Chapter 5

It took me a good ten minutes to escape the grasp of the crowd Sophia had drawn towards us. Well, towards me. She had managed to slip out undetected, leaving me to face the numerous grabby hands surrounding me on my own.

Every time I tried to make my way out of the crowd, I was stopped before I even took three steps. It wasn't until Hollywood & Highland managed to call in enough reinforcements to separate the crowd that they were able to help me make it out of there without further interruptions.

The man in charge of security personally escorted me to safety, safety being a relative term. I never actually feared for my life. I mostly just feared for my face. Several fans almost punched me in the face trying to get closer to me.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked him.

"I can try," he said.

"I came here with a girl and she left before me. Think your security cameras would be able to show me which way she went?"

"Let me see what I can do."

The security cameras didn't extend far enough to help me much, but they did give me a general idea of where she could have gone. With the direction she went in my mind, I set off after her. If she was still on foot, I could probably catch up with her. If she had managed to find a ride while I was held up, I might have been going after a lost cause.

I found myself in a residential area with a few stores nearby and a park around the corner. After coming up short in the stores, I was about to give up and go get a donut from the bakery across the street. It was starting to get dark and I didn't feel like blindly chasing this girl in the dark. Baked goods sounded much better.

Just as I was about to turn back, I saw the back of a brunette sitting on a bench by herself in the park. I couldn't tell for sure from where I was standing, partly because of the distance and partly because of the less than stellar lighting – but I had a pretty good feeling it was Sophia.

She made this too easy for me. She could have at least hidden in some bushes or a tree or something.

Not that that was really necessary. I wasn't a serial killer or anything. That kind of made me sound bad. Never mind on the tree thing.

I slowly approached her, feeling creepier and creepier by the second. It didn't help that I'd gotten that serial killer idea in my head. I really wasn't trying to be a creep. I just had this strange need to talk to her again. People didn't treat me like this. It was both insulting and intriguing to me.

For someone who had managed to lose me in a chase, Sophia was pretty oblivious. I managed to walk up behind her and stand by the bench without her noticing me. She didn't notice me until she put her phone away and stood up, finally realizing that I was standing right next to her.

"Holy –" She jumped back and almost lost her footing. "How – when did you get here? How did you find me?"

I shrugged. "I have my ways." I looked her over and smirked when I realized I was literally looking down on her. She was shorter than I'd realized up-close and in person. Then again, I was over six feet tall. Not everyone could be as tall as me. But she seemed a lot less threatening and annoying when you took the height difference into account – which I did. I had to have something over her.

Sophia's eyes didn't stay on me for long. They were already wandering, most likely trying to find another escape route. But this time, there were no fans around to use as a weapon. And if it came down to who was faster or who knew how to get around the city better, we both knew who would win.

"Right... well, as fun as this little game of cat and mouse has been, I have to go. My, uh, favorite commercial is on TV. Wouldn't want to miss it. It's a classic."

She whipped around and tried to run from me once again. This time, I wasn't letting her get away. I stopped that little stunt of hers in a record time of three seconds or so. Maybe even less. I put myself in front of her and forced her to come to a stop. "Not so fast, Sophia," I said.

She mumbled something I couldn't quite catch under her breath. I had a pretty good idea of what it might have been. "So you know my name now. Which one of my friends sold me out?"

She didn't have much faith in her friends, and rightly so. It had been one of her friends that sold her out. Actually, it had been two of her friends. "Some girl named Bianca. The girl you were with today said your name, too, so don't try to tell me your name is Dorothy or Jennifer or whatever else."

"Damn. Of course it was Bianca."

"I don't think it was really her fault. My manager called the movie theater you were at. He has a way of getting people to do what he wants."

"Well, congratulations," she said. She crossed her arms over her chest looking less than impressed by my presence. "You tracked me down. Do you want a trophy? A medal? A certificate?"

I rolled my eyes. Girls were so dramatic. "No. I just want to talk."

"Thanks, but I'll pass."

"I didn't follow you all the way here just to let you go so easily."

"Oh, because following me for a few blocks must have been so hard. Was it too much for you to handle without your manager to hold your hand?"

I started to frown but quickly wiped my face of all expression. I didn't want her to know that she got on my nerves. "No. Following you was easy. You're slower than my grandmother."

The tables seemed to have turned because for once, Sophia was the one who looked offended. "I'm new here. I don't know this place very well yet."

"Clearly not, or you wouldn't treat me this way. I'm Christian Ryder, for God's sake. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" It always meant something to people, especially females. To be honest, I found it difficult to wrap my mind around the idea that there could be a girl – an ordinary girl – that wasn't interested in me.

"I don't care who you are." She looked at me like I had three heads and a tail. "Haven't you realized that by now? Do you really not have enough sense to figure that out for yourself?"

"I'm not stupid," I said in my defense. Of course I realized she seemed to be less than fond of me. I just didn't understand why. "I just thought you might have been playing hard to get or something."

I had entertained that idea in the back of my mind as a possible explanation. It made more sense than anything else.

She didn't seem to agree because she started laughing. Yes. She started laughing at me. "You're kidding, right?"

I struggled to keep my face straight. I didn't particularly enjoy being laughed at, but I didn't want to make it obvious that I was clenching my jaw. "No."

"I don't play mind games. If I like someone, I'll make it clear. If I don't, I'll make it even clearer. I think even you could figure out which one applies to you."

"Stop treating me like I'm an idiot. I finished school with a 4.0, I was second in my class, and I'm taking college courses between filming. I'm not an idiot."

She still didn't seem impressed. "I don't remember asking for a summary of your education."

I took a deep breath to try to calm myself down. I was a few insults away from snapping. I usually tried to be a good sport, but the comments were just nonstop with her and it was too much for one day. "You know, I'm usually a calm person. I don't get riled up easily, and I definitely don't believe in hitting a woman, but you make me want to forget all of that. You're the single most... frustrating person I've ever met, and I've met a lot of assholes here."

"Do it, then. Hit me. I bet the press would love that. 'Christian Ryder Hits Mystery Girl.' I'm sure your manager would have fun cleaning up that mess."

Mystery Girl. After the most recent development in this little situation I had going on with her, I had almost forgotten where it all started. "I almost forgot about that. You're my Mystery Girl." I chuckled at the title. After having spoken to her a few times, I had a feeling being called my 'Mystery Girl' was akin to the sound of nails on a chalkboard for her.

"Yeah, well, being your 'Mystery Girl' sucks. I've been hiding out for the past few days because of that stupid show and your Ry-Turds. Did you know they turned me into a meme?"

Did she just call my fans Ry-Turds?

"Ry-Turds?" I asked, hoping she'd clarify, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she looked over at the car that had just turned the corner.

Why did I have a feeling that was her new escape route?

"Thank God," she said, confirming my suspicions. We stood there and watched the car pull up in front of the park. "Looks like my ride's here."

Sophia started running before I even thought about following her. Honestly, though, I was tired of chasing after her. All she did was frustrate me and make me question myself.

"At least apologize!" I shouted after her.

She climbed in the car and glanced over at me with her hand on the door, ready to slam it shut at any moment, I was sure. "Why would I do that?"

I shot her a look. "Do you really have to ask?"

Instead of apologizing – which would have been the decent thing to do after the way she had treated me for the past week – Sophia stuck out her middle finger and slammed the car door shut.

The car stood still for a few more seconds. I heard a wail come from inside the car, and then it – and Raffle Entry #587 – was gone.

***

Follow me on Twitter! I've been checking Twitter more than Wattpad lately. My Twitter handle is alexmichelle_wp.

https://twitter.com/alexmichelle_wp