Dolphin Tale 4

Chapter [7]

"What were you thinking?"

Sawyer frowned at Phoebe. He had been summoned to the office as soon as he had arrived at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. "What do you mean by what was I thinking? Did I do something wrong?"

Phoebe unfurled the newspaper she had been holding and said, furiously, "Lacie Armstrong and Sawyer Nelson: the next it couple."

Sawyer paled. "What did you say?"

Phoebe threw the newspaper at Sawyer, glaring at him. Sawyer caught the newspaper. He glanced at the title and image of the article and immediately knew what it was referring to.

"Oh my goodness," he said, clapping a hand to his mouth and shaking his head. He ran a hand through his hair. "How? How...?"

Phoebe glared at him. "Did I not tell you to break it off?"

"I did break it off."

Phoebe folded her arms."So why did you kiss her? Why did you kiss Lacie if you had broken it off? Why, Sawyer? Why?"

Sawyer threw his hands up into the air. "I didn't kiss her, Phoebe, okay?"

"Then how do you explain the photo? Even though it was taken during the evening, I can still tell that it is you and Lacie. Why did you kiss her, Sawyer?"

Sawyer shook his head. "She kissed me, Phoebe. I didn't kiss her. She was the one who decided to kiss me."

Phoebe glared at Sawyer. "I don't care if she kissed you or if you kissed her. To me, it makes no difference. You still kissed. What I want to know is why you didn't push her away. You knew what she was doing, so why didn't you just say no and push her away?"

Sawyer opened his mouth, then closed it. He, in all honesty, wasn't sure why he hadn't pushed Lacie away when she had kissed him. "I don't know, Phoebe. I just don't know."

"You do realise how much trouble this is going to cause, right?"

Sawyer frowned. "What do you mean by trouble? I'm sure it will die down in a few days."

Phoebe laughed spitefully. "News like this doesn't die down in a few days, Sawyer. It's going to be all over the news, you do realise that, don't you?"

Sawyer sighed. "Is the whole world going to know about our supposed love affair?"

Phoebe shrugged. "It's possible. But there's something else you've failed to notice."

Sawyer frowned. "What?"

"You do realise that Hazel will be back in a week, don't you? By the end of the week, this news won't have died down. There's going to be a lot of speculation and rumors flying around. You'd be really lucky if Hazel didn't find out."

Sawyer closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. "Hazel can't find out. It would make her so upset. I would have betrayed her."

"But you have betrayed her, Sawyer. You fell in love with Lacie. Does that not count as betrayal? There's not much you can do, I'm afraid."

Sawyer opened his eyes and stared at Phoebe imploringly. "There's nothing you could do to interfere with the rumors that are flying around? You couldn't say anything on my behalf? Please, Phoebe. Is there anything you can do?"

Phoebe sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sawyer. There's nothing I can do for you. You dug yourself into this massive hole. Now you've got to find a way to get out of it without being seen by Hazel. You got yourself into this mess, so it's up to yourself to get out of it. Nobody else can help you; only you can help yourself."

"What do I do?"

Phoebe shrugged. "I don't know. Make a statement to the press. Go and talk to Lacie. Try and keep this away from Hazel. Just do whatever you think will help save you from this situation, though I sincerely doubt that anything will."

"Why would I talk to Lacie, though? There'd only be more speculation if people saw me with her, wouldn't there?"

Phoebe sighed. "What are the odds that she had someone standing outside of the restaurant? What are the odds?"

Sawyer shook his head. "Are you trying to say that I was set up? Is that what you're trying to say? That Lacie set me up? That she's the reason behind all of this?"

Phoebe shrugged. "One can only make assumptions, Sawyer. I doubt journalists would be outside a restaurant at that time of hour."

"It could have been anyone, though. It might not have been Lacie. Don't put all the blame on her."

"Then who do I put the blame on?" Phoebe asked. "You?"

Sawyer sighed. "Where's the evidence? Just don't put the blame on anyone yet, okay? Just tell me what I can do."

"Talk to Lacie."

Sawyer shook his head. "That would just cause more rumors if people saw me talking to her. I don't want more rumors; I want to end the rumors."

"Then ignore her."

"I can't ignore her. I can't ignore Lacie."

Phoebe sighed. "You're going to have to, Sawyer. You're just going to have to. What else is there you can do? I mean, you could just go to the press and try to clear things up, but that might just cause more speculation."

Sawyer groaned. "Just tell me what to do, okay? I just want a straight, simple answer, Phoebe. What do I do?"

Phoebe stared at Sawyer thoughtfully. "You should keep a low profile for a while, but act normally. You should also tell Hazel what happened when she gets back."

"What? Are you mad?"

Phoebe shook her head. "No, Sawyer, I'm not mad. Would you rather me tell you the truth straight up, or would you rather me find out about the truth on my own? Trust me, when you tell people the truth straight up, they tend to forgive you faster. When you let them discover the truth for themselves... Let's just say that more damage is done. Like I said before, Sawyer, the earlier you do it, the less it hurts."

"But how am I supposed to tell her? Am I supposed to say it was an accident, or something?"

Phoebe shrugged. "I can't help you there, Sawyer. But you should tell Hazel. The sooner, the better."

Sawyer shook his head. "I can't, Phoebe. I just can't."