Limelight Love Story

1. New Friends

It was unfortunate that Lucy Chen could not wear her engagement ring from the man she loves, but he asked that they keep their relationship a secret, and she understood. As an internationally known pop star, cameras, fans, and attention always followed her, and it made her fiancée, Emmett Lang, uncomfortable. She saw the ring where it was stowed in her jewelry box and closed the lid to pay attention to her best friend and publicist, Tamara Collins.

"Before this tour starts, we have to time out the announcement of your engagement," Tamara began.

"No, we're not telling anyone we're engaged. Lucy and I agreed we'll get married secretly, and then we can release a statement. I want to wait until the last possible second to be in the limelight," Emmett insisted. "I thought that's what we agreed to. Right, Lu?"

"Yeah, of course. I get it, and I already told Tamara we'll tease that I'm getting married and when but not to who, and then we'll announce that we got married after it happens when I'm performing in New York City," Lucy recalled the plan she had been over a hundred times and was frustrated that Tamara was showing her lack of support.

"Okay, good. If this is done, my shift starts soon. I've got lives to save. Have fun on your tour," Emmett said and kissed Lucy's cheek.

"Aren't you coming by after work to say goodbye? I leave tonight, and we won't see each other for at least a month with my tour date schedule."

"I can't. I'm sorry, I promised some friends we'd go out tonight."

"You'd rather go out and drink with your friends then see me off before I go on tour?"

"Come on, Lu, I'll see you in like six weeks. It's fine. I really can't get into this right now. I gotta go," Emmett gave Tamara a curt nod and offered a last little smile to Lucy before he left her house.

"Okay, why are you marrying him?" Tamara asked once Emmett had left.

"I love him, and he loves me," Lucy answered as if it was simple.

"You love him, and he tolerates you."

"No, I'm just...hard to love. My career is difficult for people to handle, which is why Emmett has wanted everything between us to be a secret, but he's only willing to put up with all the sneaking around because he loves me."

"And, because he likes going out with celebrities. He doesn't want to be famous, but he loves rubbing elbows with them and telling his buddies all the stories afterwards."

"Fame isn't easy, Tamara. He's been so patient with me. So many before him haven't stayed this long or wanted to marry me. My career seems to have too many strings."

"Or, you just haven't found someone that's just as cool about being in the public eye as you are."

"No one's disapproval is going to stop me. I've dreamed of getting married ever since I can remember, and it's finally happening. It may not be a fairy tale, but I never needed that, you know. I just want to be happy."

"I hope Emmett makes you happy, but there's still time to back out of the wedding. Hell, I'll even be the getaway driver if you don't want to make it down the aisle."

Lucy rolled her eyes and poured herself some more tea. "I know you're looking out for me, so I'm just going to say I appreciate that you're like a sister to me. Okay, we should probably do some last minute packing before we leave tonight."

"This international tour is gonna be AWESOME!" Tamara grinned.

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Every night of the first month of the tour had been electrifying for Lucy as she performed in sold out arenas filled with her beloved fans. She was exhausted between shows, but she still had to go on a morning talk show and tease her upcoming nuptials to a mystery man. It was the most Lucy could share with her fans, and she wanted to tell them that after years of heartbreak and the media's obsession with her dating life, she had finally found someone to settle down with. Hopefully, it would mean she could stop being painted as "flaky", or "promiscuous", or "non committal", and all the other colorful words the media used when describing her based on her romantic history. It was nice that those comments would be coming to an end.