31 - collateral damage

Amina

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I made no progress in trying to figure out Dominic Taylor last night. He completely shut me down when it came time to get into the nitty gritty of the situation. I knew he was going through alot and I couldn't help that I wanted to be the one who helps him through it. Maybe it was because of the guilt I felt for making him come to the gala.

"Amina you good?" He asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Dominic and I took advantage of the breakfast downstairs before making our journey back home. I was still dressed in his t shirt and basketball shorts to avoid having to put my dress back on.

I look up at him and nod, "Just peachy."

He sighs as he scrolls through his phone, "The news articles have already started appearing." He flips the phone over to show me over the breakfast table.

My eyes widen at one tabloid article.

Acmes Future CEO Checking into Hotel with Mystery Woman After Fathers Company Gala

My eyes widen, "Oh." I say as the picture of us holding hands and entering the hotel lobby were splattered across The Gossip Gazettes home page. I let out a deep breath, "Wow."

"At least they don't know your name." He chuckles lightly.

I nod, surprised by his calm demeanor, "You're taking this lightly."

"Like I always like to say, what's done is done. Now we just need to face it." I nod agreeing with his method of coping. Panicking and being upset wasn't going to do us much good now. He places his fork down, "Let's get out of here."

We pick up our things before making our way out of the dining area and over to the receptionist to return our keys.

We got back from San Diego well into the mid afternoon. We tried to delay our arrival for as long as we could to avoid whatever mess we were coming home to.

I didn't look at my phone the whole day, purposefully putting it on airplane mode until we got home. After Dominic and I said our goodbyes I switched my phone back on.

Just as expected I had several calls and messages from family and friends. Both regarding who Dominic really was, and me being on that gossip site.

My eyes widen when I notice two missed calls from my mother. I groan before laying down on my bed to call her back.

After a couple rings she answers.

"Amina."

"Yes?"

"So you didn't want to tell me?"

I frown, "Tell you what?"

"I had to find out from the news about your new boyfriend?"

My eyes widen, "Oh mom-"

"No save it. You're just lucky he comes from wealth. Otherwise I would be very unhappy."

"Mom I-"

"My daughter is marrying a future CEO!" My mother cheers, "Hallelujah!"

"Mom we're just friends!" I correct, not wanting to put additional parental pressure on my relationship with Dominic.

She pauses for a moment, the line suddenly silent. "Then what are you waiting for? Get together!"

I shake my head, "Mom it's not that simple."

She smacks her teeth in irritation. "Why is that with your generation it's never simple. Do you like him or you don't?"

"I do but-"

"Does he like you or not?"

"He does but-"

"Then there is no problem. I expect to meet him soon." She says before hanging up.

I sigh before throwing my phone at the edge of the bed. Suddenly a knock could be heard from the other side of my door.

"I'm not home!" I yell in response, holding the pillow over my face.

The door opens and Kendra walks in with Bianca behind her. "We wanted to let you have your space but we both agreed it was better to get it out of the way now." Kendra said taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

"How was the gala?" Bianca asks gently.

"How do you think it went? This is all my fault!" I exclaim, smothering my face into the pillow.

"It's not your fault. How could you have known who he really was?" Bianca says trying to reassure me.

"I knew."

Kendra's eyes widen, "Is that how you got the internship? You go girl!"

I remove the pillow from my face to show her my disdain of her comment, "No, I found out when I applied for the internship. I promised to keep it a secret and now because of me the whole school knows. Hell the whole country knows!" I groan.

"Hey that's not your fault. You were invited by your boss and Dominic willingly decided to come with you." Bianca defends.

"His father, the CEO, asked me to bring him. No matter how you spin it it's my fault." I sigh.

"Well, is he upset with you?"

"He says he's not, but how could he not be?"

"Because he's a grown man who made the decision to go on his own. He's not blaming you, so stop blaming yourself!" Kendra exclaims ripping the pillow from my grasps. "Besides, I'm sure things won't be that bad. So what if a couple people know he's the heir to a Fortune 500 company? Who cares!"

"Yeah, just because it's trending on Wildfire doesn't mean things will be different." Bianca adds, making Kendra glare at her and my eyes widen.

"Trending? Already?" I ask in disbelief.

Wildfire was like our schools social media site where people would post about stuff going on campus and interact with each other.

She hands the phone to me as I scroll through the feed.

#DominicTaylor was the number one trending topic at the moment.

@kelly233: suddenly he's 10x hotter #dominictaylor

@yttpforever: now we know how he affords that insane car lollll #dominictaylor

@brettrivera325: taking over a company at 21 is insane no? what is Joseph Taylor thinking??

"At least the comments aren't bad?" Kendra says from behind me.

I sigh handing Bianca her phone back. "It doesn't matter. This is the exact exposure he didn't want."

"It'll die down. Don't worry." Bianca says.

"Let's hope."

-

Monday morning I was back to work. Thankfully I had no in person classes today and wouldn't have to step foot on campus until tomorrow. Dominic on the other hand was making his first appearance on campus today.

We hadn't spoken much since returning from San Diego yesterday and I wanted to give him space to process. I planned to stop by after work to check up on him and see how school went.

Things weren't looking so great for me at the office either, which I wasn't expecting. The photos of me with Dominic had circulated and quickly became this weeks office gossip. Now that they assumed I was dating the CEOs son, accusations of special treatment were being thrown around.

"So, are the rumors true?" A woman asks as she approaches my desk. I look up at Nancy, a middle aged woman with a blonde bob who stared down at me over the divider of my cubicle.

"What rumors?" I ask, looking up from my computer screen at her.

She chuckles, "Oh come on, you know. That you're dating the CEOs son."

I shake my head as I continue typing, "I am not dating him. We are friends."

"Just friends? Then why were you the only person in our department who got an invite to the gala?"

"Nancy why don't you finish that report I sent you?" Tasha says, approaching my area with a coffee cup in her hand as she stares daggers at her.

"Yes ma'am." Nancy nods quickly before scurrying away.

I smile at Tasha in relief but she didn't return the smile, making mine drop. "I need to speak with you in my office."

My eyes widen but I nod quickly before following behind her to her office. She shuts the door behind me, ushering me to take a seat.

"I see that you enjoyed your weekend." She says taking a seat at her desk.

I gulp, "It was okay."

She sighs, "Amina, I like you. Let's start there." I nod in response, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "But the office chatter is a little too much today. And I'm sure you've sensed the animosity around you as well?"

"Yes ma'am." I bit my lip nervously as I waited for her to give the final blow. "I'm sorry ma'am. Before you finish I would just like to apologize for the disturbance this has caused in the office. I didn't mean for any of this and I really like this job."

"I'm not firing you Ami." She assured me. I let out a breath of relief. "I was just going to suggest you work from home this week. Return when things have calmed down. If anyone asks you're just in another office, that's what HR recommends for this situation. I know the rest of the team will be even more upset if they find out you were allowed to work from home and they weren't."

"Thank you. And once again I'm sorry." I reply genuinely.

She shakes her head, "It's not your fault that people love to gossip. It'll all blow over by next week." She slides a file across the desk. "And finish this before you clock out today."

I nod picking up the folder, "Yes ma'am, I'll get right on it. Thank you." I take the folder before heading back to my desk to continue my work for the day.

I wasn't mad that I was being sent to work from home for the rest of the week, hell that's a great thing. But when the reason is because you're the center of office drama, it doesn't feel like such a good thing.

But the reasonings made sense. It's almost as if these grown adults had nothing better to do than to gossip and create rumors about the college intern. While I worked I heard that I only got the internship because I was sleeping with Dominic. I also heard that the only reason I was invited to the gala was because the CEO himself was interested in me.

The rumors hurt, I couldn't lie. All my hard work diminished to sleeping with the boss. I felt horrible by the end of the day.

I sat outside with my head buried in my hands, waiting for my Uber when 3 pm hit, feeling emotionally and mentally drained after a taxing work day.

"So my speculations were right all along." Aaron's voice said from behind me as he walked down the steps from the entrance.

My body stilled but I kept my composure, not looking up to see him. "Please not today Aaron." I muttered more to myself but loud enough for him to hear. It was my first time seeing him again after our first interaction at work.

"You were sleeping with Dominic all along weren't you?"

"No." I respond firmly.

"But yet you're comfortable enough with him to go to galas and stay in hotels? I'm not fucking stupid." He spat.

My phone began vibrating, indicating my ride had arrived. I got up quickly, ready to throw myself to the car but Aaron stood in front of me blocking my path. "Aaron move." I requested, but he didn't move an inch.

"Answer my question."

I try to move past him but he grabs my arm. "Let go of me!" I exclaim.

"Hey! Hey! What's going on here?" A voice booms from behind me.

Aaron quickly unhands me, creating distance as he smiles at the person. "Nothing sir, just old friends discussing."

Mr. Taylor looks down at me as I blankly stared at the ground. He frowns, "You're that new employee in marketing. Why aren't you working?"

Aaron's eyes widen, "Just on my break sir. Wanted to catch up with a friend."

He looks suspiciously at him before looking back at me. "Ami you're heading home I presume?"

"Yes sir." I respond quietly.

"I can give you a ride back, it's on my way."

I look up at him in surprise before shaking my head. "It's okay sir, my Uber is already here." I say motioning to the car behind Aaron.

He shakes his head, "Nonsense, I'll reimburse you for the ride."

"Apologies sir, it's really okay. I don't think that would be a good idea." I tell him honestly. The last thing I needed was to further fuel the rumors by getting a ride home with the CEO.

He nods, "Very well. I'll see you tomorrow then."

I nod, "See you then," I reply, not bothering to correct him. I take the opportunity to get away from Aaron and rush down to my Uber. "Sorry for the delay." I tell the driver as I get into the car. He gives me a nod before driving off.

I got to the apartment not too long after and decided to get changed and go over to Dominic's. At this point I needed the comfort. I changed into a hoodie and shorts before knocking on his door.

He opened the door shortly after, rubbing his eye tiredly as he looked down at me. "Amina, what's up?" He asks in a groggy voice.

"I'm sorry, were you asleep? I can come back later." I offer.

He shakes his head, ushering for me to come in. "Enter."

I follow him inside as he takes a seat on the couch. "How are you doing?" I ask following his lead.

He shrugs, "I'm okay, just annoyed."

"How was school today?"

"People were already annoying, and now they're trying to be friendly." He says with a sarcastic chuckle. He quirks a brow, "Is that why you came over here? To check on me?"

I nod shyly, "I was worried it would all get to you."

He chuckles, "I'm a big boy, I can take it. I'm just irritated." He sits up in his seat, "How are you though? I hope the people at the office didn't see too much?"

I sigh, "They saw it all. I have to work from home this week."

He raises a brow, "What? You got sent home? Why?"

I shrug, "Too much gossip? I don't know, HR says it should blow over by next week."

"I'm so sorry, Amina. It didn't even cross my mind that this would affect your internship." He says sincerely.

"Don't apologize it's okay. I'm not fired or anything." I sigh, "Aaron came up to me again though."

He sits up, reacting to what I had just said. "Did he hurt you? Are you okay?"

I nod, "I'm fine. He also saw the tabloid pics and started accusing me of sleeping with you while I was with him. He got mad and grabbed me but before anything could happen your dad showed up."

Dominic runs his hand over his face in frustration before letting out a loud sigh. "If I could get rid of Aaron I would."

"Dominic it's okay. I'm fine really."

"It's not okay though. This asshole thinks he can still touch you?" He groans before pulling out his phone. "I'm going to make a call." He says getting up from his seat.

"Dominic who are you calling? I told you I'm okay, he won't lay a finger on me at work if he wants to keep his job."

"But he did lay a finger on you? He grabbed you didn't he? That's what you said." He recalls.

I sigh, "I understand that you care, but please leave it alone."

"How Amina? How am I going to do that? Let me at least rough him up a little? Scare him off?"

"Dominic, no."

He scoffs, "Why are you protecting that asshole?"

I furrow my brows, "I'm not protecting him I'm protecting you! I'm not letting you get in trouble for me."

"Fine." He sighs, before taking a seat back on the couch, "For now."

"Thank you." I reply sitting beside him, "Can we watch a movie or something? I just want to forget today."

He nods, picking up the remote and turning on the tv. We turned on Jurassic Park and a quarter into the film I could feel myself falling asleep as my head dropped toward his shoulder. I could hear him chuckle when my head made contact. He moved his arm, wrapping it around me allowing me to rest against his chest.

I almost spoke out reminding him of our no cuddling rule but soon got lost in the scent of his cologne and the warmth of his embrace. It was nice to know that even when everything felt like it was falling apart, I could still find comfort in his embrace.

———

Next update may be a little late because I'm on vacation. But don't worry I'll be back soon!

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- AuggiePooh_