When Stars Align

Encounter.

Amanda entered the changing room assigned to her and perched on a stool in front of her mirror. The show had been spectacular, just the thought of it all made her smile to herself. The tickets were sold out within a week of its release, she hadn’t expected so many people to come, she must have underestimated her level of popularity. She was slowly rising to fame and within a few months, she was sure she’d get where she wanted to be in the dance industry at this rate.

The theatre had been packed full, the whole two thousand five hundred seats full of her adoring fans. She couldn’t wait to see the review she was going to get in the newspapers tomorrow. A light sheen of sweat shone on her body, making her glow under the lights. She sighed. She would have to dab herself with a towel and powder herself again, it wouldn’t do if Gabriel dropped her on stage because she was slippery.

But first, she was thirsty, she needed a drink. She grabbed a bottle of water with condensation around it from her vanity table, it looked like it was just placed there recently. She uncapped it and brought it to her lips, her gaze caught a movement in the mirror as she drank out of the bottle. A pair of icy green eyes stared back at her from the shadows and she gasped, sending water down the wrong pipe. She choked and doubled over in her seat. In a coughing fit, the bottle of water slipped from her hand, pouring onto the carpet.

In a flash, he was by her side, patting her back. Her throat felt scratchy and she struggled to take in air through her irritated wind pipe. She looked at him with red watery eyes and tried to calm herself. She could feel the warmth of his hand on her back through her cloth, spending so long without his touch, she had forgotten how his touch always affected her. She shot out of her seat, putting some distance between her and his distracting hands that were stirring up feelings she’d long tried to bury.

“What are you doing here, Luca?” she forced out.

His eyes softened and he moved closer to her, she moved back and he copied her movement. Now he had her trapped with her back to the table, digging into her waist.

“Mia cara, how I’ve missed you,” his voice came out in a breathy whisper, his accent coming out in full. He placed one hand on the mirror, locking her in place and stroked her cheek with the other.

Her breath caught, her pulse raced, she looked into his eyes, at the golden flecks swirling in it and darted her tongue out to moisten her lips. His eyes locked onto her lips and she felt him lean in to her. What was even shocking, she found herself reaching up to meet his lips.

What was wrong with her? The man had abandoned her in the middle of the night, left her in bed after making love to her and confessing his feelings for her. She shouldn’t be wanting to kiss him, she should be hitting him or scratching his eyes out. All the anger and humiliation she’d felt came rushing back to her, she pushed him away and ducked under his arm.

“Get out of here.” She pointed at the door.

“Don’t be like that tesoro, mi girasolé.” he tried to cajole her and she screamed at him.

“Shut up!” she was shaking now, the hand she still pointed at the door was trembling and she was on the verge of tears. It pained her that he still had such a tight grip on her emotions despite the amount of time that had passed.

“Please just leave, I don’t want to talk to you,” her voice trembled. She was so shaken, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying.

“Okay, I’ll go.” he acquiesced and walked to the door. “For now, mi amor.” he added before walking out the door.

She collapsed on the chair and placed her head on the vanity, trying to will her tears to keep from falling. She was supposed to go out to perform in a few minutes but how was she supposed to dance with her feelings all over the place, knowing he was seated amongst the crowd watching her.

The door opened and she looked up, thinking Luca had come back but it was only Gabriel. He closed the door and frowned at her.

“You’re not ready yet,” he stated. “We’ll be on in ten minutes.” She took a deep breath and mustered a smile.

“I’ll be done in a few minutes, I just wanted to catch my breath.”

“Okay, be fast,” he said and went out the door.

She stood up immediately and cleaned up. Tonight she was supposed to be stamping her name in Paris and she wasn’t about to let Luca ruin it. She met up with Gabriel by the curtains and he flashed her a grin as she approached him.

“You look beautiful as always, my love.” He took her hand and placed a kiss on the inside of her palm. Here was a perfect man who adored her yet she couldn’t conjure up feelings for him. Her heart was dead set on loving a man who enjoyed toying with her emotions.

She vaguely wondered how Luca had been able to get into her room with all the stagehands present. How had he even known which room was hers?

“You’re on in two minutes.” The director announced. Gabriel turned to her with a smile that gave away his excitement.

“Lets make magic, on to New York next," he whispered and they moved closer to the curtains.

After the show tonight, they were leaving for another show in New York the next day. The show was set for the next three days but they would need to have arrived earlier than scheduled to get familiar with the place.

“Lights on,” the director instructed and the lights on the stage came on, “music,” the song came on on cue.

“You’re on in 5, 4...” she took a deep breath and straightened her back, lifting up her shoulders, “...3, 2, action,” the curtains drew up and they started dancing. She willed herself to focus on the music and her partner and not search through the crowd for his place amongst them.