Two, I will never put myself in a position to be humiliated like that again. Screw the media and screw everyone else. If there is ever a rumor that could possibly lead to this kind of outcome, I will squash it within seconds. No one’s career is worth my humiliation.
And three, the attacks will never stop. It took a while and a lot of thinking for me to come to that conclusion. It didn’t matter that Joseph spoke- that was never the issue. It wouldn’t matter if he speaks again; people are content and happy with pouring out their own frustrations on me and nothing will change that.
The best thing I can do now is to focus on my work and find a way to channel the bad publicity on myself as a person into good publicity for my brand. If I’m going to suffer for something I didn’t do then Emiade might as well reap the benefits.
I calmly walked into my office with my shoulders squared and my nose turned up. I ignored Nathan who was sitting at his usual spot and looking at me with concern. I almost scoffed at his boldness. A normal person would try to sneak glances at me or shoot me looks of sympathy when they think I’m not looking.
But Nathan is full on staring at me. He isn’t even trying to hide that he is concerned. It is equal parts amusing and annoying- just like him if I’m being honest.
I sat opposite him, placed my hands in front of me on the table and crossed my legs at the ankles to stop from bouncing them.
“How are you today?” that is not the angle I expected him to play from, but I can work with it.
“Irritated,” I answered with a dismissive shrug, “but then again, when am I not?”
“The video started circulating when you were in the bathroom,” he continued and I hummed, “Would you like to see it?”
“I lived it; I don’t need to see it. If there is something you want to ask- now is a good time to do that.”
“Why did you push me back into thecafé?”
I paused my finger tapping that I didn’t even realize I was doing and stared at him dead in the eyes as I spoke, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really, because it looks like you pushed me back into the café and out of harm’s way.”
“I didn’t push you back,” I looked away from him and fixed my gaze on the door, “I wanted to shut the café door and I had just simply forgotten that you were there.”
He made a noise at the back of the throat that clearly said that he didn’t believe me. I expected him to argue but instead, he took out his phone and slid it across the table in front of me. Reluctantly, I pulled my eyes off the door and down at the screen just as he hit play. It was the video from today.
Unlike the last one, this one clearly started a few seconds before I exited the café. There were a lot of voices but I could clearly hear people talking about how they were going to attack as soon as I walked out.
I saw myself step out of the restaurant and saw the shock and realization flash across my face as the first egg hit me. Then as clear as day, I saw myself turn and push Nathan in then walk away.
“Like I said,” I began as I looked up at him, “I have no idea what that was. It was probably my fight or flight instincts kicking in.”
“Funny that they’re called fight or flight instincts; but you neither fought nor flew.”
“Is there something you want to say Nathan?”
“Nothing,” he took out his notebook and started to write something down, “Before I get off the topic; is there anything you want to say?”
“About this, no,” I forced my body to take a relaxed position and leaned back into my chair, “What has happened, has happened. I will not give those people the time of day or the luxury of even thinking or speaking about them. What they did was an act of cowardice; the next time anyone has a problem with me, they can come to my face and say it or they can sulk about it in their homes.”
“Anyone who takes the coward route and attacks me in the street isn’t worth a single second of my time. That is all I have to say about this.”
He held my gaze for a second too long and in that one extra second, I felt like he had stripped through my walls and seen right through my bravado. Regardless, I held his gaze and even cocked a brow at him which made him smile softly- not a real smile, but a smile that confirmed my thoughts, a smile that said ‘I know’.
As per my wish, he didn’t ask about today’s incident. He switched the topic to Couture Week and how my dress was going. I spoke about the amount of sketches I had thrown in the bin and joked about having to go naked if I didn’t find something soon.
We spoke about the upcoming designers we would see and I made a few guesses as to who I thought would be the other judges.
I was talking about a particular designer I was excited to meet when the door to my office flew open and Olivia stormed in. She was in black pants and a fitted white shirt with her black blazer thrown over her shoulder.
Her hair which I am sure was in a perfect bun this morning was currently falling out and onto her face. Sweat trickled down her forehead and she had her bag in one hand and her phone in the other.
“I came as soon as I was able to.” She walked straight over to me, “I saw that video the moment it went live and I wish I was there so I could pummel those cowards’ faces in.”
She switched to Greek and continued her rant not realizing that there was another person in the room. I looked at Nathan to gauge his reaction but he was simply watching Olivia with amusement in his eyes.
