Fakely HIS

Chapter 39

Magazines, tabloids, and paparazzi.

All words foreign to me, even though spotlight wasn't something new.

Erica Dixon or Summer Davies as her business world knew her to be, was a lot of things, but to me and my siblings, she was the best mother anybody could ever have. I mean, I know a lot of people would think the same things about their mothers, but I'm telling you the truth when I tell you that Erica Dixon was a great mother.

Elite or not, she managed to keep her children away from the public eyes as much as possible. She managed to give us as much a normal life as she could. Sure, there were the balls, galas and dinners that we could've lived without – that we complained about through and through. But considering the weight of the spotlight that could've been on us, there was only little for us to carry; she always came between the spotlight and us, took as much weight as she could.

As a result, when her every move was scrutinized, criticized and discouraged, we had an almost ordinary childhood. We had then been relatively normal as teenagers and now even as adults, two years after mom's death – we were absolutely normal. One or two tabloid references here and there, but nothing that would hinder with the normal life that we led – we sneaked out of the house, got caught, got grounded, got scolded, when grades dropped – had our electronics confiscated, dated normally, brought home our date for dinner with the parents, went to prom... like I said, normal.

Look at us now though, one in a long sleep, the other across the country struggling to make sense of his life and then, there was me, I don't even know what I was doing with my life. I mean, really, just a few months ago I was a waitress in a café, now I was almost a housewife or whatever I was, with two kids that I didn't even birth to take care of, and a man – that I was sure I hated a few months ago, but not sure what I felt about him right now. Nicholas. That name alone just sent a series of nervous flutters in my heart, and a tumble of questions in my head.

If I started to think about Nicholas, I was sure I was never going to stop, and I was also sure that I was never going to get an answer, so I shook my head and concentrated on what was in front of me. The white cover of the magazine somehow too bright, the black, bold words on top of it somehow blurred in front of me.

GOLD DIGGER ALERT: Hayley Dixon, the mysterious girl who came out of nowhere and snagged one of the most eligible bachelors of the city is a GOLD DIGGER.

101 reasons why we think Hayley is only after the Manhattan money – Turn to page 29.

Seeing my name in a magazine was weird. Sure since the moment I had started dating Nicholas, there'd been a few tabloid news here and there, yet somehow this was bigger, this was the first time I was seeing my name in a bad light. I had swiped the magazine from the convenience store in a gas station, on the way over to pick up the twins from the Manhattans' home. Kate and Skylar had left for their respective homes, entrusting me in the care of Amir, the bodyguard. All the way over to the Manhattans' place, my eyes had been glancing between the magazine sitting in the backseat where I had carelessly thrown it, and the road ahead of me, my mind elsewhere.

Amir, who had been driving the car ever so silently, glanced at me over the corner of his eyes. I felt his eyes on me, but I didn't turn to face him. Clearing his throat as a means to get my attention, Amir started to speak once he had it, "Don't let them get to you," he said, his voice gruff and scratchy, like it was the first time in a long time that he has spoken. But I knew that wasn't the case because I'd heard him speak, albeit a few times, it still counted.

Shaking my thoughts, I looked at him, really looked at him and understood why someone like Nicholas trusted Amir so much. The man was good. I could've lied, I really could have. I could've pretended that I didn't know what he was talking about, but for some reason, I couldn't do either of that. Maybe it was the fact that Amir looked like a man wiser than anybody I had ever met, or maybe it was the fact that he was looking at me like he knew exactly what I was going through, but either way, I opened my mouth and I didn't deny anything that I thought I should deny. "Easier said than done."