Just One of the Perks

AMELIA’S POV

I swallowed loudly, all humour gone from my brain. Clara had stopped laughing too – she was standing as rigid as me, paused with a hand in her hair. Misha was still staring at me, his hands still holding onto my elbows. He had sunglasses on, which only seemed to magnify his amazing facial structure. Suddenly, Misha leaned in towards me, and for the second time today I was overwhelmed by how good he smelled. God almighty it was a good smell.
“Amelia...if you continue this war then I’m not sure I will be able to control myself.” His lips grazed my neck as he whispered, and I had to stop myself from swearing out loud. Or doing something much, much worse. “If you choose to ignore my warning, then remember that you’re the one who wanted this.” I was slowly losing my willpower, but I was determined not to give Misha the satisfaction of getting through to me. As he drew away, I grabbed the side of his jacket and zipped it up, patting his shoulders.
“I’m not giving up.”

Clara drew me along with her as we began to walk away, eager to get back to Jensen.
“Neither will I!” I heard Misha shout, and Clara had to drag me along when my walking slowed down. I was so close to running back there and devouring him. I admired Clara’s strength. She was keeping her side of the bet and so far I looked like the weaker one. But to be honest, I was the one being made to play games with a man who liked winning.
“Clara, I’m in deep shit.”
“Why? What did he say?”
“He warned me to stop the war otherwise he...he won’t be able to control his...actions.” I groaned as my friend laughed.
“This is exactly what we’re hoping to achieve! Don’t look so glum about it.”
“What? Wait you and Jensen said this would help. In what way is this helping?”
“It’s helping, trust me. I mean us.” We stopped by a tree as I sat down, putting my head on my knees.
“I can’t do this, Clara, I can’t. There’s no way we can win this.” Kneeling down beside me, she patted my back.
“It’ll be fine. As Jensen would say, it’s time to teach that bastard a lesson.”
“Everyone here seems to call him that.” We both chuckled and Clara stood up, looking at her phone.
“We still have about five minutes to catch Jensen before he starts filming. Come on, get up.” She nudged me with her foot but I just leaned back into the shade of the tree.
“I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Are you sure?” I could sense her looking at me, probably worried.
“Yeah, don’t worry I’m fine. I just need a little time to gather my strength before facing the lion, I suppose.” I heard her sigh as she started jogging away towards Jensen’s trailer. Yeah, like Jensen could help me when it came to this. Why did I even let myself be dragged into this? I kicked a rock that was by my foot. Stupid plans and stupid notes. Nothing good would come of this, I knew it.

SEBASTIAN’S POV

I put my sunglasses on as I made my way out of Misha’s trailer, shutting the door behind me. He’d called me after he’d found a note saying ‘Round One’ where his underwear should have been. When I came, he explained to me about what Amelia, Jensen, and Clara were doing. He also told me that if I saw Amelia I had to get his underwear back. I laughed as I rounded the corner of a group of trees. What were the odds I’d run into her? The set was huge. Besides, Misha said she probably went to Jensen’s trailer to ‘discuss tactics’, whatever that meant. My footsteps crunched on the gravel and a girl who I hadn’t noticed before raised her head from where it had been leaning against the trunk of a tree. Slowing down, I realised she looked a little pale.

“Hello...are you alright?”
“Yeah...yeah I’m fine. Just resting a little.”
“Can I help you with anything?” I held out my hand, and she took it, hesitant. She brushed off her jeans and looked back up at me, her face different.
“Wait...are you...Sebastian Roché?”
“Yes I am.” I smiled at her recognition.
“It’s such a pleasure to meet you, my name is Amelia Wilson, I’m here for Empire Magazine.” She held out her hand, and now it was my turn to be hesitant. So this was the girl Misha had mentioned? I decided against saying that I was supporting Misha in their ‘war’ and instead opted to assist her; Misha’s schemes could be forgotten for the time being.
“Excuse me for saying, but you look a little pale. Would you like some help?” She looked like she was considering something before she answered.
“Are you by chance Misha’s friend?”
“Yes, I am...” She drew back slightly and sighed. “What’s wrong?”
“Well...you’re his friend and...we’re kind of having an argument at the moment.” She looked suspicious as I laughed.
“Yes, he told me. He also asked for his underwear back.” I laughed some more and she turned red but loosened slightly, understanding that I wasn’t about to join in the war as physically as Misha obviously had. “I think you’d better give them to him, he’s getting pretty pissed.” She laughed nervously and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Well, tell him my friend has them. And I had no say whatsoever in that plan.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. It was all Clara and Jensen. They’re making me do all this because apparently it’ll teach Misha a lesson or something.” She shrugged as I laughed again.
“Well it sure is working. I’m going to be perfectly honest with you.” I waited a second before I continued. “Misha is to the point where he’s taking this very seriously. So just...be on your guard, okay? He’s been known to pull tricks on people before, and this is like challenging the trickster to a game.” I saw her stiffen and nod, crossing her arms.
“Thanks...”
“Look, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry.”
“No, no it’s okay. Thankyou for telling me. Now I have something solid to murder my friend for.” She laughed nervously and waved walking away. “It was lovely to meet you.”
“My pleasure. I hope you get the satisfaction of choking your friend.” She laughed again and turned her back, power walking in the opposite direction.

Turning around, I started walking back to Misha’s trailer. I’d tell him what just happened and then try to convince him to take it easy on this girl; she was in this mess from someone else’s accord.