Someone was shaking my shoulders the way you might shake someone when they've just been shot and their remaining conscious is pivotal to survival. I opened my eyes, startling awake and momentarily wondering if I was on a battlefield- I wasn't. I was on a cold-tiled floor, my head pressed to the tiles and my arm burning. Tori's face was inches away and her eyes were wide and concerned, and if I didn't know any better, scared.

"Chloe!" Another shake of my shoulders. "CHLOE!"

I groaned and pushed her away, sitting up slowly. I touched my arm gingerly and winced at the bruise forming on my elbow. "What happened?"

"You went to the kitchen to see how things were going and then I got a text from Chef saying you'd passed out!" I tried to scramble to my feet, but Tori held me down, pushing me back into the wall as she crouched by me. "Don't move," she said. "I need to make sure you don't have a concussion."

I let her check my head and arm, before she measured my focus and the reaction of my pupils to light. Once she'd declared that I no longer looked on the verge of death she helped me stand and lead me over to a chair that one of the staff had placed out for me.

"Let me get you some water," Tori said. "I don't think champagne is what you should be drinking right now. Then we'll see if you're okay to go back to the party."

I faintly remembered… dancing with Derek. I told him I missed him. Wait- what. I told him I missed him? I'm interviewing his girlfriend- "I have to go clear something up with Derek."

"Why? What could you possibly have to say to him? He hasn't even been here that long."

I frowned, the events in my head still foggy. "The party isn't over?"

Tori looked even more worried. "No- Chloe we just started dessert." She examined me closely. "Did you have a dream about something?"

I nodded, the words moving out of my mouth slowly. "I thought the party was over and that… that I'd danced with Derek."

Tori looked at me sadly, eyebrows knit together. "No hon, Derek got here a little while ago." She gave me the glass of water. As I drank, she spoke. "Olivia brought up- she brought up the events from five years ago. You asked to go to the bathroom but when you got back you looked kind of pale—" at my expression she quickly added, "only Luke and I could tell! You left right when dessert started."

Tori pressed a hand to my neck, to the sweat glistening on my face. "I think maybe you had a panic attack?"

That would make a lot of sense- a lot. I could picture myself freaking out and hyperventilating and then passing out. It would explain the bruise on my elbow and why I my head didn't hurt, and I didn't have a concussion. I'd probably cushioned my fall with my arm. I finished the water and placed the cup in the sink nearby.

I rose to my feet and said, "Can you help me fix my makeup? I need to go back to the party."

Tori looked like she wanted to object but eventually nodded. Thankfully she'd brought some makeup in her purse, so she just had to reapply my eyeliner and pat down my face with one of those oil-absorbent sheets. I wasn't actually sure what they were. Afterwards I spritzed myself down with some perfume and tried for a smile in the mirror. I looked fine. Just as I had before.

"I should go so they don't think something's wrong," Tori said, checking the time on her phone. "Text me if you need anything. I can be a distraction if you need a reason to go home early."

"Thanks," I said. "But you've done enough. Go enjoy the party."

With one last look at me, Tori took the back exit leading to the bathrooms so nobody would realize she had been in the kitchen.

I took a moment to collect myself and thanked the kitchen staff for their work and asked if there was anything, I could do to help them. Chef gave me a once over and said, "Stay alive."

I smiled- real this time. "Harder than it looks."

"Mhm," Chef scoffed. "My staff won't say a word about what happened."

"Thank you," I said. I nodded towards one of the champagne trays. "Mind if I take one out to my table?"

Chef obliged and I picked up the tray, walking back to the table with Tori, Luke and the rest of the group. I placed the tray down at the centre, laughing when Olivia's hand shot out for a glass. She downed it one go and reached for another.

"What took so long?" Luke asked.

I poured myself some water and said, "Oh I got distracted talking to Chef. I wanted to help out, but he wouldn't let me." I took a sip. "Had to fight my way out."

Marcus laughed. "So, Chloe you like to cook?"

I nodded vaguely. "These days I'm too busy. Luke cooks for me now."

Derek looked up from his food at this, his eyes flashing with something but whatever it was disappeared. He was probably wondering if were together. Olivia seemed to have caught onto the same thing, but she actually asked the question. "You guys are together?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "What she means is she holds a knife to my throat and has me cook for her and Tori. I don't really have an option."

At this both Tori and I laughed, grinning at each other. Adam smiled too. "I get leftovers sometimes." He winked at Luke. "You can cook for me if you'd like."

Luke patted Adam's hand. "When should we tell Tori about us?"

This time it was Tori rolling her eyes, jokingly pushing Luke and Adam apart. She looked at Olivia and Marcus, her face utterly serious, "Right after I tell you about Chloe and I."

Olivia and Marcus grinned, raising their glasses. Olivia was more than tipsy because her glass almost tipped over and Derek had to pull it out of her hand. He placed it away from her. "You're going to have a terrible morning tomorrow," he said, looking amused.

Olivia giggled. "Chloe and Luke are trying to get us to spill all our secrets with this delicious champagne."

Luke raised an eyebrow- "Any secrets in particular that you feel like spilling?"

Marcus shook his head, "Uh-uh, not until your big interview." I could tell from Luke's sly grin that he already had a working theory.

()()()

It was the evening of the interview. I'd already run through my portion quite a few times. My section was easy. We liked to switch it up on occasion, to keep things interesting. Sometimes I reported and explained my review the way a news anchor would discuss an interesting article or news piece. We hadn't done that method in a few months, in fact we'd actually been saving it for Roses. Olivia and Marcus played characters who met in a flower shop arguing over the last roses in the shop. Olivia's character wanted the roses for her sister and Marcus's character wanted them for his girlfriend. The flower shops ends up being on the news a lot because the owner announces he'll give the shop away to a nice couple in a few months' time because he's too old to run it and doesn't have anyone to pass it down to- he and his wife bought the place together but she died a few years back, hence the couple angle.

Personally, I thought it was all rather coincidental and stretched out but Luke disagreed and said that while it was a cliché segue it held appeal. Anyways, Olivia's character, Ally I think her name was, wants the shop because she wants to get away her from family and prove her worth or something cheesy like that. Marcus's character, Max, wants the shop so he can sell it and use the money to buy his uber rich girlfriend a big fancy ring.

Max and Ally decide to act as a couple together and then sell the shop to split the profits. To win the flower shop there are a series of interviews and pictures and pseudo evaluation where Ally and Max try to convince the owner that they're actually madly in love. Along the way Max's girlfriend (rich bitch as Luke called her) breaks up with him. He ends up not telling Ally because he's scared, she'll want to quit (this was a flaw in the plot I wanted to discuss but Paige, my editor, said to briefly point it out and move on). Ally, who starts developing feelings for Max, forces herself to start seeing someone on the side to get over him. Eventually they have a crazy fight and realize their feelings and share a passionate kiss and then some. They end up keeping the flower shop. The ending scene is a news anchor, fifty years later, discussing how Ally's selling the shop to a young couple in honour of her husband Max.

While I wasn't a huge fan of the movie and its cinematography, I like the news anchor angle enough to use it in relaying my review. Normally I wear a dress to the show but for the news angle I was wearing a fancy business suit that Tori picked out. I would switch outfits after the commercial break and my segment.

There was a knock at my door, and I called out, "Come in."

It was Luke. He was wearing a silver suit and holding his script. "You done prepping?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You?"

"Same." He took a suit on the sofa behind the vanity I was sitting at. I turned in my chair to look at him, knowing he only came in before a shooting to say something.

"What's up?" I asked.

Luke shuffled his papers. "How on the defence are you playing this?"

I considered the question. "I'm pretty critical in the review." I turned back to my vanity and finished applying my blush. "I gave Marcus and Olivia a heads up telling them that I gave Roses a 2.8-star rating. I even sent over some of my more intense criticisms so they wouldn't be caught off guard." I placed the blush down, snapping the compact shut. "I think you can go on the offence, because I don't criticize anything but the plot and camera shots."

Luke sighed. "I'm going to have to rip them to shreds."

I frowned. "What? What did you find?"

He shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with Marcus and Olivia. Their on screen chemistry is believable and what not. I just—" He shook his head. "Olivia and Derek are just not what I expected."

"You mean they're very authentic?"

"Yeah- like their love is authentic for sure…" Luke sighed again. "Doesn't matter. You'll see what I mean when I ask my questions."

I didn't say anything, just looked at him curiously. When Luke was confused like this, I always knew he had something interesting up his sleeve.

()()()

"Welcome to the Late Review with Chloe Saunders and Luke Rivas!"

The audience cheered as Luke stepped onto the stage, waving and smiling. He took a seat on the couch and waited for the noise to lessen before saying, "How is everyone!"

The audience cheered again, and Luke grinned. He liked to introduce our episodes because he always had more energy and enthusiasm at the beginning of the night. I stayed serious during my review and then balanced Luke's seriousness during his interviews by being the happy one. It worked for the both of us.

I checked my watch and waited for the camera to swing towards me. I was in a separate sound stage with no audience. It helped juxtapose the effects of the audience's giddiness and my own solemn role. I was really leaning into the whole news anchor angle. I even had a mug of coffee and same blank papers shuffling around on the desk. Behind me was a greenscreen automatically projecting a newsroom to viewers.

Finally, the camera swing towards me and I flashed a smile. "Hello and good evening, to the Late News!" It was so cheesy that I started laughing. I made a big show of pretending to get back in character and proceeded with the review.

I broke the review down into small pieces, starting with my own experience with similar movies and which styles worked better. I compared Roses to several cinematic classics and explained all the switches and styling choices and how some really worked and others took away from the acting.

There were a lot of cued pauses where Luke interjected with a joke and our banter often carried into my next point. To the audience it was effortless, but for Luke and me it was pretty rehearsed. We'd practiced a dozen time and had copies of the other person's script, with the cues highlighted and underlined. Not that we followed the script to the dot, there often times where we went off-book and genuinely just used our chemistry to carry parts of the show that otherwise might have fallen flat. When we first started, it was pretty stressful. Being on camera was a risky thing for sometimes- the worry that the news of what happened might spread and ruin the show, but the police department assured me that it would never happen. The files were hidden, buried from prying eyes.

It was still nerve wracking regardless. There was the pressure to perform and all through school I had rarely wanted to be in front of the camera- I only ever wanted to be behind it. But it took some adjusting to and it was actually why the entire show was never live broadcasted. After the filming, Luke and I along with the agents of the guest stars reviewed the footage and edited out anything that we didn't like or want aired to the press. Audience members were exclusively vetted so that they wouldn't be dangerous or else the show would be liable- and they all had to sign NDAs if they wanted to get into the sound stage. The NDA wasn't really for Luke and me- we got it for the stars because sometimes interviews opened up personal lives and secrets spilled that were off unknown by the masses.

As a I finished my review, pointing out the final few issues within the plot, I wondered when Derek would get here. The first part of Luke's segment was interviewing Marcus and Olivia together- we'd extended it to half of his segment because we all really liked Marcus and thought he needed some more airtime. He and Olivia had fantastic chemistry but more importantly he got along really well with me and Luke, so we booked him for longer.

But Derek was scheduled to come in during the break. Maybe I'd get a chance to say hello and get rid of some of the awkwardness so it wouldn't bleed into the show during Luke's segment. Then again, Derek and I had kept things friendly during the dinner so maybe it wouldn't be an issue anyways.

I tuned back to the show, flashing a cheesy smile into the camera and winking. I signed off and let out a huge sigh. As much as I liked doing the show, it was still vaguely nerve-wracking.

"Nice job Saunders, next time I want front row seats to your segment." Someone said. I looked around and spotted Sarah.

"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week." I replied, smiling.

"Somehow I know you mean that quite literally." Sarah said. She was carrying my next outfit -a black jumpsuit- in a plastic dress carrier and a coffee. She handed me the coffee and set the dress down onto the table.

I took a sip to test how hot it was and then started drinking it. Once I'd drained the entire cup and I tossed it into the trash. "Sorry," I said. "My throat was dry."

Sarah scoffed. "Coffee is not what you should be drinking when you're thirsty- and don't say you weren't." She pointed to the jumpsuit. "Black washes you out but I gotta say, I like this one."

She was only saying it because she picked it. I told her as much, and she laughed. "So how long do I have before I have to get back on the stage?" I asked.

Sarah checked her watch. "Thirty minutes," she said.

"Luke's doing the live interaction with the audience?"

Sarah nodded. "You know it. Did you want to go and join him?"

"Yep," I said, picking up the dress carrier. "I'll get changed and go out."

Sarah walked me to my dressing room and then headed off to her office to start reviewing my segment. She would point out the things she didn't like and have me look over them later before the final release.

The black jumpsuit was cinched at the waist, with flowy paints and sleeves that reached the crook of my elbow. I added some shiny gold jewelry and adjusted my makeup, reapplying my lip-gloss carefully and making sure it had sunk in enough that it wouldn't smear on my teeth.

I was about to walk into Luke's soundstage, when my stomach gurgled. I had eaten already but I guess I needed more. I decided to skip the audience interaction bit and headed off to the breakroom to see what I could get.

Sarah seemed to have guessed that I would be hungry because there was a plate of steaming pasta and a little note attached to the cutler. Get some food in you kid

I grinned. I took the plate back into my dressing room, getting comfortable on the couch.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," I said, shoveling pasta into my mouth.

Which was a terrible idea because I almost choked when Derek walked in, closing the door behind him. "Hello."

I swallowed, coughing and took a swig of water from my mug. "Hello." I said, but it came out as more of a question than a greeting. "Are you looking for something?"

"Yes- you." He seemed to hesitate before shaking his head. "How are you?"

"Um- good? You?" This was absolutely not at all what I had imagined. Where was the angry Derek I'd bumped into that day at the grocery story? I itched to check his temperature.

"Good, good," he replied, staring at my awkwardly. He noticed the food and shot towards the door. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were eating."

I waved him back and said, "Don't worry about it. Sit. What did you want to ask me about?"

Derek walked towards me, looking like he was going to sit on the couch before veering sharply and taking a seat on chair. "Not so much ask you, as apologize," he said, rubbing a hand behind his head. "What Olivia said at the party—I'm sorry about it. I—I never told her what happened but she read the news and- anyways, I'm sorry."

I looked at him curiously, "It's okay. Why didn't you tell her that it was me?"

Derek looked up from his hands and into my eyes, bright green eyes glittering in the light from my vanity. "It wasn't my story to tell- and with all the work you put into making sure the files were never accessed and your name was never published I figured I'd be doing you a disservice if I did."

I nodded slowly, taking in his answer. I had assumed it was because he didn't want to be reminded of me, but it would appear that he'd been thinking of me, and what I wanted. "How'd you know I didn't want the files accessed?"

He shrugged, full-bodied and slow. "I know you."

I smiled softly at that. I glanced down at my plate then back at him. "Would you like some?"

He shook his head. "No thanks, I ate." He nodded at the plate. "Though I think you should finish up- that kind of sauce tastes better when hot."

I took his word for it and finished the plate, surprised when he stayed. Once I was done, I put it on the table near the couch and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Derek frowned- "About what?"

"Five years ago, you- well you know what happened. I'm sorry I was so cold and I know that it hurt you."

He stared at me a moment longer, something flashing in his eyes again. He looked away and cleared his throat. "You had every right to be."

"I didn't- I blamed you for something that you had absolutely no control over. And I ignored what I felt, what I wanted because I was too scared. And I think I said what I said because I was hurting, and I wanted you to hurt too."

"You were traumatized. I shouldn't have sprung it on you so early. I—" He cut himself off. "When you called me, left the messages- I got angry. Deleted them. Everything. There was one that I didn't delete. A fluke. But when I saw it, I couldn't delete it."

"Did you listen to it?" I asked, wondering which voicemail had survived his temper.

Derek nodded, "Yeah. Eventually. I listened to it for a long time and by then it was too late to do anything."

"What did I say?"

He looked up. "That you would never love someone like you did me." This time I looked away, cheeks heating. "And I wanted to say that I…"

"But it was too late," I finished quietly. "Seems like that's a staple ingredient with us."

The corners of his lips lifted. "Seems like it." The smile dropped. "I'd accidentally listened to the message that day you bumped into me at Mario's. I was so angry with myself and I took it out on you."

"Oh," I said. "Why were you angry?"

Derek seemed to have realized what he said and made a non-committal sound in his throat. "Not important," he said gruffly, voice low.

I remembered him well enough to know it didn't help to push him anymore. I checked the clock- alarmed to see I had four minutes to get to my soundstage. I stood up, "I'm going to be late if I don't go now. You can stay in here if you'd like."

"I should go too- find Olivia." He got to his feet, holding the door out for me. I slipped through and watched him shut it behind him.

"You guys are a lovely couple," I said.

Derek frowned, looking… confused? The expression was gone before I could I really read it. "Thanks."

()()()

"So- Olivia, you're dating someone aren't you?" Luke said, leaning forward. I smiled from where I was sitting and bit back a smile. Luke had asked the question with the same seriousness one might use when asking, "Why did you kill that man?"

Olivia nodded, eyes lighting up. "Yep- an old friend of mine."

Luke- who already knew this- turned to the audience and raised his eyebrow. "Can I know more?"

"You can meet him. Later, of course."

Marcus waved from his end of the couch, scowling jokingly and said, "Aren't you supposed to be interviewing both of us?"

Luke smiled. "You're right. Are you dating someone?"

Marcus "Nope. Are you?"

Luke should his head, turning to me. "Nope. Are you?"

I shook my head and turned to the camera man- Peter- and said, "Are you dating someone Peter?"

Peter made a face as another camera zoomed in on him. "I am not- now leave me alone." I laughed and turned towards Luke, effectively pulling the attention back onto him.

"So, Olivia and Marcus, the characters in Roses battle with loving people they don't want to love. Hiding their feelings. Why do you think that something so relatable to the viewers? Is it relatable to you?"

Marcus nodded, "I think viewers can really latch onto the relationship between Ally and Max because of how organic it really is."

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, when you date in real life, you go on dates and spend purposeful time together—all with the sort of intent that you will eventually fall in love. I mean, it's so much more nuanced than that but it's still the basic idea of dating. Looking for that special someone, for love. But with Ally and Max it was completely unexpected. They never intended to fall in love, but they did. And I think that's a very beautiful thing to see." Marcus replied. He laughed, "Of course its cheesy and over-the-top sometimes, like Chloe said in her review, but like she also said- there's something very appealing about love like that."

I smiled at that and said, "Glad there weren't any hard feelings after that review."

"Oh, there are- just you wait," Olivia said, waggling her finger. "Just you wait." She was grinning mischievously, winking at the camera.

"I bet there will be some consequences for Chloe- but right now Olivia, I want to know about you. Ally hides her feelings- going so far as to date someone else to hide those feelings? Do you have any experience with that?"

Olivia tilted her head to the side, thinking. "I mean- I think we all do. Unrequited love is something rough, terrible really."

"Someone as wonderful as you has experienced unrequited love?" Luke asked, "Who is this guy and where does he live? I just want to talk."

Olivia laughed, "The person I love right now actually." Her smile became wistful, almost dreamy. "I tried to hide my feelings for so long- denied them to myself and D—" She put a hand to her lips, looking shocked. I didn't get why she was so worried- we all knew who it was. But then I remembered that nobody else did. "Oops. Denied them to my um, boyfriend."

"Why?" Luke asked.

Olivia seemed to ponder the answer. "I've known him my whole life and what I felt seemed like it would change everything. Change how our families looked at us, how we looked at each other…"

"How'd you decide to open yourself up to the feelings?" Marcus asked.

"I decided I loved him too much to let the moment slide." She replied, smiling, a memory clearly dancing in her mind.

Jealously flickered through my stomach and I plastered a wide smile on my face, patting Olivia's knee, "You deserve it." I meant that part but it didn't change the weird flips in my stomach and the heavy rhythm of my heart.

Olivia squeezed my hand. "Thank you." She turned back to Luke, "That was a little bit depressing. I'm sorry."

Luke waved her off, "It was truthful and honest- the only thing I want when I ask question." His voice was genuine, but something glittered in his eyes- he knew something. I could tell- I would have to ask him during the break.

"Well, that was lovely and all- but I think we deserve a break. Anyone hungry?" I asked, looking at the audience- who cheered in agreement.

"Alright then- thank you Marcus and Olivia for sitting down with us." He turned back to the camera, "We'll be right back- and when we are, we'll get to meet Olivia's mystery man."

The cameras cut rolling, and some of the staff started leading the audience to the dinner rooms. We would go in after eating to converse, take pictures and just get a few shots of Olivia and Marcus greeting their fans.

"So, when's that boyfriend of yours getting here?" Marcus asked Olivia.

"Oh, he's already here," she replied. "Probably eating right now with the other private guests. He's always eating."

We walked to the private room where Marcus and Olivia's, as well as mine and Luke's plus ones were sitting. Tori and Adam had already started eating, digging into the broad selection of food.

I took a plate and sat next to Tori, scooping some rice and red curry onto my plate. It smelled so good, and even though I'd already ate, I was hungry again. Like Derek, I was always eating.

I noticed Derek talking to a woman with short black hair and brown eyes. Her skin was a deep brown and the slant of her eyes made it pretty impossible to figure out her ethnicity. She was utterly gorgeous.

Olivia must have noticed my stare and probably Luke's too because she said, "That's my best friend- Adria."

"Is she super spunky and intelligent?" Luke asked,

Olivia laughed, "Yeah, she is actually. Why?"

"She's your Tori," I said, handing her a plate.

She took it, "Thanks- and yeah, I guess she is."

When everyone was seated, we managed to breeze through the meal. The food was very good so I let everyone else do the talking, choosing instead to quietly scarf down as much as a I could. By the time I got home tonight, it would probably be two or three in the morning and I won't feel like cooking. Best to stock up on nutrients now. If there were any left-overs I would take them before Luke or Tori did. I had a secret fridge in my room where I stashed food I didn't want to share.

"So, should we go and say hello to all you guests?" Marcus asked, taking a sip of his wine.

"Definitely. Everyone take your bathroom breaks and then we'll head in." I said, standing. "I need to grab something from my room, so I'll meet you all there."

I didn't really need to grab anything from my room, I just wanted an opportunity to take a breather and have a moment to myself. When I reached my room, I did just that, taking some time to breathe and stretch and drink water.

As I was walking to the dining hall where the audience would be, I realized I was running a teensy bit late. I took the shortcut, through a hidden backdoor that led to a small corridor that fed into the dining hall. I opened the door.

Olivia had her back turned to me, one arm around someone's neck, the other in their hair, mouths moving together. That someone was not Derek. It was Adria.

My mouth fell open.

!

AN:

HI! I won't really bother with excuses as to why I've been MIA for two years …. Other than to say that life has just been, well, life. I'm still very sorry to have left you all high and dry like this. With everything happening in the world right now, I've been at home (as one should be in a time of social distancing!) and had the time to write this chapter. I had an obsessive couple of days reading and rereading the DP series, and all of the mini novellas and some of my favourite fanfics too and just felt like maybe, if I could find the inspiration, I'd write something for this story. And I did!

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and are all staying safe! And if you feel like it- please leave a review! I read everything you guys write and it makes it a lot easier to bounce back into writer mode when I see how much you guys enjoy the fic!

Love,

SE