Starstruck | C.H

23. Rejected in front of the press

Calum

The only reason why I had chosen not to drink tonight was because of Sophia. I knew she'd hate to see me drunk, I'm awful when I've had something to drink and with all these different emotions built up inside of me, I'm scared of what I could do. 

Another reason I promised I wouldn't drink was because I knew the press were at the party. Although it was private, there were going to be reporters there, the odd few but still enough to blow up a story if something was to go wrong.

I pulled up at the gates and smiled at Jacks's security guard, he winked and lifted the barrier. I looked in my rearview mirror to see a black mini pull up. I noticed Sophia was in the passenger seat. 

A lump formed in my throat, a deep feeling inside me sent a wave of nausea through me. I was nervous. I'm not one to get nervous either. I consider myself to be confident, although some prefer the term cocky. But she does this to me, I felt like I was a teenager again, experiencing their first love.

I hated to admit it and I felt guilty as hell for saying it, but I never experienced these kind of emotions with Sophie. Probably because I'd been friends with her for years prior. But this was all new territory to me. Everyone else I've had hook ups with meant nothing, that was just for the sex, a pass time. But with Sophia, I was truly falling for her. 

I pulled up next to the valet and pondered over to the stairs to wait for Sophia. As I was doing so I was stopped by a reporter. She was wearing more casual clothing, so already I knew they were going to be hard to spot. She didn't have a cameraman with her, just her phone which was on voice record.

"Calum, Hi! Where's your girl? What was her name again...Sophia?" She said.

"She's just pulling up now." I stated.

She frowned, "What you didn't turn up together? You guys hitting a rough patch already?"

God, literally these reporters like to stir up everything. My eyes stayed focused on Sophia as she climbed out of the car. She looked stunning, that was for sure. She had her hair down and it was straightened. She had never worn her hair like this before, it showed how beautifully long it was. Her tanned skin glowed and her smile was another story. She was truly remarkable. 

"No of course not, she wanted to come with her friend. In fact here she is now." She hadn't noticed me yet, but she was about five seconds from walking past me. I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me. "Hey babe." I smiled at her. I didn't like the term 'babe', not with the fact that we weren't even really dating. Put it matched my "cocky" attitude that every knew. 

She frowned. I had my arm around her waist, and she didn't quite know how to react and her friend was stood awkwardly next to us. I tried my hardest to gesture to the reporter and her being the smart girl she is, realised. 

"Hey." She smiled softly. She looked uncomfortable for sure. I hated this fakeness.

"Sophia, lovely to meet you." The reporter said, by now a small crowd of other reporters formed behind the woman. There was the odd camera. Thank god they weren't allowed inside. 

"Er, you too." She said and looked up to me in confusion.

"How about a kiss for the camera!" One of the guys shouted from the crowd.

Well, we had to make this believable so may as well please them, then they would go at least.

Sophia

Wait they weren't being serious were they? They really expected us to kiss just like that in front of those cameras. I didn't even know they were going to be here tonight. This is the first time I've had to actually fake this relationship with Calum but I wasn't ready to do it unprepared.