Page 47 of To the Moon and Back

Lauren smothered a smile. “I can safely say that in my entirecareer I’ve never had an audience member try to take down an actor.”

Carly appeared morbidly serious. “Tonight could be that night,Lauren.” She looked around as if expecting ominous music.

Lauren’s dresser, Maddie, arrived at her doorway with her act 1costumes and a steamer. “Hey, there. All set for me?”

“Yep,” Lauren said, swallowing her own fear. Maddie’s arrivalsignaled the official start of opening night. This would kick off her prep forthe show, leaving little downtime before the curtain went up. She smiled atCarly, who offered a nervous smile back.

“See you out there,” Carly said and gave her hand a squeeze.

Lauren grinned back. “On the other side.”

* * *

“Actors, to the stage please. Places for act one.”

Carly stared at the ceiling, glaring at Trip’s voice floating inthrough the sound system to her dressing room. She made no move to obey hisrequest. She couldn’t. Her fear kept her glued to her chair, staring at her ownseemingly distorted face in the mirror. Once she’d said good-bye to Lauren,she’d systematically come apart, realizing how ill-equipped she truly was. EvenLauren, who had been out of the acting game for a while now, was more prepared.

Moments later, Janie arrived at Carly’s door, wearing her headset.“Hey, Carly? We’re ready for you onstage. It’s time.”

Carly gripped the edge of the dressing table so hard she thoughtshe might snap her fingers. Yet she couldn’t seem to let go. “I’m not ready,”she said quietly.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you,” Janie said. Carly couldn’t seemto concentrate on anything except the dark waves of Janie’s hair and the clearplastic framed glasses she wore that seemed to be so trendy now. She had avanity pair of her own.

She tried again. “I need a minute.”

“Okay.” Janie watched her for a moment, her brows low and her lipspinched. “I’ll let Trip know.”

Carly was delaying their open of show, yet there was nothing shecould do about it. She could hear Janie in the hall speaking in a hushed toneinto her headset. Carly’s shoulders ached with tension, her skin felt cold andclammy, and her brain wouldn’t slow down for even a moment.

Trip appeared a moment later, his eyes wide. His hair seemed to bespelling out some sort of distress code with its various trajectories. Perhaps:run. “Youfeeling a little on edge, Car?” he asked, pushing a friendly smile.

Carly nodded. Trip was a nice guy. He might know what to do here,help her find the confidence she’d lost an hour ago. Or even more preferable,he’d just let her leave.

“I don’t actually think I can do this,” she confessed.

“I know it feels like a lot of pressure, but honestly? If you wentout on that stage and gave half the performance you turned in on our last rehearsal,those people are going to love it.”

He was flattering her for the sake of the show. She didn’t faulthim. Trip was executing his duties as PSM to perfection, dealing with thebroken actress, attempting to wind her up and make her go. “How am I supposedto get out of my own head, though?”

“How about we take a few deep breaths?”

“How about I head back to California, and you put Nia onstage inmy place?”

Trip’s eyes went wide, which was probably high alert in stagemanagement land. It all seemed so overwhelming now, and she thought back to thetime she’d scoffed at Alika for bringing her this project when she felt so farbeyond stage work.

“Guys, can I have the room?” The even-keeled voice was instantlyfamiliar. Carly craned her neck around Trip to see Lauren in costume and makeupfor act 1. That’s when she found the air again.

“Definitely,” Trip said. He exchanged a look with Lauren, snaggedJanie, and was out of there. When the door clicked closed, Lauren turned toCarly.

“What you’re feeling is totally normal.”

Carly nodded, her heart rate easing. “Maybe. I just keep thinkingabout all the things that could go wrong. We can’t just yellCut!and start again,you know?”

“We should just go get crazy crust pizza.” Lauren smiled as if thethought alone sent her to heaven. “I’d get extra mozzarella, fresh tomatoes,basil, and maybe some sliced meatball on top. God, that sounds amazing.” It wasthe most random of statements, but the way Lauren described the pizza, Carlycould almost smell the pies baking. “Should we go?”

Carly took a slow inhale and smiled. “Maybe. I’d love to watch youmaneuver all that cheese.”

“Because cheese and I have a sinful love affair I will notapologize for. Give me a minute to get changed, and I’m all yours.”

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