The Couple Experiment

The Propositon

Scott continued, "You and Jared will get married." "What?!" "Save questions until the end, please." Ramsey looked over at Jared who was grinning. "Okay." She looked at Taylor, not sure what to think. "Jared will get you a ring and go with you to the deportation office where you will convince them that you are engaged. You must also move in here with him." Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "I know this is a lot, Ramsey, but that's only half of it."

"Now, as for your public image. You will show the world that the two of you are in a budding romance." Jared butted in, "We'll start out slow, though. You'll be seen hanging out with me and a group of friends, then gradually, we'll be seen with fewer friends then it'll just be us." "That way it'll be believable." Scott elaborated, "Meanwhile, the public will invest in your relationship, therefore they will go see this amazing film that two will be in. Conveniently, it will be released just before awards season in 2019." Scott winked at her.

Ramsey's mind was reeling. Jared walked over to her and put his hands on her arms. "Listen, this is a lot, I know that, but this couldn't be more perfect. I have a reputation as a player. But being seen consistently with you will make people believe I'm a one-woman-man and maybe people will hate me less. As for you, by being with me, you'll get more attention, which you deserve. You're young, I'm older and more experienced." "It's winning all around, Ramsey." Scott concluded.

"Wow." That's all she could muster. Jared spoke again, "Just think about it for a couple of days. We'll talk again when you're ready." "Oh, by the way dear, we're scheduled to film Lethal Desire within the next two to three weeks. That is if you're still here, of course, if not, unfortunately we'll have to find someone last minute." Scott announced.  "Okay. I want nothing more than to be there to shoot. Thanks, you guys. I have a lot to think about." Ramsey and Taylor got back outside. "I think you need to go for it." Ramsey stared at Taylor waiting for her to say more. "Come on, like he said, it's perfect. You get to stay in the U.S. and make the movie. Plus you get to live with him! If you don't want to pretend to be married to him, I will!" Ramsey laughed and said, "I don't even know him!" "Well he doesn't have any obvious signs of psychosis." The two women laughed then Ramsey felt her purse vibrate.

She looked at her phone, "Liam." "Oh, God tell him to go get fucked." "I'm not gonna do that." She said before looking at her phone. "He wants me to meet him at home to talk." "He waited a whole day to try to make up with you? What a gentleman." Taylor rolled her eyes. "I'll just go talk to him and get more of my stuff to stay at your place." Taylor sighed, "Okay."

The girls went back to Taylor's so Ramsey could get her car and then she drove back to the apartment she shared with Liam.  She entered the apartment, to her surprise, Liam was sitting in the kitchen, waiting for her. "Hey," he said, "let's talk." She set her purse down on the table and took a seat. "I'm sorry about yesterday, but I still don't think we should get married." "Do you honestly think that I'm dying to get married right now, Liam? The only reason  I said it was to be able to stay in the freaking country." "I know, I know. But it's the marriage part that I'm not ready for."

"No, Liam, I understand. I should have known that it's not like you to care about anything important or to help someone else out. I'm leaving now." With that, Ramsey shot up from the table to collect more clothes from her bedroom closet. Liam followed her, "Oh, so you're just gonna leave again?!" "Yes!' she shouted at him, irritated, "I have my career and my life to think about. And that doesn't include you at the moment, you fucking asshole. It's so much more than just you." She picked up her clothes and shoved passed him. 

She returned to Taylor's apartment, and spent some time alone. She took a couple of hours to weigh out pros and cons of Jared and Scott's offer. The pros were plentiful, but the cons were the scariness of newfound fame and not knowing Jared hardly at all. The terms included living with him, which would be a necessity to get a green card. How could she live with someone she didn't know anything about?  When she woke up the next morning, she decided to text Scott and ask for Jared's phone number. After receiving the digits, she called him. There was no answer, so she left him a voicemail:

"Hey, it's Ramsey. Can we get together soon and talk, like maybe get to know each other a tiny bit? I'm just freaking out right now. I need a better understanding of who you are. Okay, bye." Jared called her back a few minutes later. "Hey, sorry, I was in my studio. What are you doing right now?"

Ramsey met Jared at his house again. He came outside as she arrived. "Let's go for a drive." She got into a black SUV with him and he drove off. "So let's not talk about the offer or the movie or your shithead boyfriend. Strictly just getting to know each other, okay?" Jared said. "Yeah, that sounds good." "You start. Tell me about yourself." "Well, I moved to the states to pursue acting. It's been about ten years or so and I haven't gotten very far." "Wait a minute, I swear I've seen you in a movie before. With Jennifer Aniston, right?" "Yeah, that was cool, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, it wasn't like it was great, but it was entertaining. It got some attention. I think you should consider yourself lucky, most people struggle for years and still don't get that."

"Not like you. And you're a rock star half the time." Ramsey replied. "Listen, I didn't get any major attention in the film industry until I was in my 40s, and I had to become a woman to get it." They both laughed at his expense. "Dallas Buyers Club was a beautiful performance, by the way. Very inspiring." "Well thank you. What else have you done?" "Just small parts in different tv shows that I don't even care to watch. I've done more auditions than anything." "No wonder your were so good the other day." "Yeah, but there's always someone better." He laughed, "Not this time, Burton, I told everyone that I didn't want anyone else but you. You were her, that's all there is to it." She felt her face getting hot and she grinned widely. It wasn't everyday that someone says something like that to her.