Carter sat quietly in his car as his driver was taking him home. His mind went back to the words he uttered earlier that day,"she is mine?" That definitely didn't come out well. Why did he even defend her? He had never really stood up for anybody. But even know the look on Ava's face made him want to defend her a hundred times. Even if he didn't mean his utterance to appear that way, somewhere deep within him, it felt right.
"Sir, you are all over the news!" Carter's PA panicked as he showed him a social media post that had his picture and that of Ava.
"I thought those videos where deleted" he said quickly going through the post.
"Apparently someone was streaming live on the gram" his PA responded agitated.
All three of Carter's phones began to buzz at the same time, investors were calling. He instructed his PA to switch off the phones and get to the root of the matter and also to get their PR company involved as soon as possible. This kind of publicity could have a on his businesses—he himself had pulled out on some investments because of things like this—he needed to act fast.
People's opinion on the occurrence were divided,the particular company was being dragged for hostility to staff, other's commended Carter for tackling the situation, feminists were eraged by the fact that he referred to Ava as though she was an object furthermore analyzing that the statement could be as a result of sexual harassment or even obsession but the majority were more interested in the opinion that Carter had been dating Ava secretly and that was his public declaration of it—since Carter's life was somewhat misterious and no one knew much about his personal life.
******
Ava woke up panting, she had dreamt about the scenario that happened at the office, but this time,the CEO wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her to him till she could feel his breath on her face,he peered intensely into her eyes with longing.
She swallowed hard as she recalled his proximity towards her in the dream—it all felt so real. Her heart pounding, she reached out to her phone to know what time it was but instead,she saw a thousand plus notifications from the the gram and so many missed calls from Rufus.
She anxiously opened the app and couldn't believe what was happening. She saw that her followers had skyrocketed to a million,Her DM's were full and overflowing,her account was being tagged and mentioned in different posts. She clicked on one of the tag notifications from a famous gossip blog she followed,it read "CEO RC group of companies,stands up for one of his female employees against another, making a statement that connotes there may be more that meets the eye in this context. What did he mean by she was his? Could that have been a public affirmation to a secret thing between the CEO and his employee? Drop your opinions in the comment session" The post was made alongside a pic-mix of her and the CEO gasping, Ava ran to the comment session and boy! People had a lot to say. After checking several posts Ava felt weak to her knees, what an unphantomable mess her life had become! How did she get here? She felt a vast range of emotions as her tears began to trickle,she quickly wiped her face.
"No, not anymore! No more tears" she said firmly to herself—she had gotten to the end of herself and she knew it—she turned off her phone and everything that connected her to the world, what could be the worse that could happen? She seethed as she bolted her doors and pulled down her window blinds,she was safe now—far away from trouble.
******
The next one week was hectic for Carter as his PA and the PR company were trying to do a lot of damage control. The feminists perspective on the case was beginning to spread rapidly, his opponents in business also began to push out narratives that insinuated he was capable of such giving his cold and hard personality. The press were requesting a conference but Carter put them off,major shareholders and investors began threatening to pull of of business with him if he didn't do anything about the current situation. Everything he's built and worked hard for were hanging on a thin line.
"What do you advise?"he asked Brad, his lawyer who was also like a friend although not as close.
"Marry her" Brad responded firmly studying Carter's facial expression. "That seems like the only option now, we've tried everything else we know".
Carter's expression grew dim although an inner part of him brightened as he heard the words marry her. He listened intently as his lawyer explained how marrying her could get him out of the current situation. His lawyer also stated the fact that he could secretly annul the marriage after a short period of time.
"Marry her then I will" he said as he exhaled deeply, the thought of marriage had never crossed his mind because of his sickly genes, the fear of falling in love stung his heart as he reassured himself the excitement he felt was normal because he was going to be doing something he never thought of in his entire life. Moreover that weak girl could not catch his fancy like that, speaking of Ava—Where was she?