Love Me Not (Shawn Mendes)

Chapter 1

I gave him a skeptical look. "What is it?" If he had to preface this by telling me that they'll pay me a lot of money, this must either be something serious, or something that's going to be a lot of work.

"We want you to be in a fake relationship with one of our artists for maybe one year at most, depending on how his publicity changes."

The room went silent, his words hanging thick in the air.

Maybe I heard wrong. No- I definitely heard wrong.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows. This can't be.

"We want you to be in a fake relationship with one of our artists." He said again, amused.

My brain for some reason was unable to comprehend what he was asking of me.

I paused. "So....You want me to be in a fake relationship with a celebrity?" I had to see if what I'm hearing is correct. This is too crazy to be real.

"Exactly." He confirmed.

Be in a fake relationship? I've never even been in a real one and he wants me to fake date a celebrity way out of my league?

The gears in my head began to turn. "Well...Why me and not another celebrity? Or an actress?" I know I heard him right, but I was still a little confused. I'm just a random, normal girl.

"We've tried that before, Cassie. We believe that if we get a real, raw person to date him, then maybe it could actually work. Plus, your mom sent me some of your acting footage, and you're really good."

This was all too much. "I don't know Andrew..." My mind can't even wrap around what he was asking. This is a big job. I wasn't prepared for that at all.

"We'll pay for everything that goes along with the experience. We will give you a company credit card to spend on whatever you want, we can even make some arrangements with your school so you can do your work online. It will open lots of doors for you Cassie." He was trying to convince me.

That last sentence got to me. I've always wanted to be an actress, ever since I was little. I never had the money to move to California though, which is why I worked long hours at my retail job. With college loans and rent for my nyc apartment, I thought my dream would never come true. This opportunity fell straight into my lap. I had a chance to follow my dreams. Would I let this opportunity of a lifetime slip through my fingers?

"Who's the celebrity?" I asked, still not fully convinced.

"Shawn Mendes."

•2 days later•

I'm going to be fake dating SHAWN MENDES. Not only is this the opportunity of a lifetime, but it's with my celebrity crush! The thought made my stomach turn with excitement, but it also heightened my anxiety by 150 percent.

I do see what Andrew meant when he was talking about his bad publicity though. I've seen the stories in the news and heard on the radio some things that are a little alarming, but I always convinced myself that it was the wrong place at the wrong time, or that it was made into fake news by the paparazzi. If his company is going to this extent, it must be more serious than I thought.

He seemed like such a nice guy up until this year, maybe he's just in his rebellious phase?

Either way, I told myself I had to do it. I always complain how boring and mundane my life is. Nothing interesting ever happens to me. Until now.

Even so, I was apprehensive. I'm not much of a risk taker, but when would I ever get an opportunity like this again. This is once in a lifetime.

So after countless hours of mulling it over, talking about it with my parents, and with my heart pounding through my ears, I told Andrew I would do it. He immediately scheduled a meeting with Shawn Mendes, me, and himself for today to talk about it and sign the contract. My life is about to change drastically. I'm not sure I was ready for it, but before I could overthink, I walked through the double doors into the Capital Records office.