Page 46 of Deadline for Love

My brows flew up. “That’s what he said?”

She nodded and then rolled her eyes, apparently unhappy with our boss’s request.

“I just don’t understand what he wants. He’s been changing our publicity data for the last two weeks! Our online team usually updates, and our local radio station updates daily. I sympathize with breaking news, but we didn’t have any news today! So why is he trying to make everything more difficult for us?”

I didn’t understand it either since our sales figures were up and we had gained popularity. If it had been the opposite, then I could understand his behavior.

Aicha patted my shoulder lightly to cheer me up and then placed the sheets of paper on my desk, telling me that the interview requests James had mailed her were meant for me.

Before I sat down, I grabbed a cup of tea and got straight to work.

At ten o’clock, we had a meeting with James. All the teams met again in the conference room; there was a depressing atmosphere, and we were all nervous to see how James would react and worried that the articles might be rejected. Aicha rubbed her temples nervously while we waited for our boss.

I was also agitated and nervous, but I told myself everyone had done their job to the best of their ability, even if James wouldn’t like it.

The room was filled with oppressive silence, and when the door opened, and James walked in his black suit, we greeted him quietly.

To everyone’s surprise, he was more than happy with the articles and didn’t reject any.

He asked us to finish all the stories today so that they would be published around seven pm, and we did.

We all kept working flat out because we wanted to finish everything quickly as our pressure was on with the article searches today.

In the afternoon, Nia briefly popped into our department and handed me a camera. “Here’s this for you. Unfortunately, we can’t be together twenty-four-seven, and I figure if something happens and I’m not there, at least you have my baby to take pictures.” She tapped the gray camera. “Your phone is good, but not good enough. Take care of my baby. This is my spare camera, and I want it back in one piece.”

“Thanks, Nia, but I hope I don’t see anything that needs to be photographed,” I mumbled.

I leaned back and looked at her; today, her hair was partly loose and tied into two little buns. Her gorgeous hair looked cute. She was also wearing casual clothes, which suited her style.

“You never know. Are you feeling okay?”

As soon as Nia made this remark, memories of the kiss popped into my head. My face heated up instantly.

“Why are you blushing?”

“No, I was just up working on my articles all night,” I said a little too hastily, causing Nia to look at me suspiciously.

“I feel there’s more to it than that.” She pushed her lower lip forward and seemed to ponder. “Has Mr. Handsome struck yet? Couldn’t he hold out until marriage?”

Shocked, my jaw hit the floor. I stared back in embarrassment, but no words could leave my mouth. To my regret, Aicha joined us and gave me a questioning look.

“Mr. Handsome? Did I miss something?”

Nia instantly launched into an explanation, “Oh, you know, Bella has a boyfriend, and they’ve been living together for a while. I only heard about it two days ago. She didn’t want to tell us until she was sure he was the one. And it looks like he is.”

Then she flashed me a wink and smiled. “There was a rumor yesterday that the couple is planning to get married.”

It surprised me how Nia could talk about the situation whereas I was a bumbling mess when the topic came up…

Aicha stared doubtfully and said, “Our Bella has a boyfriend?”

Nia and I nodded simultaneously—now, I had to keep up her lie, one way or another.

She eyed us both for a moment and then, without missing a beat Aicha fished out her phone and tapped it briefly, only to hold it over her ear.

“Who are you calling?” Nia asked, puzzled.

“Amara. If she confirms it, I believe you, but I remember clearly that we were discussing things two weeks ago, and Bella told me that she never wanted to be with someone again. And now, suddenly, she’s been with someone for a while?”

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