Love in La La Land

by Lynn Forth

  There, standing before him, was the only woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.

  Elated by this stunning realisation, he walked towards her, gently held her shoulders and looked deep into her astonished eyes. ‘Jane, I hadn’t realised till now just how much I do love you. After what you said…well, I think I’m a permanent sort of guy. If you’ll let me, I want to be your permanent guy.’

  Her troubled, weary eyes searched his face, as if trying to decipher what he was saying, before she at last found her voice.

  ‘Are you sure? In a permanent place?’

  ‘Absolutely. You are right about La La Land, and about what it does to people. I can’t believe I’ve put up with it for so long. You have made me realise how much I, too, hate all the intrigue, the subterfuge, the vanity, the wheeling and dealing.’ He shook his head in astonishment, feeling a great weight lift from his soul. ‘It’s like the scales have fallen from my eyes. How have I lived in such a shoddy place for so long?’

  Laughing with pure joy, he picked up a wide-eyed Jane and swung her in sheer exhilaration.

  ‘Thank you. Oh, thank you. You have made me see it properly. Of course, I now know I don’t have to accept it. Of course, I don’t have to live like this, always compromising myself, my principles. It is possible to be free of this place and live a different life.’

  A huge sigh escaped him.

  ‘And I reckon I am ready to live with you, my love. And not here.’

  ‘In Yorkshire?’ Jane continued to look dumbfounded. All this was clearly amazing her.

  ‘Heck, yes. Why not? It’s where I was born, after all. You say you want roots, well, it’s where my roots are. I loved growing up in a village. And, if you will marry me, I would like our kids to grow up there as well.’

  The woman in his arms reeled back a little, quite clearly stunned at his final words.

  ‘Um…marry you?’ she whispered. ‘Oh Jack, I would love to, but are you sure? Really sure? I don’t want to think I have forced you into anything.’

  He threw back his head and laughed. ‘What am I to do with this girl? The first time in my life I’ve ever proposed marriage, and she asks if I’m sure. Whatever has given you the idea that I’m an indecisive, easily-swayed sort of person?’

  He saw her giggle at the very idea. She obviously still needed convincing.

  ‘No, it’s not that. But, Jack, leaving here… It’s such a big step. What about your work?’

  ‘Hmm, what if I stop all this Hollywood hackery? What if I start some original writing? You have made me think about what it would be like to write something for the first time. Stare at a blank page and see what my imagination can come up with. It feels terrifying but exciting. Just like the prospect of completely changing my life and turning my back on Tinseltown. But it also feels wonderfully liberating. I would love to embrace the rural joys of village life…and you, of course.’

  He grinned down at her bemused face.

  ‘So, for the second time of asking, you gorgeous girl, could you turn your back on all this glamour and glitz and take the quiet life with me? We could even romantically elope. I believe your father has offered to buy the ladder.’

  A beaming Jane gazed back at him with shining eyes. He looked down at her adorable face and asked again,

  ‘Seriously, darling Jane. Will you marry me? It need only be a simple, quiet affair.’

  Too full of emotions to speak, all Jane could do was nod…and laugh. Partly at the thought that any wedding involving her loud and boisterous family could possibly be quiet, but also from sheer happiness.

  As they say in the movies, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse.

  The End

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