"Okay..." Karlie trails off, not seeing how this warranted a phone call. "That happens a lot, especially when I come back from shoots and stuff. The paparazzi seem to know my schedule better than I do these days." She laughs.
"I suppose that's true." Her publicist laughs. "But I'm not talking about paparazzi. There are some fan photos surfacing; one or two from the airport and some blurry ones that appear to have been taken at a restaurant or something? They're not very clear, so it's hard to tell who's in the pictures."
"The diner." Karlie says quietly, confirming her publicist's unasked question.
"Ah." She hums quietly. "So it is you in those photos?" She asks, though not accusingly.
"Yeah." Karlie sighs. "Taylor and I stopped at a diner after she picked me up from the airport. I hadn't eaten all day."
"I see." Her publicist replies and Karlie can hear rapid clicking sounds; assuming the woman was typing something.
"What's wrong?" Karlie huffs.
"Nothing yet. I've had a couple gossip sites and magazines calling, but they've been doing that since that girl posted that picture of the two of you on social media."
"By that girl, do you mean my girlfriend?" Karlie grits out, trying not to blow up on her publicist.
The clicking stops immediately and an awkward silence settles over the line. "I apologize if I overstepped. I didn't mean to make you upset."
"You didn't overstep. You just blatantly disrespected someone very important to me." She sighs. "I know it was a lot easier for you before I had a girlfriend and everything, but doesn't my happiness account for anything?"
"You know it does Karlie." Her publicist sighs. "Again, I apologize. I didn't mean any disrespect to you or your girlfriend. You know that." She implores.
Karlie rubs her forehead in frustration. This is not how she wanted her day to start. "Look. I know I didn't tell you I was dating anyone, so I understand that you guys were kind of blindsided by this, and for that I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You don't have to apologize for being happy."
Karlie cracks a small smile, knowing ultimately that her team does support her and wish for her happiness.
"We're all just trying to figure out how to handle this. I know you prefer keeping things private, and from what you've told me about your girlfriend, she feels the same. But for future reference, just so we're clear, are you willing to comment or talk about your relationship or girlfriend?"
Karlie sighs. She knew they couldn't live in a bubble forever, but she wasn't expecting this to be an issue already. It hadn't even been a week yet. "I don't mind talking about it. But as you know, Taylor and I are both private people. We're not going to hide our relationship, but that doesn't mean I want a million interviews lined up trying to get every last detail. I would prefer they respect our privacy, but I know that's a lot to ask. But I do ask that you keep Taylor out of it as much as you can. She doesn't deserve to have them digging up everything about her. I don't want them harassing her."
"I understand. And I think that's honestly for the best. If you tried to hide things, people would dig and become even more invasive. So I'm glad we got that sorted. We will do our best to protect both you and your girlfriend's privacy."
"Thank you."
Karlie can hear the sound of papers being shuffled around as her publicist continues. "Well, with that being said, I'll let you get back to your day."
"Thanks for the heads up."
"Of course. I'll talk to you soon Karlie."
"Bye." Karlie ends the call and decides to pick up her pace to work out her frustration. The sun slowly began rising above the skyscrapers, immediately increasing the temperature outside. She glances at her watch and sees that she's been gone for almost an hour, so she decides to head back to Taylor's.
Chapter 26
Start from the beginning
