The engaged couple laughed, danced and smiled. 

Little flames which soon would become raging flames were growing behind the bar counter. Someone had played with some sparklers and left them unsupervised. The bar was about to rapidly turn into a mere pile of ashes.

The entire stash of bottles of alcohol next to the bartender caught fire. First, there was a scream. Then, an alarm. 

The couple ran towards the exit, panting and coughing, but it was too late. One layed in the midst of the blazing red monster and the other with his left side crushed by the parts of the second floor that had fallen down. 

The worst kind of accidents are when only one faces the harsh look of death. In this case, nothing but the engagement ring remained of his completely burnt body. Half crushed, the dead’s fiance fell to his knees.

Now, the engaged couple cried, mourned and was separated.

❀ ❀ ❀

PROFESSIONAL DANCER MARS MCKENNA OFFICIALLY QUITS AFTER SPECULATION ABOUT HIS SEXUALITY.

The headline screamed at Dylan. He had no choice but to continue reading. He didn’t know who Mars McKenna was, and frankly didn't care, but these speculative articles were perfect inspiration for his romance novels. This was no ordinary scandal.

Dylan started to examine the article but before he could actually understand what was going on, his phone began to ring. He answered, and-

“Holy crap, Dylan! Did you hear?!”

“What is it, Sicilia,” he replied with barely any enthusiasm.

“Mars McKenna, the Mars McKenna is rumoured to be gay!”

“Oh,” he said. He didn’t have to read the article after all. “Why does that matter to me?” Dylan sat back and yawned, to exaggerate his disinterest.

“Well, first, you're a romance novelist.” Dylan nodded in agreement. “But also, doesn't it make you excited?”

“You’re still not going to give up on proving that I’m gay?’ Sicilia was Dylan’s oldest friend, but she would always bring up this topic once in a while.

“C’mon. Think about it. You have absolutely no interest in girls. You turn down every single one of them, and you don’t have any friends that are men.”

“True. I have no interest in girls, but not wanting to be in a relationship with a girl doesn’t mean I like men!”

Dylan did in fact only make friends who were female, and he was comfortable with it. His blind dates never worked out, even if the girl liked him. All the things Sicilia said were true, except that Dylan was gay, or so he thought.   

“Still,” she continued. “You’re only twenty\-four. Maybe nothing's been figured out yet. I’ll respect your thoughts for now. Oh, but you even rejected the hottest girl in university before you dropped out. Everyone swore she would be the one to break your streak\-”

“Um, sorry. Sicilia, I’m losing connection.” Dylan wanted to get out of this rabbit whole before he couldn't anymore, even if it meant pretending his wifi was failing him. “Talk\- to\- y\-ou later\-” 

He hung up. A call from Sicilia flew in, but he did not answer it. 

Gay? No. Way, he thought to himself. And besides, they are just rumours. It’s only speculation. For some reason, knowing it wasn’t absolutely true put Dylan at ease. He did not dare think of the possibility of him having interest in men. He opened a new document and started to type.

*Reason why I have no interest in Mars Mckenna:

I don’t know who he is

Mars is a weird name

I know nothing about dancing*

Dylan searched up a photo of Mars McKenna.

“He’s good-looking,” Dylan remarked without thinking. Then he slapped his face. “What am I saying! I should just go to bed.”

And so he did, without skipping a single second to think about Mars McKenna’s gorgeous face.

Mars sank into his hot tub. The media was going crazy around him. The speculation was outrageous, though they weren’t entirely false. 

“Yes, indeed,” Mars said, pretending he was being interviewed. “I, Mars McKenna, am gay.”

He shrugged. He would never be brave enough to confess to the public. But that made him even more angry. He sank deeper into the water.

What do they expect, Mars thought to himself. That all famous people are straight?

The other part of the rumours, however, were false. He wasn’t so ashamed about being gay that he abandonned his career. Journalists just never considered that Mars had a personal life that didn’t involve his reputation. But then again, he never accepted to speak with them. The press was too difficult to deal with, too much of a hassle.

“Mars?” His father came out to their private spa. “We need to discuss something with you, your mother and I. So hurry and finish.”

Mars let out a sigh, expressing his unhappiness.

“Or… actually take your time. Yes. We will be waiting.”

“Oh, and I forgot to mention,” Mars said, after his father left, acting once again as if he was being interviewed. “I pretend to be a spoiled brat when I’m in a bad mood.”

He walked into one of the small living rooms of his house. His parents sat quietly next to each other on the sofa. Mars sat down across from them.

“We know it's been hard over the past year, and that’s why your coach let you take a year off. Why must you resign? Should I ask Mr. Renae to give you more time off?”

“I resigned for myself. Why does it matter to you?”

“People think you left because you’re gay.”

“So you’re worried about your reputation? Weren’t you the one who approved of our wedding?”

“Well you didn’t really love him, now did you?”

“Mother, we already went over this! I am and will always be engaged to Luke! I don’t care about my profession as a dancer!”

She was enraged. Mars really wasn’t going to give up his love. Mr. McKenna took  a sip from his tea.

“What you mother means,” he said. “Is that you should either keep dancing or do something with your retirement.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” she muttered.

“Shush.”

“You should be more social, instead of staying in your bedroom half the day.”

As much as Mars knew quitting his dancing career was probably one of the dumbest decisions in dumb decision history, he used his “circumstances” as an excuse to make it seem more acceptable. But being more social made no sense to him. Having drinks and hanging out with other people would just be betraying the love of his life. Right?

“Mom, dad,” Mars said. “Even if the perfect friend comes around, I won’t be able to be friends with him. It just can’t be helped. If they are not Luke, then it won’t work.”

“You only call us that when you’re guilty,” Mrs. McKenna, who usually was addressed as ‘mother’ by Mars, said. 

“Well,” Mr. McKenna said. “Who knows? Maybe it’ll take somebody completely different from Luke. We’ll see how hard it really will be to find the person who will bring you out of your shell.”

Dylan stared at the numbers as they were e-transferred to his landlord. He was only going to be able to spend the last amount of his monthly balance on things that were one-hundred percent necessary. It was difficult to be a novelist. He had written some successful books, but more than half of the profit went to publishers, editors, cover designers and whoever could snatch away the least bit of credit. Each end of the month, when he paid his rent were the only times when Dylan wished he was born into a wealthy household. Otherwise, he practically despised and looked down at the privileged and rich.

“Looks like I’m going to have to get another job,” he said under his breath. He walked down the street, ignoring every convenience store, which was easier said than done. But then, like fate, a gigantic poster met his eyes. 

*Employee Needed!

Requirements: Under 170 cm, high school degree, unemployed.

Call for more details: 613-555-2781*

"That’s oddly specific,” Dylan said. “But I fit all those requirements. I mean, I just published Deeper, so I’m not writing anything right now…”

So, yes, he was indeed employed, just on vacation for the meantime. But he was desperate, and decided he’d may as well call before making his final conclusion. Dylan dialed the number.

“McKenna estates, how may I help you?”

Dylan rolled his eyes. They must have been rich people.

“I wanted to ask about the job offer.”

“Alright. I’ll put you on hold.”

He waited for a half an hour, in the heat, whichc was torture. The hot summer was no joke. 

“Good afternoon, this is McKenna estate’s administration officer. Please visit us at McKenna estates tomorrow at 1 pm. Good day.”

Dylan shrieked on the inside. They put him on hold for thirty minutes just to say that?

Damn rich people, he thought. Just because they have so much time on their hands doesn't mean they can waste mine.

Despite his frustration, Dylan knew having a wealthy employer meant high pay, which perfectly accommodated his situation.

❀ ❀ ❀

The next morning, Dylan dressed himself in his best suit that he bought for that one time he got an interview from a small newspaper company. He dampened his hair with water - as a knockoff for hair gel - and left his apartment with his resume.

Unfortunately, there was no bus with a direct route, so the trip there took much more time than Dylan expected, and his fake hair gel expired. Though when he finally got there, he did not regret it. The huge mansions surrounding him kept him in awe. He may have despised rich people, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want a beautiful house.

A secretary or maid (Dylan had no clue what the difference was) brought him into a great big room. It seemed like a bedroom. An unbelievably large bedroom.

A man and woman were already sitting on the couch. Dylan invited himself to sit down, which made the woman twitch her eyebrow. 

“Welcome,” they greeted.

“Hi,” Dylan replied. The woman twitched her other eyebrow.

“We are Mars McKenna’s parents, otherwise known as the owners of this estate.” the man said. “We wanted to meet the candidates personally, since this job is specifically for our son.”

“Like being a servant?” Dylan was earnestly trying to impress them, but it wasn’t really working. Besides that, he was flustered about working for Mars McKenna. Sicilia would suspect something for sure.

“The word ‘servant’ is a little degrading,” Mrs. McKenna said. “We were thinking more of a friend. We want to hire a friend for Mars. He’s been lonely, and he can’t be hurt once more.”

Once more?

“If you don’t mind if I ask,” Dylan said kindly. Somehow, the word ‘friend’ really changed the whole situation. “Why would you want commoners like me?”

There was a short pause, as the worried parents looked at each other. 

“We want somebody completely different from his past relationships.” Mrs. McKenna coughed into her fist. “Do you happen to be gay?”

Not this again. I guess the rumours must have been true.

“No.” He clenched his jaw and held his breath until they answered, like he always did when he lied, but he wasn’t lying, right?

“Okay good,” they both replied with a sigh. Dylan assumed it must have been some sort of rich person thing to be homophobic. They probably were narrow minded anyway.

The two discussed for a little, in front of Dylan where he could hear everything, which proved they weren’t usually the ones in charge of hiring. Strangely enough, they only talked about his personality, appearance and income and not his actual qualifications on his resume. Were they really only looking for a playmate for Mars?

“You meet all of our standards, can you start tomorrow?”

“Uh- yeah sure. Of course.”

“We’ll pay you monthly, and take care of your hospitality and meals. You will be staying in this room.”

“FOR REAL?” Dylan could not believe his ears. Living in this room would be incredibly amazing. “Pardon me. Thank you, is what I meant to say.”

“We will give you Mars’s weekly schedule and the contract tomorrow morning, so until then, pack whatever you need from home and bring them here,” Mr. McKenna said. “And remember, all you must do is be his best friend for life.”