Suddenly, There was Kai

Chapter 12

"Guess who received over ten thousand tweets and likes, and even got her own hash tag last night?"

I looked over at Greg as he sat across from me. I had been picking at the food on my plate, spaghetti in white wine sauce, mindlessly. I had purposefully avoided social media ever since the Gala and for the past three days between work and sleep, I have been pretty successful. "Janet had tried to tell me something yesterday, but I kind of hung up on her. I didn't mean to, I just figured she was going to say something about Kai being there and I did not feel like having a conversation about him."

Greg chuckled at that. When I told him about what happened, he let me finish my cry on his shoulder as he petted my hair. Since then, he has been on a mission to cheer me up, hence the dinner at Mario's Trattoria. He was worried about me falling into a hopeless state.

"Maybe you should have given her a chance to talk." He said as he whipped out his phone and started typing away. "Here, take a look at this "hot mamma"!" He said a minute later shoving the phone under my nose forcing me to look.

I jerked back slightly. "What?" I cried out annoyed and then looked down to make sure I didn't make a mess. He looked at little exasperated when he shook the phone to regain my attention. At first, I didn't understand what I was seeing. Then it all came into focus. "Is that- me? What?" I dropped the fork grabbing the phone away from him. I started scrolling only to see dozens of pictures of me, from all different angles. There were even a few memes. "Is this for real? "Mystery starlet identified as Gabriel Leighton of Heights Media, a PR group located in Boston Mass." I said quoting the caption of a photo from a fashion blog.

"You have created quite the following, keep scrolling." He moved from his spot to sit next to me. "I had no idea you had it in you to look so fierce!" His grin took over his entire face when he accentuated the last word with a dramatic snap of his fingers.

My awe increased the longer I scrolled. "I really didn't even think that I was that awesome. I mean the paparazzi went wild when they first saw me, but I figured that was what they were supposed to do."

"No chickie, I already knew when you sent me that full length pic; and then on top of that, the thing that happened with Mr. Shin, Gabe you were on fire. I am just glad you are finally being recognized for being the hottie that you are."

I snorted. "Hmm, maybe I should take my phone off of do not disturb. There could be a modeling agency or two waiting for a response."

"Honestly, I would be more surprised if there weren't already several voicemails. I am actually kind of upset with you for washing your hair so soon, I would have loved the chance to play with it."

"Take a number sweetheart, I have been threatened twice already and Ian just about cried." I looked over at Greg who seemed to be a little misty-eyed as he looked at my hair. "You know what, fine, I will get it straightened again. My birthday is coming up." I cackled at the look he gave me, probably because my birthday is three months away. "Alright, I will try to do it sooner. You know I am a low-maintenance girl."

"Well if not for me, then do it for Ian."

"Maybe." I kept my attention on the phone in my hands.

"I take it that for now at least, you are going to stay in this relationship?" No answer. "Gabriel?" Still nothing. He takes the phone from my grasp and places it back into his pocket.

"I want to say yes, but I feel as if you will think that I am an idiot." I say after a moment. "I don't want to ruin everything because I can't have the one I want."

He turned his chair to face me, tucking one leg under him and sitting again. "Ok, but isn't your happiness just as important?"

I shrug. "Ian hasn't done anything wrong, I believe that we can be happy together."