Meeting Mr. Mogul(35)

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"No. I'm not," I replied with a weak smile.

"So, you're really pregnant?" he asked in a whisper as he eyed my flat stomach.   





 

"What? I'm not freaking pregnant! Do I look that fat to be pregnant?" I asked angrily as I gestured to my flat stomach.

"No! I didn't mean it like that... It was just... in the newspaper," he  stuttered in his defense as he gestured at a newspaper on the counter  between us.

I ignored his reply and gave him my usual order. Then, I handed him the  payment without bothering to look at him. I was pissed. Now I'm getting  back to my senses. I'm going to straighten this out. I don't want  another episode of telling people that I'm not having William's baby.

As I waited in the sidelines for my coffee, I could feel people's gazes  on me. I didn't dare to look up and I pretended not to overhear some of  their conversations. When my order finally came up, I grabbed my drink  and made my way out of the place. Well, that would be the last time I'm  getting coffee in that place. William is making my life more miserable  without his presence. I think he finally found a way to get back at me.

"Excuse me. Are you William's baby mama?" Suddenly a man with a camera came up to me, making me stagger backwards in surprise.

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Hey. Can I get a picture of you?" another man with a camera walked up to me.

"Excuse me," I ignored them and continued to walk back to the building.

"Hey! Guys! That's her! That's William Maxwell's new girl!" another man called behind me, making everyone look at me.

I turned to the voice and saw a few men with cameras gathered around  like they were doing some photo shoot. Then, in a snap, camera flashes  came up to me on all sides, cornering me a few steps outside the coffee  shop. I looked down on the ground and started increasing my pace as the  paparazzi walked up to me.

"Are you having William Maxwell's baby?" one asked as I stopped for a second when someone blocked my way.

"When did you start dating?" another asked, as the camera flashes continued.

"Excuse me," I ignored their questions as I tried to maneuver away from them. This is not happening to me.

"What is your name?" another man asked as I squirmed away from another reporter.

"Please. Leave me alone," I warned as I held up my coffee and continued walking.

"How far along are you?" another one asked, blocking my way again.

Finally, I snapped. I stomped my foot and looked up to a dozen or so  reporters standing in front of me as I felt a few cameras flashing  behind me. "If you guys ask me another question about me being pregnant,  I'm going to shove that freaking camera up your ass. You got that!" I  snapped in rage.

For a second, I thought that they would leave me. But it only added fuel  to the fire. I should have not said anything. I should have continued  walking until I reached the company building. Now, I just indirectly  admitted that I was the girl in the photo with William.

When I finally reached the lobby of the company building, a few security  guards held up a fortress in the entrance, blocking the paparazzi. I  let out a huge sigh of relief as I placed my hand on my knee.

"Andy! Are you okay? I just heard..." a familiar voice urgently called.

I straightened up and looked at him dead in the eyes. "You fix this  mess. Or, I'm going to..." I stared angrily but trailed off as William  cupped my face in his hands.

"Did they do anything to you?" he asked worriedly as he assessed my face then slowly glanced down on the rest of me.

I slapped his hands away and took a staggered step back from him. "Don't  you dare touch me," I stated with clenched teeth as I continued to  stare him down.

"I'm so sorry, Andy. I didn't plan on any of this to happen. I promise  you, I didn't mean for this to happen," he pleaded sadly with his face  looking pained. "I'm really sorry," he added softly after taking a  steady breath.

I looked at him for a second, guilt and sadness written all over his  face. I turned away from him and headed straight for the elevator. As I  passed by him, I gave him a small pat in his arm. "Fix this, please," I  begged silently.

I didn't see or hear his reply as I continued walking towards the elevator. I didn't bother to give him a second glance.   





 





Twenty-Three





By Friday, the buzz had died down and people weren't following me around  with cameras and questions. But it wasn't like there still weren't  people who were curious about William's involvement with me. As I read  today's paper, it didn't look convincing enough for me maybe because I'm  one of the persons involved in this gossip. The article sounded untrue  yet the tabloids bought it or someone paid the tabloids' opinion to  print this article.

"At least, they'll leave you alone now," Maggie stated with a smile as I continued to read the article about William and I.

"Are you sure? It doesn't look like we stumbled into each other's  company and William dragged me to the hospital because I started feeling  sick," I said back in annoyance as I held up the paper and pointed my  hand at the article.

"For those who don't know..." she started in defense as she assessed the paper with uncertainty.

"We both know that this is fake, Maggie," I said with conviction,  folding the paper in half and placing it in the trashcan beside my desk.

"You are only saying that because you know the truth. They don't know  that," she remarked and pointed out in confidence as she sighed in  defeat.

"I know what you mean, but still..." I started but trailed off, as I couldn't find words.

"Don't think about it anymore, Andy. It's all done now," Maggie interjected softly and gave me a comforting smile.

"Yeah. Thank god for that... I thought I would have to go home like some  alley cat for a couple more days." I sighed in relief as I turned back  to my desk monitor.

Maggie chuckled and turned back to her work. As I waited for my computer  to start up, I quickly glanced at William's door. He still hasn't  arrived yet. I wanted to thank him for fixing things with the paparazzi,  but we weren't in talking terms for the past few days.

As afternoon passed and evening came, I started fidgeting and constantly  glanced at William's office door. He didn't come to work today. It was  almost seven thirty and he hadn't left any messages saying that he  wouldn't be coming to work.

"Maggie, do you know where Mr. Maxwell is? Why isn't he at work today?" I  asked as I silently cleared my desk a few minutes before my shift  ended.

"Oh. William," Maggie started, glancing at me with surprise for a second. "He's at home today. He's not feeling well."

"Not well? He looked fine yesterday, didn't he?" I pointed out in confusion.

"He was slightly pale yesterday. He may not show it, but to me, I can  see that he was sick. So, I asked him to stay home for today," Maggie  replied nonchalantly as she continued to type something in the computer.

"Oh," I replied silently, not sure what to say.

"Do you need anything from him?" Maggie asked, glancing at me for a second.

"I thought he would be here today. I wanted to thank him for getting this whole mess sorted out,'' I replied shyly.

"Oh. Okay," Maggie replied with a small smile, her eyes glistening in  interest. "Well, if you want to tell him today, I can give you his  address," she offered with a smile.

"You want me to go over to his house?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, why not?" Maggie replied rhetorically without shame. "Since you  are going there, can you give this to him?" she continued while  gathering a few files from her desk.

"Oh. So, you want me to go to his house for this?" I asked in confirmation and got up from my chair, walking towards her desk.

"No, not really. Since you wanted to thank him, and I'm too tired to  drop by his place today..." she replied, trailing off with a grin on her  face.

"I didn't know that you could be like this, Maggie," I commented with a  chuckle. "Alright, I'll give it to him," I added as I gathered the  papers she had piled up on the edge of her desk.

"Thank you, dear. Well, I do have to give myself a break some times," she said with a wink.

After Maggie gave me the address to William's place, I said my goodbyes  and headed out to the bus stop. I was hesitant as I glanced around the  streets when I walked out of the main entrance. If one of those idiots  from the tabloids followed me, I would kill myself for getting in a  situation like that. My thoughts were in turmoil on my ride back to my  apartment.   





 

When the bus stopped at the waiting shed on his street, I felt my knees  slightly shake with nervousness as I walked out the bus. I let out a  huge breath to calm myself. I tried to think of nothing as I forcefully  placed one foot in front of the other and walked towards William's  apartment with a heavy heart.

Heavy and agitated heart, I should say. I didn't know that he lived by  himself and wasn't staying in the grand Maxwell Mansion with his mother.  And not knowing that he lived right across the street from my apartment  all this time made me seethe with rage. No wonder he knew where I  lived.