Rent - A - Boyfriend

3. The Viewers Always Shipped Kialex Anyway

Walking the corridors of Olivia's office, the only thing that kept repeating in my mind was the mantra "I can't believe I am doing this". How my mother convinced me into finally agreeing, I have no idea. She came into my room last night and talked to me about how it would benefit my career and it got messy. Torn pillows, mascara tainted cheeks and a few scoops of ice cream later, she managed to get me to agree meeting with my publicist and Kian tomorrow morning and here I was, walking en route to hell.

"Claire, hi," Olivia said in a cheery voice the moment we stepped in the meeting room. She had way too happy of a persona to fit a normal publicist because those I usually see are grumpy and moody. Maybe it's just that I'm a pleasure to work with. I'm kidding.

"You found the perfect person to play Alexis' fake boyfriend. A youtuber is perfect, along the lines of famous but not really out there yet. I love the idea and Kian here is an extremely nice boy." Boy? Ha! That guy is bordering on six foot two. That's an entire feet more that I ever will be.

She gestured to the head of the table where Kian was sitting. He was wearing a simple light blue shirt with black skinny jeans. His hair was tucked nicely into a grey beanie. Oh God. I'm not particularly religious but ever since I saw him yesterday, it seems to be all I'm saying.

The moment his eyes looked up from his phone and landed on me, I looked away and hurried to find a seat. Awkwardly and slowly, I dragged the chair out and plopped into it, leaning my entire body on the table. After crying the entire night last night and skipping breakfast, any energy I had left was drained from my body.

"Alex! Manners, sit properly." She whispered loudly to me. My face flushed red because I was pretty sure everyone from China could hear her. Sighing as loudly as I could, I straightened my posture and looked straight in front of me, at Olivia, hoping I would be able to spend the entire meeting without meeting Kian's gaze.

I spent most of the meeting zoning out as Kian, Olivia and my mom started discussing about the plan and how it would work. Inside my head, I was momentarily listing the pro's and con's of this idea.

Pros: 1) No more stupid interview questions. No more 'why don't you have a boyfriend Alex?', 'are you a lesbian?', 'you've never had a boyfriend before?' 2) It would make me more popular and well known because there would be stories about it and my next album night sell better and 3) More tickets sold during tour.

Cons: 1) Kian 2) Kian and 3) Kian.

"So Al, what do you think about this?'' Kian asked. I turned my head to the right to face him. So much for my 'not looking at him' plan. His eyes were looking straight at me and it took all in me not to fall into his spell.

"Uh, what?" I asked back.

"Told you she was not listening the whole time." He replied, a smirk plastered on his face.

"I know you're not a big fan of this idea but could you at least try to participate Alexis. We talked about this last night." My mother glared at me and I would be lying if I said it wasn't scary. Meekly, I nodded my head.

"So how is this going to work?" I asked, trying my best to put some input into this meeting because after all, it is affecting my life.

"She speaks." Olivia gasps, her voice dripping with sarcasm as I rolled my eyes. I swear, her character does not fit her job at all. "Okay. Let's get down to business."

"To defeat the huns." Kian continued, singing the lyrics of Mulan's song 'I'll Make A Man Out Of You'. I tried my best to stifle a laugh because it was the same thing that went through my mind. Even after spending so long away from each other, we still think the same thing.

"I'm serious. We're finally getting somewhere." Olivia retorted. "So, the basic idea is that Kian, you'd be dating Alex."

"For how long?" The question slipped out of my mouth before I could think about it.

"Six months, maybe a year." Olivia thought out loud.

"A year? As in three hundred and sixty five fudging days?"

"No need to get your panties in a twist Al, I know you are excited." Kian wiggled his eyebrows and it took all that was in me not to gag.

"Anyway, the rules are simple," Olivia said, I guess she saw the puzzled look on my face because she continued, "Yes, there are rules, to keep this professional. We even have a contract. Here."

She handed me the contract as I scanned among the words. I nearly laughed at its formality.

Contract: Fake Boyfriend

This contract outlines the rules and regulations and if any is broken, the other party reserves the right to decide how to deal with the issue.

Rules:

1) Both party is to act completely professional throughout the time span of the 6 months to 1 year. The exact time frame is still questionable but both parties should keep the estimate of one year which until then, they would pretend to be in love in front of the media.

2) During this time, both parties are not allowed to be seen with another person and the relationship should be monogamous.

3) Both parties should at least spend three to four times a week outside, for the media to see. Handholding and kissing are encouraged but sexual relationships are not.

4) In the case of where feelings do actually spark between both parties and a real relationship is to be formed, it is allowed.

I nearly choked reading the last sentence. I am pretty sure it is not possible for him to develop feelings for me and I will not harbour old feelings for him. Nope. And for the sexual relationships, they can be so damn sure that it would not happen.

"I might have a problem." Kian said, after reading the contract himself. "I sort of have a real girlfriend." I blinked a few times, hoping and praying that he didn't say that, or maybe that I heard the wrong thing.

"What? Who?" Olivia asked.

"Tasha, as in Natasha McClouds. ItsSoTasha on Youtube?" My mind started spinning as he confirmed my suspicions about still dating Natasha, the girl I thought was my best friend.

"Oh. I've watched her videos before. Nice girl." Nice girl? Ha! You are totally and completely wrong. "Are you guys official?"

By that, she meant whether the media knew they were a couple or whether all that swirled around were rumours not yet confirmed. Keeping a nonchalant face, I strained my ears, wanting to catch every single word coming out of his mouth.

"We're official."

"Oh. That would be messy then. I'm sorry but that would be a little more trouble and I don't think you are the perfect candidate to be-"

"I'll fake dump her. I'll fake dump Tasha. She'll understand, she's been wanting to do it anyway. She said it would make her videos get more views."

"That would be lovely. You don't have to dump her in real life, as long as you keep your relationship inside your house, away from the media's eyes, then it would be fine."

"Great." He said chirpily, which was weird for someone who just agreed to fake dump their real girlfriend. This is going all out of proportions. "The viewers always shipped Kialex anyway. I had no idea why but they always hated Kiasha. Right Al?" He grinned at me.

This was way before my singing career even began, before I even posted signing covers on my youtube channel. It all started when Kian suggest I became a guest on his youtube channel, SuperKian13. That video, till today, is still one of the most viewed videos of his. I guess I should be flattered, I mean, I was, but now, all I feel is bitter and nostalgic.

"Right." I replied between my gritted teeth.

"Great then." Olivia interrupted us, "Let's sign the contract." She handed both me and Kian a pen, as we took turn singing the contract.

Sighing, I placed my pen on the paper reluctantly and closed my eyes, singing it. Right there and then, I knew I signed up for the worst idea of my life.