here was the thing with Joey: No matter how badly behaved he was—and as time went on, he became more and more like the Joey we’d seen in the sanity checks—we knew he could be tamed in the editing suite. Bleeping out a word or pixelating a finger is easy, unlike trying to hide the fact that a judge isn’t even looking at the podium. And Joey trusted us to take care of him in postproduction. With Bibi, it was as though she were convinced the edits would be used against her. Why else would she be so reluctant to offer her spontaneous thoughts? Unless, of course, it was Teddy or Edouard who didn’t trust us and had persuaded Bibi that she needed to double-check every decision.
Whatever the case, something had to be done before Len got back on set. And I got my opportunity sooner than I’d expected, near the end of the first day of filming in Milwaukee, when I walked into the bathroom just off the hotel lobby to find Bibi there alone, rinsing her hands in front of the mirror. The moment I saw her, I knew what had to happen. This was my moment. My one and only chance to confront her in private, without Teddy or Edouard standing guard.
“Oh, hey there, Bibi,” I said, as casually as I could manage. Aside from my nerves, I needed to pee—urgently—but if I used one of the stalls, I’d lose my opportunity. So I held it in and stood next to her, pretending to fix my makeup… the main problem being that I wasn’t wearing any. I did have some lipstick in my purse, however, so I pulled out the tube and began to apply it. My hands were shaking. At this rate, I thought, most of it would end up on my teeth…
“Going anywhere?” asked Bibi, with a semicurious glance.
“Oh—er—yeah,” I lied. “Date tonight.”
Bibi gave a little squeak of excitement. “Okay, tell me everything,” she demanded.
“An Internet thing,” I said, suddenly picturing Mr. Zglagovvcini in his yellow flip-flops, with his eCupidMatch.com questionnaire. “A friend’s been trying to set me up for a while.”
“Weren’t you going out with that surf guy? Mr. Hawaii?”
How did she know this? “Long-distance relationship,” I shrugged. “Too much trouble.”
Bibi laughed with more sincerity than I’d expected. “I hear you, sister,” she said. “I hear you.”
This was my chance.
Now.
Ask the question. Ask the question, Sash!
“Oh, er, Bibi?” I began, in a tone that suggested I’d just remembered something.
“Hmm?”
“About Teddy. And Edouard.”
The towel in Bibi’s hands stopped moving. “What about them?” she asked, the warmth suddenly gone from her voice.
Too late to back down. “Do you think that maybe they’re, y’know… distracting you?” I ventured, as the blood in my entire upper body diverted toward my face. “I’ve noticed that you look at them… a lot. Especially when you’re making a decision, y’know? Maybe it would be better if they weren’t on the set?”
Bibi said nothing as the towel began moving again, slower than before. Worried I might not have made myself absolutely clear, I added, “I think Edouard might even be allergic to something. He’s always seems to be rubbing his n—”
“So you take those little green pills, too, huh?” interrupted Bibi, peering into my purse. My orange-tinted pill bottle was there for all to see, with the name and address of my doctor’s office and “Sasha King, take as needed” printed on the side.
I hesitated, not quite knowing what to say. Was Bibi simply changing the subject?
“You have… panic attacks?” I asked.
“Not often, sweetie,” she said, throwing the towel into a basket under the sink and reaching for her bag. “Sometimes.” She no longer seemed interested in our conversation.
I wondered if I should risk bringing up the subject of Teddy and Edouard again. What if she just ignored my question entirely and walked out now? What would I tell Len?
“So… about Teddy and Edouard,” I said. “What do you think?”
“Oh, um, yeah…” Bibi nodded, lowering her head slightly to make eye contact with her reflection. “Well… here’s what I think about what you’ve just said to me…”
I relaxed slightly, expecting her to make a joke of the whole thing. I’d given her—very skillfully, I thought—an out. This would go no further. Just between us. As friends.
“I think that you’ve been getting prescriptions filled for Joey,” she said, abruptly. “Everyone knows he has a problem with those green pills, and that they’re the only drug that won’t show up on the pee test