Chapter 4: My Life Gets A Little Extra Drama

The whole fake relationship thing was Luca's idea.

Nothing sells a film like some good drama between co-stars, and he wanted Cataclysm: Earth to be huge. He had a contract and everything, spelling out what we could and couldn't do, breaking down exactly when all of our dramatic "relationship events" would take place, laying out exactly what was expected of me. I knew this was my chance to really make it big, so I signed it.

And it worked. Our little show began the moment my signature was dry on the contract, and Luca and I have been in the spotlight ever since - one day making out on the beach, the next breaking up, the next starting baby rumors...and over and over and over again until I was convinced people would be bored with us. Instead, it only made them more obsessed.

And now I have a rock the size of a golf ball to wear on my finger.

My engagement ring is currently locked in my safe here in the trailer - I can't exactly wear it during filming - but I can still feel the weight of it on my finger.

"Ms. Torres?" Briana prompts. I remember she asked me a question.

"It's a little weird to kiss him in front of the cameras," I say, "but you get used to it. It's our job."

Actually, kissing isn't the issue here - Luca and I have done that plenty of times before. The issue is that today he and I are supposed to do a lot more than kiss, and we have no experience there - at least not with each other. In fact, our contract expressly forbids it. Absolutely no sex allowed. Luca was adamant about that part of our legal arrangement - claiming that based on his experience, sex just complicates things - and I know how to take a hint.

Briana smiles warmly at me, and I feel a yawning emptiness in my gut. Some days I'd give anything to tell someone - anyone - the truth. To give up the illusion for an hour. To have one person in my life with whom I can be completely genuine. Part of me thinks that under different circumstances, Briana and I might have been real friends. But I know I couldn't bear to keep lying to her then, and my contract with Luca has some pretty strict rules about who we can and cannot tell.

My eyes fall again to the photograph on the table. Luca's family knows the truth about us, but I haven't had the heart to tell mine. My parents - especially my mom - would never understand. They don't know how relationships work in this industry, and they definitely wouldn't get why I willingly entered into such an arrangement. My parents have been madly in love since the first time they laid eyes on each other on their first day of college, and now they're professors at the same small university. Things work differently here - assuming I want a lasting career in this business.

"Well, I should go give everyone else their breakfast," Briana says, picking everything up again. "Have fun today." She gives a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Fun" is probably the last word I'd use to describe today, but I'll fake it. Just like I fake everything else in my life.

Don't get me wrong - I love my job. From the first time I ever attempted acting - in a nativity play at church when I was six - I loved it. It was like the ultimate game of make believe, one where everyone else watching believed it, too. As I got older, I sought out every chance I could to act - I auditioned for every play at school, attended drama camp every summer as a teenager, even appeared in a couple of commercials for local car dealerships. One day I was playing Mercutio in my high school's production of Romeo and Juliet, and the next I was showing off the features of the latest Honda Civic. Every minute of it was pure fun - every day I got to be a new person, try on a new life. I was determined to make a career of it.

So here I am, living the dream. Which today means rubbing up on the guy I'm fake-engaged to and pretending to have the best orgasm of my life in front of a gazillion cameras.

You know - just your average Tuesday.

I look down at my sad little omelet. I'd give anything to stress-eat some donuts this morning, but Roxie, my nutritionist, has me on a crazy-strict diet right now.

My phone buzzes again. My mom sure is being extra persistent today.

Maybe it's not your mom, I think, remembering what Briana said about Luca being late. Maybe my "fiancé" is calling to tell me where he is. Luca is many things, but he's never late. He's as professional as they come. And he's put me in a very tricky position, as far as our little relationship act goes.

Of all days for him to be late, he has to pick today. The day when I'm already so flustered and nervous I can hardly think straight.

I grab my phone and shove it beneath my ear. "Hello?"

But though it's a male voice that greets me, it's not Luca. It's Javy, my little brother.

"Em," he says breathlessly. "Em, you have to help me."

I thought the knot in my stomach couldn't get any bigger, but I was wrong. "What's wrong? What happened?" My mind is already racing - are Mom and Dad all right? Is someone in the hospital? Javy is a twenty-three-year-old dude. He doesn't call one of his sisters unless there's an emergency.

"I...I need money, Em," he says.

"For what? What happened? Are Mom and Dad - "

"They're fine. But I might not be." He lets out a long breath. "Please, Em. You have to help me."

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"I can't. I just... Em, I need twenty thousand dollars - "

"Twenty thousand dollars? What the hell have you done?"

"I can't tell you now. But please, Em - "

"Javier Torres, you're not getting a dime unless you tell me what's going on. Do Mom and Dad know?"

"No. And you can't tell them." He's sounding more and more desperate by the second. "Please, Em. I'll explain everything later, I promise. I just need twenty thousand. That's nothing to you."

I close my eyes. He certainly knows exactly which buttons to push. Since being cast in Cataclysm: Earth, I've tried many, many times to give my family money - God, do they need it - but every single one of them has either been too stubborn or too proud to accept it. Until now.

"Tell me what you need it for," I urge again.

"I can't, Em - "

"Tell me."

A knock sounds on my trailer door, and I mutter a curse under my breath.

"I have to go," I tell him. "They're ready for me on set. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Please, Em. Don't tell Mom and Dad."

"I won't," I promise against my better judgment. "But you better tell me what this is all about. Are you in any immediate trouble?"

"Just call me back later."

The knock sounds again.

"I'm coming!" I call to whatever PA was sent to fetch me. To Javy, I say, "I've got to run. Call you later."

I throw my phone down on the sofa and jog over to the door, staring down at the shaggy-haired PA they call Bug.

"Isaac says they're almost ready for you, Ms. Torres," he says.

"Thanks," I tell him. "I'll be right there."

As he darts back to the soundstage, I force myself to take a deep breath. Between Javy's call and Luca's tardiness, my nerves have gotten even worse, but I'm determined to pull myself together before I walk on set.

These past two years have been a crash course in surviving this industry. Every step of the way, I've been determined to prove that I can keep up with the big boys, that they made the right choice in taking a chance on me. They liked me enough to keep me on for the sequel, at least, but that doesn't mean I can't still fuck this up.

You can do this, I tell myself as I head out the door. This is just like any other day. Any other scene. Stay professional, do your job, and you'll be just fine. It's not that different from what you and Luca do every time you step out in public together.

Except it is. Yes, our characters had an on-screen romance in the first Cataclysm: Earth movie, but the sex was all fade-to-black. For the sequel, though, the producers apparently decided we needed to go bigger, badder, and dirtier. It doesn't help that Dante Fontaine pulled out of the sequel for personal reasons - even though he cited wanting to spend more time with his new fiancée, I suspect he and the other Important People were having a lot of creative differences over the direction they've decided to take this franchise.

In spite of everything, though, I'm a little relieved that Dante Fontaine is no longer heavily involved with these projects. Months ago at the Cataclysm: Earth premiere, before Dante and his fiancée were together, he and I slept together. It was a moment of weakness, the result of months of stress and loneliness, and I knew even then it was a mistake. He and I never meant anything to each other - I think we were both just desperate for a little release from all the pressure. Still, I'm grateful to not have to face him day after day on set, especially since he and his fiancée, Ashlyn, are so happy together. Even though the three of us are the only ones who know it happened - Ashlyn walked in on it happening, which ironically is what led to their reunion - it would still be super awkward, and I'm not sure I can handle awkward right now.

If I'm being honest, I find the whole situation a little humorous. What would the world say if they found out that the only Fontaine brother I've ever slept with is not the one I'm engaged to?

Of course, my main job today is to convince everyone that Luca and I have gotten down and dirty many, many times.

And I'll do whatever it takes to play the part. Once again.