Kai Smith x Female reader

Chapter Thirteen

The Way - Ariana Grande 

What I Like About You - The Romantics 

When I woke up the next morning, I didn't feel right. I felt like a girl in middle school again. My toes and fingertips felt all bubbly. I curled my toes and turned over in the sheets. I took a pillow in my arms and squeezed it tightly.

Some part of me felt like it was all just a dream, but I knew it wasn't. A giddy feeling started welling up in the pit of my stomach as I buried myself deeper in my blankets. A smile made its way across my face, and I stuffed my face into the pillow.

My brain? WoOWWOWOOWOOWOwooWOOOW

My heart? FUCKFUCKFUCKfuCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKUFCKUCKFCUCFCSFJKSJFKS

I wasn't catching feelings, right? Because yesterday I was so sure that I wasn't going to.

As I flipped over, the sun shone right into my eyes. My face scrunched up in an attempt to block out the light. The time. What time was it? I went home late last night.

I snatched my phone from my nightstand and clicked it on. My jaw dropped. It was already eleven a.m. I was supposed to be at work by nine. I threw the sheets off and got ready as if it was my last day alive. I raced out my shoes slipping off my ankles and my eyes still droopy from sleep. I swear to God if I get fired -

~

As soon as I made it there, I ran inside. I didn't dare to take the time to stop for coffee or breakfast. I was two hours late. There wasn't any time.

My feet shifted in my heels as I practically chucked the money at the taxi driver and jumped out of the vehicle. The doors swung open with a single push, I signed in, my name barely a scribble of the paper, and I jumped upstairs, flashing my ID at a nearby worker.

I didn't feel like waiting any longer, so I took the stairs. I would make it up there faster than the elevator, anyway. My heels clicked on the cement stairs, and usually, I'd be a bit scared of slipping, but right now there wasn't any time left to worry about slipping or cracking your skull open.

When I made it to the eighth floor, I realized it probably would have been smarter to take the elevator. My co-workers looked at me, disheveled and tired. I quickly ran a hand down my face and rubbed my sweaty palms down my pencil-skirt.

Nervously sucking on my teeth, I sat down at my cubicle and began typing away within minutes.

After about fifteen minutes, I finally felt settled in. My boss, thankfully, didn't even acknowledge me being here or me being gone. Just as I was going to make a call, the door to the office slammed open. Everyone's heads snapped up to see a girl with crazy, hot pink highlights and a bright green shirt accompanied by a black skirt and gloves.

I shot up from my seat. "Anezka?"

Anezka scanned the room until her eyes landed on me. She smiled, her eyes softening as she practically skipped over to me. I looked her at dead in the eye, and through gritted teeth, I said, "What the hell are you doing here?"

One of her gloved hands shot up. "Y/n, you're the story." In her hand was a newspaper with my face on it - and Kai's.

It was the moment right after I had fallen onto the carpet. Our arms were linked, and he was smiling widely at me.

"Shit," I muttered, ready the article. A string of curses flew out of my mouth. "Anezka, I could get fired for this. Thank you so much for telling me."

"Wait," she said, "why could you get fired?"

"Because it isn't my company's paper. Some other companies got to the story before we did. Shit. Thank you. Oh, God."

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

"I'm not. If I didn't know about this any sooner, my boss would have seen it before I had a chance to explain. With this, I can come up with a better story. Maybe twist it a little bit. After all, I'm the girl it happened to. They have to trust my word."

Anezka nodded before a bundle of security guards grabbed her by the arms and pulled her out the door. She smiled and waved, despite being dragged away.

The eyes of my co-workers were all on me. I made a "what-the-fuck-are-you-looking-at" gesture and they all returned to their laptops. After that, I didn't hesitate to run to my boss's office. The door swung open with a single push, and I was in a seat before he even knew who was in his office. I slammed the newspaper on his desk, looking him dead in the eye.

"Okay, so this is crazy, I know but-"

"I already saw it." He cracked his knuckled, pulling the papers out of my hand.

"What?"

"I already saw them. I never said anything about it because I'm glad."

"Glad? But it's not our paper. Someone else had the story first and-"

"But we have you. People are going to come to you, and you're going to come to us before that. You're our new mascot." The chubby man smiled, displaying a row of slightly crooked and yellow teeth.

"Mascot? Wait, what?"

"You're a new attraction, Y/n! People are gonna want to know what you have to say. You have a connection with one of the biggest stars in the city! A normal girl living a normal life, then all of a sudden - bam!" He smacked his hands together to emphasize the bam. "Who knew! Who knew that this girl would attract the extraordinary?" He chuckled.

I paused for a moment before slipping the papers back from him and looking down at the picture. "Sir, I'm not sure that I'd want to-"

"But of course you would! Who wouldn't? You have connections. If you don't mind, could you bring Kai into this?"

"Kai? But...But he'd kill me!" I honestly didn't know if he would or wouldn't, but I needed an excuse. I can't see him being happy about this. Unfortunately, this backfired terribly.

"So you know him personally? Even better! Now shoo. We have work to do."

My shoulders dropped and Bile started rising in my throat. Kai would probably kill me. Probably.