Page 29 of My Lucky Star
“You like the shiny shirts!”
Watching Aria’s shoulders shake as she cracked up, struggling to stay on the road, I realized something. It wasn’t her likeness with Burcu that made her fascinating, but everything that set her apart – like that low, slightly throaty voice, her brutal honesty and cheekiness. It reminded me of what I’d once had with mates who knew me and poked fun at me, never worried about offending.
Aria slowed down and turned onto a narrow dirt road, which soon led to an empty parking area. We got out of the car, and she guided us along a small footpath that wound through the bush. The rain-soaked leaves swiped on the sleeves of my hoodie, and I tried to dodge them to keep dry.
The evening sun filtered through the thick greenery, casting a lacy pattern of light over the path, over Aria’s gracefully moving shoulders. She had a presence I associated with actors. It seemed different from Burcu’s, more understated and grounded, but she had it. Why would she give up acting? Surely, she could travel to auditions from here. I wanted to ask her more about it.
After a moment, I heard a low rumble. Soon, we arrived at an opening and the sight stole my breath. A tall horsetail waterfall poured down a vertical rock wall, lined on both sides by green ferns and vegetation. At the bottom, a perfectly round, shallow pool churned under the gushing water like a giant bubble bath. As we got closer, the roar of water became so loud we had to raise our voices.
“This is insane!” I joined Aria on the sandy strip by the water. “I can’t believe there’s nobody else here.”
“You said you wanted secluded, and it rained last night, so I thought it might look good.” She looked proudly at the gushing water.
I took her hand. She jerked a little but didn’t pull away.
“I suppose we’re playing a couple now.” She looked down at our joined hands, stiff as a rod.
“Are you okay with this?” I moved my hand onto her shoulder. “We should look like we’re comfortable around each other.”
“Yeah, I know.”
She drew a deep breath, and I took a photo of us.
Emir appeared on my other side, frowning at the phone screen. “You look like third cousins meeting for the first time at a family reunion.”
I pocketed my phone. “And you look like a hitman circling that family reunion. Maybe you should go away. You’re making her nervous.”
“It’s okay—” Aria began protesting, but I gave her a wide-eyed look, attempting to telepathically transmit the words ‘whaddya doing? You have a chance to get rid of his sour face. Take it!’ I suspect most of that didn’t get across, but my comically high-sailing eyebrows probably did the trick and she changed tack.
“Sorry, Emir. It might be easier without an audience.”
“You said you have an acting background.” Emir stared back, his eyes hard.
Why did he have to be such a jerk? “This is not a run-of-the-mill acting gig and you know it.” I gestured so widely I accidentally flicked his chest. Well, maybe not so accidentally. “There’s no script, nothing. We have to make it up as we go.”
Aria raised her hand, eyes filled with desperation. “I’m sorry. It’s me. I haven’t acted in months. I’m out of practice. Right now, I’m struggling to relax, like I’m having an out-of-body experience. And you both assessing me like—”
“Fine. I’ll wait in the car. Come back in half an hour. With some usable photos, please.” Emir’s jaw clenched at the word ‘please’, as if his body was rejecting such overt politeness.
Aria handed him the car keys. Before slinking away, Emir cast one last look at me, a silent warning. I knew what it meant. He’d noticed the way I looked at her and smelled trouble.
“Is he angry with us?” Aria whispered when my brother was out of earshot.
“Yeah, but he’s always angry.” I dipped my chin to catch her eye. “What did you mean by the out-of-body experience? Or was that just a fancy line to distract Emir?”
She hid her blushed cheeks behind her hands, then peeked at me through her fingers. “No. I am out of my depth here. You’re too gorgeous and none of this is real. I feel like I’m wearing one of those VR headsets and like... holding my breath, waiting to wake up.” She dropped her hands and looked me in the eye, for a brief moment allowing me to see it all – embarrassment, disbelief and delight. “I’ve been trying so hard to be happy with my simple life. I tried to stop dreaming, but it didn’t work.”
“Why would you try to stop dreaming?”
Her smile was almost too sad to be a smile. “I mean giving up those big, unrealistic dreams that will never come true. Like acting.” She cast me an apologetic look. “For me, I mean. I tried for years and I learned a lot, but I never made it like you, and that dream was killing me.”
I nodded. I knew the struggle. I’d seen it on the fringes of every production, the supporting actors who only got to pop in for a few seconds of forgettable screen time. I’d tried to ignore their jealousy; pretend I didn’t see it.
“Come on, let’s get up there. We’ll get a better angle on the waterfall.” I pointed at a large rock by the pool. Who knew if it made any difference, but I needed to move. I needed to try something.
I jumped on top of the rock and held out my hand, pulling her up with me. I wanted to touch her, and I’d take any excuse. Once on top of the rock, Aria found her footing, standing a good two feet away from me, hugging herself, biting on her lip so hard I feared she would draw blood. Yet, she didn’t look away from me, not for a second, and those eyes betrayed her. Eyes the color of Turkish tea.
She wasn’t only fighting the attraction between us. She was fighting herself.
