Chapter 285   - Back Off

The picture? Him placing a kiss on her cheeks. While she slept.

"Get a room," Henrick groaned. The others silently moved a step back.

"I'll just get back to the table," Laurence announced, his hand on Sabrina's as he pulled her away.

"Bye," Cage chirped. He looked triumphant. "It was nice seeing you."

The other table was thankfully far away. Katherine could feel the stares coming her way but she ignored it. Instead she smacked Cage on his arm.

"They're public figures. Were you that jealous?" she asked. She wasn't mad in the least. She didn't like being infamous for dating someone she had no interest in. But this was… not done.

"You played along," he admitted childishly.

"That I did," she sighed.

"To getting rid of annoying flies!" Anna claimed, grinning from ear to ear. "Don't worry about anything. Let's just have a nice dinner."

They got through the rest of the meal without incident. Cage tried his best to pay the bill, but Katherine wasn't having any of it.

"This is on me. You can get it next time," she informed. Cage's ears perked up at that. Next time? There would be a next time, then.

Cage helped her up from the table at the end and guided her down. When they were leaving, Katherine made sure to keep her head down in case someone was taking pictures.

It was a blessing that no one approached them. Even more so because no one was waiting for them outside. They hurried into the car and left. Katherine just prayed that no one outed his presence in City O.

Cage dropped her off at her hotel before taking his parents back to the one he was staying in. Not mch was said except for teasing and well wishes for the next day.

As Katherine entered the suite that had been booked for her, she felt happy. The worry mixed with hesitation and the sweetness of being acknowledged as Cage's girlfriend had gotten to her. Who could have known that a mixture of these could actually result in happiness. A weird form of it.

[C: I want to take you out on our first date.] Cage had texted her. She looked at the message and smiled.

[K: Just because you claimed me as yours in front of a handful of people, you're going to be courageous enough to expose our relationship to more people?] she asked.

She waited for a few minutes before the reply came in.

[C: You seem to forget the Clark Kent- Superman situation.]

His taunt made her roll her eyes.

[K: I never did understand how people couldn't recognize the two as the same person!]

People were somewhat stupid, she had to say that about them at least.

[C: It's not that people are stupid. It's just that they don't expect it. They expect a grand scheme of things when they think of meeting someone they idolize. For example, have you ever heard of an actor winning a contest where people impersonate them? Even singers don't place first in contests for that. You'd think people would recognize them at first glance. It's because people don't think it possible for a celebrity to do that. In the same way, if I change up my appearance a little without making it obvious, no one will even turn to look at me again. This is simple psychology.]

Katherine frowned. When she looked at the first sentence, she could see that he had read her thoughts perfectly before sending this text.

[K: You're growing more daring as days go by!]

She had nothing more to say. If he thought it would work... it would have to. He knew his way around the world and who was she to stop him from taking her out on a first date? She didn't know what possessed her to be that courageous, but she ended up sending one more text.

[K: Okay, we'll go out tomorrow.]

She threw her cellphone away and was about to walk into the bathroom when a the bell for the room went off. It was not one single press, but a continuous bellowing of the alarming sound penetrating throughout the suite.

Katherine scrambled towards the door and dragged it open to see Sabrina, heaving, her eyes red as she glared at Katherine.

"Oh, f.u.c.k," Katherine swore under her breath. Her heart stopped for a second and then it sped up manifolds. She composed herself quickly before starting to speak again. "Why did you come find me?" she asked, keeping her voice calm.

Sabrina took a step forward, looking like she would reach towards Katherine at any second.

"I can see that you are angry. Please back off," Katherine commanded but Sabrina was still fuming. She didn't step away. Her stance became more threatening and Katherine was ready to throw her hands if it came to that.

"Seriously, Sabrina... back the f.u.c.k off or I will flatten you like a pancake."

What possessed her to say this, she didn't know, but she felt the need to laugh at that very moment.

"Why was he there?" she shouted, trying to push past Katherine and enter the room. Her eyes kept searching for something behind Katherine before the realization dawned on her.

"He's not here," Katherine informed her. The poor man would have been petrified if he were there. On second thought, Katherine dodged to the side as Sabrina was about to push, making the woman stumble in.

"What the f.u.c.k is going on here? Why was he flirting with you?" Sabrina asked loudly. Katherine shut the door in a hurry, worried that others would hear.

Jesus, Sabrina, why don't you just broadcast it to the world?

"Calm down first. I'll answer all your questions then. But before I do, I should warn you. Don't breathe a word of this outside this room. You have nothing to worry about from me, but he has a team of professionals protecting him."

There was no need to mention who this illusive 'he' was.

"Threatened by you? Who are you to even protect him?" Sabrina asked.