From Notting Hill with Four Weddings . . . Actually

Book 3: The Notting Hill Series

by Ali McNamara

Genres: General Fiction; Women's Fiction; Romance

Synopsis

Movie addict Scarlett O'Brien is finally living the jet-setting life she's dreamed of – but it all hangs by a shiny, golden thread.

Flying between London and New York, running two businesses, planning her wedding to handsome fiancé, Sean, with best friends Oscar and Maddie – life couldn't be better.

But then Scarlett meets paparazzi darling, Gabriella Romero, and life suddenly becomes even more extravagant and glamorous. As she begins to experience the other side to being rich and famous, it's not only Scarlett's perfect wedding that's put in jeopardy, but her whole world.

Indulge in all your favourite rom-coms at once with this warm, fun tale of what happens when you really live the glitz and the glamour.

Release date: October 23, 2014

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Print pages: 448

Sample

‘Scarlett!’ I hear a voice that sounds very much like Oscar’s calling my name. But he sounds far away and muffled, like I’m underwater and he’s on dry land.

‘Scarlett,’ he calls again. ‘Wake up this instant! This is highly embarrassing.’

I open my eyes to find my good friend Oscar glaring down at me. I turn my head to the other side to find my other good friend, Maddie, looking at me with concern.

‘Oh…’ I say, pushing myself back up in my chair. ‘I must have dropped off.’

‘Dropped off!’ Oscar yelps. ‘You were snoring so loudly at one point the bride and groom stopped at the end of the runway and pointed at you. You were the highlight of the two p.m. showcase!’

I look around me at the empty auditorium where just minutes earlier I’d been watching models parade down the long runway in wedding gowns and designer morning suits. Had I really managed to fall asleep with all that going on?

‘Sorry – it’s the jet lag,’ I explain, by way of excuse. ‘It was really late by the time I got home last night.’

My regular journeys back and forth across the Atlantic between London and New York were usually problem-free, but last night we’d been delayed by some heavy January snowfall arriving into Heathrow Airport. We’d landed on time, but there was such a backlog of planes that we’d had to wait on the tarmac for over two hours for a gate.

‘I guess we can let you off this once, then, darling,’ Oscar says with a wink. ‘Heaven knows I wouldn’t want to be stuck on a plane for two extra excruciating hours after a seven-hour flight. I’d be bouncing off the ceiling so hard people would think I’d been fired from an emergency ejector seat!’

I smile at Oscar; he definitely isn’t at his best when he has to sit still for a long period of time. Oscar is much better ‘uncaged’, I guess you’d call it, so his natural enthusiasm for life can be allowed to burst free.

‘The actual delay wasn’t that bad,’ I tell them. ‘I got into conversation with a young man sitting next to me and the time passed quite quickly after that.’

As so often happens when you’re flying alone, I’d spent the majority of the flight exchanging the odd pleasantry with the passenger in the seat next to me – we briefly spoke when our food was served or I needed to allow him to pass when he wished to visit the lavatory, as he was in the window seat. But all that changed when we became united in our despair at being stranded on the airport tarmac for so long, when all we wanted to do was disembark the plane, go in search of our bags and be on our way home…

 

‘I guess we should consider ourselves lucky we were actually allowed to fly,’ my neighbour remarks after we’ve been sitting waiting for about twenty minutes. ‘Lots of flights into Heathrow were cancelled last night due to the weather.’

‘Yes,’ I agree, relieved I don’t have to sit in silence any longer. The entertainment system had been switched off when we were preparing to land, and assuming it wouldn’t be long before we left the plane, I’d stowed all my paperwork and my half-read novel in the overhead locker. ‘I wondered if I’d even be getting home today when I saw the forecast on the internet this morning.’

‘Where’s home?’ he politely enquires.

‘London, Notting Hill.’

‘Nice. I have some mates in Notting Hill. How long have you lived there?’

‘About two and a half years. I live there with my fiancé, Sean,’ I proudly tell him.

He nods. ‘Yes, I noticed your ring. Are you getting married soon?’ Then he flushes a little. ‘Sorry, is that too personal?’

‘No, it’s fine. We may as well chat – we could be here a while. This year, we hope. I’m supposed to be planning it right now.’

‘Supposed to be?’ He raises his dark eyebrows.

‘I mean, I am planning it. I’ve just been a bit busy lately – with work.’

It was the truth. I really couldn’t wait to get married to Sean, and planning our dream wedding was always at the top of my to-do list. But just lately work seemed to be taking over everything and I longed for a thirty-six-hour day to try and fit everything in.

‘Yes, I know that feeling well,’ my new companion says. ‘My life is often like that too. What job keeps you so busy?’

I’m quite surprised at all his questions – we’ve hardly spoken during the flight, he’s kept himself very much to himself reading his fitness and men’s fashion magazines, and when he wasn’t doing that or watching a movie, he’s listened to music through a pair of bright red Beats headphones.

‘I own a couple of businesses,’ I reply, trying not to sound too boastful, even though I am immensely proud of both of them. ‘The one based in London I run with my father. We sell popcorn machines.’

‘Popcorn machines!’ he exclaims in delight. ‘Cool. What, to individuals or cinemas?’

‘Cinemas, mainly. We used to be solely based in the UK, but we’ve recently expanded overseas too.’

‘Awesome. And what’s your other business – hot dogs?’ he grins.

I smile politely at his joke. ‘No, completely different. I run a charitable trust over in New York.’

‘Really?’ he says, turning towards me a little. ‘I do a lot of work for charity. Will I have heard of yours?’

I look at him more closely as I answer. He’s quite a good-looking young chap. His thick black hair is cut into a sharp, angular design, and I suspect his casual but trendy clothes all have designer labels.

‘Probably not. It’s called The Dragonfly Trust. We search for missing people: children, parents, whoever needs our help. Our aim is to reunite families. We’re part charity, part private business. The paying clients help fund the charity side.’

‘Awesome. Why Dragonfly, if you don’t mind me asking?’ He glances around the cabin. ‘I see our air stewards are up and moving about now, so it doesn’t look like we’ll be going anywhere just yet.’

‘Gosh, it’s a very long story,’ I tell him. ‘The short version is, I was over in New York tracing the history of an antique dragonfly brooch when I managed to stumble on my half-brother whom I’d never met before. The trust sprang up as a result of me wanting to help others be reunited with their long-lost relatives like I was with mine.’

I decide not to mention doing something very similar with my then estranged mother some years ago too. The fact I’d searched for and eventually been reunited with her in a cinema in Notting Hill was another long story I hoped there wouldn’t be time to tell him during our enforced delay.

‘Wow, that’s wicked!’ he exclaims. ‘Not just the trust, but finding your half-brother too. And he didn’t know he had a sister?’

I shake my head. ‘No, Jamie was as much in the dark as me.’

As I’d just told my new friend, I’d met my half-brother, Jamie, when I visited New York with Oscar. We’d bumped into each other outside Tiffany’s, not knowing who the other was. Although I’d felt a connection to him right away, it took a series of random events for us to find out exactly what we meant to each other.

‘And do you get on OK?’ he asks, seeming genuinely interested.

‘Oh yes. It was a little awkward at first, but Jamie and I are really close now.’

‘Excellent. So this Dragonfly Trust, is it just in the US?’

‘Yes, it is right now. Peter – he helps me run the trust – and I have talked about bringing it over to the UK, though.’

Peter does more than simply help me run the trust. Without him, it would probably never have got off the ground in the first place. Peter is a very well-respected businessman over in the States. We too met on my first trip to New York, and he’s not only become my business partner but my very good friend. Peter introduced me to a children’s home called Sunnyside over in Brooklyn, and it was in part due to this association that The Dragonfly Trust was born.

I’m about to ask what my travelling companion does for a living when an air stewardess offers us some drinks.

‘I’m very sorry but it seems we may be delayed a little longer,’ she explains. ‘Please help yourself to some refreshments.’

I take a glass of orange juice and stretch out my legs, glad I’m lucky enough to be able to fly premium economy on long-haul flights.

‘So what brings you back to London tonight?’ my companion asks, sipping on his own glass of juice. ‘Just catching up with your fiancé?’

‘Yes, and my friends. We’re going to a wedding fair tomorrow at Earls Court to get some ideas for the big day. My friend Oscar has had it all planned for ages. He and Maddie, my other friend, are going to be attendants at my wedding.’

Maddie has been my friend since we were at school together, and I met Oscar when I first came to Notting Hill to house-sit for a month. I’d been so excited that I was going to be staying in the place where one of my all-time favourite movies was filmed, I’d never expected the trip would completely change my life and I’d meet the man I would fall head over heels in love with, Sean.

‘I’ve just realised I know all about your friends and family and your work, but I don’t actually know your name!’ my travelling companion says now. ‘How rude of me.’

I laugh. ‘Don’t worry about it. I do have a tendency to waffle on if given the chance. My name is Scarlett. And you are?’

‘Louis,’ he says, holding out his hand for me to shake. ‘We should have started this conversation earlier, Scarlett. I would have enjoyed hearing all about your exciting life during the flight.’

‘Oh, it’s not really that exciting,’ I tell him. ‘It has its moments, but I bet yours is much more thrilling. Come on, your turn now – tell me something wonderful that’s happened in your life.’

Louis smiles. ‘Yes, mine has its moments too. Like the time I won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. That was pretty cool.’

I feel my mouth drop open…

 

‘Scarlett!’ Oscar blinks in astonishment as he and Maddie stare at me open-mouthed. ‘Are you telling me you flew from New York to Heathrow sitting next to the divine Louis Smith and you didn’t realise!’

‘You know who he is?’ I ask in just as much amazement. ‘Louis told me all about his gymnastics career, but I didn’t realise he was famous too.’

Oscar simply shakes his head in disbelief.

‘Of course we know him,’ Maddie says gently. ‘But we can’t believe you don’t. Didn’t you watch the Olympics?’

‘Yes, of course, as much as I could. I didn’t watch much gymnastics, though. Perhaps I have seen him before.’

‘Perhaps!’ Oscar exclaims. ‘What about when he was on Strictly? Oh my, I nearly fainted when he did his show dance with no top on. I think half the nation did, actually!’

I look at them still none the wiser.

Oscar pulls out his phone. ‘Look,’ he says, turning it to face me. ‘I had this as my wallpaper for weeks afterwards.’

I peer at the photo Oscar is showing me. It’s of a very fit man holding a female dancer over his head in a Dirty Dancing-style pose. He has his shirt off, showcasing a very well-defined chest and upper body.

‘Yes, that’s him!’ I say, looking at the photo. ‘That’s Louis.’

‘We know!’ they both call in unison. ‘We just can’t believe you didn’t!’

‘What can I say?’ I hold my hands aloft. ‘I didn’t watch that series of Strictly. I think I was mostly in New York then.’

‘My God,’ Oscar says, putting away his phone. ‘If I’d been sitting next to Louis Smith, I’d have had him tangoing me down the aisle by the end of the flight. Actually, no, make that the rhumba!’ He gyrates his hips suggestively.

‘That, my dear friend,’ I say, standing up, ‘is why I now fly alone!’ Then I wink at him. ‘Come on, you two, I thought we had a wedding fair to visit today! What are we waiting for?’

‘You, Sleeping Beauty!’ Oscar calls as we begin to make our way down some steps and back towards the entrance to the main fair. ‘I seem to remember the gentle snores coming from your delicate lips were our main delay!’

‘To be fair to Scarlett, the show was a little dull,’ Maddie suggests. ‘They weren’t the most exciting wedding gowns I’ve ever seen.’

‘Exactly!’ I agree. ‘See – I wasn’t the only one snoozing.’

‘Well, I thought it was simply marvellous!’ Oscar says, clapping his hands together in joy at the thought of all those outfits. Oscar runs his own vintage boutique on the King’s Road; he adores clothes, and definitely has a unique style when it comes to his own choice of outfits. ‘I wish I was getting married. I’d have a simply splendid time choosing the cake, the venue, the gown…’

Maddie and I glance at each other.

‘And just who will be wearing the gown at your wedding?’ I ask, smiling.

Oscar flicks his head away. ‘You know what I mean. Just because it’s a gay wedding doesn’t mean it can’t have the full works.’

‘If you ever get married, it will certainly have the full works,’ I wink at Maddie, ‘and probably a side order of works thrown in for good measure.’

‘It certainly would that,’ Oscar agrees wistfully. ‘I’d make sure of it. Now then, Rip Van Winkle, we’d better get a move on. We’ve got so much more to see at this bridal show, and as your chief bridesmaid, I’m going to make damn sure we make the most of it.’

‘Oscar,’ I call, as he skips merrily off in the direction of the door, ‘I haven’t chosen a chief bridesmaid. You and Maddie are just going to be my attendants.’

Oscar swivels round on the heels of his snakeskin boots and poses with his hands on the hips of his emerald-green trousers. ‘Darling, you’ve known me long enough by now to know if there’s a shimmer of silk or the glimmer of sequins to be had, I’m the perfect man for the job!’

‘Can’t we go home yet?’ I plead, as we trail past yet another stall showing what looks like the same display of long ivory dresses as the last dozen we’ve passed. ‘My legs are really starting to ache.’

‘Soon, darling, soon,’ Oscar soothes, taking my hand and pulling me even further into the realms of icing, sequins and confetti.

The stands at this vast wedding fair in Earls Court are showcasing absolutely everything you could possibly need to create your perfect day – from the usual wedding necessities like invitations, flowers and cakes to more unique wedding trappings like magic shows, instant photo booths and companies that will not only shoot a basic wedding montage for you to remember your special day but also make a full-length music video that features you and your guests singing along to your favourite pop song.

‘Oh, darling, you have to get one of those,’ Oscar enthuses when a stallholder thrusts a brochure under our noses as we try to pass. ‘Imagine us all singing along to yours and Seany’s favourite tune.’

‘That would be virtually impossible, since most of my favourites are by Robbie Williams and Take That, while Sean’s are Bon Jovi and Coldplay,’ I reply, watching the happy couple miming to ‘Fairytale of New York’ by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl on the promotional video that’s playing at the back of the stand.

‘No, Oscar, it’s not for us.’ I thank the man, hand him back his glossy brochure and walk quickly away to where Maddie is gazing wistfully at a stall showcasing a quite incredible range of wedding cakes covered with intricate ice sculptures.

‘Do you remember our wedding cake?’ Maddie asks me quietly as I stand next to her.

‘Of course I do! Yours and Felix’s cake was awesome.’

Maddie and her husband, Felix, had got married at Disneyland Paris almost four years ago now, and I’d been her bridesmaid. The wedding, even though it had had a Disney theme throughout, hadn’t been cheesy at all, and had been a very special day for all of us. Their wedding cake had been decorated to look just like Cinderella’s castle and had been quite spectacular.

‘What a shame fairy tales never last,’ Maddie mutters as she wanders off towards a cafeteria selling coffee and sandwiches.

‘What’s up with Mads?’ Oscar asks as he catches up with me. He thrusts yet more brochures into one of the free goody bags already hanging over his arm. ‘She’s been quiet all day. Not at all like her usual self.’

‘So you’ve noticed it too?’ I ask, looking over to where Maddie is now browsing the cafeteria menu. ‘I wasn’t sure. I thought it might be because I was feeling a bit off with the jet lag that she seemed a bit odd.’

‘Right,’ Oscar announces, slipping his arm through mine. ‘I think it’s time we put the world to rights over a coffee! I’m sure we can rustle up some medicinal chocolate cake from somewhere to accompany it.’ He glances at Maddie. ‘I’ve a feeling it’s going to be needed.’

We buy three large cups of coffee from the vendor, while Oscar persuades us into three huge slabs of some very yummy-looking chocolate fudge cake to go with them. Then we find a quiet table at which to sit down and enjoy our treats.

‘So…’ Oscar enquires when we’ve just started to get that warm comfortable feeling that only good chocolate cake can bring, ‘what’s going on with the two of you right now?’

I look at Maddie. She shrugs and spoons more cake into her mouth.

‘Scarlett, we’ll start with you, then,’ Oscar declares like a lawyer about to cross-examine a witness. ‘Why aren’t you leaping around this wedding fair like Darcey Bussell?’ He gestures out into the hall. ‘And don’t give me the jet-lag excuse again. You’re getting married – you should be like the proverbial pig rolling around in all this bridal mud.’

‘If I eat much more of this chocolate cake, I’ll look like a pig by the time my wedding comes around,’ I try and joke.

But Oscar simply lifts his fork and prongs a tiny sliver of chocolate cake from his plate. He slips it calmly into his mouth and chews thoughtfully while he awaits my truthful answer.

Oscar, for all his flamboyant ways, is incredibly sensitive towards others’ feelings, and he knows me too well for me to pretend there is nothing wrong.

‘All right, you win,’ I sigh. ‘I’m just finding it a bit difficult to cope with everything right now, that’s all.’

Oscar nods silently, waiting for me to continue.

‘I’m trying to run the popcorn business here in London, and then I’m always jetting over to New York to deal with The Dragonfly Trust. Don’t get me wrong,’ I say when I see them both frown, ‘I’m not complaining. The trust is growing so fast right now it’s wonderful watching it flourish, and a life that I lead half in London and half in New York is something I could only dream about when I lived with Dad in Stratford.’

Maddie smiles now. She’s the only one who knew me when I lived a quiet, sheltered life in Stratford-upon-Avon with my father and could only dream of living the exciting jet-set lifestyle I do now. Oscar didn’t know me back then, but even he knows how much I’ve changed for the better over the last few years.

‘And I really enjoy running both businesses,’ I continue, ‘but having the wedding to organise now as well, I’m finding it so difficult to cope with everything.’

‘Is that why you fell asleep earlier?’ Maddie asks gently. ‘Are you exhausted?’

‘Yes, that’s exactly it. I’m incredibly happy and excited by the prospect of all this.’ I gesture back out into the wedding fair. ‘And I can’t wait to marry Sean, you know that, but I’m just too damn tired to enjoy it right now.’

Maddie puts her hand on mine. ‘Oh, Scarlett.’

I attempt to raise a smile. I don’t want to let either of them down. I know they’re both as excited as me at the prospect of my big day with Sean. Especially Oscar. Even though he and Sean don’t always see eye to eye, he’s more enthusiastic than any of us when it comes to talking about our wedding plans.

‘Don’t look so down, you two,’ I say in a brighter voice than matches my spirit. ‘I’ll get there! You’ve just caught me on a bad day, that’s all. A bit more sleep and I’ll be as right as rain! What you said earlier was true, though, Maddie – that catwalk show was very dull. I’m surprised I was the only one snoozing through it.’

Maddie smiles. ‘None of those dresses would have suited you anyway, Scarlett. You need something much more special and wonderful to wear when you marry Sean. Don’t you agree, Oscar?’

‘Without question, darling.’ Oscar sits to attention. ‘I can’t have my Scarlett wearing any old off-the-peg gown!’

‘But it’s just so difficult to find anything I like,’ I say, screwing up my face. ‘They all look the same to me. Everything here is made of ivory satin or cream silk, with a few sequins, beads or a lace frill to try and make them look different. I just want something a little more unusual. At least when you got married, Maddie, you had a theme to work with.’

‘Themed weddings aren’t always the best way to ensure a long and happy marriage,’ Maddie says, a pensive expression appearing on her face. ‘I wouldn’t recommend it.’

Oscar and I exchange concerned looks.

‘What’s wrong, Maddie?’ I ask. ‘Are you and Felix having some problems?’

Maddie’s face tells us everything her reply does not. She pushes the remnants of her cake around her plate with her fork. ‘I’d rather not talk about it right now, if you don’t mind. This is your day, Scarlett, and you don’t want me bemoaning my marriage when you’re just at the joyful beginning of yours.’

‘But if you need to talk —’ I begin.

Maddie cuts me off. ‘Not now,’ she insists. ‘We’ll talk later, Scarlett. Promise.’

I nod. But I’m worried about my oldest friend.

‘Right, then!’ Oscar enthuses, trying to lift our mood. ‘This wedding party needs cheering up. There’s a guy over there doing teeth whitening. What say we all go home with gleaming smiles tonight?’

‘Oscar, if your teeth get any whiter, when you go out at night you’ll have aircraft trying to land on them!’ Maddie grins.

‘As long as a uniformed pilot is flying the plane,’ Oscar winks, ‘I don’t mind where he parks his aircraft!’

‘So what do you think to your first taste of haggis, Scarlett?’ Sean asks as he tucks into his own plate of haggis, neeps and tatties at the Burns’ Night dinner we’re attending in a pretty London restaurant in Belgravia.

‘It’s actually really nice,’ I say, surprising myself by enjoying this traditional Scottish meal.

We agreed to come to this dinner at the request of Oscar’s boyfriend, Luke. Yes, for all his joking about pilots (and any other uniformed men for that matter) Oscar now has a regular boyfriend.

Luke is an actor – Scottish by birth, but you’d never know it to listen to him. He has a highly cultured, theatrically trained voice that will completely entrance the audience of a theatre when he’s on stage, or draw them right into the heart of their television screens when he’s appearing in their living room. They met when I put Oscar in touch with a costume designer who had just moved in across the road from Sean and me in Notting Hill. She was working on the period drama that Luke was appearing in, and Oscar had agreed to provide a few items from his vintage clothing shop for her. But when the pair of scarlet knickerbockers Oscar originally provided weren’t big enough for Luke, he’d had to go to the studio to measure him again, and that’s how they met. Oscar still insists the colour of the knickerbockers was a sign of good things to come, and now, over a year into their relationship, I have to agree.

‘You’re enjoying your haggis, then, Scarlett?’ Luke calls across the huge table we’re all seated round this evening. There’s a great gang of us here. Sean, Oscar, Luke and I sit at one end with Maddie. (Felix is working late.) Then there’s Ursula, Sean’s sister and Oscar’s close friend, and a few more of Luke and Oscar’s friends, some of whom I’ve met and some I haven’t. They’re a lovely, friendly, at times quite rowdy bunch, and it’s turning into a fun-filled evening.

When Luke first invited us to this Burns’ Night supper, I was quite sceptical, imagining reams of tartan, sporrans and bagpipes everywhere, with lots of beardy Scotsmen drunk on whisky. But apart from the haggis being piped in earlier by a quite handsome young piper in full Scottish regalia, sporting a very nice pair of legs under his kilt, the night was progressing much like any other meal in a top London restaurant.

‘Yes, Luke,’ I call back over the chatter round the table. ‘It’s really tasty. I never thought I’d enjoy turnips and potatoes mashed together as much either!’

Luke smiles. ‘Ah, neeps and tatties have filled many a Scotsman’s stomach when he’s an important job to do!’ He takes a swig from his glass of whisky. ‘You’re not drinking your whisky, though?’

The neat malt whisky had for a few seconds taken my breath and my voice away, when, like Sean, I’d tried to down it in one go. Much flapping with my hands had made the others round the table understand that I needed water, and fast. So now I’m sipping slowly, but much more pleasurably, on a nice glass of chardonnay, which is far more to my liking.

‘No.’ I lift my glass. ‘This is more up my street.’

‘I don’t blame you,’ he smiles. ‘At least you’re not drinking the hideous monstrosities my magnificent partner here is currently downing.’

We both look at Oscar, who is deep in conversation with Ursula about something; he reaches for his bright blue cocktail. ‘What?’ he asks, seeing us staring at him.

We smile.

‘Nothing,’ Luke says, touching the back of Oscar’s hand gently. ‘You just keep being you, Oscar – never change.’

They exchange a look that makes my heart ping with joy. It’s been so wonderful to see Oscar so happy over the last year, and Luke is definitely the reason why. Although they are complete opposites, in looks as well as personality – petite Oscar with his flamboyant, outrageous ways, and tall, dark Luke with his calm, considered, almost methodical approach to life – they seem to make a great couple: two sides of the perfect coin.

Sean squeezes my hand. ‘What are you thinking about?’ he asks.

‘Oscar and Luke,’ I reply. ‘They really make a great couple, don’t they?’

Sean nods. ‘Yes. Don’t quite see what Luke sees in him myself…’ he winks, ‘but I’m glad Oscar’s happy at last.’ He glances at Maddie. ‘Is everything all right? Maddie seems very quiet tonight.’

I look over at my friend; she’s barely touched her food, but is seemingly doing very well with the alcohol side of things this evening.

‘I don’t think so,’ I whisper in Sean’s ear. ‘I think she and Felix are having some problems.’

‘Oh no, really?’ Sean looks with concern at Maddie.

‘I’m afraid so. I keep trying to get her to talk about it, but she’s being very evasive. I don’t think she wants to bother me with hers and Felix’s troubles because of all our plans.’

Sean frowns. ‘That’s very generous of Maddie. But everyone goes through sti. . .