Chapter 2: Endorsement

Chapter 2: Endorsement

"Oh, my God! You kissed Brian Wilde on the lips?!"

Rachel stayed for the night at my house which was given to me by my mom on my 17th birthday last year. I don't mind living alone since I wanted to be independent. Although, I have helpers to clean the house because I don't have time to.

"I did and it was a big mistake, Rachel. How am I gonna be able to act around him later? I must've been out of my mind." My hand caught my head when I remember I must be on set today. I immediately went inside the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. When I got into our set, I already knew that Sam was mad at me.

"So, this is your way of showing people that you are grateful because you got this major role? I wonder what your mom would say if she knew that you're late again." Yeah, she was furious, as always.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, pressing my lips together. Sam always reprimands me, but I never complain because if I did, my mom would do the same and I hate having long pointless conversations.

After filming all the scenes for today, I decided to go to the nearest remote area cafe in town. I come here often because it is my comfort place and no crowd is seen. I was reading hates about me on the internet while walking toward the cafe since their parking area is at the back. To be honest, I see these comments about me every day and it actually doesn't hurt me anymore. I just laugh at them most of the time.

When I got inside, I immediately ordered my favorite blend, an Iced Vanilla Latte. After I paid for it, the cashier asked if she could take a picture with me. I'm guessing she's a new employee here. I never saw her before.

"Of course," I said before she took a quick selfie with me. "Just make sure you don't post it on the internet, please. I wouldn't want people to know that I come here often," I requested nicely.

"Oh, of course, Ms. Alicia. You can trust me. I just wanted a remembrance. Thank you for the photo. You've always been my idol," she happily said which made my heart flutter.

I got my coffee and got back to browsing my social media on the phone when all of a sudden, I bumped into someone and it made me drop my drink.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't—" I paused when I looked at him. It was Brian. He was the one I bumped into. "...looking"

"I'm sorry," he apologized back. "Let me buy you another one, " he said. His friend, Marco, went inside the café to call the maintenance to clean up the mess.

"No, it's fine. I was the one who bumped–"

"I insist," he said. "I'll tell Marco to bring it to you. You can wait in your car."

He was about to walk but I stopped him. "Actually, c-can we talk?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he just nodded and let me walk past him. When our drinks were served, I tried to make eye contact with him but he wasn't looking. He was drinking his coffee while waiting for me to start the conversation.

"What shall we talk about?" he asked, breaking the silence.

I took a deep breath. "About last night, I'm really sorry." I wish I had more words to express how much I wanted to take my actions back.

"Last night? Which one?" His eyebrows furrowed like mine after he said that.

"Uhm, what do you mean by that?" I asked nervously. Did I do something worse?!

"When you suddenly kissed me or when you vomited on my shirt right after?" he asked which made me gasp.

Wait, what?! I vomited on his shirt?!

"I-i, I vomited?" He just stared at me and I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. "I-I'm so sorry. I couldn't remember."

How the hell can't I remember any of that? I feel so ashamed of what I did and what's worse is that I did it to a big star like Brian Wilde who could mark me as the most irresponsible rising star that he ever worked with.

"Of course, you don't. If you did, you wouldn't be talking to me right now," he said with a straight voice.

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "It wouldn't happen again. Both of them." He simply nodded like he doesn't care that much about what I was apologizing about.

I am so relieved that Phil, my butler, kept his promise that he won't tell Mom about me being drunk last night or else, I'll be doomed.

The next day, I found time to relax when the sun was already up. I was outside the house, beside the pool, painting scenery that I remembered from when I was a kid. It was the time that Mom, Dad, and I are at the beach in Maldives that my grandfather owns. It was ages since I last saw that place.

Painting it made me miss my dad. He used to treat me like a princess and I knew how much my mom loved him. That is why she kept herself busy with her business so she won't have time to remember that Dad isn't here anymore.

"Ali," Tyra called me when I was finishing my painting. "Sam will be here in two hours for your shoot." Oh, yeah. I'll be having a photo shoot today for a shoe endorsement.

I went upstairs and took a shower before dressing up. While I was fixing my hair into a ponytail, Sam knocked on my door. It's just been an hour but she's here already. Earlier than the early bird, as always. We got to the studio early and my glam team started applying makeup on me.

"Sorry, I'm late," I heard a familiar voice. I didn't try to move to face him because my makeup wasn't finished yet.

"No, you're just on time," one of the staff told him. Why is Brian here?

"Sam!" I called with a whispering voice so she came to me. "Why is he here?" I asked her.

"I actually didn't know too that he'll be endorsing this brand with you," she said.

"W-with me? Does that mean we'll share that spot in one camera?" I asked, hoping for an alternate answer because I saw her talking to one of the staff of the brand.

"Yes. The staff apologized for giving late information," she told me.

"Why with me? Can't he endorse it with Hannah instead?" It could have good publicity for the upcoming film.

"The team wanted you to have the spot, not Hannah. Plus, Hannah can't endorse another shoe brand. She already has three," Sam explained to me.

If I'm being honest, I'm still not comfortable being around Brian. Me, suddenly kissing him, may not be a big deal for him since he kissed a lot of women on and off-cam before but me, throwing everything from my stomach to his clothes doesn't sit right with me. I felt so unprofessional and reckless.

When we were ready, the crew helped us with our positions for our shots. Thank God, it was a shoe brand so we didn't have to be so close to each other during the shoot.

"Perfect!" The photographer said when we were done.

The shoe size was a bit small to me so I felt a bit uncomfortable. I took it off and wore my slides. It was my first time shooting in this studio so I asked where the bathroom was. When I got there I went straight to the cubicle because I could hold it anymore. After flushing the toilet, I went out to wash my hands but then I saw something terrifying.

"Ah!" I screamed when I saw Brian peeing near me. He was startled by me and it made him turn his back on me immediately.

"What are you doing here?!" he furiously asked while zipping his pants up.

"I-I was—"

No way did I just enter the men's room.