Hired | b.w.s

Seventeen

"Quick hold my hand." I whisper to him as I spot two suspicious people outside of the small cafe we're currently sat in, purposefully displaying ourselves in the window seat.

He obliges and takes my hand in his, softly lacing his fingers into mine and resting our hands on the table as we talk to each other. My chest feels fuzzy for a second and I frown at my strange reaction to his touch, but I shake it off when I remember where I am.

"Have you always wanted to act?" Brad asks me out of nowhere. Is he suddenly taking an interest in me now?

"Uh well, when I was really little I wanted to be a dancer and then I went through a whole phase where I wanted to be an author." I answer him with a light laugh. "Have you always wanted to sing?"

"Ever since I can remember." He nods with a soft smile.

"It must be amazing to actually achieve your dream." I didn't mean to actually say that out loud but this conversation is going surprisingly well so far.

"It's a weird feeling. Like, I feel accomplished but then bigger dreams replace the smaller ones. It never ends." He shrugs with a little smile. "I can tell you'll do well though, I wouldn't doubt yourself."

I look up to him with shock. He actually complimented me? I think that was a compliment...unless I'm hearing things.

"It's a hard business to get into, there's just so much rejection. Hopefully, this will get me some sort of recognition." I smile. My eyes drift to our joined hands for a second but quickly make their way back to his eyes.

"It will, I can tell." He says calmly whilst drinking from his coffee, there's something familiar about his voice when it's this smooth but I can't place it. I notice his thumb trace a light circle on my hand but he instantly stops as soon as he realises what he's doing.

Brad's phone dings in his pocket, so he releases my hand to get it out. I'm sort of thankful because I am acting strange today and I don't like it.

"Ah fuck, it's Joe. He says its urgent, we need to go." He stands up from the table and puts some money from his wallet onto the top.

"What are you doing?" I ask him with raised eyebrows.

"Paying?" He responds with a confused look.

"No you're not. I had coffee too, I need to pay at least half."

"I'm paying and we're leaving." He orders and walks towards the door. "Come on, we need to go."

"Next time, I'm paying." I argue, but leave the cafe whilst holding his hand for the cameras.

The flashes don't seem to be as bright as before, which is a good sign because it means I'm getting used to it. We get into the car and the driver takes us to the big building where we always meet. Me and Brad hold hands getting into the building for the one or two people outside and make our way up to the meeting room. Just as we're about to walk into the room, I realise that we're still holding hands and I immediately take mine out of his.

"Oh, sorry." Brad mumbles as he pushes open the door to the meeting room.

"It's fine." I shrug and follow him inside.

"Sit down, guys." Joe says as soon as he sees us, seeming extremely stressed. His hair is a mess and his eyes seem tired, this poor guy.

"What's up?" Brad asks his manager as he takes a seat next to me. It's the first time we've sat next to each other in this room.

I notice James and Sylvia sitting in the room across the table from us, I wonder how they're getting along.

"We've got a problem." Joe rubs his hand over his face. "Some fans found some old pictures of you guys at a party and they've manipulated them so that you guys seem to be...kissing, I don't know. Basically, we're in deep shit." He sighs and runs his hand through his hair.

"Fuck sake. What are we going to do?" James asks.

My stomach buzzes with nerves at the thought of what is going to be asked of me.

"We need you guys to crank up the relationship. You need to be extra coupley and Alexa and Brad, I'm sorry but we need you to kiss in front of paparazzi." Joe informs us with an apologetic expression and my stomach drops.

I have to kiss him?

"Why us?" Brad pipes up and I'm not sure whether to be offended at the sour expression on his face or not.

"Because Alexa is an actor and she has experience with platonically kissing someone." Joe scowls at Brad.

It's true, I had to practice an actors kiss at school, so it's not my first time. But there's something about kissing Brad that makes my stomach feel weird.

"What about James and Sylvia?" Brad argues.

"You guys need to be more touchy and cute in public, you need to go on more dates and post shit online. Just make it believable." Joe continues. "Please guys, we need you to do this."

"Fine." Brad and James mumble together.

I don't speak. Of course he's right, I do have experience with this and an actors kiss means nothing. But it feels strange to be kissing Brad, it feels as though there's some sort of built up tension between us that makes this mean something. But it doesn't.