Free From Notting Hill with Love...Actually by Ali McNamara Page B

amount of colored beads strung around her neck, spoke. I was relieved to see she was only joking when everyone laughed.
    “We’ll start with you then, Vanessa. Scarlett, this is Vanessa, she owns the shop next door to mine.”
    “Hi,” I said. “What does your shop sell—clothes, like Oscar’s?”
    “Erotic lesbian fiction mostly,” she replied, looking me up and down. “You should come in and take a look some time.”
    I cleared my throat and smiled politely. “Maybe I’ll do that one day.”
    “Vanessa, do stop teasing,” Oscar insisted. “Now then, next to Vanessa we have Lucian and Patrick; they own one of the antique shops just off the market.”
    “Hi,” they said in unison. Then they giggled at each other like little children.
    “Over on the chaise longue we have Brooke. Brooke’s a model.”
    Brooke looked like she was a model for appetite suppressants. If she eats anything tonight it will only be the garnish, I thought sourly.
    Brooke waved casually.
    “And finally next to her we have Ursula—my best and dearest friend.”
    Ursula smiled warmly at Oscar, then equally warmly at me. She had sandy-colored shoulder-length hair, pale blue eyes that were just as warm as her smile, and she was wearing a dress covered in daisies that looked like it was from the 1950s. But what really made me take an instant shine to her was the fact that Ursula looked like a delightful combination of a young Emma Thompson and, my all-time favorite, Kate Winslet.
    “Hi, how are you?” she asked. “I’m also an interior designer—since everyone else got their full title. Not just a professional friend to Oscar.”
    There were a few chuckles around the room, so gratefully I returned her smile while trying not to stare at her too much.
    “Well, that’s everyone,” Oscar sang.
    “Ahem.” Sean cleared his throat behind us.
    “Scarlett’s met you already, hasn’t she? Oh, very well,” Oscar sighed, when Sean silently raised his eyebrows at him. “Scarlett, this is Sean. Sean is only here because he’s Ursula’s brother, and I needed someone at short notice to make up the numbers.”
    Sean grinned. “Thank you for that kind introduction, Oscar; the feeling is mutual, as you know.”
    Oscar tossed his head and made a “hmph” sort of noise.
    I found myself smiling at Sean.
    He grinned back as Oscar flounced off into the kitchen calling something about more wine being needed.
    ***
    I had wondered, after I’d been introduced to everyone at the start of the evening, just what I’d let myself in for, having dinner with this eclectic bunch of people. But I needn’t have worried because the evening turned out to be full of thought-provoking conversation, lots of laughter, and extremely good food. (Which Oscar later admitted he’d had catered in, because of the short notice.)
    The chocolate brownies were particularly mouth-watering.
    “Oh no!” Oscar cried when he noticed they’d all been eaten. “There’s none left; we can’t do it now!”
    “Do what, Oscar?” Brooke asked. I’d been quite wrong about Brooke—she ate just like everyone else did, even tucking into the brownies with lashings of vanilla ice cream on top.
    Oscar looked at me. “Can I tell them, Scarlett?”
    “About the brownies?” I asked, bemused.
    “No, about why you’re really here?”
    I looked at the others listening expectantly around the table. All except Sean, who lolled back in his chair drinking red wine.
    “I don’t see why not.”
    My plan to let people think I was house-sitting for a month just didn’t seem to be working out. But after meeting Oscar, and hearing everybody else’s life stories tonight, my little “obsession,” as everyone at home seemed to think it was, seemed quite normal.
    “Oh, are you some sort of secret agent?” Ursula asked excitedly.
    I laughed. “No.”
    “Ooh, ooh, I like guessing games,” Brooke said. “An undercover police officer?”
    “No.” I shook my head.
    “On the run from