Page 50 of Once Upon a Star

Aracely

I almost told Bash he could come over and stay with me. The thought of not having him in bed with me, of not waking up in his arms, was hard to accept. I told myself we would be together the next night and probably every night after that. I should take one night for myself, to take in everything that happened. Though what I really wanted to do was talk to Ella and Layla.

So much had changed in the last three days. I needed to tell them. It wouldn’t feel real until I did. I also wanted their opinion, and to see what they thought. What I really needed was their approval and support. They had been critical of Bash in the past and rightfully so. I wanted them to know his side of the story and hopefully be happy for us.

As I rode the elevator up to my apartment, I texted Ella and Layla about coming over. They were quick to respond that they would and by the time they came over, I had unpacked, opened a bottle of wine, and had some snacks out for us.

“This must be serious if you brought out the good wine,” Layla said as she walked into the living room with Ella.

“Ara only drinks the good stuff,” Ella said as she sat on the couch.

“Life is too short to waste on bad wine,” I said and poured them a glass.

Layla tilted her head and looked at me. I wasn’t sure what she was looking at and gave her a questioning look.

“What?” I asked.

“I was just seeing if there was a ring on your finger,” Layla said.

“Goodness. No. We aren’t close to being there yet,” I said.

“Yet,” Ella said and smiled at Layla. “Told you.”

“Told her what?” I asked.

“When you messaged us that you were going out of town with Bash for a few days, we knew what was going to happen. Layla thought you were going to come back engaged. I figured you would come back as lovers. So, which is it?” Ella asked.

“I think we’re somewhere in between.” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

“Why don’t you start from when Bash convinced you to run away with him and then go from there,” Layla said.

One hour, an empty bottle of wine, and snack plate later, Layla and Ella were all caught up. They had been shocked, happy, at times frustrated and in awe, but overall were pleased for me and how the whole trip went.

“Bash sounds like he’s sorry and knows what he did wrong. The question is will he learn from his mistakes and not do them again?” Layla asked.

“A lot of what happened wasn’t in his control. His mother held all the cards and he didn’t have a choice. He does now. He isn’t going to let anyone come between us,” I said.

“Are you sure? You didn’t sound as confident as I would want you to be,” Ella said.

“There’s still a lot to figure out. We didn’t get into the logistics of everything but we want to be together. We’re going to be together. We’ll figure the rest out,” I said.

“That’s wonderful to think and believe, but will it actually happen? The man has a career in California. Are you going to move there? Is he going to move here? Will you split your time? Can you be a doctor in California and New York? Do you even want to?” Layla asked.

“I don’t think he wants to go back to California. He isn’t sure if he can stay here and be a Broadway actor but he wants to try. He didn’t seem excited about doing any big movies anymore.”

“Must be nice to be able to turn down all that money and fame. Do you see him walking away from the fame and fortune? Really? Isn’t that why he got into the movie business to begin with?” Ella asked.

“Initially, yes. I think he liked the idea of what it was and could mean. But he’s seen it from the inside, he knows the good and the bad. He seems more interested in making it work here.”

“Because of you?” Layla asked.

“Maybe. Is that a bad thing?” I asked and took the last drink of my wine.

“If the roles were reversed and he wanted you to move to California, we would think it wasn’t right. How’s it right to think it’s okay for him to move to New York just to be with you. I’m worried he isn’t going to have anything more to keep him here but you,” Layla said.

“And you think at the first sign of trouble, he’s going to leave?” I asked. I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice but I didn’t succeed.

“He did before,” Ella said.