Page 10 of Cinematic Destinies
“I bet he was right. You would have been captivating. Mesmerizing. No doubt about it. You could have been a big star.”
She giggled. “Lucky for me, I married one instead. Suits me better, don’t you think?”
Finn laughed and gave her a kiss. He pulled back and said, “Jean hired Georgia because she looks just like you, sounds like you, moves like you. He told me, ‘I always longed to see Ella on the big screen. Now instead I have your daughter.’”
“Best not to tell Georgia that!”
Finn laughed. “No shit. Jean did say she’s perfect for the part.”
“She’ll do a fantastic job. I’m sure she and Jean will get along famously now that they have a chance to get to know each other better.”
“Don’t you find it curious? It’s like for his last picture he’s trying to capture something he wanted with you but couldn’t have. I wonder what the film is really about.”
Ella huffed. “He’s always tackling the big topics. For his final film I can only imagine he’s chasing something especially grand, something important to him. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
“I’m sure it will be something special. Georgia will grow a lot.”
“I just hope . . .”
“What, love?” Finn asked.
“Yes, the kids are all doing amazing things this summer, but I hope they manage to have some fun too. Live a little. Live a lot. This glorious life goes by in a flash,” Ella said.
“Speaking of living, with all this talk of the kids, we haven’t given much thought to howwe’regoing to spendthis summer. Now that we’ve both slowed down a bit in our careers, we have time. My next film doesn’t start shooting until late fall. You’re in between books.”
“What do you have in mind?” she asked.
“I know it’s tradition for the honeymoon to follow the wedding, but this is a vow renewal and we never cared much about conventions anyway. Let’s go on a spectacular trip this summer. We could go anywhere in the world. Hell, we could go around the whole world. Are you up for an adventure?”
Ella smiled. “Always.”
“Where should we go?”
“Anywhere but Iceland. Georgia would have a fit.”
They both laughed.
“Finn . . .”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Thank you for turning my whole life into an adventure.”
He kissed her tenderly. “Come on, let’s go up to your office and give the old globe a spin. I’m hoping it lands on some little island where I can watch you running around on a white sand beach.”
CHAPTER 4
Betty and Khalil were walking down the hospital corridor after rounds.
“How’s Kate O’Connor doing?” Khalil asked.
“She’s great,” Betty replied with a smile.
“It’s cute how she’s your favorite patient.”
“Doctors aren’t supposed to have favorites,” she replied matter-of-factly, before leaning closer and quietly confessing, “but between us, yeah, I really like her.” Khalil smiled and Betty continued, “Kate’s a modern-day superwoman. Instead of getting distracted chasing some Prince Charming fantasy, she focused on building a career. Now she’s got a corner office on Wall Street and the guys follow her lead. As if that’s not enough, she was like, ‘I want to be a mother, so I’m doing it on my own.’ Such a total badass.” She stopped to giggle. “She’s also wickedly funny. Dirtiest sense of humor. Has me laughing hysterically during every exam. Today it was a bit about how there should be more pregnant porn stars, for instructional purposes.”
He laughed. “I still can’t believe you came straight here from the airport.”
