“You always look great, Fal. I’m serious. I love your sense of style.”

Her friend looked up with a soft, genuine smile. “Thanks, Car. I appreciate that.”

Carly and her best friend Fallon Mendez met once upon a time on the set of an early indie film that had helped put Carly on the map. Fallon had been a production assistant and Carly had a small but memorable role in the film, that had come with a dramatic death scene, blood packets and all. They’d bonded at the craft services table over their mutual nervousness about possibly losing their jobs. A friendship blossomed, and they’d never looked back. Other than her mother, who was less than reliable, Carly didn’t have too many people she would consider close to her. A million acquaintances? Sure. But she tended to keep people in that category on purpose. Fallon was different, and she treasured their friendship.

Fallon set the magazine aside and blinked at Carly. She had her jet black hair pulled back in a ponytail which accentuated the earnestness in her eyes.

“It looks like you have something on your mind,” Carly said. “I may be crazy, but I’ve known you a while.”

“I’m worried about you,” Fallon said simply.

Carly tossed the plaid shirt into her open suitcase, deciding if nothing else, she could always tie it around her waist. “That I’ll be in Minnesota when autumn hits? Oh, me, too. I’m not built for extreme cold. I’m a cabana in the summer kind of girl. Maybe you can send me igloo building instructions.”

Fallon inclined her head to the side as if waiting for a loud noise to cease. “I know that it’s your instinct to joke your way through most anything serious, but that’s part of the problem. I love you, so let me say this.”

Carly paused midfold, with an ache in the pit of her stomach. If anyone could make her shut up for a moment and listen, it was her best friend. Fallon was grounded, kind, and intelligent. Because her thoughts were important, Carly took a seat on the plush beige bench in her closet. “Okay. Sure, Fal. I’m listening.”

“Don’t screw this up. I know you think that Hollywood sidelining you is temporary, and it’s only a matter of time before you’re on The Tonight Show again, but it’s not.” Fallon now read scripts for a major studio and was in a good spot to have her ear to the ground. She would know, which Carly found sobering. “You need to get your act together and show the world that you are a wise investment again.”

Carly smiled. “I get that. But, Fallon, this is some little stage production that no one is going to see or talk about. How hard could it be?”