She smiles brightly at me and her face is filled with relief. There's a knock at the door. "Okay, that's the film crew. The girlfriend should be next."
Tenley rushes to the door and I walk over and get the bar stool we’re going to have this hockey girlfriend sit on. Tenley’s meeting with the Amazon guy went well, but he had two things he was requesting Tenley tweak before he brings the series trailer to his boss. He wanted more young, current wives or girlfriends and a broader representation of more teams.
When Tenley mentioned this in front of Mallory, she suggested that Tenley interview her brother Emmett's new girlfriend. Emmett Echolls had recently been traded to the Quebec Nationals. But he'd started seeing a girl from California at the beginning of the summer and they'd agreed to try long-distance. Mallory wasn't all that close to her siblings, so she didn't know much about the woman, but she got her contact information for Tenley and the woman agreed to an interview. Tenley could splice that into the trailer and hopefully, it would appease the Amazon guy.
The interview was last minute so she decided to use our apartment for it. So now a camera guy, a sound girl, and a make-up artist are cramming themselves and their equipment into our space. I stand back and let them do their thing and admire Tenley who is flawlessly running the show. She’s so confident and calm. I hope I look like that when I’m teaching class.
My phone buzzes and it’s a text from Crew.
Crew: Miss you.
Before I can write back I get a picture from him. The outline of his very hard cock through a very thin sheet on his hotel bed.
Crew: He misses you too.
Oh my God, I leave the room to go splash water on my very red, very hot face. Then text him back.
Liv: I miss you both.
I fan my face again and head back out. Our guest has arrived—and she is stunning. Long dark wavy hair, big thick lashed brown eyes, olive skin. She’s wearing an outfit I could never dream of pulling off, a silky slip dress with a business-like blazer on top. The sound girl is struggling to find a place to clip the mic.
“So I’ll ask you some really simple, day in the life, what’s it like questions,” Tenley is explaining. “And you just give me candid, honest answers. Keep your eyes on me, or my assistant, not the camera.”
Tenley motions toward me and the pretty woman’s eyes find mine. “Hi!”
“Hi!” She sounded bright and cheerful. I sound squeaky and hyper. Great.
She turns her attention back to Tenley. “This is going to be so much fun. Honey, I am just the glitter you need to make this thing shine.”
“That’s what we’re banking on,” Tenley says, and I don't know how she keeps a professional demeanor. I would want to either laugh or roll my eyes at that comment. "The long-distance aspect of you and Emmett's relationships is definitely different."
“So if your docu-thingy gets bought by someone will I be a featured cast member? Like a regular?” she asks.
The makeup artist stands back, done. Yeah, she somehow managed to make the pretty woman prettier. The sound girl gets the mic to clip to her lapel finally and she gets out of the way. Tenley starts giving her directions on where to sit, and how to angle herself. "So the casting thing? You didn't answer."
“Well, you’d likely be asked to be in a few episodes, yeah. But we don’t call it cast members as it isn’t scripted,” Tenley corrects. “Okay. We ready Anne-Marie?”
Wait… what? She has the same name as Crew’s ex. I study her, really study her, from across the room. I have, like any bed buddy who hoped to be more, googled Crew and saw pictures of his ex online with him from when they were married and she would attend games. She had darker hair and maybe a bit of a rounder face and… thinner lips but… well no. It couldn’t be.
I subtly slip my phone out of my pocket and pull up my Google search but I don’t get to punch her name in because Tenley calls my name and asks me to bring her clipboard. I rush over carrying the notes she left on the dining room table and she settles into one of the other bar stools and the next thing we know we’re filming.
Everything seems fine. Anne-Marie talks at length about Emmett and dating a hockey player and having a long-distance relationship and all is smooth sailing and I remind myself that there were four other Olivias in my fourth-grade class. There are two in my program at UCLA. There could easily be more than one Anne-Marie involved with a hockey player. And I've almost convinced myself when Tenley asks her why add the stress of long-distance to a relationship that's already difficult due to the travel and schedule of a pro hockey player.
“Because honestly, it’s not my first rodeo. I was married to a hockey player previously, so I know that the distance, being apart from them, isn’t the hard part.”
Tenley’s head snaps up from her notes. Her blonde brows are furrowed. “I’m sorry, you were married to a different hockey player?”
"Yeah. Emmett knows so I didn't think it was a secret. Did you not know?" Anne-Marie smiles and leans forward a little bit, lowering her voice. "I thought maybe that was the reason you guys wanted me. Because I've got double the perspective. I had the worst marriage possible to a player and now I'm in a healthy, albeit long-distance, relationship with a man who knows loyalty and how to be faithful to their partner."
“Who were you married to?” The cameras are rolling. I’m not supposed to be the one talking. And I am certainly not supposed to be the one asking unscripted questions. But Tenley doesn't yell cut or chastise me. She's staring intently at Anne-Marie waiting for the answer I'm scared I already know.
She flips her brown hair over her shoulder, creating a rustle in the mic but I don’t need the mic. I hear her loud and clear when she says, “Crew Westwood.”
“Cut!” Tenley bellows and jumps off her stool. She hands me the clipboard she’s holding and our eyes meet. She looks absolutely blindsided so I know she was as clueless as I am. She waves the sound woman over. “You can unmic her. This isn’t going to work out. Thank you for coming Anne-Marie. I didn’t mean to waste your time but this isn’t going to work out for us.”
“Why? What happened?” The sound woman plucks the mic from her jacket, and Anne-Marie stands up. “I’m not saying anything untrue. We were married. He had sex with other people. It’s over. All true.”
"I do not have permission to discuss anything related to your former marriage," Tenley says like she's suddenly a world-class lawyer. "Mr. Westwood has not signed on and I can't allow his name disparaged without his ability to defend it. Sorry."