Accepting You

Chapter 46 - We're Just Friends

The soft touch of Lizzie's hands on either side of her face brought Lily back.

"Baby," Lizzie calls for the third time. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly – no," Lily admits truthfully. She removes Lizzie's hands from her face and throws her own into the air. Everything is going wrong. She's doing everything wrong. "We're caught, Lizzie."

Lizzie turns to Ellis and takes the phone and sees an article with a photo of the two of them at the venue. Lily is holding her close and Lizzie frowns at how out of it she actually looked even though the picture didn't capture her face.

"It's not bad," Lizzie says to no one in particular. "You were just helping me into the car."

"We're clearly together," Lily starts. "Lizzie, you don't understand. I'm gay. Just that fact alone and seeing I'm with another woman is bad enough. Look at where my hands are. I'm taking you to my car!"

Lizzie looks to the other woman for support but she gives her a sympathetic look. "Lily's right. We've gone through this before and for openly gay or LGBTQ+ individuals, they are scrutinized harsher than anyone else."

"Okay, then we come out with our relationship," Lizzie says simply. "My team already has something ready to publicize."

"I suggest not addressing the news directly," Ellis says. "It's better not to react to news and try to keep the ball in our court, if you know what I mean."

"Sorry – who are you?" Lizzie asks, not understanding how this woman plays a role in this and why she's here in the first place. She's young but she seems knowledgeable.

"I'm Ellis," Ellis answers. "I was part of Lily's PR team when she was with the agency. We came up with the Instagram post that pushed people off of your tail last month."

"So why are you here?" Lizzie asks, not sure if she should feel thankful to her or not. She wasn't a fan of 'We're Just Friends' but it worked really well. Like she said, the majority of the public definitely turned their heads and lost interest with nothing to grasp.

"I'm here for Lily," Ellis says, which turns Lily's head. Lily had been pacing back and forth and biting her nail in thought but her attention was caught at the mention of her name.

"I'm not with the agency anymore," Lily states.

"Me either," Ellis responds with a light shrug. "Clara fired me this morning."

"Why would she do that? You're the best on the team and her personal assistant," Lily says.

"We had a 6am meeting," Ellis starts her story. "It was something related to Dawn, but then the first article came out about you and she fired me on the spot."

"I don't understand," Lizzie cuts in. "Why would she do that?"

Ellis smirks and takes out a brown folder and sets it down on the island. Lily and Lizzie gather around and open it to reveal a contract. A hiring contract.

"I asked her to," Ellis says simply. "Clara actually had a similar idea but I got to her first. Lily needs help and I'm the best person to give it. Clara may be strict and a hard ass sometimes but she's always had a soft spot for Lily."

"So you want me to hire you?" Lily asks in disbelief.

"I'm offering my services and gave myself a raise," Ellis says with a grin. "It'll benefit us both."

Lily reads over the contract and notices the title. "Personal assistant?" Lily reads aloud.

Ellis nods. "I figured you would need more than just a PR team. I worked as a personal assistant for some rich CEOs before so I have some experience. Taking calls, scheduling, and managing just about anything – I can do it all."