"My dad arranged for me to meet this guy I told you about. I just don’t want to meet him. I want you to go in my place."

"But… how? That’s crazy," Millie had started rising her voice but noticed it and then lowered it. "What I mean is, what will you get from this?"

"Two things: not meeting him and, most importantly, you’re going to scare him away."

"What? How?"

"Let’s be real, Millie. If I go, there’s no way he’ll reject me. No matter how obnoxious I try to be, I’m just too perfect. On the other hand—"

"I’m me, right?"

"Exactly! You didn’t even comb your messy hair before performing."

"It’s just my hair, Emma."

"Yeah, whatever. The point is it’s not for free. You do this for me and I’ll fund an album for you, with awesome producers, a great budget, promotions, and all. But don’t worry, you’ll have complete control over the project, no matter how boring you wanna make it."

Millie started to frown but then thought of the huge opportunity in front of her.

"But… what if he likes me? What if I can’t push him away? Or worse, what if he already knows what you look like?"

"Even if he knows, then tell him the truth, so he’ll know how much I despise the idea of meeting him. That could complicate the situation, of course. I’d prefer everything to go smoothly, so let’s try to keep up with the plan. Okay? Come on, Millie Vanilla!"

Her fists clenched at the sound of that nickname she hated, but she forced herself to endure it while thinking of the opportunity of getting an album release. She had already released music on her own, but she hadn’t succeeded. Maybe if she had a huge label and producers backing her up, it’d help. Besides, Emma was promising she would retain full creative control, which was of utmost importance. Her eyes went from right to left, left to right, right to left…

Millie finally raised her eyes to meet Emma’s.

"When’s the date?"