Chapter 28
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.
“Are you saying that I’m not enough to keep him here?” I asked.
“You shouldn’t be. You might be the reason he wants to be here, but you shouldn’t be the only reason. It puts too much pressure on you and your relationship. He needs to have his own life, his own friends, his own goals. It can’t all be tied up with you and only you,” Layla said.
Ella put a reassuring hand on my arm and said, “I didn’t want to stay in New York just because of Dax. I had you two, I had a job, I had a life that I had created. He was a big part of it, but he wasn’t the only part. I think Layla is worried that you being the only reason will make it harder for both of you.”
“I think he wants to stay here because he wants to be a theater actor and that I am here. One is not more important than the other,” I said.
“Are you sure he doesn’t want to be a theater actor just because this is where you are and he knows you won’t leave?” Layla asked.
“He never said that. He never implied it. Yes, he knows that I want to be in New York, but we never discussed going to California,” I said.
“Would you go to California?” Layla asked.
It was a loaded question. I could hear in her voice that she didn’t want me to go and was even shocked I might consider it. I had her and Ella move to New York to be with me. It wouldn’t be fair for me to go and move across the country away from them.
“I don’t know. How is it fair of me to think that he needs to change his plans, his life, possibly derail his career for me, but I’m not willing to do the same?” I asked.
“She does have a point,” Ella said.
“It might be something you’re going to find out first hand, real soon,” Layla said.
“Why do you say that?”
Layla didn’t answer me but pulled out her phone, opened something, and then handed the phone to me. “Because of this,” she said.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Read it,” Ella said.
I looked at the headline “Oscar-winning actor’s play DOA. Bash Anderson to return to his roots and star in an action film.” I had to read it a few times to comprehend what I was reading.
“When did this happen? Is this some sort of joke?” I asked and handed the phone back to Layla.
“It broke right after you left. We figured that Bash took you away so he could tell you he was leaving or convince you to come with him. He didn’t tell you anything about this?” Layla asked.
“No. Nothing. He made it sound like the play was going well. He said he needed to talk to Isla when he got back to see what the schedule was.”
“From what this article says, there is no schedule. There were creative differences between the writer and director and they split ways. There is no play.”
“He never said anything to me,” I was shocked and kept trying to find a hole in their story.
Why hadn’t he told me? Was he hiding it from me? Did he not want to tell me? I had thought it was odd that he had so much free time during the middle of rehearsals. I hadn’t questioned it because I didn’t want to. Had he been lying to me the whole time?
“The movie starts filming in a few weeks. He had already signed on to do it. He was always going to go back to California to do this movie. I’m sorry,” Ella said.
I stood up and walked away from my friends. I knew I was walking away from what they were saying. As if I could walk away from the problem. It wasn’t going to work but none of what I was reading or they were saying was making sense.
“This isn’t right. There must be some mistake. The article is wrong. Bash doesn’t want to be an action hero.”
“He doesn’t?” Ella asked, clearly not believing me.
“No, he doesn’t. He said as much to me less than three hours ago.”
“Are you sure? Or was he just telling you what you wanted to hear?” Layla asked.
“He was the one who brought it up. I was teasing him that I was going to have to go to California for the premieres of his movies. He was the one who said there wasn’t going to be any. This is wrong. There must be some sort of explanation.”
I turned to look at my friends. I could see they didn’t believe me. I could see where they were coming from. The man had left me before for his career. Why wouldn’t he do it again? Was I being naive to think that he wouldn’t? Was it wrong to put so much faith in him and what I thought we had.
“He loves me. And I love him. I want to be with him. If it turns out he has to go back to California to be an action star, if he wants to do that, then we’ll do that.”
“You don’t care that he lied to you about it? That he hid the fact that the play had been canceled?” Layla asked.
“He might not have known, he might have not wanted to ruin the time we had, he might be trying to salvage it. I don’t know. All I do know is that I didn’t trust him before and it cost me years with him. I’m not going to do that again. Not when I can go and talk to him and ask him to his face.”
“That seems like a good idea,” Ella said.
“Are you being facetious?” I asked.
“No, not in the least. I want to be wrong. I want Bash to have an explanation. I don’t want you to get hurt. I want you to get the happiness and love that you deserve. The best way to do that is to talk to him. Do you know where he is or how to find him?” Ella asked.
“I know the theater the play was supposed to be at, but not where he lives. I wonder if there was someone who could help me figure that out?” I asked and looked at Layla.
“Me? Do you honestly think I could find that out? I’m a wonderful librarian but there are only so many things I can do,” she said.
“Can you do it? Can you help me figure out where Bash lives so I can talk to him. I need to clear this up. I need to know what’s going on,” I said.
“I could try, or you could just call him,” Ella said.
“Or I could do that, too,” I said and we all laughed.