The Grudge •||• PA17

•||•

...

Before the movie, I still had time, so like the perfect girlfriend I am, called Ollie. He was laye, of course he was. I was waiting near the entrance as Ollie came. He was wearing a loght blue blazer, a white polo and some beige pants. He looks handsome in everything but Thea definitely needs to teach Ollie a thing or two. The second his eyes found me, he relaxed, and his hand found mine like it belonged there.

With that, I was on the red carpet for the second time today. This time with my boyfriend.

The cameras lost their minds.

"Viviana! Ollie! Look here!"

"Big smiles, please!"

"One kiss!"

Ollie laughed and leaned in, brushing his nose against mine. Our faces just inches away. Flashbulbs exploded. And just like that, I knew the internet was gonna go crazy.

For a moment, everything was fine. We were comfortable, now we didn't need to hide. Ollie always wanted to show me off to the world, to tell that he was dating me. In his words 'the most gorgeous girl in the world'. It almost felt easy to be with him.

Until I saw Paul.

He arrived a few minutes later, Alpine colors exchanged for a double-breasted blazer with a white button up, a black tie and some wide-legged suit trousers that looked too perfectly to be fair. His smile was polite, but not real. Not the smile I knew.

Then I saw her by his side. The 'PR girl'. Nina Gademan. She was Dutch and she drove for Alpine in F1 Academy. So a rival of mine. She was a beautiful girl, not gonna lie. Honey brown hair, greenish hazel eyes, tall. A year older than Paul.

He said it was over? That the Alpine PR team finished it and— why was I even this interested at this?

And when his eyes left her and found mine across the chaos, just for a second, I felt it.

That pull.

The one I kept telling myself didn't exist anymore.

Thea noticed immediately. Of course she did. She first looked at Paul and then the girl next to him.

"Stop staring," she hissed under her breath.

"I'm not."

"You are."

I snapped my attention back to Ollie, but the damage was already done.

...

Inside, the lobby buzzed with drivers, team bosses, actors, and more PR managers than I thought existed. Netflix cameras hovered everywhere.

Ollie got swept into a conversation with Gabriel and a group of influencers, leaving me momentarily alone. That's when it happened.

Paul appeared at my side like he'd been waiting for me to be alone.

"You look good" he said quietly.

I glanced at him. "Don't start."

"I'm not starting. I'm... trying."

"Still?"

He smirked faintly. "Still."

I exhaled, scanning the room to make sure no one was watching too closely. "You shouldn't be here."

"At a premiere?" He said teasingly.

"At my side," I corrected.

"Why?"

"Don't you have your own plus one? Just go to her."

He sighed "Look, I didn't wanted to bring her the PR manager insisted. I have no connection with her."

"Fine... that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be by my side"

"But you're not moving either?"

I didn't answer. Because I didn't know.

Instead, I let him walk with me toward the bar, like it was normal. Like we were normal.

"You know Ollie's going to notice eventually," I said.

"Notice what?"

"That this doesn't feel like strangers."

Paul's eyes met mine again. Steady. Intent.

"Good," he said simply.

My breath caught before I forced myself to look away. "You're impossible..."

"And you're pretending this doesn't mean anything," he countered.

Before I could respond, Ollie reappeared, arm slipping easily around my waist. He looked at Paul for a second, his whole mood changed. Paul stepped back instantly, mask sliding back into place.

"There you are," Ollie said, eyes never leaving him. "Come on, the movie's about to star."

I smiled up at him, but when I glanced over my shoulder, Paul was already gone.

...

The film itself blurred. I barely registered the dialogue, the action sequences, the plot. My mind kept circling the same words, over and over:

You're pretending this doesn't mean anything.

By the time we spilled back into the lobby after the screening, everyone buzzing about how the film was, I felt raw. Like every nerve was exposed.

Ollie pulled me closer for another round of photos. He was glowing, happy now, content.

But when I caught Thea's gaze across the crowd, she wasn't smiling.

She just mouthed one word to me.

Careful.

And I knew she knew everything, she always did. And she was right.

Because I was playing a dangerous game that I didn't know how to stop.

okay i know i said there wasn't gonna be a new chapter soon but I couldn't help myself it was so appealing to write about it

but i'm not sure when the new chapter will be, cause school's about to start😔

hopefully you'll liked the chapter!!

enjoy babesss

xoxo, your favourite author🤗😝💞