How to Date an Asshole

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

There were camera crews in front of my apartment building when I got off the elevator car.

"Are they shooting a film in the building?" I asked the guy next to me, he just shrugged. "Strange," I said to myself but continued walking. I don't want to be late for work.

When I got near the front door, the men with the cameras stood alert and they flocked around me.

"Lauren, are you and Axel James an official couple? Are you gonna see him again soon?"

"What?" I said in surprise.

Oh my God, they know.

"Are you comfortable being a rebound to Katie Swanson?"

"Miss Grant, look here!"

"Congratulations. Is Axel James your boyfriend?"

"Just one picture, Lauren!"

I quickened my pace and tried to break free from the crowd. I can't go back to my apartment and look like a weakling in front of all these cameras. God only knows what rumors they can twist from a simple act. My lungs suddenly felt tight and I could hear the blood pumping in my ears. Everything looked hazy and the blinding flashes didn't help. Still, I braved through and thanked my lucky stars a cab stopped almost instantaneously as I hailed.

I was almost wheezing as I closed the car door. "Drive." was all I could manage to say until I got my breaths to steady.

I told the driver the building address as soon I felt myself calm down a little. I checked my phone and saw multiple missed calls from Axel and Hailey. If only I had checked my phone before leaving the apartment.

I rubbed my temples and bit on my right thumbnail, only to find out that my fingers were shaking. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing.

Inhale. Exhale.

Then my phone vibrated aggressively on my hand.

Axel.

I immediately accepted his call.

"Are you alright? Fuck, I was trying to call you. Fuck, I'm sorry I said 'fuck'. Fuck! I'm not mad, I'm sorry."

If the situation wasn't serious, I'd be laughing. But now I can't bring myself to even smile. All I could manage was to swallow the lump in my throat that was threatening to burst.

"I-I'm in the cab."

"Were there paparazzi outside?"

Then a long silence. I can't bring myself to speak. And when I was about to, he grunted, "God, I should've been more careful. I shouldn't have brought you to that diner and sat by that fucking window. What was I thinking? I should've just delivered your scarf at home. And you... You wouldn't have been implicated in this mess. This mess that is my life. I didn't mean to involve you, to disrupt your life. I... God, Lauren, I'm so sorry. I –"

"Hey." I interrupted his rambling. I even surprised myself that my voice was a little coaxing.

He let out a big sigh and it was shaky underneath. "I am so sorry."

I inhaled sharply, "I'm not gonna say that it's okay... I was shaken. I... I'm on my way to work now."

"Are you really still going to work? What if the paparazzi were outside?"

"I... I didn't think of that."

"I'll call Harper. Maybe she could do something. A back entrance or whatever..." he sighed, "I'm so sorry I can't be with you right now. I just landed in L.A. an hour ago and I got in the hotel just in time before the article was released. You, on the other hand, had to suffer without warning. Oh my God, I am really sorry. This was my mess. I'll think of a way to fix it."