I have been wanting to write a Celebrity/Fan Fiction story for a while, but I was having a hard time coming up with a plot that was somewhat believable. Then I saw a story alleging Charlize Theron had joined an exclusive dating app after breaking up with her boyfriend Alex Dimitrijevic. So, here is a fictional romantic story about what happened after she joined the Raya dating app. And yes, this will be a romantic story.
A special thanks to kenjisato for proofreading this story.
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"So, when was the last time you went out on a date?"
"Seriously?
"Yes. I really want to know."
"I can't remember my last date. Alex was not into dating, and I haven't been on a date since we broke up."
Charlize Theron and Kiki Layne were sitting at a hotel bar having a drink after the final day of shooting. For the past week, most of the cast of Old Guard 2 was in Vancouver to reshoot one scene that didn't go over well during audience test screenings. It had been four years since the original movie came out, and there had been a lot of pressure by the streaming service executives to get everything right.
Charlize and Kiki had become friends during the publicity tour for the original Old Guard and had stayed in touch ever since. Kiki pulled out her phone, opened up an app, and showed it to Charlize. "Have you ever heard of Raya?"
Charlize stared at the app's home screen, and said, "This looks like a dating app. Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?"
Kiki laughed, and said, "Hear me out, girl. Yes, Raya is a dating app, but it's way more exclusive than anything else I've seen."
Charlize was still not convinced. "What do you mean by exclusive?"
"You can't just join. First, you have to be recommended by someone who is already on Raya, then they look at your Instagram account, and Raya's community team determines whether or not to accept you. Only a small percentage of applicants get accepted."
Charlize was then more interested, and asked, "So who gets accepted?"
"There are, of course, celebrities, but they also have influencers and top executives from corporations."
Charlize looked at Kiki, smiled, and said, "I thought you and Ari'el were still together."
Kiki smiled back, "We are, but the app can also be used to meet new friends, so I'm still paying to subscribe."
"Wait. Do I have to pay to use this app?"
"You pay a monthly fee, but if you find the right guy, it will be totally worth it."
Charlize was not yet totally convinced, and said, "Let me think about it."
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Weekends were the hardest times for Brad. And this weekend was particularly bad. It was the one-year anniversary of his wife's death. They had been married fifteen years, and she was the only woman whom he truly loved. Brad was the executive director of marketing for a South African multinational internet-technology corporation. Since he was responsible for the company's marketing, Brad had a large Instagram following. He appeared regularly on business news shows and was often quoted whenever there was news concerning Johannesburg, where his company was headquartered and where he lived. The company had a large regional office in Los Angeles where Brad spent a lot of time.
In Southern California, February could be unseasonably warm, and the first Saturday afternoon in February was a gorgeous day. Brad decided to drive to Santa Monica and walk along the Santa Monica Pier. He often did that because staring at the ocean and people-watching allowed his mind to forget the loss of his wife. He was walking on the pier, enjoying the cool breeze, when his phone pinged with a notification. Normally, he ignored notifications unless they were work-related, but the ringtone on this notification was very unique. One that he had set up, but it had never rung before.
A few months ago, one of his clients saw how depressed Brad was and encouraged him to join Raya. He hesitated, at first, but he eventually joined. He downloaded the app and set up his account. Because of the notoriety he had, his application was quickly accepted. Once he was in, he added his interests, and without giving it a lot of thought, he picked "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey as the song to play along with his slideshow. He picked a ringtone for notifications and then began tapping through potential matches. Most of the women on the app were much younger than him, and he was not interested in any of them. For several days he scrolled but was quickly disillusioned. He never opened the app again, and he never received any notifications. Until today.
Brad looked at his phone, opened the Rays app, and went onto his connections tab. That was when he saw that someone had sent a connection request.
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Charlize spent the Christmas holidays near her hometown in South Africa. She traveled there frequently to support the foundation that she had started. Even though she kept busy during the holidays, she kept thinking about the conversation she had had with Kiki. When she told Kiki that she could not remember her last date, she wasn't entirely honest. She had been with two men since she broke up. But she justified her answer because those occasions had been regrettable hookups and not real dates.
The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that she should start dating again. She wanted to meet someone who shared some of the same beliefs as she did. She was still not totally convinced that a dating app was the best way, but maybe this one was different. Since this app focused not only on stars and influencers but also on people outside the entertainment industry, she might find someone whom she would not ordinarily meet. After spending a very lonely New Year's Eve, she sent Kiki a text.
CT: Hey there. Happy New Year. I'm still in SA. Hope all is well with you. Remember that conversation we had on the last day of the shoot
KL: Hi Char. I do. Hope you are having a good time over there. You ready to join
CT: I think so. What do I need to do
KL: Easy. Download the app, create your account and fill out the application. Rember to give them your IG handle and give them mine as your referral
CT: Thanks. Let's get together after I get back
It wasn't as easy as Kiki made it sound, but Charlize completed the application, and then the hard part began. After two weeks of waiting, she texted Kiki. She replied, saying that it was common to wait a month or more and told Charlize to be patient.
A week later, she got an email saying that she had been accepted. The next day, Charlize went into the app and did everything that was necessary to begin using it. For the next few days, Charlize was kept busy with foundation business and forgot about that app.
It was almost midnight Saturday night, and Charlize was having a hard time falling asleep. In the short time she had been on the app, she had not received any notifications, so she decided to be more proactive and see if there was anyone in which she was interested. She got into the app directory and started setting filters. She scrolled through a few profiles, but nothing stood out. Then she noticed the directory had a location filter. On a whim, she entered Johannesburg. She was surprised when several names came up. She kept swiping left until one of the profiles she saw seemed very familiar. Although she could not see a name, seeing the profile picture and the limited profile gave her a clue on who it could be. That made her Google his name, and sure enough, the two had briefly met before.
She confirmed that he worked for the internet-technology company that was a corporate sponsor of her foundation, and they had met seven years ago when he and his wife attended an event to celebrate the foundation's ten-year anniversary. That made her wonder. If he were still married, why would he be on a dating app? She did some more digging and found out that his wife had died from cancer a year ago. That made her hesitate. Was he still grieving? Was he ready to start seeing people again? Well, there was only one way to find out swipe right and send him a connection request.
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Brad viewed the connection request and immediately recognized that it came from Charlize Theron. When he and his wife had attended the foundation's ten-year anniversary, the company CEO had briefly introduced him and his wife to Charlize. He opened up her profile page and viewed her full profile. Then he listened and saw her profile slideshow. He saw the beautiful transformation of a gorgeous young actress to a stunning woman. Next, he went onto her Instagram account. There he saw the typical pictures you would expect from a movie star, but there were also pictures with some of the children her foundation supported. He found a bench to sit on and scrolled for the next hour. He read the thoughtful messages she attached to the pictures. He saw the beautiful picture of Charlize posing with her mom. Most importantly, he saw an unpretentious and easygoing woman who he wanted to get to know better. He didn't want to appear too anxious, so he waited until he got home, and that was when he accepted her request to connect.
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On most mornings, Charlize would wake up and go on a three-mile jog before breakfast. This morning, she woke up late and didn't leave until 11:00am. When she got back, she looked at her phone and saw that Brad had accepted her connection request. She fixed herself a light lunch, opened up the app, and viewed and heard Brad's slideshow. She smiled when she heard 'Don't Stop Believing' Then she scrolled through his Instagram feed to find out more about him.
Of course, the first thing she noticed was his physical appearance. She had already known that he was taller than her from the first time they met. She also knew that he was three years younger than her from the first time she Googled him. But she was surprised that in all the pictures, he appeared to be in his late thirties and not in his late forties. All his pictures showed a well-maintained physique, a person who worked out. She did notice a little graying in his hair, but that made him look more confident, and that was a quality she needed in a man.
Then, she saw pictures of some of the things he enjoyed doing, and she was happy to see that he also enjoyed warm-weather activities. Then she saw a post talking about a cause that was important to him. She smiled because she was considering joining the board of that nonprofit. The more she scrolled, the more she was convinced that they both shared the same values. Charlize had always gone after something she wanted. When she met the director of Young Adult, she pursued him so she could get a part in his next film. As she ate, she was going back and forth on whether to make the initial contact. By the time she was done with lunch, she was determined to reacquaint herself with Brad. Thinking that he was in Johannesburg, she sent him a DM.
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Brad had an early Monday morning breakfast meeting, so he went to bed early. He always kept his phone by his bedside in case there was a work emergency, and at 2:30am on Monday morning, he heard that same ringtone that he had heard on the pier. He reached over to his nightstand, and though he was still half asleep, he stared at his phone.
CT: Hi Brad. Thank you so much for accepting my request. Loved your profile song.
After reading the message, he looked at the time. His first thought was,
it '
