Dear Sunshine,

Chapter 8

"When do we need to release an official statement? Like a post on Instagram or Twitter or whatever." Forest asks, resting his chin on his hand, elbow supported on the table we were now sitting at.

"That's all up for Casey to decide." Cassandra bluntly responds, texting away at her phone, not sparing us a glance.

I look to my side, my eyes roaming to Forests. He meets my gaze, and he seems bored and tired. I'm not sure which one is more of the other though.

"Who's Casey?" I lean in slightly and whisper my question to him.

"My publicist." He tells me shortly. I nod, and lean away.

The room filled with an awkward silence, but Cassandra paid no mind to it, still tapping away at her phone, a stern and blank expression on her face the entire time.

I bring my legs up on the chair and tuck them against my chest, and it immediately brings me some sort of comfort to how anxious I'm feeling at the moment.

"Sorry I'm late. Cassie, please tell me your work phone has been going off the rails today as well?" A man barely reaching six feet, dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes quickly walks in.

I take a quick look at him without it feeling creepy if he noticed me staring.

He was dressed formally, but relaxed all at the same time. A light grey button down shirt, the top button undone, and a darker grey suit jacket with matching pants.

Cassandra finally turns off her phone and sets it down. "A little more than usual, yes."

Casey just nods, his eyes finally traveling to me.

I'm sure I looked like nothing more than a low-life college student. Surprise, that's about it to me anyways.

A sight to behold to Casey for certain. A scared to death looking girl, who gets no sleep and pulls on her hair stressing over homework, looking super unconventional in a black jacket, sweatpants, and messy bed head hair pulled back into a less than nice ponytail.

"You must be the mystery girl." He gives me a taught smile, and I hold back a frown.

"Madi." I tell him, but unfortunately it comes back like a mumble.

"Nice to meet you Madi. I'm Casey." He holds out a hand to me, and I reach out and shake it. Firm, yet comforting.

I can tell I'm going to get along with Casey the best. He was way more relaxed and friendly then Cassandra was.

And take the nickname Cassie off the table for her. Or else I'll get confused with her and Casey.

"So, official statement of you two dating. How do you want to do it?" Casey looks over to Forest, and Forest glances back to me.

"Doing it over a social media platform is cheesy." Forest tells him, clearly bored with the idea already.

"Well how about that interview on the Late show you're doing next week? Madi can go on with you." Casey smiles, and Forest shrugs, looking over to me.

I glance between the two, in shock that they would really suggest I go on live television with Forest.

"Madi, no offense, but this is what happens when you're in a relationship with a celebrity. Of course we're not trying to pressure you into this if you don't want too, but the world already wants to know who you are." Casey tells me gently, and Forest gives me a reassuring smile.

"Fine. It's better than being known as the supermarket girl anyways." I mumble the last sentence to myself, but I get a laugh out of Casey, who clearly heard me.

"That's the spirit!" Casey cheers, and Forest rolls his eyes, still amused though by Casey's positivity.

"It's time to send Zoe Madison back home. Casey, will you be willing to accompany her and tell her the details for the show?" Cassandra puts her phone down, staring at us three.

"Of course. Let's go Madi, and get away from this buzzkill." He whispers the last sentence to me, and Cassandra frowns.

Casey holds out his arm, and I take it, and he leads me away from Forest and into the car.

What had I just gotten myself into?

-Forest-

I watch as Zoe walks away with Casey before I turn to Cassie.

She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.

"What?" I shrug after a long pause of silence.

"You know what." She raises her eyebrows.

"Is this about the stupid deal?" I sigh.

"The movie is not a stupid deal, Forest." Cassie rolls her eyes.

"I agree, but doing a fake dating promo with Iris Lawrence is." I grab a glass from my kitchen cupboard, needing a glass of water.

"It's Iris Lawrence, Forest. You two are costars in this upcoming movie you're doing together, and it would be good for publicity."

"I don't care about Iris. When will you realize that Cassie?" I glare back at her, and she scowls.

"The world cares about Iris just as much as they care about you." Cassie tells me.

"I can guarantee you, no they don't." I put the glass under the water dispenser in the fridge, and Cassie gives a frustrated huff.

I genuinely don't give a shit about Iris fucking Lawrence when I know a girl like Zoe. Contrary to popular belief, Zoe is much more my type anyways.

"Well the movie starts shooting in two days, and the media is looking for a new buzz. So either you pull this thing off with Zoe and make it believable, or I'm pushing the publicity deal with you and Iris." Cassie stands up, organizing and stacking her things to be able to be carried.

"Make it believable? She's my girlfriend for Christ's sake." I angrily set down the glass of water on the counter.

"Since when Forest? I only heard about her this morning. Do you really expect me to believe you've known her for longer?" Cassie tilts her head, and I nod.

"Believe it or not Cassie, I'm great at keeping secrets. Especially if they're people I care about." I lean forward slightly, my hands gripping the edge of the counter, my knuckles surely turning white with frustration.

"You can fool the media all you'd like, Forest. But you cannot fool me." I narrow my eyes, and Cassie turns around to walk away.

———

(A/N short update, but at least it's something!

In case you didn't see my profile post, I started a new job and it takes up majority of my day. And as an introvert, I am literally exhausted afterwords. So updates will be inconsistent again unfortunately.

I did write a lot of chapters ahead, so there's a lot of drafts. When I edit them I'll publish them out, but thank you for being so patient with me about this story!!)