Chapter Forty Four
1009 Words
“What are you saying?” Now my cheeks were probably a bright red, but there was nothing I could use to cover it.
She shrugged, wincing as that probably hurt.
My elder sister's instinct kicked in, “are you alright?”
“Yeah, and don't change the subject.”
I moved to where she laid, checking on her bandages like I could do something, when truthfully, I had no idea about anything that had to do with medicine (or learning in general).
“I'm not,” though internally, I knew I was.
“Well then, will you think about it all?”
“There's nothing to think about,”
I could feel her gaze searing holes through me, but decided to ignore it.
“Why? He's a good guy.”
Finally, I turned to her, folding my arms over my chest, “you and I are both aware how crazy love is and the fact I've decided to never do it.”
She rolled her eyes, “I find your reasons bizarre, but am not going to be the one to change them.”
“Instead,” she shifted into a more comfortable position, “I'll just say you don't have to fall in love with him.”
“Huh?”
“You two are going to be fake dating for a year, so why not spare yourself the stress of having to overthink about him and want to die just to meet him by just actually dating him for fun and to see how things work in the future.”
My brows furrowed at her words, though I wouldn't deny the pinch of hope that bubbled in me.
“Stop talking nonsense,” I dropped my hands, “we're both just acquaintances, I'm not even sure if I can call us friends, so there's obviously no way I'll risk a year of awkwardness by inviting the dating topic.”
“You don't need to discuss it,” she smiled, “because it is already in both your minds.”
***
“Oh dear, look at you,” Layla took to helping Oliver unwrap all her bandages when I bought her home.
And geez, I'd be lying if I said the injuries weren't terrible.
Her legs were badly bruised and swollen, giving them a very pink color.
The same went for both arms.
As instructed by the doctor, Layla dabbed the swollen parts with warm water, while I went to make something healthy that she'd eat.
All the way as I cooked, my mind couldn't help wandering to our conversation at the hospital.
Dating?
That was a dumb suggestion on her part, right?
We were both literally working together to help us both, so affecting our mutual agreement by trying to make it more realistic wasn't a smart decision.
It might affect us in the future.
In an effort to stop thinking about that, my mind wandered to Austin and the fact he was actually working as a CEO at the moment.
That was a big wow.
Had I congratulated him?
My brain reminded me of when I did that and the beautiful kiss it had been rewarded with.
Oh.
But this time I could congratulate him again through the phone where there was no risk of intimacy.
So, while the food cooked, I reached for my phone, contemplating whether to text him or not, and what I would say that wouldn't speak too much emotions or sound weird.
At the end, I decided he might be busy so it'd be best to not be a disturbance.
So I went to scrolling through the social medias which seemed crazy about him.
There was a video on IG, posted by the Hamosfinn Company (his company now) of him taking a seat on his CEO chair and working.
I couldn't deny how handsome he looked doing that.
The video had five hundred thousand likes though it had just been posted today.
My hands clicked on the One hundred thousand comments.
‘Does that mean our hot Austin won't be on the field any longer? -Raily Dorn- *21k likes 2k replies*’
That was the first comment, so I read more.
‘Gosh, how can a man look handsome in everything? Austin, why can't we get married 😭😭!!! -Princess O Darius- *18k likes 1.7k replies*’
‘Even though he worked as the head manager once, that doesn't make him fit for this position, I mean he's literally a basketball player not some business dude -Marco De Luca- *3k likes 200 replies (mostly hate)*’
‘I think he's going to quit basketball, maybe the writer, Kim Stans doesn't want him far away from her so he's trying to impress her by doing something more professional style -Femi Oladele- *23k likes 13k replies*’
At that point, I had to get off the app.
What was that about?
This was really crazy. Crazy as anything.
Why would whoever this Femi guy think in such a manner?
Geez.
A message popped on my screen, surprising me when I saw the CEO of my publishing team's son and also my manager at the company, Jordan Harry's name pop on my screen.
Jordan- Hey Kim, happy holiday. I don't want to be a bother or anything, but do you think we can meet this evening? I've got something important to talk to you about.
My forehead wrinkled at the message.
Why would he possibly want to meet with me?
I could assume it was something serious since he said to meet him today, so there was no way I could refuse.
With a sigh, I sent a reply.
Me- Alright, where?
Jordan- Six p.m, wherever is convenient with you.
I told him to meet me at the usual coffee shop I was always at, then dropped my phone to check on the food I was cooking.
All the while wondering what Jordan had to say, and the fact I had to go no matter what.
Weird.
If only I was aware what would happen that evening…
- Writer
