Brandon

"Where were you?" Claire asked, nearly waking up Macie who was sleeping in my arms.

"At Macie's babysitter's house."

Claire followed me as I went to Macie's room and tucked her into bed. Thank God she's a deep sleeper. Always has been too. When she was a baby I was worried because she never woke up in the middle of the night. The doctor just said I was lucky.

"Why were you there?" Claire questioned once the door to Macie's room was shut.

"It's her birthday and Macie wanted to go celebrate," I explained. I left out the part that it was my idea and that I had looked up her birthday. I didn't think Claire would like that. But it was seriously all to make Macie happy. And Lyra too. But Claire doesn't need to know that. She would look at it the wrong way and I would be in deep shit.

Claire scowled and stormed off into the kitchen. I wasn't always sure what to do at times like these so I cautiously followed her into the kitchen.

"You shouldn't be over there so much!" Claire shouted. "I'm your girlfriend, not her."

"I know Claire," I said and held her in my arms. "There's nothing going on with Lyra."

Claire stiffened when I said Lyra's name, but didn't say anything else so I just stood there with her like that, feeling kind of uncomfortable. I couldn't explain it exactly, it just didn't feel right. I felt like I was in the wrong place.

Claire's phone started ringing so she untangled herself from my arms and picked it up as she walked out the door. I guess no goodbye then.

I sighed and sat on the couch with my head in my hands. I'd been dating Claire for two years now and in the beginning it was amazing. Claire was everything I would look for in a woman, kind, pretty, and generous. But lately she's been changing and I'm getting more and more jealousy and anger. And she doesn't like Macie which doesn't help things. Macie's happiness is the most important thing to me and if I'm being honest, Claire's hostility towards her is the only reason I haven't proposed yet. I guess I'm just hoping she will change and love Macie like her own. The way Lyra does...

Macie's mom left right after she was born and I was all she had. I stepped up and took her in, but there was something missing in her life that's only been filled recently. And not by the person I desperately want to.

Macie needs a mom. She deserves a mom. I'm not going to know what to do when she's a teenager and it will just be awkward for both of us.

Little hands tugged on my sleeve and I looked down to see Macie was up from her nap. I pulled her onto my lap and she snuggled in.

"Are you ok Daddy?"

"Yes, I'm ok sweetheart. I was just thinking," I told her.

"About what?"

I let a mischievous smirk take over my face. "This!" I flipped Macie over onto the couch and started tickling her all over.

"Daddy!" She squealed.

Macie was wiggling around on the couch squealing and screeching and I decided to stop.

"Was that really what you were thinking about?" Macie asked with an adorable head tilt.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

Macie shook her head.

"Because you know what happens to liars right?"

She shook her head again.

"This!"

And then I was tickling her all over again.

____________________________________

Lyra

I decided that I was going to order in for dinner and I got a pizza delivered. I didn't feel like going out so I figured that would be easiest.

I'd ordered the pizza twenty-five minutes ago so it should be here by now. I waited another five minutes and was about to call the restaurant when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Mitchell? I'm here with your pizza, but I can't get in."

"What do you mean you can't get in?" I asked. He should be able to get to my apartment.

"There's a huge crowd. Cameras and everything. I think it's the paparazzi."

The paparazzi?!?!

"Just take the pizza for yourself," I said and hung up the phone in shock.

Why were there paparazzi at my house? I snuck to the front window and looked down where a huge crowd had assembled.

Staying out of view, I slid the window open just enough so that I could hear.

"Ms. Mitchell! Ms. Mitchell!"

"Are you and Mr. Cole having an affair?"

"Does Claire know?"

"Is he here?"

I slid the window closed and sunk down to the floor. My hand was shaky when I pulled out my phone and my voice was even worse.

"Hello?" A deep voice asked.

"Brandon?"

"What's wrong?" Brandon was instantly alert and I could perfectly imagine his expression. His eyes would be wide and his nostrils would flare. That was his worried face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call." I left out that I didn't have anyone to call.

"You can always call me," Brandon said, "but can you tell me what's going on?"

"There's a bunch of paparazzi outside my apartment asking if you and I are having an...affair."

The crowd down below was still growing and I could now hear the shouts through the window.

"You didn't go down did you?"

"No. I can hear them through my window." It was getting louder and I felt my eyes cloud with tears. I'd never had to deal with something like this before.

"Don't worry Lyra, I'll handle it."

"What are you going to do?" I asked nervously.

"You'll see. Or hear I imagine."

Brandon hung up and I waited to see or hear what his plan was. In no more than five minutes, I heard someone in the crowd scream, "They're at the airport!" and soon the entire crowd was stampeding down the street.

And then my phone rang again. "Did it work?" Brandon asked.

I nodded and then realized he couldn't see me. "How did you..."

"I just gave them an anonymous tip. I do it all the time when they mess with me and they still haven't caught on. It's kind of sad really."

I laughed, but it was a nervous one.

"I'm really sorry about this Lyra," Brandon said and I could physically feel his guilt.

"It's not your fault," I told him. "Please don't feel bad."

"Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.

"I'm sure."

I said goodbye to Brandon and hung up the phone. I really hope he wasn't beating himself up about this. It was bound to happen one day, a rich CEO comes into the same bakery every day, it's bound to raise questions. The only thing I couldn't figure out was why they came at night when the bakery is closed.

How did they know I live right above? Because they weren't at the door to the bakery, they were at the door that held the stairs up to my apartment.

I immediately redialed Brandon's number. "Lyra? Is everything alright?"

"They weren't at the bakery door," I blurted out.

"What?"

"They were at the door to my apartment, not the bakery. How did they know where I live?"

My breathing was getting shallower the more I thought about it. All those people know where I live.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, back up a second," Brandon said. "Are you sure they were at your door and it wasn't just overflow?"

"No. It started at my door. Oh God."

"Ok Lyra, don't panic. It's going to be ok. I don't know how they found your address or why they were there, but I will figure it out."

"Ok," I whispered meekly.

"It's all going to be ok. Do you want to come stay with me and Macie for a few days while I look into this?" Brandon asked.

"No, it's ok. I'll be fine." But my voice cracked, betraying that I really was scared to stay here alone.

"I'm coming to get you," Brandon said and hung up before I could argue.

I pulled myself off of the floor feeling pitiful and went into my room to get some clothes. I put four days worth of clothes in my bag. I wasn't going to intrude on Brandon's space any longer than that.

I waited for Brandon at the bottom of the staircase, and I'll admit, I jumped a little when he knocked on the door.

I opened the door cautiously even though I knew it was Brandon, and I visibly relaxed when I actually saw him.

He immediately pulled me into his arms murmuring apologies before we got into his car and drove to his penthouse.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked Brandon. "I can stay at a hotel or something."

"I'm sure. No way are you staying at a hotel. Besides, I already told Macie and she's super excited for your sleepover."

The mention of Macie made me laugh and I started feeling more like myself.

I don't know, those people just really shook me up. I was probably being a wimp, but I couldn't help it. Especially once I started overthinking it. Which I do a lot.

Brandon pulled into the parking garage of his penthouse. He took my bag before I could grab it and led me up to the penthouse.

It was gorgeous. Modern and sleek, perfect for Brandon. Everything was neat and organized, even design wise. It fit perfectly.

Macie was already asleep when we got to the penthouse so Brandon led me up to one of the guest rooms.

"Will you be ok?" He asked.

"Yeah. Thank you Brandon."

"Of course."

Brandon gave me a hug and left me to get settled. I was tired out from my big day so I just changed into my pajamas and went to sleep in the big fluffy bed.