From Notting Hill with Love...Actually (13 page)

“Ah, you see there’s a bit more to it than that.”
When
wasn’t there with Maddie?
“They’re getting married at Disneyland Paris. Both the hen and stag nights are being held on Friday night, and then the wedding is in Sleeping Beauty’s castle the next day.”

“I’m sorry,” Sean said, holding his hands up in front of him in a “time out” gesture. “Just hold on one moment. They’re getting married in
Disneyland
? And I thought my family’s
Star
Wars
wedding was bad enough! I didn’t even know you could get married there.”

“You can’t normally. But they both worked there a number of years ago; they met during one of the parades, when Felix was playing Aladdin, and Maddie, Princess Jasmine. They were on top of the magic carpet together and they’ve been inseparable ever since. The funny thing is, Maddie would never have got the job if her father hadn’t performed surgery on one of the major Disney shareholders—apparently he saved his life on the operating table—and he’s felt indebted to Maddie’s dad ever since. The job, and now the wedding, is his way of repaying him.”

Sean stood open-mouthed. Then he shook his head. “Just when I think you can’t tell me anything else that will surprise me, Scarlett, you manage to. That story is madness.”

“I know—but it’s true. Anyway, we’re all meeting in Paris tomorrow night for a joint stag and hen do—well, I think the first part is joint. From what I know they’re opening up all the rides for us when the park closes to the public—it closes earlier in the winter, apparently—and then later on we’re splitting up into two parties at two different venues.”

“It all sounds excellent fun. It’s certainly unusual.”

“It always is with Maddie—she’s like that.” I paused as a thought began to form in my head. Then, without thinking it through, I allowed the thought to spill right out into speech. “Hey, why don’t you come?” I blurted out. “I’m sure one more won’t make a difference. I can clear it with Maddie first if you like, but she’s usually pretty laid back about these things.”

Sean looked thrilled at my suggestion. “I’d love to—it will make up for me dragging you to my family wedding. Wait, we don’t have to dress as Disney characters, do we?”

“No, thank God. It’s just the usual wedding attire. Although being chief bridesmaid I do have a pretty amazing dress to wear.”

“I’m sure you’d look amazing whatever you wore.” Sean smiled at me. “I’d love to be your escort for the day.”

My stomach began the usual gymnastics routine it always started when Sean smiled at me now. But instead of completing the parallel bars with a perfect score like it usually did, it flopped and fell like a lead balloon when he mentioned the word “escort.”

“Oh,” I said flatly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I forgot one thing—David.”

Sean’s face fell, almost as far as my stomach. “Ah…yes, that could be tricky. I guess
he’s
probably expecting to be your escort to the wedding—and rightly so, of course. No worries, Scarlett, I’ll just see you after the weekend. It will give me time to sort those flights out, get some paperwork done, that kind of thing.”

I could have kicked myself. How could I forget about David?

The annoying thing was I just knew Sean would enjoy Disneyland so much more than David. David would moan about the rides setting off his motion sickness and the weather being too cold and how expensive everything was. And if he came straight from work on Friday night like he was planning to, he’d probably turn up to ride the rollercoasters in a suit and tie.

“Come anyway,” I said on impulse. “I don’t think David is coming until Saturday anyway—scary rides aren’t really his thing—and…I believe he has an important meeting Friday and can’t get away in time to get a flight.”

“You’re sure?” Sean asked, his elated expression returning. “I mean I wouldn’t be imposing?”

“No—of course not.” I put my arm companionably through his. “It would be great to have you there, Sean.”

And for the first time, I genuinely meant it.

Luckily for me, as it turned out, David really couldn’t make it to Paris until Saturday, and oddly enough for the exact same reason as I’d told Sean.

“I’m so sorry,” David said when I spoke to him on the phone later that day. “This is a really important meeting. Are you sure you’ll be all right on your own?”

“I won’t be on my own,” I said, thanking my lucky stars I didn’t have to use any of the weird and wonderful excuses I’d come up with to prevent him arriving for the partying on Friday night. “I know loads of the people who’ll be in Paris.”

“Yes, I know that. But I meant I haven’t seen you for over two weeks, and I’m looking forward to us spending some time together again and hearing all about what you’ve been getting up to while you’ve been away.”

“It’s fine, David, really. I’m sure I’ll be able to find some way of keeping myself amused until you get there.”

We all gathered at the end of Main Street USA, waiting for the kickoff. We’d been arriving at Disneyland Paris in dribs and drabs all day. Some guests like Sean and me had flown in, but the majority of revelers had arrived by Eurostar about two hours ago. Now, after most of us had already spent the last hour in the bar of the Disneyland hotel, we were getting instructions on where we could go and what we were allowed to do for the next two hours.

“…and at 9 p.m. we will meet back here. Then we can separate into hens and stags and all go off to our own individual parties,” Maddie finished reading from her sheet of paper. “And can I remind everyone that tonight’s festivities are a huge favor to Felix and myself. So please enjoy yourselves, but don’t do anything silly or reckless, will you? If you must tie Felix up and strip him down to his undies—at least wait until you’re out of Mickey and Minnie’s sight!”

There were a few polite chuckles from the assembled guests.

“So, what are we all waiting for?” Maddie announced, holding up her arms in dramatic fashion. “Let’s go party!”

Everyone quickly dispersed into the park, eagerly heading toward the ride they wanted to attempt first.

“So, what do you fancy?” Sean asked me. “Space Mountain, the Indiana Jones ride?”

“Erm…” I wasn’t really that keen on rollercoasters. Being spun through 360 degrees while traveling at breakneck speed until you felt sick wasn’t
my
idea of fun. “I don’t know. Shall we see what we come to first?”

“Righty-ho then,” Sean said, in his usual relaxed way.

We wandered into Frontierland. This area, full of timber buildings and Indian tepees, was designed to look like the Wild West.

“Oh, this is the bit that has Big Thunder Mountain,” Sean cried enthusiastically. “Come on!”

I had to smile. While we wandered around looking for the Big Thunder Mountain railroad, Sean was just like a big kid—his eyes darting excitedly to and fro, taking in everything and everyone. When we eventually found the ride, Sean almost ran through the turnstiles.

I hung back.

“Come on, Red,” he called, turning around when he found I wasn’t beside him. “What’s up? You’re not
scared
, are you?”

“No!”

“Well, come on then.”

I cautiously followed him through the entrance. We walked past a sign that stated a one-hour waiting time from this point; a bit further on there was a 45-minute one, and then a 30-minute one followed.

Do people seriously queue this long for this sort of torture? I wondered, as I followed Sean along the path.

“Isn’t it great we don’t have to queue for any of these rides?” Sean said happily when I caught him up. “We can ride them as many times as we like!”

I’m pretty sure once will be enough for me
, I thought as I watched the last train rattle and roll its way around the mountain like a high-speed wooden corkscrew.

At last we found our way to the top, where we stood and waited with a couple of Felix’s friends for the “runaway” train to arrive.

“I’m sensing you’re not too keen on this kind of thing,” Sean said as we stood in silence.

“It’s not my favorite way of spending a Friday night, no.”

“You’ll be fine. This isn’t one of those really scary roller-coasters anyway—it’s just a baby one.”

When the train drew up and we were seated, huge metal harnesses descended into our laps—presumably in case we should come to our senses and want to get off again. This always worried me about these types of ride: if they had to strap you in, it meant you were going to travel fast enough to fall out.

But I didn’t have time to worry about that. The train suddenly whizzed off up the track toward a tunnel. The next four minutes were sheer hell, as we hurtled up, down, and around a rickety mountain railroad track. The only thing that made it half bearable was Sean’s hand reaching out and holding mine when we had just got to the peak of a long mountain climb and were about to plunge to our doom down the other side.

When at last we screeched to a halt in the station, Sean released my hand while we quickly climbed out of the train, allowing the next group of fools waiting to ride to take our places.

“So, how bad was that?” Sean asked, grinning at me.

“Bad enough.”

“Hey, you’re shaking,” he said. “Goodness, you
really
don’t like rides, do you?”

It was true, I was shaking, but that may have been more to do with Sean’s hand-holding than the actual ride itself.

“Here,” he said, reaching into his back pocket. “Try some of this.” He pulled out a hip flask and poured a tot of something into the lid. “It’s whiskey. Go on, get it down you.”

“How have you got this? I thought Maddie said we weren’t allowed alcohol in here.”

“All the stags have them. Felix’s best man passed them out earlier.”

“You mean Will?”

“Yes, that’s the chap.”

I opened my bag and pulled out a mini bottle of champagne. “And all us hens have got these!” I laughed. “Want to swap?”

“Nah, but you can still have the whiskey. I already had a fair bit to drink in the bar earlier.”

I’d noticed. But I swigged the whiskey back anyway and gasped as it caught the back of my throat.

“Where to now?” Sean asked.

“What about that house thing over there?”

“You mean Phantom Manor? You sure you won’t be scaaarrred?” he tried to say in a spooky voice.

“As long as it doesn’t loop the loop at a hundred miles an hour, I’ll be just fine, thank you.”

There were a number of us “visiting” the manor, and the hospitality was very good as even more secret bottles were passed around in the waiting room before the main journey began around the supposedly haunted mansion. The purpose of this ride, I quickly discovered, was to unravel the mystery of a ghost bride who waited for her groom in vain. The spooky walls and pictures were supposed to recount their grisly tale, as you rode along in carriages called “Doombuggies.”

Can
I
count
this
as
my
third
wedding?
I wondered, watching the story of a marriage ceremony that never took place slowly unfold.

Sean and I had somehow got split up in the haunted house at the start of the ride, so I ended up sitting next to one of the girls Maddie worked with. But as we spun around the manor in our two-person Doombuggy, in between the ghosts and ghouls that popped up in our faces, I managed to catch sight of him a few times, and on one occasion he saw me watching him and winked.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the girl sitting next to me said. “I didn’t realize that was your boyfriend or I’d have let the two of you sit together.”

“No, not at all, please don’t worry,” I said a bit too hastily. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Is he anyone’s boyfriend, do you know?” she asked, as the ride came to an end and we prepared to hop off. “He’s quite good looking.”

I pretended I hadn’t heard her and hurried over to join Sean again as soon as I’d freed myself from the ride. “Let’s go this way,” I said, swiftly steering him in the opposite direction to my traveling companion.

We found ourselves walking toward Fantasyland. “This is the kiddies’ bit,” Sean said, and I noticed he was having trouble walking in a straight line. “Although after seeing you on Big Thunder Mountain back there, this might be more up your street.”

“Stop with the teasing, you,” I said, pleased we seemed to have lost Sean’s admirer. “This is what Disney is all about.”

“You are
not
getting me on one of those elephants,” Sean exclaimed as we approached the flying Dumbo ride. “No way!”

“I wouldn’t want to—strange as it may seem, flying elephants aren’t really my scene either.”

“Ah, I know what you’d like,” he said, a grin spreading across his face. “Come with me.”

Sean, for the second time tonight, grabbed hold of my hand, and I willingly let him lead me toward a sign that declared
It’s a Small World
.

“Now this ride isn’t scary at all,” Sean said as we walked together along a pastel-colored path toward the entrance. “Unless you’ve seen the
Child’s Play
movies—which I very much doubt you have—because then the dolls can take on a whole different light.”

“We can’t go on this,” I protested. “We’re too old.”

Sean paused by the entrance, his eyes wide in mock horror as he turned to look at me. “No one’s too old for Disney, Red—as you so rightly pointed out back there. Come on, it’ll be fun,” he said, holding out his hand to me again. “There’s no one riding it just now.”

“No, because they’re all over ten years old, that’s why.”

But I took Sean’s hand and we climbed onto one of the small boats that was trundling along in the water and allowed ourselves to be transported into the magical miniature world.

Inside the ride was split into countries, and in each country there were displays of animatronic dolls. The dolls were dressed in their national costumes performing activities fitting to their native country, and they were singing the intensely catchy theme tune of “It’s a Small World After All.”

“How much did you say you’d had to drink?” I asked Sean, as he began to hum the tune quietly to himself as we rode along. This was shortly after he’d downed the remains of his hip flask.

“Not that much, why?”

“Nothing.” I smirked.

“Look here,” Sean said, putting on an intensely serious face. “Just because this isn’t one of your big budget Hollywood movies entertaining you doesn’t mean you can be snooty.” He waved his hand in the direction of the passing display. “Those poor dolls are singing their hearts out up there.”

I bit my lip and tried not to laugh. Sean was quite funny when he was drunk.

“Right, if they aren’t enough entertainment for you, let’s create our own movie moment, right here and right now.” Sean tried to stand up in the boat.

“Sean, sit down—you might fall.”

“No—I’m fine,” he said, steadying himself. “Hey, Red, come to the front with me, and we’ll act out that scene from
Titanic
—you know the one, where Leo holds on to Kate.”

Tempting as it was to see myself as Kate Winslet and add to my tally of films, my better sense kicked in. “We’ll do nothing of the sort. Sit down, Sean, or you’ll fall and hurt yourself.”

Sean clambered right up on the front of the boat, then, wobbling with his arms outstretched, he shouted, “I’m king of the world! Look, Red, I’ve done a movie for your collection.”

“Yes, you certainly have. But I’m afraid it’s much more Hugh Grant in
Bridget
Jones
than Leonardo DiCaprio in
Titanic
. Now get down from there before you—”

Too late. As we passed under a low bridge, Sean’s head collided with it and he was knocked sideways into the water.

The line of boats continued on their merry way.

“Sean!” I shouted when he didn’t immediately reappear. “Oh my God, where are you?”

I clambered back along all the boats until I came to the last one in the line. As we passed under the bridge where Sean had fallen, I looked helplessly down into the water.

“Sean!” I called again.

Just then a head bobbed up, and Sean emerged blowing a fountain of water from his mouth.

“Oh my God, Sean, I thought you’d passed out under the water. Quick,” I said, holding out my hand. “Climb back on.”

Sean shook his head, pushed his hair back off his face, and waded along through the water until he’d caught the boat up again. Then somehow while the boat was still moving, I managed to help him climb back aboard.

“What happened to you?” I asked, moving one seat ahead of him as he dripped water everywhere.

“I got caught in between the rails. I had to stay under the water while the boats went over the top of me.” He looked embarrassed.

“Jesus, Sean, that could have been dangerous. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I didn’t plan to fall in.” He rubbed the back of his head and winced.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“What do you reckon?”

“All right, it wasn’t me that was stupid enough to injure myself at Disneyland Paris on ‘It’s a Small World.’” My mouth twitched with amusement. “And when you think of all the ways you could get hurt on the more dangerous rides too. Your heroic story will now always be—‘I nearly drowned in a three-foot-deep dolls’ lake.’”

Sean pulled a wry face as I held my hand over my mouth in a vain attempt not to laugh.

“Do we have to tell anyone about this?” he asked. “I mean, no one need know.”

“I think people might notice when you turn up soaking wet for the party later.”

“I’ll just go back and change at the hotel.”

“You’ve got to get there first without anyone seeing you.”

The ride came to an end and I began to climb out.

“Scarlett,” Sean pleaded, still sitting in the boat with water pouring off him. “Help me, please!”

“Oh, so I’m not Red now then?” I asked, standing on the side looking down at him with my arms folded.

Sean just looked up at me with big puppy-dog eyes. “Please, Scarlett,” he said again. “I need you.”