Away From the Spotlight (70 page)

“Yes, it
appears
he got the ginger-
haired girl he always wanted.  I’m just glad
h
e focused his attention in
Pam’s
direction finally.”

I tried to ignore
the insinuation,
uncertain
as to
how much
Will
knew of its truth
.  “Well, they’ve been sort of together since we were engaged.  I mean he d
id stay in her room
the night of our engagement party
.”

“Apparently, only to get away from us.  At least that’s how it was then
,
I’m told.  I haven’t really talked to Niall until recently, but I did speak to Pete.”

“Hmmm.”

“
Oh, that’s right.  I forgot how dense you can be.  In this case, I’m sure it’s on purpose.  If it makes you feel more comfortable
.
. .
”

“It does.  I know you do it too.  I’ve seen you act like you don’t notice when someone is interested in you.”

“Hasn’t happened in a long time.”

“Yeah, right.  Are you going to pretend you don’t notice if I start acting like I’m interested?”

“Absolutely not.  I’m not crazy.”

The next day, w
e had
l
unch with our parents in one of the hotel’s famous restaurants.  I was so excited
,
anticipating
th
at
evening
’s
reception,
my appetite was virtually non-existent
despite the excellent fare.  My mother and Will’s mother spent almost the entire meal talking
to
each other.  They seemed to get along famously.  Our fathers did as well. 
Will and I held hands under the table and stared at each other, anxious to get back to the room for a private celebration before having to
dress
for the reception.

When
we returned
to the room, we had about two hours of alone time before we needed to start getting ready for the reception.  Neither of us
thought that it was enough time
,
but
,
eventually
,
we had to let go of each other and
dress
for our reception.

Will and I made a formal entrance into
the
reception as scripted by Margaret.
I was wearing a long white form
-
fitting strapless dress with silver and pearl details and all the jewelry Will had given me, including my new art deco bracelet.  Will
wore
a designer black tuxedo and the cufflinks I had given him for Christmas.

Everyone was standing and
applauding us
as we entered the room filled with about 200
guests
, a number of wh
om
I was surprised to recognize.  Not only w
ere
the group from our engagement party so many months ago, my family, and our roommates in the Palisades
present
, there were a handful of Will’s fellow actors
and the
d
irector
from
All Castles Are Grey
, the O’Neill brothers, a handful of British actors and actresses I had never met
,
but recognized, and Katherine Sullivan and Mark.  It
was a testament to
Will that this many people came on such short notice during the holidays.  I stared at the crowd clapping for us in amazement.

The room was b
reathtaking
,
decorated
in
white
and
silver
in the
art deco
style
with
white flowers
on every table
. 
I
looked over at
t
he
beautiful wedding
cake on a table in the back corner
on the opposite side
of
the entrance to the room,
white
with
silver
Wedgwood-like embellishments
as well as
candied
pearls
and
surrounded by
flowers.

Will held my hand as he led me to the head of the room to a table
behind
which
his parents and mine were standing on either side of two empty seats reserved for us.  We kissed and sat down.
  That was the first time I noticed the photographer
and videographer
,
both of
who
m were
being very discreet.

Will’s father
remained standing
to speak first, picking up a microphone that had been
placed
in front of him and turning it on.

“Thank you all for joining us to celebrate the marriage of Will and Shannon.  Will, your mother and I could
n
o
t be happier in your choice of bride and I know that
Shannon
makes you as happy as
we
ha
ve ever seen you.  Shannon, we could
n
o
t imagine a more perfect partner for Will and a better addition to our family
.  Welcome. 
I wish you both a long and happy life together.  Cheers
!
”

Iain turned off the microphone and handed it to my father next.  I knew that my father’s casual speech would sharp
ly
contrast
with
Iain’s
more formal tone.  My father turned on the microphone and gave his toast.

“
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 n
oticed Pam
was seated
at that table and wa
ved when she looked at me.  I could see that she and Niall were sitting closely togeth
er 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
q
ueen 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
up
on 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
the
y’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 ha
s
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
-
p
erfectly
.  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 s
alad
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 f
our
rows of f
ive
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 wa
s 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 clo
ser to some of those sitting in the back, I was sure that Margaret was sensitive to p
lacing 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.”