Prompt: S is a super famous actress/singer person and A is one of her closest friends. The media is convinced they're dating or a thing so S decides that they're now fake dating and A is along for the ride and this is your basic fake dating prompt full with pleasing fans aka shippers and convincing friends it's real and of course costar and/or coworker jealous on both ends which ultimately leads to them realizing they have a thing for one another.
Running Away? Stacie Conrad moves to New York
Stacie Conrad's new movie History in the Shadows will start filming in New York this summer. The Academy Award winning actress announced her involvement in the movie directed by Beca Mitchell earlier in the month.
"Gonna be filming in New York for a while! (Might even stay there :P) #HistoryintheShadows #soexcited" she wrote on twitter earlier today.
Sources close to the actress, however, suggest that the move was in the works even before she got the role in Mitchell's new movie. Conrad was rumored to have bought an apartment there soon after her breakup with former co-star, Australian actor Luke Stroma.
The couple started dating officially during the promotional tour for their movie The Yellow Cradle after an on-again-off-again relationship during filming. The couple split up after Conrad received her 2nd Academy Award nomination. Despite it being announced as an amicable separation officially, unofficial sources claim Stroma resented the actress for getting nominated.
Stacie sat on the gate waiting for her flight. She rearranged her sunglasses and pulled her Steelers cap lower on her head. She knew that she wasn't exactly being inconspicuous but she hoped her celebrity in hiding look would deter people from approaching her. She tossed the magazine she'd bought at the newsstand aside and scoffed at the headline. "I'm not running away… Well not from him at least."
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and squinted at the screen typing a quick tweet.
StacieConrad: Bye LA! You've been awesome but I've missed NY too much. #finallygoinghome
After posting the tweet, she dialed Aubrey's office. She'd have a better chance to catch her there at this time, it was almost noon in New York and Aubrey didn't pick up her personal phone during business hours unless it was an emergency. Stacie had had more than one fight with her about this since she couldn't possibly know if it was an emergency unless she picked up, but Aubrey said she did.
"Aubrey Posen" Stacie smiled. Aubrey was the one who had given her the idea to move back to New York. They had met back when Stacie was doing plays on Broadway and Aubrey worked for one of the smaller movie production companies in New York. When Stacie's career took off and moved to LA they lost contact. They reconnected a few years back after Aubrey started her own production company and Stacie was cast in a role in one of the movies she was producing.
They had gotten closer after Stacie's break up with Luke, not that she'd ever call it a break up because she never thought of them as being in a real relationship. He was too self absorbed to think about anyone but himself and Stacie was too busy to fully commit to someone. The whole ordeal had only served to make Stacie realize she didn't really know who to trust in LA which made her reach out to some of her older friends, friends from before she was a big time movie actress. Friends who didn't make her have doubts about their motives.
One of these friends had been Aubrey, who had suggested a change of scenery might be good for her. The fact that her new job was filming in New York had been a godsend. Stacie bought an apartment there and decided to stay there for the foreseeable future.
"Hey, Bree. I'm waiting for my flight and I'm bored."
Aubrey chuckled. "So you called me for entertainment?"
"That and to see if we're still on for dinner tonight."
Stacie heard Aubrey shuffling papers on the other side of the line. "Of course. Do you want me to send a car to pick you up at the airport?"
Stacie pouted. "Can't you come? I hate riding back with a stranger. We can go get dinner from there."
Aubrey exhaled loudly in mock annoyance. "Fine, but you're taking me somewhere nice."
Stacie smirked. "So no hot dog carts then?"
"Gross, no. No hot dog carts."
Stacie laughed. "Good thing I'm an A-list celebrity who doesn't need to make reservations." Stacie heard them call first class for boarding. "We're boarding now. See you later?"
"Yup, meet you at the airport."
Stacie hung up and grabbed her bag, leaving the magazine on the seat and making her way towards the gate. She heard a camera shutter as she was handing her ticket to the gate agent and she pulled the brim of her cap lower before continuing to the plane.
She took a picture of the book she was reading (the latest Stephen King novel that she had picked up when she bought the magazine) and posted it on instagram.
StacieConrad Books are the best part of long flights! #nothingbeatsStephenKing #seeyouin5hoursNY
She went through her Instagram feed while she waited for the rest of the passengers to board the plane. She heard a couple of girls whispering as they passed. "Is that-?" "Looks like her."
Stacie smirked but didn't look up. She didn't mind fans, she was always willing to sign an autograph or take a picture or chat with them for a while if she had time. She had an active online presence, always tweeting and Instagramming about her projects or random things about her everyday life (her agent said it made her more relatable). She had a considerable and extremely loyal fanbase which had only grown since she had come out after someone posted pictures of her kissing another girl after she got her first Oscar nomination. She had never hid her sexuality but, before that, she just hadn't been famous enough for anyone to care who she was sleeping with or what their gender was..
Her fans were amazing. It was the paparazzi that she couldn't stand. She understood that doing what she did meant that her private life wasn't exactly private, but the articles people wrote about her were seldom true. They hid behind unnamed sources, as if quoting a third party suddenly made it true. Most of the time they were people who weren't close enough to Stacie to really know anything substantial or repeating something they'd overheard with little to no context.
Stacie turned her phone off and dropped it into her bag when the flight attendant announced they were closing the cabin door. She waited to open her book until they were in the air, taking a moment to watch the city shrink away, the city she had lived in for the past seven years, and realized she wasn't gonna miss it.
"Do you want to get Thai from that new place on 47th tonight?" Chloe walked into Aubrey's office without knocking, a habit that annoyed Aubrey to no end even though she kept her door open when she wasn't in a meeting.
Aubrey looked up from the papers she was trying to finish reading before she had to leave to pick up Stacie. "I can't tonight, I'm having dinner with a friend."
"A friend, huh?" Chloe smiled devilishly and sat on the corner of Aubrey's desk. "So who is this mystery friend and where are they taking you?"
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "My friend is Stacie Conrad and I don't know where we're going yet, I'm picking her up at the airport later."
Chloe squealed. "Why didn't you tell me you were going out with her? I mean, I knew you guys talked sometimes but I didn't know she'd asked you out."
"It's not a date! We're having a friendly dinner and that's it. I haven't even seen her since she was here last year for the Tribeca Film Festival."
"Oh yeah, she was in that weird short." Chloe nodded and scrunched up her nose. "I don't get why she still does those weird independent films when she could be in literally any movie she wants."
Aubrey shrugged. She was clearly not going to finish reading this contract before she had to go so she closed the folder and put it in her briefcase. "I think it's nice that she takes the time to do projects she actually believes in and not any movie just because of what she could earn or because it would raise her profile."
Chloe batted her eyelashes. "Do you also think she's pretty and smart and that she has amazing legs?"
Aubrey blinked confused. "Well, yes but everyone thinks that. I don't see how that's relevant." Chloe raised her eyebrows and her smile widened. "No, Chloe. I've known her for ages, it's not like that. We're just friends."
Chloe frowned and hopped off the desk. "Fine, if you say so." She walked around Aubrey's desk. "Oh, there's a guy in my crossfit class you'd totes like! I can totally set you up."
Aubrey groaned and stood up to gather her things. "No, Chlo. You know I hate blind dates. I don't understand why you think my love life is your responsibility, I don't set you up with random strangers all the time."
"That's because I don't need help meeting people, when was the last time you had sex?"
Aubrey rolled her eyes and walked to the door with Chloe following close behind. "Life isn't just about sex."
"It makes it better, though." They stopped in front of the elevator and Aubrey pushed the button repeatedly. "Come on, Bree, it's just one date. If you don't like him you never have to see him again."
The elevator finally opened and Aubrey went in with Chloe. "Fine, whatever. Lunch or coffee date and somewhere far from my apartment, I don't want him to know where I live."
Chloe followed Aubrey to the car already waiting for her in front of the building. "I'll ask him and let you know. Have fun on your friend date."
Aubrey leaned her head back on the seat and sighed. It wasn't that she didn't want a relationship, she just hated the whole part before you could have a relationship. She hated the awkwardness and pressure of first dates, she wished she could just fast forward to the part when she knew everything about the other person and was sure that they liked her.
Besides, every single person Chloe had set her up with had been horrible. Chloe had very different tastes than her, and while she appreciated good looking people, she was looking for something more than just that. She wanted someone who she could really connect with, not just have sex. But Chloe was relentless and when she got something in her head, she didn't stop until she accomplished it.
Aubrey opened her briefcase and took out her contract, deciding to put her impending blind date in the furthest corner of her mind and focus on work for the rest of the ride to JFK. They were almost there when she looked back up again so she put the contract back in her briefcase and waited for the car to pullover.
She checked the arrivals board and saw Stacie's flight had already landed so she made her way to baggage claim. She found her checking her phone and waiting for her bag. Stacie hadn't seen her yet so she walked up behind her. "Hi, I was wondering if I could get an autograph."
"Sure, what's your-" Stacie turned around with a smile that widened when she saw it was Aubrey. "You know, I'm not against signing boobs."
Aubrey laughed and rolled her eyes. "How many times does that line actually work?"
"Surprisingly many." Stacie wiggled her eyebrows. "You don't wanna know how many boobs I've left my mark on, and not just with a pen."
Aubrey shook her head. "I really don't."
They looked at each other smiling for a few seconds before Stacie took a step forward and engulfed Aubrey in a hug. "Hi."
Aubrey chuckled and squeezed Stacie back. "Hi. How was your flight?"
"Uneventful. I'm starving." Stacie let Aubrey go and turned to see if her bag was coming. "Where do you wanna go?"
"There's a new place I've been meaning to try. It's an Asian fusion thing, it's getting great reviews."
Stacie moved forward to pick up her suitcase. "Sounds great."
Aubrey offered to help her with her carry on and led her back to the car while Stacie talked about all the things she had missed about New York and how excited she was about being there again.
Aubrey told Stacie about the latest project she's been working on on their way to the restaurant, pausing their conversation when they got there. The restaurant was packed making Stacie frown, thinking that not even her celebrity status might get them a table. She walked up to the hostess and smiled sweetly. "Hi, table for two?"
The girl didn't look up. "Name of the reservation?"
"Oh, I just got into the city and a friend recommended this place. I didn't have time to make a reservation." The hostess looked up with an annoyed look until she recognized Stacie and her eyes widened. "But I totally get it if you don't have a table, I can tell that you're super busy."
Stacie waited three seconds before taking a step back. "Wait, I think I can get you a table, Miss Conrad. Let me check our cancellations. Do you mind waiting five minutes?"
"Of course not, take your time." Stacie winked at her and walked back to where Aubrey was standing. "Five minutes."
Aubrey pursed her lips. "You can be really useful sometimes, Conrad. I should take you out more often. Mario Batali's new restaurant just opened and it's impossible to get a reservation, we should go there next week."
Stacie gasped. "Are you using me for my fame?"
"If we're gonna have dinner anyway, there's no reason why we can't go somewhere good." Aubrey shrugged.
Stacie chuckled. "At least you're being honest about it."
The hostess came back and led them to a table near the side of the room, apologizing profusely about making them wait even though it had taken less than the five minutes she said it would. If Aubrey didn't know any better she would have thought that she kicked out whoever was sitting at that table to make room for them.
They settled into easy conversation after they ordered. Aubrey thought it funny that they had always been extremely comfortable with each other, especially considering the circumstances of their meeting more than ten years ago and how much they had changed since then.
Aubrey had been dragged to a party by her boyfriend. She didn't want to go, she had just ended an 80 hour work week with her boss from hell and she just wanted to go home and sleep. But he had wanted to go to a party one at one of his friend's apartments in the Village. Apparently his off-off-Broadway play had just opened and he had invited all his castmates. Her boyfriend wasn't in the play but he had been in another show with a bunch of the actors and he'd told her they'd just drop by for an hour and leave.
Aubrey had been nursing the same beer for more than an hour, listening to some girl's boring story when she realized she hadn't seen her boyfriend in a while. She decided to try to find him, which didn't seem hard since it was a really small apartment, except he wasn't in the living room or the kitchen, and she'd just seen someone stumble out of the bathroom. The only other place she hadn't looked was the bedroom but she wasn't one to go around poking into other people's bedrooms.
She was about to give up and go home, and definitely breaking up with the guy, when she heard a loud thump against the bedroom door and someone giggling. She narrowed her eyes and opened the door only to find her boyfriend making out with some girl against the wall next to the door.
"What the fuck?"
The couple stopped kissing and turned to her. The girl quickly straightened up her dress and wiped her smeared lipstick. He gave her a sheepish smile. "It's not what it looks like?"
Aubrey huffed and turned around, making her way out of the apartment and down the stairs. She stopped for a moment outside, letting the cool night air calm her down a bit before she started walking to the subway.
"Hey, wait!" She turned around and saw the girl her boyfriend had been making out with running to catch her. She quirked her eyebrow but stopped.
The girl stopped in front of her and took a moment to catch her breath. "I didn't know he was here with someone, I wouldn't have- I'm sorry."
Aubrey knit her eyebrows confused and looked at the girl. She was really pretty and really young, probably not even 21. She saw her shuffle on her feet nervously and Aubrey realized she hadn't said anything back. "Don't worry about it, you saved me from wasting more time with that dicklick."
The girl chuckled and Aubrey felt herself smile a little at the sight. She was about to turn back around and leave when the girl spoke again. "There's a diner a couple of blocks down that has the best milkshakes, do you want one? It's on me, I mean, it's the least I can do after I made out with your boyfriend."
Aubrey didn't understand this girl at all but she felt like it would be worth it to figure her out. "Sure."
They started walking down the block. After a minute of silence the girl turned to Aubrey. "I'm Stacie by the way."
"Aubrey."
Stacie grabbed the check and slipped her credit card inside. "What are you doing? You don't have to pay."
Stacie kept it out of Aubrey's reach until the waiter walked over and took it away. "I know I don't have to but this is my way of thanking you for suggesting I come back here. And for being my friend all these years."
Aubrey tried to glare at her but she ended up smiling. "I'm getting the next one."
Stacie grinned triumphantly. "Okay."
