Aria opened her eyes slowly, a ray of sun shining across her face. She shielded her eyes and turned toward Ben.

Except her arm fell on the empty mattress.

She didn't get out of bed and look around. She didn't call out for him. There was no need to. She knew immediately...he was gone.

It was Monday, and their free-agent weekend was over. They were over. She hadn't expected to feel such a hole in her heart, such an emptiness in her very existence. And yet, the pain of Ben's departure was worse than any break-up she'd been through.

And they hadn't even been a couple.

It had been a fun, intimate weekend with a man she barely knew. A man she had an intense connection with, but a man whose life wasn't compatible with hers. Hell, it was a lot more than just their lives that didn't match up.

Ben was angry. His very existence was angry. His natural state of being was tenseness and frustration. She wasn't fully aware why—though she could guess his recent divorce and the stress of his new job were contributing factors.

The sweet, loving side of Ben she'd gotten to know...that probably wasn't even really him. It was just a role they were both playing in the shared fantasy that was their weekend.

All she did know was he had been very clear—he didn't want to date her. He wasn't ready to date anyone. Period.

She wasn't going to push that. There was no positive outcome for her doing that. The man she'd eventually end up with, he'd want her no matter what. No matter how. He'd want her.

Ben wasn't ready. And, truthfully, she wasn't either.

But for him? God, she wished she was.

Slowly, Aria pushed herself up into a sitting position, pulling the sheet around her naked body. Tears slid down her cheeks and she let them come. It was a release she needed after two days on such a high. They'd climbed to the top of the mountain and now she was falling face first into the valley.

And she was okay with that. She just needed to...she needed to get through it. Aria was nothing if not resilient.

When she felt the heaviness lift from her heart, the catharsis of her tears providing her the breather she desperately needed, Aria got out of bed and headed to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, she was clean, dressed, and famished. Her stomach growling, she made her way into the kitchen to cook a quick breakfast before she had to head to her parent's house. She and her mother/manager—or as she referred to her lovingly, her 'momager'—needed to meet and go over the plan for her next steps.

Aria came to a halt when she saw the note on her kitchen counter. It was Ben's messy scribbles, and even though she'd only seen his writing a few times in the margins of her scripts, it was instantly recognizable.

His phone number and email were scrawled at the bottom of the note. Aria ran her finger over the ink, feeling the words etched into the paper. She slid her phone from her pocket and plugged in his number and email into her contacts. There was no way in hell she was going to call him, but it couldn't hurt to keep the number.

At least, that's what she was going to tell herself.

Swallowing hard, she turned toward the stove and began prepping what she needed to poach some eggs. While those were cooking, she brewed a quick cup of coffee on her Keurig and sipped the delectable black coffee—her favorite.

Despite her job, and her desire to become famous, she happily lived a no-frills lifestyle. She liked her comfy, no-fuss apartment overlooking the beach.

The insistent peal of her cell phone broke the silence; its vibration inside her pocket bringing her back to reality. She retrieved the phone and checked the screen before answering. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, sweet baby girl. You on your way over?" Her mother's voice was so soft and serene through the phone. Just the sound of it calmed Aria’s anxieties.

"In a minute. I’m finishing up breakfast."

"Okay, well I've been looking at these scripts, and I think we should try out for all of them except the sci-fi one. It's..."

"Weird as fuck," Aria finished her sentence.

"Well, yes. That's certainly one way to put it. You never know, though. Weird movies like that sometimes hit it big."

Aria propped the phone between her shoulder and ear as she scooped her eggs from the boiling water and placed them in a bowl. "Right, but I don't want to do that. I don't want to do a movie I'm not excited about, even if it might be the next big blockbuster."

"The manager side of me finds your ethics very strict." Her mother chuckled. "But the mom side of me is super proud."

"Thanks, Mom." She took a bite of her eggs. God, that hit the spot perfectly. "So, we're deciding between the HBO mini-series in New York, or the Victorian-movie in London?"

"Or the artist movie here in Los Angeles, Murals. I think that might be my favorite so far, but they've got people like Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman coming in to audition for that."

"So, there's no chance I'd get that role."

"Aria Marie Reynolds, I did not raise you to be a quitter. You're just as good as any of those ladies."

“Mom..." Aria began to argue, because there was no way she was in the same league as either of those actresses—though she certainly wished she was.

"No arguments, Aria. There's always ways to make it happen. With a lot of practice, you could give the performance of a lifetime in that audition and they'd hire you on the spot. Or, we could offer to take less money. Budget always talks in movies, you know. We could also call your cousin. I'm sure he'd put a good word in for you after his success in that new silly superhero movie."

"That movie was not silly," Aria countered. "And we're not calling him. I'm doing this on my own. I don't want his help."

"Fine, but as your manager, I think we should be utilizing all the connections we can find."

Aria's mind drifted to Ben as she finished the last of her eggs. She had no doubt if she called him up and asked to star in the studio's next film, he'd make it happen. Just like she had no doubt if she called her cousin, he'd catapult her career. But that's exactly why she didn't go by her last name in the public eye.

Aria Rose was her way of earning it for herself, and on her own merit. That might be foolish in the cutthroat world of Hollywood, but she was determined to do it anyways.

"I'll be over soon, Mom. Let's get auditions set up for New York and London, and if you can get the L.A. one."

"On it, baby girl. Drive safe."

"Love you, Mom," Aria said before hanging up the phone.

Five minutes later, Aria was closing her front door behind her. As she locked it, a wave of sadness washed through her, clutching at her chest. Her apartment had been a cozy retreat for the weekend with a fantasy man, and closing the door made it all seem so final.

They were over.

I'm being ridiculous. She shook her head and took the stairs down two at a time, got in her car, and headed to her parent's house.

"Aria!" Simone, her baby sister, greeted her with a hug the moment she walked into their parent's house. "You look different. Why do you look different?"

"I do?" Aria furrowed her brows.

"You do. Tegan, doesn't she look different?" Simone turned to their other sister, the middle daughter. She was only two years younger than Aria. Simone was the baby of the family, and a senior in high school, while Tegan was working as a choreographer and dancer in Hollywood—also with the help of their mother.

"She looks..." Tegan tapped her chin with an index finger. "Oh, shit. You got some, didn't you?"

Warmth crept into Aria’s face. "Tegan!"

Tegan laughed and draped an arm around Simone's shoulder. "That look, little sister, is the look of a woman who had really good sex last night."

"Gross." Simone scrunched up her face.

"Jesus, Tegan. She's too young to hear things about my sex life," Aria scolded her sister. "Not appropriate."

Tegan just shrugged. "Fuck, I was doing worse at seventeen than hearing about sex."

"Anyway," Aria tried to steer the conversation away. "Where are the parentals?" she asked, using the nickname the sisters used for their parents.

"Dad's watching television in the living room. Mom's at the dining room table with an insane amount of scripts," Simone said, walking toward the living room.

Aria followed her, smiling the moment she spotted her father. He was propped up in a big, comfy recliner watching Storage Wars—a television show about pawnshops and storage unit auctions that he was obsessed with.

She leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Daddy!"

"Hey, princess," he replied, then pointed at the television. "Look at that lamp. He's trying to sell it for four hundred dollars, saying it's centuries old...but it's electric. Idiot scammers. They don't know who they're messing with!"

"Sounds intense." Aria watched for a moment with him, then squeezed his shoulder. "I'm going to go find Mom. You doing okay? Can I get you anything?"

"I'm right as rain, princess. Your mom takes great care of me." His multiple sclerosis had stolen most of his ability to walk, and he needed a lot of help getting around.

Aria hated seeing him so dependent and disabled, but his spirit never seemed to be affected by any of it. He was still the lively, loving father she'd grown up with, and for that, she was really appreciative.

"Aria?" her mother called out.

She headed for the dining room. "Hey, Mom."

"Hi, sweet girl." She kissed her on the cheek when Aria bent down to hug her. "Check this out." She turned her laptop for Aria to read.

"I got the audition?" Aria gasped. "For the HBO show?"

"Yep. And I've booked you on a flight for New York City tomorrow. You'll audition Wednesday, and fly to London on Thursday. You're auditioning for the Victorian movie on Friday. Next week, you're back in Los Angeles for a crap ton of photo shoots for Scarlet's Letters promotion."

"But, I've got to memorize the lines and practice! That's not enough time!" Aria began to feel panicked and nauseous. Auditions were terrifying—they always had been.

"Relax, sweetheart. You'll do just fine. You've got two days and a lot of time on planes to memorize everything. You're a natural."

Aria nodded, trying to push down her fear as a queasiness threatened to overtake her. She'd felt the same nervous flutter in her stomach before her Scarlet's Letters audition, too. Actually, she had vomited right beforehand in a trash can outside the studio, and was certain she'd pass out the moment she stepped on stage. Luckily, she'd aced the role instead, but it didn't get less scary with each new venture. "Any word on Murals?"

Her mother shook her head. "Not yet, but I just got an email that Jennifer Lawrence is officially in talks for it."

Aria's body sagged. She felt crushed. She'd been looking at all these scripts for weeks, trying to narrow it down, and she'd told herself that she'd be fine with any of them. And yet, the news that Murals wasn't happening bothered her more than she thought it would. "Damn. I really loved that script."

"I know, honey. I'm sorry. I'll keep tabs on it, though. You never know."

She sighed, sitting in the chair next to her mother. "So…New York?"

"Here." Her mother handed her the HBO script. "Read it over and then we can run lines in a few hours."

Aria turned to the first page and took a deep breath. She could do this. In fact, it was exciting. She would be excited about this. Her career was moving along, and she was more than ready to launch herself into Hollywood stardom.