A Night To the Future

CHAPTER 3: Consequences

Emily had gone back to work now as everything seemed to have disappeared into thin air. She felt a bit of relief and she had finally stopped overthinking the situation that had occurred the other night.

She was back to her business like she had always been. This time working on an expansion with possible investors that agreed to work with her.

One morning, while Emily was still asleep, she got a call. She jumped out of her bed, startled by the loud ringing tone. It was an unknown number.

She hesitated before she eventually picked up the phone.

Her eyes were barely open and just after yawning, she managed to voice out “Hi, Good morning”

“Emily.” A deep bass voice seeped through the line.

She quickly sat up to reply the caller. “Who’s this?” trying to keep steady while her heart pounded fast.

“I’m Henry Adams.” He replied. “I’m sure you’ve seen the rumours going around. Cole would like to have a word with you at his office. I’ll send you the details and you could come in later today.” He hangs up right after.

Rumours? What Rumours? Emily asked herself.

She checks her phone to see missed calls and text messages from Amanda.

Have you heard, Emily? News is going around about a Billionaire and a possible one night stand with promises of pictures and video evidence. Maybe you were right about the lady, Emily.

She read Amanda’s message aloud.

Emily sat on her bed scrolling through social media, the news was all around already. She stayed thinking for a few minutes when the message containing the address came in.

Immediately, she got ready and headed out.

After about thirty minutes, she arrived at the Adams Empire. It was a large, fully furnished building with a unique finishing.

She walked in and was shown Cole’s office.

She rushed into the office with a frown on her face.

Before anyone could say anything, she spoke up. “What’s going on Cole? And what’s all this rumours about?” She folded her arms angrily, looking him straight in the eyes.

“Relax Emily. I also don’t know. We’re working on finding out who’s behind all this but before then we’d have to work with a plan.” He said coolly, trying to calm her down.

Emily wasn’t buying any of that. She couldn’t imagine being dragged into any of his dealings, but she didn’t really have a choice now. She began to feel uneasy. “What’s the plan then?”

“We need people to believe we’re in a relationship, at least for six months. Just enough time for the rumours to die down.” He answered, with a straight face. “We don’t really have any other option. Unless you do?” He turned to her, waiting for a reply.

She was speechless.

“Very well then, I guess this is our only option after all. We would show up to events together and let people believe we’re in love. That way, these rumours would be discarded as one night stand and we can go back to living our lives.” He added.

“Fine!” She replied, grumbling. She didn’t have a choice anyways. If people knew it was her, it could be bad for her business.

“Also, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Cole interjected. He called Henry into the office. “This is Henry, my brother and best friend. He’s aware of everything and we’re working on dissolving it all.” He said, trying to pacify Emily.

“Hi Emily, you have nothing to worry about.” Henry said cheerfully.

“Nice to meet you too, Henry.” She replied without a smile. “I have to go now.”

She walked out and shut the door.

A few days had gone by now and Emily and Cole began living this façade. They would show up at Cole’s events together, go on dates and many other activities together. It was beginning to seem real. People admired their relationship and they even began to have fans rooting for their relationship to sail strong.

One day, while Emily was preparing to head out to the supermarket, she heard a knock on her door. She wasn’t expecting anyone so she was surprised. She headed towards the door to check through the peephole. It was Amanda. She opened the door.

“Amanda! I wasn’t expecting you this morning.” Emily said, forcing a smile.

A look of disgust came over Amanda’s face. “Of course you weren’t.” She replied, plainly. “What’s going on Emily? What’re you doing?”

Emily was puzzled. “What am I doing? What do you mean?” She asked, rather confused.

Amanda raised her phone to show Emily what she was talking about. “You know what I mean Emily. What’s this thing going on all over the news about you and Cole Adams? Don’t you see he’s using you?” Her brows furrowed, as she waited for a response from Emily.

“Oh, it’s nothing trust me. We really had no other choice. If we didn’t do this. Our lives and careers would’ve been at stake.” She replied softly, trying to calm Amanda down.

Amanda seemed calm now. “Fine then, I hope so.”

Emily knew that Amanda genuinely loved and cared for her, but this time it didn’t feel that way. It sounded like jealousy with her tone. Why didn’t she speak calmly? Why was she acting so protective when she knew what Emily had to lose? Emily wondered, but didn’t want to think too much about it.

“I was on my way out to the grocery store, I need to get a few things.” Emily said.

“I’ll see you around.” Amanda replied, avoiding any eye contact with Emily. She walked out.

As Emily was shopping, her phone rang. She picked it up and saw the caller. “Gabriel.” Emily’s elder brother.

Her heart skipped a bit before she picked up the phone to say a word, she kind of felt like she was in trouble.

“Hi Gabriel, how’s it going?” She asked, squinting her eyes and holding her breath in expectancy for what she suspected he was going to say.

“Very well Emily.” He said, and paused for a while, as though he had been thinking of the best way to put out his words. Then he continued. “What is this news about you and Cole Adams?” He blurted.

“It’s nothing Gabe, I promise. It’s complicated but it’ll be over soon.” She replied immediately, almost as if she had anticipated the question.

“You don’t know these people Emily, and you can’t just play games in their world and leave without getting hurt.”

Now Gabriel was sounding worried, like he knew more than he was letting on. Emily became even more worried.

“What do you mean?” Her voice was weak.

“Just end the relationship. He’s not worth it.” Gabriel replied.

Emily was nervous, she was almost out of breath when she replied. “It’s not as easy. I can’t do it now.” Under her breath, and ended the call.