Drifting Deception

Chapter Seven

HENRY

"Another fucking meeting," I said as I stormed into Maurice's office. "What have I done now?" It had been three days since I posted the photo on my socials, and since then I had been flooded with questions. Who was the mystery girl who had tamed my heart? How long had we been together? I figured the post would've been enough to get Maurice off my fucking back, but as he stared at me with flaming cheeks and daggers for eyes, I knew something bad must have happened.

"You just won't learn will you?" Maurice spat. His tone was filled with hatred and a bit of sympathy. I watched Maurice's screen as he played a video of me passed out in a bush. I chuckled as I remembered waking up with a branch up my shirt.

"You just look stupid and reckless. You know that, right?" Maurice looked tired and it wasn't from the lack of sleep.

"In my defence," I began. "That all happened a month ago. I can't control what resurfaces."

Maurice shook his head. "That's not the point. You heard the sponsors. If you want to keep your seat, you need to change how the world sees you. You need to pray the next video that surfaces is one where you're on a wholesome picnic date with your new girlfriend."

I chuckled again. Me on a picnic date? Never. 

"Why didn't you just hire some PR person to come and teach me how to behave?"

Maurice sighed. "What I'm about to say will make me sound like an absolute dick, but the truth is, at this point, you're replaceable, Henry."

Ouch.

"We've only been together for a few months now. The team hasn't seen what you can do yet, but we want to see what you bring on your own...without a PR manager. If you don't want to take this seriously, be our guest. But we can't guarantee we'll stick around until the end if things don't improve."

I sighed. While his words were harsh, I didn't blame him for saying them. I was stupid enough to do the things that gave me a bad reputation, but I was mature enough to understand why the team were worried. I only hoped this arrangement with Sydney was enough to make things right.

"So tell me about Sydney," Maurice began as we walked out of the motorhome "Is it serious with her?"

I nodded. "It is." I picked up my pace to match Maurice's. "It took us both by surprise, but we felt an immediate attraction and so we thought we'd explore it."

"And you've labelled it already?" Scepticism could be found in his tone, which made me uneasy. I knew how it looked. I was told to get my reputation into shape, and a few days later I had a girlfriend. But so far, we'd managed to convince the world that we were "dating". I didn't think Maurice cared if it was all fake, so long as it mended my reputation.

"We have," I said after a beat. "Theo wasn't happy when he heard the news."

Maurice scoffed. "I wonder why." He stopped in his tracks, and I did the same. "But if you can prove to him that you're going to look after his sister, I don't see why he should be concerned." I smiled. That was the nicest thing Maurice had said all week, and we'd had a lot of conversations.

To my left, a short girl with long blonde hair appeared in my periphery. I didn't know why, but a smile appeared on my mouth before I turned to see who it was.

"Sydney," Maurice said chirpily. "We were just talking about you."

My fake girlfriend walked towards the two of us before standing by my side. I watched as Maurice analysed our interaction. I bet he thought the distance between our bodies was "too platonic".