Carefully, oh so carefully, she eased to the side, pointing her foot toward the ground. When her toes made contact with the carpet, she gently lifted Sam’s hand and eased out from under his arm. She set his fingers in the warm spot she’d left behind, then quietly sat up and stood before pulling the covers back over his shoulders. She froze when he sniffed a bit, then rubbed his nose. Her heart started beating again when he rolled over and settled deeper into the sheets.

She quickly but quietly began to search the room for her things. Her jeans and shirt were back at Helene’s house up in the Hills. She’d have to worry about that later. She grabbed her sequin jumpsuit and her silver strappy sandals, then slipped into the bathroom, dressing in record time. Her bladder was screaming, but there was no way she could risk flushing the toilet. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to be the nasty ass who peed in Sam Pleasant’s hotel room and didn’t flush. She telegraphed the message to her bladder, just wait five more minutes, then she checked her face in the mirror. Thank God her makeup was barely smudged.

Normally she was good at being invisible. Every Hollywood assistant had mastered the skill—ever present, but never seen, never heard, and definitely never photographed. She hoped being Black, a size twenty, and not at all famous would reduce the chances of anyone noticing her walk of shame. Or should she say, strut of triumph? She’d definitely had sex with Sam Pleasant and that was worth celebrating. In any event, smudged makeup would attract someone’s attention. For now she was just your average Oscar night partygoer on their way home. With eighty-five minutes to spare before she had to be at work.

She crept back into the room and grabbed her clutch off the hotel desk, then grabbed the swag bag she’d received from the only post-award-show gifting suite Helene had managed to sneak her into. No way Amanda was leaving that behind. She’d investigate the full extent of her spoils once she got home. She did one final visual sweep of the room, then fled into the morning.

In the elevator she called for a Lyft. Jerod was five minutes away.

In the lobby things were still quiet. No one but people like Amanda woke up this early, the first-shifters who got other people’s days started for them. Amanda would be lying if she said she didn’t find a little thrill in it. Yeah, the work was thankless, but often she was the first to witness so many things. Things she couldn’t talk about, but still, she was always in the know.

She used the restroom, then stepped out into the predawn morning just as Jerod pulled up to the curb in front of the W Hotel.