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“Thank you! I had so much fun doing that. My agent at Gersh and Roland have been talking to see where they can work other brand ambassadorships in. There’s a tentative thing with Saint John–I love Saint John–that we’ll know more for sure about in a few months. If all goes well, I’ll be doing a special campaign with them. It never even occurred to me that working with brands could cut time off the five-year plan.”
“The plan!” He cried throwing up his hands, making her laugh. “How’s that going?”
“I think well. Lots of things in the works, but it seems like everything hinges on one thing or another. You know.”
“And then you’re out of LA for good.”
She made a sound against her teeth. “Actually, I’ve kind of fallen in love with LA. Well, with the surrounding areas. Not LA itself. But I love this house. I love the view. I love that I’m not far from the beach. I’ll probably stay here a while.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. How about you? Headed back to Prague anytime soon?”
“Fuck no! No, if I could, I’d be back in Queensland in a heartbeat, but I can’t uproot the girls at this point. I guess I’ve got a fifteen-year plan? I’ll stay out here and work until the kids are grown, then maybe go back home? It’s hard enough as it is. For now, I’ve got a beach in my backyard, so I can’t complain too much.”
He talked about surfing while she listened, half wondering if she would ever learn to cook as well as this chef she’d hired. Everything he put together was amazing, and she was starving all the time now. She briefly considered just pulling the roasted vegetable and goat cheese with pine nuts serving dish right in front of her and eating directly out of it, but served herself another helping onto her one plate instead.
She asked about the sitcom and Thad explained that the network was looking at going a different direction with the line-up, and he thought they would get canceled when their two-season extension was up. He was already in talks for a lead role in a medical drama and he thought he might like that as a change. “Still regular hours,” he said. “But at a different pace.”
“You’d be great as a doctor. You have caring eyes,” Jill told him, watching him take the last of the vegetables. She was going to ask the chef to make a lot more of that. “You come across on screen as very warm.”
“It’d be a nice change.” He was watching her like she’d watched the last squash land in his plate. “You alright?”
“Perfect! Never better.”
He tilted his head. “Are you seeing anyone?”
That made her laugh, somewhat ruefully. “No. Just that little last hurrah with Kline. I was trying to, oh, I don’t know what I was trying to do. Focus on work.”
“Oh,” he said, quickly taking a drink of the mint water Jill had served along with the chardonnay.
“I blame you. You broke my heart a little.” She chided him gently, but patted his hand before reaching for the breadbasket. “But honestly, it was for the best–him and me. I got to end things on my terms finally. Closure and all that.” She pulled out a breadstick and broke it in half, taking a bite and swallowing it before going on. “So, I’m just focused on me for the next little while. You?”
“Divorce is final, as I told you,” he said, taking a breadstick for himself. He joked, “So, I guess I’m ready to get married again.”
“Ha! Well, I know a great place in Vegas.”
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“No. Never.”
They chatted amiably for a while, but he was watching her in a way that was starting to make her feel self-conscious, so she got up and went for the crème brûlée the chef had left for them in the sub-zero. “Dessert?” She asked him, brandishing the bowl topped with fresh raspberries.
“Definitely.”
Rather than bother with new dishes, she simply brought two spoons to the table and they went to work sharing, until both of them were chasing around the dregs. “I need his name,” Thad groaned with his last bite.
“I’ll get you all his information. He’s amazing.”
“How about you? Hm?”
“Me?”
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“I– No?”
“You know, I’ve had this conversation before. I’ve been told this same thing before. I’m not going to freak out.”
