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Forty-Six

New York City, next morning

An incoming FaceTime alert woke Alex up. She squinted at the tablet face down in the sheets and flipped it over: ten past eleven…Freddie…

“Hello?” she moaned into a pillow.

“Good morning, Sparkly Girl.” Freddie beamed in the July 1st sunshine from the rooftop deck of his Archway flat.

“Eurgh. I’m hardly sparkly. I feel crap. Barely slept.”

“Lex, I’m sorry. I held off and held off, but it’s almost quarter after four here, and the chippie closes at six.”

“That’s…two hours away, and it’s not like you have far to go—it’s downstairs.”

“Yeah, but I have lots of juicy goss!” He popped open a bag of cheese and onion crisps.

Simon, a cup of green tea in his hand, pulled up a patio chair beside Freddie. “Hey, gorgeous. Thanks for the kombucha homebrew kit. It’s brilliant!”

“Hey, Si. Happy Birthday! I hope Freddie was joking about fish and chips tonight. A veggie sausage doesn’t exactly scream happy thirty-sixth, does it?”

“That’s why I made a reservation at the Chiltern Firehouse.”

“And that’s why I’m eating crisps now and chips when I’m done talking to you…grilled cauliflower hearts? Gross!” Freddie took a deep breath. “So…are you sitting comfortably?”

“You can see for yourself, Freds. I’m in bed.”

“Start as you mean to go on, lady. Just lie back and think of Keegs.”

“If you’re going to goof around—”

“Don’t pretend you haven’t gone there in your head—I saw your face yesterday. You can’t pretend with me…actually, you won’t have to pretend at all. Put away your battery-operated boyfriend, Lex.” He stuffed a handful of crisps in his mouth.

“Freddie!” Alex sat up.

He took a deep breath. “So, Mark and I spoke this morning, and he told me everything…”

And Freddie told Alex everything…

Simon adjusted his sunglasses. “Wink’s plan went off like a well-rehearsed play.”

Alex covered her face with a pillow. “Argh! I completely fell for those photos, Mark being upset about the used condom—all of it. Well, at least I know everything…”

“Actually, you don’t,” said Freddie.

“I don’t?” Alex flipped the pillow behind her.

“You don’t know about Manchester.” Freddie munched his last crisp. “Wink was up to his dirty tricks again during Constellations. He told the tabloids about Mark and Fallon’s teenage relationship. He also hinted that maybe the onstage romance in Constellations was becoming hot and heavy backstage, too. Everyone loves a showmance…”

Alex crossed her arms over her t-shirt. Not everyone!

“…even better if it’s first loves reuniting and falling for each other as adults.”

Simon waved away a wasp. “People love that shit, including producers and directors. I bet they’d cast Mark and Fallon more often if they’re all over the press and social media, and guess whose agent commission would be quids in? Wanky Winky.”

“What a dick. He’s such a manipulative asshole.” Alex sneered.

“To make his showmance story look real, Wink encouraged Fallon to hang out with Mark in Manchester—go for dinner, drinks. She was up for it.” Freddie shrugged. “Why wouldn’t she be? Getting noticed by the press, casting agents, directors, and she could do it guilt-free. A week earlier, she’d dumped Duff—get this, she caught him cheating!”