“Wait, what do you mean?” Cade asked because that was not what he was expecting from Ophelia at all. He was calling to check in on her and to make sure that he did not leave foolishly because of his pride. It was obvious that this trip was to endanger him, even though it was also a good opportunity for him. It was a risk he was willing to take, but not at the expense of Ophelia. If he knew that she was still sick, he would have to abandon everything and move back home immediately.
“I mean, what you said was actually correct,” she said, and he heard a shuffle. “Man, am I a fool?” she muttered to herself.
“How are you feeling? Did you go to the hospital? What did the doctor say?” He said, ignoring her.
“Huh?” she let out, shocked.
“Well, are you going to tell me?”
“Wait, are you worried about me and not gloating that you were right all along?” She asked because if she had been the one in the situation, she would have gloated hard about it. She would have wanted him to know that he was right even though he was sure of himself, but here he was worried about her.
“Of course, when I left the house, you were very sick,” he said, and she let out a nervous laughter.
“Very sick? You make it sound like I was dying from a terminal illness.”
“Did you go to the doctor?”
“Yes, I did,” she felt out in a sigh. She was excited to pick up his call because she thought they would talk about Green and the turnout of events, but unfortunately, that was not what it was in the end.
“And what did he say?”
“Just a common cold. He advised that I use my medications and take great,” she said in the most unmotivated voice ever. It was like she had been tricked by the mean girls that the dance was a night earlier and then played a huge prank on them. “I do not know why you are so worried; I told you that the relationship we have now does not afford you to do that,” she said, suddenly aware that maybe she should not be on the call at all.
“I was just worried, you know. I thought we were friends, and I think friends can be worried about these kinds of things, right?” He asked, standing up and going to the huge window in the room.
“We are not friends, Cade; even business partners have a closer relationship than we do.”
“But…”
“Cade, this is certainly not about you but about me, and I do not mean this in a self-conscious way where I am trying to make a point and also be the good person who is actually a bad person at the same time. I mean this with sincerity. I was the one who went on to fall for you even after our agreement. How can I remain friends with you? If I do that, I might as well do something stupid like Green and Harper. Who knows what I would do just because of love?” She asked and let out a worried sound from her throat. “Unfortunately, love makes all the reasoning in your head fluff out the window, so who can we be friends?” She asked like she was in a monologue and performing life before a huge group.
“But Ophelia, how can we work together to make sure that both our goals are achieved if we do not want to associate with each other?”
“I guess we would just have to slow down for now,” she said and cut off the call. She could not believe how much she had allowed her emotions to control her. She lay in bed looking up at the ceiling as she remembered when she had first met him at the clubhouse that night.
She had heard of him before, the famous Cade Vale, and she had lived as the famous Toria Toria, who made all men bow to her. Surprisingly, even though she had sworn to her friend that there was no way that Cade would look that special in her eyes. Immediately she saw him sitting away from the world as she danced on the dance floor; she felt as though she needed to talk to him. She passed by him hoping that her beauty was still the same one that had made men fall, and she was quite sure it worked.
It was like an instant connection for her with him, and the night they spent was magical for her. She was drunk, but she was aware of every single detail that night and panicked and ran away. However, when she was able to work out her courage, she discovered he had gone back to his city, and that was when fear overwhelmed her. He would forever remember her as the one-night stand girl when she felt a connection for him that night. When they met again, she recognized him immediately. Even though he was right to call her Toria, there was no way she would allow that to fly. All of that was her past, and she left it behind forever.
She fell asleep with her face facing the ceiling as she thought, and she woke up to the phone blasting off the hook by three am. One of the celebrities in the agency had a scandal, and she had to deal with it. She could not believe her dad turned her into someone who was to clean up the mess of others when she was supposed to be the one creating the mess in the first place.
“What is the current situation of things?” she asked as Diana finished her brief. Apparently, this celebrity had been the biggest one in their agency, but for many reasons, he was the one always getting in trouble.
“Very bad; you need to get here as fast as you can. I will get to the office and make sure everything is in shape,” Diana said. It seemed like doors were slamming, and she was panting and huffing as she walked out of her room. “Do you think you can make it there on your own?” she added a bit out of breath.
“Of course I can.”
“Is there anything else?” Diana asked.
“I will meet you at the agency house; can you please call the PR team and tell them to begin working on something to make all of this go away, and can you get me coffee?” she asked.
She cut off the line and went straight to change into something more worthy of being out in public. She might get her pictures taken, so she had to prepare. She touched up her makeup as well, so the pictures came out well.
“This is work, an opportunity for you to get your mind off mundane things that do not make sense. Do not blow it and work it well,” she whispered to herself in the mirror before making her way out of the room.