N: i dunno, this is a rambling one that goes nowhere. So read on and enjoy! If you're new to me! Go check out Sydney Gibson on Amazon! I have books up there that are free to read if you're a kindle unlimited member! Plus some of the books will keep you occupied as i'm slow to update and get a new book done! Thank you all for sticking with me!

"Lauren Lewis, spotted in Boston with her lady love last week, Bo Dennis. Both looked smitten in love, as they grab a slice at a local pizza joint." Gillian read aloud the article as we walked. She nudged me, laughing. "Look, they've even circled your marrying finger. Marriage on the horizon?" She shook her head, rapidly flipping a few more pages. "Still can't believe Bo beat you at your own game."

I shrugged, twirling the set of keys Bo gave me. "It happened. Now I have to write an incredible proposal speech." I grinned at the memory of Bo proposing to me a few days back. I ran my thumb over the ring on my finger. "A seriously incredible proposal." I mumbled the words out.

Gillian laughed even harder. "You're an idiot when you're in love. Why did you tell a fib to your future wife? You could've told her that all you had planned was to slip the ring on and pray to hell she wouldn't lose her mind." She tossed the magazine in a trashcan, looking up towards the sun. "California sun is very different than French sun. It feels nosier, aggressive, and angry."

I laughed, shaking my head. "You just miss being lazy in France."

Gillian sighed. "Agreed. I hate auditions, and auditioning in California."

All of us were back in California after taking a short trip to Boston. Bo met my mother and was immediately adopted into my family. It was meant to be a two-day trip, that ended up being a week as my mother refused to let me jet in and jet out. So, we stayed. I showed Bo around my neighborhood, took her to all the embarrassing places I grew up, and bought her dinner at the old pizza place I used to work at. For most of the trip, we were left alone. A handful of people recognized me as we walked around the city, and photographers waited at the airport terminals, taking the pictures Gillian flipped through. But aside from that, Bo and I were almost free of public scrutiny. Which was great for Bo, who was still working on her past experiences and dealing with the new spotlight pointed her way. I smiled, looking down at the pizza logo on my shirt. Bo and I were finding that as long as we had each other, we could tune out the world and live happily. It was a thought my mother brought up when she watched us from afar. Bo latched onto it, and it seemed to helping her as we flew back to California. Where the press was eagerly awaiting in swarms for us.

I looked up, pointing at the cheesy metal gate ahead. "This is her building." I glanced at Gillian, smirking. "You love auditioning, and this new movie would be great for you. A modern story for once, no elaborate costumes for you to complain about." I poked her arm. "What is it for real? The look on your face tells me a million different things."

The redhead pushed the gate open, frowning at the rundown apartment building Bo lived in. "Why does it look so greasy?" She pushed her sunglasses up. "It's like a million filthy hands have molested this poor building."

I laughed, shoving her forward. "That's because a million different hands have touched this building." I pushed my own sunglasses up. "You're evading, you never evade things." I pulled my friend towards the staircase, remembering the directions Bo gave me to get to her apartment. "I can try to pry it out of Effy, but she's with Bo on that silly entertainment show interview." I offered Gillian and I's services to get started on packing up Bo's old apartment while she did a few interviews for the movie she was working on. I wanted to go, be Bo's support, but opted to send Effy instead.

Gillian huffed, folding her arms over the same pizza place shirt I gave her as a gift. "It's simple, Lauren. This new movie would start in three weeks, taking me back to England for months on end." She paused, looking at me. "Lizbet will be in Venice with Bo, and I won't be able to see her as much as I'd like." She threw her hands up in defeat. "I'm going to miss my girlfriend and that's the prime reason why I don't want to audition. I'll audition, get the role, and be off to the motherland. Alone." She groaned. "I'm in love, aren't I? Hopelessly beyond help in love. There's no rescue from this, I'm in love with your assistant." Gillian grinned like an idiot. "I'm in love and I love it."

I laughed, patting her shoulder. "You are, and I'm sure you can talk to your girlfriend's employer and arrange a few set visits." I looked up, stopping at a door, before pulling out Bo's keys.

"Her boss is your betrothed. She better let me have my detective time, or I'm going to punch in the arse." Gillian, frowned. "Can I quit acting and work at your pizza place? Then fire Lizbet to come work with me? Her and I could live a simple life in Boston as pizza dealers."

"I don't think they'd hire you, Gilly." I shoved the key in, unlocked the door and shoved it open.

"You own the pizza place, Lauren! Can't you bribe them? Or write me a reference letter?" Gillian cringed as she looked inside the front door. "Good lord, this is barely the size of my bathroom in Ireland."

I shook my head, walking inside. "Your bathroom in that house is the size of a small town." I set the keys down, moving around the stack of boxes Bo's landlord brought up for us. "And no, I won't bribe them. I may own the building and be a silent partner, but it's still Carlo's. I won't ask him to hire a diva who would complain every minute of every hour." I pointed at the boxes. "Grab a few, Bo said to start in the living room until she got here."

Gillian grumbled behind me, picking up the boxes. "You're no fun."

I ignored my friend, walking around the very small apartment Bo had lived in since her slow descent from stardom. The apartment was dingy, tiny, and had that over lived in look. It reminded me an awful lot like my first apartment in the building seven blocks down. I smiled softly at Bo's attempts to make the apartment look more of a home. There was a large bookshelf next to the old couch, packed full of books and a few worn screenplays. There were pictures on the walls of family, costars, and all the places Bo had traveled. I moved past the couch, chuckling at the sounds of Gillian fumbling with a tape gun behind me. I reached for a few books on the shelf. "Hurry, I want to get most of this packed up today. I've arranged the movers to come tomorrow and ship this all back to Nottingham."

Gillian threw an empty box at me. "Moving on up to the east side, isn't she?" The red head started humming the Jeffersons theme as she stepped around a wobbly side table.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing the box to fill up. "It's temporary until we figure out what's next. After the press junket for Blitz, she's back to Venice for a few more weeks. I have a meeting with the studio about my next script, and one they want me to direct." I picked up another load of books. "Award season is creeping up, and that'll take us through the holidays."

"And your thoughts away from making permanent decisions." Gillian cocked an eyebrow my way as she flipped through an old screenplay for the Spielberg movie. "Shame she didn't get this role, it could've made that movie bearable."

"I'm not avoiding permanent decisions. I'm leaving the door open for Bo to make them with me. I can't push, I won't push her. We're equals." I waved my hand at her. "Are you going to help?"

Gillian stuck her tongue out at me, dropping the screenplay in the box. She picked up another one and flopped down on the couch, coughing dramatically at the puff of dust filling the air. "No, I prefer to watch." She winked, flipping through pages. "All of the interesting things are probably hidden in her bedroom, so I'll wait until we get that far."

"Thanks." I turned my back on her, focusing on getting the bookshelf packed up. "You're always so helpful."

"I did match make you and Bo, so you're welcome." She crossed her legs, "Hmm, Lauren, this is one of your scripts. Bo's written little notes along the margins."

I turned to Gillian leaning forward on the couch. I caught the familiar font of I used for my screenplays after my first academy award win. "That's Cold Water's Edge." I dropped the few paperbacks in my hand, and sat next to Gillian, coughing again from the dust I riled up. "What are the notes."

"It looks like acting notes. Character tone, thoughts, and she's crossed out some of the dialogue." Gillian pointed at Bo's handwriting. "Here, it's the amount of times she called her agent about this role. Fifteen times. Jesus."

I leaned over, reading the notes. "I never saw her name on any of my lists. Or on any of the open auditions." I read Bo noting how many times she emailed my studio, only getting a standard response of we've sent your request forward to the producers. "Why didn't her agent ever call us?" I felt a pang of regret. I still had a broken heart when I made that movie, but I knew if I saw Bo then, I would've cast her in the movie. I would've given her another chance.

Gillian flipped through pages until she reached the back. "Ah, here we go. Seems she shared an agent with Devon the douche." She pulled out her phone, tapping away before holding out the screen. "And those two were tight as bed bugs in a brothel. When Cold Water was in production, Bo was filing for her third divorce request. I guarantee those idiots prevented her from ever getting close to you." She motioned to the bottom of the bookshelf. "Considering she has a tiny notebook labelled Lewis at the bottom there. I bet Devon was jealous of your hold on the woman he married." Gillian patted my arm, when I cringed. "Old history, Lauren. Anytime you doubt Bo, look at the ring on your finger. That will always bring you home." The red head slid off the couch, moving to the bookshelf to collect the small notebook she spotted. She opened it, grinning. "Ah yes, our dear Bo was keeping tabs on you. Always trying to find her way back to you." She tossed the notebook onto my lap. "It's adorable reading."

I shook my head, picking up the small notebook. "It's private."

"It's a schedule of all your open auditions, anything you were involved with and her attempts to send you an email. The girl was chasing you for years." She patted her chest. "Makes my love filled heart flutter at the pure romance."

I flipped my friend off, and went through a few pages. Gillian was right, it was not a diary or a journal, it was Bo's strategy to find me again. She had listed all of public appearences, the open casting calls, and my studio contacts. I would've thought it was Bo's way of latching on to my coat tails of fame, until I read on one page. "I have to find Lauren, tell her the truth about the first time I met her and that it was love at first sight. I blew it at the audition last week, but have another one schedule in a month with her studio. I don't even care about acting anymore, I just care about finding the woman who stole my heart."

I grinned reading more of her notes, my head finally forming an idea for how I was going to propose to Bo. I slapped the book shut and shoved it into Gillian's purse for later. "Hey! That purse is vintage Vuitton! You don't shove things into it like it's a potato sack." Gillian shot me a dirty look, holding up her phone. "The ladies of our affection are on their way here. Bo is a little rattled, but composed."

I stood up, pulling my own phone out of my back pocket. Bo sent a few messages. I could read her tone, she was fine, but overwhelmed from sitting in a room for hours answering questions. I sent her a quick I love you text and shoved my phone away. "Let's pack up her things, forget the furniture. It all can be donated."

"Or burned in a Viking ceremony for sad furniture." Gillian mumbled, picking up an old scifi award, wiping the coat of dust off with the corner of her shirt. "Does she not clean?"

I whipped a small stuffed animal at Gillian's head. "She hasn't been home in almost six months, and unlike you, she doesn't have a staff to do the cleaning." I walked into the kitchen, found a few rags and came back into the room. "Here, dust as you pack." I pointed at the roll of bubble wrap near the door. "And be kind to breakables."

Gillian frowned, wiping off the crystal shaped award. "I haven't dusted in ten years."

I sighed heavily, ignoring Gillian's grumbling and went about packing up my fiancée's things. Smiling at how strangely normal this felt for me.

XXX

Bo

Three hours later-

I was exhausted. The day of interviews was only five hours long, but it felt like a lifetime. I repeated the same droll speech about the new film, answered questions about Blitzkrieg and glossed over my relationship with Lauren. Most of the journalists there were kind in their requests, and I answered as best as I wanted, but it was hard. Hard to discuss the love of my life like she was an object, not the love of my life. Thank god I had Effy to look to when I wanted to avoid a question and not come off as a jerk. She would step in politely and redirect the journalist to a better topic.

"Here we are." Effy pulled the car over, leaning over me to look up at the building. "I'm dropping you off, Gillian messaged me, and begged me to meet her at the hotel. I think she's having another freak out about taking that new movie back in England." She smiled, sighing softly. "Who'd ever think the most respected and fear actress in the business, would be clingy."

I laughed, shaking my head. "You're equally as clingy about the woman." I grabbed my purse. "I saw the look on your face when I was asked how I manage a long distance relationship. Lauren in England and I soon to be in Venice." I pushed the door open, frowning as the gross heavy heat of California hit me. "I can give you tips on surviving the distance. Whether it be physical or emotional." I stood up, yawning as the heat soaked into my Versace pantsuit. "I'll be so happy to change out of this."

Effy appeared next to me, handing me a plastic bag full of cherry coke bottles. "Your love requested it." She chuckled and ran off to the car.

I waved and began the very familiar walk up towards my home. I hadn't been back to this apartment since I left for England the first time, and looking at it with a different set of eyes, I was eager to move out of this dump.

I trudged up the steps, thinking over the day like my therapist taught me to. Digest the good and the bad, and focus on what I controlled and what I didn't. I was doing better with the press, only having one minor melt down in Boston when a photographer bumped into me trying to get a picture of Lauren. I barely held it together and when I hugged Lauren's mom, I fell apart. Crying like an idiot in a stranger's arms. Thankfully her mother was great about it. Sitting with me, telling me all about her awful experiences as Lauren's mother in a world that had no respect for the family. She even showed me her own scrapbook of shitty headlines that they all laughed at during the holidays. I left Boston feeling whole and that no matter what, I had a family I could go home to, even if they weren't mine.

I pushed my front door open, thinking about what it would be like when Lauren and I started our own family, and stopped at the sight before me. The entire apartment was filled with boxes. Gillian's elegant handwriting noting what was in what, and a few signs taped to my used furniture with burn it, written in heavy black marker. I laughed and looked around, noticing the smell of food in the air. I dropped my purse and walked towards the kitchen, where I found Lauren setting up plates filled with Mexican food from the place on the corner. I leaned against the doorframe. "You look very domestic in that apron."

Lauren grinned, lifting her head up as she tugged on the apron I stole from one of my coffee shop jobs. "Thanks." She tapped the pin on the top. "I didn't know you were a master barista? You're making the coffee from here on out." She walked over, placing her hands on my face and kissing me. "Hi."

I melted into her hands, leaning into her body. "Hi." I smiled as she smelled of enchiladas and that weird candle I kept in the bedroom. "How do you like my apartment? Thank you, by the way, for packing my junk up."

Lauren squeezed me closer. "You're welcome. Gillian helped until she freaked out about a cobweb and ran back to the safety of a five star hotel." She leaned back. "I can't say I love the apartment. I hated mine and it was smaller than this one." She motioned towards the window. "We were neighbors. I lived at Escanaba Villa until I moved." She stepped back. "I got us dinner and thought we could have dinner in your house one more time before we start our new lives together."

I grinned, staring at the woman I was going to marry. I'd marry her right now if I could find a priest, or an internet ordained neighbor. I scrunched my face up, wondering if the computer nerd four doors down still lived there. He always hit on me, calling me Samira, I bet I could call on him in trade for an autograph. I knew for a fact he was ordained at the Star Trek church of Shatner.

"Bo? Are you okay?" Lauren placed a hand on my elbow. "You're staring at the cracked wall."

I blinked a few times, shaking my head. "I'm fine. Just thinking." I pushed off the doorframe. "Did you pack up my clothes?"

"I left out a pair of jeans and a few shirts. The rest I think Gillian threw into a burn it into ashes box." Lauren smiled as she went back to setting up dinner.

I nodded and walked to my tiny bedroom. I was happy to leave the tiny room behind me. Regardless that I was with Lauren, I was intent on buying a larger home with my paychecks, but it was made sweeter that I was starting a life with Lauren. I quickly shucked out of the expensive pantsuit, hanging it up carefully before I slipped into old worn clothes that instantly made me relax. I went to walk out of the kitchen, when I paused. I couldn't shake the idea of marrying Lauren as soon as it was possible. I grabbed my cell phone and messaged Effy before I sifted through a few contacts and pressing call. The phone only rang twice before a very familiar voice answered.

I grinned at the sound. "Hey, I know it's been awhile, but I was wondering if you could meet me at the Regency next week. Yeah, it's that stupid press tour. Yeah, my girlfriend will be there. But that's not why I'm asking." I looked up at the water stained ceiling. "Can you ask your dad the Reverend if he'd be willing to me a huge favor?"