The Agreement | Raura

Chapter 30: The Deal

"No, wait. I didn't mean that. Don't leave." He pleads, reaching out to grab my upper arm.

I jerk out of his grasp before he can fully latch on, "Yeah, you did mean that. You meant every word. And you're right."

"No, no. I'm not right. I'm wrong. Everything I said was out of anger. You have to believe me." He says, his voice sounding like he's on the verge of tears.

I shake my head in disbelief, "Are you serious right now? You can't just say something like that and then immediately try to take it back. It doesn't work that way."

"I'm sorry, babe. I really am. If you're going to believe anything, believe that." He says as the first tear makes its way down his face.

I force myself to hold the tears in as I make a bee line for the door. I open the door and step out only turning my head back for a moment to say my final departing words.

"I'm not your babe."

And then I leave the scene, slamming the door behind me.

I don't look back once.

***********************************

~3 Months Earlier~

"What?" Ross and I both exclaim, gaping at Betsy. She's sitting across from us behind her desk with a blank look on her face.

"You had a good run, kids. But the fun's over now. Time to move on." She states as the two of us stare at her in shock.

"You're joking, right? This is a trick. You're messing with us." Ross says, staring at Betsy in shock.

"Why would I be messing with you, dear? I've never joked about business matters in my life." She replies, her face still emotionless.

"You can't do this!" Ross exclaims, shooting out of his seat, his voice raising in anger, "This was your idea in the first place! It becomes real and you want it over? That's not your choice to make, Betsy."

I sit in silence as Ross' face starts to turn red. Betsy remains seated as she responds, "Ross, dear, the whole point of the fake relationship was to boost your popularity. Aiming for the Raura shippers was the perfect way to do that because the Raura fandom is humongous. The plan was that after a while, you two would simply have a mutual breakup and would remain best friends. The fans would be sad but glad you two were still close. You know this. You were never supposed to actually start a real relationship. Now, what happens if you have a terrible breakup? You may never speak to each other again at the end of all of this. A real relationship between you guys is too risky."

"I don't care about my popularity. I couldn't care less about what people think of me and my choices. If they don't like me or my decisions, that's their problem. I can't force everyone to like me all the time." Ross states, shooting Betsy a vicious glare.

"Ross." I speak softly to capture his attention. I don't want him to fight with his manager. They need to get along for the sake of his career. I definitely don't want to be the reason they always argue from now on.

At the sound of my voice, he turns to face me, the fury in his eyes softening a bit as we make eye contact.

It's almost as if he can read my thoughts. He closes his eyes, unclenches the fist that he formed shortly after he abruptly stood up, and breathes out slowly to calm himself down. Then, he turns back to face Betsy and slowly sits back down in the chair next to me.

I knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting. As soon as Betsy called Ross a few hours ago and requested to see both of us, I knew something was up. Why would Betsy want to see me? She's not my manager.