All of Me

Worth It

THREE WEEKS LATER

Naomi Monroe

Honestly, this shitshow I've been dealing with for the past few weeks turned out to be worth it. It sucked that I lost my job at NotionX, but at least now I am living out what I once thought of as my wildest dream.

The New York trip was a success. Sebastien let me practice my pitch in front of him like a million times and gave useful feedback. While he kept telling me that he wanted to invest in the app, I didn't want him to. This was something I wanted to do on my own if I were ever going to make it happen. So, I used my own contacts outside of him - AKA Eva - to identify promising investors - AKA her parents - and pitched them myself.

I was even more relieved when I spoke to Eva about it after they agreed to invest in my app, knowing she'd be honest. She admitted that while she did put in a good word for me, her parents would not have invested in PVR Network if they didn't want to or if my pitch wasn't good enough.

I thought that once people learned about Sebastien and I's relationship, it would ruin my career. And honestly, it did ruin my career - my career as a journalist. While journalism was something I was good at, I wasn't sure about committing to it for the rest of my life, and now I don't have to.

Losing my job at NotionX ended up being a net positive in the end, despite seeing all the horrible things people had to say about Sebastien and I online. I think the worst part about it was that I didn't do anything, I didn't hurt anyone, but people were still so cruel about it. All I did was be happy and with a good man while also being fat.

Anyway, the whole thing forced me to put myself out there and I landed on my feet. Thanks to the debacle, I now have the resources to launch PVR Network in major cities with plans to eventually go nationwide. It is now my full-time job and something I see myself doing forever. By the end of this year, PVR Network - following our rebranding and renaming since the only thing Eva's parents didn't seem to like was the 'boring' name - will be opening our first office right here in Atlanta.

On top of all that, Sebastien and I are stronger than ever. The internet got over us being together relatively quickly and a lot of that is thanks to Alana shutting down any follow up stories and doing the opposite of what is usually her mandate - scaling back Sebastien's public profile.

Our biggest hurdle other than the distance was trying to keep our relationship a secret. But now that everyone knows about us - even if it wasn't on our own accord - it's liberating. We go out in public for our dates now and while we might get stares here and there, it doesn't bother me as much anymore. Sure, sometimes I might feel a bit awkward, but not enough for it to mess up our good time.

I'm leaving tonight to fly out to California for Sebastien's 40th birthday and everything calmed down just in time for us to be able to celebrate without any stress. We are going to have dinner with Sebastien's mom and her boyfriend, as well as Derrick and Tasha, and then I have something very special planned for him when we get back to his house.

Gianni and I are in my room on FaceTime with Eva as I figure out what I'm going to wear for Sebastien's birthday night. Other than the various outfits Sebastien has me put on when we're at his place, I don't have much lingerie, so I picked up some pieces at the store today and I'm showing them what I got.

"Hmmm," Gianni hums as she scans over me in the second set that I bought. "It's cuter than the other one, and I definitely think you could wear it for him sometime, but it doesn't scream special occasion."

"Yeah, you need something more risqué," Eva agrees from the video call. "More straps, maybe a bit of leather... And heels! You definitely need matching heels."