Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
E loise was already in the kitchen spreading cream cheese on a bagel when Lauren arrived. Her eyes lit up when she saw Lauren. The room was empty except for the other two camera guys. Hudson hadn’t yet arrived and except for Honey and Brett, who were toasting bagels, and Simon who had the roomies and was racing around the dining room, the rest of the cast was still in bed.
“Did you have a chance to look over any of the film yet?” Eloise asked.
Lauren nodded as she set her laptop on the table, next to Eloise. “I looked it over this morning after breakfast. I think we have a lot of good stuff we can use. Billy and Katy had their first kiss. Suzanne and Noah seem to be a thing now, and even Anna and Jason seem to be thinking about romance. And then there was Sami. I hadn’t seen that side of her before.”
“I know, right? She seemed so chill and cool, more reserved. And then when Katy wasn’t looking, she flirted like mad with Billy. I couldn’t tell if he was into her or not, though.”
“Billy flirts with everyone, but he seems to really like Katy.” Lauren hoped that he wasn’t going to screw things up again.
“Maybe it was just harmless flirting on her part, too. She hasn’t paid much attention to Billy before now.” Eloise ripped off a piece of her bagel and popped it into her mouth.
“I just hope she’s not one of those girls that isn’t interested in someone until someone else is,” Lauren said.
“Right, then they suddenly become more attractive,” Eloise agreed. “I don’t know much about her dating life, actually. I might need to poke around a bit and see what I can find.”
Lauren helped herself to a cup of coffee and a handful of grapes before sitting at the table with Eloise. She opened her laptop and checked her email. A few minutes later, Hudson arrived and waved to them before he set up his equipment and then came over to say a quick hello before grabbing coffee and heading back to his camera. His eyes were warm and friendly as they chatted, and Lauren could feel her crush growing. Each time she saw him, he seemed more attractive. And she’d taken a little more care with what she’d worn that day and had blown her hair out until it was smooth and shiny.
A half hour or so later, Eloise reported on what she’d found. “So, it doesn’t look like Sami has had a serious relationship in a few years. She goes out a lot though, and there are pictures of her with a few different men over the past year. They all look romantic, but she never seems to be with anyone for long.
Sami also had an online dating diary for a while, where she talked about the different guys that she went out with. She never showed their faces—just pictures of the different places they went to, the cocktails they drank and sometimes the food they ate. She always looks gorgeous and seems to be having a good time.”
Eloise sent Lauren a few of the links she’d found and Lauren went down a rabbit hole looking at Sami’s past posts and her dating diary TikTok videos. They were addicting. There were some weeks where Sami went on four or five first dates. Lauren had seen some of Sami’s social media before they started filming, but hadn’t really studied it the way they were doing now.
After she finished watching the dating diary videos, she turned to Eloise, “I can’t imagine dating like that. It seems exhausting.” Lauren had never been able to juggle dating more than one guy at a time.
“I know. She makes it look fun, though. Sort of.” Eloise smiled. “I am looking forward to going to the Chicken Box tonight.”
That reminded Lauren that Eloise had been sick. “How’s your stomach? Are you feeling back to normal?”
Eloise looked confused for a moment. “Oh, right. Yeah, I’m fine. Must have just been something I ate. So, what did you do yesterday? Anything fun?”
Lauren hesitated for a moment, as she didn’t want Eloise to get the wrong idea. But then she told her all about dinner the night before at Hudson’s. Eloise looked pleased to hear it.
“I had a feeling you two might hit it off,” she said smugly.
“It wasn’t a date,” Lauren said. “We’re just work friends.”
Eloise smiled. “Right. Well, I’m glad you had fun.”