"So, how have things been since the last time we've seen each other?" Mimi smiled as she clutched onto her phone.
"Just work," Izzy paused.
"Some things haven't changed, have they? Do you have any hobbies other than work?" Mimi leaned in towards him.
"I tried, but then I remembered why I'd rather spend my free time at work instead," Izzy fidgeted with his watch.
"Ah yes, money is the motive," Mimi nodded.
"More like hopelessness and heartbreak," the driver remarked.
"Excuse me. Can you pay attention to the road, please?" Izzy turned red.
"If you didn't want me to listen, I can pull up the partition. You could have just said so," the driver pressed a button and a plexiglass screen slid out behind the chauffeur seat.
"I guess someone struck a nerve," Mimi remarked as the plexiglass separated them from the driver.
"Sorry…this past year has been tough. Again, it's better that I bury myself into my work life, even if it's not the healthiest coping mechanism. So, what have you been up to?" Izzy looked out the window.
"Well, my social media's taking off. It's almost too much to handle," Mimi sighed.
"That's right…I'm not into that, but you're a lifestyle blogger or something, right?" Izzy asked.
"I guess some people could call me an influencer…I share easy kitchen tips and recipes in like 60-minute reels on an app called-"
"Okay, I know what social media is, I'm not geriatric. I just don't use it, you don't have to explain the whole process," Izzy sighed.
"Oh, right…so, anyways…hmmm…well, a lot of people like what I upload and I'm starting to get recognized. It's still weird, like it hasn't exactly set in yet, but it has. Like I'm at that point in my life where I'm still growing in the public eye, but do I want to get bigger like all my other friends? Or do I want to stay where I am? Do I even like who I am right now? I feel like I've had to change some things about myself just to get to this point, but I don't know, you know?" Mimi rambled.
"I'm sorry, but I don't. The only friends I see on a regular basis are Tai and a bottle of Jameson. And let's just say Jameson is easier to reach a lot more of the time," Izzy shot Mimi a smirk.
"Oh," Mimi pursed her lips.
"We're at your destination. You can pay with the QR code on the window, and please feel free to rate me five stars! Tips are optional but greatly appreciated!" the driver rolled down the plexiglass.
"Thanks," Izzy held up his phone and tapped away.
"Here's a tip. Thank you sir," Mimi handed the driver some cash and climbed out of the car.
"Wow, so your friends are getting married here?" Izzy looked straight ahead to a marina, which was nicely decorated with ribbons, lights, and an intricate floral arrangement.
"Friends is probably not the best term anymore, but I have to put on a show. A lot of people will be here today," Mimi forced a smile.
"That sounds reassuring…so what would you want me to do? I could take your jacket for you?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"Wait till we get inside…in the meantime, just hold my hand…or just put your arm around me. Or, put your arm around me and hold my hand at the same time, like what a cute couple does," Mimi nudged herself into Izzy and twisted his arm until it was draped around her shoulders.
"Just so you know, my arms only have a limited range of motion. Please don't make it worse," Izzy sighed.
"This is good. Sorry," Mimi adjusted his arm more gently and then she held his hand. "I'm ready."
"If you insist. Lead the way," Izzy shrugged.
"Hey Izzy…," Mimi smiled.
"Yes?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"I just wanna say I really, really appreciate you being here and all. Like the timing is so great, and I couldn't have picked a better person to run into and all but…can you kinda smile a little? You don't have to be serial killer happy, but can you look like you're enjoying being with me? Pretty please?" Mimi pouted.
"Oh…I'm sorry. I'm just slightly tired. I didn't mean to look so unpleasant," Izzy pressed his lips together in guilt and relaxed his face. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I know it's weird, but I really am happy I ran into you. And for what it's worth…it's open bar, so we'll definitely have a good time," Mimi smirked.
"I like open bar," Izzy let out a small smile.
"MIMI!"
"Who is that?" Izzy flinched.
"MIMI! Where have you been?!" a thin girl with long, dark hair stomped over to Mimi and Izzy.
"Hey Briella! What's up?" Mimi flashed her a smile.
"What do you mean 'what's up'? Thanks to you being late, we had to change some things up! Kenzie didn't even think you were gonna show up," the dark-haired girl crossed her arms.
"You can tell Kenzie that I was sorry but we got caught up in traffic, isn't that right, Izzy?" Mimi lightly tugged Izzy's arm.
"Right…traffic was pretty bad," Izzy flinched.
"Huh, so you brought a plus one…who is he? Do we know you from anywhere?" the girl looked Izzy up and down.
"I hope you don't. Izzy, this is Brielle. Brielle, this is Izzy. We've been seeing each other for a couple months, give or take…," Mimi wiggled her fingers in the air.
"Wait, what?!" Briella gasped.
"Isn't that right, love?" Mimi grinned at Izzy.
"Uh, yeah…," Izzy nodded.
"So how many months have you guys seen each other?" Brielle leaned in close to Izzy.
"Seven," Izzy blurted.
"How interesting…well, you guys are cute together. I gotta go now. Ciao," Briella waved faintly and flounced away.
"I'm in so much trouble. Izzy, if you wouldn't mind…let me do all the talking, okay?" Mimi huffed.
"Hold on, what did I do? I thought you wanted me to pretend to be your date," Izzy threw his hands up in the air.
"Yeah, pretend to be my date. Not pretend to date me!" Mimi hissed.
"Hey, you were the one who threw that line in there about us 'seeing each other for months now'. What the hell was I supposed to do? I'm just going along with your lunacy!" Izzy frantically ran his fingers through his hair.
"And I appreciate that, but thanks to your improv session, you're gonna make me look bad!" Mimi smacked him in the arm.
"Oh, I'm the one that's going to make you look bad? You know what? This was a bad idea…you have thirty seconds to tell me what exactly to do, otherwise I'm out. I'm not spending the rest of my night getting yelled out by an acquaintance," Izzy clenched his fists.
"Acquaintance? We're not friends?" Mimi grabbed a lock of her hair.
"Friends talk to each other on a regular basis. I literally have no idea what you've been up to since the last time we've spoke, and no, I don't want to follow you on Instachat, Rickroll, or have any other parasocial connection with you to stay updated on your life- just to be another one of millions of your subscribers," Izzy loosened up his tie.
"That's not fair to say! I would never treat you-"
"Let's just face the reality, our lives are in two different directions and there's nothing wrong with that at all. I'm sorry, I don't know what I did wrong. I only came here to support you, so I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated," Izzy exhaled.
"Izzy…I'm sorry too. I'm just really uptight right now. I'm at a wedding for my ex who cheated on me with a friend, and if I didn't act like a good sport, you know all of the journalists would have something to say about it. I'm totally over it, but I hate that as a woman in the public eye, you have to act happy and friendly all the time, even when your boyfriend leaves you for another girl," Mimi sighed.
"That's something no one prepares you for when you start getting famous, huh…," Izzy said as he led Mimi to a table.
"No. And now I pulled out this lie about how we've been seeing each other for a while…but you said it was seven months, which would have been fine, if it weren't for the fact that I broke up with my ex five months ago," Mimi groaned.
"Oh…well I didn't know," Izzy turned red.
"You're right. How did we become acquaintances in such a short time?" Mimi looked at him forlornly.
"Hey Mimi! I'm Chrissa from Entertainment Nightly, and I heard that you had a new beau! Would you guys like to do a mini exclusive with us?" a girl with a large microphone excitedly came up to Mimi.
"Uh…I like to keep our personal lives private, if that's okay?" Izzy turned red.
"Ignore him, he's just shy and new to all of this. So Chrissa, this is my boyfriend Izzy," Mimi nodded.
"And I see this is your first public event together, how bold," Chrissa grinned.
"We've been out together before, but yes. I guess you could say this is our first 'public' event. I was invited, and I still had my plus one!" Mimi nervously laughed.
"Speaking of plus one, rumor has it that you and Izzy were seeing each other before you and Jason broke up- is that true?" Chrissa eagerly asked.
"Well, around that timespan, I had a feeling the relationship was over, and I was right after all. It was also the same time that I was reconnecting with Izzy, but just as friends first. He made me feel a special way that Jason never did, and I couldn't pick up on what that was until I became single. I didn't even care that Jason was seeing Kenzie behind my back anymore, because by the time we broke it off, I was already moving on. Izzy helped me pick up the pieces, and it's like life never stopped for a moment," Mimi smiled.
"That's so nice that you found someone so supportive during such a hard time in your life. And look at you now! You guys look so happy! Come on, why don't you guys share a kiss for all of our fans? I think they'd love to see it!" Chrissa motioned a cameraman over.
"Why not?" Mimi smiled.
"What?" Izzy turned red as Mimi held him by his cheek and gave him a teasing kiss on the jaw.
"Aww, come on! We want a real kiss, something juicy!" Chrissa clenched onto her microphone with both hands.
"Please, just go along with this…," Mimi whispered in Izzy's ear. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in close, teasingly tracing her tongue across his lips until he gave in and opened his mouth slightly wide enough. Her tongue chased after his frantically, as her hands pulled his body closer to her. His hands started getting involved, putting pressure in all the right spots- her gentle biting of his bottom lip being his biggest indicator that he was doing something correct.
"Well, there you have it. Cooking queen, Mimi Tachikawa is not only whipping things up in the kitchen, but she might be whipping things up in the bedroom as well! This is Chrissa with Entertainment Nightly, stay tuned for our countdown of Top 10 shortest celebrity marriages after this commercial break!" the blonde girl motioned the camera man away and she walked off.
"Okay, what was that?" Izzy broke off from their impromptu kiss.
"I could ask you the same thing…where did you learn to kiss like that?" Mimi touched her lip.
"No, we're not doing that. Look, I came here to be nice, but that's it. This is too much…," Izzy shook his head.
"But Izzy, the wedding hasn't really even started yet," Mimi pouted.
"Mimi, why do you even want to stay? Look at you…before we got here, you said all I had do to was pretend to be your date and the most I had to do was hold your hand. Fast forward to a couple of minutes ago, and we're making out in front of a celebrity reporter. If you can't even keep the informal boundaries and standards you make with yourself, maybe you need to consider a career change before we end up having to do other things in front of a camera," Izzy pressed his lips together.
"Let's take this outside," Mimi said in an insincere tone.
"Good, because that's where I'll be waiting for a town car," Izzy retorted as they walked off the marina.
"No…let's just say if it weren't for all of these people here, I'd slap the red out of your face. I can't believe you tried calling me a hooker," Mimi bit her lip.
"I did not call you anything of the sort. You know what I meant, don't twist my words around. Look, you can tell your celebrity friends whatever you want, but tonight's a wrap for me. My ride is here. You're free to come with me if you like. Otherwise, I'll catch you around," Izzy pointed to a town car.
"Like that's gonna happen," Mimi scoffed.
"Suit yourself. Have fun," Izzy sighed.
"No, I'm coming with you. 'Catch you around' my ass…when would be the next time that would happen? Let's go," Mimi motioned Izzy to lead her the way.
"Suit yourself…what do you want to do then?" Izzy asked.
*buzz buzz buzz*
*beep beep*
*ring ring* *ring ring*
"How about we turn off our phones for starters?" Mimi nervously laughed.
"Oh no…why?" Izzy gave her a look.
"Just do it…," Mimi winced as Izzy looked through his phone.
"I can't believe this…," Izzy groaned.
"Sorry?" Mimi nervously bit her nail.
"I don't think sorry will make this disappear," Izzy shook his head as his phone vibrated with every notification.