Page 73 of The Fake Dating Plan

“Hey. Don’t blame me. Caiden’s the one who came up with that rule after The Harassment Suit.”

Leave it to Caiden to put on the most stringent rules when something went out of his control. All I knew about ‘The Harassment Suit’ as everyone at KMVH liked to call it was that some asshole manager had been using sexual favors in exchange for promotions and when the news broke, we fired the slime. I never cared to know about what changed in the company after that. I never needed to care, and didn’t date anyone related to the business, ever. I made a mental note to take part in future boring company policies.

“Fine. We’ll comply. Anything else.”

“That solves the ethics issue, but it still doesn’t solve the PR issue,” Jennifer said. “We still have to deal with the speculation that, pardon my crassness, you fucked her in exchange for a lucrative deal.”

“That’s not what happened?”

“That’s not what the streets are saying.”

My phone buzzed.

“What are you going to do?”

They were making this out to be a bigger fuss than it was or should be. But I got their sentiment. They didn't want this to blow over into a scandal that would harm company PR.

“I'll handle it,” Jennifer said. Emilia might not like the way things had gone, but I could convince her to see my side. Having our relationship out in the open might not be a bad idea. Once the chatter stopped, it would not seem odd that we were dating. I could talk to Jennifer and have her release information about our previous relationship. And when that information is out, it would make our relationship seem more legitimate.

My phone buzzed again. I picked it up from the desk. It was a text from Heron. What would that guy want from me? I put the phone down without reading the text and turned back to the room.

“I assume the meeting is over?”

Ira nodded and got up, followed by his minions. As the others were filing out of the room Jennifer said, “Was that her?”

“Can you mind your own business?”

She shrugged as if asking her that much was too tall of an order. I watched her as she followed the other men out. When I was alone, I grabbed the phone again and opened the texts.

Heron:Your little bitch is not as innocent as you think she is.

I rolled my eyes. I scrolled down to the following message. It was an image. What I saw changed everything.

15

Trying to get things done when you’re the principal topic of office gossip is difficult. Doing that while you’re at the center of the city’s gossip is downright impossible. Everyone’s gaze in the office landed on me when I came in. I had gone to the factory first to avoid facing people at the office. I don’t know what my thinking was, but it made sense to talk to face people I didn’t know after becoming part of a trending topic, but the stares were more intense there than here. At least here every time I would focus on a person they would act scurry to find something to do on their computer or phone, unlike at the factory where I was practically a zoo animal. I ignored them, but I couldn’t ignore what they were thinking. I got into my office saying nothing but cursory greetings. I was too embarrassed to say anything else.

At least it was just the picture of us standing together. I looked like I was a love-struck idiot, but it could be worse. It could—My phone dinged. I had put a Google alert of my name just so I could see what was being said. Most were articles regurgitating the same thing repeatedly. Maybe turning off the alert would be better. It would probably improve my mindset. I opened my phone to see what was on this time. Not that picture again. It was something else. The image of Axel and me kissing had resurfaced. This one looked worse than the previous ones. If there was an avenue of denying the relationship, it was closed. I dropped into my chair, my eyes glued to the phone. I didn’t read the article. I was too engrossed with the image of Axel and me sucking each other’s lips like there’s no tomorrow.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I made a call to him. It went to voicemail. I called again. And again. Finally, he picked up.

“Hi.” He sounded groggy. Was he just waking up? It was eleven in the morning! I gave him the latest update. He swore, then swore he would fix it and the call ended there.

Laura was the first to come in. “Is it true?”

I couldn’t lie to her. She was my roommate and colleague. The fact that she didn’t know a lot until now was surprising. I nodded.

“I had my suspicions.” She said as she slumped into the chair. Dylan was the next to burst in.

“What is this about you trending on all the socials and snatching New York’s hottest bachelor?”

“Good morning to you too, Dylan.”

He threw himself into the chair next to Laura and swiveled to face her. “Did you know about this?”

She shook her head.

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