She won’t want to be crunched in with you guys.”
Eric shot him a disappointed look before
slamming the door on Graham and heading to the drivers’ side.
When Michael had made sure they’d all driven
off as they approached his own car, he turned to her and sighed.
“We can’t see each other Chelsea.”
Chelsea felt as though she’d been punched. She
choked and the gentle happiness she’d been feeling previously
evaporated. She
threw him a “how come?” look and he stared at his feet.
“We made a pact before you arrived that no
one was allowed to get involved with you like that. It’s not fair on
each other
or on the programme.” He looked up. “What would happen if we were to
fall out
and then have an argument on set? It would ruin it for the others.”
Chelsea leant against the car. She didn’t know
how she could possibly convey how she felt about this,
and with her voice nowhere to be seen there wasn’t much chance she was
going to
be able to.
“I don’t want to hurt you but that’s how it
has to be. We’re only allowed to be friends from now on.”
She stared at him dumbfounded and Michael
squirmed. It was so uncomfortable and so unfair that he had to do this.
He motioned for them to climb into the car
and drove in silence all the way to her flat.
Michael stopped the engine and they sat in
silence some more.
Chelsea had an idea and grabbed some paper from
the over-spilling glove compartment. Flicking her pen out of her
holdall she
desperately began scribbling on it and handed it to him.
“I know I said I loved you but that can’t be
helped. I can’t jeopardise this. It means a lot to lots of people. I
can’t
throw it all away because of something as selfish as this.”
Chelsea felt like she’d been smacked and looked
at him with scorn.
Michael realised how he’d sounded and
grimaced. “I’m not explaining this very well am I?” he
asked but she’d started out of the car already and slammed the door
loudly,
banging the gate in her wake.
“Chelsea wait!”
She turned to him and felt anger bubble under
her skin. How dare he claim she was selfish for loving him? If this
show was
more important to him than she was then obviously he was making the
right
decision. Why he’d had to be nasty about it she didn’t know.
She put her hand up to him to say stop and
pushed her key in the lock. Michael looked at her expectantly on the
steps and
she turned away from him, closing the door behind her. Closing her eyes
she
banged the back of her head on the door gently in frustration.
Outside Michael looked down at the floor and
cursed under his breath. “Way to go Palin, why don’t you just make her
hate you?”
He ran a hand through his hair. He would try
and write it down tonight before rehearsals later in the week and then
tell her
properly. Perhaps he’d catch her at the supermarket and tell her then,
at least
that way they’d be able to sit down properly and have a chat.
Looking back at her door he saw that she’d
gone and the light’s had gone out, and he looked up to where he knew
her flat
was, hoping that he’d catch a glimpse of her looking out.
The curtains were swiftly drawn and he
frowned. Why had he expected any different? In fact, why was he still
stood
here? Did he expect her to come running out, throwing her arms around
him and
begging him to come back to her?
Of course not, because he was the bastard of
this piece and she should be the one being grovelled at.
Grumbling under his breath Michael climbed
back into his car and drove home, wondering desperately if he’d done
the right
thing and praying that no one noticed the atmosphere at work the
following
rehearsal.
*************************************************************************************************************
“Michael what the fuck is the matter with you
today?” shouted John as Michael fumbled his lines for the fourth time
in ten
minutes.
Michael grimaced at John’s angry tone and he
sank back against the phoney witness stand. He was aware of eyes
watching him
and knew that they belonged to Eric, Graham and Terry, and somewhere
nearby Chelsea was preparing her costume with Eva, a
wardrobe hand.
John had a frightful scowl on his face, and
although he’d learnt his lines and didn’t need a script, he was having
to use one because his co-worker was fluffing the
sketch and confusing people.
Terry sighed. “I thought you’d have learnt
this already Mike, it’s not that hard. You’re usually pretty good at
these
things!”
Michael nodded. He didn’t know what to say.
How could he tell his best friend that just ten minutes ago when Terry
and
Chelsea had been semi-clad in bed together for the Erotic Film sketch,
he’d
been so jealous and so terribly heart-achingly sad that he’d had to go
to the
gents to calm down?
“I’m sorry guys,” he choked. “I’ve lost all
my concentration.”
Graham snorted. “Have a sip of this,” he said,
handing Mike a small tonic bottle full of what John suspected was gin.
It was soothing to his nerves anyway, and
Michael let the liquor slide down his throat, wincing slightly as a
burning
sensation crept up into his mouth, making his eyes water gently.
“Mike, this is our fifth show now, things are
going really well in the ratings and our audience is up by nearly
twenty
percent. Please don’t drop your cool-cucumber act and turn into a
gibbering
wreck now!”
Michael nodded and frowned. Why did everyone
have to keep going on about the show all the time? Had it become such a
huge
part of everyone’s lives that it ruled out everything else?
Looking around the rehearsal room he knew his
answer. Gilliam had slept maybe forty hours in the last seven days and
looked
like a manic depressive, Graham had consumed three times his body
weight in
alcohol just so he could get through the day, John’s hair was seemingly
greying
overnight, Eric was absentmindedly twiddling with props and touching up
scripts, and Terry was constantly on the phone to Alison apologising
about not
being home on time, or back for dinner or some such nonsense.
And Chelsea, whose voice had managed to reappear,
although gratingly at first, was fully consumed with helping out coffee
ladies,
wardrobe ladies, props people and lighting engineers. She was all over
the
place all of the time, yet everywhere she seemed to be, Michael seemed
to be
too.
They hadn’t spoken to one another for nearly
two weeks now, and the writing session after he’d ended the affair had
been so
tense he’d come away with a headache. They avoided eye contact, rarely
spoke to
one another, and backed away from any kind of confrontation between
them.
Michael had tried finding her in the
supermarket, but she was either never there when he was or she was
shopping
somewhere else.
He’d written her the letter, but he had never
had the courage to give it to her, so they remained stuck in a loop,
neither
one admitting to the other their true feelings, and neither one making
the
effort to sort things out so they could be friends.
No one had said much about their cool
relationship with each other as yet, besides Terry who mentioned it
only once
to a cold reception from Michael and a refusal to discuss her with him.
Eric was clearly besotted with her, and he
followed her around pretty much everywhere she went. Although Chelsea
saw him as a friend, and he was just
helping her out in her eyes, Michael often felt a twinge of jealousy
and would
purposely try and find ways to separate them, often at harsh reprimands
by
Eric, or frosty looks from Chelsea.
Michael was just thankful that she didn’t
have many scenes with him so far, and the few they did have were acted
as
stiffly as possible. It was more often than not that she had romantic
scenes
with Terry, and that didn’t bother Mike as much because he knew Terry
wasn’t
interested in her in that way.
John threw down his script on the table.
“Well I can’t carry on like this if you can’t learn your lines properly
Mike.”
Terry winced slightly. He cast a hesitative
glance around the room and people had stopped what they were doing and
were
looking on in interest and awe as the six-foot giant looked pointedly
at
Michael.
“If you don’t have these lines perfected in
half an hour I swear that I will throw you off this programme Michael,
as much as
it pains me to say it. I can’t believe the change in you these last few
weeks.
What happened to you that screwed you up so badly?”
Michael felt his blood boil and he got off
the stand. “Not everyone’s perfect John. Not everyone’s got the looks,
the personality,
the family, the support or the comic genius, and I for one am not going
to pretend that I’m perfect,
just because you want me to be. If you don’t like me John then sack me
from the programme. The way my life’s going right
now I don’t think I’d give a shit.”
Stunned silence answered him as he ripped his
wig off and threw it on the floor. He looked around and saw several
pairs of
eyes looking back, and with a small twirl he marched out of the room.
For a number of minutes people stood or sat
in silent amazement, lost in their thoughts or gently opening and
closing their
mouths.
John was clearly the most shocked of them
all. Michael never had outbursts like that, never! What was going on?
He was
supposed to be the nice, restrained member of the troupe. Suddenly it
didn’t
make any sense.
Finally Terry coughed and spoke. “You drove
him to it that time John.”
“Does that mean he’s left the programme?”
Eric asked shocked. “I’m a little confused over what happened there.”
Terry shrugged. “I don’t know if his walking
out meant he was leaving for now, or leaving forever.”
John, who’d been silent for this, suddenly
gawped. “We can’t lose Palin!” he said loudly. “How are we going to get
him
back?”
They all glanced at each other and shook
their heads in disbelief. None of them had the faintest idea how to
rectify the
situation.
**********************************************************************************************************
Chelsea felt a knot build in her stomach as she
watched John begin his tirade. She’d seen it coming for the last two
weeks. It
had been a steady build up of a lot of pressure and she had overheard
John
talking to a persistent Terry Jones before the rehearsals that day.
“I’m going to have to say something Terry,
this is getting silly.”
But he’s been under a lot of stress lately. I
don’t know the exact details but you know how he is when it comes to
his family
and personal life.”
“That’s no excuse for letting us down! He’s
missed three rehearsals out of five, he’s fluffed lines and when we’ve
done
retakes he’s fluffed them again. He’s been coming in with the wrong
scripts, put on the wrong costumes for sketches…..this can’t
go on.”
“I know but what can you do? You can’t tell
him he’s being shit and then expect him to do better if he’s feeling
down. We
should be looking after him, supporting him.”
Here John sighed. “If he starts cracking
tonight I’m saying something, I don’t care how fragile he is. He should
damn
well get over the bad stuff and move on. Something’s not been right
with him
ever since the first couple of shows.”
Chelsea drew away from the conversation there and
felt the familiar flutter of her stomach as they mentioned the week
that she’d
first met Michael, the week she’d been given a job and the week she’d
been told
she was loved.
And now watching the usually blasé and
submissive Michael turn into an angry, passionate and fiery bull she’d
been
shocked. His eyes were constantly red, bags from lack of sleep under
them clung
at his skin, his skin was pallid, his lips forming
thin lines across his face and his eyes were dull, glazed almost. And
Chelsea suddenly had felt so sad for him, knowing
that she had probably added to an already heavy burden, and she rapidly
realised that she hadn’t spoken to him about his sister or his family
since the
last night in the supermarket.
Michael had left the room and Chelsea had shot off after him,
determined to
find out what was wrong and help him in some way, even if it was just a
friendly shoulder to cry on.
As she hurried quietly out of the door, she
realised that she hadn’t been much of a friend to him at all the last
couple of
weeks and felt ashamed for not behaving more maturely about the
situation. He
had had every right to tell her they couldn’t see each other, and if
you looked
at it from an employer point of view you could see how unprofessional
it would
be for him to behave in such a way, but still Chelsea felt a small
voice inside
her saying, “go catch up with him and maybe he’ll come back to you”.
It seemed as though Michael was sprinting his
way down the corridors and it took a lot of energy and quick-footedness
for Chelsea to finally catch up with him. By that
time he was sat, his head on his hands and his elbows resting on his
knees, in the
BBC Staff Courtyard next to the small pond, and he was looking
forlornly at the
floor.
Michael looked at the ground and then
suddenly two feet appeared in front of him. The shoes led to legs that
were
divine in tights, and as he cast his gaze up the person stood in front
of him
he felt his anger subside and a new emotion rest back into it’s
familiar home.
Chelsea watched as he looked up at her and when
their eyes met she couldn’t help but notice her heart beat a little
faster. She
smiled warmly and gently and sat down beside him.
“Hello you.” She
said softly. “What’s the deal with running out on us back there? I hope
you’re
coming back.”
Michael shrugged. “I don’t know if I can now.
I destroyed all illusions of mystery about my personality.”
Chelsea chuckled. “If anything I think you’ve
increased in the respect ratings.”
There was a silence between them that Chelsea recognised as
comfortable, and she nudged
him gently with her shoulder.
He turned his head, and let his hands fall to
his knees, and even offered a small smile.
“You can’t walk out Mike, not after all of
the work you’ve put in. Admit it, Python is your life
now.”
Michael nodded and looked at the middle
distance. “There are important things in life other than Python
though.”
Chelsea nodded. “Yes but these things can wait.”
“And if they can’t?” Michael asked.
Chelsea thought for a moment and smiled
warmly. “Then you have to deal with them
with equality. You can’t put one above the other but make them parallel
with
what’s happening now and work from there.”
Michael nodded and sighed. There was another
brief silence and then he spoke. “My sister committed suicide you
know.”
Chelsea felt as though someone had knocked her
down. She gaped for a moment and then instinctively wrapped her arms
around
him.
“Michael I’m so sorry.”
She knew he was crying as his body shook in
her embrace, and she stroked his hair with one hand, cooing gently to
him,
trying desperately to soothe him. He was practically sobbing and when
he pulled
away he tried to hide from her, but she brushed his cheek with her hand
and
gave him a small smile.
He took her hand from his face and put it in
his, offering her a watery smile as well.
“You should have told me Michael. I could’ve
helped.”
He shrugged and sniffed. “I don’t think under
the circumstances I would have felt comfortable telling you or asking
you for
help. Not after the way I behaved anyway.”
“I would’ve listened.”
Michael looked rueful. “Would you?”
Chelsea nodded. “I know how much she meant to
you, how much all your family mean to you.”
Michael nodded and looked back at her hand in
his.
“I can’t understand why you haven’t told the
others though.” She offered.
Again he shrugged. “There was never a time to
tell them, or to show how I’m really feeling. I never expected to feel
so bad,
especially when they said she was missing. I thought in my mind it was
inevitable that she would have done something to herself, and I thought
I was
prepared.” He sniffed gently and his voice wobbled slightly when he
carried on.
“It’s hard enough to deal with your own feelings than have to tell
others too.”
Chelsea put her arm around him again and he
rested his head on her shoulder. “You told me didn’t you?”
“You’re different.” He retorted.
“I don’t see how.”
He shrugged and sighed. “I could tell you
anything Chelsea, you have that way about you. Something
happens to my brain when you’re nearby, it gets fried.”
Chelsea nudged him with her elbow. “Nice to know
I make a good impression on you.”
Michael chuckled gently and looked up into
her face. And for a small moment he thought they were going to kiss.
For a
flickering moment, Michael’s heart stopped beating and everything
around them
disappeared. His eyes wavered over her mouth, and then up to her eyes,
a soft
yet burning lust coursing through his veins. Her hand was still in his,
yet he
couldn’t seem to get close enough to her skin. He wanted to touch her
face,
stroke her hair, look into her eyes and tell her how much he was in
love with her.
And in a second it was gone. The moment
passed as she pulled a face and motioned for him to let go of her hand,
rubbing
it gently with the other as he released it, a small and embarrassed
smile
plaguing his dimples.
“I didn’t realise I was holding you so
tight.” He said with a croak as she got off the bench.
Chelsea smiled and stretched her fingers. “I’m
sure it’ll be fine. Major surgery only lasts a few hours these days.”
Michael looked up at her and wondered if
she’d felt the same way as he had just then. What was she thinking? If
only he
could’ve read her mind he could see where he stood.
Perhaps she didn’t feel anything. They’d only
met each other about a month ago, and he had already told her he loved
her.
Michael knew he’d rushed things, but no one ever made him feel the way
she did.
And yet when he’d experienced the feeling of euphoria, he’d been
staring at her
face, and nothing had changed there. Either she was a great actor or
she didn’t
feel anything, and as he sat looking at her now, she still had that
same slight
smile on her lips, the same familiar warmth in her eyes, and it was
hard not to
think she liked him back.
“You’ll be ok Michael, just keep focused.”
Michael nodded.
“I don’t think it’ll hurt to tell the others
what’s happened either. They might be a bit more understanding about
what’s
been happening then.”
Michael nodded again.
Chelsea looked at him anxiously and then shifted
her weight. “I’m going back to the rehearsal room now. Do you want to
come or
do you want me to tell them you’ll come back later?”
Michael smiled gently. “Perhaps
the latter. I know John would love to sink his teeth into me now, but I
think a lazy relaxing afternoon may be in order.”
Chelsea nodded. “I think a chill out is just what
you need. And anyway, I don’t think we’ll be at this much longer. A
little bird
tells me that Alison has been pestering Terry about the late evenings,
so he’s
bringing in a rule saying that rehearsals shouldn’t last longer than
four o’clock.”
Michael grinned. “Yeah sounds about right.
What’s the betting that he works over though?”
They both laughed together. They knew Terry’s
work ethics, and they usually consisted of working as hard as possible
for as
long as possible until the something he had decreed they work on was
done.
Michael glanced at his watch. “Look it’s
almost four now,” he paused and looked down at his hands. “I don’t
suppose you
want to share the rest of the evening with me?”
Chelsea felt her heart stop. Was he asking her
out? Surely not after everything he had said before? But why else would
he want
her to go with him? Of course the answer was obvious, he wanted
company. After
all, his sister had just died, perhaps he just felt lonely.
Her heart began beating again. She shook
herself inwardly. Did she really think that he’d want to get back
together with
her after what had happened between them? She berated herself as she
smiled
gently at him.
“I’d like that very much.”
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