fake [s.m] (REWRITE)

chapter three

[third person]
-

the faint beeping of her phone alarm made her wake up from her deep slumber. she sighed as soon as she woke up, leaning over to turn the alarm off, before lying in bed for a few more minutes, trying to wake herself up, and fight off the jet lag.

she quickly showers and changes into a fresh pair of jeans, and a simple shirt over that, tucking the back of her shirt into the back of her jeans so the front fits better. after changing, she applies a small layer of makeup, and adds her usual daily jewellery to her wrists and fingers.

anya picks up her phone and bag, before heading straight out of her hotel room, and down to the hotel restaurant to eat breakfast.

"hey, anya!" she hears, as she notices brian approaching her. "morning."

"oh hey, morning," she smiles slightly at him, waving with her hand. "how was the meal last night?"

"it was good, you should have come with us," he says to her. "how was your, you know, night in?"

"well needed," she chuckles nervously. "it's all a bit strange to me, i think i needed last night to just think a little."

"shawn came back early," brian adds, making anya a little bit more curious to what he has to say. "yeah, he wasn't feeling okay. i guess it's weird to him too. at least you guys have something to bond about?"

"yeah," anya nods, walking into the breakfast room, seeing an intercontinental buffet, making her stomach groan with hunger. her cheeks flush gently as brian lets out a laugh, helping himself to a plate, and handing one to anya.

"it's a buffet, so eat as much as you want," he tells her, making her chuckle. they both fill up their plates with a range of breakfast foods, before finding a table and sitting down at it.

"so, brian, what do you do?" anya asks, crossing her legs over each other, and looking up from her plate.

"i mean," he chuckles. "tour with shawn occasionally, university work, stuff," he says, shrugging. "what do you outside of this job?"

"online college," she answers. "yeah, i want to major in english literature."

"oh nice, that's cool," he grins. anya feels herself grow a little happy that someone on the team, other than andrew, is making her feel at home, and at ease.

shawn walks into the breakfast room, seeing his 'girlfriend' and best friend laughing with each other, and engaging in a conversation. he feels himself feel slightly jealous, but nevertheless continues in his day, getting his breakfast, and taking a seat next to brian, whilst mike sits down next to anya.

"morning," shawn mumbles to the pair, taking a quick sip of his orange juice. he briefly looks at anya, who makes eye contact with him, but then looks away almost immediately.

"i don't think we've properly met yet," mike says to anya, trying to diffuse the tension. "i'm mike."

"anya, it's nice to meet you," she grins, shaking his hand. "you're in the band, right?"

"yes! i play the drums," he says, smiling at her. "so, how did shawn and you meet?" shawn and anya quickly look at each other, and it finally clicks. the rest of the crew don't even know.

"uh mike, we're not together," shawn says anxiously, not looking away from anya. "she's my uh, fake girlfriend, for press," he says quietly.

"oh," mike says, trailing off his voice. "so is that why you didn't come to dinner?" he asks, turning to face anya.

"sort of, that and i was exhausted," she answers, sending a tired smile to mike. "i'm definitely not used to travelling."

"so why did you sign up?" shawn scoffs, taking a bite of his toast. brian puts his fork down, glaring at shawn, who shrugs in response.