Kitchen Affairs (15 page)

Before I could even
answer, Drake was on the other line panicking. “Molly? Oh thank god, you answered.” He sounded out of breath like he had been running.

“Drake, what’s wrong? I was taking a bath and didn’t have my phone. Are you alright?” I was extremely worried now hearing him panic like this.

“I’m almost to your apartment. We’ll talk in a few minutes,” he rushed and then hung up. I quickly got dressed and waited for him to knock.

He barged in practically in a sweat from running all the way here. His face was flushed and his cheeks were red from the chill in the air. He bent over to catch his breath before saying a word.

“Molly… the photos… were leaked… tomorrow… press… Kendra,” were the only words I could catch. He was panting so hard; I tried to figure out what he was saying.
Holy shit… Kendra leaked our photos out. That fucking bitch!

“Our photos were leaked to the press?” I
urged trying to get him to tell me more of the story.

“Kendra came into my office today at lunch. She came to apologize for blackmailing you and to tell me all her files on her computer were stolen. She didn’t think anything of it until she received a letter. Everything on her files were going to go public if she didn’t give the person ten million dollars,” he paused letting everything sink in. “She comes from a very wealthy family, Molly, but not even she can come up with ten million dollars in just a couple days time. They gave her until midnight tonight to come up with the money and that’s why I have been busting my ass off all night trying to come up with a solution and to protect those photos and files of whatever else she has.”

“So now the photos are going to be leaked to the press?” I questioned trying to understand everything.

“It’s likely. If they can’t get the money from her, they’ll sell it for millions instead while making a huge ass out of me and anything else they found in her files.” I grabbed him a glass of water and he finally sat down.

“Why didn’t you bother telling me all this earlier? Now I have no time to mentally or emotionally prepare myself. What the hell am I going to do?” I sat down slowly trying to speed think into what my life was going to be like after this incident. Blakely would never let this go, my teachers would all see them and suspect the worst, my parents would be humiliated, and the likelihood of getting a job after graduation would be slim. This could ruin me.
Ruin us.

The next morning I woke up purely exhausted. I hardly slept. I knew what today was going to turn into. Although my peers at my internship had already seen the photos, it was nothing compared to the whole world seeing them. How would I explain this to my parents? To Stella some day? This was humiliation.

Last night was a blur. Drake came over and shared the horrific news and after that, it was like I blacked out. A flash of what happened appeared in my mind…

“Molly… please, believe me, if I could change this I would. But there is no way my family is going to buy off some moron with photos of us. It just lets others think they can get away blackmailing us for money.” Drake was begging
me to respond, to say anything. I was numb. I just sat there starring into space. I wanted to go curl up in ball in a dark cave where no one could find me. Unfortunately, I’d have to get up and go to my internship tomorrow morning.
This fucking sucks.

“Drake, you should go. I need some time to myself please,” I finally said.

“Molly, please. Don’t push me away, don’t be mad,” he begged, “I love you.”

“How did you not know there were surveillance cameras in the kitchen? How could you let us get naked right in front of them?” I demanded answers.

“I know, Molly… it was careless of me. I don’t know… I was in the moment. You were there… I was there… it was like my head wasn’t thinking. I wanted you. And it just happened,” he pleaded. He looked so distraught and weak. It made my heart hurt.

I finally got out of bed to begin my normal routine. Stella school, me internship. Drake was already in the kitchen making coffee and breakfast. He already had his lawyer on standby incase the pictures were released. I tried not to think of what could happen if they were leaked. Like another celebrity scandal
.
I could see it all over E! as being the next big story. It wasn’t that Drake was famous or a celebrity, but his family name was as popular as Trump’s. It was a
big
deal.

By
noon, I still hadn’t heard anything from Drake, so I assumed no news was good news.
Oh how wrong could I be?
I went to walk down to the deli to grab a small sandwich when a mob of paparazzi ambushed me on the sidewalk.

“There she is! Ms. Woods! Ms. Woods! Over here!” They were like vultures ready to swallow me up at any minute. I couldn’t believe the press was already all over me. I wasn’t expecting anything like this.

Luckily, the deli was just down the block, so I was able to escape from them shortly.
What did they want? Did they expect me to be like oh hey what’s up y’all?

I hid as far in the deli as I could until they were out of sight. I decided now would be an appropriate time to call Drake and freak out!

“Babe, are you okay?” he asked panicked. Apparently, he heard the news.

“No, Drake I’m not! I’m hiding in a deli from like twenty paparazzi. They won’t leave me alone. They followed me over here and now they’re just out there waiting for me to leave. What do I do?”

“Oh my god, babe. I had no idea this would spin out of control so soon otherwise I would have warned you. I just got news that the photos were leaked to a local tabloid magazine,” he sighed. I could tell he was as frustrated as I was in that moment. Our privacy was no longer our own. “Stay right there. I’m coming to get you,” he said ending the call.

I waited for ten more minutes before I heard more commotion outside; sounds of cameras clicking, people yelling Drake’s name, and people hollering on the sidewalk.
This is crazy!
Drake pushed his way through the mass of people and walked back into the deli where he found me. He softly kissed me lips and grabbed my hand. He squeezed it tight as he pushed back through the crowds to where his white Escalade limo was waiting for us.

“That was insane!”

“I know. Pictures went viral only an hour ago. My lawyer is petitioning to get them removed ASAP, but until then we need to lay low,” he directed towards me. “Mark, take us to Ms. Woods apartment please,” he commanded to his driver. Apparently going back to my internship was not an option for me today.
Fucking great.

At the entrance of my apartment building was another herd of paparazzi standing guard to get any pictures of Drake and I. We pushed through them and hid out in my apartment the rest of the afternoon. I called Michael to fill him in on what was happening since I wasn’t able to go out and get Stella after school.
What would I say to her? Would she understand?

“So do you know who’s responsible for stealing Kendra’s files and the pictures?” I asked Drake hoping to get some answers on what we were going to do next.

“My security team has a few suspicions. They are working on it. Until then, don’t speak to any paparazzi or anyone about the pictures or us. They will use anything you say and twist it around to make a better story,” he said looking worried.

“What am I going to do about my internship? I can’t just not go. I need to be there to earn my credits for graduation.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it,” he answered sternly.

“What do you mean you’ll take care of it? I need to be there Drake. I’m not getting through this with any favors from you. They have already seen the pictures anyway, what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that they’ll be getting swarmed by the paparazzi too just to get answers about you. Anything you say to anyone can be used against us.”

“
I won’t say anything unless I have to… about the class and cooking only,” I pleaded. “Please, Drake. I have to go. I can’t let them keep me locked up inside. I need to go to my internship and classes.”

“Fine… but I’m having someone go with you. You aren’t safe by yourself. The paparazzi can be dangerous, Mols, and I don’t want them anywhere near you,” he negotiated.

“Okay, deal. I won’t say a word unless I have to. Promise.” I gave him a half smile so he knew I was a little happy inside that we were able to compromise.

He scooped me up off the chair and swung me in his arms kissing my lips hard. With all this craziness going on, we’d forgotten the real reason we were in this mess: we were completely madly in love with each other.

The following morning, Drake had his driver pick me up for another day at the restaurant. There were more paparazzi than the day before. The story about Drake Stagliano hooking up with an intern in his restaurant had spread like wildfire over night. Now,
everyone
knew. That was not a pleasant phone call I had to make to my mother and father…

The tone in my father’s voice still rang in my head. I could tell he was disappointed, but I think at the same time he was relieved I had finally moved on. My mother was just as upset as I was, but was slightly happy to know that I was moving on as
well.
Was it that obvious that I had hung on for so long?

His driver walked me into the restaurant where I had about fifty eyes starring at me.
Well, this is awkward.
I nodded to his driver that I was fine now so he would leave. I didn’t want a chauffeur following me and adding more attention than was necessary. Blakely sneered at me as I walked past her. I could tell she loved this; complete and utter embarrassment on my part. I knew if anyone could squeeze information out of her, she would be the first one to bring up the being half naked in the freezer with Travis story.
How would I explain that one to Drake?
Crap.

Travis gave me a sympathetic look as I stood by him. He was like my big brother/ bodyguard that I felt safe around. I inhaled a deep breath mentally preparing myself for the day.
Let’s just get this over with.

Mr. Cooper assigned us in pairs today instead of groups.
Thank god!
I got paired with a girl who had short frizzy, dark blonde hair and huge glasses.
Was this girl for real? Did she own a mirror?
I wasn’t the type to judge or ridicule, especially given my own situation, but this girl looked like she needed some serious guidance.

“Hi, I’m Phoebe. What’s your name?” she asked oblivious as to who I was.

“I’m Molly,” I answered grateful she didn’t have a clue.

We were to plan and implement a five-course meal. We had to write up a menu plan with appetizers, entrees, soups/salads, and desserts. Mr. Cooper also decided to add a wine menu to our project.
A nice long project would take my mind off things.
Hopefully.

“So, Phoebe, where do you think we should start?” I asked trying to get her involved.

The morning dragged on as Phoebe and I worked together on our assignment. She was an odd character talking about her pet ferret and her five cats. It was quite refreshing however to be around someone who didn’t know anything about me or pretend she knew me because of what she’s heard.

“Wanna grab some lunch?” Travis asked as we were released to go on break.

“I’d love to, but I’m afraid I can’t really go anywhere,” I pouted.

“Hmmm…. Maybe we can disguise you?” Travis looked around. I gave him a puzzling look as he started grabbing aprons and chef’s hats out of the storage closet.

He told me to put my hair in a top bun leaving no strands. I obliged and watched him put the hat on my head, trying to tuck in all my loose baby hairs. He grabbed an executive chef’s jacket that was at least two sizes big for me and placed a red apron over it.

I looked in the little mirror and decided I needed to rub my eye make-up off. I didn’t want to look too feminine. As long as I kept my head low enough while walking out, I was sure I wouldn’t be recognized.

“Perfect!” he gleamed at his finished work. “I think we can sneak you out.”

He grabbed a baseball cap and a chef’s
jacket, took my hand, and led me out. About five paparazzi were still out waiting on the sidewalk but didn’t even glance up as Travis and I walked out.
It worked!

We decided to walk to Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse since it would have dim lighting and would be crowded enough to not be noticed. We casually took off our disguises and sat down. It was nice to enjoy a meal with a friend and for a short time have no worries.

Lunch with Travis was a great break from reality. He was funny and genuine and kept everything strictly friend appropriate. I was starting to really feel lucky to have Travis as a friend. He knew I was with Drake and never tried anything with me. I was glad we could have that type of friendship.

“Oh my god!” I just about spit my coke out. I covered my mouth and continued laughing as Drake did an impression of Blakely. “That is spot on!”