“Uh, excuse me, but that isnotgoing to happen,” Amara interrupted.
Dylan looked at her. “Why not?” he asked.
“Because for going on a shopping spree with you, one needs to have great amount of patience and resilience,” Kenneth said. “You aren’t a normal human being, D; you turn into Donatella Versace when you shop. You don’t stop until you quite literallydrop, and make the person who tags along with you regret and question their decision of joining you.”
Dylan scowled at his best friend and client. “Fuck you, K.” He looked at Amara. “I promise I won’t break her.” He then glanced between me and Zaira. “I promise.”
I chuckled, and so did Zaira. “I trust you,” she told him.
Kenneth laughed, and Amara sighed.
“If you weren’t married to my brother,” the latter said to Dylan, “I would have drugged you with eyeshadow fumes the moment you suggested the shopping spree idea. But because I don’t want Conner questioning me about why his husband isn’t acting like a human being, I’ll entertain this notion once, and onceonly.” She pointed a finger at him. “Don’t break the poor girl.”
He rolled his eyes. “Aye-aye, Captain.” He faced Zaira again. “Let’s discuss some of the places we should go tomorrow.”
Amara huffed. “Absolutelynot. Let her breathe for a few–”
I laughed and shook my head as the two began bickering. Zaira kept glancing between them with wide, amusement-filled eyes.
I looked at Kenneth and jerked my head to the right. With a nod, he followed me to the other side of the set.
“Thanks once again for doing this, man,” I told him, and then crossed my arms over my chest. “I know this is gonna be a bit weird for you – you know, with Ross being Rachel’s dad and all. I just…” I sighed and pushed my hair to the side. “You’re fine with it, right? You’re okay with working with Ross on another project?”
Kenneth leaned his shoulder against the wall to his left and slid a hand into the front pocket of his jeans. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
I smirked at him. “That, you are.” I scratched my jaw. “I seriously can’t thank you enough for doing this. When Ross said he wanted to hold an audition to select someone who would be my brother in the movie – because the actor he had initially approached for the role cancelled at the last minute – I knew I didn’t want that. Auditions put a stop to filming, and I’m not a fan of such interruptions. I’ve known you for years, and I love working with you, so your name was the first that came to my mind when Ross told me about the kind of person he wanted for the role.”
He inclined his head a little. “I appreciate it.” He ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair. I swear I’ve never seen him with disheveled hair –ever.
“As for Ross,” he then continued, “he has paid the penalty for trying to break into my house when the whole Rachel scandal went live, so I guess that’s forgivable. And, when he called me last week to tell me about the movie and role, he also said that he has zero contact with his daughter anymore, and doesn’t even know where she currently is. That’s bullshit, of course, but as long as things stay professional between him and I, I don’t see why I can’t work with him again.”
I shook my head a little. “If only I had the kind of resolve you do, man.”
Kenneth chuckled. “You do, actually. You’ve supported me since day one of the scandal, and even before that whenever I’ve needed help. But you signed this movie with him just months after the whole drama flared on the news channels. This shows that you know the correct professional approach needed to survive in this industry, and I admire that.”
“Always here for you, brother,” I told him.
He smiled, and then pointed over his shoulder at Dylan, Amara, and Zaira – who were laughing and talking animatedly with each other.
“So, about Zaira…”
I raised a brow at him. “What about her?”
“How serious are you about her?”
“I love her, dude,” I told him almost immediately; without any hesitation. “I fucking love her.”
Something profound flashed in Kenneth’s eyes as he smiled at me. “Don’t screw things over, then, you hear me? Don’t make the same mistakes I made with my Amara. Hold onto Zaira; don’t fucking let her go. If she’s yourit, then make sure you treat her that way.”
Him and Amara had gone through hell before getting their happily ever after. Rachel Jonas had kept Kenneth on a leash; she’d forced him into a fake relationship to boost their careers and promote their movie. But she’d later taken things too far. She’d recorded him and Amara during an intimate date; she’d threatened to make their photos and videos public if Kenneth didn’t continue to stay in a media relationship with her. Her husband and manager had encouraged her to do most of those deeds, and when things had seemed impossible to tackle, Dylan had pulled Kenneth out of it all and exposed Rachel to the media. He’d saved his best friend; he’d given Rachel a massive piece of sizzling karma.
Life wasn’t an easy game to play, but if one had true friends by their side, then even the darkest specks of it could be handled with a smile; with a scorching torch of confidence held in a fist.
My eyes went to Zaira, and I grinned when she laughed at something Dylan whispered to her.
“You know,” Kenneth said, and I looked at him again, “when I see you, it’s like I’m staring in a mirror or something. The way you look at Zaira is exactly how I feel about Amara. The emotions you have for Zaira – they replicate the ones I have for my wife. This is proof enough that you’re walking in the right direction. Now, as long as you don’t trip and fall on your dick, you should be perfectly fine.”
I chuckled. “Solid advice, K; keep up the good work.”
He grinned. “I do what I can.”
With another chuckle, I looked at Zaira again, and my heart – that smitten fucker – began fox-trotting in my chest when her eyes met mine and she waved at me.
She was a remedy I didn’t know I needed; a cure I didn’t know I was searching for.
She was firelight – so blissfully blinding; so fucking all-consuming. And I’ll be damned if I ever let her go; if I ever hurt her or her beautiful soul.
