Away From the Spotlight (42 page)

“I
don’t
take you for granted.  Why do you think I acted the way I did?  I
’
m
afraid of losing you.”

“You won’t lose me if you don’t push me away.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes.  Let’s forget this all happened and have a good time
together
like we planned.”

“That’s what I want
too
.  I
am
sorry, Shannon, really.
  I love you more than anything.
”

“Apology accepted
.  So what’s good to eat here?”

The next day
we decided to try to see some of th
e sights in and around London
in
spite
of
the paparazzi.

The p
hotographers
were now
both
in front
of
and behind the building.  However, there were less of them at the back, which was also closer to the car.  We decided to walk out the
back with our heads down and
try to run to the car.

Upon exiting
the
building
, it was clear that running would be impossible.  The door opened to lots of clicking cameras.  There were
also
about five photographers in front of us that had little sense of personal space firing questions that I didn’t hear as I tried to concentrate on the ground and putting one foot in front of the other.
  Neither Will nor I answered.  I clung to his hand as we continued somewhat slowly toward the car.  When we hit the cross-street where the car was located, I heard others join us and additional cameras clicking.

When we were finally safely in the car and driving, I looked up at Will.  He had a pained expression on his fa
ce, and was looking in the rear
view mirror.

“We’re being followed.”

“Wow.  Persistent aren’t they?  They ha
ve
to have gotten enough photos of us
by
now
.”

“You weren’t looking up.  They would prefer it if they could get a better shot of us together.”

“Is this what it’s like for you?”

“Sometimes. 
I
’ve probably made a little worse in that I’ve made it clear I’m trying to hide you.  It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull.”

“How many are following us?”

“Two.  I doubt I’ll be able to lose them in this traffic.  We should probably find a place to go that might keep them out.
I have an idea.
”

We valet-
parked at
one of the more exclusive hotels
, and our
pursuers
were unable to park in order to get to us even if they would have been allowed to enter the hotel.  We went inside and hurried out to the entrance near the Green Park Tube Station.  We ran into the Tube and laughed once we got on the train and the doors closed.  We were safe for now.  We
had
headed
south
not really knowing where we were going to go.

“Where can we go for a view?” I asked
after we stopped laughing.

“There’s one place.  It’s very touristy, but the view is spectacular.  Let’s get off next stop.  I need to use my cell phone and make arrangements.”

We ended up at the London Eye
, a modern
Ferris
wheel
-
looking contraption
that
appears
somewhat
out-of-place with its
historic
surroundings
. 
It ha
s
individual pods, rather than seats
as a much smaller
Ferris
wheel
would have
. 
I looked up and thought that, c
onsideri
ng its height, the view of the Thames
and of London in general had to be amazing from those pods.

As
it was August, I was surprised
that
we were able to get tickets
, but Will somehow managed
.  We
ended up
taking
a private ride with
c
hampagne. 
It was very romantic, like we were in our own little world. 
T
he view was spectacular.

When
o
ur ride was
ending
,
I asked our host to take a picture of Will and me together.  After we exited,
we walked down alongside the
Thames
and crossed over Westminster Bridge.  It was a leisurely stroll.  I loved looking down the river
.

“What are you thinking?” Will asked as we continued to walk hand-in-hand across the bridge.

“I’m having a great time
today
.”

“Even while being stalked by paparazzi
?
”

“I know you worry about me, but you shouldn’t.  I’m fine, really.  I’m just glad to have some time with you all to myself
- n
o school, no work for either of us, no studying for the Bar
, j
ust us
, a
lone.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.  I do too.”  He pulled me to the side of the foot traffic close to him and kissed me, not caring that the crowd walking over the bridge
was staring.

We continued walking and strolled around Westminster.  I didn’t really see the need to go in
side
the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Abbey as
it was a nice day and
I had been to both places
during
past trips.

We hopped on the Tube at the Westminster station and decided to go find a place to
have
a late lunch.

Will
chose a restaurant
in Chelsea off the King’s Road that was a little closer to the South Kensington Tube Station than the one at Sloane Square.

It was very crowded, but Will had no problem getting a table as he was recognized upon entering the restaurant.
  Will received a few stares as we walked through the restaurant, but not too many.  This was the type of place that famous Londoners likely hung out.

We were seated at a large light wooden table with matching chairs
divided up into four sections
.  Each
of these
long
table
s
seated
eight
people and there were no
or practically no
breaks between the tables.  Consequently, you were practically on top of the couple sitting next to you.  However, it was loud and, therefore, not so easy to hear your neighbors
’
conversation
s
unless you were really trying.

“You have a strange expression on your face.  What are you thinking about?” Will asked.

“I just don’t picture you going to trendy places
and this is the second one in two days
.  Not that I don’t think you have
before
.  It’s just that you seem to shy away from that in L.A.”

  “I do
avoid
them
most of the time.  I like this place though and for lunch, it’s
good
.  At night, it’s more of a place to see and be seen. 
Notice we’re here during the day. 
I
’
m trying to add a little variety
to
your experiences
while you’re here.  You don’t like it?”

“No, I do.  It’s nice and the food looks good.  I didn’t mean to give you a hard time.  You just surprised me.”

“I hope that’s not
a bad thing?”

“Nope.  I don’t imagine
you will
ever
stop surprising me
.  You may be
come
bored with me, but . . .”

“
That’ll n
ever happen
.  You keep me on my toes too.
  Weren’t we at Cambridge yesterday?
”

I laughed when I realized that maybe I do surprise him from time-to-time.

We ordered and when we were served, I realized that
Will was right about the
place
. 
The food
was delicious.
  Of course, all that mattered to me was that we were together.  I didn’t want to think about the fact that, in a few days, he would not be sitting across a lunch table from me.

After lunch
,
we cut over to the King’s Road and wandered down
, window shopping,
toward the Sloane Square Tube Station.

Since we were
not that far
, we decided to st
op by the food halls at Harrods
to
g
rab
something
for
dinner
th
at
evening
.
  The food halls were massive and I couldn’t imagine that there was anything they didn’t carry.  We spent quite a bit of time as I wandered around amazed.  I had been here before, but managed only to race through it without buying anythi
ng.  This time, I bought a gift-
set with two
Harrods
mugs and tea for my mother and we pick
ed
up a bottle of red wine, pasta that only required reheating, and a pre-made salad.  We were set. 
It was t
ime to
return to
the car
in Mayfair
and head back to
brave
the crowd waiting for us in Hampstead.

Rather than leaving me in the back of the building to be harassed, we decided to enter the flat
together
from the front.  W
ill
parked around the corner again and
,
as we turned the corner toward the flat, I put my head down.  The photographers immediately spotted us and ran toward us
.  They
shadow
ed
us
as we walked toward Will’s building, cameras clicking away the whole time.  I made a mistake at one point
when
a huge flash distracted me
and
I looked up
briefly to see what it was.  I then realized that I
now
had been photographed
head
on. 
Well, at least they still didn’t know who I was.

“What was that big flash?” I asked as we got inside and put the bags down.

“One of the photographers was probably trying to get your attention.”

“It worked.  I looked up.  I’m sorry.”

“It was going to happen sooner or later, I guess.  The picture won’t hit the papers until after you
’ve
le
ft
for Ireland.  You should be fine then.”

“What about you?”

“I start shooting on Monday so I’ll be busy.  It won’t bother me.”

Will
clearly
was
making a concerted effort to keep his promise not
to
obsess about the paparazzi for which I was g
rateful
.

We had a
delicious
dinner
,
and then decided to watch television and relax together.  We
l
a
y
on the couch with Will’s arms around me and watched a British comedy or two.  It was amazing to me what they could get away with compared to American television shows.  They were a bit raunchier both in terms of the sexual nature and general gross
behavior.  They were much funnier too.  Toward the end of the second show, I turned around to face Will and kissed him.

“Finished watching already?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Absolutely.”  We continued to kiss.

E
ventually
, we
migrated into Will’s room.  While we were lying on his bed wrapped up in each other
later that evening
,
Will
looked over at the clock, turned back to me and kissed me.  “Happy Birthday.  It’s the fifth.
”  He kissed me again and we continued our evening’s activities.

I woke up the next morning
, put my green silk nightgown
back
on, and engaged in
my normal teeth brushing routine.  Will must have been feigning sleep when I left the room because, when I returned, there was a little blue box on my pillow.