Page 14 of The Fake Script

“‘Love’ is the word you’re looking for,” Hayley says, her voice muffled by our hug.

“You’re going to save the movie. You’re our hero,” Alice adds, squealing.

“If I’m still alive by then,” I say, rolling my eyes even though they can’t see me. “I’m running out of air here.”

They both laugh, and Hayley shakes her head “Always so dramatic.”

Alice pulls away and winks. “Oui.This job is perfect for her.”

Ugh. What have I gotten myself into? It’s six-thirty, and I barely slept last night. I spent the first part of the evening reviewing the NDA Stuart dropped off, in hopes of finding something fishy, giving me an excuse not to sign it. But everything was in order, and I had Alice and Hayley breathing down my neck. And the second part of the evening, I dove into the script.

“Hey.” Hayley yawns, shuffling out of her room. “You’re up early.”

I wave the script in front of me. “I was reading.”

Her eyes light up. “Oh! Already? How is that going?”

“It’s not as bad as I expected but still not very good. Like, they had Diego wear sandals on the beach walk during their trip to Maine.”

Her eyes widen. “No! Diego is a closed-shoe kind of guy. I mean, we’re talking total grumpy businessman. The fact that he even goes to Maine with Sarah in the first place is crazy. He said it himself in the book. He doesn’t do trips that aren’t for work, especially not to the beach.”

“Exactly.” I shake my head. “I know it’s a small detail, but honestly, it’s the little things that annoy me when I watch an adaptation.”

“Agreed.” She sits down at the table with a bowl of cereal. “It’s a good thing they asked you to give them a hand. And it seems like you’re having a lot of fun, given all the red on that script.”

I glance down. There isn’t a lot of white space left. “Well, they asked for my help, didn’t they?”

She chuckles and shoves a spoonful of cereal in her mouth. “Did Alice sleep here or at Deacon’s?”

“Deacon’s,” I say without looking up. “I’m actually surprised to seeyouhere. With Maxime at his photoshoot yesterday, I thought you’d have gone back over to his place.”

“Yeah, but Aaron and James stopped by, and I didn’t want to be in their way. It’s a big adjustment for them, now that they’ve lost their favorite hangout bar next door.”

Am I a bad friend for silently thanking Max’s teammates for not having steady girlfriends?

“Anyway,” she says, “I’ll eat this in my room and let you finish. Looks like you’re almost done.”

“Yeah. Only a few pages left. Then, I’m meeting Auston.” I swallow hard, trying to wet my dry throat.

She beams. “Have fun!”

Right. Because hanging out with the guy who broke your heart is the definition of amusement.

As I walk to the end of our street, my pulse quickens. I’m about to be alone with Auston again, after all this time. As I approach the secure area at the end of the street, I realize I don’t have any credentials to show the security guard.

“This is a restricted area, miss,” the burly guard says, stepping in front of me.

“I’m Emma Sterling. I’ve been asked to work with Auston Buckley.”

He raises an eyebrow, as if there’s no way in heck he’s going to believe that.

Glancing behind him, I spot a couple of fans already waiting behind the barricades. They’re wearing T-shirts with Auston’s face on them and tightly clutching their posters and phones.

“I swear, I don’t care about the guy. Trust me. If he could just disappear, that would make my life so much easier, but—”

“Are you threatening him?” His eyes narrow.

My mouth drops open. “What? No, of course not. I’m harmless.” Mostly. “Look, I have the script right here,” I say, waving it in front of me. “Why would I have this if I wasn’t hired by production?”

---