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Flashes of lights from cameras blind me as I walk through the crowded street. My right hand holds papers that are ruining my life and my left hand is holding a blank channel purse. Total opposites huh? My steps are fast, slick, quick. It's like I'm trying to run away from the crowd, I am. But the only thing I'm actually doing is walking into it, further and further again, there's no escape from this.
I look up at the dark sky, not a star in sight. Not even the sky is happy tonight.
"Is it true?"
"Sophia, can you confirm this?"
"Did you really do it?"
"Sophia, this is the biggest scandal your company has ever been involved in." Is he going to tell me what I ate for breakfast too?
"Sophia over here!"
"We just want answers!"
"Sophia!"
"Over here!"
"Why did Jace remove all his pictures of Kiara on Instagram?"
"Sophia is it true?"
I feel the crowd closen next to me, the heat of everyone's presence goes right through my coat and hits my skin. Suddenly it's so hard to breathe. I can't breathe. A hand grips my arm. No.
"Don't touch me!" I pull away.
"I understand this is your job to get information, but you do not touch me. You don't touch anything but that camera." I tell the reporter. It's never my intention to be rude to anyone. But being in the public's eyes as a teenager, a young woman, and now a mother, you learn that there are boundaries, and you have a right to privacy.
"Just doing my job," The reporter yells over the chaos.
"Your job isn't to touch my wife, now move your camera out of her face." Axton's voice travels through the air. I can't see him, but my mind is already picturing the glare he's giving the reporter. The glare. The Axton McKay glare.
"Soph?" He calls out through the crowd.
"Over here." I call back out to him as I walk to him.
"No, keep walking I got you." He tells me and our eyes meet. I wanted nothing more than to run straight into his arms and cry the stress away. I wanted his arms around me, comforting me, shielding the world away from us. Keeping his words in mind, I turn around and walk through the crowd knowing he was behind me.
---
My heels hit the marble floor as I walk into my headquarters. Everyone's up and about, papers are everywhere, the lobby is in a mess. I can't even see the front desk.
"Olivia!" I call one of my employees. The room goes silent and I take a look at my employees. Fear, fear in their eyes. Not a fear of me. I've made it known how I expect people to work here, and I've made it known how I treat people. So the fear in their eyes could only be for their own lives. I can imagine the questions in their minds. Are we losing our job? Are we going to get a smaller salary?
