Chapter 16

I sat there frozen. I know I should have said something. I should have said it wasn't true. But I didn't want to go back out there. Frank had fed the beast, and if I went out there after that, I would have been devoured. So instead, I pussied out and sat there listening to Frank spout his bullshit. 

The volume of the voices outside reached an all-time high as their excitement grew. Before Frank said something, this was just another boring "look where this celebrity went today!" story. Now, thanks to Frank, it was an actual story.

"So he and Sophia are involved?" a particularly loud voice asked.

I could hear the smugness in Frank's voice when he replied. I wondered how I hadn't punched the guy in the face by now. Did I ever sound like this? Why had no one punched me in the face by now? "Well, they didn't want anyone to know, but I guess the truth always comes out somehow. Yes, they do have a thing going on."

This was bad. This was really bad. But what was I supposed to do, anyway? Even if I said he was lying, it'd reflect badly on me because I was the guy with the shitty, lying manager. I mean, I was, but I didn't want everyone to know that.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Are they exclusive yet?"

"What about Cassie Lovett?"

"This is very new and they haven't put a label on it yet," Frank said. "They're just taking it slow for now and getting to know each other. An insider said it themselves. The sparks were undeniable."

Taking it slow? Getting to know each other? Unless accidentally walking in on me jerking off counted as getting to know each other, he couldn't have been more wrong.

Frank had apparently said everything he wanted to say because not a moment later, he was making his way into the limo and instructing the driver to get going.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked once we'd pulled out of the parking lot without hitting anyone. At least, I don't think we hit anyone. "What the fuck was that?"

"That was me giving the public what they want because you and Sophia didn't have the balls to," Frank said. His calm demeanor threw me off even more. "Just go with it. You can 'break up' after the movie premieres."

"We both told you we weren't cool with this, Frank. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I'm your manager. Believe me when I say everything I do is for your benefit. Trust me on this one, Chris. I haven't led you astray yet."

"This is unbelievable." While it was true that Frank hadn't screwed me over yet, there was a first for everything.

The ride to Frank's place was completely silent after I'd finished yelling at him. He only spoke when he was getting out of the limo. "I'll be over later to discuss the meeting and the situation with Sophia so we can decide how to move forward."

I exhaled loudly through my nose. I didn't even know what to say at this point. I guess that was why he wasn't coming over right now. "Yeah, alright."

He nodded and slammed the door shut. With that, I was off again. I stared at my phone the entire way to my place, just waiting for it to ring. I knew Sophia would call and try to pin it on me as soon as news got out.

Just as I'd expected, a call from Sophia came not long after I got home.

I was on the defensive the second I answered that call. I already knew what was coming. "Before you start yelling at me, hear me out."

"Did you do this?"

Her voice was so loud I actually had to hold the phone away from my ear. "Ow. Of course not. Why the hell would I do this?"

"Well, when Frank suggested it, you considered it."

"You look into things too much. That doesn't mean anything. I had no idea he was going to do this."

"Where is he?"

I paused. I couldn't exactly give her his address. I mean, I guess it would've been fair since he somehow had hers, but it didn't sound like the best idea. "Well..."

"Cut the crap and tell me."

"I don't know where he is right now, but he's coming over in a bit to meet with me I can tell him to call you when he gets here, or—"

"I'm coming over now."

"What?"

"I said I'm coming over now. Give me your address."

"Jesus, you're bossy."

Against my better judgment, I gave in. I actually gave her my address, knowing fully well it was a mistake as soon as I did so. She hung up as soon as I finished saying my address.

I looked at Bubba, who was sitting in front of the couch staring at me. "Why did I do that?"

Bubba barked.

"I know. I know. I fucked up."

Another bark. Damn. Even Bubba knew I'd gotten myself into yet another awkward situation.

I tried to watch some TV while I waited, but I wasn't paying attention at all. I wasn't sure if this showdown was going to be entertaining or if I should warn the police.

"You might want to go upstairs for this one, buddy," I said to Bubba. I didn't know how this was going to go and I didn't really want him downstairs when Sophia and Frank got here. I scooped him up and took him upstairs, closing the gate at the stairs so he couldn't get back down unless I let him.

I came back downstairs and started pacing back and forth, and, once again, against my better judgment, I let Sophia past the gates and opened the door when she started pounding on it. She looked slightly disheveled in a t-shirt, yoga pants, and her hair up in a ponytail, like she'd just ran out of the house as soon as she was given the okay, which was what I assumed had happened.

"What are you trying to do, break the door down?" I asked incredulously.

"You wouldn't answer the door."

"You didn't give me a chance to."

"Be quicker next time," she said.

"Next time?" I muttered under my breath.

She walked past me into my house and into my living room, taking in her surroundings. She was the queen of resting bitch face, so I couldn't tell if she was impressed by the size of my place or disgusted at the pizza box lying on the glass table in front of my couch. It was empty, but still.

Soon, she was the one pacing up and down my living room. I caught her peering at the house every now and then, so I was going to go with the "she was impressed by the size of my place" theory. At least she was impressed by the size of something I owned.

The doorbell rang, and I watched Sophia jump in surprise out of the corner of my eye. I shot her a warning look and said, "Stay here. I'll get it."

She motioned towards the door. "It's your house. I'm just your guest." She looked like she had trouble choking out the word 'guest.'

I wasn't entirely convinced she was going to behave the way a guest ought to but walked over to the front door to greet Frank, anyway.

"Hey," I said to Frank. I was getting ready to warn him about Sophia, but he didn't give me the chance. He nodded at me and walked into the living room. When he saw Sophia standing there, he stopped in his tracks.

"Sophia." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "What a surprise. I hope no one saw you leave the house like that. You didn't even bother wearing makeup."

"Why would I need makeup to come yell at your bitch asses?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Would you mind telling me what the hell today was all about? Chris and I both told you we weren't comfortable with a publicity relationship, yet you go off and tell the press a bunch of fabricated crap about us, anyway? What is that?"

"Don't play the victim here," Frank said. "I did you both a favor. Publicity is exactly what you need right now. Without Chris, you're nothing. When someone asks who Sophia Hastings is, they're going to say 'Christian Ryder's girlfriend' or 'Christian's costar.' I gave your existence in this business meaning."

"That's just it. I don't want to be connected to Christian. I want to be my own person, not Christian's shadow. How am I supposed to make a name for myself if I have to shake this title off of me for the next five years? You didn't do me a favor." She shook her head. "You made things worse."

"How have you not gotten this by now?" Frank asked. "No one cares what you want. No one cares what you think. You're a newcomer. You do as we say. You're going to play along until the premiere because that's what newcomers do, sweetheart."

Jesus, Frank could be harsh at times. While I didn't entirely disagree with what he was saying, I did think there was a better way to go about saying it. There were things newcomers just had to accept if they wanted to make it in the industry, yes, but I wasn't sure this was one of them.

"I won't do it," she said. "I already told you I wouldn't, and I meant it."

"Oh, I think you will," he said. "This is out of your control. You'll go along with it, and do you want to know why?"

Sophia didn't say anything, but it looked like she was fighting back a bout of angry tears. I would feel worse if she didn't act like being associated with me was the worst thing in the world.

Frank took her lack of a response as an invitation to continue. "You'll go along with it because I have the power to ruin your career before it even gets a chance to really take off. It's what you've always wanted, isn't it? To be an actress. That's what every shiny-eyed newcomer who comes to Hollywood wants. It's the reason you put up with Christian. It's the reason you're going to put up with this and the reason you're going to put up with me."

"Quit with the threats," she said. I wasn't sure if she was putting on a brave face or if she really wasn't scared of his threats. I know I would've been wary in her position. The difference between Sophia and me was that when I was in her position, I did play along. But playing along as a male in the industry was different from playing along as a female in the industry was my guess. "I'm not some kid you can scare into submission."

"I think that's exactly what you are, actually," Frank said.

"Don't underestimate me, Frank. You don't know the first thing about me."

Both of their body cues were telling me this was going to go from 'I don't want to do this' and 'you're doing this' to 'low jabs at each other's weak spots.' So I carefully laid a hand on Sophia's shoulder to try to distract her or calm her down or something. I don't know what I was going for, honestly.

I should've known she was just going to shrug it off immediately.

I looked at her pointedly. "Alright, yeah, he shouldn't have said those things, but you're kind of overreacting. It's not the end of the world."

"Overreacting?" She laughed incredulously. "I'm not overreacting. Have you been listening to this? Your manager is threatening my career and trying to force me into something that I'm not willing to do, and I'm overreacting? No. And I'd rather bite my foot off than pretend to be your girlfriend."

I don't know what it was about that last sentence that set me off. But it did. And when I say it set me off, I mean it set me off. It was like all of my frustrations – not just towards Sophia, but towards Frank and life in general – came out all at once. All because this girl apparently hated me so much she would rather lose a limb than pretend to date me.

"Jesus, Sophia, I'm honestly not that bad," I said. "Frankly, I don't understand your hatred towards me. I've done nothing to you. I don't know how I got stuck with the biggest bitch this business has seen in a long ass time. This is publicity, okay? This is how this business works. This is what we do. We pretend to date our costars because it sells. Love sells, sex sells, relationships sell. This is to help not only you and me but the movie too. Why can't you put aside your feelings and quit being so fucking selfish?"

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't. She bit her tongue. After a brief pause, she spoke. Her tone had drastically changed. She'd sounded angry before when she'd been speaking to Frank, but her tone had turned downright cold now that she was addressing me. All it did was fuel my anger. "This is coming from one of Hollywood's biggest divas," she said. "How am I supposed to take you seriously? You won't drink water that's not directly imported from Europe, there has to be a bucket of chicken wings available for you at all times, and if your trailer isn't at exactly 70 degrees, may God have mercy on the crew's souls. Yet I'm the brat here?"

Those were actually all rumors – well, except for the temperature thing. I did flip the fuck out if I couldn't adjust the thermostat and it wasn't at a temperature of my liking – but I didn't feel that was important at the moment. Sure, I'd made requests while filming before, but I didn't think they were that ridiculous.

"I'm Christian Ryder. I can be a diva if I want. I've earned that right. Do you know how many people know my name? Do you know how many girls fawn over my very existence? Do you even realize how famous I actually am?"

She didn't say anything, so I continued.

"And who are you, Sophia? You're nobody. The only reason people even know your name is because of me. You should be worshipping the ground I walk on, yet you'd rather spend your time thinking you're so much better than everyone else."

"Let me get this straight," she said with a laugh, but she didn't sound amused in the slightest. "So because I don't worship the ground you walk on, I'm conceited? You flatter yourself, Christian. I don't worship the ground you walk on because you're not a god, no matter how highly you think of yourself, no matter how pretty your face is, no matter how sculpted your body is, no matter how many airheads go crazy for you. You're just like everyone else and no amount of money beside your name will ever change that."

I clenched my jaw. I knew I'd regret this conversation in the morning, but I was too worked up to care in the moment. "You know, I'm starting to think it's all a scam. You must be a better actress than I thought. 'Pretty face?' 'Sculpted body?' Maybe Savannah's right. Maybe you are just secretly in love with me. Maybe your anger about this publicity stunt is just your way of hiding your excitement. Are you secretly in love with me, sweetheart? You wouldn't be the first."

The words that came out of her mouth next rendered me speechless. They were honestly the harshest words anyone had ever uttered to me. Her voice had lost all traces of anger. All that was left was the lingering coldness and a calm demeanor, like these thoughts came so naturally to her that she didn't even need anger to feed them.

"What I feel for you could never be described as anything but hatred and this is exactly why," she said. "Who could love a guy like you? You're arrogant. You're rude. You're condescending, you're shallow, you're selfish, you're heartless, you're a hypocrite, and you're a liar. You, Christian Ryder, are despicable."

The look on my face must have been one of absolute astonishment. I felt like she had just punched me in the gut and knocked the wind out of me. I couldn't muster a reply to that. What was there to say after that?

Frank was the one who broke the silence.

"Well, I'm glad you appear to have gotten that out of your systems," he said. "It'll make your relationship with Christian that much easier."

"I meant it when I said I wasn't going to do it," she told Frank. Her voice had lost that cold edge. I guess that was just reserved for me.

He shrugged. "Neither was I when I said you were."

"Are you deaf? I'm not going along with this. I'm not dating him and I'm not going to pretend I am."

"You are not going to ruin this for me or for Chris," Frank snapped. "You are not going to be the one to contradict me and make me look like an idiot. You have no say in this. Like Christian said, you're nobody. You have no power here. Do you understand?"

"Do I understand? Do I understand? I am so sick and tired of you, and I barely know you. I'm sick and tired of being walked all over just because I'm not as high up on the Hollywood food chain as the two of you. I don't have power, no, but I have rights. I'm still a human being. I shouldn't have to agree to anything I don't want to do." She shook her head. "God, you two have no idea what you've just done. You messed with the wrong girl."

Her eyes met mine for a moment when she looked up as she was walking past us and out the door. They were blank. No hatred, no anger. Just blank. Like I was the one who was a nobody. And to my surprise, it stung. It stung more than I thought it could.