9. Aspen
Chapter 9
Aspen
“ P haedra, are you here?” I yell as I unlock the front door to my house.
“Yeah, why?” she responds from some far corner. “How did the meeting go?”
I plop onto the plush leather sectional. “Come to the living room and I’ll tell you,” I call back.
I hear her footsteps growing closer as I begin a video call with my sisters and Heena. Heena answers on the second ring.
“What’s up?” she asks.
Phaedra gives a wave as she comes into the frame. “Hey, Heena.”
Maple answers the call and adjusts the camera so we can see Willow sitting next to her on the couch.
“We’re catching up on RuPaul’s Drag Race ,” Maple says, in lieu of greeting. “Make this quick.”
“I’ll cut to the chase then,” I say. “Grey and I are now contractually obligated to date.”
I absentmindedly rub Meeko behind the ears, feeling her purring reverberate on my lap as the other four girls scream questions at me.
“Not really date,” I amend. “Just for show. I don’t know if you guys heard, but word on the street is that we hate each other.”
“Do you?” Phaedra asks.
“Dislike, yeah. But, apparently, that kills romance movie sales, so the studio strongly encouraged us to fake date as damage control.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Willow says. “Come on, it’s like they’re pimping you out.”
“Okay, not quite that dramatic, Will,” Heena butts in. “But you still don’t have to do it.”
“I want to. They ran the numbers and estimated that if we are convincing enough, Grey and I dating in real life would boost movie sales by over a hundred million dollars from where they are now. And Grey and I would both get to keep ten percent of that, it’s written into the contract.”
Maple’s lip curls. “You don’t need their money.”
“No, but lots of other people do. I was planning on donating it to our foundation, which will divvy it out to their charities. And I was going to request at least half of it went toward lung cancer research.”
Phaedra shifts next to me. “Aspen, just because there are people in need doesn’t mean it entirely rests on your shoulders to help them. You don’t have to date a guy you hate just because you feel guilty passing on all of that money.”
“It’s more than that, though,” I protest. “I also genuinely want this movie to do well at the box office. It’s my first film and I really want it to go well. Plus, it’s partially my fault that projected sales have dropped. Mostly Grey’s for being such a dick, but partially mine.”
Heena shakes her head. “I don’t like this. How long do you have to pretend to date him? How many dates?”
“Until the movie comes out. And the number of dates wasn’t specified, just enough to make it seem real and convince the public.”
“Starting immediately?” Willow asks.
“Yep. Our teams are working on arranging the first date as we speak.”
Meeko meows on my lap.
“Even Meeko is sketched out by this,” Maple comments.
“Please,” I scoff. “People in the industry do it all the time.”
Phaedra opens her mouth to protest but I cut her off. “Don’t act like they don’t, we all know better.”
“But a year and a half?” she asks. “That seems excessive.”
“The guy from the studio said the main selling points would be while filming and right before the release. In the middle months the dates can drop off.”
“I still don’t like it,” Heena says.
“I might not like Grey, but I doubt he’s a monster. And even if he was, all of the dates will be in public and he’s literally being paid to pretend to like me. It’s not like I’ll be in danger. I was just telling you guys so you’d know it was fake when the headlines come out, not because I want, or need, your approval.”
Willow sighs. “Fine. But you better keep us updated with how the dates go. And if he does even a single questionable thing?—”
“We’ll kill him,” Maple interjects.
Phaedra raises her eyebrows in approval. “Damn right.”
“All right, well, I hate to hang up, but I have to leave for a fitting,” Heena says.
“Wait, one more thing,” I start. “Don’t tell anyone about this. I wasn’t even supposed to tell you guys it’s fake.”
“We can tell Mom and Dad, right?” Willow asks.
“No, not even them. They’ve both got big mouths, and besides that, I don’t want them to worry about it.”
“And you don’t want your mom knowing you’re doing this to earn money for lung cancer research,” Heena notes.
“That too.”
“Fine. My lips are sealed,” she replies. The others affirm the same and we say our “I love you’s” and end the call.
“Well, that wasn’t on my bingo card for the day,” Phaedra says.
“I’d be worried for you if it was.”
She reaches into my lap to pet Meeko. “At least Grey is good on the eyes.”
“Could be worse,” I concur. “Speaking of that, how’s your dating life going? Did you ever get your bra back from the girl who collects Beanie Babies?”
“Nope. I’ve given up on it. I’d rather lose a bra than have to go over there and look at those things after what they watched us do.”
“Gross.”
“Don’t be homophobic,” she scolds.
I grab a pillow and lightly hit her with it. “Shut up.”
“Fine. But at least my dating life isn’t as dried up as yours,” she jokes. “You have to stay celibate for a year and a half, damn. Unless you and Grey want to take out some frustrations on each other?”
I raise the pillow threateningly. “Don’t make me hit you with this again. And I can see other people, just in secret.”
“Oooh,” she coos. “Forbidden love, that could be hot.”
“Don’t get too excited. Just because I could see someone doesn’t mean I will . Nobody’s on my radar.”
“Want me to set you up?” she asks, eyes alight with mischief. “There’s a really hot prop master on my new set.”
“I’m supposed to be dating Grey, remember?”
“Oh right. I already forgot. Well, I’m sure he could be discreet.”
I chuckle. “If I ever find myself sexually frustrated enough to let you set me up with your prop master, I’ll let you know.”
“Good, I’m expecting the call any day now considering all this.” She motions first to my shelf of romance books and then to my knitting basket tucked away in the corner.
“Lots of people read romance books these days,” I retort. “Including a lot of happily coupled people. I know for a fact that Willow reads them and she’s definitely having regular sex.”
“Does Willow have a knitting basket?”
“No.”
“Does she have a cat?”
“No, but that’s a sexist stereotype against single women and you know it.”
Phaedra doesn’t even bat an eye. “Does she watch that dating show with the naked people? Does she spend full weekends in a wearable blanket?”
“Now this just feels like bullying.”
“I’m just trying to help. Think it over and let me know if you want that prop master's number.”