•Cassie's POV•
I take a deep breath as I gaze at the New York City skyline. I'm not sure what floor the office was on, but it must have been high, since I could see almost all of Central Park. I looked down, the people looking tiny as ants.
As I pace around the office, my eyes make their way to the wall display, awards lining the entire length. Grammy awards, AMA awards, Brit awards; name an award show, and there's a trophy.
I can't help but feel nervous. My mom set up this meeting. Her best friend is some kind of talent manager at Island Records. She didn't tell me why I'm here or what this meeting was about, just that he wanted to meet me about something.
My mom and Andrew Gertler go way back. Though I've never met him, I have heard so much about him. They met in high school and instantly became friends. They went to the same college as well and have been best friends ever since. They don't get to see each other a lot since Andrew is busy with work, but they do go on a trip every year with their college friends to catch up.
Just when I was about to pick up the Grammy displayed on the table, the door opened. I quickly moved to the couch in the middle of the room, acting as if my poor, grubby hands weren't about to soil that prestigious award.
"Cassie?"
"Yes. Thats me." I replied. I went to shake his hand, but he had other plans. Before I could do anything, he engulfed me in a hug.
"Cassie! You've gotten so big! I remember when you were a baby, and now look at how beautiful you are!" It's always a bit weird when you see someone who knew you as a baby, but you didn't know them.
"Thanks." I said, hugging him back awkwardly.
"Oh I'm so sorry!" He pulled away. " You probably don't remember me but I'm Andrew Gertler." He replied.
"I know who you are. My mom talks about you a lot." I smiled.
"She better! We've only been friends since high school," he joked. "I wish I could make it out to you guys more, but this job kind of takes up most of my time." He chuckled.
We engaged in some small talk for a while more. He asked me about my sisters, how I was doing and just some other general things. I liked him already. He made me feel less nervous about what was about to go down.
"There's actually a reason that I wanted to meet you today." He began, sitting down on the couch in the middle of the room. I sat across from him. "I've been trying to find someone to help me with something, and based on what your mom has told me about your history in the theater and just by talking to you, I think you may be a perfect fit!"
"Okaaaaaaay," I began, wondering why he brought up my interest in acting, "what can I help you with?"
"Well one of my clients has been getting some bad publicity lately and we need to change that. People keep seeing him as a player and a rebellious teen, which is really ruining the reputation that we have going for him. I know this is a weird request, but I want you to know that if you agree, we will be paying you handsomely...."
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.
I was escorted to Andrew's office by his secretary, who was very nice.
"Andrew is waiting for you. You can go right in." She smiled at me and began walking back to her desk. I thanked her before standing in front of his door.
As I wrapped my hand around the handle, I suddenly had second thoughts. Everything is going to change. My whole life I've been playing it safe, and I've always wanted to live life on the edge at least once, but is this too far over the edge?
I shook my head. This is going to be good for you, I thought. Plus, you'll be meeting Shawn Mendes, your all time celebrity crush. With that thought in mind, I twisted the handle and walked in.
"I don't need a girlfriend Andrew! I don't need anyone!" Shawn Mendes yelled at Andrew. Andrew noticed me walk in and immediately shushed him.
I looked from Andrew to Shawn. He was looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed in anger. Did I just walk into something I shouldn't have?
"Cassie! Long time no see!" Andrew joked as if he and Shawn Mendes hadn't just participated in a screaming match. I immediately felt weird.
"Uh, hi Andrew." I was taken back, but brushed it off. Shawn was in the same room as me. Act cool.
"Have a seat." Andrew gestured me towards the seat that was directly across from where Shawn was now sitting, slumped in his chair with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. I slowly sat down.
"So Shawn," he began, "this is Cassie. She's the girl that we have selected to be your fake girlfriend for the year. I really think she-"
"You couldn't have picked someone a little more my type? Look at her. I can't be seen dating someone like that." Shawn cut Andrew off, giving me a nasty look.
My jaw almost dropped to the floor. What's going on here? All I could do was sit silently and look at my hands in my lap.
I really hope this isn't what Shawn Mendes is actually like. I've heard rumors about celebrities being different in person than they seem on social media, and obviously that's true for some, but I really didn't think he would be like this.
Normally I don't get easily intimidated, but with the way Shawn was looking at me, I couldn't help it.
"Shawn-" Andrew said harshly.
"No!" He interrupted and stood up, his chair nearly toppling to the floor. "I don't need to fake date anyone, especially not her. This is so stupid! I can't believe you're making me do this!"
"Shawn if you don't sit the hell down right now! You don't know how many losses we've suffered because of the way you've acted lately. We may just have to do something drastic if you don't cooperate with us on this." Andrew spoke calmly.
"I'll just switch record labels! Any record label will-"
"Before you finish that sentence, Shawn, you have a contract with us for the next 5 years, and we are allowed to do whatever we want regarding your career. We can make it really hard for you in this industry if you want, so sit down."
I could feel Shawn's glare from across the table as he reluctantly sat back down.
"Alright. Let's start the meeting." Andrew began, turning to me. "So because of Shawn's reputation right now and his unwillingness to change, we've decided to bring in a third party, you, to help change his image." Shawn scoffed, making Andrew stop and give him an angry look. He then turned back to me.
"We just need you to be his fake girlfriend for one year. After that year, the contract will expire and you may return to your normal life. Everything that we need you to do is in this contract. You'll have to live with him starting two months into your fake relationship until the end, attend award shows and premieres as his plus one and be seen in public with him, along with any other things that come up. Also in the contract is a confidentiality agreement just saying that you may not tell anyone during the contract period or after. I'll let you read this over for yourself before you sign if you so choose."
I took the contract from him and read it carefully. This is going to be a lot. I could feel angry eyes in me.
"Any day now." Shawn said under his breath.
I looked at him for a second. He's probably just having a bad day. He's probably not like this usually, this is just an extreme situation. You can do this. It's only a year. Just think about all the opportunities that this can bring.
I hesitantly picked up the pen and signed all the spots that required a signature and gave the contract back to Andrew.
"Perfect." He said to me and looked over my signatures. He then gave the contract to Shawn who looked like he'd rather do anything than sign it, but he did so anyway and shoved the packet back towards Andrew.
Andrew then told us that we will have to meet again this Saturday to talk about the schedule for the year and to have our very first "date."
Wow this is moving way faster than I thought. My head was spinning.
"Great. You two are officially dating now." Andrew clapped.
"FAKE dating." Shawn scoffed.
Andrew ignored his comment. "I'll just go make a copy of this. Cassie you can wait in the lobby and I'll be right out."
"Okay." I replied.
Shawn and I both got up to leave, but before I could reach the door, Shawn slammed it shut behind me, leaving only us in the room.
He turned to me and began walking. The look on his face worried me. As he took steps towards me, I took steps backwards until my back was against the wall. I was trapped.
"Don't think for a second that just because I signed the contract means that I'm going to like you or that we'll get along. My company for some stupid fucking reason is forcing me to do this shit, but I want no part of it. You're probably just a rich daddy's girl who is trying to rebel by taking this deal, but don't get too comfortable. I'll make you wish you never signed it." He spoke harshly. Then he turned and stormed out the door.
All I could do was stare straight ahead and think about what just happened.
I suddenly became angry. What is wrong with this guy? He doesn't know a thing about me! My tune changed in that moment. A "rich daddy's girl"? Please. He needs a reality check, and I'll make sure he gets one.