AJ watched him, half amused, half wary. “He was just being nice.”
“And you?” said Noah, hitting her with the full force of his stare.
AJ wasn’t prepared for this and felt immediately taken aback. “What about me?”
He leaned toward her so there was no chance they could be overheard. His eyes were on fire.
“You’re still falling for the same old bullshit you did as a kid,” he said. “When are you going to learn that these people are out for themselves?”
The intimacy of it knocked the wind out of her. The presumption.
Then AJ’s eyes teared in rage.
“You don’t know me,” she said, voice shaking.
“Yes, I do,” he said fiercely. “And you know me. You know I’m just looking out for you.”
He was breathing hard, and for the briefest instant, he glanced down at her lips. He smelled so good—that hadn’t changed. Nothing had.And it made no sense. That despite all her good boundaries and shared interests, no friend, or collaborator, or lover had ever felt asrealto her as he did.
Because he wasn’t real. He couldn’t be. She didn’t know the first thing about him. She didn’t know why he’d left, or where he’d been for the past seven years, or even his street address.
But she knewhim.And she just…loved him.
No.
“Right,” said AJ. “Then why don’t you do whatyoudid as a kid and kindly fuck off.”
Noah stared at her, his face growing pale. AJ didn’t flinch. She waited for him to rise and return to his seat. She didn’t dare blink. She didn’t dare breathe.
Todd’s Coverage, Episode 9:“Castaway”
As Gilamede gives birth, thuggish Bill threatens to reveal Rho’s identity unless Rho helps him escape. While watching Ana soothe Gilamede, her grandfather, Jack, admits to finding her as an infant seventeen years ago, and Rho realizes that Ana is Alara.
All morning, Ian hadAJ shuttling between the control room and the set. The crale’s walls pulsed with a rosy glow as Gilamede labored and AJ bounced from the infirmary to the navigation hub to the captain’s quarters cueing the cast.
When she arrived back in control, she found Em waiting. He was not pleased.
“I thought we talked about Ana pairing with Pete today,” he said coldly.
Shit.AJ felt the blood drain from her face. “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I totally forgot.”
Ian looked up in alarm. There were rings under his eyes; he’d probably been up again last night with Toni. AJ quickly blocked that mental image as Em blinked his disapproval. “Youforgot.”
“Yeah, it’s been crazy,” said AJ, glancing at Ian for support. She’d been following his orders.
Ian crossed his arms. She’d made him look bad. In front of Em. He wasn’t going to intercede.
Fuck.“I’ll go now,” she said.
Em nodded without expression, and AJ swiftly exited the control room.
She felt ill as she hurried down the hall. It was bad enough being on Toni’s shit list. Now she was onEm’s. And Ian—
Ian had just monumentally thrown her under the bus.
Yet, part of AJ knew she deserved it. Because that morning, she hadn’t just been busy with work. She’d been busy avoiding Noah—so busy she’d fucked up.
Shake it off,she told herself as she approached the Tech Lair. The best way to make amends would be to do the scene Em wanted and do it well.
