Chapter Six - Kayla
Kayla
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I can”t count the times this word flies through my head. Every single time I get swarmed like that, it makes my heart beat so fast I feel like I”m about to have a panic attack, like I’m about to hyperventilate and freeze involuntarily.
I’d never admit it to his face, but I’m so goddamned relieved Asher was with me. There’s no telling how this kind of thing would have ended if I had to face that mob alone.
And while I appreciate Asher acting like a provisionary security guard, I have a sinking feeling in my gut that this is going to be blown way out of proportion.
As innocent as the gesture of him taking my hand was, on pictures, without context? Shit is about to hit the fan.
My phone buzzing relentlessly in my bag confirms my suspicions. I don”t even need to look at the messages to know that this is already happening.
At least the buzzing stops temporarily once the elevator doors close. And suddenly, I am way too aware that it”s just Asher and me in this tiny enclosure.
He seems rattled, running his hand over his face and along the slight shadow of a beard on his cheek as he paces the two steps it takes him to cross the elevator. I cross my arms in front of my chest and lean against the cold, metal wall.
Shouldn”t he be used to paparazzi? He”s a big shot in the entertainment industry after all, are you seriously telling me this is a first?
”Are you sure you”re okay?” I ask him when, once again, he opens his hair bun to re-tie it. It seems to be a habit for him when he”s stressed because this is the third time he”s done it since we entered the elevator.
”Maybe,” he concedes, sounding breathless, his voice shaking slightly.
”Take a deep breath,” I tell him and demonstrate it. He stops his pacing and imitates me.
”How are you this cool about it?” he wonders and looks me up and down, something like awe shining in his eyes. I avert my eyes, noticing my cheeks growing warm.
But when I peek at him from the corner of my eye, I see his eyes transfixed to the bit of naked skin between the end of my boots and the rim of my skirt. What a horndog.
Yet it makes the warmth in my cheeks intensify.
”I”m not,” I admit softly and clear my throat when my voice comes out all croaky. His eyes dart to mine and his shoulders start to relax the tiniest bit.
”You”re a better actress than I thought then.”
”Yep. You missed out,” I say, finally looking at him again for a wink, then face the door when the elevator announces our arrival. It’s definitely one of the slower elevators I’ve ever been on, but then again, it didn’t cause my ears to pop. ”And now you”ll never know.”
As soon as we step out of it and into a marble welcome hall, a host from Fantasia is scurrying towards us with an apologetic look on his face.
”On behalf of our establishment, I can only apologize. We assure you it was no one of our restaurant who disclosed your friend”s presence to the media,” he starts but I quickly wave him off. I know no restaurant, not even Fantasia, is able to monitor the public sidewalk in front of their skyscraper at all times, much less keep tabs if a celebrities’ location has been leaked.
”It”s fine,” I tell him. “Really, I know this is out of your control. I’m very thankful the building’s security stepped in and would appreciate the same engagement after our meal.”
“Of course,” he assures me quickly and then motions for the two of us to follow him.
He leads Asher and me through a very opulent entrance hall and through the whole restaurant. I don’t notice a thing about it, though, because my thoughts are still whirling with what happened within the past fifteen minutes.
Finally, he guides us around the corner of a greenery wall, and I see the back of Millie’s head and Luca. Relief washes over me and I take a deep breath.
”Sorry we”re late,” I say to them, noting the disappointed frown on Millie’s face as we make ourselves known. Just as Luca”s eyes shoot up and Millie turns around, I realize that at some point Asher has reached for my hand again and I quickly let go of him.
”Yeah, sorry about that. First, I had to get fuel and then we got held up by the horde of paparazzi in front of the restaurant.”
I force my face to remain neutral as he lies abashedly about having to get fuel and nod to confirm. Millie shoots me an amused look, but she seems happy. Relaxed. Like I’ve made the right call. Thank God.
She’ll probably grow to hate me soon enough, the way she’s always taking the media-falls for me.
I force myself to act like I”m paying attention to the conversation the three are having, while in truth, my thoughts are anywhere but at this table.
No, they still revolve around the same thing. Asher grabbing my hand. Paparazzi screaming. Asher asking if I’m alright. I also still feel my phone buzzing incessantly in my pocket and I dread having to answer it, although I know that at one point I must.
I have no reason to like Asher. He”s annoying, self-centered, too full of himself and he can stick that goddamned ‘Sweetheart’ where the sun doesn’t shine.
But his hand around mine? The way he shielded me from the crowd as he pulled me behind him to the building? The way I can walk beside him in high heels and not feel like a giant?
Those were a first.
And fuck, all of it felt really nice. Who would have thought that this evening would become a bonding experience?
What’s not so nice is knowing what’s coming.
Him holding my hand will be all over the news outlets tomorrow, if not today. I know this as surely as that the sky is blue. I cannot see a single way that Naroa would be able to stop it.
Paparazzi? They can be paid off by the label if they really didn’t want the story to break.
But fans taking pictures? They might as well have livestreamed it. There”s no coming back from that once those pictures hit social media.
”Is everything alright?” Millie”s worried tone tears me away from my anxious thoughts and I release my lip I’ve been biting from my teeth.
”I”m not so sure,” I tell her quietly. Huh. At one point a salad made its way in front of me and I”m currently digging my fork into it, pushing a small piece of tomato around the plate. ”The paparazzi got pictures of Asher and me walking inside, so I”m kind of expecting Naroa to blow up my phone any moment now.”
The fact that my phone has only been buzzing is my only indicator that Naroa hasn”t tried to contact me yet. They’re probably social media notifications or friends checking in.
If Naroa would be calling me, the whole restaurant would be able to hear the siren alarm I assigned to her number. That makes it even more scary.
”I”m sure it”ll be fine,” Millie tries to calm me down and pats my arm. ”Maybe the two of us should just leave together. We could paint it like a coincidence that you two arrived here at the same time.
”I don”t think that will work.” A grin tugs at my lips. It”s cute that she thinks it will, though. Our fans might be easy to mislead in certain cases, but they”re not dumb. “They saw us get out of the same car and when they started crowding us, Asher took my hand. It’s one hundred percent going to make the news. Social media is probably freaking out already.”
”I”m sure Naroa”s got it,” Millie assures me and pats my hand, but I have my doubts. She might have heard of it. She might be pulling a few strings before calling me. But I doubt she’s going to do anything I’m too thrilled about.
And the only alternative I know they got to distract from the pictures? Blasting Millie and Luca all over the news instead and hope everyone would forget about Asher and me.
That”s absolutely not happening. Not this time.
I eye Asher as he jokes around with Luca and mumble some half-assed input to the conversation taking place until the next food course arrives at our table.
I keep looking at Millie and Luca. They’re relaxed with each other now, a bit awkward with Asher and me being here. I just knew we should have left them alone.
Well, no use crying over spilled milk. All that matters is that the two of them are talking and shooting each other smiles when they think Asher and I aren’t looking.
And the way he eyes her like he”s just happy she”s gracing him with her presence? The way she giggles at almost everything that comes out of Luca”s mouth?
Those two could be the end-game. They should be end-game. They fit together like two sides of a damned locket. I can almost picture Millie walking down the aisle in a wedding dress already.
There is no way I could put the two on blast just to not deal with the media for fucking holding Asher”s hand.
But what other choice do I have?
Asher bursts into laughter at something Luca said, and it doesn”t grate my nerves the way I thought it would.
I need to make a plan. And I need to make it quickly, before we leave this restaurant.
All of us cheer when Logan, our waiter, announces that we”ve finally reached the last course. I can”t believe I even made it this far.
My belly is so abnormally full, if I were wearing jeans I”d be afraid of the button popping off. Thank God my skirt is high rise and covers my stomach. God beware pregnancy rumors come up additionally to the handholding pictures.
Millie is also fighting, but like the warrior she is, she puts her fork up in the air as though she”s saying a toast. ”To finishing this wonderful and very extensive meal.”
”To that,” all of us say and raise our forks in the same way.
Just like all the other courses before, this last piece of dessert is delicious. I kind of hate how full I am, because if I had the capacity, I”d definitely order like ten more of these. Now that one single bite brings me so close to having the rest of the meal try to say ‘hi’ to me again that I’ll never be able to eat it again without remembering that nausea.
Which means that finally, the time has come where I can’t continue to ignore Naroa anymore.
At one point, my phone had started chiming with her ringtone, but I quickly set the device to do not disturb, hoping she”d take a few deep breaths and have calmed down some until I call her back.
”Wonderful,” I say and lean my head back to stare at the ceiling for a moment. ”Now, I fear it”s time to face the music. Please excuse me while I take my manager”s fiftieth call.”
With a deep sigh, I get up and leave to find a quiet spot, walking slowly to not upset my stomach. A soft murmur of people talking is the constant background music in this restaurant, and I try to find a more secluded place, because this conversation is going to require privacy.
I am successful at the very back of the restaurant. There is a small room for people to smoke while watching the Philadelphia skyline, and the little hallway area right next to it appears empty.
A glance into the room reveals a couple standing with their backs to me, facing the window to look outside. I’m pretty sure the door makes the room soundproof so I hope I won’t disturb them as I get torn apart by Naroa back here.
I lean against the wall and close my eyes for a moment, focusing on a few calm breaths, before I press the call button.
Her phone doesn”t even ring once before Naroa answers.
”What the fuck are you doing, Kayla?” she curses, and I hear her heels clicking over the vinyl floor of her office.
”Alright,” I say and end the call again immediately.
If she can’t stick to a respectful tone, the conversation is done, because I”m definitely not having her talk to me like that. If she wants to get pissy with me, I’ll think of my own way to handle this. Without consciously thinking about it, I pull up my chat with Asher.
Kayla: Not involving my manager. Just fyi.
I don”t know why my first instinct was to message him. We’re not friends by all means, and I have no intentions of changing that, but I guess we’re sitting in the same boat here.
And let’s be real, Millie is way too busy with her new crush for me to want to involve her in whatever is going on.
I don’t want her to worry about what’s going on.
I start pacing the hallway, shooting the couple a quick smile when they walk out of the smoking room with disheveled hair. As they turn their back to me, I shudder and grimace.
Nope, I don”t even want to know what they did in there.
Despite knowing better, I look down at my phone and pull up the first social media app I see. Literally the first picture on my for you page is one of Asher and me, shielding our eyes from the cameras, him holding my hand clearly visible.
The picture already has half a million likes and a quarter million shares.
Great. Wonderful. Not.
Unknown number: So, what”s the plan?
I jump when the message suddenly pops up. For some reason, I didn”t expect him to answer that quickly.
Kayla: We leave together and hope they think we”re the only ones here and leave Luca and Millie alone, then make a proper game plan in the car?
Unknown number: Sure thing.
I take one more deep breath and try to collect my thoughts before I make my way back to our table.
I”ve been a part of ‘showmances’ before. When the label had some newcomers they wanted to promote, they”d sometimes set us up for a meeting that looked like a date and tipped off the paparazzi, often even without Millie or me knowing.
Rumors about the newcomers and us dating spread quickly and they had their much-needed opportunity to shine when everybody and their dog had a look at whom the Sirens were dating this time around.
And I hated it. Especially learning afterward that we had been used. Something about it felt . . . cheap.
I have no intention of stooping to that level again for Starlet Sounds or a newcomer I’ve never even heard of.
But Millie?
That”s a whole other story. I would take a bullet for that woman.
The closer I get back to our table, the more nervous I become, my fingers playing with the hem of my shirt and lip between my teeth.
I pull it out when all three of them look up at me as I round the corner separating our table from the rest of the restaurant.
”So, I spoke to Naroa—” It’s not really a lie. They don”t need to know that it was only one word. ”Asher and I are pictured all over social media already anyways, so we”re leaving together. Hopefully, they”ll think we”re the only worthwhile celebs in here so you two can leave in peace.” I take a deep breath before I address Millie more quietly.
”On a serious note, I love this for you two. If you date, you should really not hard-launch your relationship, be a bit more inconspicuous next time. And don”t try to fool us,” I add when both of them stare at me with wide eyes. They might think they”re sneaky, but their adoration for each other lies in the air so heavily it feels like goddamn soup in my lungs. ”We have eyes, we can see what”s happening.” Then I lean down to give Millie a quick hug. ”I”ll wait for you at your place?”
”Alright, mom,” she says with a giggle as she hugs me back and I shake my head at her when I straighten my back and saunter towards the exit.
When I realize Asher”s not following me, I turn around. ”Alright, let”s go.” I motion my head towards the exit, and he jumps up from his seat to follow me.
”Do you want me to hold your hand again?” he asks with a disgustingly wide smile on his face and I roll my eyes. At least he’s taking it with humor now.
””Want” is a strong word, Asher, but you might have to.” I wave at the host to pay on our way out, but Asher swipes his card over the reader before I can even attempt to pay.
Once we step into the elevator hall, I grab his sleeve and pull him into a corner.
”I need to keep my management out of this,” I tell him quietly, keeping my eyes out that nobody gets into earshot. He shoots me a curious glance but doesn’t seem overly bothered by it.
”Why?” I notice I’m still holding onto his sleeve, so I quickly let go.
”Long story short, I don”t trust our manager and the way she and the label handle our media presence,” I disclose in a hushed tone, and he tilts his head, signaling that he’s listening. ”They like to throw Millie to the wolves and provide no damn support once she”s facing the consequences of their decisions. All they care about is that our brand and music sell; they don”t give a fuck about what that does to her. I want to give Luca and her time together before the vultures attack.”
“So do I.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I was skeptical, but they seem perfect for each other.”
“I’m glad that we’re on the same page,” I say with my shoulders sagging in relief. “So let’s go.” I take a step forward and he follows diligently.
”So, wait, are you proposing what I think you”re proposing?” he asks, walking beside me, a mischievous grin on his lips and crinkling the corners of his eyes.
”Huh?” I tilt my head and stop to call the elevator. ”I”m not proposing anything other than walking out of here together.”
”You”re proposing we distract the media from them,” he continues, chuckling at my puzzled expression just as the elevator doors open and we walk inside. “So let’s give them a show, girlfriend.”
I freeze. ”No, no, no. Get that out of your head. I did not propose that. I only agreed to this double date to get Millie to go.”
”Oh yes, you did. Not in so many words, but the implication was clearly there. And let me tell you, Sweetheart, that”s a wonderful idea.”
”Don”t call me Sweetheart.”
”Oh, is this our first relationship fight? Would you rather have me call you ”muffin”?”
”Asher, stop it.” I hate to admit it, but thinking back . . . did I insinuate it?
Maybe. Is there really no other way to distract the media and fans to let them date in peace?
”We will walk out there like regular ol” friends and tell the people you took me on this dinner to apologize for that interview you gave back then. It”s only half a lie anyways.”
”Boring.” He pouts, then shrugs. ”But alright.”
”Good,” I say, a relieved sigh falling from my lips. When the elevator doors finally open, I just know there is chaos waiting for us. I see the camera flashes before we even round the corner and hear a constant loud murmur.
Thank God the host from upstairs must have alerted the building”s security because they”re already doing their best to keep the masses of photographers at bay and make us a path to Asher’s car.
”I should have brought sunglasses,” Asher sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before he walks right ahead.
”Not like we could have known,” I grumble and follow suit.
He hesitates a moment with his hand on the handle before he opens the mirror glass door separating us from outside and I take the opportunity to take a deep breath and try to brace myself for what”s to come.
The shouting starts immediately.
”Asher, look here!”
”Kayla! Are you dating him?”
”Kayla, come on, give us a smile!”
Security is doing their best to push against the crowding people and clear a path so we can get to Asher’s car. But the crowd has become terrifyingly huge.
Then again, it must have been two or three hours since the first pictures came out, giving everyone more than enough time to gather here.
I do my best to keep my eyes down or fixated on the hem of Asher”s shirt as I walk behind him, trying to not get blinded by all of the camera flashes. He walks quickly, yet occasionally glances over his shoulder to make sure I follow behind.
Suddenly, somebody grabs my hand and I let out a surprised sound, startled as I”m stopped in my tracks.
The security guy shoots me an apologizing glance before he tries to pull whoever”s holding onto my sleeve off me and push him back into the crowd, but the person, who I”m assuming is a male fan because he”s pushing a phone in my direction and not an expensive-looking camera, won”t budge.
Until I feel a warm presence at my back and suddenly, Asher is towering over me, with fury in his eyes that makes the guy shrink into himself and finally let go.
”Let go of my girlfriend, asshole.”