Falling For My Boss

Chapter 27

~~~Y/N's POV~~~
My phone has not stopped vibrating for over twenty-four hours. Actually, both of my phones have pretty much been unusable since last night. I tried to sift through the messages from friends and family, but I kept getting new notifications and it was becoming overwhelming. Hailee has been telling me the gist of what her fans are saying, at least what her publicist is telling her, and it seems like they're happy for her, which is awesome. We're getting ready to head to the airport when my phone suddenly goes still. I hesitate to pick it up, and when I do, I regret it instantly. I have thousands of DM's on instagram, and the first few that I read are not very kind, to say the least. People are furious at me, saying I 'stole Hailee from them' or that I'm a gold digging whore that's using her. Some of them are from people I know! People I went to college or even grade school with are messaging me about it. Some are nice, thankfully, but as I keep scrolling, most are not. Taylor has sent me a couple of tik tok links where people are already trying to analyze our entire relationship. This is absolutely insane. Hailee pops her head in as I'm sitting on the bed, baffled at the sheer multitude of hateful messages. I'm reading one that literally is accusing me of 'turning her gay with my witchcraft' when she sits next to me.
"Earth to y/n! Did your phone finally shut up?"
"Uh, yeah, but-" my voice catches in my throat, a knot of tears forming.
"Oh, baby, that bad?" She wraps her arms around me as I start sobbing, rubbing my back with one hand. I hand her my phone and bury my face in her neck. "Hey, hey, I love you. No matter what anybody has to say about it."
"I didn't- I didn't think it would be," I'm struggling to speak between sobs. "So horrible."
"I'm so sorry, y/n." Hailee just holds me for a while. Eventually we have to get going to the airport, and she wipes my tears before we leave the hotel, holding my hand firmly as cameras flash at us. The second the car doors shut, I'm bawling again.
~~~Later~~~
"Hailee, it's been months! Months of people calling me horrible names and sending you lies about me, and sending me threats! I'm tired!" I'm pacing around her living room, exhausted. "You said it would stop. It hasn't even slowed down!"
"I can't fix this, y/n. Even if I tried to say something, it would get worse again before it ever got better. I've been there with previous relationships. Just trust me."
"I do trust you," I snap. "I'm asking you to defend me. If it gets worse, it gets worse, I'll just delete my accounts. I don't care. I just want you to defend me."
"And I'm telling you, it will stop if we ignore it! I'm not giving these trolls the time of day," she returns my anger. I look away, trying to calm down when I get a text from Flo asking me if I've brought up taking a trip. Of course I haven't. We can't do anything in public without someone harassing me, even when I'm literally just doing my job. I guess now is as good a time as any.
"I'm going to London." It flies out before I have time to reconsider.
"What?" She gapes at me.
"Flo wants me to help her find an assistant and I've never been to Europe, so I'm gonna go help her."
"When?" She's got a confused look on her face, but she sounds mad.
"It's not like I'm very effective here right now, I might as well go tomorrow," I mumble, and she shoots daggers at me.
"Why don't you then? Go tomorrow."
"Fine." I grab my bag and walk out, still fuming. Why can't she just tell people to shut the fuck up and get over it? Flo did when people were shitting on Zach Braff, and everyone respected the shit out of it. Of course, when I said that to Hailee, she just scoffed. I book a flight to London and shoot Flo a text telling her I'll be there ASAP.
~~~Hailee's POV~~~
She storms out and I feel empty. Why can't she just trust me? I've been in the public eye my whole life; I know what I'm doing. And I know how it feels getting messages like she's getting. I mean, yeah, it's definitely worse than I've ever gotten, but why can't she just ignore it and trust that it'll stop eventually? Ugh, and she's been teaming up with Flo or Taylor constantly, trying to make me change my mind about addressing these fools. It's like we've barely had a moment of happiness since I was on Fallon. Then James Corden didn't help things. She got messages that she was controlling my narrative because he asked me about her. People will literally twist anything. If she would listen to me, she'd see that they don't matter. Maybe if she goes to London for a while, it'll help the harassment train to stop. Maybe it'll pump the breaks a bit quicker. I can hope so at least.
~~~Y/N's POV~~~
Jesus Christ that was a long flight. I stretch my legs as I wait for my luggage to come around the carousel. When I finally get out of the airport, Flo is waiting for me.
"No Hailee?" she asks, and I realize I didn't tell her.
"Uh, no. She stayed home."
"Bummer. I'll still show you what you're missing over in America, don't worry." She links arms with me and leads me to a car that she drives to her apartment. Being on the left side of the road is wild. On the way, I give her a rundown of what happened when I left Hailee's last night, or however time works.
"So I'm here to help you, and unplug from that situation."
"Well don't just leave her in the dark, love. She loves you," Flo advises.
"I won't, but I'm really trying to stay off my phone while I'm here." I pullout my phone to send Hailee a quick text telling her I made it. It's like 6 am at home, so I'm sure she's working out. To my surprise, she responds immediately.
H<3: I'm glad you're safe, love you so much. :*
Y/N: Love you too.
~~~Hailee's POV~~
Y/n being so far away really sucks. It's been two and a half weeks. She's barely been texting me, partially because of the time difference, and partially because she's trying to stay off of her phone and enjoy being in London. Yesterday, Flo sent me a picture of Y/n in her favorite pub, grinning ear to ear, and another of Y/n with Jodie Comer after a play, looking starstruck. She looks so happy, I made the one of her in the pub my home screen. I'm finishing up yet another workout when a news alert hits my phone. I open it to see a headline that genuinely shocks me.
Hailee Steinfeld's New Girlfriend: A Cheater?
Underneath is a photo of y/n and Flo outside of a pub, and it's unmistakable. They're kissing.