Chapter Two
Lillie walked into her room and collapsed onto her bed. She lay there for a few minutes gazing that the Monty Python poster on her wall and then rolled over to grab her diary from the top drawer of her nightstand. A quick glance at the calendar told her it was November 22, 1972 and dated her entry accordingly. She wrote quickly of her encounter with the old man and when she had finished she looked at the clock and saw that it was already 7:00pm. Oh no! She had to fix dinner for Daddy! She ran to her door and threw it open to find her father standing there with a tray of food.
“Yeah, I know its take-out, but I decided to baby you for today.” He gave her the tray of food and waked into his bedroom where he had his own tray waiting. She shook her head in surprise then shrugged as she sat down at her desk to eat. She finished and then went through her nightly routine and finally settled into bed. Should she even dare to hope that he would actually show up? Even so, she shouldn’t even bother to indulge her fantasies that her and Michael would fall in love and…why, he was more than 10 years older than she. She sighed. And nearly fell out of bed as the phone jangled by her bedside.
“Hello?” she answered. A deep male voice answered back and instantly knew who it was. She’d recognize that voice anywhere.
“Ah, yes. Miss Bailey please.” Asked the British accent on the other line. Michael Palin, the one, the only. She took a deep breath and prayed that she wouldn’t make a fool of herself.
“Speaking. Mr. Palin?” she asked, tentatively.
“Speaking, ma’am. My, if you sound this lovely on the phone, then I must be in for a treat tomorrow.” Charm. He was all charm. She struggled to quiet a girlish giggle in the back of her throat. Success.
“ You flatter me, Mr. Palin.”
“Miss Bailey, please…I hate formal names, call me Michael.” He joked to her.
“And you must call me Lillie, Michael.”
“Lillie Michael, eh? Are you some sort of looney? I cant call you that. T’aint apporiate for to call you that, madam.” She laughed at his silliness. “Well, Lillie, I wont keep you long. I just wanted to ask what we were doing tomorrow. So I can dress for the occasion.”
“Well, Mr. Pa—ah, Michael—“ she began.
“No, now see, there you go again. Me name is Michael, not Mr. Pa—Michael.” He teased. “Sorry, Ill stop that now.” He could make fun of her till she cried and she wouldn’t have minded in the least.
“If you don’t behave, Michael, I shall be forced to cancel our date for tomorrow.” Yeah, right. Like she would ever do that.
“Ah, we wouldn’t want that now would we?”
“Let’s see…believe it or not, I don’t know what there is to do in GA really. I don’t usually go to the city unless I need to.” She blushed furiously and thanked the Lord that she was on the phone. He laughed, not in a mocking way but almost sympathetically. She melted.
“No problem. I shall hire a driver that know his way and we will just do as we please. I guess I will just to my pleasing, eh?” he asked. Who needs clothes, she thought.
“Pardon, Lillie? I didn’t quite catch what you just said.” She hadn’t meant to say that outloud!!!
“Ah, I said that I guess that…I wont be needing any clothes…AH, I mean that I wont need to buy…a new…ones?” she stammered. Again, the calming laugh.
“Well then my lady, I shall see you on the morrow. Mind if I pick you up around 4 instead? I am eager to meet you.” He sounded so hopeful that she allowed a small thought of hope fill her mind as well.
“I don’t think that will be a problem, Michael. In fact, I am eager to meet you in person. It isn’t every day I get to meet a charming English man who is going to take me out for a night on the town.” Ooo, good one Lillie.
He chuckled. “Four it is, my dear. See you then.”
“Goodnight, Michael.” She said warmly. She hung up. She snuggled under the covers and felt a warm feeling wash over her body and realized that she could very well be falling in love…with Michael Palin.
***In a hotel room, where Michael is staying…***
Michael hung up the phone and sighed happily. She sounded lovely and seemed to like his teasing unlike former girlfriends who tended to roll their eyes at him. He always thought that humor was one of the key things needed in a relationship. It kept it from getting to formal. He laid back on to the bed. His old friend Kirby, Lillie’s father, was a kind man and he enjoyed talking with him. When Kirby suggested that he meet his daughter, Michael had declined at first. Blind dates weren’t his thing. But he made an exception for Kirby and now, after talking to her, he was thrilled that he had. For awhile now Michael had longed for a companion…he was sick of his lonliness. His past loves hadn’t really been loves at all…they were all the same. They wanted to be near his fame & his money, not his heart.
Then a thought came to him. What if she was like all the others? Kirby had told him that she loved the whole Monty Python craze. Did she just want a chance to say that she had a go with Michael Palin, the nicest (or was it the foolish? It felt that way now a days) Python? God, he hoped not. Another thought flashed in his mind. She was twenty-two and Michael was thirty-one. Was he too older for her? Did she think that he was some sick twisted pervert who had a fetish for younger girls? Nahh, he thought. She couldn’t have thought that. She sounded like she really wanted to meet him and for that he was thrilled.
A glance at the clock told him that it was closet to midnight and that he had better get some sleep. He wanted to plan the day to go smoothly, but he held out a little just in case she did turn out to be one of those gold diggers. He vowed right then not to let himself get too attached until he knew for sure that she liked the real him, not the Michael Palin he showed to the world. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. He switched off the light and as he lay in the darkness, he let sounds of the city lull him to sleep.
Chapter 3
