Luck of a Chubby Girl

Chapter 11

Monday came quickly. I woke up still feeling sleepy but I force myself to get up anyway. Getting out of my flannel light blue pajamas, I stepped into some dark high waisted jeans and put on a pastel pink baggy sweater that I really liked. I then had breakfast and hastily brushed my long hair and then my teeth before grabbing my purse, my phone and my keys as I left my house.

The silence I had inside my four walls disappeared once I was in the hallway between my front door and my neighbor's. I could hear them inside, their hurried steps, talking rapidly at each other in what seemed like a confused and fast paced morning. I knew they had a TV morning show to attend to today, and they still had to get styled when they got to the set. They were probably already running late.

I stepped into the elevator, slightly amused at the image of the chaos that must have been their apartment in that moment. I took out my phone to check the time when I noticed I had several missing calls. I frowned, realizing I somehow had my phone on silent and didn't hear any calls. They were all from unknown numbers, and most of them from earlier that morning. I wondered who was trying to call me that early on a Monday morning, but decided that if they really needed to talk to me, they would call back.

I walked to my work place, realizing that it was definitely getting colder in the UK. It actually reminded me of my home back in Canada, where by this time we would be preparing for the snow to come. With a nostalgic feeling, I was walking past security in the building and going up to my usual workplace when the lady on the front desk called me.

- Miss Olivia! – she called, getting my attention. – Mr. Phillips asked to see you in his office when you arrived.

I nodded and adjusted my route, so I would go to his office instead. I had my heart racing a bit, nervous as to why he would call me. I couldn't think of anything wrong I could have done, but normal employees weren't usually called to his office. Anything wrong would be treated with your immediate superior, not with the company's CEO. My hands were already sweating.

I knocked on his office door and heard him telling me to come in. When I entered, I immediately could tell he was stressed. He was on the phone with someone who seemed very persistent as he refused to say any statement and denied whatever the person on the other side was alleging. He had a pen on his hand that he swirled between his fingers in what seemed like a nervous habit. The office phone kept ringing and he just kept silencing it as he finished the phone conversation. He already looked tired and it was only seven thirty in the morning.

He turned to me then and sighted, sitting on his chair facing me. His phone rang again and he just turned it off.

- Good morning, Miss Olivia. I'm afraid I have bad news – he stated.

- Yes, I assumed as much. What seems to be the problem, Mr. Phillips? How can I help?

He smiled briefly at me, despite his tiredness, and once again sighted as he leaned closer on his side of the table and looked at me, his fingers intertwined on top of said table in a serious matter.

- There seems to have been a leak. We were trying to keep this incident below the radar and we were doing pretty well, as it looked like no one discovered what happened a bit over a week ago. However, a civilian that filmed the episode gave the tape to a reporter last Thursday evening. We tried to negotiate, but the reporter wanted an exclusive interview with you and the boys and I was not comfortable with that. Also, I was pretty sure you wouldn't want something like that.

As he looked at me with raised eyebrows, waiting for a confirmation, I just nodded vigorously. I most definitely didn't want to be in front of the cameras.