Beth
After the interview, I decided to head to the bar a little early. It was 3 pm and we weren't open yet which was perfect. After that terrible incident that happened on national television, I needed a drink, or 5.
I walked around the bar to pour myself a tequila shot, while Joeseph sat in the corner of the room, not looking suspicious at all.
"Hey Joe," I tapped the counter, "have a drink with me."
"No thank you," he replied gruffly. Now that I've spent time with Joeseph, I know that there's a big softie somewhere underneath all that muscle.
"Come on, you're really going to make me drink alone after that awkward interview?" I watched for his reaction, "that, may I add, everyone will see in about 10 minutes when it airs?"
He sighed and put his hands on the table to lift himself up, "I'll keep you company but I'm not drinking. I'm on the clock, it's very unprofessional," I smiled at the fact that I even got him to come and sit with me.
"But you're right. I cringed while watching the interview live," he gestured to one of the many tv screens we had up around the bar, "now I get to watch it on tv again."
I nodded my head in agreement and took my shot of tequila. I winced at the burning sensation as it traveled down my throat. "Oh God, that's strong."
The front door suddenly opened and Eric walked in with Amy behind him. "Hey, Beth. What are you doing here? And what is up with your outfit?" I looked down at myself and realized that I hadn't changed from the studio.
"So she does have a sense of fashion," Amy commented, "but chooses to dress like a homeless man." Amy crossed her arms across her chest.
Choosing to ignore Amy because I had no energy to insult her, I turned to Eric and pointed to my empty shot glass, " it's been a long day."
Amy rolled her eyes dramatically, "it's only 3 in the afternoon."
"I'm so glad you can tell time, Amy." Because I honestly didn't think she could.
Eric stared down Joeseph at the bar, "who's this?"
I poured myself another shot, "Eric this is Joeseph. Joe, this is Eric." I knocked another shot back and grimaced as my it burned my throat and warmed the inside of my body.
Eric came around the bar, "hey, are you ok?" From the corner of my eye, I saw Amy clench her teeth in jealousy. I mean she had good reason to, I'm pretty sure Eric had a thing for me when they first started dating but it never went beyond friendship. I never go for anyone in a relationship anyway, well, other than Claire, but it was a contractual relationship. No romantic feelings whatsoever.
Before I could answer, a familiar voice came from the TV and I started getting nervous.
"Claire Edwards everyone!" I heard on the TV. Eric reached behind and turned the volume up. "I can't wait to see that new movie she's in. It looks good," Eric commented.
"She's so pretty, but I heard she's a real bitch to work with, " Amy gossiped.
Everyone ignored her, as usual. I rolled my eyes. Claire was probably the nicest person I've ever met. It was rare to meet a celebrity that didn't fake the sincerity.
As I stared at the screen I couldn't help but admire how elegant she looked. I was so distracted looking at Claire that I completely missed my part of the interview. Actually, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. It was bad enough I had to go through it once, right?
When the show cut to commercials, Eric turned the tv off. Amy and Eric both turned to me slowly.
I pretended not to notice and turned to Joeseph, "so, Joe, hows the family?"
Eric leaped for me, grabbing my shoulders, "Beth! What the hell? Since when were you lesbian!"
Joe jumped out of his seat but I put a hand to stop him. I wriggled out of Eric's grip, "I don't know what I am, so, for now, I'm not going to label myself. But I do know that I like Claire." I mean I wasn't technically lying, right? Claire's pretty rad. "I mean, do I have to tell you what my sexual orientation is? you didn't come out and tell me you were straight or anything." I don't know why I was getting so worked up, I wasn't even into women.
His eyes and his mouth were wide open and if this were any other situation I would've laughed at his face because he looked ridiculous.
"If you ask me, I don't know what she's doing with you, she could do soooooo much better," Amy commented as she checked her nails.
'Well, bitch, no one asked you' is what I really wanted to say but I know it would've started a fight and Eric would've yelled at me again for being mean to his girlfriend.
Instead, I put on a sweet smile, "well if you ask me, I think you should get a paper bag for your personality because it's hideous."
She clenched her jaw, "what do you know? I'm definitely a keeper."
"Yeah, in the basement," I retorted back. I heard Joe cough out a laugh.
"Baaaaaabe!" She whined. Her voiced grated against my eardrums.
God, she's annoying, how does Eric put up with this?
"She's being mean again."
Normally, Eric would have moderated our fights but he was unusually quiet. I turned to him and found him staring at me. "Is it true, Beth?"
I raised an eyebrow at him, "of course it's true." It sucked that I had to lie to him but I signed a contract. "You saw me do the interview."
He exhaled as if he was still trying to wrap his head around it but he pulled me into a hug, "well then I'm happy for you." He pulled away slightly and smiled down at me, "so when can I meet her? I have to give her the mandatory best friend talk."
I pushed him away, "in that case, never." We laughed.
The door opened again and a handful of men walked into the bar.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, we're not open yet."
They ignored me and continued walking in, moving tables and chairs out of the way.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you that Dave wants to build a stage," Eric said.
"A stage? For what?"
"The bar is going to try live music. Business hasn't been booming lately, y'know with bartenders beating up customers and stuff," he teased.
I rolled my eyes at his joke, "and Dave thinks that live music will help?"
"Think about it, local bands will bring in their own fan base while also giving themselves exposure. It's a win-win situation."
I crossed my arms over my chest. As a musician myself, I was thrilled that the bar was doing something like this. But if it didn't work out and it hurt the business more than help it, I couldn't help but worry about Dave. It was all he had left after his wife died a couple of years ago.
"This will work, Beth. Stop worrying," he assured me.
"Why are you so confident about this?"
He flashed me one of his charming smiles, "because my band will be the house band. Other local bands are more than welcome to play, but we will be the house band."
I gave him a hug knowing that this was something him and his band were trying to book for months. "I'm so happy for you."
Amy cleared her throat, "then you're happy for me too, right?"
I raised an eyebrow at her but turned to Eric, "what is she talking about?"
Eric walked towards her and put his arm around her waist, "Amy's going to be our lead singer." Amy turned to me with a smug look on her face that I really wanted to slap off her face.
Great, not only will I have to be around her while I work, but her annoying voice will be projecting from speakers throughout the bar now.
What made me even angrier was that she probably couldn't even sing, she probably just joined the band to keep an eye on Eric. She seems to think that I have a thing for him, which we obviously don't. She's just super paranoid.
"Well, lucky me I guess," I commented as I poured myself another shot of tequila. My phone buzzed on the bar next to my hand, it was a notification on Instagram, saying I had a new follower. My hand drifted to it but froze when I saw the name on my screen.
@ClaireEdwards has followed you.
Excuse me? what is this? My phone buzzed again, this time it was a text message from Emily.
Emily: Hey Beth, you might've forgotten about our talk about social media, but I think you and Claire need a presence online as a couple.
Beth: Hi Emily, I'm sorry, it totally slipped my mind but I literally just got Claire's follower notification.
Emily: No worries! lol I keep forgetting you're not managed by anyone. Would you like me to manage you? unpaid of course because you're doing Claire a huge favor.
Beth: Really? I'd love that, thank you
Emily: Of course, I'll be in touch soon :)
I clicked on the Instagram icon and remembered that Claire followed me. I clicked on my own profile curious about what Claire would see when she clicked on my profile. And I guess to make sure I didn't have anything embarrassing up.
Don't lie, you do it too.
As I scrolled through my profile, my eyes widened when I saw a picture of Eric and I making funny faces at the camera years ago. But this wasn't the adorable funny face that most girls make in front of a camera, no, Eric and I committed to this picture. I smiled at the photo but remembered how ridiculous the picture was and deleted it, it was bad enough that I was getting sucked into the whole celebrity thing, I didn't need to bring anyone else down.
Eric looked over my shoulder, "why'd you delete that picture? it was cute, wasn't it?"
Amy glared at me but I rolled my eyes at her, "Yeah, I know, but I wanted to make sure that your privacy doesn't disappear like mine."
Eric looked unsure of my response but decided not to argue. I nodded to Joe, "Joe's here for protection, just in case things get a little rowdy. He can't protect both of us."
"Isn't that a little much? Not like anyone's going to recognize you or want anything from you. You're not worth anything, Claire is," Amy scoffed.
I narrowed my eyes at her and whispered to Joe, "can you throat punch her real quick? I promise I won't tell Claire or Emily." I saw him bite back a smile as he shook his head sternly at me. I shrugged, "it was worth a shot."
I cleared my throat, "well, luckily for me, Claire seems to think otherwise."
"I'd love to see her IQ score because it's got to be low to settle for you," Amy sneered.
"and I'd love to shove my foot up -"
"Ok!" Eric interrupted. "I'm going to count the inventory, make sure we have enough for tonight's crowd," he told me. "And you," he turned to Amy, "if you're not going to help me, go home. I can't referee your fights with Beth from the fridge."
Amy made a face as she kissed Eric and waved her fingers in the air as she left the bar.
I poured myself as I heard the door slam, "how you didn't turn out to be an alcoholic when you started dating her is beyond me."
Eric watched me take the shot as he leaned on the bar with an amused smile, "she's not so bad and she's hot." I shook my head, "she's not hot enough to be that unlikeable."
Eric nudged me, "well not all of us could date Claire Edwards."
The mention of my relationship with Claire had me tipping another shot back, "slow down on those, Beth. You're going to wake up with a horrible hangover in the morning," Eric advised before he disappeared.
I looked over at Joe who shook his head, "are you regretting signing the contract yet?"
We both looked down at my phone, where my screen was going crazy with Instagram notifications. I looked up at him, "is it too late to back out?" He laughed as he watched me pour another shot.
Claire
"Nice to see you, Ms. Edwards," one of the set directors smiled at me.
"Hi," I answered back politely. I saw a couple of the people on set looking at me a little strangely but I kind of just waved it off.
I closed the door to my trailer and sat down in the makeup chair. I looked at my tired face in the mirror, it was only noon and I was already exhausted. The TV in the corner of the room was playing a replay of our interview.
I heard applause and then Beth's voice came from the TV. I turned around in my seat when I heard her voice and was amazed at how great she looked on camera. Natalie was right, Beth looked amazing.
My phone buzzed in my head and I looked to see that Emily texted me.
Em: Yo! Just reminder that you and Beth should probably follow each other on Instagram. We can figure out when you guys should start posting couple pics in a little bit.
Claire: Got it...what's her handle?
Em: BethJamesMusic
I clicked out of my messages and clicked the Instagram icon and searched for her. The familiar face showed up on my screen and I took a minute to look through her profile. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I saw a picture of her and a guy. They were both making funny faces at the camera
Both of them looked happy and carefree. I looked closer at Beth's face and noticed that she looked younger. It was fascinating to see Beth in her younger years.
I didn't notice the door open or Em talking to me until she threw a small pillow at the back of my head.
I turned around in my chair and glared at her, "what the hell? when did you get here?"
Emily rolled her eyes, "maybe if you weren't so distracted oogling your 'girlfriend's' social media, you would've noticed me calling your name."
I could feel my face get hot as I cleared my throat, "I was just doing research. Y'know just in case they ask me in my next interview what Beth's hobbies are."
Emily raised an eyebrow and had an amused smile on her face, "sure you are."
I watched as she opened the door but held onto the doorknob, "the next 4 months is going to be very interesting, don't you think?" She winked before she left, leaving me in my dressing room by myself.
I felt my phone vibrate in my hand with notification from Instagram.
@BethJamesMusic has followed you.
"Very interesting," I answered as I looked down at my phone.
[A/N]: I'm sorry for the late update...I really lost track of time lol...please continue reading lol