fake-ish :: bws

Six

PART TWO - THE CONTRACT

v

I was late. Shocker. It was 09:26 am and the meeting was at 09:30. Olivia was picking me up, obviously to make sure I wouldn't arrive late, but she wasn't there yet, which was odd. She was one of those people who are always early.

Considering I wasn't, apparently, that late, I decided to grab a coffee at the cafe next to my apartment. It was 9:30 in the morning after all. I deserved it. As soon I put my foot inside the place, my phone started ringing. Olivia, for sure. Always on perfect timing.

"Hello," I groaned. Too early, not enough caffeine.

"Are you late yet?!" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am ready and already buying my coffee. You're the one late here today," I stated.

"Oh, I'm not late. Just hurry up," and hung up. Always objective.

The good thing about that specific cafe: never busy. There was literally not one time that I'd had to wait in the queue. Also, the coffee was simply the best.

I saw Olivia's car as soon as I walked through the door. I hopped into her car, now a little more cheerful as I felt the coffee get to my blood. I closed the door and put the seatbelt on.

"Goooood morning," I said, smiling, sipping my drink.

"I see you've already had enough caffeine to be in a good mood," she nodded. "Let's get going then."

"So, how come I'm not late?! I left the house literally 9:30." 

"Well, the meeting's actually at 10," Olivia said, smirking and looking at me with the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, so you lied to me," I replied, raising my eyebrows playfully.

"C'mon, sweetie, it was just an innocent little white lie. Don't be offended," she shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever," I rolled my eyes dramatically. "Anyway, what's the agenda for today's meeting?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest," she sighed. "Nicole's insisting on letting me in the dark and it's kinda bothering me, cause I like to be prepared, you know. But she's probably gonna explain what the contract's about and what you'll have to do and how your schedule will work," she nodded, as we stopped at a red light. 

"You know what I don't understand?" I asked. "It's what they want from me. I mean, how did they come up with this idea? Why me and why Brad and what does this relationship bring of positive for them? Bruce surely doesn't need my help for anything, he's already the most influent and powerful person in the industry. What could he possibly gain from me being in a relationship? I mean, Brad isn't even known. I think it'd be easier to understand if he was a super famous guy, I don't know, like one of the One Direction boys or someone like Leo DiCaprio," I chuckled. Yeah, I wish I could even see Leonardo DiCaprio in person. "Or even Lucas! But it just doesn't make sense, right? I don't get it."

"I was thinking about that too last night," she said. "And, in my opinion, based off only on my personal speculations, I think he wants to just, like, give a boost in your popularity, get everyone talking about you and spreading rumours, you know? And then, just drop the bomb that he's your birth father. Cause I'm 100% sure that he will reveal that anytime soon."

"But again, what me being his daughter adds to his professional or personal life?! I'm nobody compared to him! That's where I'm struggling to understand. I mean, sure, having a daughter no one knows about, wow, that's something people will talk about for ages! And yeah, he'll be on the media a lot for that, right? But he is always in the media already! He's Bruce Patterson for Christ's sake. Are you following?" 

I haven't had much sleep last night thinking about that. Not one thing made sense to me. If having a fake relationship was Olivia's or Joe's idea, ok, I'd understand. But Nicole's? No. How could a fake relationship between two teens reflect back to Bruce's career?   

"Yes, sweetie. I understand what you're saying. But you're forgetting something important here: guys like him, they don't need a good reason to try and be in the spotlight all the time. He's smart and he has a very successful business. He is a businessman above all. And so his mind only thinks about how to become more successful or famous or rich. You're probably just a scapegoat. Boost your popularity, get everyone talking about you and feeling like they know you, drop the bomb, he's your father, everyone goes insane, etc etc etc. He might even have a project of some sort and is just using you to get attention. The focus here is not your relationship with Brad, is your relationship with him. The thing with The Vamps is just a way to get there," she explained.

"So, it's true then," I sighed, finishing my coffee.

"What? Oh, look we're here." 

"He doesn't care about me at all. Not that I thought he did, though. After all, he did leave me when I was a baby and didn't return for 18 years. But this whole thing... it's just pretending. He's using me. He's destroying my life for his own profit," I breathed heavily, unbuckling my seatbelt.

Olivia parked the car, took off her seatbelt and turned to me, taking my hand.

"Listen, sweetie. This is all speculation. We don't know for sure what his intentions are. He could be really being genuine about you and trying to establish a bond between the two of you. The same way he could really just be using you. We don't know, that's the thing," she looked deeply into my eyes. I bit my lower lip, looking away from her. "And you don't have to act like you don't care all the time," she said in a soft tone, gently stroking my hand. "No one expects you to be hard as a rock. I know I don't. You have feelings and you deserve to be respected for them. I know how much you never wanted to meet your biological father, but the fact that now you do and that he's here - it's obviously going to mess with your head," I couldn't stare at her in the eyes, cause I was trying too hard not to cry. She was right, but something inside me just didn't accept being vulnerable in front of everyone. "You have the right to be upset," she put her other hand under my chin and lifted my face up. "Look at me, Vic," I could feel the tears burning my eyes with the effort to not let them drop. There was a knot in my throat so huge I could barely swallow. "Hey. Don't cry," she held my face with her smooth hand. "Listen very carefully. You are not alone. We're in this together. I got you and I always will. Okay? I'm always thinking about what's best for you and you can count on me for anything. We are together. Yeah?" she smiled, with that look on her face that seemed like she could see my soul.

I couldn't speak so I just nodded, sniffing and wiping away the stubborn tears that insisted on falling, chuckling lightly.

"Come here, gimme a hug," she leant closer to me, passing her arms around my back and resting my head on her shoulder.

"Better?" she asked, after a couple minutes, looking at the time on her phone. I nodded, looking at myself in my tiny mirror while fixing my makeup. I cleared my throat and sniffed one more time.

"Much better. You're a true angel, Olivia. I honestly don't know what I would do without you. Thank you for everything," I squeezed her hand.

"That's what family's for, right?" she smiled sincerely. "Now. We gotta go cause we're almost late."

"Do I look like I've been crying?" I looked in the mirror once again.

"You're fine. Let's go."

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