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Luckiest person in the world
(Liam)
I glanced over tae see Blakely texting on her phone. She explained, “My assistant Karrie missed the premiere last night because she’s home for a funeral, but saw the photos this morning and is checking in…” Her brow raised. “She says you’re hot, by the way.”
“Och nae, how…?”
“There is photographic proof.” She turned her phone around tae show me a photo of us standin’ on the red-carpeted steps of the theater.
Her brow raised. “How does that make you feel, rugby-boy? You’ve been out of the limelight for a while, but guess what — now you’re in it, big time…”
“It has been a long time. Look at m’face — I forgot how tae smile proper.”
She chuckled. “That is your normal face, Liam. That is how you smile. You have a great smile.” She looked down at the photo.
“Och nae, I look like that? Normally? Tis why I stay from the limelight, tae keep the people from havin’ tae witness it.”
She clutched the phone to her chest. “I think we look fabulous, a perfect couple. I’m psyched you came.”
I kissed her forehead. “Ye will hae tae train me tae smile the right way, so I daena look like a gargoyle.” I crossed m’eyes, grimacing.
She laughed.
We drove for about twenty minutes, the last few up a verra windy road tae a large gate surrounded by high walls. Blakely typed numbers intae the pad and the gate slid open and then the car drove us up a short drive tae a modern house clinging tae the side of a hill.
She said, “This is my home.”
I said, “Fuckin’-A, Blakely, tis too… och nae.”
She said, “What…?”
I was suddenly verra aware of the man drivin’ the Escalade, so I said, “Nothing.” I climbed from the car and held the door for her. I pulled my suitcase out after us and the limo left us at the door.
Blakely typed a number intae another security-pad and the door opened on a grand foyer.
I said, “Och,” again as my eyes swept the luxurious decor and then beyond the living room tae the wall of glass lookin’ out over Los Angeles. I let go of the handle of m’suitcase and because it was old it tipped tae the finely tiled floor.
She cocked her head. “Whatcha going through there?”
“Ye ken… I dinna ken… ye are possessin’ a great deal of wealth, Blakey.”
She squinted her eyes. “You knew I was rich.”
I shook my head, “This is a whole other level, Woodshee. Ye are beyond what I thought…. And I think I thought… I convinced m’self it was mostly yer husband’s money.”
She said, incredulously, “Really? That’s so sexist of you!” She looked at me long, but I was frozen, my mind spinnin’ around the new information: I had not understood how far out of m’league she was. I had asked her tae marry me like a gold-diggin’ fool. I had—
She said, “Are you okay, Liam?”
“Honestly? Nae. I am losin’ it...”
She took my hand and led me tae the middle of the living room and pushed me ontae the couch. She cleared throw pillows from around me and tossed them away. “Excuse me, Liam, but I hate these so much.”
Then she said, “Now just sit there and I want to show you something. It’s breathtaking.” She went to yet another pad and pushed buttons until the whole wall of windows slid open from two sides, turning the house intae an open porch, looking out over a valley with a far away city, small in the distance.
“See that, Liam? I love this view. I love that I can pull the windows away and open the house to the outside.” She put her arms out, “Most of the rest of the house I hate, it’s got the…” She screwed her face up, “the indents of my ex’s fingerprints all over it. Like those pillows, I hate those pillows.”
She looked around. “Almost everything in this house signifies an argument. He wanted things just like he wanted them and he thought I was useless as a decorator so he wouldn’t take my opinion on anything. This house is just a box I happen to live in, I’m fighting tooth and nail to own it, without truly wanting it, but that’s how divorces go — but…” She inhaled dramatically. “Do you smell that? That is the hills of Los Angeles. It’s fresh, right? I would sit there, right where you are sitting now, and I would inhale deeply. I would dream of going on a really long hike — now, in retrospect, I know I was dreaming about meeting you.”
