Sophia’s POV:
As I stepped out of Ivan’s office, frustration gnawed at me.
What is his problem? I thought to myself as I walked into my office. Why was he so upset about my plan? Hadn’t he seen the hateful comments flooding my social media? Or the way I was being followed by paparazzi as if they were waiting for me to mess up one more time.
But all Ivan seemed to care about was having things his way, doesn’t he understand the weight of this issue?
Ugh!
Ivan could be really infuriating but that didn’t stop my heart the way my heart raced or the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach whenever I looked at him. It had taken everything in me to act indifferent toward him. Especially when he looked as irresistible as he did. I just wanted to kiss him so bad.
After admitting to myself and my friends that I do have feelings for Ivan, being around him makes me more self-conscious now. I was paranoid that he would somehow figure it out, and the thought of that was mortifying.
Whatever. Now is not the time to keep thinking about Ivan or the way he made me feel. I plopped down on my chair with a sigh as I moved back to continue the work I had on hand before the lunch break.
It was Monday, and like every other normal person, I absolutely detested it. It didn’t help that I had loads of paperwork and emails to revise.
Almost an hour into working, my phone rang. I picked it up.
Daisy.
With a swipe, I answered the call. “Hey, babe,” I greeted as the call connected.
“Hi Soph, how is work going?” Her voice sounded concerned.
I sighed dramatically. “Hectic and annoying, but it is nothing I can’t handle.”
“Sorry to hear that, sweetie.”
“How’s business today?” I asked.
“Good, good,” She said.
“Is there a reason why you called? You usually text during my work hours. Is something wrong?”
There was a pause on the other end, it dragged on for a few seconds but it felt like hours. “Hey?” I prompted.
There were sounds of movement and then she blew out a breath, and finally she spoke up. “Uhmm… maybe I’m just paranoid or something. But I think someone’s following me.” She confessed, chuckling nervously, “I mean I could be wrong, but I went to your house to pick up my laptop ’cause I left it there on Friday and that’s when I noticed it.”
My mind went back to the day I was on a date with Harry and we were in a garden. I was certain I’d seen a man behind the bushes and he was definitely following us, but I couldn’t think of a reason why I was being followed. But was it me being followed or Daisy? She had just said she was followed after leaving my place.
But then again, I was also followed this morning… Could it just be the paparazzi? It has to be, ’cause who else would do that?
“… Soph?” Daisy’s voice broke through my thoughts.
I snapped back to the present.
“You were eerily quiet, is something wrong?” She asked, sounding worried.
“No, nothing’s wrong. I don’t think you need to worry about being followed, babe. It’s just these media people looking to get a new story out of me. I was followed this morning too and I’m pretty sure the guy had a camera,” I reassured her.
Daisy let out a sigh of relief. “I was worried for nothing, then. Thank God I was wrong. I was beginning to imagine all sorts of scenarios-like getting robbed or worse, kidnapped .” She laughed nervously.
I chuckled along with her. “You have nothing to worry about, I promise.”
“So, uhmm… How did your meeting with Harry go?” Daisy asked, changing the subject.
“Well, it went better than I’d expected. Way better, if I’m being honest,” I replied.
“Hmmm, how so?” She asked, sounding intrigued.
“My confession had hurt him, no doubt, but that was it. He said all he cared about was that I was happy and then he offered to help with the scandal,” I explained.
She paused for a few seconds, processing the information. “He offered to help? After he just got his heart broken? And finding out you were sleeping with Ivan?” She asked incredulously.
My heart sank. “Yes,” I confirmed.
“I mean, I know you said this guy is kind, sweet, gentle and blah blah blah… But this sounds a bit… unusual, doesn’t it? I’m not saying I expected him to flare up or react violently, but who does that?”
I sighed heavily, why couldn’t they see Harry the way I did?
“There’s nothing weird about it. He offered to help because he’s a genuinely good person, that’s just who he is,” I defended.
She made a noise in her throat. “How did he say he was going to help?”
“He suggested we act like real couples for a month until the scandal blows over. That way, people would be invested in our relationship more and forget about the pictures of me and Ivan,” I explained.
“Yea, ’cause that’s not weird at all. I don’t even see how this stops anything or explains to the media why you were in a compromising position with Ivan,” She pointed out.
“I already thought about that, I’ll handle it,” I assured her.
“You’re sure you want to push through with this? I don’t know about you but I don’t like this plan…”
“You’re overthinking this babes, Harry is harmless, he just really wants to help me,” I said. “He-”
Before I could finish my sentence, there was a knock on my door and Rosie walked in.
“Daisy, hold on a sec,” I said into my phone before turning my attention back to Rosie. “What is it?” I asked quietly.
She clears her throat. “Mr. Harry is here to see you.”
Huh?
He didn’t let me know beforehand. Could it be something urgent?
“Let him in,” I instructed Rosie.
“Okay,” she nodded and left the room.
“Daisy, I’ve got to go. I’ll text you when I get home.”
“Alright bye, love you,” She said.
“Love you too.”
I hung up at the same time Harry walked in with a bright smile on his face.
“Hey,” He greeted softly.
Returning his smile, I stood up and extended my hand for a handshake. “Hi. Please, have a seat.” I gestured to the chair across from me.
“Thank you,” he replied, taking a seat.
Once we were both settled. I spoke up. “What brings you here? Is there an issue?”
“Oh, no, not at all,” he reassured me. He placed a file on my desk and pushed it to me. “My assistant made this. It contains places, events and activities we have to do together, to set our plans in motion.”
I went through it, I admit this is impressive and I didn’t have to stress myself about it.
I smiled widely. “Thank you, really, Harry. I appreciate your help and assistance, you’re so kind.”
“It’s nothing. You’re important to me so I’d like to be of great help to you,” He admitted.
“I-”
Before I could respond, my door swung open, and a visibly pissed-off Ivan walked in. Or maybe only it was just me who noticed his irritation.
“Hey man,” Harry greeted Ivan with a smile on his face, oblivious to the tension in the room.