Manic Attack

X. Of Kors I Did It

    Stepping onto my floor, all eyes fell on me. My colleagues' pitying stares bore holes into my skin as they exchanged hushed whispers. I knew exactly what they were talking about. With my head held high and the click of my Dorothy Perkins sounding loud in the toned down commotion, I made a beeline to my cubicle. Passing Tonya's office, I spotted the morning tabloid lying on her cluttered desk. Her eyes grew sympathetic like the smile dimpling her chin when she saw me.

I swung open the glass door and poked my head in. "G'mornin."

She looked taken aback. Those sympathetic eyes turned startled. "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks."

Her gaze flicked back to the newspaper splayed in front of her. The crisp image of a shirtless man kissing a brunette was printed under the title:

CAUGHT! GETTING COSY IN THE HEART OF MADRID

Daniel Shaw had been caught kissing supermodel Alessandra Grassi on a sunny Spanish beach. I had a feeling nothing about it had to do with makeovers- unlike the time I was 'caught' pinning Edward Moseby.

"No, I mean seriously, how are you?"

I blinked a few times, my lips curving into a small smile. "Now that you ask, I'm not fine," I said, "I feel amazing."

She stared incredulously. "The news--"

"I read the news and I'm glad I found out." Before more intruding questions could find their way out of her mouth, I continued. "Inform Antonio that I want him for the day, I've got an assignment to complete."

Tanya gave me a small nod. Despite all my assurances of being completely fine, her eyes brimmed with overbearing sympathy. I hated every minute of it. "Great work on the article, by the way," she commented as I was about to leave.

I stopped short. My grip on the door handle tightened. "I had nothing to do with it."

My supervisor blinked, her neck jerking back. "Really? I wonder who leaked the info then."

"Must be the usual, pestering shutterbugs. You know how it is."

"Do you--? No! I meant—" She shook her head roughly. "I'm not talking about the Daniel Shaw article. I'm talking about the Monthly Makeover project news that was published yesterday."

Relief flooded through my tense muscles. Tanya was talking about the article I had asked Derek to publish after my first meeting with Moseby. It revealed the partial truth behind the viral university photo while hinting at a future collaboration between the "eligible bachelor", Edward Moseby, and #GetTrending. The selling point was supposed to be the fact that "Miss Manic" was going to be offering her personal insight on each look. Little did they know I was being blackmailed into doing it. "Oh, that one," I laughed. "Yeah, Derek is amazing at his job."

Inside my little cubicle, I dumped my bag onto the table and fished out my phone. My hands shook as I tapped on my darling's name and typed:

I'm dumping you. Hope Alessandra enjoys kissing your disloyal ass.

I didn't know what to think about the person Daniel had been photographed with and the one I had seen walk into his hotel room- Alessandra Grassi and Angelique Bourdeaux. Two of the most beautiful women in the fashion industry falling for the same man who had asked me, a small-time columnist who needed help even breathing sometimes, to be his girlfriend. Daniel Shaw's objectives were clear as day but how the two women fit in the picture wasn't. Knowing your boyfriend was cheating on you was one thing, knowing that he was cheating on you with two other, drop-dead gorgeous women was another level of God-quit-playing-with-me.