To the Moon and Back

by Melissa Brayden

  “And that’s lunch. See you back in one hour,” Trip announced.

  Lauren’s face was red and flushed as she moved to the door. She kept her head down in what looked to be mortification.

  “Hey, Lauren, wait up.” Lauren paused her exit and glanced back at Carly. “We’re grabbing lunch.”

  “No, no. Thank you, though,” Lauren said. “I’m just gonna dash back to my house and freshen up.”

  Carly allowed her face to fall. “No, you’re coming with me. Say yes.” She batted her eyelashes at Lauren and hoped she hadn’t lost her touch.

  Lauren opened and closed her mouth before finally settling on, “Well, when you look at me like that.”

  “Then I will always look at you just like that.” She grabbed Lauren’s hand and dragged her out of the building to the parking lot.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To Pete’s.”

  “To Pete’s?” Lauren squeaked, mid-drag, in the cutest voice. “That’s kind of a bar, more than anything.”

  “Yes, I’ve been there and I’m dying to go back. Killer fries.”

  Carly secretly had another motive, however, and knew exactly what Lauren needed to get through this day and loosen the hell up. When they arrived at the dimly lit pool hall, Carly headed straight for the bar. “Fries for all?”

  Lauren shrugged as she slid onto a stool at the bar, not as engaged in this field trip as Carly was. It was clear she was carrying a lot of disappointment in how the morning had gone. “Sure.”

  Carly took the stool next to her and signaled the bartender, who moseyed over, towel on his shoulder.

  “Carly Daniel is back. We need to get you to sign the wall before you head out of town.”

  “I’d be happy to.” She beamed. “We’ll take a large order of fries, a side of nacho cheese, two Diet Cokes, a shot of whiskey, and a pickle. No, two.”

  Lauren raised an eyebrow. “Normally, I would question that whiskey decision, but I’m not your stage manager anymore.”

  Carly laughed. “Except the whiskey isn’t for me.”

  “Who’s it for?” She balked, knowing the likely answer.

  “That liquid courage is for you, my friend.”

  Lauren backed away from the bar, hands out. “No, no, no. I don’t drink during the workday. Ever. Strict rule.”

  “I applaud your resolve, and you’re right. Not advisable. But you’re nervous, and you’re in your head, and just for today, let’s help you out of it. Your rule can go firmly back in place tomorrow. What do you say?”

  Lauren let her head fall back as if she was a teenager who had just been asked to clean her room. “Fine. I surrender to your wisdom.” She popped back up. “Not on everything. You struggle with decorum, responsibility, and arriving on time.”

  “I also suck at singing, doing my taxes myself, and figuring out how to get the thermostat in my apartment to do what I want it to.” Lauren stared at her. “Well, it seemed like you’re keeping a list, so I thought I’d contribute.” Lauren seemed to relax a little bit. A little self-deprecation went a long way, apparently. Carly met her gaze. “I also get nervous, you know.”

  “Pshh,” Lauren said. “You absolutely do not. I’ve been watching you for a couple of weeks now.”

  “Do so. Why do you think I get caught up with parties and staying out late and—”

  “Outrageous riders? I heard you had it written into your last film contract that there had to be a fluffy white bearskin rug on the floor of your trailer in addition to a fresh tray of European cheeses, but that Brie would not be tolerated.”

  Carly grinned. “You googled me. Does that mean you like me? Can’t stop thinking about me?”

  “Common problem,” the bartender said, interjecting with a wink. She smiled at him as he deposited their Diet Cokes, but didn’t encourage him further.

  Lauren seemed focused on her drink. She looked so beautiful today. Dark blue jeans and green crocheted blouse that looked perfect for September. “I googled you to know what kind of human I was about to have on my hands.”

  “You mean, in addition to liking me.” Carly bounced her eyebrows playfully.

  “Yes, I happen to like you. There.”

  “Also? That rider is completely exaggerated. That’s not at all what my rider looks like.”

  “Huh. Well, who would have guessed the gossip magazines weren’t truthful?” Carly nearly spat her Diet Coke across the bar. Lauren laughed.

  This was progress. She had fun bantering with Lauren. They were so different in their takes on the world. She never got bored with her. “By way of correction, I asked for cheese cubes, chocolate covered pretzels, and a fluffy blanket because I get cold. No bears were harmed in the making. What do you take me for? I love all adorable creatures. Don’t believe everything you read about me, Lauren.”

  “I no longer will.”

  Their fries arrived hot out of the fryer, and Carly popped one, closing her eyes as it practically melted in her mouth. She moaned quietly and felt Lauren’s gaze on her. When Carly turned, purposefully catching Lauren in the act of checking her out, Lauren quickly feigned interest in the fry basket. “So, the partying you were talking about?”

  “The recreation. Ah, yes.” Carly chewed her food and tried to figure out how to explain. “It was a way to take my focus off the work. If I thought about the film all day, whatever part I was trying to tackle, it consumed me and wound up undoing any and all progress. When I started goofing off, I thought about work less and just did my job when I got there. It seemed to work until…”

  “Until?”

  Carly shrugged. “I got spoiled and greedy. You were right when you pointed that out. I didn’t take other people, or their goals, into consideration and just did what worked for me.” She shook her head. “And now, I’m trying to climb my way back out, and do better.”

  “I’ve seen a difference.”

  “Yeah?” Carly bumped Lauren’s shoulder with hers and took a pull from her soda.

  “Yes,” Lauren said, meeting Carly’s gaze. “Your head is definitely in the game a lot more than when you first showed up for that table read.”

  Carly winced. “That was a pretty awful entrance. I get that now that I have a feel for the culture here. God.”

  “You’ve rebounded.” Lauren shook her head and stared at the array of bottles that lined the shelf behind the bar. “I hope I do.”

  “What has you out of sorts? You were fine yesterday.”

  Lauren shook her head. “I’m Wendy and I’m going to bring the set tumbling down all over again.”

  Nope. Carly wasn’t letting that kind of defeatist talk fly. “That mentality will leave you on your ass.”

  Lauren sat back in a huff. “It’s not like I can help it. You saw me this morning. I was a mess.”

  “First day nerves. You just gotta get past ’em, and tell yourself how awesome you are. Say it. Right now.”

  “I’m awesome,” Lauren said, in the most underwhelming voice possible.

  “No, you’re not. You’re lame. Say it again.”

  “I’m incredibly awesome.”

  “Better. But I want to feel it here.” Carly placed a hand over her heart. “I can help. You’re awesome at interacting with people. Organizing things.”

  “That one is true. I’m like the Marie Kondo of theater.”

  Carly continued her list. It honestly wasn’t hard thinking of things Lauren excelled at. “Pool. Multitasking. Creating likable characters onstage.”

  “Thank you for that. I needed to hear that.”

  “Making people feel important. Kissing.”

  Lauren blinked at her, opened her mouth and closed it. Her cheeks pinked up until she was a rosy shade of adorable. “Should we let that one go?”

  “If you want,” Carly said, casually. She loved affecting Lauren in any way she could. It was her favorite new pastime. That blush was worth its weight in gold, and now Carly was all hot and bothered. “Doesn’t change the fact that
I believe it. I’ve had multiple opportunities now to find out.” She took a sip of her Diet Coke. “Stop me if I’m out of line, but you have really nice lips.”

  Lauren didn’t say anything for a moment or two, and Carly gave her that space. “So do you,” she said finally, with a shy grin.

  “And you really know how to use them.” Carly slid the rest of the fries to Lauren. The rosy cheeks remained.

  “You make my head get a little crazy when you say things like that.”

  “You’re not my stage manager anymore, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “Does that…change the rules at all? Can I file some kind of official request with a union to flirt with you on occasion?” She made a show of glancing around the bar for a spot to do just that.

  Lauren smiled. “I can admit that there’s…something indescribable there.”

  “Lust,” Carly said matter-of-factly.

  Lauren choked on a fry. Carly laughed and handed her a pile of napkins. “I was just kidding. Well, only kind of.”

  Lauren finally swallowed and rebounded. “Sorry. Wasn’t expecting that. Man, you just get right to it, don’t you?”

  “Life is short, Lauren. I happen to like living it.”

  “I don’t live life that much,” Lauren said to her drink. “I was going to take a vacation. My first one in years. In fact, I’m supposed to be on a beach in the Caribbean right now. Instead I’m starring in a major production and having lunch at a bar with a very famous movie star.” She shook her head and smiled. “I’m not complaining.”

  “Neither am I. I’m at Put Upon Pete’s in Minneapolis with the most intriguing woman I’ve ever met. Also, the most beautiful.”

  “Oh, look at you, working it hard.” Lauren laughed.

  “You haven’t seen anything yet.” Carly glanced at her watch. “Shall we? We need to allow five minutes for the drive and another five to pay our bill. Listen, I wouldn’t want you to be late. Good thing you have me to look out for you.”

  Lauren gasped. “Is this the Upside Down? What is happening? Where’s the starlet I came here with?”

  “She could be the one you go home with,” Carly said, with another playful wink.

  “Carly!” Lauren covered her eyes.

  Carly chuckled to herself as she paid the bill. “Drink that.” She slid the untouched shot toward Lauren. “It will get you out of your head and through your first day. Our little secret.”

  With a dramatic sigh, Lauren downed the shot with one gesture at the same time that old eighties song “You Give Love a Bad Name” blared through the speakers. Sexy as fucking hell and entirely apropos.

  “This was a good lunch,” Carly said, marveling.

  “Agreed.” Lauren smiled. “C’mon. Let’s get back to work.”

  The rest of rehearsal had to be the most satisfying four hours Carly had spent in her entire acting career. Lauren opened up, bringing all kinds of levels to Mandy, which only inspired Carly’s own emotional creativity. Under Ethan’s guidance, they tried one approach, then another. As the day went on, Ethan released each cast member individually, until only Lauren and Carly remained. That’s when they really dug in and made one fruitful discovery after another. Carly laughed, cried, and lost herself in Ashley, leaving her a satisfied bundle of excitement by the end of rehearsal.

  “That’s the day,” Trip said to the three of them. “Check your email for tomorrow’s rehearsal call.”

  Carly felt everything in her go slack as Janie moved about, tidying the rehearsal space. Productive or not, the day had taken a lot out of her. There had to be a glass of champagne and a cool mask for her eyes waiting back at her apartment, which luckily had a concierge for hire downstairs.

  “I feel really good about what we did this afternoon,” she told Lauren as they packed up. “We really got into it.” She shook her head, still amazed at the attention to detail that went into each scene. So different from the rehearsal process for screen, which was fast and furious.

  “No kissing scenes today,” Lauren said, as she changed from her rehearsal shoes into her street shoes. She said it as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

  Carly swallowed, as a shot of longing she hadn’t been expecting rippled through her. “Nope.”

  Lauren straightened and slung her bag over her shoulder. “A shame. See you tomorrow, Carly.” She squeezed Carly’s shoulder as she passed, leaving Carly’s mouth dry and her focus squarely on the spot on her arm Lauren had just touched. Yes, they’d had physical contact all day, but as Ashley and Mandy. This was Lauren’s touch and it felt…purposeful.

  She turned to see Trip looking on with an amused smirk. With Ethan across the room out of earshot, she stole this opportunity. Hooking a thumb behind her to the door, she asked Trip a question that she was pretty sure she already knew the answer to. “Does Lauren…flirt very often?”

  Trip didn’t hesitate. “I’ve never seen it once.” A pause, as his grin widened. “Until now.”

  Carly, by most people’s standards, wanted for very little. She was lucky in that sense. She had money, the adoration of millions of fans, and a job that she enjoyed. But that little bit of attention from Lauren made her feel like the sun was shining on her face for the first time. She stared at the door and placed a hand over her heart, wondering how it had been so boldly stolen.

  Chapter Seven

  Lauren was on fire, and the throbbing between her legs had her breathing labored. She stared into Carly’s eyes, aching to be touched. Alone in the rehearsal room, they only had a few minutes before the rest of the company would return from lunch, but it wouldn’t take half that long to send her tumbling over the edge. She could already tell. She rocked against Carly, lost in the sea of the blue of her eyes.

  “Please,” Lauren whispered. She’d never been so turned on. Kissing Carly throughout the morning rehearsal session had done that. She loved the feel of their lips coming together, again and again. Sinking into the warmth of Carly’s mouth and exploring every inch of it with her tongue left Lauren in a dizzy haze. With her jeans lying on the floor next to where she stood, Carly moved the square of fabric between her legs to the side as Lauren hitched in a breath.

  She blinked, and looked around. But it wasn’t the rehearsal studio at all. She found herself in the center of her own dim bedroom, just touched by morning light. She blinked again, realizing she lay in her own bed. The throbbing remained, but her surroundings had shifted drastically. “Wait. It was a dream,” she murmured. Disappointment settled. Her libido didn’t.

  She took a shower, and as the hot water caressed her sensitive skin, she closed her eyes and relived that very vivid exchange. The circumstances might have been left to her imagination, but the way it felt when Carly touched her skin, kissed her lips was something she could rely on her memory to supply. That part was entirely accurate.

  Lauren’s love life hadn’t been entirely barren. She’d had girlfriends here and there. She thought she’d been in love once with the owner of a small coffee shop in Ithaca, where she’d gone to school. Brenda had been five years older and highly influential in the awakening of Lauren’s sexuality. She once imagined they’d get a cute little place and start a life together. Lauren would become a working actress, and Brenda would run her café. They’d meet back home for wine and dinner and curl up in bed. None of that happened, because she’d been naïve. The relationship eventually fizzled when it became apparent they didn’t truly like each other outside of the bedroom. Since then, there’d been a couple of casual relationships, but nothing that really held Lauren’s attention in the midst of her busy schedule.

  Nobody had quite the effect on Lauren that Carly did. She had the ability to get under Lauren’s skin in eighteen different ways. Even when she was annoyed with Carly, she was focused on her fully, engaged, and connected to her. It was the most unnerving thing. Yet she was beginning to crave that connection more and more, and that felt…dangerous. They lived very different lives and had very di
fferent goals for themselves. Plus, Carly had a million different people in love with her. She could have her pick. There was no way that a woman like Lauren would hold her attention for too terribly long. Not when there were so many other exciting options out there.

  Wanna ride to work? Lauren stared down at the text that had just arrived as she prepared her bag for rehearsal. Water, snacks, her rehearsal shoes, and headphones for when she wasn’t needed and wanted to zone out and focus on her trajectory in the show. What she hadn’t prepared for was seeing Carly this early or the way her skin tingled at the thought.

  What in the world was she supposed to do now? Giving in to her guilty pleasure, she typed back, If you can be here within ten minutes.

  I’m in your driveway with two vanilla lattes. Send me away or get the hell out here so we can drive to work together.

  Lauren laughed, still not quite believing Carly’s new commitment to responsibility. She headed down her sidewalk with her bag and slid into Carly’s upscale rental, a red BMW convertible with the top down. The morning sun shone brightly on Carly, making her blond hair pop with color.

  “This is a really nice car,” Lauren said, looking around. “The theater actually rented this for you? How is that possible?” While they did their best to accommodate celebrities in residence, the budget only went so far.

  Carly handed over a latte. “Let’s just say I upgraded.” She popped her oversized black sunglasses onto her face, then hit the road with the wind in their hair.

  “Of course you did.”

  “Hey, I can’t have people taking photographs of me in a Buick.”

  “The world would end.”

  “Or my career would.” Carly glanced over at her. “You look so pretty today. I’ve thought that eight times since you got in the car, but I feel like I should say it.”

  “Thank you. You’re okay, too, I guess.”

  Carly gasped as she studied the road. “You’re hard to impress. I’ll have to do more with myself in the future.”

  “I know. I mean, look at you.” She laughed and shook her head because Carly was beyond beautiful, and the entire world knew it. In fact, today she seemed like a new kind of attractive, the California girl kind. Something about the sun and the open air. The only thing missing was warmth as evidenced by her already frozen ears. Didn’t matter. Lauren got an uptick in energy just being near her.