There are no coincidences in life. What person that wandered in and out of your life was there for some purpose, even if they caused you harm - Shannon L. Alder

Chapter 2:

"Pardon me?" he said

My eyes widened in panic, but I quickly recovered my composure.

"I said that it was nice to meet you." I told him

Fuck, Clary, you should work on controlling that mouth of yours. Look at what you got yourself into with your nice choice of words.

"Oh ok," he shrugged, taking a seat beside me on the booth

I hate how Chris still got this effect on me, after years of not seeing him I thought that I'm over the fact that he's the one who scarred my past but now he's back the memories are slowly coming back too.

Thank God for his obliviousness and not seeing through my lies.

But still, I don't get it. What is Chris gonna do with my career? Does Dilton finally get tired of my attitude and now he's hiring a new manager to take over his place. Dilton might be annoying sometimes but I'll choose him over anybody, without doubts.

I seriously don't understand.

"What is he gonna do with my career?" I asked blurting out what's going on in my mind.

Chris scooted closer to me on the booth; I can't help but distance myself to him. Throughout the years he made me suffer, I don't blame myself if I develop a Chris-phobia.

I think 'personal space' doesn't really exist on Chris' vocabulary.

"So, she still doesn't know," Chris said, taking a sip on my glass of milk making me scowl at him

Well duh! I just asked didn't I? Way to go, captain obvious!

How I hate not knowing anything when everyone around me seems to know especially when I should be one of the first people who knew about it since, I'm involved in it.

"Well babe-" he said draping his arm on my shoulders

I effortlessly removed his arm and shot him a disgusted look. I just hope he got the message that I'm not totally fond of his whole being.

I averted my gaze on my manager, "Dilton?"

"Well Clary, my dear" Dilton said "Look, you are on a rising fame. With your upcoming movie, we need to garner attention from the public and tabloids. Chris here is currently on top of the fame chain. He's more popular than you"

Of course, I'm aware that he is the youngest quarterback of NFL, after playing for UPenn in college he is now on New York's team. Having no girlfriend made him an eye candy on women and rose to fame.

I think I don't like where this conversation is going.

"I guess there's no sugar coating needed, let's get straight to the point, the two of you are gonna do a publicity stunt. To make it sound simple, fake dating" Dilton added

"What!?" I said, louder than I intended to, earning the attention of the busy café

I swear the moment Dilton finished speaking, my heart stopped beating.

"Great, you made them look this way," Chris mumbled, keeping his head down, "I guess we won't have any problem on garnering attention"

I ignored his remark no matter how I want to sass him back, but there are more important things to talk about.

"No way in hell!" I protested

"Yes way!" Dilton prompted

"No!"

"Clarissa!" he scold, oh no Dilton why?

My name earned Chris' attention "Wait, what's your surname?" he asked

"Hu-Humphrey" I tried to say boldly, but I ended up stuttering

"Clarissa Humphrey," Chris started to ponder, "Now where did I hear that name?"

He started to study my face, lifting up my chin so he can have a closer look making me swat his hands away.

"It's a very common name," I told him, earning back some confidence; "I got a lot of namesake."

"You're right," he said "I knew a Clarissa before, she was a nerd. She has freckles, her eyes are green not blue, her hair isn't like yours too, and she wears those thick framed stereotypical nerd glasses. In fact you've got nothing alike."

I can't believe that he took time to memorize my facial features as he pinned me on a locker while he bullies me, yet he didn't recognize me. Puberty did work its magic on me. Somehow, I'm thankful that I need to dye my hair a darker shade to match with my character for the movie.

But that's not the main concern here. The topic is about the fake dating.

I, Clarissa Jane Humphrey, will never date, Christopher Jameson. Never.

Yes, I did fantasize about him back in high school, which was way before shit happens because all of a sudden he changed to a monster and developed an ego bigger than the whole continent of Asia.

"Would you date him?" Dilton asked, I suddenly forgot that he was sitting right across me.

Just thinking how I will get along with Chris, makes me scrunch my nose. Let's face it; it might be the funniest joke of the century.

"No." I voiced out my thoughts

"What is the problem with you?" Chris cried out, "All girls would kill to date me."

"And who said, I'm all girls?"

"You know, you need me more than I need you"

His statement made me think, he is right even though I deny it. It won't affect him even I disagreed on this, he's already famous, but my job, my movie and my future is at stake.

"Fine, I'll date him." I finally said, discreetly glaring at Chris as he smiled triumphantly, that I just want to wipe that smile out of his face.

Dilton handed us papers on a folder, I opened it to see the contract.

"What does he get from this?" I asked, my eyes scanning the contents of the paper.

"Money, of course," Chris said as if it's the most blatant thing

"The contract will last until a month after your premiere night," Dilton said "Means you need to follow everything written there until it ends or we could sue any of you."

"All you need to do is sign the contract and make it believable," Dilton added "Fake kisses and PDAs would to and then add some lovey dovey moments too. You'll probably get over the awkwardness since you're going to spend more time with each other."

The idea of spending more time with each other is simply loathsome.

The fake kiss is the last thing on my list. I never want to do that, never again. I would never let his lips touch mine again neither I would allow that his lips would touch any part of my face. Not again. Yes, you hear it right, again. This guy sitting beside me stole my first kiss. But I guess I really don't have any choice in this situation.

Dilton looked at me, "For your career,"

For my career, I kept chanting on my head as I signed over my name at the bottom of the paper, passing it to Chris so he could do the same.

"Hey!" I called for his attention

He snapped his head at my direction, looking at me questioningly.

"This might not be in the contract," I started "First, I-,"

"Just spill it," he said "What do you want?"

"Don't you dare fall in love with me." I told him, succeeding on speaking boldly

He did the first thing I expected; he cocked his eyebrows at me and started laughing hysterically.

Of course, he'll make a joke out of a situation like this.

"Oh honey," he said, as he calmed down "More like you'll fall in love with me, like all of them do."

Well isn't he just conceited, I hope he trips and humiliate himself.

I laughed at him too, never; I'm never ever falling for him.

"You wish," I sassed at him

He just stared at me, slightly making me feel conscious.

"You look even prettier when you laugh," he said "and cuter when you act sassy."

I ignored his remarks and turned to Dilton instead.

"When do we start?" I asked him

"Now." Dilton simply said

"Now?" the both of us said in unison

"Yes, now" he confirmed

Chris sighed and stood up, I followed close behind him. Halfway through the door we can already see the paparazzi outside.

He held my hand and pulled me close. Instead of feeling secure, I felt scared. This is Chris for crying out loud.

When we reached the door, he kissed the back of my hand and pulled me even closer to him and made our way out of the hotel, welcomed by the blinding flashes of the cameras.

Starting today, I'm officially Christopher Jameson's girlfriend.

I know I'll regret agreeing to this sooner or later.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoy this chapter :) Vote and Comment, let me know what you think about it. Thanks.

~nina☆