COLLIN
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Tara, the CEO of Sunrise Entertainment screamed in the conference hall. She had a news article projected on the screen. It was an article that was made from the trending hashtag #Collingirlfriend posts online.
Collin pinched his nose bridge, “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Whoever the hell she is to you, your stupid fans are having a field day.” Collin hated it when Tara talked down to him and their fans. But he wasn’t about to say something back over something that small.
“Can’t we send out a press release that she isn’t my girlfriend and clear this up already?” He had wanted to do a live stream telling their fans the truth.
“She isn’t your girlfriend? Who the hell are you fooling?” Tara gestured to the IT guy and a video of Liz’ live stream played on the screen. “Then what the hell is that?” She pointed at the IT guy and another video that had the pictures of Liz and Collin together came out. “How do you explain all of those photos then?”
“I was with the other members. You were the one who said we should be nice to her because her dad owns a music company and is the producer of a song that made us go viral.” Collin sighed and wanted the meeting to be over.
“Don’t twist my words to fit your rotten attitude.” Another video came on which had pictures taken by the paparazzi of Collin with different women. “Just how many women do you think I had to cover up for you? Can’t you live quietly for fuck’s sake?”
“I only dated three of those women. The rest were just celebrities and fans who were also Niners. They just wanted a picture together with me. They weren’t all my girlfriends. The media just wanted to link me with them. It’s not my fault.”
“If you didn’t go out as much as you did, then this kind of shit wouldn’t feed those tabloids in the first place. Your fans are now out for blood. God, that hot pink bikini is killing me.” Tara rubbed her temples in grief.
“I will take care of this.” He insisted.
“You better or you’re going to cause more damage to Nineteen than your former manager did.” Collin didn’t want to remember her. It was a horrible experience of betrayal that made him turn from a loyal man to gamophobe. His fear of commitment intensified just when he thought he was getting over his dad leaving him and his mom.
“I thought we discussed that we would never talk about that person anymore.” Collin’s rage was just below the surface now.
“Sorry, sorry I forgot. This whole thing is just making me so anxious.” Tara wasn’t as cool-headed as she seemed.
“Trust me, I’ll take care of it.” Collin was confident.
Lucas rushed into the room shouting, “Emergency! Turn your Inzta on! Liz is streaming!”
Collin checked his phone and saw it, the unfolding of the worst day of his life. Which would bleed into a viral shitstorm that could very well end Nineteen’s career.
A crying Liz came into view, “I understood that we had to try to keep it a secret but I didn’t know that he was cheating on me with so many women. I didn’t believe it when people took pictures of him and other women because he always told me that they didn’t mean anything to him. He even said that Juliana is his cousin.” Collin hit his forehead. There goes his night. When his cousin Juliana Ramirez finds out about this, she would read him the riot act. She hated people finding out that they were related because their parents weren’t friendly ever since Collin’s dad stepped out.
“I just loved him so much that I couldn’t help but agree to whatever he asked me to do. He always called me his friend though it hurt. Nineteen members would make fun of me because I let him walk all over me. They called me names like Collin’s stalker and other hurtful snide remarks. The worst part wasn’t Izrail and Kirk’s sarcasm but the fake niceness of Silver and Jazz. I hope that they learn how to treat women better. How they are to fans when there is a camera around isn’t the same way they are around women who are in their lives. They treat women as toys or accessories. If you are still going to support them after finding out about their real attitude, then you shouldn’t expect them to respect you.”
Tara screamed in anger, “I am going to sue that bitch!”
Collin’s smirk made Lucas even more worried. It was his shit-eating grin that made Lucas’ skin crawl.“Don’t bother wasting money. I got this.” Collin’s mind was already processing the best clap back.
Collin turned his account on and started streaming, “Hello, Niners. Good evening! I would like to categorically say this, I have not and never did date Elizabeth Sy.” He shook his head slightly then continued. “I tried to be her friend. That’s why I never called her out for exactly what she was. My brothers in Nineteen always tried to look out for me. In the beginning, we wanted to be nice to her because we were so grateful to her father. He had mentioned to us that she was our big fan. And that she had convinced him that we were talented enough to sing one of his songs. You all know that we were struggling, in the beginning, to get noticed by listeners and music fans. FEVER was a song that got us to where we are now because when that song went viral, we got a second wind. I never thought that we would have to deal with someone so obsessive that we would have to tell her to leave a very private, members-only pool party. It doesn’t seem like a big deal. But we have been letting her off the hook when she popped up everywhere we went. We have fans everywhere but Niners are well-behaved and keep their distance. No one unceremoniously comes to our table or goes to our unlisted houses to join family parties.” Collin sighed then ended it with a bomb he knew Liz wouldn’t be able to live down. “I am not dating Elizabeth Sy, I already have a fiancee. She’s been my girlfriend for a long time and I am afraid she would leave me if she finds out that Liz is lying about being my girlfriend. As for those pictures with other women, those are my actual friends who’ve known me since I was a nobody dreaming to be a dancer. So I hope that everyone respects their privacy most especially my family’s privacy.”
Fans flooded the comment section with questions about who his fiancee was. “I will let you know about her when it’s time for us to get married. Right now I am just happy being with her and living my best life. I hope you can all give me that at least. Good night, Niners. Please always know, we at Nineteen all love you and are grateful to you.” He ended his live as quickly as he started it. He made sure that it was available to view on his reels. Liz wouldn’t have a chance to refute all that.
Tara’s jaw dropped, “Who is this woman you’re marrying? I’ve never heard of her!”
Collin shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I just made her up.”
“You are killing me, Sanchez.” Tara sat down on her chair and put her head on her desk.
“No problem. Hire someone to be my fiancee. We can just break up in a year or so.” Collin didn’t really care who it was as long as it wasn’t someone manipulative like Liz.
“I think I have someone who can help us,” Lucas called someone and put his mobile on speaker. “Krystal, I think I got you a part in a really good drama. Are you interested?”
“I need rent for next month so hell yeah.” The voice on the other side was sweet and crisp.
“Hello, Krystal. I’m Collin. Would you marry me?” They heard a thud then someone cursing on the other side of the call. “Hello? Are you there?”
“Is this really Collin? Like Nineteen’s Collin? That Collin?” Her voice was trembling.
“Yes, it’s Collin Sanchez.”
“And did you just ask me to marry you?”
“Yes, I did.” Lucas was holding back his laughter, hands over his mouth.
“Did I win some kind of fan service call contest?” Krystal still couldn’t believe it.
“Did you join any?” Collin asked.
“No, hell no. But I think I might be dreaming,” they heard her yelp in pain. “Okay, this is not a dream. But I thought I was getting a role in a drama.”
“The drama will come later. Just come to Boss Tara’s office and I will fill you in on the details of the job.Oh, tell your CEO that you got a role for a drama. Just don’t tell him all the other details. Bye.” Lucas ended the call before Krystal could even say anything else.
“Is this girl trustworthy?” Tara was worried.
“Short answer is yes. The long answer is also yes. I grew up with her so I know everything she has ever done. NBSB and a terrific actress. Krystal Sy is a diamond in the rough.” Lucas looked very proud.
Collin searched for Krystal Sy’s profile and saw that she did have a long filmography of being a side character. “She’s perfect.” He didn’t need someone who had a main character complex like Liz. He’s had enough of women who wanted to use him for clout and as an emotional sandbag.
“Looks like we have averted a PR disaster. Or have we?” Tara was still worried. “Nineteen doesn’t lie to fans. I am worried this would start a precedent.”
“It’s a white lie. The upside is the rest of the guys don’t have to get hassled by fans and Liz can stop harassing us all together.” Collin was confident that Liz wouldn’t take his announcement sitting down and that Niners would be there to take care of her lying ass.
“I trust the fans. They’d know that Liz is lying but they wouldn’t even consider that Collin would lie to them. His image is a straightforward, no-nonsense kind of guy. PPL king can sell anything, even this story. ” Lucas’ phone started ringing.
“Yes, Reporter Kim, it’s true. Yes, Collin does have a fiancee. But we are not able to comment on who it is at the moment. We are still double-checking with her side if it’s okay to tell people who she is. I will let you know when we get the green light. Yes, thank you. Have a fantastic day.”
Lucas did a thumbs-up in Tara’s direction and Collin just smiled.
How hard was it to have a fake engagement?
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