Tell Me With Flowers

21. Something's cooking

MEGAN

"Are you dating him?" Amber asked over the phone. I could tell that she had propped her head on her elbow, looking out the window, already getting my wedding dresses ready. "He's dreamy though, no offense."

"Shut up, Amb." I said, briskly walking the length of the room as my nerves jumped at every tiny ruckus outside my home. "I don't know how this has come up in the paper. I probably would have been saved, if I had chosen not to go to the classes in the first place!"

"But you gained a boyfriend." She almost exclaimed. "Whenever he came to shop, he was super sweet too."

"Amber, you haven't read the whole article, have you?" I questioned.

Mr. Miles Jackson, a chef and an entrepreneur has found himself a woman in his cooking class. The woman is identified as a famous florist in the town, Ms. Megan Taylor.

They sure seem to gel well and look good with one another. But it seems like food is not the only things that is being cooked in Miles's kitchen. While they hang out, Miles has breached the policies of such cooking classes where the chef is not supposed to be romantically involved with the student in his own show. The higher officials are already discussing the matter as you read, deciding whether to sue the company or not.

With that discussion in hand, Miles and Megan both are going to suffer the consequences of their own for sure. Or, they might use this to gain publicity. That's it from the gossip column, stay tuned for more.

Stay tuned for more? What more was left anyway? Now, my personal life was out in the open for the entertainment and gossip of the whole town.

My face was etched in all the local papers and danced vividly in all the social media accounts. All these times I had lived making sure that my life was not in the open for them, and now, I had just gone ahead and given it to them.

There was a photo that had gained more likes than the others. It was the one in which Miles was kissing my cheeks. There was a slight blush that had covered up the shock in my face. I was sure it was photo shopped to get the shock away before it was printed on the paper.

"You two look good." Amber said. "I like the picture in which you are looping your hands around his."

That was the other night we had spent in the kitchen. He had made me a seven-course meal and had treated me like a royalty. We had pretended to stick our nose up to everyone that day. To play along, I had looped my hands in his.

"They are going to sue him." I whispered. "And it's all because of me."

Fear gripped me tighter than all the nightmares that I had had ever before. I should have been more careful about all those. I should have quit when I knew he was teaching me extra classes. I should have done something that would have never gotten me into this shit hole in the first place.

But, what did I do? I rolled along with what was put on my plate. And where did that leave me now?

Tears dared to spring back to life and this time, I didn't have any encouraging words to stop them.

"Megan, relax." Amber said, her voice turning serious. "Take deep breaths. I'm coming back in another three days. We can figure it out together, okay?"

The idea of her next to me, making sure that I was okay was soothing. But it was not enough for now. I panicked. How was I supposed to go to class today? Were others talking behind my back all this time? What did they think about me?

Different versions and different words lingered on my mind as my vision blurred. I had destroyed my life and all the things I had built up till now. Everything was doomed right before my eyes, and I was the only one responsible for it.