A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews and support! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 9: Silly Love Songs
**POP SINGER ANASTASIA SPLITS FROM BOYFRIEND COLTON WEST**
"Colt-astasias" everywhere are devastated!
Yesterday afternoon, representatives of pop singer Anastasia have announced that she and A-list actor Colton West have officially broken up. Fans of the couple are shocked and saddened by the news, stating that there had been no previous signs showing the two of them were going through a rough patch. Perhaps something behind-the-scenes caused the two lovebirds to finally call it quits? Hopefully, more details will come out soon.
Many news segments came out over the next few days about Colton and Anastasia - so many in fact that Christian felt worried the story would start spinning out of control. But Ana was confident that all of this was going according to plan, and that the media attention was going to die down in a matter of weeks. The only downside of all this was the sheer amount of paparazzi now following Ana around the city whenever she was going somewhere. It was becoming increasingly unbearable, and Christian's job got about ten times harder as he tried to get Ana to her various destinations.
"This is just obnoxious," Ana frowned as she gazed out the window from the backseat of the SUV. Christian was trying to pull out of the parking lot of a photoshoot she had just done for FitTea, but he was having difficulty navigating around the dozens of paparazzi swarming around the car, trying to snap pictures through the tinted windows while shouting questions at Anastasia.
"Anastasia! Why did you and Colton West break up?" one guy shouted, knocking on the left side of the car.
"Did Colton cheat on you Anastasia?" another one shouted through the rear window.
"Anastasia! Over here!"
"You'd think they have better things to do with their time than shout questions through a moving car," Ana grimaced, furrowing her brow as Christian slowly pulled the car forward, forcing some of the papz in front of the car to budge out of the way.
"Their interest in you is peaking right now, but it'll go down soon," Carla said, gazing out the window before turning to look down at her phone. "Although we should definitely take advantage of the increased media attention while we still can."
"I can't really see all these paparazzi as being a good thing," Ana said sardonically, watching the camera men and women swarming around the car. "But I'll take your word for it."
"You've got the Fatal Attraction music video coming out soon, darling," Carla insisted, smiling over at her daughter. "And we're about to meet with Trey and Max about the music for your upcoming album. This break-up between you and Colton is sure to drum up interest in your music amongst the general public."
"Yeah I suppose so," Ana shrugged. Christian finally was able to get the car away from the paparazzi and pull onto the busy LA street. "Think we could grab a bite to eat before we meet with the label?"
"I don't think so, we're cutting it a bit close already," Carla said, checking her silver dial Rolex watch. "Maybe Christian can run out and grab something while we're in the meeting?"
"Or we can order a pizza," Ana said eagerly, quickly typing something on her phone. "Pepperoni sounds amazing right now."
Carla gave Ana a strange look. "You want pizza? That's very fattening sweetheart, you're going to ruin your figure."
"I can have a cheat day once in awhile," Ana shrugged. "I feel like having pizza today."
"I don't know what's gotten into you, Ana. You've been very smiley and happy for the past few days," Carla said incredulously. "You decided to break up with Colton, and now all of a sudden you're smiling and happy and talking about ordering a pizza at a business meeting."
Ana giggled. "I don't know why I'm so happy - I guess I just feel free now. I was kind of tired of being in that fake relationship with Colton for so long. It's nice to kind of be able to do my own thing now without pretending like I'm in love."
"I really wish you'd stop calling it a 'fake relationship' darling," Carla shook her head, turning back to her phone. "You and Colton were good together."
"We looked good together, but that was about it," Ana said firmly. "Trust me, Colton and I splitting up was for the best."
"Whatever you say darling. Frankly, I think all this media attention is going to do a world of good for your image."
Ana didn't respond, and the rest of the ride was silent as Christian drove them through the city toward their destination. After about five minutes, he pulled into the parking lot of Lioness Records, Anastasia's record label. This location was a huge sprawling corporate building with a huge fountain out front with a walkway leading up to a multi-story front door archway. Since Anastasia was one of Lioness Records' most important clients, Christian was able to park in the VIP section up near the front door.
"Thank you Christian," Ana smiled brightly at Christian as he opened the car door for her and Carla; he held out his hand to help her out of her seat, and Christian smiled back at her.
"My pleasure, Ana."
Christian and Ana's relationship had changed a bit since their talk a few days ago - while they had always been rather friendly toward one another, they seemed to have gotten a bit more comfortable in each other's presence than they had ever been before. Christian's personal confession about his birth mother and his humble beginnings in Detroit seemed to create a bond between him and Ana, cementing their relationship as more like friends rather than employer and employee. It was a nice change, and Christian honestly didn't mind it.
"Sorry, I'm gonna make you pick up my pizza for me," Ana grinned cheekily at Christian as they walked together behind Carla.
"Can I at least get a slice?" Christian joked.
"Hm, we'll see," Ana said evasively, and she and Christian both laughed.
The three of them walked through the lobby and into one of the elevators, which took them up to the top floor of the building. The whole area consisted of beautiful shiny marble floors and walls made of floor-to-ceiling glass windows. They passed by multiple glass-walled conference rooms until they made it to the end of the hallway, where a tall good-looking man stepped out through the door.
"Anastasia - Carla. How are my two favorite clients?" he asked jovially, and the women laughed as he kissed their cheeks in greeting.
"We're wonderful Max," Carla smiled. "Definitely ready to hash out the details for Ana's next album."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Max said, grinning. "Trey's already here - we can all get started."
They all entered the room, and sitting at the table was a young man Christian recognized as Ana's agent Trey. Max, Carla, and Anastasia all took a seat near him, and Christian stood sentinel by the closed door. Unless Anastasia specifically asked Christian to not be in the room, he had to stay near her at all times.
Max began to discuss Ana's next album, which was being planned to drop sometime next year after her world tour was finished. He began to go into various projections and demographics, and explained to her and Carla some of the marketing and distribution they were planning on doing in the coming months. It was all a lot of business talk that went over Christian's head, so he ended up just tuning it out for the most part. Halfway through the meeting, Anastasia's pizza had arrived, and Christian, as promised, ran to get it for her. He placed it in the middle of the table for everyone to partake in, but only Ana grabbed a slice.
"…So yeah, I'd say in about six months' time we can get the ball rolling on writing your next album," Max finished, smiling at Ana and straightening the stack of papers in front of him. "We've got an excellent team of writers who've made some great new catchy tunes that the 'Fanastasias' are sure to love."
"Oh, I was actually thinking I could write the music myself this time around," Ana said, munching on her pizza. Carla and Trey looked at her in surprise.
"Darling, you haven't written your own songs in years," Carla stated.
"Yeah, and you might not have time to so. Especially if it's being dropped right after your world tour," Trey agreed.
"Well I can start writing now before my tour starts," Ana said fairly. "I've already gotten a few ideas for new music anyway. I kind of want this next album to go in a more personal direction."
"I love it," Max said with a grin. "That's exactly what we like to hear! So what were you thinking, Ana?"
"Well, my past music has been all about partying and sex, since that all fit with my public image, but none of my music was about anything real or substantial," Ana explained. "I was thinking this next album could be more about love and relationships."
Max raised his eyebrows, running his hand over his chin thoughtfully. "An album about love… not very original, I admit, but it is sincere. Especially since you're going to be writing the music yourself."
"I've already come up with a bunch of ideas for new love songs," Ana insisted with a bright smile. "We could have full instrumentals on them if you'd like, but a few I was thinking could be more acoustic, to sort of give it a more gentle and personal feel…"
For the next twenty minutes or so, Ana and Max continued to talk about her ideas for the album - Ana sounded enthusiastic, more so than Christian had ever heard her when she was discussing her music. Max seemed happy that Ana was on board for this, and Carla and Trey were preoccupied with how all of this would work around Ana's schedule with her upcoming tour. By the end of the meeting, they agreed Ana would get a few songs written and sent over to Lioness Records within the next few weeks.
"We'll talk to you soon, Anastasia. I'm very excited to see what you make for us," Max smiled as they all stood up. He shook Ana's hand, and Ana grinned at him.
"I'm excited too," she said. "I'll talk to you later."
They all said their goodbyes to each other before Carla and Ana left together, Christian following up behind. He could have sworn he saw Ana practically skipping as she made her way toward the elevators.
The rest of the day Ana spent at home locked up in her bedroom with a guitar. Christian could hear her from his own room, strumming away different notes while humming different melodies. He couldn't help but listen to the songs Ana was writing, enjoying listening to her in her element - obviously this was her passion, and it made him glad to know she was doing something that made her so happy.
At around three o'clock that day, Ana still hadn't come out of her bedroom, and Christian went downstairs to make himself something to eat. He had forgotten to eat lunch that day, and since Ana had already eaten at the meeting, she probably wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon.
As Christian began rummaging through the fridge, he heard someone enter the kitchen; he looked up and noticed Vivian, Anastasia's assistant, enter the kitchen while texting on her phone.
"Hi Vivian," Christian greeted her, pulling out a container of leftover pasta salad Tom had made the night before.
"Oh, hey Christian," Vivian said, glancing up at him. She sat down at the breakfast bar and set her phone down. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good. Aside from Ana's meeting with the label this morning, I haven't really had much to do today," Christian said, spooning some of the pasta salad onto a plate.
"Tell me about it. Ana and I were supposed to coordinate her schedule for her appearance on The Tonight Show next week, but she hasn't come downstairs all day," Vivian said disparagingly, glancing toward the staircase. "Is she just going to be locked up in her room strumming a guitar all day long?"
"I wouldn't be surprised. She seemed really excited to be writing music again," Christian smiled. "We should just sit back and enjoy not having to work for a few hours."
"I hear that," Vivian giggled. "Wanna sneak a bottle of tequila from the wet bar and hang out by the pool?"
"Seriously?" Christian asked amusedly, and Vivian nodded with a grin. "Sorry, I think I'll pass. You go ahead though."
"Eh… it's kind of boring drinking alone," Vivian shrugged, glancing toward the back patio. After a moment she looked back over at Christian, her eyes suddenly hooded. "If you want, we can just go up to your bedroom and have sex."
Christian, who had taken a bite of pasta salad, immediately began choking on it. "Uh-um, I'm sorry - what?" he asked, coughing.
Vivian gazed at him, an amused smirk on her face. "Don't act so prudish. I know that every guy in the world would love to have a no-strings-attached fuck buddy to fool around with."
Christian picked up his water bottle and took a sip, trying to ease his coughing. "Wow, um…" he brought his water down, clearing his throat. "I-I don't know what to say to that."
"Look, I get it," Vivian said quickly. "You're new to this job, and it's kind of weird for me to proposition you like this. But the truth is when you work for someone like Anastasia you really don't get to have much of a social life. Quick hookups and one night stands are kind of our only option if we want to let off a little steam. Since I'm unattached, and I'm not looking for anything more than just sex, I just thought you and I could have a little fun since we're kind of in the same boat." She smiled coquettishly. "So what do you say?"
Christian really didn't know what to say to that. He and Vivian rarely interacted since most of the time they spent together was with Ana in public, so this was a strange situation for him to be in. Vivian was by no means unattractive - her long blonde hair and cute petite figure was sure to draw any man's eye - but he couldn't see himself getting intimate with her, even if it was no strings attached.
"Look Vivian, I'm… flattered," Christian hesitated. "Really. But I've never been one to do the whole 'random hookup' thing. I'm sorry, but it's not something I ever see myself doing."
"Okay," Vivian nodded, holding up her hand. "That's totally fine. If you ever change your mind though, I'll be available."
She sounded completely cool and casual, and Christian was rather surprised. How was she able to separate sex from emotion so easily? Christian almost wanted to apologize for rejecting her, but she seemed completely fine… this all felt a bit out of Christian's grasp.
Am I going to get this casual about sex if I work here long enough?
Before either of them could say anything, Ana came hurrying down the stairs. She had changed out of her day clothes and was currently wearing comfy leggings and a tank top, her long brown hair thrown up in a bun, while an acoustic guitar on a strap was slung over her shoulder. She smiled when she noticed Christian and Vivian in the kitchen.
"Hey guys," she greeted them before walking over to Christian and grasping his arm. "Christian, come with me. I want to show you something."
"Why can't you just tell me?" Christian asked, amused. "I'm trying to eat here."
"I wrote something and I want you to listen to the melody," Ana insisted with a giggle, tugging his arm. "And the acoustics in here are terrible. You have to come up to my room to listen."
"All the way up on the third floor? Is it even worth it to climb all those steps?"
"If you've heard my music before, then yes. Now move your butt," Ana said firmly, pulling on his arm so she'd follow him upstairs. Christian reluctantly allowed her to pull him toward the staircase, chuckling as she did so.
Neither of them noticed Vivian as she turned back toward the breakfast bar, picking up her cell phone again. "Shoulda known," she muttered to herself, thumbing through her contacts.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that! Next chapter, Ana finally decides to contact her father.
I'm going to be out of town this weekend for a wedding :) I won't be writing while I'm gone, so there might be a longer delay before the next chapter. Thank you all for understanding!
Make sure you follow my Pinterest board for this story at www dot pinterest dot com/strawpaj/anastasia-pop-princess/
