Andrea lowered her head, as her tears still flowed freely. She couldn't believe she was humiliated in front of Kayden. This only made her sob more.
Her only joy was that there wasn't anyone here.
"Drea" Andrea froze. She thought there wasn't anyone here. She had completely forgotten of the fact that Kayden sat across from her.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for running the lunch. I understand if you don't want to see me again, I'm really sorry" With each word she spoke, her voice cracked, but so did Kayden's heart, as his fingers turned into fists on the table.
"What are you apologizing for, sweetheart? This doesn't change anything. Yes, your agency crashed but it has nothing to do with you, although you really did well in putting up a front" Andrea slowly raised her head, her red eyes evident.
"I…I thought–"
"This would change my feelings for you? Wow. Such underestimation" Andrea's lips curved into a smile, although her face was still tear stained. Kayden's fake hurt was enough to make her feel better, but something stayed on her mind.
"Are you okay with…they are still out there, you know" Andrea's fingers buried deep into her palms. She didn't want Kayden to face a backlash. Worse, she didn't want the embarrassment just in case Kayden was one to protect his media image with his life.
Andrea was well aware of how awful the media could be. She had seen first hand what the media was like when you were on the bad side of the discussion.
Most of her fears, things that had stopped her from going back to her family–from actually praying for her family to resurface, was all the media.
She had everything to lose when she was in her prime of stardom, but now that she's down from that horse, she's beginning to rethink everything.
"This changes nothing, Andrea. I still want to go on several dates with you. So, can we still have lunch despite the chaos outside?"
At this point, the screams and shuffling of feet outside increased. Andrea could, by the sound outside, imagine the friction amongst the reporters.
She nodded, although she still wasn't entirely comfortable, she began ordering, after Kayden had called the waiters over.
They began eating, but not with silence. Even after the huge embarrassment, Kayden didn't let silence sit between them, because he was aware of how self conscious Andrea would feel and how it would make her more tense.
Andrea talked freely, although she was confused on how calm Kayden was, she couldn't be more grateful for the fact that he didn't make the embarrassment bring awkwardness between them.
Soon enough, they were both lost in the bliss of each other, the chaos outside sounding like a blur and becoming a background noise.
"Thank you for lunch. I'll leave first" Although Andrea managed to drown out the noise, it all came back, after they had shared a drink together.
"Why?" One question that made Andrea speechless, but her heart, oh, her poor heart.
At this rate she wasn't sure how long it would take before it burst open. Although it was just a question, Andrea felt giddy inside.
"Uh…the…I thought…well, if we should leave together, they'll..like it would give off the impression that we are together" Kayden just stared at Andrea and it made her feel stupid for saying such, but she couldn't be blamed.
After her company's fallout, she had been on camera, and she couldn't imagine the headlines when this news got out. It would be a crazy fest out there, and it might lead Kayden into a scandal which she badly didn't want.
She had lost everything, but he still had everything at stake.
"Aren't we officially together? Why hide it?" Andrea immediately felt hot, although her hands were initially cold from the air conditioned room. Her cheeks heated up, as she turned pure red.
She thought they weren't official yet, but he did? Does that mean that she's the girlfriend of Kayden West? Although her expression was calm, nothing inside her, especially her heart, was calm.
"So..uhm, who owns the restaurant? I saw it was completely empty" Andrea needed a deviation, before her heart burst open from excitement, but she couldn't think of anything. This was her only way out.
"Oh, a friend of mine. Sorry, let me rephrase, Daxton"
Andrea's eyes widened as she looked around. The place was exquisite, that she didn't think it was Daxton's. He always gave the careless and unbothered vibe, but the only time she had seen him really tense, was in front of his father at the gala he had invited her to, last night.
"Stop stalling. I know you want to leave here to somewhere quiet. Let's go" Without waiting for an answer, Kayden grabbed Andrea off her seat. He knew she'd try to say no, so why wait for her to talk?
"Kayden? Kayden, I don't think you understand what's going to happen if we step out there. Kayden!" Andrea felt like she would cry. She hadn't seen a single person that didn't work their ass off to keep the media at bay from scandalizing their name.
But here was Kayden, second son of Charles West, walking with her, a fall out model, hell, they had been seen having lunch together.
Andrea didn't have the time to panic to the point of spiralling, when the noise that seemed reduced suddenly increased and sounded so near her.
Andrea began sweating, as her head automatically went to the floor, the flashes of the camera increased, and soon she and Kayden were flooded.
"Miss Wilcox, are you using Kayden West as a landing base because of your dead model career?" All her fears were coming alive, and Andrea felt like disappearing.
But all this while, she took notice of how tighter Kayden's hold on her increased. Andrea's tears began falling and for the first time, she was happy for her long hair, as it covered her face.
Fighting through the crowd, Andrea finally found herself in the silence of Kayden's car. Kayden soon joined her from the driver's seat, and they were soon out of the mess of reporters.
"Dead model career? Sheesh, these people are diabolical" Andrea's sobs increased, but she didn't even know why. She didn't know if it was because of appreciation of how Kayden was taking the matter lightly, or how embarrassed she felt.
"Andrea, I don't care what the media says, but what I would hate is if I find out something big after they've done so" Andrea looked at Kayden, as he just spared her a side glance, and concentrated on the road.
A new fear unlocked. No one knew about her family, not even the media. She knows for a fact that she wouldn't be able to keep them a secret anymore, and that's what scared her.
She knew for a fact that Kayden cherished family, she had seen the relationship he had with his cousin, and she felt that he might hate her for her selfish decisions, but she wouldn't know till she told him.
And that she wasn't ready for. But secrets had a way of clawing their way out. An
d Andrea wasn't so sure if she could survive losing Kayden when they did.