Hollywood Remake (A Celebrity Love Story)

Chapter 43: The Princess Bride (Take Two)

Kate set down her slice of pizza and rubbed her bleary eyes, unable to suppress another gaping yawn. It was still pitch black outside the hotel window, but the dawn couldn’t be far off. Shouldn’t be much longer now, she thought. Maybe another hour or two, and Aidan would come walking through the door. She was determined to wait up for him – refusing to give in to sleep. Now that her mind was made up, she never wanted to go to sleep again unless he was sleeping there beside her.

She sat up straighter on the couch and forced her eyes back to the movie she had started watching on the hotel pay-per-view. Her old favorite once again, The Princess Bride. 

Her phone was resting on the coffee table in front of her, and she saw the screen light up with an incoming call. Was it him? Had he landed? Had he run into some new delay? She picked it up and looked at the caller ID. Marcy.

Kate sighed, remembering her friend’s last text message.

“Still on for drinks tomorrow night? Can’t wait for the post mortem!!”

Kate hadn’t bothered to reply until late – well after Marcy must have gone to bed. “Sorry, no drinks,” she had texted back. “Not dead just yet.”

She was surprised to see Marcy’s name on her phone now. Was it already morning on the East Coast? She reached for the remote to put the movie on mute as she picked up the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, what’s up?” Marcy’s voice said in her ear. “Not dead yet, huh? Should I be concerned?”

Kate laughed. “Probably.”

“Are you OK?”

“I’m fine,” Kate replied.

“So should we pick a different night? The suspense is killing me!”

Kate took a deep breath, bracing herself for the coming conversation. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back in New York.”

“What do you mean? Did your flight get cancelled?”

“No,” Kate said. “I’m not coming back. I’m staying in LA.”

“What do you mean you’re staying?”

“I mean I'm staying. I’m staying here with Aidan.”

“Kate, that’s crazy!”

“A little bit.”

“I don’t understand.” Kate could hear Marcy’s voice becoming more flustered. “Aren’t you supposed to be in court today?”

“Yep.”

“So how are you gonna do that from LA?”

“Well, it’s not really going to be an issue, since I’m probably getting fired in a couple hours.”

Marcy was silent on the other end of the line.

“Hello?” Kate said. “Are you there?”

“I can’t believe you would do this,” Marcy responded at last. “All the hours you’ve put in? All the years? And you’re just going to throw it away?”

“That’s the plan.”

“For a guy. You’re throwing it away for a guy.”

Kate shrugged. “What do I have to lose, really?”

“Everything!”

“No,” Kate replied. “I can always get another job. He’s the one with everything to lose.”