We Got Married

A week after taping their last episode WGM’s PR team called Cassandra and Sidney and their agents for a meeting. They told them that the meeting was about promotional stuff for the show.

Cassandra arrived at the conference room a few minutes earlier than the scheduled time with a hot chocolate in hand, wearing an outfit that made her look mature an sophisticated. Sidney and his agent were already there and both men stood up from their seat to greet her. She gave Sidney a hug while she shook hands with his agent, Pat Brisson, she knew him for years due to being her brothers’ agent as well.

“Good morning, Ms. Collins.” Pat told her.

“Good morning.” She replied, sitting down on the chair across from Sidney. “You’re very early.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate.

“We arrived just a few minute before you.” He responded. “Where’s your agent?” Sidney asked.

“She’s on her way from the airport.” She answered.

“Who’s your agent? I might know her.” Pat asked her.

“Elizabeth Darnell.”

“She handles athletes from various sports, isn’t she?”

She nodded her head then took another sip of her drink. The door of the conference room opened and Cassandra’s agent, Elizabeth Darnell, a gorgeous redhead wearing a power suit and her ever present high heels came in.

Cassandra and the two men stood up from their seats to greet her. “Good morning, Liz.” She hugged the older woman.

“Good morning, darling.” Cassandra introduced her to Sidney and his agent and Elizabeth sat down beside her. She looked at Cassandra’s cup of hot chocolate, remembering that she didn’t drink coffee yet as she comes to Pittsburgh very early to have a time to grab a cup of coffee. “I forgot my fix of coffee.” She murmured with a sighed.

“Not a good way to start the morning?” Cassandra asked her agent with a smile.

“Definitely not, you should be thankful you’re my favorite.”

Cassandra giggled. “I know.” She turned to Sidney. “What do you think the PR team wants?” She asked.

“Must be another promotional gig for the show.”

She tilted her head to the side, thinking about it. “But why not just contact us instead of holding a meeting?” she looked at their agents that were talking animatedly with each other.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He leaned closer to her. “I’m upset with you.”

“Why?” She asked, looking puzzled as to why he would be upset with her.

“You didn’t talk much to me last week.” He answered, folding his arms.

“Training tired me out so much so I sleep a lot on my free time. Besides I’ve always tried to send a text whenever I have breaks.”

“The only thing we were able to talk about was the approval of our house’s design.”

“How am I going to make it up to you?”

“Let me think about it.”

“Okay.”

The door of the conference room opened once again, two brunettes, women walked inside. They both look like they’re in their early thirties. The women greeted the group and sat down on the head of the table. Cassandra remember the other woman, Alicia Peron for their promotional photo shoot session last month.

“I’m Tara Riley, the head of We Got Married’s PR team and this is my assistant Alicia Peron.” Tara introduced herself to them. “I guess, you must be wondering why I asked for a meeting.” She started as she opens her laptop and shows to them the high rating of the show. “Your aired episodes are doing very well and the fans really like the sweet and romantic relationship you are showing and I think that maybe we should level things up more for the fans.” She continued with a too bright smile for Cassandra’s liking.

“Do you want them to be in covers of magazines?” Pat offered.

“That will do good for promoting the show but I don’t think that the fans will be satisfied with that.” She answered, typing away on her laptop then show them the WGM twitter account for chocolate couple (Sidney and Cassandra). “As you see, the fans like the two of you to be a couple in real life too.”

“It’s against the contract we sign to be in a relationship with each other.” Cassandra knows she was getting defensive because they’ve breeched that rule. She kept her eyes on Tara not daring to look at Sidney at all.

“Of course everybody knows that, sweetie.” She agreed. “But do you know why that rule is there?”

“Why don’t you tell us then?” Elizabeth answered for her, which made her grateful for not needing to answer the question.

“Well, let’s just say that in every story there has to be a conflict.” She smiled deviously. “People love the complication and breaking the rules. After all, aren’t rules meant to be broken?”

“I don’t like going in circle. Tell us directly what you want.” Elizabeth interjected Tara’s little speech.

“Fine then, what I want is that for the two of you to do some photo op, to go out and be seen together in public.”

“And let gossips of them dating in real life to spread?” Pat concluded, eyes narrowed.

“Yes, it will make the people to be more interested to watch their episodes.”

“I don’t want to be rude but that kind of thing is what I’ve been avoiding to do my whole career and I’m definitely not going to start doing it now. Thank you.” Sidney said as he stood up from his seat. He walked towards Cassandra’s seat, taking her hand he pulled her up gently. “Have a nice day.”

“What are you doing?” Cassandra whispered to him as he started walking towards the door.

“We’re leaving.” He said in a tight voice and they both walked out of the conference room.

“We just made a scene there. What do you think they’ll be thinking about us?”

“I don’t give a fuck what they are thinking. I don’t like being use.”

“I don’t like that word.” They were already in the parking lot by the time he absurdly stopped walking and she nearly bump to him.

“Are you not angry that they want to sell us to the tabloids and gossip sites?” He asked furiously.

She gave him a small smile and kissed his furrowed forehead. “I think angry is a strong word to use but I did feel offended. It’s just that I’m sure we can decline without storming out there like that.” She told him softly.

“I’m sorry for acting immature there. I just want to protect our relationship from being milk dry by them.” He rested his forehead to hers.

“It’s okay, but I think we need to get back there.”

“I won’t.” He said stubbornly.

She sighed, knowing that it will hurt his pride to go back to the conference room. “Alright, what about we go to your place and watch a movie?”

He finally smiled back. “Sounds good to me.”

“I’ll meet you at your place then.”

“Okay.” He let go of her hand as she unlocked and opened the door of her truck then she climbed in.

“Go to your car now.” She told him, doing a shoo motion with her hand. He made his way to his car and drive out after her.

*****

After half an hour later Cassandra shows up at Sidney’s place wearing a shoulder cut out shirt, jeans and sneakers, very different from her outfit earlier but she still manage to look classy. He stared down at the grocery bag she carried. “I thought I’ll be the one to buy next time.” He told her as he let her inside his house.

“I know but I’d like to cook lunch for us if you don’t mind.” She smiled up at him while she arranged the ingredients for their lunch out of the plastic bag.

He hugged her from the back, giving her bare shoulder a kiss. “No, I don’t mind at all.”

She turned around to face him, placing her hands on his chest. “That’s good. I don’t want you to think I’m being too at home in your house.”

He frowned at what she said. “I want you to feel at home in my own house. What gives you that idea?”

“Well, I don’t want you to think that I’m nosy.”

“I never thought of you as nosy, Cassy. You’re my girlfriend, it’s normal for you to be at home in my place.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“You know what? I think it’s time for me to give you the lock code and a copy of my house key, don’t you think?” He suggested with a smile.

“Are you sure about that?”

“I am.”

“Okay. As long as you’re doing it because you want to and not because you feel like it’s your responsibility.” She agreed biting her lips.

“Good.” Her eyes fluttered close as he leaned down to kiss her nose. “So, who get to choose what movie we’re going to watch now?” He asked to change the subject.

“I can’t remember anymore but you can choose whatever movie you want while I microwave our popcorns.” She answered. “Have you heard from your agent about what happened after we left the meeting?” She asked, frowning obviously worried about the situation.

“Yeah, Tara tried to convince them to agree with her idea but our agents refused like us.”

“I don’t think Tara is the kind of person that easily gives up.”

He lifted her chin to look up to his eyes. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Pat can handle her if she try to pull a stunt against our will.” He assured her. He won’t let anyone hurt her, he silently promised to her and to himself. “Now go get the popcorn while I choose a movie.” He let her go and walked to the living room.

When Sidney was able to choose a movie he put it in the player and waited for Cassandra to come out of the kitchen. She showed up to the living room with popcorn and soda in hands. Sitting down on the couch next to him, she put down the snacks on the coffee table.

“What movie are we going to watch?” She was immediately pulled to his side, cuddling her.

“Black Hawk Dawn.” He answered, making her laughed.

“Ewan McGregor’s in it right? I haven’t watched it yet.”

“Isn’t he the actor that played Obi-Wan Kenobi?”

“Yup, but I remember him more from Moulin Rouge. He sings really well!” She giggled, slightly turning into a fan girl.

“I didn’t watch the movie.”

“Why not? It’s really good! I even used their soundtrack as a music for my short program before.”

“I’m not into musicals.” He shrugged.

“From now on you’re going to start watching musicals! You’re going to enjoy it!” She sat up to faced him.

“If you say so.” He said pulling her down again to him then he hit the play button to start the movie. Both were very engross watching the movie, since it was the first time they watch the movie after reading the book. Every now and then they’ll both comment about this part of the book was not included in the movie or how this scene was not in the book.

After they finished watching the movie Sidney commented. “The book is always so much better than the movie adaptation.”

She nodded in agreement, stretching out her arms. “I think Lord of the Rings were the only movie that comes close to being as good as the book.”

“I didn’t read the book of Lord of the Rings.”

“I read the book when I was a kid.”

“You love reading book ever since you’re a kid, huh?”

“Yup.” Cassandra answered. “I’ll go cook our lunch.” She stood up from the couch and went to the kitchen to start their lunch. Sidney followed along behind her and sat down at the counter, watching her drag out pans and ingredients.

“What are you making?”

“Pan seared salmon with pasta and spinach cream sauce.”

“Sounds fancy.”

“Nah, it’s just the name but it’s very easy to prepare.”

“You always do that.”

She didn’t respond to what he observed; just continue to work on their lunch. She put water on to boil, and then put butter in a pan and added a piece of salmon. While that was cooking, she got out the spinach, washed it, and zested a lemon. He really enjoys her cooking for him and watching her moved around his house. He always thought that the place was missing something until the day he brought her here.

“I just realized that I never tour you around the house yet.”

“Yes, I’ve only been on the living room and the kitchen.” She agreed.

“Would you like a tour around later since I’ll be giving you a copy of my house key?”

“That would be great.”

Once the salmon was done, she set it aside, threw more butter into the pan, and tossed the spinach in there. Once the spinach had wilted, she added the lemon zest and some cream, and stirred it.

“Cassy, that really smells so good. What can I do to help?” He asked, standing behind her.

She gave him instruction for the garlic bread, so he busied himself with slicing the bread and preparing the table. He set the table while she tossed the bread in the oven. By then it was time to flake the salmon and add it to boiling water.

Sidney came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “You know, I might just never let you go if you keep cooking for me.”

Cassandra laid the spoon on the stove, turned around and kissed him. “You need to stop saying things like that.”

“Why?”

“I might believe them.”

“It’s true.” He kissed her then moved out of his way while she drained the pasta and added the parsley to the salmon and spinach in the pan.

While that heated up, she pulled the bread out of the oven, put some pasta on their plates, and scooped the cream, spinach and salmon on top of the pasta, finishing it off with some fresh parsley. She brought the plates over the table where Sidney sat.

Cassandra waited while he took the first bite. His closed eyes and murmured of approval made her smile.

“Are you sure being a chef is not your back-up plan after retiring from figure skating? This is fantastic!”

She giggled as she shook her head. “Nah. Cooking is just my hobby.”

He scooped another forkful into his mouth. More yummy sound. She liked that. She took a bite, enjoying his delight in her cooking. “So, what’s the plan for our taping tomorrow?”

“I cancelled our taping tomorrow.”

Her forkful of pasta was suspended in mid air at what he said. “You’re only telling this to me now?” she sighed deeply. “I know you’re pissed-off at what happen earlier but you can’t decide on things like that on your own. What about what I want I think? What about the crew that has to come all the way from New York just for a one day shoot? What do you think they’ll think about us? That we’re spoiled athletes that always get our way?” she scolded him. There was no trace of anger or annoyance in her voice only calm and softness as if she was talking to a child throwing tantrums for not getting what he wants and maybe that was how he was acting at the moment.

“Instead of punishing others for what Riley had done, I think we should instead prove to her that we don’t need to raise rumors to get higher ratings and keep the audience entertain.” She continued.

“I’m sorry I made an impulsive decision at the heat of the moment. It won’t happen again.” He took her hand, kissing the back of it as he looked straight to her blue sapphire eyes, apologizing.

“Apology accepted.” She said. “But I want to see how the process of the renovation of our visual house.”

“It’s only a few blocks from here we can check it out later or tomorrow.”

“I want to check it out later.”

“Okay. So, are we good?”

She nodded her head.

“I don’t want you to be mad at me.” He said, absentmindedly still caressing her hand.

“I’m not mad just baffled you did something like that.”

He was baffled with himself too. It was never in his personality to just walkout in the middle of a meeting after being offered something he didn’t like. He’d been to meetings for the lockout and nearly tore his hair out in frustration but was still able to calm himself down but when it comes to Cassandra’s sake he just lost control of his emotions and actions. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled up at him. “Now hurry up, I want to see our house.”