May 2005, London

  Evan was excited. It was the st day of filming his very first film. True, he hadn’t directed the film himself as he wao, but he’d written the script and directed a few songs for it. For now, that was more than enough. Usually, he didn’t skip csses to go to the set, but today was different. He had gotten permission from his foster parents to withe final day of filming. With his current pn, he would be eligible to direct his first film in four years, as per the ditio by Steve. He had no iion of attending uy for further education because, for aspiring filmmakers, film schools were a waste of time—or so Steve seemed to think. Acc to Steve, no one could teach filmmakier than the experience of w on a film set.

  He would have goo the set already if not for the family drama at home. Troy, in all his wisdom, had decided to spend the night at Rihanna’s hotel room. It didn’t take a genius to guess what the two were doing there.

  “Do you not uand something as basic as calling home to tell us where you were st night?” Steve berated Troy. “We tried calling you, but your phone was unreachable.”

  Instead of looking chasteroy shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “By the time we were doalking, it was very te, so Rihanna suggested I stay over. I didn’t call because I knew Paolo would’ve informed you of my location. Don’t tell me he didn’t?”

  “Talking,” Kathy whispered to Evan with amusement. “Is that what kids call it these days?”

  “Paolo did,” Steve admitted, not hearing Kathy’s ent. “Puy had to spend the night iel lobby waiting for you to e back. But you didn’t. God knows what you were thinking. That was very immature of you.”

  “I think we should all calm down,” Kathy interjected, trying to de-escate. “At least we rest assured that we’re in London, where whatever Troy may or may not have do night was legal since he’s 16 now.”

  “I don’t care if he had sex,” Steve surning to his wife. “I’ve probably done worse things as a teen. What matters is that he’s not some random kid off the streets. The whole world knows him. If this gets out, it could have severe repercussions.”

  Troy at least had the decy to look sheepish when Steve pointed out the obvious.

  “e on, Steve,” Kathy said soothingly. “I know he’s a celebrity, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t enjoy his teen years. You know how it feels your first time.”

  Steve looked like he waue further but trolled himself. Turning to Troy, he asked, “Tell me at least you got her to sign an NDA.”

  “She’s 17,” Evan replied before Troy could. “So she wouldn’t be able to sign it.”

  “Dammit!” Steve cursed.

  “Calm down, Steve,” Kathy said again. “Why don’t you head over to the produ site while I get the boys and Emily ready for the day?”

  “They’re not five,” Steve grumbled but did as Kathy suggested, leaving the two boys and Kathy behind. Emily was blissfully unaware in the guest room at the moment, probably getting ready for the day.

  When Steve finally left the living room, everyone heaved a sigh of relief in unison.

  Troy turo Kathy and said gratefully, “Thanks, Mum. I was damn sure Dad would ground me for life.”

  “Nah, he’s just trying to act tough,” Kathy waved off his s before stepping forward and engulfing him in a hug. “I feel so old knowing that my son is almost an adult now.”

  Troy looked visibly unfortable and g Evan for help, who simply shrugged, not knowing what to do.

  Kathy stepped back from the hug and gave Troy a scrutinizing look. “Please tell me you used prote. As much as I’d love a few grandchildren, nht now.”

  “Ugh,” Troy groaned. “You didn’t just ask me that!”

  “Of course I did,” Kathy said firmly. “Because if you didn’t have safe sex, I’ll get that girl a m-after pill right now.”

  Troy closed his eyes in mortification before nodding. “Yes, I used a .”

  “Good,” Kathy said, patting his cheek affeately. “I’ll buy you a new supply so you don’t run out anytime soon.”

  Evan burst out ughing at Troy’s predit, while Troy looked like he wao disappear.

  “I’ll get some for you as well, Evan,” Kathy said, turning toward the ughing boy. Evan’s ughter stopped abruptly. Kathy’s eyes glinted mischievously as she added, “I think I should talk to Nadia to remind her of that too.”

  Hell no.

  “Please don’t,” Evan pleaded.

  Kathy and Troy ughed together at Evan’s horrified expression.

  Then Troy suddenly became serious and turned back to his mother. “There’s something I think I should tell you.”

  “I don’t like that tone,” Kathy said, her smile fading.

  “Rihanna and I want to publicly out our retionship.”

  Evan knew immediately this was a bad decision on Troy’s part.

  “Why would you—?” Kathy began, only to pause. “Wait, you’re serious about her? I didn’t even know this was beyond a oime thing.”

  “You’re right, we aren’t serious,” Troy crified. “She and I would only act as decoy lovers. It’d gee some free media ce and keep unwanted people away since we’d have an excuse to turn them down. If we find someoually like, we’ll publicly break up and move forward with that person.”

  “That’s a terrible idea, son,” Kathy said firmly.

  “It’s not,” Trued. “It has all the bes of a public retionship without the emotional baggage. It’s perfee.”

  Kathy frowned. “You’re 16.”

  “And?” Troy shot back. “Emma’s 15. She’s doing it too.”

  Kathy rubbed her temples, clearly frustrated. “We’ll talk about this ter. You two have a shoot to get to. Troy, get ready fast. Evan, go see if Emily’s ready.”

  Both boys nodded, heading off to their respective tasks.

  Sihey were moving in the same dire, ohey were out of Kathy’s earshot, Evan fist-bumped Troy.

  “Nice, bro,” he said with a grin. “She is hot as hell.”

  “She sure is,” Troy agreed.

  “So, how was it?” Evan asked eagerly.

  “Let’s just say that yesterday was the best night of my life, and leave it at that.”

  “Oh e on!” Evan groaned. “You have to give me more than that. At least tell me if it was like a warm apple pie?”

  Troy stopped in his step and gave a judgemental look to his foster brother. Then he shook his head. “You watany movies, Evan.” Then he moved moved towards his room.

  “Hey! Answer me!” Evan’s shouts fell on deaf ears.

  (Break)

  “And with that se, we are doh the movie,” Stephen Daldry announced, prompting a huge round of appuse across the set. The cast and crew were thrilled that the film was finally plete, but none more than me.

  We had set a budget of 25 million for the movie, and thanks to Dad’s involvement in the produ, we ed it up for 22 million, leaving us with ara 3 million—even after ating for the uping arty. I had no iion of saving that surplus.

  “Everyone!” I called out ohe appuse quieted. “We’ve ed filming under budget, saving a total of 3 million.” There was another, quieter round of appuse, but I interrupted before it could build. “Don’t cp just yet. This saving ossible only because of your diligend hard work. So, all of it will be distributed to the supp cast and crew in proportion to their saries, with everyoing at least 10,000.”

  There were slightly fewer than 100 people in the pool, meaning each person would receive, on average, around 30,000—more than half of many of their annual saries.

  For a moment, stunned silence hung over the set. Then, chaos erupted. The thunderous appuse that followed dwarfed anything I’d ever heard from this crew. Cps, whistles, and cheers echoed everywhere. Soon, two tall crew members came forward, hoisted me onto their shoulders, and paraded me around as the appuse tinued unabated.

  I felt like I was on top of the world, looking down at everyone o. I saw Daldry, Emily, Rob, and even Rihanna. After st night, I’d suggested she e to the set since a party nned for the entire cast and crew after the shoot. Other actors whose roles had ed earlier were ioo.

  Rihanna was smiling at me—one of those genuine smiles that made her seem even more radiant. She’d be from the bonus as well since her sary for the movie had been just 50,000. Rob, with an even lower paycheck, was in the same situation. Emily, oher hand, wouldn’t be included in the pool because her sary was already half a million, and adding her would dilute everyone else’s share. Simirly, Stephen Daldry wouldn’t receive anything; his base sary of 2 million was the highest o, and he also had a pertage of the profits waiting for him ter.

  The arty that followed was one of the most joyous I’d experienced in my seven-year career. Everyone’s spirits were high, undoubtedly boosted by the ued bonus.

  “That was a good thing you did back there,” Rihanna said as she stepped beside me during the festivities.

  “Thank you,” I replied with a nod. “They deserve it. A lot of producers hand out bonuses after a film is a hit. I like to do it in advance because you never know who has moved on to some other try or eve showbiz behind. This is simpler.”

  Rihanna tilted her head and asked, “Why has your dad been giving me a judgmental look ever since I got here?”

  “Were you expeg him to hug you after you took his i son’s virtue?” I quipped.

  “I?” she mock-gasped. “Where was your innoce st night when you were beggio let you put it in my—”

  “I hope I’m not interrupting something,” Dad interjected loudly.

  I quickly looked away, heat creeping up my neck. That was defioo muformation for him to overhear.

  Rihanna, oher hand, remained uant and unashamed, replying smoothly, “Of course not, Steve.”

  “I got a call from my wife a few ho,” Dad began, and I immediately knew what this was about. “She told me about your arra.”

  “ we talk about this ter, Dad?” I asked hopefully. “I really don’t want tue with you here.”

  “I’m nuing,” Dad said evenly. “I think it’s a smart move.”

  I blinked, startled. Was he seriously okay with me having a fake retionship? Wasn’t he upset with me just this m for spending the night with Rihanna?

  “It’ll keep unnecessary gold diggers away from you, and since you’ll be upfront about it, the media won’t hound you as much as they would if you were hiding it. But there’s ohing about this pn that could be a little ing.”

  Hearing the seriousness in his tone, I couldn’t help but ask, “What?”

  “Your race,” he said, his face grave. Theuro Rihanna. “Don’t get me wrong, Rihanna. You’re a beautiful young dy, and I’d love it if you two were actually dating. But the world out there isn’t fair. People will judge you and Troy harshly for stupid reasons, like the color of your skin. So before you go forward with this pn, remember that people , and will, be mean—especially online, where anonymity makes them fearless.”

  I hadn’t even sidered that. Sure, I noticed that Rihanna didn’t look like me, but I didn’t think it would matter. Was the world really still so bigoted in the 21st tury that they’d care about the race of a celebrity couple?

  “I ha,” Rihanna said fidently. “I’ll just ighem.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Sometimes, you have to ignore people to live your life peacefully—like I ignore most of the film critics.”

  Dad nodded once. “Whatever you decide, I’ll support you.” Then, turning to Rihanna, he added in a serious tone, “But remember, this arra of yours ever bee publiowledge. As soon as you turn 18, you’ll o sign an NDA about it. That’s noiable.”

  “Dad,” I said firmly. “Don’t do this.”

  He didn’t even g me, keeping his gaze fixed on Rihanna, whed nontly after a few moments. “Sure. If it ever gets out, it’ll hurt my image too. I won’t tell anyone.”

  Dad nodded again, this time with a slight smile. “Good. Then enjoy the party.” With that, he walked off to mih someone else.

  As soon as he was out of earshot, Rihanna turo me. “Damn. Your dad is intense.”

  “He’s a big softy at heart,” I said. “He just gets overprotective sometimes.”

  “Of course he does,” Rihanna said in a teasing, childish tone. “His son is so i and pure of heart.”

  I sighed. “You’re never going to let the ihing go, are you?”

  “Never.”

  (Break)

  With the filming of the musical ed up, only post-produ remained, which would take at least a few months. This timeline made Warner's pn for a winter release entirely feasible.

  I now had nearly two months before the [Harry Potter] film would begin shooting. The dey was unavoidable since most of the child actors, including Emma Watson, had exams scheduled during this period. Warner had no choice but to wait until everyone was finished.

  I was already dreading those two idle months. I’d e to realize that I was something of a workaholic; sitting at home with nothing productive to do felt like torture to me.

  Sure, I could fly to Los Ao be with Rihanna, but we’d decided to wait for one of the big events to publicly announce our retionship. I was hoping we could do it month during the release of [Brick], which would provide the movie with some free publicity. If only I had a small project that I could finish in this limited time before we shot [Harry Potter].

  Just as that thought crossed my mind, I got an ued email from an ex-colleague of mine.

  Hi Troy,

  I hope this email finds you well! I’m not the best at writing emails, so apologies if this es across as a bit direct.

  I tried calling you but couldn’t get through—did you happen to ge your phone number since we st spoke? When you have some time, please give me a call. I’d love to catch up and also discuss an idea for a potential project.

  Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

  Best regards

  XXXX

  AN: Any guesses who the ex-colleague could be?

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