An Impossible Favour

Adrian barely remembered the drive home after leaving the café.

For the first time in weeks, his thoughts had drifted somewhere other than the scandal. They lingered instead on Suzie. On the easy conversation they'd shared. On the way she'd laughed until tears filled her eyes over the story of their disastrous treehouse. For an hour there had been no cameras, no rehearsed answers and no careful calculations. Just two old friends rediscovering each other.

His phone vibrated before he reached his apartment.

"Lila."

"Where are you?"

"On my way home."

"Change of plan. The studio wants you here. Now. Not at 10am."

Something in her voice made his stomach tighten.

Twenty minutes later Adrian sat in the studio boardroom while the producers outlined the situation.

"The sponsors are still nervous," one of them said. "The film is too expensive to gamble on damaged publicity."

"We've released statements," Adrian replied.

"And they've helped," Lila said, "but not enough."

The senior producer leaned forward.

"We're giving this forty-eight hours. If public confidence doesn't improve, we'll have to consider recasting."

The words landed like a punch.

This wasn't just another film. It was the role he'd waited fifteen years to play. He'd turned down lucrative action films for this script, determined to prove he was more than a handsome face.

"There is one option left," Lila said carefully.

Adrian already knew.

"The fake relationship."

She nodded.

"The public needs a new story. The allegations make you look unstable. A long-term relationship gives the public another narrative but if we use another celebrity, everyone will assume it's fake."

"I'm not dragging an innocent woman into this."

"You need someone people will believe."

"No."

"We're running out of options."

"I said no."

Silence settled over the room.

The senior producer finally spoke.

"If nothing changes, the investors will insist we recast."

The meeting ended soon afterwards, leaving Adrian and Lila alone.

She closed the door.

"If you're thinking about asking the woman you met today..."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Don't insult me."

She folded her arms.

"Suzie."

His expression answered for him.

"We grew up together."

"And now you're considering asking her."

He stayed silent.

Lila sighed.

"No."

He looked at her.

"You spent one hour with her and forgot the scandal existed."

"You noticed."

"Of course I noticed."

Her expression softened.

"If she's the first person who's made you smile in weeks, don't drag her into this."

Adrian stared out of the window.

"If I lose this film..."

"I know."

"If I don't ask..."

"You'll always wonder."

"And if I do?"

"You might lose her."

The words hung heavily between them.

Finally he looked up.

"Can you find her number?"

Lila closed her eyes briefly.

"I really wish you hadn't asked that."

"So do I."

After a long pause she nodded.

"I'll find it."

She hesitated before adding quietly, "If you ask her, do it because you trust her. Not because she's convenient."

"I will."

Instead of driving home, Adrian headed back towards the part of the city where Suzie had said her studio was.

Lila still hadn't sent the number, but he remembered enough from their conversation to know roughly where she worked.

It wasn't much of a plan.

Just hope.

Half an hour later he stood outside the small gallery.

Artists drifted in and out carrying canvases beneath their arms.

Maybe she'd already left.

Maybe this was his chance to walk away.

Then the gallery door opened.

Suzie stepped outside carrying a wrapped canvas.

She stopped when she saw him.

"You're making a habit of surprising me."

He managed a faint smile.

"I think I'm making a habit of terrible timing."

She laughed softly.

"I was just locking up."

"Could we talk?"

The smile faded as she noticed the strain in his face.

"Has something happened?"

"Yes."

"There’s a park around the corner."

They walked in silence until they reached an empty bench overlooking the river.

Suzie turned towards him.

"You're worrying me."

"I need to explain something."

He took a breath.

"The rumours you've probably seen..."

She nodded.

"I've seen them."

"None of them are true."

"I didn't think they were."

He looked at her.

"You believed me?"

"I knew you."

"That was fifteen years ago."

"You were still you."

Those four words almost undid him.

"The studio doesn't see it that way."

He explained everything.

The allegations.

The sponsors.

The ultimatum.

The possibility of losing the biggest role of his career.

When he'd finished, Suzie frowned.

"That's awful."

"It gets worse."

He looked out across the river.

"My PR team thinks the only way to save the film is for people to see me in a stable relationship."

Realisation dawned.

"Oh."

"I refused."

She waited.

"Then I met you."

He gave a quiet laugh.

"For an hour I forgot all of it."

He turned to face her.

"And now I'm about to ask something I hate myself for."

His voice dropped.

"They want me to fake a relationship."

Suzie's expression froze.

"And I wondered..."

He swallowed.

"...if you'd pretend to be my girlfriend."

Silence.

The river continued flowing as though nothing had happened.

"You can't be serious."

"I wish I wasn't."

"For how long?"

"Six months."

"There'd be a contract?"

He nodded.

"My PR team would handle everything."

She stood so suddenly the bench shifted.

"You've seen me once in fifteen years."

"I know."

"And your first instinct is to ask me to lie to the entire country?"

"I know how it sounds."

"It sounds unbelievable."

"It probably is."

"No, Adrian."

There was hurt in her voice.

"It's insulting."

He flinched.

"You think because you're famous and I'm struggling, I'll just say yes?"

"I don't."

"Then why ask me?"

He met her eyes.

"Because you're the only person I trust."

She stared at him.

"I thought you'd come back because we'd found each other again."

"I did."

"Did you?"

He had no answer.

Suzie drew a slow breath.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you."

She meant it.

"But I'm not becoming part of your publicity campaign."

She turned and walked away.

Adrian remained on the bench, watching her disappear into the evening crowd.

He'd come looking for the one person who'd made him forget the worst week of his life.

Instead, he'd almost certainly lost her all over again.