"Are you ready for this?" Robert looked over at Calista and smiled. It was January 21st, 2001 in Los Angeles, California. It was the day of the annual Golden Globe awards. Robert and Calista were sitting side-by-side in the limousine. Robert was looking very handsome in his dark suit and Calista was looking extremely pretty in her light purple dress. They knew that by showing up together, they would cause a little bit of a media frenzy. But they didn't really care. They just wanted to be together. Just like they were in real life. "Remember, Robert," Calista said. "Let's not announce to the world that we're a couple. It's really nobody's business but ours. So if the reporters start asking questions, let's just try to subtley change the subject, okay?" Robert sighed. "I know you're right, Calista. But what if I suddenly have the urge to kiss you when we're out there on the red carpet?" "Then do it on the cheek," laughed Calista. "Well, if I won't be able to come anywhere near your lips for the next few hours, then I should make good use of the time we have now!" He leaned towards Calista and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. When they broke apart, Robert noticed the limo driver staring at them in his rearview mirror. The driver had his eyebrows raised. Robert smiled, and then brought his finger up to his lips, signaling to the driver that this should be kept a secret. The limo driver smiled back and nodded his head. He knew what the deal was. Calista, however, was horrified to see that the driver had seen them kissing. "Robert!" she whispered. "What if he tells people?" "He won't," Robert answered back. "And even if he does, would that really be a bad thing?" "I guess not," smiled Calista, moving closer to her date. "Did I tell you yet how absolutely beautiful you look?" Robert asked. "Oh, only about fifty times now," she answered, smiling. "Thank you. And those sunglasses you have are a nice touch." Robert smiled as he looked at the sunglasses he was holding. They were your normal black shades, but they had a purple tint to them -- which matched Calista's dress. They had planned that, of course. "You know," Calista said. "It's scary how much more you like clothes than I do. From now on, when we go out together, not only do I have to worry about what I'm going to wear -- I have to worry whether or not my dress will clash with what you're wearing." She was laughing now. "What can I say?" Robert said, laughing too. "Clothes make the man." The limousine was beginning to slow down. Calista and Robert were surprised to see that they had reached the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel. They had been so caught up in each other that they hadn't even been paying attention to the throng of limousines around them. "We're almost there," Calista whispered. "Are you ready for this?" she asked, repeating the same question he had asked her earlier. "Ready as I'll ever be, Miss Flockhart," smiled Robert. The limousine finally pulled to a stop. Somebody opened the limo door and Robert hopped outside. Still inside the limo, Calista could hear the photographers screaming Robert's name. Robert was currently very hot property and they all wanted to get a piece of him. Robert turned back around and offered his hand to Calista. He helped her out of the limousine. As she climbed out, she could almost hear gasps from the people around them. They were surprised that Robert Downey, Jr. and Calista Flockhart had arrived together. "Robert! Calista! Over here!" That was shouted by what seemed like hundreds of photographers. Robert put his arm around Calista and they both smiled for the cameras. They waved to the fans who were seated in the stands. Robert took Calista's hand in his and they started making their way down the red carpet. Of course, the press was all over them. "Calista, Robert! Can we ask you a few questions?!" Robert and Calista stopped by one of the reporters and were ready to field his questions. "So, this is interesting!" the reporter said. "Is there something we should know about?" "I wasn't sure if I should have gone with Versace or Valentino," replied Robert. "I wasn't sure if my purse matched my dress," replied Calista. The reporter laughed. "I didn't mean that. I mean, are you two a couple?" "A couple of what?" Robert asked, smiling. "Calista and I wanted to be in each other's company tonight. It should be a fun party! Thanks." Robert pulled Calista away from the reporter and they continued on down the red carpet. He leaned over to her and whispered, "How was that?" "Smooth, Downey. Real smooth," she said, giggling. For the next half-hour or so, Robert and Calista posed for photographers and chatted with reporters. They went through a lot of them -- Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra....... Some would come right out and ask them if they were an item, some would hint at it, but Robert and Calista both kept mum on the subject. "I'm getting pretty good at this," Calista said to Robert, as they were nearing the entrance inside the hotel. He smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Calista caught sight of people staring at them and smiled, trying to act like it was no big deal. "Come on," Robert said. "Let's go inside now and find our seats." *     *     * Robert and Calista were now seated with their Ally McBeal castmates. David E. Kelley and his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer, were seated at a nearby table. The Practice cast were also seated nearby. The show began to start and Calista began to get really nervous. Not for herself, but for Robert. She had already won a Golden Globe a couple of years ago. Robert, however, had never won one yet and she felt he was long overdue. Even though he wouldn't admit it, she knew that he was feeling very nervous also. Calista's category came up early in the show, but she lost to Sarah Jessica Parker. Calista didn't really mind losing, but she did feel a little uncomfortable losing to Sarah. After all, Sarah was an old girlfriend of Robert's. They had lived together back in the 80's. Robert politely applauded when Sarah won, but he was disappointed that Calista didn't. He squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her. Calista smiled back and shrugged her shoulders, as if to say, "Oh well." She was actually relieved that her category was over and done with. Now she could concentrate on just feeling nervous for Robert. *     *     * About halfway into the show, Robert leaned over to Calista. "Sweetie, I have to go now." "Oh, right," she said. "You have to present Wonder Boys. Good luck, honey!" "Thanks," he said, smiling. "Keep your fingers crossed that I don't trip on the stage on the way out." "Will do." Robert kissed Calista on the cheek and headed backstage. Calista looked across the table and saw Jane Krakowski, Lisa Nicole Carson, and Vonda Shepard grinning at her. They were the only ones who knew that she and Robert were together, but were all sworn to secrecy. Calista smiled at them and gave them a look that said, "Don't make a big deal out of him kissing me, you guys! People will notice!" They all went back to sipping their champagne. Dick Clark's voice began blaring on the intercom telling everyone to take their seats again. They would soon be coming back from commercial break. He began counting down to when they would be on the air again...... 5 - 4 -3 - 2 - Applause everyone! Everyone started clapping and the announcer began to introduce the next presenter. "Please welcome a nominee from Ally McBeal and star of the film Wonder Boys, here's Robert Downey, Jr.!" Calista strained her neck to get a good view of Robert. What surprised her is that a cameraman immediately sat down right in front of her and pointed his camera at her. Oh, gosh, she thought. They want my reaction shot. Calista applauded, of course, and smiled as Robert made his way onto the stage. There he was! He had put his glasses on and looked a little nervous, but he was still as cool as a cucumber. Calista could hear some cheers from the audience, which made her happy that people were supporting him. Robert proceeded to introduce the clip to Wonder Boys, with Calista beaming the whole time he was up there. When Robert was finished, he walked off the stage and Calista turned to the girls and raised her eyebrows as if to say, "Didn't my man do good?!" They all laughed to themselves. A few minutes later, Robert made his way back to the table and sat back down next to Calista. "So how did I do?" he asked. "You were great, sweetie. Although I could have done without the George Clooney crack you made." Before introducing the Wonder Boys clip, Robert had congratulated George Clooney on winning his award, and asked Clooney why he hadn't consulted him about his film O Brother, Where Art Thou. After all, the film was about convicts. Robert just shrugged. "I couldn't resist." "Hmmm," Calista said, playfully punching him on the arm. "When is my category coming up?" he asked. "I'm getting anxious." "Well, Camryn is co-presenting it and she just left to go backstage, so I'm guessing really soon. Are you nervous?" "Nope," he answered. "Liar," smiled Calista. "Oh, okay. Maybe a little. But hey, awards aren't a big deal anyway." "You want to win this one bad," said Calista. "I do," laughed Robert. "Well, no matter what happens, I'll still love you," she whispered to him. "Promise?" "Robert! Of course!" "Okay then," replied Robert. "Then I don't care what happens. As long as I have you...." *     *     * Finally, the moment had come. The announcer had just announced the next presenters -- Camryn Manheim and Don Cheadle. Calista looked over at Robert and smiled. The cameraman had positioned himself right in front of Robert. Here we go, she thought. They began reading off the nominees. Robert was first. When they read his name as a nominee, Calista clapped loudly. She wanted to whoop and holler, but she didn't want to cause a scene. As the other nominees were announced, Calista crossed her fingers. She really, really, really wanted Robert to win. Finally, Camryn began opening up the envelope with the winner's name written in it. This was the moment of truth. "And the Golden Globe goes to......." The room went quiet in anticipation of the winner. It almost seemed like an eternity before Camryn announced the winner. "Robert Downey, Jr.! Ally McBeal." Calista let out a sigh of relief. She turned around and saw that the Ally McBeal producer, Pam Wisne, already had her arms around Robert. She was delighted to see the happiness on his face. Robert looked at Calista with a huge smile on his face. He immediately kissed her right on the lips. Her first thought was, No! Not on the lips! They'll suspect! But then she thought, Oh, hell, and she put her hand around his neck and returned the kiss. She was ridiculously happy for him. Robert made his way through the tables trying to get to the stage. Calista caught sight of Lucy Liu giving him a congratulatory kiss. Bitch, she thought. But then laughed at her pettiness and continued to applaud for Robert. She noticed that everyone around her had stood up to give him a standing ovation. She stood up too and noticed that many other people in the room had also stood up for Robert. She felt so extremely proud of him. Calista watched as Robert ran up onto the stage, hugged Camryn, and receive his award from Don Cheadle. She also noticed that the cameraman once again positioned himself in front of her to get her reaction shots. I hope my make-up is all on okay, she thought. The last thing she wanted was America watching her with lipstick on her teeth. Robert began his acceptance speech. Of course, he thanked David Kelley. He said that David had said to him that it was like having a new toy to write for, and he'd do his best to stay out of the factory. The audience loved it and laughed. Some even clapped. Calista, on the other hand, was thinking, Oh, Robert. Did you really have to bring that up? This is serious! She wasn't mad, she just wished that Robert didn't bring up his legal problems every chance he got. Robert continued on by thanking the producers, the cast..... And then Calista saw Robert looking directly at her. Her heart skipped a beat. What was he going to say? "And of course, the deliciously hilarious Calista. Sweetheart, this is ours." "Awwww," Calista heard someone say. She beamed, feeling very happy and proud to have been included in Robert's acceptance speech in such a special way. It marked the end of his speech and everyone started clapping again for him. Calista joined in. She watched as Robert walked off stage. She saw him stop to start talking to somebody. She leaned over far enough so she could see who he was talking to. It was Dick Clark. Oh geez, that was fast, she thought to herself. I hope Dick Clark doesn't start asking him inappropriate questions. Everyone around Calista was buzzing. They were all very happy that Robert had won. She tried to replay his speech in her mind. She remembered him stumbling over the words "deliciously hilarious". Calista smiled. She made a mental note to tease him about that later. She then remembered that he called her "Sweetheart". Uh oh, she thought. People are going to start talking. *     *     * Calista saw Robert running back to their table with the Golden Globe trophy in his hand. She stood up and gave him a big hug when he reached her. "Congratulations, honey," she whispered into his ear. "Thanks," said a beaming Robert. "This really is for us. I couldn't have won this without you." Calista just smiled. Everyone around them congratulated Robert on his win. Lucy Liu came running over and Calista made sure to trip her on the way. "Oh!" Lucy said. She didn't fall down, but she did trip a little. "I guess my feet got caught in my dress. Congratulations, Robert," she said, giving him a hug. Now don't get Calista wrong. She didn't dislike Lucy. She just felt that Lucy liked throwing herself at Robert every chance she got. And besides, Lucy didn't know that she and Robert were a couple off-screen so she couldn't know that she was intruding in on Calista's territory. After all the congratulating, they all sat down. "What took you so long?" Calista asked Robert. "Oh, I had to pose for the photographers in the press room." "Did you do any interviews?" she asked. "Nope. Oh, wait. Yes, I did. Dick Clark interviewed me." "Oh, right. I saw you talking to him. Was he intrusive?" "No, not really. He just asked me to address the fans at home. Also, I kind of slipped and let something out by accident." Calista held her breath. "Wha -- What did you say?" "That you and I were madly in love with each other and that after the parties, we're going to go home and make love to each other all night long." "WHAT????" Calista said very loudly. People around them looked over to see what she was yelling about. Calista smiled at them, let out a fake laugh, and they went back to their own business. They were all friends, so they knew that Calista could be a bit kooky at times. Robert had a huge grin on his face. "Relax, sweetie. I'm just kidding." "Oh." She let out a sigh of relief. "Then what did you slip out?" "I said that I'm going to be coming back to the show." "Oh, I see," she said. They both knew full well that Robert would indeed be coming back to the show, possibly for the rest of the season. However, an official announcement had not been made yet, so they weren't sure if they were allowed to let the cat out of the bag just yet. But it didn't seem like that big of a deal. "Don't worry about that. The news would have come out sooner or later anyway. I'm just so happy you won!" She was about to kiss him again but remembered they were in public and held back. But she did lean in close enough to say, "I'm going to have to give you a private congratulatory party when we get home tonight." "I can't wait," smiled Robert. "I'm going to hold you up to that, Miss Flockhart." "You better," she said. "Just you wait. It's going to be delici -- delicio -- delicious." She had a teasing smile on her face. Robert raised his eyebrows and Calista giggled. "You kind of stumbled on the word 'deliciously' in your speech," she explained. Robert slapped his hand across his forehead. "Oh no!" he groaned, but was still able to laugh at himself. "Did I do anything else I should know about?" "Well, you called me sweetheart at the end of your speech," said Calista. "And?" asked Robert. "Well, it was kind of a public showing of affection." "But that's what you are, Calista. You're my sweetheart," Robert replied, matter-of-factly. She smiled but tried to explain to him what concerned her. "I know, but don't you think people will put 2 and 2 together and figure out that we're together in real life? We came here as each other's date, we were holding hands outside on the red carpet, and you called me 'sweetheart' in your speech." "Hmmm, it is kind of suspicious. But if people figure it out, I won't mind," he said. That was the difference between Robert and Calista. Robert wanted the whole world to know that he had the most wonderful woman in his life. Calista, on the other hand, was so incredibly private and felt that they didn't owe the public anything in regards to their personal lives. But even she had to admit that a part of her wanted everyone to know that she had Robert in her life. She was so proud to be with him. Suddenly, everyone started standing up and clapping. Calista and Robert both looked over to the stage to see what was going on. They saw Al Pacino accepting his lifetime achievement award. Calista and Robert had been talking the whole time they were showing clips of Al Pacino's past work. They both stood up and applauded for him too. They also both laughed, amazed that they were so caught up in each other that they had completely missed the tribute. Oh, well. Robert and Calista enjoyed the rest of the show. Their spirits were high. Robert had won his much-deserved award and they had the rest of the night to look forward to. *     *     * "And that's why the chicken crossed the road!" Everyone at the table forced out a laugh. That was Garry Shandling telling everyone one of his lame jokes. Calista and Robert were now at Morton's restaurant at one of the after-parties. They were seated at a table with others, including Shandling and Keanu Reeves. They wanted to be at a table alone, but both knew it would look suspicious. Calista and Garry Shandling were actually casual friends. But ever since the media began publishing reports that the two were an item, she began keeping her distance from him. It's no wonder she was so bitter about the press. Lies, lies, and more lies. It wasn't long before Robert leaned over to Calista and said, "You want to go now?" Calista nodded, relieved. She had wanted to leave long ago, but didn't want to nag Robert about it. "Yes, please!" she whispered. "I really want to see Liam." Liam was Calista's newly adopted son and she hated being apart from him for very long. "In that case, let's go," he said, smiling. He stood up and helped Calista out of her chair. "We're going now," he said to everyone at the table. They all bid farewell and Calista and Robert left, hand-in-hand. People at the party who caught sight of this raised their eyebrows in curiousity. *     *     * "Are you happy?" Calista asked Robert. They were both in the limousine on their way home to Calista's house. She was playing with Robert's Golden Globe award in her hands. "Why do you ask me that?" he asked. "I don't know. You just seem really happy." "Yeah. It's nice to have won. It kind of reminds me that people out there think I'm a good actor." "Robert, you do know that you don't need an award on your mantlepiece to prove to everyone that you're a good actor, right?" she asked him. "I know, Calista. It's just nice to be acknowledged like this." He took the award from her and stared at it. Then he smiled. "You want to know what I'm most happy about?" "What's that?" "That I have you," he simply said. "I don't know how I'd be able to go through all of this without you by my side." "I'll always be here for you, honey," she said, leaning over to give him a hug. They finally reached Calista's house. "Do you want to stay the night?" she asked. "Oh, I thought that was the plan. You promised to give me a private party, remember?" he said, his eyes twinkling. "How could I forget?" she said, laughing. They both thanked the limo driver and made their way over to Calista's house, arm-in-arm. *     *     * "He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping," Calista whispered. She and Robert were in Liam's baby room, watching over him as he slept. They had already paid and thanked the nanny for taking care of Liam that night. "He looks just like you," Robert whispered quietly to her. "Oh. Well, that's kind of impossible, isn't it?" she asked. After all, little Liam was adopted. "No, not really. Just think of it as fate," he replied. "Fate. I like that," smiled Calista. She began quietly leading Robert and herself out of the room. She gently closed the bedroom door shut, not wanting to disturb Liam from his peaceful sleep. They headed into the living room and sat down on the couch together. Robert's award was on top of the coffee table. Calista looked at it and said, "You won, sweetie." "Yeah..." he pulled her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him and rest her head against his shoulder. They were still dressed in their Golden Globe attire and it was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Calista kicked off her shoes. "Thank God!" she said. "My feet are killing me. Remind me the next time we go to one of these fancy shmancy events to practice walking in my shoes first." "Hmmm," said Robert. He took her feet into his lap and began rubbing them. "I guess we're just going to have to find something to do which requires keeping you off your feet." Calista started laughing. "And what could that be, Mr. Downey?" "Hey, you're the one who promised me a private party. Do you remember that, Miss Flockhart?" "Yes, I do," she said, blushing. Then she hesitated. "I almost wish I had a script right now. I'm afraid I'm not very good at improvising." "Well, that's okay," he said. "I am." And with that, Robert gently pushed Calista down on the sofa so that she was laying down on it. He moved on top of her and began caressing her like she was the most precious thing in the world. "Robert," she whispered into his ear. "I love the way you make me feel." They kissed each other with such passion that it seemed like they were the only two people in the world. They made love right then and there. The entire evening was perfect. It truly was a night to remember. The End

A Night To Remeber