Dempeo: The Whole Truth

Chapter 2

"I love Ellen. We hadn't met before the show, but oddly enough we're neighbours and we met each other at the dog park. You look at her eyes and there's a lot of depth there and a lot of humanity"- Patrick Dempsey

He was eating dinner with Jill in their dining room, it had been two days since the screen test. He hadn't been able to eat, drink or sleep without the beautiful face of Ellen Pompeo on his mind. He knew that it was terrible to be thinking about another woman during the only time he got to spend alone with his wife. Talula was asleep in her room and Jill was talking about some new makeup line that had just come out when his phone rang. He turned it over to see a phone number that he didn't recognise. He excused himself from the table, getting up and answering the phone in the hallway. "Hello, is this Patrick Dempsey?" a female voice asked, "Yes" he responded, "I'm calling from Shondaland Studios, I'm pleased to inform you that the part of Dr Derek Shepherd is yours if you'd like it". He'd never been happier about getting a role, he'd been in plenty of films and TV shows but he'd never had instant chemistry with a co-star before. "Thank you, of course I'd love to take the role" he said, he couldn't stop the grin spreading across his face. "That's great, I'd just like to remind you that you'd be signing up for six seasons and that filming starts a fortnight from Monday" she said. He had to admit that at first six seasons on a medical drama wasn't exactly appealing but after meeting Ellen it almost didn't sound long enough.  "Perfect, thank you again" he replied before hanging up. He walked back into the dining room, "Who was that?" Jill asked, "It was the studio, I got the part!" he said smiling. "Oh Patrick, that's wonderful!" she said getting up from the table and wrapping her arms around him. He didn't know why but he felt oddly unsatisfied by the feeling of his wife's arms around him. Ellen's face once again appeared in his mind, her piercing eyes looking into his soul.

It was 7:30 am the following morning, the dogs had been pestering him all morning to go on their walk but he had been waiting for Jill to wake up so she could look after Tee. He pulled on his trainers before kissing Jill on the cheek, "I'll be back in an hour" he said clipping the dogs leads onto their collars. "See you soon" she said as he closed the door behind him. They lived in LA, in a small but private neighbourhood in the Hollywood Hills. He crossed the main road to the dog park, it was only a five-minute walk away from his house, he went there whenever he had the chance to walk his dogs. After he closed the gate behind him he let the dogs off of their leads and watched them run off. He walked around the outskirts of the park, the sun still low in the sky but warm nonetheless. He looked down just in time to stop himself from tripping over a small bundle of black fur. He bent down to stroke the poodle puppy when he heard a familiar voice "Gigi! Oh, I'm so sorry", he looked up to see the face that was engraved in his mind. Her golden hair windswept and her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "Patrick!" she exclaimed smiling down at him, "Ellen, it's nice to see you again" he said standing up with the dog in his arms. She was already holding a brown poodle puppy, "Thank you, it's only their second time off lead. They're only 12 weeks old, Valentino won't leave my side but Gigi here likes to run off" she said looking lovingly down at the puppies. "That's fine, I remember what it's like. Those two are mine" he said laughing and pointing at his dogs. "So, do you live nearby?" he asked handing her Gigi, "Yeah, I just moved into a house on Wedgewood Place" she responded. He couldn't believe it, she lived a two-minute walk away from his house. "No way! We're practically neighbours! I live on Whitley Terrace" he said smiling at her. She looked even more beautiful than the other day, her golden hair shining in the sun, her lips parted into a small smile. "I guess we will be seeing way too much of each other, congratulations on getting the part by the way" she said laughing a little. Her laugh was extremely contagious, it was the type of laugh that made people instantly happy, that made him want to say anything to be able to hear it again. "You'll be sick of me in a few weeks, and thank you" he said smirking. "I should get home, I'll see you on set" he said winking at her before calling the dogs over. "I'll see you later" she called after him, he smiled as he walked away towards the gate. He'd never met a woman like her, one that made him feel this way, he didn't know how he was going to get through filming with her.

"How was your walk?" Jill asked as he walked through the front door, "It was really good, one of the best I've been on in a while" he replied. He couldn't wipe the stupid grin off of his face, Ellen's giggle running on a loop in his mind. "What has you in such a good mood this morning?" Jill questioned when he found her in the kitchen with Tee. "Just excited about the show. It will nice to have steady income for a few months" he said picking up his daughter. He felt guilty for lying to her but was it really a lie? It was true, he was excited about the show, to be acting regularly

but he hadn't told her about Ellen. Although there wasn't really anything to tell, he had met her at the screen test and he had a short conversation with her at the park. Nothing had happened between them, even with his traitorous thoughts, and nothing was going to happen. Besides the feelings would fade and his mind

would go back to thinking only of his wife, they were just fleeting feelings, right?