Please Forgive Me

Chapter 23 - Madison

"Madison, I would like you to meet my publicist, Ian."

"Nice to meet you." He gives me a soft grin as he glances between both Maxon and I.

"I see you're the one causing drama, huh?"
I blush. "I didn't mean to. I was just trying to apply to a regular job."

He grins. "It's alright. It's nothing bad. You know the saying, "there is no such thing as bad publicity."

Maxon glares at the ginger haired guy and he laughs it out. "Maxon doesn't agree with that but I can't blame him. He's always been very quiet about his personal life." He pats Maxon on the shoulder. "He's honestly the best client I've ever had in my twenty-five years of doing this."

"Ian, Madison wants to continue working. I won't hold her back but the people..."

"I know what you mean, Max." His blue eyes flicker back to mine. "You do realize that will be next to impossible now, right? Maxon is widely known in the entire U.S. He has fans everywhere."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that now." Maxon drapes an arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him.

"The thing is, not only will you put yourself at risk but a business as well."

I furrow my brows and Maxon tightens his arm around me. "They are a small business and can only keep up with so many orders for now. Mrs. Mae is older and as the owner she doesn't want to take on more than she can handle."

My heart sinks and I stare up at Maxon who's speaking to Ian. "I'm sure we can figure something out." He looks down at me. "We can say she's a volunteer."

My brows raise. "Maxo–"

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. Many believe you are with Maxon for money or fame–"

"What a bunch of bullshit." Maxon mutters but I say. "I do realize that but that's so far from the truth."

"I see that. But they don't. Maxon is heavily respected as both a person and a football player. They know what they know and see what they want to see." He turns back to Maxon. "One of the t.v. hosts from LA asked if you would like to be featured on their show. And if you can bring Madison along it would be better. You can answer questions and clarify the situation at the cafe."

I tug on Maxon's shirt and he looks down at me. "What do you think?"

God, this really is teaching me to get out of my comfort zone. Where is the girl that would never leave her house?

"You all are really making me break out of my shell here." I mutter and they laugh.

"Alright, I'll do it."

Maxon grins and drops a kiss onto my temple.

"The public will love you once they see you both making your television debut. I assure you, what happened will be forgotten once they see how in love both of you are."

I wrap my arms around Maxon as he asks Ian for clarification. "Is this scheduled for the week we play against the Rams?"

He nods. "All I need is to confirm, but yes."

"Good."

"That means we can visit your family, babe." I grin, liking that idea very much.

"Alright, I'll email you the confirmation details within the next twenty-four hours."

Maxon nods and both him and I thank Ian for all his hard work.

As we walk back to Maxon's SUV, I tug on his hand. He glances down at me and I tell him, "Can we go back to the café? I would like to apologize to Mrs. Mae for leaving so suddenly."