Chapter 44
1369words
My heart races as I force a smile. I try to pay attention to the MC, but my eyes dart back and forth over the crowd, looking for anything suspicious. The event is almost over, and so far, I have seen no sign of my stalker.
If only my luck can hold out for a little longer, the event will end, and I’ll be safely back in the van driving away.
The crowd cheers, and my breath hitches.
Mentally, I chant to myself. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Tiffany pats my back, and the crowd cheers.
I pull what energy I need from her warm touch and push aside the small pulse of panic clawing to take a hold of me.
As if I’m running on autopilot, I move around the stage and talk, but nothing really sticks in my brain. It is like a movie flashing by.
I breathe a small sigh of relief when the event is finally done.
Now, the only remaining task is to get out of here and back into the van without being stopped by the crazy lady.
Tiffany and I do our last wave to the crowd and take a few pictures. As soon as I turn my back to the swarm of people, my heart races again and a cold sweat breaks out down the middle of my back.
Tiffany wraps her hand around my arm and pulls me closer to her. She flashes me a bright, teasing smile. The screams of the fans drown out any thoughts running through my mind. “Come, stand by me. We need a picture for our social media.”
I instinctively nod.
She gives me a small wink and pulls me beside her.
The crowd screams again, but Tiffany’s warmth has my heart racing for another reason. My mind focuses on her instead of the swarm of people behind me.
Jane dashes out onto the stage smiling and motions for us to move to the center. Like a puppet, Tiffany pulls me where I need to go. I let her do as she pleases with me, which is met with another wave of screams and chants of “Trevor. Tiffany.”.
The crowd rushes forward, and my heart skips a beat, but my co-star whispers into my ear. “I’ve got you. You are fine. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
I nod my head just a little, so she can see me, but the fans don’t know.
The rustling behind me puts me on edge, but I focus on her warm touch and her sweet voice as she continues to whisper soft words of encouragement.
She is all I need.
Time seems to slow down, and Jane seems to move in slow motion while she takes picture after picture. I try to focus on Jane’s words, but no matter what I try, her words are mumbled and I’m unable to understand what she is saying.
With Tiffany’s little, comforting touches, my nonstop waves of panic can’t take hold and suck me down into the darkness, hovering just out of reach.
Tiffasny pats my side. “We are done.”
I nearly breathe an audible sigh of relief, but I control myself before anyone notices.
A wide smile etches into my face, and for the first time since the event has started, it is genuine.
I’ve made it through with no problems. I only hope the fans haven’t noticed anything or my slight discomfort.
Tiffany spins me around, and together we wave a final goodbye before walking off the stage. Her comforting hand remains on my arm and guides me where to go.
When we get off the stage, Jane dashes to us. “Keep going. The staff has already gathered your things. I want to get you two out of here as soon as possible.”
She might as well have said she wants us out of here before the crazy stalker attacks. I know what she is thinking because I’m thinking the same thing.
A young staff lady scurries towards us and hands us our personal items we put in the waiting area. We don’t slow down or stop as we grab our stuff.
My eyes dart back and forth, looking for any sign this won’t go as planned. As we take a few more steps towards the exit, a group of security guards march in step with us and form a small circle around us. They don’t let anyone in, including any agency staff.
The show of an impenetrable shield around us gives me a small sense of safety, but I won’t truly feel safe until I’m back at our apartment, or I should say Kyle’s. For now, it is ours.
A scuffle behind us with a few loud screams propels me forward, almost in a run towards the exit. I don’t want to look back to see what is happening.
I need to get out of here. Now.
The wall of security guards matches my speed, along with Tiffany.
More screams slice through the air, and Tiffany’s grip tightens around my arm. She looks over her shoulder at the commotion behind us, but she says nothing.
Additional security guards join us, and my feet move faster. The guards clear the path in front of us, making the chaos behind us seem more serious.
By the time we reach the exit, we are in a full run.
Other security stands by the doors and holds them open, while a few more are outside. One is standing next to the van with the side door open.
I jump into the van and collapse into the seat, dragging Tiffany along with me. As soon as we are both safe inside, the side door slams shut.
More screams and swarms of fans spill out the doors and rush towards us.
Shit. We are like sitting ducks here.
Jane and the driver jump into the front. As Jane buckles her seatbelt, she grunts, “You better hold on. We are leaving in a hurry.”
Before her words can register, the driver starts the van and slams on the accelerator, throwing us back against the seat. The squeal of the tires overpowers the screams of the fans, but it provides a strange reassurance I’m alright now.
Tiffany nestles up against my side and kisses my cheek. “You did good. I’m proud of you.”
I raise an eyebrow and look at her. A light layer of sweat covers her face and makes her pale skin shine even more than she already does.
The corner of my mouth curls up into a devilish smirk. “Just proud. You don’t feel anything else for me.”
A matching smirk appears on her. “For right now, I’m proud. When we get back home, I’ll show what else I’m feeling.”
I slowly lick my lips as desire ignites within me. “Are you being a bad girl? Do you need to be punished?”
A spark flickers in her eyes. “What do you have in mind?”
***
Rhonda POV
I grit my teeth and stare at the empty stage. Where is he? They should have been here a long time ago.
I fish my phone out of my pocket and pull up Trevor’s social media.
Rage erupts in me as the pictures from his event floods his account.
Did I pay for the wrong information? How dare they do that to me? They will pay for this.
My grip tightens around the phone. My eyes lock on the repeating hashtag TrevTiff. What a load of bull. It will never be TrevTiff. They are delusional if they think they will actually end up together.
I’ve been watching their drama. There is absolutely no chemistry between them. None.
No matter how many times I see comments saying how great the two are and they look like a real couple, I always post and tell those loser fans it won’t happen. None of these actors ever end up together, and Trevor is no different.
Some of those loser fans have given me hate back, but I don’t care. I know the truth.
I open the top comment with the TrevTiff hashtag and start typing how stupid they are. It is just acting.
It will never happen.
