Loving David (22 page)

Charlotte frowned. “Where’d that come from?”

“I understand that I’m asking a lot from you, I mean with this crazy lifestyle I lead. Dashing through airports, ducking and running and hiding. You never asked for any of this.”

“So…you’d give it all up for me. Tomorrow?”

“Today.”

Charlotte mulled this over.

“I see, and what would you do?”

“Farmer.”

Charlotte contained her giggles. “Farmer. Really? And do you actually know anything about farming?”

“Nope, but I’m a quick study.”

Charlotte laughed. “Thanks but no thanks. I’m not interested in being the Yoko to your movie career.”

“Charlotte, I get paid a lot of money for what I do, and I don’t spend a dime. We could really just disappear.”

Charlotte put the last bit of pizza crust in her mouth and chewed while she contemplated her words. “David, I love you for making this offer, but… I know how much you love what you do. I could see it in Vancouver. I could even see it in New York, on the red carpet with everyone screaming your name and the cameras flashing away. You were made to do this.”

David looked down, sheepishly. “I just want to make you happy.”

“Babe, you being happy is what makes me happy. Don’t ever forget that.”

David smiled. “Well then, I guess that’s all I can ask for, huh?”

Charlotte took David’s chin between her thumb and forefinger. “I guess so,” she leaned in for a kiss.

David laughed. “You taste like pepperoni.”

“What do you think you taste like?”

“Um…strawberries?”

Charlotte swatted David’s leg and took another sip of her Coke.

“I hope you’re feeling better,” David said rattling the ice in his styrofoam cup.

“What?”

“After last night. Your fight with Karen.”

“Oh. That. It wasn’t really a fight. More like a difference of opinion.”

“Still, she’s your best friend. Can’t be easy to be at cross-purposes with each other.”

Charlotte traced a pattern in the sand with the toe of her tennis shoe. “No, it’s not.” She looked up. “Is that what today was? To take my mind off Karen?”

David looked out at the water. “Did it work?”

“Wonders.”

They turned their attention to the surfers and boogie boarders bobbing in the crystalline blue water. The beach started to fill up with more people, which made David nervous. Charlotte squeezed his knee.

“Do you want to leave?”

David rubbed his hands together and looked around. Charlotte could see him getting more and more agitated.

“We’d better. We might have a full-scale war on our hands otherwise.”

They jumped up and made their way to the bike. A couple of girls whom Charlotte pegged to be in college noticed David and couldn’t contain their giggles as they asked for pictures. Once again, Charlotte played photographer and snapped several shots for the girls to have in their gallery. As soon as they were done posing, they jumped on their phones to text everyone under the sun about their encounter with
the
David King.

“You don’t always have to take the pictures, Charlotte,” David said as he handed her a helmet.

“Ah, but the more pictures I take, the less I’m in!” she sang. “Besides ---- people don’t want to see me ----they want to see
you
. Plus, they seemed like nice girls, and you obviously just made their day.”

David got on the motorcycle. “Well how about we head home so I can keep making your day?”

Without a word, Charlotte leaped onto the bike, but instead of getting behind him, she got on in front, facing him, which sent them both into fits of laughter.

“What are you doing?” He gasped in between laughs.

“I want to ride home like this with me facing you, kissing you the entire time.”

“The whole idea is to make it home in one piece, you know.”

Charlotte hopped off and picked up her helmet. “Okay, okay…. Next time.”

David blew her a kiss, and Charlotte assumed her position on the back of the bike. As she went to pull her helmet on, she noticed a few people across the street snapping pictures of them with their phones.

David sighed. “We’d better take off.” He shook his head. “You know, it’s not too late to take me up on my offer to give it all up. I could even get plastic surgery.”

“Ach! Don’t you dare touch that gorgeous face!” Charlotte hugged his waist. “And stop apologizing. Nothing and no one can ruin this day.”

David winked at Charlotte before he flipped his visor down. She followed suit before he took off in the direction of home.

#

“How do you feel about going to a movie this afternoon?”

Charlotte slapped the top of the metro section down to peer at David. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Well, it says here that
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
is playing at the art cinema downtown. I haven’t seen it in ages.”

“Would you believe I’ve never seen it?”

“And you call yourself a romance writer.”

“I know, I know. I always wanted to see it but never got around to it.”

“Show starts at two p.m., so now’s your chance.”

“You know we’ve never seen a movie together?”

“Well, we’ll have to do this right then. Jumbo bucket of salty, buttery popcorn, dump a box of Raisinets in there, a kidney buster of Coke.” David grinned. “My mouth’s watering just thinking about it.”

“
Raisinets in the popcorn? You’re kidding. That is my absolute favorite way to eat popcorn.”

“
And yet another reason I adore you.”

They smiled at each other for a moment before going back to reading their respective sections of the paper. It was Saturday morning, and Charlotte and David were perched in what had become their favorite spot in the bedroom other than the bed ---- the reading nook by the window populated with two periwinkle blue overstuffed chairs with a little white shabby chic occasional table between them. They often read the paper together, or Charlotte read books or magazines while David pored over new scripts.

The weeks had passed in a dizzy, happy daze as David and Charlotte settled into an easy domesticity. During the day Charlotte wrote while David went on with the business of being a movie star. It was much more involved than Charlotte ever realized. There were production meetings, photo shoots, media interviews, looping work. David treated being an actor like a business; he said it was because he didn’t want to work forever.

Every night David came home and cooked one delicious meal after the next for Charlotte: steaks, chicken, pasta, seafood, salads that went beyond shreds of iceberg lettuce drenched in thousand island dressing that Charlotte had eaten before David came into her life. She joked that he was making her as fat as a house, and he shooed her away, saying that cooking for her made him happy.

During the weekends they escaped the city on David’s motorcycle, browsed farmer’s markets and book stores in deep disguise, or met William and his latest conquest for quiet dinners in out-of-the-way locales. They made love every night, their passion for each other still as ferocious as it had been during those heady times in Lake Arrowhead.

“So you’re in?”

“Won’t it be hard? I mean, trying to go to a movie. Won’t you get mobbed?”

David shrugged. “It’s the middle of the day at an arthouse cinema in L.A. I think we’ll be okay.”

Charlotte was quiet for a moment. “You’re right.” She resumed reading the paper. “It’ll be a great day.”

#

Charlotte always loved the smell of movie theaters; the aroma of fresh-popped popcorn filling every crevice, the sweet, syrupy scent of Coca Cola. Even the hot dogs and nachos with fake cheese smelled good. There was a hush over the theater as David ducked inside while Charlotte took on the task of loading up on goodies for the show.

Charlotte found David seated in the middle of the middle row; they were the only ones in the theater. She handed him the popcorn and drinks as she ripped into the Raisinets and poured a few into her hand.

“Hey! That’s for the popcorn!” David protested as he went to grab the box from Charlotte.

“Sorry… couldn’t resist.”

David twisted around. “It’s a shame more people aren’t here.”

Charlotte scoffed as she dove into the popcorn. “You actually
want
more people around you?”

“No, it’s just, this is such a great movie. I would have thought a few more people would have been here.”

Charlotte shrugged as the lights lowered and music blared out of the speakers indicating the movie was starting. David draped his arm across Charlotte’s shoulder as they took turns rooting around in the popcorn and making sure they were mixing salty and sweet with each bite.

“So what’d you think?’ David asked as ‘The End’ flashed across the screen.

Charlotte sighed and popped one more Raisinet in her mouth. “I absolutely loved it. They just don’t make them like Audrey Hepburn anymore. Or George Peppard for that matter.”

“Kind of makes you forget that whole ‘A-Team’ thing, huh?”

“I’m happy to say I never had the pleasure.” Charlotte was picking up her purse when David touched her arm.

“Do you mind? I love watching credits.”

“Oh. I thought all the credits were at the beginning,” Charlotte said, a bit surprised as she leaned back against the chair.

Just then, in bold white letters, ‘Marry me, Charlotte,’ blazed down at her. Charlotte gasped and blinked, certain she hadn’t seen right. She looked again, and sure enough the words were still there in all their unmistakable glory. She turned to David, her jaw open. David shook a box of Cracker Jack at her before squeezing down on one knee.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“You didn’t open the Cracker Jacks. You know there’s a prize in each box.” He gestured to the screen. “Just like in the movie, we can take it to Tiffany’s to be engraved if you want.”

Charlotte looked down and slowly took the box from David, her eyes brimming with tears. She fumbled to get it open and thrust her hand deep inside the sticky kernels in search of the prize David wanted her to find. Her fingertips grazed the corner of the paper envelope and yanked it out.

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense. Open it.”

With trembling fingers Charlotte ripped open the small, bulging envelope and extracted a platinum diamond eternity band. Tears tumbled out of Charlotte’s eyes, and she was grateful no one was around to see her blubbering. David took the ring and looked at her.

“You know that we belong together, right?”

“David,” was all Charlotte could say.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life than I am of wanting to be with you for the
rest
of my life.” He slipped the ring on her finger and continued looking deep into her eyes. “Marry me.”

“But David, it’s been only…”

“I know. Mere months. It doesn’t matter. When you know, you know.”

“David, people will think you’re nuts.”

“I already told you. I am crazy ---- about us.”

She took a deep breath and looked at the ring. It was one thing to play house, but this…this was more than Charlotte ever imagined. David searched her face.

“Charlotte, answer me.”

“David, you know how much I love you and our life together…”

“What? Say it.”

“In, let’s say,” she looked up at the ceiling, her tears now falling for a different reason. “Twenty years. Twenty years from now, when I need help getting around because my knees are bad and it’s time to start stocking up on Depends and denture cream, you’ll be only fifty, and I’ll be…”

David held up his hand, disgusted. “Stop right there.” He licked his lips and focused his gaze on her. “My God, I thought we were over this. Listen to me, because I want to say this only once since I don’t plan to waste another moment of breath of this. I don’t care that you’re older than me. There are no rules about the age of the person you love. The only rule I can think of is you need to be eighteen before you marry, and I think we’ve got that covered.”

Charlotte laughed in spite of herself. “Yeah, we’ve definitely got that one covered.” She looked at him, her eyes shining. “You always know how to make me laugh.”

“Charlotte, nowhere does it say you have to marry within a certain age bracket. Why would you let someone else’s opinion determine your happiness or mine? You’re always saying you don’t care what other people think. Put those words into action.”

Charlotte looked down where her hands lay folded in her lap. What the hell was wrong with her? This man loved her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She thought about the age difference all the time and why? David was right. It mattered only what they and no one else thought.

Charlotte flipped her head up and locked eyes with David. “I’ll marry you,” she said.

David’s own tears began to shimmer along the bottom of his eyelids. “Seriously?” his voice quivered.

“Yes,” Charlotte nodded as David let out a triumphant yelp as he struggled to extricate himself from beneath the seats and draw Charlotte into a kiss.

“I love you so much, Charlotte. I can’t even express how much.”

Charlotte cupped David’s face with one hand. “Same goes for me, Mr. King.”