Back To You | complete

Chapter 36| What Next?

Chapter thirty-six: What next?

O L I V I A

His eyes went wide with unexplainable panic. His next words seemed to tumble out of his mouth. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"What?" I frowned. "No."

"Oh, thank Christ," he muttered.

"Kaison," I said. "I'm serious."

He shook his head slightly. "Sorry. What is it?"

I folded my arms across my chest. "I think you know."

"The paparazzi?" He guessed. "I'm sorry about that. We're working on it."

"We?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Angeline and I," he explained. "Don't worry, your safety will not be compromised in any way."

My frown deepened.

"I wasn't even worried about that till now," I told him.

He smiled faintly. "What were you gonna say, then?"

"Kaison, you posted my picture on your public Instagram," I hinted slowly.

He nodded slowly. "I did."

Okay, changing tactics. Bye-bye, subtlety.

"Why wouldn't you run something as major as that by me?" I asked him.

"Um, you said you didn't want to be a part of this," he said with a frown. "I didn't want to bother you."

"I still don't want to be a part of it," I clarified. "But I would've appreciated a heads up. Better yet, my consent. Have you looked at your follower count recently? That was a big move."

"I . . . I'm sorry. I didn't think of it that way," he apologized. His eyebrows stayed puckered together. "Is that why you're home early?"

"Indirectly." I sighed, walking into the living room and sitting down on the sofa.

"Care to elaborate?" He asked, taking a seat next to me.

"I quit my job today," I told him.

" . . . what?"

"I quit my job, Kaison," I repeated. "Well, technically I got fired." I corrected. "Hun."

Never done, or been through this before.

"How?" He asked, evidently puzzled.

"An investor pulled out." I shrugged. "The company, being the small business it is, couldn't afford that. What's one employee next to a few million bucks?"

"Hold on a sec," he held his hand up, "What has that got to do with anything?"

"I'm getting to that," I told him almost scoldingly. "He withdrew because he didn't like how I was interfering with the Giants' star quarterback's life. Such a control freak. Did you read the latest articles? Apparently, they're all about how I have you around my little finger and manipulating you every step of the way, thereby leading the team to its impending doom."

"Idiots," he muttered.

I rolled my eyes in thorough agreement. "Tell me about it."

"If it helps, the team doesn't feel that way about you at all." He smiled.

I blinked in surprise. "Umhmm?"

"Yeah. We were thinking of meeting up this Wednesday. You can come if you're up for it."

Meet the team? It seemed a lot, especially knowing that they were basically his family at this point. With the media mangling my image in their eyes, did I want to really go and risk solidifying beliefs, even if they were false?