Page 4 of Once Upon a Star
I looked over to see who she was talking about, even though I was pretty sure I already knew. I tried to smile as I answered her, “Totally,” hoping she didn’t hear the annoyance and sarcasm in my voice. She sighed and continued looking at the magazine and I went back to my medical journal.
Did pictures of Sebastian Anderson have to be everywhere? No matter where I turned, I saw one. There were posters on the subway and trains. They were on the side of buildings, plastered like a beacon for all to see. They were even on a billboard in the middle of Times Square that every morning news show felt the need to pan to.
It was like the world wanted me to know that Bash was back in town, as if I didn’t already know. As if I hadn’t seemed to know from the minute he got into town. The last thing I needed was to see his smiling face as I walked toward work every morning, as if he was taunting me. I didn’t like it one bit.
The play wasn’t that big. It wasn’t even on Broadway. The run was only going to be for a few months. It certainly didn’t need to garner the attention it kept getting. Yes, he was a big movie star. Yes, he had won an Oscar a few years ago. Yes, he was considered one of the sexiest and most eligible bachelors in all of Hollywood. Yes, he had a charm about him that could make women and men swoon over him. But it didn’t mean that he was worthy of all the attention.
I certainly didn’t need the reminder of a man who had chosen his career, money, and fame over me to be splashed everywhere I went.
“Are you going to see his play? I got front row tickets just so I can see as much of him as possible,” the woman said to me.
“Good for you,” I said.
The woman finally got the hint that I didn’t want to talk about Bash. With a huff, she turned away from me. I shook my head and tried to finish the article I was reading but I couldn’t contrate.
It had been hard, but I had gotten over Bash. I had convinced myself he was a childhood crush. One that I made at camp, of all places. Those never last once you left, most hardly lasted while you are at camp.
But there had been a connection with Bash and me. One I had never felt with anyone before or since. I had been convinced that he was the one, that we were going to be together forever. I thought he had felt the same way. For a while, he had been the best long-distance boyfriend. We had kept in touch through social media, calling, texting, and even emailing each other when we could. He even offered to come out and visit me or have me come see him.
I loved the thought of not only seeing my boyfriend, and meeting his family, but I was excited about the idea of going to California. I imagined us walking along the beach at sunset, hand in hand. Of him taking me to where the stars lived and maybe even meeting a few. But it had never happened. Slowly, the texts got less and less, he never called, he hardly ever liked any of my social media posts. He certainly never had time to reply to an email. Any offer he had for me to come out and see him always fell through at the last minute. Any time I asked him to come out and see me, he never committed on the date.
Once his father forgot to book the ticket. Another time, he was already going on vacation. Then he had a test he had to study for. The last straw was when he said his mom wouldn’t let him go because he got in trouble at school. I wanted to believe all of them but after a while it became too much. I wanted a boyfriend who was in my life, not one who never seemed to make time for me.
In hindsight, I shouldn’t have pushed him. I shouldn’t have given him the ultimatum. I shouldn’t have yelled at him and told him to never speak to me again. But I was hurt, angry, and upset. I was allowed to have those feelings. I needed to express them to a man that I thought would want to know.
It had been the end of us and probably the best thing I could have done for him. Less than a month after we broke up, or stopped talking to each other, or had our fight, I was never sure exactly which one of those we had done, he had gotten his first big break. If he hadn't already been ready to kick me to the curb, he certainly would have after.
His career had immediately taken off. He had done four movies in less than a year. He quickly became the newest and hottest star in Hollywood. Everyone wanted to work with him. His face was all over social media, entertainment shows, and he was rumored to be dating the hottest women.
He still managed to go to college and get his MBA, all while maintaining his career. His popularity had only grown through the years, including getting the role of a lifetime and winning an Oscar. The sky was the limit for him after that. There was talk of how high in demand he was, that he wanted to start his own production company or direct some films. There wasn’t anything that he couldn’t do. Which is why it made no sense that he would come to New York City and star in an Off-Broadway play that more than likely would kill his career.
New York was my city. I had lived here all my life. I couldn’t imagine living, nor did I want to live, anywhere else. I loved it so much I convinced my two best friends, Layla, and Ella to come with me. It was where I wanted to be a doctor, to give back to a city that had meant so much to me.
I was doing well in my own right. I was close to finishing my residency program at one of the most prestigious hospitals in New York City. I was one step closer to my dream of becoming a doctor and helping those who couldn’t help themselves. I needed to concentrate on my work, on my career, and not some man who had probably completely forgotten me.
Hopefully, with my new work load, I would be too busy to even think about him. But seeing his face reminded me of what it was like when I had a guy in my life, one that I thought I would have for the rest of my life. I loved what I did, but it would be nice to have a man, someone to share it with. It didn’t help that my two best friends had recently gotten married.
I was happy for them and glad they had found the loves of their lives. It just made the fact that Bash was in town all the harder to bear. Becoming a doctor had taken up a lot of my time; I hadn’t had any energy to devote to a man. I hadn’t had time for dating apps and never wanted to try them. I figured there would be time, or the right man would just come along. I didn’t want to think that I had put my education, and then career, ahead of my love life.
Seeing Bash and having my friends doing so well only reminded me that while I might be doing well in my career, I was still alone and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
Obviously, Bash hadn’t thought about me. Would it have been so hard to say hi, see if we wanted to catch up? I had kept expecting him to do it, but as the weeks had turned into a month without any contact, I knew he wasn’t going to. He probably didn’t even know I was in New York City.
I wasn’t a consideration for him. As such, I wasn’t going to let him take up anymore of my time or mind. Bash was my past; he had been for a long time. I had moved on from him, and it looked like he had done the same. I had to find a way to get over the hurt of knowing he was in the city and he didn’t try to reach out to me. Though it was easy to say that, it was a lot harder to do when I saw his face everywhere. I would just have to find a way to avoid any place where I might see his face. Which might require me to wear blinders as I walked down the street but it was something I was seriously considering.
I could only hope that his run would be short-lived and he would go back to California. Once he was gone, it would be like it had been for years, like he had never existed. But as I got off the subway and saw yet another picture of Bash, and could hear the giggle of the woman as she saw the poster, I had a feeling that was going to be easier said than done.
Chapter 3
Sebastian
I didn’t consider it stalking if I just happened to be walking by Aracely’s hospital as she left for the day. I couldn’t help it if I was there when she was. I might have tried to make sure that was the case as I walked up and down the street for the last twenty minutes, but it wasn’t stalking.
There was no guarantee that she would even be working, or that she would be done with her shift when I thought. I couldn’t even be sure that she would come out the exit I was standing in front of.
I had to take the chance. I had to hope that fate would be kind to me and allow me to see her. I had been too busy with researching my role, rehearsing, and getting settled into the city to have a chance yet. It didn’t mean I didn’t think about her, wonder what she was doing, hope that I would see her on the street, or think about how it would be when we saw each other again.
It had been hard to be in the same city as her after all these years and not go and talk to her. But I couldn’t give her the time and attention she deserved until now. Even though I didn’t see her, I felt close to Ara. I could almost hear her voice in my head, guiding me, encouraging me with everything that I had done. When I landed in JFK, I heard her saying “It’s about time.”