‘You won’t believe what just happened to me!’
My ‘famous’ holiday encounters. A fiction article based on real life.
Whenever we go on a family holiday, or a trip with my friends, there is always the possibility and excitement of meeting someone remotely famous. I’m not suggesting I travel around exotic and amazing places expecting to meet a celebrity, even if I’m on the train passing through or near London, I always think, in the back of my mind, whether or not that day will be the day I meet a star… Or a mediocre celeb.
A couple of years ago my family and I went on a very sunny holiday overseas. I was nervous; I dislike flying… a lot, but I was also VERY excited… Who doesn’t like a tanning holiday? We made our way to the airport, waited, wondered and watched as the busy travellers ran to catch their flights. It was finally time to board the plane and my nerves were making their self-known; I felt sick and the excitement of the holiday was decreasing with every step closer I took to the plane. The thought of a massive metal thing gliding through the sky didn’t settle well in my mind. However, once I sat down and made myself comfortable, I started to accept my surroundings and look forward to our holiday. A few hours into the flight I noticed that my brother was having trouble folding back his table. It seemed to be broken. After a couple of minutes of attempting to work out this simple bit of engineering, someone had noticed our struggles. A tall, dark haired, handsome man came over to us fidgeting teenagers. My brother, my Dad and I looked up at the familiar stranger. He leaned over, fiddled with the table and managed to fold it back into the chair. My brother and I didn’t have a clue who this long-haired stranger was, we said thank you, and got on with our journey. After the man went back to his chair our parents whispered to us that it was Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Who? I thought.
After eight hours, we had finally arrived at our destination. We stepped out into a hot blaze of sun, and immediately took off our English jumpers and flicked on our sunglasses. I could already feel the tan lines making their mark on my skin. We arrived at the hotel, explored and chucked our stuff in our rooms- we were ready to make our way down to the pool! We claimed our beds, stripped off our towels and applied the sun cream; my sister and I had officially started our mini competition of who could tan the most, she always won. An hour or so had passed and I was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder by my brother. He was nudging me to look over to the corner of the pool. We looked over at the young, fairly good looking, guy laying on a sunbed with a slightly older lady with dyed hair and pumped up lips and big boobs. A young guy with an experienced woman, we thought. I couldn’t see the excitement of this couple, apart from thinking the guy could do a lot better. My brother then explained that the young guy, with the older woman, was Jesse Lingard. Back then I couldn’t really give a shit. I don’t like football and had no idea who he was. If it were this year, I would be a little more interested in Mr Lingard, who now, by the way, has ditched the older woman for a more attractive model… funny what a World Cup can do. My brother awkwardly asked for a photo with him, and he seemed like a normal genuine 20, something, lad.
The next evening, we had dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. The waiter came over and started chatting; asking us where we were from, talking about his love for football and his many stories he has had in this hotel. He then started to gossip… ‘I’ve heard that Wayne Rooney is around here.’ We all looked at each other. We presumed he meant that Wayne Rooney was in the country, so we laughed a long with our waiter and eventually he brought us our food. The next morning me and my Dad were exploring the resort. We started heading towards a big eared man. We walked passed, greeted each other and carried on passed. As soon as we passed him my dad and I looked at each other. ‘Was that?’ I nodded…. Wayne Rooney.
Later that day we all went by the pool. As the day got hotter, I decided to go for a dip. Whilst I was swimming, minding my own business, admiring the holiday views, a small boy started to swim towards me. I didn’t take much notice of him, I smiled and carried on with my leisurely swim. A few moments later I decided to experiment in doing under water hand stands. I hadn’t done one in years and wanted to see if I was as flexible as I was back in primary school. I attempted a few and, surprisingly, I was able to do a pretty good handstand. I attempted this a few more times and, embarrassingly, seeing how long I could stand on my hands. The little boy came back. ‘I can do one of those.’ He said. I smiled at him as he, too, attempted this underwater acrobatic. Not as good as mine, I thought… But he was only six. When he came up for air, I applauded him, we both started to show off our handstand skills and it started to become a bit of a competition on who could stand the longest. After a while, a smallish but broad man, with big ears stood by the side of the pool. He smiled at me and looked at the boy. ‘Ken it’s time to go.’ I looked at the boy and then back at the man. The boy got out of the pool, waved me goodbye and off they went- Wayne Rooney and his little boy.
Quite an eventful holiday, I thought. I wonder who we’ll see next.
