Personal Chef

Chapter 38

I was sitting on the bed waiting for Shawn to get back to the hotel when the suite door opened and shut.

I jumped up and ran out to the adjoining living room where I found him standing in the middle of the room anxiously running his hands through his hair.

"Shawn?"

He turned to me. "I just can't fucking believe this! Did you hear the fucking interview?"

I nodded.

"I walked out. I fucking walked out of a radio station. And now it's everywhere that I was keeping my new girlfriend a secret and that I was a dick in that interview."

I could tell he was on the verge of tears. Wrapping my arms around him tightly, I did my best to soothe his frustration.

"You weren't a dick at all! Anyone who listened knows she was the one out of line!" I assured him.

"I should have had an answer planned if someone pushed. I just panicked. I thought we were doing a good job keeping it under the radar, so I just wasn't expecting that bullshit."

There was a knock at the door. Shawn answered and Andrew walked in.

"We need to do damage control before the concert," Andrew said firmly.

Damage control? I got that he wanted this to not get out, but it's not like he got caught with a prostitute or punched an old woman on the street.

"Can't you just say we're together?" I asked. "Is it that big a deal?"

Shawn sat down on the couch. "But then I'm admitting I lied in the first interview."

I sat next to him and took his hand in mine. "If anyone questions why you lied, just say to respect my privacy you wanted to keep it a secret. Make it all about me. No one will judge you for trying to protect your girlfriend."

"But there's the Kat thing, too. I just shared that we broke up and now you and I are together. That doesn't look good."

"You don't have to say when we got together," I said.

"I think Chelsea's right. You need to put something on social media and just move on. If we make too big a deal out of this it looks worse," Andrew said.

Shawn stood up and started pacing. "So I post statement saying Chelsea's my girlfriend and explain why we kept it a secret?"

"Go simpler," his manager advised. "Do you have a good picture of the two of you together?"

Shawn nodded and pulled his phone out of his front jeans pocket and started scrolling. He held up a picture of the two of us on his patio. He'd taken the selfie late one night when the CN Tower was lit up in red. We both had big smiles and his phone-free arm was wrapped tightly around me.

"I love that picture," I said with a smile.

"It's perfect. When did you take it?" Andrew asked.

"A couple days before we left for Europe," Shawn answered. "What do I caption it?"

We all thought about this for a second.

"I'd go short and cute, almost like you're making fun of how the news came out," I suggested.

Shawn furrowed his brow and typed. He then showed me the phone before showing it to his manager.

The secret is out ❤️

"I think it works," Andrew said.

"I agree. But what happens now?" I asked.

Shawn took in a deep breath causing his cheeks to puff up. He then slowly blew it out.