Away From the Spotlight (55 page)

Will and I sat in the two seats in the back of first class that were the closest together with Pam across
the
aisle to my left.  Although Will held my hand
after we were settled in o
ur seats, he
became
lost in thought and his expression was serious.  I thought that he might be
worrying about
the reception we had awaiting us in L.A. since the word
of our engagement
clearly
was
out
now.

Will’s
mood completely distracted me from the questions I had been pondering earlier in the day. 
I tried to cheer him up from time-to-time and he would
appear content
for a while, but he, eventually,
would sink back into his serious thought.  I even invited him to join me in th
e mile-
high club, which got his attention, but
once inside
the bathroom,
we found
it
too gross and uncomfortable
so we just kissed.  Of course, the expression on Pam’s face when we returned to our seats was priceless and I was glad Will didn’t see it for I was quite embarrassed.

On my previous trips, t
he
plane
ride home
from Europe
had seemed
shorter than the ride over
because there wasn’t
the
impatience and
anticipation of starting
a
vacation.  On this trip,
Will’s moodiness was getting to me and so the time dragged.  We were engaged and should have been the happiest people in the world.  Will’s expression and my reaction to hi
s mood
made clear that we
certainly
were
not
t
he happiest people in the world at that moment.
 
Finally, when I noticed that Pam was
watching a movie and couldn’t hear us
, I started to argue with Will.

“Why are you acting this way?  You’re spoiling things
again
.”

“
I’m not trying to spoil things,” he said and his monotone voice belied his words.

“Well, you are.  This should be the happiest time for us.  Why are you letting things we have no control over make you miserable
and
,
therefore
,
make me miserable?”

“I’m sorry.  I’m just thinking about what it’s going to be like for us for a while.  This is the part of my life that I absolutely hate and don’t want to have to share with you.  I wish it could be different.”

“Well, it can’t.  I knew what I was getting into and I would put up with anything to be with you so let’s not worry about it.  We’ll just deal with it as it comes
-
t
ogether
.”

“Okay, for now
, b
ut when I leave for
Midnight 4
. . .”

“We’ll deal with that then, okay?”

“Okay.”  He looked grim and then smiled.  “I love you, you know.”

“I know and I love you.”

The plane ride speeded up after that as we talked about some of the things we would do together when we got home.  As we talked about what would be the good parts of our lives together over the next few weeks, we both
began
to think that maybe things would be
all right
after all.

Reality hit us hard a
s we exited the terminal
.  W
e found paparazzi there waiting for us
-
a lot
of paparazzi.
  We said goodbye to Pam and walked out to
ward
the waiting hordes.  It
took a great deal of effort
to get to th
e car that was waiting for us.

In addition to the paparazzi standing outside, t
here were cars
as well as a few motorcycles
waiting to follow us
. 
To add to this
, there was a mob scene
in
front
of the house when we got
home
.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t just park in the garage this time and we had to get out of the car in
front of
the masses to get in
side
the house.  The security guards were waiting for us and helped
keep the crowd away from the driveway.

When we got inside, we
breathed a sigh of relief and
found Stephen, Colin, Kate and Gemma waiting for us.  They all gave us hugs and
welcomed
us
home
.
  They asked
that we
get settled and meet them on the patio.

Once in
Will’s room,
Will
held me and stroked my hair.  “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.  See, I survived the experience.  No big deal.”

Will leaned up, kissed me
,
and tried to smile. 
I don’t know that he believed me.

We then
left the room hand-in-hand to
join the gang on the patio.

Colin had apparently been at it again as the backyard was
covered in lights
. 
There were candles on the patio table along with a cake, champagne and champagne glasses.  Stephen, Kate, Colin and Gemma
stood around the table
waiting for us
.

As we approached them, t
hey
all
smiled and congratulated us
.

The first thing Kate and Gemma wanted to do was see the ring up close.  They were impressed
,
although not surprised considering how well they knew Will.

Gemma
then
asked eagerly, "Have you set a date?"

"No.  We've only been engaged since Thursday.  I imagine it
will be a while since it takes
time
to plan
. 
I think we're going to need to do something here for my family and our friends here and something in England for Will's family and friends there."

Will looked at me
as if
he didn't like that answer.

I leaned over to him and whispered, "What did I say?"

He whispered back, "You said it would be a
while
.  I don't want to wait t
oo
long if we don't have to."

I nodded
in
understanding
and agreement.  I felt
the same way.

Stephen
lifted his glass in
a toast, "To the happy couple."

Will and I smiled, kissed
,
and
each
took a sip of champagne.

I looked over at Stephen and
could see a little sadness
in his expression
as he
must have
realize
d
that our
impending
marriage would break up their little group.  I imagined
that
he wondered what he and Colin would do without Will
. 
Will
likely
was the primary reason they were living in the Palisades.  Although I was sure that Will would
offer to
make it so they could stay as long as they wanted,
Stephen and Colin
probably wouldn't accept Will's help. 
Although they were happy for Will, o
ur marriage was going to be the end of their way of life as they had known it in California.  I felt very guilty at that moment.

Kate and Gemma
interrupted my thoughts and
pulled me aside at that moment to ask me about the proposal.

"We had a feeling this was going to happen
on your holiday
," Gemma said before she let me tell the story.

"Really?" I
asked
with
surprise
.
"I certainly had no idea.  You couldn't have given me a warning?"

"Will
n
ever
said anything. 
We just knew that this was
what he wanted to do
,
"
Kate added.

I went on to tell them about being engaged to be engaged in Berlin and our actual engagement at the hotel
in Berkshire
.

"So he did it right," Kate said when I was finished.  "I'm not surprised."

W
ill and I
excused ourselves and went
to bed soon after
we had
cake.  I
t was the middle of the night for us in
terms of our internal clocks.

We w
ould
have only one more day together before I had to start the grueling hours of an associate in a law firm.  We
then
only had about
a week
after that before Will would be leaving to shoot
Midnight 4
.  I worried about how we were going to handle that as I lay there in Will’s arms, knowing that the days until his departure would
pass
quickly.

We spent most of the next day in bed since we were tired, we didn’t want to leave the house in light of the crowd outside, and it was our last day together before I started work.  I wished at that moment that I had postponed things another week, but it was too late now
.  My firm was waiting for me.

The next day, Will drove me to work since my car was still at
Rachael
’s. 
Rachael
would t
ake me home with her after work so tha
t I could
retrieve
my car.
  I tried to get an early start
that first day of work
although it was agreed that I didn’t need to be there until nine.

We were followed, of course.  In
bumper-to-bumper
traffic, it was hard to lose the paparazzi.  I had Will drop me
in front of
another building so that I could walk inside and
prevent
the paparazzi
following us
from seeing where I
actually
worked. 
Will
kissed me goodbye, wished me luck
,
and promised to call me later.
 
I waited in the lobby
briefly
to give the paparazzi time to
pass the building
and then headed off around the corner to my
actual
building.

My shoulders slumped
when I got
to my actual building and found
a handful of paparazzi waiting.  As I walked
toward the entrance
, I could hear the cameras clicking and the shouts of questions regarding when and where the wedding would take place.  Building security kept them outside so I was fine once I entered the building.  I hoped that, since the attorneys entered the office through the garage elevators, they wouldn’t know about this.

When I entered the suite, our receptionist told me that the phone had b
een ringing off the hook for me and that some
were
asking her to
confirm my engagement.

She looked at my ring.  “So it’s true?”

“Yes, but please don’t say anything.  I’ll talk to
Marie
.  Maybe she can screen my calls.” 
Marie
was my secretary, a bubbly
brunette with reddish highlights
,
and
about ten years my senior.

As I walked down the hall toward my office, I passed
Max
’s office first.  He was there.  He looked up when he heard me and called
out
to me.

“I guess congratulations are in order?”  He looked down at my ring.  “Wow
!
  Nice.”

“Does everyone know?”

“The ones who are here.  Everyone will know soon enough.”

“How?”

“Well,
a few secretaries
were confronted by the press in front of the building asking if they worked with you and then asking when you were getting married.”

“Oh, no!”

“Don’t worry about it.  I’m sure it will calm down soon.  Anyway, do I get to hug the bride?”