Chapter 8

Three weeks Later.

Maybelline.

“She’s so pretty,”

“I can’t stop staring at her pictures, Now I see why he didn’t want to publicly reveal her,”

“My Gosh, they’ll have such beautiful children”

“What a happy and beautiful family, I’m happy for the both of them, see how supportive she is”

“This is too cute”

My colleagues gushed over whatever it is they’re looking at, they all gathered around Betsy’s table as they talked about it, I already knew what it was. I gently headed to my chair, pulled it out and took my seat in it. I most definitely could not walk out so I had no choice but to sit there and watch them drive me nuts talking about the people who ruined my life with so much admiration.

“Ohh May, you’re around. Good Morning! Did you see Nora Tanner's new post this morning?! Aren’t they cute?!” Betsy asked as she stretched out in her chair to face me, I turned to look at her raising my head at her like I did not understand what she was talking about,

“Wow, I’m just realizing you have the same surname as them, you must be proud to have the same surname as people so high and successful, I wish my surname was Tanner too, they’re not in our league though” she said dreamily with a soft laugh, I rolled my eyes at her obliviousness and turned back to face my table, I was this close to snatching the phone from her hands and smashing it against the wall.

“It’s nothing to be proud about, it’s been three full weeks now, take a break, she’s really not all that!” I muttered loud enough for her and the others to hear not matching her energy or seeming interested with what she had to say, she furrowed her brows at me and gently shrunk back to her normal seating position and turned to the other staff.

“What’s with the attitude,” she mumbled to herself, seemed like I bummed the room as all of them began to disperse and walk back to their tables one after the other. Better!

The transparent glass doors pushed open and Katrina walked in, she had a small stack of spiral binded papers in her other hand.

“Good Morning everyone!” She greeted as she walked further into the office. Without wasting any time, she distributed spiral binded papers to the five of us.

“Those are list of what you should achieve in your period of Internship, go through them and let me know if you have questions,” she said to us, we all opened the papers and flipped through it one page after the other,

“Miss Katrina, do we have to work the night shift?!” Betsy suddenly asked, I looked up from the paper, glanced briefly at Betsy before turning back to Katrina.

“Yes, If the situation calls for it, but for the night duties you all will be on shift, the modalities on that will be communicated later,” she responded and everyone nodded in reply.

“Alright if that’s all, I’ll get going now, always make sure you’re prepared, your work starts any moment from now,” she said and proceeded to walk out of our office. Just as soon as she got to the door, she turned around to look at me.

“Also, The boss would like to see you in his office,” she said. I nodded respectfully with a small bow.

I was already assigned to Tyler Graham, in fact I was going to have an interview with him by three today after his game. I looked down at the small alarm clock on my table, with a deep exhale I got up from my seat and headed towards Grayson’s office.

****

“We don’t have to behave like we know each other at the office,” I muttered as I walked into his office.

“You have an interview with Tyler today, Are you good?. Would you like me to postpone the interview till his next game?!” He asked, ignoring my initial statement. I exhaled deeply as I approached his table and folded my hands across my chest.

“You’ve been doing that for the past seven days. I think it’s time I step up and do my job before people start talking,” I said to him, he nodded slowly at my words and pointed at the chair in front of him.

“Have your seat, there’s something we should talk about,” I eyed the seat then slowly looked back up at him. Not seeing the need to argue, I pushed the chair backwards and took my seat in it.

“For our other Franchise, the contract with our top distribution account ends this summer. Fred made a move to get the account and I made a counter back,” he began,

“Where do I come in?! Tell me what to do,” he nodded firmly and gently dropped his laptop on his table.

“We both have to come out and defend our proposals. I want you to come with me, Tomorrow.” He said , I momentarily stopped breathing as soon as he said that. I stared at him wordlessly in shock. That would mean I’d get to see Fred again and possibly Nora. It’s been just about three weeks and I definitely haven’t moved on at all. I wasn’t sure if I would actually

“I mean, you’ve done these things well at T-Corp. I’m sure you’d be of help. These people have always pestered me to get a wife if I wanted to renew our contract. As my contracted wife you should come with me,” He said.

“I’ll be by your side the whole time, but it’s fine if you do not want to come,” he added. I looked up at him immediately and shook my head slowly.

“I can do it!”

Hours Later.

I stared ahead quietly as the media team tried to put things together, I stood firm, microphone in hand. It was my first major interview, and for very obvious reasons I wasn’t nervous, I had prepared for this my whole life.

Tyler Graham stood beside me also as he waited for the media team.

“Ready?!” They finally asked, I matted my lips and nodded firmly in reply.

“One, two, go!” They counted me in and I turned to Tyler with a wide smile.

"First of all, congratulations on the win. A thrilling 4-1 victory against the Rivals FC. You managed to score three goals, bringing your season tally to an impressive 25 goals in just 15 games. How does it feel to be leading your team to such success?”

He grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand before resting both hands on his hips.

“Thank you, it feels incredible. The team’s been working hard, and tonight we really showed what we’re capable of. We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we stuck to the plan, and it paid off.” I nodded, keeping my tone professional but enthusiastic.

“You’ve been known for your sharp tactical awareness, and tonight was no different. Now, your team is sitting comfortably at the top of the league table with 38 points. What do you think the key has been to maintaining such a consistent form this season?” He took a breath, his expression turning more thoughtful.

"Honestly, it's been all about the team chemistry. We trust each other on and off the pitch, and that makes all the difference.

"And lastly, Tyler, with all the success you've had so far in this season, what’s next for you? Any big goals you’re setting your sights on?" I asked, his smile softened, but his eyes gleamed with determination.

“I want to win more—more games, more championships. But for now, I’m going to enjoy this win, take it one step at a time, and keep pushing myself to be the best." He said, I nodded, lowering the microphone and offering my hand.

"Thank you, Tyler. Best of luck for the rest of the season."

He shook my hand, and flashed me a wide smile in return.

“Cut!” The media team yelled and I squeezed my hands out of his immediately.

“You’re new here?! Haven’t seen you before?!” He asked me.

“Yes. Maybelline Russet, I’ll be handing your interview going forward.” I replied to him with a small bow. He curled his lips downwards and nodded slowly.

“Hmm. You did well, well done!” He said to me and with that he turned around and walked away.

“Good job May, you looked just like a professional.” A member of the media team said to me as soon as I walked up to them to drop the microphones.

“Thank you,” I whispered in reply. Everything that has happened to me in the last few weeks has totally numbed my feelings, and honestly I wasn’t interested. I didn’t feel the adrenaline rush I thought I would feel on my first interview. I was just there.

Later that day. 7:00pm.

“Emmett, you’re close to Fred right. You can’t tell me you don’t know about these things” I mumbled as I closed my journal, got up from behind the reading table in a corner in my room and walked to my bed, I took my seat by the edge and folded my free hands across my chest.

Emmett is Fred’s personal assistant and the closest thing to a friend that Fred has, Apparently Fred doesn’t consider him much of a close friend, seeing that Emmett knew absolutely nothing about his relationship with Nora and about most things with Fred. I was able to speak to Emmett, there wasn’t any point hiding, and he was willing to help me with whatever I needed. I’ve known him for a while and I trust him.

“I know, Fred is unpredictable. These things take time but I’m on it. If you insist Fred is doing dirty business, I’ll thoroughly look into it,” he said. I exhaled deeply and nodded slowly.

“Thank you,” I whispered and with that I removed the phone from my ear and ended the call. I glanced towards the door. A few minutes earlier, Elena had come up to tell me that dinner was ready. With another sigh, I got up to my feet, slid into my flip flops, slipped my phone in my back pocket and headed downstairs.

Grayson was already there, he had begun eating already, I muttered greetings to him and simply pulled out a chair for myself and took my seat.

Immediately I took my seat, Elena came out and dished my food. Steak with Baked Potato and Green Beans.

“Thank you,” I murmured to her. she replied to me with a small nod and a wide smile before walking back into the kitchen, without wasting any time I began to eat, picking on my food slowly.

“Don’t you think it’s time you tell me your motive?!” I suddenly said, I watched as Grayson paused mid action, he slowly returned his fork back to his plate and dropped it carefully. He picked up his glass of water and took a seat.

“I mean, you must have a reason for crashing your own wedding. For lying that we have something together when we clearly don’t.”

“You’re unusually nice to me. This isn’t how it usually plays out. Why are you nice to me?! Have we met before?! Why me out of every lady at the party?! If you’ve never met me before, how did you know that I was pregnant?. Now that we’ve come to an agreement, don’t you think it’s only right that you tell me your motives” I asked, turning to him and locking eyes with him.

He cleared his throat gently and pushed his plates further into the table.

“I’d rather not have this conversation.” He simply uttered and with that, he pushed his chair backwards and got up to his feet.

“Goodnight,” he muttered and walked away. I stared at him as he disappeared through the steps. Even you Grayson, who are you?!