“I understand, no need to give me details. Give me a hint though. Sci-fi? Horror? Comedy? A sweeping romantic saga? Please tell me you’re bringing back full-length feature porno.”

“I don’t know where you’ve been. The full-length feature porno is alive and well. Um, it’s a cross between Lost in Space and Pirates of the Caribbean with four hundred percent more Black people and a love story that isn’t cursed. But there is magic.” That was the elevator pitch for the script she’d been sitting on. A script that would never get made.

“Damn, that sounds amazing. Little sci-fi, fantasy action. I like it.”

Amanda suddenly didn’t feel comfortable talking about herself anymore. “How long have you known Helene? Did you two meet at Juilliard?”

“Actually, I didn’t go to acting school. I didn’t go to college.”

“Really? Not that you needed to go to college. I just—”

“I was performing on the rodeo circuit with my brother, and he and I got a chance to do stunts for that movie Rodeo Kid. Did you ever see that?”

Amanda covered her burst of laughter. “Oh my God. I ran that movie into the ground. I used to have such a huge crush on Bryan Michael Weston.”

“Okay, so I did all of Pudge’s stunts. Helene’s dad produced that and I met her on set one day. We reconnected on Inferno. I was working steady through my teens and then got called in to actually speak on camera during Patriot’s Promise.”

“Now that movie was terrible. I’m sorry,” Amanda blurted out, but Sam seemed pleasantly surprised by her honesty.

“Thank you. It was complete garbage, but they cast me right as I finished up my GED. Came to a deal with my parents that I would go back to school as soon as the work dried up and I’m very fortunate it hasn’t yet.”

“And now you’re officially Hollywood royalty. Wielder of the golden knight.”

“You know, some sex-crazed woman tried to steal my statue from me? Can you believe it?”

“Anyway.”

A strange look came over Sam’s face as he continued to run his fingers over Clementine’s shiny coat. Amanda realized she’d stopped lavishing Euca with the proper attention, but she didn’t seem to mind. The dog let out a sigh and made herself comfortable, resting her head on Amanda’s feet.

“Can I be real with you for a second?” Sam said.

“Yes, of course.”

“Whatever I’m feeling? Right now? It’s a combination of surreal and anticlimactic.”

Amanda was not expecting him to say that. She glanced up as the minister had them reset for another run-through, before giving her full attention back to Sam. This ceremony was rather involved. “What do you mean?”

“I feel this sort of... drop, like I expected something else to happen, something bigger.”