Brave Enough To Love Again

Chapter 57

Eden

None of us four were aware of the people watching us and taking pictures of us throughout the whole night, only later would I find out who those were and why they did what they did.

*

My phone woke me from my deep slumber. It was Keane who was surprised about the fact that I was still asleep. He just wished me a good day, telling me that he had been at my place only to see me sleeping that he left after giving me a goodbye kiss on my forehead. He said that he would be busy with his father for the whole day, and that he would see me after work for dinner.

I decided to cook for us rather than go out on a dinner date, given the media spotlight on us at the moment. The thought of a romantic candle light dinner at home with the bed just close by made me grin and blush that I pulled my blanket over my head as if someone could read my mind and chastise me for my naughty thoughts.

Speaking of naughty thoughts, where was Megan? I left my bed and called for her while looking around my place. Given that her clothes and shoes were nowhere to be found it meant that she had already left. Checking the time on my phone I had in my hand, it told me that it was past noon, almost 1pm.

The brief glance on my phone also showed me that I had gotten a message from my best friend. She thanked me for the previous night, that she still couldn't believe that we had hung out and had had drinks with two members of the CALIS group, and that she was looking forward to the concert to which we had gotten VIP tickets.

Today is a good day. I was in a very good mood as I got ready to get something to eat and to go grocery shopping for the night's dinner date at home. While humming along to a song in my head, I waited for the elevator to take me down to the ground floor. When I opened the main entrance door to the apartment building I was instantly greeted by a swarm of paparazzi.

To say that I was surprised, overwhelmed and so much more, was an understatement. Flashing lights of the cameras shocked my eyes, and I had to blink several times, and squint my eyes after the intense camera flashes that caught me off guard and to get used to my surroundings again.

What was going on? Why has this paparazzi thing gone this intense overnight? Wait. I should know how to deal with this. Lucy told me. Wait. What was it again? What did she say should I do?

Ah! Talk to them.

Talk to them? How? They're all asking questions at the same time.

"What is your connection to CALIS?", asked one of the voices. "You looked cozy and familiar with Lucy? Are you two dating?", inquired another. "Aren't you dating one or both of the Holloway men already?", was another question. And there were many more I couldn't comprehend as most of them were talking at the same time.

What I did next was purely instinctual because I didn't know any better. Lucy's advice didn't seem to be the answer for this particular situation. This was an ambush kind of situation where I couldn't just talk to them nicely and ask each of them how they were doing. So, I just plastered a smile on my face and tried to walk in one direction hoping for them to leave me alone, but they didn't. They followed suit.

My heart was beating wildly, and I was starting to get nervous because of all the chaos. As I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the camera flashes, I felt my arm being grabbed tightly by someone. Panic began to spread in my whole system. However, before I could react irrationally, I looked up at the person who held me, and was relieved by what I saw.