The Stars Among us - Blurb

It was almost nine. Nora and Lucas both had to get up in six hours’ time, so they finished their drinks and decided to call it a night. Lucas didn’t want Nora to walk home alone to what he joked looked like a slum apartment. He thus accompanied her to the official hotel drivers, who were stationed in the alley behind the building. They were laughing because Lucas was telling the story of how Handmaids 1 and 2 had got into a fight that day over who would pass the bottle of water to him, not realising that he understood what they were saying. So they didn’t notice Dan until they bumped into him. He gave them a quick and curious once-over, and then launched into usual mode.

“Well, well, so this is why you couldn’t come out for a drink with me?” he observed snarkily.

“No, Dan, I didn’t go for a drink with you because I like spending my time with people who mean something to me, and you don’t,” she retorted sharply, only noticing after the event that she had accidentally said that Lucas was important to her. She was extremely glad Lucas didn’t understand Croatian that well. She saw that her comment hit Dan like a slap in the face; in his mind, Nora should spend the rest of her life getting over him.

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Dan said in Croatian, ignoring her last remark and turning to Lucas. “I’m Dan, Nora’s past, present, and future,” he added with an arrogant smirk and theatrical bow.

It was obvious to Nora that he was drunk, or possibly worse, if the rumours she had heard after they broke up were anything to go by.

“I’m Lucas, pleased to meet you,” he said politely in English and held out his hand, which Dan refused to shake.

Nora saw that Dan had no idea who Lucas was, and she was shocked that he hadn’t done some basic research on the film or the actors he’d had to work with that day.

Lucas raised his eyebrows at Nora and withdrew his hand.

“Listen, Nora,” said Dan, again in Croatian. “He’s good looking, I’ll give you that, but you know that you and I will sooner or later end up back together, so why not sooner? Tonight, for example,” he suggested, never taking that arrogant smile off his face as he alluded to the turbulent nature of their relationship, which had been full of break-ups, breaks, and getting-back-togethers.

Nora really had got over him a long time ago, but it was only now, this very minute, that she saw clearly what her friends had told her long ago: Dan was the most repulsive person anyone could ever meet. Suddenly she couldn’t agree more, and asked herself what on earth had made her fall in love with him in the first place.

“Goodnight, Dan,” she said calmly after a pause and turned round, wanting to get to the driver who would take her home as soon as possible.

Dan, however, wasn’t going to leave it at that. He grabbed her arm, but before Nora could say anything, Lucas intervened.

“Look, pal, I think you may have had too much to drink. The young lady is with me and I suggest you let go of her arm,” he said coldly.

“Oh yeah?” sneered Dan with the gleam of battle in his eyes, getting in Lucas’s face and pushing him aggressively. “And I suggest you fuck off!” he yelled, swinging at Lucas.

“Dan!” Nora screamed, shocked.

But Lucas deftly dodged Dan’s fist and easily decked Dan with a single, direct punch to the face.

Stunned and confused, Dan demanded, hostility crackling in his voice, “Hey, who the hell do you think you are!?”

“I, jerkoff, am a lead actor of the movie you’re here to shoot. If you ever want to work as a cameraman in Croatia again, or anywhere else for that matter, I strongly suggest you pack your bags and head home this instant, and leave Nora alone,” Lucas hissed.

He took Nora by the hand and they walked away together, leaving Dan lying muddleheaded on the ground.