The Reunion by Kayla Olson(35)

Mars has always taken a they don’t have to like it approach, and it’s worked out well for this long. The network always bent to her demands because we had leverage—I was leverage, the star of their show.

Now, though, it’s a different situation. With a reboot, they could find a way to restructure it without me. I may not have decided if I want to commit yet, but I definitely don’t want to burn bridges—not with Fanline, and not with Vienna. Not with the fans, either. I’m not ready to think about what it would mean for Girl if it came down to me having to choose between projects.

“Just focus on the reunion show,” Mars told me. “I’ll do my job, and you just keep being brilliant at yours.”

All of this brings us to today.

Ransom settles into the seat across from mine. I try to focus on the first page of the script, the scene that opens on the two of us down at Aurora Cove—the fictional beach where our infamous finale cut to black in the middle of my last line—but my eyes keep drifting up to his face.

He seems to be having the same problem.

This… could be a challenge.

“All right, everyone!” Bryan stands at the head of the table, the far opposite end from Dan and Xan. “Thank you all for being prompt this afternoon—we’ll need to be efficient with our time this week, starting now. I’d like to request that any comments that aren’t absolutely crucial be saved for our discussion after the break. Are we ready?”

The rustle of paper fills the room as everyone flips to the first page, giving collective consent that yes, we are ready.

Bryan’s eyes land on me. “Liv and Ransom, take it away.”


EXT. AURORA COVE BEACH - SUNRISE

PRESENT DAY

It’s dawn at Aurora Cove. The sun peeks out over the horizon, cutting through the fog that lingers over the sand and surf. The secluded beach is empty except for a lone figure: DUKE BEAUFORT.

A camera sits on a tripod, facing the ocean. Duke adjusts the settings, peers through the finder.

We see HONOR ST. CROIX join him on the sand. Duke is too preoccupied with his camera to notice he isn’t alone.

HONOR

Hey, stranger.

Duke goes still.

HONOR

Seen anything good yet this morning?

Duke turns. For a moment, he’s speechless.

DUKE

A few sea lions. Dolphins.

(long beat)

You… you’re back home?

HONOR

Needed a break. Can’t get this in New York.

Honor grins, but it doesn’t take long to fade.

HONOR

Looks like you’re doing well, then? I saw your last film. The Hawaiian monk seal documentary -- it was good, Duke. It should have won.

Duke looks away, back to his camera. Adjusts a few more settings.

DUKE

How’s the magazine?

HONOR

(with a half-hearted laugh)

Better than I ever imagined it would be.

Duke finally looks at her again.

DUKE

I saw you went to Santorini? And Positano?

HONOR

They always send me to the coasts.

DUKE

They send you here now?

Now it’s Honor’s turn to look away. The sun is fully above the horizon now, the waves glittering under its rays.

HONOR

I’m here because I’ve missed this place.

(beat) I’ve missed you.

Duke is quiet, but can’t take his eyes off her.

HONOR

None of the places they sent me felt like this.

DUKE

Freezing with a side of fog, you mean?

Honor gives a small smile, tucking her hands deeper into the front pocket of her thick hoodie.

HONOR

None of the places they sent me had you there.



“Brilliant, brilliant, on to the next,” Bryan says, pulling me out of what has suddenly become a rather intense moment.

The next scene centers on Sasha-Kate, and I’m thankful for the breather—holy wow was that some next-level eye contact with Ransom during those last lines. He’s feeling the tension, too, I can tell—just the thought of being so close, having this intense conversation on the beach while the waves roll in, has me wanting to crawl across the polished wood of this table and finish what we didn’t quite get the chance to start in the garden the other night.

I catch Ransom’s eyes on me when I glance at him over the top of my script. The corner of his mouth quirks up, subtly enough so as not to distract Sasha-Kate and Millie as they work through their scene. I force my eyes back down to the page, and it’s a good thing, because this scene is ending and I’ve got the first line in the next one.

We work all the way through the rest of the episode like this, flipping from Liv and Ransom to Honor and Duke and back again, each glance, every quirk of his lips unraveling me a little more—and that’s not to mention the mid-episode scene that’s brimming with close-to-kissing tension between Honor and Duke, which has a few people fanning themselves just from the way we’ve read it on our opposite sides of the table. By the time we finish the final scene and our break rolls around, no one but us seems to have caught on that it’s more than just lines on a page. No one but us knows what almost happened in the garden.

The secrecy of it lights me up from the inside: it’s almost unbearable, standing here with Ford and Millie and Ransom during the break, eating a cranberry orange muffin like it’s any other day. I have the sudden urge to lick the crumbs off Ransom’s lips, taste the sugar on his tongue. From the way he looks at me when our eyes meet, it’s safe to say the feeling is mutual.