Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
All my sleeping rituals were required plus the addition of binge watching television and cuddling with one of Mia’s sleep shirts. Even then, I could only get a few hours of good sleep.
It was no longer a secret that Mia and I were seeing each other. The paparazzi relentlessly followed us everywhere. Mia was taken aback by all the attention at first. The first time, the onslaught of clicking cameras as we left a movie theater, stunned her. I put my arm around her and held her close as we quickly walked to my car.
The photos were all over the media within hours. Mia’s head rested on my chest with my arm around her. If I don’t say so myself, we looked great together in the photos.
Public displays of affection were generally not my thing, but that was the old me. The paparazzi captured so many photos of Mia and I kissing and holding hands. We looked to be so in love in the photos.
In a weird way, I was grateful to have the paparazzi around documenting our time together. It gave me a little thrill to see photos of Mia with me. Every photo, I was astounded at her beauty. That bombshell buxom beauty was holding my hand or kissing me in those photos. I couldn’t have been more proud.
The day the Board was going to discuss my fate as CEO, I was an emotional mess. Because of that, I just wanted to get off the Pictogram campus for a while, opting for Estrella, a Michelin starred California and Mediterranean cuisine restaurant, for lunch.
I tried my best to hide my anxiety from Mia, but she was much too smart to not pick up on it. When the server walked away, she reached across the table and took my hand. Her outfit, a cream and black floral silk shift dress with knee length boots, looked stunning on her. Her unique flair of style upped the chicness of the Marc Janow clothes. She had a way of making a piece of clothing all her own.
I’d given her diamond teardrop earrings last week. She had them on now and they sparkled as she cocked her head, looking at me intensely. “Everything is going to be okay. I just feel it.”
I lightly brushed an earring making it swing gently. “These look fabulous on you.”
She smiled and kissed my hand. “Thank you.” She paused gazing into my eyes with heavy worry. “Theo, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.” She took a sip of water before she continued. “Let me talk to the Board today at the meeting.” Kissing her hand, I shook my head. Before I could speak, she jumped in, “Let me tell them about all the security features I’ve added to Pictogram. We’re rock solid now. Pictogram is impenetrable!”
Her face was so full of hope and optimism. I tried to assure her, “I appreciate that, Mia. But…”
Her eyes began to well up with tears.
“Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” I said, feeling touched by her kindness.
She dabbed her eyes with her napkin. “I can’t let you lose your company.”
“If I lose Pictogram, it’s on me. Not you. In retrospect, there are a million things I could have done to not be in this position. All of them have nothing to do with you.”
She bit her lip, tears still streaming down her face. “You love Pictogram. You put your whole life and soul into it.”
“But I made repeated fatal mistakes. For so long, the Board urged me to fix my party playboy image. I refused! If anything, it only made me party even more. Do you know how hard it is to party and have a good time out of spite?”
Mia laughed, wiping tears from her cheeks.
“It turns out it’s incredibly easy to to do actually. That’s why I did it,” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
Mia gave me a small amused smile.
I continued, “They want to expand Pictogram past just Millennials and make it a family app where user parents are comfortable posting pics of their families. The older generation and more conservative users were disturbed by my photos and are now turning to other photo sharing apps that have a more family friendly image.”
Mia threw her face into her hands. “It’s all my fault. Everything! If those photos hadn’t have come out…”
I took both of her hands into mine. “No, it’s not your fault.”
She looked away unconvinced. Gently with my fingertips, I brought her gaze back to me. “Those photos represent the old me, but should I pretend none of that happened? Whether those photos came out or not, those sex parties happened. I can’t deny it.”
What the Board wanted me to do was pretend I was something I wasn’t. Of course, things were different now that I was in love with Mia. But still, I’d had sex with a bunch of girls. Did that make me such a horrible person? Did that mean I should be crucified?