Friends, lovers... and an orange

Chapter 2

"Mum, I already told you. We didn't kiss!"

"Adele, if you did there is nothing wrong with it, you know? You've known each other your whole lives and..."

"Mum, for the millionth time: Mason and I didn't kiss! I was just smelling his neck!"

"Ok, ok. No need to get that angry" Elizabeth said over the phone.

"How am I supposed to not get angry when no one believes me? Not you, not Jourdan, definitely not the press..." Adele said.

"This will pass, don't worry. It has always been the same. And with all these daily trends online, people will have forgotten about you and Mason in a week. His fans may even start a new gossip if they see him following another girl on Instagram."

"Yeah, that's true" she sighed.

"Addie..." Jourdan said after knocking on her room's door. "There is someone who wants to see you."

"I gotta go, mum. Call you later."

"Ok. Love you sweetheart."

"Love you too" Adele said before hanging up. "Who is it?"

"Mason. He wants to talk with you."

"Of course he does" she said before walking into their living room. "Hello."

"Addie, hi. How are you?"

"Well... you know. The whole country and part of the world believes we were making out after your mother's birthday party, and my best friend and my own mother didn't believe me when I explained to them that we weren't."

"Hey, I do believe you" Jourdan said.

"Yeah, but because you saw me crying after I explained everything ten times."

"You cried?" Mason said, getting up from the sofa and moving to where Adele was standing, stopping himself when he was about to... Touch her face?

"I did, but you know me. I usually cry when I get frustrated" she shrugged. "Anyway, how are you? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to apologize. All this mess is because of me, because of my fame. You've always wanted a quiet life, you don't deserve this."

"Thank you" Adele smiled. "Have you spoken with your agency, tho? What are we supposed to do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. The best thing to do is to let things cool down. People will move into the next piece of gossip and leave us alone."

"That's what my mum said..."

"And mine" Mason chuckled. "They've been through this, they know what they are talking about. And so does my agency. So we should keep calm and..."

"Guys..." Jourdan said. "I think you may want to see this."

"Are those... paparazzis?" Adele said when she joined Jourdan and looked out the window.

"Fuck, they followed me" Mason said, joining them.

"They what?"

"They were waiting outside my place, but I thought I had lost them on my way here" he said. "I am so sorry, Addie. This is all my fault."

"What are we going to do now? Call the police?" she asked.

"That won't do anything, they are just standing in the street" Jourdan said.

"So then what?"

"I'll leave and distract them, take them back to my place" he said.

"But now they know where I live, Mase. What if they camp outside or follow me everywhere?" Adele said.