Lucky This Isn't Real

“Sure!” Amy said, enthusiastic as ever.

She was also one of those pushy people who felt she should be included in everything.

After a few blocks of walking, the noise of the parade faded into the distance. I realized we were near the production studio where Gavin had had his audition the day it all went down.

“Earth to Maggie. Amy and I have been talking about her amazing get-up, and we’re going to duck into this fabric store together,” Darcy said, patting me on the shoulder.

This didn’t come as a great surprise. Both she and Amy loved sewing costumes, and ComicCon was only four months away.

It was the one reason I put up with Amy— because Darcy was really into the costume stuff with her, and I loved Darcy.

“No problem,” I said with a nod. “I’ll wait for you out here.”

Knowing them, they could be in there for a couple of hours as they picked out just the right elements to add to their costumes. There was no real harm in me just strolling over to the production studio, I figured.

Clearly, I missed Gavin so much that I was becoming a bit of a stalker, but I couldn’t help it.

The building was even bigger than I expected. There was a security guard at the front, but he didn’t seem to be paying much attention. I brilliantly utilized the age-old practice of walking with confidence and looking like I belonged to get past the security desk without the guard even looking up.

I had heard before that it worked but didn’t expect it to work out quite this well. Especially not on the first try.

It likely helped that I was dressed somewhat normally and didn’t have glittery shamrocks stuck to my cheeks like some revelers. That would have probably raised some questions, as well as some eyebrows.

Getting the office numbers for the producers from a list near the elevators, I went up there hoping for the best, or at least, to get some answers. My breath caught a bit as I stepped out of the elevator.

I was really doing it. I was actually going to infiltrate a production office to try and get some information. I would have felt like a spy were I not so scared.

I wasn’t sure exactly what they could do to me except maybe ask me to leave, but I was sure there was some kind of trespassing law or whatever that I could be charged with breaking, if the building owners saw fit.

“Can I help you?” asked a gorgeous young assistant I had barely noticed sitting at her desk.

“I— I’m looking for someone. I’m not sure if they’re here, but—”

“Okay, what’s their name?”

“Gavin MacBride,” I said.

“Oh, yes, I remember him. He was in here for an audition about a month ago. Really tall, sexy accent, amazing eyes.”

“That’s him,” I said, doing my best not to scream at her to lay off my guy.

“Ms. Applegate would know better than me,” the assistant said.

“Ms. Applegate?” I asked dumbly.

“The producer who he had the audition with,” the assistant clarified, without even rolling her eyes.

I realized that with the job she had, she was likely quite used to dealing with people who had more beauty than brains and that she was more than accustomed to stupid or obvious questions.

“Oh, right, of course,” I said, still trying to save face.

“I’ll call her for you.”

“Oh, I—”

“Hello, Ms. Applegate? This is Sara at the desk. Yes. I have someone here who is looking for Gavin MacBride. Right. Okay.” She hung up and looked at me. “She’ll be right out.”

I was speechless. I really hadn’t been expecting that. I hadn’t planned on disturbing anyone. Just sort of asking around to see if anyone knew anything.

“You’re looking for Gavin?” Ms. Applegate asked, after appearing in the reception area.

“Y-yes,” I said, confidence gone.

“You’d better come into my office.”

“Okay.”

“Are you his girlfriend?” she asked, closing the door.

“Kind of,” I admitted.

“I’m the one who cast him in his current series, and I really think that he’s got something special. And I don’t just mean his jawline. He did okay with the second audition but seemed to have some trouble connecting to the character. I knew he was capable of way better, so it must be some kind of mental block, and he seemed to agree with me on that assessment.

“I suggested that he get his head together and come back in. I had to cast somebody else because he didn’t come back on time. I’m honestly getting a bit worried about him, so I’m glad to hear from you. No one’s heard from him, and we start shooting the series in a few weeks. He’s needed for table read-throughs. His agent has been blowing me off. He has a real shot here, and I don’t want him to blow it.”

Concern creased her forehead.