Chapter Text
Breaking news!!! New Eridu’s superstar Astra Yao was spotted on a date with a guy!!
Evelyn rubs her temples as she reads the headline for today’s newspaper.
How did things end up this way?
Evelyn and Astra were called over to the office by Mr. Hobson who had the brilliant idea to put Astra through some sort of publicity stunt: having Astra date a fellow celebrity.
It would be the talk of the town, putting Astra’s name on the headline of every media platform you could possibly think of.
Unexpectedly, this proposal received a very violent reaction from both the blonde and the raven-haired, unfortunately, despite Astra and Evelyn’s protests, Hobson simply shrugged them off and practically forced the idea on them, reminding them about the contract they have signed for this.
Astra was understandably upset but didn’t have much of a choice, Hobson was right, this was something to be expected from the contract she had signed, she helplessly lowered her head, gripping her dress and stopped talking.
Evelyn looks over at the songstress, secretly holding her hand to give it a squeeze for comfort, it was the only thing she could do in this situation, she was practically powerless and if she does anything reckless here, it could risk Astra’s whole career.
The pair left that office feeling really defeated. The car ride home was silent and the atmosphere was heavy, almost suffocating.
For weeks it was an endless cycle of having to watch Astra go through this fake relationship her company had forced her in and when they got home the blonde practically did everything in her power to cheer up Astra, but while she managed to achieve a chuckle or two, Astra was still obviously affected by the whole thing.
“Eve….can we talk?” Astra asked, peeking through her covers just as Evelyn was about to leave the door.
The blonde without any hesitation walked towards the bed as she sat down to stroke the girl’s hair “Of course Miss Yao, what is it?” The songstress slowly sits up from the bed as she weakly places her forehead on Evelyn’s shoulder “I hate this whole thing...I don’t even like him”
I know Evelyn thought. “Can you keep a secret Eve?” Evelyn stayed silent and reached out to hold Astra’s hand giving it a gentle squeeze as a sign for her to continue.
Mentally preparing herself to continue, the songstress takes a deep breath “I’m not really into guys…it feels suffocating when I have to pretend being lovey dovey with him. I don’t care about the attention, I don’t want the world to see me as something I am not, all I ask is to be loved for who I am, is that too much to ask for?" As she finished her words, tears started falling from her eyes.
The bodyguard turned to pull the songstress into a hug “I understand your frustrations Miss Yao…and I appreciate you trusting me with all of this. I promise I’ll do everything in my power as your bodyguard and your manager to get you out of this. I want you to rest easy and leave everything to me” Evelyn vowed to Astra as she tightens the hug
The songstress continued to cry her heart out as the bodyguard kept holding her close. The pair stayed in that position until Astra inevitably falls asleep. Evelyn carefully tucks her back into bed. After making sure she was in a comfortable position, the bodyguard gets up to leave the room.
Not heading straight to bed, Evelyn sits down on the living room couch , resting her head on the back rest, looking up at the ceiling.
She couldn’t help but think about how this all started, watching Astra put on a facade as the staff practically pushes her towards the man she would never love, to the moment Astra broke in front of Evelyn unable to keep it together any longer just a few minutes ago.
Having full control of her emotions, Evelyn seems calm on the outside, not until you look down to see her trembling fist resting on her lap.
She was angry, angry at Hobson for even thinking of this ridiculous PR stunt, angry at the staff who failed to notice Astra’s discomfort during the photoshoots, but she was most especially mad at herself for only being able to sit down and watch Astra get hurt from all these people who only see her as some product they can do whatever they want with.
She was supposed to protect her, not be some audience as Astra was controlled like some puppet on a show.
Evelyn takes a very deep breath to calm herself down, there was no use wasting her energy on being angry when she can use that energy to do something about this whole situation instead.
With a very strong resolve, the blonde retires to her bedroom to get some shut eye. She’s going to need it for the upcoming morning where she finally puts an end to this ridiculous mess Hobson had created.
Never again will she allow Astra to shed another tear about this situation
[To be continued…]