The Movies Make It Look Easy

Chapter 41

Shannon’s P.O.V:

We lay snuggled in bed, alternately dozing and talking – both about serious things and random stuff that had us both laughing.
I eventually dragged myself out of bed at half ten, pulling Nick with me. We were going to meet my best friends; Kylie and Holly today, so staying in bed wasn’t an option.
Though as I stepped into the shower, I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.
Nick had left the room as I headed for the bathroom, saying that he was going to get breakfast.
The thought strangely brought a smile to my face – the first day he met my family, Nick wouldn’t have dreamed of going to the kitchen while I was in the shower, he would’ve been too nervous. He’d integrated well, I thought as I massaged shampoo into my hair.
My aunt “welcoming him to the family” didn’t seem so strange anymore, though I knew she’d meant it in a completely different way – everyone thought we were together.
I chuckled quietly to myself; last night had made everything that bit more complicated.

When I was finished, I went to get breakfast while Nick showered and got dressed.
‘How’d last night go?’ my mother asked curiously when he’d left the room.
‘It went well’ I said succinctly.
‘Well did he like your present?’ she pushed.
I nodded.
‘Well what did he get you?’
I could tell she was getting exasperated but I didn’t care, I wasn’t about to tell her even half of what had happened last night.
In answer to her question, I silently held up my wrist for her to see.
She gasped and came over to me, wiping her sudsy hands on the towel that was thrown over one shoulder, ‘wow Shannon, its gorgeous’
I swallowed my toast as she gently fingered the delicate silver charms.
‘He made it’ I said.
She looked at me in disbelief, ‘he made it?’
I nodded, ‘well he bought the charms but he made the bracelet’
She smiled, ‘well it seems that he has hidden talents’ she leaned in closer, ‘is this a date?’
I frowned slightly as I nodded. The mysterious date had been annoying me ever since he wouldn’t tell me what it meant.
‘What’s so special about the second of November?’
‘I don’t know, he won’t tell me’
‘That’s strange, I’m sure he’ll tell you sooner or later’
God, I hoped so.

She went back over to the sink and continued to wash up.
‘Don’t forget to clean up outside from last night and bring everything back inside’
I rolled my eyes at her back, ‘yes mother’
She didn’t seem to notice the sarcasm in my voice, or if she did, she was just so used to it that she just didn’t care anymore – both were plausible explanations. I gulped down the rest of my juice and headed outside, grabbing my jacket as I did.

Nick joined me minutes later as I was gathering all of the spent candles together.
‘Need any help?’ he asked as he sat on the bench.
‘Yeah, I’ll need help taking the telescope back to the garage. I’ll just put these inside first’ I said as I picked up the jars.
I quickly dropped them in the kitchen before going back outside.
I was just about to enter the ring of trees when Nick walked out carrying the telescope.
‘Here let me help’
He shook his head, ‘I’m fine’
‘But that’s heavy’ I said dumbly –my mother and I had struggled to carry it out together.
He rolled his eyes at me as he started to walk, ‘I know you like to call me skinny Sweetheart, but I’m not really’

I led him around the side of the house and out to the garage. I jogged forward to open the small door, standing back to let him through.
I showed him where to stow it and when he put it down, he rolled his shoulders as if it had been a mild workout. He winked when he saw me watching, making me blush.
I waited for him to pass me by so that I could lock the door.
He managed to pass me by just as I was standing in the doorway, so he momentarily pressed completely up against me before he was gone.
I looked at him strangely but he just gave me his best innocent look, which of course immediately made me think he was up to no good.
Shrugging to myself, I turned back to lock the door behind us.
‘How about I give you that tour of the garden and stuff? We have time before we have to leave’ I said when I turned back to him.
‘I’d love that’ he said sincerely.
‘Okay, let’s find the dogs first and then we can go’

We found the dogs – surprisingly – in the house, all three of them curled up beside the Christmas tree. My mother had obviously deemed them clean enough for her floors, so they’d been allowed inside but they were still happy to come for a walk when I called them.
Jolly stopped to quickly butt at my legs affectionately before hurtling off out the door after Storm and Zazu. Nick and I quickly followed, shutting the kitchen door behind us.
The dogs were snuffling about in the undergrowth but they waited for us before bouncing off down the garden.

I led Nick down the path in the opposite direction to the night before, until we came to a wrought iron gate set into the old wall bordering the garden.
Behind the walled garden was a large field that went slightly downhill until it came to a slow-moving river with trees bordering the opposite bank. The river marked the end of our property.
To the left there was a small wooded area which continued on past the house, the garage and the driveway. Deep in the forest was a fence showing where our land ended.
To our right were two more fields, with hedges separating them, and an old rusty gate and beyond them was the old barn which marked that end of the property.
There was a gravel lane that branched off from the main driveway in front of the house and led to the barn, and there was also an old, beaten track made by the countless people who had walked the land over the years, that went through the old gate and cut across the fields to the barn.
This was the way I turned when we left the walled garden, whistling for the dogs to follow as I went. They sprinted ahead of us, only to turn back to wind around our legs before running off again.
‘This is all yours?’ Nick asked; gesturing all around us.
I shrugged one shoulder dismissively, ‘it’s my parents’
He looked at me in exasperation, ‘you know what I mean’
I grinned, ‘then yes it is’
‘You’re lucky you know’
I shrugged again, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ I said, ‘no pun intended’
I laughed, kicking at a tuft of grass just in front of me.
He smiled at me, his eyes twinkling as we continued to meander across the field.
Thankfully the grass wasn’t wet – for once – so we wouldn’t need to change before going out.

We continued to walk across the field, the dogs running around us, tongues lolling as they panted. I breathed deeply, inhaling the familiar scents all around me. It brought a smile to my face.
I felt a warm hand taking hold of mine as we walked. I smiled briefly at him before looking back to the barn which was looming in front of us.
It was quite small and was partially rusted in places.
When we reached the entrance, I let go of Nick’s hand to slide the heavy metal door open just wide enough for us to fit through.
It was warm, still and utterly silent inside. It was almost pitch black so I flipped the switch beside the door. The overhead lights buzzed to life, illuminating the dust motes swirling in the air.
To our left was an open space where the old farm machinery and the newer quad bikes sat. To the right were three stables, and ahead of us was the door to the tack room and beside it the ladder leading up to the loft.
‘Well this is the barn’ I said pointlessly.
Nick didn’t answer, just started to wander around with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

He leaned on the stable door nearest to me and peered inside, ‘do you have any horses?’ he asked curiously.
‘No, we used to but we all outgrew horse riding so there was no point in keeping them anymore, it’s really expensive’
He turned around, ‘you really had the perfect country experience growing up didn’t you?’
‘I wouldn’t call it perfect but I guess so. The Irish term for it is “culchie”’
‘Culchie’ he rolled the word in his mouth and it sounded strange with his accent.
I nodded, smiling at him.
‘Is there anything up there?’ he asked, pointing towards the ladder.
I shook my head, ‘no, just a lot of dust. Maybe an old blanket, Ryan used to bring his girlfriends here when we were younger for “privacy”’ I shuddered at the thought.
Nick openly laughed, ‘you wanna go up?’ he asked cheekily.
‘I just told you my brother used to go up there, what do you think?’
He shrugged and walked over to me.
He grinned when he looked closely at me, ‘you’re looking a tad green around the edges Sweetheart’
‘Do you blame me? I can understand why he doesn’t like the thought of me and you together’
He was suddenly so close there was barely an inch between us.
‘All that matters is what you and I think’ he said quietly, and I felt my heart begin to flutter wildly at his words.
He leant down and slowly pressed his lips against mine.
Like the night before it was short and sweet, and when he pulled away I had to stop myself from grabbing him and... I hastily pushed those images out of my head.

He grinned at me, his lips still close to mine, ‘we should get going if we want to be on time to meet your friends’
Without another word he stepped past me and out into the brightness of the day, leaving me staring after him in a daze.
I just couldn’t understand him.
I sighed inwardly as I followed him outside, turning back to close the barn door after me.
When it was closed, I took a moment to just look at him.
He was standing slightly in profile to me, his hair being stirred by the gentle breeze. His hands were stuffed deep into his pockets as he stared across the fields, a serious expression on his face. His head tilted to the side as he slowly held out a hand to me.
I felt a flood of emotions wash through me as I stepped forward and took his warm, smooth hand in mine.
We silently began the walk back to the house.

We were halfway across the fields when he spoke. ‘So what should I expect when I meet your friends?’
I smiled slyly and maybe just a bit vindictively at the thought of Nick meeting my best friends. ‘I really can’t explain, you’ll just have to make your own judgements’
He nudged me slightly with his hip, ‘I don’t trust that look’
I laughed, ‘you shouldn’t’
He pouted.
‘Don’t worry’ I assured him, ‘I’m sure you’ll love them’
One corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile, ‘if they’re anything like you, I know I will’ he said mildly.
I ducked my head as a blush rose across my cheeks.
He chuckled, making my cheeks flame even more.
I was unable to make eye contact with him for the rest of the walk to his great amusement.

We hurried into the house minutes later to gather our things and were getting into the car within five minutes.
‘This feels really strange’ I said absently as I turned on the engine.
‘Why?’ Nick asked as he buckled his seatbelt beside me.
‘Because I haven’t driven in so long’
I’d taken the keys to the Peugeot, and I took my time going down the driveway as I got used to feel of driving again.
There was no need for a car in London because we either walked or got the Tube everywhere.
I smiled as we started down the familiar roads; I’d forgotten how much I loved the freedom of being able to drive.
It was a bright day – though it was cold – and big puffy clouds filled the sky, blocking the weak rays of the sun at intervals.
‘So where are we going again?’ Nick asked as he stared avidly out the passenger side window.
‘Dundrum’ I answered as we passed Johnny Fox’s pub.
I accelerated as the road straightened out and it wasn’t long before we were passing through Stepaside.
It didn’t take long to get to Dundrum.
‘It’s weird that all your road signs have some Irish on them, do you actually understand it?’
I just rolled my eyes and didn’t answer as I navigated the round-a-bout and up into the Dundrum carpark.

It took a while to find a free space – people were obviously already checking to see if the sales had started and were hoping to get the best bargains.
Finally though, I managed to squeeze into a tiny space about two-thirds away from the shopping centre.
After taking a moment to mentally curse the badly parked cars on either side, I blew my fringe out of my eyes and got out of the car.
Nick followed suit and stood staring at the large building in front of us, while I made sure the car was locked.
‘It’s huge’ he said as I took his hand in mine and began walking to the doors.
I shrugged, ‘I suppose, I’m used to it by now’
I actually hated coming here and most people I knew did too. It was always so packed and it was tiring wandering around (sort of like the tiredness you feel when you step into a museum and immediately start to yawn) though it was admittedly convenient when the weather was so awful nobody could bear to make the trip into town.
‘We’re meeting Kylie and Holly outside the cinema entrance’
One glance at Nick told me he wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to me as he looked around him with curiosity lighting his eyes, strangely making the gold and green flecks stand out.

We had to weave our way through the many shoppers crowding the place as we made our way to HMV.
I pulled Nick through the shop, bypassing the CD’s and DVD’s to the escalators that would take us down to the cinema.
‘There’s no need to run’ Nick grumbled as I pulled him past the cinema and McDonalds and out the doors.
I looked all around me for any sight of a familiar face but I couldn’t see anyone. I sighed, my shoulders slumping slightly as I began to walk again.
‘Are they here yet?’
I shook my head as I sat down on one of the steps beside the fountain. Most of the area was deserted, the majority of people preferring to stay indoors where it was warm.
I rested my head lightly against Nick’s shoulder when he sat beside, enjoying how warm he was compared with the icy breeze that had picked around us. He put his arm around me and looked at the building behind us.
‘It really is huge’
‘Harvey Nichols, Urban Outfitters, and Hamleys, and stuff are over there’ I told him, lazily pointing across the fountains at the buildings fronted by a couple of restaurants.
It was lovely in the summer when it was hot and the fountain was turned on, the coloured lights under the surface of the water making the jets of water sparkle with a multitude of colours.

We were silent, each lost in our own thoughts, when I heard two familiar voices call my name.
I sat up and looked to where the sound came from.
Sure enough, two familiar figures were eagerly crossing the road, cutting across a taxi in their haste. I grimaced when I heard the taxi beep loudly at them. I raised my hand in greeting, and received enthusiastic waves in return as they got closer.
I stood up, pulling Nick with me.
I squeezed his arm once before stepping forward, just as my two best friends reached us.

Then the screaming began.