Page 27 of Cinematic Destinies (Red Carpet Romance #3)

G eorgia was curled up on the couch under a blanket, the shades drawn in her drab apartment.

She grabbed her laptop off the coffee table and switched it on, resolved to delete Roo’s last message.

Before she could complete the task, her inbox beeped.

There was a new message from Jean with the subject line “Anniversary video.” She opened it and read it aloud.

“ Ma chérie , forgive that I have not made a personal message for your parents. I have always preferred to remain behind the camera, so I sent something else in its stead. When making a film, I have the camera operators record some of what happens on and around set, behind the scenes. I went through my archives from Celebration and edited together this video of your parents the summer they met—stolen moments when they had no idea that a camera was capturing them. Raw, naked footage of two people falling in love. Pure beauty. I thought your family would enjoy seeing it. Between us, I must confess it was watching your parents that magical summer, and all the years since, that made me believe all is not lost in the world and indeed love is real. Perhaps it will even make you believe. Love, Jean.”

She opened the attachment and hit play. Suddenly, her parents, younger than she had ever known them, appeared on screen, her father strikingly handsome and her mother extraordinarily beautiful.

Georgia gasped at the sight of them. Finn was tenderly stroking Ella’s cheek, off in the corner of the set.

The camera pulled closer as Ella looked down bashfully, and Finn gently kissed her forehead, washed in a look of unbridled new love.

The corners of Georgia’s mouth trembled as she leaned closer, the light from the screen forming a halo around her face.

There were intimate snippets of her parents walking on the lawn, stealing a kiss outside Finn’s trailer.

They were radiant, full of hope, and unabashedly taken with each other, all when they thought no one was looking.

Georgia sat utterly mesmerized, a smile crawling across her face and her eyes flooding.

Tears silently streamed down her cheeks as she watched the last moment, the cast of Celebration taking their final bow and Finn racing to Ella, picking her up, and twirling her in the air as she laughed, before they kissed passionately.

“That must have been right before she left him,” she muttered.

“God, they look so impossibly happy.” When the video ended, she grabbed a tissue and cleaned herself up.

Then she forwarded the email to Betty and Albert, following up with a text message that read: Just sent you a video of Mom and Dad.

Watch it now . She took a deep, centering breath and rose, finally knowing what she had to do.

KHALIL CAME INTO THE RESIDENTS’ LOUNGE looking for Betty. “Hey, I brought you this,” he said, handing her a PowerBar from the vending machine. “They restocked. It’s your favorite kind.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking the snack but unable to meet his eyes.

He touched her hand and said, “Please, can we talk? It’s been strange for weeks, since that night. You’re my best friend. I don’t want it to be like this between us and . . .”

She started to raise her gaze to meet his, but they were interrupted when her pager went off. “Sorry,” she mumbled, pulling it out of her pocket. “Fuck,” she said, tossing him the PowerBar.

“What’s wrong?”

“Kate O’Connor needs an emergency C-section,” she replied as she raced out the door.

Nearly an hour later, Betty shuffled into the residents’ lounge, her head hung. Khalil was waiting for her. He sprang up from the bench and asked, “How’d it go?”

Betty shook her head almost imperceptibly, her eyes fixed to the floor. “She had a massive placental abruption. There was so much blood. I’ve . . .”

“Oh, Betty,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“We saved the baby. But Kate . . . there was nothing we could do. There was nothing I could do. I—”

“You did everything you could,” he assured her. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He pulled her close in a comforting embrace, rubbing her back.

For a moment, she leaned into it. Then she looked up into his eyes and said, “It was so awful. Kate was hysterical, begging us to save her baby. I’ll never forget the look on her face as all her dreams evaporated.

” She paused. “This must have been my fault. If I had only caught it earlier, then . . .”

“No, Betty. Don’t do that to yourself. She had excellent care. You were on top of her pregnancy from day one. Sometimes these things just happen, and it isn’t anyone’s fault. There weren’t any warning signs.”

“Maybe I got too attached to her, liked her too much, lost my focus,” she said.

“That’s not true. Caring about your patients makes you a better doctor.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything,” she mumbled, visibly holding back tears.

“You’ve got to let it out. Feel this. It’s the only way through it,” he said, stroking her cheek. “Let it out.”

“I can’t,” she insisted, taking a deep breath. “I can’t allow myself to feel it.”

“Betty. You already do,” he whispered.

She pulled back. “I’ll be fine.” She walked over to her locker and took out her belongings, placing her street clothes, bag, and cell phone on the bench. “I’m just gonna go home and take a hot bath and try to forget today ever happened.”

Khalil walked over to her and gently said, “Look at me.” She turned to face him, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Please, you’ve got to let it out. It’s okay. It’s okay to feel.”

“I can’t,” she said, and shook her head as she began to tear up.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” he said, caressing her hair.

She burst into tears.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “Just feel it.”

Betty sobbed uncontrollably, crying and heaving against his chest as she tried to breathe.

He held her as the tears continued to flow through a stream of howls that sounded like a wounded animal, her body violently shaking.

After what felt like an eternity, she pulled back, grabbed the tissue box off the table, and wiped her face.

“I’m sorry for crying on your shoulder.”

“Betty, I love you. God, I love you.”

“Damn it, Khalil, don’t you see?” she shrieked. “There are no fucking happy endings! Love hurts! It’s filled with pain! People have nothing to gain and everything to lose.”

“You don’t really believe that. Naturally, you’re upset. I’m here for you. Always. Lean on me and—”

“Please just go. I want to be alone.”

“But . . .”

She turned her back to him. “Go. Please.”

He sighed and said, “If you change your mind, let me know.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.

Betty collapsed onto a chair, her knees in her lap and her head in her hands.

After a few minutes passed, she sniffled and looked up, trying to muster the strength to go home.

She noticed a message light flashing on her cell phone and read Georgia’s text.

She wiped her bloodshot eyes and opened the video, hitting play.

“Oh my God,” she mumbled as her parents appeared on screen.

There was something so profoundly innocent and beautiful about the way they looked at each other, as if their souls were connecting off in the shadows, when they thought no one was looking.

She burst into tears again, unable to control the waterfall gushing from her eyes, and for the first time, not wanting to.

She cried and cried. As she watched the images of her parents, a film reel played in her mind with images of Khalil—his pained expressions when he ate spicy food, his silly victory dance when he won a game of Scrabble, the intensity in his dark eyes when he studied, the sympathy on his face when he spoke with his patients, and his broad smile every time Betty walked into a room.

“It’s him. You’re so stupid. It’s always been him,” she muttered. Suddenly, she jumped up and raced to the door, but it flung open before she could reach for the handle, and Khalil stepped inside.

“I came back to make sure you were alright. It kills me to see you so torn up,” he said, looking at her wet, blotchy face. “Don’t be mad. I just want to know if you’re okay.”

“I love you,” she said through her tears. “I’m in love with you.”

His eyes went wide as a huge smiled danced across his face. He put his hand on her cheek, gently wiping away her tears.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever believe in happy endings, but I believe in happy beginnings,” Betty said. “Is that enough?”

“It’s everything,” Khalil whispered. He cupped her face in his hands and they kissed.

ALBERT DROPPED HIS KEY AND WAS PICKING it up when Ryan and his friends came barreling out of their apartment.

“Hey, Al,” Ryan said.

“Hey,” Albert replied softly, averting his gaze.

“We’re just heading out to play laser tag,” Ryan said.

“Oh. Well, have fun,” Albert replied with a lump in his throat.

“Listen, Al, you can come with us if you want.”

“Thanks, but I’m gonna stay in and try to do some work tonight.”

“Are you sure? You’re welcome to join us.”

“That’s okay.”

“Well, see ya,” Ryan said as he and his friends bounded down the hallway.

“Yeah, see ya,” Albert mumbled.

Albert shuffled into his apartment, grabbed a can of soda from the refrigerator, and cracked it open.

Soda in hand, he plopped down at the table and turned on his laptop, intending to immerse himself in his work project.

He noticed new emails in his inbox and decided to scroll through them, immediately opening the message from Georgia and clicking on the video attachment.

Suddenly, his parents flooded the screen, young and in love.

It was so overwhelmingly beautiful that he smiled brightly as he watched, the glow from the screen shining on his face.

“I always thought it was brave that you proposed in front of the whole world,” he mumbled to the image of his father.

“This is brave. Just letting yourself be so honest with someone.”

When the video ended, he took a slow, considered breath and bolted out of his apartment, racing down the stairs and down the sidewalk straight into the heart of Harvard Square. He saw Ryan outside the bustling Harvard train station, people all around. “Ryan!” he shouted.

Ryan stopped and turned.

Albert tried to catch his breath as he continued to race toward Ryan.

“Al, did you decide to come with us?” Ryan asked.

Albert looked all around at the swarms of people, and then he looked directly into Ryan’s eyes.

“I came to do this,” he said, and he put his hand on Ryan’s cheek and kissed him passionately.

Onlookers started cheering at the joyful scene, and a nearby street performer began playing a love song on his saxophone.

Albert finally pulled back, and the onlookers went on about their business.

Ryan smiled. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long. I wasn’t ready before, but I am now. Is it too late?”

“Kiss me again,” Ryan said.

Albert smiled and kissed him gently, but with no less passion.

“So, you’re coming with us?” Ryan said.

Albert nodded and took his hand, and together they headed into the train station.

THE CAR PULLED OVER AND GEORGIA paid the driver.

“Miss, it’s pissing down. Wait and I’ll come around with a brolly.”

“That’s okay,” Georgia said, quickly exiting.

She threw her handbag over her head, raced up the stairs of the brownstone, and started searching for the right apartment buzzer, rain pounding down.

She frantically pressed the button, holding it down over and over again, until she was buzzed inside.

She flew up the stairs, leaving a water trail behind her.

When she arrived on the third-floor landing, Roo was standing at the door wearing his terry cloth bathrobe.

“Georgia, what on earth?” he asked, wide-eyed. “Uh, come in,” he said, reaching out his hand. She followed him inside. Completely dumbstruck, he stared at her and eventually stuttered, “Uh, you’re sopping wet. Shall I get you a towel?”

She shook her head. “I don’t care about that. I flew from LA because I had to see you. I didn’t even have the patience to wait for the driver to open an umbrella.”

The corners of Roo’s mouth turned upward, and his cheeks became rosy. “Why did you have to see me?”

“Because I’m in love with you, positively, hopelessly, madly in love with you. I still want to make life a grand adventure, but not without you. Oh, Roo, I know I hurt you and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. If you do, I promise to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

“The rest of your life?” he muttered.

“If you’ll have me.”

“Wait. This isn’t right.”

Georgia’s face fell. “Oh, I’m sorry. I hoped—”

“No, you misunderstand, my darling,” Roo said with a soft smile.

“Don’t move an inch.” He walked over to a nearby credenza, opened the top drawer, and returned holding a small black velvet box.

“I just meant that I imagined how this would go. Shortly after I got back from the shoot, I stopped by my mother’s flat and asked her for my grandmother’s engagement ring.

I knew you’d show up at my door or I’d show up at yours. ”

“You did?” she asked, tears in her eyes.

He nodded and caressed her cheek. “And I knew when the moment presented itself, I’d want to do this,” he said, getting down on bended knee.

He opened the jewelry box to reveal an oval-shaped ruby surrounded by diamonds.

“Georgia Sinclair Forrester, you are the love of my life. Do me the honor of becoming my wife, and together we shall soar. Will you marry me?”

“Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said, salt water streaming down her face.

He slipped the ring on her finger and said, “The stone looks like fire, just like that burning spirit in you I so love.” He rose, wove his hands into her curls, and they kissed. “Now come on, love. Let’s get you out of these wet clothes.”