Starcrossed

Ana, The Key

Michael, in Raybans,  slacks, and a plain button-up, followed Tatiana inside of an elevator.

Michael had to give his newest video model credit, he would have never thought of the place. Tatiana pushed all the buttons, and they ascended. 

Even without her makeup, Tatiana was stunning in her pajamas. Michael immediately felt guilty for waking her up before schedule.

"I'm sorry to call you in the middle of the night," Michael spoke first. "And, I'm sorry for crying."

"Don't be sorry," Tatiana said, facing him with a sudden urgency. Michael perked at her serious look. "I have the same dreams too."

Michael removed his glasses.

"It always starts the same," she continued. "I wake up in this dark bed, way up off the ground. There's this space just filled with beds--"

"---and people in black walking on the floor and along the walls?" Michael blurted.

Tatiana felt chills go down her spine. "Yes! And then I put on a white suit, and once that's done, it's like there's a sea of people in white, waiting for their name to be called.

"You're always in front of me, and a lot of the time I want to tap you on the shoulder, but I'm scared to. Sometimes I'm walking around a spaceship doing stuff, or going to classes. After that it usually gets fuzzy."

"This is insane," Michael muttered. Tatiana went silent too at the gravity of their coincidental dreams.

"Ever since the closed set." Tatiana said. "Remember?" She added with a teensy smirk. "That's when I started having these dreams."

Michael rubbed his neck. In their music video, The Way You Make Me Feel, he had asked for only the director to be there as they were expected to share a kiss after he chased her around the closed off street.

He had eaten too many breath-mints that morning and he was sure his mouth had reeked of peppermint.

However, Tatiana had embraced him, and he had pulled her in close. Michael remembered the feel of her hair against his cheeks, and her flowery perfume under his nose. The warmth of her arms around him had been a hauntingly familiar sensation.

"You know, it's kind of funny how we both started having these dreams at the same time after that."

"I know," Michael said with a breath of laughter.

"Maybe it's a sign!" Tatiana giggled. 

To Tatiana's surprise, Michael agreed. "I have been thinking about it for some time now, but I wasn't sure how you'd react.

"I don't--usually--mix the business with my personal life, but, to be honest, I want to get to know you better." Michael felt the elevator finally descending.

Tatiana looked down with a blushing smile as the superstar gazed her direction.

"We have some free time before the promotions meeting," Tatiana spoke up after a long time. "Do you want to walk around the city a little?"

"Yes," Michael mumbled, his heart going a mile-a-minute.

---

Eo entered a birth code for Bog in lieu of his bio-ID to a personal study. It was a large room at the top floor of the archive gallery.

Once inside, Eo felt the warm air. The old, obsolete books had trapped the heat of the star outside the window port of the room.

The paper carried dust that sprinkled to the ground and bathed the room with an other-worldly appearance.