Undercover || completed

Chapter 15

"OMG! Like, is that her?" an indistinct voice asked. 

Another one replied, "I don't know."

"I can't believe it."

"I always thought there was something wrong with her."

"Her music sucks too!"

"Everybody 'likes' her music because of how sl*tty she looks. I mean, come on, her music is so cheap and disgusting."

 Payton's head snapped to the voices. 

"Excuse me?"

A teenager with jet-black hair and stormy blue eyes answered, "Didn't you hear? It's all over the news. I bet your manager is worried for you, Kiera."

 Payton's fingers started shaking before she pulled out my phone and dialed her manager's number. What was the pretty girl talking about?

Her manager wasn't answering. 

"Please leave a message after the beep," the phone answered. 

Stupid Phone. 

"Hey, Dave. It's Payton, your #1 client. Why won't you answer your phone?" I told the voicemail. 

Dave would know what to do about this. He was great with PR and was an obsessed manager. If Dave knew what the problem was, he'd know exactly what to do. 

This wasn't a big issue, right? 

*****

"Hi, I'm here for my 4:00 appointment," I explained to the questioning receptionist.

The woman smiled, "Oh, Kiera Mead? Right this way. I'm such a fan of your work."

Her voice went up an octave at the last part, and her smile started looking a lot more fake. She looked Payton down and mumbled something incoherent. 

"I know where to go," Payton hissed.

The receptionist glared at Payton and left her alone. People these days...

The door of Dave's office was open a crack, and Payton almost opened it. 

"Yeah, Payton's a great girl and all, but I think even she realizes just how crappy her music is. It's just that she's the Golden Girl, with her sultry looks and voice,"

Payton's heart dropped. Was that really what Dave thought of her?

"I hope she realizes that she's going on hold for a while. We're not going to continue her albums. For a while, too. I just hope she's good at something other than singing."

She took deep breaths and counted to ten. She didn't want to hear any of it. 

"I only took her as a client because of her body. I mean, have you seen it?"

That. Was. It. 

Her heart was breaking and Payton didn't know what to do. Her music wasn't there for her anymore. 

Payton waited for a little while longer, hoping his phone call was over. 

"Yeah! I mean you and Payton? Come on! That would have never happened, Asher. You played her like the beat of a drum."

A lone tear dripped off of Payton's face. What had that comment been about? Surely it wasn't Asher  he'd been talking about. The furthest they'd gotten was making out. 

"I can't believe she didn't figure out that I told the media about her... yeah, I'd be happy to take you on as an agent. Right after I kick her off, though."

No. No. No. 

This wasn't happening. Payton was here to talk about renewing her contract as  well as the media debacle. This wasn't supposed to happen. 

I'm getting really close to ending the book. It's been really fun to write. I can't wait to start another serious book!