The Pic ✓

Just Arty

I hadn't said anything for several minutes. "Hello, Artemis, are you still there?" Chris asks.

"I'm sorry. Can you run that by me one more time?"

"Will you be my girlfriend... for this thing with my PR team?"

I sigh. This was some cruel twist of fate. "Oh... umm... why me?"

"Arty, we've been friends for years. It wouldn't surprise anyone if it came out that we were dating."

"Except anyone who's actually been around us for the past 2 months." I mumble under my breath.

Unfortunately for me, Chris had no problem picking that up. "I know. And I'm sorry for my part in that."

I let out a groan. "It's not your fault Chris. I shouldn't have replied to your text the way I did. This one's on me." We sit there, dead air filling the space between us, whatever that distance might have been. "What exactly would this entail?" I ask, against my better judgment.

"Just being seen with me out in public."

"Well that's just asking too much." I joke.

"Funny. But seriously. Just us, out and about. Some light PDA. Just enough to confirm I'm seeing someone."

I nod, not that he can see me. "And how long would this charade need to be kept up?"

"They didn't say." He mumbles.

"Ok. So let me make sure I got this all figured out. You want me to be your fake girlfriend, even though not even a month ago we were having a conversation about not fucking up our friendship for something that's not guaranteed to have a happy ending?"

"The irony is not lost on me either Arty."

"If you seriously want my help, you have to actually ask me. And use my real name, not the horrible nickname you've been hellbent on calling me."

He sighs. "Artemis, goddess of the moon, will you be my fake girlfriend and help me dupe all of Hollywood?"

I smile at his dramatics. "Alright, alright. You don't have to beg."

He laughs. "You should be glad you're my best friend."

"I was thinking exactly the same thing."

"Seriously, Artemis, thank you."

"I think you know by now that there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

"Yeah, I think I got that all figured out."

"Just let me know what I need to do."

"Megan's going to be flying back with me tomorrow afternoon, after I fill in the others. Can you meet us at my house after work so we can go over everything?"

I pull my calendar out of my bag to make sure I don't have any night appointments tomorrow. I don't. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you." I say, absentmindedly before hanging up. I sit in silence for a bit before letting out a frustrated scream and scrolling through my contacts.

"Hey, what's up?" Tara asks when she answers.

"Did you know he was going to do this?" I ask her in a panic.

"I'm gonna need a little more to go on than that."

"Did you know Chris was going to ask me to do this? Be his publicity stunt?" Silence echoes on Tara's end. "Oh my gosh, you bitch! You suggested this, didn't you?"

"Because we're in the same city, and you have a spare key to my house, I'm going to refrain from answering."

"I cannot believe you did that. He must think I'm some desperate tramp."

"Actually, he's in love with you so this provided him an in." she says flatly.

"Tara, please. Can we not go over this again?"

"No we are. Why can't you allow yourself this?"

"Because he doesn't want me!" I finally let out. I take a deep breath before continuing. "We had a conversation before he left for LA and he said he didn't want to ruin what we have. But I get it. To him... to all the guys around here... I'm just Arty." I say before hanging up. It wasn't the most mature thing I'd ever done, but it was what I had to do, to protect myself from anymore hurt.