Away From the Spotlight (2 page)

I decided to try my luck at returning to our spot
via
the shortest route,
walking through the crowd between the bar and the high table.  I
had no idea
what I was thinking.  I would
have
be
en
lucky to make it without wearing half the cider by the time I got back to
Rachael
, who was
now,
not
surprisingly
,
surro
unded by a group of guys.

I had barely stepped away from the bar to pass the end of the high table
when
I thought I heard someone say, “She’s behind you.”  At that
moment
, a
middle-aged
man in front of me push
ed
past me to get to
an
opening at the end of the bar and a guy to my right turned
to
ward me
and backed into my right arm.  As a result, the pint
in my right hand
tilted toward me and poured over my wrist and my hand.  Thankfully, my sleeves were pulled up so it didn
’
t
soak
my sweater and I had not gotten wet on my skirt or my legs.  Before I knew it,
though,
the pints were taken from my hands and the guy who backed into me had grabbed napkins from the high table and was dabbing my right wrist and hand.

“I am
so sorry
,” said the guy who was still dabbing at my wrist and hand
in
a beautiful London accent.

I looked up and I cannot imagine that I didn’t blush.
 
He was around my age, give or take a
few
years, and
was very nice looking in an unusual, but very handsome way
.  He
had
highlighted dark brown hair that was
not long, but
thick and layered, spiking somewhat on the top and at the sides
.  He was probabl
y a little over six-
feet
-t
all with broad shoulders
for his fairly narrow frame
and what I imagined was a sculpted body under
neath
his shirt.  He had chiseled facial features,
perfect teeth,
piercing green eyes with bushy, but not out-of-control, eyebrows a
s well as
long lashes.  Wisps of brown chest hair peeked out where his
silvery-
grey
sh
irt was unbuttoned at the top.

I had always described my type as tall, dark and Irish-looking and, although he was English rather than Irish, he was what I considered beautiful in a man.

“I didn’t get you did I?”  I said with my
very
American accent.

“No, not at all,” he replied. 
He grabbed my sticky
hand
and ask
ed, “Will you marry me?”
and then winked at me
.

“I don’t know what to say
.
”
I replied
,
finding it difficult to look him in the eye
for
fear of blushing
. 
“
T
his is
all
so sudden.” 
I was surprised I could get an even remotely intelligent sentence out of my mouth.

He laughed and told me that this was his favorite ice breaker.  He stood up a little
tall
er and introduced himself and his friends that I hadn’t noticed were
there until that very second.

“I’m Will, this is Stephen
,
and this is Colin.”

Stephen was
tall
and
thin,
and
had blondish hair
, grey eyes
and a very English look about him.  Colin was tall as well, but with broad shoulders
and a burly build
,
closely cropped reddish-b
rown hair and
blue
eyes
.

“Nice to meet you,” I replied as I shook each of their hands with my still sticky right hand.  “Sorry about that,” I said as I realized I
now
had shared the stickiness with the whole
group.  “My name is Shannon.”

“An Irish girl,”
Colin
responded.

“No
,
actually Scottish, well
,
Scottish descent anyway,” I replied. 
We all stood silently for a moment. 
“I better get
this
drink to my friend,” I said
, feeling awkward and
realiz
ing
that I had been sidetracked from
my mission of getting drinks for Rachael and me
.

“Why don’t you leave this one here and just take the one
.
  You
’
re too dangerous with both
.  Y
ou’ll probably soak everyone
between
here
and there,” Will said
, his
green
eyes shining
as he laughed
.

I scowled at him without seriousness, grabbed the full pint
,
and made my way
through the crowd
toward
Rachael
.  I could feel the
eyes of my new acquaintances
watching me as I did this.  I finally made it across the room and handed
Rachael
her drink.  Of course, by this time, someone had a
lready managed to
buy
her one.

Rachael
introduced me to the men surround
ing
her
.  I
quickly
said my hellos and mentioned that I had to
leave to retrieve
my drink.

I could feel the eyes
still
on me as I
slowly
made my way back, but I felt too embarrassed to
look over and
meet the gaze.

“Welcome back,” Will said as he guided me to a position to his right so that he was facing me and away from the entrance of the pub.  “We were thinking of going to the
b
ack
b
ar where it is a little less crowded.  Would you join us?”

“I guess so
.  S
ure,” I replied
, surprised, but
happy that this
very
handsome man was paying attention to
me
.  “
But c
ouldn’t you have told me this before?
”
I teased.  “I
’
m going to have to brave the crowds again to tell my friend where I
’
ll be.”

“I’ll take your drink with me
so you won’t be so dangerous this time,” he laughed
. 
I noticed
then
that my drink had been topped up.

I
finally
managed to
head
out of the main part of the pub toward
the
b
ack
b
ar after
listening to
a few stories told by
Rachael
’s new
found
friends.  Getting through the
crowded
p
ub was difficult
. 
I made
a
quick
pit stop
in
the
tiny and
crowded
ladies’
room to make sure I looked at least okay
and
to
wash my sticky hand and arm
.  The restaurant
was
emptying out as I passed through it on my way to the
ba
ck
b
ar, which was on its other side, through an
arch
way.  The
b
ack
b
ar was very small
.  O
nly a couple of stools fit against it with a few low tables along the wall
opposite the bar and
to its
right.

Will and his friends were sitting at
a
low table next to the bar and Will was facing the wall opposite
the beveled glass
windows
along
the street
side of the pub
.  The chair next to him was empty and
,
seeing
that
my pint of cider was
placed
in front of it, I gue
ssed that it was meant for me.

“Sorry I took so long,”
I said as I joined the group.

I
noticed
that it was
just as
loud
in the small back bar
as
it was
in the main
part of the
p
ub
, the result of a large
speaker
hanging from the wall
above us
with music blaring
from the jukebox.  Someone had just put on the latest single by
my favorite band
and I smiled
brightly
.

“I love this song,” I said and had to lean toward Will so that he could hear me.

“I like
it
too,” Will replied
as if
there was an in-joke I was missing
.

I didn’t ask
him to explain
,
but
instead,
launched into my musical tastes.  Some people were evangelical about their religion
. 
I was evangelical about my music.  I tried to convert everyone I met.  In this case, it appeared that I needn’t have ma
d
e the attempt to convert Will as his tastes were Britis
h and scarily similar to mine.

I don’t think Will’s friends could hear a word I said as even Will
and I
had to
sit close in order
for us
to
hear
each other.
  I felt bad
ly
that I was taking Will’s attention from his friends and would occasionally try to
include the
m
in
the
c
onversation, but it was impossible in light of the din
of the crowd
and the
loud
music. 
Will seemed to appreciate my attempts
though
.

Will was so gorgeous, intelligent
,
and funny that
I believed that
there was no way he actually
would
be interested in me.  I had spent
a number of
evenings over the course of the past few years having good conversations at the
Royalist
with men I would never see again.  I had no reason to believe this would be any different. 
Even if
Will
was
by some chance
interested
, he was British
and
,
therefore
,
likely
just passing through L.A.
on holiday. 
Consequently, s
ince I believed I had no chance whatsoever with him, I felt more comfortable and was probably more talkative and open than I otherwise
might
have been.

Although I could have sat with
Will
and talked music
forever, I did recall in the back of my mind that I had not intended
to
stay out very late since I had
school and work the next day.
As midnight approached, I mentioned that I would have to get going soon.
  I really didn’t want to
leave
though
, figuring that I probably
would
never see Will again
so
I was stunned
when h
e grabbed my now clean right hand and asked, “Can I see you tomorrow?”

“What did
you have in mind?”  I made a great effort to be casual despite the fact that, in my head, I was screaming with delight.