Page 49 of Once Upon a Star

Ara brought my hand to her mouth and kissed it. “I want that too. But how? Are you going to stay with me until you have to go to do some big action flick? Do I fly out to LA with you when you do a big movie premiere?”

“There might be some that I should go to support some friends and colleagues but I don’t see me doing a movie anytime soon and certainly not an action flick,” I admitted.

“Really? I thought you would want to. That’s where the money and fame are.” Ara turned to look at me.

“When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was play a superhero in a movie. I thought it would be so cool to have my own action figure, even have a Halloween costume in my likeness. I mean, who wouldn’t love that.” I looked over at Ara and laughed. “Okay, you wouldn’t.”

“I don’t know. I was always fond of Wonder Woman and might have dressed up as her one Halloween.”

“There you go. You understand.” I smiled as I wondered if she still had the costume or if I could buy her one.

Ara squeezed my hand and brought me back to the present. “So, what changed?”

“I don’t know. Nothing probably. Me. Everything. I worked on a few movie sets; I saw what was involved. It’s cool to be in those films, do all the stunts, and work with different people. But it isn’t what I want. I want to do something different. I want to do more acting.”

“Like on Broadway?” Ara asked.

I could hear the hope in her voice and I wanted to give it to her. I wanted to tell her that I was going to stay in New York and become a full-fledged stage actor. But I couldn’t do that. I had no idea what was going on with Isla and the play. If it was no longer being produced, I wasn’t sure if I could find another one. If I didn't, Casey was going to call in my promise to her. I didn’t want to leave Ara and until I found a way to make that happen, I wasn’t going to give her any false promises.

“Maybe. I need to get this play off the ground first and see what people think of me. If I crash and burn, I might have to look for something else,”

“You’re going to do great. Everyone’s going to love you and the play will be a huge success. Is it still set to open in a month?” Ara asked.

“That might have changed. Isla was working with the producers and backers to finalize things. It was why I had the break that we did.”

“Is everything okay?” Ara looked at me, concerned.

“Yeah. Yeah. Just a little hiccup. Nothing that can’t be worked out,” I smiled but kept my eyes on the road. I was worried that if Ara saw my face, she would know that I was lying.

“Good. Whatever you want to do. Whatever you need to do, I will support you,” she said.

“That means the world to me. I want to support you, too.”

“You can start by taking me to dinner tomorrow night.”

“Oh, I get to take you to dinner. Not the other way around?” I teased.

“We can do that the next night,” she countered.

“I like how you think,”

We had gotten into the edge of the city and we were quiet as I drove toward her apartment. I had to let go of her hand but whenever we got to a stop light, I took it back. She let me but I could feel her tensing up.

I pulled in front of her complex and turned off the engine. We didn’t move. I turned to look at Ara and she did the same. I wanted to remember the moment, our weekend, the start of our forever.

Reluctantly, I got out of the car and helped the doorman get Ara’s bags out of the trunk. As he took them inside, I went and stood next to Ara. “What time will you be done with work?”

She put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and rocked on her heels as she said, “Around six. Will that work for you?”

“I will make it work. I’ll be there.” I moved closer to her and put my hands on her hips. She did the same and I moved my mouth so it was inches from hers. “Until tomorrow, my love,” I crushed my lips to hers.

Ara let out a low moan as her mouth opened and I dove my tongue inside hers. She ran her hands up my back and then to my ass, giving it a soft squeeze. I chuckled into her mouth as I intensified the kiss. I wanted to kiss her in a way that would leave little doubt that I was in this. I didn’t want her to forget the time we had together or the promises we had made. By how she was kissing me back, she was trying to do the same thing.

She broke the kiss before I did and I leaned into her. She smiled and then kissed my nose. “Until tomorrow,” she repeated and then walked away from me and into her apartment complex.

I turned around and watched her go. I thought there was no way I could love her more. She was proving me wrong/ I watched her go, taking in the view of her amazing ass. She must have known I was looking at her because when she got to the door, she turned and gave me a knowing smile. The look held a promise of what would happen when I saw her again and what our future would be like. Looking at her, I knew I loved her even more than I did a few minutes before. It only made me more excited for our future.

Chapter 28