Chapter 29 Spiral Like You Mean It
SPIRAL LIKE YOU MEAN IT
Holly
“They said ‘pretend it’s real.’ And I said ‘cool, let me go compartmentalize behind the nearest fern’. Good times.”
Kendall
Hey girl.
I know it’s your day off…
But we need you at the studio today for some promo work.
I’ll forward the schedule. Thx babe
The second Holly saw the ‘set’ she wanted to fake an injury and go home.
Kendall had placed two IKEA stools, a faux exposed brick wall, and a sad fern in the corner of her rehearsal studio.
There was a camera crew of three, a wardrobe rack of outfits that screamed sponsored by people who hate subtlety, and Nate was leaning against the wall to the side as though he was auditioning to be the lead in a Scandinavian thirst trap calendar.
He looked good. Like, genuinely illegal. Rolled-up sleeves, top two buttons undone, tattooed forearms doing the most. Just to be clear, she still wanted to lace his coffee with a laxative or three, but if he sighed at her wrong, she was going to need electrolytes.
“This won’t take long,” she muttered to him, dumping her bag on their shared table while a production assistant spritzed her with setting spray like she was being prepared for battle. “Smile, pose. Pretend to be madly in love. Easy.”
Nate glanced sideways at her with his heart in his eyes right as Martin clapped his hands.
“Okay! Lovebirds! We’re going for vintage flirt meets modern chaos! Think: ‘We’re falling in love during a break between rehearsals and someone just happened to capture the moment for Instagram.’”
Nate raised a brow. “What a coincidence.”
They started simple. Nate perched on a stool, Holly standing between his knees, one of his hands at her waist, the other casually draped over his thigh like it was any other Tuesday. She posed. Smiled. She resisted the urge to scream.
But then Martin wanted vibes.
“Let’s try something more playful. Holly, sit on the back of the couch, lean down like you’re about to whisper something dirty in Nate’s ear while he’s watching a game. Nate, look like you’ve just been blessed by the saints.”
“Which saints?” Nate asked, deadpan. “Be specific.”
“Saint Thirstina of Horny TikTok,” Martin replied without missing a beat.
“I’m gonna throw myself down a flight of stairs,” Holly muttered darkly under her breath, drawing a huff of laughter from Nate that surprised her.
They rearranged. She balanced on the back of the sad gray loveseat, Nate between her legs like this was definitely how regular couples showed their affection during work breaks at the office. The whole thing was ridiculous, but it would’ve been much easier if he didn’t touch her like he meant it.
Every time his hands landed on her, they lingered.
Not long enough to break HR rules, but long enough to make her skin hum.
His gaze followed her mouth like it was a script he’d memorized.
He looked at her like he knew. She tried to just push through the shoot with her dignity intact and her panties not self-combusting in public.
And then Martin said it.
“Perfect. Now pretend it’s real.”
And Nate, her six-four asshole PR punishment of a dance partner, leaned in close and murmured: “I don’t have to pretend.”
Right in her fucking ear.
The world shifted. Her brain blue-screened.
Somewhere, a keyboard smash appeared in the sky.
Holly glanced at him, her heart racing even as her face registered her confusion.
She'd offered to give him everything right out there in the open in front of everyone, and he hadn’t taken it.
Yet he was looking at her now with the raw, simple truth of a man who’d clearly already bought the emotional engagement ring and was waiting for her to stop panicking.
“Touch-up!” she called to Martin fleeing toward the hair and makeup table like it was the exit to a hostage situation. “Lips are dry!”
Her lipstick was fine, but her sanity was seriously unwell. By the time she reached the mirror her hands were shaking, and she’d broken out in a full-body existential crisis. She stared at her reflection, taking in the flush in her cheeks and the haunted shadows in her eyes.
“Fuck.”
She wanted it to be real. That was the most dangerous part.
When the shoot wrapped five minutes later, Holly left without looking back, phone clutched like a weapon. She ducked out before Nate could corner her again with those eyes.
Sigrid
[Screenshot of one of the promo pics from the fake-dating shoot]
NATHANAEL.
WHAT IS THIS??
WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE A ROMANCE NOVEL AND SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE’S ABOUT TO RUIN YOUR LIFE??
Nate
because she already is
also good morning to you too, gremlin
Sigrid
do NOT try and deflect with your emotionally unavailable athlete bullshit
are you in love with her???
do you want me to legally acquire her birth chart???
i have people
Nate
no you don’t
you have a scorpio sun and a twitter account
Sigrid
WHICH IS ALL I NEED
do you know what you look like in that picture
you look like you’d kneel if she asked
you look like you’d tattoo her name on your ribs in cursive
you look like you just made a sex tape and are thinking about what you’ll name your first daughter
Nate
please never say ‘sex tape’ to me again
i’m begging
Sigrid
ok fine
but seriously. is it real??
bc she looks like she’s trying not to cry into that poor fern
Nate
it’s real for me
i just don’t think i’m good enough
Sigrid
oh my god.
OH MY GOD.
you ALMOST KISSED HER ON LIVE TV and then DIDN’T??
no wonder she’s looking at you like she’s planning your funeral with rose gold accents you idiot
Nate
i panicked
it was a bad moment
i thought i was protecting her
Sigrid
you were protecting your FEELINGS you emotional muppet
i’m flying over and stealing her
Nate
noted
can you bring p?laegschokolade?
Sigrid
absolutely not
p?laegschokolade is earned
TALK TO HER!