Always You - Sebastian Stan x Female!Reader

Chapter 13 - The Master Beta

Los Angeles, California - July 2021

"Come on Merida, hurry up.. " Ana grabbed Merida's hand and pulled her to walk faster as they walked in the dark alley toward the light in front of them.

"These heels are killing me, Ana. Slow down." Merida complained.

"Who asked you to wear heels.. I told you we were going on an important mission." Ana huffed.

"I thought when you said mission we were going clubbing, Ana.." Merida said, wincing as she felt her little toe scraped to the front of her stilettos painfully.

"How can you be so stupid, Merida? I wonder why I keep hanging out with you." Ana shook her head in disbelief. Merida felt her heart ached as she listened to her best friend insulting her. She herself wondered why she kept hanging out with Ana.

She and Ana had been best friends since they were in elementary school. They connected over playing with Barbies when they were in first grade back in Madrid. Ana's bubbly and happy-go-lucky personality complemented Merida's shy and reserved nature. Even though they were as different as fire and water, they were inseparable. Ana had been there for Merida when her mother died. Ana's happy personality helped her cope with the loss of her mother. She was also there for Merida when she had a hard time after her father remarried and brought home another child, her step brother. Merida was also there for Ana whenever Ana was having a bad day.

As they grew older though, their personalities changed and Merida found it harder to keep hanging out and supporting Ana. Ana was a spoiled child. Having been born into a rich family, she didn't have to work to get whatever she needed. Her parents had set up her finances for life. She didn't have to lift a finger and she could still get anything and everything she wanted. This made her turn into a selfish person who almost didn't have any empathy, as she was used to having her way in everything. Meanwhile Merida wasn't so lucky. She still needed to work like everybody else. But she was grateful that her work still allowed her to travel and be flexible with her time. She was a certified Astrologer. Her work consisted of giving consultations to people and helping them with their problems using Astrology as guidance.

Ana was born to have a beautiful face and body, so she worked as a model and an actress. But she was never serious about it. She just did it for the fun of it. That is until one day she had a huge fight with her mother. Her mother complained to her about her stagnant career. She wanted Ana to still take her acting and modelling career seriously even though she didn't need the money, to the point that she threatened Ana to take her trust fund money from her if she didn't get off her butt and work. Scared of the possibility of losing her comfortable life, she finally started to work more seriously. She signed up to an agency that promised her that she would get jobs by having PR relationships with other talents. She had done another PR relationship in Spain before signing on to do one with Sebastian. It didn't end well. Neither she nor the actor with whom she did the PR relationship got anything other than bad press from the relationship. Not that it wasn't her fault. It was, she just didn't want to admit it.

Ana didn't want to fail another PR relationship. She needed to get a job. But her lazy yet ambitious personality got in her way. She saw how rich Sebastian was. He wasn't just handsome and talented. She thought she could probably seduce him. If he fell in love with her, she could just enjoy her life as a rich and famous Hollywood actor's wife. She wouldn't need to work. She wouldn't need her trust fund money. And so her goals in her PR relationship with Sebastian changed. She wanted no more jobs, she needed no more fame, she just wanted him.

She had tried to seduce him multiple times but he was just not interested. In front of the cameras and the public he acted like a doting boyfriend. He even posted a tribute video for her on her birthday on his Instagram account, breaking the hearts of many of his fans. Whenever Ana took a video or picture of him with her phone he also acted accordingly. But it was like there was a switch in his head. Once the cameras were off or once they were out of the public eye, he immediately turned cold toward her. He only talked to her or interacted with her if necessary. When they had to stay in a house or apartment together, whether it was in NYC or some other city where he was filming, he always requested to stay in a different room than her. He was making it hard for her to make him fall in love with her.