Be My Juliet [on hold]

Chapter 8: It's a Holiday Thing

"Alright Jess, I'm leaving!" I call as I walk out the door.

I hear her call back, "Bye!" as I plug in my headphones and walk into the elevator.  I am greeted with the guitar opening of With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear by Sleeping With Sirens, and I need to remind myself not to sing along out loud.  As soon as I walk out the building's front doors, I feel the chilly air of London hit me.  I wrap my arms around myself, trying to keep the warmth from Dan's jacket with me.  I'm meeting him at our usual spot –Starbucks- to continues the tour of the city.  He will take back his coat soon, so I wore my thickest cable knit sweater.  It is a cream color, and is so big that it looks like it could be a short dress.  Underneath, I have my normal black leggings, and topped it off with Jess's chocolate brown boots.  Now, I realize that I should have worn another layer, because even under my sweater and Dan's jacket I am still cold.

I spot Dan outside the coffee shop and quicken my pace.  "Hey!" he greets me, trapping me in a hug.

"Hey!  I kind of stole this last night..." I laugh, taking off his jacket and handing it to him.  However, he stops me.

"No.  You already look cold...." He replies, and then mumbles something under his breathe.

"What?" I laugh.

"Oh, nothing." He shrugs as he grabs my hand and leads me into Starbucks.  We get our usual coffees, and sit in a booth at the front of the store.

"So which tourist trap are you dragging me off to today?" I giggle.

"Do you want to go on the London Eye?  I got tickets thinking you would..."

"Sounds great!" I smile.  We finish our drinks quickly and head outside.  Grabbing my hand, Dan leads me to the other side of the street.

"Do you want to just take the bus?" he asks.

"As long as you know where we're going." I laugh, remembering the video Jess showed me.

"I think it would be nearly impossible to get lost.   This Ferris wheel is enormous."

"Well I have no idea, so you're in charge." I smile as the bus pulls up to the stop.  We board and grab two seats next to each other.

"Excuse me?" I hear a girl's voice squeal from behind us.  I turn around to greet Dan's fan.  However, she is staring directly at me.  When my eyes meet her deep blue gaze, she looks shocked.  "Mom!  It's her!"

The dark haired woman sitting next to the girl, whom I'm guessing is around eight years old, smiles at me.  "I'm sorry, but is your name Penelope McIntire?"

"Yes," I reply, in complete shock.  Why do they recognize me?

"We are really excited for the new Romeo and Juliet movie," the mom explains.  "We saw that you were up for the part of Juliet, and..."

"We love you!  Can I get your autograph?" the little girl interrupts.

"Of course!" I blush, taking the pen and paper from her.  "What's your name sweetie?"

"Carolyn." She beams.  "Can you believe it, Mark!  I met a famous person!" 

I look up quickly to see whom she is talking to, and suddenly see the teenage boy sitting next to her.  "The picture doesn't do you justice." He says, not taking his eyes off me.

"Thank you!" I smile.  What picture? "This may seem like a weird question, but where did you guys hear that I was up for the part?"

They tell me the name of the website, and we continue chatting until they need to get off.  I learn that Carolyn wants to be an actress, Mark is fifteen, and the entire family is looking forward to the movie.  We end up taking photos together, and when they had to leave, I gave them each quick hugs before sitting back down to face the front of the bus with a huge grin spread across my face.