Page 64 of This Changes Everything

The next day, everything went as expected until it didn’t. Ben and I showed up at 6 a.m., and we were excited and surprised to learn the commercial was Marie Antoinette–themed. All the extras’ costumes were jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Unfortunately, the woman in charge of wardrobe tried to fit me into seven different pastel-toned rococo-style dresses. They were all too big, too small, or too similar to someone else’s. It got to the point where every time she looked at me, she groaned—until she made a fateful decision. “Okay, we’ll put you in the back somewhere, so no one can see you, and you can be a butler. At least that way it’s not a wasted day for you. Sound good, honey?” She then shoved a tuxedo into my hand and pushed me through to hair and makeup, where I was fitted perfectly with a Hungarian mustache and a powdered white wig.

I came out of the trailer and looked at Ben just as he was taking a sip from his water bottle.

I was dressed exactly like him.

“Ellie!” Ben laughed, doing a full-on spit take.

I tried to contain my smile and not reveal my amusement at the insanity of the moment. I lifted both arms, pointed my middle fingers to the sky, and did a full circle with my arms while Ben bent over in hysterics.

“Wait. I need a picture.” He scrambled to get his phone out of his pocket. “I need to remember this for the rest of my life.”

I playfully thumped his shoulder with my fist. “Get me out of this hellhole, Ben. When are we moving to LA?”

Chapter 23

LAS VEGAS 29 years old

IT WAS THE EARLY AFTERNOON, AND I HAD DONE EVERYTHING IN my power to avoid any mention of the Las Vegas Celebrity Pro-Am where Rory was playing. Instead, we somehow managed to get into a cab that had a poster of Ben’s movie advertised on its digital rooftop banner.

Hannah shoved me into the back when she saw Ben’s face scroll across the top of the cab, simultaneously saying, “Oh, for Christ’s sake. We should have taken an Uber.”

After grabbing lunch at Shake Shack, Hannah, Kara, Zoë, Maddy, and I found ourselves at a lively piano bar, singing along and dancing to every song that people randomly threw out to the singer-slash-pianist-slash-jukebox.

We were listening to our pianist absolutely crush “Brown Eyed Girl” when Kara asked, “When are you expecting Rory to reach out?”

“I have no idea. I think he’s done golfing for the day, but who knows what kind of commitments he has for these sorts of things with sponsors or advertisers, or the tournament itself. I really have no clue what his life is like. I’m just waiting for my phone to ring at any time.” At that exact moment, my phone vibrated. All our eyes shot up and connected.

“I need a drink.” My voice was lower than normal.

I put my phone on the table and unlocked the screen. Everyone gathered around to get a good look.

CRAIG SINICKI: I’m imagining you at a pool right now. I want to see your bathing suit.

My stomach knee-jerked into my throat. I quickly grabbed and hid my phone as another text popped up.

CRAIG SINICKI: I’ll show you mine . . . ?

“Um, who’s Craig Sinicki?” Maddy asked curiously.

I saw Hannah and Zoë exchange strained looks.

“Just someone I work with.” I put my phone back in my pocket and felt myself flush.

“Do you have a dirty little work relationship you’re not telling anyone about?” Kara continued Maddy’s line of questioning.

“No. I do not.” I leveled my eyes at Kara.

“Think of the role-play. Hot, Ellie. Hot,” Maddy purred. “Do you have elevators at your work? Because I always imagine shit happening in elevators. Or a roof ? My god. Please tell me you have a roof. Does he call you a good girl when you balance a budget?” We all turned to Maddy, and her face turned stoic. “I haven’t had sex in a really long time, and I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks, okay?”

“Why haven’t you been having sex? Georgie is one.” Zoë licked the salt off her rim.

“Because my vagina was torn all the way to my asshole, Zoë. And when my period came back, it turned into a tsunami. And I have clots the size of fists falling out of me for days at a time. Shall I go on?”

All of us leaned in and said, “Yes.”

“You’ve got to get your iron checked,” Hannah said, unperturbed, while sipping her drink.