Page 5 of Shatter

A production house doesn't just sign an actress - they sign her marketability, her social media following, her branding. My mother understood this from early on and is the master of public impression.

"... my agent, my boyfriend Parker... every single person who works on our films; from the writers, to the directors, to the apprentices and assistants running for the team's coffees or lunch orders. It really can't be done without a village, and I just happened to get really lucky with mine."

I add a voice crack to the last word, feigning overwhelming emotion. Honestly, I don't give a shit about any of them. They're all getting paid to do a job, just like me. None of them are forced to work in Hollywood. Everyone is out for themselves, and I'm not dumb enough to think they're my village.

My hands prickle, and my skin is starting to get clammy.

Oh shit. I cannot afford a panic attack on a public stage, even if it would make Andy the happiest man on the planet - to capture "America's sweetheart" in full-blown panic.

Suddenly, a flash of Harrison enters my mind from last week. Instantly, my panic fades. The way his nostrils flared in anger, how good teasing him felt, him being all barky and growly, when I know he's softer than a Teddy Bear.

The thrill I got, getting a reaction out of the most stoic man I've ever met.

A red light at the top of one of the cameras goes off, and I know we're out of time.

"Well, that's all the time we have for today. Please give Melody Snow a round of applause and be sure to go watch Fall In Love This Fall when it comes out in theaters...."

"Valentine's Day, February fourteenth," I supply, standing and hugging Angy once again, before waving to the crowd and making my stage exit.

Chapter two

Harrison

Daniel and Nell's wedding was so perfectly them. Even I got a little teary-eyed when the priest talked about blending families, and that love is love, no matter what the world thinks of it.

Now, sitting in the cafeteria of the ski lodge they met at almost five years ago, I watch my friends on the dance floor. The cafeteria, which normally smells like ski boots and fried food, has been cleaned top to bottom and decorated for a wedding. White and gold balloons are strung everywhere, the food courts are dark, and the tables are covered in linens and decorations. You'd never know we were at a ski resort if it weren't for all the large windows and snow outside.

We're at a part in the night where the DJ is trying to get as many people up and dancing as he can. I smile as I watch a very pregnant Nell wrap Daniel and Danny in her arms - Danny propped on Daniel's hip. I watch as Declan and Serenity's daughter, Cammy, darts around the dancing couples and between a person's legs, playing tag with Elijah, Cassidy's boy. Elijah may be much older than the others, but he's taken the role of unofficial big brother very seriously and treats Cammy and Danny like his baby sisters.

Pride warms my chest. He's a good boy who is turning into a good young man. I'm so impressed by, and proud of Cassidy for raising him that way, as a single mom herself.

The woman in question ungracefully plops down into the chair next to mine. She's obviously feeling a little tipsy, because Cass is all about being in control. It's good for her to cut loose, I decide, and take a sip of my own bourbon.

I nod to the Shirley Temple-looking drink in her hand.

"Having fun?"

She giggles, and it warms my heart. I know she's been through her own struggles, and seeing my friend happy does something to me. My eyes track the dancing couples, too, causing my heart to warm even more. I love my friends.

"Ten bucks says you're next," she teases, wrapping a lithe arm around my shoulders.

This pulls a belly-laugh out of me. I don't do those often, but the idea of me getting married is the most absurd thing I've heard in a long time.

"I'm as likely to get married as you are," I remind her. Cass has a tough exterior, but a pudding center for her friends, but just like me - she doesn't believe in love.

I mean. I believe in love. I watched two of my best friends fall in love these last few years. And I watched how different it was for both of them.

I watched Declan fall in love with a mouse of a girl when Serenity first came to us, reluctantly. I saw the desperation in him when she moved out. I saw him learn how to love her as an equal, and then watched him learn to love her as the mother of his child. Because of Serenity, and now Cammy, Declan went from a grumpy, growling asshole of a man, to one who has hearts in his eyes for his girls. He's learned to give up some control, and he's learned how to be vulnerable and love again after the death of his fiance.

I watched Daniel fall hard after only one day and one night with Nell, when she was his ski student, and then spend years searching for her because she was "the one". He never doubted that she was worth it in all those years. He never doubted he would find her again. His dogged faith in something that seemed to far fetched was incredibile. And when he found her again, working in our own club under his very nose, I watched him go all in. I saw him love her, even when she didn't love herself.

I think of Cass. If Cass were to fall in love, he'd have to be something special. Someone with patience. Someone who would love her steadily. Because she's going to run away from love, push it away, deny it's real, and he's going to have to be there through it all. A smile tugs at my lips at the idea. It'd be good for her to have someone - someone to share the load and let her be soft and vulnerable every once in a while. She's so busy being strong and everything for everyone; she doesn't give herself time to just relax.

Her guffaw brings me back to the present. "You saw me during the bouquet toss, right? As far fucking away from that thing as I could get."

I roll my eyes at her.

"One of these days, Cass, you're going to meet someone who puts you on your ass, and you're not going to know what to do with him... or her." I correct myself. Cass swings both ways.