Why Were These Two Spotted Together?

Get ready to read a lot of rumors about Chris Martin and Rihanna in the next few weeks. According to TMZ, Martin and Rihanna were spotted having dinner together at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, California, leading many people to assume that the Coldplay singer and the Queen of the Naked Dress were, in fact, dating.

But slow your roll — these two don't necessarily need to be dating to have dinner together, right? It seems unlikely that this extremely public outing could be considered a date. Martin and his wife of 11 years, Gwyneth "Water Has Feelings" Paltrow, announced in April that they were in the process of "conscious uncoupling" and while he is certainly free to date whomever he wants at this point, it seems unlikely that he would flaunt a new relationship with RiRi right off the bat.

Though Rihanna and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Drake have allegedly broken up due to Drake calling Rihanna "needy" (ugh, seriously, Drake?) I can't imagine Rihanna jumping into a relationship with Martin, either — the amount of press coverage their relationship alone would get would drive any person insane. (I can already see the tabloid headlines: "RIRI FLAUNTS RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIS IN GWEN'S FACE!" "GWEN TURNS TO WATER FOR COMFORT AS RIHANNA AND CHRIS' RELATIONSHIP HEATS UP!!!") No, thanks.

Now, here are some more likely reasons why these two were spotted together. The first? They're simply friends who work in the same industry and are catching up. Despite what When Harry Met Sally tells you, these two could very well be exclusively chums. According to TMZ, the paparazzi know Rihanna goes to this restaurant often, so it appears that these two didn't have much to hide. These two already know each other from their collaboration on "Princess of China," so it would make sense for these two to want to catch up.

Another option? That these two are (finally!) recording a new song together. "Princess of China" was an awesome collaboration for the two very different and distinctive artists — meeting up for dinner could be a way to plan their next big hit. I'd listen.

Here's hoping that Rihanna and Martin's band Coldplay put out a new song really soon... and that the rumors of a relationship between Rihanna and Martin die out even faster.

Images: talkthattalkme/tumblr, lovesrihannanavyy/tumblr