3 Months Later
I'm convinced that Shawn Mendes is capable of talking me into anything. And, of course, he knows this and uses it to his advantage.
The biggest example was last month when he managed to convince me to let him fly to France for my birthday. I'm not even sure how he found out when my birthday was, but he had called me, and the next thing I knew he and my mother had planned a birthday party for me in the boutique.
But even before then, he'd gotten me into some situations I'd never have gotten myself into on my own.
It was nothing bad, of course. He's not a complete bad influence on me.
He's just the one person who can get me to make impulsive decisions.
So when he asked me to do what has led me to my current situation, I couldn't say no. Not only do I owe it to him because he's one of my best friends, but he was there for me through the aftermath of the release of the article.
The fallout of the release of the alleged exposé was far less extreme than I had been anticipating. I've been blacklisted, along with all the other actresses mentioned, for sleeping with the director to get a part. Surprisingly, the media has been very supportive of what has been deemed as an abuse of power on the director's part. There's always the people that aren't supportive, and to be quite honest, I understand where they're coming from. The general consensus is that myself and the other girls had been taken advantage of. And thankfully I stopped giving a rat's ass about what people on social media thought of me after Niall and I had been seen together for the first time. Nonetheless, I'm considered "problematic" and allegedly no one will want to hire me.
And that just absolutely breaks my heart.
Not!
As far as I'm concerned, I kissed my acting career goodbye after my "grand debut." I never had any intention of returning to the big screen and if anything, this gives me a greater reason not to.
Of course, when the article went public and its contents became public knowledge, I was asleep. Even then, I had not even realized it was released until hours after I woke up and Shawn had called me.
He talked to me and assured me that everything was fine and that it would all blow over. And somehow, one thing led to another and now I find myself back in Los Angeles.
With one week until the release of his third studio album, which I have already had the honor of listening to in its entirety, Shawn thought it would be the perfect time to have an album release party. And of course, he had to invite his absolute best friend, my words, not his.
All jokes aside, there's no way I would be missing this. Especially since this album is an absolute masterpiece.
Although I was weary at first, Shawn had assured me that it wouldn't be a legit party scene. He told me that it would just be a few of his closest friends hanging out to celebrate his album. The way it was described to me, it's more of an album release "hangout" than a party.
This time, I bought my own plane ticket and paid for my own hotel room. On a Friday night in May, I found myself standing outside of Shawn's Los Angeles home, preparing myself for what I was going to walk into.
Not only will I be in the presence of A-list celebrities, but I've also already been informed that I'll be seeing Niall for the first time in six months.
I mean, that's more nerve-wracking than the A-list celebrities.
When I spoke to Shawn earlier today, he told me just to come in when I arrived. My Uber dropped me off at least five minutes ago, I just wasn't prepared to go inside then.
After deciding that I may never be fully prepared, I made my way inside the front door.
Instantly, I'm greeted by a giant hug from Shawn, who had no doubt been watching me give myself a pep talk from the window.
"Béa!" Shawn shouts, his tall figure engulfing mine in a hug. His arms wrap around my body tightly, practically restricting my airways. "I'm so glad you could make it!"
I rest my head against the front of his shoulder for a moment, "I wouldn't miss this for the world."
He releases me from the hug and I take a step back.
"Now, I do have a suggestion on how to make your next album even better." I begin, a playful smile creeping its way onto my face.
"Oh? And how's that?" He asks, playing along.
"Well, you could write a song about me." I joke, "Since I am your best friend after all?"
He lets out a small laugh before his glowing smile appears.
"Someday, someone will write an entire album about you." He tells me, and there's not an ounce of playfulness to his voice.
"Is that her?" I hear a feminine voice ask and there's no question who it belongs to. Her stiletto heels clack against the tile flooring of Shawn's entryway.
I've been told enough about Camila Cabello to know exactly how important she is to Shawn and I know how eager he's been to introduce us since my birthday.
I turn around as the female singer approaches behind me. Just as Shawn had, she hugged me before I could even get any words out.
"Hi! I'm Camila!" She says, still holding me in an embrace.
"I'm Béa." I manage to say before Camila lets go of me.
Camila smiles as she looks from Shawn to me. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" She tells me.
The only response I am able to form at this moment is "You too!"
"Come on!" Camila smiles, tugging at my wrist, "Let's go introduce you to everyone."
Lightly, she pulls me forward into the room where all the different voices seem to be coming from. I turn around to Shawn, who is laughing while following behind us.
She stops to show me something and I survey the room. I don't see too many people I recognize, most of them are probably part of Shawn's team until I see him.
His eyes are already burning into mine, and probably have been since I walked into the room. I need to look away but I can't. My eyes are locked directly into his and there's no key in sight. Camila continues on talking to me but I cannot hear any of what she's saying. It feels as if all 5 of my senses are focused on Niall.
He has yet to look away and so do I. A million thoughts are running through my head, but my focus is stuck on my ex-boyfriend sitting less than 10 feet away from me. I refuse to look away first, mainly because of my own stubbornness, but also because part of this doesn't seem real to me.
Finally, Lewis says something, capturing Niall's attention. His head turns in the direction of Lewis' voice.
Hm. I win.
"Béa?" Camila asks, "Béa, are you listening?"
"Oh! I'm sorry." I began apologizing profusely for coming off as rude. She seems to be very understanding, which makes me wonder how much of my situation Shawn has filled her in on.
***
I eventually slip away from Camila and Shawn and some of the other guests to use the restroom. Shawn had shown me around, but of course, I had something else on my mind and wasn't paying attention as well as I should have been.
I round the corner to the hallway that I believe has the guest bathroom in it and I slam into someone's chest.
"Ouch!" A familiar voice calls.
"Oh my gosh! I am so..." My voice fades once I realize who exactly is standing in front of me.
The silence overtakes and I find myself just looking at him.
He shifts uncomfortably before muttering a quiet "Hi."
"Hi," I responded almost as quietly as he had spoken.
"So, uh..." Niall mutters, "You and Shawn seem close."
I don't know how he did it, but there's a feeling of tension lingering around us now.
"He's one of my best friends," I state.
"You sure that's all?" He sneers.
I raise my eyebrows at him, not feeding into whatever he is trying to accomplish. "Why are you trying to be rude to me?"
"Wait, I didn't-" He begins, but I cut him off.
"You of all people should know how I feel about Shawn! And even then, I'm sure you know that he absolutely adores Camila, regardless of whether she knows it or not!" It takes everything in me not to shout at him. "I can't believe you would even insinuate that I-"
"I didn't mean to." He states.
I scoff, "Then what did you mean to do?"
"Béa, you broke my heart!" He shouts.
So we're playing this game?
"Well, I guess it must be heartbreak weather then because my heart got broken too!" I shout back at him.
I feel the tears start to well up in my eyes and I turn to walk away. Niall reaches out and grabs my arms.
"Wait." He says, "Please."
I turned back to him, "What, Niall?
"Do you think that maybe we could go get coffee before you leave town?" He bashfully asks.
The momentarily feeling of rage dissipates and I find myself instantly wanting to say yes. "Sure."
I didn't feel like proofreading so ignore any mistakes.
Besties, there are only like 5ish chapters left and then the 2 epilogues so buckle up.
Thank you for 30k reads! I love you all so much and thank you for your endless support! Until the next one! MWAH!