Page 55 of My Lucky Star
Emir folded his arms across his chest, towering and glowering over me. “No. We’re not going anywhere.”
Cem shot him an irritated look. “Dude!”
Emir twined his arms so tightly he could have strangled a small creature. “We can make this... um... transition very difficult for you. Unless you agree to help us.”
I rubbed my sweaty forehead, trying to summon the patience of those magical hospitality workers. I was starting to suspect I had none of it. What if my shadow career didn’t suit me at all?
Cem’s voice vibrated with indignation. “She’s been nothing but helpful! She’s been—”
“Burcu called.”
We both fell silent.
Emir cleared his throat. “Or rather, her publicist did. They said they didn’t want to expose us, but they will, unless we agree to take this to the next level.”
“The next level?” Cem’s eyes bulged.
I was still forming a sentence from the fragments of intelligent thought floating around in my brain.
Emir lowered his voice. “I think they’re really struggling financially. Inflation has eaten up most of their wealth and Burcu hasn’t been able to work. The rumors have damaged her reputation and she hasn’t had many offers, but with the news of your relationship, she’s seeing some action again. She could get a sponsorship deal and it sounds like they desperately need one. She’s doing better, but she’s not ready for public outings quite yet. She wants to pay Aria to be her body double, to date Cem and be seen, photographed, that sort of thing.” Emir paused, giving me a long, measured look that made my arm hair stand up. “We need you to come with us to Istanbul.”
Silence engulfed the room. All I could hear was my own heavy breath, whooshing in and out like wind in a tunnel.
“But I don’t speak Turkish.”
Cem grinned. “Say,tesekkürler.”
Still frowning, I repeated the Turkish word for ‘thank you’, lengthening the soft ending the same way he’d done.
Emir’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow, but really, you can just keep quiet. Smile and wave.”
Panic brewed in my gut. “But I can’t up and leave. We’re working with this film production...” I gestured at the door and the general direction of the film crew.
Emir frowned. “They’ve got their locations. What do they need you for?”
He was right. I’d probably be appointed to do other work while the filming got underway. But still, the plan made no sense. The brothers stared at me expectantly, like they’d suggested we go around the block for coffees.
“You’re not serious, right?” I uttered, my mind reeling.
Emir’s eyebrows drew together. “Of course.”
To be fair, I’d never witnessed him joking.
Cem nodded eagerly. “We’ll need to get you styled and dressed for the part, but we can do that in Istanbul. Right, Emir?”
A tiny part of me fluttered with excitement. This was something the old me, the struggling actress, would have jumped on. A chance to take a weird job that vaguely resembled acting and most likely led nowhere? Sign me up! I’d played Tinkerbell at birthday parties and dressed up as a sexy elf to serve drinks at a Christmas function. But that was back when I still hung onto the dream. The dream of being discovered.
Now, I had a plan, and I knew what this was: a dangerous distraction.
“No. I appreciate the offer, guys, but I really don’t think we should take it that far.”
Cem’s eyes filled with alarm. “Please, Aria! I don’t think so either, but if Burcu blows our cover—”
“Do you really think she would?” I asked. “Emir said she’s willing topayme to play her in public. She wouldn’t suggest that if she was happy to face the media herself.”
“But if they release a statement, even that could really hurt us,” Emir pointed out.
“Didn’t you say it wouldn’t matter?” I tried to recall his actual words. “That as long as we started a rumor, people would believe the photos.”
