Page 33 of The Reunion

8:21 p.m.

Sooooo yeah, you guys. Looks like Gemma’s got some fires to put out in her personal life this week, so if you see her around town, remember to be kind! And if you see Ransom Joel, buy him some chocolate hazelnut gelato if you can—I can almost guarantee he won’t be single for long. Maybe you’ll be the lucky girl? (If I don’t get there first, that is.)

As always, send your juiciest tips to [email protected] and you could win a $500 gift card to the store of your choice in our monthly drawing. Or, you know, sometimes we straight up buy it for a lot more… just ask Clare!

11

At five minutes to nine on Monday morning, we’re all crowded into one of the studio’s meeting rooms for our table read. Things have changed quite a bit since we last did this—it’s been nearly fourteen years, after all, and the studio has clearly put their significant fortune to good use. Compared to the old gray room with too many fold-out chairs crammed around a not-quite-big-enough table, this one feels like a palace.

Slate-gray walls stretch at least twenty feet high, adorned with the occasional wooden shelf and lavish green plants that spill from terra-cotta pots. The focal point table is a solid slab of reclaimed wood, sanded and stained, surrounded by leather chairs the color of warm caramel. Overhead, six fishbowl pendants hang in a dramatic row, illuminated by Edison bulbs. It’s calm and energizing in here despite the distinct lack of natural light.

I’m five minutes early—my version ofright on time—and most everyone is here already. Millie and Ford and Ransom are chatting with Laurence and Annagrey, while Sasha-Kate talks animatedly to Bryan and Nathaniel. Pierre Alameda is over with our other producer, Gabe, and a trio of new-to-me actors who’ll be playing minor characters. They look a bit intimidated, if I’m honest—the girl who’ll be playing Sasha-Kate’s roommate is dabbing surreptitiously at a coffee stain on her peach-colored blouse. At the far end of the table, Dan and Xan are already in their seats, flipping through script pages and jottinglast-minute notes in the margins as usual. But this time, Dan’s hair is silvery gray, and his wire-rimmed reading glasses sit low on his nose; it hits me all over again how surreal it is that we’re celebratingtwenty yearssince our premiere, how familiar this all is and also how much has changed.

I head straight for my seat. Bryan likes to start precisely on time, and sure enough, as I make my way to the table, he makes the call: “Everyone, we’ve got sixty seconds to settle in—please find your way to your seats!”

Ransom turns his attention from whatever Annagrey was saying, and his eyes light up as they lock on mine. I feel heat creeping into my cheeks, the memory of Friday night so fresh I can almost feel his hands on me all over again.

Stop it, Liv, I tell myself.Focus.

I found a text on my phone late Friday night after I’d already settled in bed with the Emily Quinn novel.sorry about tonight, he’d written.dealing w a bit of a mess right now—catch up session soon?

Yes please, I wrote back, though it didn’t stop me from analyzing every word. Hissorry about tonightmessage: Sorry that what went down between us happened at all—or that it ended so abruptly? Everything felt so clear in the garden, what we both wanted.

But I’ve misread him before.

I stayed mostly offline all weekend, going over my lines and finishing the Emily Quinn novel—I got so into it I couldn’t put it down. Mars and I talked last night about all the decisions I’ll need to make soon, and about my uncomfortable conversation with Xan.

“Thenervethat woman has,” Mars said when I told her, and I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. She doesn’t know Xan like I do, isn’t quite as generous in giving the benefit of the doubt. “Don’t waste one second worrying about this Liv, I’m telling you—ifthere’s a conflict, which is a big if at the moment, it will work out in our favor. I’ll make it work.” She promised to put out feelers with Vienna’s assistant, too, see if she can find anything out about the new project Xan mentioned.

Mars has always taken athey don’t have to like itapproach, and it’sworked out well for this long. The network always bent to her demands because we had leverage—Iwas leverage, the star of their show.

Now, though, it’s a different situation. With a reboot, they could find a way to restructure it without me. I may not have decided if I want to commit yet, but I definitely don’t want to burn bridges—not with Fanline, and not with Vienna. Not with the fans, either. I’m not ready to think about what it would mean forGirlif it came down to me having to choose between projects.

“Just focus on the reunion show,” Mars told me. “I’ll do my job, and you just keep being brilliant at yours.”

All of this brings us to today.

Ransom settles into the seat across from mine. I try to focus on the first page of the script, the scene that opens on the two of us down at Aurora Cove—the fictional beach where our infamous finale cut to black in the middle of my last line—but my eyes keep drifting up to his face.

He seems to be having the same problem.

This… could be a challenge.

“All right, everyone!” Bryan stands at the head of the table, the far opposite end from Dan and Xan. “Thank you all for being prompt this afternoon—we’ll need to be efficient with our time this week, starting now. I’d like to request that any comments that aren’t absolutely crucial be saved for our discussion after the break. Are we ready?”

The rustle of paper fills the room as everyone flips to the first page, giving collective consent that yes, we are ready.

Bryan’s eyes land on me. “Liv and Ransom, take it away.”

EXT. AURORA COVE BEACH - SUNRISE

PRESENT DAY

It’s dawn at Aurora Cove. The sun peeks out over the horizon, cutting through the fog that lingers over the sand and surf. The secluded beach is empty except for a lone figure: DUKE BEAUFORT.

A camera sits on a tripod, facing the ocean. Duke adjusts the settings, peers through the finder.

We see HONOR ST. CROIX join him on the sand. Duke is too preoccupied with his camera to notice he isn’t alone.

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