Chapter 45 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Without saying another word, Bryan hung up and placed his phone on airplane mode before returning to sleep. He didn’t want to think or talk about anything else until he was clear-headed.

Mia hissed when she realized he had hung up on her, and she tried calling him again. After dialing his line a few more times without success, Mia hissed angrily as she glared at the phone in her hand as though she was looking at Bryan’s face. What was wrong with him? How could he be so rude? How could he hang up and switch off his phone without even finding out what she wanted to say? What was she going to do now?

Bryan’s manager had called her to let her know he had been trying to reach Bryan all to no avail, and he had asked her to try and get across to him, and to inform him that he had to go to the airport to pick Sonia up.

Most of his fans had reacted to Sonia’s tweet and Instagram post, and they were all expecting him to be at the airport to welcome his fiancee. They knew without a doubt that a swarm of paparazzi would likely be gathered there to get pictures of the newly engaged couple as the news was still making the front pages of gossip columns. They all knew that if he didn’t show up at the airport when everyone knew he wasn’t busy with work, it would pass the wrong message to the public, and then people would start making assumptions and jumping to conclusions.

Mia glanced at her phone to check the time, and she knew she had no choice but to go over to his house to inform him of what was going on since she doubted he was aware that social media was abuzz with news of his fiancee’s visit. She was just going to drive down there and take him to the airport herself.

Without wasting another moment Mia picked up her white blazer and wore it over the pink camisole she was wearing before putting on black sneakers which matched her black trousers. After that, she picked up her purse and house key from the table before hurrying out of her house.

A few minutes later she arrived at Bryan’s house and hurried inside. She looked around the living room, and when she didn’t find him, she made her way to his bedroom, hoping he didn’t have any female company with him as he usually did.

“Bryan?” Mia called out as she approached his room so that he would dress up if he was naked or ask her to stop if he was with someone. Bryan didn’t like being referred to as Mr. Delgado, hence every one that worked with him simply called him Bryan.

“Bryan?” She called again when she didn’t hear anything and slowly pushed the bedroom door before stepping inside. She scowled when she saw him sleeping comfortably on the bed with his legs sprawled on both sides like he had no care in the world, “BRYAN!” She yelled angrily this time, to get his attention.

Bryan almost jumped out of his skin, and he sat bolt upright on his bed the moment he heard his name being yelled. He looked around the room in confusion before his eyes finally rested on Mia, “Are you the one that yelled my name?” He asked with a frown.

“As you can see, I’m the only one here.” Mia hissed irritably. At this point, she was ready to lose her job. She wasn’t going to hesitate to give him a piece of her mind if he so much as disrespected her or annoyed her more than he had done already. She was fed up with him and his attitude.

“Why are you here? Didn’t we just talk over the phone a minute ago?” He asked, wondering if that had been a dream.

Seeing the confusion on his face Mia sighed, “You have to dress up and go to the airport right now,” Mia said impatiently as she approached his closet to pick out something appropriate for him. She made sure to pick a yellow t-shirt so it would look like he and Sonia deliberately chosen to wear matching colors.

“What? Why? Is there a job I need to do?” Bryan asked in confusion as he stood up from the bed with a lost look in his eyes.

“Maybe if you hadn’t hung up while I was trying to talk to you, you would have known that your fiancee is on her way here to visit you,” Mia said, expressing her disapproval in her tone.

“Fiancee? Sonia?” Bryan asked, shaking his head which was still foggy with sleep. Was this a dream?

“You proposed to someone else while we weren’t looking?” She asked sarcastically as she threw the yellow t-shirt and ripped jean trousers on the bed, “You should get dressed. She will probably be arriving any moment from now, and we have to be at the airport in time. We can’t keep her waiting,” Mia said as she headed for the door.

Although Bryan still did not understand what was going on, he could tell by the annoyance and urgency in Mia’s tone that Sonia was truly on her way to see him, so he quickly dressed up and joined Mia who was already outside the door holding his car key.

“How did you find out she is on her way here? Did she call?” Bryan asked as he got into the backseat of the car, while Mia took the driver’s seat.

“She tagged you to a post on Twitter and Instagram.. I suppose she is tired of playing hide-and-seek,” Mia said with a shrug as she turned on the car’s ignition and drove off.

Bryan unlocked his phone and noticed he had several missed calls from his manager and Mia, but ignored those as he opened his Instagram app and went to his page to check out his tags. He saw the pictures Sonia had tagged him to and then groaned when he realized why Mia had picked out a yellow t-shirt. He was trying to end things with Sonia not wear matching outfits.

Why was Sonia coming to see him all of a sudden after staying under the radar for some days? What was she trying to do? Was this some sort of fun game for her? Bryan wondered as he looked at her picture. He wished he knew what she was thinking in that head of hers, but unfortunately, he had no idea, so now he had to settle for whatever she was doing and play the game with her. He was just going to give Matt a call after this, and have him step in to take Sonia off his hands.

Bryan glanced at Mia when he noticed she had been unusually quiet for some time, and then remembered she had sounded annoyed back in his bedroom, “Are you still mad?”

‘Good of you to notice,’ Mia thought in her head before taking in a deep breath. She was a very hot-tempered person, but thus far she had tried her best to be calm while working for Bryan, but he seemed to be pushing her to her limit these days, “It doesn’t matter,” she said tight-lipped.

“I didn’t ruin another date, did I?” Bryan asked in a concerned tone, hoping that wasn’t the case.

“You didn’t.”

Bryan let out a sigh of relief, “I’m glad. I’m sorry I hung up and had to make you come all this way. I was very bored last night and ended up binge-reading all night, so I was really exhausted and needed to sleep,” Bryan said, and Mia spared him a glance before giving him a curt nod.

She hadn’t been expecting an apology from him after all, but then again, his manager had said Bryan seemed to like her more than he had liked his past assistants. She had a feeling he liked her because she was not like his past assistants who were always willing to please him and take his crap. She never failed to express her disapproval or annoyance, even though she did so mostly indirectly.

“What do you think about her? Sonia, I mean,” Bryan asked, and Mia could guess from his tone that he was feeling kind of nervous.

Mia was actually more than impressed by what Sonia was doing. Especially because since the engagement news got out, Bryan hadn’t been with any girl, at least none that she knew about, and this was a very good thing.

“I think she is really cool. I like her,” Mia said with a small smile, surprising Bryan.

“You do? Why?” Bryan asked with a puzzled frown. Why could anyone who knew the true situation of things, and how Sonia was trying to frustrate him, like her?

Mia nodded, “I used to love reading her novels until I started work and couldn’t find time to read anymore. I like to see that she is as bold and daring as the female leads in her stories,” Mia said, with a small smile. She was going to give Sonia as much support as she could, as long as it would help them keep Bryan in check and out of scandals for some time.

“Oh! I see.”

Somehow Bryan agreed with Mia. Sonia was unquestionably a talented writer, and maybe if he hadn’t met her under such weird circumstances, he would have been a real fan too. Perhaps he would have also appreciated her bold and daring attributes if only it wasn’t being used against him.

“You don’t like her?” Mia asked after a brief hesitation.

“I don’t.”

“Why?” Mia asked curiously. Sonia was a very beautiful, and intelligent lady, a combination she was aware that Bryan liked in his women. So what was different about Sonia?

“She is not my type. She looks and smells like trouble. I just want to wrap up this whole nightmare and return to my exciting life,” Bryan muttered.

There it was. He didn’t like the fact that the title of his relationship with Sonia was stopping him from mingling with other women. He obviously did not want to be in a committed relationship, hence he didn’t like Sonia. Too bad for him that she was going to be giving Sonia her complete support. It was high time someone tamed this bad boy, Mia mused as she kept driving.

Some minutes later the car rolled to a stop in front of the airport and before Bryan could alight from the car he sighted the swarm of paparazzi gathered around someone with their cameras in hand like they were taking pictures.

“I guess my darling fiancee has arrived,” Bryan muttered dryly as he observed what was going on.

“You should join her,” Mia suggested, trying to hide her excitement. This was like watching a movie, and she wanted to see just what Sonia had up her sleeves for this bad boy.

As long as she wanted to play a game, he was going to play the doting fiance, that way it will be easier to act as the brokenhearted fiance who had been betrayed by the lady he loved. He was an actor after all, and a very good romance actor for that matter. Without saying another word, he got out of the car and dipped his right hand in his pocket as he made his way towards the small crowd.

Once Bryan got close to them his lips curved in a smile as he yelled, “Baby!”

Once Sonia heard his voice, her face lit up with a smile that started from her eyes, and her lips curved upwards, revealing her perfect set of white teeth. She could tell that Bryan was into his acting mode.

‘May the best actor win,’ she thought in her head as she quickly let go of her handbag and luggage box, letting them fall to the ground as dramatically as possible, she rushed through the crowd of journalists and flung herself into Bryan’s ready arms.. Their lips locked in a passionate kiss, which of course was for the benefit of the curious eyes observing them, and also for the cameras which were now flashing in their direction.

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