Miss CEO

Chapter 30

"Muna, don't freak out."

Why not? I had every reason to do just that. In fact, it was laid out right in front of me. I swallowed hard as I looked at the magazine articles in front of me.

The first one, blown up unto the cover of the page, was an image of me passed out on the floor in my apartment. The title: Anastasia Rose, CEO of Starlight Industries' Personal Assistant is a Junkie??

It definitely looked like that. Anybody would believe that when they saw the picture of me below.

I honestly didn't know which was worse- this one or the second one. On the second magazine cover was a zoomed in photo of Miss Rose and me kissing. I had no idea where the picture was taken, but the headline read:

Fucked her way to the top: What really is the nature of Anastasia Rose's relationship with her PA?

I grabbed my head, massaging my fingers into my temples.

"Muna..." Miss Rose said, "are you okay?"

We were standing in her office where she had shown me the articles and the media posts.

"No." I replied quietly "imagine if Universities get a hold of these articles, none of them would accept me. Also, everybody's going to think that the reason that I've stayed as your PA for this long is by sleeping with you."

"Muna." Miss Rose said, taking my hands in hers, "this is all Malcolm's doing. I knew things like this would happen, but I didn't think he would go this far."

I nodded as I looked into her eyes. Malcolm was really going to the extreme to get dirt on Miss Rose. We had come back from Philadelphia not so long ago, only to be slapped in the face by this mess.

I thought back to the image of me passed out on the floor. I felt like I was being paranoid that day when it seemed like someone was following me, but it turns out I was not. Somebody was following me and taking pictures of me.

"I'm scared to be at home alone." I blurted out.

Miss Rose reached over and grabbed me towards her, "I know. And you're not gonna be. I want you to stay with me for the time being, at least until this whole thing blows over."

I nodded my head. This was something I could get behind. I would feel a lot safer being with Miss Rose.

"Okay." I said already feeling a weight lifted off me, "I need to pack up my stuff though."

"I'd drop you off at your apartment. Then I'm going to go meet with some people to try to get these articles taken down, then I'd come back for you okay?"

"Okay." I replied, I instantly felt calm.

Miss Rose reached down and softly placed her lips against mine. I kissed her back, deepening the kiss, my hands getting lost in her hair in their usual manner. Miss Rose grabbed my hips, pressing me towards her, and I instinctively began rubbing up on her.

"If you start that here, I might not be able to stop." Miss Rose whispered, pulling away, and I watched as her eyes seemed to go a few shades darker.

"Okay." I replied, smiling cheekily at her, "I'd save it for later tonight."

We walked out of Miss Rose's office and I was hyper-aware of the glances we got. Clearly everyone had already read the articles, and I found myself avoiding all eye contact. I did not want to have to look into people's judgmental faces.

Suddenly I felt Miss Roses arm snake around my waist and I stared after her in shock.

"I mean." Miss Rose said, whispering into my ears, "since everybody already knows."

She did make a fair point. I felt a lot less exposed being in her arms, and I smiled up at her as we made our way to the car park.

"I'd be back in like an hour." Miss Rose said, leaning over and gently placing a kiss on my lips.

I nodded my head and stepped out of the car door before waving goodbye to Miss Rose and climbing the steps to my apartment, making sure to lock the door behind me the second I got in. I dragged my suitcase from under my bed and began stuffing clothes into it. It was eerily quiet, and I hated this; I was paranoid enough as I was.

I got my phone out of my pocket and immediately dialed Amanda's line.

"Hey!" Amanda said the second the phone rang, "how are you doing?"

"Amanda." I said as I put my toothbrush in my suitcase, "you would not believe what is going on."

I instantly began filling Amanda in on everything that was happening. Telling her about the misleading articles and the pictures and Amanda stared at me with her mouth gaping open.

"What the hell? Can the articles be taken down?"

I opened my mouth to reply when I suddenly heard a knock on my door.

"Amanda, hold on." I said standing up from the crouched position I had previously been in and heading towards the door.

Had Miss Rose come back already? No, she couldn't have, she usually just texted. I looked through the door peephole but couldn't see anyone.

What the hell? I thought to myself as I unlocked my apartment door and stepped out.

Nobody was there. The hallway was completely empty.

Had I imagined the knock?

"Hey Amanda." I said raising my phone back up to my face as I began to head back into my apartment, "the weirdest thing just happen-"

"MUNA LOOK OUT!" Amanda yelled from the other end of the FaceTime call.

I had seen them too, and I knew it was too late.

I watched as a dark figure crept up behind me; I felt a sudden sharp pain as something was dropped with full force unto my head.

I could hear Amanda screaming from the other end of the line, but it sounded far away. My phone dropped from my hand, shattering as it hit the hard concrete floor. A hand suddenly found its way around my neck and began to squeeze tightly. I tried to struggle; I tried to pry the hands away. But I was too disoriented. I stopped struggling as I felt all the oxygen leaving my body.

My world went black.