Only On Camera | Paige Bueckers GirlxGirl

9

The restaurant Paige had chosen was tucked away in a quiet corner of the city, far from their usual paparazzi-friendly haunts. Camilla sat in her car for a moment, watching through the window as Paige fidgeted with her water glass at a secluded booth. No cameras, no audience – just them and all their unspoken words.

Taking a deep breath, Camilla stepped out of her car. The night air was cool against her skin, a welcome contrast to the warmth that had crept into her cheeks when she'd read Paige's text again: *Time to stop pretending we're just pretending.*

The hostess recognized her immediately, but professionally kept her excitement in check as she led Camilla to the booth. Paige stood up when she approached – a gesture that shouldn't have made Camilla's heart flutter, but did anyway.

"You came," Paige said softly, relief evident in her voice.

"I said I would." Camilla slid into the booth, noticing how Paige had chosen a spot that faced away from the other diners. "Though I have to admit, this is different from your usual style. No photographers hiding in the bushes?"

Paige winced. "I deserve that. But no, no photographers. I meant what I said – just us."

A server appeared with menus and wine recommendations, giving them a moment to settle into the strange intimacy of being alone together without an agenda. When they were alone again, Paige leaned forward, her expression serious.

"Before we talk about anything else, I need you to know something. What happened at the bar with Azzi – you were right. I should have defended you. Not just because of our arrangement, but because..." She paused, searching for words. "Because you matter to me. More than I expected."

Camilla's hand tightened around her water glass. "Paige—"

"Let me finish, please? I've been doing a lot of thinking. About us, about this whole situation. When Ayanna first proposed this PR relationship, I thought it would be easy. Fun, even. Just another game to play for the cameras."

"Wasn't that the point?" Camilla asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "A mutually beneficial arrangement?"

"Maybe at first." Paige's fingers drummed nervously on the table. "But something changed. I find myself doing things, saying things, feeling things that aren't part of the script. When I saw those comments today, people questioning us, questioning you... it made me angry. Not because it might damage our PR strategy, but because they were hurting you."

The server returned to take their orders, and Camilla used the interruption to gather her thoughts. When they were alone again, she spoke carefully.

"What are you saying, Paige? Because if this is just another performance—"

"It's not." Paige reached across the table, her hand stopping just short of Camilla's. "That's what I'm trying to tell you. ComplexCon, your birthday – I want to do something real. Something that isn't just for the cameras or the headlines."

"You mean the big gesture Ayanna wants?"

"No, I mean the gesture I want to make. Ayanna doesn't know what I'm planning, and I want to keep it that way."

Camilla raised an eyebrow. "That's not like you. You usually run everything by the PR team."

"Maybe I'm tired of letting other people script my life." Paige's voice was quiet but intense. "Maybe I want something that's just ours."

The weight of possibility in those words made Camilla's chest tight. "This is dangerous territory, Paige. If we blur these lines—"

"The lines are already blurred." Paige finally bridged the gap between their hands, her fingers brushing Camilla's. "Tell me you don't feel it too."

Before Camilla could respond, her phone buzzed with a text. Then Paige's did. Then both their phones started lighting up with notifications.

"What now?" Camilla muttered, checking her screen. Her stomach dropped as she read the breaking news alert.

EXCLUSIVE: Inside sources reveal truth behind Paige Bueckers and Camilla Santos relationship. Full expose dropping tomorrow morning.

"Shit," Paige breathed, reading the same alert. "Camilla, I—"

"Don't." Camilla pulled her hand back, her mind racing. "We need to call Ayanna."

But before either of them could dial, Ayanna was calling them. Her voice was tense when they answered on speaker.

"Tell me you two are somewhere private."

"We're at dinner," Paige said. "What's going on? Who leaked—"

"Someone from the original PR meeting," Ayanna cut in. "They're shopping the whole story – the contract, the staged photos, everything. It hits tomorrow at 9 AM."

Camilla felt the room spin slightly. "What do we do?"

"You have two options," Ayanna said grimly. "We can try to get ahead of it, release a statement tonight admitting everything. Or..."

"Or what?" Paige demanded.

"Or we make ComplexCon so spectacular, so convincing, that when this story drops, no one believes it. But it would have to be big. Really big. The kind of genuine, public declaration that no one could fake."

Camilla looked at Paige across the table, seeing her own panic reflected back. But there was something else in Paige's expression – determination, maybe even hope.

"What if..." Paige started slowly, "what if we told the truth? Not their version, but ours?"

"What do you mean?" Camilla asked.

"Yes, this started as a PR arrangement. But that's not what it is anymore, is it? At least... not for me."

The restaurant continued buzzing around them, other diners oblivious to the drama unfolding in their quiet corner. Camilla's phone kept lighting up with messages – from Angel, from her agent, from reporters seeking comment. But all she could focus on was Paige's face, open and vulnerable in a way she'd never seen before.

"Ayanna," Paige said, not breaking eye contact with Camilla, "what if my ComplexCon surprise could do both? Tell the truth and prove it's real?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "You have something in mind?"

"Yes. But I'm going to need your help. And..." Paige swallowed hard. "And I need to know if Camilla trusts me enough to let me try."

The question hung in the air between them, heavy with implications. Their carefully constructed world was crumbling, but maybe that's what needed to happen. Maybe they needed to break down the walls between real and pretend to find out what was waiting on the other side.

Camilla looked at their phones, still buzzing with the approaching storm. Then at Paige, who was watching her with a mixture of fear and hope. Finally, at her own hands, steady despite everything.

"Okay," she said quietly. "Show me what's real."

Ayanna started outlining crisis management strategies, but Camilla was barely listening. All she could think about was the way Paige's face had lit up at her words, and how for the first time since this whole thing started, she wasn't acting at all.

The countdown to ComplexCon – and the truth – had begun.