fake-ish :: bws

Ten

PART TWO - THE CONTRACT

v

"Oh, darling," she smiled sarcastically. "I wouldn't call it blackmail. Let's just say it's a little... push... to get you to do what I need you to do."

I just rolled my eyes, exhausted.

"Are you joking?!" Brad finally said something, perplexed.

"I'm sure you wish I was, honey, but I'm actually very well-paid to never joke about something like this," Nicole replied. Brad frowned, his mouth slightly opened in shock.

"You are seriously blackmailing me right now," I said. "I can't believe this. I just can't. This is so fucked up."

"It's just a fake relationship, man," Brad said, leaning his arms on the table. "Why is it so important that's worth blackmailing people for?!"

The strangest thing to me in that whole meeting was Olivia. She wasn't saying anything, not even a word. That wasn't like her at all. She just sat there watching everything, looking so nervous as if there was something eating her from the inside. I stared at her while she watched Brad speak, and when she caught my eye, she just discreetly shook her head, and muttered, with no sound, "give it up, it's not worth it". I frowned and tilted my head, not really understanding why she was asking me to give up on something like that.

"Can we just stop talking about blackmail, please? I don't like this word, and it's not like you have a choice anyway, so let's just move on to the next subject, which is your schedule," Nicole said.

I looked at Olivia, who just sighed and rolled her eyes, getting her phone and starting to type. Joe was unbothered through all that discussion. I didn't get him. And Brad frowned and looked at me apologetically. But if they were willing to blackmail me, they sure wouldn't mind blackmailing him too, right? It was just a matter of time. So there was nothing he needed to be sorry for.

"So what about this precious schedule then? Let's get this over with already," I said.

Nicole nodded and got up. From a little desk with drawers behind her, she produced a plastic bag filled with papers. She gave one to each of us, and there it was. Our schedule. That piece of paper was how my life would look like for the next year. Yay.

So we talked about that for the next hour. Apparently, Nicole was only able to come up with ideas for the next 3 months, which obviously pissed me off, cause she was making us sign to a one-year contract using the excuse that it'd work better with the schedule, when she didn't even have a schedule for those 12 months. But I just kept shut, cause I was tired of arguing. 

The 3 months would consist basically of us being seen together once or twice a week, talking about each other in interviews, going on dates and parties and stuff like that. Boring as hell. Brad would sure have lots of interviews to go to, seeing that they'd just released a single so they needed to promote, but I was still (supposed to be) on holidays for another week, so I had no idea what Olivia was planning for me. 

"Your main storyline is gonna be that you met through Laura," Nicole then said.

"Laura who?" I frowned.

"Laura Coleman." Laura! I knew her. She was a model and we'd worked together a few times, becoming actually quite good friends. 

Joe started coughing so hard I thought he was choking. 

"Laura Coleman?" he repeated, once he managed to breath right. "As in... my girlfriend, Laura Coleman?!" Wait, so he was the Joe? Laura always told me about him! 

"Well, yes," Nicole replied.

"No way. Leave her out of this," he said. 

"Joe," Nicole sighed. "They need to have a story of how they met. Laura is their only connection. It makes sense. She's not even gonna be involved in this, it's just her name."

"I still don't like it." 

"Oh, god," Nicole snapped, rolling her eyes. "What in the living hell makes you all think I care about what you like or dislike?! In case it's not clear yet: I don't care. You do as I say and that's it. Your personal preferences don't matter here."

That seemed to have shut everyone up. 

"Good. You understand," she continued. "So. Saturday. That's when you meet. This party that's on the schedule it's gonna be held by Julius Bey, the photographer. I'm sure you've already been invited, Victoria?" she said, quizzically, and I just nodded in agreement. "Great. So, Joe, you have a little job to do here. It's nothing really, you just have to make sure that Laura runs into Victoria during the party and introduces her to you and Brad and whoever else you decide to bring to the event. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

"Alright then. So the last thing is: you're gonna have to break up with your boyfriend, Victoria," Nicole added. Just like always, she sounded like this was the most normal thing in the world. I rolled my eyes.

"Why?" 

"Because he can't know?!" she said.

"Okay but Brad's friends will know. Why can't Lucas? It's a fake relationship anyway, we can just fake break up as well."

"Just break up with him, Victoria. It's easier for everybody, and it's safer." 

I snorted, looking at Olivia. She wasn't helping me at all today. What was her problem?! I thought we were together on this.

"You just say it's easy cause it's not you that has to come up with an absurd idea to break up a 3-year relationship that's going just fine."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're an actress after all, aren't you?!" she smirked.

Oh, god, how much I hated that woman.

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