"I just want to talk to her, Jackie," Troy said emphatically.

  "And I told you that she is studying for her mock exams," Emma's mother retorted. "Why 't you e ba a few weeks when she's doh all her exams rather than disturbing her right now with…whatever this is?"

  From what Emma could gather, her mother wasn't too happy with Troy at the moment and wasn't shy about showing her disapproval. With the way their breakup had affected Emma, it made seroy hadn't said anything mean or done anything that could be sidered retaliatory, but the way he btantly ignored her afterward didn't sit right with her. After all, it was Troy who had made a pact that the two of them would remain friends even if they broke up. And now, here they were.

  "Firoy said with clear frustration in his voice. "I'll e ba two weeks. I want to bury the hatchet and make things right between us once more. We still have to work together for years to e, and I don't want any differences between us to e between our work or, heaven forbid, create another troversy."

  Jackie's tone softened slightly when she said, "Of course. That's very mature of you, Troy. I'll make sure—"

  "Troy?" Emma couldn't stay hidden any longer. She had to front him now.

  Her mother and Troy turoward the girl who had just e into the living room. As soon as the two teenagers' eyes met, her of them could look away.

  "Emma! I told you to focus on your studies," her mother said.

  "I'm taking a break, Mum," Emma replied, but her eyes never left Troy's. Brown eyes met green in a staring petition that her wao lose. A petition Emma lost, so she quickly averted her gaze from him.

  "I e back ter if you're busy," Troy said as soon as Emma looked away.

  "No," she shook her head. "It's better if we get this out of the way, or I'll keep w why you're here. That reminds me—why are you here, Troy? Are you here to apologize fn me?"

  "No," Troy said clearly. "I didn't do anything wrong. You broke up with me. I just wanted some space to get over you. Now that I have, I want things to go back to normal between us."

  "Define normal," Emma said, stopping Troy in his tracks.

  "Before we became a couple," he said after a few moments. "The way it was between you, me, and Jamie. I'm not asking for anything else. I just want to know that if I have a problem, I talk to you without thinking twice about it. The same goes for you. You used to call me all the time before we started going out. I wish we could go back to those days."

  While she didn't say it out loud, Emma used to call him because she had a crush on Troy at the time. But now… things could never go back to normal.

  Yet, she khat nothing good would e from prolonging their mutual suffering. But before anything could be resolved, she o crify ohing with Troy.

  "Mum," she said, turning to her mother. " you give us a little privacy?"

  The older womaated for a few moments, but eventually, she trusted her daughter enough to nod and leave the two teens alone in the living room.

  Troy didn't question Emma's motive, simply raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

  "I have to tell you that I'm not dating Nichos Hoult," Emma said hurriedly. At Troy's fused expression, she expined further, "He and I go to the same school when we're not filming, but that's all. I don't even know him that well. And sihe rumors about the two of us were so close to home, my publicist suggested I should sider dating someone else to throw everyone off the real thing."

  Troy could only gape at her in silence. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, uo e up with anything coherent for a few moments before finally settling on, "Why didn't you tell me then?"

  "I tried," Emma retorted. "God knows I tried so many times. I knew you were hurting and just wao tell you I hadn't moved o either, but you just wouldn't listen. You really o work on your people skills."

  Troy closed his eyes i before nodding slowly. He opehem again and said in the most ear voice, "I'm sorry, Emma. I'm really sorry fn you when you were just trying to help me."

  "It's okay," she smiled. "I think I deserved to be ignored and more. I'm beyond apologetic for the way I broke up with you. I could've do in a much better way."

  "Let bygones be bygones and start afresh," Troy said jovially before her a handshake. "Hello. I'm Troy Armitage. o meet you."

  Emma couldn't help but grin widely at her ex-boyfriend's antics before shaking his hand back. "o meet you, Troy. I'm Emma Watson." Her smile dimmed slightly when she added, "I 't make any promises at the moment, but I'll try my best to be your friend again."

  It was then that Emma's mother walked bato the living room. Their five minutes must have been up.

  "Thank you," Troy said. "Now, I please get your new hat was a dick move you pulled, by the way." He surreptitiously g Emma's mother as he said the st part, indig that he knew whose idea it was not to give him her number.

  "Your dad has it," Emma said, fused. Being the producer of [Harry Potter], it would be odd if Steve didn't have her phone number.

  "He refused to give it to me," Troy replied. "Said that if I didn't get it from you, he wouldn't give it to me either. That's why I didn't call before ioday."

  "Fine," Emma relented.

  Jackie interjected, "Don't call or text until your exams are over, Emma." She may have addressed her daughter, but she was looking at Troy, making it clear the message was for him.

  "Okay," Troy agreed, before taking out his phone and handing it over to Emma who quickly typed her new number in.

  (Break)

  I stood motionless as the dark-skinned beauty stepped forward and kissed me softly on the lips. As much as I wao return the favor, I didn't.

  Rihanna pulled back after a few moments, realizing I wasn't kissing her back.

  "You love someone else," she said matter-of-factly.

  "I… do," I firmed after some hesitation.

  Rihanna looked away, and I could see the indecision on her face. Thankfully, it didn't st long before she gave me a small smile. I could see the hidden pain in her eyes when she said, "She's a lucky girl."

  "She is," I agreed.

  "Go get her then. Just don't fet that you still owe me a song."

  I nodded once before stepping away. Then I paused, came back, and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Rihanna. If things were just a little different, we—"

  "Stop," she cut me off. "Just go before I… Just go."

  I didn't say anything else because I k would only make things worse. So I turned and ran in the opposite dire.

  "Cut!" Daldry announced loudly. "Good job, Troy. Rihanna, you were phenomenal just now. This was exactly what I needed for this shot."

  "Really?" she asked skeptically.

  "Really," Daldry said in a reassuring tone.

  "He's right," I curred as I walked back to her. "You were very good just now." That wasirely true, but sometimes some things had to be said to reassure your fellow actors.

  Rihanna was many things, a phenomenal singer, unparalleled beauty, and a fun person to hang out with, but a good actress she was not. This had already been our twelfth take, and finally, she had done a good enough job for the se to pass. Usually, when shooting with Emily or me, Daldry never promised, settling for nothihan absolute perfe. But w with a non-actress like Rihanna was a different matter entirely, atled for the first "okay" shot.

  An actress like Emily or even Emma could have performed better than Rihanna in probably their first take. The only reason Rihanna had been cast, despite her ck of ag talent, was that her character had fewer than five minutes of lines. It wouldn't affect the film too badly if she wasn't the best actress.

  Daldry tinued, "It's your and Emily's se , Troy. But before we move on…" He raised his voice signifitly. "Everyone, give it up for Rihanna, who just finished all her ses in her very first film!"

  The cast and crew members present o immediately started g for Rihanna, who bowed in embarrassment. I had to hand it to Daldry—he kly how to make everyone o feel special. Such shoutouts were on during his shoots. Even actors with a single se sting just a few hours received them. These weren't limited to the cast, either; the crew got them as well. It was one of the biggest reasons I hadn't thought twice about seleg him as the director for this film.

  "Oh, stop now," Rihanna said as the crew kept appuding. "I'll blush if you don't."

  "I wouldn't mind seeing you all flustered," I said matter-of-factly when the appuse died down.

  "Of course, you wouldn't," Rihanna said exaggeratedly before l her voice. "Have you decided about what I asked you earlier? Now that my ses are over, I don't really have a reason to stay behind in London unless…"

  She trailed off evasively, gng around at the lingering crew members. her of us kly who might be listening to our versation.

  Before I could reply, Emily and Rob walked over hand in hand, though Emily quickly let go as soon as she noticed me looking at their ected hands. To be ho, I had sort of accepted that Emily was with Rob and that I wouldn't be getting together with her. After I had some time to think it through, I realized that Emily and I wouldn't have worked out. She's a good friend, and they are so rare to find when you're as famous as I am. You would always sed-guess whether they're your actually your friend or for your fame/money.

  "If it isn't the lovebirds," Rihanna called out, blissfully unaware of the subtle drama unfoldiween Emily and I. "I have to say, you two look so cute together."

  "Thanks, Rihanna," Emily replied with a visible blush, carefully avoiding my gaze.

  Seeing her like that made me realize that I put her in a difficult spot after my impromptu and very badly thought out proposal. I had to make this right before this gets any more awkward.

  "She's right," I said to Emily. "You two do look good together."

  Emily looked up at me in surprise. I gave her a nod and a genuine smile. She smiled back at me, and seeing her face lit up with joy was exactly what I needed. In that moment, I khat I had dohe right thing.

  With that thing out of the way, there was just ohi, the ao Rihanna's question. I had thought about it long and hard, naturally, and it didn't take long for me to find the answer.

  "Rihanna?"

  "Yes, Troy?"

  "My ao your earlier question is yes," I stated clearly.

  Emily, Rob, and a few eavesdropping crew members looked fused by my cryptic words, but thankfully, no one asked aloud what I meant.

  Rihanna's eyes widened briefly before a huge grin spread across her face. "Gd to know that. Let's tihis talk ter. You have a se to shoot, I guess."

  "That we do," I said, turning toward Emily. "Wanna run some lines with me? It'll take Daldry some time to set the se."

  "Sure," Emily agreed easily.

  Rob and Rihanna stepped back, leaving me aloh my Emily to prepare for our uping se.

  (Break)

  At the end of the shoot that day, I didn't go home immediately. Instead, I went to the hotel where Rihanna was staying. I knocked on her door, hoping to surprise her a little. When she ope partially, I could see the amazement on her face.

  "Is this a good time to talk?" I asked. "I would have called, but I thought we should do this in person."

  "Oh yeah," she nodded, closing the door briefly to undo the tch before opening it fully.

  She was wearing a bck tank top and a pair of pink shorts that did nothing to ceal her long, smooth legs. I closed my eyes for a moment, reminding myself again that this was just a transa, not a real retionship. If Emma could do it, then why couldn't I?

  I took a seat on a chair while Rihanna sat cross-legged on the bed.

  "So?" she said, prompting me.

  "So?" I echoed.

  "How do you wanna do this?"

  "I have no idea," I admitted. "I thought since you proposed it, you'd have a pn."

  From the look on her face, Rihanna didn't appreciate my response. "Last year, I didn't even know I'd release an album, let alo people like Jay-Z or you. Why would you think I'd know anything about how this works?"

  I sighed i. This is what happens when two clueless people try to navigate uncharted territory. If Rihanna wasn't going to take the lead, I'd have to. I brainstormed for a moment before nodding to myself.

  "Okay," I began, taking trol of the situation. "To be ho, I don't want a serious retionship. I don't even want to go on dates. But I get the bes of being in a retionship—it keeps you relevant in the media. If you're fih that, we move forward."

  "I'm fih it," she said in her heavy Barbadian at.

  I nodded before asking, "Does Jay-Z or anyone else know you proposed a fake retionship to me?"

  "No," she replied. "I didn't tell ahat would defeat the purpose."

  "That's good," I said. "So let's keep it between us. I'll o tell my family, though, sihey'll know if it's not real. Don't worry—they keep a secret."

  "I won't even tell my family," Rihanna replied matter-of-factly. "They wouldn't keep quiet about it. It's better if they just think we're dating."

  "Cool," I said. "I'd suggest an NDA, but since we're both underage, it wouldn't be legally binding. I'll just have to trust you."

  "And I'll have to trust you," Rihanna shot back sassily.

  "No offense, but if this gets out, I have much more to lose than you."

  Rihanna tilted her head in thought before nodding. "True. So, what's your favorite film?"

  "Huh?" I asked, fused by the sudden shift in tone.

  Rihanna rolled her eyes as if expining something to a child. "If we're pretending to be a couple, we should at least know basic things about each other."

  "[Pulp Fi]. But shouldn't we start with simpler things, like family, before likes and dislikes?" I tered.

  Rihanna looked momentarily embarrassed before nodding. "Yeah, we should. I didn't realize it because everyone seems to know everything about your family." Then she shook her head and tinued, "Anyway, I'll start. My full name is Robyn Rihany. I was born in Barbados. My parents divorced three years ago, and I dropped out of high school to pursue my music career. Your turn."

  I smiled at her befivihe barebones version of my life history—the kind of things any girlfriend, real or fake, should probably know.

  We talked for what seemed like hours but robably just ohe time flew by, and I only realized how te it had gotten because I'd e here after the shoot. With tomorrow being the final day of filming, I knew I couldn't afford to be te. So I bid her farewell.

  I stood from my seat and walked toward the door. Opening it halfway, I turned back to Rihanna. "I'll discuss this with my parents and work out a strategy to reveal our retionship to the world anically so it doesn't seem fake."

  "Okay," she agreed easily.

  Before I could step out, Rihanna moved beside me and kissed my cheek.

  "We should get used to this," she said ily. "For appearances' sake."

  I stared at her for a moment, gathering my ce before stepping forward. But I wasn't oo settle for her cheek. Her plump lips met mine in a heated csh.

  Rihanna froze for a split sed, surprised by my sudden move, but quickly recovered and kissed me back with equal fervor. Her soft lips moved against mine in what could only be described as the best kiss of my life. Her mouth opened, and our tongues daogether in a passionate exge.

  When the need for air became too much, Rihanna pulled away, giving me another i look. "Are you sure you have to go? I'll make it worth your while if you stay."

  I g the Rolex on my wrist, a stant reminder of how te it was and the iable lecture I'd get for not telling my parents where I was. My security team was downstairs, and knowing them, they'd already informed Dad of my whereabouts.

  But even if I set aside my parents' worries, I couldn't ighe potential sequeny step. One misstep could doom me for the rest of my life.

  "Ah, fuck it!" I muttered, stepping bato the room and closing the door behind me. I pulled Rihanna into another kiss, this one even more fervent than before.

  Everything else could go to hell for all I cared. Only a fool would turn down a hottie like Rihanna.

  ___________________________________________

  AN: This is my st post of the year (obviously). I hope that 2025 would be a great one for all of you. Happy New Year!