Chris Cole, a movie star, falls in love with Brooke, his assistant’s mother. In A Family Affair, Zac Efron plays Chris Cole.
Zara works as Chris’ assistant because he has promised to train her and eventually make her a producer who will run his business.
It is because of that promise that Zara tolerates Chris’ gratuitous tantrums, demanding nature, and irrational orders.
Chris not only makes Zara clean up his messes but also constantly threatens to fire her. All in all, Chris is not a good boss.
Falling in love with Brooke
As Chris does not take her seriously, keeps disregarding her helpful advice, and continues to be insufferable, Zara gets fed up and quits her job.
Soon, Chris realizes he needs Zara; she is the closest thing he has to a friend. Chris goes to her house to ask her to work for him again.
While he does not meet Zara there, he meets her mother, Brooke, who is a writer. Although Chris is very different from Brooke, he gets along with her.
Chris finds it easy to talk to Brooke, sharing his doubts about the next installment of the superhero franchise, Icarus Rush, which brought him fame.
He also confides in her about not having any real friends. After losing his mother and brother, he moved to LA at the age of nineteen.
Soon after coming to LA, he became a star, which left him with no chance to form meaningful relationships or do normal things.
Brooke and Chris understand each other, as they have both lost important people in their lives. They bond and end up sleeping together.
However, Zara disapproves of their relationship, believing Chris will break Brooke’s heart as he has done with all his previous girlfriends.
Chris agrees not to sleep with Brooke again to get Zara to work with him, but he breaks his promise and starts dating Brooke secretly.
Unlike his previous relationships, Chris is serious about his relationship with Brooke and falls in love with her, showing her a vulnerable side no one has seen.
The journey to Chris’ happy ending
Eventually, Zara finds out about Chris and Brooke’s relationship. She starts accepting their relationship when she sees how thoughtful Chris is with her mother.
However, Zara later discovers a pair of earrings in Chris’ bag—the same pair he gives to all his girlfriends when he breaks up with them.
Chris always ends up running away from things that are good for him, which is why he had thought about breaking up with Brooke, but his urge to make her happy was stronger than the urge to self-sabotage.
Chris got Brooke a sincere gift but forgot to remove the earrings from the bag, leading Zara to misunderstand his intentions with her mother.
Zara reveals to her mother how conceited and inconsiderate Chris can be, pointing out that he uses the same tactics with all his girlfriends to make them feel special, just as he did with her.
Due to this, Brooke breaks up with Chris, and he once again finds himself lonely. Later, a heart-to-heart conversation leads to Chris reconciling with Zara.
Zara becomes his friend in earnest and takes him to a grocery store to give him an ordinary experience, which is something he has not done in a while.
She also arranges for Brooke to come there and asks Chris and Brooke to give their relationship a real chance, assuring them that she will not stand in their way.
Chris has changed. He now recognizes his flaws and confesses that he does not want to be alone anymore, leading to him getting back together with Brooke.
As Chris stops taking the people who care about him for granted, he gains a close friend in Zara and a loving partner in Brooke.
Also Read: A Family Affair summary and ending explained