Page 18 of Sizzle Reel

“Thanks, Luna,” she says, eyes on her paper.

My name slides out from between her lips, casually, as common as the word that came before it. It’s not a declaration of love or hate or anything. She’s just saying my name like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Suddenly I’m craving that sound—Valeria Sullivan just saying my name. I can’t believe I live in a time line in which Valeria Sullivan says my name out loud and is talking to me. Holy shit.

“Don’t let anyone tell you success takes away your ability to be a glorious dumbass,” Valeria says.

“You could get an assistant,” I say.

Valeria exhales. “Yep.”

I can’t help but watch her fingers flow as she writes.

And she writes an A-S.

Wyatt comes running up right then, handing Valeria her coffee. He smooths out his hair the moment the coffee lands securely into Valeria’s grip. “Sorry about that,” he says.

Steven invites Valeria into his office. She gives a wave in the general direction of Wyatt and me, but I have no idea whom it’s for. Once the door’s shut, I scoot over to Wyatt.

“Does Valeria need an assistant?” I ask.

“I don’t think—” Wyatt’s eyes light up. “Did she mention it to you?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll do some recon.”

I return to Alice’s work with a fluttery feeling in my chest. It’s the same feeling I used to get when professors said they loved my work in undergrad or when Romy gets major praise on her plays. It feels like lightness and joy, even if it doesn’t have a path to sustainability just yet.

“Hey, guess what?” Wyatt says after I’ve spent ten minutes trying to distract myself.

I’ve been focusing on emails, the only magnet strong enough to hold my racing thoughts down. “What?”

“She wants to work with a marginalized woman. Queer was among the examples.”

I look up to find Wyatt grinning. Deep down, I know exactly what he’s going to do. I do. But it still doesn’t keep my stomach from tightening, my brain from firing off in ten different what the hell is he doing? directions.

The moment stops pretty quickly.

Because Wyatt gets up and bursts into Steven’s office, leaving the door open so their voices carry through the assistant pod.

“What, Wyatt? Did you get all that?” Steven asks.

Through the glass, there’re perfect views of everyone’s profiles. Valeria and Steven are looking at Wyatt. If I were to use this angle in a film, it’d feel voyeuristic. Yes, it feels voyeuristic right now, but this angle would also look perfect framing Valeria if it were pitch-black and the only illumination was coming from a light source in the room.

“You know Alice’s assistant, Luna?” Wyatt says.

And in that moment, Valeria turns around, looking right at me. I look away so fast I might’ve injured my neck.

“Yeah,” Valeria says.

“She’s got two years working with Alice, super reliable, remote or in person. She’s bi.”

No.

No, no way. No—there’s no way he just—

She’s bi.

No one at work knows I’m bi.

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