Page 64 of Siren's Heart

"Now, let's get home, order some ice cream and chips, and make a girl's day of it."

"That's the second-best thing I've heard today."

She links her arm with mine, and off we are, Rob and Takanori joining us in the hallway and getting us home safely.

Millie

"You and Luca should go out," Kayla says contemplatively, and my eyes shoot over to her, confused.

"In what universe does that make sense?" I ask with a dry chuckle and start pacing my living room, biting the nail of my thumb while my thoughts race with memories of today. "I almost get assaulted on a coffee run, and you're telling me to go out again?"

"Well, knowing you, if you're not doing it now, you'll only work yourself up about it and never leave your apartment again."

I hate to admit it, but she actually has a point.

"I know you, Mils. You'll obsess over what happened, going through all the 'what ifs' possible and finding every humanly possible mistake you could have made in the situation or leading up to it to make yourself at fault for something out of your control."

She does know me well.

I push out a long sigh. "You're right." In fact, I'm already in the midst of it.

While we've started researching other labels for consideration, calculating how much it would cost us to end the contract with Starlet Sounds and Naroa early, my thoughts always circled back to that coffee shop and what I call ‘the incident.’

The anger on that woman's face for something that's not her concern at all. The bystanders doing nothing and the hate-fuelled words she spewed at me, just because I’m presumably dating an actor she likes.

Para-social relationships are scary.

"I know I’m right,” Kayla says with feigned arrogance, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “Go out there and show the world that they can't intimidate you with this kind of petty shit."

And she's right again. Worst case, holing up in my apartment would send the message that I’m intimidated and scared. I mean, I am all those things, but the whole world doesn't need to know that.

"Just go to Serenity. They've extended an invitation before we came here to have a meal on the house, so why not use it?"

I tilt my head, and take out my phone. I've heard of the restaurant, but I have no picture of it in my mind. Pulling up their website, a hum of recognition escapes my throat. Right. They're the ones with the fancy drinks that have half a jungle in them.

"Asher said they're big on privacy and security as well." I frown and narrow my eyes at her. The last time she said that about a restaurant, eating there took three hours and many, many courses. "Don't worry, they do a la carte. No twenty-course meal." She laughs and gets up to look at my phone over my shoulder. "Look, there's a menu. You can even pick out what to eat before you go there."

"That's an argument," I sigh and pull up my chat with Luca to ask him if it's okay with him. A thumbs-up emoji comes within moments, making me shake my head.

"What a bad boy. Did he not put his phone into his locker during training?" Kayla asks with a chuckle.

"Maybe they're on a water break," I say and shake my head at her. "Don't assume the worst about him."

"I would never," Kayla says way too seriously, throwing up her hands in defense.

"Good, then you can help me pick out what to wear," I sigh. I'm neither in the mood to go out nor do I have the mental capacity to care about a date outfit at the moment.

My life might be in chaos right now, but at least I look cute, I think to myself, turning in front of the mirror to look at myself from all sides. Kayla went through my closet for me and threw a dress at my face, continuing by rifling through my jewelry and putting a necklace and some bracelets out. Then she went straight for my shoe closet. I heard a pair hit the ground before she announced her departure and slammed the door on her way out.

Being alone with my thoughts isn’t really helpful, though. I do my best not to think about ‘the incident’ but that’s so much easier said than done. My mind revolves around the hate-filled words of a stranger, and I feel dumb as hell for letting them affect me this much.

A relieved sigh draws from my lips when my phone starts ringing.

"Hey, Dad," I greet him as soon as I answer his video call. He appears to be at the airport, judging from the pieces of background I can see behind him.

"Hey, Sweetie, are you alright? Your mom and I saw the news just now. She’s in the bathroom, but I didn’t want to wait to call you." My eyes dart over his concerned face. They were in an area without reception for a few days, but of course, I told them about Luca and me beforehand. It’s happened before that they learned of my new boyfriends after certain news outlets, and they understandably weren’t thrilled about it.

"I'm alright," I tell him, covering my sigh with a yawn as I start pacing my living room once more. I’m surprised there are no traces of the path I’m tracing on the ground yet. "I’m a bit rattled, but nothing really happened, thanks to my bodyguard."

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