BXBX NOVEL Chapter 97 - Not Doing It
"Jeff Rawlings. I know who you are. Bryan's manager, right?" Sonia asked, making him flash her an impressed smile.
"Hello, Mia! It's good to see you again," Sonia commented, since Mia had left just a couple of hours ago.
Mia simply smiled at her and gave her a curt nod, while she waited for Jeff to state the reason for their visit. "I learned that Bryan hurt himself, so I'm here to see him," Jeff explained.
"I didn't hurt myself, she hurt me!" Bryan countered from the doorway of the passageway, standing on one foot. He had come out since he didn't trust Sonia to not do something mischievous.
Jeff looked from Sonia to Bryan, and then exchanged a look with Mia before returning his attention once again to Sonia who was looking at Bryan with an innocent expression.
"What are you talking about, babez?" She asked, blinking at him, but Bryan ignored her and kept looking at Jeff.
"So what? You want her out of your house?" Mia asked, wanting to know what Bryan was thinking before they gave him the news.
"Why would I want my fiancee out of my house?" Bryan asked with a scoff, making Jeff and Mia exchange a confused look.
"Give me a hand, darling," Bryan said to Sonia who quickly hurried to his side and offered her shoulder for support as she helped him walk into the living room, and moved away after he sat down on the couch.
Bryan patted the space beside him, indicating that she sit down. Knowing that he was back to playing the role of a doting fiance, Sonia sat down dutifully and rested her head on his shoulder, making Jeff and Mia exchange a look once again, since neither of them could understand what was going on.
Did this mean that Bryan and Sonia were getting along now, and were in a relationship? If no, why were they still acting like a couple in front of them when they all knew he and Mia were aware that it was a fake engagement, Jeff mused as he signalled to Mia to get the wheelchair from where they had left it outside.
Matt looked around the living room before going to sit on the couch opposite Bryan, "How is your leg? And where is Matt? I thought he was staying with you?" Jeff asked once Mia walked out to go do as he had instructed her.
"Well, my leg hurts, but I'm glad my fiancee is here to take care of me. Matt left this morning to take care of his business," Bryan said as he leaned back on the couch patting Sonia's hair lovingly.
"I see. By the way, we got you a gift. Something to help you move around easily," Jeff announced as the door opened and Mia rolled in the wheelchair.
Bryan eyed the wheelchair distastefully, but tried to hide his displeasure, "Thanks for the gift. I promise to put it to good use. Baby, do you mind getting me a glass of water?" He asked, looking at Sonia with a sweet smile which Sonia returned as she sat up.
"Don't worry, I will go get it," Mia offered, heading the direction of the kitchen before Bryan stopped her.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you have more important things to do instead of serving me a glass of water," Bryan said with a wide smile, reminding both Mia and Bryan of what Sonia had said that day at the airport, "I don't get to see my fiancee often, so I want her to do it herself," Bryan said, stopping Mia from leaving.
"Don't worry, Mia. I will get it myself," Sonia assured Mia before walking away to get the water.
Once she was out of earshot Jeff hurried over to the spot beside Bryan, and then jerked his head towards the kitchen, signalling for Mia to go and stall Sonia so he could speak to Bryan alone. Mia got his message and quickly excused herself.
"First things first, did you mean what you said earlier? Did she really hurt your leg?" Jeff asked in a low voice, with his brows furrowed in a concerned frown.
Knowing Jeff, Bryan could tell that if he so much as said that Sonia had hurt his leg, Jeff wouldn't hesitate to bundle her out of the house within the next second and damn every consequence. And if the CEO who was his personal agent got wind of it, he wouldn't mind getting Sonia arrested and press charges against her for hurting their golden star.
In as much as Sonia annoyed the hell out of him, he couldn't do that to her. Especially not when they had a standing agreement, and when he planned on frustrating her. Bryan shook his head, "I actually slipped in the bathroom, while she was in the bedroom. I just wanted to make her feel guilty for not joining me in the shower as I wanted her to. Don't tell her I told you that though," Bryan said with an embarrassed smile.
They were supposed to share the shower together? Since when? "What is going on?" Jeff asked Bryan in a whisper.
"What do you mean?" Bryan asked, looking at Jeff with a blank expression.
"We both know that whatever is going on between you both isn't real. So I need to know what is going on and why you both are acting this way in front of us," Jeff said, looking at Bryan with searching eyes as if he could detect any lie Bryan would tell.
Bryan gave him a reassuring smile, "Nothing is going on. We just decided to give it a shot. She isn't as bad as I thought she was," Bryan said with a shrug, and Jeff nodded, flashing Bryan a relieved smile.
"That is really good to know. That means what I'm about to say now won't upset you too much," Jeff said cautiously, making Bryan narrow his eyes, since he knew without a doubt that whatever Jeff was going to say next was going to be very annoying.
"What is it?"
"Well, you know you have so many jobs lined up for next week... But unfortunately, because of your twisted ankle you can't do everything..."
"So?" Bryan asked impatiently, knowing that at the end of this long speech was something very offensive, and he wanted to get right to it.
"So we called the movie producer, as well as the directors of those companies..."
"And?" Bryan asked in frustration, knowing that Jeff was stalling because he was probably not comfortable with the message he had been sent to deliver.
Jeff took in a deep breath, "In order to satisfy everyone, the CEO wants you and your fiancee to star in a reality show..."
"What?" Bryan asked, not sure he caught what Jeff had just said.
"Yeah. By now you should know how these things work. If he doesn't do this..."
Bryan was no longer listening. He quickly stood up wanting to walk over to his room. The moment he took his first step, pain shot through his leg, reminding him that his ankle was hurt. He swore loudly as he collapsed on the couch.
On hearing his voice both Mia and Sonia who had been talking in the kitchen rushed out to see why he had shouted.
Bryan gritted his teeth as he grabbed Jeff's phone which was on the couch between them and quickly dialed the CEO's line before Jeff could stop him.
"I was just going to call you. Have you seen him? How is his leg? Have you been able to tell him about the reality show yet?" The CEO asked once he received the call.
"I AM NOT DOING IT. There is absolutely no way I'm doing something as ridiculous as that! Not in a million years!" Bryan snapped at him angrily.
"I have already talked to the producer and directors. As a matter of fact, they just left my office a couple of minutes ago. Think of this as a movie you are shooting with just one actress, from the comfort of your home," the CEO said in a tone that told Bryan his decision was final.
"You can't just come up with something like this and expect me to go along with it!" Bryan hissed angrily, while Sonia looked from Bryan to Mia in confusion, wondering what was going on.
"The CEO wants the both of you to star in a reality show," Mia whispered to Sonia, whose eyes rounded in surprise at the news.
"Think about it. It's going to be a one of its kind show. No celebrity or agency has ever done this before. We will be the first, setting the pace for others to follow. This way you not only get most of your jobs done, but we can also make money while you just sit in your home," the CEO said, trying to make Bryan see reason.
If it was another star under the agency he wouldn't have bothered explaining himself this much. But Bryan was his favorite star. He had been the very first actor he nurtured right from when he was a nobody. He had simply been an agent until after Bryan had become famous. That had been when he decided to own an entertainment agency, and it had been Bryan who he had given the honor of choosing the name for the agency. Even after he had become very successful and the agency had grown with so many top celebrities, he still personally handled all of Bryan's bookings.
"How on earth did you come up with such a ridiculous idea?" Bryan hissed in annoyance, and when he noticed the way Jeff glanced at Mia and Sonia, Sonia's Instagram caption suddenly flashed before his eyes.
Of course it was Sonia! It had to be her! This woman was programmed to frustrate him. If he had any doubt before now that this witch was going to be the end of him, this just reaffirmed everything he had been thinking since he met her. She was out to ruin him.
"Bryan, you are going to do this whether you like it or not. For your sake, I hope you will like It, since the producer will be coming over to your place with the camera crew tomorrow to set up everything and run the script by you," The CEO said before hanging up.
"By chance, the CEO didn't see my Instagram post, did he?" Sonia whispered to Mia when she noticed how Bryan was glaring at her.
Not wanting the blame to be put on her, even though she intended to take every credit for the show if it turned out a success as she believed it would, Mia flashed her an apologetic smile, "He did."
"As if he doesn't hate me enough already," Sonia muttered under her breath as she walked over to where Bryan was seated with his glass of water.
"I didn't mean for this to happen," she apologized without meeting his gaze, but Bryan only snorted without saying a word.
"He didn't have any other choice.. They were all upset about having their schedules affected because of you," Jeff said, trying to make Bryan see reasons, but Bryan said nothing as he threw Jeff's phone on his lap.