Page 50 of The Location Shoot
“I’m yours, Finn Forrester.” They shared a passionate kiss, pushing aside any remnants of fear or hesitation.
“It’s beautiful out today. Maybe we could take a hike in the forest. Should we order up some breakfast first?”
She crawled onto his lap and said, “That sounds perfect. But first, kiss me again.”
CHAPTER 12
Later that week, when the group was finishing dinner, Albie said, “I do believe it’s cocktail time.”
“Tonight, something special is in order,” Jean said. He hollered for the waiter. “Please bring the champagne.”
“What are we celebrating?” Michael asked.
“The anniversary of the longest relationship I’ve ever had. Ten years of an exquisite friendship,” Jean said, staring at Ella.
“Is it ten years tonight?” she asked.
He nodded. “I remember the date because it was the day before I received that ridiculous lifetime blah blah blah award. I asked the innkeeper to order a case of champagne to mark the occasion.”
She smiled. “Sweet of you to remember.”
“How did you meet?” Finn asked.
“It was in London,” Ella said, lighting a cigarette and settling in. “You tell them.”
“My friend Sandrine and I were supposed to have dinner at The Ivy with a small group of friends. She read in the newspaper that Gabriella Sinclair was doing a book reading at a local shop. Like all women at the time, or should I say allinterestingwomen, Sandrine was captivated by Ella’s firstbook of essays, which was unforgettably titled:My Boyfriend or My Vibrator? Woman’s New Existential Crisis.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Ella shrugged and took a drag of her cigarette. “What can I say? It was my first book, and I wanted to make a splash.”
“That it did,” Charlotte said. “I read it. It was riveting, I must say.”
“Our little English rose. You are full of surprises,” Michael said.
Charlotte blushed. “How on earth did you come up with that title?”
“I was dating some guy. I’ll be diplomatic and just say we didn’t have any chemistry, which he wasn’t willing to acknowledge, so I ended it. He was feeling a bit wounded, male ego and all, and on his way out the door, he screamed, ‘You better not write about me in your book!’” She stopped to giggle. “I guess we get something from every relationship. He wasn’t a great lover, but in that moment, he inspired the title for my debut book. It became a best seller, and to this day, I imagine him walking past a bookstore and seeing it displayed in the window. I wonder what he thought when he saw the title.”
Everyone laughed.
“Remind me to keep you satisfied,” Finn whispered.
Ella nudged him and said, “Jean, tell them the rest of our story.”
Jean continued, “So, Sandrine dragged me to the bookshop, which was standing room only. We arrived just as the store owner introduced Ella. She floated up to the podium in this long, flowy, backless white dress. I gasped at the sight of her. Not only was she the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, but there was something hypnotic about her—the way she moved, her smile, the way she brushed her hair out of her face. Her eyes were dancing as if she were somehow more alive than the rest of us.”
“Jean,” Ella whispered, clearly embarrassed.
“It’s true,ma chérie,” he replied. He turned his attention back to the group. “When she spoke, I was utterly mesmerized, but I wasn’t alone. She had the entire audience holding their stomachs from fits of laughter, all while revealing her laser-sharp mind. I simply had to meet her. Sandrine and I were stuck at the back of the room when a line quickly formed for the book signing, and I’m not a patient man.”
“Ha! That’s the understatement of the century,” Ella interjected. “So, what does he do? He walks right to the front of the line, says, ‘Pardon me,’ to a woman waiting to get her book signed, and introduces himself to me.”
Jean chuckled. “I said, ‘I’m Jean Mercier, the filmmaker,’ thinking she’d be flattered to see me in attendance, but she looked at me flatly and said, ‘Congratulations.’ My mouth must have been hanging open because after a long silence she said, ‘Now that you’ve cut in front of everyone in line, are you even going to buy the book?’”
Everyone exploded with laughter.
“Needless to say, I bought the damn book. Bloody thing kept me up all night.”
