Page 16 of Sizzle Reel

“But this, like—you wanna do it?” he continues. “Like really? Committed?”

Romy sighs and grabs a piece of bread, some of her discomfort sloughing off.

“I don’t even know what attraction is,” I say.

“You are very clearly attracted to Valeria, bub,” Romy says through a mouthful of bread.

Where did our other coworkers go? Should I ask about that? Even if I lied to them about sleeping with Wyatt, and that I’m bi, and that I too would like to date only girls since they look better in suits than men and can be pretty and know where the clit is. And circles. Circles are so much hotter with girls. So many erotic circles.

“I’m so late to the game,” I say.

“Dude, you’re twenty-four. Chill,” Romy says. “The longer you wait, the closer you get to that perfect twenty-five to thirty-five age bracket for maximum hotness and maturity.”

Wyatt turns to Romy. “Is that a thing?”

“For literally everybody.”

“So I’m not at my peak yet?” he asks.

“I have to do something different,” I say, mostly to myself. I’m not even sure if Romy and Wyatt are still here. “I’m done being like, Oh, whatever you say, universe, even if this sucks.”

Wyatt looks to me, smiles. “You wanna see something cool?”

“Is there a new Jenny Nicholson video?”

“No.”

He shows me an email instead.

From Valeria Sullivan.

Hi Wyatt!

Hope your appointment went well, and yeah, the meetings went great yesterday. The girl covering your desk—Luna?—was fantastic. Not that I have any power, but if you have to step out again, put her on Steven’s desk, okay? Or tell her to say hi or something.

See you next week!

~ Valeria

I squint, not sure if I’m reading an actual email or an email I’d have in a dream.

“She remembers me?” I mutter.

“She likes you. Like she apparently bought a Laura Owens because of you.”

Even Romy is sitting up at full attention now, stock-still. When I look to her, she gives a brief smile.

I look up. “You can buy Pavement Karaoke?”

Wyatt glances at Romy, then back to me. He’s got his scheming face on. “Luna, look at me. I know Valeria is single. Steven checks in on that for press reasons. But if you two are right and she really is gay, why not do something bold like ask her out? You’ve got nothing to lose and she really is cool. She’s, like, twenty-eight. She’d be a realistic dating prospect anyway. Just test the waters getting to know her, see what happens.”

Romy blows a raspberry. “One issue, Cupid. Sure, she’ll be in next week, but like Luna said, when would she ever see her again?”

“One step at a time. But if we do find some way for them to connect regularly, it could actually happen.”

I shake my head. Drink more water. I need to focus. “This is completely insane.”

Except, here’s the weird thing: it isn’t. In my years at the management company, I’ve seen clients, even pretty big acting clients, befriend the assistants. Especially if they’re young actors. They’re often lonely, and they have to interact with us by default anyway. The office will never forget the time a talent assistant started dating an up-and-coming client. The client took her to the premiere of his movie, and I think she’s doing her own creative work now.

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