Celebrity

The Newest PR Relationship

I take a deep breath and exhale. I just got my first interview done, and I panicked and said Emilia is my girlfriend. She must be pissed about it. I stand by the food table, trying to get some food, then Bruce walks up to me. "You did a good job, but never let that happen again," he said, then just walks away.

How did I get into this situation? Wait, I know how - by meeting Ava. But do I regret it? Probably not, because of her. I'm getting educated in one of the biggest countries, and I'll forever be grateful.

"You're not leaving?" a familiar voice says from behind me. I turn to see it's Ava. "I could say the same for you," I reply. She chuckles. "I thought I should stick around," Ava says. She looks at me for a while. "You didn't seem pleased after the interview," she says softly.

"It's how nervous I was. I might have embarrassed myself," I say. She comes closer and puts her hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it," Ava says, then she walks past me, leaving me alone. I lied to her about what was bothering me. What's truly bothering me is what Emilia will tell me tomorrow when I'm at school. After I take a gulp of orange juice, I decide to call it a day.

***

The following morning, I wake up bright and early, as I'm going to be in for it. I haven't seen Emilia since my return, but I know I'm seeing her today. I get my bag and walk downstairs. To my surprise, I see Max by the gate. I haven't seen him since he got angry at me. I walk up to him and say, "I'm sorry." His serious expression softens. "It's okay. It must be a lot for you to handle, and I'm sorry for escalating it." He pauses, then continues, "But I need you to be more honest with me." I nod at that. He then cracks a smile and gives me a big hug. "So, are you ready for Emilia today?" Max asks. "Can you ever be ready?" I reply.

A few minutes of walking, and we're at the Harvard campus. As I am walking in, I see so many eyes on me. Even though my interview on the Mason Rutherford show saved Ava's image, it's certainly brought unwanted attention to myself. But it's at least less hard to walk when I'm with Max by my side. I escort Max to his engineering class. I walk to my class until suddenly I'm pulled into a dark room and pushed onto a wall, which makes a loud thud sound. "You have some nerve," the person holding me says. It's a female voice. She lets go of me, and suddenly the lights go on, which burns my eyes. When my eyes finally get used to the light, I take a moment to look around the room. It's a lecture room with desks and very thick curtains covering the windows. Then I see Emilia right in front of me. Her hair has grown since the last time I saw her; it's now touching her shoulders. When I see her facial expression, it's an angry one - a very angry one.

She sits on one of the desks, the first desk. "Do I look like your girlfriend to you?" Emilia says aggressively. "I'm sorry. I panicked," I try pleading my case. "So, I'm supposed to act like your girlfriend now?" Emilia asks, which is a good question, one that I haven't really thought about. "I don't know," I reply. She gets off the desk. "I can't believe this is happening," Emilia says whilst shaking her head. My phone suddenly starts ringing, which interrupts the conversation. I check it to see it's Bruce. He tells me to come to the office. I tell Emilia that I have to go. She's adamant about not letting me leave, but ultimately lets me go.

I book a cab to get me to the office. When I'm there, I go into Bruce's office. "Hi Thomas," Bruce says with a smirk on his face. "You called me in?" I ask. It's weird that he calls me alone. "Yes, I did. We're here to discuss your interview." My interview? That's a weird topic. Wouldn't it be better if Ava was here as well? What does he want? He continues, "You see, a lot of people really liked you, and want to see this mysterious Emilia. So, can you call her to discuss some terms?"

"What terms?" I ask. "For you to become the next celebrity couple," Bruce says with outstretched arms. The next big couple? I'm not talented in anything for me to be in a celebrity relationship. I'm not even a celebrity. "I'm not a celebrity," I say with curiosity. He just smiles and says, "You're not, but you're trending. So, I'm just taking an opportunity."

"Trending? It was just one interview." "Right now, you were seen with a girl leaving a room at separate times when there was no one else in the room," Bruce says. Where do these people take their pictures from? My situation with Emilia has been misinterpreted as us doing it. "And what if I say no?" I confidently say, because he's not the guy who employed me, even if it's fake. "I know you're not a real assistant. You don't have the credentials for that job. You're only here for school, and that's because Ava is paying for you. I could send you back to Africa, or you can bring this Emilia - if that's the girl's real name." He's already caught me. How does Ava know this? "I... don't think she will be willing to do this," I manage to get out shakily.

Bruce gets up from his chair. "Make her. You have two days, or you pack your bags." I'm in trouble. How am I going to convince her to do this, especially earlier? She seems like she didn't want this celebrity life. He takes his leave, and I'm left in his office alone. My phone sounds again. It's a text from Emilia. She says she wants to meet me by some restaurant. After a few minutes past, I find the restaurant. It's called Un posto bellissimo. She's sitting outside under an umbrella,which the restaurant has around before the entrance. Emilia's now wearing a bucket hat. I sit on the seat across from her. "You've seen it," Emilia says. She sighs. "I didn't want this too. It was a mistake. Why can't you understand that!" I shout. She's startled by my sudden aggressiveness. "Okay, fine. I understand," Emilia says.

"What's wrong? It seems you're taking out your anger on me," she says, her look of concern a look I thought I would never see on Emilia. "I just got told if I don't do something, someone is going to strip away everything I have here." She doesn't respond to that; she seems to be contemplating something. Then she lets out a sigh and says, "Let's go." I look at her with confusion. She realizes I'm confused. "Let me take you somewhere you need it." I agree to it, and she calls a taxi, and we're off.

We arrive at a place in an alley where there's a metallic door. She knocks on the door, and someone opens up and lets us in. We enter a place filled with people dancing and bright lights everywhere. They're playing some very aggressive rock music, and it doesn't take long to smell the alcohol and weed mixed in the air. We walk over to the counter, where there's a man by the counter mixing drinks. Emilia orders some beers.

"What is this place?" I say, trying to be louder than the music being played. "This is the most hyped place I know," she replies. The guy returns with two beers. "I don't drink. Remember the last time I did it," I tell her. She just smiles. "You weren't with me that day, so you'll be fine." I take a sip, and I look over at Emilia, who isn't pleased with it, so I take a huge gulp. She then follows suit. We take in a few shots till Emilia grabs my hand and pulls me to the dance floor.

When I'm on my feet, the world looks and feels woozy. Emilia and I dance for a few minutes until Emilia gets tired and wants to leave. When we walk out, it's dark outside, which surprises me because I thought it was still afternoon. I guess we were in there longer than expected.

The next place Emilia takes me is bowling. I manage to clear out the white things a few times. I don't know what they're called, while Emilia struggled one time; she almost drops the bowling ball on her feet. But we just laugh it off to catch our breath.

We go by a park and sit by a bench, which is in front of a fountain. We sit at a distance from each other. "This has been the most reckless day ever," I say. "You haven't seen nothing yet," she says with a slight chuckle.

"Why did you do this?" I ask. "Do what?" "This, like the whole day," I say. "I've realized that I've been hard on you since you arrived at Harvard, and this whole interview thing as well," Emilia says. "Why have you been hard on me?" "I have a younger brother who's about your age, but he owns businesses, and he's rich. And my mom and dad love him more than me. It just infuriates me, so that's why I've been treating underclassmen harsher."

There's a silence after she says the words. I move closer to her, close enough for our shoulders to touch. She's surprised by this action but doesn't refuse it. "You'll be successful, trust me," I tell her. She looks at me. "How?" she asks. "I don't know, but you will." A breeze passes, which makes the night colder. I didn't carry any jacket, and neither did she. So, I snuggle up with her to try to keep ourselves warm. I don't know whether it's the moonlight or whether I'm a bit tipsy, but she looks even more beautiful than before. She catches me staring at her, but she doesn't look away either. I gently move the strands of hair that have fallen onto her face. Before I noticed, she kissed me.