“Shannon’s mother and I add our thanks to all of you for joining us here tonight to celebrate.” He went on to give his well wishes and a warm welcome to the family to Will.
How formal. Who is that man speaking? Where are the jokes, the sarcasm? I almost laughed.
Pete rose, walked toward our table from the front table in the center of the room, and stood next to it on the other side of my parents. I noticed Pam was seated at that table and waved when she looked at me. I could see that she and Niall were sitting closely together holding hands.
“When we were younger, I can recall Will describing the perfect girl for him, strong and intelligent, and with ginger hair. When I talked to Will within a few weeks of his meeting Shannon, I could tell that he knew that she was the one for him. He didn’t have to describe her. I knew exactly how she would be. Several months later, I met Shannon for the first time, and she was exactly how I had pictured her. So when I met up with them again a few weeks later, I was not surprised that it was to celebrate their engagement. I knew then as I’m sure all of you will see, if you haven’t already, that Will and Shannon have each found their other half. I am happy for the both of you and wish you all the happiness you deserve. To the happy couple.” He held up his glass of champagne in the air and then took a sip.
Pam got up next and took the microphone from Pete. Pete walked behind the table, kissed me on the cheek, hugged Will and returned to his table. I wondered about Pam’s speech. It was bound to be a little more colorful than the others.
“I can say that I have been a firsthand witness to the Will and Shannon show almost from the beginning. Will treats Shannon like a queen and I know she adores him. Now I have to tell you that I haven’t always appreciated this, despite the fact that I received some of the benefit of the royal treatment bestowed upon Shannon. I think ‘nauseating’ was the term I used to describe them when they were first engaged to be engaged. I think ‘unbearable’ was another word I used.”
The audience laughed and so did we.
She went on after the laughter died down a little. “You’ll all start to learn the quirky things about them that I’ve seen. When they’re together, you’ll rarely find them more than ten feet apart from each other. I’ve honestly thought about getting a measuring tape.”
More laughter from the crowd. Pam paused again. Will and I looked at each other and smiled.
“When they’re apart, there’s the constant calling and texting, and the pining.” She grimaced jokingly.
Pam didn’t wait for the laughter to subside before going on, “All kidding aside, I may give them a hard time, but I know that they love each other very much and that they are perfect for each other. I hope that everyone here has found or finds the happiness Will and Shannon share. Shannon, Will, you are both very lucky. To my best friends, Shannon and Will, have a very happy life together. Cheers!” Pam then walked behind the table and hugged us both.
“Thanks, Pam, I can always count on you to be obnoxious.”
“It could have been worse. I thought about a lengthy discussion about how your marriage saved two other people, but I figured that was going too far.”
“Funny.”
Will chimed in, “You know, I didn’t really see it before, but I now get you and Niall - perfectly. You’re two of a kind.”
“We are very similar.” Pam looked over at Niall, who was watching her, and smiled. “Thank you, by the way, for the invitation and the ticket. I owe you one, both of you.”
“It’s going well?” I asked.
“Yes. We’ve spent a lot of time on the phone these last few months, but there’s nothing like being in the same country. I better get back to him. See you after dinner.”
Pam returned to her seat and I watched Niall lean over and kiss her. They sort of reminded me of Will and me. Before I could say anything to Will, as if summoned by magic, servers entered the room with the salad course.
Will and I decided to make the rounds in the room to say “hello” to our guests. There were about twenty or so tables of ten, arranged in four rows of five tables.
We decided to go around and start at the back of the room. The photographer and videographer followed us, again discreetly. We greeted and thanked for coming the relatives and family friends as well as friends of Will’s from high school, university, and his early acting days.
Not in the front row of tables, but in the three center tables in the second row were all the famous people sitting together. There was one table of British actors from All Castles Are Grey, including the host of the wrap party and his wife. There was another table with actors from some of Will’s other British films. The center table included Katherine and Mark, the O’Neills and their significant others, and a few other very famous young actors and actresses I had not met. Although I imagined that Will was closer to some of those sitting in the back, I was sure that Margaret was sensitive to placing the famous people there.
The O’Neills greeted me happily. “I see you took my advice,” Sean said to Will. “I told you she was a keeper.”
Will smiled. “I meant to say ‘thank you’ for the dedication at the concert last spring. You made Shannon very happy.”
“Well, I have another surprise for you in a while.” He looked at me.
“Really?” I was like a star-struck fan. Funny how I married an actor, but am never star-struck by actors. Musicians on the other hand . . .
“Thanks, Sean. Glad you’re back home and could be here.” Will rescued me.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said and smiled.
We then approached Katherine and Mark. “I’m so glad everything worked out for you,” Katherine said as she hugged me. “As I said last night, he was like the living dead during the entire Midnight 4 shoot. I was really worried, but knew that, once he got home, he would figure out that he was being a complete idiot. Not that I didn’t tell him that every day.”
“Thanks for being in my corner. I appreciate it.”
“He’s like my brother. I want what’s best for him.”
We continued on among the tables, including the family table that included my sister and Will’s sisters.
“Thank you for the dress. It’s beautiful,” I gushed to Emma. I feel like Audrey Hepburn. I never thought I could wear something like this. I would have thought I had a little too much going on up here to get away with it.” I pointed in a circle around my chest as I spoke.
“You’re stunning. Be glad you have something to hold up the dress.”
The last table we visited was that of Pete, Damon, and their girlfriends, Niall, Pam and Jane along with Stephen, Kate, Colin and Gemma. Two extra chairs were added to make a larger table of twelve so that Jane and her date could sit with Pam. Margaret clearly had thought of everything.
We first talked to Pete, Damon, Niall, Pam and Jane. We then did somewhat of a group hug with Stephen, Colin, Kate and Gemma and I said, “I’m so glad you could be here,” as we did so.
By the time we got back to our table, the main course had been sitting there a while. We both tried to eat. It was hard for me because I was too excited and nervous. The evening seemed to be going along in a blur. It wasn’t long before it was time for the cake. Will was kind and it didn’t get too messy. The cake was good and tasted like it had rum in it.
Next was the start of the dancing and here’s where my surprise from the O’Neills came into play. They performed the first few songs at the reception, with Jack singing and Sean on an acoustic guitar. My first dance with Will was a slowed down acoustic version of my favorite song of theirs. They also played another favorite of mine for the family dance. They played their final song for everyone.
When the O’Neills were finished and nodded to the audience as they cheered, I rushed up to them and thanked them. “Other than Will himself, I think that was my best present ever,” I gushed. I hugged them and kissed them both quickly on the mouth before I realized what I had done.
Sean smirked and said to Will, “I hea
r you’re having another one of these in Los Angeles. If that’s going to be the reaction, I’ll be happy to come out there and repeat the performance.”
“I’ll come too,” Jack chimed in.
“She can be enthusiastic at times.” Will looked at me and chuckled.
I looked sheepish.
“Lucky you,” Jack said and raised his thick eyebrows.
A DJ then played a mix of musical genres so that everyone would dance. For the first several dances, Will and I slow danced, even though most of the songs were not slow. We started to kiss as if no one else was in the room. We heard throat clearing next to us. Stephen and Kate, and Colin and Gemma were all dancing close to us. It was then that we realized that we had an audience.
“Remember, it’s not just us here this time,” Colin said and grinned.
“We weren’t being that bad,” I responded defensively.
“We’ve seen you worse, of course, but you were getting a little, uh, involved.”
Will then whispered in my ear, “Meet me outside.” He walked away.
I first headed toward Jane, who was standing with her date at the edge of the dance floor, to say hello. I then feigned having to go to the bathroom and exited the ballroom.
Will came up behind me and pulled me into a small unused room, locked the door, and started to kiss me urgently.
“We’ve got guests waiting for us and I don’t think this is going to be easy in this dress.”
“I don’t care. I want you. Now.”
I didn’t take much convincing as he continued to kiss and touch me intimately.
We emerged from the small room a little while later unseen. I excused myself to go to the restroom and clean myself up. Pam came into the restroom not long after me and laughed when she took in my disheveled appearance. Considering her reaction, I was glad that no one else had seen me. I looked in the mirror. My dress was askew, my face was red, my lipstick that had managed to stay on most of the night was gone, and my hair was mussed.
“I saw you on the dance floor. I figured that’s where you went when you seemed to have disappeared.”
I was horrified, “You think everyone else knows?”
“Probably. Let me help you put yourself back together.”
I was a little flushed still as we got ready to leave the restroom and Pam watched me as I noticed this.
“There’s no getting around that. Even if you weren’t a little red, you’d still be glowing. What happened to the girl who didn’t get embarrassed by this kind of thing?”
“It’s one thing in front of friends and quite another in front of my parents and his parents.”
“They’re grown-ups. You’re married. They’ll deal.”
As I walked into the room, I could feel all eyes on me. I took a breath and tried not to think about the fact that they all likely knew where I had been and what I had been doing. I had taken only a handful of steps into the room before Will joined me and took my hand. We returned to the dance floor where we danced a slow dance.
Will whispered in my ear, “I enjoyed that very much.”
I whispered back, “I did too.”
“I could tell.”
“Oh, no! You don’t think anyone heard me, do you?”
“Not in here. Anyone out in the hallway, maybe.”
I was mortified. “What about our parents?”
“I think they’ve been in here the whole time.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
We then let our guests start to cut in on us.
Niall cut in at one point and called me out. “I saw you come back into the room. You looked guilty and embarrassed. What happened to the girl who shocked me at her engagement party?”
“Pam said the same thing. As I told her, I don’t care about our friends, but our parents are here. It’s a little awkward.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think they noticed. They were too busy talking to each other, no doubt planning their grandchildren. Had they noticed, they probably would have been happy you were getting a head start.” He winked at me.
Grandchildren. Being married really sunk in at that point. I didn’t even think about children. At twenty-five, I still felt like a child myself. I hoped that our parents would be very, very patient.
By the end of the evening, I believe I had danced with practically every male guest and Will had danced with every female guest, including his little niece. We, along with our parents, were the last to leave.
“Thank you for this, Margaret,” I said as I hugged her good night. “Tonight was perfect.”
“I’m so glad. I enjoyed myself. I wanted to make you and Will happy.”
“You succeeded.”
We returned to our room, exhausted from the party, but not so exhausted that we went right to sleep.
The next day, we returned to our flat in Hampstead and spent the remainder of the week sightseeing with my family, visiting with Will’s family, and trying to have a honeymoon of sorts when we had alone time in Hampstead.
On New Year’s Eve, we hosted a party at Will’s flat consisting of most of the group we had the night before our reception with the additions of some of our other younger wedding guests, including Will’s friends from school, university and his early acting days. The party ran very late and we ended up sleeping away most of our last day in England as a result.
Chapter Fifty
We arrived back in L.A. to find that there was still no word of our reconciliation or marriage. No paparazzi met us at the airport or at the house.
During the week of my return from England, my office threw a wedding shower for me in one of our office conference rooms. Marie had a ball planning it and we played silly games like “toilet-paper bride” and my co-workers answered a quiz regarding how well they knew the bride. Of course, Rachael won the quiz to no one’s surprise. Will stopped by during the latter part of the party to say hello and give his thanks. The women in my office apart from Rachael were star-struck. I hoped that they would get used to Will being around and eventually act normal around him. The men in attendance, including Max and Daniel, congratulated him. Of course, John didn’t attend and I couldn’t blame him. He was working from home that day, likely in order to avoid having to witness all the festivities.
The Sunday after my return from England, Carrie, Annie, Kate and Gemma hosted another wedding shower for my friends and family at Annie’s apartment in Santa Monica. It couldn’t be held it at a public place due to the risk of exposing my marriage. Annie had food brought in from my favorite Chinese restaurant in Brentwood and I was happy to have my favorite spicy peanut noodles. We didn’t play games this time, but they did create a bouquet from the ribbons and bows from my gifts and made up a story about my wedding night based upon my comments while opening my presents. The task of compiling my comments and making up the story was assigned to Rachael and so, of course, it was raunchy and hilarious. She didn’t hold back one little bit despite the fact that my mother was in the room. I would have refrained from making comments including such phrases as “big package,” and “I didn’t know it came in that size,” had I known what they were planning to do.
Our wedding reception in Los Angeles took place the Saturday after the shower at a private club at the top of one of the towers up on Bunker Hill in Downtown L.A. To some degree, it was similar to that held in London. The theme was less art deco though and the colors were gold and white with touches of red and black, rather than the silver and white of the London party. One of the rooms we used for the cocktail hour beforehand was triangular in shape and the guests had a view of Los Angeles to the east and to the west at twilight.
It was an odd pairing of the guests in that we had a fairly large Hollywood contingent balanced by my family and friends from work and school. We were fortunate that a lot of people were in town for the Golden Globes, scheduled to take place two days later. We had some overlap in guests from the London reception in that Will’s family and mine were t
here as were Pete, Damon and Niall. Of course, Katherine, Mark, Pam and our roommates from the Palisades were present as well.
I wore a flowing white dress fitted at the bust with thin gold spaghetti straps and gold accents. Gemma acted as my wardrobe consultant for this reception and her choice was perfect.
The meal and the dancing afterward were held in the room adjacent to the triangular room facing to the east. The lights of Los Angeles were visible as far as the eye could see. The O’Neills, as promised, returned for a repeat performance for the Los Angeles crowd. I got the impression that they were glad they came not only for us, but also because they got to meet more of Will’s Hollywood friends, some of whom were quite renowned.
I rarely spent more than a few minutes away from Will’s side the entire night, other than to dance with our guests. Even then, Will and I remained only a few feet apart.
I worried a little about the L.A. reception because there were certain invited guests that were not too happy about our marriage and all three accepted their invitations. Will’s manager, Kayla Roberts and John were all planning to attend. I wondered if there were other ex-girlfriends of Will’s who would be there, but I didn’t have the courage to ask. Frankly, I didn’t really want to know.
We spoke briefly to Will’s manager, Sam Steinberg, Kayla and John as we made the rounds to greet our guests, but there wasn’t a lot of time for much conversation at that time.
Later in the evening, I danced with Sam. I had never met him previously and I had the distinct impression that Will purposely prevented us from meeting until that evening. I decided to address the issue directly.
“Will told me when we first got engaged that you weren’t happy about it.”
Sam took my comment in stride. I guess he would have to be able to take everything in stride considering his profession. “Yes, at first.”
“Why?”
“Because a lot of Will’s fans from Midnight dream that they could marry him someday, that he is attainable. Your marriage takes that away and those fans may move on to someone else who is single. Plus, being married makes him seem older. He’s only twenty-six and can still play much younger if he wants to. And we’ll lose all the teen magazine publicity and the publicity speculating about his love life.”
Away From the Spotlight Page 36
