The Fallout

When Liam and Sophie finally slipped out of the tight trailer, still slightly breathless, cheeks flushed, and hearts stubbornly pretending nothing had happened, they stepped into the open.

And there. Right there.

Claire, mouth agape, and Max, expression reading: This is going to be a disaster, but somehow genius.

Claire raised her hand first, finger pointed at them, as if she were about to make an arrest.

“No,” she said. Not a command. More like… judgment. “No no no no no.”

Max glanced at her. “Claire, please, don’t hyperventilate. Now is not the time. Or… maybe it is,” he added quietly, eyes flicking to Liam, seeing that rare expression Liam rarely showed: softer. And dangerous.

Sophie wanted to say something. Something smart. Something that wouldn’t sound like a confession. But her voice betrayed her:

“We were just…”

Claire nearly laughed—not from humor, but from despair. “Just? JUST?! You walk out of his trailer together, Sophie. Both of you look like you… forgot how to breathe.”

Max raised a hand carefully between Claire and Liam, who instantly went defensive, as if a script hammer was about to drop. His expression betrayed he knew exactly what happened, but instead he said. “Maybe they were just… talking?”

Claire gave him a look that could melt steel.

Finally, Liam spoke, low and slightly harder than usual: “It’s not what you think.”

Claire raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because it looks exactly like what I think.”

Sophie’s face turned crimson—not a cinematic blush, but the real one.

Max cleared his throat. “I… I’ll just say something. If we’re talking honesty,” he began, and Claire rolled her eyes before he could continue. “If we’re talking honesty, you two are shaken right now, probably about as much as the trailer from the vibrations.”

Sophie exhaled sharply. “Max!”

“What?” he said. “I didn’t say from what.”

Claire crossed her arms. “Liam, you… you’re a smart man. Too smart. Why would anything between you two be smart?”

Liam looked away. In that silence, no one could escape the tension.

Sophie stepped forward, small but firm, as if to brace them all. “It’s not about being smart,” she said quietly. “It’s about what we feel.”

Claire froze. Max muttered softly, “ohh,” almost inaudible.

Liam swore silently in his head so hard it should be banned in six countries.

Claire closed her eyes, inhaled, exhaled, and very slowly said: “I need… five minutes. Alone. Or I’ll kill someone.”

Max grabbed her by the elbow.

Once Claire and Max left, Sophie and Liam were alone at the trailer threshold.

Sophie bit her lower lip. “That didn’t… go perfectly.”

Liam smirked, exhausted, half-detached. “It wasn’t the worst. Nobody was yelling.”

“Claire almost was,” Sophie muttered.

“Claire has reflexes,” Liam shot back.

They paused, silence stretching, charged and impossible. Between them was this… new thing. Fresh. Alive.

Sophie finally lifted her gaze. “What now?”

Liam slowly ran a hand over his face. “Now… we just walk. Before anyone else notices us.”

Side by side, they moved. Shaken. Too honest. Too much. Yet they didn’t pull away. Not even an inch.

Back at the hotel, a lecture awaited.

Max stood outside Liam’s room, knocking with persistence that could wake the dead. Liam opened the door, half-dressed in a loose shirt, expression saying: Seriously, I need this now.

Max entered without waiting. “We need to talk.”

Liam sat on the edge of the bed. “Great. Just what I wanted—a life lesson.”

“This isn’t a lesson. It’s a warning,” Max said, stepping closer, more serious than usual. “If her father finds out you and Sophie… whatever this is… you’ll have a problem. A huge one. Not because you don’t have a career. Because you do. And because you have a band going back on stage in two weeks.”

Liam closed his eyes. “I know.”

“No, you don’t,” Max replied. “If it gets out that you’re involved with her while co-starring, and her father is finalizing a multi-million-dollar studio deal… we could lose sponsors, studio support, a concert could be postponed, PR would go insane… and you’d have headlines you don’t want.”

Liam’s hand slid down his face, voice quiet. “Max… that night at the club… I had no idea it was Sophie. She had a wig. She was… someone else. Different energy. I was just… there. And she was there. And then—it happened. I drove her home. I didn’t know she’d kiss me. And I didn’t know I’d be acting with her.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Max interrupted. “But since then, I’m the one making sure you can even film this movie and play with your band. And the guys don’t want to lose you. You know that.”

“I never intended to,” Liam muttered.

“Good. Then don’t risk it.” Max softened slightly. “If you really care about her, you’ll need to learn to wait. Or… I don’t know. You know.”

“It’s not… just a fling,” Liam said quietly.

Max nodded slowly, realizing the enormity of the problem. “Yeah. I noticed that today.”

Meanwhile, Sophie sat on her bed, Claire pacing. “Sophie, what you just did… that was an attack on my nervous system.”

“This wasn't our first kiss,” Sophie mumbled. 

“You went into his trailer. Trailer. Where people do… things. And then you two—”

“Claire!” Sophie buried her face in the pillow.

“Now tell me,” Claire pressed, “that sentence… ‘this wasn’t our first kiss’…”

Sophie sighed. “It wasn’t. One night at the club… I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t know it was Liam. He didn’t know it was me. He was just… there when I needed someone to stand between me and a drunk guy.”

Claire slowly sat down, as if the chair might explode. “So… your movie didn’t create the chemistry. Your chemistry created the movie.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Basically… yes.”

Claire covered her face. “Your father is going to lose it. And that’s the polite version.”

“I can’t help it,” Sophie admitted.

Claire softened. “I get that you care about him. But girl… Viktor has influence. As much talent as Liam has, your dad has power. That combination is a recipe for disaster.”

“I don’t want to hurt him,” Sophie whispered.

“Then be careful,” Claire said gently.

Sophie swallowed. “I know.”

Claire leaned closer. “And then?”

Sophie’s eyes were dreamy. “Then… I don’t know. When he was there today, calming that horse… I don’t know why I panicked. But… I didn’t want anything to happen to him.”

Claire watched her long, too understanding for her own good. “Great. Now you’ve fallen in love too.”

Sophie groaned. “Please, stop.”

“I can’t,” Claire murmured. “It’s my job.”

Later, Max and Claire met in a quiet corner of the hotel, away from the crew and cast. Both looked tense, fully aware of the gravity of the situation.

“We have a serious problem,” Claire said, voice low. “And we can’t let this get out. Not her father, not Aleksander, not anyone.”

“I know,” Max replied. “I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since we saw them outside the trailer. Liam… Sophie… they’re reckless, and the timing is terrible.”

Claire paced. “They don’t fully understand the implications yet. And I… I almost wish they’d just stop. But that’s impossible. They’re too stubborn to ignore each other.”

Max nodded. “Yeah. And as much as it pains me… we have to let them handle it for now. Keep it under wraps, for their sake and ours. If Viktor or Aleksander even suspect…” He clenched his jaw. “We’d be screwed.”

Claire exhaled. “It’s frustrating. We know it’s real between them, but… if the world finds out, it could ruin everything. Liam’s career, her image, the movie, the band. Everything.”

Max glanced around, lowering his voice. “I don’t like it either. But secrecy is the only way for now. We protect them, and ourselves. They have to figure it out, step by step, without anyone interfering.”

Claire nodded reluctantly. “I hate having to hide it from Sophie’s father. But… I understand. For now, Liam and Sophie have to keep it under control. And we have to be ready if it slips.”

Max put a hand on her shoulder. “We’re on the same side. We just… can’t let this explode publicly.”

Claire exhaled. “Okay. Quietly. And hope they don’t get caught up too fast. Because if they do… there’s no stopping the fallout.”

Max nodded. “Agreed. We protect them, we protect the project. And we pray it doesn’t get messy before they’re ready.”

They stood in silence, knowing: Liam and Sophie’s chemistry couldn’t be suppressed, but it also couldn’t be exposed. Discretion was the only choice—for now.