Page 25 of Once Upon a Star
“Thanks. I’ll keep you posted. But it could take me a few days to even get a meeting with anyone. I don’t want to keep you in the dark but it could be stressful if you’re just waiting by the phone.”
“Are you saying I’m an impatient person and would call you a hundred times a day asking you for updates?” I teased.
“No, of course not. You didn’t do that waiting to see if you got the role before, so why would you do that now,” she said and laughed. It was exactly what I had done.
“How about this? I’ll find a way to keep myself occupied for the next few days and not bother you. On Tuesday, I’ll call you and see if you have any news.”
“Do you honestly think that you can do that?” she asked.
“If I find the right distraction,” I counted.
Isla laughed. “I’m sure you can find a few of those. At least one of us will be having some fun. Call me on Tuesday. Hopefully, I'll have some good news.”
“I’m counting on it,” I said.
As soon as I had ended the call, I had made a few more. When I was done, Ara had just gotten off work and I called her. I had hoped to get her to go away with me for the night or even a day. I knew she had to have some vacation time or should be able to call out sick. I had been coming up with ideas of how to convince her when she had told me she was free.
Now, I had three days with her. I was going to make the most of it. I had been waiting for an opportunity to show her how great we could be together, that there was still a connection between us. Time and distance hadn’t changed that. What we felt for each other was too strong, too real, to let slip away.
Where we were going was special to us. It was where we first met, where we had fallen in love. It was a bit nostalgic, but even if Ara tried to pretend she wasn’t a sentimental fool, I knew she was. I wanted her to see that I was too. We were the same and had always been. We were better when we were together and I wanted to have that back. I wanted to see if she did too.
As I pulled off the interstate and onto the two-lane road, Ara woke up. She stretched lazily and I was thankful for the darkness of the car and the road so I didn’t see her breasts pressed up against her shirt.
“Are we there yet?” she asked sleepily.
“Almost. It’s a good thing I had your snoring to keep me awake as you weren’t much of a conversationalist.”
Ara sat up and slapped me playfully on the shoulder. “I do not snore,” she said.
“Are you sure?” I teased.
“Well, no one ever told me I did. Do I?” she asked self-consciously.
“No, you don’t. But it was fun to see you get worried about it,” I said.
“Where are we anyway?” she asked, clearly wanting to get off the subject of her sleeping habits.
“You don’t recognize it?” I asked
“It’s a little dark,” she said but there must have been something in how I said it because she looked more intently out the window. I could tell the moment she figured out where we were. She turned and even in the dim light of the car, I could see the huge smile on her face.
Chapter 14
Aracely
I wasn’t sure where Bash was going to take us and truth be told, I really didn’t care. I wanted to get away with him. I wanted to get out of town. Wherever he wanted to go was fine with me. If it had him and it wasn’t in New York City, I would be happy.
There hadn’t been a whole lot of time to pack. I wasn’t even at my apartment when I agreed to go with him. I had never gotten ready for a trip so quickly but I don’t think I had ever been more excited about a trip. There was just something about getting away with Bash that sounded thrilling, special even. Even how he asked me, how unsure yet hopeful he was made me want to go. As I put the last of my stuff in my bag, I couldn’t keep a smile off my face and thought it was going to be a few days I would never forget.
Based on the weather and the time of year, I packed for colder weather and layers, figuring I could always take off some if needed. I was pleasantly surprised when I had time to spare and was waiting for Bash when he arrived at my apartment. It gave me a chance to tell Arlo, the doorman, that I would be out of town for a few days.
I had the satisfaction of seeing Bash’s shocked look when he arrived outside my building. I was sure he thought that I was going to make him wait. I certainly had done that in the past, but I hadn’t wanted to then. I wanted the vacation to start as soon as possible.
Bash had let me talk as I practically word vomited my days to him. It had been incredible and I wanted to share it with someone. It made it even better that it was with Bash. He was as supportive as I hoped and wanted him to be. He asked all the right questions and encouraged me to tell him everything I could. It reminded me how close we had gotten in the last few weeks and how much I had come to rely on him, not only as a sounding board but also for support.
I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. I had been looking forward to the time to talk, just us. Any other time, we had been at McCarthy’s and Jack or Jill had been there. There were so many questions I had for him. I wanted to ask him about how the play was going, what he was doing. Apparently, my body had other ideas and I didn’t even know I had fallen asleep until I was waking up.
It was dark and I wasn’t sure where I was at first or who I was with when I woke up. It took me a few seconds to come back into myself and my surroundings. Even before I opened my eyes, I knew that Bash was there. I remembered what we were doing and smiled as I looked at him. There wasn’t much light, but it didn’t matter, I could still see the outline of his face. I was taken aback by how sexy he was. I had forgotten how chiseled his chin and cheek bones were, how blonde his hair was. He turned and looked at me and I could have sworn I saw a twinkle in his eyes.