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Over a century and a half ago, Alcott herself was the Concord celebrity about whom outsiders gossiped.
In protest, Alcott threatened to use a garden hose on them.
I arrive around 3 p.m., just before its about to close owing to the weather.
She came in with her boyfriend.
They had the morning quesadilla and the wrap.
I ask Helen if she recognized them.
I didnt, but everyone else did.
I said, Everybodys looking at you.
Are you an actress?
She said, Shh.
Helen nods sadly; she doesnt think theyre going together anymore.
You know who comes in all the time, though?
Chris Evans, Helen says, her face brightening.
Sit at the bar.
Have the Faroe Island salmon.
The cast went there all the time.
And they all stayed in peoples houses.
The movie companies kick people out, and then pay for their houses.
asks Lucy, the woman behind the front desk.
An incognito star from England came in, but I didnt recognize her, she says.
She bought two magnificent ceramic vessels from us … her boyfriend came to pick them up.
I ask her how much the two ceramic vessels mightve run Emma.
Between $4,000 and $5,000 for the pair.
She was fine about it.
(I never meet nor learn who Mark is.)
Mark will be coming back, Lucy says.
He knows Chris Evans.
She also helped the cast get into character by showing them the bedrooms and artifacts of their real-life inspirations.
And I met them all very early on.
Greta came to the house, I believe three times, with different people.
This is not the last time someone will refer me to Michael Goodwin.
Emma Watson came in and was very sweet and great, she says.
I ask if Marie sold anything to any of the other cast members.
I may have seen the others, she says, shrugging.
Marie does list off a series of additional celebrities shes sold things to: James Taylor.
He always has his baseball cap on.
And he always pays in cash.
I stop Marie there, and tell her I need more information about Tom Cruises and Nicole Kidmans purchases.
He said, My wife collects bunnies.
I said, Are you Tom Cruise?
He said, Yes.
He bought some Bunnies by the Bay for her.
And for three years, hed call me every year and say, I need some more bunnies.
I ask Marie what a Bunny by the Bay might be.
Theyrelarge bunnies made in Washingtonby two sisters in elaborate velvet, she says.
They were signed and numbered.
They dont make them anymore.
Hed buy several every year a male/female couple, dressed in Victorian English attire.
They were $250 each.
At first, the staff seems profoundly unexcited by my questions until I bring up Timothee.
Ive actually seen him!
says a teenage server named Alexandra.
He sat down and had a meal and I saw him talking to a girl.
I dont know who she was.
She had blonde hair.
He was wearing a hat.
Some of the younger people here were freaking out.
Another server, Becky, interjects.
Hes always wearing a baseball cap.
Emma Watson bought a lot of socks here, says Patti, whos behind the counter.
She bought 60 pairs.
They were having a conversation about acai bowls, she says.
He was like, Thanks for not asking for any pictures or anything.
She was like, What?
Then she really looked at him and was like, Oh, my God.
They were talking for ten minutes about acai bowls.
I stop three teenage girls giggling at their iPhones on their way out of FatFace.
Timothee Chalamet was staying at my friends house, over there, one says, pointing into the distance.
I dont think a lot of people know about this.
I have something that kind of exposes him.
I encourage her to share and explain that I wont include her name.
No, I want to be famous!
He would like, order Chinese food and not clean up.
Hed make them clean it up.
And then hed like, smoke in the house and it smelled bad.
But he gave my friend a diary as a present when he left.
My family friend does yoga classes and Emma Watson called her for private yoga, she says.
She didnt know it was Emma.
And for three months she couldnt tell her husband or kids anything.
She like, signed a contract.
The third teen interjects.
Im famous on TikTok.
Do you want to see?
Its been viewed millions of times, she says.
Emma came in and Laura came in and Meryl ordered takeout.
It was kinda funny to see the name Meryl Streep on takeout, he says.
And Chris Evans came in a couple times …
He tries to stay incognito, but youre like, Oh my god, thats Captain America!
I gently circle Ralph back to Meryl: What did she order?
She had chicken Parmesan.
Number-one selling item in Fiorellas.
Before I depart, Ralph tells me that I need to talk to Michael Goodwin.
Next, I stop into a Caffe Nero outpost.
The sky is darkening.
I feel closer to Timothee Chalamet and farther away from my real life than I ever have before.
Oh my god, she says, her eyes widening.
He was so friendly and smiley.
My co-worker was like, Go talk to him.
I described him perfectly, and she goes, Thats Timothee Chalamet.
you oughta talk to my friend, Michael, says the bartender at Karma.
He just left five minutes ago.
He rented his house to them.
I think he went to Fiorellas.
The hotel is silent, with all of its component parts nearly shut down due to the storm.
Mind if I sit here?
He takes the seat next to me.
We engage in a little small talk, he tells me his name is Michael.
I rise from my chair like a tipsy sea witch.
Are you Michael Goodwin?!?!
He stares at me, vaguely frightened.
I dont know how comfortable I am telling stories, he says.
Not that theres something Im … he stops.
There was an intense interest in Concord, he allows.
We stare at each other, each willing the other to mortally betray Meryl Streep.
Ghosts of old-timey soldiers watch over us, breathless.
Your last line, says Michael, should be that I told you nothing.
