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As soon as I got off from the plane at LAX, people already gave me a stare every time I took a step, which meant I was back in Los Angeles already. I kept my eyes on my way and not caring other people’s burning holes on the back of my head or my back by their eyes. When I got to the baggage claim, a teenage girl clearly glancing at me a couple of times before whispering to her mother with her eyes still fixed on me. I rolled my eyes and when my suitcase went around, I picked it up before dragging it out to the pick up point.

To my bad luck, as soon as my feet stepped out from the passenger-only part of the airport, paparazzi with their cameras ran up to me and starting to snap pictures while asking numerous questions. “Dareen! Is it true about you and Parker?”, one of them asked. I felt so helpless and I stuttered, not knowing what to do.

“I-I… I…”, I trailed off and suddenly, a pair of arms pulled me out from the midst of paparazzi. Those arms belonged to Bobby, who saved me. He put his arm over my shoulders and led me out to the pick up point where Whitney was waiting with her SUV.

“I’m sorry but Dareen won’t be answering any of your questions for now.”, he answered to all the paparazzi that were still trying to ask me questions. I kept my head down and my eyes on my shoes until Bobby opened the door of the backseat of the SUV. Without any moment to lose, I got in and protected by the darkly tinted windows of the car from the crazy paps.

Bobby got into the passenger seat and Whitney smiled encouragingly at me from the driver seat before she stepped on the gas pedal and drove the car away. All the way to my house, they were telling me all of the horrible news the media made about Cameron just because Parker’s publicist told them that he was the culprit in this situation.

“It’s not fair.”, I muttered right after Whitney handed me a teen magazine that had a full column on what happened. It was obvious they worked together with Shush! To got the full coverage. “I was the one who made him upset and I cried because I was upset with myself.”

“You have no idea how hard is it to live and maintain your life here, Dare.”, Whitney sighed. “I’m trying my best to clear his image like you wanted me to, but the media isn’t buying anything I said. Parker’s publicist is too tricky to beat.”

I closed my eyes and leaned my head on the window when suddenly an idea popped on my head to end all of this mess. “Hey, Whit, can you drive me to Victor’s office? I need to talk to him.”
************
The production office was so empty because it was almost holiday season and the show wasn’t shooting any new episodes. I walked in and Debby, the woman in the front desk, suddenly stood up with her eyes widened. “D-Dareen! I thought you would be on the other side of the country right now.”

I smiled a bit and sighed. “I need to see Victor. Is he in?”

“Yes, he’s in his office. You can just go straight in.”, she said. I nodded and went over to Victor’s office, which was right at the back of the building. Before I stormed in, I knocked on his door until he told me to come in. When I stepped in, the floral but masculine fragrance of his office quickly hit me. His office was inspired by a hipster studio that you would see in SoHo, but he was also inspired by the Japanese Zen.
Victor turned around in his wingback office chair and smiled when he saw that I was the one who stood on his doorway. “Ah, there she is, my shining star!”, he grinned. “So, what do I owe you the pleasure? I thought you were enjoying your holidays in the other side of the country.”

“Well… I needed to talk to you, Victor.”, I started and sat down on one of the chair in front of his desk. He waited for me to continue but I was fiddling with my hand so bad that I couldn’t even say something. There was still an argument in my head about what I was going to do. It would cost me my future but I couldn’t stand it anymore. “I-I… I want to quit the show after we’re done with the season.”

Victor’s smile fell and his eyes fell disappointed. He sighed and tilted his head to the side before resting it on his hand with his elbow propped on the hand rest. “Dareen… I hope you aren’t doing this because what happened between you and Parker because I would love to kick Parker off the show just to keep you here.”

“No.”, I shook my head and said. “I didn’t do this because of what happened with Parker. I do this because I realized… This life isn’t for me. I left my home, my friends and my one true love for this life and it’s not worth it.”, I took a sharp breath at the end because I could feel my eyes glistened.

“Those are the things you have to sacrifice if you want to be successful in this town.”, Victor nodded. “Dareen, your future is too bright to be burned down right now. Although I’ll respect your decision, but are you sure you want to this?”

I took another deep breath before nodding. “I’m sure.”

He smiled and nodded slightly. “Hollywood just lost its most amazing and down-to-earth starlet.”, Victor muttered before standing up, going around his desk and gave me a hug.
*************
The living room of my house never felt so crowded. Whitney invited some of the most famous tabloids, gossip sites and entertainment channels for my press conference and Bobby did an amazing job of fitting them in my living room. It was their last job as my publicist and manager and after today, I wouldn’t need them to do their job anymore. The season was just an episode left and I was sure I wouldn’t need their jobs, I just needed them as my friends.

When I got into the room, the reporters turned their heads and attention to me as I made my way behind a desk where a bunch of microphones from different channels were set. I sat down and took a deep breath. “First of all, I wanted to say thank you for coming to my press conference. I wanted to set things that happened this past few weeks straight. Now, I’ll take whatever questions you have for me.”

As soon as I finished, a woman stood up and Bobby asked her to said her name and where she came from. “I’m Alicia Morristead and I’m from Shush!.”, she said. The room went quiet and my eyes widened on her. “I have a question that’s been raging in me; what happened between you and Parker? Are you and him still a couple or not?”

I cleared my throat and leaned forward to the main microphone. “No, we’re not.”

“Is it the reason why you decided to not continue your career in ‘Golden Coast’?”, another reporter stood up and asked.

“No again. I love the show and the casts also the crews; they are my family, but I believe there’s another thing for me out there. At first, I thought I would love living in Los Angeles, and I do, but working in the show wasn’t my calling.”

“And how about your relationship Cameron Leahy? We heard you had something with him in the past since both of you came from the same hometown.”, another one asked. It was so confusing to answer one question then answer the other right away. I couldn’t even process them.

Bobby and Whitney, who were standing behind the reporters, nodded. They knew it would be hard for me to reveal my past to the press, but they also knew that this was the right time to do it. I took a deep breath and leaned forward towards the microphone. “He and I… We were best friends in high school and…”

“And we both loves each other.”, someone said out loud from the back of the room. I looked up and narrowed my eyes to get a better look of the person and they widened when I realized who it was. “We were best friends in high school and then, last year, I realized that I love her, all along.”, Cameron said as he made his way over to me with more than 10 pair of eyes fixed on him from the reporters.

I was so surprised that I couldn’t say anything until he was right next to me. “Hi.”, he whispered. “I’m sorry if I crash your press conference.”

“It’s okay.”, I smiled and scooted over so he could sit next to me. He sat down and then, the storm of questions came up on us. We answered them one by one with pure honesty and the final question was the one that made me feel like I got struck by lightning.

“Are you guys now together?”, the reporter, that I noticed from E!, asked. Cameron and I glanced at each other first before I gave the motion for him to answer that one because honestly, I didn’t even know.

Cameron pursed his lips and turned back his head to the sea of reporters before leaning towards the microphone. “No. At least, not yet.”

After that, Bobby took over and thanked the reporters for coming. When he and Whitney led them out from my house, I led Cameron to the backyard and we sat down on the wooden garden swing that I took from my mom’s house back in Maine. We sat down in silence and just swung slowly back and forth.

“Thank you.”, I started. “If you weren’t here, I don’t know how I would answer all of the questions.”

He chuckled and nodded slightly. “No problem. I guessed I need to say something here and Whitney called me, telling me to be here for you and to straight things up.”

“Are you here with the others?”

“No. They heard about you quitting the show and going back to Virginia, so they’re planning something for your homecoming.”

I giggled and leaned back to my seat. “Is it true about we’re not together?”
Cameron fell quiet and stayed that way for a minute before reaching for my hand that I placed on my thigh. “Dareen, if I could, I would kiss you right there for an answer, but, I guess we need to sort ourselves first.”

His answer made me got slapped by reality a bit, but he was right. We needed to sort ourselves first because I just got out from a hideous relationship and he still needed to do some thinking; Probably about his feelings for me.

“Okay.”, I nodded. “I’ll see you back home?”

“It’s a deal.”