Page 18 of The Pursuit of Happiness
My eyes start to burn with exhaustion and my lids start to grow heavy. I trail off into sleep, the only questions on my mind are why I can’t just be happy and what will it take to find the missing piece inside of me?
Chapter 4
Aria
Two times in aweek I’ve been summoned to Selene’s office. That’s the equivalent of being called to the Principal’s office six times in a week. As I wait for her in one of her white leather chairs while she returns from the bathroom, I feel my palms start to grow sweaty.
Since she first summoned us to her office four days ago to go over how she plans on ruining my life for the foreseeable future with Slater Nicks’ presence, I have laid very very low. By that I mean I have not once checked social media. Well…That’s sort of a lie. I checked it one time and when I saw a meme of my naked body and a really sexually explicit caption, I threw up on site and have since refused to so much as glance quickly at the posts and at my phone in general. I haven’t left my house at all, my only human interactions being when Brody and Ivory stop by with food that I don’t have an appetite for.
I fidget uncomfortably in the seat, worried that things could’ve somehow gotten worse in the last four days and that’s why Selene called me here and nobody else. I go over the possibilities in my mind. Did they find the person who recorded the video? Is the media theorizing that I’m pregnant like they did Brody eight months ago?
As my mind goes on and on with possibilities, the door opens and Selene enters, wiping her hands on a thin, brown paper towel to get rid of the excess water. She dumps the paper towel in the trash and rounds her desk, dropping into her seat. “Thank you for coming.”
I start playing with my fingers anxiously in my lap. “Selene, what’s going on? Did something else happen?”
She shakes her head and I feel instant relief. “Nothing else has happened. I called you here because I scheduled your first public sighting with Slater and I wanted to go over it with you.”
My shoulders sag with disappointment, “Okay.”
“I need you to remember the role you’re playing and I need you to not let your emotions get in the way. I know you have a tendency to do that,” she raises a threatening brow.
I want to argue but the look in her eye is warding me off. “I’ll make sure it goes smoothly.”
She gives me a look of appreciation, “Good. Now, he’s on his way here to pick you up.”
My stomach sinks and I sit up straighter in my chair. Did I just hear her right? “I’m sorry, you said he’s on his way here as inright now?”
She audibly sighs, clearly annoyed by my stupid question, “Yes, that’s usually what one would mean when they say that.” She leans forward, resting her elbows on her desk, “What you do in public is totally up to the two of you. Go shopping, get lunch, do whatever, but make sure that whatever it is you decide to do, there are cameras snapping pictures.”
I nod as Selene checks her phone and smiles at the notification on her screen. She looks up at me a moment later, “He’s here.”
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I SEE THE SAPPHIREblue ferrari and know immediately that it’s him. I feel a sudden sense of insecurity considering I’m wearing a pair of black leggings and a black fitted t-shirt. As soon as I feel that sense of insecurity over what Slater will think when he sees how absolutely horrible I look, I push it right back below the surface. Reason being, I don’t give a shit what he thinks. Ihave to remind myself of that a few times for it to actually stick, but the effort is there.
As soon as I make it out of Selene’s office building, cameras are flashing and paparazzi are screaming my name and questions I block out because I know they’re about my recent scandal. I duck my head and continue walking to the car, picking up my pace and just when I make it there, someone steps in front of me to open the passenger door for me. I look up and find that it’s Slater. And God, why does he always have to look so good? Even when he looks so stressed.
He wears a distressed pair of jeans and a white Satan’s Angels t-shirt. I can’t help but laugh when I see it. What kind of point is he trying to make? As soon as he sees me laughing at his wardrobe choice, he smiles and I take a mental picture of his smiling face because it looks so beautiful. I want to stare at it for hours, amazed that someone could be so utterly attractive. His smile has a certain boyish charm to it but it also is alluring in the sense that you’d want to drop your panties when he gives you that look. I guess I did drop my panties at one point. I still don’t remember though, so I guess we’ll never know.
“Hello, Aria,” he smiles at me warmly, his voice chipper.
I tilt my head at him, “Slater.”
“Sly,” he corrects.
I roll my eyes, “Sly.” I decide to change the subject, allowing the press to get more and more pictures of us. “Nice shirt,” I point at the shirt with mine, Brody’s, and Ivory’s faces on it.
He looks down at his shirt and grins, “I knew you would like it.”
I grin, “I only like it because my face is on it.”
He laughs, “Well if you like that I’ll get a hundred more shirts with your face on them.”
I roll my eyes, “Cool it, Tiger.” I lean in closer so that nobody can hear us as I whisper, “Now are you gonna open that cardoor for me and show all these lovely people what a great fake boyfriend you are, or are we just gonna stand out here and make small talk about your shirt choice?”
Sly’s eyes soften, clearly amused with my straight to the point attitude. He gives me an amused, lazy smile before he opens the door for me. I get in the car a second later, and Sly closes the door, cutting off the paparazzi’s view of me. I relax immediately when Sly drops into the driver’s seat and we’re alone, hidden from view.
I turn my head to look at him, “So, what do you have planned for our first fake date?” The sooner we get this date over with, the better. I already feel exhausted from faking all this and we’re not even a full five minutes in.
