Sunday, 10 March 2013

The Stars and the Moon (Part 3)


   Audrey is in Hollywood. And she loves it. She loves the glamour of being a successful actress. She loves the heat, and the sunshine. She loves everything about it.
   But some days she feels a little lonely. So on the weekends, her and half a dozen of her closest girl friends go out to the bars and clubs to find love, if only just for the night.
   And then one night, something different happens. She finds a man, a beautiful man, with a beautiful smile and he can't take his eyes off of her. She sidles up to him and lets him buy her a drink, something sweet and purple. After a minute or two of half-shouted meaningless conversation, she takes the last step between them and presses her full lips against his. She can feel his smile and it drives her. She breaks away, breathless, and watches his face pulse with exctasy. After a moment she hooks her finger in the collar of his pretty button down shirt and drags him to the dance floor. 
   The next morning, she wakes up in his bed, happy and calm after a night's deep sleep. She stretches out, cat-like, taking up as much of the bed as she can, rousing him. He groans and raises his head.
   "Morning, Gorgeous." He has a british accent. She didn't notice that last night.
   Audrey pulls the sheet up, covering herself coyly. "Hey there." They smile at each other. "How did you sleep?"
   He turns over onto his back and pulls her on top of  him. He studies her golden green eyes a minute. "Really good." He smiles, "Yeah. Really good." She leans in to kiss him, her thick black hair obscuring his face.

   A few months later, Audrey and David, that was his name, David, are still seeing each other. He takes her out on dates to expensive restaurants and fancy shows. He hires a private jet to fly them away when they both get sick of the city. Like the spur of the moment trip to Italy. And Greece. And they had to stop over in Nice on the way back because David had a villa there that he needed to check in on. There were only going to stay a few nights, but the party there just kind of happened.
   Sometimes, when he wants to surprise her, he buys her things. She rarely asks for these things, but she always accepts them because they are exactly what she would have asked for if she had thought to ask for such things. Like the fur coat. It's light colored, snowy, to set off her dark hair, and it's made to look like snow foxen, but she would never have accepted it if it was real. She thinks. Or the car. That was really a sensible gift, hers had almost been falling apart, so it really did need replacing. Sort of. With a brand new Audi A4. But the townhouse was just sweet. It was their place. That he owned. But he let her decorate, which really made it theirs.
   But now it's a trip on the yacht. They dodn't really know where they are going, but she has just finished a shoot, so she took some time off and they're ending up in Spain. Or near Spain. And on one beautiful, clear night when they can see so many stars they can't breathe, David gets down on one knee and he asks, "My darling. Will you marry me."
   Audrey doesn't even have to think about this. "Okay!" 
   He stands up and pulls her into a hug and twirls her around. He sets her down and kisses her full on the mouth, beaming with pride of his new wife-to-be. Stealthily, he steps away for a minute while Audrey is admiring her new, shiny diamond ring and grabs a bottle of champagne. He pops the cork and pours two glasses. Holding one out to her he says, "To us."
   They cheers and drink. Neither can taker their eyes off the other. David sets down his glass and asks, "Where to next?" 
   Audrey thinks this over a minute. She peers at him from behind her golden bubbles and says, "Bejing," with a coy smile.
   David smiles back at her. "Sounds perfect." He walks over to her and puts her glass down, pressing her against the side of the boat and kissing her, wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her to him tightly.

   And the years go by with an unmatched level of superfluous splendor. Audrey and David want for nothing. 
   And it never changes. And it never grows.
   One day, Audrey wakes in a king sized bed with egyptian cotton sheets wearing a silk teddy and turns to her beautiful, rich husband. But he isn't lying next to her. She is alone in her extravagance.
Which was just as well, because on this morning, a morning like almost every other, she does not feel alone. And that is different. Last night she dreamt of the men she had met in her life, of two in particular, two men that had promised her many things, adventure and passion and knowledge and hope and strength, and all the things she had been sure she didn't want. Or that she would figure out on her own. She dreamt of the men who could not have promised her a yacht, or trips around the world, or the bed she was currently occupying alone. She thinks of all this and her eyes started to water for all that she had given up on dreaming of.
   But right then, David walks in to the room. Audrey looked up as the door opened, trying to wipe at her eyes so he would not see. But he went straight to the bathroom, and didn't glance her way. As the door shut behind him again, she put her head in her hands and let herself sob as she had never allowed herself before. In between sobs she managed to choke out, "I'll never have the moon."
   And Audrey knew that was the one thing she had always truly needed.




No comments:

Post a Comment