"Are you sure you don't want to come?" I asked Duke.

"Positive," he replied. I frowned. "What's the problem? Zac's a good guy," he said.

I was getting ready to go tour Rome with Zac for the day. I was still uncertain about going with him alone and kept begging Duke to come with us.

"I know he's a good guy. I just don't think it's smart for me to go with him alone," I pointed out.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Well for one thing, Zac's also an A-list, hot celebrity. Paparazzi are sure to recognize him. And they already know that I'm your new manager. And they're smart and they'll think something is going on," I explained.

"What's wrong about that?" he asked.

"There's nothing going on between us," I told him flatly. He blinked.

"Are you really that oblivious?" he asked me. Now I blinked at him, confused.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Zac's totally into you," he said. I snorted.

"Yeah, right," I said, shaking my head. "Good one."

"Have you seen the way he looks at you? He's totally crushing on you," he said.

"No, he's not. Shut up," I told him. "And besides, why would he like me?" I asked.

"Why not? It's not like your ugly," he said, smirking up at me. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You have a funny way of complimenting people," I said.

"I bet he thinks you're hilarious. And you're smart," he continued, ignoring me.

"I'm not about to date a celebrity," I said.

"Why? You're single, aren't you?" he asked me.

"That's not the point. I like my relationships to be private. I don't want them displayed all over the news and internet," I said.

"So you're going to give up the guy that could possibly be your soulmate just because you're afraid of the press?" he asked me.

"He's not my soulmate," I said, giving him a look.

"How would you know? You haven't even given him a chance," he pointed out.

"Duke! I don't like him like that! He's a friend! That's all!" I exclaimed. He widened his eyes, but I could still see a spark of mischief in them.

"All right! All right! Calm down!" he said, putting his hands up. I glared at him. He sighed dramatically. "Poor kid. Doesn't know what he's getting himself into," he sighed.

"Stop making me feel bad!" I cried.

"You're doing this all on your own," he said, looking at me matter of factly. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Are you going to come with us and make this less awkward for me? Or are you going to be a jerk and stay here?" I asked.

"I think I'll stick with the second one," he said, leaning back against the headboard, putting his hands behind his head. He smirked at me as I glared daggers at him.

"I do so much for you and you can't do this one thing for me," I sighed, resorting to guilt-tripping him into coming with us.

"You do so much for me because it's your job. You wouldn't do any of that stuff if you didn't have to," he pointed out. I pouted, giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"That's not going to work on me," he said, his lips twitching in amusement.

"Wow, you're the worst," I said, giving up.

"Or the best. Depending on how you look at it," he replied. I rolled my eyes.

"If Zac ends up getting hurt, it'll be your fault and not mine," I said to him.

"That," he said, standing up and coming closer to me, "also depends on how you look at it." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and then walked past, opening the door for me.

"Better get going or you'll be late for your date," he said to me.

"It's not a date," I said firmly.

"If you don't like him, then don't lead him on. Tell him straight up that you just see him as a friend," he told me.

"I'm not leading him on!" I argued. He rolled his eyes.

"Tell that to the guy that's falling for you," he said, giving me one of his signature looks. I squared my jaw and punched his arm on the way out, making him flinch slightly. But only slightly.

I made my way over to the hotel Zac was staying at and met him in the lobby.

"Hey!" he said, smiling cheerily at me. I smiled back awkwardly. He seemed like an eager puppy to me. He looked young and attractive in a typical blue plaid shirt and jeans. I myself was wearing a pair of khaki capris and a black v-neck, with my hair pulled back in a loose braid.

"Hi," I replied.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded, trying to avoid his gaze. "We're going to go from the back. Paparazzi are still at the front and side entrances. They think Duke will appear somehow," he said.

"Haven't they been hunting you down?" I asked. He shrugged.

"They have. I'm just better at hiding than Duke is," he replied.

"You should give him some pointers, then," I said. He chuckled.

"I've tried. He doesn't want them," he told me. We snuck out into the back alley of the hotel. He pulled a beanie hat over his head and put on a pair of aviators. I pulled on the Ray Bans he told me to bring, too.

"He likes the attention?" I asked.

"Haven't you noticed?" he asked back, looking at me from behind his glasses. He had a hair sticking out awkardly from under his hat. I laughed and reached up, tucking it back. Realizing how intimate this touch may have seemed, I pulled my hand back quickly and looked away. Was Duke right? Was I leading him on?

Zac led me to the car that we were taking, which was a discreet shiny black Porche. It would blend in perfectly with all the other nice Italian cars around.  He opened the passenger door for me and I got in, thanking him. Then he came around on the other side and sat in the driver's side.

"I always forget that the sides are switched in European cars," I said to Zac.

"I did, too, at first. Whenever my driver would take me places, I would always get in the wrong side," he told me.  "You get used to it, though," he said, placing the key in the ignition and revving the engine.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"Where aren't we going?" he replied, smirking at me. I couldn't help but smile; he looked so adorable with his aviators on.

He took me to the Collosseum first.

"Wouldn't it have been epic to live during the Roman Empire?" I asked as we walked around the ancient monument. I touched the rugged and aged stone, marvelling at how the structure was still standing even after all these years.

"Yeah, I would've made a pretty awesome gladiator if I must say so myself," Zac said, pretending to wield a sword.

"And I would fit in because I can totally rock gladiator sandals," I said. Zac laughed and I smiled. We continued walking around a little more, taking pictures, reenacting gladiator fights, and just goofing around. Then we got back in the car to go to our second destination: the Trevi Fountain.

When I stepped out, I stared in awe.

"I can't believe I'm seeing this in real life!" I squealed. "I've dreamed about coming here since I first learned about it! It's so much more amazing in person than it is in pictures!" I cried.

"And it looks fantastic at night, too," Zac added. I squealed in excitement and took his hand, pulling him forward to the fountain. There were quite a few people there, lounging around, taking pictures, chatting. I took my own camera out and snapped a few shots of the fountain at different artistic angles. Zac took a few of me standing next to one of the statues.  We got a Japanese tourist to take one of us together, my arm around Zac's waist and his around my shoulder. We learned some words in Japanese and then took off to our next stop.

"The Pantheon," I whispered. We sat in the car and gazed at it before going in. There were a bunch of people in here, too. I could tell Zac was getting a little antsy as people glanced at him for a little too long. I pointed up at the ceiling at the large opening that poured sunlight into the building.

"The oculus. It was the only source of light in here back in the day," Zac told me. "Raphael's tomb is in here. Let's go check it out," he suggested. As we walked, we looked at all the statues and tombs of pagan gods and Italian kings.

"The US has got nothing on this place. The history is so rich here," I said as we walked out of the place.

"Well, the US has its own historical landmarks," Zac said.

"Yeah, a few buildings. Nothing nearly as intricate as these structures and statues," I replied. Zac chuckled and shook his head as we got into the car.

"What's next?" I asked.

"Lunch," he replied. "I'm starving."

Until he mentioned it, I didn't realize how hungry I was. I agreed and he drove us to a nice outdoor restaraunt. We ordered our food and made conversation while we waited for it to be served.

As we talked, I noticed a man staring intently at us. I nudged Zac's foot with mine and pointed at the creepy man discreetly. Zac pulled his beanie back on over his head and leaned forward.

"That must get so annoying," I commented.

"Sometimes," Zac replied.

"I mean, I can't imagine what it feels like to have people follow you all the time and stare at you like you're some kind of crazy creature or something," I said.

"A creature?" Zac asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you know. They look at you as if you aren't human. I mean, you could be eating casually at a restaraunt like right now, but somehow it's heightened and taken to be some fascinating piece of information. Like 'Oh my God! He's drinking water?!'" I explained. He laughed at the last part.

"I mean, if the world was a high school, celebrities would just be the popular jocks of the school, right? They're still humans. They're still students," I continued. He nodded his head.

The waitress came out and served us our food. We waited until she left before continuing our conversation.

"People just need something to talk about. With celebrities, we've got so much riding on our careers. We make one slip-up and it makes an impact on our reputation not just that one time, but permanently. And I think that as humans, we love seeing each other fail, whether it's out of jealousy or some sort of stupid preconception that if you can't do it or have it, no one can," he explained to me, leaning forward.

"Those people just want to see us fall. It gives them some sick sense of protection that no one really is perfect," he finished. I bit my lip and shook my head.

"It's ridiculous," I remarked. "But honestly, I would never give up my privacy for anything," I said.

"Not even if it means chasing your dreams?" he asked. I shook my head.

"You don't realize how important something is to you until it's gone. Having people following you constantly and not letting you live your life must suck. I would never give my life up for that," I replied.

"Look at this way. You love business, right?" he asked me. I nodded my head vigorously. "Well, in the business world, it's dog eat dog, too. Every CEO of every business wants to be the best out there. They want to crush their competition. It's kind of like that in Hollywood, too, except it's the paparazzi that want to take us down. What they don't realize, though, is that once we're down, so are they. Because they're careers are only as good as the celebrity. Once they bring the celebrity down, they go down, too, because then they have nothing to report on," he explained to me.

"I still wouldn't give up my privacy. I can't imagine not being able to walk to the grocery store without having to battle through a hoard of people asking me ridiculous questions," I said.

"So you would never date a celebrity?" Zac asked. I shook my head and as I did, I saw disappointment flit over his face. I was glad that we both had our glasses on. I wouldn't be able to look him directly in the eyes at this point.

"Honestly, I'm not too interested in dating anyone at this point," I said, hoping that this would redeem me slightly.

"Why not?" he asked, his voice a little husky.

"I need to get back on my feet. This job is just temporary. I need to find myself something real that I can do my whole life," I replied.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like working in firm or opening up my own business," I answered. I sighed. "I've been living in the shadows of my parents success all my life and I don't want to have to rely on them to get anywhere in this world. I want to do it myself so I can prove to people and to them that I'm capable of doing something big and I can handle a big corporation," I told him.

"That's a lot to take on for one person," Zac said. I nodded.

"That's why I can't be distracted. By anyone or anything," I replied, then sighed again. "Getting fired, though, was a major setback," I mumbled.

His lips twitched up slightly and I felt myself relax. I thought the situation was going to get tense and awkward, but he didn't say anything more on my rejecting him.

"Done? We've still got a lot more to see," Zac said. I nodded and we got up, paying the bill.

We spent the rest of the day touring the rest of Rome. There a bit of awkward tension between us, but mostly it was the same friendly atmosphere as before lunch. Only now, I could tell he wasn't trying to flirt with me anymore, which I appreciated. It just felt like I was hanging out with a friend.

When he dropped me off behind my hotel at night, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He smiled at me and I saw his eyes flit gently down to my lips. Without so much as another thought, I leaned forward and kissed his lips. They were soft and gently against mine, but I felt no electricity. There was nothing there that made me want more. It was just a kiss. I pulled away from him and we looked at each other.

"Hmmm. That wasn't what I expected," he said.

"You didn't feel anything either?" I asked him. He shook his head, his blue eyes almost glowing in the dark.

"That's what I meant. I expected there to be something, at least on my end. But there wasn't," he told me. I shrugged.

"Thanks for taking me to see Rome. It honestly was a lot of fun," I told him. He reached out and brushed my hair out of my face.

"No problem. I had fun, too," he said, smiling sweetly at me. I leaned forward and kissed his cheek again and then opened my door.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said.

"Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed," he replied, nodding at me. I waved and he drove away, leaving me alone in the hotel's back parking lot. I snuck inside the hotel and went up to mine and Duke's room. I opened the door to find the room empty and dark.

Where was Duke?

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A/N: D'awwwwww! No relationship between Zac and Valerie. One down, two more to go! Can you guess who those two are? =P

Comment and VOTE!

XOXO

Also, I don't know what the hell is wrong with Wattpad, but for some reason they didn't post the rest of my Part 11. Where it shows it stopped is not actually the ending of that chapter. There's like, a whole other scene I wrote. So I'm going to try and figure it out. Pay attention because I might post a new Part 11 (even though I've already tried that). And keep checking on the other Part 11. Maybe the rest of the chapter will magically appear.