Page 40 of To the Moon and Back

“Thank you for being so nice to me.”

Lauren offered her a soft smile. “It’s hard not to be nice to you.Believe me. I’ve tried.”

Carly chuckled. “I remember someone yelling at me in my apartment.Holding their arm out in indignation.”

“I wouldn’t say yelling,” Lauren said, closing one eye. Shesmelled so amazing.

“Mm-hmm. I would. You’re very effective at yelling without raisingyour voice. You could teach a class: How to Shame People into Doing What YouWant Without Doing Much at All.”

“Oh my God,” Lauren squeezed her knee. “I could be a millionaireand buy the fancy house next to yours.”

Carly laughed. “Then I’d have to buy binoculars. Do you sleep inthe nude?”

“Yes.”

She froze. “You do not. You’re just saying that to get me allbothered.” But Carly still hadn’t moved. The sexy image was too much to let goof, so she awaited confirmation that it had, in fact, just been a joke, beforereal life could resume.

“I’m not kidding,” Lauren said. She tickled the top of Carly’sfoot.

“Good God.” Carly fell back against the couch. “How am I supposedto deal with that?”

Lauren laughed. “There you go, being dramatic again.”

“What if I told you that I sleep nude?”

Lauren threw herself against the back of the couch silently,mirroring Carly’s exact movements. Her face was perfectly red.

Carly laughed this time and turned her face to Lauren’s. “See?”

Lauren sighed. “I do now. I really, really do.”

“Do you wanna have a quickie in the coat closet?”

“What?” Lauren’s jaw dropped. “No way. That’s a scandal, rightthere. You Hollywood types, such a bad influence on the innocent theaterfolks.” But Lauren was looking at Carly’s lips with intent and gave herself thehell away.

“Hey, you two,” Ethan said, as he strolled to the fridge. Hepointed at Carly’s ankle that still lay across Lauren’s lap. “How’s itfeeling?”

“I’ll live.” She pulled her leg back and sat up, rememberingLauren’s advice about working on her professional side. “Just need to take iteasy for the next day or so.”

“We can make that happen.”

Sally, the assistant to the costume designer, stuck her head intothe room. “Lauren, can I borrow you for adjustments to your act two dress?”

“On my way.” She gave Carly’s knee a slight touch as she departed,which gave Carly an uptick in energy. Everything about Lauren did. She watchedher leave the room with appreciation. Lauren had amazing legs, and the slimblack pants she wore in the show made that point over and over.

“You’ve come alive on those boards. You know that, right?” Ethansaid.

She turned to him and refocused. “It’s starting to feel reallygood. If I can just avoid slamming into furniture, you know. Gonna practice athome.”

“I think you should be proud of the work. Your portrayal is deepas hell.” Ethan turned a chair from the table backward and took a seat. Shereceived feedback from him in their notes sessions, and during scene work, butthey hadn’t touched base one-on-one in a while. She was interested in his take.

“I feel it,” she told him, leaning forward on the couch, herelbows on her knees. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s as if I’ve reallybonded with this character. I get her, Ethan, in such a crazy way.” She sat backand scratched her head absently as she sorted out her thoughts, reveling in theexhilaration of this rehearsal process. She’d never been so fulfilledcreatively. “I understand what drives Ashley forward, and I love everythingabout her, as different as we are.”

He nodded. “That’s all coming through. I knew we’d get there. It’swhy I wanted you for the part.”

“Thank you for giving me a chance. Not writing me off because Iwas an out of control brat.”

He squinted. “You had me a little worried early on.”

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