Part 21: Wedding Bells

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"What the fuck are you talking about?" Josh asked, raising his voice. 
"Calm down. Right now," one of the managers said.
Josh stood, fists clenched. "Tell me what you're talking about. I don't have the time or patience for games right now."
The manager, whose name I thought was Sean, chimed in. "Look at your follower analytics, Josh. Look where you were a year ago. Being with this girl has brought those numbers down substantially."
Josh shook his head. "This girl has a name, and it's Bailey. I will not let you try to bring down my personal life to advance my professional life. I lost eight hundred followers in a year. So what? I've never met those people. Do you know who I have met? Bailey. She makes me so happy, and I'm not throwing that away over eight hundred people. Not a chance."
I grabbed his hand from where I was sitting, attempting to calm him. "They only have your best interest in mind, babe. Try to calm down."
He pulled his hand out of mine. "No. I won't calm down. I think that they owe both of us an apology."
I shook my head. "You're being ridiculous. You literally pay them to analyze how your following is doing. You can't be mad at them for doing their job."

The management team stood at the front of the room, watching us as we argued. 
"I don't care what I pay them for. I didn't pay them to tell me to break up with the woman that I love."
"Josh, honey, it's fine. I'm not offended, so you shouldn't be either."
There was a knock on the conference room door. It opened, and Bryce stepped into the room. "Bro, what the hell are you yelling for? Some of us are trying to enjoy a peaceful breakfast." Josh quickly and angrily filled him in. Bryce shrugged. "You don't have to break up, necessarily. Just create some fake drama. Get people interested in it. These people love to follow the drama."
Sean interjected. "That's actually really good, Bryce. Thanks, man."
Bryce nodded and left the room, and Josh turned to look back at Sean. "You heard him. What drama are you going to create?"
Sean shrugged. "Post a picture with Nessa. No caption, no explanation. Make sure that you two are cozy. Get tiktokroom talking. The more they talk, the more that people will follow both of you. It works."

Josh finally calmed down, pulling out his phone to text Nessa. I thanked the management team, and we left the conference room, heading down to the kitchen. "I love you, but that was a little bit dramatic."
"Are you serious? They just tried to tell me to break up with you," Josh replied, turning to look at me. 
I nodded. "I'm aware. I was right there. You didn't even let them explain. They could have suggested staying together but saying that we broke up."
Josh sighed. "I don't like that idea. I don't want anyone to think that we aren't together. Ever."
I wrapped my arms around him. "I get that, but you can't argue with the people that have your best interest in mind. You and I both know that."

Bryce came back into the kitchen. "Hey, guys. Engagement dinner tonight. Don't miss it."
Josh and I both looked at him. "Not sure how we're supposed to be there if you don't give us a time or location," Josh said.
"Oh. Eight. Here." 
I nodded, sitting down at the island. "You tell Mom yet?" 
Bryce nodded. "Yeah, we called her last night. I felt kind of bad because we woke her up, but she was really excited."
"What about Sheri and Monty?"
Bryce nodded again. "We called them, too. Monty wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea, but Sheri's convinced that it will grow on him. What about you guys? I heard that someone panicked yesterday when marriage was mentioned."
My face flushed a deep shade of red. "Don't do that to me. I'm just a kid."
Bryce chuckled. "You were an adult when you didn't want my advice though."
Josh laughed at us. "You two never stop arguing."
"This isn't an argument!" Bryce and I exclaimed together, dissolving in a fit of laughter. 
Josh shook his head. "Where's the future Mrs. Hall at, anyway?"
"She's showering. We're heading to her parents' house for a little bit," Bryce answered, peeling a banana. 
We sat and talked for a little bit before Bryce excused himself, heading upstairs to get ready.

"You know what's crazy?" I asked. Josh shrugged. "The last time that we all ate dinner together, we had just made our relationship official."
"You always want to reminisce on what happened the last time we did something," Josh laughed.
I faked a pout. "I want to remember everything. You never know when you're not going to get to make any more memories."
Josh looked at me strangely. "Don't talk like that. You don't need to worry about things like that."
I shrugged, standing up. "You ready to go? We've got some things to do today."

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