Under the Influence

XXII.

January 30th 2001.
Hamburg, Germany.

*Chapter Inspired By: Jazmine Sullivan- Lions, Tigers and Bears*

"You seen this shit?"

Marshall chucked a magazine on the table before me with the giant, obnoxious words; "EMINEM's Mystery Girl! " plastered on the cover. Just below it was a paparazzi photo of us, my face thankfully not captured, as we ran out of the photo shoot from the other day. I hastily grabbed the magazine and flipped through till I found our story.

"Crap!" I muttered as my eyes scanned over the text. "Secret", "Tour Manager" and "Former Employer, Freddie Kimura" jumped out at me immediately and in turn my heart plummeted. "So he was the one who sent the paparazzi?" I gasped, squinting my eyes at the two photos of Marshall and I at the bottom of the article. The first was innocent enough for us to just be friends, the second however, showed us kissing and pulled closely together. They were taken a month or two or ago whilst on tour which meant Freddie must have been planning this for a while...but why? I had always been nice to him, so why was he out to get me?

"I can't believe that fucking punk!" Marshall coarsely growled through gritted teeth as he sat down next to me. "You'd think he got the message when he got his fucking ass beat. He wasn't even fucking man enough to say why he got fired". His anger drew the stares of D12, and the rest of his entourage in the plane cabin, as we flew to Germany, ready to commence the final leg of the tour.

I sighed and turned to look out the window, idly watching the white balls of fluff fly by. For a brief moment I attempted to think in silence whilst enjoying the view, but Marshall harshly drew me out of my trance with an annoyed; "Cassie ?"

"What?" I snapped.

"You don't have anything to say?"

"What do you want me to say?" I shrugged, falling back into my seat, catching Proof's curious eyes as he watched our intense discussion. "I thought you wanted to go public?"

Marshall quietly groaned and covered his face as if it pained him to even have this conversation. "I do, but not like this. He's fucked everything up, and I know Kim will be pissed as hell 'cause I didn't tell her".

I carefully pulled his hand away from his face and rested it on my lap. A brief look of irritation flashed over his face at our PDA, but he pushed it aside as he remembered we were just around friends. Marshall immediately sighed, releasing some of his tension as my hand gently smoothed over his shoulder. "Just chill okay? He hasn't fucked everything up".

He swallowed hard and averted his eyes from mine, speaking in a low voice to try and keep our conversation private. "I wanted to do it our way, so you would be okay with it  all". I smiled slightly at his sweetness. He would never admit it, but I could still sense his nervousness when he opened up to me.

He had been trying so hard recently to make me happy and improve our relationship. Even the little things were slowly  helping me to grow my trust for him again. I may had finally accepted I loved him, but those feelings of betrayal were still there. No matter how hard I tried to put them behind me or appreciate Marshall for what he was, they always crept back into my head.

"I'll be okay with whatever way we do it".

His eyes met mine again, with a unique twinkle I'd only seen a handful of times; once when I agreed to move in with him, and most recently when I told him I loved him. It could only be described as a look of pure love and adoration. "You serious?"

I bit my lip to conceal my smile. "I am".

"You wanna release a press statement then?" I nodded and he smiled, realizing my commitment was there. "When?"