Duke was nowhere to be found in our room. I turned the lights on. He wasn't there and he wasn't in the bathroom. I checked my phone to see if he had left any messages saying that he was going out, but there was nothing.

I shrugged and changed into my pajamas, washing my face and brushing my teeth in peace. Just as I walked out of the bathroom, though, I crashed, nose first, right into Duke, who had just walked inside. He grabbed onto me before I tumbled to the ground.

"Owwww!" I yelled, grabbing my nose. It had rammed painfully into Duke's broad shoulder.

"Damn, you have a hard nose," he said, rubbing his shoulder. He let go of my arm and I glared at him.

"Where were you?" I demanded, still massaging my nose, which felt broken. He gestured for us to get out of the little space in front of the bathroom and I walked forward to the mirror to examine my throbbing nose.

"I went outside," he said.

"Where?" I asked.

"Why does it matter?" he questioned.

"Why are you being so sketch? Drug dealing on the side?" I asked him. He pinched the side of my stomach and I yelped, jumping forward.

"I had to make a phone call," he told me. His jacket was cold; he had been outside outside.

"You don't get service in here?" I asked. He shook his head. I looked at him skeptically. He was always texting on his phone from our room. Something was up.

"Are you lying?" I asked him. He gave me a look.

"Why would I be lying?" he replied, shifting his gaze away from mine.

"Duke..." I said. He groaned.

"All right! All right!" he said, shrugging his jacket off and throwing it on the chair.

"My girlfriend is visiting," he told me. I raised my eyebrows.

"Do I get to meet her?" I asked giddily. He rolled his eyes at me.

"I need you to camp in Zac's room for a day," he told me. I frowned.

"What?" I asked.

"I need you to camp in Zac's room while she stays here. She doesn't know I'm rooming with you and she won't like it if she finds out," he said. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'm not going to share a room with Zac..." I said.

"Why not? You went out on a date with him today," he pointed out. "Oh, how was that by the way?" he asked.

"It wasn't a date," I said through clenched teeth. He smirked at me and opened a bottle of water. Just as he took a sip, I said, "We kissed."

He choked and gagged on the water. I widened my eyes in alarm and jumped behind him, smacking and rubbing his back as he sputtered and gasped for air.

"Oh my goodness! Are you all right?" I asked as he regained composure. He glared at me.

"You did that on purpose," he gasped.

"I so did not. But it was awesome the way it worked out," I replied, grinning at him.

"You kissed Zac?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yep," I replied, plopping down onto the bed.

"And...?" he urged, turning the chair around and sitting on it backwards.

"Look at how interested you are," I said to him, a small smile on my face. "You're the one that's supposed to tell me everything. Not the other way around," I added.

He opened the bottle of water again and poured some water in the cap. I looked at him, wondering what the hell he was doing. Then, without so much as a warning, he flicked the water in my face. I took a sharp intake of breath and flinched.

"Duke!" I yelled, wiping my face with my sleeve. He smirked at me.

"What were you saying?" he asked innocently as I glared at him.

"Neither of us felt anything. So like I've said a million times, we're just friends," I said. He blinked.

"Damn, I can't believe I was wrong," he said.

"Really? Because I can," I replied, wiggling my eyebrows at him.

"Are you sure you're just not into guys? Because Zac's a good looking guy," he said to me. I rolled my eyes.

"Thing is, I tend to look past just the looks. Zac and I connected as friends. Nothing more," I told him.

"So can you stay in his room for a night or two while my girlfriend is here?" he asked me.

"Because you've done so much for me," I said sarcastically. He looked at me seriously.

"Please, Valerie," he said. I raised my eyebrows at him in surprise. "What?" he asked, reading my expression.

"Nothing; it's just..." I paused and looked at him, confused. "It's just that I don't think I've heard you call me by my name in the week that I've worked for you," I said. He flashed his eyes at me.

"Did you think I didn't know your name?" he asked. I nodded.

"Well, kind of. You always addressed me by 'you'," I replied.

"I just don't like your name," he shrugged, tilting the chair forward, so his face was closer to mine. I frowned at him. "It's too many syllables," he added with a slight smirk.

"Jerk. And you expect me to do you a favor when you make fun of my name?" I said, pushing the back of the chair so he went down on all fours.

"Please. It's important," he begged, his eyes pleading.

"I kind of like making you beg. It makes me feel powerful," I said. He flared his nostrils, starting to get annoyed.

"Will you or will you not stay in Zac's room while my girlfriend is in town?" he asked in a crisp authoritative voice. I stood up and ruffled his hair. He smacked my hand away.

"Sure," I replied. His face brightened. "On one condition," I continued. His face dropped.

"What's your condition?" he groaned, looking up at me.

"You have to stop trying to set me up with people and stop intruding on my personal life," I stated.

"Deal," he agreed, standing up and pinching my cheek. I slapped his hand away. "Thanks, Val. You're a life-saver," he added, pushing the chair back into the desk.

"Don't call me that," I snapped.

"A life-saver?" he asked.

"Val," I said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because. Only Denise calls me that. Come up with your own nickname," I replied.

"Can I call you Miss Priss?" he asked me, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Only if I can call you Duke of Jerkfaces," I replied. He mimicked my words silently and I did the same to him as I walked to my makeshift bed and climbed in it.

As I fell asleep, I wondered why his girlfriend was coming to visit him in Italy.

                                                     ~~~~~~~~~

"Hi, I'm Valerie. Duke's new assistant," I said, introducing myself to Duke's girlfriend the next day on set.

"Olivia Greene. Nice to meet you," she said, smiling sweetly at me. She was tall and skinny, had blonde hair, and blue-green eyes. I smiled back at her. "You have really nice eyebrows," she told me. I brought my hand up to my hair, twirling it nervously like I always did.

"Thanks," I replied sheepishly. Duke coughed and I glared at him. Jealous.

"So if you don't mind my asking, is there any particular reason you're out in Italy?" I asked her, trying to sound as polite as possible. Her smile flickered and she glanced quickly at Duke. Then, she beamed at me.

"Well, it's our three year anniversary," she said, squeezing Duke's arm as he smirked down at me, looking slightly confused. "And also, I have a photoshoot," she added as she gazed lovingly at Duke. I wanted to gag.

"You guys have been going out for three years?" I asked. She nodded. "Why don't you just get married?" I asked. She let out a small, nervous laugh, as if I made some funny joke.

"You're not serious, are you?" she asked me. I was about to respond, but Duke butted in.

"No, she's not. How about getting Liv a water?" he suggested to me. I shrugged and walked off towards the refreshments table, where I met Zac.

"Met Olivia?" he asked me. I nodded. "What do you think?" he asked leaning against the table.

"She's pretty," I replied. "And nice," I continued. He looked at me. "And she seems like a huge fake," I concluded. He nodded his head.

"There it is! I knew you were smart," he said. He nodded towards her. "Something's sketch about her. They never make a big deal out of their 'anniversary'. And the shoot that she signed up for isn't for a big magazine, which is really unlike her," he explained to me.

"I got that vibe. She seems too happy," I replied.

"She's hiding something," Zac said. I pursed my lips.

"Well, that's none of my business. So I don't care," I said, picking up a water.

"It actually is kind of your business. Have you called Patrice about this yet?" he asked me, squinting his eyes in the sunlight.

"Am I supposed to?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"You didn't read the binder Patrice gave you, did you?" he asked. I bit my lip and looked down. I was caught red handed. He chuckled and shook his head. "In it, there's a section where you have to report publicity things to Patrice. Give her updates. This is something worth updating her on," he told me.

"How do you know all this?" I asked him suspiciously. He shrugged.

"I didn't like talking to Duke too much so I became pretty good friends with his last assistant, even though she was like my mother's age," he replied. "She would always tell me the things she had to do for him," he explained. I nodded, understanding.

"So what, I just call her and say, 'Hey, Duke's girlfriend showed up in Italy and she's acting like she committed a murder.'?" I asked. Zac chuckled, his white teeth flashing.

"Something like that," he said. The director called his name out. "Gotta go. Duty calls," he said, pushing himself off the table and striding away.

I walked back over to Duke and Olivia, who were making kissy faces at each other. I cleared my throat and handed Olivia her water. She thanked me and I smiled fakely at her before walking off again to call Patrice.

"Hello?" I heard Patrice's familiar sharp voice say.

"Hi Patrice. It's Valerie," I said.

"Yes, yes. What's wrong?" she asked. I frowned slightly. Every time I called her, she immediately assumed something was wrong. It was as if she didn't trust me.

"Nothing's wrong, per say," I said slowly. I could almost hear her impatience through the phone. "Duke's girlfriend showed up in Rome today," I told her.

"What? Are you sure?" she asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be making googly faces at some random girl," I replied.

"Watch your tone," she snapped and I bit my lip. "That's odd. She isn't scheduled for anything over there..." she muttered.

"She said she had a photoshoot," I told her.

"No; that got cancelled. Her manager didn't think it was a good enough magazine for her," she said.

"Hmmm. That is strange," I replied, looking over at the suspicious girl. What was going on?

"She also said it was her and Duke's anniversary," I said.

"They never celebrate their anniversary. They think it's cheesy," Patrice said, confusion dripping in her voice. "I'll look into this. Thank you for calling, Sparks," she said to me before promptly hanging up. I sighed. Sparks. I had a first name.

I sat in one of the chairs placed to the side and watched the scene Zac and Duke were supposed to be filming. Then I glanced over at Olivia, who was on her phone a distance away, talking animatedly. I decided to wander over and eavesdrop, so I casually pulled out my own phone and pretended to send a text message while mindlessly walking over to where Olivia was standing.

"...just make sure nothing gets out! I need to take care of it tonight and then we can figure out what to do next," she was saying. I furrowed my brows and she glanced over at me, seeing me walk over.

"I have to go. I'll call later. Bye," she said hurriedly and then hung up. I casually walked, holding my phone up, feigning looking for signal.

What was she hiding? What didn't she want to get out? And finally, what was she going to do tonight?

There was some shady business going on and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

_______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Oooh snap! What do you think Olivia is up to?

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Olivia's picture is in the sidebar.

XOXO