Chapter 1 - Lucky
ACT 1 - FRAGMENTS
"I will find you again."
It was an army of flashes lighting up the sky as the sun shied away behind the tall whistle mountains. Amara was used to this, yes. After all, this was the life she had lived, the army of voices, the clicking of the cameras, the frantic questions shouted in no particular order. Yet today had been different, all because of a simple phrase.
“Amara!” The reporters drained on.
She humored them, picking out one towards the back that was having trouble seeing over the army of people.
“There’s been rumors going around that you’ve been seeing someone! Is this true?!” The reporter clutched their notepad as their voice shakily read the question.
Amara sighed. “Actually.” She responded. “I just recently got married. We wanted to keep it secret to avoid too much attention. My partner’s quite shy.”
She winked and followed her escort towards the car as the reporters droned on.
“Amara!” The voices were frantically overlapping each other.
“Amara, who’s the lucky guy!?”
Amara stared before punching the numbers into the keypad on the wooden door. It creaked open and she entered. She shut it and slid down to the ground with a deep sigh. Her hands ached as she tapped her phone. The passcode’s 578 today. The whoosh of the phone echoed in the empty apartment.
Amara got up and took off her heavy leather jacket, hanging it on the loose rack. Her arms reached behind her head as she undid the tight bun that kept her hair off of her face.
She made her way to the bedroom and sat in front of her old, worn out computer.
“Ok…” She turned it on and put on her blue headphones that lay on the table next to her. With a few clicks and a sigh she hit record.
“Hey guys it’s Ama!” She quickly changed faces.
“Sorry for the late upload! You all know how hard it is to be a costume designer and actress at the same time. With that being said, I asked for suggestions and you guys responded! In greater numbers than I expected!” Amara squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright light in front of her.
“Today we’re going to be playing some Call of Arms since you guys love watching me fail so much.” A green loading bar appears on the screen.
“While it’s revving up, I’m gonna answer some of your commonly asked questions. This one’s from CatLover405. What’s it like to be an actress? Well, a lot of work! And how do you do it with costuming? One of my good friends directs some movies so I’m in good touch with him. Especially when he needs ideas to start with or base lines. I’m not often in the room though, I give the other costumers materials, and sketches to start with.”
“And finally, this one’s from Bike4Life. Where is Jagyouare? Well, Jag is very busy at the moment with work and such, she’ll be back on when her schedule clears up.” The screen lights up with something more characteristic of a FPS game.
“With that being said, let’s get started! I see we already have some patreons in the room!”
Seconds turn to minutes turn to hours, and before she knows it the sun has already set.
Amara sets the pair of headphones on the desk and closes her computer. Her phone rings.
Thanks. Amara sighs before leaning back in her chair. The door creaks open and a pair of heavy footsteps walk through the living room and into the room across the way. Amara pulls her arms back with a crack and gets up out of her chair. She walks into the living room and opens the fridge.
Amara reads the sticky note crookedly plastered to the plastic container.
Made you some soup! I got up early and was able to go to the store to get some fresh ingredients. It’s your favorite, French onion :D
- Sarah
Amara takes the cold container and grabs a metal pot and sets it on the stove. She takes the container and pours it gently into the pot before turning the stove on.
She hears the shower running in the other room. As Amara finishes warming the soup the shower stops. She takes two bowls from the cabinet and sets them on the granite counter, scooping warm soup into the both of them. She then sets them on the island in the center of the kitchen, and starts eating.
A little while later a woman enters the kitchen, her blond hair frizzled and wet. She walks over to the counter. “Thanks love.” She begins eating the soup.
The room is silent for a bit. “I need to ask you something.”
The woman stares at Amara. “What’s up?”
Amara gulps down her soup. With great courage, “I want a kid.”
“You’re always welcome to adopt. I said before that I don’t care. I just don’t know if we have the time to take care of one right now.”
“No Sarah.” Amara stares at the icy blue eyes in front of her. “I mean I want our kid.”
“You’re always welcome to go to the sperm bank, I really don’t mind-”
“No Sarah. You know what I mean.”
Sarah averted her eyes. Amara could tell some rage had bubbled back up inside of her.
“People will ask questions, Amara”
“As much as if I had gone to a sperm bank-”
“You can pretend to be a single mom in that case!” Sarah breathed slowly out. “But it’s a lot harder when you ask the doctor if we can freeze and use my eggs. People will ask questions. Word will get out.”
“We can make it work-”
“You’re the one that suggested that we keep our marriage a secret in the first place. You said in this world, with your status, you didn’t want people coming for my throat.”
“But that was before I-”
“And you told them Amara. It’s only a matter of time before they find out. In this world there’s no doubt you’ll be seen as a liar because you didn’t tell your fans sooner. They’ll be guys just waiting for the right moment to jump me and beat me up or worse because they think I-”
“Sara-”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Sarah picks up her bowl and carries it to the sink. She turns on the sink and splurts a bit of soap in. The room becomes silent again.
“Jag” Amara buries her head into Sarah’s back. Amara feels her hands met each other on Sarah’s torso. She could feel Sarah’s stomach peacefully rising and falling under that loose T Shirt.
“There’s no one I’d rather have this baby with than you. You’re smart, the hardest worker I know, you’re determined, extremely talented, creative, funny, athletic, kind… How could I not want a little kid like that?” Amara softly kisses the back of Sarah’s neck. It tickles, which was probably why Sarah finds herself in a little chuckle.
“Ama… We can go. But you better not give up on me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Amara gracefully inches her hand underneath the loose shirt.
“You’ve been working out again haven’t you?” She could feel the defined muscles underneath.
“Ama…” The word was spoken with embarrassment. Amara could tell Sarah’s face was boiling. She could practically feel the heat radiating off of Sarah’s face.
“What?” Amara joked.
“You’re um…”
“I’m what?”
“Uhh…”
“If you want me to stop you just have to ask.” Amara begins kissing Sarah’s neck.
“I.. don’t want you to.” The last part was spoken quite fast.
“Then I won’t.”
The next morning Amara woke up aching. She stretched before rolling over. She practically flew out of bed when she saw the time. It was 8:00! She was late! How could she be late!? Why did her alarm not go off- A sigh of relief. It was Sunday. She didn’t have to work today.
Amara rolled back over on her side and stared at the figure sleeping peacefully next to her. The blankets weaved in and out of Sarah’s legs but her body remained mostly uncovered…
Amara loved the stillness of this character. A firm, gentle presence that radiated a warm heat. It reminded her of a Jaguar. Yes, a large peaceful Jaguar sleeping peacefully next to her. Those large, jagged muscles formed by years of gliding through water. Amara admired that. She herself didn’t have the determination to tear herself apart everyday and build back up again. Yes she’d go to the gym, but never vigorous training. She often wondered what Sarah kept inside there, what deep profound anger resting deep in her heart fueled that determined gaze.
She could see a child resting peacefully between them, its raven black hair and small hands clutching onto Sarah’s arm. Amara could feel Sarah’s soft skin. Which is probably why she found herself slowly drifting off to sleep as her hands wrapped around the outstretched arm.
Hello everyone, my apologies for doing this, but this story needs a big revamp.
I'm having trouble finding where I want this story to go, and at times I find I've been jumping from idea to idea.
I'd like to create a more cohesive story. So I will be rewriting this story from scratch. I will leave this first episode up.
See you in a few years,
-ANOK:
