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"One last question before we end the show tonight," Ronald Wilson, the host of The Gossip King, spoke into the mic, looking directly at me with a small smile.

"Of course," I said into the mic right in front of me while I wanted to wind up the interview as fast as possible.

It was five in the evening and I was already getting impatient to finish my interview on this radio show.

I forced a smile and looked at the host who was delaying the question for a dramatic effect, making me groan inwardly.

"Allie, you have built such a big fan base ever since your first single came out and it keeps on growing as you keep dropping song after songs. What we want to know is that why is your face still a mystery. I mean, according to me, all your fans are dying to see who you are," Ronald asked me the question that many had in mind.

It was true. No doubt my songs had created an uproar in the world, I hadn't revealed my face to the world yet.

No one knew what I actually looked like and nor did they know that my real name was Alyssa. I went by the name 'Allie'. Though there had been many times when people did try to guess if my name was a short form of Allison, Alyssa, Alice, Alicia and so on.

I looked at Ronald and rolled my eyes. He gave me an amused look and gestured for me to speak into the mic.

Ronald had become one of my good friends ever since I ventured into the world of music, professionally.

The only reason he could see me and knew my face was because he had signed a contract about keeping my identity a secret from the public.

"Well, Ronald, it's because I don't want to lose the normality of my life. I don't want the spotlight just yet because I have a family to take care of. Maybe in the future, I might just give everything a go," I replied and he quickly ended the interview, promising the fans to scoop out more gossip about me, the next time.

Once the interview was over, I immediately got up. "I'll take my leave now."

"I'll see you soon," Ronald got up and gave me a friendly side-hug.

I grinned at him and rushed to the door. I heard Ronald calling me so I paused before turning back and giving him a questioning look.

"Sorry for calling you on your anniversary. Enjoy you day," he called out and I yelled "it's okay," before rushing through the door.

I had on black jeans, a white tank top and a black summer blazer on top that I had paired with converse.

The reason I didn't dress too flashy was because I didn't want to stand out. There were a very few people who knew who I actually was and I wanted to keep it that way.

I put on my sun glasses before ducking through the fire exit. I knew there was going to be a lot of paparazzi at the front door to catch a glimpse of who Allie was, so it was like a routine for me to go through the back.

But recently, some of them had started loitering at the back too. Since they never seemed to be able to catch me through the front.

Once I reached the last floor, I quickly shrugged off my blazer and put on a hoodie instead.

I tied my neatly curled hair into a bun before covering my head with my hoodie and sneaking out. I quickly looked around to see if there were any paps around.

To my misfortune, there were five or six of them at the back.

I groaned as I spotted them looking closely at their surroundings for any pop star.

I dialled Ronald's number. The money he picked up, I spoke. "I need your help."

"Don't worry about it," he spoke and ended the call.

I knew what was going to happen. This was one of the drills that we had planned incase there were paps in my way.

Ronald would create a commotion outside, making everyone believe that I was leaving from the front door while I escaped from the back. And by the time everyone realised that I wasn't there in the front, I would have been on my merry way.

Barely two minutes later, I heard a lot of shouting and screaming which grabbed the attention of the paps in front of me.

They immediately rushed to the entrance, making me sigh in relief. I quickly escaped through the back door and jogged for a while before walking normally. I removed my shades and hood before walking towards the subway.

I wasn't taking the subway, it was just that I had parked my car behind the subway station, where the parking for a hotel was.

Once I located my car, I quickly jumped into it and started my way home. It was Aaron and I's wedding anniversary.

It was the time when even he was home. My dear Candy had managed to get into the national soccer team, fulfilling his dream of becoming a renowned soccer player.

Stopping at the red light, I groaned. Couldn't I reach home faster?

I didn't have much planned for today, though. Between radio show interviews and recording of my new album, I had barely gotten any time for planning.

It wasn't bad though, a nice family day was okay for me.

Once the green signal came into view, I quickly drove and continued my journey home.

Once I spotted the beautiful house with red roof and big front door, I quickly parked my car in the driveway and hopped out.

"Great interview today!" A voice startled me and I looked to my right to see Mrs. Henley watering her flowers.

I smiled at her. "Thank you Mrs. Henley!"

Mrs. Henley was an old woman in her late sixties who had been my neighbour since we bought this house. She was a kind woman who lived with her husband.

She knew my secret and helped me maintain it since there had been times when the paparazzi landed in this neighbourhood in search of 'Allie'.

It was crazy, to be honest.

"Here, I made cookies for your anniversary," she picked up a big box, gesturing for me to take it.

"Aw. Thank you so much. You didn't have to do that, you know," I said as I took the box from her.

"Nonsense! Now go on. Your man has been waiting for you," she said, making me blush.

I turned around before thanking her once again. I unlocked the door, careful not to drop the box.

The moment I did, a cute shout made me look up. "MOMMY!"

I quickly set the box of cookies on the side table before catching a running ball of sunshine in my arms.

"How's my darling, today?" I asked my sweet little daughter as I hugged her to my chest.

"Mommy, you know dadd-ee (Daddy) gave chocy (chocolate). Yum yum!" She giggled excitedly.

I laughed at her and that's when I saw chocolate smeared across her cute face. "Mommy bought you cookies!"

Her eyes lit up at the mention of cookies and she clapped excitedly. "Yay. Coo-keeeeee!"

I kissed her cheek, making her grin in happiness.

"Sydney! Cupcake, where did you g- oh," my dear husband came rushing down stairs. Once he saw me holding our daughter, he sighed in relief.

He was dressed in a black polo shirt and dark washed jeans with his hair tousled, looking as handsome as ever.

Looking at him, even after so many years, still brought the same butterflies into my stomach.

"I swear she's even more hyper than you were as a kid and she's just two!" He groaned but smiled nonetheless.

He came up to me, keeping a hand on Sydney's eyes he captured my lips with his into a loving kiss. My insides melted as I kissed him back, with equal emotions.

"Happy anniversary, Muffin," he whispered before pecking me once again and taking a step back.

He held out his arms for Sydney. "Come here Cupcake, let mom go freshen up. We'll have cookies," he said picking up the giant box with one hand.

Sydney jumped towards him, nearly making me stumble. Once he held her securely in his arms, I started my way to freshen up.

"Oh, and muffin?" Candy called out.

I paused at the staircase, looking back. "There's something on the bed which I think you'll like. Wear it and come down. I have a surprise for you," he said before going into the kitchen.

Curious, I quickly went to the bed and nearly gasped as I saw a beautiful long summer dress lying on the bed along with heels and jewellery.

I quickly grabbed it and went to the washroom. Once I was done freshening up, I quickly changed into the dress and put on the rest of the accessories.

The dress was beautiful. Not too formal and neither too casual. It was navy blue-black with small dot like stars splashed on the whole dress.

I straightened my hair and applied light make up, to look presentable and started my way downstairs.

A little excitement was bubbling up inside me as I anticipated Candy's surprise.

Once I went down, I followed the sound of giggling to see Candy playing with Sydney on the floor. He tickled her and her adorable giggles echoed.

I cleared my throat, making Candy look at me. He took a moment to look at me before his jaw dropped. He quickly picked up Sydney and put her on the sofa before coming to me.

"You're beautiful,"he whispered and pulled me to him before attempting to kiss me.

I ducked, shaking my head. "Na-uh. You'll eat up my lip-gloss," I said, gesturing to my lips that I'd painted a shiny but light red.

Candy groaned in response. "Okay fine. Let's get on with the surprise, shall we?"

Saying that, he picked up our daughter and grabbed my hand before dragging me to the backyard.

Once he opened the back door, an echo of "SURPRISE!" reached my ears.

My eyes widened and my lips stretched into a big smile as I spotted Sam, Nate, mom, dad, Agent Tom and Daddy Bear standing there, looking wonderful.

I had no clue who to go hug first and I stood there, frozen in shock.

It had been almost a year since I'd seen them all. They all seemed to find my expression amusing, since they all started laughing.

It was until Aaron nudged me that I snapped out of my initial shock. "You know, if I wanted to marry a statue, I would've married the one in the garden."

I elbowed Candy before rushing towards the people who completed my life.

I hugged mom and dad and then Candy's parents before hugging Nate. Next, seeing Sam, we both squealed and nearly tackled one another.

Aaron and Nate shared a look before shaking their heads, muttering something like,"Women."

Once our hugging fest was over, Sam raised a threatening eyebrow at Nate while I did the same to my darling husband.

"Wanna say that again?"

Candy's eyes widened before he shook his head vigorously.

"That's what I thought," I said and then turned to everyone else. I was about to say something when I noticed the setting outside.

My jaw dropped as I looked at the fairy lights hanging from the trees and four slanting couches with cushions laying outside, surrounding a big flat screen.

I looked at Candy in surprise. "What's that?"

"That, is surprise number two," he said, nearly making me burst out crying.

"I love you," I told him, my lips trembling.

He smiled at me. "I love you too, Muffin."

****

"When did you take this?!" Sam shrieked, hiding her face behind Nate's shoulder.

I laughed as I looked at Sam's picture on the wide screen, wearing the banana costume and wearing a grumpy look.

Right now, I was cuddled up with Candy on one couch while Nate and Sam on the other one.

The adults were inside along with Sydney.

"You know what? I have a brilliant plan," I whispered to Candy as I glanced at Nate and Sam who were snuggling.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm going to play all the embarrassing pictures of Sam and Nate as they speak their vows on their wedding," I smirked at my idea, remembering what Sam had done on my own.

"Awesome. And I think two months is enough time to gather some more pictures, don't you think?" He smirked back.

I broke into a mischievous grin before nodding.

"What're you two up to? You both have those scary grins on your faces," Sam pointed out, narrowing her eyes.

I have her an innocent grin in return. "Nothing. I just remembered I had to remind mom to feed Syd," I said and quickly got up, a plan forming in my mind.

Candy gave me a confused look. "But I already tol-"

"Honey, come with me. I think it's Sydney's washroom time too," I spoke a little too sweetly.

He got the message and got up. Thankfully, Sam and Nate were too busy snogging to notice Candy getting up too.

Once we were out of their hearing shot, I turned to Candy who stopped right behind me.

He smirked. "So what's the plan?"

I smirked back and told him what I was thinking. He grinned in response and got to work.

Ten minutes later, we both went back to the garden. The couple was still busy in their own world.

One look at Candy and we got to work. It was funny how they didn't even notice us behind their couch.

Once we were done with our handiwork, I quickly went inside and brought Sydney outside with me since she was a major part of this prank.

We quickly settled back on the couch with Sydney in my arms. "Cupcake? You know what to do, right?" I whispered as if she would understand me.

Her innocent eyes looked blankly at me and I chuckled. "Does my sweetheart want her chocy? (Chocolate)"

Her eyes immediately brightened up. "Chocy. Chocy! Yaaay" she clapped adorably.

I kissed her cheek before pointing towards a basket on the opposite side of the garden.

I nudged Candy to go to his position, behind the tree. He quickly went and hid there, near the basket.

I quickly set Syd down and let her walk/crawl her way to the basket. I grinned before masking my grin to a look of worry.

"Sam! Oh my gosh Syd is heading towards the thorny bushes. Catch her!"

Sam immediately got up. The moment she did, the weight lifted of the couch and the bucket of flour loosened, covering her in flour from top to bottom.

I quickly snapped a few pics of her shocked face.

Meanwhile, a confused Nate got up too, making the second bucket of ketchup dump on him.

I burst into laughter and so did Aaron. He quickly picked up Sydney and sat her in her cot before joining me in boisterous laughter.

It took a moment for the live birds to realise what happened and the moment they did, they charged towards us.

Candy and I exchanged a look before running for our lives, still laughing as they both chased us.

That was the time when I knew that no matter how much we grew and how ever apart we stayed, nothing was going to come between us. Even though our relationships changed and took another level, we would never stop being The Invisible Best Friends.

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