The Diary of Our Love

Chapter 77

We came back on a Saturday as it was planned. When we arrived at Kirk's to pick up Disco, our closest friends were waiting for us at his house. Apparently, they all knew what was going to happen in our escape to Barcelona except me, and the other women. Only when we left, they were informed of James's plans. What Kirk was throwing that day in his house was a small party celebrating our engagement. Even if we were so tired, we stayed because they had been so kind to want to celebrate our engagement with us.

The next couple of weeks flew without any of us noticing it. James was extremely busy at the studio trying to catch up, planning the tour and its promotion, doing vocals for the upcoming album and so on. In the majority of the days, he came back home really late, but I understood it. He also needed to run his band and do his thing. I knew back then how he loved to play guitar and sing. He still does nowadays. James breathes music, he needs it to live. Also, I finally delivered the last papers I needed at the university and had been busy trying to find some books in the list they have given me. I started reading some of it, just to be more informed once I started my classes. I cannot tell you how anxious I was to start. I was sucking for knowledge. Then, I also had been occupied trying to get everything ready for Lil's arrival. She was visiting us the next week, and I wanted to have everything she liked in the house. I also wanted my house to look perfect, so I bought a few things that were missing. It was just the last touches of the decoration: some paintings, and some cushions for the couch. Not much of a big deal.

And in the middle of our extra busy and crazy life, James and I had managed to set a few details about our wedding. We started planning it as soon as we came back home and by then we've chosen the place where it would take place. We decided we wanted something really simple and private. Just our family and close friends, and then it was left in my hands to find an agency that would take care of the rest of the details, like catering and the decoration. I caught myself looking for a dress already. I didn't have a clue the hard task that it is getting a wedding ready. By then, I knew perfectly well why Lani was always so exhausted. I was not sure if I was capable of handling it all by myself, as James was getting busier and busier.

Claire also scheduled a few interviews. I had around ten interviews in three weeks and she had called saying that a TV channel was interested in doing a show with me and James together. As we've never spoken to the press as a couple and it was not something we were interested in doing, I immediately told Claire to forget about it. James and I had agreed in never talking about us or show our privacy to anyone. We never wanted a camera around our house. Our house was our sanctuary. It was our space. The only place where we could be ourselves. Where we were safe from all the fussy. We didn't want to show the world how we lived, or what our house looked like, because inside of it we were just a regular couple like any other couple in the world. Amazingly, the same TV channel contacted Q Prime to have that interview with us, and Cliff thought it was good publicity if we showed up together as Metallica was releasing a new album. I was in the kitchen and could hear James yelling at him on the phone, saying our relationship was not a business. That Metallica was Metallica. I also didn't want to do it, but both our agents were making a lot of pressure into it.

Today, I was meeting James for lunch so we could discuss this subject. I was running extremely late, as the interview I had scheduled on the phone with Vanity Fair took longer than I thought. When it was finally finished, I picked up my purse and blazer and drove to the studio breaking all traffic laws to get to Sausalito as soon as possible. I showed up half an hour later. I greeted the security guard and run upstairs, bumping into Bob who was leaving to have lunch too.

"Hi Lea, how's everything?" He asked giving me a hug and a kiss on my cheek.

"Been busy. And you, how have you been?" I smiled.