You Saw Me

29

TMZ was not exactly known for its journalistic excellence, but rather for breaking news stories about celebrities, preferably high profile with something to lose. Scandals, infidelity and such was the main focus apparently. So it was rather surprising to see a headline reading: Henry's 40-year-old divorcée, with a picture of me exiting the airport after flying home from Anguilla. It wasn't the most flattering photo, but since I had spent most of the flight crying, what would you expect? I was puffy-eyed and I looked far older than I was, I thought. 

The article was just as unflattering as the photos. I was described as a recently divorced, 40-year-old privileged housewife, who had been traveling with her girlfriends and had sunk her claws into Henry Stiles, 29, singer/entertainer/actor/sexsymbol. 

I sighed after reading the short, but very descriptive piece a couple of times. This too was what Henry and Jeff had been preparing me for. These situations would be part of my life now. 

I got out my phone and sent Henry a message. 

He replied after checking the site. 

I was tempted to search his name in the search box. I was sure there would be many articles about him and the women he had been with since his career started, dating back to when he was just a teenager. It was right there, just a search away. But I didn't see anything good coming from knowing more than I did, or more than Henry wanted to share with me himself. Had I been less oblivious of popular culture, I would probably have known more about Henry and his previous relationships. When Jeff ran through some of the articles of Henry's former romantic interests with me, I had recognised a good portion of them as being very high profile. There was Taylor Swift, who I of course was familiar with. A line of models, who I wouldn't know the name of, but I'd seen them in advertisements. There was one of the Jenner/Kardashian girls as well. Did I really need to know more? 

I decided that I didn't. Afterall any story I would find online would be as twisted as the story about me in TMZ. Henry would share what he wanted or needed me to know. 

*** 

I was looking forward to going back to work. The normal routines and schedules I was used to would be good for me. Seeing my colleagues and having conversations about workrelated topics was also something I was looking forward to. 

As I stepped out of the elevator at the office, I felt something was off. For a second I could have sworn that the entire floor became silent, like a hush sweeping through the crowd. I felt a coldness in the pit of my stomach as I noticed a lot of eyes on me. I hurried through the different stalls down to my own office and closed the door behind me. I tried to shake the uncomfortable feeling off and sat down at my desk to start digging into my work. 

On my desk was a big pile of envelopes. I never really received mail at work, so that was odd. I opened the first letter in the pile and my heart sank. 

Ellie, 

Henry is very special to a lot of people. We support him and believe in him. He is a good, kind soul, who does not deserve to be toyed with. Don't use him. Don't hurt him.

It wasn't a direct threat as such, but it sent a shiver down my spine reading it. I quickly looked through the pile of envelopes and it was obvious that none of them were work-related. I knew that Henry's fanbase was so protective of him and I understood that, but it was difficult being on the receiving end of the warnings. They had found out about me less than a week ago and they already knew so much about me. 

I jumped in my seat when my telephone on the desk started ringing. It was a the internal phone line. I caught my breath and answered.

"Ellie Parsons!" I said, trying to sound cheerful even though I wasn't exactly feeling it. 

"Ellie! Bob here, good to have you back. When you have time, would you be kind and pop by my office? We need to have a talk". Bob sounded like his usual self, but his words worried me. 

"Sure. Let me just wrap a few things up here in my office and I'll be right by you", I couldn't let him know I was nervous, so I tried my best to sound calm. 

Meanwhile my mind was racing. Was he going to fire me? Had he guessed that the Anguilla trip had been more leisure than workrelated? Could there have been some sort of backlash towards the firm from my relationship with Henry?

I left my office and again I felt a lot of eyes on me. I walked past a stall where a couple of employees were whispering something. As I passed them I caught one sentence of their conversation: "She's the one sleeping with Henry Stiles". 

***

I knocked on Bob's door, unsure of what would meet me when I entered. 

"Come!" Bob shouted from inside the office.  When I entered the door, he was sitting behind his desk, reading glasses on. His face lit up when he saw me. "Oh hi, Ellie. Good to see you. You look tanned", his voice was warm and kind as always. 

"Good to see you too, Bob", I muttered under my breath. I was feeling anxious and the comment I had heard had hit me like a blow to the stomach. 

Bob smiled and gestured for me to sit down in the chair opposite from him. I sat down feeling a little weak to the knees. 

"What a great client you found for us. I'm looking forward to signing the deal with Mrs. Hendricks. I'm sure we can do a lot of good for her business and vice versa. Good job, Ellie", he smiled at me and sent me a thumbs up. 

I smiled back, but I felt that the smile didn't reach my eyes. "She's the one sleeping with Henry Stiles" was thundering through me and I could hear my pulse hammering in my ears. I felt lightheaded and my breathing was becoming strained.

Bob sensed that something was wrong. "Are you okay, Ellie? You look pale", he asked in a concerned voice. 

I was going to answer him, but suddenly everything faded to black.