A Devine Life (Josh Devine)

Simon Says

"Mr. Cowell will gladly see you now," said the woman at the front desk, pointing toward Simon's office. "Good luck; you're gonna need it."

"Thanks," I replied just before making my way to his office.

He wanted to see me, but not only me. He requested to see everyone, including the band. He never asks to see the band, so whatever he wants to talk to us about must be a pretty big deal.

I stared at the door with SIMON COWELL printed on it in large, bold letters. I was a little scared of going in, but I'd have to sooner or later.

Josh walked beside me and turned the knob on the door, holding the door open for all of us to enter the room. It was pretty big, but not as big as you'd imagine Simon's office to be. I had imagined him having pictures of himself on the wall or something, but the walls were painted a light gray color, making the room look more modern.

"Ah, nice to see you again boys. How have you all been?" He stood up and gave us all a friendly hug before sitting down next to Josh and I on the couch he had a few feet away from his desk.

"Actually, not so good," Josh answered. "The whole world thinks Emily is cheating on me with Niall. Oh, and Louis, thanks to E! News."

Simon didn't look a bit shocked, but I guess he was used to having drama like this with his years in the business. "Have you all tried clearing up these rumors?"

I nodded. "When Louis called E! News, we talked to Ryan and Giuliana to clear things up, but they made things worse. They started a rumor saying I'm cheating with Louis, as well. I'm not with either of them; I'm married to Josh. I have no reason to cheat on him."

"It's all part of being in the business, Emily. This is only your first taste at drama, and there's going to be more ahead as you go on with your singing career."

"I know, and I'm trying to handle it, but I can't seem to." I sighed and leaned my head on Josh's shoulder. "I just want this to get cleared up already."

Simon stood up and walked to his desk. "We'll see what Modest will do about it. Some representatives will be here at half past three, so you have a few minutes to relax."

Those few minutes seemed to never pass. I was too worried with what management would have to say about this. I assumes I'd get in trouble for "not being careful enough" and "trying to get rid of the rumors on my own when I shouldn't even talk about them without a lawyer present". You know, all that good stuff.

What if I lose my record deal? What if management actually believes I cheated on Josh? Will they kill me? Probably, but maybe not.

Oh, who am I kidding? They're totally going to kill me whether I did anything or not.

I was so into my thoughts that I didn't notice two representatives for Modest come into the room and stand in front of me. "Oh hello, you must be from Modest."

They nodded and the man to my right shook my hand. "I'm Harvey, and this is Laura," he said, pointing to the woman next to him. They both looked so professional.

Harvey was wearing a blue dress shirt, covered by a black suit jacket and black slacks. His shoes were polished so perfectly, I could practically see my reflection in them. Meanwhile, Laura was wearing a white dress top with ruffles at the chest, paired with a purple pencil skirt and black heels. Her hair was in a messy bun, making the outfit look not too professional, but still somewhat relaxed.

Laura shook my hand and sat next to me. "So Emily, we heard the rumors going around. Do you have anything to say about them?"

"Well, yes I do," I answered, "but it seems every time I try to clear them up, I get myself deeper into trouble."

"We're going to need you to do three things," she requested. "Can you do them?"

"Depends if they're legal," I answered, earning a chuckle from both of them.

"First of all, you're going to need to say the rumors about you and Niall are true."

"What?! You're crazy!" I yelled, standing up and crossing my arms across my chest.

"That's not all," Harvey said, pulling me down by my arm to sit down again. "Next, you're going to have to fake a divorce with Josh."

"Nope, nope, nope. You just crossed the line. You're crazy if you think I'm going to fake a divorce!"

"Third, you're going to date someone that we have already chosen for you," Laura continued, putting air quotes around "date".

"I'm not going through with this! Go ahead and take my record deal away from me! If I have to do this to keep it, then I'm out!" I took my purse and started for the door, but Niall stopped me. "Come on, let me leave, Niall."

"I'm not going to let you leave, Em. I know that record deal and making an album means so much to you, and I know you're not gonna throw it all away that easily." He put his hand on my shoulder. "It's only going to last a couple of weeks, and we're going to make sure that you and Josh still get to see each other every single day."

"What about the kids? I don't want them getting tangled up in this whole thing."

"Actually, Emily," Laura began, "you're still going to be living at home. When you go to the press conference we've scheduled for you tomorrow, you're going to announce all this, and include that you'll be living at home while you go through the process of the divorce."

"Let me get this clear: I have to confirm these rumors, fake a divorce, and fake a relationship, but I'll still be living at home?" Harvey and Laura nodded.

Josh came up to me and held me by my waist. "I hate this as much as you do, but if you do this, they'll make sure everything goes back to normal. It'll take a while, but it'll be worth it."

"He's right," Simon said. "If you go through with it, you'll be back to your normal life in no time and be able to keep your record deal."

I looked down and let out a sigh. "I guess I'll have to do it. But, who am I going to be in a fake relationship with?"

"An up and coming actor. I'm not sure if you've heard of him." Laura walked toward the door and opened it. "Come on in."

In came none other than Francisco Lachowski, one of the hottest guys to ever walk on this planet. I had heard about him a few times and saw people talking about him on Twitter, but now he's standing in front of me. I'm supposed to be famous and mature, but I just can't help but...

"Ahh! Are you kidding me?! Francisco Lachowski?!" I jumped up and down, noticing that it made Josh a little upset. "I mean, oh, it's Francisco Lachowski. Nice to meet you." I shook his hand and smiled at him. Damn, he was hot.

Hey, I know I'm married, but that doesn't mean I can't think other guys are hot.

"Hey, nice to meet you, Em. I've heard a lot about you, so you must be a big deal now." He chuckled. "So, are you ready to put on a show for everyone?" I nodded.

"He'll be at the press conference with you tomorrow, so you'll have plenty of time to plan out a whole story about how you met, why you're with him, and so on," said Laura. "Come on everyone, it's time to go."

Francisco left behind Harvey and Laura, but not before giving me his number to plan everything out. I saved it in my phone and put it away.

When I looked up, Josh looked even more upset. "It's all an act, Josh. Everything will go back to normal soon." He seemed to be reassured by what I said and gave me a kiss, leading me out.

This is gonna be fun...

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