The end of one story is often the beginning of another. Hollywood heartthrob Brian Oliver and his Cinderella princess Ellamara Rodriguez have finally found love outside the digital world. But leaving their anonymity behind creates a whole new set of obstacles for the nation's new favorite sweethearts. With the stress of Brian's fame and the pressures of a new relationship weighing down on them, the It Couple quickly begins to wonder if they can hold on to their newfound joy, or if maybe happily ever after is only a fairy tale after all.
Scott closed his laptop, which was a
sign that he was really serious now.
“Like it or not, Brian, she is in this.
Up to her eyeballs in it, in fact. She won’t be able to avoid it forever, and
when it catches up to her, she’s going to have some real choices to make. If
you don’t bring her in with you, then your management team—along with everyone
else in town—will bypass you and go straight to her. Do you really want her to
meet with people and make decisions without
you?”
My jaw clenched. Hollywood people
could be nice enough, but they were all sharks in sheep’s clothing. Ella was a
strong, smart woman, but she wasn’t used to playing their game. No way did I
want her having to navigate this business on her own.
“You’re absolutely right that your
team will try to use her as much as possible. That’s why you should be there
when they do. At least if you’re together, you can tell her when they’re trying
to work her over.”
Damn him again. Why did he always
have to be right? Letting out a breath of defeat, I scrubbed my hands over my
face and then raked them through my hair. “All right, all right, fine. Let’s
schedule a meeting with Ella. But not yet. After the holidays. After New
Year’s.”
Scott’s posture eased up a little,
and he gave me an apologetic smile. “I don’t think they want to wait that long.
You guys are in the headlines now.
You’re the biggest story of the year. With the movie releasing in two days,
they want to take advantage of all this free publicity.”
I huffed in exasperation. “The Druid Prince is the biggest release
of the holiday. The studio has put millions of dollars into advertising. How
much more publicity does it need?”
“Not the film, Brian; you.”
“I don’t care about the publicity. I
don’t want the attention.”
I shot to my feet with a groan and
headed for my coffee again. It wasn’t as hot now, so I chugged it as if it held
the answers to all my problems.
“You do want it this time. And so does Ella.”
I was still frowning, but I leaned
against the counter again and gave him my full attention. He jumped on the
window of opportunity but spoke cautiously, as if he was afraid I might explode
if I didn’t like what he said. “How you and Ella deal with this attention will
affect your future, and you know it. The world loves you guys right now. You’re
a real-life fairy tale. People are dying to see the two of you living out the
happily-ever-after you promised them.”
“Forget the world. I want that. But if the freaking media
doesn’t leave us alone, no one will get that happily-ever-after, because Ella
will dump my famous ass.”
Scott’s snort of disbelief was only
mildly reassuring.
“She’s not like everyone else, Scott.
She doesn’t care about the money, and my fame is a problem in her eyes, not a fun perk. She’s fragile. If this gets
too crazy, she’ll throw in the towel. She’ll have to. And I’ll have to let
her.”
“If you would just make a couple of
appearances together, do an interview or two and a photo shoot, that would
satiate the public, and things would die down.”
“Tell that to Kim and Kanye.”
Again, Scott spoke right over my
cynical mutterings. “It would help you both in other ways, too. Ella is exactly
what you need for your career. This relationship will completely erase your
last year or so of debauchery.”
I cocked an eyebrow at Scott, trying
my hardest not to smile. It wasn’t easy. “Debauchery?”
His cheeks turned a little pink, but
he stood his ground. “Do you have a better word for all the partying and
womanizing?”
I held his gaze a moment longer but
then cracked. “Fine. Debauchery.”
“Right. And after a few appearances
with Ella, as in love as you guys are, not even Kyle Hamilton will remember
your previous reputation as an arrogant, immature playboy.”
My eyebrow went up again, and this
time it was Scott who relented. “Okay, Kyle
might. But no one else will; I guarantee it. You’ll be the mature down-to-earth
A-list actor who chose to be with a physically-disabled woman when he could
have anyone. You’ll be admired by all
of Hollywood. And a man like that might just win himself an Oscar, whether he
earned it onscreen or not—that’s simple Academy politics. Not that you haven’t
earned it, but no one in the Academy would hesitate to vote for you. And no
director will hesitate to consider you for a role in the future. Play your
cards correctly right now, and you’ll be earning thirty million a picture for
the Cinder Chronicles sequels and
turning down roles you’d beg for right now.”
A year ago, that would have been a
persuasive argument. “It’s not me I’m worried about. I’ll earn my A-list status
eventually; I don’t need to use Ella to get there.”
“She might want to use this
opportunity, though. You should at least explain to her what is going on and
what it means for her. From what you’ve told me, she’s an extremely independent
woman and isn’t going to want to live off of her father’s money forever, or
yours. This could be a very lucrative time for her. It could help her with her
future and even give her something to focus on. It could give her positive
reasons for living with the fame and maybe help her make sense of how much her
life has just changed.”
I shot Scott a glare, hating that
last accusation, and got his Super-Assistant-Stare-Down again. “Like it or not,
Brian, the moment you gave that Cinderella interview on The Kenneth Long Show, you changed her life. There’s no going back
for her, so help her move forward. Help her make the best of a hard situation.
Ease this transition for her by being straight with her. You know no one else
will.”
I rubbed my head. All this thinking
about the future first thing in the morning was giving me a headache.
“Sorry, boss, I know it’s not what
you want to do, but it is what you need
to do. I’d let you keep ignoring them and turn off my phone over the holiday if
it wasn’t.”
My hands dropped to my sides as all
the fight left me, and I met Scott’s gaze again, frowning. “Do you ever get
tired of being right?”
The corners of Scott’s mouth
twitched. “Not really, no.”
Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age
fifteen—a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for
which her family and friends still tease her. She's obsessed with reading,
talks way too much, and likes to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives
outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, four children, and her cat, Mr.
Darcy.
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