“I wonder if he thinks you’re a pain in the ass too.”
I held up the cooking spoon with a threatening glare, “I will whack you with this.”
She giggled and rushed back to the counter to continue with her ice cream, “I’m just saying, it can’t be that bad having eye candy around all day.”
It wasn't bad having an eye candy around all day, but it was bad having Nathan Cowe in my vicinity every second of every day. I had a feeling that before this thing runs out; I would have lost my head or my mind, or both. But at least I’ll have a good documentary and fashion show to show for it.
I got a notification off my phone and quickly lifted it to see. When I saw the headline I let out a string of expletives and instantly put a call through to my parents so they could prepare for the storm that was brewing.
The headline read: “Hot Shot Lawyer Joseph Greene cheats on New Girlfriend with Fashion Designer Adira Arogundade.”
CHAPTER 7: SEVENTEEN DAYS POST BREAK UP
There were three major groups of people who had opinions on that headline.
The first group thought that I was a man stealing whore, a bitch and a disgrace to womanhood. They proceeded to list out all the red flags I have shown over the years and spoke about how they have always had a bad feeling about me and finally the truth is coming to light. These people were amusing because they spoke as if they knew me personally. I was even tempted on more than one occasion to check their profiles and be sure that I don’t actually know them from somewhere.
The second group consisted of people who were more levelheaded and said things along the lines of ‘Adira would never do that’ and ‘she doesn’t seem like someone who would settle for beinga side piece’. They advised that people wait until proof is brought up that Joseph cheated with me before people started crucifying and throwing stones. I actually liked these people a little because they sound like intellectual beings and not dumb sheep.
The third group of people was filled with people who (cue in a dramatic gasp) actually put blame on Joseph. They said that if we had hooked up then he was at fault because he was the one in a relationship and not me. When I saw it, I almost dropped to my knees in prayer and thanksgiving because for once, people were actually putting the blame on the man. Needless to say, this group probably had the least number of supporters and they were getting a lot of hate for bashing him. Before I turned off all my notifications, I saw at least five threads were they were called radical feminists simply because they refused to cast stones at me.
My first thought when I saw the headline was something along the lines of “What the fuck?” and “Are you fucking kidding me?” Anyone who knows me at all would know that I would rather die than be the other woman in a relationship.
It happened to me once in high school. I liked this guy and we started going out, only for me to find him kissing another girl in an ice cream store. I confronted him and turns out, I was the other girl. He had been dating his actual girlfriend for six months before me. Needless to say, I kicked him in the balls and broke his nose then told his girlfriend that she could do better than him. Thankfully, she listened to me.
It is rather ironic that I was dating Joseph for two years and yet I am the one he cheated with. I mentally face palmed myself for not posting about my relationship during those two years.
I thought I was protecting my relationship by keeping it a complete secret from the media. I thought I was doing the right thing, and Joseph told me that I was doing the right thing. Now it is all coming back to bite me in the ass because I am being accused of being a home wrecker.
I checked all of Joseph’s social media but he was eerily quiet concerning the rumors. He posted another picture with his girlfriend. This time, they were both standing next to a horse. She was in cargo pants and a plaid shirt and had her head thrown back in laughter. He was standing opposite her in jeans and a plain white shirt with one hand holding a brush that I’m assuming is for the horse and he was staring at her as if she held the world in her hands.
He captioned it as ‘the only one’ and when I saw it, I cursed at how stupid he was. His post only ignited the frenzy surrounding the rumors and people were quick to point out the picture for what it was- a failed attempt at appeasing the public and convincing them that he didn’t cheat.
My family was pissed when the news dropped. I was honestly too shocked to process it because if anything, he probably cheated on me with her and not the other way around, but thankfully they had enough reactions for me too.
My dad was furious and kept switching to Yoruba while he was speaking. My mum had to intervene and interpret everything he was saying to me. Olivia was equally mad and she is scary when she is mad. She was next to me ranting in Greek and English and I caught her a few times saying she was going to strangle the entire media.
When I told her it wasn’t possible, she sent me a glare strong enough to make a grown adult pee in their pants. While I spoke toher and my parents, they were quick to share their unique way that they felt I should have handled the issue
Olivia was all for me slamming the news outlet for distributing fake news. She even brandished a few words like ‘suing’ and ‘defamation’. She didn’t care about Joseph or his girlfriend, what she cared about was my reputation being stained. It was actually amusing to watch her get worked up and concerned about me. It was the only thing that made me feel a little better about the situation.
My mother felt I should make a post about what really happened. She felt I should tell everyone that Joseph and I dated for a while and we were engaged but we are no longer talking to each other so he couldn’t cheat on me with her. I had a good laugh when she said that and proceeded to remind her that the media will take that information and have a frenzy with it. They will list all the reasons I am unfit for marriage and use that new information to bash my person even more and make up theories that Joseph broke up with me and I was jealous about it.
My dad had the method that I most agreed to. He said the best thing to do was to ignore it and pretend like nothing happened, which is what I did. He said that if Joseph didn’t set the record straight in the next two days then I should send him a message so we can make sure out stories align and make a statement together.
I told everyone to remain tight lipped and to ignore any calls or messages that they might get from any media or news outlet wanting their take on it.
Yesterday, I went to work like nothing happened but I absolutely refused to do a Q and A with Nathan. I knew he would ask about it and I also knew that I was not in the right frame of mind to respond to him in a mature and responsible manner
I left work very early and refused to see anyone. I had to put my phone on Do Not Disturb because I was getting a million different emails at a time ranging from people asking me to speak up about what happened to people threatening to find my family and kill them and also the occasional rape threats.
I ran my hands down my face in frustration as I waited in line for my coffee. I took a break from the stuff office and the stress of finalizing things for the show to get a coffee, Marissa offered to get it for me and I know it’s because she is worried for me. She has pestered me on end to either get a bodyguard or to limit how often I go out because of how easily the media turned on me, but I refused every single time.
Finally, my name was called and I took my coffee and paid for it. I noticed the barista shooting me a dirty look as I walked up to take my coffee. I ignored her and paid for it, and I watched how she refused to let her fingers touch mine as she took the money from me. I’m used to this behavior and worse from people so it didn’t bother me much.
I made my way out to my car and while I was taking my key out from my bag, I felt something heavy hit me at the side of my face. I felt something powdery fill my mouth and I coughed frantically while trying to wipe whatever it was that had momentarily blinded me.
“Whore.” I heard someone scream. The voice belonged to a young girl, probably a teenager.
