Mixed Feelings | Timothée Chalamet

7. Fights & Beers

Alyssa's POV

When I returned to the hotel that afternoon, I immediately retreated to my hotel room. I was hoping to get some sleep. I hadn't gotten much sleep on set.  I hopped onto the bed and put my headphones on. Music always helped me rest. Just as my eyelids started to droop, someone barged into my room. It was none other than Keara. This girl has way too much energy for me to handle. "Hey hey hey! Your favourite person ever is here!" she says cheerfully. "I wouldn't be too sure of that. Mostly right now." I say. "Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed" "Nope, I hardly had time to close my eyes before you came running here." I respond. "You'll thank me later. Anyways, you wanna hang?" "Ya, sure..." I answer back. "Where to?" "Follow me!" she says enthusiastically.

I grab my wallet in case I needed money and we exit the hotel. We walk along many streets. Where the hell is this girl taking me. Fifteen minutes later, we arrive in front of a small café in dowtown Toronto. We go inside. It was breathtaking. It was like those pictures you would see on Pinterest or on Tumblr. The wall on the right was made of bricks and the rest were a rustic wood. There were only a few tables, made of rustic wood and the seats were aligned with pillows. Lightbulbs were hanging from the ceilings. A variety of plants were placed around the café. How they managed to make such a small place so nice, I'll never know. We make our orders and take a seat at one of the tables at the back, near the window. "How the hell did you find this place?" I ask her, still admiring the place. "I got lost the other day and somehow ended up here" We laugh and keep talking about everything and nothing. All seemed to be going well until Keara brought up a subject that I thought she'd have gotten over.

"I know you're tired of hearing this, but I'm serious when I ask you what's going on with Timothée." she says, sincerity plastered on her face.

"Do you have to bring this up every time we hang out?" I say annoyed.

"I'm just worried for you two."

"There's nothing to worry about..." I answer, trying to end this topic.

"Yes there is. When the show releases, people will see you and Tim as an on-screen couple, and will expect you to be at least friends in real life. Some fans are even gonna ship you two in real life. What do you think the effect on them if they find out you guys hate each other?"

"It's called faking it, Keara. We're actors, aren't we?"

"But you know you won't be able to hide it forever. Someone's bound to find out eventually. Can't you at least try to befriend him?" I started to get irritated of her pleading.

"Look, I've tried but you can't force a friendship."

"But-"

"No, Keara." I say "And if Timothée is all you're going to talk about, then I'm leaving." I grab my things and head out of the café. And I go to the closest place I knew: Josh's place.

***

I end up spending hours with Josh. We talked and laughed all afternoon and I completely forgot about my fight with Keara. Suddenly, an idea pops into my mind. "Hey, do you want to go to a party my director organized tonight. I'm sure I'm allowed to bring a plus-one." I ask him. "A party with a bunch of soon-to-be famous people? I doubt I'll fit in." he answers. "Come on, please?" "If I say yes, will you shut up?" he finally gives in. "Thank you!" I say. I head out a few minutes later and tell him to meet me at the entrance of the event. I walked back to the hotel and get ready for the party. Before I know it, it was already 8 pm. I get on the elevator and head out of the hotel. I get a cab to the event. I see Josh standing near the main doors and go to greet him. We head inside and say hi to a few of the crew members. Josh and I end up in a conversation with Amanda. "Do you guys want anything to drink?" Josh asks a few minutes later. "No, thank you." says Amanda. He looks at me, waiting for my answer. I shake my head and he walks toward the bar. I take the opportunity of being alone with Amanda to pull her away from the crowds and the ears of others to ask her a question that had been nagging me all day.

"What did you mean when you said 'I know it when I see it'?" I ask her. She gives me a slight smile.

"Only time will tell sweetie. I may be wrong." I give her a confused face.

"Would you mind explaining what you say."

"Love is a very complex concept, impossible to explain. Only one who has felt it could tell" she answers.

"What do you mean lov- " before I can finish my sentence, she walks off, a slight smile plastered on her face. I go to the bar, looking for Josh. I don't see him anywhere, so I take a seat and order a beer. A tall man takes a seat next to me, but I can't make out his face due to the dimmed lights in the room. The bartender hands me my beer and I take a big gulp of it. Tonight was not the night I was hoping to have. "I never saw you as a beer person." a voice said close to me. The man. And the voice belonged to none other than Timothée Chalamet. "Really? Then what did you see me as?" I answer back. "I don't know. Water?" "Why water?" "It's simple, not to mention bland." he says. I roll my eyes. For once we weren't arguing, but he just had to mess that all up, didn't he?  He chuckles lightly before taking a sip from his own beer. A few minutes pass by without a word, before he speaks up again.

"Keara feels really bad for what she said to you before by the way." he says.

"How do you know what she says?" I say alarmingly. If he knew we talked about him, I would literally leave the country.

"I don't know what you guys talked about. She just came to me and Aaron looking down and said you two got into a fight."

"Oh." I say, relief flooding my face. "It was nothing. We'll get over it." Silence. I could cut the tension between us with a knife.

"So who was that guy you were talking to? Dark hair, kinda tall. Moles."

"Josh? He's an old family friend who lives here." I answer. "Why do you care?"

"I don't... Was just looking out for you." he says. I frown.

"Since when do you look out for me?" I respond.

"I was just curious, okay? Didn't want you messing with the wrong people." A sudden anger flowed through my veins.

"I think I can judge for myself. You've never given a fuck about what I've done in the past, and I'd like it to stay like that." I say, my voice a little louder this time. I set my beer down before storming out of the bar area. On my way out, I bump into Josh. "I'm leaving. You can stay if you want." Without another word, I leave the event and head back to the hotel.

What the fuck was I going to do about Timothée? Keara was right. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought.