Authors: Emily Austen,Leen Elle
'Don't tell me you cooked your engagement ring?' he said with a teasing grin.
'Of
course
I cooked it!' I ranted at him. 'It was in the
microwave
, for God's sake! You should have known that I never look closely at microwaves - why couldn't you have put it on my pillow or something, like a normal sane person?'
'
Because
I wanted you to have found it before we spoke again,' he told me, then made himself more comfortable where he sat, his expression of eagerness fully visible even when the video image stuttered slightly over the distant connection. 'So - what do you think?'
'It's...very, very pretty indeed,' I replied, my half-hearted anger at him disappearing. 'Look, I've got it on.' I put my hand with the ring on it close to the lens of my webcam, and I saw Connor lean close to his screen.
'Ooh, it's perfect on you!' He smiled, and then sniggered: 'You're right - it is a bit black in places...'
'You shut up, I spent ages scrubbing it,' I answered, gathering it protectively to my chest. 'But anyway - how's Manirika or whatever it was called?'
'Mana?' Connor corrected, and I waved a hand impatiently. He grinned. 'It's great - beautiful weather. And the beaches are absolutely breathtaking, all of them just pure white sand. It's a brilliant film location...look, I'll show you out of my lodge window -'
The webcam shook a little as he picked his laptop up, and opened his blinds. At first the camera showed just a blur of white light, but then it adjusted and I could see it all: the blue sky, the green, tropical trees, the azure sweep of the ocean just a stone's throw away...
'It's
beautiful
,' I said fervently. 'Oh...you must be having such fun!'
I heard the faint sound of Connor's laughter, and then the laptop was back on the table and Connor was in front of it again. 'I am - but the only odd thing is that this place is quite a few hours ahead...and by quite a few I mean about eleven. It feels really weird to be forward by almost a whole day...'
'But you do have the beautiful beaches to make up for it,' I replied, and he chuckled.
'Aye, I do,' he said, looking around. 'Now I understand the true meaning of those postcards when they say "wish you were here"...'
I shrugged wistfully, with a smile. 'Well, at least I have a nice ring to keep me happy in the meantime...'
But unfortunately for me, I didn't know that during the next few days that followed, I would need a
lot
more than just a ring to get me through the trouble that was to come...
Clive’s Café
It began so subtly I didn't even notice it at first, and it came in the form of a rather nondescript, ordinary-looking man.
In this city where minor celebrities and their entourage walked free, I was now feeling far more confident about going out more or less by myself. This meant that I could leave the lofty comfort of the penthouse to have a look around the city whenever I wanted, since I no longer felt so nervous about the chance of meeting photographers. So I went out regularly, sometimes actually managing to have fun even without Connor there. The little boost of independence made me much more sure of myself - though I did still like to meet with Michaela now and then, same as always.
But recently, when I went back to the penthouse after a day out or a walk around, I began to notice a man with long, tied-back hair and a ratty baseball cap standing a short way from the entrance to the building. During those first few days, I paid him no attention - with his regular features and unremarkable clothes, I didn't even
notice
him there. But even when I did, he appeared entirely unthreatening; from what I could see, he didn't have a huge camera hanging off his shoulder, so he didn't particularly bother me.
Then I started to notice that he was standing outside the penthouse almost every day, looking at me as I went in. This went on for several days, until finally the man stopped his odd loitering and approached me.
'Are you the girl Connor MacGowan's with at the moment? Lillian Harwick?' were his first words to me. I riled slightly at his hint that I was insignificant and temporary, but remained civil nonetheless.
'Yes, I am,' I replied, slightly guarded.
His eyes gleamed and he grinned. 'Great - I
thought
it was you,' he said. 'Can I have an autograph?'
I laughed out loud in surprise at this. 'What, mine? I'm not even famous or anything...'
'Oh, believe me, Lillian, you are,' the man replied earnestly, baseball cap bobbing. I found his use of my first name rather unnerving, but I let it pass. 'Everyone on is talking about you!'
'Clive's Café dot com?' I repeated with a frown, hearing it for the first time as I obligingly scribbled my signature onto the piece of paper he had handed me.
The man nodded enthusiastically. 'It's my site,' he told me rather smugly. 'I'm Clive. There are about two thousand subscribers already - and you have been a hot topic for about four months running.' He gave me a somewhat saucy wink that I was sure Connor would strongly disapprove of if he saw it.
'Oh - really?' I said, surprised. 'Well, it's nice to meet you, Clive.'
He beamed with slightly uneven teeth. 'Ya know, I've probably watched that video interview of you about a million times, but I never thought your accent could be even more beautiful in real life,' he told me.
'Um...thanks,' I replied bashfully, then looked up at the building. 'Look, it's great to have met you, but I've really got to get back...' I made to go, but Clive stopped me.
'This is where you live?' he immediately asked, sounding infinitely interested.
'For...for the moment, yes,' I answered vaguely, becoming uncertain.
'Ah, great,' Clive said. 'It took me so long to find it, you know...'
'Oh...' I felt a tingle of unease cross me; this guy had been actively searching for our house? I really wanted to get away now...'Does Connor know you?' I asked, mildly wary.
Clive looked shifty. 'Generally, yeah,' he replied vaguely. 'But it's better if you don't tell him we met.' That instantly aroused my suspicions again, and I wondered what he meant by this. I really needed to go inside and get away from him...pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes, I glanced back at the building nervously -
'Is that a ring?' Clive abruptly demanded, apparently having noticed it on my finger. I bit my lip.
'Er...yeah...'
'An
engagement
ring?' Clive specified.
'Yes...' I replied, knowing there was little point in lying - he already knew the answer.
Instead of politely congratulating me or crowing over a new golden piece of gossip to feed his website with, Clive looked shocked.
'Oh, Gad...Connor proposed to you?'
I replied the affirmative, resisting the urge to ask him how else he thought I could get engaged.
Clive's smile was gone; he began to shake his head slowly.
'No...no, you can't be...getting
married
to him,' he said. 'Lilly, I came here to warn you - this guy's not the type to get too involved with. If you really did start out as complete strangers, then you don't know what sort of guy he really is. Before you and him got together, he was a total player...he'd pick up girls anywhere he was, and he'd switch them every day...You really don't want to get too tied up with someone like him. Once a player, always a player, as they say - and there's no knowing
what
sort of stuff he got up to in that rough place in Scotland...'
'It doesn't matter to me,' I told him with firm indignance, beginning to get a bit annoyed. 'I'm fully aware of Connor's background, and I can tell you he
has
changed.'
Clive looked maddeningly unmoved, lips pursed in an almost sympathetic expression. 'Honey, here in New York the more privileged of us get to see the real life of movie stars for ourselves - and trust me, nobody in the city could
ever
imagine Connor MacGowan getting hitched.'
'Well, they won't need to imagine it, because it's going to happen quite soon,' I answered curtly, affronted at his unfair judgement of Connor's character. I began to walk away, but to my annoyance, Clive followed me.
'Look - Connor might be a sweet guy for the cameras, but we all know that he's a different person behind them,' he insisted. 'He's gone to Fiji now, hasn't he? Gad, imagine all the exotic girls he's probably with right now. If I were you, Lilly, I'd leave while I still had a chance -'
'Thank you, Clive, but I know Connor very well, and I don't think there's anything wrong with getting married to him,' I interrupted, swiftly walking into the building. 'Bye.' Smartly, I shut the door in his face and went off without looking back.
'Oh, Jesus...' I groaned quietly several hours later. I was about to go crazy with nervousness; I had checked from the balcony, and this Clive character hadn't moved from the front of the building. What if he confronted me again when I went out? I was very certain that he would.
Something was bothering me: why had he been so secretive, telling me not to inform Connor? And why was he so keen on making me distance myself from the man I loved?
Clive's lurking presence outside the penthouse proved to be quite a harrassment - it was lucky that there was a back entrance to the building and so I could sneak out to buy weekly supplies and go where I wanted in relative peace. But all too soon I felt as if I would go crazy with the knowledge that there was someone constantly outside the front door...
One night, I couldn't take it any longer; I had become greatly aware of how much I had taken Connor's protective presence for granted lately, and how difficult it was without him here to "sort out" those who bothered us. So finally, unable to wait for him to go on webcam, I called him up on the phone.
It rang for a long time; I had called his mobile number, and I sincerely hoped he wasn't in the middle of shooting and could pick up...
Finally, the ringing stopped, and on the other end I heard: '
Hello?
'
The reception was bad, there were background sounds and his voice was oddly tinny and echoey, but it was still reassuringly Connor.
'It's me, Lilly,' I told him, relieved to be hearing him. 'Do you have a moment?'
There was a pause as my words took a short while to travel all the way to him, and then he replied: '
Well, I'm in the canteen at the moment, and we're going to be finishing off shooting for the day...but if it's important, go ahead
.'
'Oh...I suppose it
is
important...and maybe a bit silly, but - there's a guy outside who just
won't
go away,' I told him. 'It's been annoying me for days...he said to me that he'd searched for where we lived, and had found it, and, well...he wanted to warn me against marrying you, and wanted me not to tell you he'd been by, for some reason...'
Another short delay, slightly longer. '
That sounds very familiar to me, Lilly
,' Connor answered grimly. '
Did he tell you who he was
?'
'Yes - he said he was Clive, and he owned a website -'
'
Clive?
' Connor repeated, sounding oddly alarmed. Then his tone became angry. '
Ach, not that scunner
again
...I thought I'd made it clear to him, the last time he came, that he needed to stay away if he wanted to keep all his teeth. The clatty thing has no common sense - he just keeps coming back.
' I heard him give a groan of frustration. '
God, I wish I was with you - I bet he knows I'm gone, that's why he's come again...He knows I'm not there to sort him out...
'
I felt an unpleasant chill of fear go through me. 'What do I do?' I asked him uneasily, my voice trembling slightly.
Connor sighed on the other end. '
Don't worry, Lilly - even if I can't help you at the moment, I think I know someone who can
,' he told me. '
I've got a friend who's probably in the city at the moment...he's just the sort of guy who'll make sure Clive won't want to come back and bother you anytime soon. His name's Don, and he used to be the bouncer at Starlite a mile or two south from here...connections are useful.
' He gave a little chuckle. '
You sit tight there, Lilly - don't go out until I've called him up...I think I've still got his number somewhere.
'
Relief filled me. 'Thanks so much, Conn,' I told him earnestly. 'You're a lifesaver...'
'
No problem, Lilly
,' he replied. '
And don't worry yourself too much - I'll be home next week
.'
Although I didn't dare to venture outside completely, I did end up going out onto the balcony to have a look later on. The street below was illuminated by the streetlights and the headlamps of passing cars, and I could clearly see what was happening below when Connor's acquaintance Don arrived.
Even from the top of the building, I could see why Connor had instantly thought of sending him when I had told him about my troubles. Don was the classic image of a bouncer, and I, who had never seen a real-life bouncer before, was quite awestruck. The deliberate, confident way this guy walked and the beefy brawn of his biceps made it clear that this was
not
someone to have an argument with.
'Some connections, there, Connor,' I whispered aloud in wonder, impressed. I peered over the edge of the balcony, and saw that Clive was still loitering, this time tapping away at his hi-tech phone...no doubt posting updates on his little website.
When Don's purposeful walk finally drew him level with the much smaller, much skinnier Clive, I saw rather than heard the latter's yelp of surprise as Don loomed up before him. I resented the fact that I couldn't hear the verbal exchange between the harrassing gossip site administrator and Connor's large friend, but the pair's body language said just as much about what was going on. Don's arms were crossed in casual boredom - which at the same time flexed those intimidating muscles - and he had apparently just asked Clive the reason for his presence, as the slighter man had adopted a very shifty stance. Even though his hunched shoulders made him appear even smaller than Don, he appeared to be defending himself, shrugging and waving his phone about. Don said something else, taking a very small but very deliberate step forwards. It didn't take much of this for Clive to finally back down, shrinking away from him and hurrying off with his head low.