Page 39 of To the Moon and Back

“When you make this corner, be aware of the edge right here. Usethe tape as your guide.”

“Got it.” She followed Trip to their next destination. Carlygenerally considered herself a casual dater, never getting too serious, neverdemanding too much of the other woman. She was young, and out to enjoy herself.Why did this feel like the stakes were so much higher? A Tinsley in the mixshould never have bothered her.

“Any questions?” Trip asked. He looked at her. She looked back.

“No, I think you covered everything. Very thorough.” She pointedat herself. “Impressed.” She realized, lamely, that she’d probably onlyregistered about half of Trip’s instructions, which couldn’t have been good.

It wasn’t.

Two hours later, during a run of lighting cues, she slammed smackinto an end table on her exit, which kicked her into one of those incrediblygraceful foot shuffles, where you thought you might just remain upright, butno. “Ow,” Carly mumbled as the pain arrived.

“Hold, please,” she heard Trip say over the God mic. The lightscame on and seven different people moved to Carly, who held up her hand fromthe floor that she was fine.

“I’m good. Just a very stupid exit is all.” She chuckled and triednot to point out that the front portion of her right thigh throbbed from thecollision with the hefty end table, and the ankle on her same foot hurt fromwhere she twisted it trying to prevent herself from falling.

In the sea of faces crowded around her, it was Lauren’s thatpulled her focus. “Did you try to take that set piece out?” she asked with agrin.

“I don’t really feel like it matches Ashley’s taste,” she saidback with some sass.

Lauren’s fingers went around her arm to steady her as she stood.“Seriously, are you okay?” The stagehands, seeing she was upright, steppedback.

Carly nodded. “I’m an idiot, but I’ll live.” She leaned in closerto Lauren. “But I’m not going to refuse any TLC. I’m no fool.”

“I’ll kiss it later,” she said back in Carly’s ear. Suddenly, thislittle injury didn’t seem like such an awful thing. Her ankle throbbed likecrazy through the remainder of rehearsal, especially when she put too muchweight on it, but she chose instead to focus on Lauren and their scenestogether. Today, more than ever before, their onstage chemistry seemed to comeclawing out of the dialogue. Ethan, when she encountered him, seemed on cloudnine about the show’s progress. It seemed like he couldn’t stop grinning, whichmade her feel satisfied with the work she’d done. They hadn’t even been in frontof an audience yet, and Carly was already so fulfilled by this process.

“How’s your foot?” Lauren asked, as they stood in the wings,waiting for the designers to be ready to move forward to the next cue.

“I’ll be okay.”

Lauren didn’t seem convinced. “You don’t have to be a badass. Forsomeone so expressive, this is the time you choose to be stoic?” She tucked astrand of hair behind Carly’s ear. “Tell me where it hurts.”

Carly melted then and there. She also dropped some of herpretense, because Lauren was becoming her safe place to fall. “I don’t thinkI’m officially injured, but I do think it’s going to hurt for a day or two. Myankle especially. I turned it weird. I’m thinking it’s probably a mild sprain.”

“Carly,” Lauren said in the most sympathetic voice, “you need totake it easy, okay? I’m going to let Trip know you’ll be at half.”

She put her hand on Lauren’s forearm to stop her progress. “No, Idon’t want to be any trouble. I’m kind of known for it, remember? Let’s justget through today and relax with some pizza and beer after.”

“We will definitely do those things, but in the meantime, you needto take care of that foot. I have your back, okay? This is a legitimateconcern.” She took Carly by the chin and didn’t seem to care who saw. “You’regoing to be okay.”

Lauren left Carly in the wings, overwhelmed at how wonderful itfelt to be looked out for, taken care of, by someone whose only intention wasjust that. Lauren was legitimately worried about her.

The behavior continued for the rest of the day. Lauren arranged tohave Carly sit whenever the designers got into a discussion that didn’t requirethe actors to stand. In fact, she ordered Carly to do so several times duringtheir ten of twelve. She checked in on her with little questioning looks andoffered her an arm for assistance whenever they exited the stage together.

“Let me look at it,” Lauren said, during one of their officialbreaks. Sitting together in the greenroom offstage, Carly took off the shoesthat were a part of her costume and allowed her foot to be placed in Lauren’slap.

“Oh, sweetie, it’s swollen.” Lauren ran her fingertips lightlyover the puffy area.

Carly relished the term of endearment. Lauren had never called heranything but Carly before. She liked the sound of it a lot. “Not looking toocute there,” she said of her ankle, playing it totally cool. “I look like awoman in her third trimester—if I was only pregnant on one side.”

Lauren’s mouth fell open and she turned to Carly in amusement asif the most interesting fact had just occurred to her. “You would be so sexypregnant. I hope that’s not out of line to say.”

Carly liked that comment a lot, too. “Nothing you say to me isever out of line if it’s what you’re thinking. I do want kids someday. Nottoday, mind you. But down the road. Once I’m a little more settled.”

“Your kids are going to love you. They’d have the most fun mom onthe block. I have a feeling you’d be out riding bikes with them until dark.”Lauren smiled. Her hair, which she generally wore straight, had a slight curlto it. The stylists were tweaking their looks for the show.

Carly reached up and touched one of the dark lazy curls. Laurenhad such soft hair. “Can you imagine?”

“I can. Adorable.” Lauren ran her fingertips back and forth acrossCarly’s ankle and calf. The tickling sensation, and the fact that it was Laurentouching her, had her warm.

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