Behind all the Shimmer

I'd be honoured

Sophia's POV

Dammit

I sign the contract with a heart full of contempt towards Colton's PR team. As I slide the contract towards him, I could see it in Colton's expressions that he was as unwilling to sign it as I was but the mention of his father had stopped him from opposing the team. I wonder why. Was his dad so controlling?I have been lucky in that case. My parents were always supportive and never tried to control my life. They believe that the children are entitled to their own opinions and should live their life on their own terms.

" Now that both of you have signed the contract, I shall read out the terms.", Jack, my PR agent says.

" 1. You both will  be required to attend all social events as a couple.

2  Both the parties need to make sure that their name is not linked to any one else in a romantic way.

3. You will be required to behave like a real couple in front of the cameras so you will be needed to do the needful like holding hands, kissing, constantly mentioning each other on social media etc.

4. Lastly, this agreement is confidential and thus, it cannot be revealed to anybody. 

5. Any party whose actions hurt the agreement in any way will have to  suffer harsh consequences."

"What do you mean by 'harsh consequences' ?", I ask.

" You don't wanna know what it is. Just know that you don't want to cross these people. The consequences are just a glimpse of what they can do.", Ruby whispers.

After the agreement had been stamped and the meeting was declared to be over, everyone started to leave and I was left alone in the room with Colton who seemed deep in thought.

I was feeling guilty. After all, it is because of my actions that we were dragged into this mess.

" Colton, I am really sorry. Had I not carried out that stupid prank in the first place....we wouldn't have been dragged into this mess."

" You do not need to apologise. Like they said, it was good for the business."

" And what about you?"

" That is secondary."

I tried to look for sarcasm in his expression but couldn't find any. Those words came out of his mouth like second nature.

" Of course....it does."

" In this family, business comes first.", he says with a sarcastic smile.

I wanted to protest that and oppose that idea in many ways but I felt like I had already caused enough trouble and  I did not want to cross any boundaries further so I just let it go.

" Colton, can I ask you something?"

" Yeah sure"

" That evening when we were running from the paparazzi, you said that you should have known that they were coming. What did you mean by that?"

I could observe a little change in his body language. His face stiffened. 

" That was so long back. How do you even remember that now?"

"I have been meaning to ask you this for a while now since that TMZ thing happened."

" I should have told you this earlier but that evening, I did not think that it would amount to such a huge matter and when it happened, there was no time. It was my father's assistant  who called the paparazzi on his orders."

" What? That makes no sense to me."

" I don't expect you to understand.........."

" So all this while I have been feeling guilty for something I am not even responsible for", I cut in.