Soulmate

Chapter 23

It was a cold winter afternoon. Catherine poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch, then covered her legs with a blanket. She sighed with pure happiness.

The day before had been Lizzie's fourth birthday, and it had been fantastic. They had all been there: Greta, Valeria, her father and stepmother, Ann... and of course, Sophie too. It may not have been an exceptional day, but it was simply very nice. Catherine looked over at the dining room table and smiled. Ryan, her brother-in-law, had a camera, and he spent the whole day taking pictures of everyone. She had taken many with Greta and Valeria, of course. With her father, too. But her favorite was the one she was currently looking at from the couch: She was holding Lizzie in her arms and kissing her right cheek. To Lizzie's left was Kevin, somewhat bent over, kissing his daughter's head. And in the middle was Lizzie, smiling. To Catherine that was the most beautiful thing about the photo, Lizzie's smile. Since, lately, she and Kevin had decided to try to bring their relationship closer, Lizzie was smiling a lot more, and that was all that mattered.

Catherine turned on the TV and began to sip her coffee carefully, as it was still very hot. Finding nothing interesting to watch, she decided to get up from the couch and go to her room to find some books to read. As she got up, the phone started ringing. She put her coffee on the table and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Cath, dear!" sounded a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Sam?"

"Yeah. You're going to have to forgive me, I've been very absent lately..."

"No worries, you were on leave..." replied Catherine in a friendly tone "How's the little guy?"

"Incredibly well. When we meet again, I'll show you a picture. He looks just like his mother."

Catherine smiled. Sam had been her manager since she'd gotten into the acting world in a more serious way. Normally, he went with Catherine to all the shoots, but for the past few months he had been on paternity leave. After trying for a long time, he and his wife got pregnant. All that joy dissipated a bit when the doctor warned them that it was a risky pregnancy. So Sam decided to stay with his wife, and Catherine was totally fine with that.

"I talked to the director of the film. He says you look great." Catherine smiled "Do you know when the premiere is?"

"Not yet. But I don't think it won't be long before they announce a date. I hope you can be there."

"I hope so too." there was a few seconds of silence "Cath, I'm actually calling because you've been offered a project."