“If you could, just take your skirt off so I can get good measurements. Everything else can stay on. I’ll lock the door,” I said, stepping to take care of that.
“Great, I love the Winnie the Pooh look,” she joked. “Thanks for squeezing me in. I know your schedule is weird.”
“Eh, yours is, too. Are you excited to be back on camera?”
“Kind of? I said I didn’t want to, but I knew I’d probably get written in at some point anyway,” she said. “It’s one of those ‘no, no, don’t make me’ situations when I really don’t mind. I’ve never acted opposite Grant before. It should be fun.”
I wrapped the measuring tape around her waist. “You’re probably used to this. Don’t you have a wedding coming up?”
Kitty beamed. “This summer, yeah, when Guy and I are both off.”
Hearing her say his name sparked a thought. “Your fiancé is French, right?”
“French-Canadian, yeah.”
“And you’re from West Virginia?”
“Yep, Charleston. Why?”
“I think we might have a mutual acquaintance,” I said with a grin.
“No way! Who?”
“Mikey? Or I guess his real name is Ben?”
Kitty laughed. “Oh, yes. I definitely know Mikey. He and Guy have been close since college. I guess he and I have, too, come to think of it. He’s a great guy. How do you know him?”
“He’s my next-door neighbor.”
Kitty gasped. “Oh, you poor thing. He’s the loudest creature on the planet.” Then her eyes lit up. “Wait, did you break up their party the other day?”
I huffed. “Now hold on.”
Kitty held out her hand to stop me. “Let me start by saying, I fully believe that they were being loud jackasses. You were right to do what you did.”
“Yes. I think your fiancé was the one keeping things civil.”
“That’s what I heard,” she said. “Glad he’s not full of lies.”
“You know what’s funny? Mikey asked me if I knew you. Or rather, he said he had one friend from West Virginia, so since I’m from there, I must know you. Turns out he was right.”
“I didn’t know you were from WV! Where?”
“Bridgeport,” I said. “Harrison County.”
“I never knew that, Jessie! I knew I liked you. This just adds to my reasons why.”
I didn’t really have a ton of friends in L.A. Everyone I met was through work or through Cole, and Cole had lots of finance bro friends who were not my favorite. I was basically a homebody. Maybe I could strike up a little friendship with Kitty?
“So you’re telling me Mikey’s not a total piece of shit, then?”
“I can see why you’d get that impression, but no,” she said, lifting her arms so I could measure her bust. “He puts up a big game, but he’s really a sweetheart. I’ll tell you a little story about him.”
“Lay it on me.” I jotted a measurement onto my notepad.
“Guy and I broke up for a while when I was in college. The long distance between the NHL and college just wasn’t working out for us. Well, when I got brave and went back out to parties, I ended up falling apart in the bathroom. I never really got over Guy. Anyway, Mikey saw me crying and held me while I cried, walked me home, made sure I had a snack and drank water. He’s always been a big thuggy brother to me.”
I stuck my lower lip out, picturing Mikey as this compassionate friend. “That’s really sweet.”
