A/N: Happy 2020! Let's start this year off with my newest story that I only just recently completed. It's unlike any story that I've uploaded so far so I really hope that you all enjoy this one and have a nice time reading! This is the prologue that I wrote in Bonnie POV but the rest of the story won't be that way, I was going to change it but I just decided to leave it how it is, let you all get into Bonnie's head a little more before I introduce more characters. But enough of my ranting!

...

When I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my career in acting never had I thought that I'd be in a...role like this. When my agent called me and told me that she found the perfect job for me, a job that will guarantee kick off my acting career, a job that I shouldn't refuse I was so excited. I thought that who knows, maybe I could get nominated for an Oscar or at least a Teen Choice Award. I was ready to call my boyfriend and tell him that I was making my big break but luckily I decided to wait until after my meeting because I'm not so sure how he'll feel about this. I'm not so sure how I feel about this. Let me just start from this morning.

I woke up at eight-thirty and brushed my teeth and washed my face before steaming it to open my pores, then applied my favorite chlorophyll mask, left that on for an hour as I went over lines. I had an audition at eleven so I needed to look my best and know my lines. When the hour was up, I washed my face then let it air dry before applying my moisturizer and light makeup. I went to the kitchen and made some breakfast, usually, I don't make breakfast, but I found that before auditions actually having a nice meal calms my nerves rather than eating a handful of cereal then being on my way. So I made eggs, bacon, and pancakes and ate that as I danced to Teyana Taylor's Gonna Love Me. I want to surprise my boyfriend one day with a lap dance to that song when he comes and visits me. By then I am relaxed and confident. I go to change clothes then I'm off to my audition. It went fairly well but you can never know, someone could've done equally as well and they choose her because of the way her eyebrows were shaped.

Behind the wheel, of course, still parked, was when I checked my phone. I don't like the distraction of it when I have things to do so once I've done them, I allow myself to read and scroll and reply. It takes me about an hour to do all of that, then I head to work.

I work at an art gallery and I thoroughly enjoy it. Though I live paycheck to paycheck, it has its perks. I get to attend parties and mingle with the rich folk and hustle them out of some cash by selling work of my own. I say hustle because I literally have no idea what I'm doing when I paint. That's the beauty about abstract, just paint and label it one of a kind and brag about the expensive oil colors or paint you used when in reality it's anything but and people pounce. Well, men mainly, I do have to do a little flirting but it's all so that I can live.

It's at work when I receive the call from my agent about this "life-changing" opportunity and on my lunch break, I rush to her office. Cindy, the receptionist even gave me a smile like my life would be changing as she sent me back and my heart started to beat out of my chest as I walked through her door. I sit down and without a word, she pushed a contract over to me and I skimmed it before I got a little confused.

"Wait, what is this exactly?" Though I thought I knew exactly what it was, I wanted a second opinion.

"Stefan Salvatore is looking for a girlfriend and has chosen you to play the part."

"I still don't get it, I mean he's Stefan Salvatore he can get any woman— wait, is he gay?"

"No, but his publicist is tired of him going to premier after premier alone and lonely. Luckily for you, I have a connection with his publicist and said connection asked me if I had any girl available and I sent over headshots and he chose you."

"But I have a boyfriend,"

"It's not real, Bonnie. Sure you may have to kiss him a couple of times but I think that's a sacrifice you can make. This will do you wonders, Bonnie. First, you will blow up on Instagram, gaining thousands of followers and likes as his fans stalk you and figure you out. Then the blogs will report on you then talk shows. Everyone will be wonder who is Bonnie Bennett, I can see the headlines now, 'Five Facts You Should Know About Stefan Salvatore New Beau', 'The Details You Should Know About Stefan Salvatore's New Relationship', 'Read All About—"

"I get it but none of those headlines say my name."

"That's because you're no one. Yet. Besides, your name will be in these articles so it doesn't matter. All you have to do is sign the contract and your life will change."

Why does this remind me of Shrek 3? Rumplestiltskin tricking Shrek into signing a deal that looks and sounds pretty but in reality, it's all a trick. I don't think it'll go to those extremes but I don't know.

"Why are you so hesitant? Any other would've had this thing signed and dated by now and off packing for Milan."

"Milan?"

"That's where his movie is premiering internationally. Think about the places you'll go, the things you'll see. You can learn from him, I'm sure he's a nice guy."

"So you haven't met him before?"

"No, but I've heard things. He's not horrible."

Gee, that's nice to hear. "I have to talk to my boyfriend about this. I just feel wrong even thinking about this without him knowing."

"Take it from me, Bonnie. Don't let anyone get in the way of your dreams. You're young and once this contract is up, you'll be allowed to date whomever you want. You can run back to lover boy or date someone that will actually be on your level."

I sighed but stood and stepped outside to call him and here I am now just looking at his name on my screen not sure how this will go but he needs to know. I make my thumb hit his name and quickly lift my phone to my right ear before I stopped myself.

"Hey, babe,"

"Hey,"

"What's up?"

"Well, I- my agent wants me to take a job that can really kick start my career and become one of those people who get stalked by the paparazzi."

"That's your dream, babe, take it!"

I smile. "There's just something that you need to know though about the job before you root for me."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Do you know Stefan Salvatore?"

"Yeah, he has that big movie coming out right?"

"Yeah, um, you see the job is that I act like his girlfriend."

There's a pause.

"Okay, I mean it's just one night, I mean—"

"No, not just for the premier, but for a year and a half." When he doesn't respond, I keep going. "His publicist insists that he dates someone so it could help keep him in the tabloids and my agent has a connection and sent headshots over and he picked mine and I don't know, I wanted to call you and see what you thought about it."

"Wow, I don't even know what to say. Never had I thought I'd hear you say anything like that. Wait, is he gay or something and this is just a cover? I mean I think we're over homophobia, at least most of the world is but this could still be like some type of beard situation."

If I say no, he's probably going to say no but if I say yes I know he'll say yes. Do I lie or do I tell the truth? I don't even know what I want, I never even thought that I'd be here and now that I am I'm very confused.

"So is he, babe?"

"Yes." I'm going to hell. "But you can't tell anyone because he's shy and doesn't want it to get out and if it gets out everyone will point the finger at me and I can face some legal action suits."

"Alright, I won't tell. Just be careful, he's a Hollywood star, he can cause and be around many types of situations."

"I know, babe. I love you, I'll talk to you later."

"I love you too."

I'm a horrible person but a part of me wants this. So I march back up to Kelly's office and she smiled at me like she knows I had lied to my boyfriend but I ignore that. "What exactly will I be agreeing to when I sign?"

"Secrecy. All you have to do is be by his side and keep your little mouth shut about this arrangement. Date for a little over a year then you will be relieved. You get paid monthly as long as you adhere to these terms."

"So I don't have to sleep with him or anything like that?"

"Not unless you want to. Just be a trophy girlfriend and smile. Simple as that."

"Ok. I'll do it."

Kelly smiled and pushed me the contract but I watched 50 Shades Of Gray, maybe I should read through this just in case there's something in here that she's not mentioning. I tell her that I'll see her again by the end of the day and be on my way. I'm already late back to work but no one says anything to me so I'm thankful. Once my shift is over, I head back to my apartment and read over this contract. Stefan seems like a very business-forward guy just by reading this and I know he didn't write it personally but he definitely had some say.

"It said that under no circumstance can I create or be involved in any scandals or drama. Or that I have to keep to myself if I feel like I can't handle that." I laughed.

"I mean I get it, but the wording sounds a little controlling and passive."

I decided to call my friend Caroline because I just needed someone to talk to and in no way could it have been my boyfriend. I know I was sworn to secrecy but I didn't sign anything yet so technically I'm not doing anything wrong.

"Yeah but I don't know. This salary is fucking worth it, I think."

"What if you fall for this guy? I've seen pictures and he is stunning."

"I know but the only way I would cheat is mentally. I'm sure to have a sex dream about him here and there but that's it."

"Well, it sounds like your mind is made."

"I think it is. I should go before the office closes."

I sign my name and provide the date then Kelly makes a call. I feel weird like maybe I shouldn't have done this but there's no turning back now. Even if Stefan and I don't get along, I'm still bound to be his woman so I hope that we can at least be civil. Kelly hands me stapled paper and I see it's a calendar. A very full calendar. Whenever there's a heart is where I'm needed and I find that to be a little cute. Although it looks like I won't be able to do anything at all. I have to quit my job and practically move to New York or at least with my salary get a second apartment there. On the bright side, my friends will be closer and it's less than a hundred dollar flight to get from Mystic Falls to New York. So I guess it won't be all that bad.

I decide to delete recent pictures of my guy and me from my Instagram page and thank my lucky stars that my account is private so no one from the outside knows. It pains me but it must be done. I don't delete all of them just the recent ones until three months ago and since I'm not much of a poster on Instagram, it's not hard to find. I set my account to public but then maybe I should keep it private. Or I'll just- I'll keep it public for now. No, no, I'll keep it private. It's going to take more than one movie premiere for people to recognize who I am anyway unless friends from back home tell everyone my identity. Caroline gave me a fair warning that she will be sharing stories to get paid and I gave her the OK. Just as long as she runs them by me first, I don't mind helping her out. It's too bad I can't tell my parents but what I'm going to be making, I can help them out a lot.

This is going to be good, it's just a year and some change, it'll go by so quickly especially with this schedule and before I know it, I'll be known and then get a role and then another and another. I'll go public with my guy then we'll be the ones people talk about. We'll get married and have a couple of babies.

It's all gonna be good.

...

I wake up and head to my job to give them notice that I have to quit. I usually hate quitting especially like this but it has to be done, I won't be able to work for six hours every day without running off. I don't give them much detail as to why but they don't ask for it. A ding sounds in my pocket and I pull out my phone.

*stefansalvatore requested to follow you.

Holy fuck. It's happening. I don't think I'm even following him yet which I should've done last night but oh well. I accept and follow him back then take a scroll through his page as I'm sure he's doing with mine. He lives (or at least makes people believe he does) quite the glamorous life. He's a very, very decent model and is it bad that I'm excited to kiss those lips? His body is—fuck, I need to get off of his page. I want to unfollow but that wouldn't look right. I go back to my page and scroll to see what he could've possibly looked at or still is. For some reason, I gasp as I receive a comment. I go to my notifications and it's from Stefan. He put a heart emoji on a photo of me in my empty apartment standing in the middle of it with my arms in the air and a proud smile on my face.

Damn. That's… sweet. It's not even on a photo of me on a beach in a bikini. Maybe he is a pretty good guy. Maybe this will work out alright.

He 'likes' my most recent photo which is of me singing karaoke with Caroline then I'm left alone. I silence my phone and keep it out of sight until my shift is over. I don't need the distractions.

I leave for Milan tomorrow so I spend the remainder of my day checking their weather and packing. No one told me how long I'm staying so I don't pack much. Hopefully, I have a stylist assigned to me so she or he could dress me for this event but if not, I packed the dress that I planned to wear to my first movie premiere. It's black, tight, and sequin and designer. My mom got it for me as a going-away gift and a part of me thought that I would never be able to wear it but I may have found my chance. I get a knock on my door and I open it to see a box on my welcome mat. I look in both directions before picking it up and taking it inside. I sit on my bed and open it slowly but once I see what it is, I pull it out of the box and hold it close to my body. It looks like I won't be wearing my mom's gift, but I have no complaints about that because in my hand is practically a wedding dress by Vera Wang. It's red and beaded and gorgeous. I try it on and it fits like a fucking glove. I notice a card had fallen on the floor, maybe when I accidentally knocked the box over. I picked it up and saw an itinerary and my flight tickets. I'm staying at a hotel that I'm sure has five stars and a private pool and minibar and a pool table inside. I really have no idea though, that's just my personal guess.

I look at the time and it's getting pretty late so I take off my dress and set multiple alarms to make sure that I wake up on time to get ready and make it to the airport. I'm so very excited. This will change everything.

...

TBC