Secrets / Black & White / Playing for Keeps

“Lara, we’ll be going through the contract as soon as possible. But in the meantime let’s just go through the basics. You may be aware that my name is Julian Brand and I’m part of the Modest! Management team alongside your Uncle.”Julian gestured to Ben who gave Lara a reassuring nod.

Lara vaguely remembered meeting various people at some of the functions she had attended in the past, but did not remember names. She nodded anyway.

“You’ll be attending college as you originally planned but we require you to be available at certain times, sometimes with no notice at all. We’ll try our best to make sure that nothing conflicts with your studies, but there will be times when you’ll be juggling both responsibilities.” Julian said. “Events, photo shoots, interviews, attending concerts. This will include international travel.”

Lara nodded feeling overwhelmed. She had never travelled outside of England, and the thought excited her although she was very aware that it would effectively be a work trip with a person she barely knew.

“We need to make sure the whole scenario looks as authentic as possible. It will involve physical contact, limited to hugging, touching and kissing. This will be outlined in your contract and we’ll go through all details to ensure you are comfortable with all the terms.” Julian shuffled his papers and did not look in her eye, clearly not comfortable himself.

Lara listened intently but could not help but be very aware of Harry sitting right next to her. Their arms were almost touching, and she could hear the sound of his even breath. He shifted in his chair at the talk of physical contact.

Julian went through more details including the ramifications of breaking her contract’s terms.

“You will be penalised of course. Tuition fees will not be paid, and monetary compensation will be expected. You’d end up owing us.” He said with a steely look.

“Any questions?” Ben interrupted.

“Can you please tell me why?” Lara asked.

“Why?” Julian asked uncertainly.

“Why does Harry need to hire someone to be…” She trailed off, realising how awkward it was to ask that question with Harry sitting right next to her. Harry again shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Lara noticed that he did that every time there was an awkward moment.

“Harry is a busy person who doesn’t have the time to pursue any kind of serious romantic relationship” Julian replied formally. “We’ve set him up on celebrity dates which created a bit of buzz, but the fan base is not buying it. There has been a negative reaction to every single pairing. It’s become a joke in the industry. They seem to know it’s all for PR and-“

“What makes you think they won’t realise our relationship is fake?” Lara spoke up.

“Because you’re both going to do your utmost to convince the world that it’s real. We’re relying on you both to be professional about this. We want this relationship to have maximum impact on Harry’s public profile, so we don’t want this to be a quickie relationship. A year will suffice.”

“You told me six months.” Lara looked at Ben accusingly.

He shrugged sheepishly.

“Julian’s right.” Ben said. "We need the impact to be significant… not just a blink and you’ll miss it fling.”

Lara exhaled and looked back at Harry. He sat there with his head down, a pensive look on his face. She felt kind of sorry for him for a moment, when she reminded herself that she was also a part of this whole lie too.

She needed to do this though. Although she was effectively putting her life on hold for one year, she reasoned that it was for the best. The hefty tuition fees for her teaching degree were to be paid in full. She was doing Ben a much needed favour. And what did it matter if she had a fake boyfriend, she thought glumly. She had never had a boyfriend before and didn’t see that changing in the future. No, it was better to concentrate on her studies and try and get through what would probably be her only year in the spotlight.

“She’s not even a fan of One Direction.” Ben blurted.

Lara realised she had just missed part of the conversation.

"Do you want to meet One Direction Lara? No Uncle Ben, I’m fine, she says”

Harry smiled politely as he looked over to see Lara's reaction but said nothing. It was her turn to squirm and she quickly averted her eyes to face forward.

“No offence Harry!” Ben laughed nervously.

“Oh none taken.” He said, but he was beginning to look impatient. “Are we done here?”

“Yes.” Julian said. “You can go Harry. We’ll meet again soon to map out our strategy. “

Harry stood up and without acknowledging anyone stalked out. Lara watched after him, and took a deep shaky breath.

It was going to be a long year…

Notes