Chapter 9 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Your mom, Sophia and your brother called too.” Mia said as she looked through the journal where she had written down the details of each call.

“My brother? Benne?” He asked in confusion as he held out his hand for his phone. Benne rarely called since they both were very busy people, so it surprised him that Benne had called.

“Yes. He called just thirty minutes ago. I told him you were in the middle of something and would return his call when you were done.” Mia explained as she handed the phone to him.

“I wonder why he’s calling.” Bryan murmured to himself, “And my mom? What did she want?”

“She wanted to know if the scandal about you and Sophia is true, and also to find out when you would be available for a little family trip.”

“Family trip? So what did you tell her?” Bryan asked before turning to look at the driver, “Is there someone you’re waiting for?”

“Sorry.” He said apologetically as he quickly turned on the car’s ignition and drove in the direction of the hotel Bryan was lodged.

“I told her I’ll check with your manager and get back to her.”

“Good.” Bryan said with a satisfied smile as he closed his eyes and rested his head.

It had been quite a while since he last visited his parents or even saw his siblings, due to his busy schedule which was as a result of his career, and he knew he needed to see them before the end of the year, especially his parents. He was just going to return his mother’s call later… Maybe when he was ready to listen to her scold him about his reckless lifestyle. But first he would have to return Benne’s call.

He was about dialing Benne’s number when he remembered that Mia had mentioned something about Sophia, so he dialed her line instead. Sophia was his young friend who also happened to be in the entertainment industry and their friendship had started after they both starred in a romantic movie as the main leads.

“What’s up?” He asked the moment she accepted his call.

“Have you seen the news circulating all over the place? What are you doing about the scandal?” Sophia asked in an agitated tone.

“Don’t worry about it, soon they will stop talking and everything will return to normal.” Bryan said dismissively.

“I can’t do that! You can afford to let them say such dirty things about you because you’re a casanova and you’re used to such scandals, but I’m not like that. And my boyfriend is already very angry about this. He thinks I lied to him about having a shoot down here just so I could meet with you.” She said in a shaky voice which told him she had probably been crying.

Bryan sighed as he massaged his temple. This was the issue with getting involved with teenagers. She was nineteen and was an adult quite alright, but he had only taken her out to grab a bite when he found out she was shooting a movie somewhere around the studio where he had been doing his commercial shoot earlier that day. Not like he had even slept with her or anything. He hadn’t expected anyone to make a big deal out of it and even take photos.

If this had happened between himself and a more experienced and mature actress he knew the actress wouldn’t have been as upset as Sophia was, but he could understand her. Even while they had been shooting their movie together, she had told him how jealous and insecure her boyfriend had been over her taking on such a role with a casanova like Bryan.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” He promised, and hung up before she could say anything else.

From his experience, Bryan knew the best way to put an end to one scandal was to cause another scandal, and he was going to do just that. As long as he diverted the attention away from the poor girl to himself, then everything would be okay.

“Do you still have that ring? The one the manager of Gem Jewelers gifted me earlier today?” Bryan asked Mia who looked at him in confusion.

“Yes. Why?”

“Give it to me.” He said and extended his hand until she placed the box in his hand. The plan he had just come up with was a very reckless one, but he had always been known to be reckless so it wasn’t much of a big deal.

So Immediately the driver stopped the car in front of his hotel, he got out of the car and walked into the hotel lobby. He looked around like he was trying to find someone until his eyes stopped on a very pretty young lady with long curly blonde hair, who was seated as though she was waiting for someone. She was dressed in a red playsuit which showed just how long and slender her legs were, and she was wearing black high-heeled sandals. He looked at her fingers and the moment he noticed she wasn’t wearing a wedding band he headed in her direction.

He stopped in front of her, making her look up at him with a frown, and then her eyes widened in surprise when she recognized him. This was Bryan Delgados the famous actor and model! What was he doing in front of her? Sonia who had been waiting for her editor asked herself.

Before she could finish processing what she was thinking, Bryan went on one knee, “Will you marry me?” He asked as he opened the ring box.

Sonia’s heart stopped beating for a second, and then different thoughts started flying right through her head at that same time. Bryan Delgados? Her celebrity crush was kneeling right in front of her and asking her to be his wife? Was he mistaking her for someone? Was it possible this was a skit or maybe this was like one of those celebrity pranks and there were cameras around, waiting to capture her make a fool of herself? Or perhaps she was dreaming? Sonia wondered as she looked around them, but all she saw was curious onlookers.

“Please! Be my wife and make me the happiest man on Earth!” He said in a very loud voice which caught the attention of everyone.

Her editor who she had been waiting on for over an hour because he was trying to sign a deal with a movie producer who was interested in one of her stories, showed up at that moment, “Sonia, you know Bryan Delgados?” Her editor asked in genuine surprise as he watched the scene before him. It seemed like an hour had passed since Bryan went on his knees, but it had only been a minute.

Bryan knew no lady would be crazy enough to accept such a crazy proposal, and even if any was, paying her off and calling off the whole thing would be easy since all he wanted was the scandal that could come from this. The headlines were either going to be about his rejected Marriage proposal, or about his supposed engagement, and that would be enough to let Sophia off the hook.

“Yes!” Sonia said as she bobbed her head excitedly and extended her finger for him to wear her the ring.

“Yes?” Bryan asked in confusion when he heard her response.

“Yes! I will be your wife and make you the happiest man in the world!” Sonia said with a giggle, and wiggled her fingers until Bryan slid the ring down her finger. Surprisingly the ring was her exact size and it sat on her finger like it was made just for her. The sound of applause erupted all around them as Sonia stood up with a big smile on her face and embraced Bryan, before kissing him right on the lips.

Bryan was slightly taken aback by her boldness, but quickly recovered since this was his game and he had to play along. He was the one who had approached her first after all.

So when she tried to break the kiss, he held her chin and slowly nibbled on her lower lip before parting her lips with his tongue and sucked on it in a teasing manner, eliciting a moan from Sonia.

Sonia felt light-headed. This was too good to be true. It just had to be a dream, right? How else could she explain that one moment she was seated at the lobby of a hotel waiting for her editor, and the next she was engaged to her celebrity crush and was kissing him right here in the open?

“Ahem!” The editor coughed, to remind them they were in the open when the kiss started dragging on for too long and Sonia was beginning to wrap her legs around Bryan.

Both Bryan and Sonia let go of each other without taking their eyes off each other. Bryan couldn’t help noticing that Sonia was definitely no blushing virgin. He had thought she would feel embarrassed when he let her go, but to his surprise she had a silly grin on her face.

“Mr Conner meet my fiance, Bryan Delgados. I’m sure you know him. Babe this is my editor, Mr James Conner.” Sonia said, as though she was doing the most natural thing in the world, and then leaned into Bryan and rested her head on his chest.

Bryan had to give it to her, she was a very good actress. She was a natural. He knew if he watched the scene from afar he would believe what was going on right here to be true.

“Mr Delgados, it’s my pleasure to meet you. I’m a die-hard fan, and I never imagined Sonia… I mean Miss Smith, was seeing someone as distinguished as you.” Mr Conner said with a broad smile as he extended his hand for a handshake.

Bryan shook hands with him, and pasted a smile on his face before looking around to make sure people had taken enough photos of them, “If you don’t mind, I have to leave for my suite now. Baby you can meet me inside after your meeting.” Bryan said with a smile before detaching his arm from Sonia’s.

“I’m sure Mr Conner here would understand that we just got engaged so I can’t discuss work right now. Let’s just return to the suite together, right Mr Conner?” Sonia asked as she intertwined their arms once again.

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