Hailey spent five more minutes talking to the audience before wrapping it up. She said, “Now I’ll answer two or three questions.”
She pointed at the young female reporter dressed in her favorite color—red. “Did you ever suspect Shareeka Johnson before her arrest?”
“No. I was surprised,” Hailey answered quickly. She pointed at a tall reporter she recognized from the evening news.
He said, “Is their any truth to Ms. Johnson’s reports that you were messing with her fiancé?”
“Chase. That’s your name correct?”
“Yes.”
“Chase, Ms. Johnson has it twisted. Her fiancé and I used to be an item, but that ship passed a long time ago.”
“So she’s delusional. That would explain her actions,” he added.
“I’m sure she will get the help that she needs.”
“When did you start feeling like the letters were a threat?” one reporter asked.
“My team recognized the letters first and alerted me to the situation,” Hailey responded.
The same reporter asked, “Will you be releasing any of the letters to the public?”
“No. There’s no need to.”
Sandy Blair blurted out, “Shareeka Johnson said you attacked her at her home. Is that true?”
“Sandy, I suggest you get your facts straight before asking questions. Next question please.”
Hailey pointed at a female reporter to the right of Sandy.
She asked, “Are you and Trevon still seeing each other?”
“You and Sandy must be friends,” Hailey said.
The crowd laughed. Hailey went on to say, “Trevon and I have not been an item since we were in college.
Hailey could tell the questions would get out of hand so she said, “Ladies and gentleman that will be all the questions for today. God speed.”
The reporters were disappointed and started shouting out questions. Garrett placed his hand on the small of her back as they walked back into the studio. She turned to look at the audience one last time. That would be the shot seen across the newswire that night.
Hailey said, “You would think with the state of the economy folks would be more concerned about it than what’s going on in my personal life.”
Garrett agreed. “I was never one to get caught up in the Hollywood gossip.”
“This is ridiculous. Listen to this,” Hailey said, as she turned up the volume on one of the entertainment reports.
“Baby you’re a star. I don’t understand the hype, but some folks want to know everything about their favorite celebrity.”
Garrett massaged her feet as they switched from channel to channel later that night from the comfort of her bed. “I can go to sleep just like this,” Hailey said, enjoying the feel of his hands.
She moaned with he took each one of her toes in his mouth.
Two hours later, they both were knocked out from an intense session of love making.
~ 35 ~
Garrett enjoyed spending time with Hailey. Life for them was as normal as could be with her being a celebrity. The media calls had died down a little but he and her staff were still filtering some calls. He was engrossed in reading a report when Trevon walked in his office.
“You’ve been scarce these last few days,” Garrett said.
“Soul searching. My personal life is in shambles and its about to get worse because reporters are camped outside.”
“That’s the price you pay for being the man in the middle,” Garrett joked.
“Man, I don’t find it funny. Besides it’s not a good look for GT Securities.”
“I’ll have Caroline take care of the reporters, so don’t sweat it.”
Trevon said, “You’re awfully calm about all of this.”
“Life is too short to let stuff like this wreck your nerves.”
“You’re not the one in the limelight.”
“I might as well be. Hailey. You. Can’t help but be in it.”
Caroline popped her head in the door. “Should I tell them you’ll be out to speak with them Trevon?”
“Yes, he’ll be there,” Garrett answered for him.
“Man, I’m not going out there.”
“Get yourself together. You took speech in college, so you’ll do fine.”
For the second time in less than a week, Garrett found himself outside in front of the media. He stood next to Trevon as he answered a few questions from reporters.
“Trevon, did you know Shareeka had a history of stalking people?” one reporter asked.
Trevon answered, “I was not aware of Shareeka’s mental history prior to us getting together.”
Sandy Blair asked, “Did you cheat on Shareeka with Hailey Barnes?”