Sweet and Spicy [COMPLETED]

Call Me

"Kaya!"

"I swear, if you say I have to see this one more time, I am going to slap you." Kaya glared at Lina. 

Lina folded her arms. "Well? Have you seen it?" 

"No. What happened now?" 

"You hit the news again." Lina scrolled for far too long before she spun the phone to show Kaya.

Kaya groaned at the new headline. Ransom Lee's Lover Identified: Shocking New Developments! 

The photos? Yeah, Kaya should have known. Even if the press wasn't supposed to be at the party, they had clearly found a way in. Not only did they have a shot of Ransom pinning Kaya against the catering van, they had one of him gingerly holding onto her wrist. 

"Can I just sue them and be done with it?" At this point, Kaya would take any exit she could get from this whole ordeal. 

Lina shook her head. "Sadly, they didn't give away anything that people didn't already know. Your face was already on the live stream from the other day and they only use your last name. By the way, were you aware that you scored viral numbers off that live stream?" 

Kaya paused. "How do you know that?" 

"I watched it. Duh!" Lina leaned back against the wall. 

"And yet you didn't come to save me?" Kaya stopped kneading the dough in front of her so she had more energy to glare at her friend. 

Lina shrugged. "Didn't know where you were. Besides, Tobin had it under control." 

"Um... there was plenty of time for you to get there before Tobin." 

"Again, I didn't know where you were." Lina pocketed her phone. "Anyway... be careful now, okay? If they have your identity, it's just a matter of time before they have other things." 

"Why won't they just let this die?" Kaya slid her eyes shut. If she thought about it too much, her headache might come back. She came to the city to avoid things like this. Why did trouble follow her? 

"It's making them money, so they'll milk it for all it's worth." Zoren's voice broke the silence. 

Kaya peeked one eye open to see him leaning against the back door in a posture far too similar to his sister. 

Zoren waved one hand in greeting. "I thought you two might need some backup today. I saw the headline." 

"I don't need any backup whatsoever. You," Kaya pointed a spatula at Lina, then Zoren, "and you can leave me alone today. I have things to do." 

"Oh, and we don't?" Lina rolled her eyes. "I personally think it's a great idea to let Zoren stick around for a while." 

"No, thanks. I've got this. I'll call one of you if I need anything, but this is my place of work, not some arcade." Kaya went back to kneading the dough. "No games here, so stop playing." 

"No games, but plenty of food." Zoren ventured to a few cooling racks, but thankfully didn't touch. "I'm sticking around for that." 

Kaya pointed to the dining area. "Then go out there and order like a normal human being. Deal with Noel, not me." 

"Hey," Zoren nudged his shoulder against Kaya's as he passed, "No need to be mean. I get the drift. If you need me, give a yell." 

Kaya didn't answer him. She most certainly would not give him a yell, or a shout, or any other kind of recognition. Everyone thought she couldn't weather this alone. She had been doing alright so far. She could get through it without help. At least... that's what Kaya thought. 

If only she had known what waited for her.