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I nod. "What's the verdict?"
"I don't think it's happening. He wants to take the feature in a different direction, more 'four quadrant.' You know, code for we can't have a romantic comedy with a female protagonist or we'll turn off the dudebros who don't like these kinds of movies anyway."
"You sound bitter."
"More like annoyed. I'm crazy lucky. I've been working as a TV writer since a few years after college," she says. She takes a long look at me. "Alyssa, I can't lie. You look terrible."
"I didn't get to bed until three."
"I'll make you coffee." She moves to the kitchen, searching in vain for the coffee maker and beans. Laurie makes terrible coffee, even when she uses great beans. Too many years of forcing underlings to get it for her.
"That's okay."
"Girl, I can tell I'm not getting more than a peep out of you until I get some caffeine into you."
"But your coffee-making skills leave something to be desired..."
"Do not even!" She folds her arms. "Fine. Then we'll get it out."
"You want to go out?" I ask.
"Yes."
"You know the TV is here."
"I do more than watch TV. I go to the Paley Center."
Crickets.
"It's a museum about TV... never mind. It was supposed to be a joke." She shakes her head. "I want to show you around the village. With plenty of stops for coffee and food." She puts particular emphasis on the food, like she's also worried I'm not eating.
Great, another person who thinks my business is her business.
That's not fair to her or to Luke, but, right now, I don't care. I'm tired of being on the defensive.
"You sound like Luke," I say.
"Don't get too hot and bothered over it."
She pours herself a glass of water while I get dressed. I check my phone carefully for any contact from Luke. There's nothing new. Why would there be anything new when it's six a.m. in Los Angeles? He probably went to bed before I did and he's probably sleeping right now.
Then again, he's not exactly a sound sleeper. It's perfectly plausible that he spent the night working or watching TV on the couch or making another dirty video for me.
I check my email again, just in case. There's nothing.
"What's the weather like?" I ask.
"Typical late spring shit. Gray and muggy. Jeans and a T-shirt would be fine."
I take her advice and pull on a pair of skinny jeans and a fitted blue T-shirt. It's an outfit I can disappear in.
In the kitchen, Laurie slurps the last drop of her coffee drink and tosses it in the trash can. "Damn, girl. You really do wear clothes. Now, let's get some coffee before we both fall asleep."
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***
We make it all the way to the village before we acquire coffee. That's four stops on a crowded subway car. Nearly half an hour of my brain flailing in a torturous caffeine-free state.
