Falling for the Seat Filler

One

ONE: The beginning

                "T H I S cannot be happening," I muttered to myself, my eyes flickering from the rough man before me to the ground and then back up.

The man before me with the shiny face and rough looking beard blew a frustrated breath.

"Excuse me?" he all but spat.

I gritted my teeth and forced a polite smile. "No."

"No?"

I made my own frustrated gesture and ran my hands through my stiff hair. "No as in en and oh, no," I repeated stubbornly.

Mr. Oily face stood up from his seat and tugged at his bow tie in angst. It came undone in one swift movement, each ending hanging over his shoulders limply.

Since falling in front of Miss Margot and causing the whole fiasco, I had been lugged out of the theatre despite the hushed questions and the noise of a story already brewing. I had then been brought into a side room with dark walls and velveted furniture and without one word; I was pushed into an overly soft seat and asked for an explanation.

I had been interrogated with the most obnoxious and impossible questions all accusing me of being some sort of obsessed stalker.

Mr. Oily face or Bobby McMillian was Emily's manager and was in charge of everything concerning her public life and well now...me.

"Did you purposely fall like that?" he asked quietly with very serious iron eyes.

They pinned me to my seat as my jaws slackened in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered.

He didn't back down at my words and instead stood straighter and placed his hands on his waist. "I assure you, Mr. Parker that I am not kidding," he said in a thick Irish accent that made me think of a very intimidating Northern Irishman.

I cleared my throat and ran the palm of my hands down my thighs. "Harry told me to fill for Miss Margot's brother so I did but I fell. I fell, seriously that's all that happened. I fell and she reached forward to help me up." I paused and mirrored her movements. "When she helped me, there was suddenly this spotlight on us, and then all the cameras were on us," I explained for what felt like the millionth time.

Bobby clicked his tongue and nodded his head curtly. "Okay, well explain why you were in such a -"

"He's telling the truth," a bold voice called from the door.

We both turned to see Emily Margot standing in the doorway, her entire presence causing a sort of light to fill the room. She stood with her hands bundling some of her dress so it wouldn't trail across the floor. She looked a little out of breath, her cheeks naturally rosy and her chest heaving quicker than it should.

I swallowed thickly and stood as she entered the room. She didn't acknowledge me at all and only stepped towards her manager. "He really did fall, and I really did help him up. It was just unfortunate timing," she insisted in a reasonable yet firm voice.

I made a victorious face at Bobby who released another frustrated breath.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered and dipped his hand into the inside of his suit.

We both watched as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it across his forehead. "The rumours, the fucking rumours," he muttered before his steely eyes snapped to mine. "Out of all the stupid ways you could've fallen, you had to pick that position!" he barked.