It had been a couple of days since I had discovered Chase's secret. I was still in shock over it, but still didn't regret my decision in helping him. Which is why I was sat in this overpriced bistro waiting for Beck to meet me. I had made sure to set up a fake alarm that would remind me I had an important 'fitting' in an hour, which would draw Beck's attention to my small career. I even managed to dig deep into Beck's past, thanks to social media. I noticed all of his ex girlfriends were brunettes with slim tall bodies. All of them with exotic beautiful features, they were absolutely drop dead gorgeous. They all carried themselves with a type of poise, making them look posh. However, what didn't make sense was that Maya was everything but his usual type. That didn't mean that she wasn't pretty, because she was also gorgeous. She was just petite, and very curvy. Her hair was a bright red, and from what I discovered she didn't live the posh life at all. It didn't add up, but it would once I got all the pieces together. I wondered if being similar to his other girlfriends, maybe that's what lit a spark in his interest towards me. Hopefully a little flirting and my acting skills would come in handy in order to have him invite me to meet his parents. It was a long shot, but I stayed hopeful.
As soon as the waitress came back with two espresso's, the door jingled open revealing Beck. He stood confidently, looking around for me. The one thing about Beck was that he was a charmer for sure, and if I hadn't overheard Julian I would've been completely blind to this guys antics. I was lucky that Julian mentioned Beck's new presence at their football teams practices, and I hoped I would get close enough to maybe overhear their conversations. I was sure to win his dad over, impressing adults was my talent. I may have not grown up with the lavish lifestyle did, but living with Arabella had taught me what I needed to know. It wouldn't be hard to pretend. Especially since her expensive taste was at grabs twenty four seven. Which explained why I had chosen to look my best today, with a natural makeup look and a simple black dress. The Cartier jewelry a plus.
Beck finally spotted me and began walking towards me with his pearly white smile. I took in his attire, noting how well he dressed. He wore dark denim jeans and a button up white blouse, with the first two buttons undone. His expensive brown boat shoes tying it together. He was so not my type now that I had thought of it, the way he flaunted his money at times never interested me. Especially since I knew of his ill intentions, his mannerisms were easier to spot.
"You look gorgeous." Beck said approaching me. I stood up and greeted him by the cheek, something that caught him off guard. "That's new."
"We're closer now, some things were meant to change." I retorted taking my seat.
He sat down, clasping his hands together staring intently at me. "You seem..different."
My heart skipped a little, I was hoping he didn't mind the sudden change in my wardrobe or the way I was presenting myself. "How so?" I questioned.
"I can't put my finger on it, but I like it."¸He said before taking a sip out of his espresso, before snapping his fingers for our waitress to come. I tried hard to not comment on the way he was suddenly acting snobbish, which took a lot out of me.
"Yes, sir?" She asked nicely.
"I'd like a cheese danish, and a raspberry cheesecake for my lovely date." He demanded before putting his full attention onto me.
"Hm, ordering for me now are we?" I questioned leaning in.
Beck chuckled, "Like you said, we're closer now."
I nodded my head, my alarm suddenly going off. "Oh, sorry." I said before taking my phone out of my purse, dismissing the alarm. "I forgot I had a fitting later."
"Fitting for a shoot, I presume?" He asked, taking a bite out of the danish our waitress had just placed.
"Yeah, it's just-ugh never mind, I don't want to bother you with my issues." I said cuing in my acting skills. I slightly pouted my lip and tore my gaze away from him.
Beck reached over and grabbed my hand over the table, "Hey, I want you to be able to tell me what's on your mind."
I made eye contact with him, squeezing his hand gently. I had him exactly where I wanted him, someone really needs to give me an Oscar after this performance of a life time.
"It's just, I wish my career was taking off. I'm tired of doing these boring shoots."
Beck stayed quiet for a moment, kind of like he was thinking about something long and hard. Of course, I knew what he was thinking since I was ten steps ahead of his own game. "I can help you," He finally spoke. "It's just better my father and I talk to you on how we can over dinner, perhaps."
"Dinner? With just your dad and us?" I questioned innocently.
Beck nodded his head before throwing a wad of cash down on the table and standing up. He held his hand out for me to grab, "C'mon, there's something I want you to see."
I placed my hand into his soft one and walked out of the bistro alongside him. "Where are we going?"I asked confused.
This wasn't in our plans, and I actually wasn't sure where to go from here. "How about you sit in my car and let me take care of the rest, yeah?" He said before opening an unfamiliar car door for me.
I simply nodded before buckling myself. I watched him walk towards the drivers side, swiftly pulling himself into his seat. As he started the car, he looked over at me flashing me another one of his million dollar smiles. Beck drove off, leaving me completely confused as to where in the world we would be going to. However, as much as I knew he was faking his interest towards me, it was still nice to be sitting in a beautiful and exotic car.
"You're going to miss your fitting by the way." Beck admitted. "But trust me, it'll be worth it."
I felt uneasy, I wasn't exactly sure where to go from here. "I trust you." I lied.
"Good, now sit tight."
Beck began speeding up, his right hand inching towards mine slowly. His hand wrapped itself around mine, the feeling being so wrong. I looked out the window, gazing at the city as I passed it. I couldn't believe how twisted my life had gotten in the blink of an eye. I was broken up with Chase, beginning a modeling career, my dad had suddenly came back, and now I was pretending to be into this guy that I was only using to help out my ex boyfriend. I swear sometimes my life felt like a Wattpad story.
I picked up my phone seeing Chase had posted onto his instagram since what felt like forever. I clicked onto the notification, immediately spotting Cartia wrapped around Chase planting a kiss onto his cheek. While Chase's face was lit up, his hand holding onto her side. The caption was a simple red heart. My chest tightened up, and I felt like crying. I knew it was fake, this was all a big fake scam. It didn't stop from hurting me though.
Immediately, my phone began ringing revealing Lizzie's face. Great. I turned to Beck who looked at me concerned, but I just returned a smile to him instead and answering Lizzie's call. Something told me I knew what this was about.
"He-" I began to say.
"EXCUSE ME! Did you guys break up?! Why didn't you tell me?! I may be in New York but that doesn't mean you get to stop telling your one true best friend everything!" She screamed through the phone.
"Well, nice to hear from you too." I sarcastically remarked.
I could feel Lizzie's eye-roll through the phone. "Don't get sassy with me missy. Anyway, what the hell happened?"
I sighed. Here we go again. "We aren't together anymore, but I'm fine." I said before turning back to Beck who looked concerned.
"How long."
"I don't know, a month maybe?" I answered.
"A MONTH?! Kiki and I literally booked our flights for spring break, we had a surprise planned so we could all hang out!"
I immediately felt horrible. I should've told our friends from the get go, but I think I was still embarrassed to speak out about it. I had really thought we were going to last a lifetime. "You should still come, it's not like we're on bad terms."
"Duh, I was going to come back anyway. Props to you for being mature, I would've kicked his ass."
"I think we all know that, and would you do me a favor and pass the message along? I've got about twenty other messages asking me about Chase and I."
"I got you babe, anything else I can do?" She asked nicely.
"Nope, thanks for checking in. I love you."
"I love you too, and please call me more. I miss you Aves."
"I miss you too." I said back.
We said our goodbyes and hung up. I decided on shutting my phone off for the remainder of the day, and getting some peace back. This plan was going to need to move along quicker, I wasn't sure what was in the contract but clearly Chase and Cartia being an item was. Who else knows what was in there, and how long he would be stuck for.
"Sorry, I couldn't help but see the photo of Chase and Cartia. Are you okay..?"
No. "Yeah, for sure. I don't care, as long as he's happy."
Suddenly the car had come to a stop, and we were in the middle of nowhere. The sun was barely setting, the entire sky made up of red, pink, and purple hues. Beck got out of the car, and I followed pursuit. Walking over to him, he looked completely mesmerized by the sky. The sun hitting him perfectly, but then his face becoming full of sorrow.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked softly.
Beck turned to me, "I'm just really glad I met someone like you, that's all."
I wasn't sure if he was being completely serious or not. But by the way he looked regretful told me he was being genuine. I just didn't trust him, and wasn't going to fall for it. This was all apart of his family's game, I was just another pawn to them. He didn't deserve my sympathy at all, not after what they did to innocent people.
"I'm glad I met you too."
Beck suddenly grabbed me and wrapped me into him. His hands tracing the outline of my jaw, he looked at my lips then into my eyes. "What kind of idiot would throw this all away.." He murmured to himself.
"What..?"
"Nothing, just that you looked beautiful."
"Oh.. thank you."
For the second time, Beck placed his soft lips onto mine. Except this time, I was sober and aware. The kiss was short and sweet, nothing like the first. The way his eyes tried to hold onto mine didn't make feel like I was floating. I leaned in again, kissing him passionately. But it wasn't Beck who I was kissing, It was Chase.
It was always Chase.
***